As May became June, the castle grew quiet as the students retreated to the library, their common rooms, and other favorite study places to finish preparing for their exams. The O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s began a few weeks before the regular end-of-term exams, which meant that Harry and his friends headed to class as usual after wishing Ginny good luck on her first written O.W.L. – Charms, just like theirs had been. The professors worked the students hard right up until the end, which meant that they had little time to worry about how Ginny was faring as they tackled complex transfigurations and finicky potions recipes, but they were confident that their friend would do well. And indeed, though she did still have a few questions she wished she'd elaborated on and parts of practicals that had tripped her up a bit, Ginny seemed largely satisfied with her performance as each exam concluded.

Harry checked his watch as he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower after his latest free period roughly a week after O.W.L.s began. He was hoping to get a bit of flying in before tackling the nasty essay on poisons Snape had set them, and he was pleased to see that he had plenty of time to do so. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup shortly after the Easter holidays, but Harry knew he wouldn't have much time to fly over the summer, especially if they spent most of it at Grimmauld Place, and so he wanted to make up for that in any way he could. Students had been using the Quidditch pitch regularly when they weren't studying – maybe he could find someone to toss a Quaffle with until dinnertime.

Harry was still focused on his watch as he rounded a corner on the sixth floor, and as a result, he walked straight into someone, knocking them both to the ground. When Harry looked up, he was horribly embarrassed to find that he'd collided with Professor Trelawney, the Divination instructor – he hadn't interacted with her much this year, having dropped the subject after O.W.L.s, but still…he'd knocked over a teacher.

"Professor, I'm so sorry!" Harry stammered, scrambling to his feet and hurriedly stacking the assortment of books and papers Professor Trelawney had dropped. "Are you alright?"

"Not to worry, my dear," Professor Trelawney replied, accepting her belongings with a soft smile. "Accidents do happen, you know."

"Er…right, I suppose so," Harry said, still feeling extremely awkward. "As long as everything's alright?"

"I'm quite alright, I assure you. Don't let me keep you waiting, dear." Harry nodded and made to continue down the corridor, still avoiding the professor's understanding gaze, but he hadn't taken more than five steps before a loud crash made him jump, and he whirled around again. Professor Trelawney's books and papers were once again scattered all over the floor, but she didn't seem to have noticed – she was staring straight ahead, her eyes wide, and something about her expression suggested she wasn't actually seeing her immediate surroundings at all.

"Er…Professor?" Harry asked tentatively. "What's wrong?"

"It is coming, and sooner than we expected or anticipated," Professor Trelawney said. Her voice was deep and throaty, the exact opposite of her usual airy tone, and Harry shivered as he recalled another instance when he'd heard her speak that way – during his Divination final exam at the end of third year. Professor Trelawney hadn't remembered a word of what she'd said afterwards, but she'd predicted with uncanny accuracy the events that had unfolded that evening, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if he was about to hear another prediction.

"Once broken, now repaired, the way is clear for bloodshed," she continued. "Innocence will be tainted by murder, and brothers in arms will unite like has rarely been seen before. Tonight at midnight, the phoenix will fall."

For a moment, it looked like Professor Trelawney was going to pitch forward and fall face first on the stone floor of the corridor, but she merely swayed for a moment before shaking her head vehemently and looking around as if confused.

"I'm sorry, my dear, did you need something?" she asked Harry politely.

"Erm…no, Professor," Harry replied quickly. "I was just on my way back to my common room."

"Of course," Professor Trelawney said. She still looked a little dazed, but her hand was steady as she withdrew her wand from somewhere in the depths of her many shawls and gathered her belongings with a swift flick of her wrist. She nodded at Harry once more, then continued back the way she had came as if nothing had happened at all.

As soon as Professor Trelawney was gone, Harry dropped to his knees and ripped open his book bag, searching quickly through his things until he found his charmed parchment. Unfortunately, the flying was going to have to wait – if what he'd just heard was in fact another true prediction, something terrible was going to happen in a matter of hours.

RoR, as soon as you can, Harry scribbled, hoping with everything he had that Draco and Hermione both had their parchments with them. He refastened his bag and backtracked down the corridor to a different staircase than he'd originally intended to use, as this new route would bring him much closer to the dancing trolls tapestry, and he raced up the stairs two at a time. Once he was facing the blank stretch of wall, Harry paced three times, thinking hard of their personal study area, and was both thrilled and relieved to see that Draco and Hermione were already in the room, their heads bent over what looked like the very Potions essay he'd been thinking about not fifteen minutes ago. They both looked up as soon as they heard the door open, and Harry could see a piece of charmed parchment sitting next to Hermione's Potions textbook.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked as Harry dropped his book bag next to his usual armchair and sank into it. Harry ran a hand through his hair, not quite sure where to begin.

"I…I ran into Professor Trelawney just now," he finally said. "Quite literally, actually – knocked her over on the sixth floor – but that's not the point." He made a noise of frustration and raked his fingers through his hair a second time, positive it was sticking up every which way by now.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione repeated. She looked extremely concerned.

"She just made another prediction – you know, like the one she made the night you two caught Wormtail," Harry said.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked skeptically. "I know we've been dealing with prophecies for a while now, but…"

"I'm sure," Harry insisted. "It was the same sort of thing – she went into a trance, spoke in this deep, hoarse voice, and when she finished, she sort of shook her head and looked at me funny, and she clearly didn't remember that she'd said anything at all. She'd dropped her books all over the ground, and she just sort of looked at them as if she couldn't figure out how they'd ended up there, then picked them up and walked off. I'm telling you, it's the same situation as before."

"What did she say?" Hermione asked. "Do you remember?"

"Not word for word, I don't think," Harry replied, "but the general idea wasn't good – she said…er…something is going to happen sooner than expected, and she mentioned murder. The only part I remember is the last bit: 'Tonight at midnight, the phoenix will fall.' I don't know what the phoenix bit refers to, but it could be the Order."

"And even if it's not, you said she mentioned murder, and that's never a good sign," Draco said. "And whatever she meant, it's evidently happening tonight."

"We should probably go talk to Dumbledore, if we can," Hermione said then. "You know I don't put too much stock in what Professor Trelawney says, but if something bad is about to happen, he needs to know – he is the leader of the Order, after all."

"There's also no mention of where this supposed event is happening," Draco said. "Unless that was part of the wording you couldn't remember?" He looked to Harry, who shook his head.

"No," he said. "I may not remember all of it, but I know there was no mention of a place, or anything that could be one. Let's go find Dumbledore, and maybe he can help me get the memory into a Pensieve so we can look at it properly."

The trio left the Room of Requirement immediately and hurried to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office. To their dismay, however, Dumbledore wasn't there, and when they ran into Professor McGonagall a few minutes later, she was only able to tell them that the headmaster had been away from the school since morning and was unlikely to return before dinner. They returned to their study room at a much slower pace than they'd left it, dejectedly contemplating their next move.

"Perhaps Dumbledore already knows what's going on, and that's why he's been gone all day?" Hermione wondered as she sat on the sofa. Draco and Harry nodded as they took their own seats, but neither seemed exceptionally enthused by her suggestion.

"I suppose it's possible," Harry said. "But what's the point of making a prediction if someone else already knows what you're predicting?"

"Harry, you know I've always thought Divination was rubbish; do you really expect me to be able to answer that?" Hermione said dryly.

"No, but you have to agree it doesn't really make sense."

"I don't think there's any sense worrying about it right now," Draco said. "Dumbledore isn't here at the moment, so what are we going to do? There isn't really anything we can do, is there?"

"Not really, no," Harry said, though he still sounded hesitant. "I guess we just have to wait."

The three friends looked at each other. Waiting – especially when waiting for something bad – was never fun.

Neither Harry, Hermione, nor Draco were able to explain how they managed to get through the final remaining hour before dinner without exploding with nervous anticipation, but they were soon making their way down to the Great Hall for the evening meal. It was obvious at a glance that Dumbledore hadn't returned – or if he had, he was taking his meal elsewhere – but halfway through the main course, an owl swooped down and landed on the Slytherin table, right in front of Draco. He gave a gasp of surprise when he recognized his own Berenice, and he stroked her feathers lovingly as he untied the neat scroll attached to her leg. Berenice accepted a bit of his dinner with a gracious hoot before taking off again, her tawny feathers glistening in the candlelight. As post owls usually only delivered messages during breakfast, Draco knew this note had to be important, and he quickly slit open the seal with his knife before unrolling it and scanning the loopy script within:

Dear Mr. Black,

Please come to my office this evening at nine o'clock. I'm feeling partial towards licorice wands this evening.

Yours very sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore

Draco stuffed the note in his pocket and wasted no time in sending Harry and Hermione a charmed parchment message:

Dumbledore wants me to meet him in his office later tonight.

What for? came the reply in the slightly messy scrawl he recognized as Harry's.

No idea, Draco wrote. Can't imagine why I'm the only one who got a message – what could he possibly have to tell me that he wouldn't tell you two as well?

Guess we'll find out in a few hours.

Draco was still incredibly curious when he left for Dumbledore's office just before nine o'clock – what did the headmaster want with him? Was there something related to the Malfoy estate that had been left unsettled? He contemplated a number of possibilities as he walked through the corridors, but no one scenario seemed more likely than any of the others, and so Draco merely gave up guessing and gave the password. The gargoyle sprang aside, and Draco entered the office when Dumbledore called for him to come in.

"Good evening, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said jovially as Draco took his usual seat. "Tea? Sherbet lemon?"

"Nothing for me tonight, thank you," Draco replied politely, though his grip on his chair's armrests was a bit tighter than usual.

"Very well, then. I suspect you're wondering why I called you in this evening?" Dumbledore asked. Draco nodded.

"Very much so, sir. You've always included at least Harry, Hermione, and Ginny in your missives as well, and so I must admit I'm at a loss."

"I've located another Horcrux," Dumbledore said without preamble.

"Really?" Draco said interestedly. "Which one?"

"The locket, if my research is correct."

"That's great…but if we're talking Horcruxes, shouldn't the others be here as well?" Draco asked with a frown. "Ginny's probably studying since I don't think she's quite finished her O.W.L.s, but I know that Harry and Hermione aren't busy right now."

"You may tell your friends after the meeting as usual, of course, but this particular Horcrux concerns you especially," Dumbledore said. "You see, unless I am very much mistaken, the locket is hidden in your ancestral home."

"There's a Horcrux at Malfoy Manor?" Draco repeated, a look of shock flickering across his face.

"Yes. Many pureblood family homes have hiding places that can easily be masked by spells, and I would be very surprised if Malfoy Manor was not the same," Dumbledore explained. "The fact that the house was once Voldemort's headquarters is also promising – I realize the diary was once in your family's possession as well, but it's possible Voldemort hid another Horcrux in the manor without anyone else's knowledge. As the diary was created with the goal of it eventually being discovered, I think we can safely say that it is a bit of an anomaly – the rest of the Horcruxes, I am sure, only Voldemort knows their location, or even their existence."

"Or so he thinks," Draco replied with a slight smirk. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Very true, my dear boy."

"So are you saying you know where this secret hiding spot in the manor is?" Draco asked. Dumbledore frowned.

"Unfortunately, I do not – I have never visited the manor, and of course the blueprints of prominent Wizarding buildings such as that are not public record. I was hoping that you might have noticed something when you last were in the house, actually." It was Draco's turn to frown.

"No, sir," he said. "The passageway that led to the cellar was hidden behind a door, but I doubt that's what we're looking for, and I was able to get past that without any trouble."

"No, that's not what we need," Dumbledore muttered. "We're looking for a secret compartment, a hidden safe, something of that sort."

"The only safe I found was the one in my father's study, and there was definitely no locket in there," Draco said.

"Also an unlikely candidate, as those safes tend to respond only to the master of the house."

"I'm truly sorry I can't be of more help, Professor," Draco said. "But the manor is huge – are we just going to do a blind search?"

"I'm afraid we might have to, unfortunately – there's no other way to learn what's there," Dumbledore said.

"Merlin, that'll take forever…hang on," Draco said suddenly. "Maybe I don't know where this secret hiding place is, but there's someone else who might."

"Who?" Dumbledore asked. "Could you trust them with something like this?"

"Absolutely," Draco said firmly. Without a second thought, he called, "Dobby!" A loud crack sounded as the little house-elf appeared in the middle of Dumbledore's office, and the headmaster chuckled.

"Of course," he said, looking amused. "Dobby worked for your family before he came to Hogwarts, didn't he?"

"He was my personal elf more than my family's, but yes, he did," Draco replied. He turned to Dobby. "Hello, Dobby. I was hoping you might be able to help us with something."

"Good evening, Master Draco!" Dobby squeaked. "Dobby is happy to help."

"Dobby, do you know of any secret hiding places in Malfoy Manor – places that could easily be protected by spells or something like that?" Draco asked. "Not something like the study safe – we need something that isn't dependent on a Malfoy's touch to open, something that anyone could theoretically use to hide something important." Dobby looked thoughtful as he considered Draco's question.

"Dobby is sorry," he said. "It is being a very long time since Dobby is working in Master Draco's home."

"You can think about it, Dobby, it's alright," Draco assured the elf. "If you think of something, though, please tell me as soon as possible." Dobby suddenly turned and looked up at the two wizards, his large eyes even wider than usual.

"There…there is being a place, Master Draco," he said in little more than a whisper. "How Dobby is forgetting, Dobby does not know – Dobby is hearing Master Draco's father speak of it many times."

"What's that, Dobby?" Draco asked eagerly. "What hiding place did Lucius mention?"

"The drawing room – under the rug," Dobby replied. "Dobby is never seeing it, but some sort of trapdoor, Dobby thinks."

"That sounds very much like what we're after," Dumbledore said approvingly.

"Thank you, Dobby," Draco added. "You've been a huge help." Dobby beamed.

"Thank you very much, Master Draco! Is you needing anything else?" Dobby was clearly pleased with the praise and eager to help out again if he could.

"No, I don't think so – but I'll call you if I change my mind?"

"Of course, Master Draco. Please give Dobby's kindest regards to Master Harry and Mistress Hermione."

"As soon as I see them," Draco promised, giving Dobby a fond smile. Dobby smiled back, his ears flopping excitedly, and vanished with another loud crack.

"Excellent thinking, Draco," Dumbledore said. "Now, I do believe wasting any more time would be pointless – shall we?" Draco looked confused.

"Shall we what?" he asked.

"Shall we fetch the Horcrux?"

"We?" Draco repeated. "I…sir, what do you mean?" Dumbledore chuckled again.

"Forgive me, dear boy, I didn't mention it, did I…I would like you to come along with me to retrieve the locket. In fact, I suspect that you must come along, as you will, at the very least, need to lead me onto the grounds due to Severus' wards, and I would not be surprised if we came across other enchantments that only a Malfoy can break."

"I…" Draco was speechless for a long moment. "I don't know what to say," he finally said. "You actually want me to come along with you?"

"Indeed I do," Dumbledore said with a hint of amusement. "You are more than qualified for the job, I assure you."

"Thank you, sir," Draco said. "Yes, I'll go along with you."

"Excellent." Dumbledore's tone then turned serious. "I do have one last question, however. If you come with me, you must be prepared to do exactly what I ask of you. We do not know just what sort of enchantments might be protecting the Horcrux, but they are bound to be complex, and they might very well fight us to keep us from obtaining the Horcrux. If I give you any sort of command – even if I tell you to abandon the mission and get out of the manor, even if I tell you to leave me behind – are you prepared to do so?"

Draco carefully contemplated Dumbledore's request. Whatever they were facing, it was bound to be extremely dangerous – if it came down to it, could he really abandon the headmaster? What if Dumbledore was injured, or even dying? But they had to get the Horcruxes, and if this one was truly in Malfoy Manor…

"I'll do it," he said.

"Your word, Draco," Dumbledore insisted.

"You have it," Draco promised. "I give you my word that I will do exactly as you say."

"Good. Now, if you have no further questions, I suggest we set off as soon as possible. However, I would like you to make a stop by Gryffindor Tower before we leave."

"Gryffindor Tower?" Draco asked. "Are Harry and Hermione coming with us?"

"No – it will be dangerous enough with just two," Dumbledore said. "If there is a chance in the future for them to come along on a Horcrux hunt, I will gladly give it to them, but tonight is not that chance. No, I would like you to borrow your brother's invisibility cloak – it is already past curfew, as I'm sure you're aware, and I'd rather not have to explain why we're leaving school grounds so late at night. If I appear to be alone, anyone we encounter will simply think I am off for a drink in Hogsmeade." Draco recalled that someone – Sirius, maybe? – had once mentioned that Dumbledore's brother was the bartender at the Hog's Head, so the cover story was definitely believable.

"I'll send Harry and Hermione a charmed parchment message then so they know I'm coming," Draco said.

"Excellent. Please make sure you're back in my office by ten o'clock – as it is, we will not be able to Apparate directly to the manor, as I'm sure you know, and we have a fair amount of hard work ahead of us."

"I'll be back by then," Draco promised. He then dashed off a quick charmed parchment message before hurrying from the room. In all honesty, he wasn't entirely sure he was prepared for what he and Dumbledore were about to do, and the thought unnerved him when he remembered the prediction Harry had discussed earlier – hadn't his brother said it mentioned something happening sooner than they'd anticipated? Was that supposed to mean tonight's Horcrux hunt? And if it did, what did the rest of it mean? The mention of murder was particularly unsettling – Draco knew they were most likely going to face Dark magic of a formidable nature, but was someone actually going to die tonight? He tried not to think about it as he quickly made his way to the seventh floor, but unfortunately, it wasn't the sort of thought that was going to disappear so easily.

A/N: You all ready for this? To Malfoy Manor we go...

Just a quick update: camp has started, so I'm back to working 5 days a week instead of having Wednesdays off like I do during the school year. Obviously I'm still planning on updating weekly at the very least (as evidenced by the fact that this chapter's going up now), they just might be a few hours later than usual.

Thanks for the follows/faves/reviews, & for reading! Glad we're all happy that the marriage contract is no longer an issue - the confrontation with Tracey's father is still to come, though, & that'll be quite the scene.

JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. Please R&R, & enjoy! :)