Chapter One Hundred and Eleven: Final Preparations

It felt odd, waiting for something to happen without really knowing when, or even if it would happen at all. And yet, Daphne could feel the tension, and she knew her friends could as well. Dumbledore had told Harry how to destroy Horcruxes, but had admitted to not have any real leads on their locations, save one, which he was still trying to confirm.

In the meantime, Harry tried to find more moments for the Order to practice, but with the mounting homework and approaching exams, and Quidditch practice for the various teams, it was exceptionally difficult to find time for it. Eventually, however, they managed to get another meeting in.

"Okay, everyone, like I mentioned last time, today we're going to do the opposite of what we did last time, with a few tweaks to the setup," Harry said. "Daphne, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and I will hide somewhere in the 'city'. The layout is a bit different from last time, but it's very similar. All you need to do to win is to find us and defeat us. If we're still 'alive' when time runs out, we win. This time, though, you won't be starting spread out. While we're setting up, you all get to make plans and coordinate. You beat us last time, so we know you can do it, except this time, we won't necessarily be coming to you. Alright, you've got ten minutes. Good luck, and be creative."

With that, Harry and the others headed deeper into the mock city the Room had created for them, casting Muffliato the second they rounded the first corner.

"So what's our plan?" Daphne asked.

"We need to make sure we don't get separated this time," Harry said. "The five of us together should be able to take on anything they throw at us if we play this right, especially since we don't have to hunt them."

"We should probably set up in an easily-defended position," Hermione said.

"But we need to keep our escape routes open," Ron said. "They're clever, and they'll want to play to their strengths. If we get pinned down, we're done for."

He looked around. They were currently walking in a relatively wide 'street', coming up to a crossroads.

"We should hide in one of the buildings here," he said. "Most of us should stay on the ground floor; we can outfight them if they try to enter the door recklessly, at least long enough to escape. Harry, you should go upstairs and keep a lookout, since you're used to keeping an eye on many things at once and you're the strongest duelist in case you get separated from us during a scuffle."

Daphne grinned. She sometimes forgot that Ron was a fairly good strategist. With his skill at wizard chess, it shouldn't really surprise her that he was capable of coming up with plans that made use of people's strengths.

"What do you think their plan will be?" Harry asked.

"Hard to say," Ron said. "Neville's become really crafty, we noticed that last time, and Daphne's S.I.N. friends are good at working together as well. The Quidditch players will be used to backing each other up, too. I suppose they'll divide into several groups. Once they discover us, they'll probably try to cut off the exits."

"We could always make a new one," Ginny said. "We could use Defodio to cut through a wall without harming anyone on the other side. Hermione has the control for it, I'm sure."

Hermione nodded. "I think I can do that, yeah."

They went into the building on the nearest street corner and set up their ring of defensive spells.

Harry, Disillusioned, crept upstairs to the roof to keep watch, further hiding himself with his own defensive spells. He could've used his Invisibility Cloak, but he didn't want to use any unfair advantages in a practice situation.

Daphne and Ginny kept watch on the ground floor, from different windows, while Ron and Hermione tried to predict how the other Order members might try to attack them.

While Daphne kept watch over her — currently empty — section of the street, she tried to come up with a way to make her Divination useful in the practice. Last time, she'd sensed that Ginny was about to be attacked, so she knew that it was possible, to a degree. She took a deep breath and tried to pick up anything around her, using her formless Divination without really asking anything of it, but it didn't seem to yield many results. She frowned. Did one of her friends need to be in acute danger for her skills to work? Or even specifically Harry or Ginny?

No, that couldn't be it. Divination, like all magic, was about intent, and it was arithmantic in nature. If formless Divination could give the answers to questions, there was no real reason why it wouldn't be able to be used for a wider desire to know the future. All that was lacking was the initial setup…but she might not have to come up with that herself.

She glanced at Ron and Hermione, who were still working things out, and then she realized how her talent might be useful.

"Ron, if you tell me how you think they'll begin, I might be able to use my Divination to tell you how they would approach given those starting circumstances," she said. "And then you can work out the rest from there."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance.

"That might work," Hermione said. "It's all about probabilities, isn't it? And Daphne can calculate that much quicker than I can. I'll keep watch, you and Ron work out what they'll do."

Daphne and Hermione exchanged places, and Ron quickly sketched a possible scenario the others might use. Daphne focused on her formless Divination as she'd done before, kept Ron's scenario in her mind, and simply asked, 'What will happen?'

Almost immediately she thought of an answer and described to Ron which group would come from which direction, which Ron then thought about, frowning.

At that moment, Harry leaned down from the stairs and said, "Group of people approaching, middle of the street, from the east. Seems like it's S.I.N."

"Okay," Ron said slowly. "If they're coming from there, then I think Neville and Luna will be trying to get around us. Daphne, assuming we're indeed being flanked by Neville and Luna, where would the Gryffindor Quidditch players be? Are they grouped up or split apart?"

Daphne closed her eyes and focused. "They're split apart. Some of them are with the Hufflepuff players, and some of them are with the Ravenclaw ones," she said. "The Ravenclaws are with Luna, the Hufflepuffs with Neville."

"Right. Hermione, if we need to get out, can you gouge out the southeastern wall? I think there won't be many people in that direction," Ron said.

Hermione nodded. "Sure. But do we need to do anything at all? They haven't found us yet, have they?" she asked.

Ron shook his head. "No, and I doubt they will just yet. If the S.I.N. group passes us by, we might be okay to stay here, but we should keep our wands at the ready."

"And it might be a fake-out even if they do pass us by," Daphne said.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, that, too."

Daphne took her position at the window again, knowing their defensive spells would make them nearly undetectable. Even so, she readied herself for a fight. She could see Tracey and her other S.I.N. friends now as well. They methodically moved up the street, opening doors, peering inside, and occasionally firing Stunners.

The doors to the building Daphne and the others were hiding in could easily be opened without giving anything away, but if their attackers fired in a Stunner, they'd immediately see it bounce off and realize they'd found the hiding spot.

Harry crept back down the stairs and joined the others. "We'll have to fight," he said.

Ron nodded. "We're ready," he said.

The door opened and a red jet of light flew in, only to ricochet off and slam into the wall. Immediately afterward, Daphne, Ginny, and Harry fired their own Stunners outside, both through the door and the window facing that part of the street.

S.I.N., however, was prepared, and dodged or blocked the Stunners. Daphne saw Adrian firing up red sparks into the air, signaling to everyone else that they'd found their targets.

"Hermione!" Ron said, and Hermione immediately whirled around, aimed her wand at the wall and said, "Defodio!"

A large block of wall fell over, opening up into a room of the adjacent building.

"Everyone out, let's go!" Harry shouted.

They quickly piled into the next room, and Hermione pointed her wand at the fallen section of wall. "Reparo!"

The block flew up and sealed itself back into place.

Meanwhile, Ginny opened the door and crept outside, Disillusioned and staying low in case someone was waiting for them, but it seemed like they'd gotten away.

Then, though, Daphne felt the same feeling she'd gotten last time. "Ginny, dodge!" she shouted.

Ginny listened immediately and jumped aside, causing the jet of red light to miss her by mere inches.

"In the window!" Hermione yelled, and she fired a Stunner.

"Everyone Disillusion and run, we're heading south!" Harry shouted.

Daphne hastily cast the spell and ran out into the street, keeping her eyes trained on the shimmer in the air she knew to be Ginny, ahead of her.

Ginny rounded a couple of corners and then entered a building in the middle of one of the streets, quickly followed by the others.

"Damn it, I guessed wrong," Ron said, looking irritated. "Neville must've guessed we'd leave in an unconventional way. He's getting way too good at this."

"How did they know we were at that particular spot to begin with?" Daphne asked.

"My fault," Harry said. "Our initial route was too straight, so this was the first likely spot. We probably should've kept moving."

"They'll have someone over here soon," Hermione warned. "We should get going again; this spot isn't easy to defend."

"No, wait," Ron said. "Let's put up all our defensive spells here, then go through the wall again and repair it. If they come here, they'll waste time trying to blast down our defenses while we'll be long gone, and then we might be able to create some distance."

"Let's do it quickly, then," Ginny said. "We don't have much time."

"I'll set up the spells, you guys get moving," Harry said. "Head…well, I don't know the layout on the other side, but I'd say either right, or straight ahead, whichever is available. I'll catch up in a moment."

Hermione quickly opened another 'door' in the wall with her Gouging Spell while Harry began setting up protections around the room. Daphne followed Ginny and Ron through the new door and headed outside, once again trusting Ginny to take the lead.

The street seemed deserted, and this time she didn't feel any imminent danger, despite still being very tense.

Soon, she heard footsteps behind her and she glanced over her shoulder.

"Harry?" she asked, ready to begin hexing if there was no answer.

"It's me," Harry replied, and Daphne breathed a sigh of relief.

Only a minute or so later, they saw red sparks going up in the house they'd just been in.

"Stick close to the walls," Harry said.

"What if we do the same thing again?" Daphne asked as they crept along. "Go in a building, set up defenses, and get out again?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Harry replied. "If we keep them guessing we should be able to make it through."

Then, though, there was a shout from the end of the street. Smith and three other Hufflepuff Quidditch players had seen them in spite of their Disillusionment Charms.

"Here we go again," Ginny sighed, and she took off running.

The rest of the game, tense though it was, was mostly the same. Daphne and the others occasionally hid in a building for a few minutes before moving on again. Aside from some minor skirmishes, there weren't any other big fights, and when the timer ran out, surprisingly no one had been defeated.

"Good job again, today, everyone," Harry said. "It's plain to see we've all learned from last time. The fact alone that no one was Stunned or otherwise beaten tells me you all really understand what this is all about. I hope you all had fun, and see you all next time."

Once everyone had left the Room, Harry said, "Voldemort can pack it in. This was as close to a real fight as we can get, and we did really well. Outside, we'll also be able to Apparate, so we'll be able to move around much more freely."

"Depending on when we go out there, though, I might still have the Trace on me," Ginny pointed out. "If I use magic, or you use it around me, they'll know where we are immediately."

Harry nodded. "I'm really hoping that won't happen," he admitted. "But if it does, we'll deal with it then. I don't think there's any way to get rid of the Trace, is there?" he asked Hermione.

"I don't know. I've never looked into exactly how it works," she said, "but the odds of it being easy to bypass are pretty slim."

"As long as you're not considering leaving me behind," Ginny said warningly.

"Never," Harry said. "We'll deal with the Trace if it becomes necessary, but I'm not leaving you behind." He grinned. "As if you'd let me, anyway."

Ginny grinned back. "Good. As long as we're clear on that."

I had to be quick, so I just winged it. Tomorrow's chapter might be a bit late, as I might need to fence (depending on how I did today) and drive across an entire country home first, and then I need to write the chapter, but it will go up, even if it's an hour or two later than usual.

As for this chapter, I wanted to give Ron a bit more credit than he tends to get; the guy's a good chess player, so he deserves to shine at least a little bit, I think. And even though Neville didn't really appear in the chapter (I just don't have the time to show instead of tell right now), I wanted to at least make it clear he's getting stronger.