Draco's POV:

As soon as the Minister of Magic was murdered, I was forced to go to the Weasley's house to try to get Potter and Elaine with the rest of Voldemort's idiots. Luckily, when I arrived, I had only caught a glimpse of her running past me and she escaped. If only I could've grabbed her and took her far away from all of this. All I wanted to do was talk to her. It was obvious now that any mail I sent her wouldn't get a reply...I just hope that I'm wrong and she can still write to me.

Elaine's POV:

A few days had went by since Harry sent Kreacher to collect Mundungus. Of course, the four of us spent the time in silence...trying to think our next move out very carefully. Our only contact with the outside world was, of course, the Daily Prophet that Harry had dropped off on the front step every morning.

Finally the day came that Kreacher and Mundungus apparated into the house...only, they weren't alone. Dobby the house elf accompanied them. Ron wrestled Mundungus into a chair as Hermione disarmed him. "Dobby was only try to help. Dobby saw Kreacher in Diagon Alley which Dobby thought was curious and then Dobby heard Kreacher mention Harry Potter's name and then Dobby saw Kreacher talking with the their," Dobby explained to Harry politely. "I'm no thief...you foul little..." Mundungus started but I raised my wand towards him and he shutup. "You're a thief Dun and everyone knows it," I said calmly, keeping my wand pointed towards him. "Master Weasley and the two Miss Grangers! So good to see you again," Dobby exclaimed as he took time to shake each of our hands. Harry then turned back to Mundungus and began questioning him. "Tell the truth...when you turned this place over...don't deny it. You found a locket am I right?" Harry asked. "Why? Was it valuable?" Mundungus asked. "Have you still got it?" Hermione asked quickly. "He's worried he didn't get enough money for it," Ron said loud enough for the room to hear. "Practically gave it away, didn't I? There I was selling me things in Diagon Alley when a Ministry witch comes up and asks to see me license. I didn't have anything so she took my locket instead," Mundungus explained. "Who was she? The witch, do you know?" Harry asked. "No I- well she's there," Mundungus said looking at yesterdays paper that was on the kitchen table. "Pink bow and all," he continued. The four of us put our heads together and looked at the newspaper. I recognized her instantly. Hermione told me all about Umbridge teaching at Hogwarts the year before I came and Harry still has the scars on his hands from when she forced him to write with his own blood.

Once we questioned Mundungus a bit more, we let him leave.

Once it was the four of us alone, we spent the rest of the night planning what we were going to do. Obviously, Umbridge works at the Ministry of Magic, so our best shot of finding her and the horcrux would be going there asap.

Luckily, Hermione had a supply of polyjuice potion for us to use. The plan was to use it and turn into Ministry workers. We also decided that Hermione and I would stay together; I would be under Harry's invisibility cloak. In case things got complicated, it was much easier for me to be under the invisibility cloak, wand ready at all times.

The next day we all stepped out of Grimmhauld Place and apparated to an abandoned store close to the entrance of the Ministry of Magic.

One by one Harry and Ron stunned and carried in three Ministry workers. "This here is Reginald Cattermore, Albert Runcorn, and Mafalda Hopkirk," Harry said as he pulled hairs from each of them.

When the time was right and Harry, Ron and Hermione all had their Ministry workers' clothes on, they drank the potion. I watched as their faces bubbled and changed to an exact replica of the workers passed out on the floor beside me. "Ready?" Harry asked. I quickly slipped the invisibility cloak over my head and followed Hermione out of the door. When we began walking down the street, Ron and Harry left to go to the Gentleman's bathroom and Hermione and I walked into the Ladies' room. I gracefully snuck into the stall where Hermione was going and she whispered to me. "Oh Elaine we have to flush ourselves," she began as she shuddered. "I think I'm going to be sick," she continued. "I'll go first," I said. I stepped into the toilet and pulled the chain. I was sucked down into the toilet and instantly reappeared right in the middle of the main hallway of the Ministry. Careful to avoid touching anyone, I made my way to where Hermione had appeared. "Elaine, are you there?" she whispered under her breath. "Yes," I replied as quietly as I could.

Hermione and I then began walking. We walked somewhat close to where Harry and Ron were, but not close enough that it was obvious. As we passed the Daily Prophet stand, I gently grabbed Hermione's arm. On the front cover was not only Harry's picture, but mine as well. It was a picture of me that showed me getting off the Hogwarts Express...the time I bumped into Lucius Malfoy as I stepped off. The cover of the newspaper read 'Undesirable No. 1 and 2'. Hermione quickly slipped one of the papers into her bag and continued moving on. We arrived at the statue placed in the middle of the Ministry. Under the statue was a sign that read 'Magic is Might'. "Are those..." Harry's voice said from next to Hermione. "Muggles. In their rightful place," Hermione whispered.

We continued on, with Harry and Ron right near us, we all entered the same elevator. The elevator was difficult for me to navigate without being touched or noticed by anyone so Harry, Ron and Hermione formed this barricade using their own bodies to block me from other people. "I say if we don't find Umbridge within the hour, we come back another day," Harry said. Suddenly, a Death Eater, that I recognized to be named Yaxley, walked onto the elevator. "Cattermore! It's still raining inside my office. That's two days now," Yaxley snarled. "Have you tried an umbrella?" Ron sniggered. "You do realize I'm going downstairs to interrogate your wife. You have one hour," Yaxley snapped. Yaxley left the elevator at the next stop and Mr. Weasley walked in. I noticed Ron shifted uncomfortably where he was standing. "Morning Reg," Mr. Weasley said to Ron. Ron smiled, catching himself when he almost called Mr. Weasley 'dad'.

After Ron left the elevator to find Yaxley's office, Harry got off on the floor with Umbridge's office on it. Just as he stepped off the elevator, Umbridge stepped on. "Ah, Mafalda. Travis sent you down here, did he? Good," Umbridge said as she stepped onto the elevator. She took Hermione and I down to the courtrooms where a young witch was being interrogated. As we stepped into the room, the entire ceiling was filled with dementors and the only thing holding them back was Yaxley's weak patronus. As we sat closest to Umbridge, Hermione's job was to sort through paperwork. As Hermione pretended to do that, I tried to get a better look at Umbridge. Slowly and quietly I leaned over towards Umbridge and there it was. The locket. I jumped back down next to Hermione and whispered 'she's wearing it' in her ear.

Not a moment later Harry and Ron walked into the courtroom. "Ah thank you Albert," Umbridge said as she continued to question the witch.

As Umbridge continued to talk, I watched Harry closely and noticed that his face was slowly beginning to bubble again. He was shrinking back to his normal height. Then, I saw his wand slide out of his sleeve. "What are you doing Albert?" Umbridge asked. "You're lying, Dolores, and you must not tell lies," Harry said as he sent a stunning spell that hit her square in the chest. I whipped off the invisibility cloak as Hermione popped up and grabbed the horcrux. Ron grabbed the woman being interrogated as Yaxley and a hundred dementors were right on our tail.

We ran as fast as we could down the hallway and towards the elevator door. When we reached the elevator, we dove into the elevator and Harry and I conjured patronuses to keep the dementors away. Harry's stag and by my fox patronus charged the dementors as the elevator door came to a close. The elevator finally began moving and we reached the main floor of the Ministry in no time.

As we were on our way out, Ron stopped to talk to his fake wife. "Mary, go home. Get the kids, I'll meet you there. We have to leave the country," Ron ordered. Just then, Mary grabbed Ron's face and began kissing him. "Ron!" Hermione screeched. He had turned back to his normal self and Mary almost passed out from shock. "It's Harry Potter! And Elaine Granger!" screamed a random wizard as we grabbed Ron and ran to the exit. We began to run to the row of fireplaces where we could apparate, but Yaxley was right on our tail. I ran as fast as I possibly could as the fireplaces closed one by one. I finally was able to send a spell towards Yaxley and he was slowed down a bit. It didn't take long before he caught us with us again.

As Harry, Ron, Hermione and I jumped into the last opened fireplace, Yaxley grabbed my leg. It was too late. I kicked him off as we arrived at Grimmhauld Place and then grabbed everyone else and apparated into a forest where Jason and I used to go hiking. We landed on the crunchy leaves and were safe at last...only, Ron was hurt.

"Elaine! Elaine! In my bag, get the medicine," Hermione said as she crawled over to Ron. "Accio ditany!" I said and the medicine flew into my hands. I quickly handed her the medicine and looked down at Ron. A big chunk of his arm as missing. "Elaine? What happened? Why aren't we at Grimmhauld Place," Harry asked as he too crawled over to Ron's side. "We were there but Yaxley had a hold of me and I knew that if he saw where we were we couldn't go back so I brought us here. Jason and I used to come hiking here. It was the first place I could think of," I said in a shaky voice. Ron was howling in pain and it was very difficult to ignore that. Once Ron calmed down and Hermione bandaged his arm, I stood up and began putting up protective enchantments. "What are you doing?" Harry asked. "Protective enchantments of course. While I'm doing this, can you put up the tent?" I asked. "Where do you suppose I'm going to find a tent?" Harry asked in a snippy tone. I rolled my eyes and pointed to my bag.

Once Harry was finished setting up the tent, we all helped Ron into one of the beds. He arm was in a sling and it wouldn't be safe for him to apparate right now. He's not strong enough.

Our next few days in the woods consisted of the four of us trying to destroy the horcrux. It was nearly impossible. No matter what spell I tried nothing worked. It was insanely frustrating and wearing the horcrux only made it worse. Since it contained a piece of Voldemort's soul, it made all of us on edge and moody when we wore it.

About four days into our stay in the woods, Harry thought it would be best to continue moving. It wasn't safe to stay in one place too long. The next spot Harry chose to set up camp was a hillside. And a few days later we lived in-between two mountains.

Things between the four of us were getting very tense. Harry and Ron would pick at each other and Hermione and I were starting to fight now too. Usually, when we took shifts to be lookouts, Ron and I stayed together as did Hermione and Harry. The fact that Hermione was spending all her time with Harry was driving Ron crazy. Ron, as everyone knows, is in love with my sister, and I don't blame him for being jealous. Hermione didn't hide the fact that her and Harry were only growing closer.

One night, Ron and I were eating while Hermione was giving Harry a haircut. "Oh my god!" Hermione exclaimed and Harry's hand went immediately to the back of his head where she was cutting his hair. "What?" Harry asked as the two of them rushed to the table where Ron and I were. "I'll tell you in a second," she replied as she pulled books from her bag. "Maybe you could tell me now," Harry said impatiently. "The sword of Gryfinndor! It's goblin-made," Hermione said, still skimming pages in the book she pulled out. "Brilliant," Harry replied, clearly confused. "No...you don't understand," Hermione answered. "Hermione! I see where you are going with this! Dirt and rust have no effect on the blade. It only takes in that which makes it stronger!" I said, knowing exactly what Hermione was doing. "Exactly!" she exclaimed. "Uh...okay?" Harry said skeptically. "Harry! You only destroyed one horcrux right--Tom's Riddle's diary in the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione explained. "Yea...with a basilic fang. If you tell me you've got one of those in that bloody beaded bag of yours," Harry snapped. "Don't you see? In the Chamber of Secrets you stabbed the basilic with the sword of Gryfinndor. It's blade is impregnated with basilic venom," Hermione responded, acting like the answer was obvious. "It only takes in that which makes it stronger!" Harry exclaimed, finally understanding. "Exactly...which is why it could destroy horcruxes!" I said. I looked over to Ron to see if he understood as well but he was gone.

With a little zap, all the lights in the tent were shut off. "Ron?" I asked into the darkness. "Yeah, I'm still here, but you three carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun," Ron said as he clicked the lights back on. "What's wrong?" Harry asked, standing up slowly from the table. "Wrong? Nothings wrong. Not according to you anyway," snapped Ron. "If you've got something to say don't be shy...spit it out," Harry said snapping back. At this point, I stood up, readying my wand. Ron's eyes made him look crazy...I could tell something was going to happen.

"Alright...I'll spit it out, but don't expect me to be grateful just because there's another damn thing we've got to find," Ron said. "I thought you knew was you signed up for," Harry said, raising his voice more and more. I glanced at Hermione and saw she was getting worried. "Ronald," I started but Harry cut me off. "I'm sorry but I don't quite understand. What part of this isn't living up to your expectations? Did you think we'd be staying at a five-star hotel finding horcruxes every other day? You thought you'd be back with your mum by Christmas?" Harry screamed as he walked over to size-up Ron. "I just thought, after all this time we would've actually achieved something! I thought you knew what you were doing! I thought Dumbledore told you something worth while! I thought you had a plan!" Ron bellowed, his face growing redder and redder with every word. "I told you everything Dumbledore told me...and in case you haven't noticed we have found a horcrux already," Harry said. "Yeah and we are as close to getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them aren't we!" Ron screamed.

At this point, Hermione made a grab for the horcrux that was around Ron's neck. The horcrux is a powerful piece of magic and affects whomever wears it. Ron saw Hermione reach for it and pushed her aside. "Ron!" I screamed. If he pushed my sister again, he'd be hexed for sure. "Ron please take it off. You wouldn't be saying any of this if you hadn't been wearing it all day," Hermione said, beginning to cry. "You don't know why I listen to that radio every night do you? To make sure I don't hear Ginny's name or Fred or George or mum," Ron said. "You think I'm not listening too! You think I don't know how this feels!" Harry yelled. "NO YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THIS FEELS! YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD! YOU HAVE NO FAMILY!" Ron screamed. Ron had gone too far. Harry lunged at Ron and they began punching each other viciously. Hermione started to scream and tried separating them. I then took matters into my own hands. With a quick wave of my wand, an invisible wall in between the boys emerged so they couldn't get within two feet of each other. "GO!" Harry screamed at Ron. Ron threw the locket onto the ground and grabbed his bag. "And you two? Are you coming or are you staying?" Ron asked both of us. When Hermione and I didn't answer, he stormed out of the tent...and with a 'pop' we all new he was gone.

As soon as we heard that Ron apparated away, Hermione burst into tears and ran off outside, calling him name over and over again. Harry sat at the table with his head in his hands and I sat next to him, lost for words. "I'm going to check on her," Harry said and stood up. He came back to the table a few minutes later, looking even more upset than before. "Well?" I asked, but Harry didn't answer. He just looked at me with tear-filled eyes and placed his head on the table. "I'll take the first watch," I said, taking my wand and an extra blanket to sit outside with. "Go sleep, 'Mione," I said, stepping outside to see her sitting in the dirt, crying. "I've got the first watch," I told her, helping her to her feet and pushing her towards the entrance of the tent.

The next few weeks were very quiet. Unfortunately, there was no word from Ron...or anyone for that matter...including Draco. I knew that Draco figured it would be too risky to send mail to me now, but I was still hopeful. My hope remained as the nights grew colder and the snow covered the ground.

"Elaine! Come see this!" Harry called from outside the tent. Him and Hermione had gone to find a squirrel or bunny for food. I grabbed my wand and ran out of the tent to find Harry and Hermione kneeling on the ground in front of two big elegant owls. The owls seemed to have brought a basket with them. "Look," Harry said, handing me the note that seemed to have come with the basket. It read:

E-

I hope you're okay. I've risked a lot to send this and I hope these owls find you well. Wherever you are in the world, stay safe and stay hidden...they're looking for you everywhere! Here's something that I hope will help.

-D

"Oh my god," I said, looking back up at my friends. They had opened the basket that was packed to the brim with food and drinks. "That's Draco's handwriting?" Harry asked me. "Yes," I replied, smiling to myself. "We have to search this basket first before we eat anything...just incase," Hermione said immediately pulling out her wand and performing incantations under her breath. After fifteen minutes of watching her work, she told us everything seemed safe.

Immediately, Harry and I carried in the basket and dug through the entire thing, drooling over everything we pulled out. The basket, after all, had an undetectable extension charm on it, so it took us a while to take everything out. The entire basket included: tea bags, water bottles, sodas, frozen meats, eggs, milk, crisps, chocolate, muffins, breads, and pasta. There was so much of everything that Hermione, Harry and I cooked ourselves a giant feast. We were, after all, absolutely starving.

While we stuffed our mouths, our spirits rose higher. Ever since Ron left, Hermione spent most of her time with her nose in a book, but she wasn't actually reading. Her eyes were unfocused and full of tears. Harry was also quiet, leaving me by myself. I, of course, was upset that Ron had left as well, but I was trying to stay focused in defeating Voldemort.

"You should write him and thank him," Harry suggested as we cleaned our plates. "Are you sure, Harry? What if it gets intercepted?" Hermione asked, worried. "I won't write my name...but we do have to thank him," I said, pulling out a piece of paper and a quill. I wrote:

D-

Thank you so much for what you did.