Harry Potter was incredibly cold. His head felt like everything was falling to pieces all around him - only it wasn't, and everything was very much still and spaced out. He forced himself to sit up, but got stuck partway. His eyes were glued shut.

There was a great laugh from somewhere to his left. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and his heart started to work again.

Then the laughter grew.

It was all around him.

He forced his eyes to start seeing again.

He pushed himself up on his elbows.

All around him were Death Eaters staring down at him, cruel masks hiding their faces. Cackles filled the room.

The floor felt like it was caving in; Harry struggled to sit up – suddenly, a jolt of magic pulled him to his feet, holding him rigid.

His heart racing and unable to move, Harry tried to make out the masks leering at him from the shadows. They tilted and leered and jeered at him –

And suddenly, all was still.

Harry felt his feet lifted off the ground. He tried to move, thinking of every counter-curse he could, but he was stuck. Slowly, slowly, he was being turned around –

There, in front of him, was Voldemort.

Harry's heart gave a jolt up into his throat.

Voldemort was smiling gently, his pale, snake-like face tilting softly as he surveyed Harry. He was paler and thinner than Harry remembered, and his robes had red lining which glinted when he moved, but all in all, there was no mistaking that this was the Dark Lord.

Voldemort pulled his wand out from under his robes – Harry barely had time to notice that the wand looked vaguely familiar, before the spell was broken and he was in a crumple on the floor. Ignoring the aches in his bones, he jumped to his feet, fists clenched, glaring fiercely at Voldemort.

The wand – he knew it now. It had to be. How he had gotten it – Harry shook his head slightly. There wasn't time to worry about that. Voldemort was laughing, a long drawn out laugh.

"Harry Potter," he said. Harry shivered despite himself; he had almost forgotten the drawn out hiss of the Dark Lord's voice.

"What do you want?" said Harry through clenched teeth. "You were dead!"

"Way to state the obvious." Voldemort flicked the wand. Streams of blue fire flicked out of it, surrounding Harry and licking him at the edges.

Harry clenched his fists hard. Pain licked at his back and elbows as fire brushed him, but he would not make a sound, he would not. He would not give Voldemort the satisfaction.

Rust exploded in his mouth; he had bitten his tongue – his nails were digging through his hands –

And the fire disappeared in a moment. Harry made a great effort to stop shaking.

Voldemort held the wand in both hands. His long fingers were outstretched around it.

"Do you know what this is, Harry?"

Harry just glared fiercely.

"Of course you do. You know exactly what this is." Voldemort pointed into the air, and three spurts of blue flame erupted into the sky. "The Elder Wand."

The fire was rearranging itself into a Hallows. All the corners of the room were lit up now, blue flames reflecting off every surface.

"Would you like to know how I got it?" Voldemort's eyes glowed in the light of the blue flame that danced overhead. "Would you like to know how I'm alive?"

"I suppose you'll tell me, whether I like it or not," muttered Harry.

"A correct guess."

With a flick of the wand, the blue flames overhead the room disappeared. It turned back into dark corners and dark eyes peering out from the shadows.

"I found a servant long, long ago," said Voldemort. His voice was a steady hiss; his eyes did not leave Harry's. "She was in need of something, of someone – me. I helped her. Many years later, I found her again. She brought this to me."

A queer aching was growing in Harry's stomach, as if his soul knew what was coming.

"Come out," said Voldemort. Then, louder: "Come out!"

And out of the pool of death eaters, out of the shadows, stepped Anna.

Harry's heart dropped all the way to his toes.

Anna's eyes were narrowed, and she looked fierce. She glared at Harry with absolute hatred.

Harry felt, quite distinctly, that all his hope had left him. It had all been a ruse. She had been His the whole time … he locked eyes with her, pleading with all his soul.

"Look at him," Voldemort was saying, "Look at his despair – he knew the whole time she was Mine, and yet he did nothing about it – don't you wish you had, Potter? Don't you wish you had? But I am far too clever for you. I will always win, Potter. Don't ever forget that. I will always win!"

Harry's eyes were still locked with Anna's. They were still full of hatred, full of despair. Full of anger.

Then, the unthinkable.

Anna was crying.

Tears were dripping down her face.

There was a shifting in the crowd. People were muttering.

Harry felt himself locked in a spell; he couldn't move again.

"What?" Voldemort was glaring; Harry was forgotten for a moment. "Girl!"

Tears were falling, Anna was looking down at her hands.

With a jolt, Harry realised that little freckles were appearing. Little brown dots, covering Anna's arms, and her hands, and her face … her blonde hair was turning red from the roots down, and, with a great cry, she fell down in a heap, her cloak covering her as she fell.

Then – she disappeared.

She was gone.

There was a sudden commotion as the room sprang to life – Voldemort was crying, "Find her!"

Then a lot of things happened all at once.

There was a great cry from what felt like all corners of the room – "Astrapicus!" Lightning flashed through the room, knocking down several people with a cry. There was a great shout from everywhere, and suddenly spells were flying in all directions.

Then – suddenly – Hermione and Ron were there, throwing spells at Voldemort, furiously fighting side by side. He was vaguely aware of various aurors appearing from all directions, but his eyes were focused on Voldemort. He was moving faster than anyone should be able to move, fiercely sending off spells. Ron and Hermione were furious, but Voldemort was faster.

Harry struggled to move with all his might, but he was caught in one spot, unable to move -

Suddenly, he felt the spell holding him rigid cease. He crumpled to the floor again. A spare spell hit him in the arm, burning up his robes. He gave a gasp of pain, and started to struggle onto his knees. A warm hand seized his elbow –

and Harry looked right into the brown eyes of Ginny Weasley.

He gave a great laugh of shock, and then choked as the wind was knocked out of him from behind.

The last thing he saw was a great pair of red eyes, wide eyed and frantic – Voldemort's cry echoed in his ears as he was whisked away.

/

Harry landed with a thud, falling onto the floor. His whole body ached, protesting as he struggled to his feet. He was vaguely aware of 'cracks' around him, as Ron and Hermione apparated in- he vaguely recognised this as Neville's living room, with its house plants evaporating off the windowsills.

Suddenly, he was caught up in a fierce hug. Hermione's chin, barely reaching his shoulder, digged into his muscle as she squeezed him tightly. "I'm so sorry," she was whispering. "I'm so so sorry."

Harry barely had the room to hug her back, as he was attacked from behind – Ron was joining the hug, surrounding them both with his big arms. "It's going to be okay," he was whispering. "It's going to be okay."

"He's back," Harry whispered, choking on the last word. Hermione squeezed him tighter, and Harry closed his eyes.

"I don't understand," Ron was saying. "But it's going to be fine, 'kay mate? We'll get through this, like we always do."

Harry nodded, his eyes squeezed shut. Maybe if he didn't open them, he wouldn't have to deal with this. With Voldemort. With the world.

They were just kids. It really wasn't fair.

"Any ideas how he survived, Hermione?" Ron was saying, squeezing them tighter.

But Hermione had frozen in the hug. She gently let go, holding Harry at arms length. "Look at me, Ron," she said.

Harry opened his eyes with an effort. Hermione was looking intently into Ron's eyes; he could feel Ron moving behind him, letting go of his back. They separated.

"I need you to be strong," said Hermione. "Please, Ron."

"What are you on about?"

"Please."

Someone cleared their throat.

Dream-like, Ron and Harry turned around, away from Hermione's terrified, intense look –

Right at Ginny Weasley.

It was a lot to take in.

She was a lot thinner, and a lot paler than she had been, but her eyes were fierce, and her freckles stood out in her skin like little suns.

She was looking both incredibly fierce and incredibly scared.

It was definitely Ginny.

Ron was taking a step forward. "What in the bloody hell?" he was yelling. Then he was pointing his wand at her, and she stared at him pleadingly, and Hermione pulled his wand out of his hand, and suddenly Ron was shaking Ginny angrily, violently, and Hermione was trying to pull him away, and Ginny was crying, and Harry felt his body laughing – he wasn't quite sure if he was dreaming or not. And then Ron was hugging Ginny fiercely and sobbing into her shoulder, Hermione was jumping up and down and crying, saying that she knew it, she knew it…

And the four of them were swept up in one big furious hug, laughing hysterically, not quite sure what was happening, or where their brains were.

And then the lights turned off.

Harry remembered then that he was in Neville's living room, and they had just returned from fighting a returned Dark Lord. He took a deep breath. Late afternoon sunlight was filtering in through the window, and shadows twisted behind Neville's plants.

The front door was opening. A man was standing, silhouetted in the sun, which was gently drawing its way to the horizon.

"Who's there?" he said. A wand was pointing at them, steady in his grasp.

"It's us, Neville, it's us!" cried Hermione, and the lights were on, and Neville was standing in his doorway.

"What are you doing –" he was saying, and then he spotted Ginny, and then: "What is going on?"

The four of them looked at Ginny, who took a hurried step back, her mouth open.

"So it really was Ginny," breathed Neville. "I thought I'd imagined it."

"How do we know it is, though?" said Ron suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"It might not be her. Polyjuice is real. This could just be Voldemort's sick joke." Ron pointed his wand at Ginny's throat. "How do we know it's you?"

"It's her," said Harry, before he could stop himself. He knew it was. But Neville, who was incredibly pale, was shaking his head, and Ron's wand was shaking middair.

"Oh Merlin, don't you dare tell me that you're not Ginny! Don't you darn dare tell me that you're not bloody Ginny, I can't take it, I won't stand it, I won't allow it, not today…" Ron was only silenced by Hermione's arm around his waist.

"I think we need to all calm down," said Hermione, her voice crinkling at the edges. "Ginny, what was the first thing you said to me when you met me?"

"Do we have to pay for the hot chocolate's?" said Ginny promptly. Tears were wobbling in her eyes, and she smiled with a laugh. "And then you said we didn't, how this was different from muggle schools! And I told you I was Ron's sister, and you said you should have known I was, from my jumper. I remember the jumper mum knitted you." She spoke quickly, earnestly. "It was grey with pink stripes, and you wore it everywhere. You loved the fact that mum hadn't knitted it with magic. It was a little connection between the muggle world and the magical world, and you loved those connections whenever you found them. And you still do," she said. "You still do…"

"How do you know she still does?" Ron said. His eyes were narrowed.

Ginny stared at him blankly. "Ron …?"

"How much do you remember?" said Harry gently.

To answer, Ginny reached into her robes. "I think this is yours, Harry." She gently pulled out a wand – the Elder Wand.

The room filled with silence.

Harry took it off her, and held it in his hands.

It was definitely the Elder Wand. There was no mistaking the power it held – he could feel it flowing through the wand, tingling his fingertips.

"I'm so sorry I took it off you," cried Ginny, staring earnestly round at them. "I don't know what happened – oh wait –" and her face was screwed up into frowns. "I do – I need it still – I have to take it back to Him –"

"You're working for him," gasped Hermione, at the same time as Ron and Neville pointed their wands straight at her.

"Who's him? For Merlin's sake Ron, put that down –"

"For You-Know-Who," snarled Ron. "For Voldemort. You have been, you always have been, ever since the Chamber."

"I haven't been!" cried Ginny. "I thought he was defeated, but he isn't – that was him we were fighting, wasn't it?"

"It was – and the question is, how did he come back?" Ron jabbed the wand in his sister's direction. "He'd been gone for a year, and then he turns up again –"

"A year?" Ginny screwed up her face. "No, no, no …" her face was in her hands, and she was shaking her head violently. "No, no, no, no…"

"It's been a year," said Hermione gently. "You were Anna for a year."

"She was Anna?" cried Ron and Neville, at the same time Ginny cried: "I wasn't no one for a year – oh no, no, no,"

"Didn't you see her transform?" said Harry. "Didn't you see her change back into Ginny, Ron?"

"No, I was too busy fighting Death Eaters and saving your butt, actually," snapped Ron.

"Calm down," cried Neville, "Everyone just calm down!"

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Hermione gently.

Ginny shook her head, her hands rubbing her face.

"Come on, we don't have a lot of time."

The memories of Voldemort creeped back into the room. Ginny shook her head again.

"I remember taking the wand off Harry," she said. "But I need it to give back to Death, not to Voldemort, Ron!"

"Who the bloody hell is Death?" demanded Ron. "A Death Eater friend of yours?"

"Shut up," snapped Hermione. "Go on, Gin."

"Then I remember … " Ginny looked down at her hands. "I remember … it's all so blurry … There are so many things … "

"It's okay," said Harry. "It's okay."

Ginny looked into his eyes for the first time, and memories flooded in … good ones. Quidditch and dates in Hogsmeade, and jokes shared over breakfast. He smiled grimly, and gave her a nod.

Her eyes softened, and she nodded back. Then she closed them, and screwed up her nose in an attempt to remember. "After taking the wand, I remember … turning up at the Malfoy Manor. And then I was on the floor, and everything was hurting, and for some reason your cloak was in my pocket, Harry, and I pulled it on to disappear for a bit. And for some reason there were Death Eaters everywhere – and there was Voldemort, even though he should be dead. And Ron and 'Mione were fighting him, and I slid behind him and got him from the back, and I got his wand."

She pointed at Harry's hand – he had almost forgotten, but he was still clutching onto the Elder Wand.

"Then I grabbed Harry's arm, and grabbed Hermione, and went the first place I could think of."

There was a silence.

"How did you know to come here though?" demanded Neville. "Why did you know to come here, when you didn't know Ron and Hermione would too?"

Ginny frowned. "I guess… I kind of knew I had to…"

"Because we spoke about it, before Anna left," said Hermione slowly. "Back at Harry's. Anna said that Neville's was the safe place. And that's why when Ron and I called in you and the aurors, Neville, we decided to meet at yours after."

"Who is Anna?" demanded Ginny. "Who is she?"

"My question," said Ron, "Is how the Elder Wand got to Voldemort if you didn't give it to him?" he snarled. "Don't you see, Ginny? There's something wrong with your story. In fact, there's a whole year missing."

He was silenced by Hermione's hand on his arm, and Ginny's cry of disbelief. "Not a whole year!"

"Over a year."

Her face was screwed up, and she looked like she was struggling not to cry.

"What else do you remember?" demanded Ron. "There has to be something!"

"There's … there are pieces … oh Merlin, that can't have been me!"

"Say it!"

"Just snatches of things …" She squeezed her eyes closed, as if she couldn't bear to look at them. "Shadows, and laughter, and tea – and Hermione, I remember you! I was working with you, and then there was green light, and death – and Death! Oh no …" Her eyes were wide open with a bang. "Harry, I forgot, again, oh how could I forget!"

"Forget what?" Harry was saying, and Hermione and Ron were exclaiming at the same time –

And then the door opened with a bang. They all jumped and yelled …

But it was just Luna, her robes violently purple.

She looked around at them all, her eyes pausing on Ginny's. "Nice to see you again," she said politely, as if Ginny hadn't been missing-presumed-evil for the last eighteen months. Then she looked right at Neville. "He's back," she said. "And he's coming."

"How do you know?"

"Because he just destroyed my home," said Luna calmly, as if describing the weather. "I'm sure he's coming here soon. You don't have much time. The aurors are on their way, but they're trying to gather reinforcements first."

The room erupted into havoc. Harry felt Ginny's hand on his arm. "Harry," she was saying earnestly, "I have all the hallows."

"Pardon?"

Ginny pulled out a necklace from where it had been hidden beneath her tall robes. Harry gave a gasp as he recognised the pendant; it was the Stone. "Where did you…"

"I picked it up in the forest, the day you defeated Voldemort," said Ginny, her eyes desperate. "I've got the cloak in my pocket. And you've got the Elder Wand."

"We can use it against him!" said Harry in a harsh whisper. In the background he could hear the others fiercely making plans of defense. Voldemort could arrive at any second. "We can use the hallows! It's perfect."

"We can't Harry," returned Ginny, her eyes pleading. "I have to return them to Death."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"If I don't return them, he'll kill us, the both of us! I gambled your life on this –"

"Sorry, you what?"

"On the day in the forest," Ginny said slowly, "I promised Death that I would return the Hallows if he spared your life! He said as soon as I had them all together I had to return them, otherwise he would kill us both. And now I've got them, and I have to return them, the both of us. Please, Harry!"

"I'm sorry, you met Death?" Harry shook his head blankly.

"You're really not getting this, are you?"

"I've had a very long day, Ginny."

"Yeah, well, so have I!"

"And now we're about to be attacked again, so don't you think we should focus on that?"

"Harry, you know you're the only one who can defeat Voldemort," cried Ginny. The room was silent suddenly, all eyes fixed on them. "Don't you want to be alive for that?"

"I won't be if we don't focus on the task at hand!" Harry held tightly onto the Elder Wand in his hand. "All right Hermione, what's the plan?"

Then, before he quite realised what was happening, Ginny was trying to pull the Elder Wand out of his hand – Harry pulled it back, and she seized his elbow, and before he knew it there was a great crack –

And Harry found himself in the middle of a forest.

Ginny sat up next to him, and dusted herself off; leaves fell out of her hair. "Sorry about that," she said. A quick movement, and the Elder Wand was swept off the ground, into her hand. "You weren't exactly listening." Her eyes glinted cheekily.

Harry pushed himself up onto his elbows. "Where in Merlin's name –"

"Why, I thought you would recognise it, Harry!"

And Harry did, of course.

He knew exactly where they were.

The Forbidden Forest.

/

A noice long chapter for you all! We're getting to the end of things now, folks. Reviews will be taken great care of xx