To Dwell on Dreams

Chapter Four -

A Walk In The Park

"SARAH! "screamed Lily, and ran to the spot where they'd been. James did the same, frantically looking around, as if expecting some trace of a clue.

Harry fell to his knees. You let it happen again. "It's - it's my fault," he croaked through gasps of air. "What have I done?"

"No Harry," said Remus, grabbing his shoulders, "you did nothing wrong."

Behind him, Harry was aware of Seamus steadying Parvati just as his mother collapsed into James. Sirius ran to them. "Hang on Lily," he instructed as she began shaking, choking in air.

"My b-baby," she choked, "he - took - my baby."

"What are we going to do?" pleaded James, looking to Sirius for an answer.

"The Ministry!" cried Remus, still keeping hold of Harry but turning to face the others in the hallway. "We have to contact them, let them know-"

"You do that and she'll die." Harry turned his head. Malfoy was standing in the middle of the living room.

"You!" shouted Sirius, as if he'd only just remembered Draco was there. He let go of the Potters, charged into the living room and grabbed hold of the boy's shoulders, banging him into the wall. "What have you done!"

Malfoy looked shocked. "It's nothing to do with me!" he yelped, "let go of me!" Sirius banged him into the wall again.

"What have you done!"

"Get off!"

But Sirius wasn't relenting. "What's wrong with you? She's only a child for God's sake!"

"I don't-"

"She's only twelve, she's just a little girl-"

"I know! " yelled Malfoy and shoved Sirius away from him. "This isn't anything to do with me!"

"You stand in my house," seethed Lily, standing up, pushing herself off James, "you stand there - as a Malfoy - in my house, and claim you have nothing to do with it?

"Yes!" cried Draco. Harry, having turned himself round, couldn't help but notice how the blond boy winced at the use of the word 'Malfoy.' "Just let me explain," he continued, holding his hands up protectively, "I promise I can explain."

Lily stopped. "Why are you here," she demanded. Her red hair was wild and fiery, her eyes piercing. Malfoy took a slight step back.

"I - I'm from Freiheit, the Death Eater resistance movement," Malfoy began, getting slightly more confident, "we want Potter's help."

Remus nodded. "We've heard of Freiheit-"

James cut in. "What do you want with me?"

"Not you," said Malfoy, "Harry, we want Harry."

"What do you mean, Harry?" James asked, confused, "what's he got to do with anything?"

Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "You're not serious, don't tell me you don't know?" He was, however, met with blank stares; apart from Harry, but he didn't have the energy to contribute. Malfoy shook his hand in Harry's direction. "He's Harry Potter," he stated, as if this made everything clear, but he still didn't get the desired response. He looked incredulous. "This is Fudge's finest?" he asked to no one in particular, turning his hands upwards.

"Explain then, boy," growled Sirius.

"My name," said Malfoy pointedly, "is Draco. And I am not your enemy."

"What do you want with Harry, Draco," said Remus diplomatically.

"We want him to defeat The Dark Lord," he said simply, "after that duel with Dumbledore he's weak and we want Potter to-"

But he was interrupted by James: "You want WHAT? " he exploded.

"Oh Good God," snapped Draco, "no one said anything about explaining anything to you, why the hell don't you know? He's your own son."

"What Malfoy, what!" yelled Parvati "Know what? "

"He's the key! He's the one person in the entire world who can defeat The Dark Lord, that's why he kept trying too kill him."

It was a moment before anyone spoke.

"W-what?" stammered Seamus.

Lily looked like she'd just been smacked in the face with a beater bat. "Kill him?" she whispered.

"Yes kill him," repeated Draco, "why do you think you had a Secret Keeper fifteen years ago?"

James looked confused. "You-Know-Who was after us-"

"No," said the boy in an overly patient voice, "he wanted Harry. You can imagine how pissed he was when he couldn't find him; the sole person with the uncanny ability to ruin everything, and he's no where to be found?"

"But...he found him at Hogwarts, didn't he?" Remus stood up, Harry didn't have the energy to do the same. "He was looking for Harry, not Snape or any of the other students; he found him at Hogwarts and broke the defences in Harry's Second Year, set the Basilisk lose?" Draco nodded.

"Yeah, I wonder how he managed that?" asked Seamus pointedly in Malfoy's direction.

"No," snapped Lily, "no, we're stopping right here. You," she shook her hand at Malfoy, "are going to explain everything right from the top, starting with whatever you think you know about my son."

"It's not just me, and I don't think, I know." Draco paused to rub his temples, not a planned act, just shear exhaustion. "Harry is the one - the...saviour or something; there's a prophecy or two. Basically, The Dark Lord is Salazar Slytherin's heir, Harry is Godric Gryffindor's. He will be the end of The Dark Lord, just as Gryffindor was the end of Slytherin - unless, of course, The Dark Lord gets there first. That's why he wanted to find him as a baby; no contest."

Now this was news to Harry.

"The heir of Gryffindor? " he repeated disbelieving.

"Amongst other things," was all Malfoy said.

"What!" cried Parvati, "that's impossible, it's just-"

"My son is the heir of Gryffindor? "

"What do you mean?" asked Seamus, "how-"

"How do you know that?" snapped Lupin, "can you prove it?"

"Yes," spat out Malfoy. Before he could question the boy further, Lily interrupted.

"Does that mean," she looked at her husband, "James' family, they were - all-"

"No," cut in Draco, a rather disgusted look of his face, "Gryffindor's blood runs in your veins."

"But I'm...Mugleborn?" Lily said, unsure. "How can that be?"

"It just is," he sniped. Seamus looked quite pleased, but he didn't say anything.

"Wow," said Sirius in a small voice.

"So," Remus cut in, and Harry took this as his queue to stand up; it was perhaps a little undignified for the saviour of the world to be sitting on the floor he realised. "You think if Harry fights You-Know-Who, now he's weak, he could...defeat him."

"We know it," said Malfoy arrogantly.

"So what does Sarah have to do with anything?" asked Parvati in a broken voice.

"Ah, that," uttered Malfoy, choosing his words, "like I said before, is nothing to do with me. Just coincidence."

"Explain," growled Sirius again.

"Wormtail was right, he has to redeem himself for blowing his cover-"

"Hang on a second," interrupted Lily, "just tell me - tell me, how long...was he-" She couldn't find the words.

"Betraying you?" supplied Draco. Lily dropped her eyes to the floor. He took that as a yes.

"On and off for about seventeen years," he shrugged, "The Dark Lord would have killed him if he hadn't, Wormtail was right about that." No one had anything to say to that, so Draco carried on.

"So he blows his cover, he has to come up with something so great that The Dark Lord wont kill him right there on the spot." Malfoy rubbed his temples again. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked.

"You stay right where you are," instructed James harshly.

Draco sighed. "The Dark Lord wants Harry anyway, it's part of some big plot to regain his strength, and it, the plan, came to a head a couple of weeks ago. I don't know the particulars, but basically, the efforts to get Potter have been upped. Wormtail took the girl because he knows Harry will go after her; he'll be responsible for delivering Harry right into his master's hands; redemption achieved."

"So you were here to make sure You-Know-Who didn't get Harry first?" clarified Remus.

"Yes," the blond haired boy replied, "whoever has Potter has the upper-hand, and if you come with me, that means Freiheit have the advantage."

"You're telling us it's a coincidence then?" Harry asked, "you turn up-"

"And you expose Wormtail, yeah," agreed Draco, "it wasn't exactly planned like this. If fact, we thought we'd timed it so he wouldn't be here and blow the whistle on me. I guess we'll have to just deal with that as it comes."

"Assuming Harry's going," pointed out James.

Draco looked really hacked off. "I've told you, he has to go, The Dark Lord is weak, and only Harry can destroy him-"

"But he can also restore him?" said Remus, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, using the other to gesture. "He's a double-edged knife."

"Yes," conceded Draco slowly, "but that won't happen. Harry will duel and he'll win."

Lily was shaking her head and hand in a defiant sort of way. "You're going to pit my son against one of the most powerful, most dangerous and evil wizards ever to live, when my daughter's already been kidnapped, and expect him to survive? All based on some prophecy? "

"Err..." started Malfoy. But Harry cut in.

"It's okay mum," he said to her, his throat tight, "this isn't that much of a shock to me, I mean, I really didn't know I was the Heir of Gryffindor or about any prophecy, but Lord Voldemort-" everyone winced and gave Harry a funny look for using that word. He ignored it, "I - think I can do it - rescue Sarah I mean." He didn't want to give too much away, but Harry knew he could do this. He'd done it before.

But you haven't always saved everyone, have you?

Harry tried to push the doubt away, but it was tenacious. He swallowed and carried on talking, with more than a little effort though. "If Malfoy wants me to go with him, I will; I have to."

Draco looked thoroughly relieved.

"Can we at least go with him?" asked Lily in a small voice. Draco shook his head, he seemed more confident now that Harry had agreed to go with him;

"You all work for the Ministry;" he said, "you've all been tagged. You wouldn't make it ten miles within our perimeter."

"But Harry would get in," said Sirius, unsure, "he wouldn't set off any alarms?"

"Not the way I'd take him."

***

Draco was pacing in the hallway. It had taken a long time to persuade the Potters to agree his plan completely, but eventually they had given in, knowing they really had no other choice. James was now sitting on the sofa in the lounge with Sirius, wringing his hands, unsure of what to do with himself. Occasionally he would stand up, make to walk to the study or the kitchen, think better of it, and sit back down again, where Sirius would put a reassuring hand on his shoulder until he sprung back up again.

Lily and Remus were sitting at the kitchen table; Lily with her hair pulled back in the scarf once more, Remus with ink smudged on the back of his neck where he kept rubbing it with dirty hands in frustration and exhaustion. They were working on a complex portkey Draco had grudgingly admitted they needed and he had trouble making; after insisting many times they wanted to be useful, Draco had handed over the instructions saying they would probably be better at it than he would anyway.

Harry was no longer in the living room. Once it seemed he was really going to be going with Malfoy he took himself off to his room to make some pitiful effort at preparing himself for what lay ahead. He found a rucksack in the bottom of his wardrobe; he pulled out some rather dirty Quidditch robes and a packet of squished Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans and began filling it with food, bottled water, spare clothes, parchment and a quill, Hermione's address for some reason, money, various basic potion ingredients and a feather-light cauldron - just in case. He then pulled on his black coat again, a scarf and some gloves, checked his wand was in his pocket, and took himself downstairs.

When he came to the turn on the staircase he stopped. He could here Lily and Remus talking softly in the kitchen.

"-think it was odd? His behaviour?"

"It might be the concussion."

"But that's the thing; he's been acting so strange since last night."

"How so?"

"Well...when he woke up this afternoon - he was asking all these questions - about school and stuff, like he had amnesia or something - it really scared me, but then I just thought it was his head. But then he goes off for hours without telling us where, and comes back with this girl-"

"Y'know - I meant to ask who she was - the one with all the brown hair?"

"Yeah, well you know as much as we do - pass the quicksilver would you?"

"Do you think it's something sinister then?"

"I honestly don't know Remus."

Harry stopped listening after that. It stuck him as cruel that he'd been given this time with his family, a second chance it seemed, and it was being taken away from him. They were just scared and confused; he felt like he'd infected them.

Harry realised he was staring at the photos on the wall.

He stepped back to get a proper look. He saw himself waving on the beach as a small child, him and Sarah opening Christmas and Birthday presents, weddings of people he didn't know (and one that looked suspiciously like Sirius'), his parents at parties, in the garden, holing him as a baby. There were odd ones Harry recognised from his treasured photo album - his mum and dad's portraits from graduation for example - but he found those weren't actually what had caught his eye. He was looking at a simple shot that looked like it had been taken in a studio with a cream back ground (he recognised the format from Dudley's many photo sessions that Aunt Petunia insisted on). There were four people in the portrait; his family, and it had been taken recently. They beamed at the camera.

With out really thinking Harry slipped the photo out of the frame and put it in his pocket.

Harry walked the rest of the way down the stairs and into the living room. As he passed Draco in the hall he dropped his bag on the floor and made his way over to the sofa. When his dad saw him, he stood up once more with a concerned expression on his face. He appeared to make a decision, and walked off in the direction of the study. Sirius frowned and went to follow him but Harry caught his arm.

"Erm...Sirius, can I talk to you for a sec?" His godfather looked in the direction James had just walked, then decided to follow Harry. They walked into the hallway. Harry looked expectedly at Malfoy who simply stared back, biting a nail. "Uh - give us a second Malfoy, would you?"

Draco bit down tersely on his nail, keeping his eyes fixed on Harry. "Fine," he muttered and walked back into the living room, giving his tattered bag a swift kick on the way, before changing his mind and grabbing the strap and dragging it in with him.

"Sirius," started Harry, taking a moment to appreciate the warm look on his godfather's face as opposed to the haunted look it normally showed, "I have to ask you a favour."

Sirius' face seemed to brighten a little. "Yeah - of course, anything to help Harry."

"I want you to research something, but by yourself; leave my parents out of it, they don't need it." Sirius nodded, so Harry continued. "I you want to look up - um - well, parallel universes - stuff like that." Sirius' eyebrows arched, so Harry carried on quickly so as he wouldn't interrupt. "Hermione - my friend, she can help you, but please, don't tell anyone else. I wouldn't even ask you but...I can't really do it myself now, but, well, it's important - so will you do it?"

Sirius looked a little dubious; "Can you at least tell me why Harry?"

"Erm - no."

He sighed. "It's okay Harry, you don't have to tell me - I'll be glad for the distraction anyway." He put his arm on Harry's shoulder, then frowned slightly. "Harry...how did you know?"

"Er - know what?" Harry replied honestly.

"About Peter."

"Oh, erm...something Malfoy said." Sirius left it at that.

They walked back into the living room. James was standing waiting for them to come back. He was holding what looked like a stick bundled in thick cloth. "Harry," he said, a little breathless and walked over to him, "Harry - uh - this is something Dumbledore entrusted to us a while back - I - I think you should have it...you might need it, that's all." He handed it over to Harry, keeping it horizontal. He took it feeling a little unsure; Parvati sat up in her seat to see what it was, Sirius looked intrigued. Harry pulled the cloth off.

It was a sword.

"Er - Dumbledore asked us to keep it - that kind of makes more sense now." James ran his hand through his hair. Harry pulled the scabbard off.

"Gryffindor's sword?" he whispered.

"I thought you might need it," said James, " and maybe this." He pressed a wand into Harry's palm. He knew at once who it belonged to. "Give it back to her," whispered James.

Harry marvelled at the sword. It had been almost two and a half years since he had last held it in his hands, and yet it was till so familiar. Light, slim, flexible. He felt a ebb of confidence ripple through his chest.

Quietly he sheathed the weapon once more, gave what he hopped was a strong, positive look to his father, then bent down to put Sarah's wand in his bag. Lily and Remus walked into the room; Lily was holding a small globe carefully in her hands. "It's finished," she announced, "but it will need about an hour to stabilise."

Draco took it delicately from her hands, and placed it in his robes. "We wont need it for a while anyway," he said to her. Harry could have sworn he looked thankful. He finished securing the sword round his waist, and thought he should probably say something to Hermione about working with Sirius before they left, but Malfoy interrupted the thought. "Right," he said, hauling his satchel off the floor, "we better get going."

"Hang on a minute." It was Seamus. He stood up. "I'm going with you."

Draco looked quite horrified. "What? "

"I said I'm going with you," repeated Seamus, "I've know Sarah since she was born, and if it was my sister I know how I'd feel, so I'm coming to help. I'm nothing to do with the Ministry either, so there's no reason I should set any alarms off, and I'm good at first aid."

"Seamus love," said Lily with tears in her eyes, her right hand resting on her chest, "you don't have to do this-"

"I think I do Mrs P." She couldn't help but smile.

"Then I'm coming too," cried Parvati, jumping off her chair, "if Seamus goes, I go too-"

"It's not a game for God's sake!" cried Malfoy in disbelief, "this is serious, people might die-"

"And I'm not going to sit around here and wait for it to happen," she snapped, "I'm going with Harry and Seamus and that's final."

"Uh," said a small voice behind them; Harry turned and looked at Hermione. "I'm not particularly thrilled at the idea of running headlong into danger, but I promised I'd help you Harry, and I think I should go too."

"Oh no, Hermione," said Harry and walked over to her, "you can't-"

She shook her head. "We're going to save your sister Harry."

Draco looked sick.

***

It only took another couple of minutes for everyone to get ready. With enough winter wear between them to clothe a small country they stood in the hallway, where Harry was saying goodbye to his parents.

"Take care, Harry," said Remus, Sirius squeezed his shoulder, his mother hugged him tightly.

"I love you Harry," she whispered in his ear, and he felt his throat clench. His father hugged him also, digging his fingers in slightly. He didn't say anything for a moment, then whispered -

"I'm so proud of you Harry."

For a second, Harry made up his mind not to go. He was tired of being special, he wanted to stay with his mum and dad. But then he thought of Sarah, scared and alone, and realised, as Malfoy had pointed out, that he really had no choice.

Even though his feet felt like they were glued to the carpet, and his eyes were hot and itchy again, Harry took a deep breath and managed a "goodbye, I love you too" before turning on his heals, and walking out the door.

The others followed; Seamus shut the door. It was gone midnight by Harry's watch and it was now truly freezing. He pulled the collar of his coat up and started walking down the path.

"Do you know where you're going?" Harry turned round; Malfoy was striding down the path, illuminated occasionally by moonlight shining in between the oak trees which flanked the gravel.

"Er...no," he admitted.

"Well perhaps I should lead then, hmm?" Malfoy didn't wait for an answer, he just swept past Harry in an uncanny impersonation of Snape and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked.

"Bloody idiot," muttered Seamus.

"So where are we going," said Parvati, who scuttled up beside Seamus.

"London," said Malfoy over his shoulder, not bothering to turn round.

"London? " repeated Seamus, stopping in his stride, "but that's miles away! How are we going to-"

"How do you think?"

"Why not just Floo there," interrupted Harry. They were far enough away from the house now that there was far more shadow than light, and it didn't look as if there were any street lamps on the road a head. Harry felt a little creeped out.

"Do you really think we can walk up to the front door?" snapped Draco, "Where we're going is completely hidden away so the Ministry cant find it. It's unplotable and underground. Even if we weren't sneaking in the back it'd be difficult enough to get there."

"So are we flying in on broomsticks?" demanded Seamus.

"No," said Draco, "we're taking the bus."

"You don't mean the Knight Bus?" Parvati looked genuinely shocked.

"I walked here," clarified Malfoy, "because I had two weeks to do so, and I had to make sure I wasn't spotted. We've only got a couple of hours so we've got to be a little more direct, and it doesn't really matter if we're seen, because they already know we're coming...just not which direction we're coming."

"But if the bus conductor recognises you," pointed out Parvati, "he'll report you, immediately-"

"Prejudice git," muttered Malfoy.

"Er - Malfoy, I don't think he's prejudice," said Seamus, disbelieving, "you're a wanted criminal and a traitorous bastard to boot - he'll have every right to report you!"

Draco told Seamus to do something that made Hermione's eyebrows shoot up. "And I told you not to call me Malfoy," he added.

"Oh - phoga me hone," said Seamus, or something similar at any rate; Harry didn't speak any Irish. They came to the end of the path; they were at a T junction, with the road opposite them stretching out of sight to both the left and the right. There weren't any street lights.

Malfoy pulled out his wand and pointed it at his hand; "Temporus glamour ritchit." His hand started quite faintly, then strongly, glowing a glittery purple. "A little party trick for you," he said through gritted teeth, then lifted his hand and ran it about an inch above his hair. It turned brown.

"Wow," breathed Hermione from Harry's left shoulder.

Visibly shaking now, Draco pulled his hand down slowly over his face, turning his eyes brown also and darkening his complexion (meaning he actually had one now). He then held his hand on his chest where his clothes began to clean and mend - they even changed colour slightly. When, head to toe, the glamour was complete, Draco gasped a deep breath and bent over, resting his hands on his knees; the purple glow was gone.

"Quick," he shuddered, his voice slightly lower than normal, "call the bus, it wont last long." Harry pulled out his wand and flagged down the bus like he'd done accidentally two years ago. There was a second of silence, then a familiar ominous sound of engines rumbling out of nowhere. Without thinking he stepped back, pulling Hermione with him.

The triple-decker purple bus came shooting out of nothingness and screeched to a halt right in front of the five of them. Harry was very glad there were absolutely no neighbours around to be woken up, because they certainly would have been. Whilst he and Seamus helped Parvati off the floor where she'd been blasted, a familiar figure jumped off the bus and started reciting the usual blurb;

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or-" but Stan Shunpike didn't get to finish what he was saying; Draco barged past him almost knocking him off his feet.

"Yes we know," he spat, and hauled himself up onto the bus. Stan looked a little hurt.

"Sorry about that," said Parvati, he's er - not feeling too well." She shrugged her shoulders and went onto the bus behind Malfoy; the others followed. Draco was counting out Sickles in his hand.

"Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, there - that's enough for London, yes?"

"Certainly sir," said the conductor, "if you'd like to find a bed-" but Draco had already bolted up the stairs.

"He's not feeling well," explained Parvati again.

"He better not throw up on the linen - it's just been changed." Parvati explained he'd be alright once they were moving and paid her fair as well.

Hermione was looking very shocked. "It's okay," Harry said to her, "I'll pay for you." He pulled out his wallet and found the correct amount of money.

"You do realise it just came out of nowhere, don't you," she said a little shrilly, "I mean it just popped out if the sky, onto the ground."

"Come on," Harry grinned. He paid the conductor, then realised it wasn't the same man as before, Ernie Prang. Harry wondered what had happened to him, then steered Hermione up the stairs. Draco wasn't on the second level, and neither were Seamus or Parvati, so Harry and Hermione kept on going.

As Harry pushed the trap door up to the third floor, Draco grabbed his coat and hauled him up, "come on" he moaned, and did the same to Hermione. Once they were both through (and sprawled on the floor) Draco slammed the door shut, locked it with his wand, and let the glamour drop. As he melted back to his old self he let out a long relieved sigh; "you have no idea how hard that was," he breathed.

"No, and we don't care either."

Draco chose to ignore Seamus.

He and Parvati were sitting on one of the beds, Harry pulled Hermione up and they sat on the one opposite. As the bus lurched forward and the scenery changed, Draco flopped on one of the ones further down the isle. He pulled the pillows round his head, squirmed into the covers, hugged his bag to his chest, and was snoring ever so softly within minutes. "He looks like he's been through a lot," said Hermione sympathetically.

"And again," replied Seamus, "nobody cares."

"I guess they don't," she agreed sadly, still looking over at the Slytherin boy.

Seamus sprawled out on the bed, "well this is nice," he commented.

"Haven't you been on the Knight Bus before?" Harry asked. Seamus shook his head.

"I didn't realise you had, Harry," said Parvati.

"Once," he told her, "a couple of years ago - I got in a bit of a...situation."

"Drunk and Disorderly I bet," said Seamus, not bothering to sit up. Parvati sighed and moved to another bed so she had some room. Harry pulled out his bag, and started rummaging around in it. When he found what he was looking for he straightened up and faced Hermione.

"I wanted to give you this," he said quietly, and gave her Sarah's wand. "It's my sister's, I want you to look after it, I know you're really responsible and all that, and well - you might need it."

Hermione looked thoughtfully at the length of wood. "I can't say I'm comfortable taking it," she admitted, "but if you want me to I will." Harry nodded, so she slipped it in her pocket, and lay back against the pillows.

"So, Hermione, what's your story?" Seamus said after a while, he even bothered to sit up, "how do you know Harry?"

Harry tensed, but Hermione had it under control. "We're pen friends," she said without pausing, "we met last summer on holiday."

"So why are you here now?"

"Coincidence, Harry asked me to help with some homework."

"I think you got a little more than you bargained for," said Seamus, and fell back down on the bed again.

Time passed slowly. Hermione moved to another bed and lay down. Harry looked out the window for a while. At about half twelve they popped up in a city, and Harry went to stir the others, only to realise in was Cardiff, not London, so settled back down again. Parvati started talking to him in hushed tones a little while later, telling him how sorry she was about every thing, shining her big brown eyes with honest concern. Harry smiled and assured her he was doing okay, really, and she lay back down again.

At just gone ten to one, Malfoy sat bolt upright in his bed with a yell and gasped in a lungful of air. His face was extraordinarily pale as he stared blankly in front of him. Gradually his breathing became regular again and he loosened his death-grip on the blankets.

All of a sudden a look of concern crossed his face. He crawled over to Harry's bed and poked him in the head. "Oi, Potter, wake up!"

"I'm awake," said Harry irritably. He hadn't been able to sleep, even though he had wanted to. "What do you want?"

"You have to go down and speak to the driver."

"Why?" he asked sitting, "what for, why can't you do it?"

"Did you miss Finnigan's whole 'I'm an evil bastard' speech?"

"Oh, right."

"You have to go tell him not to take us to London."

"What?" exclaimed Harry, "but I thought you wanted to go to London?"

Draco shook his head, "he'll just assume I meant Diagon Alley, and if he takes us there we'll be spotted. Go tell him to drop us off in St Mary's Street, it's just round the corner from Diagon Alley." He made a motion as if to scurry Harry along with his hands. Harry scowled.

"I'm not a house elf Malfoy."

Malfoy looked uncannily possessed.

"Okay, I'm going," said Harry, throwing his hands up in defeat. As he unlocked the trap door and the blond boy crawled back into bed Harry wondered why there was such an issue over him being called Malfoy; after all, it had never bothered him before.

Harry passed a number of witches and wizards on his way down. None of them would make eye contact with him. He told the driver of the change in direction and he nodded in acknowledgment; Harry wasn't liking this atmosphere very much.

"You alrigh' Harry?" asked Stan from behind his newspaper. Harry glanced at the front in relief as he realised neither he nor his family were on it.

"Yeah, Stan," he replied, tired.

"You're a bit late out 'n about, what choo up to?"

Harry allowed himself a grin, "nothing really, I think one of my friends is up to something though." Stan grinned too and went back to his paper, and Harry went back upstairs.

It wasn't long before they were in London. It took quite a while to wake a protesting Seamus up, and Malfoy had to work up his glamour once more. When they were safely alone Malfoy (his sniping blond self again) led them along various streets down into The Leaky Cauldron, his hood pulled tightly round his face. This was in no way suspicious, as the temperatures were now rapidly approaching artic, and the others were equally huddling up as best they could. The pub was especially dark, and the gaggle didn't look at anyone as they went shivering through to the little courtyard outside.

Seamus pulled his wand out and tapped the appropriate bricks in the wall to let them into Diagon Alley. Harry had never visited it before other than in Summer, and he had to say it looked quite different; smaller, darker, dirtier. Or maybe that was how it always looked here?

"Malfoy, where are we going?" demanded Parvati, her teeth chattering.

"Don't call me that you idiot," snapped Draco, "someone might hear." They trudged on. He didn't tell them where they where going.

They turned a few corners, passed many closed shops, and then came to a rather unpleasant but unfortunately familiar sight. "Knockturn Alley?" exclaimed Parvati a little highly, "I'm not going down there!"

"No one's forcing you," was all Draco said as he carried on walking down the darkened street. Parvati looked indignant, but settled for a pout as she followed him. Hermione looked apprehensive; "just stick close to me," Harry told her. They passed Borgin and Burkes, the shop Harry had ended up in three and a half years ago by accident; he was pleased that Draco wasn't interested in going into it.

They came to a little tea shop called The Botched Brew; it was so uninviting Harry couldn't imagine it got any custom. It was dingy and cramped, and there was a great crack in the glass front. They walked in; the place was empty but there was a teenage girl behind the counter, Harry half recognised her as a Slytherin a few years above his own, but he didn't know her name.

"Go ask her for a private parlour," instructed Draco to Hermione. Her eyes widened;

"Why me?" she squeaked.

"Because she wont recognise you," he pointed out impatiently from behind his hood.

Hermione walked up to the counter as the others waited anxiously. Draco pulled a loose stitch from his sleeve off, leaving the edge tatty. The girl looked her up and down suspiciously; Harry thought she might have been quite pretty if she wasn't wearing a permanent sneer; she was Asian of some description, Korean maybe, or Mongolian, which he always liked. She flashed a glare in their direction. He pulled his hood down and stopped looking at her.

Hermione came back over, looking a little relieved. "She said we can have the card room in the back."

"Good," said Draco, pleased, and walked over to where Hermione had indicated, pulling the door open with a snap.

"Should I lock it?" asked Seamus as he came through last and closed the door. The room was, as expected, tiny.

"No point," said Malfoy, pulling the portkey out of his pocket, "we won't be here for much longer." He aimed his wand at the little box and whispered "Avercium"; it began glowing, illuminating their shadows against the walls. "It'll activate in one minute, everyone who wants to come along needs to be touching it then." They all managed to get a couple of finger tips on the box; there was a peculiar humming growing in the air.

"Er, Malfoy, is that normal?" Harry asked concerned, as he knew full well it wasn't. Silver sparkles were starting to swirl in the space around them, and the humming was beginning to sound a lot less like bumblebees and a lot more like a stampede of trolls over their heads. They levitated off the floor.

"Malfoy! " screeched Parvati. There was an explosion of light, and the feeling of a hook snatching into Harry's stomach took hold as they were yanked out of the little room at The Botched Brew and hurtled off to God knows where.

They landed in a dishevelled heap on the ground. There were definitely not inside any more. An evil wind tore right through them, the sky was covered with thick black clouds and snow was falling from every direction. Draco stood up, quite pleased with himself. He smiled, the first real look of pleasure they'd seen on him all night. He put the portkey back in the pocket of his robes, and looked down at the others still on the floor. "Welcome to Germany my friends," he said.

***

"Germany?" cried Seamus, "what the Hell are we doing in Germany? Where in Germany?" He pulled himself off the ground and Harry did likewise. They looked to be on the outskirts of a pitiful little village not dissimilar from Hogsmeade, but a damn sight less inviting.

"This," shouted Draco over the wind and pointing down to the village, "is Schwetenburg, not far from Freudenstadt, in the South West of Germany."

Hermione blanched. "So that forest behind it..."

"Is the Black Forest," he grinned, "home to the Brothers Grimm themselves, as well as a number of other nasty beasties, including a rather reclusive Dark Lord and his hoards of scampering minions." He cocked his head at them and swept his arm in the direction they were looking, "shall we?"

Harry felt Malfoy was really enjoying being in charge of the situation for once, but it didn't last long. When they reached the border of the village they were met with shuttered up houses and a cobble-stone road, broken and muddy from lack of care. The wind was flinging thick, wet snow flakes into their eyes and burning their exposed faces. A policeman got out of a decrepit looking car with rust creeping up its edges. He frowned at them and walked over, pulling the collar of his think moleskin coat around his face.

"Guten Abend," he said with a patient air of authority, "können Ich Sie helfen?" Harry's eyebrow's shot up; he spoke even less German than he did Irish, which was, in other words, precisely zip.

Draco looked as if he was trying to decipher what had been said, but Hermione turned to the others and said, "he wants to know if he can help us."

"Tell him no thank you, we're just passing through," instructed Malfoy, a little peeved that she was apparently better at German than he was.

"Nein danke, Wir sind Reisenden und Wir reisen jetzt ab," she pointed through the blizzard at the end of the village where the forest was ominously waiting for them.

The policeman frowned again then shrugged his shoulders. "Recht," he said, and walked back to his car, glad to out of the cold. Harry doubted he really cared they were going into the forest, just as long as they didn't cause trouble in his little town.

They walked over the mismatched cobbles, past houses of sleeping muggles and shops with signs like 'Schlächterei', 'Buchen! Buchen! Buchen!' and 'Moden von Morgen'. Harry wondered what they all meant, but the wind was howling so hard he couldn't ask Hermione.

They reached the edge of the forest. Draco looked back over his shoulder to check they weren't being watched then created what looked like a little ball of sunshine. The light and warmth it gave combined with the reasonable shelter of the trees meant the conditions were suddenly a lot more bearable. "Is that a good idea, blearing out our location like that?" asked Seamus, looking at the light that was now hovering above their heads.

"It can only been seen by those within ten feet or so of it, you ungrateful git" said Draco simply and began walking down a slender path between the trees. The others followed.

"So, er, what kind of...creatures are we talking about?" asked Hermione, cautiously looking around and between the numerous looming branches.

"Oh, the usual," said Malfoy with wary look to the left. He paused for a second, then carried on. "Centaurs, Unicorns, Gnomes, Leprechauns, you know, the harmless but annoying ones-"

"Unicorns aren't annoying," protested Parvati.

Draco rolled his eyes; "they are especially attracted to virgins, do you have any idea how embarrassing that can be in social situations?" He considered this for a second. "Or so I'm told," he amended.

"But they won't hurt you?" clarified Hermione.

"Of course not," said Malfoy, "well, unless you've stolen some Leprechaun's gold, then he'll kill you." Harry wasn't too sure if he was kidding or not. "Dragons, though," he continued, "Werewolves, Kelpies, Graphorns, Trolls, Grindylows, Manticores, Kappas, Griffins, Vampires - they're the ones you should worry about."

"Did anyone else notice how much longer that list was than the last one?" said Seamus, looking over his shoulder. Harry just hoped there weren't any giant spiders lurking about.

They walked along in silence for a while. Gradually the path widened meaning they no longer had to walk single file; there were odd patches of snow on the ground were it had managed to find its way through the canopy and the wind had eased considerably. They passed through a glade full of flittering, graceful fairies of all sorts of colours, but even that didn't lift the close, creepy feeling that hung about them for long. Every rustle of a branch, every snap of a twig had all of the spinning round on their heals, wands bared. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Harry was considering something. "Draco," he said, feeling it was a good move to call him that before asking him something, "does the name Justin Finch-Fletchley mean anything to you?"

Malfoy scoffed, "pompous moron, currently residing at Eton by any chance?"

Harry was impressed. "What about Angelina Johnson, er - Colin Creevey, Penelope Clearwater?"

Draco stopped and turned round to face him. "Athletic and good at potions; son of a milkman, likes photography, good at charms; smart mouthed but reserved, clever with dragons and the like." He raised an eyebrow, "why do you want to know?"

"Who are all these people?" asked Parvati.

"Muggle born witches and wizards," replied Harry. "I'm impressed," he admitted to Malfoy, "how do you know all that?"

He scoffed again, and carried on walking, talking over his shoulder; "I had to learn it off by heart, they reckoned it would be useful; you wouldn't even believe the amount of names I have floating round my head." He started ticking them off on his fingers; "Orla Quirk, West Indian, has ADD but good at Astronomy; James Falcon, another one good with the charms, poor but a talented diviner; Tobias Jacque or "TJ" Phillips, athletic, good at transfiguration and handy if you don't have a bottle opener to hand." He grinned in the fake sun light, "I could go on for hours you know?"

"And that's how you knew Hermione was Muggle-born?" asked Harry? He then looked quickly to his left holding up his wand. He was convinced he'd heard something, but there was nothing.

Malfoy scowled, "knew, Christ, we practically had her name tattooed on our foreheads, why the Hell Dumbledore didn't make an exception and let her into Hogwarts I'll never know." He took a quick look at Hermione, before biting at his thumbnail and staring through the trees once more as he walked on.

Parvati looked at her too. "So, she's a good witch?"

"Try 'the best' witch," said Draco. This time he didn't look at her.

"I am here, you know?" said Hermione quietly to Harry. He grinned at her, and she grinned back.

After a while they came to the edge of a small lake and stopped; Draco looked left, then right, then scratched the back of his head. Oh we are so lost thought Harry. Parvati looked worriedly behind them, Hermione had her wand out in anticipation, but once more there was nothing. The girls stuck close together.

Seamus lent against a tree and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter; Harry was quite shocked. "You smoke?" he asked before he could help himself.

"Oh, don't start Harry," said Seamus with a role of the eyes. He bit at the end of one of the cigarettes and lit it behind cupped hands.

"I'd kill for a fag," said Draco darkly, staring out across the lake. Seamus lent forward and offered him one from the packet; Harry suspected he wasn't willing to chance whether or not Draco was kidding about the whole killing part. "Thanks," he said a little surprised. He grinned; "you haven't poisoned it have you?"

"Why don't you smoke it and find out?"

Something stirred in the middle of the lake. What looked like a horse poked its head above the surface and snorted. "Ooh, horsie!" squealed Parvati before she could help herself. She went to step closer to the lake. Draco flung his arm out and caught her sharply in the stomach. "Ow!" she cried and stepped back, "what did you do that for?"

Malfoy turned to face her and sneered. "Fine, if you want to go off and have a nice death with your new found Kelpie, be my bloody guest you sap." He gave her a look of utter disgust, spun around, came to a conclusion that left was the way he had wanted all along and stalked off back into the trees.

Parvati looked quite hurt, "I didn't know," she said to Harry. Seamus flicked his half finished cigarette to the floor and stepped on it.

"I've had enough of this crap," he said and walked off in the direction Malfoy had gone. Harry looked at the two girls in the dimming light (their ball of sunshine had followed Malfoy) and shrugged. The three of them went after Seamus.

After a short, steep hill, the path widened once more, leading them through thick trees in a straight line that seemed to go for quite some time. Draco was striding on a little way ahead, tugging at his frayed bag strap as he walked, barely visible now they were out of the light's range; Seamus had stopped at the top. "I'm gonna kick his fekking head in," he said simply to them, then started once more after the Slytherin boy. "Oi, Malfoy, you git!" he called. Malfoy turned to face them but kept on walking backwards.

"I told you not to call me Malfoy," he called back sharply, then turned round again.

"I'm talking to you!" yelled Seamus, and ran in front of Draco, holding his hand out to stop him from going any further. "I'm sick of your constant bullshit," he cried, poking a finger at his chest, "we're doing you a favour and all you do is-" but Draco just side-stepped him, snapping;

"If we don't keep moving we wont make it before dawn, and then, quite frankly, we'll be screwed, so if you want to whinge at the back of my head, be my bloody guest." He pulled once more at the damaged strap, head looking purposely at the floor, and carried on walking. Seamus grabbed his arm and spun him forcefully around.

"I have no reason not to kick nine bells of crap out of you Malfoy," he seethed. Malfoy's jaw clenched.

"Shut up!" he barked, but Seamus just increased his grip on the boy's arm and yanked him a little closer.

"Neville Longbottom, Malfoy? Sound familiar?" Malfoy paled, and pulled against Seamus but he held on. The others stayed a little back, but still close enough to see very clearly what was happening, the light visible to them once more. "No?" carried on Seamus, eyes flashing with hatred, "how about Karl Beardmore? Seth Goldsmith? Candice Longham ?"

Draco strained against Seamus' grip, "SHUT UP!" he yelled, "JUST SHUT UP! " But Seamus wouldn't give up.

"No Malfoy, I think you need to be reminded of this, Malfoy, so you stop treating us like shit you righteous bastard.

"It wasn't my-"

"Stephanie Perkins, Hannah Abbot, Mackenzie Jordan? "

"No-!"

"She was a Slytherin for God's sake!"

Malfoy finally pulled away, putting his hands on his head. "You don't know anything!"

"I know those people died and it was you fault! They were half bloods - like me! You can't just switch teams and forget about it! "

"My father told me to do it! " screamed Malfoy, "he made me, you don't know anything! Harry was stunned, he had never seen Malfoy like this before. He gasped a lungful of air, "you don't know what it was like," he cried, "you don't argue, you just die, and I trusted my father, I didn't know it would happen! "

"You coward! " screamed Parvati. Hermione jumped and looked at the girl next to her. She had a slender pearly tear slipping down her cheek. "I heard it!" she yelled, trembling, "I had to hide in a broom cupboard whilst people outside died! Do you even care?! "

"I'm sorry," stammered Draco, right arm hugging across his chest and neck, left grasping his bag, "I'm so-"

"You apologise to me and I will kill you," hissed Parvati venomously.

"Then what the HELL do you want from me?! " he screamed back at her, flinging his hands out. Parvati snapped. She lunged at him, pushing him off the path. Draco's eye's snapped open in shock, he tripped over his feet, and went crashing down out of sight. Hermione gasped, Harry ran to the edge and looked down. The sunshine had decided this time to stay with them, and Harry could see that the path dropped away into a step slope.

He looked at the others; Parvati was panting, her hand over her mouth in shock. There was a distinctive curse as Draco presumably came to a stop somewhere out of sight. Harry rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry Harry," said Seamus, "I didn't mean to go off on one, this is about Sarah, not him."

"Yeah," agreed Parvati quietly, "I didn't mean to try and kill him."

Harry shook his head, "it's okay, just wait here whilst I go get him." They nodded and he started making his way down, holding on to the odd tree for support, his wand illuminated in front of him. Draco had come to a halt about ten feet down. By the look of it his bag had finally given up the goat and torn right open, its contents spilled in every which direction. Draco had his elbows propped on his knees, his head in his hands. "You alright?" asked Harry.

Malfoy's head snapped up as if he hadn't heard Harry coming. He got up hastily and started picking up socks and books off the forest floor by the light of Harry's wand. "Why would I care what some Paki thinks of me?" he said harshly without looking at Harry.

Harry let the rudeness of the remark hang for a moment or two before speaking once more. "I appreciate what you're doing for me y'know, for Sarah." Draco slid his eyes in Harry's direction.

"I could be wrong, but I think you're the only one," he said before rooting under a host of frozen leaves for a water bottle. He placed it on the pile he was making then picked up the old bag to add some stitches to the tear. "Well, aren't you going to ask?" He looked straight at Harry.

Harry frowned. "Ask what?"

The other boy shook his head slightly and gave half a resentful smile. "Why I did it?" This threw Harry for a second. He thought maybe Malfoy had worked out he didn't come from this world, that the events that had just been described were new to him, but then he realised he was talking a little deeper than that.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess your parents can be your whole world when you're young."

"That they can."

They didn't say anything for a while after that. Harry watched Draco picking up his things; he offered to help but was told sharply where to go. Harry had always thought Draco to be so neat and fussy back in the real world, but here most of his possessions where old and tatty, especially his clothes which Harry thought really shouldn't have been possible.

After a while in thought Harry spoke. "She's not from Pakistan you know."

Malfoy didn't bother looking round. "What?" he said sharply, scrabbling about for more of his missing stuff.

"Parvati," explained Harry, "her family isn't from Pakistan - you called her a Paki, but she's Indian."

"So," snapped Draco, his jaw gritted at the disdain of making small talk, "what does it matter?"

"Well, they're - I don't know - two different countries, and they're kind of at war; they have two totally different religions and-"

Malfoy scoffed. "Bloody religion, causes nothing but trouble."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're not religious then."

Malfoy finally looked at him properly. "You're asking me two questions Potter," he said and flung a shirt into his half mended bag. "The answer to the first is that my family has been traditionally French-Catholic - and by traditionally I mean guilt laden and narrow minded - for as long as you'd care to remember. What I think you really want to know is, no - I don't give a good God damn about anything I cant touch, see or hear. Religion is just gibberish that people made up centuries ago to make them selves feel better about dying."

Harry had never quite thought about it like that before. "So you don't believe in Heaven then?"

His back stiffened. "No," he said evenly. Harry thought back to last summer; "Your mother's coming Harry - she wants to see you." He smiled to himself.

"I do."

"Will you just shut up!? " yelled Malfoy, grabbed his now full bag, and stormed off back up the slope. Harry looked at him in shock - what the Hell had that been about? Harry followed him, he reached the top to find Seamus, once more, yelling at Malfoy's back.

"What the Hell is your problem?!" he called. But Malfoy kept walking. "This boy's gonna be the death of me," he said to Harry, then went to catch up with the Slytherin boy again. "Hey, come back here - we need to talk you selfish-"

But then something happened that Harry would never have expected. Not in a million years. Even if he'd sat down, really thought about it, written an essay or two and had Hermione check them over, he still never would have guessed what came next. Malfoy stumbled over his own feet, sank to the floor, entangled his fingers though his filthy hair, and began to cry.

Everybody froze.

And within a second or two it was more than crying; Draco Malfoy was sobbing, inconsolably. Parvati looked at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes, but he was equally as lost for words. It wasn't like Harry had never seen Draco cry before; anyone would have been forgiven for thinking the boy had been mortally wounded when Beaky the Hippogriff had slashed his arm back in their third year the fuss he had made. But this was so entirely different. His shoulders were shaking with grief and remorse, tears were spilling down his face, leaving trails in the grime, he was having trouble breathing. It wasn't noisy or messy though, but it was obviously both deep and very painful.

Hermione walked gingerly up to Draco. A shaft of moonlight had snuck its way between the branches and was illuminating his already pale face. She put her hand gently on his shoulder. "Are you okay Draco," she said softly.

He pulled his fingers out of his hair and rested them over his eyes. He sucked in a shaky breath of air and gasped "you don't under-stand." He didn't shrug off Hermione's hand which Harry was surprised at.

She crouched down next to Draco. "I know I don't understand, can't you tell me?" Harry was a little surprised that Hermione was handling the situation so well; after all she was normally better at getting things done in a practical, logical way rather than giving hugs. But then Harry realised that was exactly what she was doing - without Malfoy they couldn't get to where they were going, and in order to trust him they needed to understand him.

Malfoy rested his palms on his temples and closed his eyes; his sobbing had eased slightly. "I - I don't understand - so how can you? They...she didn't know, and they didn't give her a chance - she just thought-"

"Who Draco, what are you talking about?"

"He wanted to - to take out some orphanage, some personal kick - but nobody warned her - said anything!" He broke into a fresh wave of grief, screwing up his eyes as if against some blinding light. "My father didn't say anything - just agreed, didn't care, stupid selfish bastard, I hate him! They killed her and he didn't care - she just said it and they didn't give her a chance, he just killed her and he didn't care." He rubbed tears away angrily, bending over closer to the ground, swaying back and forth.

Hermione looked back at Harry and the others and bit her lip. Draco suddenly spun out of her grip, snapping her hand back and jumped up to face the others. "You stand there and judge me," he yelled at Seamus, "but you've got no God damn idea what it was like! I - I knew people died, but my father said th-they deserved because they failed him, but all she did was try and save those kids and he - killed her...no talking, just dead, forever." He steadied himself and grasped his hair again. "Everything he said was a lie, I listened to him and did what he wanted me to and it was a lie! I - I never...you don't know, and now I'll never see her again-"

"Voldemort killed your mum - didn't he, that's who you mean," said Harry, knowing he was right. Everything Draco was saying he'd felt, he recognised his own voice saying. "That's why you're helping us."

"But I can't make it better," cried Draco, pitifully, and sank to the forest floor. Harry stepped across to him and said quietly;

"I know what you're going through, I'm so sorry." Draco took another shuddery breath and looked at Harry. Before he knew what hit him he lunged at Harry and smacked his head into the floor.

"You've got some perfect little life and you're standing there telling me you know, you understand, how about you f-" but Seamus had him in a full on tackle, rolled him to the floor. Draco swung and caught him with a right hook, tears still streaming down his face. He went for Harry again, but he grabbed hold of the blond boy without much effort and they both fell to the ground.

Draco stopped struggling. He simply curled himself up in a ball, exhausted, and wept. Harry sat up, panting, and lent himself against a tree. The others looked at him in shock.

"I think we all could do with a break," he said limply.

***

They all found a spot to sit and rest for a while. Parvati was talking with Hermione quietly, they were getting to know each other from what Harry could tell. Seamus had come over and lent on Harry's shoulder for a while, and the two boys laughed a little hysterically at the situation they now found them selves in. Seamus was now resting against a tree on the opposite side of the path, dozing. Harry had got the sword his dad had given him out in his hand, it made him feel better for some reason.

Draco was sitting a little further off than the others. He'd propped himself up, exhausted and fallen into an uneasy sleep. Before he had though, he'd given Harry a look; it hadn't lasted very long, but it said something Draco himself couldn't say - thank you.

Harry stared through the branches of the trees at the stars above. It seemed like the storm had eased. Ron came and sat next to him. "How you doing Harry mate?" he said looking up at the stars too.

Harry suppressed another half hysterical laugh. "You have no idea." Ron laughed with him.

"You'll be alright you know, you're doing the right thing, you all are."

"It doesn't make it any easier," pointed out Harry.

"Yeah, well," said Ron, "you've done worse - a whole year of Lockhart's Defence Against the Dark Arts for one thing." Harry laughed again.

"Yeah, and Professor Trelawney's Divination." Ron grinned and looked over at Hermione who was still talking in a tired but quite happy way with Parvati.

"It's too bad about Herm hey?"

Harry shook his head. "I hope I did the right thing, telling her everything."

"Are you mad?" cried Ron, "of course you did, Hermione always wants to know everything about everything, and then she goes and looks it up in her definitive encyclopaedia to the world just to check she's got it perfect."

"Yeah," agreed Harry, "I guess you're right."

"I always am."

"Apart from Draco being the heir of Slytherin."

"I believe that was your idea, not mine."

"What about-"

"Shutting up would be a good idea now."

Harry laughed and punched Ron on the arm. Ron gave him a good, reassuring slap on his knee and stood up. "Well, you'd better get going." He looked down at Harry. "Don't forget about me will you?"

Harry gave him a stern look. "I'd never forget about you, pillock."

"You need to wake up now, Harry."

"Ron-"

"Harry!"

Harry snapped awake. Hermione was staring at him, her hand on his shoulder. "You were sleep talking," she said in a sympathetic tone. Harry rubbed his eyes, then suddenly thought to check his sword. It was still there.

"Lets get going," he said to her in a tired voice. They rounded everyone up, and began along the path again. Draco led the way, slightly ahead of everyone else, no longer upset but thoughtful. Harry was worried he might have been embarrassed, but he was fine about earlier, if anything, he seemed more human.

They walked along in silence for a good long while, only broken when Seamus handed out some liquorish wands for them to eat. There was one tense incident with a rather vile smelling troll, but it walked on with out noticing them after a minute or two.

Harry looked at his watch Sirius had given him for his birthday; it was getting near three in the morning. All at once Malfoy stopped and held his hand up to signal the others to do likewise - just like in those poxy army movies Dudley liked so much. "I think we're almost there," he hissed.

"How can you tell," said Seamus looking round. Harry could see his point - this part of the forest looked exactly the same as what they had been walking in for the last half an hour.

Draco turned to look at them, a sort of gleam in his eyes. "Because I can smell the Vampires," he whispered simply.