Everyone sans Ron assembled for the meeting. Hermione and Draco sat near each other without thinking, and the arrangement was largely ignored except from Angelina, who did well to hide her smile for the most part. Ginny gave them a quick side glance. Charlie was the most noticeable of them all and he looked highly uncomfortable.

Hermione leaned over to Arthur and whispered, "What's wrong with Charlie? He looks upset."

"I don't know. I tried asking, but he just said nothing."

Hermione frowned, but before she could even address the situation further everyone was getting silenced so that the meeting could begin.

"Okay guys," Ginny said as she turned to everyone. "We stumbled on some pretty big news last night and we need to figure out what we're going to do about it."

"Are we saying for sure that You-Know-Who's a Horcrux?" Padma asked. "I mean, it's just a theory. We can't exactly prove it."

"No, we can't. But how many forms of magic can repel the Killing Curse of all things?"

"Not very many." Bill frowned. "Alright, for the sake of not having another explanation right now, let's go with the Horcrux thing. How exactly are we supposed to kill him then?"

"The Sword of Gryffindor," Hermione said urgently. "Where is it?"

"Gone," Dean informed her. "It disappeared sometime before our London base got destroyed. Who knows which Gryffindor it went off to."

"Well, there's always a basilisk fang. Granted, that means we'd have to get really close to You-Know-Who to kill him. Closer than if we had the sword."

"Wait a minute, time out." Dennis said in alarm. "A basilisk fang? Where the hell are we supposed to find one of those?"

"Hogwarts," Hermione said simply, and the room fell silent because everyone knew that Hogwarts –their once prestigious school –was overrun with Deatheaters as professors. "Harry destroyed one of the Horcruxes with it. It would be our only shot."

"Hermione," Seamus started tentatively. "Going there would be our necks. Definitely. Besides, I remember the story of how Harry got down there. None of us speak Parsletongue."

"No, but Ron had learned enough from Harry to open it without him."

Charlie's back straightened. "You're talking about letting Ron out."

"I am."

"That could ruin him."

"He's our only option. Our best option actually. Because he still thinks the Battle of Hogwarts was this year, he'd know his way around Hogwarts better than any of us. He'd know how to get into the chamber as well. Besides, whether you all like it or not, we'd have to go to Hogwarts anyway."

Angelina furrowed her brow. "Why's that?"

"Harry," Ginny said distantly. "Harry's body is buried there."

"Exactly," Hermione agreed. "And, going with our You-Know-Who Horcrux theory, if we want Harry's soul to go back into his body then we have to go where his body is."

Draco turned her in extreme surprise. "You buried him on Hogwarts grounds?"

"The forest, yes. Considering the end result, we didn't want to run the risk of someone trying to steal his body. We thought the forest would be best."

"And his body is still… Well, still…good?"

"A lot complex spells would keep him that way. We had every intention of going back for him when the war ended. It just hasn't yet."

"You know this means that we'd have to lure You-Know-Who there." Bill interjected. "You do realize this, don't you?"

Hermione frowned and nodded while Padma jumped into the conversation.

"How exactly would we lure him? I know he wants us all dead and everything, but with his people being at Hogwarts, he could very well just get them to do us in. There'd be no reason for him to come."

"Unless we give him what he wants." Dean cautiously suggested.

"We don't have the Hallows." Padma argued.

"Do we have to? A good rumor here or there and You-Know-Who would come running. He's desperate to find them, isn't he? And I doubt he'd leave that task to just his followers."

"Thomas is right." Draco agreed. "My mother told me that the Dark Lord is looking for something. He travels just for that purpose and if he's going through that much trouble to find what could only be the Hallows himself, then he'd definitely go wherever he thinks they are."

"So it works itself out then, yeah?" Percy announced to the air. "If we really do take this on, all we have to do is-"

"Dodge a horde of Deatheater school staff to go grab the fang of a dead snake, dig up and carry a body somewhere on Hogwarts grounds so that when the Dark Lord is killed near it, Potter's soul can maybe hop back in. And this, of course, is all under our assumption that our theory of him being a Horcrux is correct."

Draco looked at everyone and continued with a sigh. "That sound about right?"

Percy gulped. "Yeah, yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Do you guys really think we can do this?" Seamus asked. "This is kind of a lot and we hardly have the numbers behind us."

"There's always the ally network." Bill suggested, but Charlie frowned.

"Our ally network is meant to be hidden. If we expose them and then we fail they'll remain exposed. We won't have a network anymore."

"But it's worth the risk, isn't it?" Ginny appealed to her brother. "The chance to kill You-Know-Who? To… To bring Harry back."

Charlie's face morphed into a sympathetic one as he looked on his only little sister and he sighed. "Gin, there's a chance that that part of the plan might not work."

"None of this could work." She shot back. "But us hiding away isn't helping anything. We'll have to refine all of this into a concrete plan, yes, but I vote that we go for it."

Everyone dove into a deep, dense quiet as Ginny stared at them all. Hermione felt the look in her friend's eyes and she knew that this whole adventure was more than just about killing Voldemort. It was about getting the love of her life back. Harry had been taken away from her so suddenly with absolutely no time to fully dive into the feelings that they had developed over a short amount of time.

Hermione couldn't help it. She glanced at Draco and she thought about what she would do if it was him that was dead. What would she do if there was a way to get him back? Even if the chances were slim?

"Let's go for it." Angelina said. Ginny's eyes flicked up to her and she gave her a grateful smile.

"Oh, what the hell, yeah let's do it." Dennis shrugged. "Besides, we don't know how he's making out in his Hallows hunt and we need to get him before he gets his hands on them. Before he's twice as hard to kill."

"Well, I have a bit of a suggestion on that front." Hermione said. "One to maybe help us find the Hallows and Neville and Luna –provided that they're still together and have Harry's cloak."

Arthur began to smile. "That's your brilliant idea face. Go on. What is it?"

Hermione fought her blush and cleared her throat. "Well, as I was going through book after book trying to find a way to track the Hallows, I realized that the stories that had cryptic tales about them were all written by different people and well, that struck me as odd. How could these all be about the same thing but with a different author?"

Ginny's eyes lit up as she caught on. "You think they were all written by the same person."

"I do. Of course, finding out his or her true name would take forever and we're a bit pressed for time here."

"What do you suggest?"

"Going to Chelf Press. The ones who published all of the stories. They're still up and running although they publish less...happy things now."

Draco's face paled. "Granger, that means leaving the base."

Hermione sighed. "I know."

"You can't go."

"Well, I wasn't planning on going alone."

"Then I'll go with you." Both Draco and Charlie said. They gave each other harsh gazes while Hermione stared between them both.

"You're a wanted man, Malfoy." Charlie said. "You can't leave here."

Draco snorted. "You're wanted too."

"We all are." Ginny inputted, clearly seeing testosterone levels reaching a dangerous point. "It honestly doesn't matter who goes at this point. Although," she added as she turned to Draco. "It is probably best if you stay here. After revealing yourself as a traitor to You-Know-Who, you're more wanted than the rest of us right now."

"And Granger's not?"

"I have to go." Hermione pleaded with him. "I've spent more time with my nose in these stories than I thought possible and I'll know what I'm looking for when I see it. This is much too important to leave to anyone else, I'm sorry."

"Then it's settled." Charlie said smugly. "Hermione and I will go."

"When?" Arthur asked.

Hermione spared a glance at Draco one more time to find that he was absolutely seething. "As soon as possible,"

Blaise left Malfoy Manor feeling like he was teetering on the edge of light and dark. He wasn't a good person. He knew that. But obviously he wasn't totally evil if he was willing to defy orders and keep Draco alive. If he was willing to forego the knowledge of, essentially, a traitor who had the intentions of letting his wife go free. Perhaps it wasn't about good or bad. Perhaps it was just about the things a person would do to survive or self-soothe. Case and point, the person who said they could never kill someone. But what if their loved one was threatened or murdered? Could they honestly sit back and watch the perpetrator walk free? It would take a very strong person not to act and everyone acted out one way or another. It was just a matter of how.

That was the thought that had occupied Blaise's mind as he made it back to Edinburgh Castle. He had "killed" the love interest of one Mr. Adrian Pucey, and the man hadn't done a single thing to him. That he knew of. He had a sneaky feeling that it was Pucey who was responsible for the recent gaps in his memory, and he had every intention at the moment to beat the answer out of him.

He found the man in question, surprisingly, mingling with the other Deatheaters of the Manor in one of the studies. He was talking to Daphne while Goyle, Tracey, and Pansy (who looked positively bored with the conversation) were in a world of their own until they spotted him.

"Where'd you disappear off to?" Pansy asked him.

"Dark Lord,"

"Oh… Wasn't a very good meeting then, I take it? You look a bit off."

"I'm fine." Blaise said curtly. "Now get out."

Pansy sat back a little at his abruptness. "Sorry?"

"You're not deaf, Parkinson. Get. Out. All of you. Except you," he pointed to Adrian.

Adrian's brows rose high off his head. He could hear Daphne whispering to him, asking what he did to piss Blaise off. He knew of several things, none of which he could tell her, and none that Blaise should know anyway. Although, it was always possible that someone could recognize a memory tampering when huge chunks were erased at once.

Everyone trickled out of the room one by one and gave the two remaining men one last questioning look. Once they were alone and the door was shut and the room silenced, Blaise set his murderous eyes on him.

"You erased my memories." Blaise accused. "I can't remember anything that happened yesterday." Adrian kept a cool facade and spoke.

"It's called a blackout." He said calmly. "That's what happens when you drink and we both know how much you like to-"

"I don't blackout. Not to that extent. Ever."

"So you say. But I lugged your heavy arse back to the castle last night after we went to the pub."

Blaise faltered for a moment. "You…? You what?"

"Lugged. Your. Heavy. Arse." Adrian repeated. "You were piss drunk."

"I'm always piss drunk!"

"Then I don't know why-"

"Because something's bloody wrong here and I know it's your fault!" Blaise shouted at him. He aimed his wand at him. Adrian tried to keep calm. This could go either really well or really badly. Although, if it went wrong then he could possibly benefit from it…

Here's hoping this doesn't blow up in my face.

"Fine." Adrian said after a short pause. He leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "What if I did do something to your memories? What would I have done it for?"

"To keep me from finding out what I already know about you."

Adrian kept his face still lest he gave anything away he didn't want to. "Yeah? What's that?"

"That you're a traitor just like Fiona."

"Guess it's a good thing your memory is shot then."

"I don't need my memory for that." Blaise said, a small grin playing on his lips. "I saw you that night in Gorgie. That piddly excuse you call wandless magic? It did nothing to bring down that ceiling. I did that with my wand. Not you."

Adrian's face fell and he couldn't help it. And it wasn't about the fact that Blaise had seen him.

"You let Draco and Hermione get away. Why?"

"He was my friend before he was yours. Don't ever forget that."

Adrian scoffed and rose to his feet. "You hunt down your friends, do you?"

"I do what's necessary." Blaise countered. And then he smiled. "And since now I'm completely sure that you're on such friendly terms with the resistance and Hermione, you're going to tell me where they, and thus Draco, are hiding."

Adrian shook his head slowly. "You know very well that I'd never tell you something like that."

"If that's how you want to play it, fine. I'll just have to out you to the Dark Lord. He'd just love that."

"Just as much as I'm sure he'd love the fact that you're a liar."

Blaise's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

Adrian smirked and took careful strides up to him as he spoke. "I said that you're a liar. Because someone got a little sloshed last night and let slip that a certain young woman whose body is supposed to be burned to a crisp is still alive. Imagine how the Dark Lord will feel about that. Not very happy I bet."

Blaise's lips rose into a snarl and there went the first punch. Adrian got hit straight in the jaw and he stumbled back before correcting himself. Then they were at it.

"If you tell anyone, I'll kill you!" Blaise shouted at him as he straddled him, attempting to deliver yet another punch to the face. Adrian took the next punch just the same before he managed to roll them over and he could deliver one of his own. Right in the middle of his face. The next to blacken the eye. Both men were bleeding at this point, but Blaise more so considering that Adrian was pretty sure he'd broken his nose.

"You keep quiet, I keep quiet." Adrian sneered at him. He slid onto the floor and stared at Blaise with all the hatred in the world. The man was holding his nose, blood flowing freely and slipping down his hand and onto the floor.

"After I find Draco," Blaise said dangerously. "I will kill you one day."

"Good luck finding Draco."

"Oh I'll find him. Whether through my own devices, through you, or," he added with a haughty tone. "When he finds out his mother's been captured."

Adrian's eyes widened. "She's been what?"

Blaise smiled broadly. "Make sure you let him know, yeah?"

With that he got up from the floor, still holding his broken nose, and left the study. Adrian watched him as he went. Draco's mother… He was going to go mad when he found out. Knowing him he'd flee the base and go straight to her without any regard for himself. He'd already done that for one woman, how much more for his mother? Unless…Adrian could get her out himself? He'd heard through Goyle that his father would be travelling with the Dark Lord. That meant he'd be gone. Perhaps he could rescue her and take her somewhere safe?

He'd have to get to Fiona first though, seeing as her time window was a lot shorter than Narcissa's. He just had to get through those wards on her bedroom. And that's when he stared at the floor where small droplets of Blaise's blood lay.

It was just was Adrian needed.

As luck would have it Chelf Press wasn't very far away which meant there was no need to waste any time or to contact Ace for long-distance travel. Hermione and…him would be going as soon as they got the necessary supplies together. Draco sat in his room brooding.

"You're a whiner." Giselle said as she sat down next to him. "Do you know that?"

Draco scowled. "Quit it. I'm not in the mood."

Giselle frowned and tilted her head to one side. "She doesn't like him."

"Then please inform that prick because obviously he doesn't get it."

"What is he supposed to get exactly? That you and Hermione are in 'mutual like?' I hate to tell you this, but neither of you act like it outside of private walls."

Draco felt his stomach tighten at that. It hurt even more as his imagination kept talking.

"Charlie doesn't think you're serious about her. I mean, without a commitment you're not really-"

"He knows." Draco said stonily. Giselle laughed delightfully and he was vaguely aware that it didn't cause as many butterflies as it used to.

"How? Because you showed him your little love marks?" Giselle smiled and sighed happily. "A mark isn't always a mark, Draco. And what's on your shoulders doesn't mean that Hermione's yours."

Without acknowledging her Draco suddenly stood. He wrenched open his bedroom door and took off down the halls until he found the appropriate one. When he was sure he had, he didn't even knock. Instead he barged right in and shut the door after him.

"Damn it, Malfoy!" Charlie shouted at him. "What the hell are you doing in-?"

"Don't muck it up."

"Sorry?"

"If Granger comes back with so much as a scratch, I promise you that I will kill you." Draco threatened. Charlie's face grew hard and he stared the man down.

"Words like that coming from a man like you is dangerous. You'd better watch yourself."

"Watch Granger." Draco emphasized. "Because I meant what I said. If anything happens to her I'll jam my wand in your throat and I won't regret it."

Draco left Charlie's room as quickly as he had entered it. Technically speaking, this didn't make Hermione "officially" his either, but it felt damn good to say it.

Author's note: A bit of a filler before the real stuff comes knocking, but things are being put into motion!

-WP

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Victoria: So much to work through isn't it! It's going to be a rocky ride :)