Draco Malfoy took a deep breath to prepare himself for what was to come before knocking on the door of 12 Grimauld Place. At first, it did not seem as though anyone was going to open the door and so, half relieved and half dismayed, Draco turned to go. He was about to start down the path to the street when he heard the door open from behind him.

"Draco?" Molly Weasley's voice asked. "What are you doing here?"

Draco turned and smiled at the Weasley matriarch.

"I'm here to help."

Molly looked confused but nevertheless hurried Draco into the house and out of the cold winter air.

"I like what you've done with the place," Draco remarked, smirking.

"I think you mean that you like what your mother has done."

"No, it's nicer than it used to be when it was simply the Black residence."

"I suppose you would know, you're the one who has been here when Mrs Black was still alive, something you neglected to tell the Order," Molly remarked shrewdly.

"Well I have a lot to tell you now. My Godfather and I have been busy whilst in hiding and have managed to gather a large amount of information for your side."

Molly's eyes went wide. "You had better see Remus then; he's in charge of intelligence. Come on, I'll take you to him. And don't forget to get yourself some more food before you leave again, you're looking thin."

Once Draco had told Remus everything that he knew about the latest Death Eater plots, he sat in silence and waited for Remus to process it.

"This is huge."

"It's not that much, nothing that will actually stop the war but hopefully this will at least save somebody."

"Draco," Remus said seriously, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder. "This information is going to help a lot of people. Thank you."

"Well, I do what I can."

Remus returned to his seat behind the desk in his office and leant back in his chair.

"So what do you want?"

"What makes you think that I want anything?" Draco asked, widening his eyes innocently.

"You're a Slytherin; you wouldn't do anything this dangerous without a reason. What do you get out of spying on Death Eaters?"

"Other than the war ending and the bounty that is currently on my head removed? Well, for one thing, I wouldn't mind immunity for me and my Godfather after the war is over – due to all of the things we have done for your side, obviously."

"Obviously," Remus agreed disgust in his voice. "Anyone else you want to let off for their crimes? Your father? Maybe your aunt? How about Voldemort?"

"Stop complaining. I'm not asking for much and you know it. Severus and I have done a lot for you already and are only planning on doing more. We are putting our lives in danger here, the Death Eaters do want to kill us, perhaps you didn't realise that is why we've been living in caves since the start of the year."

"I get your point but Snape has killed people, he killed Dumbledore."

"You're a werewolf Remus. Are you honestly telling me you have never hurt someone by accident and then regretted it when you woke up and realised what you had done?"

"That's different. I didn't choose to be a werewolf."

"And I didn't choose to be a Death Eater or a Malfoy. All I want is a chance in life," Draco said in a low voice."

Remus sighed, rubbing his temples in small circles. "I can see your point Draco and I'm sure that the Ministry won't really have a problem with letting you go free but there is a difference with Snape."

"I'm not letting you through the only true father I have ever had in jail because he made a mistake as a teenager and got stuck in a situation that he couldn't get out of. He's a good man and I won't see him rot in jail for the rest of his life because he was so angry and so bitter that he picked the wrong side in a war that he had no idea about."

"All I can do is try," Remus said quietly, his eyes soft as he looked at Draco. It was clear that Draco loved Snape and there was no way that Snape could have earned such devotion if he wasn't a good man.

Draco sighed. "Just promise that you will try, that's all I can really ask from you. I better get going. I'll contact you when I next have news."

"Ok, feel free to have a shower and eat first."

Draco nodded and stood up to move to the door.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck."

Blaise Zabini had one last thing to do before he left Hogwarts. He had already sent all of his belongings, except from the few he would be taking with him, to Gringotts for them to be stored in his personal vault. He had informed his girlfriend and the headmistress of his plans for departure and was now going to see Ginny to tell her he was leaving.

Blaise had realised that there was nothing he could do at Hogwarts. The teachers were only trying to protect the students but seemed to believe that the only way to do this was to shield them from the things that were happening in the outside world. Despite this, all the students knew what was happening. Many of the students received the Daily Prophet and were regaled with stories of horror and violence every day. Word spread quickly in Hogwarts, just as it always had, and no news was kept secret for long.

As the pupils had discovered more about what was happening in the outside world, they had looked for someone to blame and their hostile gazes had fallen upon the usual targets of suspicion, the Slytherins. Desperate to protect themselves, the remaining snakes had formed a closed group, excluding Blaise. As a Slytherin he was a target for any angry student and, now that Draco was gone, he had no one to watch his back.

So he had written to his old Head of House to find out if there was anything he could do to help the war effort and Snape had written back inviting Blaise to join him and Draco as they attempted to spy on Death Eater meetings and glean information for the Order. He had accepted the offer. He was due to leave this evening during dinner so as not to attract attention and just had one hour to say his goodbyes.

Blaise entered the Heads' common room using the password Draco had given him and found Ginny working at her desk.

"Ginny, can I speak to you quickly before dinner?" Blaise asked.

"Sure," Ginny answered, "what's up?"

Blaise sat down next to her. "Well, it's like this..."