Thanks HG4eva! Luv ya!

"I can't thank you enough for doing this, Pansy," Draco said sincerely.

"Oh, shut it, Draco," Pansy replied moodily. "I don't even know why you're here."

"Because I need your help," he answered.

"No, Granger needs my help. I don't understand why you need to be here at all," she said, sticking her nose in the air. She stroked the brush through her long black hair one last time before twisting it all up into a clip at the back of her head.

Draco's shoulders slumped in exasperation. "Oh, don't be like that."

"Be what? Bitter?" she said derisively.

"Overdramatic," he corrected with a look of distaste.

"Overdramatic? Overdramatic?" she snapped incredulously, swinging around from her bedroom mirror. "You think that I'm blowing things out of proportion? Gods, Draco! You showed up one night with Potter and said nothing! My father confined me to the house and all I got from you was an owl that said that you were working with Potter and couldn't say anything else! Two bloody sentences! Now my whole family is ordered to stay here and I still know nothing! I figure we're in some kind of danger, but I have no idea what from, and you think I'm being overdramatic?"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't say anything! I can't say anything!" Draco shouted in return.

"I'm sure you could say more than you have," she argued. "Granger, for example."

"What about her?" Draco asked.

"Damn it, Draco! You won't even say anything about that?" She scowled with disdain, but he could see that she was hurt more than anything. She walked over to her desk and threw a magazine onto the bed for Draco to see. It was a copy of Witch Weekly and on the front cover was a picture of him and Hermione at the banquet. With all of the things that had happened in the past few days, he had completely forgotten about the banquet. He tried to read the headline but Pansy snatched it away. "Imagine my surprise seeing that? I had to force it out of Blaise that you are seeing her, that it wasn't just a onetime date like the others. How could you tell him and not me?"

"I just…" Draco was fishing around for an excuse, but Pansy wasn't done ranting.

"And Granger, Draco? How did that happen? Granger. That's the girl you've hated since the first time you set eyes on her," Pansy reminded him.

"I didn't know her then," he answered, feeling a bit guilty again.

"Then? You were whining to me just a month ago because you'd have to work with her concerning the International Magical Cooperation. I have no idea when you started working with her and Potter on this – this, whatever it is," she said, waving her hand dismissively while rolling her eyes.

"Things change."

"Not that quickly," she argued.

"They have, actually. She's not who I thought she was. Now that I know her…"

"Not who you thought she was? You mean she's not a swotty, annoying know-it-all?" Pansy smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Draco returned her smirk, "Not the annoying part."

"Not the know-it-all either, it seems, as she's coming here for education," she said with tittering laughter. Her mood wasn't as sour anymore, at least for the moment. "I just wish you would have told me. And I still wish you'd tell me something now. I'm scared Draco. What's happening?"

"I love you, Pansy," Draco said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're one of my dearest friends. I would tell you if I could. Just trust me… please?"

Pansy sighed and averted her eyes. It was easier said than done. She felt so alone and afraid and kept in the dark by everyone that cared about her. "When does she get here?" Pansy asked.

"Soon," Draco answered as he checked his watch. It was nearly four in the afternoon on Sunday. Hermione was probably waiting impatiently near the fireplace at Grimmauld Place. Draco knew that Pansy was likely to be in a mood and had asked for a little time to talk to her privately. "She'll be arriving by floo."

"We better get downstairs then," Pansy answered. "Wouldn't want your girl to catch you in my bedroom, would you?"

"She trusts me," Draco told her. It was a fact that warmed him. She trusted him and he would never give her reason to stop.

"Granger trusting Malfoy? What's happening to the world?" Pansy chuckled as she led the way downstairs.

"And Potter and Weasley. Crazy, isn't it?"

"Seriously. Could you ever have imagined it when we were at school?"

"Me? No. But you… I don't think it would have surprised me so much," he admitted.

Pansy looked both flattered and amused. "You would have hated me for it."

"More than you could imagine," Draco chuckled. "Come on." He tugged on her elbow playfully as they descended the stairs. They stood in front of the fireplace together and Pansy looked uncomfortable and a bit nervous. When Draco seemed to notice, she looked away proudly.

Announced by a delicate chime, Hermione stepped out of the floo and promptly brushed the soot from her robes. She looked up and found Pansy's eyes upon her own. The girl looked so different and still exactly the same as she had in school.

"Er, Pansy," Hermione nodded in greeting.

Pansy was rather surprised to be addressed by her first name, but extended the same cordial favor. "Hermione."

"I really want to thank you for seeing me today," Hermione continued.

"Sure. It's actually kind of nice to have a visitor," she said stiffly, looking sideways through narrowed eyes at Draco. Draco rolled his eyes again. "Well, as I know you're not here to answer any of my questions, I guess we should address yours. I brought some things out to the courtyard for us. Our house-elf will bring us tea in just a moment."

Pansy led the way across the entrance hall toward the courtyard and Hermione followed with Draco, looking at him in question. She didn't know what to make of Pansy's manner. She seemed an odd combination of lightly friendly and lightly unfriendly. Despite not knowing where she stood with her former classmate, Hermione was grateful that the girl was not putting on some act.

As they stepped into the courtyard, Hermione paused to admire the beautiful floral arrangements that lined the house. It seemed like the perfect time of day to meet there. The air was warm, but still comfortable and the sun was high enough to still shine brightly around them, but had descended enough that they could still find relief in the shade.

Pansy stopped at a table on the right side of the courtyard and Hermione took the seat opposite her, but not before taking a second to appraise and appreciate the large stack of books that Pansy had arranged on one corner of the table. Draco smiled. He wondered if he'd ever stop being amused at the way her eyes lit up when placed before a selection of books.

"So, Draco tells me that you're interested in Morgan le Fay," Pansy said, folding her hands on the table in front of her. "What is it you'd like to know?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for," Hermione admitted.

Pansy looked rather stunned. She had assumed Hermione would come with a detailed list of questions that would really challenge her.

"I-I just thought that you could just tell me what you know about her," Hermione said, feeling a little bit silly.

"That could have us here for ages," Pansy replied. Hermione found it a bit amusing the way she had said it. She didn't sound smug, only pensive. "Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere soon. I guess I'll just start with the basics and you can jump in when something sparks your interest."

Hermione nodded.

"Okay, it's believed that Morgana was most likely born between 486 and 493 AD to her parents Lady Igraine and Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Obviously she was a muggle-born and was the older half-sister of the famous muggle, Arthur Pendragon, more commonly referred to as King Arthur."

Hermione nodded again and listened with rapt attention. It was apparent, right from the start, that Pansy truly was quite knowledgeable.

"Now to truly understand her, you really need to understand the times. There was no International Statute of Secrecy. In fact, there was hardly a magical community at all, let alone a government for wizards. Muggles still believed in magic at that time, but they were starting to become quite wary of it. Talk started that magic was work of the devil or some such nonsense, so some wizards started to be persecuted for their works. More families than not began hiding their magical abilities from their neighbors.

"Morgana realized early that she had magical abilities, but it was fiercely looked down upon in those of upper society. She didn't want to suppress it and forget it as her mother instructed, so her mother kept her hidden away for the most part. She had no instruction. She didn't know a single verbal spell, but was still able to hone some of her magical skills. In her early teen years, Uther Pendragon killed her father and forced her mother into marriage. It was from that union that Arthur was born. It was soon discovered by her step-father, Uther, that she was a witch. Disgusted, he sent her away to be hidden in a convent. It was there that she began to learn about healing. Of all magical practices, potion work was the most accepted. Even some muggles practiced the art. Morgana found that she had quite a talent for it. It was then and there that Merlin discovered her and it was the first time he was ever mentioned in history."

"He wasn't mentioned until then?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"No. Merlin was a nobody before Morgana," Pansy answered with a smirk. "He was powerful, yes, but he had stood quietly in the shadows before then. As he wasn't mentioned until then, his age is still quite a mystery. It's estimated that he was likely between forty and sixty years older than Morgana. Having met her when she was about twenty, Merlin was sixty years old, at very least, when he entered the scene. He took her under him as an apprentice. It wasn't long until she was on equal footing and they worked many years developing new magic. During that time, Merlin also began tutoring Arthur in muggle things. Though Arthur feared his sister, he trusted Merlin and allowed Morgana back into the court at Merlin's request.

"After working together for over a decade, Morgana and Merlin stopped seeing eye to eye. While it seems to be common knowledge that Morgana took to the dark arts," Pansy said disdainfully, "it is quite debatable among scholars as there is absolutely no record of her using any dark magic. It is in the opinion of many scholars, and myself, that it was more likely to be merely a difference of opinion that caused their separation. It was Merlin's belief that wizards should use their magic to help muggles and better the world. Morgana, however, held much disdain for both muggles and wizards alike; muggles because of the way they had always looked down on her and wizards for cowardly hiding their abilities. She strived only to push herself to the limits of her magical ability. It was then that Morgana left Arthur's court and came to reside on the isle known as Avalon where her eldest sister held the crown. She was surprised to see that, though still feared, she was revered among the people. It was in Avalon that her most famous act was preformed and she gained the name Morgan le Fay. King Arthur was mortally wounded in the Battle of Mons Badonicus; not the Battle of Camlann, as it's written in some muggle stories. The battle of Camlann was the end of him." she said fiercely. Hermione suspected by her vehemence that Pansy had done some searching through muggle books on Arthurian Legends. "He was brought before Morgana mere inches from death and she brought him back to full health in only minutes."

"Only minutes?" Hermione asked in awe. "From a fatal wound?"

"Yes. Some say that she made a potion using dittany but it was also the first mention of the legendary Fay Stone," Pansy explained.

"The Fay Stone?"

"Yeah, it's arguably the most incredible piece of alchemy, save for the philosopher's stone. The Fay Stone, however, is considered a myth for no one knows its exact abilities. "

"What is known about it?" Hermione asked.

"Its first mention was at the healing of Arthur. She was quite renowned as a healer after that. Arthur pleaded for her to return to his court to receive the honor she deserved and to act as healer there. She accepted and was said to have provided potions that healed Arthur's entire army. There are a few personal accounts found in which those that assisted her in brewing tried to reconstruct her potions but failed each time. They said that it was because of a small stone she always dropped into the cauldron. There is even one account where one of the assistants tried to summon the stone from the cauldron, and when Morgana caught them, she killed the assistant on spot."

"Is there any recorded description of the stone?" Hermione asked curiously.

"That's the other reason it is still considered a myth. It is agreed that the stone was quite small, but half the accounts claim that it was like black onyx, while the other half suggests that it was sparkling translucent yellow," Pansy answered.

Draco's eyes met Hermione's and she saw the question in them. The polished cut stone in Draco's family ring was brownish yellow in color, thought to be a cognac diamond. She refused to jump to any conclusions and simply waited to hear what else Pansy had to tell them.

"Even after all I've learned of her, I can't fathom why Morgana would return to Arthur's court. Some say it was her pride, but I think that pride would have brought to her refuse him. In the end, I think that, like many, she was only looking for acceptance; she wanted those who looked down on her to see what she had become. That's all speculation, of course. Whatever the reason, she returned to Camelot and took the role of healer and King's advisor. She was revered in Camelot just as she was in Avalon, but not everyone welcomed her back. Merlin was also advisor to the king and while Arthur considered them both allies, they considered each other as adversaries, harshly disagreeing more often than not. If ever there was someone that truly hated her, it was Guinevere, Arthur's wife and queen. The queen disliked her for her magic to start, then even more for the way Arthur defended her, but it was… well… When Morgana returned to Camelot, she sort of made a hobby of bedding several of Arthur's knights. Guinevere was disgusted by it and tried to have her expelled from the court once again. Arthur thought he owed Morgana for the things she had done for him and decided to forgive her crimes, though it was never her intention to repent. Though the king and queen thought it was disgraceful, the knights continued to seek her company. They considered it an honor to kneel before her and kiss her ring, while she used her feminine ways to persuade them to stand behind her in discussions in the counsel. No, being reprimanded did nothing to stop Morgana. Quite the contrary, actually…"

"Wait," Hermione said, "You mentioned a ring…"

Pansy looked quite surprised when Hermione spoke, much like Professor Binns did on the few occasions that his spiels had been interrupted, only Pansy was speaking so passionately that Hermione hated to stop her. Pansy smiled when she realized how she had been going on. "Yes, the Ring of Morgana. It was said to be a great honor to lay a kiss upon it. As you know, it was custom when meeting a woman of standing, to lay a kiss upon her hand. Morgana, however, thought others so beneath her that she would not allow anyone to touch her. It was said that any man that kissed her ring was blessed."

"But this ring, did it have any real significance? You said that any whom kissed it were blessed. Did it have any magical properties?" Hermione inquired further.

"Well, it's debatable. The ring is mentioned in several places and each time it uses the same description 'blessed.' It's very possible that the ring might have had some magical property that 'blessed' people, but it's just as possible that it simply meant that they were blessed because they were in Morgana's favor," Pansy shrugged.

"The Fay Stone though… you said it was small. Is it at all possible that the stone came to be concealed in it?" Hermione pressed.

Hermione was rather confused by the large smirk that tugged at Pansy's mouth. "Oh, Izella would like you," she said with a chuckle.

"Sorry?" Hermione said, looking rather puzzled.

"Izella is a woman I know that also has quite an interest in Morgan le Fay. She quite firmly believes that the ring housed the Fay Stone. It's something I'd love to believe myself but there's just not enough to back it. The only actual piece of evidence to support it is artwork."

"What do you mean?" asked Draco.

"Well, I mentioned before, the Fay Stone is documented as black half the time, and yellow all other times. In artwork…" Pansy said, flipping quickly through one of her books, "Morgana's ring nearly always has a yellow stone." Pansy turned the book around and placed it on the table in front of them for Hermione and Draco to see while she hurried flipped through another book. Hermione squinted to see the duplicate of a very old painting in which a beautiful witch with long curly auburn hair was lifting a goblet over a large cauldron. On her left hand was a simple silver band with a yellow diamond in the center.

"It's on her left ring finger," Hermione noted aloud. "But she was never married, was she?"

"Close, because of her step-father, but no. It was definitely worn on that finger though. My friend… er, acquaintance… colleague, is the best description, I guess… My colleague, Paul, says that she wore it there because she was married to magic," she chuckled. "They say that vein goes straight to the heart. Obviously, he's another that believes it had magical properties, but he, like me, thinks Izella is trying too hard to fit pieces together in order to finish the puzzle, but there's just not enough evidence. Here," Pansy placed another book open on top of the first and pointed to the picture on the left page. "This is the reason she swears it must be the Fay Stone."

"The stone is black," Hermione answered.

"Yes," said Pansy. "There have been a total of 21 paintings found where Morgana is wearing her ring, a combination of both wizard and muggle pieces, and 19 of those depict the ring as yellow in color. Two, this and one other, both by the artist Ecgric Morahais, depict it as black. Of all paintings in which the ring is shown, it is painted only in the two colors as the Fay Stone. That is why Izella believes it is THE stone. I think that it's more likely that the ring was yellow and Ecgric Morahais painted black because he didn't know yellow was the other artists' choice or he picked black because of her supposed tie to the dark arts. Whatever the reason, one artist's black spot of paint isn't enough to convince me."

"Does anyone know what happened to the ring?" Draco asked.

"See, now this is the type of conversation I thought we'd be having from the start; questions with answers that are more debate than actual fact," Pansy smiled brightly. It was the first time Hermione ever remembered seeing Pansy truly smile. She was a rather pretty girl when she did. "There is only one trusted recording that mentions the ring and that is when Morgana, on her deathbed, gave the ring to her nephew, Mordred."

"Mordred?" Hermione asked. "But I thought that he was killed in the Battle of-"

"The Battle of Camlann? I knew it. I knew that you'd bring up that muggle version," Pansy said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Who is Mordred?" Draco asked, feeling quite left out.

"Mordred was Morgana's nephew. In muggle tales, it's said that at the Battle of Camlann, Arthur kills Mordred and Mordred fatally wounds Arthur. This is when muggles say that Arthur was healed by Morgana, but while Arthur was taken to Avalon, Morgana stayed on the battlefield and healed Mordred. Arthur died before the next morn and Mordred and Morgana returned to Avalon together. Eventually, Morgana, once again known as Morgan le Fay, became ruler when Morgause's son Gaheris killed her. It was on the Isle Avalon that Morgan le Fay and her nephew, Mordred, both lived out their days. And, as I said, on her deathbed, she gave the ring to Mordred."

"You said that there was debate though," Hermione reminded her. "That all sounds like fact to me."

"It's fact that it went to Mordred, but it's mystery and speculation what happened to it after that," Pansy explained. "There's Paul, whom believes that it was likely buried with Mordred as he took no wife and had no heirs. Instead of taking a relaxing holiday like sane people, Paul spends his free time searching for Mordred's grave. Then there's Izella who is also in great search for it, but she spends her time looking through ancient family trees."

"What do you mean? She thinks it's been passed down through generations?" Draco asked.

"How could it?" asked Hermione.

"This is where the debate enters. The ring went to Mordred, but throughout history, there are witches that claimed to have owned the famed Ring of Morgana. Each of these, coincidentally, turn out to be accomplished healers. That's the other reason Izella believes it is the Fay Stone. Izella's now trying to trace the family lines from one claim to the next, attempting to create a pattern that might lead her to its final resting place."

"Again, how can it have been passed down from Morgana, neither she or Mordred had heirs?" Draco asked.

"I never said that she didn't have an heir," Pansy said indignantly, "only that Mordred didn't."

"Morgana had a child? But I thought that-"

Pansy snorted in amusement and cut Hermione off. "I said she never married, but she had more than enough lovers. It's incredible that she only had one child, if you ask me. She had a daughter, Morfydd, and though Morgana had numerous lovers, it's suspected that Morfydd was fathered by either Lancelot or Accolon, but that's neither here nor there. Morfydd's existence is hardly touched on."

"But, if Morgana had an heir, then why did she pass the ring onto Mordred?" asked Hermione.

"One can only speculate motive, but it seems that she simply favored Mordred," Pansy said with a shrug.

"What about the first person to claim to have the Ring of Morgana? Could her line possibly be traced back to Morfydd? I know the ring was given to Mordred, but he had no heirs. What if he passed the ring on to Morfydd or one of her children?" Hermione asked, her mind working furiously.

"Well, I that's actually a rather interesting thought, Mordred passing the ring to Morfydd's family," Pansy replied, pursing her lips in thought. "If that were the case then I suppose it would be quite possible for the first reported claim to real. There really aren't very good records of family lines in that time and not much is ever recorded about Morfydd, but the first claim was made in the eighth century by a woman with the name of Glaxon and there are records of Glaxons living on the Isle Avalon in the sixth century… If Morfydd married into that family, it would be quite plausible."

"What then of the later claims?" Hermione continued.

"Well, as I said, Izella is working on tying them together if she can. Even if the first claim is real, I'm quite skeptical about the rest. In the reports, and yes there were reports, - don't think for a moment that the claims were taken lightly – all the rings were much too modern. Rings in Morgana's time were very simple in design and made in the muggle way," Pansy explained.

"Yes, but what if it isn't the ring itself that's being passed down?" Hermione's question came out with intense feeling that she could not explain. Her suspicions about the ring were growing. Were she in Pansy's place, she'd be just as skeptical, but from her position, everything was adding up. "If Morgana's ring actually did house the Fay Stone, what if it's the stone and not the band that's being handed down through generations? The stone could be placed in just about any band."

Pansy paused in thought and spoke softly when she answered, still turning the possibilities around in her head. "You know, I'd never thought of that…" The tiniest smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She looked distant and pensive, but then the smile fell with disappointment. "It's not as though it would help rediscover it though. The last claim made was way back in the fourteenth century by some woman named… I forget her name. She had the surname Cordell. Even if she had the real thing, of which there can be no proof, it could be anywhere. It could be buried with someone or it could still be out there somewhere, still being passed through generations. If it's still out there, it's likely its significance isn't known or there would have certainly been more claims since the 1300's. And, as bloodlines cross frequently, just about anyone with wizard blood in their history could be the owner." Pansy sounded quite despondent, as though she had just received a priceless treasure and had it stripped away only a second later. It wasn't the treasure itself that she longed for, but the solution to the ancient mystery.

"You do know your bag is glowing, don't you?"

Hermione blinked at Pansy in confusion. She, herself, was still lost in thoughts on the ring so Pansy's comment took her off guard and she couldn't figure out what she was talking about.

"It's been glowing since you got here, and I don't mean to be rude, but it's a bit distracting," Pansy continued.

Hermione followed Pansy's eyes to the chair between them and the handbag that sat there. Hermione's own handbag having been destroyed in the fire, Narcissa lent one of hers, so that Hermione could keep the parchments that logged the monitoring spells, on her person at all times. It was Narcissa's clutch bag that sat on the empty chair and beams of light were streaming out of the loose fastenings at the top. Hermione's heart jumped into the throat. She snatched the bag from the chair and opened it wide. The light poured out and Hermione had to squint against it as she reached in. As soon as her fingers touched the folded stack of papers, the light vanished. The light was merely a spell she placed on each parchment to help alert her when there was new activity. She shuffled through the stack of five sheets while Draco waited with impatient anxiety. Hermione's brows were knit together in worry and she gasped when she found what she was looking for.

"It's them… It's my parents' house!" Hermione thrust the parchment into Draco's hands and his eyes scanned it quickly.

"We have to go," Draco said, shooting to his feet. Hermione and Pansy had risen with him.

"What's going on?" Pansy worried.

"C'mon, Hermione," Draco said, guiding her toward the door that led inside. "I'm sorry, Pansy. It's an emer-"

"Death eaters," Pansy stated with fright. Draco and Hermione both stopped in their tracks and looked back at Pansy. "I saw the names. Lestranges and Summers and something. They're death eaters, aren't they? Is that what's-?"

"Forget it, Pansy," Draco ordered. "I don't know what you think you saw, but forget it. Now, I'm sorry, but we have to go."

"Draco!" Pansy shouted after them. Draco tossed some powder into the fire and gestured for Hermione to go.

"I'm sorry, Pansy. More sorry than you can ever know…" Draco said. There was so much he wanted to tell her. He didn't want to leave her there to worry. He knew there had to be something he could say, but he had no time to think on it properly. They had to move. "I'm sorry," he repeated. With a softly spoken destination and a swirl of flames, Draco was gone and Pansy stood alone in the entrance hall of her family estate. Despite the heat of the day, the world suddenly felt cold and empty again.

"HARRY!" Hermione shouted through the house as she stepped out of the fireplace. She gasped when Mr. Weasley shot up from his seat at the table. Molly and Ginny turned around from the counter, frozen in alarm.

"Hermione! What happened?" Mr. Weasley asked in a panic. Hermione just stood there blinking in stunned silence. She wasn't sure why she was surprised to see them as she knew they were there. She was just so intent on finding Harry that she had temporarily forgotten anyone else. Harry was their leader, after all; no one dared make a move without him.

"Death eaters. They're at my parents'," said Hermione. She was somewhat subdued as her panicked frenzy had flown away in her shock. She stood in the kitchen feeling completely overwhelmed. She spun around when Draco arrived behind her. Her mind was so dizzy. "I need Harry. Kreacher, go get-"

"Hermione?" Harry shouted as he burst in the room, Ron immediately on his heels. She forgot that she had screamed for him when she entered. Apparently, he had heard her.

"Harry!" she said in relief.

"What happened?" Ron asked, both he and Harry getting protectively close to her.

"They're at my parents' house," she said, glancing at the folded papers that were still clutched in her hand.

"Now?" Harry asked in surprise. "How many? Nevermind. Kreacher and Pernie, gather everyone to the sitting room now."

Harry turned and started up the stairs immediately with the rest of the room following after him. The house thundered as several pairs of feet hurried to the sitting room. Harry looked as though he was about to ask a question, but was distracted as people flowed into the room.

"What's happened?" Narcissa asked, entering the room with Aurelian on her hip. The small boy held a picture book in his hands and stared uncertainly at the others.

"What's going on?" Fred shouted from the back as the rest of them funneled in.

"Ouch!" a cry came from beside him.

"Sorry, Katie," George said. It appeared that she was in the middle of being fitted for her shield cloak when the meeting was called.

"Death eaters are at the Grangers' house," Arthur answered his son.

"Right now?" Blaise asked, tilting to the side to see past Ginny. Ginny stepped further in to move out of his way.

"Yes," Harry answered. "When did they get there, Hermione?"

"About thirty minutes ago," Hermione said as she consulted the top two sheets of parchment in her hands. "They're inside right now. Th-They broke the wards in just twenty minutes."

"What?" Ron exclaimed in horrified astonishment. He wasn't the only one bothered by the news; everyone looked startled and worried. Hermione couldn't take her eyes off the papers. The idea had come to her after she visited the Lestrange house. She had cast two monitoring spells on her parents' home; one on the outside of the ward and one inside the house to alert them if they broke in. She had never expected them to break through so quickly.

"The thing I don't understand," Hermione said to Harry. "If they can break through wards that quickly, why my parents' house? Why not Malfoy Manor? We know they want in there."

"I don't know, but we might find out. Now, who's going?" Harry asked.

"We all are, Harry," Katie said, scanning the group. There was much nodding.

"I'll stay with Narcissa and Aurelian," Molly answered her husband's meaningful look. "Katie can take my cloak."

Katie nodded her appreciation.

"Hermione's is finished," George said, summoning a silk cloak from another room and tossing it to her.

"Blaise, if you're coming, you can take my spare," Harry told him.

"Yeah," he answered. Hermione looked around the room. Each face was made of stone. They were the grave masks of battle. They needed those masks to keep them steady and focused, but they still hurt to look at.

"Everyone summon their cloaks now," Harry said, tossing his wool cloak to Blaise. "Half of us know where we're going. Those who don't, find a partner that does. Each person will stick with their apparition partner at all times." Harry looked around to make sure everyone was listening and understood. He stopped on Hermione. "What's wrong?"

"They've left," Hermione answered, her brows scrunched as her eyes scanned the logs again and again.

"They're gone?" Ginny asked. "Already?"

"Good," Harry said firmly.

"Good?" Blaise asked incredulously. "How is that good?"

"Because we're not ready to fight them. I only wanted us to go there to scare them off. Whenever we are ready to face them, it will be planned," Harry answered. "All four of them have gone?"

"Yes, just five minutes ago," Hermione answered. "They are all four listed as passing through the inner charm and then through the outer charm not even a minute later. But that's not to-"

"But that's not to say they're not there," Harry finished for her, addressing the room. "If they dropped the anti-apparition charm then they could have already apparated right back into the house. We go with the belief that they are there and if they are, I want only shield charms and dodging, and you get out of there quickly. We only want them to see us and for them to know that we know they're there. If they're not there, we'll take the chance to assess the damage and try to figure out why they were there. You will not leave your partner's side for any reason. Understood?" Every head nodded and Harry led the way out of the room.

"Mummy! Daddy!" Aurelian cried out, reaching for them from Narcissa's arms as they made for the door.

"It's okay, Aurelian," Molly told him. "They'll be back very soon."

Hermione's insides twisted. She hated how Aurelian suffered in all of this. Would there ever come a day that the boy would no longer have the fear of people leaving? She couldn't meet his eye or she might crack.

Harry opened the front door to Grimmauld place and led them onto the grass where they could disapparate. "Groups. Ron and Blaise take the back door. Looking at the house, Arthur and George to the right, Fred and Ginny to the left. If it's clear where you are, you move in through the back. Hermione, Malfoy, Katie, and I will all take the front. If the perimeter is clear, we move in and investigate. Hermione, upstairs. Ron, kitchen. Arthur, dining room. Ginny, living room. Katie and I will take the basement. Understood?" At everyone's nod, Harry gave only one last order. "Wands at ready the entire time and you never leave your partner's side… Ready? …Now!"

Hermione squeezed Draco's hand and turned, an image of her childhood home firmly in her mind. She appeared on her parents' front lawn with her eyes still open and glanced at Katie and Harry, whom stood at her left. All their wands were pointed in front of them as they quickly assessed their surroundings. Hermione gasped when she saw that the front door had been blown off its hinges. Harry took one last look around.

"Let's go," Harry said, leading the way into the house.

Hermione steeled herself as she made her way through the door. It was as she had expected; it had been trashed. She saw the other groups enter through the back of the house, but didn't stop. She moved directly toward the stairs. Draco's presence at her shoulder was a comfort and gave her additional courage. She did not fear facing death eaters as much as she feared what else she might discover. Her hand just barely touched the handle of her old bedroom door when Ginny called out from below, "Hermione! Hermione, Harry, come here!" Though her shout sounded urgent, Hermione still felt a small wave of relief. For a split second, she feared the death eaters had returned, but it was not that kind of shout. Still, she feared what she might see. Draco rubbed her back gently and she descended the stairs with him again.

Though Ginny's call was for a specific two, everyone had gathered together in the sitting room. Hermione and Harry met up with their partners in the hall and entered the sitting room together. The sofa and chairs were upended and the television was face down on the floor. Hermione scanned the many people crowded together in the center of the room. They all seemed to be staring at the same place and she followed their line of sight to wall behind the sofa.

The large painting that once hung there was gone and was replaced with words that were seared into the wall. Hermione read aloud, "We want the boy."

"What boy? Creevey?" Blaise asked from the back of the group.

Ginny shook her head and pointed, "Look."

Hermione slowly stepped up to the sheet of white paper that was tacked to the wall below the message. It was a sheet that she had seen before. At first glance, it only looked like random scribbles of color, but once one took the time to study the patterns, it was easy to tell what was there: a woman with lots of brown hair, a man with yellow hair, and a small brown haired person in the middle. It was a picture Aurelian had drawn of her, Draco, and himself.

"Aurelian?" she asked. "I don't understand… W-why Aurelian?"

Harry stepped beside her and scowled at the smoldering letters. "I don't know... It doesn't make sense. She rarely does, I suppose, but why would she bother telling us? She knows we would never give anyone up."

Hermione nodded. She felt ill and was afraid that if she spoke she might be sick. Bellatrix was targeting her. They tortured her, burned her home, tore her parents' house apart, and were after Aurelian. Hermione had feared her from the start, but just then…

"Don't think on it, Hermione," said Fred. "We're all in this together. No one gets sacrificed."

"He's safe at Grimmauld Place," Ginny reminded her.

Hermione nodded again.

"Alright," said Harry, taking charge again. "Back to what you were doing. We're looking around. Don't repair anything and don't touch anything. If something feels off, talk to me. We leave in four minutes, regardless of where we are in our search. I'll send my patronus as a sign to apparate back to my place."

As everyone began to disperse, Harry turned to Hermione. "I think we should reinstate the wards. The double monitoring spells worked perfectly."

"I'll do it," she told him.

"Alright, just so long as Malfoy stays with you. And don't forget the muggle repelling spell."

"I know," Hermione answered. "We wouldn't like the neighbors taking notice of the house in this state."

"We could fix it now, if you want, but-"

"I know, Harry. If they come back and it's repaired, they're more likely to do worse," Hermione said with a sad smile. "This actually isn't too bad. We'll fix it up when this is all over."

"In seconds, Hermione," Katie assured her. Hermione's sad smile deepened with emotion.

"We only have three more minutes left," she reminded them. Draco took her hand in his and led her outside to escort her as she reset the property wards.

"He'll be safe," he told her when they were alone. "You know we won't let anything happen to him."

"I know," she answered. A fire in her eyes was growing. She was overwhelmed by the great desire to return to Aurelian immediately and hold him and another part of her blazed with furious indignation that gave her a thirst for revenge like she had never known. She wanted to personally be the end of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Let's just finish this," she said quietly. "I want to get back to him."

First, just a small clarification... George's comment at the end of last chapter - "We solved it once as a group of three. We can do it again." - It is confusing and I probably should have thought of a better way to phrase it. I didn't get the timelines mixed up. Fred and George know that they solved the fidelius charm along with Hermione in the 'future' timeline. They're just acknowledging their success in the 'future' so that they might have confidence that they can solve it.

As for the information on Morgan le Fay (aka Morgana) - I apologize to anyone that might be a big fan of Arthurian Legend. I made up a lot of things and twisted others to fit what I needed. But seriously, there are so many versions that contradict each other, I would have a hard time sticking to one.

So, you got your first real look at Pansy, you've been given some info on Morgana, and you've seen Bellatrix make another move. Tell me what you think? Please review.