Disclaimer: heh almost forgot it.... I didnt write harry potter.....well at least I think didnt....if I did I must have amnesia and could possibly have been robbed.......

A/N: This is to make up for the short first two chapters and the fact that I won't be releasing a chapter next Wednesday like usual …I'm going on a trip...just an early chapter…

Alright I want to thank, of course,

Sammie for reviewing! My bestest bud! Rainey Dae says to stop hogging the story…heh oh well that's what happens when I threaten to let only you read it hehe. One hint about this chapter Bagels?....heh you know the one we talked about….its them…..

And of course Melora the anonymous, thank you for the suggestion and encouragement,

Thank you Aelket for your kind comment,

and last but not least the one who wasn't afraid to give me some criticism, and kindly I might add, Rainey Dae (love your pen name by the way) …sorry if it goes from 3rd person to 1st person….I try to go by writing rules like staying in past tense (which I do a good job of I must say) but my person issues…..meh whatever…..I like your idea Dae I'll just pretend I'm going against the rules and being artsy, as I always say, if the people like it, It has to be ok! (well fine I don't always say that but…you know what I mean!) mainly I use 3rd person for people other than Luna… I did slip up in the first chapter but hey! What can I say? I looked over the first chapter way too many times…

......on to better things, like POCKY! Oh wait sorry didn't mean to make you hungry….I think …..I'll just go back to the story… AHEM *many clearings of throats* …..It was the best of times; It was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness….*someone elbows me in the side as I look up innocently* oh I'm sorry, is this not the Charles Dickens fic?….sorry for the long A/N… couldn't help it….

VOTE ON MY POLL!

SO THAT I CAN CONTINUE THE STORY WITHOUT FILLERS!

City on Fire

Ch. 3 Whispering Ways

A loud banging could be heard throughout the manor and headquarters of the Dark Lord followed by a loud hissing, the distinct sound of a slithering snake, and the disturbing sound that was the Dark Lord's voice.

"Who dares to obstruct my peace?!" he hissed out angrily as a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Zabini, you had better have a good reason for being here."

The calm voice of Blaise Zabini echoed through the shadows, "Yes my lord, they have taken the bait my lord." He stood there quietly with a blank look on his face, waiting for his master's answer.

"Yes, good, very good, I think I might forgive you for the racket you made on your way in." He smirked, "Unless, It wasn't you?"

"No, my lord it was me," Still with the blank look on his face.

"Really Zabini? You really think I would believe you able to make that racket?" He paused, "Of course we can't have your little spy leave now can we?" Blaise's face was distorted in pain as the almost inhuman bloodcurdling scream could be heard from a downstairs room in the manor.

He fell to his knees and a tear tracked down his face as the screaming faded out. He muttered something incomprehensible as pain from the cruciatus caused him to black out.

"And how exactly do you plan on us traveling without getting caught?" Draco's voice was strained from trying not to yell at the supposedly smart woman standing in front of him. "How are we ever going to get to The Meet without getting killed?!" His voice rose higher and higher with every word.

I quietly tsked at him, "Draco, Draco. Have you not thought through your abilities? Think Draco think!" Hinting was the only thing I could do for him now. He needed to realize what abilities were needed to survive the war. I may be insane, but if there's one thing I'm not, I'm not stupid.

"What could possibly ever give us a chance to travel without…being…detected." he trailed off. "That's-that's IT!" He paused to look at me with awe, "Why did I never think of it before? It's so obvious I don't know why it didn't hit me right between the eyes!" he was getting excited now. "Luna! You're a genius!"

I smirked a little, barely containing a grin, "Now Draco you know that isn't true, I just pick up on things faster than others." I twirled my wand mindlessly between my fingers, "Now we need to prepare to leave."

"Bloody hell!" Neville Longbottom whispered as his eyes widened in fear. He quickly conjured his patronus sending a frantic message to the rest of The Meet. "Get out now! They've attacked and the only way to save everyone is to leave now. Head towards," he hesitated for a moment, "head towards the new headquarters." He paused again, "I know it isn't quite ready yet but, it'll have to do. Now GO! Save all you can without being caught!" His patronus circled him and sped off in the distance towards The Meet. "I hope, with great certainty, that everyone will be safe." He whispered before slipping out of the alleyway he was hiding in.

He had witnessed the terror of a group of Death Eaters beating their way into The Meet from his vantage point in the alleyway. He quickly found a different alley a block over and turned on the spot disappearing with a soft click.

Landing gracefully was something Neville had greatly improved from his first year with the ability to apparate. He had also perfected the art of a silent journey. None of the commonly heard loud cracks would split the air when appeared or disappeared. It was an intriguing ability that few seemed to ever master. It was and ability that had saved him many a time and made him even more invaluable to his organization commonly known as The Meet.

Quickly thinking over how to strengthen the new headquarters before all the members and refugees appeared Neville started to cast a plethora of charms, curses, and traps that would come into effect as soon as he let the last incantation leave his mouth. Complicated swirls, flicks, swishes, and jabs put the last touches on the defense before everyone managed to arrive.

He reviewed the food and potion ingredient stores, checked the protections placed on the makeshift infirmary, and waited impatiently to receive word of the rest.

Nerves and thoughts of what could have happened to make the Death Eaters attack the headquarters had Neville riled up by the time the first of the refugees landed in the meeting room of the new headquarters. He exhaled a sigh of relief as the steely eyes of Oliver Wood met his.

"Oliver, did everyone get out safe? Do they know how to get here?" Neville had been fretting over everyone's safety since he had seen the ambush. "Is everyone alright?"

"Alright, alright, slow down there Longbottom," Wood spoke in his thick Scottish accent. "Everyone got out fine, but Dean Thomas hasn't checked in. He hasn't been seen since going off with his informant…" He trailed off at the look of anger and sadness that passed over Neville's features, "So you know what happened?"

"He," Neville paused "He was compromised," and after another pregnant pause, "along with his informant."

"Ah, so the duo is deceased." Wood's brow creased, "Now how are we to get information from them?"

"I wouldn't say deceased Wood, more likely tortured to insanity, but perhaps we can infiltrate the manor with another spy."

"I wouldn't want to risk it, but perhaps." He stopped to think, "Longbottom, the rest are going to enter through the storage rooms, and I had forgotten to tell you, but I have heard rumors that Draco Malfoy isn't dead but neither is he a part of the Death Eaters."

"Interesting. That must be the oddest rumor I have heard in years, though with these times, who knows?"

"Draco! Get back here you imbecile! You forgot to grab the viles of polyjuice!" I yelled from the Great Hall. "We need them to survive now get back here!"

"What is it that you are screeching about woman?! Are you trying to burst my ear drums?" Draco grumbled as he grabbed the pack of potions. "Are you sure we are going to be able to carry all this when we change?"

I grimaced, "I'm pretty sure but I don't know if it'll change like our clothes or be strapped to our backs."

"We'll find out when we try, I guess," I shrugged.

"It's now or never, do you want the honors?" I looked over at him. We had reached grounds just outside the castle.

He nodded, "Three, two, one!" In the blink of an eye we had changed respectively into a golden eagle and a hawk.

Truly it had been a coincidence when we had found out that both of our animagi were birds. Personally I liked the idea that hawks were incredibly intelligent creatures and that was what I personified, but I didn't understand how Draco Malfoy, git that he is, could ever be considered an eagle, a golden eagle for that matter. A rare and beautiful creature more commonly found in Australia, but sometimes known to be found in Britain. Seriously, Why him?

Crowds stared at the sky in awe and wonder. The oddest sight befell the citizens of the outskirts of London. An eagle wheeled around the sky, graceful and beautiful. It was an odd sight indeed that caused the former Headmistress of Hogwarts look twice, rather than hurrying on to the new headquarters. Recognition dawned on her face as she thought of her former students. Draco Malfoy, an animagus just like his patronus. And- and was that a hawk?! She fingered a golden coin attached to a chain around her neck, thinking.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when it heated against her skin, the signal that a D.A. member was trying to talk to her. Sliding out of public eyes, she answered the call in a small alleyway.

"Professor," The dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood spoke from the coin, an invention courtesy of Hermione Granger that had been adapted by The Meet and the new D.A. "I need to know how to reach The Meet."

"Shhh, child don't speak the name! We can't be caught now!" McGonagall hissed at the coin. "Find Whispering Ways, that is the key to all things that are the D.A. and beyond," she spoke in a simple yet frustrating code. "And, are you with the eagle?" She had wondered if Draco was on their side. She needed to know if he hadn't turned his back on his true nature.

"Yes, the eagle has helped me thus far, well I forced him to come with me, but that doesn't matter now." Luna muttered quietly. "Whispering Ways you said? We'll be there in no time!"

"Don't get caught dearest, and don't lose the eagle." McGonagall truly hoped her former students would be safe.

"I promise we'll protect each other. Goodbye Professor, Merlin be with you!"

Pain, excruciating pain. Both of the body and of the heart. His lover was lying somewhere nearby in the cell. The near death experience was indescribable, the cruciatus performed by the Dark Lord unbearable, and the pain of hearing his lover's screams intolerable. He hoped for the peace of death, for both him and his partner.

He had offered to be a spy knowing its consequences, and Dean had offered to help him through the terrors of espionage. The two lovers were an oddity in the war. Consequences brought them together in a relationship neither would have thought possible. Blaise Zabini, for one, was a pureblood expected to provide an heir for his prestigious family and to consort with no less than the purest of blood. Not that that mattered to him. Since he had realized his feelings for Dean he had set aside his upbringing and all thoughts warning him away from homosexuality but now, now it cost him his heart. If he was spared and Dean left to die he would die of heartbreak, literally.

He had been working for the D.A. and The Meet for three months now without a single thing going wrong. Oh how naïve he had been, to think they could get away with stealing right under Voldemort's nose. And now it had probably cost him his lover and his life, great. Just great.

"Dean," he whispered hoarsely. "Dean are you alright?"

"Oh I'm great! What do you think Blaise?!" Dean answered back sarcastically. "If that great git of a snake hadn't been there maybe we would be just fine and dandy! Maybe I wouldn't have tripped!"

"Dean," Blaise sighed, "we can get out of here, I know it!" He paused, "Surely someone will save us?"

"Surely? Why don't you think of a way to get out of here rather than us waiting on our arses' for death or rescue!" He answered back angrily. "Surely, we are good enough to escape!" he paused a moment, "Whispering Ways is waiting." He said quietly.

Excuse my idiocy in an earlier chapter for putting London in the wrong spot *author grimaces*…I'm fixing it fast. Somehow I was thinking of where Paris is when typing about London…Funny how I realize what stupid things I write when working on the next chapter…

A/N: If anyone cares the funny thing about this story…it doesn't even have an outline…even I don't know what's going to happen next….sometimes I surprise myself hehe oh well…so normally I just wing it but maybe I'll get SAMMIE *wink wink nudge nudge* to help me plan it out. Just know that I'll try very hard to reach my personal deadline of releasing at least once a week…and I have another story being planned that will hopefully be released sometime around the 8th chapter of this story.