Hey everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of my fic! This one is a little bit different from the others, you'll see what I mean later. Hope you enjoy and as always, I hope you'll leave a review at the end!

Big thanks to all my reviewers last time: Avatarfanx2, Amy.Lee.Rox, bhoy1888 and Sheen Rox! You know how much I love you guys:holds arms as far apart as possible:: THIS MUCH! hehe...

Disclaimer: Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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Secret of the Chosen Heir

Chapter 8: Ambush

Lord Voldemort was restless. He paced up and down within his house and frightened his Death Eaters to no end. Nearly two months had passed since two of his Horcruxes had been destroyed under his very nose and the young Malfoy had been taken. Two months of nothing but waiting and recruiting and initiating. Two months of too little action. That must be changed immediately.

"Severus Snape!"

Snape appeared at the Dark Lord's side immediately, "My Lord?"

Voldemort looked deep into Snape's cold black eyes, "Are you loyal only to me, Severus?"

"I would serve no other, Master." Snape's reply was quick and cold, as it always was.

"Indeed," Voldemort seemed to be momentarily satisfied and began to pace once more, "The secret to my immortality is dying. No doubt Dumbledore has ordered the boy to destroy it completely. Without it, I am vulnerable."

Snape said nothing, but listened carefully.

"My time is running out if we continue to sit here and do nothing! We must make the first attack."

Inwardly, Snape recoiled. No, please no.

"We will attack Hogwarts at first light tomorrow. Prepare my Death Eaters!"

"My Lord," Snape interjected daringly, "How are we to attack Hogwarts? The castle is extremely well defended against any intruders."

"Severus, my loyal Severus. Do you doubt me?" the Dark Lord's voice was dangerously soft and gentle.

"Never, my Lord!" Snape fell to his knees in front of Voldemort.

"Then you must trust in my plan, Severus." Voldemort gestured for him to rise, "We will have the element of surprise. No one will suspect an attack on a well defended castle. We will win. And so will begin my rule of the wizarding world."

As Severus Snape left the presence of the Dark Lord, there was only one thing on his mind.

I've got to do something.

--The Burrow--

"Harry? Harry! Are you alright? Harry!" Hermione waved her hand in front of his face.

"Huh? What?" Harry snapped out of his reverie and returned to the present. A group of worried faces peered at him.

"Is everything alright Harry? You look pale." Cho gently pressed her hand against his forehead.

"I'm alright," Harry looked around to check if any of the adults were around, "We need to talk, privately."

"Let's go to my room." Ron headed up the stairs, leading the way.

"Muffilato!" Hermione muttered once she, Harry, Ron, Cho and Draco were inside the vibrantly orange room.

"Alright, talk." Draco snapped, looking extremely uncomfortable and out of place with his pale face, hair and eyes.

Harry glared at him, "You don't have to be here."

Draco shrugged, "Would it matter if I was?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione gave them both an angry glare, "Alright Harry, what happened?"

"Voldemort's planning something," Harry stated simply, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration, "He's restless and he wants to do something, but I can't really tell what."

"Does he want to attack?" Hermione asked.

"I think so, but I don't know where."

"What are we going to do?" Cho asked softly.

"I say we attack him first." Draco cut in, "That way, he won't be able to do anything at all."

"I have to agree with him, mate," Ron said, "After all, it only makes sense."

Hermione looked indignant, "No, Ron. The sensible thing to do is tell McGonagall and the others and see what they say."

"I agree with Hermione," Cho nodded.

"Cho?" a voice called from the hallway. "Harry? Cho?"

"I'll go." Cho got up and opened the door slightly, "James?"

"Oh there you are! What are you doing?" James voice floated through the slightly open door.

"Er, nothing really. Just talking." Cho replied, a little uneasily.

"Oh alright then, I won't bother you." Bit by bit, his footsteps faded, "Oh and Cho?"

"Yes?"

"Tell Harry, I want to see him practice more often. He may be mastering nearly all the techniques I've taught him, but we can't afford him to get sloppy."

"Right, I'll tell him." Cho closed the door and turned to the others, "I thought he would never leave."

Harry groaned, "Great, more practice. Like I don't practice enough."

"At least you don't have to continually hear Granger shrieking at Weasley," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Ron cried indignantly.

Cho laughed, "Speaking of which, we should all go practice again."

--Later--

"You're not going!" Those were the first words that came out of Molly Weasley's mouth when McGonagall announced that the Order would be attacking the Riddle Mansion at first light the next day, after listening to Harry's premonition.

"Mum!"

"Mrs. Weasley!"

"No! You're not going. I won't have you all putting yourselves in danger again. Once was quite enough!"

"Mrs. Weasley, the Order needs Harry to go. If he doesn't there's no way the Order would know where it was. And if Harry's has to go, we're not going to leave him." Hermione reasoned.

"Actually Molly, we need everyone we can get. I must remain at Hogwarts in case. We will very likely need them all to help," McGonagall said gently.

"Who's going to be leading us then?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Mr. Shacklebolt of course," she replied curtly, "I expect nothing but obedience from all of you, including you, Mr. Potter."

"Is Malfoy coming with us too?" Ron wanted to know.

McGonagall looked at Draco, who was wearing his usual smirk, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy will be joining you as well. There is no reason for him not to."

"I see plenty of reason for him not to," Harry muttered.

The professor rounded on him, "Mr. Potter, may I remind you that trust is an extremely important matter in a war? If you have any issues on this subject, I must ask you to settle it with Mr. Malfoy before you leave tonight, is that clear?"

"Y-yes, Professor." Harry didn't look too pleased at the prospect of making amends with Draco.

"Good," McGonagall turned to everyone else, "Kingsley Shacklebolt will arrive later to go over the battle plans and such. I will return when he comes."

No one spoke when she left. Mrs. Weasley heaved a sigh and bustled into the kitchen with a pale face.

"I'll go check on Mum," Ron offered, following his mother.

"I'll go with you!" Hermione said quickly.

"I'll see you later, Harry," Cho whispered in his ear, "James says he wants to talk to me for a bit."

"Alright, later." Harry grumbled as he was left alone in the room with Draco Malfoy.

"So, Potter," Draco said after a tense silence, "You still don't trust me. I should have known."

"Is there a reason why I should trust you, Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged, "Nor is there any reason why I should trust you. After all, you could just kill me right now without warning."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Wouldn't you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Harry glared at him, "Do I need a reason? Why am I even talking to you right now? You could be planning to rejoin your oh-so-wonderful master and spying on us at this very moment."

Draco looked away and remained silent.

"What's the matter Malfoy? Hit a nerve?" Harry smirked.

"I don't plan on rejoining the Death Eaters." Draco's voice was quiet, "In fact, I plan on dying before letting them take me back."

Harry was stunned, "What?"

"I didn't need your friendship, Potter. I didn't need anything from anyone. But you've all provided everything for me, the enemy. I'm grateful. I still don't need your friendship, but I want you to trust me when I say that I would never do anything to betray any of you here." The words came out in a rush and Draco became silent once more.

"I trust you," Harry said slowly after a short pause, "I mean, I can trust that you wouldn't betray us. If you would, you would've done it already, so I guess I can believe you."

Draco looked at him from the corner of his eye and cracked a smile so small, Harry almost missed it, "Thanks, I guess."

"Well, now that you too are on better terms with each other, I think it's your turn, Ron." Hermione's cheerful voice startled them.

"Weasley. Granger," Draco acknowledged with a nod.

"Malfoy," Ron looked uncomfortable.

Hermione held out her hand. Draco looked at it, then slowly took it. They shook. Ron did the same after a lot of probing from Hermione.

"Good, now let's all go into the kitchen for tea. No Harry, you don't need to go get Cho and James, I did that already."

--That night--

"I can't believe we're staying here again!" grumbled Ron. In order for them to attack Voldemort at down tomorrow, Kingsley Shacklebolt had taken Harry's suggestion and had everyone stay at the same Muggle motel that the trio had stayed with Cho, Meilin and Draco that fateful night.

"Well, at least we're far enough from his house so he doesn't detect us and close enough that we can take the scope of our surroundings," Hermione said in her ever-reasonable manner.

"I'm going to go for a short walk," Harry announced, "I need to clear my head."

"Oh alright," Hermione looked sympathetic, "Come back quickly though, I think Mr. Shacklebolt wanted to go through the plan one more time before we head off to bed."

"Not that anyone will be sleeping properly anyways," Ron muttered.

"Where's Cho?" Harry asked, ignoring Ron's comment.

"She's resting in our room. She didn't look to good when we got here," Hermione replied, "Personally, I wouldn't be either. Too many memories."

Harry nodded. He suddenly wanted to see Cho, but he knew she probably wanted some space at the moment, so he left.

The outdoor swimming pool was closed for the night, but music still poured gently from the loudspeakers that surrounded the area and the pool lights were still lit, casting a dreamy glow. Harry stood still, just listening to the quiet lapping of the water. Everything was coming to an end, he knew. He put his head in his hands, trying to ignore the buzzing inside his head.

Maybe it's intuition,

Some things you just don't question.

Like in your eyes, I see the missing pieces,

And there it goes; I think I found my best friend.

Harry's head snapped up to the speakers. He knew this song. One of his Muggle neighbours had always played it back when he was still living with the Dursleys.

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy,

But I believe...

He broke into a run heading to Cho and Hermione's room. On the way, he passed the lady at the front desk.

"Excuse me. Could you play that song again when I come down with my girlfriend? I want her to hear it." Harry panted.

"The one playing now? Of course, dear."

"Thanks." Harry dashed to Cho and Hermione's room, "Cho! Cho?"

The door opened, "Harry? What's wrong?"

"Come with me, I want you to listen to something."

"What? Where-" Cho was cut off as Harry grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the swimming pool.

"Harry, what's going on?" Cho asked once they arrived.

Harry shushed her gently and whispered, "Just listen." He nodded at the desk lady, who was smiling at them from the window and the music started once more.

I knew I loved you before I met you.

I think I dreamed you into life.

I knew I loved you before I met you.

I have been waiting all my life.

"Harry..." Cho whispered, her eyes filling with tears of joy, "It's-it's us! It's about us!"

Harry nodded, taking her into his arms. They swayed to the soft rhythm of the song, her head resting on his strong chest and his cheek resting on her soft hair.

A thousand angels dance around you.

I am complete now that I found you.

"I love you Cho." Harry said gently.

"I love you too Harry. More than any words could express." Cho replied, looking into his sea green eyes.

Their lips met once more. They clung to each other, never wanting to let go. Both knew that tomorrow could be the last time they could see each other, that tomorrow, one of them could die. Both of them never wanted tomorrow to come, but wanted this one moment to last forever. Nothing was said, but they knew each other's thoughts. They continued to dance under the star-spattered sky, whispering words of love to one another, sealing each one with a kiss, more passionate and fiery than the one before because they knew, each kiss could be closer to the last one of all.

I knew I love you before I met you.

I have been waiting all my life.

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Aw! Wasn't that sweet? hehe...anyways, another disclaimer here: I do not own I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden.

Okiez, only 2 more chapters before it's ALL OVER! hehe...see ya next time y'all!

Please review :D