It was a night of mobilisation across every faction; the ministry scrambled to disprove Harry and Hermione's claims, Dumbledore recalled his Order of the Phoenix and Voldemort reestablished his death eaters.

Hermione and her fledgling coven returned to Avalon, gathering in the safety and security of Morgana's tower; a fortress within a fortress, impregnable by both muggle and magical means. Neville and Ginny dragged down the pile of furs and thick blankets from Hermione bed on the upper floor, rearranging them in front of the roaring fire. Theo reclined in one of the wooden chairs, gazing absently into the flames and knotting his fingers whilst Sirius paced back and forth near the door, disturbing Berg who was alternating between reading a large book and scowling at the younger man. Mordred leaned up against the wall behind Hermione's desk, hand resting on the pommel of his sword and dark eyes observing the two Gryffindors as they built a nest in front of the fire and forced Harry to rest. Anneken joined them after an hour, informing Hermione that she'd settled Viktor and his parents into a house in the city. She took up the seat opposite Theo, looking just as serene and elegant as always - this would be the fourth war that Anneken and Berg had lived through. Hermione was determined to make it the shortest.

Lord Nott joined them in the early hours of the morning, after Sirius had turned into a dog and joined Cavella at the feet of the three Gryffindor students and Harry had finally drifted off into uneasy sleep. Theo jolted up at his arrival, stumbling across the room to help his weary father into the seat instead. Hermione rose as well, Berg drawing his wand and casting a number of diagnostics.

'Lady Gorlois.' Lord Nott greeted, nodding his head so deeply that it was like he'd bent double in his chair. Hermione acknowledge the move, taking one trembling hand and pressing his ring back into it.

'Lord Nott, the Line of Gorlois owes you a debt. You saved Harry's life today.' Hermione pressed softly. Lord Nott blinked, twice, blearily.

'He's been subjected to the cruciatus, Hermione.' Berg informed her softly, igniting a rage in her stomach that she desperately tried to quench. Lord Nott felt that acting as her double agent within Voldemort's ranks was his redemption for the crimes of his past and Hermione would not do him the injustice of refusing him permission to perform the duty, even if it was dangerous. She gestured Berg forwards and her elderly friend produced a vial of silvery potion which Lord Nott drank quickly, his trembling stilling.

'Karkaroff is dead.' Lord Nott began, forestalling Hermione's offer of rest. 'The Dark Lord used his mark to trace him to a cabin in Europe - he can use the mark to apparate outside the wards on any of his followers.'

'The wards of Avalon stretch into the lake, past the mer village.' Hermione assured him. 'If Voldemort apparates here, he'll find himself going for a swim. If he somehow gets past the outer wards, Kelpie, the Mer and Apophis, he'll still have to reach the castle through all five curtain walls, the bastillae, the goblin warriors, the guardians, the werewolves and the sect.'

It was only as she spoke that Hermione realised just how well defended they were in the tower. She knew, of course, that she would never allow that many beings to fall just to defend her - she would rather confront an invader as soon as they stepped foot on the island than allow her people to sacrifice themselves whilst she waited in safety, but it was reassuring to know that the people she protected could take sanctuary behind those defences.

'Umbridge was his servant at Hogwarts…' Lord Nott continued. 'Well, I assume so. He wanted to reassign "her" to keeping news of his return quiet in the ministry. He was displeased that she'd failed to effectively curb your learning, but pleased enough with her for discrediting you to forgive the transgression. I can't think of anyone else who would qualify.'

'That makes sense.' Hermione encouraged. 'So she's going back to the ministry?'

'I believe so. The Dark Lord was vague. His is displeased with those who escaped Azkaban.'

'And those in Azkaban? Did he mentioned his plans?'

'To release them, but no more details.'

'Very well.' Hermione nodded, pausing to see if he had any more information to share.

'And what about the book?' Sirius demanded, loudly intruding.

'The Diary?' Ginny asked, wide eyed and alert.

'A black book.' Sirius confirmed. 'One important enough that Hermione sent me to fetch it whilst my godson was duelling Voldemort.'

'Yes.' Hermione stood, brushing off the Hogwarts robes that she was still wearing. With quick, graceful steps she made her way back behind her desk, aware of the attention of every member of her coven. 'Mordred, perhaps now is the time to explain how you are here?'

Sirius took a breath to argue but Hermione staled him with a raised hand, then gestured to Mordred. Black scowled, but allowed the dark knight the spotlight.

'In Ancient Greece, at around the same time as Circe had her sect, a wizard called Herpo the Foul bred the first Basilisk-'

'We know this…'

'Shh, Sirius.' Harry urged. Mordred sneered at the Gryffindor adult.

'Herpo also created another new, dark artefact. By performing a ritual, which included the darkest of sacrifices, he split his soul and stored a part of it in his athame so that when his body was destroyed, his soul would remain and he could restore himself to life.'

'Your sword?' Ginny asked, gesturing to the blade leaned up against the desk. Mordred nodded in confirmation.

'And the diary.' Harry realised. Sirius went pale, tearing off his leather jacket and hurling it to the floor. The book spilled out of the pocket.

'Yes, the diary.' Mordred confirmed. He stepped around Hermione's desk, chainmail clinking and leather boots squeaking softly. He bent down, picking the diary up and placing it on the desk before conjuring a dome-like ward over it.

'So how to we destroy it?' Sirius demanded urgently. Mordred pursed his lips.

'That is less well known. As you can imagine, those of us who have dabbled are less than keen to experiment. My research suggested that damaging the vessel beyond repair would effectively kill the fragment of the soul within.'

'Well, what are we waiting for?' Sirius demanded, drawing his wand.

'It's not that simple.' Hermione realised. 'Your sword is over a thousand years old, iron, muggle forged… by all rights it should be a rotted stump of rust. But it never blunts, never gets damaged and the spells to dull the edge never hold.'

'Yes, Priestess. By turning an item into a horcrux, it becomes immune to all but the most destructive magical forces. Herpo's was destroyed when he attempted to use his basilisk as a ritual sacrifice.'

'So we can get Apophis to destroy it?' Ginny asked.

'Or use Hermione's sword. It's goblin forged and Apophis imbued it with her venom.' Suggested Neville.

'We should keep it.' Anneken interrupted, almost forgotten in her dark chair at the edge of the room. Sirius spluttered in outrage. 'That's a section of Voldemort's soul - he'd do anything to stop us destroying it.'

'It can't be the only one though?' Harry frowned, 'there was a locket in the chest, where the triwizard cup should have been. Quirrel tipped it into the resurrection potion.'

Mordred grimaced but nodded in agreement.

'I agree. I'll have one of the guardians place it in the treasury under some strong wards; we have the capability to destroy it easily enough, but it may be a useful negotiating tool in the future.'

'You're going to use it to blackmail Voldemort?' Sirius asked incredulously, looking between Hermione, Mordred and Anneken.

'Potentially.' Hermione confirmed, folding her arms and scowling down at the warded book.

'Once you have Gellert at your side again, he'd be foolish not to cave.' Anneken pointed out, sounding darkly pleased. 'I assume you'll be making your move on that front soon enough? For all his flaws, Gellert was and still is a mighty wizard. We could use his wand.'

'They'd know it was us.'

'What would they do about it though? They're already going to vilify Hermione in the papers, there's no need to prove everyone's worst suspicions true.'

'Oh damn the people. Hermione deserves to have Gellert at her side - you never saw them together. It was nearly sickening.'

'Anneken!' Hermione spluttered, face flaming despite her occlumency shields. The elder witch subsided but the dark atmosphere had shattered. They all pitched in to ward a decorative leaded timber chest, then dropped the diary inside and Hermione summoned two guardians to take it down to the treasury.

It was gone just in time. Barely a minute later Flighty popped in with an urgent letter from Rita Skeeter. Usually, the reporter would just request a comment, but this time she had asked permission to visit in person. Hermione granted the request by reply owl and the reporter was being shown into the tower barely half an hour later, proving just how serious she had been about the urgency of their meeting.

Skeeter barely spared time for the pleasantries or to look around the remarkably interesting, private room and the gathering of people within. She deposited a sheaf of parchment straight onto Hermione's desk, spreading them out to reveal several draft articles.

'The prophet has turned down every one of my articles.' Skeeter declared. 'I've always respected our agreement, non-verbal as it may be, but they are determined to discredit you.'

Hermione heaved a sigh, picking up one of the drafted articles and leaning back in her chair. She read it in silence, letting Rita Skeeter observe the assemblage in the room. Finally, when the silence was beginning to draw out for too long, she spoke.

'I suppose it is a matter of how best to discredit me then.' Hermione began, adding weight to her voice to make her sound more tired than she was. 'I can be called a liar, a fear mongerer, but they will still come to me for protection as they once came to my brother.'

'They would come to you for protection but they would not trust you - they would fear you.' Anneken pointed out.

'Or you could be a naive and attention seeking child. They may not come to you yet, but they will when the truth comes out.' Lord Nott suggested.

'I could sell that, if it's what you want?' Skeeter offered, eyes slightly wide.

'I think we must.' Hermione bit her lip, 'I don't want to be feared and the ministry are determined to discredit me. At least you can publish my warnings and offer of shelter if you portray it as the ravings of an attention seeking school girl.'

'Offer of shelter?'

'Yes. As was the duty of the Grindelwald family; in times of danger, we threw open the gates and offered shelter to anyone who sought it. Make that my quote? In light of Voldemort's return, I will be respecting the oldest of my family's traditions and opening my fortress to anyone who seeks shelter and safety. Even if you don't believe me, is it worth risking your family's lives?'

'How does this sound; "When I reached out for comment, Hermione Gorlois continued to insist that You-Know-Who had returned, and offered her home to anyone who sought safety, insisting that it was better to be safe than sorry."'

'It's good.' Hermione agreed heavily, looking around for support. Reluctantly, the rest of the group nodded. 'In the meantime, might I offer you shelter? I can have a guardian take you to a small home in the city.'

'Please.' Skeeter looked unhappy, but the way she hefted her bag suggested that she might have been hoping for the offer and had packed accordingly. Skeeter was quite well known for her uncharacteristic support of Hermione and if Voldemort was determined to see her discredited, it could put her in significant danger.

An elf popped in, as if it had been listening to the conversation, and ushered Skeeter from the room. As she left, the reporter promised to finish the article in time for the morning paper. She left silence behind her.

'Bed.' Hermione announced. The Gryffindors had dismantled her bed to build their nest in front of the fire and she briefly considered using one of the many guest rooms. Then, with a shrug, she shed her outer layers and joined Ginny in the nest, building a pile of pillows between them and the boys. Cavella joined them joyfully, pushing under the covers with them whilst Sirius flopped over the boys in dog form. Theo eventually joined them as well but Anneken, Lord Nott and Berg left, talking quietly as they headed through the doors until eventually it was just the youngest members and Mordred. The dark knight moved around the room, extinguishing candles before fading away and leaving the children alone with two dogs.