Content Warning: Minor Character Death

Chapter 48: Pressing the Advantage

April 26th, 1997

Professor Sinistra had not taken learning that Harry and Hermione shared a bedroom well when she stepped in as head of Slytherin. However, when McGonagall pointed out that there was technically no rule against it, Sinistra had insisted that Sirius be consulted. The result had been rather predictable; Sirius had sent Harry and Hermione a congratulatory letter and given explicit permission for them to continue. Sinistra had not been happy.

She had been especially not happy when she discovered Luna in bed with Harry and Hermione the next night. Luna had decided that using the excuse of being uncomfortable in the room she shared with Ginny was an excellent way to get some hugs from her friends. And truthfully, neither Harry or Hermione minded, both of them understanding that Luna's feigned discomfort wasn't entirely feigned. And Ginny was more than happy to have her own room for a few days. Perhaps a little too happy. Harry suspected she had snuck Justin in on at least one night, and while Ginny didn't deny it, she insisted that they hadn't done any more than some vigorous snogging.

All in all, Harry was really hoping to become Head Boy next year. He could go a few weeks like this, but Sinistra was a lot less accommodating of Harry and Hermione's privacy than Snape had been. Hermione had almost moved back into her own bed. Almost. McGonagall had interviewed Harry for the position, and he gathered by her interview that he was the leading candidate.

The news about Snape had been a catastrophe. Defense Against the Dark Arts Classes were in disarray. The IUC had been working overtime to help students with O.W.L.S. and both Dumbledore and Flitwick had stepped in to teach the sixth and seventh year N.E.W.T classes. And Harry had to admit, it was bad timing! Still something in Harry doubted that Snape had simply been perving on Ginny. He didn't seem the type. Harry strongly felt he was missing some information, but he had no idea what it was.

Harry wasn't upset with Ginny though. She had been given no other choice. The thing they had argued about was what this meant for Snape's trustworthiness regarding Dumbledore. Ginny thought that this meant he couldn't be trusted at all, but Harry believed that Snape might have been helping them because of his infatuation with Ginny. Hermione thought that was far-fetched, but wasn't willing to completely dismiss the idea.

All in all, it was a colossal mess. But Harry had more important things to deal with. He'd snuck out of school and was meeting with Gustav and Krum. This was the big briefing.

"I think it is too dangerous for you to bring your people," said Gustav.

"My people will be primarily involved in laying and controlling the traps," said Harry, "and we are well trained. We're only bringing our best and everyone in our group is ready to join the fight."

"Remember, we don't want corpses this time, we want to send them to prison," continued Harry, "Azkaban no longer uses the dementors as prison staff, and Riddle won't break the petty thugs out unless he has to, as they're expendable to him."

"You asking for help from Danny O'Keefe?" asked Gustav bluntly.

"There is no official relationship between us and the Irish underworld," said Harry, "a couple friends of mine work for Danny, which has allowed us to leak information to him, but that is it."

"That is good," said Krum, "Danny has a reputation as being ruthless. There are also rumours that he is fending off a faction that wants to be less aggressive in his war on the Death Eaters."

All in all, Gustav's men were ready, so Harry quickly returned to school. Yet, he decided to stop in with Blaise quickly.

He found the boy in his bedroom.

"Hey Blaise, got a minute?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," said Blaise, "What's on your mind?"

"I heard a rumour that there is some… some dispute in Ol' Danny's group about how he's going after Death Eaters," said Harry, "I just want to be sure…"

"That he's staying in the fight? Don't worry about that," ssid Blaise, "My father has just been trying to convince him to be more careful."

Something about that did not sit well with Harry. "Hey just be careful yourself, okay? Danny has a really nasty reputation, and guys like that typically don't like it when you question them, no matter how well intentioned you are. Especially if you have followers."

"My dad isn't putting a faction together," said Blaise confidently.

"Good," said Harry.

XXXXX

May 31st, 1997

The day of the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor Quidditch match had finally come. If Gryffindor won, Gryffindor would win the cup in a sweep. But Colin Creevey had never beaten Cho Chang to the snitch. She'd always managed to distract him.

The game itself was brutal, in that Gryffindor had a clear advantage in Chasers and Beaters. Ron had everyone well drilled and the Ravenclaws couldn't defend worth anything. In the end it was going to come down to the seekers though. And nothing Cho was doing was working.

She'd tried blowing kisses, she tried batting her eyebrows, she'd even started making lewd comments. Colin was focused on finding the snitch. Three times he nearly had it, but Cho managed to push him away before the snitch disappeared.

Finally though, he found the snitch and Cho was just too far away. As he lunged for the snitch, Cho had time for one last desperate act. She grabbed the front of her robes and pulled them open.

"Oh wow," said Harry, "I was not expecting that."

"I'll say this," said Tracey, "Cho still has nothing to be ashamed of there."

Colin on the other hand just grinned. And swept in and grabbed the snitch.

The Slytherins went still. They'd just lost the cup.

As the Gryffindors celebrated, Tracey turned to her teammates. "Let's go," she said.

And so she led the entire Slytherin team down to the pitch to congratulate the Gryffindor team.

But Harry noticed that more than congratulations were exchanged between Tracey and Ron. She whispered something to him, and suddenly his smile got very silly looking. Harry walked over to Tracey after congratulating Ron.

"Was that what I think it was?" asked Harry.

"I only agreed to talk to him," said Tracey, thought the faint smile she gave as she said that gave the game away.

"Should be some talk," said Harry with a snigger.

XXXXX

There was a denouement to the Quidditch match. Harry and Hermione had hall patrol that night. However, shortly after it began, Ron came running up to them.

"I can't find Colin, he isn't at our victory celebration," Ron said urgently.

Harry reached into his robes and pulled out the Marauder's Map. Opening it, he searched for Colin. And he found him. In a broom closet. With Cho.

Ron, Harry and Hermione all stared at the two little names on the map, basically covering each other.

"You know what? He's earned the right to celebrate how he wants," said Ron sheepishly.

XXXXX

June 1st, 1997

The first stage of the Triumvirate's plan was simple, they needed to meet up with the mercenaries. The tricky part was getting out of school. Harry was keeping the group from Hogwarts small, but it was still a not inconsiderable number of people, including himself, Hermione, Ginny, Daphne, Tracey, Ron, Neville, Luna, Cho, Colin, Astoria, Sue, Padma, Justin, Ernie, Hannah and Susan. Harry had tried to get Blaise and Seamus to come with him, but they wouldn't budge. Apparently, things were very tense right now near Hogsmeade.

Getting everyone out of the castle would be difficult, because tonight they were leaving earlier. One or two people might be able to make it out to the Forbidden Forest, but obviously the entire group couldn't go that way. They'd be seen. But the entire group would also draw attention to any of the secret passages. They'd snuck out back during the raid on the Ministry using the Room of Requirement to transport them to one of the passages, but they had gone through the passage to the Three Broomsticks at a much later time. On that occasion it had already closed for the night, which would not be the case tonight.

So Harry had a conundrum, which he solved by disillusioning people and sending them through the secret passage underneath the Whomping WIllow. This passage led to the Shrieking Shack, where they would rendezvous with members of the mercenaries who had specially prepared portkeys. From there they would assemble near Riddle Manor and begin setting up. Harry hoped to catch a big portion of Madame Zabini's thugs tonight.

So long as they showed up.

XXXXX

"Blaise!" shouted Seamus as he ran down his boyfriend, "we have a problem!"

Blaise had been sitting outside waiting for Seamus. He'd been later than usual, so he'd gotten a bit worried. "What is it?" asked Blaise.

"Your dad just went into Hogsmeade, apparently to pick something up for Danny. Almost as soon as he entered, your mother and her goons invaded the village!"

Blaise swore. Whatever Harry was doing, he was probably hoping to net a few of his mother's thugs. Well a lot of them wouldn't be showing up apparently. He hoped that was okay, but now Blaise had to take things into his own hands.

"She'll kill him," said Blaise, "Is Danny moving?"

Seamus nodded, "He is," said Seamus, a bit nervously, "But according to my friend in the village he isn't exactly hurrying. Apparently they've had a bit of a falling out."

Blaise scowled. "Well that settles it, I'm going in."

"I'm right behind you!" said Seamus.

Blaise nodded. He'd need all the help he could get.

XXXXX

The trap outside the Riddle Manor was simple. They'd blocked up most of the exits, and had placed stunning runic clusters around the areas people would have to leave by. It probably wouldn't catch Riddle, but if it did, Harry wouldn't complain. So when the Death Eaters apparated in, the Army would set the house on fire. All at once. The Death Eaters would rush out, and it would be goodnight. Voldemort would have to go on alone. Harry didn't think he'd be able to catch Riddle tonight. He felt that he probably could defeat him, but that Riddle would likely flee before he could be properly captured.

But of course, this entire situation wasn't about capturing Riddle. It was about luring him into a false sense of security.

Once everyone was in position, Harry led Hermione and Ginny to the edge of the Gaunt property. They were wearing their new robes. They were silver, and when the hoods were up they projected a blank face over their real faces. The rest of the army had grey robes, but Hermione had felt that the members of the Triumvirate should have uniforms that set them apart.

"Once we cross this line, we can't go back," said Harry.

"I have no intention of going back," said Ginny.

Harry stepped forward and Hermione and Ginny followed as he approached the Gaunt shack.

XXXXX

Narcissa sat at home trying to find some way to put things right again. The fact was that the Death Eaters were finally beginning to recover from the disaster last year. But they didn't have nearly as many resources as they had previously held. Clarise Zabini's thugs were the only thing they had going for them, but their utility was strictly limited. Clarise thought she could hire thugs from other crime lords in Europe, but even that would be very expensive, and would put the Dark Lord in debt to some very dangerous people. Not that he should be scared of them, but he should be wary of taking an offer that seemed too good to be true.

Suddenly a chime went through Malfoy Manor. It was a clever way for the Dark Lord to summon people, only those he needed would hear the chime. Narcissa made a beeline for the dining room, where she supposed the Dark Lord was.

He was, and he was agitated. "How many people do we have that are fit to take the field right now?" he asked.

"I've still got about thirty of Zabini's men camped out on the manor grounds," said Narcissa, "They could be used."

"What is the concern?" asked Rookwood.

"An alarm I set has gone off," said the Dark Lord, "I must investigate in force immediately. I will get the men personally and head to Riddle Manor."

Narcissa wondered what was at Riddle Manor. She could only hope it wasn't a trap. Or maybe she should hope it was. At least then she'd be free.

XXXXX

Blaise raced through the Three Broomsticks as if he was being pursued by demons. He could hear the sounds of fighting on the outskirts of the village near the Forbidden Forest. Danny was trying to fight his way in, in all likelihood.

But Blaise knew that Danny wouldn't make it in time. The Hog's Head would be where his mother confronted his father, and the ring around it would be tight and fierce.

At least from outside the village. From the inside, someone might make it. And indeed, the path to the Hog's Head was clear. There were two guards out front that Blaise could see from an alley across the way.

"Two more in back," whispered Seamus, who walked up to Blaise as casually as he could.

Words weren't really necessary. Both of them raised their wands and cast silent cutting charms. The guards out front collapsed.

Entering through the front was not an option though. They'd be in full view of everyone in the common room. No, but his mother would want to talk to his father alone. They'd be in a private room. And Blaise knew which room his mother always used.

Blaise pointed up, and Seamus nodded. With a swish and flick he levitated Blaise up to the second story. Blaise tapped his wand on a window. It popped open, and Blaise climbed inside.

The room was empty, as Blaise had known it would be. He crept over to the door to the hallway, and opened it a crack poking his eyes out. Down the hall a short way there was another door, and that door had a man by it. Bruce, his mother's best bodyguard. She was in there, all right. Blaise silently cast another cutter, and Bruce went down. He felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. He'd known this man, but unlike Magnus, he'd liked him. But there was no time for regret now. Later perhaps, but not now.

Blaise crept up to the door and put his ear to it.

"If you'd ever paid attention to what Blaise wanted instead of what you wanted, you'd have realized what was happening," his father was saying.

"Oh, please, Blaise is a boy, he barely knows what he wants," said his mother.

"Blaise has known he was interested in men since I was raising him," said Pascale, "I always suspected. Funny how you didn't."

"It wasn't easy to get anything out of him with him pushing me away all the time!" shouted Clarise.

Blaise shook his head. There was no time for this. He opened the door.

"This better be important Bruce, I said I didn't want to be disturbed," said Clarise.

Blaise silently disarmed her, and her wand flew into his hand. "Sorry Mum, Bruce is a bit indisposed," he said with a lopsided grin. With one move of his mother's wand he cut his father free, while his other wand hand stayed fixed on his mother.

"Well done, boy!" said Pascale proudly as he moved to pick up his wand.

"Indeed," said Clarise, "I am surprised you made it here without raising an alarm."

"Well, my father's life was at stake," said Blaise, "I had to improvise, which is my strong suit."

"So what now?" asked Clarise.

"We turn you in," said Blaise.

"You think Voldemort won't free me immediately?" asked Clarise.

Blaise grinned. "Oh I'm sure he'd like to, but after tonight, well he's going to have much bigger concerns. He chose a veeeery bad night to have divided forces."

Clarise seemed to flinch at that. She probably feared his wrath.

"We'll take you out the window," said Blaise as he cast a gag over her mouth.

But as they walked towards the room Blaise had come in through, a huge shudder hit the Hog's Head. And suddenly Blaise realised that Danny and his men had arrived. Which meant…

Men came up the stairs. "Confringo!" Blaise cast at them, but they both ducked out of the way. And with that there was a noise from downstairs as more men started heading up. Spells tore past Blaise and Pascale as they leapt back into the room they'd just vacated. But Clarise ran forward, into the protective wands of her men.

Blaise leaped across the hall, sending two more blasting curses. They weren't aimed at his mother, but at the goons falling in behind her. And that worked. Both went down, clutching injuries. And suddenly Pascale broke out into a sprint, following her.

The two men who had dodged into other rooms suddenly blocked Blaise's path. Another blasting curse took them down. Blaise ran forward down the stairs. There was a full blown battle going on in the common room. But neither his father or mother was a part of it.

"They went out the back boy," said Aberforth, who was hiding behind the bar. He looked more annoyed than scared. Well Blaise would be annoyed too if someone was blowing up his livelihood like this.

Blasie ran out the back door. Only to find his father bleeding from his temples and kneeling in front of his mother who had recovered her wand and pointed it at Pascale.

"Blaise, I have tried to save you so many times," said Clarise, "I love you and I want to save you. But if you keep fighting against the Dark Lord, he will have you killed."

"Voldemort's days are numbered," said Blaise defiantly.

"The Dark Lord is immortal, and those who defy him will die," said Clarise, "Like this. Avada Kedavra."

And Blaise's father fell over, dead.

Blaise nearly felt his legs go out, but he managed to keep on his feet. He looked at his father. His father was dead. His father was dead!

And then he looked at his mother.

And he pointed his wand at her. "CONFRINGO!" he screamed.

Clarise barely had time to dodge, she was so surprised. But she managed it. But Blaise wasn't done; he cast the blasting curse again, and his mother just barely had time to apparate away.

And then Blasie screamed, a primal scream of rage and grief and pain. He'd failed. And now his father was dead.

XXXXX

Ron looked out at Riddle Manor through his omnioculars. The house seemed deserted, but the telltale cracks of a series of apparitions told a different story. Voldemort was assuredly here.

Ron was laying on his chest and keeping watch: his job was to make sure no one tried to flee Riddle Manor away from the Gaunt Shack. It was unlikely; anyone who did so would almost certainly face Voldemort's wrath.

Ron felt a presence next to him lie down face on their chest in the dirt next to him.

"Daphne and I finished laying the runes," whispered Tracey, "So I came over here to give you some backup."

Ron smiled his thanks, but she couldn't see that with his mask on. So he just patted her on the back. Or at least he'd meant to. He'd accidentally managed to pat her bum instead.

"Sorry," he whispered.

He realized that Tracey was quaking. At first he thought she was quaking with rage, but then he realized the truth. She was trying to suppress her laughter.

Suddenly she stopped as they finally saw movement. Inside the house they could see shapes. A figure that could only have been Voldemort led the way followed by a sizeable number of roughly dressed wizards. Less than Ron had thought though. That might be a problem, might not. It depended on what they were doing.

And then the mercenaries opened up, setting Riddle Manor ablaze. Voldemort led his men out of the door. Right into the trap.

Voldemort led them straight on towards the Gaunt shack. Fortunately, no one could apparate directly to the shack, as Voldemort had put up an anti-apparition ward there. What this meant was that Voldemort was leading his men right through a field filled with stunning runes.

And the moment Voldemort was out of their range, Luna activated them.

About 3/4s of Voldemort's followers collapsed immediately. The mercenaries and members of the army immediately began taking down the rest.

"Onward!" cried Voldemort as he ran off towards the Gaunt Shack. None of his men were able to follow though. Everyone was now down.

"We need to warn Harry," said Tracey.

"Expecto Patronum," said Ron, conjuring his terrier Patronus, "Harry, he's coming."

"Smooth, Weasley," said Tracey, "Nice Patronus."

"Well, I did just accidentally grope a girl," admitted Ron, "I figure I've got plenty to be happy about."

Tracey punched him in the arm, but it wasn't very hard. She didn't seem unhappy at all.

XXXXX

The inside of the Gaunt shack was pretty dilapidated. Despite Riddle's fascination with his ancestry he clearly didn't like being reminded what the Gaunt family had been reduced to. So he'd abandoned this place. Let it fall into complete ruin. It eventually would have gone back to nature, all memory of it lost. As Riddle would prefer, really.

Harry shook his head. This wasn't the time for that. So long as Riddle had even one horcrux remaining he would never listen to reason. Though Harry wondered whether even his impending death would make a difference to the Dark Lord.

It wasn't hard to find the ring, it was exactly where Riddle had left it. Ginny drew her wand and quickly removed the curses that Riddle had left on the ring for anyone foolish enough to put it on.

"Hermione?" asked Harry.

His girlfriend nodded, picking up the ring and looking at it for a long while. Finally, she pointed her wand at it and cast "Legilimens!" For a moment, Hermione's eyes went hazy. But suddenly a cloud of black came out of the now screaming horcrux. And then it was done.

"I think this really is the resurrection stone," said Hermione.

"Keep it then," said Harry, "Maybe we'll find a use for it."

Suddenly a patronus terrier hopped into the room. "Harry, he's coming," said Ron's voice.

"Right on time," said Ginny.

All three of them walked out of the shack and stood in front of the door. It was only a few moments before the Dark Lord swept in. Harry noticed he was levitating in. What an indulgent waste of effort! It was such a simple trick, and once someone knew it, it wouldn't impress anyone.

"My, my, do you expect me to be impressed?" asked Harry, "Such petty tricks may impress the easily manipulated, but it's obvious that you just cast a levitation charm on your shoes. Impressive balance though."

Harry had to admit that it all sounded more threatening when coming from under his mask. That was good. Fighting Riddle now might work out, but it also might be a disaster. He had to keep him off balance.

"You are brave, I'll give you that," said Riddle as he settled down to earth, "Few would dare speak to me like that. But I suppose you have earned it. You've been frighteningly effective against me. Too bad I'm going to kill you today."

"Unlikely," scoffed Ginny, "You are rather badly outnumbered. And outclassed, though you have no way to know that."

"Honestly, I'm surprised that he hasn't figured it out yet," sniped Hermione, "It's fairly obvious."

"Ah, the perils of mutilating one's own soul," said Harry, "Not for the faint of heart, and it does make the soul rather… calloused you might say. So much so that it is difficult to feel when a large part of your soul is torn away."

"Like when we destroyed all of Tom Riddle's horcruxes?" asked Ginny.

"Just so," agreed Harry.

"Give me what you took from that house!" demanded Riddle.

Hermione held out the ring for a moment. "I don't know why you'd want this, it's only power is to call back the spirits of the dead. And you don't care about anyone who has passed on. I mean it used to be a horcrux, but it isn't now."

Riddle's face seemed torn between disbelief and horror. "Who are you? Afraid to show your face?"

"To you? Never," said Harry. And with a wave of his hand his mask disappeared. Ginny and Hermione similarly did away with their masks.

Voldemort suddenly seemed to lose tension. "Harry Potter. I should have known. I knew you had promise. You have outdone even my wildest expectations for you. You have hurt me, and my followers, more than any other wizard alive. That is an impressive feat."

"Well I didn't do it alone," insisted Harry, "But I doubt anyone else would have been able to do it either."

"So you know of my horcruxes?" asked Riddle.

"Know of them?" mocked Harry, "I've destroyed them. ALL of them. Diary, locket, cup, diadem, that ring and finally, the little present you left in my head. You told Slughorn you wanted to create seven soul fragments. Well, all that's left is in your decrepit body. And I'd like to see you try to make another one with all the damage this has done to your soul."

"A truly inspiring performance," said Riddle, his voice on edge, "But you know, I do intend to kill you now. You can't just apparate away."

Hermione grinned, "Want to know how we destroyed the horcruxes?"

Riddle suddenly got a lot less sure of himself.

"We absorbed them," said Ginny, "I discovered how to do that when your diary tried to possess me. But that pathway goes both ways. I drained all the power from the diary, and the horcrux just… died. But me? I got your memories in return."

"And so we've been draining all of your horcruxes, and in return, we've received all of your memories," said Hermione.

"We know your every move," said Ginny.

"Your every flaw," said Hermione.

"Your every weakness," said Harry, "Fighting us is like fighting three of you."

"So let's do this," said Ginny as she raised her wand.

The fight was short and brutal, and Riddle didn't even get a spell off. It only took Riddle moments to realize that he was overmatched. The sheer fury of the incoming spells drove him back. Within moments, he had to withdraw. The best part was it was only Ginny and Hermione casting at him. Harry was worried about their wands linking again. He didn't want to remind Riddle of that.

Harry pursued of course, but that wasn't the point. The moment Riddle was out of the anti-apparition ward, he apparated away.

Harry smiled. The trap was now set. They could only hope it bore fruit sooner rather than later.

XXXXX

Blaise Zabini sat in the destroyed common room of the Hog's Head, nursing the Firewhiskey Aberforth had given him. He didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. It was as if his entire world had fallen apart in mere moments. His father was dead. He had tried to kill his own mother. What was happening to him?

Seamus was sitting next to him, holding his hand. Seamus knew he wasn't ready to talk. He always knew.

"How are you doing, lad?" said Danny, who walked up and took a seat next to Blaise.

"Shouldn't you be gone?" asked Aberforth from behind the bar.

"No one can say they saw me taking part in the fighting," said Danny honestly, "I'm a bit too old to be mixing it up these days."

"I'm shitty," said Blaise in response to Danny's question.

"Well that's to be expected," said Danny, "And it's a good sign that you admit it."

Blaise turned to Danny, and narrowed his eyes. "Did you let them take my father? Did you wait and let this happen."

"Blaise, what are you doing?" asked Aberforth.

"No Abe, he's got the perfect right to ask that question," said Danny, "Cause you see the truth is that I thought about it. Part of me thought he might be a threat to me. But the truth also is that neither of you ever did me wrong. And if I was wrong, well I'm an old man. I've lived a good life. You'd be worthy successors to me. Maybe I hesitated to just charge in, it's hard to say. Was that responsible for Pascale's death? I don't know. I know I didn't mean to do it."

Blaise nodded, satisfied. "I want to kill her so badly. It scares me."

"And so it should boy, so it should," said Danny, "I know that feeling. When I was just a young man, only a couple years older than you are now, my father was hung by the English because he wanted a better life for Ireland and her people. Back during the First World War. Bad times, very bad times. And all I could think of was revenge. And I spent far too much of my life trying to get it."

"So you're saying I should do nothing," said Blaise bitterly.

"No boy," said Danny, "I'm saying you shouldn't do anything right now in the heat of the moment. Because you will regret it."

"I'm not going to go off half-cocked and just try to kill my mum while I'm working for you," said Blaise.

"No you aren't," said Danny, "because you won't be working for me, at least not for a while."

"What?" demanded Blaise angrily.

"Blaise, you just lost your father," said Danny, "you need time to heal. You and Seamus can go off somewhere to do what you need to do, but you need to put yourself back together. Your father was right, I shouldn't have let you get involved in this."

Danny put a warm hand on Blaise's shoulder, "There is still a place for you with my organization, once you've healed a bit. But not until then."

Blaise tried to hide his anger, but it came out looking like a snarl. Danny just nodded sadly, then left.

"He's right," said Aberforth, "You can't…"

Blaise gulped down the last of his firewhiskey. "Thanks for the drink Abe, but I need to get back to school."

Blaise stood and Seamus stood beside him. It was over. For now.

XXXXX

June 2nd, 1997

Narcissa had to admit, she probably should have left long ago. But now it might be too late. When the Dark Lord had returned, he had immediately headed to his rooms and called for Rookwood. A few minutes later he'd sent out a summons for Snape. That was bad. What was really bad was that the Dark Lord had returned alone.

Clarise arrived soon after.

"How did it go?" asked Narcissa.

Clarise shook her head. "It was a disaster. I...I killed Pascale." Her voice sounded weak and distracted.

Narcissa nodded sympathetically. "That must have been difficult. I'm sure it was necessary."

"It was a mistake," said Clarise, "I killed him to make a point to Blaise. But he rejected it and… he tried to kill me!"

Narcissa looked around to make sure that no one was able to hear them, then dragged Clarise into a nearby room which was deserted.

"Did anyone else see?" asked Narcissa.

Clarise shook her head. "Most of the men I took with me are dead."

"Good," said Narcissa, "If the Dark Lord hears of this, he will insist on Blaise's death. He cannot learn of it."

Clarise nodded.

"You should know though, the Dark Lord took the rest of your men who were on the grounds on a mission to Riddle Manor. No one but the Dark Lord returned."

"Blaise mentioned something about the Dark Lord choosing a bad night to have divided forces," said Clarise, "Do you think it was the Triumvirate?"

"Probably," admitted Narcissa, "I doubt it was the Ministry."

"That would be about half of my total people!" said Clarise in horror, "And most of my best fighters."

Snape poked his head into the room. "The Dark Lord calls for us."

Narcissa and Clarise followed Snape. But he led not to the usual dining room, but to the Dark Lord's private bedchamber. This was not good.

They entered the room, which was dimly lit. The Dark Lord sat in a chair by the window, his familiar Nagini curled up around him. Rookwood was standing behind the Dark Lord's chair.

"This is not a thing I would confide in anyone had I a choice," said the Dark Lord, "but our situation is grave, and until this is dealt with we are vulnerable. I need the situation dealt with. And we cannot wait. The situation in Little Hangleton was a trap. All the men with me were captured. It was the Army of the Triumvirate. And at last their leadership revealed itself to me. It is led by Potter, Granger, and the Weasley girl."

Snape tried to hide a smile, but couldn't quite.

The Dark Lord did not smile. "Yes, yes Severus, you were correct that she was in with Potter the whole time. But he also revealed that he has destroyed the bulk of my horcruxes."

Everyone in the room knew what a horcrux was. Everyone in the room knew what this meant.

"Through fortune though, he has missed one and he doesn't know that fact," said the Dark Lord. As he said it, he petted his familiar. No, Narcissa dismissed that gesture. It couldn't mean what she thought it did.

"I am still immortal," said the Dark Lord, "Rookwood, explain the rest."

"The process of creating a horcrux necessarily damages the soul of the person creating it," said Rookwood, "After all, you are trying to break off a piece of your soul. This causes a great deal more damage than an ordinary murder. But the creation of the horcrux creates a force that holds the soul together. Which means that as horcruxes are destroyed…"

Snape hissed. "The soul grows less stable."

"Correct," said Rookwood, "The Dark Lord's situation is grave. His soul was damaged enough to create seven horcruxes, but is being held together by the power of a single horcrux. Any additional damage taken to his soul could cause him to start completely unraveling. This would kill him, horcrux or no. Which means that for the time being, the Dark Lord cannot use his powers to kill. Not unless it is absolutely necessary."

And suddenly it all made sense. Whatever was lacking from the Dark Lord would have to be made up from the money and resources that Narcissa and Clarise controlled. They were going to have to cover for the Dark Lord.

"But can anything be done about this?" asked Clarise, her face now looking sickly. Narcissa suddenly felt very badly for the woman. She had alienated her son for the Dark Lord, and now the Dark Lord might be doomed.

"When I was an Unspeakable, there was a book we had, a book full of soul magic," said Rookwood, "I only know of the one copy which we held in the Department of Mysteries. There was magic there that could repair a soul, though I do not know what it was."

"So if we could get that book…" said Narcissa.

"Precisely," said the Dark Lord, "We must begin preparations to take control of the Ministry of Magic."

XXXXX

Harry sat down next to Blaise on his bed in Blaise's room.

"I'm sorry," said Harry, "I wish I had been there to help."

"I probably wouldn't have asked you to come," admitted Blaise, "I had lots of help in any case. It wasn't lack of help that got my father killed." Blaise's tone had turned bitter.

"If you need anything from me, need to talk, need someone to cover..." started Harry.

Blaise sighed. "I need a place to stay. Both me and Seamus. We aren't going back to Ireland this summer."

"Well that one is easy," said Harry, "You can stay at my place. I'll make sure Dobby meets you at Platform 9 ."

"You can't take me?" asked Blaise.

"Hermione and Ginny and myself are going… somewhere as soon as we get to Platform 9 ," said Harry, "I'd tell you where, but I'm not telling anyone that. Not even Daphne."

Blaise nodded sadly.

"We'll only be gone a few days," said Harry, "and then we'll spend the summer together, you and Seamus, Hermione and me. It'll be fun."

Blaise gave Harry a small smile. "I always wanted to just be able to spend some time with my best mate. Guess I finally have the chance."

Harry gripped Blaise on the shoulder firmly. "And who knows? This time next year we may have won the war."

Blaise nodded. "Thanks Harry, but if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a while," he said kindly.

"Of course," said Harry. Harry got up and returned to his room. Hermione was waiting for him.

"How is Blaise?" asked Hermione.

Harry just shook his head. "He's… not good. But I can't blame him."

Harry sat down next to Hermione and put his head on her shoulder. She laid her head down on his head. And they stayed that way for a long time as they held each other.

This night should have been a triumph, thought Harry.

Author's Note: Yes, the whole point of Harry's 'trap' was to convince Voldemort that Harry believed he had destroyed all of Voldemort's horcruxes so that he will believe that Nagini is safe. It's a clever plan, but it's kind of passive. When it looked like Harry might be able to cooperate with Dumbledore and they were certain Snape would be their man inside the Death Eaters the whole plan was a lot more sound. Now it is sort of a matter of waiting for Voldemort to get over confident. Not great strategy. In fact, Harry's offensive has kind of settled into park a bit. Yes, I know you can all see where this is going.

The death of Pascale wasn't really planned, I just sort of wrote it. It was basically just, "What will Blaise do while the AoT is off doing their thing?" I knew Clarise and Danny were gonna fight over Hogsmeade, and I knew Danny was going to win, but everything else fell into place mid-chapter.

FYI, I am actually back at work now, (though I am generally alone, so yay social distancing) so my time to work on this is a bit more limited. I am also rereading the whole story to get the details right in the last few chapters. I am trying to keep up with releases but if I fall a bit behind, that will be why. I have also been correcting some minor mistakes that slipped through previously, so there is that going on. I am up to chapter 30, so I am getting close to done.

Next Time: The Triumvirate meets Grindelwald, Ginny finally gets honest with Molly, and Draco finally starts actually being effective. A bit.