"Now, here's another thing that should be known," said Malfoy. "I haven't been able to sense Morehouse since I last saw him with Hermione."

"Sense him?" asked Ron. "What exactly do you mean?"

"The Dark Lord taught us how to be aware of each other. To know when one of our own was present." Draco propped his elbows on the table, his hands moving as he explained. "I knew the moment Crabbe and Goyle walked into the room. I could be in my bedroom, and I would know the moment Blaise entered the Common Room. It's an awareness that served me well this summer. I knew when my mother was killed, when I could no longer save her."

Ron and Harry exchanged a glance. "So you know that Karl is gone?" asked Harry. Draco nodded. "Where could he have gone? And, how would Dumbledore or Filch not notice?" continued Harry.

"Filch is a clueless git." Draco smirked and leaned back in his chair. "I've been sneaking around without his noticing for years. I don't know if Dumbledore is aware."

Harry knew what was coming. "We have to tell him. He can't be left in the dark."

Draco nodded. "I agree." He stood up. "Let's go tell him now." He headed for the door and walked out, without giving the other two a second glance, trusting them to follow and trusting them not to curse him with his back turned.

"What do you think?" said Ron under his breath as he leaned closer to Harry.

"I think we should watch our backs," said Harry. "And I think we should go tell Dumbledore." He got up and followed his arch enemy out the door.

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Moments later, the three young men found themselves in front of Dumbledore's gargoyles. "Fizzing whisbees," mumbled Draco.

"Lemon drops," said Ron, firmly.

"Chocolate cockroaches," cried Harry.

As Draco guessed several more candies, "Um… pumpkin pasties. No, maybe Everlasting Gobstoppers. How about… Glow in the dark gummy worns?"

Leaning into Harry, Ron whispered, "I wonder if he recycles these passwords. I mean, how many candies are in this world?"

"George and Fred are inventing new ones every day," Harry pointed out.

"Good point." Ron shrugged and began guessing once again. "Acid pops. Caramel crackles. Oh, this is ridiculous!" He threw up his hands in exasperation and walked around himself in a circle.

"Not that I'm complaining," said Harry, "but I feel that I've been caught in this predicament too many times." He grunted.

"Crazy coconuts," said Draco. The gargoyles sprung to life, and all three young men breathed a sigh of relief. They practically fell over each other to run up the stairs.

Before any one of them could raise their hand to knock, the door to Dumbledore's office opened. A long gray beard peaked out behind the door. "The three of you can make quite a racket together," mused Dumbledore as he opened the door further. "I enjoyed listening to your guesses before you actually got the password." He walked towards his desk, his blue robes swishing behind him. He paused and turned to Ron. "And no, Mr. Weasley, I do NOT re-use passwords." A slight smile spread across his lips and the twinkle in his eye reappeared.

With a wave of his hand, he conjured three comfortable red chairs and gestured that each young man sit in one. "How is Hermione?" Dumbledore asked as he settled in his own seat, folded his hands on his desk, and looked directly at Draco.

Draco started in his seat. "But, how…?"

"I know everything that goes on here at Hogwarts," mused Dumbledore.

"She's recovering," stated Draco. "As you probably know."

Dumbledore nodded. "I suspected as much. You would have come sooner otherwise. Good, good."

"We wished to inform you, Professor, that Karl Morehouse has disappeared," said Harry, remembering why they had come. He gestured with his chin in Malfoy's direction. "Draco says that he can't sense him anymore."

Draco nodded, his wand gripped between his hands. "He's gone. I'm not sure where, but I know that he'll be back. He's angry about what Hermione has been doing in class, and wants to get her out of the way. He also wants to get at me, and he'll use Hermione to do so. It will kill two birds with one stone."

Harry and Ron cringed at the expression, but Draco didn't seem to notice. Dumbledore nodded in agreement, deep in thought. Abruptly, he stood and began to pace. "Mr. Morehouse is not the only one who is gone. He took Ms. Parkinson with him. Willingly, it seems."

Draco groaned, bending his face into his hands. Harry and Ron smirked.

"Pansy always was a follower and a fool," commented Draco. "I always told her it would get her into trouble." Dumbledore pretended not to hear him.

"Go to bed, Harry, Ron, Draco. In your own beds," Dumbledore looked pointedly at Draco. "I will send up a house elf to take care of Professor Granger." He opened his office door and ushered them out.

Harry, Ron, and Draco filed out of the office and down the hallway. Once out of hearing reach of Dumbledore's office, Draco turned to the other two.

"Tomorrow evening, seven o'clock. The Room of Requirement. We meet again and discuss a few more things. We're not going to let Hermione alone until the attack happens." Without waiting for a reply, Draco drifted off in the other direction, his footfalls silencing within a moment.

"Who the hell does the git think he is, ordering us around?" cried Ron, indignantly. "You think we should go?"

After a moment of hesitation, Harry nodded. "Yeah, if Dumbledore trusts Draco, we should."

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At five minutes past seven the following evening, Harry and Ron strolled into the Room of Requirement.

"You're late," said a feminine voice. They turned to see Hermione, nestled in a big comfortable armchair. Her coloring was pale, but her voice was strong.

Ron shrugged and flung himself down on the carpet, leaning on his elbows. Harry perched himself on a three-legged stool. They looked around the room.

"Cool," exclaimed Ron. "I thought I'd never see this place again."

The room was filled with everything they ever used in their D.A. meetings. Spellbooks filled the shelves, cushions were neatly stacked in a corner, and dark magic detectors stood on every table in the room.

"I said, 'you're late', Ronald," repeated Hermione.

"Oh, Hermione, calm down." Ron waved nonchalantly. He wasn't very concerned. After all, Malfoy hadn't even waited for an answer from them yesterday when he demanded they meet. The next moment, he flew into the air, his wand poised, pointing at the image of Draco that had suddenly appeared before them.

Hermione muffled a giggle behind her hand and coughed to try to cover her reaction. Her eyes bright, she told Ron, "Put down your wand. It's fine. He's done it to me numerous times."

Ron's wand lowered a bit, but his body remained tense, poised for action. "Bloody hell," he cried. "You put up with this crap from him?"

Hermione shrugged, not speaking. Ron settled into a nearby chair, watching Draco warily.

Draco stood before them, his arms crossed, smirking. "That was too easy," he said.

"Eat dung, Malfoy," snapped Ron. He slid lower in the chair, his arms crossing, his red hair falling into his eyes.

"Okay, let's get down to business," announced Harry, trying to refocus Ron's attention. "Why are we here?"

"To show you what I know," Draco said, as if this information was obvious, his palms up.

"About what?" asked Ron sullenly.

"The Dark Arts," whispered Draco.

Harry's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Why are you going to show us, Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged. "I'm not sure. Hermione is making me."

A groan came from Ron's direction. "She got to you, too," he said under his breath. But not enough. Hermione yanked a pillow from beneath her and slugged Ron squarely over the head. Ron emitted a grunt of disgust and rubbed his head.

"You should know, Potter," Draco said as he turned to Harry. "It's what every Death Eater learns. The spells, the potions, the secrets. Take this invisibility potion, for instance. It's not taught in schools due to one of its ingredients. Not brewed perfectly, it could paralyze a man for life. Its antidote has another equally toxic, illegal ingredient."

Hermione's brow furrowed. "You didn't tell me that potion was illegal."

Draco shrugged. "It's on a need to know basis. Now you need to know, before you didn't."

Hermione kept quiet, though her whole face was screwed up, like she wanted to give him a good scolding. Ron and Harry were surprised she was holding back.

Harry looked from Draco to Ron to Hermione and back to Draco. He stood, withdrawing his wand from his pocket. "Right then, let's get to it."

For the next hour, Draco began to show them all of the Dark spells ever taught to him by his Keeper. He explained that each apprentice was assigned to a Keeper, and he was supposed to learn all that he knew from him. Naturally, his father had been his.

Another hour presented itself. The three young men and Hermione stood. One person propelled spells at the others while the three remaining deflected them. They learned each other's fighting styles, useful when it was necessary to fight side-by-side. Draco showed them new curses that had recently been devised by the Death Eaters, spells that would destroy any wizard or witch, no matter how powerfully magic they were.

The clock struck eleven, and they realized they needed to get back to their common rooms.

"I'll write you passes," said Hermione, pulling out a quill and a piece of parchment. The three guys rolled their eyes. She slid them a side-long glance. "It's not worth having McGonagell stop and ask questions." She handed them each a piece of parchment. "You were in my classroom doing detention."

"What!" exclaimed Ron.

"It's believable," she stated. No one argued with her. They left, one by one, with plans to meet the following evening.

The next few days were filled with intense training. Draco informed the trio of all the hideouts that he had ever been, of who all of the Death Eaters were, and which special magic was known by each Death Eater. In turn, Harry and Hermione were quick to let him know how the simplest spells were often the best to use when fighting and which professors were members of the Order and which were in support of the Ministry. Ron refused to join them, but after a few days, he stopped glaring at them for giving information to the enemy.

In truth, Hermione began to realize something. When paired together, Harry and Draco were a formidable force. Harry's strengths were Draco's weaknesses and vice versa. It was amazing to watch them, side by side, as they fought a bogart or leaned over a boiling potion.

Malfoy showed Harry and Ron how to brew his Invisibility Potion, and they all sampled it. The following twenty minutes were full of teasing and games. It started with Ron pantsing an invisible Harry "What!", who tripped and fell over an invisible Hermione "Ow!", who in turn elbowed an invisible Malfoy "Grunt." While Harry pulled up his pants, Hermione took after Ron, chasing him around the room, only to lose track of him. She paused, standing as still as one of the statues in Hogwarts, until she felt her bra snap open.

"Ron!" she yelled, and took off after him again, fumbling with her underclothes at the same time. When the potion wore off, Malfoy had Ron in a headlock, Harry was tickling his feet, and Hermione had her hand up the back of her shirt, exposing half of her stomach, trying to fix her bra.

"This isn't going very well," she said bluntly, sighing and dropping her arms to her sides. She untangled Draco and Ron, and sent them on their way.

"Do you think I am doing the right thing, Harry?" she asked him when they were alone.

Reluctantly, Harry replied, "Yes, I do."