A/N: Please forgive me for taking a month to get this up! I've been moving house and having a whole heaps of trouble with computers plus I've been so extremely busy at school! I mean, really, really, hours-after-school-helping-out sort of busy. So busy I got an outstanding-service-to-the-school award, please believe me; I've been trying so hard to get this chappie up. Now it's finally here. Sorry! Next one won't take so long – honest.

Chapter 28: Azkaban Plans

He stood frozen for a second, in the middle of the dorm room, his mind working fast, his eyes flicking around, desperately. He had to find Talia at 3 in the morning- how was he supposed to do that? Noticing he was breathing fast, Harry closed his eyes and relaxed. Ok – the Cloak, he'd need his Invisibility Cloak... and he needed to find Talia. The Map! Eyes snapping open, he lunged toward his bedside cabinet, rummaged through his belongings and pulled out the Marauder's Map.

He snatched the Cloak from out of his trunk, trying to work as quick as possible without waking the entire castle, and grabbed his wand. He ran through the common room, throwing the Cloak over his body and fumbling with his wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good. Lumos." He looked down at the map, his eyes flying and darting over the entire sheet, searching desperately for a dot labelled 'Talia'.

Harry's heart soared as he spotted her walking towards a bathroom. Thank Merlin for bladders! He pulled open the portrait hole ignoring the Fat Lady's confused squeals and ran down the corridor, the material whipping at his feet and the map fluttering in his hands. Half way there he had a stitch in his side and the breath coming raggedly from his mouth was burning in his chest. She was leaving the bathroom now. He ran faster, along corridors and down stairs. He passed a very amused Peeves who yelled after him that his running and panting would wake the Forest beasts. Ignoring him, he kept running, biting his tongue twice due to his panting. He was nearly there now. Along this secret passageway. Every muscle in his legs and chest were protesting against the speed of his running. Why hadn't he thought to bring his broomstick? He had to get to her before she returned to the staff wing. Slow down, Talia! Talia, wait! Wait! Please!

Feet banging on the concrete floor he raced forward, skidding round one last corner and flying towards the final staircase. He clomped down it, his footfalls echoing on the level below and saw Talia standing frozen in the middle of the hall, facing the direction of the noise.

He threw the cloak off him and stood still, bent double with exhaustion and sure his legs were about to collapse.

"Harry!" she exclaimed.  He could do nothing but pant as she rushed towards him, arms out in case he fell.  "What's the matter?"

He had barely enough time to breath, let alone speak, as his chest heaved and his throat threatened to swallow his tongue. He could feel the heat radiating off him and wanted so much to just fall down right there and right then. He didn't think he'd ever ran that fast for that long before. He was a great sprinter, but running half way across the castle at that speed wasn't easy on the body.

When his gasps slowed enough to allow him to speak between them, he coughed and began. "Snape – dream – he – I saw – so weak – going to – they're going – to – give – maybe – they have – already given – him it," he panted. "Veritaserum – he threw up – Voldemort – got – Snape." Despite his muddled words and constant splutters Talia appeared to get the message, because her eyes widened considerably and her mouth parted open in a tiny gasp.

"Harry look at me," she said, suddenly sounding very serious. Breathing heavily, he obeyed and immediately felt the whole world collapse until nothing could be seen except her glowing eyes.

His head was light, his stomach was spinning, it felt vaguely like he was loop-the-looping on his broom. Suddenly there was darkness and the eyes vanished. Instantly the world fell back into place around him and he had the distinct impression he was falling backwards.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Come with me. We'll go to my room – you can catch your breath – and we'll see what we can do."

*

Unlocking the door Talia swept inside and immediately knelt beside the fireplace, scooping powder from a pot beside her and sprinkling it into the flames. "12 Grimmauld Place. London," she ordered, her voice firm and resolute. Harry sank, wheezing into the couch behind her and tilted his head back in exhaustion.

Talia's head appeared in the Head Quarters' lounge room fireplace and she looked around it, discovered no-one was there, and immediately disappeared from the flames to reappear in the upstairs dining room. She checked 5 rooms until she found Mrs Figg making 3 cups of coffee in the kitchen.

"Arabella!"

The lady jumped and squealed as a tea bag went flying across the room. She spun around stared at the fire-place in shock. "What's happened?" she spluttered.

"Get the others! It's about Snape!" Talia said, her voice controlled but full of urgent authority. Arabella nodded and ran off and minute later two more people apparated into the room, Hestia Jones and Mundungus Fletcher (followed by rapid footsteps from the floor above.) "Harry's just told me something," Talia started. "He had a dream – about Snape, again. They were just about the give him Veritaserum." Hestia's mouth opened and she looked, in obvious horror, at Dung who raised his eyebrows to Talia, imploring her to elaborate.

"How well are your Azkaban Plans going?" she asked. Hestia coughed a little and pulled at the tips of her hair.

"They're all set. They just have to go into action."

"Really?" Talia asked, sounded terribly relieved. "Who's going in?"

"Tonks," she replied.

"Makes sense. When's she going?"

"We need the go ahead from Dumbledore," answered Arabella, who had just scurried into the kitchen.

Talia rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Well you're going to have to go without it! Snape's being forced to take Veritaserum, do you have no idea what kind of danger that puts everyone in? We – have – to – get – him – out – of – that – place!"

"We know," Hestia said fairly. "But we have to make sure we're not doing anything rash." Arabella nodded in agreement as she scooped down to pick up the sodden tea-bag by the fireplace. Talia ran her hand through her hair and sighed.

"Look, we don't know how long we have left – we don't know how much longer Snape can hold for. If the plans are ready she has to go in!"

*

The next morning, in Transfiguration, Harry propped his book up, covering his face, leant back in his chair and poked Hermione in the side.

"What?" she hissed.

Harry had checked the clock – class would end any minute now ... so if he struck up the conversation now, they would most likely still be talking about it in the corridors – and if all went well, they should bump into the Slytherins at exactly the right point, like Talia had told him to...

"Hermione, listen-"

"No, Harry," she scolded, glaring at him sideways. "You know what McGonagall's been saying. You have to work hard to stay on top in this subject – and if you want to be an Auror,  Harry I really think you should be payi-"

"Yes, yes I know. But I just want to say something... then I'll copy your notes tonight ok?" Hermione allowed herself a brief smile and then worked her face into an authentic looking frown.  Harry smirked. "Yea, well last night, I dreamt about Snape – and I went and found Talia and-"

"In the middle of the night?"

"Yes, and then she called the Head Quarters and they were talking about these plans they have," he whispered. "They're going to try and rescue him obviously – and they're sending Tonks in."

Hermione's jaw sank open and her eyes widened. "She's – they're – what?!" Harry nodded. "Are they mad? That's really, really dangerous!"

Harry's eyes darted over to the back of McGonagall's head as she strolled along the opposite aisle towards her desk. "I know – but I think she'll be ok. She can look like a Death Eater if she wants to, and they've got it all planned out."

An echoing bell sounded throughout the room, followed instantly by shuffling of paper, screeches of ink bottle tops and Minvera's call of "Finish the questions for homework!"

Folding the paper and piling her books together, Hermione shook her head. "I know, but things this ... well this risky rarely ever go exactly to plan."

"Yea – but ... there's not much else they can do," Harry shrugged, picking up his books and shoving his chair in with his foot. Hermione's faced creased in worry as she followed suit and started walking along the aisle behind him.

"So – er – how is Tonks actually going to get inside Azkaban?" Hermione asked as she fell into step with him outside the room. Harry cast his eyes around the corridor, looking for Draco.

"Oh – well, it's pretty complicated. Talia said something about her pretending to be a Death Eater though and getting in that way."

"But how is she going to get rid of the person she is impersonating? It would be a bit suspicious if two Bellatrixes turned up in the prison don't you think?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer and suddenly caught sight of the exact person he was looking for. Putting his plan into action immediately, he raised his voice and changed the topic as naturally as he could manage with only a second to think about it. "Yes well that could be a problem but you see they were telling me about a meeting they're all going to have – the Order you know, top secret everyone will be there."

"What? Harry keep your voice down people will hea-"

"It's going to be in Hogsmeade this Friday – all the important people are going to gather there and discuss important things-"

"Shh!"

Raising his voice, just a tiny bit more, Harry continued, "At the Hogs Head, upstairs in that secret room yanno? Wish I could go, I've always wondered what happened in Order meetings. Shame it had to be on Friday so we can't go, isn't it?"

Hermione had had enough. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the closest door, utter astonishment and increasing anger carved into her face. "What are you doing? Do you have any idea how loud you were being? We're not even supposed to know about the Order! And there you go telling the school about their next top secret meeting – with Draco in earshot! In case you forgot – his father is Lucius and what on earth are you grinning about?"

Harry was indeed grinning, and wished he could have watched Hermione go apoplectic for just a tiny bit longer. Lowering his voice to a whisper he replied, "That's the point. Draco was meant to hear that. It's all a setup you see?" Hermione's face fell and Harry continued whispering. "He'll tell Lucius and then the Death Eaters will walk straight into the trap."

She was staring at him with a look that so plainly showed how embarrassed she was at her outburst, that Harry couldn't stop himself from grinning again.

"Stop it," she snapped. "Come on we have Defence Against the Dark Arts, now, we'll be late," and she pulled him out of the room, attempting to hide her blush amongst her thick hair.  Being tugged along behind such an annoyed and humiliated Hermione had him smiling all the way down the corridor.

Recently the Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons had been focused around defence during duelling. Lupin had been teaching them counter curses and blocking spells, and this lesson was explaining shield charms. "They have to be cast in advance, they can't be used to block an already approaching spell; no-one's reflexes are that fast. Does anyone know how a shield charm actually works?"

Predictably, Hermione's hand was in the air, as were a few others. "Miss Granger?"

"They repel any spell or curse it comes in contact with. With each spell fired against it, it becomes weaker and therefore should not be used as absolute protection."

"10 points to Gryffindor, thank you. She is entirely correct. Shield Charms cannot resist all the spells for a long period of time, and they do deteriorate. There are incantations to strengthen your shield when you think its protection is about to fail. Shield Charms can also be easily removed by the opposition, but obviously, only as long as they know you have cast it in the first place. Any questions?"

There was a collective shaking of heads and Lupin paced a few steps to the left before speaking again. "The incantation is 'Agissadis', and there isn't a specific wand position except that it is held in your hand and not positioned ready to cast a separate spell. In other words, in should be pointing at you, the ground, the sky – whatever, but preferably not the ground as that puts you in a vulnerable position if the opposition tries to attack you. Basic defence rule: never relax your wand. Now, I'm sure you won't learn much more if I keep talking on and on – so I think we should practice. Shield Charms are colourless so you won't be able to physically tell whether you have been successful, so I'll be sending Expelliarmuses at people, all right? We're ready? After me, say 'Agissadis'."

Simultaneously, every wand in the room was brought to attention as the spell was cast. Professor Lupin was soon walking between people, testing their shields and helping them try again, when their shield had failed. Once everyone had mastered that, he explained what one had to do when their shield was weakening. It was fairly simple, the same wand position and the incantation 'Vallo'. The class partnered up to see how long they could maintain their shield whilst their opposition fired as many spells at them as the could. Harry and Neville were the two whose shield's maintenance Lupin was most impressed with; and when he handed out cubes of chocolate to everyone at the end of the lesson, they were rewarded with extra.

When the bell rung and the students started filing out of the door, Harry approached Professor Lupin at his desk.

"Hello, Harry. Very impressive shield charm, well done."

"Thanks, um, can I ask you something quickly?"

Remus turned his attention from wrapping up the chocolate and on to Harry. "Of course you can."

"Ok, well – remember I told you about the group we started last year, called the D.A?" Lupin nodded. "Well, I think it would be a good idea if we started it again. Not because your classes are useless like Umbridge's, (at the mention of her name Lupin's faced darkened slightly), they're really good. But I think some people might want to learn stuff that's not in the curriculum."

Remus nodded, "I agree. I think it's a great idea for you to start it up again."

Harry smiled in relief. "But there's one more thing. I was thinking that it shouldn't be just me teaching this time. Because, I mean, you know a whole heap of important things – obviously, because you're our teacher ... so I was thinking, if you don't mind, and if you have time with all the other stuff you're doing ... if you could maybe do it with me?"

Lupin's face lifted into a pleasant smile, the crows feet by his eyes deepening as he did so. "Of course I will, Harry. I might not be able to come to every meeting, but I'm very glad you want me to help."

So they began to spread the word that the D.A was back again. Hermione changed the date on her Galleon to the Sunday of that weekend and the pair of them approached previous members and asked them to pass on the news of, 'D.A, same place, check your money.' Hermione also set to work on creating more of the galleons and performing the Protean charm on them, in preparation for new members.

Walking down corridors, if he looked closely, Harry could spot people pulling galleons out of their pockets, examining them and replacing them, or someone whispering and handing a coin to their friend. There was much less need for the secrecy now, with Umbridge gone of course – but there was something about the confidentiality that made the D.A. seem more powerful. When Harry arrived at the Room of Requirement right after lunch that Saturday, as had been arranged, he found it was an awful lot larger. The reason for that was soon revealed, when almost double the amount of people turned up. Hermione barely had enough galleons to give to everyone and flashed Harry a very pleased grin as she mouthed the number '39', which was the amount of people present.

Lupin turned up too and even though Harry asked him to do the teaching, he hung back at the wall and insisted Harry go ahead. Feeling slightly more nervous with Lupin watching him, Harry got everyone's attention and explained (for the benefit of the new people) what the whole idea of the D.A was. "And also, we didn't have this last year, but Professor Lupin is going to help coach us too," he finished.

Several people looked at Harry and Lupin dubiously and one girl whispered, particularly loudly, to her friend that it was far better when there were no teachers involved. Zacharias agreed and didn't hesitate to make that known. "How come we have to have a professor here this time? I though you were supposed to be teaching us because you'd battled You-Know-Who? And isn't this whole thing supposed to be a secret?"

"Don't be stupid!" Hermione snapped. "You're here to learn the necessary non-curricular defences that you will most likely need if you ever get in the way of a Death Eater or Voldemort himself! If you'd rather not have a very experienced man here to help as well – then by all means, hand in your coin and leave!" Zacharias shrugged and muttered something before folding his arms. "Very well. Then don't complain."

Harry coughed, causing Remus to smile slightly. "Well um, I think we should take this first meeting to er, go over what we did before to refresh our memories and stuff. And get us warmed up..."

As exhausted as he was straight after holding a D.A. meeting, Harry had to go directly to the old Transfiguration room to meet up with Talia, and to his surprise, Dumbledore too. It was rather embarrassing staring right into Dumbledore's eyes, and trying to push away his attempts at entering his mind, but he found it was easier than it had been last year. Maybe he had more focus, maybe he was more confident, but whatever it was, he managed to push Albus out of his mind on several occasions. The headmaster was extremely impressed and his praise helped spur Harry on to try harder.

Talia made him warm tea during his break and all three of them gathered around a small table, in some gorgeously cosy chairs, which Dumbledore had conjured up. The fuzzy emptiness was starting to leak out of his mind, to be replaced by the familiar, warm sensation of a brain resting after too much work. The tea of course, could have something to do with it too, for it certainly was fine tea.

"Albus, have you heard from them yet?" Talia suddenly asked.

The headmaster nodded, "Yes. Stage 1 was successful as far as we know. Avery is in confinement under the Inanio Spell and Tonks has taken his place." Harry listened interestedly as Talia let out a deep breath and swept her hair out her face.

"Well, I suppose that's a relief."

"Certainly. The first Stage has gone to plan, therefore we have hope that the following will be equally victorious."

"'Hope' and nothing more."

"Talia, the procedure is extremely hazardous but we can do nothing now, except wait and give Tonks our full confidence."

"I know. I'm just worried. One of our own walking straight into the depths of Azkaban, right into You-Know-Who's bony arms. She'd better be alright. Snape too."

Dumbledore smiled, though his eyes were sad. "I hope so too. And, I believe a certain 'thanks' to Harry here is in order. I assume your performance in front of young Mr. Malfoy did exactly what it was meant to do?" Harry nodded. "Bravo. And how goes a certain map by the way?"

"I've been really busy, I'm sorry. And my m-"

"Oh not at all. You don't have to convince me with your excuses! I understand how busy you are, Harry, and I do not hold your lack of time against you. I am entirely certain you will see to the map the moment you are able, and until then – we cannot expect to hurry you."

He nodded again, "I should be able to work on it tomorrow, er, between homework." Talia smiled and took a long sip from her mug.

"Wonderful," Albus beamed. "Now, I think that – once you have finished your tea – we should continue. How much do you know about Legilimency?"