A/N: Oh wow, so whoever the anonymous reviewer was who was begging me on hands and knees for an update you successfully flattered and guilted me into getting my arse into gear and finally finishing tidying this damned chapter up! I swear this story gets harder and harder to write!

Jadely31 – Those two have given me more headaches than you would believe! They weren't even supposed to be a couple in the original idea, they just sort of developed their own notions of what their roles were in the story while I wasn't looking. Things will eventually have to be addressed by them though and I'm both enjoying and not enjoying figuring that out. :)

Pheonixx Rising – Severus has always been my favourite, I just adore him. Though I find him difficult to write for because I'm always so wary of how easy it is to end up with him sounding out of character, so I'm glad you're enjoying him here! :)

threeninefour – thank you for your lovely review, you'll make me blush! I offer no guarantees about people's safety, but I will say I'm not one for too much tragedy. And Harry bashing is a fun and safe hobby for all the family, just ask Severus. ;-)

'Guest' – Thanks for getting me moving on this again. ;-)

A Subtle Change

Chapter 28

"You're going to tell them everything?"

As she watched the floo flare green and die down again, Druscilla felt, not for the first time that morning, like there was a gambolling puppy at her ankles. "Yes. How many times are you going to ask me that?"

"Sorry." Percy Weasley managed to nearly walk into her as she stopped to open Grimmauld Place's sitting room door.

"You're a bit over-excitable this morning, did you overdo it on the coffee?" she chuckled.

"Sorry," he repeated, "I think I did. Didn't get much sleep." She snorted and waggled her eyebrows. "Not like that!" he didn't even blush, showing how far from normal his behaviour was. "I nodded off in the office."

She stopped dead. "What?!"

"After we spoke last night I went to catch up with some paperwork and I must have fallen asleep at my desk. I woke up in the office about five o'clock this morning." He said this like it was nothing, like it had happened before. It probably had.

"Percy, you can't do that! You need to learn to turn off and go home!"

He shrugged, "I suppose I just wanted to keep my mind off things."

She frowned, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" The list was too long for Druscilla to be bothered butting in with. "We're all just a bit wired at present." He looked a little unsure, "Right?"

Druscilla opened her mouth to say something, looked over the slightly rumpled hair and too bright eyes in front of her, and thought better of it. "Course we are. Come on, let's go in."

Percy followed eagerly into the dining room at her heels and didn't appear to notice when he stole the chair beside her right out from under Remus' nose. Much to her annoyance.

Druscilla caught Dumbledore's eye as he joined them, but the headmaster conveyed through a small hand gesture that she should wait. It was clear he had news of his own and he wasted no time in sharing it. "Good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to be able to tell you we have found a way to disable the magical wards guarding Voldemort's hiding place."

Druscilla sat quietly as pandemonium broke out, whispering to Percy, "He really knows how to steal a person's thunder doesn't he?"

The excitement in the room was palpable, almost everyone was talking at once. Only Druscilla, Percy, and the Hogwarts staff remained quiet. Even Dumbledore seemed unable to restore calm to the room as various suggestions of leaving immediately to rescue Harry were shouted out.

One comment though Druscilla picked out loud and clear above the din.

"Even once we get in what exactly are we going to do? How do you propose we fight God alone knows how many Death Eaters?!" Mundungus Fletcher, always the first one out and last one in to a dangerous situation, was not at all comforted by the idea that they had found a route in to such a deadly place.

Across the table Remus noted that Druscilla suddenly looked as utterly furious as he had ever seen her. She slammed her coffee on the table hard enough to shatter the mug. Percy jumped violently at her side and the room fell silent as she leapt to her feet to loom over them all.

"You're all so determined that you're all that stands between the Wizarding World and Voldemort!" The name was growled out viciously as her anger exploded. "As I informed Remus when he first asked me to join you, you are not. Our Aurors are fighting every day to keep people safe, not just from Voldemort but from all the other threats we find we face from within. They keep the Ministry secure, St. Mungo's safe, and they may be the best hope we have for taking on the Death Eaters en masse."

She was beautiful when she was like this, Remus thought to himself, passion burning brightly in her. Power, that had nothing at all to do with her impressive magical prowess, making itself known. The teasing, flirting, figure, that everyone associated most readily with her, was nowhere in sight as genuine indignation and a desire to ram home her point with a sledgehammer rose to the surface. Diplomatic it was not but perhaps she felt, like him, that they were long past the point of diplomacy.

"And those Aurors answer ultimately to the Minister, who apparently favours the 'hiding under his desk' school of military campaigning." Mundungus seemed to miss the irony in calling Fudge a coward, his own school of military campaigning was after all somewhat similar.

Druscilla barely held back a growl of frustration and in a more composed tone responded, "I've already spoken to Cornelius and we have agreed that to fight Voldemort and have any hope of winning we need to unite. The 'Dark Lord' is so very good at splitting us apart, beaming a spotlight on the cracks in our relationships and taking us down one at a time. Look at the way we've all been behaving lately, but we can't let that happen any more!"

She looked appealingly to Kingsley who spoke rather more quietly than his colleague. "We will do this together, the Order and the Ministry pooling resources and supporting each other. The Ministry staff will coordinate the Ministry and St Mungo's along with whoever is going to be left safeguarding Hogwarts."

Druscilla had resumed her seat. "Cornelius wants Kingsley in charge of the actual raid and I agree it's a good idea, he's the obvious choice to handle the Aurors and I doubt anyone here at the Order would question his leadership either."

"Wha' abou' Dumbledore?" Hagrid looked confused.

"I believe," Druscilla said slowly, looking across at the Headmaster, "Professor Dumbledore has his own battle to wage."

Albus nodded quietly, "I can't guarantee being present at all times. Kingsley would be a much better choice, it is a long time since I coordinated a battle and I have no desire to start again. I will be going after Harry and Tom, the rest of you I will need to keep the Death Eater's occupied."

Druscilla had suspected he would be planning something of this nature, but it wasn't until she heard him refer to the Dark Lord as 'Tom' that she finally saw just how personal this war had become. In the last war she had seen the guilt Dumbledore was capable of for not managing to reach out to the boy Voldemort had been and for seeing only too late how dangerous he truly was. She had wondered on the odd traitorous occasion (along with other higher ups in the Ministry) why Dumbledore had never managed to kill him. Clever and powerful as Voldemort was, everyone always said it was Dumbledore that he feared. So why had Dumbledore never ended it? She didn't think he had ever really had the opportunity, but then she also felt he'd never terribly sought it out until now. His guilt for the way 'Tom' had turned out, the sorrow he still clearly felt for the young boy he'd first recruited to Hogwarts from some hell-hole of a muggle children's home, seemed finally to have been put aside. The look in those ever-twinkling blue eyes made her shiver. Whatever Dumbledore was planning 'Tom' was about to be faced with one of the most powerful and ruthless people Druscilla had ever met, and she could almost feel sorry for him.

XXXXXXX

Heaving a large sigh, Druscilla leaned heavily against the wall in Grimmauld Place's elegant sitting room (the one with that unshiftable blood stain that so intrigued her still) after the rest of the Order had mostly departed. She had slipped in there for a quiet moment, relieved, at least temporarily, of responsibility for Percy Weasley's possibly dubious state of mental health. He wasn't coping well again, that much was clear. Her own worries though, combined with a naturally terrified reaction to him looking at her as though he thought she could fix things, had left her desperate for a brief respite. Things were about to start moving quickly, she could feel it, and part of her wanted to freeze the moment, put a stopper in the whole situation, before it got any worse.

A gentle knock on the door announced Kingsley Shacklebolt. He gave her a friendly smile, "I'm glad to hear my knocking you on your arse has restored your faith in my department."

"I never lost faith in your department. We both know that no matter how good they are it might not be good enough. But yes, seeing them train did impress upon me just how good they are. You included." She pulled a face, "I sounded rather self-righteous in there didn't I?"

He chuckled, "I will never complain about you defending my department, they don't deserve to be tarred with the same brush as Fudge and his minions and they don't often seem to get the respect they deserve amongst the Order. But yes, you did lay it on a bit thick. Maybe save your speeches for when you're running for Minister."

She smiled wanly. "Some days that seems like something of a pipe-dream. There are times when I wonder if there'll be a Ministry left to lead. It's going to be bad isn't it?"

He looked sombre. "It is unlikely to be good."

"Kingsley," she hesitated, "There are no more chances after this..."

"Indeed not."

She frowned, "You're supposed to tell me that there are always more chances, isn't that what you lot believe?"

"'You lot'?" he questioned.

"You know, the kind of people who join secret societies to save the bloody world." She snorted, "Optimists. Busybodies. Gryffindors."

He laughed again. "Didn't you join too?"

She looked sulky. "I was coerced."

"Remus persuasive, was he?"

"Oh shut up!" She laughed suddenly, tiredness disappearing from her face as she took Kingsley's offered arm and allowed herself to be walked to the floo. "We're going to do this you know."

"Are we indeed? That isn't 'optimism' I hear from you is it?"

She huffed in disgust. "Nothing of the sort. Let's face it though, you've all got me, what more could you ask for?" She winked and strode into the floo, heading back to her office, humour restored, leaving Kingsley to follow behind her.

XXXXXXX

Severus had glowered all the way back to the Headmaster's office. Minerva had taken one look at his expression and left them to it, heading off to her day's first class.

"Professor Thornfield was somewhat," Severus' lips thinned as he was silent for moment, choosing a word that might correctly sum up the woman whose dark eyes had flashed with a disturbing amount of energy in their brief meeting, "Intense."

Dumbledore smiled quietly, Severus always looked pleasingly put out when the hotheaded Ministry woman hijacked their meetings.

Severus' loyalty to the Headmaster had proven startling. From the desperate young man who'd arrived at his door simply because there was no where else left to turn, Severus had become one of his most trusted friends and a man on whom Dumbledore would willingly risk everything, indeed had. He liked to believe that what had begun as a sort of self-loathing penance had moved into trusting the older man, he knew that Severus had seen through his manipulations from day one. The man allowed himself to be manipulated, and somehow that made doing so feel so much worse. There were moments though when Severus' defence of Dumbledore seemed as strident as any Hagrid, in all his honest, open affection, had ever offered, and it left the old man more deeply touched than he thought Severus would ever have believed.

Severus was scowling at him, "You're going after Him then."

"Of course."

"Then you have a plan?"

"I believe so."

Severus, as ever, did not ask, merely looked disapproving. He rarely questioned the headmaster or pressed for information. He simply trusted him. This was perhaps one of the things Dumbledore found hardest to handle in his potions master, the faith that should long ago have shattered, and it meant he always felt compelled to explain himself.

"I've been contemplating an idea for some time. It was what Druscilla Thornfield said when you told the Order about Voldemort's, sorry," Dumbledore noticed Severus' flinch, "Take on the prophecy. These things do not always play out as seems obvious, despite their prediction. There is nothing to say Harry has to literally defeat him single-handedly."

Severus said nothing, merely raised an interested eyebrow.

"Harry has power but not enough and I'm guessing that power's at a low after these weeks of imprisonment; plus as he no longer has a wand," Dumbledore gave Severus a disapproving look to which Severus merely raised both eyebrows and shrugged.

"As I said, I broke his wand, not his neck, and, given everything that boy has put us through in the last 16 years, I think that was rather restrained."

"As he no longer has a wand," Dumbledore continued firmly, "Taking on Voldemort would be deeply problematic."

"But the prophecy does speak about him."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he has to do it alone."

"Albus," Severus hardly ever used the headmaster's name and Dumbledore realised at hearing it now that the young man understood how deeply serious things had become, "What are you planning?"

"I could let him use my power, my wand. Or rather I could use it for him...through him."

Severus was quiet for a long moment. Probably, Dumbledore thought to himself, questioning the old man's sanity.

However all the potion's master said was, "Possession? Would that work?"

"'One must die at the hands of the other', it still fulfils the prophecy, and yes it should work. I believe I can do it."

"At what risk?"

"I think Harry is at risk whatever we do, this should in fact decrease the risk he is currently suffering under."

"I meant at what risk to you?"

The headmaster met his eyes. "I think I can do it, Severus, but we both know the difficulties of such a thing. There are many reasons beyond the ethical ones that this is both illegal and so rarely attempted. You of all people know how much it's going to take to destroy him. And destroy is what it has come to."

Severus nodded gravely. "But you think you can safely accomplish this?"

"Oh I expect so." Dumbledore's dismissive tone told Severus everything the old man wouldn't say. "Now Severus I don't want to tell the rest of the Order about this. I'll tell Minerva of course but I would be grateful if you could refrain from telling her of the potential risks to myself, there's no point in worrying her unnecessarily."

"Of course, I won't say a thing." They both knew Minerva would know anyway.

"Thank you. Now I need you to be able to tell me that Voldemort and Harry are going to be in close proximity in order for this plan to work."

"That should be fairly easy, the Dark Lord is having a lot of fun taunting Potter, rubbing his face in what he perceives as victory. I can bring the wards down at a time when he will be with him and they are usually alone together."

"Good. Then all that remains is to get through those barriers without anyone noticing too early. I don't need to tell you to be careful I'm sure."

Severus studiously ignored the headmaster's concern. "Do you wish to attack when the Death Eaters are gathered?"

"Yes, I think it would be best to take them all on at once to prevent them going back into hiding as so many did last time, or worse managing to bring in reinforcements. Harry has told them everything he knew of the Order?"

"Yes, Potter told them everything." Even Severus could find no triumph in the breaking of a young boy and what it had taken to achieve it.

"How is he, Severus?" The twinkle seemed to have almost left Dumbledore's eyes as he allowed himself to think about Harry his student rather than Harry the symbol of the Wizarding World's hope.

"Alive, which is more than most people would be if the Dark Lord got his hands on them." Snape was as blunt as he always was when uncomfortable.

"Severus," Dumbledore paused, clearly unwilling to ask the question again, "I mean has he really broken him?"

"Yes. I think he has."

Dumbledore sighed, "I will never understand the cruelties of fate that put so much on such young shoulders."

"Perhaps you should also remember that fate has tried to compensate for that. He has friends willing to put their lives on the line for him, he was the youngest seeker in a century, he was a Triwizard Champion, and he is in my potions class when frankly there are those who deserve to be more than him but it was him I had to bend the rules for. He may have suffered Albus, and even I can't deny that he has, but he has also had people bend over backwards for him because of that. Things seem to fall into his lap and frankly I don't think that's done him much good. By wishing him to remain a child as long as possible it could be that you have ensured that these troubles should fall on such young shoulders because he's never had to grow up."

"You blame me then?"

Severus began to regret his harsh tone. "No. I think you did your best, I just can't help but think that if he had been treated like any other student he might not be as insufferable as he can be."

With that Severus left his friend, as he usually did, with much to think about. Employing Severus had been a brilliant idea, and one Dumbledore was ashamed to think he might never have had if not for his eagerness to have easy access to his spy. Severus might he blunt, might be harsh, might leave the odd class of children cowering under their desks, but he also saw things other people did not and a different perspective was something the old man valued above almost anything else. Where blame really lay in all this though was almost irrelevant as Dumbledore knew with absolutely certainty that neither he nor his faithful Potions Master would ever stop blaming themselves.

XXXXXXX

Hagrid had not long returned to his home at the forest's edge when a knock at his door announced Ron and Hermione. Without Harry the two of them seemed to be more often together than ever, Hagrid didn't think he'd seen one without the other since Harry had been taken.

"Come in, come in, I've jus' pu' the kettle on the fire. Sit down."

Hermione gave him a brief smile while Ron, looking a little gaunt (Hagrid determined to send some rock cakes up the school soon), just managed a small nod. They settled down close to the fire and Hermione answered his enquiries about their classes with none of her usual enthusiasm.

As soon as she was warming her hands around a large cup of tea she asked, "So how did the meeting go this morning? Is there any news?"

Hagrid shook his head in wonderment. "How do yeh always know when there's bin an Order meeting?"

"Hagrid, you, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were all absent from breakfast," Ron commented drily, "It's noticeable."

Hagrid chuckled, "You three notice everythin'!" He was quiet suddenly as he realised what he'd said. A deep shaky breath and a gulp of heavily sweetened tea seemed to restore him though. "We're gettin' him back. We 'ave a plan!" It all suddenly came tumbling out, the Order's fighting, the announcement from the Ministry that they were willing to cooperate, and the agreement that they were going after Harry.

Hermione listened in silence, surprised when no grand master plan unfolded itself but simply what they might have expected to happen all along. A plan Crabbe and Goyle could probably have formulated. Hermione politely tried to keep her thoughts to herself.

"That...isn't a new plan." Ron was less polite.

"Well, p'raps not entirely, but now the Ministry's definitely on board."

Hermione's face said it all as far as Ron was concerned, this barely merited being called a plan let alone a new one, this was exactly what everyone had been assuming would happen anyway. At least something was happening.

"When are we going?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Dunno yet, think they're still trying to decide...hey, wha' was that 'we' about?"

"You can't possibly believe we'd consent to be left behind." Hermione reasoned.

"We're not staying here sitting on our arse's while Harry needs help!" Ron's response was less polite but equally to the point.

"Now wha' precisely d'ya imagine you two are going the do that Dumbledore an' the Order, not to mention the Ministry,..."

("Best not to mention them really," Ron grumbled, quietly enough that either Hagrid didn't hear or chose to ignore it.)

"...can't do perfectly well without you two gettin' yerselves in danger?!" Hagrid finished.

"Goodness knows what sort of condition Harry's in, I should think a friendly face would be exactly what he'd need right now!" Hermione protested.

"They'll be plenty o' friendly faces. I'll be there, an' Dumbledore o' course. And Professor McGonagall, and your parents Ron. Professor Snape too...though I dunno 'ow much we'll be seein' of 'im, 'e 'as to bring down the magical protections to get us all in, not a job I'd want! Brave man our Professor Snape."

"Hagrid!" Ron cut across the half-giant's admiration of Snape. "We've faced these people more times than half the Order members, don't you think we've earned the right to be there!"

"I think some folks'd argue you'd done more than your share o' fightin' already!"

"But Hagrid..." Ron was silenced by a kick from Hermione.

"You'll let us know when you know more though, won't you, Hagrid?" Hermione interjected smoothly. "Please, we at least deserve to know what's happening!"

"Well, I shouldn't!" Hagrid looked conspiratorial. "Bu' I know 'ow worried you two 'ave been, and I don' wan' you upsettin' yourselves."

"Thank you, Hagrid." Hermione turned on the demure smile and big eyes Ron had seen her turn unfailing on his mother, and watched Hagrid melt. Ron himself was rather less impressed by her performance and turned on her as soon as they were out of hearing range on their way back up to the school.

"Did you just agree to us sitting here while they go off to find Harry?!"

Hermione gave him a hard look. "No. I extracted a promise from Hagrid to let us know what's going on. He wasn't just going to agree to let us go with them, no matter what we said. That doesn't mean we're not going to find a way to follow them. Just a case of working out how, and the more information we get the easier that will be."

"Hermione!" Ron beamed with pride, "Some days you're bloody amazing!"

She blushed and looked away, "Well, I haven't even got a plan yet, save your admiration for when I get us there."

He squeezed her arm. "You will."

XXXXXXX

Hermione spent the night lying awake racking her not inconsiderable brain for any way they might persuade or coerce the Order members into taking them with them. By morning her only certain conclusion was that they would never manage it. If nothing else Mrs Weasley would cry and worry until they both felt too guilty to do anything but agree to stay put wrapped in cotton wool. Perhaps though, as Ron often said, it was easier to gain forgiveness than permission. Looked at from a different angle the problem seemed far less tricky. Everyone was going to be busy and worried, too busy and worried to keep a close watch on the two of them hopefully.

Once Ron finally joined them all ten minutes before the end of breakfast, she slipped him a note, We need Harry's cloak.

Ron, instead of nodding discretely and dropping the note (written on a paper tissue for the express purpose) into his glass of water, looked up and said, "I don't know where he keeps it."

Hermione gave him a 'look'. "We'll discuss this later, Ron."

Neville was smiling slightly at the two of them. "Everything alright?"

"Fine, fine." Hermione was all too aware she was not well-suited to subterfuge. Lying was not something that came easily to her.

Neville's smile faltered at the obvious dismissal. "Ok, long as you're alright." He went back to his breakfast, leaving Hermione feeling guilty but determined not to involve anyone else. Worrying about Harry and Ron was quite enough. Neville would never let them go without trying to come with them, or possibly proving himself more sensible than either herself or Ron and telling a reasonable adult what they were planning to do. Either way, Hermione felt it would be better to keep the kind boy firmly at arm's length for the moment.

She hurried Ron out of the Great Hall while he was still cramming toast into his mouth.

"We need to find Harry's cloak," she hissed as soon as they were alone.

"What for?" Ron was slightly distracted by the fact he seemed to have brought his teacup with him. He shrugged and downed the last of the tea before stashing it behind a convenient statue.

"What do you think we might need an invisibility cloak for?" Hermione muttered, scowling at him creating more work for the house elves. "Not being seen! If we're going to find a way to go with the Order to rescue Harry I think it would be better by far if they simply didn't know we were there."

Ron nodded sagely, ignoring her significant glances at where the cup was hidden. "Good point. It'll be in the dorm somewhere."

"Alright, I have to get to Arithmancy now but after lunch I have a free period, do you?"

"I can have."

"What do you mean you 'can have'?" she asked suspiciously.

Ron shrugged, "It's Care of Magical Creatures, I'll tell Hagrid I had a headache, he keeps looking at me like I'm about to keel over at the moment anyway."

"Taking advantage of people's good nature isn't very nice, Ronald!"

"Ronald?!" He gave her the utterly unguarded grin she hadn't seen in what felt like forever. "Well, now I know I'm in trouble." He elbowed her playfully, "You're the one who wanted to do it this afternoon."

"Well we can hardly do it when there are other people around!" She sighed, "Fine, you look dreadful anyway, you can send word with Seamus. Now for heaven's sake go and return that cup to the Great Hall, I see no reason the House Elves should pick up after you! I'll see you at lunch."

XXXXXXX

Midday meetings had never been Druscilla's favourite. Too early to eat lunch beforehand but with a tendency to drag on long enough to leave you hungry. She wasn't accustomed to having meetings with Molly Weasley though and was willing to re-evaluate her opinions upon the appearance of a large homemade cake in the middle of the table, complete with several generous slices already cut.

Druscilla helped herself immediately, digging in with a satisfaction that indicated her nerves to Percy better than anything else could have. Comfort food, definitely a weakness his boss was happy to indulge. Whereas he had been unable to eat all morning, small as his appetite usually was the constant roiling of his stomach currently made even the sight of the cake nauseating. There were clearly a few others around the table feeling the same way. Bill had actively moved seats when Charlie had taken a piece and was now sat beside Snape, who Percy couldn't imagine indulging in a piece of cake no matter what the circumstances - likely Bill's thinking in his choice of a new seat.

Remus had taken a piece, or rather had one served to him by Molly, but was picking at it distractedly. Percy felt sure there was more cake in crumbs across the table around him than there was in the man's stomach.

Oliver at Percy's his side had also taken some cake and was eating seemingly without trouble, but then it had always seemed that Oliver simply didn't allow anything to prey upon him unless it were a particularly important quidditch match. Of course, Percy smiled fondly at him, Oliver thought they were all important. The warm smile he received in return and the squeeze of his knee under the table brought a flush to his cheeks and a fluttering of butterflies that he was surprised were able to weather the tempest already taking place in his stomach. He quickly looked away, fast enough not to see the slightly hurt look in the other man's eyes, even if everyone was currently rather distracted you never knew what people might notice and form assumptions from. He was sure Bill had been giving him a strange look earlier when Oliver had pulled out his chair in a irritatingly gallant move that Percy was certain had not been intended as the act of condescension his prickly instincts took it as.

Currently though Bill was busy looking vaguely ill, bright blue eyes darting around the room and eventually meeting the almost identical ones of his brother. There must have been some truth in the old adage of sharing troubles as there did seem to be almost an element of comfort in the look of mutual anxiety and concern that passed between them. Perhaps, Percy thought, just perhaps, if they could get through this he and Bill could fix the years of damage their relationship had taken. If they could get through this.

Dumbledore had long ago called them all to order and had been delivering a speech Percy had processed very little of. It was clearly intended to boost morale but the only two people at the table who seemed in any way soothed by it were Tonks and, a glance to the side told him, Oliver. Maybe naivety had it's charms after all. They certainly looked more hopeful than the rest. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Thornfield, Kingsley and his father all looked determined, as though what was planned was going to happen and come hell itself they would see it through but 'hope' wasn't quite the word for that look. Severus Snape looked more unreadable than Percy had ever seen him, but his pallor was bleached as white as that of one already dead.

Druscilla was only half listening to Albus Dumbledore's 'inspiring' speech while making notes on a piece of parchment in front of her and, with her attention split, was paying rather less attention to those around her than usual. After a while though, her assistant's constant nervous glancing about caught her eye and she looked sharply at him. He didn't even notice. She sighed internally, she had a bad feeling that Percy might not be handling things as well as he could be. She made a mental note to speak with him in private as soon as possible and nudged him in the meantime to bring his attention back to the meeting in progress. He started in precisely the way she had been hoping to avoid and then flushed horrifyingly as several Order members, including Dumbledore, looked his way in askance. He gave them a smile clearly intended to be reassuring but which Druscilla was fairly sure was only going to serve to worry everyone further. She did the only thing possible and diverted attention, as ever, onto herself.

"Albus, I suppose you'd like myself and Kingsley to coordinate with Fudge?" She was careful to monopolise conversation and attention for long enough that Percy's odd behaviour was dismissed from most people's thoughts.

As soon as the meeting broke up Druscilla took Percy's arms and drew him quietly aside. "We should have a chat, Percy, I need to speak with Dumbledore now but I'll come and find you as soon as we're done here."

He nodded dumbly and she squeezed his arm tightly, suddenly less sure than she had ever been of her decision to hire this brilliant, inexperienced, emotionally unsure, young man. "Just go back to the office and wait for me there."

Her reassuring tones, (which admittedly might have verged on the patronising, but comfort was not something she excelled at - unless it were in ways Percy would likely deem 'inappropriate'), seemed to jolt him from whatever reverie he had been caught in and he gave her a slightly imperious look. "Yes, I'm sure I shall manage that."

His slight insubordination only made her smile, the more spirit she could rouse in him the better. "Well, do give it a go," she winked. "I won't be long."

XXXXXXX

Hermione's guilt for shutting Neville out drifted from the forefront of her mind during her morning classes, only to be brought back in full at lunchtime when it became clear that Neville was no longer the quiet shy little boy he'd been when she'd first met him and that he was no longer so easily put off. As they all filtered out from the Great Hall after finishing eating he hurried after herself and Ron. "Are you two sure you're alright, have you heard anything?" He didn't specify the nature of the 'anything' but it was easy enough to interpret.

"Yeah, we're fine Neville. We're just going to go to the library actually," Hermione hustled Ron off quickly before he could get into conversation, leaving Neville looking hurt for the second time that day and swearing that somehow she'd find a way to apologise to him.

This time however somebody else was watching their exchange. Luna came up quietly beside the troubled Gryffindor and offered him a small smile. "They do trust you, you know."

For once Neville looked oddly bitter. "They have a funny way of showing it."

"I think it's Harry's influence on them. Oh I don't mean that in a bad way, but he's spent so long at the centre of danger, can you imagine how difficult it must be for him to let people get close to him and risk them getting into danger too. People around him keep dying, they have since he was a child. Think about it. They trust you, but they also like you and they don't want to drag you into something that could harm you."

By the end of Luna's speech, Neville couldn't have stopped himself smiling at her if he'd wanted to. "You have a lovely way of seeing the best in people, Luna."

"So do you, you're just a little insecure."

Neville laughed quietly at her bluntness. "I suppose you're right."

"You have no reason to be you know. You're more than you realise, maybe we all are. Maybe if we could all see past our own labels we'd see we're more than the 'know-it-all', or the 'sidekick', or the 'family squib', or the 'weirdo', or the child of a Death Eater," she gave a pointed look to where Draco was holding court with a group of Slytherins, "Then maybe we could all do amazing things. Even stop hating each other."

Neville felt suddenly warm inside with hope and affection and gratitude towards the sweet, insightful young woman. When she'd so clearly been referring to herself as the 'weirdo' he'd found he'd wanted nothing more than to hold her hand and tell her that if she was weird (which if he was honest she probably was) then weird was absolutely wonderful as far as he was concerned.

She noted his silence as he stared at her and seemed to draw the wrong conclusion for once. "I should let you get on. Thank you for listening though, most people don't like listening when I talk."

Stumbling to get words out quickly enough, Neville responded with more honesty than he had intended. "I think the world often just seems like a brighter place when I'm listening to you." Neville blushed at his own remark but Luna simply turned a million watt smile on him, a grin that could have lit up the Great Hall (and in Neville's opinion did), and he couldn't regret having said it.

"That's a lovely thing to say." Luna tucked her hand through Neville's arm and guided him towards the school doors.

"Where are we going?"

"You were going to check on your plants."

Neville floundered, "Well, yes I was, but how did you know that?"

The only response he received was a breezy, "I know you."

XXXXXXX

Back in the Gryffindor common room once everyone else was in afternoon classes, Hermione went to lead the way to the stairs up to the boys dorms.

"Woahhh!" Ron held out a hand to stop her. "Where are you going?"

"We have to find that cloak!"

"You can't go in the boys dorms!" he looked positively scandalised.

"Don't be ridiculous! It's the middle of the day, no one's going to be getting changed up there, no one's even going to be up there!" she brushed his hand aside and started up the staircase.

Ron gaped after her. "But...but...don't alarms go off or something?"

Hermione waited and cocked her head as though listening for an alarm. "Apparently not." She continued up the stairs. "The level of supervision at Hogwarts really is shocking sometimes." She stopped suddenly and Ron, who had been jogging to catch her up, stumbled in a bid to avoid crashing into her. "Oh god, I always wondered why everyone in the magical world seemed to have married and had children so early despite a general increased life-expectancy, which you would expect to drive the age of both marriage and child-bearing up in comparison to the Muggle world. Perhaps this is why... If Professor McGongall ever gives me that Prefect Badge back maybe I should suggest some tighter controls." She shook her head and continued into the 6th year boys dorm.

"Wow." Hermione stopped dead again inside the door.

"Yeah," Ron scrubbed a hand through his hair, "It gets a bit messy in here sometimes..."

"Did something explode?"

"Not this week..."

She sighed. "Just, which stuff is Harry's?"

Ron pointed sheepishly to the right bed.

"Ok then, let's get on with it. You check his bedside table, I'll check his trunk." Hermione went as though to sit on Harry's bed and hesitated.

"Here," Ron dragged the trunk to the side of his own bed. "Sit there, I can't bear to sit on it either."

"Thanks." Hermione sat, a little gingerly, on Ron's messy bed. "Don't the house elves make your beds?"

"I was still in bed when they came round this morning, had Astronomy at midnight again so I had a free period first thing."

"Yes, you were very late for breakfast," she said pointedly. "You could always make the bed yourself."

"Yeah, I could, but what would be the point? I mean it's only going to get messed up again anyway!"

Hermione sighed and began digging through Harry's trunk. After a quick look in the drawers of Harry's bedside table, Ron sat beside her and joined in the hunt.

A noise from the doorway had them both suddenly sitting up guiltily, horribly aware that they were rooting through someone else's belongings.

A surprised Neville stopped dead and took in the scene of Ron and Hermione sat close together on the rumpled bed looking mildly guilty. He flushed deeply. "Oh! Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I was just going to get my charms book, nevermind...I'll come back later!" Neville squeaked and scuttled out.

Hermione frowned, "What on earth was that about?"

"I think he thinks..." Ron sniggered and made a few rude hand gestures, causing Hermione to smack his hands down to his sides.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" she huffed, covering a deep blush with as much annoyance as she could muster. Turned out she could muster quite a bit of annoyance when it came to teenage boys. "I'd have expected better of him!" She turned back to rooting (with rather less care than before) through Harry's trunk. "Now where's that bloody cloak?!"

"Hermione!" Ron grinned, "I don't think I've heard you swear before!"

"There are appropriate circumstances for everything, Ronald," she said sniffily. "Aha!" Silvery shimmering fabric puddled out from between some rather muddy quidditch robes.

Ron grasped it and held it up. "Right, well that's step one. What now?"

Hermione turned to him and suddenly realised just how close he was sat to her. They'd been sat together on a bed before now she supposed, but never alone, and never on his bed. She flushed again. "I think I should go before anyone else comes in and thinks we're being inappropriate."

He was staring at her. Staring at her lips if she'd had to take a guess. Familiar blue eyes met hers and for a moment she thought she saw something in there that was less familiar, but he simply squeezed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Yeah, I don't want to compromise your reputation." He laughed, but it sounded a little forced and the tips of his ears were most decidedly red. They were both silent on the way back downstairs.

XXXXXXX

About 3 o'clock Druscilla knocked firmly on Percy Weasely's office door before letting herself in.

He looked up at her, eyes shadowed but determined. "I'm fine."

Well if he wanted to cut to the chase that was just fine with her. "You're not fine. You seem to be on the verge of a breakdown and now is not the time to fall off the sanity wagon."

"I'm fine," he repeated so quietly she could barely hear him.

"Percy!"

He looked so lost she wanted to hug him. "The last time I had to fight someone, I killed them."

Druscilla perched on the end of his desk and placed a gentle hand on his forearm, "Percy, if you don't want to be involved in any fighting, or feel that you perhaps would be more useful to us back here coordinating things, then please tell me. No one is forcing you to go, least of all me."

"No," He stood up suddenly to tower over her. "I...of course I'm going with you. I wouldn't abandon you all, no one wants to do this but it still needs doing."

She did not rise to the bait of standing up, all too aware that in his current state they would be quickly teetering upon the edge of a fight. She kept her voice and expression as neutral as she could manage. "Just tell me honestly if you think you can handle this, because if you can't you'll be neither use nor ornament."

Her calm demeanour and blunt questioning seemed to calm him in turn. "I can handle it. I'm going with you."

She looked at him calculatingly for a long moment. "Very well, you do seem to have recovered from your experience last summer." She watched carefully for a reaction as she brought the conversation back to the altercation with the Death Eaters in which he'd killed someone. She knew the experience had haunted him for some time and had certainly, from what she knew of him, changed the way he handled both himself and those around him. His expression however remained calm, whatever lasting issues he had as a result seemed firmly back under his control. "You need to focus, keep your eye on the big picture, do not allow yourself to become distracted."

Percy smiled a little and leaned against the desk beside her, casually comfortable in a way she rarely saw him. "Constant vigilance?"

She smiled back. "Moody may be crazy, but he is right. There are times when you cannot afford to let your guard down and for goodness sake do not do what you did last time!" She swatted him playfully on the arm, her flippant manner disguising what was really a lecture on poor battle etiquette. "Defending other people is admirable but while they're still capable of holding a wand they need to keep fighting. We need to all be watching each others backs, when you were fighting the Death Eaters you pushed your brother behind you to keep him out of harm's way but it also put him out of use's way. We work together, no sacrificial gestures, understood?"

Percy nodded. "Understood."

The sat quietly for a moment before Percy asked hesitantly, "It's Snape bringing down the wards isn't it?"

"Well obviously. Which other of us can just wander on in there?"

"But couldn't that be really dangerous, I mean the chances of him doing that without them knowing it was an inside job can't be good?"

"Dangerous. As opposed to everything else that man's done so far?" She took a long drink of Percy's coffee and sighed. "They'll almost certainly know he's done it, I suppose the idea will be to get in there quick enough that Severus isn't dealing with the fallout alone. See if we can keep him alive."

Percy looked genuinely distressed at her choice of words.

"Try not to worry, Severus is a very, very dangerous man. I don't fancy the chances of anyone who takes him on. I wouldn't, and you know me I'll take on anyone. Hell I recently took on our head Auror and I still have the lump on my head to prove it!"

Her attempt at levity didn't raise the smallest of smiles from him and she narrowed her eyes. "Is there something else?"

Percy sighed. "This isn't just going to be dangerous for Professor Snape. I just wish I could persuade Oliver to stay away from it all. He's really not the world's greatest dueller. I'm worried about him and even worse I'm the idiot who brought him into this in the first place!"

It was funny Druscilla thought, to look at the pair of them you'd never mark Percy down as the threat. Or at least most people wouldn't, those with a little more sense and ability to see beyond initial impressions though might. For all Oliver was clearly physically the stronger, shorter but better built, a young sportsman in top physical condition, she'd have placed her bets on the lanky redhead at her side every time. Percy might be a little too thin, no muscle to speak of and a complexion that said he'd been out in the sun once a long time ago and decided it wasn't for him, but behind the pompous expression was a mind of quite devastating intelligence and a will of iron.

"Alright then, what would you have him do? Bearing in mind that he's unlikely to agree to sit either at home or at the Ministry, unless you intend to imprison him somewhere."

Percy's guilty look suggested the thought had crossed his mind. "He's completed St Mungo's intensive first aid training, he's calm, quick on his feet, and a professional when it comes to dodging things – literally! Dumbledore was talking about wanting some medical aid available. I can't imagine it will place him in any less danger, but if I were to be objective about it I suspect it's how he might best contribute."

"Interesting. I'll speak with him. I believe Emmeline Vance will be doing the same, and though she was a mediwitch in her youth, her youth was a very long time ago and I doubt she'll be as quick on her feet as Oliver. Let me think about things."

The more Druscilla considered their situation over the rest of the afternoon (and several cups of coffee) the more she could see the sense in Percy's suggestion. She had no idea how good a dueller Oliver was, but then she was fairly dubious as to the skills of anyone outside the Ministry on that score. It was one thing to excel in a classroom, another thing entirely to survive on a battlefield.

Late that evening, leaving the young Weasley still hard at work and protesting that he'd go home 'soon', she finally slipped away from the Ministry and apparated to Oliver's front door.

The handsome quidditch player opened it in a towel, bottle of beer in hand and a smile that became rather more self-conscious when he saw who it was.

She grinned appreciatively, "Expecting someone else?"

Oliver laughed, "I should have known better, it's far too early for him to have left work yet." He stepped aside and gestured her in.

"Sadly you're right about that, he's been saying he's going to leave 'soon' for the past hour at least so I'm afraid you may have a bit of a wait ahead of you."

"Give me a minute." Oliver gestured at the towel and left her in the cosy living room, decorated in Puddlemere blue and gold, returning a moment later rather more modestly attired. "Sorry about that."

"Oh it was no problem at all," she winked.

He laughed, utterly self-conscious in the face of her admiring gaze, and ducked through to the kitchen to come back with a second bottle of beer. She accepted it with an easy smile and commandeered the room's comfiest looking chair.

Oliver sat across from her on the couch and a hint of concern began to show through his easy good humour. "Are you here about Percy?"

Sensing that information might be about to be proffered if she were only patient enough to look encouraging and let her own business wait, Druscilla gave a concerned sigh and a look that prompted Oliver to continue.

"I'm worried about him." It was clear Oliver didn't want to admit it, Percy certainly wouldn't want him telling his boss that there might be any cause for concern, but the man was very clearly anxious about his lover. "He's so quiet lately, he's not eating well, and frankly if circumstances were different I'd be trying to talk him into a holiday."

"But they are not different." Druscilla was blunt but not quite blunt enough to voice her opinion that if circumstances were different enough for holidays to be an option then Oliver and Percy would likely be otherwise occupied in debating the currently clandestine nature of their relationship. That however was only going to become her concern if it impacted on Percy's work and mental health, and there were far too many other things ahead of it in the queue to do that for it to be at all her current focus. "He did talk to me earlier. I've been becoming concerned myself, his behaviour has been anxious, jumpy even. I'm worried about how he might respond in the fighting that is frankly a certainty when we go to find Harry, though he is determined to go and seems settled in his own mind that he can handle it."

Oliver gave a slightly sad and utterly lovestruck smile. "He's so much stronger than he realises. And if he's saying he can handle this, he can handle it."

She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Because he's never bitten off more than he can chew in the past."

"He's always sorted it out in the end." Oliver as always was Percy's staunch defender.

She smiled fondly, "I hope he knows what he's got in you."

Oliver looked awkward, "I think it's everyone else who tends not to notice what they've got in him."

She considered for a moment, "That is certainly true. Though he could use a little work on the people skills sometimes, that might help people realise there's more than just pompous hot air flowing round that oversized brain of his."

Oliver gave a rueful grin, "I think it's a bit endearing when he's pompous, it's only because he cares so much."

Dru couldn't hold back a laugh and patted Oliver on the arm as he flushed in embarrassment. "I should probably own up to having coming here to discuss something else with you. I have been concerned about Percy but I cannot dissuade him from his current course of action and I am not concerned enough to try any further. I'm actually here about you."

"Me?" For such a handsome, talented young man, Oliver always seemed astounded to have caught people's notice.

"Percy's been telling me you have some experience with First Aid?"

"Well I've had St Mungo's basic training, it's a requirement for all Puddlemere players, most quidditch teams in fact, and I did some training with Madame Pomfrey back at Hogwarts. Quidditch players get injured a lot. I'm no mediwizard but I can stop bleeding, splint a limb, revive someone." By the time he'd finished speaking Oliver had caught on to why he was being asked and looked grave but determined.

She smiled at what looked suspiciously like hope that he might be useful. "That's more than most. Do you think you can fix people up while other people are trying to kill each all around you, and very likely trying to kill you too? You need to stay calm and focused, and detached, which I confess is the part I'm less convinced you can manage. This is not a quidditch pitch, there is no one running on to help you and some people will be beyond your aid. You have to help who you can and move on, it's not about whether someone's in pain or afraid it's about whether they'll survive longer than the person next to them because that's when you leave them."

His expression was set, "If you think I can be any help at all then I want to be. I'm not much of a dueller but I'm fast and I'm good under pressure, if I can dodge the Slytherin beaters to guard the goalposts I can dodge the Death Eaters to heal the rest of you."

Her smile was grim. "I'll put you in touch with the Aurors on-team healers. Your job's just become to try and keep us all alive. I don't envy you it."

XXXXXXX

A/N: Well I hope it was worth the wait, please do let me know what you thought. As usual I'm not making promises of a date for the next chapter (because we all know I never keep them) but I am working on it! Thank you to everyone who's been reading and especially the lovely reviewers! :)