THE MINISTRY HAG.

Harry was awake first. Hermione was on the couch, just like she always was; Ron was on the floor beside her and their hands were almost touching, almost like they had fallen asleep holding hands. He then glanced to his sister, who was sleeping on the floor to the right of Harry's best friend. To the right of Darcy, where Harry had slept the previous nights, was Lupin.

Although they weren't touching, they slept awfully close together and faced each other. Harry felt a lurch in his stomach. Was he doing the right thing in separating them? Lupin was a married man and he was going to be a father soon and Harry couldn't just steal Lupin away from his family. And he promised Dumbledore he wouldn't tell anyone besides Darcy, Ron, and Hermione about the Horcruxes.

But was he thinking about Darcy at all? He had to admit, she had sacrificed a lot for him and he was thankful for such a wonderful sister. He was first to her – he came before herself and he admired that about her. She deserved to be happy. She had never smiled as much as she did with Lupin and by telling him that he couldn't accompany them, it was like Harry was tearing Darcy away from her main source of happiness.

Darcy stirred and shifted slightly. Her hand touched Lupin's and he, feeling something brush against his skin, stirred as well, but neither of them moved away.

There was no doubt in Harry's mind that Lupin loved Darcy and wanted to be with her, but even Harry had to admit that there were so many things Tonks could give him that Darcy couldn't. Security – with Darcy on the run and hunting Horcruxes, Lupin would constantly have to worry about if she was dead or alive. Tonks was also giving him a child and even though Harry didn't know Lupin as well as his sister did, he knew Lupin would never walk away from his own kid.

Harry inwardly cursed and scolded himself for secretly wishing it was Darcy who was married to him and providing him a child. He felt guilty. He felt guilty for stealing away his sister. Harry just wanted a family. He had his sister, but he was jealous of Ron's family. He wanted a big family who he could love and who would love him in return. Although, Ron didn't have a special bond with any of his siblings like Harry had with Darcy and Hermione was an only child.

He was no longer upset about Darcy's attack on him the night before. Harry realized that he had been wrong, accusing Lupin of simply using Darcy as a reminder of his past. It was obvious he loved her; it was written all over his face.

Harry closed his eyes; he felt lonely.

"Harry, just leave them alone. Let them sleep," Hermione said when the three of them had waken. They were eating breakfast – their usual moldy bread – and Darcy and Lupin were still fast asleep.

They had moved closer to each other. Darcy's head was resting against his shoulder and his hand completely covered her's. Ron nodded, agreeing with Hermione. "It's their way of saying goodbye to each other, mate. Let them sleep."

"You're trying to tell me that sleeping together is their way of saying goodbye?" Harry asked quietly, noticing that Lupin had laced his and Darcy's fingers together.

"You're going to miss Ginny, aren't you?" Hermione snapped and Harry felt sick to his stomach, nodding tensely. "They've been together much longer than you and Ginny! Think of what he's going through! He's been trying to protect her for so long and now he's losing her, not exactly sure what's going to happen to her."

Lupin, however, was quite awake, his eyes still shut. Darcy, still sound asleep, curled up against his body and Lupin breathed in deeply and sighed contently. When he heard the three teenagers go upstairs, he opened his eyes and looked down at Darcy sleeping.

He had never found Lily Potter attractive and he never had fallen in love with her while he knew her, and he wasn't about to deny that he found it extremely odd that her daughter and replica lay in his arms. There she was, the brilliant, kind, caring girl that he had come to love, cuddled next to his body. It was like she had gotten even more beautiful since the day they had met at the Burrow.

If she hadn't shown the intelligence she did and if she hadn't shown Lupin how to love himself, he would never have given her a second glance. But with her personality, she was beautiful and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her all over and hold her forever. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Who would have thought that Lily and James's daughter would fall in love with him? He held her close as if letting go meant certain death. Lupin thought Darcy to be the most amazing person and he wondered why he hadn't married her sooner. Why hadn't he asked her the first day they met? Harry's outburst the night before about having children with Darcy; it tugged at his heartstrings. It could have been her – it could have been their child.

Lupin was terrified at the thought. He was already insane about having a werewolf child with Tonks; he would never in his right mind put Darcy through the worry of having a child like that with him. But somehow, he knew that Darcy wouldn't care what the child was or looked like. That was the wonderful thing about her – she had love in her heart for everything and everyone, even if they didn't have it in them to love themselves.

He knew he was in love with her. For the first time in his life, it didn't bother him that he was a werewolf or married or old. She fully accepted it the night she had found out and he didn't think there was a person out there who could do that besides his best friends. What's more, she offered to take care of him. He was eternally grateful and wished he could do more for Darcy, but knew he couldn't. She didn't mind that he had no money, no home, and basically no identity because of his status. All that mattered to her was that he returned her unconditional love. And he did.

Remus Lupin had never been more in love with anyone else before and he needed to hold her one last time. He needed to memorize the shape of her body and how it felt against his, the feel of her hair, the softness of her skin. He needed to burn the exact green of her eyes into his brain; count the number of freckles on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. He needed to know one last time what it felt like to have her arms around him and his around her. He wanted her to cry so it could be him to tell her everything was all right, but most of all, he wanted her to tell him she'd miss him so he could promise he'd wait and be completely and absolutely honest with her, even if she didn't believe him.

Darcy stirred and her eyes fluttered open. Lupin began counting the freckles.

One, two, three, four…

She looked at him for a long time and even debated kissing him. His lips looked so soft, but her guilty conscience wouldn't like that. He had a family now.

Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly, smiling slightly. His eyes met her's.

"Counting your freckles."

Her face turned bright red and she buried her face in his chest.

"No, no," he chuckled, touching her chin and gently lifting her face so he could look right into her eyes. "I like them. I think they're cute." She looked away and licked her lips, placing her head against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat. She slipped a hand underneath his shirt and placed her palm on his chest, directly over his heart. He shivered.

"I've been thinking," Darcy said. "A lot lately, actually. And I was just wondering… what if – what if we don't win?"

Lupin thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not going to lie and tell you I haven't thought about it before," he sighed. "But if he does win, then I'll still be here."

"How can I trust that you'll still be here even if we win?"

Lupin swallowed. "Because I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have. I'm done lying."

"Be safe," Lupin said, touching her cheeks and kissing both her cheeks. Darcy nodded sadly as Lupin grabbed his traveling cloak and wrapped it around himself. "All of you, be safe." He shook hands with Harry and Ron, hugged Hermione, and then walked up to Darcy one last time. He nodded and she met his eyes. They hugged for a few seconds longer than he hugged Hermione, and then he pulled away. "I believe in you four. Good luck."

He kissed Darcy's forehead tenderly and then went out the front door quietly, disappearing on the front step.

The four were lounging about in the living room. Ron was poking at the lit fire, Hermione was once again reading the book Dumbledore had left her, Harry was dozing on the ratty couch, and Darcy was seated at the out of tune piano, staring numbly at the black and white keys. Suddenly, a crack echoed from downstairs in the kitchen and Harry nearly rolled off the couch at the loud sound.

They raced down the stairs, Darcy in the lead, and found Kreacher standing on the table, struggling with Mundungus. As the short, balding man held up his wand, Hermione flicked her's. "Expelliarmus!" she cried. Mundungus's wand flew from his hand and she caught it in her left hand. The four held their wands up, pointing at his face.

"What have I done?" Mundungus screeched. "What are you playing at? Let me go!"

"Kreacher apologizes for the delay," Kreacher bowed and backed off the man, standing beside Harry and Darcy. "Mundungus knows how to avoid capture."

"You've done brilliantly, Kreacher," Darcy complimented him and he bowed lower to the ground.

"Well, we've got questions for you," Harry said coldly and stuck the tip of his wand into Mundungus's cheek. He looked a bit pale.

"Look, I panicked that night, alright?" Mundungus shouted. "No offense, but I never volunteered myself to die for you!"

"It's not about that!" Darcy retorted.

"Then why are you setting a bloody house elf on me?"

"Just shut up and listen!" Harry yelled. Everyone's heart was pounding with adrenaline. It had been a few days of absolutely nothing and the four were now so excited that they were going to get some kind of clue about something from Mundungus. "When you went through this house and took everything that you thought was valuable – don't deny that you did it – and when you opened up this cupboard, was there a locket there?"

"Why?" Mundungus asked eagerly. "Is it valuable?"

"You've still got it!" Hermione cried.

"No," Ron replied. "He's wondering whether he should have asked for more money for it."

"More?" Mundungus snorted. "No choice, did I? I gave it away!"

"Gave it away?" Darcy asked, clenching her free hand.

Mundungus rolled his eyes. "I was in Diagon Alley and this woman comes up and asks if I have a license for trading in magical artifacts. She was gonna take me in, but then she took a fancy to this locket, right? She said if I gave it to her, she'd let me off this time."

"Who was it?" urged Harry, getting more and more excited. Darcy felt something brush against her leg and she looked down. The ugly house elf held onto a copper cooking pan and was hiding behind her leg, ready to smack Mundungus atop the head.

"I don't know!" Mundungus answered rudely. "Some ministry hag! With a bow on her head! Looked a bit like a bloody toad!"

Darcy's wand fell to the floor and Kreacher lunged for it, holding it back up for her, staring at Mundungus as if he thought the bald man would steal it. Her eyes went wide and she looked around quickly at the three. They all looked just as shocked as Darcy.

Kreacher took this as his opportunity to hit Mundungus with the pan and Darcy reached out for the cloth wrapped around his small body. She grabbed it and pulled him back to her side. Mundungus let out a cry and held his head, moaning.

Darcy took her wand back from Kreacher, uttering a soft 'thank you' before breathing in. She held up her wand to Mundungus and it began to glow red. "Go," she snapped. "We don't need you anymore."

Hermione threw Mundungus his wand and without hesitation, he closed his eyes. Still holding his head, he Disapparated before their very eyes.

Harry had come back to Grimmauld Place with a stolen Daily Prophet the next day, September 1st. The three were oddly silent as they awaited Harry's return. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving that day at precisely 11 o'clock that day, as it always did. Darcy wondered how many people would be on the train; she wondered how many people would actually be returning to Hogwarts that year. There was no doubt in her mind that Luna, Ginny, and Neville were all sitting together, planning and plotting how they were going to overthrow the new Headmaster.

That day's Prophet had a new article about Snape's rise to Headmaster. Darcy's stomach churned and she felt the urge to be sick, but calmed herself by eating some of Kreacher's onion soup, which was the best she had ever had.

"The Muggle Studies professor resigned?" Hermione laughed nervously. "I doubt that. Snape probably shipped her off to Voldemort to be killed."

Everyone looked up at Hermione, whose face had gone ghost white. Ron moved closer to her and looked over her shoulder. "At least we know where to find Snape now," Harry sighed, leaning back in his chair. "He'll probably keep himself locked up in Dumbledore's study, trying to sort through all those valuable items –"

"Oh!" Hermione gasped and she jumped up from her seat. "I forgot something! I'll be right back!"

The three sat around the table silently. Darcy stared at the moving picture of Snape on the front of the newspaper and she grabbed it, staring down at the hook nosed man looking back at her. "You don't plan on killing him, do you?" Ron asked wearily and Darcy bit down on her bottom lip.

"I don't want to kill anyone that doesn't deserve to be killed," Darcy replied, handing the paper to Ron, who was across from her. "We have a mission and that's to destroy Voldemort, no one else."

Harry's hand shot up to his forehead, but he played it off by running his fingers through his jet black hair. Darcy eyed him suspiciously.

"But if a few innocent people get hurt…" Ron folded his hands on the table before him and licked his lips. "This is war, Darcy. You can't really be expecting everyone to be standing out of the way so we can beat You-Know-Who? There are going to be obstacles we'll have to cross and people we'll have to fight and if people get hurt – even killed – then we can't let that stop us. I'm not saying it has to be Snape, but still…"

Darcy breathed in deeply and heard Hermione rush back into the kitchen. She was holding a large portrait; there was no one – there was nothing in it – except for a green background. She stuffed it into her small bag and it fell to the bottom with a crash against the books.

"Er – what was that, exactly?" Darcy asked.

"Phineas Nigellus," Hermione replied, closing her bag again. "Snape might want to send him snooping in the house to see if anyone has been here… well, we can't have that happening. Now if Phineas were to come to this painting, all he'd see would be the inside of this bag!"

Ron smiled. "Brilliant."

Tensions were running high at the Weasley household. Charlie was on edge, constantly holding his wand in his hand. On the Weasleys' clock, the hand with Ron's smiling face on it held its place at 'MORTAL PERIL'. Mrs. Weasley avoided looking at it whenever she could and was always finding busy work for herself to do; she was always knitting, or cooking, or cleaning, or gardening, trying to act as if everything was okay.

Bill and Fleur had escaped and gone off by themselves to start their new life. Lupin was to be trusted as their secret-keeper. Lupin and Tonks stayed at the Burrow for a little while at the request of Mr. Weasley. He needed help keeping his poor wife sane; he wasn't exactly doing great, either. Mr. Weasley had lost weight and his face was pale as the moon. The whole household could have been zombies.

However, Lupin hardly did anything to cheer Mrs. Weasley up. He spent most of his days cooped up in he and Tonks's bedroom, sulking and tearing through each day's paper, trying to find some news about Darcy – or anyone else. No one pretended not to notice. Everyone talked about it while Lupin wasn't listening, but no one had the heart to say anything to Lupin.

Mrs. Weasley did.

One day, while Tonks went off to work at the Ministry and Mr. Weasley was gone at work, it was only Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, and Lupin in the house. Lupin was, yet again, locked in his bedroom, the day's newspaper already torn apart and thrown on the ground. Mrs. Weasley opened his bedroom door without knocking and saw that Lupin was sitting with his back to her, staring out the window that faced the path to the Lovegood home. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, not aware that Mrs. Weasley was watching him.

"Remus?" Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and crossed her arms.

Lupin didn't say anything.

"I can't let you – this can't happen. We all know it. I can't let you sob over her anymore," Mrs. Weasley said from his doorway. Lupin continued to look out the window, not wanting to turn around and meet her eyes. "It's unhealthy. I'm sure Darcy will be fine. James and Lily wouldn't want you to watch over like this – like a hawk."

Lupin had had it. He stood up and clenched his fists, not really thinking before speaking. Mrs. Weasley saw the wolfish features in his sickly face. She didn't back down. She stood where she was, completely motionless. "That's what you don't understand! And you never will!" Lupin said loudly, trying to restrain himself. "Darcy isn't just James and Lily's daughter! She isn't just Harry Potter's sister to me! She's – she's – she's…"

Mrs. Weasley raised her eyebrows as Lupin stopped himself. He couldn't say anymore – he was a married man with a child on the way! What was he even going to say about her? The fact that he loved her? She was the greatest gift he had ever gotten? A miracle that just happened to be the daughter of his best friend? The one person who had ever put him before themselves and she was gone. He didn't want Mrs. Weasley to think that Tonks wasn't the one for him because, knowing the red headed woman, she would blab to her husband, who would announce it at the worst time in the world.

"She's just Darcy. She'll always be and she always has been just Darcy to me."

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I know where you went a few days ago. Don't deny it. You went to see Darcy."

Lupin said nothing. He sat back down on the bed and hung his head. "I don't deny it. But it was a mistake! A stupid mistake! I shouldn't have gone back there!" He held his head in his hands. "I knew what was going to happen! I knew that my feelings for her would just – just – come back! And yet, I still went to her!" Mrs. Weasley didn't speak; she simply watched as Lupin stood up and began to pace back and forth, looking extremely disgruntled. "I love her! I love her and she loves me and she insists that we can't be together because – because – because only God knows why!"

Mrs. Weasley frowned and Lupin finally turned around and looked at her again. Tears swam in his eyes and he shook his head.

"I have to go. I have to leave. Dora will never love me because of this."

Lupin made to leave, but Mrs. Weasley blocked the doorway and he stopped, not wanting to hurt her by pushing past. "She won't know," Mrs. Weasley told him quietly. "No one will tell her. Besides, I do believe that everyone knows already. You've spent a few years with her."

"A few is not enough. I'll never be able to spend enough years with her," whispered Lupin, instantly regretting saying it. He looked away from Mrs. Weasley, who looked at him as if what he had just admitted didn't surprise her. "It's not about simply being with her; it's about protecting her from all the danger she's always and constantly in. She scares me, Molly, but sitting here, not knowing where she is or what's happening to her – that's more terrifying than anything."

Mrs. Weasley seemed stuck. She seemed half understanding, but half upset. Lupin wasn't completely sure. "You know that you can't go find her now," Mrs. Weasley said softly. "It's too late."

"It's not too late."

"Are you forgetting that you've got a family now?"

"I certainly haven't forgotten!" Lupin shouted, making Mrs. Weasley jump. "You spent most of the time telling Darcy how wrong I was for her and how we shouldn't be together and now you've got a change of heart! So suddenly!"

"I made a huge mistake in saying those things," Mrs. Weasley admitted with a tint of red spreading to her cheeks. "I thought that you two were together for completely the wrong reasons, but I was wrong!"

Lupin bit his lip and tried to hold his tongue. "It's probably your fault she left me! She probably listened to you about how I couldn't be trusted or something and that's why she left me. I'm sure of it!"

Lupin gently pushed past Mrs. Weasley and ran down the stairs, leaving her in the doorway of his bedroom. She heard the front door open and slam shut.

"I've been thinking," Darcy said as Harry walked into the kitchen. Ron and Hermione were already fast asleep in the living room, but the two Potters couldn't sleep. They were much too nervous and anxious about still being in hiding.

"Not your greatest strength," Harry teased and Darcy smiled faintly. "But continue."

"You're a riot," she looked him in the eye and he nodded, raising his eyebrows and taking the cup of water in front of Darcy, gulping it down as if he hadn't drank in months. "But Umbridge has the locket."

"Yes. And we have no way of getting it."

"Yes we do." Darcy licked her lips and folded her hands on the table in front of her. Harry was seated across from her and he put the mug down, looking interested. "But it's risky. Very risky. And it needs to be done quickly."

"Please don't tell me you're thinking of –"

"Breaking into the Ministry?"

"That's what I was afraid of," Harry said, shaking his head. "It's no use. That'll never work. We'll have to find a different way. Perhaps Mundungus can – or Dobby – or Kreacher –"

"If we plan it well," Darcy continued. "Then we'll be able to get the locket and get out of there. We can return here after. No one knows this place exists except for the Order and –"

"But when word gets out that we've broken into the Ministry, they're going to want to kill all of us even more," Harry argued. "And Snape knows this place exists. He could lead them right to us. It's possible he's already told them we're here."

"He wouldn't tell them," Darcy insisted, although she wasn't sure why she was so sure of herself. "Listen, Hermione's got some of that Polyjuice Potion left from Mad-Eye, right?" Harry nodded. "We've been watching the entrance for days now trying to catch just a glimpse of Umbridge. We know how to get in. We'll just grab some hairs from some Ministry workers and walk in together. We'll be led in Umbridge in no time."

"And how exactly would we get the locket?"

"I don't – I don't know, yet. We'll have to play that part by ear."

Harry sighed. "When do you expect to put this plan to the test?"

Darcy blinked a few times and shrugged. She chuckled nervously. "Tomorrow."