"Draco, I can't possibly manage the release of all the Death Eaters in Azkaban. I don't know how I'd even be able to get one released," said Ginny, looking over the hands she had covering her face.

"I should have been plainer," replied Draco. "I only need five."

Ginny snorted. "You say that like that somehow makes the task easier. Any particular people you have in mind, or will any five murdering scumbags do?"

"Yes. Zabini, Bulstrode, Nott, Flint…and my Aunt Bella."

Draco heard Ginny gasp at the mention of the last name. He had known that this point would be a make or break for him. If she refused to release Bellatrix Lestrange then all bets were off and everyone was doomed.

"Malfoy, you must be insane. What you want-who you want-it isn't possible. I can't manage it, and even if I could, I wouldn't dare."

Draco crouched down in front of the red haired woman. "Ginny, you have to do this. If you don't, we'll all die in the end. You have to trust me. And you have to get Aunt Bella out of prison."

"I just can't. She killed Sirius. Harry would-"

Draco's face turned stony. "This is bigger than Harry Potter's feelings! Don't you understand? The Dark Lord is back, and he's going to kill us all!"

Ginny studied Draco's face and was shocked that she saw actual fear in his eyes. And for Draco to be scared frankly terrified Ginny. So she took a deep breath and tried to speak calmly.

"Draco, before I agree to any of this, you are going to have to explain to me what is going on."

"There's no time. First you have to-"

"You're going to have to make time Draco. If what you say is true, then I'll help you how ever I can. But before I go and break the law, before I release Death Eaters I caught, and especially before I release that woman, if I even can, you're going to have to make me understand why. I'm sorry Draco. I want to trust you but I just can't blindly follow you into doing something that goes against everything I've tried to do in the last five years."

Draco sighed and threw himself down on the sofa opposite of her. He studied his hands for a moment and then looked up at her.

"Alright. I guess I knew you'd demand an explanation, I was just hoping that we could be further along in the plan before I had to tell you. You aren't going to like it at all. It's risky, and dangerous, for more than just us, but I swear, Red, I can't think of any other way."

"Just tell me Draco." She hadn't expected him to so willingly give in to her demand. Seeing him so uncharacteristically humble chilled her blood more than she cared to acknowledge.

Draco pushed a hand through his hair. "Last night I got an owl summoning me to…a place. When I got there, Voldemort was alive and breathing. He looked awful, very weak, and not well at all, but even then I could see that wouldn't last long, and the dark mark on my arm starting to burn proves that his power is returning. But his being alive isn't what worries me. What worries me is what he told me.

He had plans Red. Big plans. He thinks…He believes…By Medusa's hair, I don't even know how to say it!"

"Just tell me, Draco," Ginny repeated and felt compelled at his obvious distress to lay a hand on his knee.

Draco quickly covered the small hand and gave it a quick squeeze. It had always amazed him that she had the power to soothe him, even in his greatest turmoil.

"When Potter, Weasley and Granger killed Nagini they thought they had destroyed the last horcrux. Well, that wasn't true. Although no one, including Voldemort, knew that at the time. He did put the last piece of his soul into Nagini, but what he didn't know was that a piece of his soul had been distributed elsewhere without his knowledge. A piece so miniscule he didn't even realize it was gone. But it was enough to bring him back again."

Ginny looked askance but said nothing so Draco continued.

"When Voldemort tried to kill Potter when he was an infant and failed, part of his soul was put into the babe. That's why Potter has the scar, that's why he could always hear Voldemort and Voldemort could hear him. And Voldemort won't die until all of his soul is dead.

So, that explains how he's still alive. He wants his piece of soul back, of course, and he wants me to kill Potter and get it for him." Draco held up a hand to stop Ginny when he saw she was about to protest. "I don't intend to follow those orders, Red, so relax. As tempting as it is to do away with him, it's much more dangerous to have the Dark Lord back and with full capabilities.

Besides, it's not as simple as just killing Harry Potter. You see, there is a book somewhere. It's called The Book of Souls. I've been charged with finding this book. In it is the spell he needs to not only take back his own soul, but take Potter's as well. This would make him powerful beyond compare. To own the soul of one who can defeat you is….well, its nirvana. And Voldemort wants that. More than anything."

Ginny felt as if someone had dropped the Knight Bus on her.

"Draco, we have to warn Harry. I can't just let him be wandering around with no knowledge of the Dark Lord being out there and gunning for him!"

"Red, you can't tell him. You know that if you do, he'll just go out there, likely taking your brother and Granger with him and get himself killed. He won't understand that putting himself at risk only helps Voldemort. If he dies, the Dark Lord gets what he wants. The best thing for Potter is to just stay put, and he won't do that if he knows Voldemort is alive. You know that."

Ginny had to agree. Harry would never hide or allow someone else to face the Dark Lord. Still, she couldn't see how she could just let him live in ignorance.

"Draco, this explains a lot but it doesn't tell me why you want Death Eaters released. In fact, I still find it rather hard to believe that you are against Voldemort killing Harry. It seems like that would delight you to no end."

Draco gave her a look that caused Ginny's blood to go cold once again.

"That's because you haven't heard it all yet. You haven't heard the worst. You see, once the Dark Lord has killed Potter and taken his soul and Potter's as well, he intends to kill off all but just a few witches and wizards. He thinks…he thinks that he can rule the muggles world. He intends to start a war of magic, in which most of the witches and wizards will die and the few that don't, he and his 'special ones' will finish off. Then he, using them, will rule the muggles. He thinks they will be so afraid of magic that he can control them. The few he has chosen to survive will carry out his orders for him, and he will rule the entire world, magic and muggle."

He heard Ginny gasp again but kept going.

"The Death Eaters I named, they're the ones he's 'chosen'. Those are the ones who will keep him alive while I look for the book and kill Potter, and those are the ones he thinks will carry out his orders once he's managed to kill off the rest of the magical world."

"But Draco," said Ginny, leaning forward, "If those are the ones he wants, why would you want them out to do his bidding? If you are really trying to stop him, that doesn't make sense."

"But it does Red. You see, what he doesn't know is that, with the exception of Bella, every one of them were involved with the plot to kill him before Potter took care of it for us. And I've no doubt that when I explain the situation to them, they'll help me end it finally."

"Well then, we'll get them all but Bellatrix."

Draco shook his head. "No, it has to be all of them, including Bella. He'll be suspicious if I don't bring him all of them. It's alright though. I know Aunt Bella's quite insane, but Pansy can handle her."

"Parkinson!" Ginny leapt up from her chair. "You know where Parkinson is? You have to tell me!"

"I won't turn Pansy in to you Weasley. You know better. She's helping me, us, if you agree to help me. You'll have to get over it."

Ginny growled. She didn't like failure and Pansy Parkinson was her only failure since becoming an Auror. But she once again, had to agree with Draco. It sounded as if they were going to need all the help they could get. Ginny suddenly realized that she had already decided to help Draco. But she needed to ask one more question.

"Draco, what are we going to do when we find this book? How will any of this help defeat the Dark Lord? If Harry had a piece of his soul, then from the past experiences I'd say that means Harry has to die. They had to destroy all the other horcruxes to get rid of the pieces of soul. And I have to tell you, I'm not letting you kill Harry!"

Draco sighed. "Yes, I realize that you aren't going to participate in any Pottercide, Red. I've gotten from a good source that this book will also tell us how to get the piece of soul out of Potter and destroy it, and with it, Voldemort. So we have to find the book."

"A good source? Who would know that sort of thing?"

Draco wasn't stupid enough to tell her it was Snape who told him. She'd nearly lost it when he told her about Pansy, there'd be no way she'd let Snape slide as well. "Just trust me; it was from someone who knows."

Ginny sank back into her chair and lowered her head. She was silent for several minutes. Just as Draco became impatient and was about to urge her to believe him again, she raised her head and spoke.

"May the Gods help me, Draco, I believe you. And I'm going to help you. I think I have an idea that might just work to get the Death Eaters you asked for out of Azkaban. But so help me, if you are scamming me in any way, if there is anything more to this that you haven't told me, any lingering feelings of compassion I might hold for you will be put aside. I will kill you myself, Draco, or spend the rest of my life trying. Do you understand?"

Draco looked straight into her fiery eyes. "I do."

"Alright then. You need to step into the other room for a moment so I can make a floo call."

"Who are you going to call?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Draco," Ginny said, with a half smile on her face, "You asked me to trust you. You're going to have to do the same. If we've any hope of getting people out of Azkaban without an all out fire fight, we need certain papers. I believe I might be able to procure those papers, but it will take a certain amount of…sweet talk. I won't come off as convincing if there is a man in the room, and likely someone will think I'm being forced to ask for them if they see YOU in the room. So just go around the corner into the kitchen there for a moment. Find yourself another cup of coffee or tea or something and let me do what I have to do."

When he still hesitated, Ginny gave him a shove in the direction of the kitchen. Draco twitched his wand and the pot floated over and refilled his cup. As he picked it up, he heard Ginny talking in the other room.

"Dean! You handsome devil! How are you?"

Draco sloshed hot coffee on his hand. Dean Thomas. Draco disliked Thomas almost as much as he disliked Potter. Little ministry, do-gooder, Gryffindor git. Of course, this had nothing at all to do with the fact that he had run across Ginny and Thomas snogging in an abandoned hall in Hogwarts many years ago. That was long before he considered Ginny anything other than just another bloody Weasley, so what could she have to do with his particular dislike of Dean Thomas? Nothing, Draco assured himself.

"Oh, thank you so much, Dean! You've no idea how this will help me with my investigation. And definitely give me a call sometime next week. I hear that club over on Diagon is just great!"

Moments later, Ginny came into the kitchen with a smile on her face and waving several documents in front of her. "I've got them!"

"Yes," sneered Draco, "But what did you have to promise the git to get them?"

Ginny looked at him speculatively. "Jealous, Draco?"

Draco snorted. "I've had you Weasley, and I know you only go about with goody goody Gryffs for your image. It's Slytherins you really crave. What's to be jealous of?"

Ginny felt the righteous indignation burning her face. "See here, Malfoy! There'll be none of that sort of smut if you want me to help you! "

But Draco was already examining the documents she had laid on the counter. "There's not one here for Aunt Bella."

"No," Ginny said, diverted from her tirade, "I dared not ask. We'll have to do something different to get to her. No one talks to Bellatrix Lestrange but Harry. And no one's allowed near her cell but him."

"So what did you have in mind?"

Ginny frowned. "I'm working on it."

Draco raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It wasn't like Ginny to go into something without a plan. If it were up to him then they'd just go into Azkaban blasting, but he knew she'd never stand for that. She wouldn't want to hurt anyone else if she could avoid it. While Draco didn't have that particular care, he wasn't going to risk her ire and lose the help he desperately needed from her by suggesting it.

"Ok, so what do we do now?"

"Well, you need some sort of disguise. Then we go to Azkaban."

"How about this?" Draco asked, as he gave his wand a flourish and the black cloak he had worn yesterday in the pub appeared. When he pulled the hood up he was completely hidden from view from head to toe.

"It will do I suppose. Let's go," Ginny said making her way back towards the fireplace.

Tossing the green powder into the flames, she grabbed Draco's hand. He had just a moment to reflect that holding hands with someone when she flooed was always an amusing quirk she had had and it felt so familiar to him to have her grasp his hand in her small, warm one. The next moment, they were both stepping out of a large fireplace and into the cold, dim room that Draco knew was the lobby of Azkaban.

A guard looked up from a desk and said, "What be yer business?"

Ginny straightened up and let go of Draco's hand. As she brushed the soot from her the robes she had thrown on before she had called Dean Thomas, she said, "Ginevra Weasley, Auror. I'm here to question some prisoners about an investigation I'm conducting. Here are my papers."

She laid the documents on the desk and the guard examined them. Then he looked up and nodded towards the hooded Draco. "And this one?"

"This person is a witness in the investigation. I prefer they not be identified by the prisoners. I'm sure you understand that for now, their name will be kept confidential as well."

"But ma'am, it's against policy not to identify yourself at the front desk. I can't allow anyone to pass without their name, wand, and seeing their face."

Ginny drew herself up and gave the guard a glare worthy of a basilisk. "I'm sure YOU understand who I am, don't you, Officer…" she leaned over to read his name tag, "Tidywater? I report directly to Head Auror Potter. I can of course, give him a call and clear up this misunderstanding if necessary. I'm sure he won't mind being woken up on a Saturday morning."

The guard looked horrified at the thought of waking the great Harry Potter. Draco snorted and Ginny gave him an inconspicuous elbow to the ribs.

"No ma'am, I'm sure that won't be necessary. Just let me call someone to escort you down to the cells."

"That is unnecessary as well, Tidywater. I don't want to disrupt the Prison routines any more than I already have. Just pass along the spell keys to the prisoner's cells I have documents for and I'll show myself to them. I'm acquainted with the prison floor plan."

The guard looked as though he was about to rebel again, and this time Draco quietly grasped his wand inside the deep pocket of his cloak.

But then Tidywater relented and pulled open a drawer that held several old, ornate keys. He passed four to Ginny and said, "Just say the prisoner's name backwards followed by your own Auror's id and it should open right up for you."

Ginny accepted the keys and nodded. "Thank you Tidywater. I'll be sure to mention to my boss how observant you have been to the rules. He'll be pleased about that, I'm sure."

Without another word, she turned and started off down the corridor. Draco followed.

"Well, now I've seen everything. Imagine, a Weasley abusing their position!"

"Shut it, Draco. It got you in, didn't it?" Ginny growled.

They stopped in front of a cell. "Edortslub Weas-7," said Ginny and the door swung open.

Draco stepped in after Ginny and got quite a shock. There, lying on a dirty cot was Millie Bulstrode. But it was only half of her. When last seen in freedom, Millicent Bulstrode had stood six foot two inches tall and weighed close to three hundred pounds. The Millicent Draco was looking at now seemed much shorter and if she was one-fifty it was soaking wet. Amazingly, if she hadn't looked so haggard and pale, she'd be beautiful.

"What do you want Weasley? I've nothing to give you. I'll not turn in my friends, I've already told you that!' she said, struggling up from the cot.

Ginny said nothing but only stepped aside for Draco to come forward.

"Relax Millie," he said, pushing his hood back, "I've come to take you out of here."

Millicent's already pale face went a shade paler. "Draco? Draco Malfoy? What are you doing here? And with HER? Oh Draco, you haven't turned on us all, have you?"

"Calm down, Millicent. Just calm down and let me tell you," Draco began, taking Bulstrode by the shoulders and pushing her gently back down on the cot. He sat down beside her and told her the same story he told Ginny a couple of hours before at her flat. When he was done he asked, "So Millie, will you help?"

"Of course I will," replied the worn looking woman. "But what about after? I'm not coming back here!"

Draco gave Ginny a pleading look and she replied, "I'm sure if you help with this Bulstrode, that something can be worked out with the ministry. A pardon or something. I'll put in for it myself."

"Alright then. What do I do first Draco?"

"Take this," Draco said, pushing a small stone into her hand. "It's a port key. It will take you to Pansy. She'll tell you what to do."

"She can't use that in the prison. Port keys won't work here. We'll have to get her outside somehow," Ginny said when she saw the stone.

"I can find my own way out, Weasley, that's no problem now that the cell is unlocked," said Millicent with a grin.

"Bulstrode, don't hurt anyone. If you do…."

Draco spoke up. "Millie won't do that, will you Millie?"

The woman shook her head. "No, I know a way out that the guards don't know about. Of course, it was never any good to me because I couldn't get off the island. But if the port key will work…"

"What is this way out, Bulstrode?" Ginny asked.

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Because we have other people to release and they may not know the way! Are you going to help or not because I can take that port key and lock you back up, you know?" said Ginny, her voice beginning to rise.

"Why don't you try that, Weasley?" said Millicent, bristling.

"I've done it before," replied Ginny, reaching in her pocket for her wand.

"Ladies, ladies," said Draco, stepping between the two of them. "We have a common goal, remember? Where is the passage Millie? We really do need to know. I'm here for Blaise and Theo and Marcus as well."

Millicent smiled at the thought of seeing her old friends again outside the confines of the prison. "There's graffiti scratched into the wall on the third cell block. It says 'There be warlocks here'. Press on that stone and a secret stairwell will open. It will take you into a cave on the shore of the island."

"Thank you Millie," said Draco, giving the woman a kiss on the cheek. "We'll see you soon."

"I hope you know what you're doing Draco, trusting a Weasley," said Millicent and then she was gone.

Draco and Ginny went though the same procedure with Nott and Flint with only slight variations. Nott attempted to charge Ginny the second she walked into his cell and Draco had to step between them and restrain Theo from hurting her until he could explain what was happening. Flint, on the other hand, hadn't been captured by Ginny and he made not so subtle passes at her until Draco was infuriated. In the end, both had been convinced and sent to the secret passage with a pork key for escape.

As they approached Blaise Zabini's cell, Ginny muttered, "Hermione is going to kill me for this one."

"I'd all but forgotten about that," said Draco. He remembered suddenly that in seventh year, when the Golden Trio had returned to Hogwarts after having destroyed what they thought were the last of the horcruxes that something had happened between Granger and Blaise. Everyone had assumed that the Weasel King and the mudblood would be together, an item. It had been obvious to everyone that they the two were mad for each other and it seemed the natural progression after facing death together would be a union between the two. It hadn't happened like that. Instead, Granger and Weasley were awkward and barely even looked at each other. Whatever had happened the summer before, it had only driven the two further apart instead of closer together.

To Draco's amazement, Zabini began to display signs of being smitten by Granger. Despite Draco's numerous attempts to persuade him to see sense, Blaise had persued Granger and for a time, the two could be seen snogging almost constantly in any of the out of the way places in the school. It had ended badly of course, as everyone knew it would, when Weasley had finally forced Blaise into a confrontation and in his anger, Blaise made a disparaging remark about mudbloods.

Draco had never understood Granger's shock at hearing Blaise say that 'even clabberts were better than mudbloods'. Didn't she know that's how he felt? He was a Slytherin after all. What had she expected him to say?

At any rate, that had been the end, because no amount of apologies, swearing he didn't mean it, and even declarations of love would soften her to him again. She turned her back on Blaise and never seemed to look back. In fact, completely against what all Gryffindors claimed they were, she made Blaise's life harder at every opportunity. Detentions for little to no reason, points taken for minor indiscretions, and nasty remarks that she knew cut him. Draco remembered dark days of actually worrying that Blaise would do something foolish, he seemed so broken hearted over the smarmy know it all. Then he bounced back. Draco had thought that things might be ok after all.

He'd never known exactly what she did to push him over the edge but Blaise had done something so spectacular that it went down in Slytherin history books. It was a tale he was sure would be told when his great grandchildren were attending. He had thoroughly humiliated Granger in a way that even Draco had never been evil enough to consider.

Ginny opened the cell and Draco entered first, not wanting a repeat of what had happened with Nott. Blaise didn't attack though. He simply looked up from the floor that he'd been staring at.

When Draco pulled back his hood, Blaise gave him a smile that horrified him, because it looked like the smile of a dead man, instead of the one of his best boyhood friend.

"Draco, have you come to join me?"

Draco snorted. He decided maybe Blaise wasn't as bad off as he looked. "Not likely Zabini. I've come to send you home."

"Has the fair Miss Weasley decided to be compassionate now and release all those she had wronged?

"I wronged you Zabini?" Ginny asked, a dangerous gleam in her eye.

Blaise returned her gaze without flinching. "Didn't you? I wouldn't call your interrogatory tactics exactly routine, would you? Or did my particular treatment have something to do with your dear friend and past wrongs?

Ginny only looked away for a split second, but Draco saw it and he knew that he was missing something important between these two. But he didn't have time to fish it out now.

"Blaise, I need to tell you some things," he began, and once again repeated the story.

When he was done and Blaise was on his way out of his cell to the passage, Ginny stopped him.

"Zabini," she called out, and Blaise turned to face her. "Hermione had nothing to do with what happened to you. She didn't know. Your issue is with me and me alone. Stay away from her. If you don't, I'll be coming for you, despite all this."

Blaise gave her a look that made Draco worry. "What makes you think, Auror Weasley, that I won't be coming for you when this is over, anyway?"

And with that he was out the door. Draco gave Ginny an interested look. "Someday you'll have to tell me what that is all about."

"I'd rather not," replied Ginny. "Now, we've got to see what we can do about Lestrange."

"What did you have in mind?"

Ginny sat down on the cot in Zabini's abandoned cell. "Well, I've got a plan, but it will require your help."

Draco sat down beside her. "Tell me all about it, Red."