I own none of these characters.

A/N: I have not yet read book six, but I'm assuming that this story is now even more AU than it was before. Ah well. And, despite the fact that I haven't been responding to any of my reviews, I do love getting them. I even modify my story if a good point is made. (ie. Polar Thestral: I hope chapter six helped rationalize chapter five for you.) Incidentally, there will be a grand total of ten chapters in this fic.

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Icarus

by MarbleGlove

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Dear Sir,

When I first wrote you I did so after a great deal of thought and planning to remain anonymous. You do not have a comfortable or safe reputation.

And yet, we have achieved a great thing together in creating a cure for lycanthropy. I would not wish to stop there. You are correct in saying that if we are to direct our further research into finding a cure for your own condition we must meet.

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Ron looked up from the letter. "Harry. You-Know-Who is asking to meet our Hermione. This is a chance to ambush him. He'd never notice us as our animagi, a horse and a kestrel. Especially if Hermione's distracting him. Do you really want to have the final battle happen whenever He decides? For the past seven years, we've been on the defense. I think it's time to take the offense."

"I know you're right, Ron, but I'm not ready. I can't cast the death curse. I just can't. I try. And I do hate him and I want him dead so badly, but I, I can't get the death curse to work." Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat. There was self-hatred that he couldn't manage to avenge his parents, and protect his friends. They needed him, but of all the powerful and difficult spells he could cast, Avada Kedavra just wasn't one of them.

"Come on, Harry. If you don't kill him, he'll kill you."

"I know!"

Hermione broke into the beginning of the argument. "Avada Kedavra is a high level dark arts spell. There's no reason to believe that Harry should be able to cast something like that."

"But I have to."

Hermione nibbled on her lip for a moment. "No. There are other ways to kills someone. How's your transfiguration coming?"

"Ah. Decent. And we did the animagi training together, remember."

"Ah yes. I can make a spell for you. It would be a variation on the animagi spell, but cast on someone else. It's a less complicated version of the cure spell for lycanthropy." Her eyes were focused on something neither of her friends could see.

The boys looked at each other and then back at her. Ron finally tentatively asked. "What would the spell do?"

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I think it will please you more than not to know that even as my respect for you has grown, as has my appreciation for what you have done for me, I have never lost my wariness of you. You are a powerful dark lord and the newspapers give weekly accounts of those you have killed or terrorized. And yet, over the course of our correspondence I have come to believe that you do not mean me any harm. This is my belief, but I know perfectly well that I could be wrong.

I would like to meet with you, however I do not feel like I can do so without first gaining certain guarantees.

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Hermione took a deep breath and then went into lecture mode. Looking at the theory helped distract her from the realization of what exactly she was contemplating. "Every person has inside of them maps of what their body should look like. Lycanthropes have double descriptions of their body, one for human form, one for animal form. The animagi spell creates the extra animal map and puts it into you, and then gives you control over which map the body should be reading at any given time. Werewolves have the extra map, but they don't have the control over which map is read."

"Yeah, yeah. I actually understood that much from your article. Neither of us are that incompetent."

"Anyway," Hermione went on rather huffily, ostentatiously ignoring the interruption, "I can develop a spell that will sort of scramble all the information on the body map. We're currently working on a set of spells that would help him refine his body into something more appealing." Hermione wasn't sure which of the two boys snorted at that, but she ignored it anyway and continued.

"A spell that randomly changes information wouldn't be all that hard. The body map then describes something that isn't a viable creature."

"So, so what happens then? Does he turn into a pile of goo?" Harry asked with morbid fascination.

Ron made a grimace of distaste at the mental image but also listened for the answer.

Hermione nibbled once more on her lip in thought. "No. I don't think so. I mean, since you're casting it on someone else it won't be that strong. It won't immediately force the body to change. At least not the basic spell that I'm thinking of. It will just mean that the next time his body has to stabilize itself it won't be able to." She squinted into the distance for a moment and then offered in the manner of one making a concession. "He'll probably have immediate liver and kidney failure."

"Okay. So, you're suggesting we wait around for him to die of kidney or liver failure even though those take weeks to actually kill anyone and they're easily curable? Somehow that doesn't strike me as the most sure fire way to off a powerful wizard."

Hermione casually reached over and smacked Ron lightly upside the head. Her eyes remained focused on something only she could see. "It would mean his body couldn't correct for minor mishaps. And it wouldn't be able to build and control the energy he needs. Any magic on his part would backfire and wind up killing him. He certainly wouldn't be able to successfully cast an unforgivable and he wouldn't survive the attempt. Almost any spell cast on him would send him into system failure. A basic stunning spell should guarantee his death at that point."

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First, I would meet with you in the Forbidden Forest. I would be accompanied by a horse, Bucephalus. You would, if you wish, be accompanied by your own familiar. If we meet, I will be giving up the anonymity that shields me from you. I would prefer not to give up the anonymity that shields me from the rest of the world.

Second, in hopes that you will reciprocate, I give you my own wand oath: I hereby give you my wand oath in writing that should we meet as suggested, during that meeting I will not act against you magically or physically unless it be in self-defense.

Because of your greater power, both personally and through those sworn to your service, I need a greater wand oath from you before my nerves are sufficiently soothed. Swear to me that you will not seek to harm me either at this meeting or after. Swear to me that you will not use the knowledge of my identity against me.

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Ron whistled appreciatively. "There is no way a spell like that isn't illegal."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You do remember that the death curse you were telling me to cast is not only illegal but unforgivable, right?"

"Yeah, but a spell that leaves you alive but weak enough to be killed by any magic either yours or others? I can already see the potential torture scenes of casting it on an enemy and then leaving them."

Hermione was shaking her head though, "No. It's not illegal."

Ron and Harry looked at her with patent disbelief.

Hermione shrugged. "The ministry has a list of illegal spells. This one isn't on it."

"Yeah, but that's because you just made it up. Or are about to make it up. Or whatever. They don't know about it yet, at any rate, so of course it's not on their list yet."

"Doesn't matter. As long as it's not on the list, it's legal. As soon as they find out about it, it'll be put on the list and made illegal, but until that point, it's perfectly legal."

"Blimey, Hermione. Do you mean that you could become a reigning Dark Lord killing all sorts of people and not go to jail for it because you invent the spells?"

Hermione grimaced. "More or less. Yeah. Of course, murder by whatever means is still illegal, but I wouldn't be imprisoned for using dark magic as long as I was careful. And I don't think Harry's going to get in trouble for killing Lord Voldemort."

"You've got a point there. So, Harry, are you up for it? You learn this spell of Hermione's, she writes back to her dear, dear dark lord, and we go and take out You-Know-Who once and for all?"

"I'm up for it." Harry grinned.

"Um, guys. Don't you think you're being a little rash? I mean, going to meet You-Know-Who?"

"Look who's talking. You're the girl who's writing to him."

"Well, yeah. But I didn't intend to ever see him face-to-face."

"Now here's your big chance." Ron and Harry grinned at her. She smiled back rather weakly.

"Yeah. My big chance."

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I tremble with a mixture of excitement and fear, hope and despair, as I compose this letter. I am unsure whether I desire you to meet these requirements or not. But with those guarantees, I will meet you.

Swear an oath and name a date. I will meet you then.

Yours, with utmost respect,

Icarus