All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.

Beta: Roman's Sundial

Chapter Thirty-Two: Devising a Plan

Harry Potter – Present Day

February 3, 2000

Harry arrived at his office at the Dobwig Association at eleven o'clock and spent the first fifteen minutes pacing. Ralph Daniels was supposed to be meeting with him at noon and Harry was concerned that he would not show up. He had so many questions for this unknown man, the most important one concerning his connection to Voldemort. How had nobody have heard of him before, and how come he had never attended a previous meeting involving the Sacred Twenty-eight? According to records that Harry had pulled, the Gaunt seat had not been filled for several years. Not even Tom Riddle had filled it prior to becoming Voldemort, as he did not wish for many to know that he was related to the Gaunts.

"Harry, are you alone?" came Hermione's hurried voice. She was out of breath when she reached his office.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" Hermione slammed Harry's door shut and casted a Muffliato spell for good measure.

"Harry! I've figured it out!" she screamed with excitement.

"Figured what out?"

"The counter-curse!" she grabbed a stitch in her side and took several minutes to catch her breath (with Harry waiting impatiently), before she continued. "We have to bring their bodies here, to the Ministry, and re-unite their persons with their bodies, using the counter-curse that Helen told us about."

"Their persons? What?" Harry looked at Hermione oddly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she said angrily. "Listen! Their souls, their insides, whatever you want to call it, have been removed from their bodies. To get them back, we need to bring their bodies to their person! Their souls," she added, rolling her eyes when Harry looked confused again. "Anyway, they're hidden here, at the Ministry, all we have to do is find them!"

"How do you know they're here?"

"Draco and Crabbe told me, finally, but at least we know now."

"Where in the Ministry?"

"I don't know, and I don't think they'll tell me, but at least we've pinpointed the location. With the amount of Order members that we have who work here, we are bound to find it!"

Harry thought in silence for awhile, taking in everything Hermione had told him. "It would have to be well hidden, it's not going to be just anywhere, so we can rule a lot of departments out."

"The Auror Department?"

"I doubt it; I've been in there loads of times, and I've never seen anything. What would the container or whatever it is that is holding these souls-"

"Persons-"

"Whatever! What would it look like?"

"I have know idea," Hermione said frowning.

"It's got to be in the Department of Mysteries; what other kind of department would be able to hide something like that?"

"Yes, I think you're right. I'll go and find Kingsley now; perhaps he can find a way to let me in there."

"Let me know as soon as you know anything. I'll come and join you as soon as I can." It wasn't long after Hermione had left that Harry had another witch enter his office.

"Knock knock!" came the excruciatingly annoying voice of Rita Skeeter.

"Get out!" Harry spat at her; he had no interest in dealing with her today.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," she said smiling.

"And why not?"

"Because she is here as my guest," answered Ralph Daniels, as he, too, entered Harry's office.

"We have a private meeting," Harry said to Ralph. "I have not authorized for her to be here."

"Mr. Potter, this is a voluntary meeting; I have not been officially summoned to meet with you and you do not have grounds to do so, so you should be pleased that I have agreed to meet with you of my own accord."

"Why do you need her to be present for this voluntary meeting?" Harry asked, trying but failing to mask the anger in his voice.

"For accuracy, is all. I do not wish for anything to be said by you to the wizarding world that you claim to have been said by me. Due to your status, you of course would be believed and I simply cannot have that, can I?"

"Why would I lie?"

"I never said you would, Mr. Potter, but I also know better than to trust a man who hates my family's bloodline, regardless if it is something I can control or not. Now, shall we begin with Rita's presence, or shall I see myself out?" Defeated, Harry gestured to two chairs in front of his desk, and both Ralph and Rita took a seat. "Ready, Ms. Skeeter?" Ralph asked.

"Of course!" Rita answered excitedly, her Quick-Quotes quill already tip down onto a fresh piece of parchment, waiting for the meeting to begin.

Sighing, Harry looked at Ralph and did his best to try and ignore Rita and her quill. "Mr. Daniels, you claim to be a descendant from the house of Gaunt; could you explain how?"

"Of course, Mr. Potter. I assume you know the story of Tom Riddle's parentage?"

Harry noted that he referred to Voldemort as "Tom Riddle"; very few people chose to call him that. "Let's assume that I do not," Harry answered.

"Very well, then. Well, Tom's father was a muggle, also named Tom, but his mother was a witch by the name of Merope Gaunt. Merope had one brother by the name of Morfin, who had died before he could bear any heirs. Tom was Merope's only child and since he also bore no children, then that left Merope and Morfin's father: Marvolo."

"Marvolo had more children?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm sorry to say that he did not. But he did in fact, have a sister that very few knew about. That sister was my great-grandmother, Meredith Gaunt." Harry made to reach for his quill, but Ralph stopped him. "I request that you do not take any notes, Mr. Potter. Should you need a copy of our discussion, Ms. Skeeter can provide one, can't you, Ms. Skeeter?"

"Gladly," she said, smiling.

"Why can't I take my own notes?" Harry asked, almost growling.

"Because I have asked you not to. This is voluntary, remember? Shall I continue?" Agitated, Harry withdrew his hand from his quill, and nodded to Ralph to continue. "Now then, as I am sure you have probably figured out by now, Meredith married a wizard with the surname Daniels, and together gave birth to my grandfather, who then with my grandmother gave birth to my father, who finally, along with my mother, gave birth to me. So, as you can see, Mr. Potter, I am a rightful descendant to the house of Gaunt and have therefore resumed my seat at the Sacred Twenty-Eight."

"Why have you only resumed it now, after so many years of absence?"

"I thought that answer to be obvious, Mr. Potter. The chair rightfully belonged to my dear cousin, Tom, so it did not pass on to me until his death a year and a half ago."

"And why not take the seat in the last year and a half?"

"Only a fool would admit to being related to the most notorious wizard of the time, wouldn't you agree?"

"But you've admitted to it now."

"Now there is a proper infrastructure in place to ensure that fair trials are provided and only to those who have proven to require one, isn't that what your department does? Since these new laws have been put into effect, and I know that there would be absolutely no grounds to have me arrested, I knew it was safe to resurface once more."

"I'm going to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts," Harry said, not trusting the man sitting across from him. "I would ask that you answer truthfully."

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I aplogise, but although I have no problem explaining my genealogy to you, I did not agree to come here and be interrogated. I think that concludes our meeting then, wouldn't you agree, Ms. Skeeter?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"Actually, I'm not done," said Harry, standing as Ralph did the same.

"Voluntary, remember, Mr. Potter? Good day to you."

"Rita, those notes!" Harry yelled at her, realizing that there was nothing else he could do.

"Of course!" she said, giggling. She tapped the parchment in her hand and produced a second copy which she then placed face down on his desk. "Have a nice day!" she said, following Ralph out of the office. As though Harry could not have been any more frustrated, he picked up the parchment to review the ancestry once more, only to determine that the parchment that she had left for him was blank.

Hermione Granger – Present Day

February 3, 2000

"Minister, you must let us into the Department of Mysteries; it's the only place where it can be!"

"Ms. Granger, believe me when I say that I am truly pleased with the new information, but as Minister, I cannot just let you in there! Only an Unspeakable may enter as you very well know. As Minister, even I cannot!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Hermione asked angrily. "Our friends are laying dead at Headquarters and the solution is here at the Ministry!"

"Use your galleon and send for Ms. Lovegood; I believe I do have a solution that doesn't break any rules."

"Fine." Hermione couldn't possibly see how Luna could get her into the Department of Mysteries, but if Kingsley had a plan then she needed to trust him. It wasn't very long at all before Luna came strolling into the Minister's office.

"Hello, Minister, hello, Hermione, lovely day!"

"Luna! You got here awfully fast!"

"Yes, when I received your message I was already on my way here, actually. The Daily Prophet has yet to print my article on Nargles and I've come to find out why. It's incredibly important that everyone knows what they are capable of; the Quibbler cannot be the only magazine producing the information."

Hermione shared a look with the Minister before turning to Luna. "I hope you're successful with that, Luna," she said. "But we have other matters to discuss right now."

"Of course!" she said happily. "How can I help?"

"We need to get into the Department of Mysteries, but the Minister," (Hermione's irritation was clearly heard when she referred to him), "will not give us permission to enter. Instead, he claims to have a plan that involves you. Minister?" Hermione turned towards Kingsley and folded her arms across her chest.

"Ms. Lovegood, as I have explained to Ms. Granger, I simply cannot allow someone into the department, especially without an explanation. It is not easy to be the Minister of Magic and work secretly for the Order of the Phoenix, but I do my best."

"Of course. What is your plan then, Minister?" asked Luna politely.

"I shall have you trained as an Unspeakable. Like that, you will be allowed in and out of the Department without question." Kingsley seemed to be quite pleased with his solution, but Hermione was furious.

"Training takes months, Minister. We do not have that time!"

"It is the only way."

"It is not the only way, you're just too pigheaded to-" Hermione had stopped dead in her tracks. She only just remembered that she was speaking to the Minister of Magic and instantly covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"We won't have to train me to become an Unspeakable," said Luna, clearly not picking up on Hermione's embarrassment. "I have no desire to be one, either."

"But this is the only solution, Ms. Lovegood."

"I'm sorry, Minister, but it isn't. We've entered the Department of Mysteries before and we can do it again."

"Are you indicating that you will break into the Ministry again?" asked Kingsley, with all of his authority in his tone.

"We won't have to break in; we are all welcomed here. We will just have to find a way to slip into the Department. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione put their heads together, they can always come up with a plan!"

"I cannot simply allow you to "slip into" a Department that you are not permitted to enter!"

Luna shrugged. "Then don't allow us, Minister, but we will still do it. Without your knowledge of course," she added.

Hermione caught on to what Luna was saying. "We need to get in there, Minister, for the sake of the Order members. You won't be implicated at all, I can assure you! We will plan it all on our own and won't even tell you the day that it takes place."

"And if you are caught?"

"Then we deal with our consequence," answered Hermione. "It still won't have anything to do with you."

"Ms. Granger, you are asking a lot of me."

"Actually, I am asking nothing of you. You are the Minister of Magic and therefore, we will not involve you."

It was quiet for some time as Kingsley considered what was being said, but Luna broke the silence. "I don't think we have any business with the Minister today, do we, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled. "No, I don't believe we do, Luna. Good day, Minister." The pair left the office without another word, and didn't speak again until they were in the lift. "What now?" Hermione asked Luna.

"Now we find Harry, of course!"

Ron Weasley – Present Day

February 18, 2000

Ron sat around the large table at Number 12 Grimmauld Place along with Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and Angelina. They were the only ones currently at Headquarters (other than the ones who were under the Abracadabra spell) and they were devising the plan that they would use to get in to the Department of Mysteries. "This will work," said Harry, standing over a pile of parchment that was sitting between them all.

"Let's go over it again," said Hermione.

"'Mione, we've been over it a thousand times!" complained Ron.

"One more time won't hurt!" she snapped back.

"Fine," said Harry. "One more time, then. Neville, you'll be arriving at the Ministry first."

Neville nodded. "At 8:00am as I'll have an appointment with Ron at the Dobwig Association."

"Right. Then Angelina."

"I come by all the time to collect orders for the shop. I'll send a memo out that I'm collecting orders before noon, that way if I'm seen, they'll think I'm just going from department to department."

"Then I'll get there around 8:30am and pop in to the Daily Prophet. They see me all the time so it shouldn't be a problem," smiled Luna.

"It's important that none of you are seen together," said Hermione. "Neville, you are to head to the Department at 8:45am. Angelina, 8:50am, and Luna, 8:55am. The only time you'll be together is at 9:00am just outside of the Department."

"The Unspeakables' meeting is to start at 9:00am, but consider the fact that they might be late, so stay alert," warned Harry.

"I still don't know what to say during this bloody meeting," Ron grumbled.

"The Dobwig Association hosting a mandatory meeting is the only way to ensure that the Department of Mysteries will be empty, Ron," replied Hermione.

"Fine, but why are we doing it for every Department?"

"Because it would be suspicious to single out the Department of Mysteries only," she told him.

"And I have to speak about purebloods for half an hour?"

Hermione sighed. "We've been over this, Ronald! I will talk about how it is a wizard and witch's duty to protect and treat the muggles fairly and that the Dobwig Association will be monitoring it! All you have to talk about is how being a pureblood does not differentiate them from half-bloods and muggleborns. You have so much information at your disposal; you can talk about history and Voldemort!"

"That's a long time to talk, Hermione!"

"A half an hour? I have to talk for an hour!"

"And I'll talk for forty-five minutes about the Dobwig Association in general, and what are responsibilities are," finished Harry. "If we succeed, two hours should be enough time for Luna, Neville, and Angelina to explore the Department."

"And if we don't manage to speak for that long?" asked Ron.

"That's why we aren't meeting with the Department of Mysteries until the third day," answered Hermione. "Our first meeting will be with the Aurors and our second meeting will be with the Floo Department. That gives us two whole meetings to practice before we finally meet with the Unspeakables."

"Neville, Luna, Angelina, our aim is to hold them at the meeting for two hours, but you'll also need time to get out of there and those spinning doors can be complicated."

"We can do it, Harry," said Neville.

"I know you can, but I don't need you guys getting caught. Aim for an hour; after that, stop searching and start to find your way out."

"Got it," nodded Angelina.

"What if they don't find anything?" asked Ron.

"Then we come up with another plan and try again," answered Harry. "Now, how quickly can you send word out, Hermione? I think she should start Monday."

"This Monday?" asked Hermione. "Harry, that's in three days, that isn't enough time!"

"Sure it is! The plan has been made and we are ready! You always want to hold off, just like when we had to break into the Ministry in our seventh year. There's no need to wait!"

"Yes there is! I have to give all the Departments notice; I can't simply spring a meeting on them!"

"Fine, when then?" Harry asked her.

"Three weeks."

"Three weeks? That's way too long, Hermione!"

"That's the soonest I can make it happen. I have to book the space and inform the Departments and in turn they need to inform their employees and-"

"I don't care, it has to be sooner!"

"Harry," said Angelina quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "My boyfriend is also laying upstairs under the spell. If Hermione says that three weeks is the best that she can do, then that's when we do it. For everyone's safety. If we get caught, then there is definitely no curing Ginny."

"Fine," said Harry bitterly. "Three weeks, but not a day longer."

Harry Potter – The Past

August 6, 1998

Harry was walking along the halls of Hogwarts when he heard his name being called. Hand on his wand, he turned suspiciously to see who it was. Being the summer, nobody, other than the odd professor, should have been at Hogwarts. "Cho?" Harry questioned, when he realized who was coming towards him. "What are you doing here?" he asked her, letting go of his wand.

"Looking for you," she said, out of breath. "You're hard to track down!"

"How did you know I was here?"

"I ran into Hagrid in Diagon Alley. I told him I was looking for you and he said that you were to have tea with him this afternoon, so I came early hoping that you would already be here."

"Oh, well yeah, I'm here. I like the silence," he told her honestly.

"I can imagine," she said sympathetically. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Harry watched the Grey Lady float through a wall near him. He still hadn't properly thanked her for all of her help, and he made a mental note to do so in the near future.

"You're even famous with the ghosts!" Cho chuckled, as she watched where Harry was staring. Harry smiled but said nothing; it was nobody's business how Harry and the Grey Lady knew each other. "So, are you coming back to Hogwarts for another year?" she asked him.

"Have to, don't I? They made it mandatory now."

"Oh, I thought you would be an exception."

"Why would I be?"

Cho looked surprised. "Well after everything with You-Know-Who…"

"You said you were looking for me," Harry said plainly. "Is there something you needed? Sorry, but I was looking forward to being on my own for awhile." Cho looked down and her smile faltered; it was clear that this was not going the way she had planned. "Cho?" Harry asked again.

"I was thinking about all of our time in the Room of Requirement. You know, Dumbledore's Army and all of the training that we did."

"It was helpful for many in the war; I'm glad that we did it."

"Yes, me too."

"I didn't see you during the war. Were you fighting in the castle or in the grounds?"

"Oh, uh, a bit of both." Harry had his suspicions that she hadn't been there at all, but he did not voice them. "We have plenty of memories with Dumbledore's Army and that room," continued Cho, trying to bring the conversation back to where she wanted it. Harry said nothing and waited to see where she was going with this. "We had our first kiss there, remember?" she asked, blushing.

"I do remember," Harry said, emotionless.

"I really enjoyed the time that we spent together. Unfortunately, under the circumstances we couldn't continue, but now that everything is over…"

"Oh, uh, Cho, I'm with Ginny."

"We weren't given a proper chance, Harry, if we just tried-"

"We did try, Cho; it just wasn't in the cards for us."

"Because of one failed date? Harry, we are destined to be together, I know it!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm with Ginny and I don't intend on changing that."

"But you left her!"

"For her safety! And why am I even explaining this to you?"

"Wow, I don't recall you being so mean."

"Yeah, well, fighting Voldemort can do that to you," Harry snapped at her. Without replying, Cho brushed angrily into his shoulder and took off crying. "That's one of the reasons why I didn't stay with you," Harry mumbled to himself as he watched her go. "All you do is bloody cry."

Author's Notes: This chapter was pretty straight forward; a plan has been set and all that's left is to put it into motion! (Which is the next chapter!)

The next chapter has a few things going on: we have the break in at the department of mysteries (again), we have something big happening to Hermione (prior to the break in) and then we have a flashback from Grindelwald that will slowly start to answer some questions!

Thanks as always! I'll try to post another chapter before the weekend!