White Knight, Grey Queen
8 - Finishing

By

Pansy stirred, sleepily opening her eyes and looking around in the dark.  Something had disturbed her; she just didn’t know what.

Harry was fast asleep beside her; his chest rising and falling with a comforting regularity.  She reached out and brushed his hair back softly, checking that it wasn’t him that had caused her to wake.

It wasn’t. 

After the meeting, Harry had moved Ron, Hermione, and Ginny back into the Room of Requirement.  He hadn’t actually told anyone, but with Dumbledore’s surprising announcement, and how he had talked to Molly earlier, he’d known that no one would stand in his way.

They’d all gone to bed after the meeting; she had been exhausted and knew that Harry and Ginny were as well.  Their absorption of Nott’s powers had tired them out, and spending the rest of the evening bringing the Order up to date had finished them off. 

Ron had gone straight to his room, keeping to his promise of leaving them alone. 

She sighed softly.  If it had been her choice, Ron would be out of their lives so fast his feet wouldn’t have touched the floor.  He’d hurt her, and he’d hurt Harry and Ginny.  Her instinct was to take steps to make sure he’d never do it again; no matter what it took.  But he was still Harry’s best male friend, and that did concern her a little.  He needed more male friends, but he seemed more comfortable around girls. 

She felt the same thing that had awoken her again, so she crawled out of bed.  She straightened her silk pyjama top and padded quietly out into their living room.  The stone floor was cold, so she danced over to Ginny’s door, and placed her ear to it.

Pansy could hear a low muffled sound, so she slowly opened the door.  Ginny was tossing violently on the bed, asleep, and in the throes of a nightmare.  She walked over to the bed and gently touched Ginny’s hair, brushing it back. 

“No, you can’t,” Ginny whispered in her sleep.  “I won’t let you.”

Pansy frowned and whispered, “Legilimens.”  She carefully sank into Ginny’s mind, wanting to see what was causing her nightmare.

She looked around mentally and then pulled out quickly.  She ran from the room and into her own.  She jumped on the bed.  “Harry!” she called urgently.

Harry was out of bed, standing in a defensive position before she could blink.  “What?” he growled, looking around for anything that might be a threat.

“Ginny’s having a nightmare.”

Harry relaxed a little.  “And?” he asked dryly. 

Pansy shook her head slowly.  “Voldemort’s in her mind.  I could see him.”

“You went into her dreams?” Harry asked, his hands moving to his hips.

“She woke me,” Pansy shrugged, not really concerned about the lack of Legilimen ethics she had just displayed.  One of her family needed something, and no silly rule was going to stop her doing whatever was needed to help. 

Harry sighed softly and looked vaguely amused, as he headed toward Ginny’s bedroom.

“I want us both to go into her nightmare and get Voldemort out of there,” Pansy stated firmly.

“She might not want us in her mind.”

“Tough,” Pansy said firmly.  “No one wants him in their mind.  And he doesn’t get to play with Ginny anymore; she’s ours.”

Harry nodded slowly.  “Okay, let’s go.”

They walked together back to Ginny’s room.  It was smaller than theirs, with a single bed in the corner.  The clothes she had been wearing earlier were lying on the back of a chair, and the bags full of the clothes they had purchased were still unopened.

Ginny was tossing and turning restlessly in her bed.  She’d kicked the covers onto the floor, revealing the short t-shirt and a pair of men’s boxer shorts that she slept in. 

Harry walked over to her and sat on the side of the bed.  Like Pansy had earlier, he reached out and brushed Ginny’s hair back.  Pansy walked over and sat on the other side of Ginny.

“Ready?” he asked softly, looking at her.

“Damn right,” she smiled.

“Legilimens,” they whispered together, sinking into Ginny’s mind.

They were in the Gryffindor common room.  It was completely empty without even the fire roaring, as it normally did throughout the year.

“I wasn’t here before,” Pansy said slowly.  “I was somewhere else.  It was dark, and there was a big statue.”

Harry nodded.  “The Chamber of Secrets,” he said.  “Let’s go.”

They jogged out of the room and down the stairs, heading toward the bathroom.  As she followed Harry, she watched as his clothes seemed to blur, and he was suddenly fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. 

It took her a few seconds to realise that since this wasn’t real – they could look however they wanted.  It was a mental projection of their physical forms.  She copied Harry, replacing her own sleepwear with more comfortable clothes.

They entered the bathroom, and the entrance to the Chamber was open.  Harry dove straight into it, and she followed him without hesitation.

They fell for a distance, until Pansy felt herself slow and she looked down.  Harry had his hands out, and his lips were moving as he whispered under his breath.  They landed gently, and he sprinted off.  She could feel his worry now, and his desire to protect both her and Ginny.  It was mixed with a sense of determination as he mentally prepared himself to do whatever was needed.

He skidded to a halt and placed a finger to his lips. 

“Give in to me,” they could hear a voice croon. 

“Voldemort,” Harry mouthed.

“Never,” they heard Ginny reply.

“Oh, you will,” the form of Tom Riddle whispered intently.  “After giving me so much power earlier, you can’t fight me forever.  I will wear you down.  No one can get me out of their mind.  And just think, no one will ever believe you.  They’ll think you’re just being silly; a silly girl in love with another woman’s man.”

“No,” Ginny whispered, sounding upset.

“Oh yes,” Riddle’s smirk was audible.  “But I could help you.  She’s a dark witch, you know that.  You stop fighting me, and I’ll get rid of her for you.  You’ll be able to have him then.  He’ll be yours, and you’ll have what you’ve wanted all these years.  Your only rival will be gone.”

“No,” Ginny said, sounding firmer.  “I love Pansy, and I won’t betray her.”

“Stupid girl,” Tom hissed.  “I offered you what you wanted, and you throw it back in my face.  So now, you’ll have to pay for it.  Maybe I’ll kill your mother or one of your brothers first.  Because I will win, and as soon as I do, I’ll start killing your family, and all you’ll be able to do is watch the expressions of betrayal on their faces as their darling Ginevra kills them.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Pansy said calmly, walking into view.  She was not going to let him do anything else to Ginny.  “Ginny has friends this time around, friends that love her, friends that believe in her, and friends that will fight your ugly arse.”

“Ugly?” Riddle asked, rearing back.  “I have it on good authority that I’m very good looking.”

Pansy stared at the form of Tom Riddle and shook her head slowly.  “This isn’t real, Tom; this is a dream.  And even in a dream, you can’t hide the fact that you’re ugly.”

“Oh, Pansy,” the future Dark Lord sighed sadly.  “And you had so much potential.  You could have been one of my favourite servants.  You would have had so much power.”

“I’m going to have more power than you can ever believe,” Pansy said softly, moving over so that she was standing next to Ginny.  “And I will have it without having to kneel to anyone.  I will help rule with my husband and my family, and we shall bring forward an era of peace and prosperity the likes of which have never been seen, and we shall be immortal.  When you are nothing but a forgotten, unmarked grave, we shall be remembered throughout time as heroes.  You will be nothing but a footnote to our place in history.”

The figure in front of her reared back as if struck. 

“You can’t defeat me,” Tom hissed.  “I have her, and I will have you soon, too.  You gave her to me.  You gave me the power I needed to return when you took the Death Eater’s magic.  And now you will pay for what you have done.  You will pay for interrupting me.  You will pay with your life.”

“No!” Ginny yelled, jumping to her feet.  “I won’t let you!”

“Sit down, foolish child,” Voldemort roared, pointing his wand at Ginny. 

Ginny collapsed against a ledge and struggled, trying to rise.

“You’ve not got your wand,” Tom smirked at Pansy.  “A mistake you will pay for with your life.”  He pointed his wand at Pansy.

“Why would she need a wand?” Harry asked.  He was leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed.

She smiled.  She hadn’t been worried.  She knew that Harry would protect her; he would always protect her and Ginny.

“Potter,” Riddle sneered, “you’re wandless as well.”

“And you’re an idiot,” Harry sighed.  “None of this is real and neither are you.”

“What?” Riddle hissed.

“You said so yourself,” Harry smirked.  “You never left; you just got a power boost so you could return.  You’re a bit of magic, a remnant of a spell.  You’re nothing but a bad memory.”

“I am Lord Voldemort!” he hissed.

“You were never Voldemort,” Harry sighed. “You’re a teenager with delusions of grandeur.  How does it feel to know that your plans are falling apart, again, and soon you’ll be dead?  You will never know what it’s like to be immortal.”

“I can not be defeated!”

“You can,” Harry corrected, calmly.  “You couldn’t even take control of Ginny.  She would have fought you and she would have won.  She’s stronger than you will ever know.”  He paused and turned his head and looked at Ginny.  “Stand up,” he told her simply.

Pansy watched as Ginny turned toward Harry and stared at him for a few seconds.  She slowly nodded and turned to face Tom Riddle. 

“This is my mind,” the red-haired girl said slowly.  “You have no power that I don’t allow you here.”  She started to move, struggling, and then surged to her feet.

“You’re nothing but a memory,” Pansy said.  “And we are experts at dealing with unwanted memories.”

“Crucio!” Voldemort yelled, pointing at Harry.

“No!” Ginny yelled, and the spell stopped in mid-air.  “I said no!” Ginny whispered, walking forward.  “They are right.  I’m not a child anymore.  I’ve lived through your possession.  And you’re wrong about my life.  I have friends; I have friends who will save me from you when I need it.  I have friends willing to help me face you.  I have friends who will never think I am silly or laugh at me.  I have the sort of friendship with Harry and Pansy that you can never understand, that you can never even believe exists. 

“I would die for them,” she whispered and walked over to Tom.  “And you know something?  I know they would die for me as well.”

Ginny turned and looked at Harry.  “How do I kill him?”

Harry smiled faintly.  “He’s only a spell, Ginny.”

She nodded slowly and turned back to Voldemort.  “Goodbye,” she said cheerfully.

“Wait!” Voldemort yelled.

“Finite Incantatem,” Ginny said softly.

“No!” Tom yelled.  “You can’t do this.  You can’t do this to me. I’ve been your best friend forever.  I can still be that friend.”

“I have better friends now,” Ginny said.  “Finite Incantatem,” she chanted again.

Pansy smiled faintly as Riddle’s image started to waver.

“No!” Riddle yelled.  “No!”

“Yes,” Ginny whispered.  “Goodbye, Tom.”

There was silence as Voldemort vanished completely.

“Is he gone?” Pansy asked.

“He is,” Ginny whispered.  “He’s completely gone.”

“And he won’t be back,” Harry added.  “Good work, Ginny.”

“He was waiting for me,” Ginny said.  “I didn’t expect him, but as soon as I fell asleep, he pulled me here.  I was so scared.”

“You fought him,” Pansy said firmly, pulling the smaller girl into a tight hug.  “You were so brave.”

“How are you here?” Ginny asked.

“You’re family.  We’ll always be where you need us.  I think I felt that you weren’t sleeping properly, so I came to check up on you and used Legilimency to see if you were okay.  When I saw that you weren’t, I grabbed Harry and we both came to help.”

“Not that you really needed us,” Harry smiled.  “You were doing a good job on your own.”

“I needed you,” Ginny said firmly, looking out from Pansy’s arms.  “I believed him.”

Harry smiled softly.  “It’s late.  We should get out of your mind.”

“You two are welcome inside my mind at anytime,” Ginny said seriously.  “I’ve got no secrets from you.”

Harry smiled.  “When we vanish, it will be time for you to wake up.”

Ginny nodded.

Pansy hugged Ginny one last time and looked at Harry.  As he nodded, she cancelled the spell and found herself looking down at Ginny on her bed.

Ginny opened her eyes and burst into tears.  “He’s gone,” she whispered.  “He’s really gone.”

“Of course he is,” Pansy smiled, hugging the smaller girl.

“Thank you,” Ginny sobbed.

“You’re welcome,” Harry said softly, reaching out and stroking Ginny’s hair.  “Come on, Pansy, we need to get back to sleep.”

“I’ll be there in a second,” Pansy replied.

Harry nodded and walked out the door.

“How long has he been there?” Pansy asked.

“All the time,” Ginny shrugged.  “I could handle it, and there didn’t seem to be anything anyone could do.”

“Don’t hide anything from us,” Pansy said softly.  “No matter how silly you might think it is.  If we can’t fix it, we can find someone who can.  You’re family, Gin.”

She walked to the door and then turned and paused, looking at Ginny.  The girl had a forlorn expression on her face.

She smiled softly, realising that Ginny didn’t want to be alone.  “Come on,” she said, holding her hand out.

“Huh?” Ginny asked, but Pansy could see the hope in her eyes.

“You’re not spending the night alone.”

“What?”

“Come on, you’re sleeping with us tonight.  You don’t want to be alone.”

“Thank you,” Ginny whispered and climbed out of the bed fast.

Pansy took her hand and guided her silently into her room.  She could already feel that Harry was asleep, which was a good thing.  She wasn’t sure how he’d react to this.  She climbed into bed next to Harry and gestured Ginny in next to her. 

Ginny climbed in and snuggled down into the bed.  “Thanks,” she whispered.

Pansy smiled softly, “Sleep.”

Ginny smiled back and closed her eyes.

Pansy stared at the ceiling, feeling a little too awake to just drop back off into sleep.  She wanted to know why Ginny was allowed to continue with Tom Riddle’s spell in her mind. 

Why had no one bothered to check to see if he had been completely removed? 

Why hadn’t Dumbledore done something, anything about it?

She didn’t trust the headmaster and didn’t trust his earlier declaration that he would follow Harry.  Something didn’t seem right with the whole situation.  She was pretty sure that Harry hadn’t just accepted it blindly either. 

She felt Ginny move against her and wrapped an arm around the other girl.  Ginny was so courageous to deal with Voldemort for so long, and at the same time, she never gave into him.  She was so impressed that Ginny had resisted him for so long.  But it was what she expected from the younger girl.

She yawned and closed her eyes, letting herself drift into a light sleep.  She wanted to be able to react if Ginny had any more nightmares.

Pansy woke again and inhaled.  The smell of flowers filled her nose, and she smiled slightly.  “Ginny,” she whispered softly.  The younger girl had pressed against her during the night and was lying across her.

“Hmm?” Ginny asked, not opening her eyes. 

“Let’s get up early,” Pansy said.  “It will save questions later.”

Ginny opened her eyes and looked around.  “Thank you,” she said softly.  “I needed that.”

“I know,” Pansy replied.  “Now, let’s get you out of here before Harry wakes up.”

Ginny nodded and rolled out of bed, wincing as her feet touched the floor.

“Harry needs to put some carpets in here,” Pansy agreed, sliding out of bed herself.

They walked out of the bedroom to find that Ron was already up and was sitting on the couch, looking out a window.  He turned and gaped at them.  “You spent the night with them?” he demanded, looking shocked.

Pansy growled and stalked forward.  She grabbed the front of Ron’s shirt and threw him against a wall.  She shifted her body, shoving her arm across his throat and pinning him against the stonework.  “If I had my way,” she spat angrily.  “I’d do something permanent with you and make sure you never got near my family again.  Instead, I’m going to give you one last chance.

“Absorbing Nott’s power last night woke up the spectre of that damn diary in Ginny’s mind.  It had been waiting since her first year.  I heard her fighting with him, I got Harry, and we both entered her mind.  Harry showed Ginny how to defeat him permanently.  And she did it; she killed the spell.  Unsurprisingly, she was upset and didn’t want to be alone, so I invited her to sleep with me.  Harry doesn’t even know, as he’d already gone back to sleep.  I made damn sure that Ginny was okay, and what she doesn’t need is another stupid reaction from you when you don’t know any of the facts.”

“Why?” Ron choked out.  “Why would you do that?”

“Because she’s family,” Pansy snarled.

“What… what does that mean?”

Pansy paused for a second, thinking it through.  “Everything,” she said simply.  “Now,” she continued, glaring at Ron again.  “You have a choice.  You can stop being a git, or you can find out what happens to people who hurt my family.”

“I’m sorry,” Ron said.  “I just reacted.”

“You always ‘just react’,” Pansy sighed.  “Reacting doesn’t work.  You have to find out what is happening first, and then act.”  She let Ron drop to the floor and she walked over to the couch, sitting down.  Ginny curled up next to her.

“You’re on the edge,” Pansy continued.  “You can go either way.  It’s simple; you’re either with us or you’re not.  Hermione’s with us.  Daphne spent a long time persuading her to give you another chance, whether you deserve it or not, because Hermione does like you.  You came within an inch of losing her.  And don’t think that Harry wouldn’t make the hard decision.  He sent someone to their possible death last night; cutting out a friend doesn’t even rank on the same scale.  This group of people here is the future of the Wizarding world.  With Harry in the background, we will take over, and we will launch the world into a period that historians will call Utopia.  Every revolution starts with a bloodbath as the old system is removed.  We’re lucky in that we don’t have a moral battle to fight, because the old system is obviously corrupt and evil.  We even have a face for the evil: Voldemort.  He will go down, he will be defeated, and we will start anew.  The sheep will be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the future; the future that we will provide.  You have a place in that future, something most students here would kill for, but you are not irreplaceable.  None of us are, and if he needs to, Harry can and will replace anyone of us.  He is the only one we need, and he is the only one with the strength and courage to do what is needed.”

Ron slumped into a chair. 

“It’s a simple question, Ron.  Do you want to be in or out?”

“In,” Ron said without hesitation. 

“Then you need to act like it,” Pansy snapped.  “You need to curb your temper and learn to ask questions and think things through first.  Appearances to the contrary, you’re obviously not stupid; you just have to start using what intelligence you do have.  And you need to stop being such a bloody hypocrite.”

“What?” Ron demanded.

“You were upset that your mother instantly thought the worst of you, yet you did exactly the same thing to Ginny.  You just presumed the worst based on the flimsiest of evidence.”  She sighed and looked at him thoughtfully.  “Spend another day away from us, Ron.  You obviously didn’t think hard enough about what is happening, so go.  Read a book in the library or in your room.  We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Ron got to his feet and looked at her slowly.  “I think you are wrong,” he said slowly.  “Harry’s not the only one who is indispensable.  Without you, he wouldn’t have the focus he does now.”

Pansy shrugged softly.

“Ginny,” Ron said.  “I am sorry.”

“You always are, Ron,” Ginny said gently.  “If you decide not to do it again and let me live my life however I want, then you’re forgiven.”

Ron nodded and walked into his room.

“So, taking the world into Utopia?” the amused voice of Harry said from the corner.

“How much did you hear?”

“All of it,” Harry shrugged.  “He didn’t listen to me that closely, because we’re friends, so he needed to hear it from you.”

“I didn’t see you,” Ginny half-asked.

Harry smiled and ignored the question.  “So, are you going to join me on my morning run?”

Pansy looked at Ginny, who nodded.  “Sure,” she said, giving a long-suffering sigh.

“Well, get dressed then,” Harry smiled.  “It’s beautiful out there.”

“Yes, master,” Pansy said slowly.  “Come on, Gin, go get changed.”

Ginny nodded and walked to her room, and Pansy followed Harry into theirs.

“Why was Ginny sleeping with us last night?” Harry asked from where he lounged casually on the end of the bed.

“How did you know?” Pansy asked.

“One of the pillows smelled like flowers, and there was a long red hair on the covers.”

Pansy smiled faintly.  “She needed us last night.”

Harry nodded.  “Didn’t want to be alone?”

“Nope.”

“I can’t believe she’s been carrying him around in her mind for so long.  I hated it when I had him in mine for just a few minutes.”

“He’s gone, now; she’ll never be taken by him again.”

Harry nodded.  “Damn right.  I think we need to go and see your parents today – all of us.  Last night has changed things, and we need to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Pansy smiled.  “I’ll write Dad a note on the pad and get him to owl us a Portkey.”

Harry nodded.  “Do you actually want to join me for a run this morning?”

“No,” Pansy laughed.  “But I need to.”

“Come on then,” Harry smiled and walked back into the living room. Pansy followed him closely.  Ginny was already waiting for them, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.  She was wearing some of the clothes they’d bought for her the day before.

“What about Daphne and Hermione?” Ginny asked.

Pansy paused and frowned.  “You wake up Daph and ask her,” she said to Ginny.  “I’ll wake up Hermione.”

“Are you sure?” Ginny asked, looking a little surprised.

“I want to try and make proper friends with her,” Pansy explained.  “And I can’t do that by avoiding her.”

Ginny smiled and nodded. 

Pansy walked into Hermione’s room and smiled slightly.  The room itself was lined with books, with a small fireplace in the corner.  Two chairs sat next to the fire; opposite was a large four-poster bed.  She walked over to the bed and looked down at Hermione.

The girl was lying flat on her back, her head to one side, looking completely at rest.  “Hermione,” she called softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

Hermione opened her eyes, jerking into wakefulness.  “Morning,” she whispered, her voice sounding a little raspy.

“Morning,” Pansy said, taking a seat on the side of the bed. 

“What’s the matter?”

“We had another Ron incident this morning,” she sighed.  “I think that Ron thought he would be forgiven because Harry always does, if that makes sense?”

Hermione nodded, sitting up and resting her back against the headboard. 

“I gave him one more chance.”

“Why?” Hermione asked softly.

“For Harry and for you,” Pansy replied.  “Otherwise, I would have thrown him out.”

“Is it hard?” Hermione asked after a few seconds of silence.

“What?”

“Acting differently for someone else?”

“At times, yes,” Pansy nodded.  “It’s difficult to think about what you’re doing when all your instincts are to protect your family.  It’s easier because we’ve always been ‘grey’, and at times, you need to be able to see the bigger picture.  Ron can be valuable, both to you and to Harry.  But he doesn’t get another chance.”

Hermione nodded slowly.  “He hurt me,” she said softly.  “And it scares me, you know?  It scares me for the future.”

Pansy sighed softly.  “All I can say is that it’s happened now.  See how he reacts to it.  You’re still both so young; you have an eternity in front of you.”

“And you’re not?” Hermione asked.

“Young? No.  I’ve not been young since I saw my cousin die because of a stupid dare I gave him.”

“I’m sorry.”

Pansy shrugged.  “I’m over it now.  Time is the only healer; well, time and Harry.  Anyway, I didn’t wake you to talk about the past or Ron.  We’re going for a run and we wanted to invite you along.”

Hermione smiled slightly.  “Thanks, but I’ve never really been athletic.”

“Oh please,” Pansy grinned, rolling her eyes.  “You’re a Gryffindor, of course you are.”

“I’ve not got any clothes,” Hermione tried again.

“You can borrow some of mine.”

“I’m not going to get out of this, am I?”

“Sure, if you just say ‘no’ without an excuse.”

“I’m too much of a Gryffindor to do that,” Hermione sighed. 

“I know,” Pansy grinned.  “I’ll go get you some clothes.”

“Pansy,” Hermione called.

She paused in the doorway, looking back.

“Why are you trying so hard with me?”

Pansy turned and leant against the doorframe.  “I wasn’t going to,” she admitted.  “But I didn’t realise that you were Harry’s family.  When I saw you together, I realised it.  He needs you as much as he needs anyone.”

Hermione blushed softly.  “I need him as well,” she said quietly.  “I’ve never had a brother, so I don’t know if that’s the right word, but I think I like your words better.  He’s my family.”

Pansy smiled at her.  “I’ll get you some clothes.”

After the run, they showered and headed for breakfast.  Pansy was the last out of the shower.  She wrapped a robe around herself and with a towel around her hair, she walked to breakfast.  She wanted to send a message to everyone else that Harry was hers, and that she was completely comfortable at school.

She had an idea of what was going to happen today, and she wanted to make it very clear that she was with Harry all the way, no matter where he went or what he did.

She opened the door to the Great Hall and hid a smile.  Everyone turned to stare at her, as it was unheard of for someone to come to breakfast in only a dressing gown.  She strode confidently over to the Gryffindor table, ignoring the look she could feel from Draco.

Harry looked at her and smiled.  He turned and hopped up so that he was sitting on the table.  She sat between his legs and pulled the towel off her hair.  Harry clicked his fingers and started to go through her hair with the brush that appeared.

Dobby appeared and handed her a bowl of cereal.  The elf winked at her and vanished in silence.

She sighed happily, as she felt Harry’s magic hands work on her hair.  She ate her breakfast quickly, so that she could close her eyes and relax. 

She felt some gentle tugs on her hair and realised he was braiding it with quick competent movements.

“Hair dressing?  I always knew he was gay.”  She heard Draco sneer.  The Slytherin was probably trying to be quiet, but with no one else talking, his voice echoed around the Hall.

Pansy laughed softly.  “Calling Harry gay in front of his girlfriend is remarkably stupid,” she said quietly, letting her own voice echo around the hall, “as I’ve had many incontrovertible examples of just how heterosexual he is.  But you wouldn’t understand how to treat a girl properly, as you’ve never had one.  You’re a sad little boy, Draco, desperately looking for approval and finding none.  It’s because you’re an incompetent.  Everyone knows it.  You can’t even say the name of your Master.”

Draco went silent; obviously, he’d learnt the lesson about talking about Voldemort.

Pansy felt Harry finish and stood up.  She bent forward and touched his jaw softly.  She raised it and leant down and kissed him softly, lingering against him.  “Thank you,” she whispered loudly and turned, walking back out to get dressed.  She was pretty sure that she’d passed on the message.  And she’d manage to do it without actually breaking any rules.

Harry watched his girlfriend walk out the room and smiled slowly.  He turned and dropped back into his seat, wondering when the conversation would start again.  He wasn’t quite sure what message Pansy had been trying to send, but he was pretty sure she’d been successful.  It had been a close thing, because the robe hadn’t been far from being indecently short, and he was pretty sure she hadn’t been wearing a bra either.  How she’d managed to sit so comfortably without flashing anyone, he knew he’d never know.

The doors opened, and the post owls flew in, as they did every morning.  He held out his hand calmly, knowing that Hedwig would find him.  A few seconds later, she did.  He could feel her claws dig gently into his arm and heard her hoot merrily at him. 

“Enjoy your flight?” he asked.

Hedwig seemed to nod, and held out her foot imperiously.

“Help yourself,” Harry said, as he removed the small parcel, indicating the leftover food below.

Hedwig chattered merrily and jumped down to the table, nabbing a sausage.

“You’re welcome,” Harry said casually as he scanned the letter.

Hedwig paused in her eating to chatter again.

“Nah,” Harry remarked casually.  “I’ve got nothing else for you to do.”

Hedwig cocked her head and hooted.

“Go ahead,” Harry said as he finished the letter.  Hedwig jumped up onto his shoulder, and nipped his ear affectionately, before flying out of the hall.

Harry looked around at his friends to see them staring at him in shock.  Around him, the hall was in silence again.

“What?” he asked, looking down to see if he’d spilt some food on himself.

“You were talking to her,” Hermione said slowly.

“Who?” Harry asked.

“Hedwig.  Your owl.  You were talking to her.”

Harry blinked and mentally rewound the last few minutes.  He hadn’t exactly understood Hedwig, but he’d known what his owl was saying.  “She was hungry,” he explained. 

One of the things he’d picked up from Malcom was to never admit ignorance in public. 

That sort of thing was best done in private.

“Of course,” Daphne said dryly. 

“Yeah,” Ginny agreed.  “And I think it’s time we had a little talk.”

“Agreed,” Hermione said.  “And I’m sure Pansy will want to join in as well.”

Harry sighed softly, hiding his smile.  “Well, let’s go then,” he said, standing and striding toward the exit.  He could feel the three girls flank him.

They walked through the corridors in silence, heading back to the Room of Requirement.  They entered, and he flopped down onto one of the couches.  Daphne and Ginny sat on the couch opposite him; Hermione sat on the couch to his right.

“What’s going on?” Pansy asked as she entered the room, now dressed properly.

“He was talking to Hedwig,” Ginny said, waving her hand at Harry.

“He does that,” Pansy replied with a confused shrug.  “It’s kinda cute.”

“Hedwig was talking back,” Hermione elaborated.  “And they were having a conversation.”

“Ahhh,” Pansy smiled.  “And you think that it’s what?” she prompted Hermione.

Hermione blinked.  “You aren’t asking Harry?”

Pansy shook her head, “He doesn’t know.”

“That’s spooky,” Daphne pointed out.

“A little,” Pansy agreed.  “But then, we’re witches – we’re allowed to be a little spooky.”

“Well,” Hermione interrupted.  “I think it’s the Mark of the Spiders helping out.  We may have our own Dr Doolittle on our hands.”

“Woo,” Daphne cheered.  “Can I get a Pushme-Pullyu?”

“A what?” Ginny asked.

Harry looked blank, “I agree.  A what?”

“Sometimes I wish I had set fire to the Dursley’s house,” Pansy grumbled.  “It was a two-headed llama.”

“I can think of at least two things wrong with that,” Harry said with a smile.  “But what has it got to do with the Mark?”

“Dr Doolittle could talk to the animals,” Hermione said.  “And you should be able to do the same.  I had to dig quite deeply yesterday to find any books on this, and the one I found appeared to be written by a virtually unlettered incompetent.  I haven’t seen anyone butcher the English language that badly since I corrected one of your first Potions essays.”

“Hey!” Harry protested.

“Shush,” Hermione smiled.  “I kept a copy you know, for blackmail purposes.”

“I’ll give you anything you want for that copy,” Pansy offered.  “If you’d seen some of his homework for our Weapons and Tactics lessons, you would’ve been shocked.  I actually thought he’d been hiding his light at school.”

“Pansy,” Harry protested again.  “What is this, pick on me morning?”

“Yes,” the four girls replied instantly.

“I really need some more guy friends, so I can do all the belching and scratching the guys do,” he grumbled.

“Right,” Pansy drawled.  “And you can talk about how you’re sleeping with me and discuss Ginny’s boobs at the same time.”

“Why my boobs?” Ginny asked curiously.

“Because talking about Hermione’s would be wrong on so many levels,” Harry explained.

“Well, what about mine?” Daphne asked.  “Aren’t they good enough to be talked about?  Should I be insulted?”

“There’s nothing wrong with yours,” Harry groaned.

“So you have been looking?” Ginny asked.

“Yes… no…” Harry said, looking around and feeling his cheeks heat up.

“Finally!” Daphne yelled, as she walked over and gave Pansy a high-five.

“Huh?” Harry asked intelligently.

“We just wanted to see if we could get ‘Mr Self Possessed’ to blush,” Ginny grinned.  “And we succeeded.”

Harry blinked and shook his head in disbelief.

“Think of us as your own ego-busting squad,” Hermione smiled.

“I didn’t think I needed it,” Harry pointed out.

“You don’t,” Pansy agreed.  “But it’s always good to be prepared.  And to remind you that you are only human.  Out there, you will always be Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, Saviour, Hero, and Sex God.  With us, you’ll just be Harry, our friend and love.”

“And Sex God,” Daphne added with a grin.

Harry shook his head slowly, “Thanks,” he said, feeling strangely touched.  As long as he ignored Daph’s addition.  “Okay, let’s get back on track,” he said firmly.  “Hermione, what did you find out?”

“The Mark of the Spiders has two purposes.  The first, and most obvious, is the mark itself.  It is a visible sign that you have been accepted by one of the Acromantula clans.  Like all intelligent species, the Acromantulas are well respected by other animals, so by default, you will find that all animals pay attention to you and will be willing to help.”

Harry nodded and started to lightly stroke Pansy’s legs as she sat next to him and draped them over his lap.

“The second purpose is much more magical, and I’m afraid that I don’t know how it works.  As I mentioned, the book I read was almost impenetrable at times.  Basically, it somehow changes your magic to allow you to communicate with animals.”

“It wasn’t like I could understand what Hedwig was saying,” Harry said thoughtfully.  “I just knew what she meant.  The nearest I can describe it is that it was like talking to someone in a foreign language and recognising the root foundation of some of the words.”

“You mean like recognising the Latin and Greek in English?” Hermione asked.

“Exactly,” Harry nodded.

Hermione smiled and looked at Pansy.  “So he really did do his homework over the summer?”

Pansy smiled and nodded. 

“It was just another way to be prepared,” Harry explained with a shrug.  “I’ve got to meet with Croaker early this afternoon and then with the Aurors after that.  As Voldemort knows that most of you are involved, you can come along as well.  Hermione, it’s your choice.”

“My choice?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Yes,” Harry nodded.  “Voldemort doesn’t know that you’re part of this yet, so if you want, you can stay here.”

“Or I can go with you,” Hermione prompted.

“Exactly.”

Hermione smiled slowly.  “Do you even know how much you’ve changed?” she asked.

“What?”

“Harry, I don’t think you’ve ever offered someone the choice before,” she explained.  “Normally you try and keep things to yourself; to try and do things yourself.”

Harry smiled slightly.  “I had some good teachers.  I can’t do this alone, and I want people I trust very close to me at all times.  When you kept the Order quiet last night, you proved that you trust me, so I have to trust you to be able to make your own decisions.”

“What did happen from your side of things last night?” Pansy interrupted.

“Well, when Harry cast the spell, I recognised it, and it took me a couple of seconds to realise what he was doing.  I play acted trying to break it, casting a couple of illusion charms and then I turned to the others.”

“Who weren’t impressed,” Daphne said dryly.  “Quite a few of them got to their feet, demanding to know was going on.”

“And sat back down very quickly,” Hermione laughed.  “When Malcom told them to ‘sit’.”

“Even Mad-Eye,” Daphne added.  “Malcom basically told everyone to shut up, pay attention, and remember what happens, and everyone did as they were told.”

“It was weird,” Hermione said thoughtfully.  “Malcom didn’t raise his voice, but it was like he shouted it.”

“I wish I knew how he does that,” Pansy grumbled.

“Stand up,” Harry said, carefully modulating his voice, so that it was just a few octaves lower than normal.  At the same time, he tried to blend some of his magic into it.

The four girls shot to their feet and then turned to gape at Harry.

“How did you do that?” Pansy demanded. 

“I’m not sure how it works,” Harry admitted.  “Or even that it would.  I basically tried to lace some of my magic with my voice, while trying to talk a little lower than normal so that your brains would concentrate more on what I was saying.  Of course, Malcom has the gravitas to do that without cheap magical tricks.”

Hermione frowned thoughtfully as she sat back down.  “Bene Gesserit as well, Harry?”

“That one’s lost on me,” Daphne said. 

“I was lost both times,” Ginny agreed.

“It’s not important,” Hermione said dismissively.  “It’s a clever mix of magic and psychology.  The lowering of the voice does exactly what Harry said; it forces you to listen harder to what he’s saying.  By interweaving it with magic, I suspect that it adds a level of command, vaguely similar to the Imperious but very short-acting.”

Harry nodded.  “I doubt it would work for anything more complicated that a short command, but it could be useful.  And that’s not how Malcom does it.”

A brown owl flew into the room and landed next to Harry. 

“Thanks,” Harry smiled at the owl, as he took the message and a small package from the animal’s leg.  “Malcom’s Portkeys,” he explained to the others.  “Shall we go?”

“Wait a second, Portkeys?” Pansy asked.

“Yeah, I’m inviting someone else,” Harry explained.  “I told Malcom to send two when you were in the shower.”

“Oh, okay.  Just let me put some shoes on,” Pansy said, jumping up and vanishing into their room.

“I’m ready,” Ginny said cheerfully.

Harry threw one of the Portkeys at the red-haired girl.  “I’ll see you there,” he smiled and vanished.

He moved back through the Other Place outside Professor McGonagall’s room, and he knocked on the door cheerfully.

“Good morning, Harry,” the professor said as she opened the door.

“Morning.  I wanted to invite you to a meeting this morning with pretty much everyone involved.  We need to discuss some of the things that we found out last night.”

McGonagall nodded slowly.  “Just let me put some more comfortable clothes on.”

Harry handed her the other Portkey.  “This will take you to Parkinson Manor.  Just hit the top when you’re ready.  I need to pick up a few things beforehand.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” McGonagall smiled.

Harry moved through the Other Place, arriving outside a bakery.  He walked in and picked up a dozen doughnuts and a variety of coffee and tea for the others.  It didn’t take him long to get back to Parkinson Manor, and he walked into the main meeting room, carefully balancing his purchases.

“Morning,” he said cheerfully to Malcom.  “How’s your guest behaving himself?”

“Are those doughnuts?” Malcom asked, ignoring the question as he looked at the box in Harry’s hand.

Harry nodded.

“I did say that you have my full backing to marry my daughter, didn’t I?”

“Of course,” Pansy said, as she walked into the room.  “If I’d known you’d have sold me for a doughnut, we probably wouldn’t have had the same relationship.”

“Shush, you,” Malcom said absently.  “I’m negotiating for doughnuts.”

“The great Malcom Parkinson does have a weakness,” Harry grinned.  “We better keep this to ourselves; we don’t want Voldemort knowing that he can get rid of his enemies simply by offering pastries.”

“Let me help you with that,” Ginny said, taking the doughnuts. 

“Thanks, Ginny,” Harry smiled and moved the precariously balanced tray of drinks to both hands.

Ginny walked over to Malcom and popped the lid, offering him one.

“Hey,” Harry complained.

Ginny turned and stuck her tongue out cutely at him.

“Okay,” Malcom stated, as he took an apple doughnut in one hand and wrapped an arm around Ginny.  “That’s settled; we’re definitely keeping her.”

“Keeping who?” Gruoch asked as she walked into the room. 

“Ginny,” Malcom explained.

Gruoch looked at half-eaten doughnut and sighed.  “Are you selling the crown jewels for doughnuts again?”

“Not at all,” Malcom complained.  “I’ve not had one in ages.  I’m normally surrounded by cruel, heartless wenches.  Just because I’ve found one that has taken pity on an old man, doesn’t mean that you have to interfere.”

“Right,” Gruoch snorted.  “And your trouser size will go back up soon.”

“He’s on a diet?” Ginny asked.

Gruoch nodded. 

“Whoops,” she said and slid around Malcom, lifting the remaining half of a doughnut from his hand.  “Sorry,” she apologised.

“Infamy!” Malcom cried.  “Infamy, they’ve all got it in for me!”

Everyone else in the room groaned.  “So Gruoch isn’t the only one who watches TV,” Hermione smiled.

“Erm,” Malcom said, looking around.  “What is this, pick on me day?  Can’t we pick on Harry instead?”

Harry smiled.  “It’s your turn.  They did me this morning.  Daphne, Professor McGonagall is going to arrive in a few seconds, can you meet her and bring her in?”

“Sure,” the blonde witch smiled and walked out.

“Where’s Remus?”

“He got up late,” Gruoch said.  “He’ll be down in a few seconds.”

Malcom sat down at the large round table.  “Pass the coffee, Harry,” he sighed.

Harry sat opposite him and floated him a drink over.  Daphne, McGonagall, and Remus joined them shortly afterward. When everyone had a drink and a doughnut – including Malcom who had re-appropriated his from Ginny – Harry pulled out a sheet of paper and a biro.  “First up,” he said.  “How’s our guest doing?”

“Devastated,” Gruoch sniffed.  “He was crying when we placed him in the dungeons last night and he hasn’t stopped since.  We pointed out that without magic, escape was impossible – as the cell he is in has no door – and he seemed to accept that.”

“Good,” Harry nodded.  “Pansy, do you remember the first thing our Weapons and Tactics teacher taught us?”

Pansy thought for a few seconds.  “No plan survives the first encounter with the enemy,” she stated.

He smiled warmly at her.  “Exactly.  Last night changed a lot of things for us, so we have to change our plans, and I’ve got a few ideas.”

“Hold on a second,” Malcom ordered.  He finished off his coffee and settled back into the chair, gripping the arms tightly.  “Go on, hit me,” he smirked.

“Ginny,” Gruoch said calmly.  “Be a dear and hit that husband of mine.”

Ginny looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then leaned closer and lightly slapped the back of Malcom’s head.

Malcom smiled and relaxed.  “Go on, Harry.”

“Last night, Nott told us that there are only around eighty trained Death Eaters.  Another thirty or forty lackeys.  They have a few of the malcontent Giants, but most are staying out of it.  They do have the Manticores and the Banshees.

“We, on the other hand have the Acromantulas, the goblins, the house-elves, and after this evening, the Aurors.  And that’s not to mention the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. 

“We also have Tonks infiltrating the Death Eaters, and she will be able to tell us soon where their main base is.”

“And?” Pansy asked softly.

“And then we should get everyone we can and launch a full out attack.  And I’ve got an idea on how to deal with the creatures as well.”

“Which is?” Pansy asked again into the stunned silence.

“We get Paddy to bring up all the Marines from Lympstone,” Harry explained.  “We have them armed to the teeth and let them use some of the more exciting Muggle weapons to blow the hell out of the base, forcing them to come out and fight us.  At the same time, we’ll trap them with Anti-Apparation wards, so that they can’t escape, and force them to meet us on a level playing field.”

Harry reached forward and helped himself to another doughnut, relaxing back in his chair as he looked around the table at the stunned expressions.  Malcom looked thoughtful, as he went through the idea.

“You want to attack?” Hermione asked.  “What about training the D.A.? And everything else?”

Harry shrugged.  “They won’t be ready in time, no matter what we do.  The plan before was to use them, but we can’t wait for them to be ready.  We have a chance now to act quickly and we need to take it.  The longer we wait, the more Death Eaters Voldemort can train, and the harder it will be.

“We’ve said all along that if people just stood up to them, this whole mess would have never happened.  Well, this is our chance to do exactly that.  We can stamp them out completely.  We should have superior numbers.”

“What about Voldemort?” Gruoch asked.

“I’m ready,” Harry said simply.  “I’ve got a chance of beating him now, and more time won’t really help that much.  There is nothing more that can prepare me for meeting him.  I’m in the best shape of my life, all my training is still fresh in my mind, and this way, we’ll have the element of surprise over them.”

Daphne whistled slowly.  “You know,” she said slowly.  “As insane as it sounds, it actually makes sense.”

“That’s what scares me,” Hermione said.  “It makes too much sense.”

“Does anyone have any better suggestions?”

“Couldn’t we use bigger weapons to take them out?” Pansy asked.  “Peirce said that Muggles have all sorts of bombs.  One of those Nukler ones?”

“Absolutely not!” Hermione stated.  “Those things kill everything for a fifty mile radius and poison the land for hundreds of years.”

“Fifty miles?” Ginny croaked.

“Uh huh,” Malcom nodded.  “Muggles are nothing if not inventive when it comes to killing each other.”

“Okay, that’s out,” Pansy sighed.  “I do kind of like the idea of attacking them, not the other way around.”

“So do I,” Malcom agreed thoughtfully.  “We were saying the other day that we wanted to get rid of these silly little confrontations, and one big one would certainly do it.  We could crush them in one go.”

“Or lose everything,” Gruoch pointed out calmly.

“Without risk, where’s the challenge?” Malcom grinned.

“I know,” Gruoch smiled back at him.  “So, the question is, can we organise it and keep everything we need quiet, quiet?”

“You’re serious about this?” Hermione asked, sounding a little surprised.

“We promised to back Harry to the ground,” Malcom explained as he leant forward.  He intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on the back of his fingers.  “That plan is sound.  We hit them hard with numbers, and with tactics they won’t know how to deal with, and we do our best to wipe them out.”

“Can you think of a better way, Hermione?” Harry asked, keeping his voice level.  “The floor is open to suggestions.”

Hermione looked down at the centre of the table, and frowned.  “Logically,” she said slowly, “I think you’re right.  But the Gryffindor inside me says that there is something wrong with it.”

“Turn down the Gryffindor,” Harry said softly.  “And turn up the other three houses.  Try and merge them together and see what happens.”

Hermione looked thoughtful, before she raised her head and stared directly at Harry.  “Do you really think you can handle Voldemort alone?”

“He won’t be alone,” Pansy and Ginny said at the same time and then smiled at each other.

“That’s it,” Harry agreed intently.  “I won’t be alone – none of us will be.  It won’t be kids against full-grown wizards.  It will be a lot of full-grown wizards, with help from Muggles, Acromantualas, and all of our other allies.”

“Okay,” Hermione said abruptly.  “Let’s do it.  What do I need to do?”

“Professor, Remus?  Anything you want to add?”

McGonagall pursed her lips and let out a small sigh.  “Harry,” she said slowly.  “You are going to have to start calling me Minerva when we are like this.  I’m working for you, not the other way around.”

“But…”

“Now is not the time to argue,” she said with a small smile.  “Your plan is well thought out and very risky.  But, it is something that we haven’t tried.  I have lived through Voldemort’s original reign of terror and through his second, and I am fed up with seeing my students’ lives end early because of him.  The idea of finishing this, once and for all, is one that I find attractive.”

“Remus?” Harry asked.

“I agree,” he shrugged.  “What do you need me to do?”

Harry smiled and relaxed back into the chair, looking at Hermione.  “How do you feel about politics?”

“Why?”

“I need someone to help Remus start his campaign at the moment, and I just realised that you’d be perfect.”

“I would?” Hermione said doubtfully.  “And how does that help with the attack on Voldemort?”

“Distraction, mainly,” Harry explained.  “After S.P.E.W., people know that you can often champion unpopular causes.”

Hermione smiled faintly.  “The politest way I’ve heard that put yet,” she said.

Harry smiled back at her and shrugged.  “Anyway, everyone also knows that you’re my best friend…”

“…And heart breaker,” Pansy interrupted.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Pansy.  “Yes, thank you.”

“Voldemort should think that is how we’re planning on attacking him.  He’ll think that I’m helping you with this, and he’ll work on trying to fight it with his own candidate.”

“While you are actually planning the attack,” Hermione nodded slowly.  “You know, as much as I hate to say it, this whole thing might just work.

“But I do have one more question,” she said, turning toward Pansy.  “Ginny mentioned this morning that you are planning on changing the world?”

Pansy smiled slowly and looked around the table, meeting everyone’s eyes.  “It started as a dig against Voldemort.”  Her eyes flickered to her parents, and she gave a quick rundown of what had happened early that morning.  “So, knowing what Voldemort is like, I fed his fears and told him that he would be forgotten as anything but a footnote to the history that we are going to create.”

“What is that history?” Daphne asked curiously.

Pansy took a deep breath.  “We will have Remus controlling the law, Dad controlling the money, and Harry controlling the peace.  We will force all the laws we’ve thought about through and create a fully open market place with heavy fines for corporate malpractice.  In effect, we’ll make everyone play by the same laws.  At the same time, we’ll make all forms of racism completely illegal and stamp down on anyone who practices them – and to avoid the obvious charges of running a totalitarian state, we’ll launch some public information campaigns to educate the sheep.  We’ll also enshrine in law the rights of the press to be free, but with one major caveat.”

“What?” Harry asked, more than a little impressed with her plan so far.

“We’ll call it the fair-apology law or something.  If they print something that isn’t true, they will be forced to retract it.”

“That’s the same as it is now,” Daphne pointed out.

“The same size,” Pansy continued.  “If they plaster false allegations all over the first four pages, their apology will have to be the same size.”

“Embarrassing them to triple check their facts,” Hermione said slowly.  “It’s a much better punishment than just fining them.”

Pansy nodded.  “The rest I haven’t thought out yet, but you get the general idea, right?  We just end the uneven playing field and stop anyone’s group from claiming the high ground.”

“Because we’ll own it,” Malcom smiled proudly. 

“I’m not sure if I like it,” Hermione pointed out.  “Like you said, it does appear to be a little totalitarian.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“The problem we have, Hermione,” Gruoch said slowly, “is that the way things are running at the moment do not work, in any shape or form.  We have rampant corruption at every level of government.  All the major businesses are owned by a few old pure-blood families who use any means necessary to stifle invention and new ideas so that we can continue to make money.  We used to do it ourselves before we got involved in the Muggle world.  And what’s worse is that we are being left behind by the Muggles.  They have people in space, and us? Most wizards have problems even leaving the country.  The magical world itself is an anachronistic throwback to a feudal system.  We’re just looking at taking that to a new level and creating a council for the benefit of ourselves.  But, everyone around this table knows that you make the most money through a system of enlightened self-interest.  You make more money in the long run if everyone is pulling the same way and making things work together.”

“And that will be our legacy,” Pansy said eagerly.  “We’ll have set up a system for the ages that works, and as long as we are replaced by people who understand the same principles as we do, we can go down in history as the architects of a golden age.”

Hermione placed her head down on the table and banged it several times.  “I need time to think about this,” she said slowly.

“Take all the time you need,” Pansy said softly.  “We need you, and we don’t want you to change.”

“You don’t?” Hermione asked doubtfully.

“Absolutely not,” Malcom agreed.  “Having someone who questions us and forces us to think things through a lot harder and will ensure that we get things right.  Most of us are a little less concerned about the sheep.”

Hermione laughed softly. “Thanks, I think.”

“Moving on,” Harry said smoothly, “we need one more piece of misdirection for Voldemort.”  He paused and looked at Minerva.  “You might want to turn your professor ears off about now.”

Minerva smiled slightly.  “They have been turned off for quite some time,” she said.

“What have you got in mind?” Ginny asked.

“I think we need a messenger to tell Voldemort that we are preparing Hogwarts for his attack.  He’ll respond by getting ready to launch an attack at us, but he’ll take his time as he’ll want to make sure he gets it right.”

“Malfoy?” Pansy asked.

“Yep.  I think we need to send him to Voldemort and let him reveal all our secrets.  So we need to let him overhear us talking about our plans, which should be easy, and then do something to make him go over the edge so he has to go running to Voldemort.”

“Leave that to me, Ginny, and Daph,” Pansy said confidently.

“Not me?” Hermione asked.

Pansy shook her head, “You can help with the set up if you want, but I don’t think you’ll want to take part in the second.”

Gruoch groaned softly.  “I really don’t want to know.  Just be careful!”

“I will be,” Pansy said.  “Don’t worry.”

“When you say that,” Malcom sighed, “I really do begin to worry.”

There was some general laughter around the table, before they moved on to the next subject.

Harry arrived in Malcom’s office in the Ministry of Magic and sat down comfortably.  He was due to meet Croaker in a few minutes to talk to the Unspeakable’s friends before they met with the Aurors later.  Pansy and his friends were all having dinner together, and he was a little irritated to be missing it.

Malcom’s Floo opened, and Croaker stepped through.  “I hear you’ve started the revolution,” he said dryly.

Harry smiled.  “Maybe a little.  We had a change of plan this morning.  We’re going to need Paddy’s help; can you get in touch with him for me?”

“Why?”

Harry smiled as coldly as he could.  “Because I’ve got a spy in the Death Eaters, and as soon as we find out Voldemort’s location, we are going to attack.  I want Paddy and his group to help launch the attack and provide cover.”

Croaker whistled slowly.  “Have you heard of the SBS?”

Harry shook his head. 

“Paddy’s a member; they’re the Navy’s Special Forces, and they are some of the toughest bastards in the world.  I think we can get Black Squad involved easily.”

“Black Squad?”

“They’re the counter-terrorist guys.”

Harry smiled.  “So, can you set up a meeting as soon as possible?  I’ll deal with talking to them; I just need them in a room.”

“Will do,” Croaker replied.  “And this will make your chat with my friends easier now as well.”

“Who are they?”

“The other Unspeakables.  They’re going to be wearing concealing charms, so you can’t recognise them.  Our rules say that we’re not allowed to help out with Domestic issues, so you’re asking them to break the law to help.”

Harry nodded slowly.  “Why not?”

“Domestic issues are the remit of the Aurors,” he explained. 

“But you’re much better trained?”

“Originally, we were all trained the same,” Croaker said.  “But the Aurors were almost completely wiped out in the last war with Voldemort, and the new people never got back up to standard.”

“Okay,” Harry said, climbing to his feet.  “Shall we go?”

Croaker nodded.  “Your destination in the Floo is Omni Persicon 8.”

Harry threw some powder into the fire and stepped in.  As he tumbled through space, he wondered when he was going to get used to this method of travelling.

He appeared in a room that took the word nondescript to new levels.  It was grey – all the furnishings, all the fittings, even the paint.  Everything was grey.

In front of him were eight stationary figures all appearing as featureless blobs.  He squinted his eyes softly, but stopped as he started to see through their charms.  If they wanted their privacy so badly, he’d give that to them.  He sat at the front calmly and surveyed them slowly.

“What can I do for you?” Harry asked, a slight smile on his face.

“Why should we follow you?” the second one from the left asked.

“There is a prophecy that states that I am the only person alive who can kill Voldemort.  If I fail, he wins, and you all lose.”

“And,” Croaker added, “Harry has machinations in place to have Fudge replaced with someone he trusts and has given the promise that our jobs will be changed to how we want them.”

There was a general shuffling.  “I’m not sure that I’m happy following a teenager,” the third from the right pointed out.

“Why is it that it always comes down to a test?” Harry said with a slight smile.  “I’ve not really got time at the moment, so if you don’t mind…”  He launched himself out of the chair and across the room.  His chosen opponent reacted instantly, the nondescript body moving into a defensive position, but Harry had expected it – it was exactly the way Croaker responded the first few times they had fought, and he’d guessed it was how they were trained.

When you knew how someone was going to react before they did, it made the rest easy, and he simply asked, “Any more questions?” from his position behind the Unspeakable, his knife at his opponent’s throat.

“You taught him?” one of the other Unspeakables asked Croaker.

“I made him the best,” Croaker said proudly. 

“Why didn’t you just tell us that?”

“You wouldn’t have believed me,” Croaker replied with a shrug.

“True.  So, basically, what do you want us for?”

“How much can I trust them?” Harry asked as he moved back to the front.

“I trust them,” Croaker said.  “They are the best of the Unspeakables.  The ones I don’t trust aren’t here.”

Harry nodded.  “Within the next week, I’m going to be launching an all out attack on Voldemort’s headquarters.  We should have superior numbers and some non-human allies.”

“Non-human?” a new Unspeakable asked.

“Acromantulas for an example,” Harry explained.

The Unspeakable whistled slowly.  “What did you do to get them on your side?”

“I did them a favour a few years ago.  And I promised them all the dead Death Eaters they could eat.”

Harry wasn’t sure exactly why, but he suddenly got the impression that a lot of them were smiling.  “I could also do with a couple of you helping Croaker over the next few days.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m putting Croaker in charge of the Aurors and making sure that they are ready for the battle.  I already know that a lot of them have tenuous loyalties, so we won’t be telling them much – apart from the fact that their idea of a Monday to Friday job is no longer acceptable.”

“I’ll help,” one of them offered. 

“Me too,” the original Unspeakable to speak said.

“And the rest of us will be there for the battle,” the one on the far right said.  “It sounds like fun.”

“Excellent.  I’ll leave Croaker to arrange the details with you.  I’ll need you all to be ready with about an hour’s notice.”

“Can I ask how you are going to find out where to attack?”

Harry smiled apologetically.  “Sorry, there are some things that I am unwilling to divulge at this moment.”

“Good,” another Unspeakable grunted.  “Loose lips sink ships and all that.”

Harry nodded and stood, offering them a half-bow, before he turned and walked into the Floo, returning to Malcom’s office.

He was joined a few minutes later by Croaker and two now-unconcealed Unspeakables. 

“This is Lauren Jones and Hywell Robertson,” Croaker introduced the two.

“Nice to meet you without the masks,” Harry smiled.

They smiled at him, and stood at parade rest, flanking Croaker.

“Okay,” Harry said.  “I need you to keep up the strong silent act when we go in there.  Let me do all the talking, as there may be some spies, and until I can get rid of them, I don’t want them knowing what is going on.  Croaker, I might use you for some object lessons.”

Croaker smiled coldly.

“Actually,” Harry said slowly.  “Are either of you two any good at healing spells?”

Hywell nodded.  “I’m a trained field paramedic.”

“Excellent.  Croaker, you can now break some bones.  Hywell, you can mend them.  There will be four girls with me; they’re not to be touched.”  He looked at his watch.  “And they should be here any minute.”

Croaker and the other Unspeakables moved to one side.  With immaculate timing, the Floo opened and Pansy, followed by Ginny, Daphne, and Hermione walked in.

“Kingsley should be coming by in a minute to let us know the Aurors are ready,” Pansy said.  “Dad told me that he arranged it this morning.  Some of the Aurors are not going to be happy to be working on a weekend.”

“Poor babies,” Hywell said dryly.  “As Harry apparently doesn’t know how to introduce us properly, I’ll do it myself.  I’m Hywell; this is Lauren.  We both work for Croaker.”

“Wait a second,” Harry interrupted.  “Work for Croaker?”

“You didn’t tell him?” Lauren smiled at Croaker. 

“Never came up,” Croaker shrugged.  “I’m the senior Unspeakable,” he explained.  “I’m basically in charge of all the field agents.”

“Cool,” Pansy grinned.  “So how are we handling this meeting?”

“I’m going to be irritable,” Harry said with a smile.  “Croaker is going to hand out some object lessons, and when they are ready to listen, we’re going to let these three put them through their paces so that they are ready.  We can’t tell them why.”

“Are you really this calm, Harry?” Ginny asked.

Harry looked around the room slowly.  “No.  I’ve suddenly realised that by this time next week, this could all be over.”

“Good,” Daphne said with a grin.  “It means that you are still human.”

“True,” Hermione agreed.

“Croaker, Lauren, Hywell,” Harry said dryly.  “Meet my personal ego-busting squad.  The brunette closest to me is my gorgeous girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson.  The elegant blonde is Daphne Greengrass; the girl with the amazing hair and perfect skin is Ginny Weasley, and the other beautiful brunette is probably the smartest witch you’ll ever meet, the notorious Hermione Granger.”

The four girls blushed together, causing Harry to smile and look a little relieved that he could make them blush as well.

There was a knock on the door, and Kingsley’s bald head poked through it as it opened.  “I’ve got them ready for you,” he said.  “It’s going to be a tough crowd.”

Harry nodded.  “Whatever happens, don’t show any reaction,” he said to the girls.  After they had all nodded, he smiled at them.  “Ready?”  Hearing no dissenting voices, he led the way out of Malcom’s office and down the corridor to a large room with a padded floor.  In front of him were over a hundred Aurors, in various different outfits.  Most were lounging on the floor.

Harry walked to the front, still flanked by the others, and waited for the noise to die down.

It didn’t.

Harry sighed under his breath and cast a sonorous spell on his throat.

“Ten Shun,” he yelled at the top of his lungs.  “Line up, now!”

Most of the Aurors jumped to attention, a few more climbed to their feet slowly.  The rest didn’t stop their conversations.

“I take it you gentlemen on the floor think that you are too good to be here?” he inquired acidly.

“I ain’t listening to some punk kid,” an Auror with brown hair sneered from the floor.

“And you are?”

“Adams, Stephan Adams,” he drawled.

“Well, Mr Adams,” Harry said, his tone clipped.  “You’ve just volunteered to be an example.  Mr Croaker, would you mind demonstrating on him?”

“Of course not, Mr Potter,” Croaker said, an evil smile on his face.  The Unspeakable strolled straight toward the prone Auror, who scrambled to his feet.

“Wait a second,” Stephan protested, as he watched the implacable march of his opponent.

“Would a Death Eater wait a moment?” Harry asked.  “Would Voldemort?”

There was a collective gasp from the Aurors at the name, and Harry scowled. 

Croaker’s wand jumped into his hand, and a second later, Stephan flew half way across the room and collided with a wall.  There was an audible crack as his left arm broke.

“Mr Robertson,” Harry said coldly.  “Will you fix his arm please?”  As Hywell walked over to the prone Auror, Harry looked around at the shocked Aurors.

“I believe I told you to be at attention,” he whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

There was a scramble of movement as every Auror snapped into place.

“That’s more like it,” Harry growled.  He walked to the side and turned, so he was facing everyone.  “Ms Weasley,” he said.  “How old are you?”

“Fifteen,” Ginny replied.

“Who are we fighting?”

“Voldemort,” Ginny said firmly.

“Ms Granger,” Harry continued.  “Are your parents wizards?”

“They are not,” Hermione said clearly.  “To use a pejorative, I am a Mudblood.”

“Who are we fighting?”

“Voldemort,” Hermione replied.

“Why look at that,” Harry said, walking back to the centre and facing the Aurors again.  We have a fifteen-year-old girl and a sixteen year old with Muggle parents both quite happy to say Voldemort.  Voldemort.  Voldemort. 

“And look at you, the Wizard police, scared of three syllables.  Is it any wonder that the Wizarding world is in the state it is in?

“You,” he pointed to someone in the first row.  “What is your name?”

“Amanda Lampkin, sir!” she replied in a shout.

“Who are we fighting?”

She seemed to struggle with herself, and then in a voice that was almost a whisper, said, “Voldemort.”

“I can’t hear you,” Harry snapped.  “Who are we fighting?”

“Voldemort!” Amanda shouted.

Harry looked around theatrically.  “Look, no Voldemort.  People are saying his name, left, right, and centre, and he hasn’t appeared.  Imagine that.  So, to start with, anyone who can’t say Voldemort, leave now.  You are dismissed from your job.  The door is over there.”

He waited, but no one moved.  “Good, perhaps there is hope for the Aurors, after all.  Some years ago, the Aurors were as good as the Unspeakables.  However, this is no longer the case.”

“That’s not fair,” one of the Aurors shouted. 

“Choose four of your best,” Harry said abruptly.  “In thirty seconds, I want the four you have chosen in front.”

The Aurors moved from attention and started an intense whispered conversation.

“Four, Harry?” Croaker whispered, sounding amused.

“You want me to make it challenging and go for eight?” Harry offered.

“No,” Croaker said dryly.

The four lined up were all large men, and from what Harry could tell, were pretty powerful as well.

“Gentlemen,” Harry addressed them.  “You are fighting for the jobs you obviously enjoy so much.  If you beat my representative, you will go back to your jobs as you have had them for the past fifteen years.”  He paused and smiled slowly.  “Mr Croaker, would you be as kind as to demonstrate just why the Unspeakables should also be known as the Untouchables?”

Croaker bowed formally to Harry.  “I would indeed, Mr Potter,” he grinned.

“Oh, Mr Croaker,” Harry smirked.  “No magic.”

Croaker started to smile and turned back to the Aurors. 

The Aurors seemed to collectively inhale as they looked at the man in front of them. 

“You may start when ready,” Harry said.

As Harry finished the word ready, Croaker started to move.  His left hand dug into his jacket and emerged with a vicious looking knife.  Without seeming to look, his hand flashed out and the knife rotated through the air, before going straight through the first Auror’s wand hand, leaving him on the floor, holding his hand in shock.

The other three Aurors now had their wands out and started to launch spells at Croaker.  Harry held up his own wand and cast a shield spell so that everyone on his side wouldn’t be hit.

Croaked launched himself into a dive and a roll and he came up in front of two of them.  His left knee shot out and into the Auror on the left’s stomach, while his right elbow smashed into the jaw of the Auror next to him. Two more quick movements left the two Aurors incapacitated.

Croaker grabbed one of them by his robes, and held him up while he approached the last Auror. 

The remaining Auror cast several wild spells at Croaker, some of which hit the unconscious Auror he was using as a shield. 

As Croaker got nearer, he threw his shield forward and darted around him.  A sickening crunch informed everyone that Croaker’s left foot had found his mark.

“Forty-four seconds,” Harry stated into the silence.  “Four of your best Aurors wiped out in forty-four seconds.”

He let the silence grow, as Hywell walked around, healing the Aurors and doing what he could to those he couldn’t heal.

“What is your job?” Harry asked softly.

“To uphold the law and protect the people,” Amanda said loudly.

“How are you doing your job when you don’t work weekends, when you are nothing but target practice for Death Eaters?”

“We’re not,” Amanda said, speaking for the group again.

“Do you want to be more?” Harry demanded.

“Yes,” Amanda said.

“All of you.  Do you want to be more?”

“Yes,” the Aurors said.

“I can’t hear you.  Do You Want To Be More!?”

“YES!” The Aurors roared.

“Good,” Harry smiled.  “There is hope for you after all.  You have the potential inside you to help us beat Voldemort.  To help us beat the Death Eaters.  To avenge the deaths of your colleagues.  We can teach you to fight.  We can teach you to win.  We can teach you to be able to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror with pride, knowing that you are an Auror.  That you are part of the team keeping people safe.  And that you are the best.  We can make you the best, and if you put the work in, you will be the best.”

The Aurors started to cheer.

“Fudge has given me carte blanche to make changes here, and change I will.  Consider the first an incentive scheme.  Anyone who passes the course that Mr Croaker and his two assistants put together will get a fifty percent pay rise.  If you are going to be the best, we will pay you as the best.”

The roar that followed his statement was the loudest yet.

“It will be hard work, but at the end, you will be able to face the Death Eaters and know that at the end of the fight, you will be able to defeat them!”

Harry held up his hand and waited for the noise to die down.  “Croaker, you’re in charge.”

“Thanks, Harry,” the Unspeakable replied cheerfully.  “I’ll give you a report tomorrow on the progress.”

“Excellent.  Hywell, Lauren, it was nice meeting you.”

He turned to the girls.  “I’ll see you back at Hogwarts?”

They nodded and gathered around Pansy, vanishing as she activated a Portkey.  Harry saluted the Aurors and vanished on the spot, to the shock of the Aurors.  He cast a spell quickly, and in the corner of the room, a Quick Quotes quill started to write silently.

“You can’t Apparate inside the Ministry,” Amanda gasped.  “The wards!”

“The normal rules do not apply to Mr Potter,” Croaker said firmly.  “I think we will start with defence.  Let’s see what your shields are like.  Line up.”

Harry smiled as the Aurors obeyed him instantly.  He’d taken a large gamble by telling Croaker not to use magic, but it had worked spectacularly.  It had impressed upon the Aurors that they weren’t nearly as good as they thought.  They weren’t as bad either, but he felt that they would work extra hard to make up for it.

He waved his hand and the Quill and parchment vanished.  He turned and moved toward Hogwarts, appearing in Dumbledore’s office.

“Harry?” Dumbledore asked as he looked up from the paperwork he was reading.

“I’ve just given the Aurors to Croaker to whip into shape,” Harry said casually as he dropped onto a couch.  Dobby appeared a second later with a large sandwich and a drink, vanishing again immediately afterward.

“Oh?” Dumbledore said as he leaned back slowly.

“And tomorrow, I’m going to be sending Draco Malfoy to Voldemort.  I need some misdirection done, and he’s volunteered.”

“He has?”

“Yeah, by being a supercilious, racist git for the past five years.”

“I still have hopes that he won’t become a Death Eater,” Dumbledore said quietly.

“Do you honestly believe that you can change his course?” Harry asked curiously.

“I have to believe,” Dumbledore said softly.  “There must be something inside him that is scared of Voldemort and doesn’t want to do it.”

“Possibly,” Harry grunted.  “But given the chance, he will take it in an instant.  Draco is delusional enough to believe that everything is about him.  He sees himself as Voldemort’s right hand man.  He’s a pure-blood and wears it like a cloak.  He can’t handle anything that interferes with his closed minded view.  He, in a microcosm, is exactly what is wrong with the Wizarding world.  He is exactly why it has been so stagnant over the past hundred years.  Where are the great advances? Where are the new spells?  They don’t exist.  Voldemort has done us a huge favour and grabbed all the arch-conservatives in one place.  Everyone who fears change and fears difference is with him.  Everyone who wants things to remain the same is there.  This fight isn’t me against Voldemort.  It’s not the Order against the Death Eaters.  It’s a fight for the future of the Wizarding world.  Voldemort has already lost.  Even if he wins the battle, he can never have what he wants.  The world is changing too fast around him; Muggles are too strong, too quick.  If he wins, every wizard loses.  But if we win, we can change things, we can make things better, and we can fix things.  We can bring innovation back to the Wizarding world.  We can bring back fairness, hope, and tolerance.  We will drag society into the Utopia we can provide.”

“That sounds very extreme, Harry,” Dumbledore said softly.  “What if people don’t want your Utopia?”

“Over the last twenty years, has the number of students entering Hogwarts gone up or down?”

“Down,” Dumbledore replied.

Harry shrugged expressively.  “How many years will it be until there are none?  A hundred?  Fifty?  Our population is in decline, and if we don’t do something now, it will be too late.”

Dumbledore frowned, looking like someone swallowing something unpleasant. 

Harry ran his fingers through his hair and smiled slightly.  “Think about it,” he advised.  “And tell the professors to stay out of the way at breakfast tomorrow.”  He looked at his watch.  “I’ve got to get to the D.A. meeting,” he sighed.  “It’s times like this, I wish I could clone myself.”  With a nod to Dumbledore, he vanished.

Harry arrived outside the door to the Room of Requirement and took a deep breath.  He didn’t like the idea of lying to everyone, but it was the only way to keep a secret.  The more people that knew about it, the less secure it was. 

He walked through their living room and into the training area.  He was quite amazed; it looked like the D.A. had doubled in size since the last meeting.  There were a fair number of Slytherins to one side, looking nervous, so he walked over to them first.

“Glad you could make it,” he smiled at Blaise.

“Yeah well, we can’t let the rest of the school have all the fun,” Blaise smiled. 

Harry clapped him on the shoulder and walked to the front of the room where Pansy, Ginny, Hermione and Daphne were waiting for him.  “Have you eaten?” he asked them quietly.

They all nodded, so he turned to face the crowd of students.

“The Defence Association was set up last year to help us practice exactly that: the skills that can keep us alive when Death Eaters attack.  Every student who took part last year passed their O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts.  The skills we teach here will be valuable for the rest of your life.  This year, more than ever, it is vitally important that we work hard, we work together, and we become one as a school, not as four houses.  We will help you, but the drive to be the best you can be must come from deep inside you.  It must be fuelled by the knowledge that it could save your life, or your family’s lives.  If you don’t want to work or if you don’t want to learn, turn around and leave now.  We’re not going to force you.”  Harry paused and waited to see if anyone would take up his offer.  No one did.

“Excellent,” he smiled.  “So, why don’t we start with a little contest, just to get the blood moving, and so we can see what skill level you are at.  We’re going to have a duelling competition for all the new members. The standard school rules apply.  Last year’s D.A., members will be judging.  Hermione, can you pair people off?”

“Of course, Harry,” Hermione said moving next to him.  In her hand was the big book that all the new members had signed with the new anti-communication charm built in.  She started reading out names, and as a pair was announced, Harry nodded to a long-term member of the D.A. who went to invigilate.

When everyone was paired off, including Daphne and Pansy, Harry gave the command for them to start.

He stood at the front, pretending to watch everyone duel, but his main attention was on Pansy.  She was fighting a fifth year Slytherin he’d never seen before.  It was hard to hide a smile as he watched his girlfriend clumsily dodge the sort of curse that would normally have her laughing in contempt.  She tripped forward as she launched a woefully under-powered curse at him. 

The fifth year dodged it easily and sent back a stunning charm that was going wide, till Pansy leaned into it.

“You’re out,” he heard Luna say quietly and he smiled.  He could always rely on Luna to understand things that others wouldn’t.  It was why he had picked her for that match, knowing that she had seen Pansy train.

“Bad luck,” he said a little loudly as Pansy walked over to him. 

“I’ll do better next time,” Pansy sighed and hugged him, her face sad, but her eyes were laughing with him.

“Good work,” Harry nodded to the boy who had beaten Pansy, noticing the way his chest puffed out slightly at the praise.

In a way that didn’t really surprise him, the final duel was between two Slytherins; Blaise and Daphne.  As he watched them fight, he decided that he would continue the D.A. after defeating Voldemort.  Some of these students would make great Aurors, but more than that, it was giving them confidence – confidence they would need as his group shook the Wizarding world by the ankles and changed it.

“Congratulations, Blaise,” Harry said loudly when the boy won by dropping to the floor to avoid a nasty combination of hexes and shot his own out at the same time.  Daph hadn’t expected it and had been caught.

“Do I get a prize?” Blaise asked as he got back to his feet.

“What do you have in mind?” Harry asked.

“You.  In a duel,” Blaise grinned.

Pansy laughed softly.  “That’s not such a good idea,” she advised.

“I know,” Blaise replied.  “But I think everyone wants to see what Harry can do in a real duel, so I’m volunteering as a practice dummy.”

“No offence,” Pansy said dryly, “But you’d be about as effective as a practice dummy.  How about you have some help?”

“Pansy,” Harry said.

“Shush, honey,” Pansy interrupted him.  “Neville, Padma, Luna, Justin, why don’t you join Blaise?”

“Five of us?” Padma asked.  “Is he that good?”

“Better,” Pansy replied.  “But it will show you what he can do.  Harry, no wandless magic.”

Harry nodded and stepped off the small stage.  The students separated, leaving a circle where Harry stood opposite his five opponents.  He knew what Blaise was trying to do; it was actually pretty clever, and it made him adjust his thinking slightly.  He wanted to show the others that Harry had a chance against Voldemort.

He stood still, slowly sinking into his fighting mindset, blocking everything irrelevant to the duel out.  Once again, things started to turn grey.  He felt Pansy send him a quick mental thought of love, even as he shut that down.

Everything was still.

Nothing else existed but his opponents.

He didn’t hear the command to start, but he saw them start to move, and he moved himself.

As Croaker had earlier, he didn’t wait for them but launched himself forward as fast as he could.  He pulled his wand out, as if it had been in his hand all along, and launched a spell straight at Padma.  She didn’t even get the chance to raise her shield as the spell hit her, holding her in place and out of the duel.

Luna was reacting faster than he had thought she would, and cast a spell at him.  Unfortunately, he didn’t stop moving, and her spell hit Justin straight in the face.

That left three.  Luna fired another curse at him, but this time he simply cast a spell to reflect it back at her.  She ducked and dived over toward Neville and Blaise.  The three of them trained their wands at Harry.

He paused, evaluating the situation coldly.  Normally he would have a variety of curses he could use, but this wasn’t the time to make public the knowledge that he had curses that were as effective as the Cruciatus.

In a repeating pattern, his three opponents started to cast spells at him.  The first few he used a shield spell to absorb, before he decided to take out Blaise next.  With a wave of his wand, his shield vanished and he started to move again.

The spells seemed to be moving in slow motion as he ducked and dodged his way through them, till he grabbed Blaise’s arm and twisted it carefully, applying just the right amount of force to send the boy crashing to the floor.  A quick spell left him immobile.

He looked up, diving to the right automatically as a couple of curses fizzled through the space he’d just vacated.

There were just two left now.  He’d never stayed in fight mode this long before, and he was starting to find it difficult to remain in it.  He’d been moving too fast, and his body was trying to tell him that.

As Neville launched a fresh curse at him, he decided to try something different.  He took a step forward and jumped over the curse, thrusting his wand down into the curse, and moving his arm, so that the curse traced a semi-circle in the air, and flew straight toward Luna.

Luna just blinked as the curse hit her, her face registering mild surprise at what he had done.

Harry landed in a tight shoulder roll and came up in front of Neville.  Harry’s left hand redirected Neville’s wand, as his wand rested between Neville’s eyes.

“Yield?”  he asked softly, as the room abruptly returned to normal in a violent rush that made him want to vomit.

Neville nodded slowly, his face pale.

Hermione, Ginny, and the other D.A. members quickly helped the others back to their feet, cancelling the curses, as Harry returned to the small stage and stood next to Pansy.

She wormed her way into his arms, standing in front of him and holding him tightly.  It looked like she was resting against him, but she was actually holding him up.

Blaise was the first person to break the unnatural silence.  “This was why I joined,” he said loudly, obviously addressing the rest of the D.A..  “To learn from the best.  He just took out five of us, and he’s not even breathing hard.  This is what I aspire to.  I’ve seen Death Eaters, and I can’t wait until the next time I see them.  Because I will see what Death Eaters look like scared.  I will see them frightened.  I will see them face Harry and realise with their last breath that they made a mistake and followed the wrong person.  I wanted to see what Harry could do.  I thought I might be a little disappointed. That he couldn’t live up to the rumours.  Well, screw the rumours.  The reality is a hundred times more impressive.”

“At the next meeting,” Hermione said, “we’ll start to train properly.  Feel free to bring along anyone else who wants to join.”

The students started to talk among themselves as they filed out, leaving only Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Pansy, and Daphne.  Blaise was the last to leave, and he paused at the door and looked back, shaking his head.

“Tell me one thing,” he asked.  “Were you holding back?”

Harry nodded slowly.

Blaise grinned.  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” and he vanished out the door.

Harry groaned and rested against Pansy.  She took a step back for a second as she tried to hold him up, but a second later he felt another pair of arms around him, and he was gently lowered to the ground by Pansy and Ginny.

“He’s exhausted,” Pansy said quietly.  “He’s never been in that hyper-extended state of his for so long before.  It’s normally only useful for short periods, but because he couldn’t use most of his curses, he had to rely on the speed to make it so impressive.”

Hermione shook her head softly.  “That was pretty amazing; I didn’t really realise just how seriously you had been trained, even with Croaker’s demonstration earlier.”

Pansy smiled slightly.  “Harry pushed himself harder than you can believe,” she said quietly.  “He did it to protect us.  Now, help me get him up and into the living room, Gin.  Daph, can you get a blanket for him?  Hermione, can you talk to Dobby about getting some hot chocolate and a snack?”

Pansy sighed softly and lightly stroked Harry’s forehead.  He was having a quick nap to try to regain some of his strength.  Ginny was sitting on the floor next to them, as close as she could be, while reading one of her textbooks.

Hermione and Daphne were at the table, talking in a low voice as they poured over some tomes that were so thick they needed magic to lift them.

Sometimes, she forgot that he was only a teenager.  That he was barely sixteen.  His mannerisms and attitude were that of an adult, not an insecure teenager.  It was only when he pushed himself so hard that it showed. 

He’d tried to describe the hyper-extended state he was able to sink into a few times, but she hadn’t really grasped it till she’d gone into his mind with him and seen it.  It was somehow pure – all its focus on defeating the enemy.

The state itself was pretty benign; it was just concentration.  But it was when he moved that the problems started.  The human body was simply not meant to move that fast, and certainly not for a sustained period of more than a few seconds.  It took so much energy and willpower to do it. 

But one thing Harry Potter had never lacked was willpower. 

There had been an almost visible feeling of hope in the air as the students had walked out, talking amongst themselves.

More importantly, Draco would hear about it.  It was what they wanted.  For Voldemort to get a little scared that Harry would be his equal and prepare the attack as soon as he could.

It was a dangerous game they were playing, but the risks were worth it; as were the rewards.

She had reluctantly admitted to herself that her plans for doing more than sleeping with Harry were going to have to wait, what with them seriously planning for the final battle; they were both going to be too tired to do things properly.  Neither of them wanted a quick screw.  They wanted to do it properly, and she wasn’t going to rush – neither was he – even if they might not get the chance.  She knew deep inside herself that if Harry died, she might not, but no one would ever replace him in her heart.

She lightly ran her fingers over his scar, marvelling that it could have once been the source of so much torment for him, and she wondered once more why he wasn’t taught Occlumency at an earlier age.  Still, with the damage Snape had done, it was probably a good thing.

She felt Harry wake and smiled.  “Hey,” she whispered.

“Hey,” he said back, a little huskily.  He turned and smiled at the girl sat near them.  “Thanks for helping, Ginny,” he said softly.

Ginny just turned and smiled radiantly at both of them.

Harry sat up and stretched.  He looked at his watch and sighed.  “Accio Marauder’s Map,” he said quietly.  “As much as I want to go to bed and sleep for a week, we need to sow some seeds with Draco.  It looks like he’s on Prefect Patrol tonight.  Pansy, do you know his path?”

“Yes,” Pansy said, sitting next to him.  She traced it on the map.

“Okay,” Harry nodded.  “It looks like this classroom will be perfect for an impromptu meeting between us.  You guys are going to have to sneak down there under my Invisibility Cloak.  Daph, I think you’re going to have to stay behind, as it can probably only fit Pansy, Hermione, and Ginny because she’s smaller.”

“I hate logic,” Daphne grumbled.  “And I’ll want a full report when you get back!”

Harry smiled gratefully at her.  “I’ll meet you all down there,” he said and vanished.

Pansy walked into their bedroom and pulled out Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.  She carried it back into their living room and looked at the other two girls.  “I take it I’m the only one here with little experience in this.”

Ginny and Hermione smiled and moved next to her.  “Just follow our lead,” Hermione said softly. 

“Like when dancing,” Ginny added.  “Just relax and let us worry about everything else.  You don’t grow up with Fred and George without learning a thing or two about sneaking.”

“I’ll bet,” Pansy said dryly.

The journey down was uneventful, except when they had to freeze as Draco, accompanied, as always, by his Neanderthalian bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle, walked past them.

With a relieved sigh, they entered the classroom to find that Harry had conjured four chairs, and he was sitting in one comfortably, the map in his hand.

They sat down near him and waited silently while Harry watched the map intently.

“It’s not bloody fair,” he said loudly.  “Dumbledore won’t listen to me – he seems to know whatever is going on during the day.”

“We shouldn’t be out so late,” Hermione said, her voice was as loud as Harry’s.

Harry sighed audibly.  “It doesn’t matter,” he stated.  “In four weeks’ time this place will be impenetrable.  Voldemort can attack all he likes and he won’t get anywhere.  And we only have to hold out for two more weeks after that, and then the prophecy will kick in.”

“It’s about time you told us about the prophecy,” Ginny said.  “We fought in the Ministry for it.”

“It’s simple,” Harry said cheerfully.  “I can’t remember the exact quote, but the general gist is that at the moment, Voldemort will kill me the next time we meet.”  He paused as the three girls gasped in unison.  “But, if I can hold out for another six weeks, it changes, and I’ll kill him.

“Voldemort was supposed to find the prophecy, but he failed.  So he’ll continue to hide wherever he is, unaware that his doom is sneaking up on him.”

“Perfect,” Pansy laughed.  “It’s a good job he doesn’t know.”

“Yeah,” Harry said.  “Do you hear something?”

There was a sound of footsteps trying to be stealthy outside, and they waited for a minute until Harry, who was still watching the map, gave the signal, and they started to laugh.

“I can’t believe he fell for that,” Hermione said, wiping her eyes.  “It was so childish!”

“I know,” Pansy agreed.  “But Draco has all the sophistication of a three year old.  It told him everything he wanted to hear.  I’ll bet he goes to sleep tonight dreaming of the praise Voldemort will give him.”

Harry nodded and yawned.  “Let’s go back to our rooms,” he said.  “We do have lessons tomorrow.”

Hermione stood and nodded.  “Cloak?”

“Nah,” Harry shrugged.  “No one’s going to give us detention, so why bother?”

Hermione pouted.  “But sneaking and breaking the rules is half the fun.”

“Hermione!” Harry said, looking shocked.

Hermione just smiled a little smile and kissed him on the cheek.  “Don’t ever change, Harry.”

She looped her arm in Pansy’s and Ginny’s, and they walked off together, leaving Harry scratching his head in bewilderment.

“Go for a run, then pop home for a shower, and then have breakfast,” Pansy said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I wish you’d tell me what you have planned.”

“A girl has to have some secrets, Harry,” Pansy said softly.  “Now scoot.”

Harry rolled his eyes at her and then walked out the door.

Pansy shut the door firmly and turned to the three girls.  “Any idea what I have planned?”

Daphne pursed her lips slowly and looked directly into Pansy’s eyes.  “I have an inkling; does it mean I get to do what I think I do?”

“Can you handle it?”

“Sure,” Daphne grinned.  “I’ve been dying of curiosity for some time now.”

“Ahhh,” Hermione interrupted.  “So that’s why you don’t want me involved.”

“It’s because of Ron,” Pansy explained.  “Do you really think that he would be happy seeing that?”

Hermione sucked her lower lip as she thought.  “No, damn it.  You and Harry have given him warning after warning, so we’ll consider this a test.  Let’s see what happens.”

“Are you sure?” Pansy asked.

“Yes,” Hermione said decisively.  “Having me there will add to the effect.”

“What are we planning?” Ginny asked.  “I’m a little lost.”

“Draco has never shied away from giving his opinion.  He’s stated a few times that he’d like to ‘show the Mudblood what a pureblood can do.’”

“Eww,” Ginny muttered.

“Think how I feel,” Hermione agreed.  “I’ve felt his eyes on me a time or two.”  She shuddered.  “I normally had to have a shower shortly afterward.”

“He also has inferred that with a bit of attention and a bit of cash, you’d fall for his charms as well,” Pansy said to Ginny.

“Tell me the bloody plan,” Ginny said, her eyes flashing.  “Castration is sounding really good about now.”

Pansy laughed.  She shrugged off her dressing gown and walked over to the table, dressed only in her knickers.  She pulled on a shirt, but instead of doing the buttons up, she simply tied it in a knot under her breasts, leaving most of her stomach bare.  Next came a flared skirt which was so short it showed nearly all of her legs.  “I’ve got it charmed to keep it down,” she explained with a slight smile.  She bent and pulled on some white ankle socks, followed by some black heels.  She finished the outfit with one of Harry’s ties.

“How do I look?”

“Like you just stepped out of every fantasy every boy in this school has ever had,” Daphne said.

Ginny nodded in agreement.  “And some of the girls,” she murmured, before blushing.

“I wouldn’t do this for just anyone,” Hermione sighed.  “A thousand feminists are probably turning in their graves about now.  But it is for a good cause.”  She reached around her back and undid her bra under her shirt.  A few contortions later, and she dumped it on the table.  She quickly undid the buttons of her shirt and tied it up like Pansy had.  She grabbed her wand and shrunk her own skirt till it was the same length.  “Can you do the charm?” she asked.

“Of course,” Pansy smiled and pulled her own wand out.  She whispered under her breath and pointed at the skirt.  “There you go.”

“Thanks,” Hermione smiled.  “I’ve got some heels in my room.”

“So we’re all going to look like this?” Ginny asked.

“And we’re going to walk into the Great Hall at breakfast, and we’re all going to snog the hell out of my boyfriend.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide.  “And everyone is going to think the worst,” she said softly.  “And Draco will go absolutely insane seeing Harry get everything he wants,” she added with a pleased look.

“Yes,” Pansy agreed.

“You are completely and totally evil,” Ginny whispered.  “And I think I love you.”

Pansy laughed and hugged her for a second.  “Going to take part?”

“Try and stop me,” Ginny grinned, undoing the buttons on her shirt.  “I knew I should have worn a normal bra” she said as she turned her back on them and quickly pulled off her shirt and sports bra, before putting the shirt back on and tying it up the same way as Pansy and Hermione.

“Can one of you shrink my skirt?” she asked.  “My clothing charms have never been that good.”

Pansy nodded and quickly cast a couple of spells.  “There you go.  You know, you might find that you get more unwanted attention after this.”

“I know,” Ginny nodded.  “But you and Harry will protect me.”

“Always,” Pansy promised.  She turned to look at Daphne, who had cast her own spells, and was ready.

“What size shoe are you, Ginny?” Pansy asked.

“Three.”

Pansy moved into her room and picked up her spare pair of black heels, shrinking them a couple of sizes.  “Have you worn heels before?”

“A few times,” Ginny said.  “What are we going to do if anyone takes photos?”

“I dunno, charge a licensing fee?  Hex the idiot?  I guess in the end, I’ll leave it to Harry to deal with.  I’m going to walk in first with you three flanking me.  I’m going to kiss him, and at the same time tell him to relax and just go with the flow.  I know my boyfriend, and he’d try and talk us out of this.  If we present him with a fait accompli, he’ll play along.”

“It must be nice having a boyfriend you can allow three other girls to kiss, knowing that he’ll not read anything into it, other than a way to annoy Draco,” Daphne sighed.  “Still, at least I get to satisfy my curiosity.”

Pansy smiled.  “It will be fun,” she said confidently.  “Hermione, Ginny, do you know how to strut?”

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked.

Pansy walked to the far side of the room and then turned.  She walked toward them deliberately, one foot moving directly in front of the other.  She had a sultry expression on her face, as she moved her arms and shoulders in unison.  Her chest bounced a little with each step.  “Strut,” she grinned.  “You try.”

Pansy watched as Ginny and Hermione tried to imitate her walk.  “Put your shoulders back a little, Hermione.  Don’t take this the wrong way, but you are a lot sexier than I thought.  Have confidence in yourself.”

Hermione straightened her back and look directly forward, a small smile on her face. 

“That’s more like it,” Pansy cheered.  “Ginny, don’t look at your feet; they’re not going anywhere.  Head back, like the other day when you walked into the Hall.  You’ve got a great new haircut, and anyone who sees you like this will never think of little Ginny Weasley again.”

Ginny smiled and put her head back, imitating Hermione perfectly.

“Brilliant,” Pansy smiled.  “Okay, let’s put on some make-up.”

Harry sat at the table and finished his breakfast when Dobby appeared suddenly and handed him a mint and a note.  The elf winked at him and vanished again, and he suddenly got a feeling of unease. 

He opened the note quickly and smiled in relief.

H,

I’m in, safe, and a nice elf has already introduced himself and promised to help.

More later.

Hugs ‘N Kisses (or there would be if I wasn’t scared of your girlfriend)

NT.

He folded the note absently and tucked it into his trouser pocket.  It was good to know she was safe and in; he just hoped that she wouldn’t have to be in there for too long.  The sooner this ended the better.

He tilted his head to one side.  He could feel Pansy was excited, very much so, and he suddenly worried about just where his girlfriend’s flair for the dramatic was going to take them.  He thought about warning Ron, who was sitting on the other side of Seamus, but he decided not to. 

The door to the Great Hall flew open with a bang that attracted the attention of everyone, including the Professors.

The attention was followed by am audible gasp – one he joined in on, as he watched the four girls stand in the doorway.  He almost missed the spell that Pansy cast, but saw the effects a second later as a strong breeze blew against them, causing their long hair to fly dramatically behind them. 

All around him, he could see two reactions.  Most of the boys and some of the girls too, were looking at them with pure teenage lust.  The rest of the girls had extremely jealous looks on their faces.

Pansy strutted forward, flanked by a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, and he knew, without a doubt what she had planned.

He opened his mind a little and heard her telling him to relax and just go with it.  He sighed; he should have thought of this earlier and put a stop to it.  But it was too late now, and judging by the look on Draco’s face, it was going to work.

The uniforms they were wearing would give everyone at the Ministry a collective coronary.  Either from outrage or desire, he wasn’t sure which.

Pansy led the way, always the ringleader.  Her skirt was probably the shortest of the four, and her legs seemed endless before they vanished under a skirt that, in some cultures, would be classified as a belt.  Her stomach was smooth with just the faintest outline of the muscles she had developed visible under the skin. 

The way her chest bounced with each and every step showed clearly that she was bra-less and wasn’t ashamed of it in any way.  She had a challenging look on her face as she stared at him, as if she was personally daring anyone to stand up to her.

Daphne was to her right.  The tall blonde, made taller by the black heels she was wearing, had a confident strut to her walk, as if she had accepted that she was going to be stared at and was now determined to make sure that people would never forget her.  Her skirt was a little longer than Pansy’s, but to almost compensate, her shirt was tighter, revealing the shape of the breasts Draco had drooled over for several years.

As much as it pained him to admit that Draco was right about anything, Daphne did have an amazing set.

Next to her, and behind Pansy, was Ginny.  He didn’t think that anyone, ever, would ig