A/N: We're getting close now; hold on for just a little while longer :)

Notes/Refresher:

Coetu: Death Eater government; congregation of Death Eater families that lay down the laws for Magical Britain

I would also recommend re-reading a small section in Chapter 3 that can be easily found if you search for "Books out, turn to page 457." The spell information is what I'd like to point out here.

Finally, first few lines are from the last chapter so as to get you back in the mood.

Chapter 6: Hope

"Draco, look at me."

"Father, tell me."

"Draco."

"Why? For how long?"

"Son, please."

Draco managed to tear his gaze away and for the briefest of moments, felt his world shatter.

"Obliviate."

The world spun slowly, like he had been hit hard in the head and was just coming to. Dark images appeared in his conscious mind but he couldn't focus on them. He was wandering, unsure of where to go and something was cold.

Something was cold, but what was it?

A loud snap focused the mind and by a combination of memories, a word was melded together for the sound.

Twig

From there, his world quickly sharpened and Draco came to understand that he was walking. It was dark out, hence the dark shapes and being night it was also cold. He blinked, rubbing his eyes but he still felt so out of focus.

'The grounds? Why am I out here?'

He stumbled up the path toward the main entrance, slowing as things started coming together. 'Something happened, but... I don't remember. Why?' he started to rub his forehead, a spot above his right eye. The action brought with it a sensation as if he was tracing over a scar and nearly yelped in surprise before feeling the area again only to find smooth, unblemished skin.

'Come on Draco. Focus. What were you doing before?'

Images flashed in front of his eyes of the Granger girls and their fighting; they were practicing.

"Right, okay," he mumbled. "What happened after?"

Nothing. It was a gray blank but then he felt something gnaw at his throat and Draco froze.

Disgust. Rage. Fear.

And then a flash of a mangled corpse, or what looked like it except the body still functioned. But the face, the face is what stood out to him in all its horror and Draco's eyes opened wide.

"Potter!"

XX

"Tollitis" shouted Luna and a purplish beam of light shot towards Hermione who adaptly dodged and fired back one of her own. Luna bowed gracefully, letting the dark spell soar just inches above her head before creating a shield which emitted a loud gong at Hermione's assault.

This continued for many more minutes, both girls ignoring the sting of their muscles or the sweat running down their heads. Hermione was to fight in the Gauntlet soon and to show weakness of any kind, even a hesitance to use Dark spells, would mark the end for her. They'd risked too much, lost too much to not give everything they had.

Hermione and Luna duelled to a stand still, each of them a move away from a fatal strike and they smiled to one another, lowering their wands.

"That was excellent, Hermione!" Luna cheered. "Keep that up and it won't matter who Clarkson sends to do his fighting."

"Thank you, Luna, and you've improved greatly yourself."

As they each caught their breath, Hermione cast a Tempus spell and frowned, "Do you remember when Draco left? I would have expected him back by now."

The door to the Room of Requirement opened and said man practically ran inside, flinging the door closed behind him.

"Draco, what's..." and her mouth hung open as the Room restructured the door to Draco's silent wishes. It became an iron gate, latched with so many locks, counting them would have been a chore. Six massive chains appeared, barring entry further and Draco was stumbling away from the door, his back to them.

"Draco, are you alright?"

He whipped around, his wand out and pointed straight at them. It glowed, showering sparks in their direction and already the two fighters had shields up and waiting. Draco paused, his eyes wide and darting back and forth between them before he started to relax.

"What the hell!?" screamed Hermione, eyes ablaze. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Potter's alive."

Hermione's blood ran cold and the flush of exertion left Luna's cheeks, their faces turning a pasty white color. The elder Granger stumbled back as if struck and took several seconds to control herself, "That's... that's not funny, Malfoy."

Draco seemed to come back to his senses, "Wait. Just, give me a minute, but I swear this to you Hermione." The emotion in his voice did little to calm her. "I saw him." Draco took a step forward and then groaned, grasping his head and letting out a hiss.

Luna requested a long couch and the Room produced it, which she quickly came forward to and helped ease Draco down. Between the three of them, she remained the most lucid. "Hermione, runs some diagnostics on him. Whatever's happened, it's shaken him terribly."

The brown haired witch started to wave her wand above the young man, moving from spell to spell quickly and silently. After several long moments of examining the results, Hermione shook her head. "I'm no healer, but he's not showing any signs of any ailments, physical or magical."

"I was," he said, his voice shaky. "I think I was Obliviated."

Hermione halted in place as the reality of the situation hit her.

Draco, son of one of the most prominent Death Eater families in all of Britain and a Selected to boot was just assaulted and possibly erased of his memories. On top of that was the claim that Harry, her Harry, was still alive. She closed her eyes temporarily and took a deep mental breath. 'Deal with the present first,' she chanted knowing that to awaken a fool's hope so soon would also be to strengthen the curse that was Harry's death. She may have wanted him back more than anyone, but she wasn't about to believe the words of a rambling man who was supposedly just Obliviated, no matter his status.

"Draco," she finally said. "I'm going to use several spells to see if your memory has been tampered with. Will you allow me to do so?"

That he agreed without any hesitation at all made her frown, "Alright. This will put you to sleep but if I find anything, I'll wake you."

He nodded, "I trust you Hermione."

Luna stepped forward immediately, noticing her friend freeze up again. "I'll be performing the check Draco, Hermione is a little strained. Are you okay with this?"

"I trust you just as much, Luna."

She didn't react as Hermione had and nodded in acceptance. With her wand raised and pointed to his head she chanted, "Mentalis Reprehendo."

Hermione however, just collapsed into a chair that materialized underneath her.

What was going on? The words, the way his eyes sparkled, the bloody tone he used screamed to her of memories from the past. Tears pooled in her eyes and she viciously wiped them away. He looked, hell he sounded just like...

'Potter is alive.'

Hermione choked back a sob while at the same time shivering with intense fear. Coincidence was not just a plaything of Fate and she had come to find far too often that truth was masked by the simplest of lies.

'What did Draco see that turned him into this? Who attacked him?' Hundreds of questions flew at her from all directions, but she purposely held back her inquisitive mind and refocused on the present. It was a good thing Luna stepped when she did. Hermione may have been a practiced Occlumens and a decent Legilimens, but even the slightest lapse of concentration could have far reaching effects.

An uncertain amount of time passed before Luna exhaled slowly and let down her wand. Hermione got up and rushed to her friend, helping to steady her from such a draining activity.

Luna's eyes were guarded, "Hermione. We're going to need the efforts of a Sage Legilimens, maybe even higher."

She sputtered, "There's less than a handful of such people left in this country and most of them are Death Eaters."

Luna looked to her and Hermione nearly gasped at the emotion she saw in the girl's eyes. "There's clear evidence of a recent Obliviation and it was done in haste. There's a sliver of memory that Draco's mind refuses to let me see but I did catch a glimpse and I think... Maybe..."

There was no stopping it now. Hermione had tried for the last several minutes to not allow herself the pleasure, but hope would deny her no longer.

"Harry's alive?"

Luna immediately launched herself into Hermione and the two girls collapsed in tears over the prospect. Each of them had clung to the hope that Harry might still be alive and after two years, finally, there was something to go on. Tiny though it was, a spec was all they needed. As they calmed, Luna wiped her eyes, "There's more, sadly." Hermione hiccuped while clearing her own vision and motioned for the blonde to continue. "Remember all the odd little things about Draco that have occurred over the years?"

"Yeah. His shift in priorities, I suppose one would say. I never told anyone this, but I overheard Pansy speaking to him about it one day. I didn't catch Draco's reactions but I figured nothing came of it. Why?"

Luna looked sadly at Draco, "I don't think this was the first time he's been Obliviated but it was the most rushed. His mind is fragmented and there's something else going on that I don't understand and can't really explain. All I get is this feeling of wrongness."

Hermione let out a silent curse, "So that's why we need a Sage."

"We should take Draco to see him. It's worth the risk, don't you think?"

Hermione's lips drew into a thin line, "And chance blowing our cover?"

A rare sight settled in front of the Gryffindor: an angry Ravenclaw.

"Hermione Jean Granger! Two years ago you would have jumped out of your knickers and paraded around the Great Hall if that's what it took to get Harry back!" Hermione had the decency to blush. "What in Merlin's name is holding you back now?"

Luna held her gaze firmly on her friend for a few seconds more before said friend smiled. As Hermione shook her head, she took the steps necessary to wrap Luna in a hug and gently kissed her forehead.

"Oh Luna, what would I do without you? You know I want Harry back; more than anything. But this could very easily be a trap to get us to expose ourselves. After everything that's happened these past few weeks, it's possible the Resistance has been found out."

Luna deflated with a pout but stubbornly held on. "If this was a trap, we'd be dead by now. Besides, this is Draco Malfoy who was attacked, not us. To strike at the left hand of Voldemort is to call forth his wand in vengeance."

Hermione bit her lip for Luna made a fair point. This seemed like a very strange way in which to attach them. There were numerous other means available to spiteful Death Eaters to make a good show of them; case in point was the Gauntlet just around the corner.

'Why not wait?' thought Hermione. 'The Gauntlet would have been a perfect time to attack us and make it look like an accident. So why...?'

"Maybe you're right, Luna. Whatever happened to Draco wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't say where he was going, did he?"

"No, but it looked like one of his House Elves that delivered the summons."

"Imposter or cloaking?"

"Not likely," said Luna. "House Elves, apart from Hogwarts Elves, are the only ones able to pass through the wards of the castle at will."

Hermione's mind whirred, "A family affair then. If Lucius did this to his own son..."

Luna shivered, "What could they possibly have to gain? If that's what really happened and it's found out? There's the end of the entire family, not to mention the shakeup in leadership. Voldemort will have no choice but to scuttle his most trusted!"

Hermione started pacing, rapidly thinking up a plan. "Alright, okay. So, if we leave tonight then we'll never be able to return here. The Gauntlet is a week away and to disappear will look like a kidnaping along with running, to say the least. The purebloods will no doubt use this to their advantage and pass laws on the lesser bloods."

"But how does that compare to what a father did to his son? The reason alone will be a massive blow to the Death Eaters."

Hermione was torn. Run and find out what Draco knew, or stay and protect hundreds from the purebloods and their laws? It would have been an easy decision but there was another factor to consider.

Harry

A gentle hand laid itself on her shoulder and Hermione looked sadly to her, "You already know what to do. Others will suffer initially, yes. Some may even die, but Hermione... Their time is already set so long as Voldemort is still in power."

And Luna was right. It was only a matter of time.

The blonde smiled as she watched the resolve build itself into an inferno within Hermione's eyes.

"Let's go see the Headmaster."

X

A knock sounded on the door and Severus Snape sighed while putting down his parchment. He may have been grateful for the distraction away from progress reports and financial calculations but it was rather late in the day. Curfew was not five minutes from now, so he'd have to escort whoever stood outside his door back to where they came from.

That he took issue with.

"Enter," he said curtly, his frown deepening as Hermione and Luna Granger stepped inside.

"Miss Granger, Miss Granger," he acknowledged them both. "What brings you here so late in the day?"

"Phoenix."

Severus froze, his features betraying no hint of emotion. A sharp flick of his wand and the door latched itself and the girls felt privacy wards exert themselves over the office.

"Fawkes," he replied and they all felt the magic surrounding the password activate. "You endanger much Hermione, to make such a call here."

The girl in question withdrew a pencil from the pack she carried and after placing it on a chair she pulled out her wand, "There is much to be risked, Severus." The pencil shimmered before enlarging and taking the form of Draco Malfoy.

Severus' lack of reaction was a testament to the horrors he'd seen.

"I'm almost afraid of the explanation you're about to give."

"We believe Draco was attacked, not twenty minutes ago. He shows signs of Obliviation and his mind is fragmented."

This got a reaction, "Are you certain?" he pressed. Both girls nodded and Severus hissed, slashing his wand and the wards strengthened. He sighed and gestured for them to sit as he covered his face with both hands. "The implications of this are staggering. Draco came here several hours ago, looking to floo home. He said there was a matter to attend to."

The girls looked at one another before Luna spoke, "We surmised as much but were hopeful for another explanation. Seeing as we no longer have one it looks like we really do have to leave."

"Judging from your cargo, I assume you'll be taking Draco with you?"

Hermione nodded, "We're going to seek help. Hopefully the person I have in mind will be able to do so." Her expression softened, "I'd love to tell you who, better still take you with us."

In a rare display, Severus smiled warmly at the two. "It gives me strength to hear such things, but I must remain. You know what we signed up for when we made the Oath and the less you tell me, the less I will be forced to reveal, should it come to that."

Hermione sighed and the two girls stood, but Luna quickly went around and hugged the Headmaster before he could say otherwise.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for trying to stall my torture and death. You risked too much in doing so."

Severus chuckled, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained and it was worth every effort. I wish you well, the both of you." His face hardened again, "Go quickly; by any means you have which will draw the least amount of attention."

They turned to go, "Good luck to you, Headmaster."

"Same to you, Grangers." and the door shut.

Severus let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and sat back in his chair. In a moment, the spell cast by their greeting would end and his memories of the event would be permanently sealed, undetectable by even the most skilled of Legilimens. He felt tendrils of magic start to seep into his mind and he smiled one last time at the spot the two girls once stood.

"Good luck indeed," and Severus knew no more of the Grangers escape.

XX

Luna strained her neck to look up and through the invisibility cloak to the peak of the tall dark tower they stood in front of. "This has got to be the most uncomfortable place I've ever been," she said and shivered as she followed Hermione inside.

"Agreed. Hopefully, there are no patrols here today."

The prison of Gellert Grindelwald, Nurmengard, was occasionally visited by Death Eater guards. On Hermione's last visit, there had been no resistance to speak of, making the climb to see the tower's lonely occupant easy. This time however, they immediately ran into a squadron on the second floor. They quietly sidestepped and tiptoed their way through the guards, progressing further up the tower.

Thanks to a silencing spell on their shoes and a specially crafted variant on the cloak, they could speak freely without worry of being heard.

"I don't like this," said Hermione as they made their way up a flight of stairs. "There were more guards behind us then I've seen in all of the past year of coming here."

"Maybe something is going on?" offered Luna and together they sidestepped a lone guard coming down the stairs. The next fourteen floors were spent doing the same dodging and careful maneuvering as the number of guards increased the further they got to the top.

On the second to last level before the peak, Hermione felt the hair on the back of her head stand up and she ushered Luna over to a corner and they stood huddled together. Several tense seconds went by when the door at the far end leading to the final set of stairs, opened wide. Even though the cloak was silenced, Hermione still held a hand over Luna's mouth to stem her scream while she barely held onto her own.

Voldemort glided through the dark opening, his red eyes piercing and deadly.

"I grow tired of this, Gellert," the Dark Lord hissed and his second in command appeared behind him.

"Only a bit of fun, My Lord, and I know that isn't true. You wouldn't have accompanied me otherwise."

Voldemort snorted and a smirk tilted his lips upward, "Perhaps. It is a shame though; I was hoping he'd be more forthcoming to some of the secrets of the castle. Severus is doing well and I was hoping to reward him for his troubles."

"Speaking of, did you receive my missive regarding the Gauntlet?"

The two Dark Wizards drew close and Hermione could feel Luna shivering against her.

The Dark Lord chuckled deeply, "I did and I give you permission. One Granger is troubling enough to keep track of but now that there's two, I do believe it's time to whittle away the last of Potter's supporters."

The two wizards passed through the door and it shut softly behind them.

"To see her work through our laws so fluently also concerns me. We do not need a" and the voices grew distant enough to no longer be discernible. Hermione and Luna stood frozen in place, not daring to move. After what seemed like hours, Luna let out a breath that sounded like a scream.

"Merlin, no one's seen him in months!"

Hermione shook herself of the remaining fear and guided Luna forward, "Come on. We need to make sure he's alright."

The two girls hastily made their way up the last set of stairs to the the top of the tower. Hermione went first, silently edging the final door open while Luna mumbled spells behind her to ensure no one else was inside. After confirming they were alright, Luna dashed back down the stairs and laid layer upon layer of warning charms that would give them ample time to prepare for any unwanted guests.

Hermione meanwhile looked on sadly at the old man who lie on the floor. His shivering and soft moans made it obvious he was suffering from recent Cruciatus exposure.

Albus Dumbledore had seen far better days. Captured shortly after the Ministry fell, most believed him to be dead. After conquering her dark depression of Harry's supposed destruction, Hermione started to wonder. Rumor had spread that Voldemort acquired Grindelwald as a second in command. Armed with nothing more than a hunch and a supreme amount of courage (or stupidity), Hermione travelled to the lonely tower on her own accord and discovered Albus inside.

She wanted to free him immediately, but Albus smiled sadly with a slow shake of his head.

'Hermione, my dear, you do this old man proud. However, these spells were cast originally by my own hand. Gellert was going to kill me but changed his mind at the last second, thinking it would be a far greater irony to do to me what I did to him.'

Hermione also found out that Gellert visited from time to time, gloating on the fall of Magical Britain but his favorite topic was almost always that of Harry Potter's death. She shook herself free from Albus' retelling of Gellert's stories and raised her wand. While Luna was busy guarding their backs, she carefully prodded the spells of the cell.

Although Albus had said that the work was originally his, Hermione couldn't help but get a strange vibe from them. It was one of the reasons she took up warding with such a fervor. Usually, containment arrays were sustained by the ambient magic of their location and if they were especially complex, a notification index would alert the castor of their breeching. This set of runes however, had no such alert. Stranger still the power grid for the system, while partly pulling from the magics of the tower, was also being fed by another significant source. Gellert had gone to great pains to hide whatever this object was because there were numerous proxy arrays to divert a ward breaker's attention.

Hermione sighed to herself as the door opened and closed behind her, signaling Luna had finished.

"Still can't figure it out?"

She smiled ruefully back at her, "Sadly, no. This would take a Master Warder's touch and I simply do not have the experience."

"Do not doubt yourself, Hermione," came the raspy voice of Albus. "You have come very far in a short amount of time. You as well, Luna. For all the darkness in our world, you two give me the greatest hope."

Both girls smiled at him, as he managed to stand. Let no wizard say, Albus Dumbledore was any less powerful with age. A lesser man would have been on the ground for days.

"You came at a most inopportune time, young Grangers," he said while returning their smiles, if only briefly. "For all their quirks, Tom and Gellert share one in common; they are far too prideful when they think they hold all the cards. I am kept well up to date of Magical Britain's predicaments and I must say, I am quite troubled by recent events." Albus sighed, "Tom, as you know, has been off the radar for some time now. So it would seem, he's planning on striking at the ICW which would shake up control over Europe, giving him a chance to take it. From there, he'd move West and once the United States is conquered, there would be few collective powers left to pose any threat to him."

"What about China, or Australia?" questioned Luna. "They have massive communities, similar to our own."

"Alas, it would seem fear has gotten the best of them. They have already pledged their allegiance to Tom."

The girls were pensive for a time, wondering how Voldemort might be stopped but the feeling of dread was broken by Albus' soft chuckles.

"Surely you didn't come here to listen to an old man speak of doom and gloom." His gaze grew thoughtful, "Why have you risked yourselves in this manner? One of you I can understand, but two?"

They shared a glance before Luna reached into the backpack Hermione was carrying and withdrew a small pencil. Hermione meanwhile conjured a small cot and Luna placed the pencil on it.

Albus was genuinely concerned for their presence, but for the time being, he was more intrigued by their actions. War had done terrible things to these two and to see their movements so well synchronized made him wonder if perhaps a bond was forming on top of Hermione's efforts to save the younger blonde. All of his random thoughts screeched to a halt however as the pencil suddenly rippled, grew and became a young man.

"Morgana!" he cursed. "Why?"

"Luna confirmed that he's been Obliviated, Albus. Multiple times in fact."

He paused, "That leaves a very small number of possible castors."

"And we think he came to us shortly after another attack except this time, he was mumbling about Harry."

Albus' mouth actually opened in stunned silence. So focused were the occupants of the room, no one noticed the magic in the cell fluctuate and weaken.

"I see," said Albus. "So that explains why you are here. What did Severus have to say?"

"Little; He did not dive into Draco's mind due to his position." answered Luna, as Albus nodded along in understanding. "He did however narrow the possibilities of who attacked him. Draco went home to deal with something and went through the Headmasters office to do so. For what and why, we do not know."

Albus took a deep breath, "This changes everything. You will be labeled as traitors as I'm sure you know and the Coetu will send their greatest agents to deal with you."

Hermione took a step forward, "If Harry is truly alive, then everything that's happened can be undone. I'll gladly take that risk, if only for Harry's sake." Luna stepped forward too, silently repeating the same declaration.

For the first time in a long while, Albus felt a sense of purpose returning. A grin took to him and he waved his hand in Draco's direction, silently Enervating the young man. Merlin allow it, if Harry was still alive, then everything truly did change.

Draco sputtered as he came to, "What did you find, Luna? Wha... Where am I?"

"The highest dungeon of the tower that is known as Nurmengard, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco turned towards Albus and regarded him for several moments. The young heir did not show his surprise at being out of Hogwarts or for Albus' presence. "I know I should be stunned that you are still alive. We've been told you were executed."

"But you are not surprised," said the old wizard, "because there are thoughts and emotions that are not your own, living inside."

"Can you tell me why?"

"Only if you permit me."

Draco felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders.

"We don't know what's going on, but regardless Draco, we will help you if we can."

Luna's words struck him and he felt an immeasurable gratitude for the two witches. That he felt this, Draco suddenly turned angry.

'Why... why, why, why!?' he raged. These people were the enemy; the aggressors towards his mother and father, their Lord. Why did he care for them? Why did he trust them so thoroughly? They were the exact opposite of who and what he stood for!

Why, how did he come to love them?

Draco looked back at Albus, knowing full well why he was brought here. There was only one Mage that the young heir trusted at this point and even if those thoughts and feelings weren't his own, there was one thing Draco would openly admit about them.

They had yet to steer him wrong.

"Dive deep, Albus," Draco hissed. "I want to know everything."

A/N:

Yup. Cliffy. :D

I will also say this; seems like the story is heading in the direction of a H/H/L relationship. You're welcome to voice your thoughts on the matter.