Sorry this update took so long, I've been working on this for a while, trying to get it right. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to:

Hermione is 4 Harry - Thanks for reading. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Carol - Thanks for the chats and the reviews. I hope you are still enjoying it and I'm sure I'll talk to you again soon.

Happy Sage - Thanks for the great review. I'm really glad you are enjoying it and I'm looking forward to know what you make of this chapter.

Emerald Earth - How is school now? I hated it and I left 6 years ago! Hope your tests are going ok.

Kyc639 - I'm going to miss your story mate! That "trailer" was just cruel! Please keep reading.

Katani Petitedra - Hope you've been handling that suspense ok! Enjoy this chapter.

ears91 - Hope you like this update.

Right, I'll get on.

Chapter 27 - Rescue Plan

Snape and the Gryffindors ran to Dumbledores as quickly as they could. Ron kept as far away from Snape as he could and Harry noticed this. He also noticed that Snape was enjoying Ron's fear. That made Harry's insides squirm. He kept giving Ron glances. If only he could talk to Ron now, just the two of them. Many thoughts were going through Harry's head. The realization that he wasn't the Heir of Gryffindor after all. The uselessness he felt at not being able to help Neville. His scar had been searing with pain for a long time and Harry knew Voldemort and Rosenna were both happy and excited. He was sure that that couldn't be good for Neville.

They arrived outside Dumbledores office and Ron stopped. He was feeling so nervous, he didn't think he wanted to go through with it. "Ron?" Hermione asked him with concern. "Are you scared Mr Weasley?" Snape asked, sneering at Ron. Ron glared at Snape, took a deep breath and - the door opened and Lupin was stood inside. "Harry?" Harry moved towards Lupin. "Its ok Professor, we've bought Ron. He wants to tell Professor Dumbledore everything." Lupin glanced at Ron, gave Snape a quick annoyed look and then turned back to Harry. "Come in all of you." Snape coughed. "Professor Dumbledore gave ME the instructions of finding these children and sorting them out Lupin, I would prefer it if you didn't try to take charge." Lupin turned on Snape, disbelief on his face. "How can you be so stupid Snape, now?" Snape smiled. "Are you afraid "Moony"? Lupin hissed with anger at the use of his old school nickname. "Not so brave without your old pal Padfoot are you?" Snape continued, moving closer to Lupin. "Will you two stop arguing now!" They both swung round to face Tonks, who was staring at them with anger. "I think there is more important things to worry about then you two and your petty school squabbles." Snape met Tonks eyes for a moment and whispered, "I think you are right." He then walked into the Office without another word. Lupin sighed, his anger had now deflated. "I'm sorry." He told them all. "No matter Remus," Tonks patted Lupin on the back. "Come on you guys, get in. Dumbledore's waiting." Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lupin followed Tonks into the office.

Dumbledore was sat behind his desk, Fudge and Moody stood either side of him. As soon as Fudge saw Ron, he quickly moved towards him, gesturing to two aurors. "So!" Fudge snapped, stopping right in front of Ron. "You are the young turncoat are you?" Ron merely looked at Fudge, not bothering to reply. "Believe me young man, you are in a great deal of trouble." Harry had stepped beside Ron. "Why don't you move aside and let Ron tell Dumbledore his story, Minister?" Ron glanced at Harry. Fudge gave Harry a look of intense dislike. "I would remind you, 'Mr' Potter, that I expect to be treated with respect." Harry raised an eyebrow. "I tend to treat people with respect once they've earned it, 'Mr' Fudge." Fudge bristled with anger. He gave Ron one more frosty look then returned to Dumbledore's side, only this time two aurors moved to surround him. "Now you've had your say Cornelius, perhaps we could allow Mr Weasley to tell his story. Time is of the essence of course." Fudge, obviously not noticing the sarcasm in Dumbledore's voice, drew himself up to his full height and said, "Yes, yes Albus, I will allow the boy to speak." Dumbledore rolled his eyes and then smiled at Ron. "Ron, please start from the beginning." Ron swallowed a couple of times, caught Harry's eyes once, and then turned back to Dumbledore.

"It started just after last term ended," he began nervously. "My brother, Percy, tried to talk to me one day. He had betrayed my family, you Professor and Harry last year by joining with HIM." He jerked his head towards Fudge, who looked like he was going to say something but a very nasty look from Moody stopped him. He merely continued to glare at Ron.

"Well, when You Know Who was discovered and the Ministry were found to be complete idiots, Percy realised how stupid he had been. He told me he was sorry and he wanted to make it up to the family and me. He said he wanted to help." Ron stopped and closed his eyes. Hermione moved to stand next to him and Harry touched his shoulder gently. "It was too soon, I was still really angry with him," Ron continued but he still had his eyes shut. "I didn't want to know. I told him he was a traitor and he had treated Mum and Dad like lepers for a whole year. I screamed and screamed at him, telling him how much a hated him and how he wasn't my brother anymore." Ron paused again and took two deep breaths. "You are doing very well Mr Weasley," Dumbledore said softly. "Please carry on at your own pace." Ron nodded. "I'll never forget Percy's face. He just gazed at me. He didn't shout or scream back at me. After I had finished yelling, he just turned and ran. I watched him go, not feeling any guilt at all." Ron paused for breath again. You could have heard a pin drop in the office now, everyone in the room was now staring at Ron in complete silence.

"After that, I went back home. I assumed everyone would agree with me, that they would be pleased at what I'd done but Mum and Dad were furious. They said that Percy was still my brother and nothing would ever change that. They said I should have forgiven him. I didn't understand what they were on about. Mum sent me out again to find Percy and I decided I'd do that, maybe even give him a chance to explain." Ron felt a tear run down his face at this point and he quickly wiped it away. He felt Hermione take his hand in hers and he looked at her. She smiled at him. "I wandered around for ages trying to find him. I passed lots of Ministry workers who told me they had seen him and I followed their directions until, finally, I found him. Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured him. There was nothing left of him but a husk. He was like a vegetable. I didn't know what to do. I knew it was all my fault and I wanted to help, to put him out of his misery. So, I used the Avada Kedavra curse and I killed him. I killed my brother." Hermione let out a gasp and covered her mouth. Harry stared at Ron, he had had no idea. Fudge was now looking at Ron, swallowing hard. Lupin put his hand on Ron's shoulder. Snape continued to stare at Ron. Ron tried hard not to meet the Potion Masters eyes.

"I used my wand to get help and Percy was taken away. Mum and Dad couldn't talk to me for a while, Mum found it quite hard to even look at me. No one knew what I had done, people assumed the death eater killed Percy and I didn't tell them any different. I used an unforgivable curse, I'd killed my brother. I knew I'd be sent to Azkaban. It was about a week after Percy's death that it came to see me." Dumbledore sighed. Ron looked up at him. "A Ravenscar visited you Ron?" Ron swallowed and slowly nodded. Harry looked down at his shoes. "It told me that I was hers and that I would obey her or suffer. It was like a dementor but looked even scarier. Then, it marked me." Dumbledore nodded. "Show me, Ron." Ron rolled up his sleeve and revealed the same mark on his arm that Harry had. Ron pulled his sleeve down again, painfully aware that he was now being stared at with sympathy and he hated it. He realised that he was starting to understand how Harry felt every day. "After the Ravenscar left, I started getting visions in my head. Percy would visit me, screaming at me and begging me to help him. He would call me a murderer. I couldn't stand it. Then, I would see You Know Who doing really bad things to Hermione and Ginny. Sometimes I didn't know if it was a dream or really happening. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my family or my friends tortured or murdered but I couldn't tell anyone. How could I? I'd murdered Percy." Hermione was staring at Ron, silent tears rolling down her face. Harry wiped a tear away from his own eye, to wanting to look at Ron. Harry was furious with himself. How could he have let Ron suffer like this alone? "After a while, I'd started to wish I were dead. I wanted it to just end, no more dreams, no more horror. That's when Draco Malfoy came to see me. He said he knew what I was going through because he had lost his own Father thanks to the Ministry." Ron gave Fudge a filthy look at that moment.

He continued. "Malfoy told me that if I helped him and his masters, the pain would all go away. No more dreams, visions, I'd be left alone. He also told me that he knew who had tortured Percy and if I helped him out a couple of times, he'd tell me who did it and teach me some spells to use on this person. I was so tired, so finished, I was desperate for someone to help me, anyone. He told me that I would have to fall out with Harry and Hermione but I didn't care about that. Better that they weren't friends with a murderer anyway. He then told me that I had to weaken Harry, make him lose heart, so that's what I did." Harry was now looking at Ron. Ron met his eyes and added "and I will regret it for the rest of my life." Ron looked away. "I was told that Neville was the Heir of Gryffindor but I couldn't let on. It helped Rosenna that everyone thought it was Harry as it left Neville unprotected. Also, Rosenna attacked Harry because You Know Who told her he was their biggest threat. Put Harry out of the way, then the path was clear to Neville." Ron paused for another breath. "And now they've got Neville, but they haven't been completely successful. They wanted Harry too, especially You Know Who. He wanted revenge so badly, but he failed." Harry glanced up. "How?" he whispered. Rona actually grinned at him. "Because of you mate. Rosenna was supposed to take you over completely, weaken Hogwarts considerately and then you were supposed to go to You Know Who on your own accord but you were to strong for him, too strong for both of them." Harry nodded and looked down again. "And, that's all there is too tell Professor." Ron stated, his eyes on Dumbledore's. Dumbledore nodded to Ron and smiled at him. "Do you have any idea where they would have taken Neville?" Dumbledore asked. "No, I'm sorry." Ron answered, his eyes on the floor. "And one other question Ron, do you know any other reason why they required Harry apart from Voldemorts revenge?" Ron flinched at the name but he shook his head and asked, "Why?" Dumbledore glanced at Harry, who looked back. Surely Dumbledore wasn't going to tell them all about the Prophecy now too? Dumbledore was staring at Harry hard. Harry knew Dumbledore was aware of what he was thinking. "No reason Ron," Dumbledore said. "I was just wondering." Ron nodded but he still gave Harry a questioning look. Dumbledore gave Harry one more look and then turned to Fudge.

"Well Minister, is there anything you would like to ask Mr Weasley before we move on?" Fudge stepped forward. "Well yes Albus - hang on! Did you say move on?" Dumbledore smiled. "I believe Mr Weasley has been very helpful and perhaps it would be best for us to begin planning our attack on Voldemort and Rosenna?" Fudge had gone very red in the face. "This boy has just admitted to murdering a ministry employee. He must be taken away at once to stand trial." Dumbledore's eyes had stopped twinkling. Harry and Hermione had moved closer to Ron and Lupin had tightened his grip on Ron's shoulder. Ron realised he didn't care less about Fudge, Harry and Hermione were there for him, protecting him and that meant the world to him. Moody took a step towards Fudge. "Listen here you!" Moody growled and Fudge backed off. "Dumbledore is in charge here not you. Young Mr Weasley has told us everything he knows and I think it was brave of him to do that. You won't be taking him anywhere - savvy?" Fudge looked very put out but also very frightened. He nodded and then shrunk behind his bodyguards.

Dumbledore stood up and walked round towards Ron, who gave him an unsure look. "I'm sorry you have suffered so much this year Ron. I can't tell you that you haven't done wrong this year, I can't tell not to feel horrible as I'm sure you are." Ron nodded, his eyes filling with tears. "What I can say is, don't blame yourself. I know I owe you my life for that night in the Forbidden Forest and you have also helped Harry in many occasions this year, at great personal risk. You've been used Ron. What happened to Percy was not your fault. Keeping quiet and suffering alone was. Learn a lesson Ron. Trust your friends. They are here for you now, they still care. You are a lucky young man." Ron nodded once, his eyes filled with tears. Dumbledore glanced once to Harry, who nodded and then walked towards Ron, closely followed by Hermione. Ron turned to face Harry. "Ron, I'm sorry about Percy." Ron nodded. "I'm sorry about everything Harry." Harry smiled at him and put his hand on his shoulder. He then pulled Ron to him and they hugged. Hermione let out a smothered sob. Harry then moved back from Ron and looked him in the eye. "I'm not saying everything is OK Ron. It's going to take time. Things may never be as they were but the three of us are stronger together and you're too good a mate to lose." Ron nodded, he hadn't expected any more from Harry, he was just glad he was talking to him again. Ron then turned to Hermione and they hugged as well, Harry looking on. He could have sworn he heard a whisper of "How touching," coming from Snapes direction. Harry glared at the Potions Master but he was watching Dumbledore closely. Perhaps Harry imagined it. Dumbledore was smiling. "Excellent! That Gryffindor loyalty is strong!" He turned to Moody. "We have to try and find out where Neville Longbottom is. I have no idea how long we have got but I fear time is running out." Moody nodded. "We all have to save this boy and we must be together to do this. Are you all with me?" There were cheers and cries of agreement from everyone in the room. Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by someone behind him.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Professor Dumbledore but I believe I can be of help to you all." There were gasps around the room. Lupin had covered his mouth and stood back. Hermione had screamed and grabbed Ron's arm. Ron had moved closer to Harry and Snape looked like he was about to be violently sick. Only Dumbledore and Harry were smiling calmly. James Potter smiled back at them. He gazed around the room. His eyes stopped on Lupin. "Remus, old buddy. How you doing?" Lupin opened his mouth but no sound came out. "J- J-James?" he stammered. James grinned widely. Harry turned to Lupin. "Professor, it isn't really Dad." Lupin turned to look at Harry, his eyes wide. "He is a friend though." Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed he is. You have some information for us 'James'?" James nodded. "Neville Longbottom is in Rosenna's temple. I think you know where that is Dumbledore?" Dumbledore nodded. "Where she was banished, yes I know. It was destroyed?" James nodded. "Yes, she has had it rebuilt, in record time." He chuckled. "Magic protects it. But you are stronger Dumbledore, you and young Mr Potter here of course. The two of you will sense it." Harry looked shocked. "How am I supposed to know?" he demanded. Dumbledore gave him a look to silence him and then bowed his head to James. "Thank you." He said. James bowed back. "The Heir needs you all, hurry." With that, James vanished. Everyone started talking at once. Hermione and Ron were talking between themselves, Harry was demanding to know what that vision of his Dad was going on about, what was he supposed to sense? And how? Snape was glaring evilly at the place where James had stood. Dumbledore raised his wand and shot a noise like a firework from it. Everyone fell silent at once. "My friends, I understand your confusion. That wasn't a ghost but it was real. Answers later." He said quickly. "Plans must be put into effect now." Moody stepped towards Dumbledore. "Where is this temple Albus?" Dumbledore looked at him. "The old Temple, where Godric and Rowena banished Rosenna was on Gryffindor land. The area is now known as Godrics Hollow." Harry froze. He knew this was what the place was called where his old house stood. The house where Rosenna had attacked him in. The house that had been the Orders HQ that year. Everyone turned to look at Harry again. Tonks and Lupin exchanged looks. Dumbledore raised his hands and the whispering voices died down again. "We all know of Godrics Hollow's history. It is time to head out. Aurors, you must leave for there immediately. There will be Ravenscars and Death Eaters trying to stop you, hold them off. I will go and round up the Order. Tonks, Alastor, if you could come with me please?" They both nodded and went to join Dumbledore at the fireplace. The Aurors began to move out, Fudge barking orders as they went but it appeared none of them were taking that much notice. Only Fudges bodyguards remained. Dumbledore then turned to Lupin and Snape. "Remus, Severus, you must go with Harry, Hermione and Ron. Look after them. There is a trophy outside my office, transform it into a portkey Remus. Severus, don't look at me like that please. We need Harry." Severus mumbled something that Dumbledore seemed to overhear. "They may be children Severus but they have coped with more in their short lives than many adult wizards have. Now please, go now." Remus nodded, gave Snape an impatient look, then the 5 of them went to the door and walked through, hearing the sound of floo powder behind them.

They moved along the corridor and gathered around a small table with the said Trophy on the middle of it. Lupin muttered an incantation, then nodded to Snape. "We all touch if after 3. Ready?" They all nodded. Snape began "1 - 2 -" "WAIT!" A bunch of children were running down the corridor towards them. Snape cursed under his breath and Lupin glanced at the clock above them. Ginny, Ernie, Justin, Susan, Seamus, Dean and Cho all came to a stop in front of them. "We're coming with you, we can help!" Ginny puffed. Ron opened his mouth to argue. Lupin stopped him. "No time to disagree, we must leave now. Everyone, touch the trophy please - NOW!" They all touched the port key at the same time and disappeared. Once they had gone, three figures stepped out of the shadows. Nott, Crabbe and Goyle all stared at where the group had stood. "We have to report this to the Dark Lord," Nott told the others. They grunted and nodded stupidly. "Come with me, we must hurry." Nott hissed and all three of them broke off into a run, almost knocking Filch over as they went.

Not much action in that one but maybe I answered some questions and created some others! Hope you enjoyed it. Please please review!!!! Next chapter will be a big battle and it'll be up soon. I hope you haven't all lost interest in this!