Harry ducked the spell almost on instinct. He wasn't sure he'd actually seen it coming but he ducked and the stone wall above him shattered. He threw himself out of the way of the falling rubble and slammed his back against the nearest solid surface he could find. It turned out to be a shop front and ha prayed that the glass would hold.

This was the second attack they had made that night. Hermione had been the one to raise the concern that they might become predictable and Harry realised that she was completely right: establishing a pattern could get them caught. Giving away any kind of routine or hint of emotion would give the Death Eaters clues they couldn't afford to betray to their enemies.

The anti-apparition wards had gone up without a hitch thanks to Ron and Hermione so all that was left had been the actual fight. They had to sweep every inch inside the wards for Death Eaters and then escape before anyone outside the wards noticed that they were there.

It was a lot easier in theory. The chaos of this kind of battle was something Harry hadn't expected. He'd had tastes of it before; at the Ministry and in the Chamber of Secrets, there was always madness in the middle of a fight. He didn't think he could reason clearly or hold onto a plan when he was being attacked. Now he had to learn how.

He thought they were getting better at it.

He guessed, as he threw himself away from the fall of shattering glass from the window, that there were at least five Death Eaters left to go, but he probably only faced one of them. They were both aiming blindly.

He and Ginny tried not to talk to each other's minds when they were fighting apart from each other since the voice in their minds would only add another reason why they were less focussed. He could have used some help though.

"Harry." Hermione called him in answer to his prayer.

They had to figure out a better way to speak. Shouting a name over the battlefield meant they had to kill anyone who could have heard it. If Voldemort knew he faced schoolchildren then Harry would bet half of Gringotts that Voldemort would turn on Hogwarts the next day.

"Hermione?" He didn't turn as he threw stones from the broken walls to intercept the lights of spells heading for him.

"Here," she dropped into place next to him, moving like water around every obstacle. She and Ron could move far more freely through a fight than he could.

"What can you tell me?" I was running low on rocks to throw.

"We're down to the last three. You have two here and I'll shield you while you stop them." Harry loved the fact that she always knew just what to say. The two friends shared a semi-bloodthirsty grin and got to work.

When there was time, Harry would worry about the effect this fighting was having on their sanity.

"Okay," Hermione smiled as she reached for the... the wand stashed in the top of her boot.

"Haven't seen that in a while!" He grinned as he threw the last of his ammunition at their attackers.

"Travel size." She winked. "It's a lot harder to see what I'm doing if I don't use the sword."

It only took her a few moments to set up a barrier and for Harry to call on his earth element to bury the Death Eaters. They had been hidden inside another shop and Harry hoped that whoever owned that one would rather need a new floor than a new building.

He paused with his hand outstretched.

"Problem?" Hermione scanned their surroundings.

"I just... are the others close by?" Harry acted too quickly when he pulled the first man under the ground, he was dead. The second man...

"Nowhere near. What are you thinking?"

"That we need information." He sighed and he and Hermione exchanged the most serious look he had ever given another person.

"We do." She looked at him with complete honesty in her eyes. "We can do this alone. We don't need to tell Ron and Ginny, do we?"

"Not yet." Harry let out a long sigh. "Eventually, but... not yet."

The Chosen made it back to Hogwarts as the sun rose. They hadn't spoken past making sure no one was hurt and they had collapsed into their respective beds as soon as they could.

. . . . .

It was almost dark again by the time Harry woke up.

Ginny?

Oh, did I wake you?

No. Where are you?

Library.

We need –

We need to talk. I know.

She could hear his smile and imagined he was stretching as he set about looking for some clothes. It had taken her a good ten minutes to find her jeans that morning. She could lay her hand on her wand or sword without even opening her eyes, but finding a normal looking t-shirt with no blood on it or holes torn into it was impossible.

Do you think the Headmaster is free?

Things are that bad? She paused.

...did you know Hermione can sing people into telling the truth? She has to be in mermaid form, but she can do it.

That's not so bad, is it? Ginny thought over the idea. As long as they were there to protect Hermione it should be fine; she was vulnerable in mermaid form unless there was some kind of convenient lake nearby.

She can't make them talk. Not without controlling what they said.

But... you can? Ginny stopped looking at the book in front of her. For a few moments she couldn't follow the meaning Harry was trying to convey. He had made them talk? He had... he had tortured someone?

I did.

I could have helped. She should have been there. There was no time to decide anything about the morals of what Harry had done, or what she would have done in his place. She should have been with him: to help or to hold him back.

I know.

I'll meet you at the Headmaster's Office?

Thank you.

. . .

When he got there, Ginny simply hugged him.

"I love you, Harry Potter."

"I-" He wrapped his arms around her and clung to her.

"I thought I could hear voices." Professor Dumbledore smiled at them as he walked up to the pair. "Perhaps we could speak inside my office? I have some excellent tea to share."

By the time they were seated and sipping mugs of tea, (it was not a day for cups and saucers; industrial quantities of tea and sugar were required according to the headmaster) Ginny could tell Harry was ready to speak.

"I've done something that I'm not sure I should have done." Harry began. "Except that I had to and I think I'll have to do it again."

"I assume this is not regarding the killing of Death Eaters since we have spoken about that before." The Headmaster had explained to all of them that he had lost count of the lives he had taken when he fought against Grindlewald. There had been one point he had tried to make clearer than any other: if it was a choice between killing and being killed, there is no choice.

"Torture." Ginny said. She thought it might show Harry some support. Her thoughts whirled as she tried to form her own opinion. She would support Harry, but could she make her peace with torture?

"Ah. I should have expected this sooner."

"You should?" Harry looked up in surprise.

"We are being denied information and it seems that we have lost almost all means of contact with the outside world. The Ministry will only provide what the Dark Lord wished to be known and all other avenues are watched too closely to be of any real help."

"Then - " Harry was cut off by a look from the headmaster.

"Then you are left with only two choices; act blindly or get information in any way that you can." Professor Dumbledore peered at them over his half-moon spectacles.

"How can this be the right thing?" Ginny could see Harry struggling with the question, particularly when he knew he would have to torture again. She knew it too... she knew that here element was well suited to torture. She knew that she would not let Harry suffer something she wouldn't share in.

"This war, for that is what we find ourselves fighting, does not allow us the luxury of doing 'the right thing'. If we only act with adherence to the rules we will be at a disadvantage."

"But - "

"Do no more damage than you must." Ginny murmured.

"Indeed." Professor Dumbledore smiled. "I see you have been listening to the advice of old men."

"Then we go on?" Harry pressed for an answer and Ginny understood why. To have the Headmaster give his permission took some of the weight off Harry's shoulders. There wasn't much that could lessen the burden they were learning to carry but this would help.

"Yes. We most hope that there will be time to make amends when the fighting is over. For now, we go on."

Ginny wondered if that was why Dumbledore chose to teach. He could easily have been Minister for Magic, but he chose Hogwarts.

"What about The Order?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore was being very quiet on the subject. It wasn't as though she thought the Order of the Phoenix were sitting idle, it just didn't seem like they could help directly. It was a disappointment. Ginny didn't think she had ever wanted adults to help them so much.

"They will always provide what they can." The headmaster said. "In fact, there is some news that I had hoped to verify before I shared."

"Bad news, I assume?" Ginny asked.

"Any news can come in useful even if it appears to be bad at first." Dumbledore told her. "Tell me, have any of your group come across the concept of a Horcrux?"

. . .

Draco had been shadowing Professor Snape's every move for two weeks. He hadn't been to a DA meeting and Blaze was clearly annoyed at him. Draco hadn't found time to explain and for now Blaze hadn't felt the need to call him on his actions.

He was stirring his cauldron absently, it wasn't his class that he was attending. Snape had given his older students permission to practice any potions they wished during their free periods so long as they stayed at the back of the class and didn't disrupt things.

Snape had been speaking to Pansy all afternoon. Well, not ALL afternoon, but Draco could see there was a dialogue between the pair more complex than 'is this draught the precise shade of scarlet described, sir?' and 'Miss Parkinson, those seeds must be powdered, not merely crushed'.

Not that Snape spoke that way now; orders were snapped and any results merely satisfactory at best. This was new. Snape was actually teaching some of the Slytherins in the same way he dealt with the rest of the school. It wasn't the careful act of malice, it was the real thing.

Draco was one of the lucky ones who Snape merely ignored. It meant Pansy had made progress where he could not.

He had to see her and find out what was happening.

Strangely his one ally in this was Lavender Brown. He would most likely have turned to her anyway because more and more often that was becoming his first idea when he needed help, but recently she had displayed a mastery of potions which was nothing short of spectacular.

Snape would at least listen to her questions, even though his responses were short tempered.

She openly admitted she had no clue where it had come from; she had always been good at the subject but something seemed to have fallen into place for her; she understood the concoction and could actually feel if the liquid inside her cauldron would be able to do what she asked of it. More importantly, if it wasn't then she knew how to put it right.

"Draco? Finite Incantatem! Draco?"

The voice broke him out of his thoughts and he blinked. The room was dark around him.

"W-Wha-" Draco stopped. He swayed dangerously and gripped the table before him for support.

"Someone hexed you." Lavender explained as Draco sat gratefully on one of the tall wooden stools in the potions classroom.

"I see." He frowned as his mind struggled to catch up. What time was it? How long had he been there?

"I was supposed to see Professor Snape, but he seems to be missing." Lavender babbled. She always did when she was nervous.

"Snape?"

"About this last batch of drought – I think I can change it to do something more than just make people tired."

"I'd have thought he'd be interested." Draco dragged his thoughts into focus.

"He was, that's why it's so strange that he's gone." She wrung her hands as she looked around the empty classroom.

"And I was here alone?"

"You were." She winced. Lavender understood what it would mean.

"He must know I was watching him." Draco sighed.

"Well, that's no problem." She let her words slow down to a normal pace. He must have been looking better. At least she wasn't panicking now.

"Really?" He drawled as his thoughts raced.

"I can do enough to keep him interested in my work." She explained quietly, hair shining in the semi-dark. "I'm not... I'm not being big headed, I just have so many ideas right now. I can tell him half of them and it'd take me all week. Then there's the brewing and the testing."

"I see." He nodded. "That would be good. Thank you."

"Any time." She smiled at him and he grinned back foolishly. He couldn't help it.

"What is it?" Draco asked when he realised she had been quiet for longer than was normal.

"Well, I always wanted a talent. This isn't what I expected and it's come on so quickly." Lavender perched on the desk in front of him.

"Maybe we should try to find Hermione again?" Draco had been trying to track her for weeks but she never seemed to leave Gryffindor Tower at the moment.

"I'd like that. I know there's something strange going on." Lavender said.

"Yes." There was no point in pretending things were normal now. "And I have to admit that I feel like you're involved."

"I know. You're in the middle of it with me." Hearing Lavender say the words made him proud. He didn't know why, but he felt it all the same. "Draco, you're the only one I can turn to and... I don't understand what's happening to us. I'm not sure about any of it. I think I want to run. I'm terrified of it, but I can't stop this."

Lavender traced patterns against the potions desk and wouldn't meet his eyes. "I don't know what to do. There are other things I want."

"There are other things I want from you." Draco heard himself speak before he realised he'd made the decision. He'd been suppressing the words for long enough that it shocked him to hear them. What was happening tonight?

"I – I don't - " She didn't look up.

He paused as disappointment swept through him... but she didn't move away.

"Draco?" She broke the silence first.

"Wait, just wait, give me a moment."

She didn't speak, he honestly thought that she couldn't. She wasn't saying yes but she wasn't saying no either. Everything felt different today. Something had changed and it made him feel bold.

"Lavender, tell me if this feels wrong. You need to tell me stop." Draco pressed his lips against hers. God help him, what had taken him so long?

She wrapped her arms around him, meeting his passion with her own. He hadn't expected more than a chaste kiss, but he couldn't stop himself as her lips parted against his own.

When they broke apart, breathless and surprised, she was the first to speak.

"It's not. It's not wrong." She smiled. "I haven't ever actually..."

"Me either." Draco felt himself blush slightly as he spoke.

"Really?" He hadn't admitted that to anyone before.

"Is it that hard to believe?"

"Yes, actually. You and Ginny..." Lavender looked at him, questioningly.

"Oh, that. I... needed my father to give me some freedom." He realised he still held Lavender in his arms, he supposed he should step away but he couldn't bring himself to move.

"So you annoyed him." She laughed.

"Yes, and... why are we talking about this now?" Draco made sure that the look he gave her made his thoughts clear. He gave her plenty of time to back away from his advances.

"I'm sure you started it." She whispered as he moved closer to her.

The next kiss took his breath away and Draco didn't care at all. It was wonderful. He's never felt anything like this before.

Everything faded away, the room and his thoughts seemed do far from the feel of her lips against his and his hands at her waist. She pulled him closer as the kiss deepened. The feelings built, it was only a kiss, but there was so much more too it... something rose within them, it uncurled and flooded out into the room. Something danced between the two. Power swept through them and melded perfectly together.

When they broke the kiss neither one could form a sentence for long moments.

"Find Hermione?" Lavender whispered, as snow swirled around them.

"I think so." He took her hand and they left the snow-covered classroom together.