Keep calm. Now, first step, flush yourself in. Merlin's beard that sounded disgusting. Never mind. As he queued up he looked around him, outwardly confidant, inwardly terrified. Everyone else seemed slightly afraid too. That was probably a good thing. It meant his disguise was working. Let's see, pull the chain, step in and. Oh, he'd arrived. Draco looked around slowly, no need to appear rushed or confused, it would make him stand out like a sore thumb. Now, what was next- of course, head to the records office. First of all the lifts. Draco stalked across the atrium , trying to move as much like his father as he could remember, all around him heads bowed respectfully, desperately trying not to catch the eyes of anyone around him. Draco stepped into the lift.

'Ah, hello Lucius. You're in early.'

'So it would seem.' Draco said dismissively, echoing the curt tone that his father had always used to him. The man didn't say another word until he got off at his floor. From there Draco headed down to the records vault.

'Have you got the file I ordered?' He asked the guard outside.

'File, Sir? What file? We haven't heard about any file.'

'I need the Gringott's audit.'

'Can't have that, Sir. Need a signed order.'

'You know who I am, surely. Do you really wish to prevent the minister from accomplishing his aims. We all know what happens when that doesn't happen, don't we. Just nod. Yes, we do. The minister gets angry. And we know what happens when the minister gets angry, don't we. Yes, we do. Heads roll. Heads that are not always attached to their body's.'

'Very well, Sir. Carry on in. I'm sure the file you want can be found.'

Draco headed through the door, inside he found a young man sitting behind a high desk.

'How may I help you, Sir?' he asked, looking at Draco askew.

'The Gringott's audit.'

'Very well. If you would follow me into the vault, Sir.'

Draco said nothing as the young man unlocked the vast door and into the vault.

'If you will wait here, we need to seal the first door before we can open the second.'

'Get on with it, man.'

'Very good.'

The boy opened the second door and gestured Draco into the room within. It was full of miles upon miles of rolled up parchments each almost as thick as they were long. The other man gave a small cough and Draco turned around. Behind him was the one sight he did not want to see. A wand tip, pointed straight at him.

'Right. Who are you. I want to know.' The young man demanded

'Who do you think I am?'

'Not Lucius Malfoy, that's for certain. You look like him, sure enough, but you're not him. I'm not going to ask again. Who are you?'

'What do you think of the Dark Lord?'

'Answer my question.'

'Mine first.'

'I've got the wand.'

'Very well. My name is Malfoy.'

'No it isn't.

'Draco Malfoy.'

An eyebrow shot up at this.

'You've heard of ageing potions, I take it.'

'I see. Well, pleasure to meet you Mr Malfoy, I am Marcus Tullius Merlinus.'

'A pleasure to meet you, Marcus. Would it be tactless to ask if you were going to answer my question?'

'It might be considered tactless to ask, but I shall give you the answer you want. I do not support the Dark Lord.'

'Are you just saying that because you think that is what I want to hear, or because it is the truth?'

'It is the truth. Surely you know what my family does?'

'Of course, I was brought up properly, you know.'

'We'll see about that. Anyway, my father is rather being held under duress.'

'And you are being held hostage to keep him that way?'

'No. He's just celebrated his 173rd birthday, he's in no fit state to deny anyone anything. It is more the case that he is being held hostage to my good behaviour.'

'But you're only, what sixteen? What harm could you do? You can't be a threat to him can you?'

'The blood of Merlin runs in my veins, do you really think that I am as powerless as an average sixteen year old?'

'I suppose not.'

'You suppose correctly. I know more magic than you could possibly imagine. Having access to the library of Merlin doesn't hurt in that, of course.'

'It exists? I thought the library of Merlin was a fable - no-one's ever seen it.'

'Well, no-one who isn't a descendant of Merlin, that's for sure.'

'Indeed, and we know what a select group that is.'

'Precisely. But enough of me, you are here for something to assist in the defeat of the Dark Lord, aren't you?'

'You're not going to stop me?'

'No. There are some things worth risking everything for, and this is one of those things.'

'If you say so. May I ask a question?'

'Go ahead?'

'How did you know I wasn't my father?'

'You want to know that. Well, normally I'd allude to some my having some sort of mystic powers and each witch and wizard having their own unique magical signature, but in reality it's a lot simpler than that: the nose is wrong.'

'My nose?'

'Absolutely, definitely not the same as your father's. I had a good look at him yesterday when he was down here asking for the same roll you just asked for. And talking of which, here's your copy.'

'Thank you.'

'Not at all. I know what you are going to use it for.'

'How?'

'Mystic powers. Good luck, Mr Malfoy.'

Marcus showed Draco out of the vault and gave him a nod as if to say goodbye. Draco tucked the roll into the inside pocket of his robe and instantly regretted it. The thing was bulky and looked suspicious. Oh well, not much longer to go now. He was nearly out. This was the final step after all, escape with the list. Drat. He'd told the guard what he'd wanted on the way in and apparently he'd raised the alarm. In front of him stood a dozen, distinctly dodgy aurors, and Lucius Malfoy.

'Well, well, a most convincing likeness. How did you do it? Polyjuice potion?'

'No. Guess again.'

'I am not here to play games with you boy. I am sure my associates can get the truth out of you.'

'I doubt it.'

Bugger bugger bugger. What could he do? Thirteen, no, fourteen to one were not good odds any day of the week, particularly when he hadn't got his wand out yet. If only he could pull of a wandless spell to buy himself some time. No chance of that though. Draco had never been able to do that. Perhaps Marcus could lend a hand. Draco glanced back, only to find himself being studiously ignored. Well, no hope from that quarter. There was no way he could bluff his way out, was there? Well, perhaps if he had a very quick escape route? Was it worth giving apparition a try? If he could create a spot of confusion, perhaps it might be.

'Well? Are you going to come quietly, or are we going to have to force you?' The genuine Lucius asked.

'Come with you? Why should I go with an imposter?' Draco asked, a flash of inspiration coming to his mind. Certainly the aurors seemed confused.

'Well, are you going to arrest him or not?' Draco asked. The aurors were beginning to look at each other, seemingly they hadn't noticed the noses.

'Not me, arrest him, you fools, can't you tell he's the imposter? I'm me.'

'No, I am!' Draco insisted. The aurors turned to talk to each other, lowering their wands just a fraction. Now was the time to act. Thinking of the forest, Draco vanished before their eyes, just before ten stunning spells sailed through the spot where he'd just been.

'Who was supposed to be maintaining the anti-apparition jinx?' Lucius Malfoy asked, in frustration.

Panicked by the situation, it seemed Draco had not quite apparated as successfully as he had hoped. On the return to the forest he found himself popping back into existence upside down and halfway up a tree. Well, he seemed safe enough up here for now, but it was only a matter of time until someone worked out that they could trace the path of his apparition, even Umbridge had told them that was possible. Never mind. For the moment at least, it was time to take a couple of deep breathes and calm down. It was also probably a good idea to work out why he was still in this tree. Oh, great, just what he needed, his feet stuck to the branch, that was a problem, wasn't it. Well, perhaps a second apparition wasn't the right idea. Waving his wand, Draco undid the laces of his shoes. It was only after he had been hit by the third branch on the way down that he wondered whether it mightn't have been his best idea.

Draco landed headfirst into a gorse bush. Well, at least it had broken his fall, but by the time Draco had pulled himself out of it he had scratches all over. Did he still have the summary? Sudden panic rose again in Draco's mind. Patting his breast pocket though, he realised everything was alright, the massive roll was still in there. Now all he had to do was find his way back to the tent. Now, where was he, the pine stand, that was obvious, although Draco wished it wasn't since with every step he took it seemed that he was treading on needles. Well, he was lucky to be alive. Now, which way to head? Now the big hill is that way, and he was in the pines, so he needed to head. Of course, that way. Draco walked along back to where he knew the campsite should be, his mind forcing his body on. He desperately needed to sit down. When he arrived to the spot where he knew they should be, he found nothing. They'd gone on without him. Even the tent had disappeared. He'd been abandoned.

Draco collapsed. His friends had left him, just like that. Had this all been a ploy so that he'd go off and get himself killed whilst they carried on regardless? They'd left him to lie here, bleeding and shaking. That was funny, where had that come from? The nerves, Draco supposed, he didn't think he'd been hit by a jelly-legs curse. No, that wasn't possible, but then, it wasn't possible that the others had gone on without him, and they had. Or had they? Draco wondered whether he was being slightly paranoid, or whether there was something more significant going on. Perhaps they'd had to move camp or something. That seemed more likely. Well, perhaps they left some signs? No, nothing obvious, well he couldn't blame them, the need for secrecy was obvious. How could he get back to the tent. Of course- he could summon his library to him, the direction the books came from would tell him where to go.

'Accio' Said Draco, thinking about the first book. It hit him on the back of the head and he turned round, rubbing it gently. So that's where they'd gotten to.

'You're back!'

'Yup. It got a bit hairy here and there, but I'm pretty much alright.'

'Good. That's something at least. Let's get you into the kitchen- we can get some hot water and clean you up a bit.'

'Thanks, Hermione. Any chance you can give me a bit of a hand? I'm not sure I trust my legs that much at the moment.'

'Alright.'

Hermione stuck two arms forward and Draco grabbed them. Hermione leaned back and somehow, between the two of them, they managed to get Draco back up onto his feet and into the kitchen, where Draco sat down rather heavily in one of the chairs.

'Bloody hell, mate. You look like you've been through the wars. What happened?' Ron asked.

'I ran into my Dad and a load of aurors.'

'Really, how did you escape?'

'Oh, I just apparated away.'

'Really? How did you get like this?'

'Fell out of a tree.'

'What?'

'Fell out of a tree.'

'We heard, Draco. It's just-how on earth did you get stuck up a tree?'

'Apparated badly.'

Hermione came back with a bowl of hot water and a couple of rags.

'Let's get these cleaned up.'

'Thanks.'

'Why did you apparate badly, any ideas?'

'One or two. I reckon it had something to do with the dozen aurors trying to get me.'

Draco sat back and shut his eyes whilst Hermione gently dabbed at the cuts on his face with the comforting, warm wet rag.

'Thanks Hermione.'

'No problem, Draco. Thanks for trying. Never mind about not getting the parchment.'

'What do you mean not getting it? I'd managed that before I ran into my father. It's here.' Draco said, tapping his pocket.

'Well, let's have a look then.'

'Take it.'

'Well, that's something at least. And you're safe too, thank goodness.'

'Safe.' Said Draco, the colour draining from his already pale face.

'What is it?'

'We're not safe. I apparated from the ministry, right in front of those aurors. They'll be able to track me here, and if I've been dripping blood everywhere it won't take a genius to work out where we are. We need to move.'

'Where?'

'Anywhere. Just, not here. Come on, let's get out while we can. Harry, can you handle packing the tent.'

'Sure thing.'

As Hermione and Ron carried Draco out of the tent Harry began to pack it away with a swish of his wand.

'Hurry up.'

Harry grabbed the tent bag and grabbed hold of Hermione, who apparated them swiftly away.