Chapter Twenty Eight – Cometh the day, cometh the war

The sun broke through brightly through the partially closed curtains as Harry woke in the arms of his beloved Hermione. They had stayed up late into the night congratulating Remus and Tonks on the birth of Teddy with the aid of some bottle of champagne that Dobby had found in the Cottage's wine cellars. Tonks was tired and sore but in high spirits as she held her new son close to her. Everyone was happy for the pair and even more so after Poppy had declared the infant free from any werewolf traits; at least as far as she could tell. Teddy however still had kept changing his eye colour to whatever the colour was of the person holding him at the time.

Harry awoke with an odd sense of anticipation tinged with fear. For some reason today was going to be important, that much he could tell. He lay in bed for a little while, watching his wife sleep. He loved looking at her so much and very gently his kissed along her jaw-line. This action caused her eyes to flutter open and she smiled at the man kissing her.

"Morning Harry, sleep well?" she asked with a grin. Despite the potions she was on, they had practised making their own little Teddy well into the night.

"Yes my beloved, I did. We had better get up, we have a busy day ahead of us; I have an odd feeling about today Mione. Something is going to happen." He stated

Hermione laughed at him, "Okay Professor Trelawney!" she teased.

"Why you!" he grinned back at her and began to tickle her mercilessly

Soon however the pair were dressed and making their way to the kitchen where they were met by Emma and Molly. The pair had become very close since the death of Dan and Molly seemed to be glad of the female company having been in a family of nearly all males for such a long time. Luna was also sat at the table, and empty glass in her hand and a expectant look on her face as she saw the pair enter

"Morning you two, lovely day for a change." Molly called out as she poured them both a coffee.

"Morning Molly, morning Mum; how are you doing?" Hermione asked as she magically filled the little Vampires glass with some of her blood. Luna grinned an eagerly slurped some of her breakfast, smacking her lips as she did.

"Well love, the baby seemed excited to 'see' Teddy arrive last night and has been doing gymnastics ever since, feel." She said as she took her daughters hand and gently placed it on her swelling belly, whilst looking slightly green as she watched Luna and her Breakfast. Hermione's eyes grew wide and tears suddenly appeared in her eyes as she felt her unborn brother kick his mother's belly.

"Wow, that's just amazing. Does it hurt mum?" she asked.

"No, in fact it feels quite nice, like a reminder that despite everything there is still hope and life. I know your father would have been happy to feel it; he was when you were in there. He used to lie with his head on my belly and talk to you for hours. It was so cute and it made me happy; he would talk about anything from the football scores to his hopes for your future. He was a good man and I will never find another like him, but I am able to remember the good times and they mean more to me than the bad. I know he is still with us somehow and looking after us." She said with a sad smile.

"I love you mum!" Hermione said as she hugged her mother.

"And I love you too, both of you!" Emma replied a she brought Harry into a hug with her.

"Now what are your plans for the day?" she asked.

"Well, we are off back to the school to see if we can find the sword, we are just waiting on Bill and Fleur to get ready." Harry said as he helped himself to a slice of toast. As he was speaking the red-haired curse breaker and the beautiful Veela arrived dressed for action. They were both wearing dragon skin tunics and dark coloured trousers and boots. They both had their hair tied back into neat ponytails.

"You two ready?"Bill asked.

"Don't you want breakfast?" Harry replied.

"Had it, I hope you don't mind but we had Dobby bring it up to us earlier. It seems that the youngest Weasley wanted food early." Bill told them with a nod to Fleur's still flat belly.

"Well in that case let's go." Hermione said as she finished of the coffee and the slice of toast she was eating.

"Ow are we to get there?" Fleur asked.

"That's easy Fleur, we will take you."

"Ow, you cannot apparate to 'Ogwarts, Everyone knows that." She said with a confused look.

"Who said anything about apperation?" Harry replied with a cheeky grin as he took the blonde Veelas small hand in his and faded away.

"Whoa! What the hell? Where did they go?" Bill asked in concern as he looked around the room. Hermione giggled at the worried curse-breaker.

"Don't worry Bill, come on I'll take you." She told him as she took his hand and Luna's with her free hand. With a nod to her mother and Molly the three faded away.

Emma looked at the spot in amazement where the two teens had vanished from.

"Is that normal Molly?" she asked her friend.

"Not even close Em, not even close." The red-haired matriarch replied with an astonished grin.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Bill glanced around in amazement as the walls of Hogwarts silently appeared in front of his eyes. He stumbled slightly as Hermione let go of his hand as he looked around. He immediately saw Harry grinning at him and Fleur looking just as shocked as he felt.

"Wow! That was amazing. I didn't feel a thing. Even Dumbledore couldn't do that!" he muttered as he walked over to Fleur to check of she was okay. Happy that she was unharmed he turned around to face the young man.

"Ok Potter, explain how you can do something no other wizard can do and apparate us to Hogwarts?" he demanded.

"Bill, we cannot tell you everything but suffice to say we are both a little more powerful than most and how we got here was nothing to do with apperation. We do not know what it is called but it was developed by Merlin and we are the only people we know of that can do it."

"M-M-Merlin, what? How err?" Bill said stupidly, causing Fleur to giggle slightly.

Harry sighed; Bill seemed to have missed most of their explanations. "Well you know that Merlin was our grandsire?"

Bill nodded remembering the conversation a few days ago.

"Well, we got more than just his staff and good looks, we also got a lot of extra power and knowledge, part of that is how we travel." Harry explained.

"Oh, ok, anything else I should know?"

"Nah don't think so." Harry said as he strode of towards the main doors, looking over his shoulder he added, "Well apart from the fact that Mione and I are immortal!" he grinned.

Hermione laughed as she observed the now dumbstruck pair. Gently she reached over and shut Bill's open jaw with a slight 'clack' and took both his and Fleur's unresisting hands.

"Come on, I'll explain as we walk." She said as she pulled the two with her and followed her husband with Luna giggling as she followed.

"Wha...Immortal?...Merlin...Shit!" Bill stuttered incoherently as Fleur gaped at the receding figure of Harry.

Bill had barely recovered the power of speech by the time the quartet had made their way to the headmistress office.

"Ow are we going to get up? We don't know the password." Fleur asked. Harry grinned and winked at the stature guarding the entrance. Amazingly the statue winked back and glided out of the way.

"She's waiting for you Lord Hogwarts."

"Cheers Cecil!" Harry replied.

"Wha?" Bill uttered once more. "Lord Hogwarts?"

"Well it's quicker than saying Lord Harry James Hufflepuff-Griffindor-Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Emrys-Potter. With the best will in the world it's a bit of a mouthful." Hermione giggled.

"Come on you four!" Harry yelled from half way up the stairs. "We haven't got all day!"

Silently the remaining four joined Harry on the moving staircase and soon were all sat in front of the headmistress desk.

"Well Mr Weasley, I guess we will need someone else to cover your lessons today as you seem to be performing extra-curricular activities for us." Minerva said with a mock scowl.

"Sorry Minerva, but I seem to have been drafted by Lord Hogwarts here!" Bill replied glaring at the innocent looking Harry. "He seems to be a little loose with some of the facts however."

Harry smiled at the older man; he genuinely liked the scar faced man and enjoyed teasing him.

"Sorry Bill, but some facts are secret, others...well I forget sometimes who I've told and who I haven't. We really need your help however with this." He told the man.

"Well okay then, but when this is over we are having a chat. Who else are we waiting for?"

"Your sister and Neville as well as...Ahh her she is." He said as Cassie faded into the room.

"Bill and Fleur, may I present Cassiopeia or Cassie as she likes to be known. Cassie is the magical representation of Hogwarts and sort of my daughter.. well she likes to call me father anyway." Harry said as Cassie smiled and nodded to the new pair.

"Pleased to meet you again." She began only to be interrupted by Bill.

"Again?" she asked.

"Well I was aware when you were at school here and very much so when Miss Delacour...sorry Mrs Weasley was visiting. Fleur, I must apologise for some of the students here and the way in which they treated you. It was unkind and unjust and you did not deserve any of the names they called you."

"Thank you Miss Cassie, dat is very kind of you." Fleur replied.

"Lord Potter, I have to inform you that Snape arrived last night. Kingsley brought him near midnight as most students would have been asleep. He is in the dungeons as requested." Minerva told the young man.

"Thank you Headmistress. Cassie does 'Lotte know?" he asked the school.

"Yes father, I told her this morning. She is eager to see the slime-ball, as am I." Cassie told him with an odd gleam in her eye.

"Bill, do you mind waiting a little while, this won't take long." He asked the elder man. Bill nodded and sat in one of the chairs.

Harry left with Hermione and Luna with Cassie tagging along. They walked down towards the dungeons where they were met by a nervous looking Charlotte.

"You ready for this 'Lotte?" Harry asked.

"Mmhuh!" Charlotte nodded and with that they all walked down the steep stone stairs to the dungeons.

"He's in the cell at the end Harry." Cassie told him as they walked past the other cells that contained the remains of the punishment squad. Most were sat sullenly on their bunks but one - Pansy, stood as they walked past.

"Potter, you have to help me! I was under the Imperius all the time from Draco and then Millicent. Please you have to help me?" she pleaded as they walked past the cell opening. Harry stopped and looked at the frightened girl. He used his powerful occlumency powers to reveal the truth and found that the girl was speaking honestly. She had been used and abused ever since she had come to Hogwarts. First by her father and then Draco and his gang of thugs, and more recently by Nott and Bulstrode. She had been repeatedly raped and tortured as well as becoming pregnant by Goyle and been forced to have the baby aborted.

Harry paled as the extent of the girls suffering became known to him. If he was right the poor girl didn't even belong in Slytherin but was a Hufflepuff through and though. The Imperius curse that was cast on her just before she left her home for Hogwarts by her Death-Eater father had skewed the sorting hats ability and she ended up where her tormentors wanted and needed her to go.

"Oh you poor thing!" Hermione uttered as she read the thoughts flowing through Harry's mind. With a wave of her hand the bars vanished and she walked over and took the broken girl in her arms and held her as she wept the tears of the dammed.

"Don't worry Pansy, we will help you but first let's get you somewhere safe. Dobby!" Harry called; smiling at the diminutive elf arrived.

"Master Harry, how may Dobby help?" he asked wringing his hands in desire to please.

"Dobby, this is Pansy, she had been under an Imperius curse for a long time and has suffered much because of it. Can you take her to the Cottage and explain what has happened to her to Molly. Do NOT let anyone of the others at the house say anything bad to her because of her past actions as they were not really her actions. Ask Molly to feed her and look after her until this is over. Pansy, go with Dobby and you will be looked after; don't worry he nor anyone at my house will hurt you." He told the frightened girl.

With a nod, the grieving girl took the hand of the small elf in a tentative grip and tried to smile at Harry in thanks. However the expression came out as more of a grimace due to her torment. Harry just nodded at her as Dobby took her away to her salvation.

"Shit, this war stinks!" Hermione said.

"Yes, another reason to bring it to an end."

"Father, I'm sorry...I never knew!" Cassie whispered. "I failed her and I failed you."

"Nonsense Cassie, everyone makes mistakes and you were still coming to terms with your 'humanity'. The Imperius is absolute, and nothing could have allowed you to know the truth." He told her giving her a brief hug as he spoke. "Come on let's find Sniverlus."

They walked down the corridor past the remaining cells until they got to the one at the end. Sat with his head in his hands was the form of the ex-headmaster and the old potions master. The figure seemed lost in thought and did not raise his head as the small group got to his cell.

"Hello Snape!" Harry said. Upon hearing his voice, Snape's head whipped up and stared at the man in front of him in horror and fright.

"Potter! I should have known! How are you alive? I saw you fall; I saw you dead!" he snarled at his nemesis.

"Magic Snape, just magic. I have someone who want to meet you." He told the man in a quiet voice. He stood to one side and allowed Charlotte to walk forward. Snape looked at her in confusion for a second before recognition dawned on his face with a mounting horror. His eyes bulged in his face as he stood and began to back away from the young girl until he hit the back wall of the cell.

"NooooooOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried as this one young girl, one that he knew he had killed stood before him with accusation in her young eyes. Snape slid down the back wall of his cell to his knees, his eyes wide and mouth agape in horror.

"B-B-B-But your dead!" he whispered. It was the last thing he ever said. Slowly, section by section, piece by piece, his brain shut down. Within two minutes he was knelt there, eyes wide and unseeing, mouth open with a small amount of spittle falling from one side. Cassie walked through the bars and stood in front of the man. She waved her hand in front of his eyes and tried to rouse him but it was a futile gesture. Serverus Snape, the scourge of Hogwarts was catatonic, his mind snapped and unable to process the facts presented to him. However long he would live; it would be a mindless zombie.

"Good!" was all Charlotte said as she took one last look at the man and then turned and walked back out of the dungeon.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

They were back in the headmistress office discussing the recent events with Bill and Fleur. Charlotte had gone back to the Hufflepuff common room to be with her friends citing the need for something fun to take her mind of recent events.

As the small group was chatting the conversation turned once more to the task they had to perform. Harry was about to tell them his plan when he was interrupted by the arrival of Ginny and Neville complete with brooms, each carrying two apiece.

"Bill! Good to see you big brother, you remember my promised Neville?" Ginny said handing one of the brooms to her elder brother.

"Yes, good to see you Neville." Bill replied with a slightly fierce expression on his face as he shook the now scared young man's hand. "Why the brooms?"

"Well the place we are going to is in the middle of the Black Lake and we thought that this..." Harry told him as Neville silently handed to other broom to Fleur, blushing as he did so.

"No, no, no. This won't work. Harry how much do you know about Curse Breaking?" he asked.

"Not much Bill, why?" came the reply

"Well its hard work, can take a lot out of you, and can be dangerous to perform and totally and utterly impossible to do whilst flying around on a broom in the middle of a freezing lake!" he told the younger man.

"Ah!"

"Yes Ah. We will need a stable platform for me to work on and it needs to be fairly large. How big is the area we think this island is?"

Cassie replied to this. "About five hundred square feet. After you all left last night, I flew back over and measured it."

"Cassie, that could have been very dangerous you know." Hermione scolded.

"Sorry Mother, but I was fine. Nothing on the site of Hogwarts can hurt me; it would be like me hurting myself."

"Oh, I suppose, hadn't thought of it that way." Hermione told her.

"Anyway, we are going to need a boat?" Harry asked Bill who nodded back. "Ok, Cassie any ideas?"

"Well I don't have one, no one has ever asked to go sailing on the lake, and we just sorta ignore it." The school told him.

"Okay well I'll have to make one when we get to the shore. Headmistress is the pontoon still there that we used during the second task of the Triwizard cup?" he asked.

"Yes, I think so, Albus made it and his conjuring tended to be permanent." She told him.

"Ok, let's go then." He said as he led the small party through the school and out on to the short walk down to the lake. However as he got to the main entrance he was met by a small contingent of Goblins lead by Silverfang.

"My Lord, apologies but I have an urgent message for you. You must come to Gringotts as once."

"Silverfang, it's good to see you my friend. I'm a bit busy now, can this not wait?" he asked, slightly annoyed by the timing of things and this second interruption to his plans.

"Sorry my Lord, my grandfather has asked me to tell you that a lost Black sheep has returned to the fold and she has an urgent message for you."

Harry's eyes widened as her unravelled the riddle in his head. He immediately figured that a member of the Black family had returned to the light, but who? He immediately dismissed Bellatrix; she was far too gone to make that sort of return. Andromeda was already with them so that only left someone he didn't know about or ... Narcissa?

#You think this is about Narcissa don't you?# Hermione thought to him, obviously picking up his stray thoughts.

#Yeah, it could be important, but the timing is lousy.#

#Always is lover-boy, always is, what are we going to do?# she thought back.

#what we always do Mione.# He thought to her grinning at he did.

#Make it up as we go along?# she sighed.

"Yup!" he replied out loud alerting the others to the fact that they had been conversing silently. "Bill, can you and the others give us five minutes whilst we sort this out?" he asked the older man. Bill nodded aware that Ragnok would not contact anyone unless he thought the news important.

"We'll be back shortly, have some more breakfast...that's what I'd do." He told them as he and Hermione silently vanished leaving Silverfang and his escort looking around in confusion.

"Er right then, we'll be off I suppose...bye then." He stuttered and activated the special portkey he had been given. Even Professor McGonagall was smiling at the shocked goblin.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

Ragnok was sat at his desk with a cup of Goblin coffee next to him. Goblin coffee was an unusual drink in that the only similarity to the drink made from roasted coffee beans was the name 'coffee'. If anyone other than a goblin was to drink the concoction they would be in for a terrible surprise for it was made from the roasted remains of the lava bean. Lava beans only grew next to the crater of live volcano's and were hotter than the most powerful of muggle chillies. Ragnok rather liked it and was on his second cup of the morning when Harry and Hermione silently appeared in front of him like ghosts. Despite his years as a Goblin warrior and all the training he had received; he squealed like a new born goblin and nearly dropped his cup. This would have been bad as the drink would have dissolved his rather nice desk and possibly a large amount of the floor.

"D-D-Duke Pendragon...sorry Harry you startled me. I was assuming that my grandson would bring you, where is he by the way...oh here he is now!" he finished as a sheepish Silverfang let himself into the office followed by two annoyed looking guards with weapons drawn. They had heard the scream from the office and had been debating what the odd sounding noise had meant when Silverfang had come rushing up looking very embarrassed.

"Thank you guards but you may stand down; I was just surprised by the appearance of Duke Pendragon and his lovely wife here." Ragnok told them with as much dignity as he could muster.

Harry smiled as he saw the cup in the Goblins hand, "Ah Coffee lovely!" as he picked up the cup and slugged it back.

"Harry! NO!" Ragnok tried to warn him, but he was too late. Ragnok was about to send for a healer, sure that Harry would be screaming in pain in a few moments. However Harry just stood there and smacked his lips together and smiled.

"Lovely, a little too much sugar but very nice." He told the gobsmacked Goblin leader. "Now as much as I would like to chat, time is short, so I understand someone needs to speak to me?" he asked.

Ragnok sat a little straighter in his chair amazed that Harry had managed to drink the coffee and seemed to enjoy the beverage; not only that but he and Hermione had been able to breach his office without any sound whatsoever.

"Well yes Harry, Narcissa Malfoy came to see us last night. She insisted that she was now to be just called Cissy Noname as she rejected her Malfoy husband and believes she has no right to her maiden name. She has insisted that we contact you so she can speak to you."

"Okay, I'd guessed as much, where is she?" Harry replied.

"I shall have her brought here if you have no objection." Seeing none, he sent Silverfang to bring the witch to the room. When she arrived it was a shocked Harry and Hermione that greeted her. Gone was the arrogance and disdain in her gaze; what was left seemed a broken soul.

"My Lord Black." She said as she sank to her knees in front of Harry her head bowed. Harry raised his eyebrows at the title and looked at Ragnok.

"Technically she is correct; as Sirius was the last Lord Black and he left you everything in his will, you do inherit the title. We did not wish to burden you with another as you seemed so distressed by the others." Harry nodded and gulped. Soon his names would be so long that by the time anyone got to the end they would have forgotten what they wanted to say.

"Please sit Narcissa, I really don't like people kneeling in front of me." Harry told the woman, taking her hands and pulling her to her feet and allowing her to sit in a vacant chair. Narcissa sat but kept her head bowed.

"Please my lord, call me Cissy." She muttered.

"As you wish Cissy, please look at me and tell me what you want to tell me." Harry answered.

Cissy slowly looked up at Harry and both Harry and Hermione were shocked to see tears rolling down her face.

"I'm so sorry my Lord; I have wronged you in so many ways. I have no excuse except that when Lucius died, it felt like I had awoken from a nightmare. My mind was clear for the first time in years and I could see all that I had done. I don't know what curse was used but all though my marriage to that monster it felt like a dream, one that I could not wake up from. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I could not stop myself. Now that he is dead I am free. My other regret is that I could not save my son; I know he is as good as dead now, but in all honesty he was lost years ago. Lucius and that bastard Voldemort corrupted and killed him." She wept. All in the room could feel her pain and sorrow, and Hermione had tears welling in her eyes.

Cissy looked up suddenly, "My lord you must prepare; he is coming and soon, tonight maybe." She told him.

"How do you know this Cissy?" Harry asked.

"My Lord, despite my curse, there were times when I felt my mind more my own. During these moments I could act. Don't forget that the Manor was my home for many years and I have many faithful servants to help me. One of these was my old house elf Daisy. She was very small and was very good at concealing herself. She has remained at the manor and report back to me what is happening. The Dark Lord is worried about something you are doing and is planning on attacking Hogwarts. His forces are down in numbers but he still has many at his disposal. You must stop him or the world is lost."

Harry leaned back in his chair as he absorbed the news. This was both worrying and pleasing at the same time. The fact that Tom was worried implied that Harry was on the right track with locating the last Horcrux, but the threat to the school needed tackling. But first a lost soul needed some help.

"Narcissa Noname, I give you back that which was taken from you. I give you back your name. You are now Cissy Black, daughter of the house of Black. So mote it be!" he said as the magic swirled around the pair of them. Cissy's mouth dropped open; this was more than she could ever have hoped for. She had her name back and she now had the chance of dignity.

"My Lord, I cannot thank you enough, I-I-I don't deserve this..."

"Nonsense, Cissy and please call me Harry. Now if I could prevail upon Silverfang to take you to Potter Cottage. I believe there is a sister of yours along with a new addition to the family that would love to meet you." He told her. She gawped at him before checking with Hermione who nodded back at her. She tentatively hugged him and quickly kissed his cheek.

"Thank you Harry for giving me my life back. I will not let you or the family down again."

With a nod at Silverfang, the young Goblin took hold of the now happy witch and they both popped out of the room.

"Ragnok, thank you for the chance to speak to her. I need to go back to the school to alert them and to get our forces in place."

"Harry, before you go, I have mustered a legion of goblin Warriors to help in your struggle. Tell the Headmistress to expect them within the hour. If they could have somewhere to rest before the fight that would be appreciated.

"Thank you Lord Ragnok this is a grand gesture. For some reason I think by this time tomorrow this will all be over – one way or another." With that both he and Hermione faded out of the room.

"I think it will my young King, I think it will." He muttered to himself before summoning his Master-at-Arms.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

As soon as Harry and Hermione arrived back at the school, Harry summoned Cassie to him.

"Cassie, he's coming! Tonight possibly, maybe sooner. Take the wards to maximum and activate the castles defences. I need to talk to Minerva." He told her as the three ran down the corridor, "Where is she?" he asked.

"Office My Lord! Defences are now at full. All Gargoyle soldiers are activated and awaiting your command." Cassie said to him. She had morphed into the older image of herself, aware that the time for childish pursuits was long gone. This was serious, this was war.

Harry waved at Cecil, who opened quickly as he senses the urgency. Harry and Hermione flew up the stairs and burst into the office.

"Minerva, He's coming tonight. I have placed the castle on high alert and activated all defences. You need to get the younger years to safety and summon the higher years to fight. Call all in all of our people and be aware that Ragnok is sending a legion of Goblin Warriors. We need Hagrid to contact the Centaurs and ask them to help as well. Luna I need you to help get the higher years ready to fight, any that can't ask them to help look after the younger students, any that are untrustworthy banish 'em to the dungeons. " He ordered.

Professor McGonagall was aware that this was not Harry Potter the student talking to her but Lord Potter, owner of the school.

"Yes My Lord, anything else?" she asked.

"Yes, contact the people in Hogsmeade, those that can help and are willing are welcome. Those that cannot or won't should flee." He told her. "Bill we need to get to the lake and find that sword, it has almost been confirmed that we are on the right track and we do not have a lot of time."

With stern expressions everyone went to complete the tasks they had and soon Harry, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, Ginny and Neville were on their way to the lake. They were quickly joined by Cassie, now back in her child persona.

Soon they got to the small wooden pontoon that they had used to dive into for the second task a few years ago. Harry looked around for a second, his memories strong of that day and he caught Fleur's eye.

"I never thought I'd be back 'ere 'Arry. It brings back bad memories to me. My sister still talks about you, you know. She would love to meet you once more; you are something of an 'ero to 'er."

"That would be nice, maybe we can all get together, you know ask Viktor over and we can raise a glass to Cedric." He said. Fleur nodded and looked out over the lake with a wistful look on her face.

"What sort of boat will we need?" Harry asked Bill.

"Something simple like a barge will do, basically we just need a floating platform for me to work on."

"Like this?" Harry asked as he looked to the water. Suddenly a large flat bottomed barge appeared with a small wheel house at one end and raised sides that could protect the occupants from waves.

"Wow, perfect. How are we going to power it, I'm guessing no one knows how to sail and I don't have an outboard engine on me?" Bill muttered.

"Yeah I thought of that." Harry said and suddenly there were three ropes attached to the bow of the craft complete with odd looking harnesses on the other ends. "We attach these to myself, Gin and Nev and we can use our brooms to tow you out to the location."

"Perfect, what about Hermione? Is she not to help tow?" he asked looking at the brunette witch.

"Well 'Mione despite been brave and fearless is a tad scared of heights so will keep you and Fleur company of the barge. Cassie will fly with us and tell us when we get to the location." He said. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him but still looked pleased not to be flying once more.

Bill, Fleur and Hermione climbed onboard the barge whilst the others climbed into the harnesses. Once secure they mounted their broom and hovered over the barge with Cassie floating next to them.

"Remember this is not a race, we need to fly slowly and in a strict formation so that the barge has a smooth passage. Any problems just holler and we can stop. Ok?" he told the three on them, Harry was in the centre position with Neville to his right and Ginny to his left. They all nodded and slowly they flew away taking the slack as they did so. Once they were in position, Bill untied the rope that was holding the barge to the pontoon and moved to the wheel house to help steer the barge. The three on brooms slowly took the strain and the barge began to slowly move off, gaining momentum as it did. A few minutes later they were moving at about five miles an hour and Bill signalled that this was just the right speed. Too much more and they ran the risk of the barge becoming unstable. It was cold twenty minute later when Cassie signalled for them to stop. Bill moved away from the wheel house and dropped the large iron anchor that was at the stern on the barge. The three fliers descended to the barge and removed the harnesses.

"Ok, now what?" Neville asked. The barge was moving slightly in the swell of the lake and Neville was quickly feeling a little sick. Noticing this, Harry once more made a slight gesture and the motion stopped; the barge stock still and the only sound was the water slapping against the high sides of the vessel.

"Thanks mate!" Neville told him.

"No problem Nev, beginning to feel a bit queasy myself there. Bill anything?" he asked the red-head.

"Give me a second will you, Merlin you are impatient!" Bill chided but with a grin.

He stood at the side of the boat and waved his wand in a very precise pattern whilst chanting in an unknown language. He began to sweat and sway as he stood, but never dropped a word nor did he mess up a gesture with his wand. After about three minutes he let out an explosive amount of air and dropped to his knees. Fleur rushed to his side and held his head as the elder man panted slightly before he turned and pulled himself back to his feet.

"Merlin, that's tough but yes it there, the whole island is hidden by a very obscure charm that I have read about but never seen. It takes a really powerful magic user to cast it and I'm not sure if I'm powerful enough to break it."

They all looked at him surprised. "What sort of charm is it Bill?" Harry asked.

Bill sighed and tried to collect his thoughts. "Well it's complicated and a bit obscure, but you know how you can hide things with concealment charms or by invisibility cloaks and the like? Well this is a bit different. There are other ways to hide something, one is in time. You can shift an object back in time slightly so when you are in normal 'time' you cannot get to it, but that would still make the object visible. This is quite different; it seems that the island has been shifted in space and time; into another dimension, one that is parallel to ours but distinct. It's very hard to do and would make the object almost impossible to detect."

"Shit!" Hermione muttered. "I know about this charm from my Ravenclaw knowledge. Where the hell did Tom read about that one?"

"You know of the charm?" Bill asked in a surprised voice.

"Yeah, I have all the knowledge of Ravenclaw in here." She said as she tapped the side of her head. "However, this information on how to break the charm was not there."

"Well I know how to break it, but I'm not powerful enough to do so." Bill told her.

"Well then I suggest a merging of talents. I'll provide the power and you will provide the knowledge." Hermione said with a grin.

Bill grinned and the pair of them began a conversation that the rest had no chance of following.

"Harry are you sure that you want Hermione to do this? Is she powerful enough?" Fleur asked.

Harry laughed and smiled at the young French Veela. "Don't worry about 'Mione. We are equally as powerful as each other, but she is still the brains of the outfit. She can do anything if she puts her mind to it." He told her with a smile that slightly faltered when Bill proceeded to remove his shirt and stood at the side of the barge bare-chested.

"Don't worry Harry, I don't have designs on your wife lovely as she is, I will need her to place her hands on my back as I perform the ritual in order to provide me with the power I need. Skin to skin contact works best and I will need both my hands free in order to do this. One other thing, I have detected a tamper charm in the concealment field; this will alert Tom as soon as we do this. You had better let the school know to be ready for any counter-strike. Oh and any chance of a warming charm, its sodding freezing stood here half naked?" he finished with a plaintive look. Harry smiled and waved his hand over the half naked curse breaker who smiled in thanks.

"Cassie, can you tell Minerva what Bill has just said and warn them that Tom may make an early appearance once we do this." He asked the young girl.

"Done!" she said.

"How, you are still here?" Neville asked in confusion.

"Well, I am also with the headmistress, don't forget I'm not really real. I am the school and I can appear anywhere, any number of times."

Neville's mouth formed an 'O' of understanding as he grinned at the young girl. "Cool!" he said, causing Cassie to giggle at him.

"Right, are we ready?" Bill asked, impatient to get this done.

Everyone nodded and he took up his position at the side of the boat. Hermione gently placed her hands on the shoulder blades of the older man, causing him to flinch.

"Sorry, cold hands!" Hermione grinned in a tight smile.

Bill just nodded and turned to face the lake once more. He shut his eyes and concentrated. Slowly he raised his wand and began to speak in a low and controlled voice. The words were like smoke in the air, no one could manage to understand them or to even remember the words once spoken. His wand waved in intricate patterns leaving yellow and golden swirls in the air as it moved. Hermione's hands began to glow as the power coursed out of her and she began to sweat despite the cold wind. After a few minutes Bill began to speed up his speech and movements, the sweat dripping of his brow as he now yelled the words of the spell. A faint humming could be heard in the air and without warning; there it was! A small wooded island appeared directly to the side of the boat. An inhuman scream could be heard as the island appeared that faded into the wind. Stood on the shoreline of the island was a figure. The figure raised its head and slowly pulled back her hood revealing a startlingly beautiful face with dark, almost black hair.

"Welcome my King, my son. Welcome to your destiny." Nimue said in a musical voice.

I.Y.I. .

Deep in the dank pits of Malfoy manor Voldemort screamed and rolled around in pain as he felt his last hiding place become exposed. The backlash from the broken spell was agony.

"Bella! Prepare the troops, we go to Hogwarts now!" he groaned in pain.

"But my Lord, we are not fully prepared." She tried to tell her lord and master.

"CRUCIO!" he yelled at her as the sickly yellow spell hit his most trusted lieutenant. He released her after a few seconds.

"I don't FUCKING care, we march now! We are going to destroy Potter, all he holds dear and that SODDING school once and for all!" he replied.

I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.

"Harry, he knows! He's coming!" Cassie said as she gazed at the impossible woman in front of them. "It begins!" she whispered.