"I thought you'd come back here," Ginny said, walking up to the front door of Hogwarts, where Harry stood, thinking.

Harry said nothing.

"C'mon. Everyone's waiting."

Harry allowed her to lead him into the castle and to the Pensieve room. Everyone was there-- Ron, Padma, Hermione, Draco, Neville, Luna.

Harry wanted to thank them all for being there for him. "I'm surprised you even want to share a room with me," is what came out.

"Bloody well right we do," Ron said stoutly.

"You've been fighting the Dark Lord off for seventeen years," said Draco. "And he's been living inside you. None of us could have done that."

Harry stared at the floor. "I'm going to have to sacrifice myself," he said matter-of-factly. "I'll do it. But I'll have to teach one of you the spell to undo a Horcrux."

"No!" Ginny shrieked. She ran to him, ignoring everyone else, falling on her knees in front of him. She took his hands. "You can't," she said. "You can't." Tears ran down her face and splashed onto the floor.

Hermione remained calm. "All you need is the wand, Harry. You heard what Voldemort said-- you didn't have to kill Nagini. All you have to do is remove the Horcrux from yourself."

"I dropped Voldemort's wand," Harry said numbly. "And now he has destroyed it."

This she hadn't expected. "What? How do you know?"

"I saw it," Harry told her. "I had a vision of it--"

"It could have been nothing," Hermione said.

"Don't you get it?" yelled Harry. "I can see into his mind!"

"You thought Sirius was being held captive in the Department of Mysteries," Hermione gently reminded him.

"It's not the same," Harry spat back. "I can tell. Malfoy's been helping me, I can block him now and I can pry into his mind--"

"It's true," Draco affirmed. "He's been getting much better."

"--and he's getting weaker," Harry finished. "His powers are getting weaker. He can't plant things in my mind like he used to be able to. I know what's going on, and after we left, he retrieved that wand and burned it into ashes, then scattered them in the ocean. I can't use that wand to take his soul out of me, Hermione. I have to die. There's no other way."

"What about the prophecy?" she said. "Neither can live while the other survives. One will die at the hand of the other. What about that? One of you has to live!"

"Prophecies can be wrong," Harry told her.

"Harry, you can't! I won't let you... I can't lose you..." Ginny shook violently.

"There is no other way." His voice was even now, matter-of-fact. He took her hands in his. "I'm sorry." He sighed, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "I love you, Gin."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks in little rivers. "Harry... you can't, you won't, please... I can't be without you... don't do this, there has to be another way..."

"There's not."

Hermione got to her feet. "Promise me you won't do anything yet," she said.

"Why?"

"I'm going to the Restricted Section," she said. "I'm going to look through the books and see if I can't find something."

He sighed. "Oh, Hermione, there isn't going to be any--"

"Shut up," she snapped. "You're going to let me look."

Draco rose. "I'll help you," he said.

"Me too," Ron agreed, and Neville nodded.

"I'll write to my dad," Luna said calmly. "He might know something that can help."

"Thanks, Luna," said Harry earnestly. "All you guys. Really, thanks."

"D'you think we could use Polyjuice Potion?" Neville asked.

Hermione was confused.

"You know, get someone to pretend they're Harry..." He trailed off.

"Polyjuice only works to change outward appearance," Hermione said. "Besides, you'd have to kill whoever it was that took the Polyjuice even if it did work. We don't want to murder anyone else."

"Unless we could force Bellatrix to take it," Neville said evenly.

"Good point," Ron said.

"The Room of Requirement?" Draco mused. "No, that's no good. It said in Hogwarts, A History that--"

Ron cut him off. "You've read Hogwarts, A History?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well now it all makes sense," he said, and actually cracked a smile.

"I think," Hermione said after awhile, snapping a book shut, "that I'm going to write to Viktor." She braced herself for Ron's smart remark, but he was poring over a book with Padma.

"Viktor Krum?" Draco said stonily. "That Bulgarian lout that you--"

Hermione laughed and gave him a kiss. "Boys," she said to herself, shaking her head. "Yes. The Bulgarian lout that I dated in fourth year."

"I never liked him much," Draco lied, although Hermione knew very well that he had been just as eager to have him at Hogwarts as Ron. "I was cheering for Fleur." He gave a little mock growl, and Hermione flicked him on the arm, laughing.

"What are you going to ask him?" Draco asked.

"He studied at Durmstrang," Hermione said. "Maybe he'll have something to say on the subject."

"Hello," Viktor said, smiling down at Hermione. He had instantly Apparated to Hogsmeade from Liverpool, where he had been attending a Quidditch match. "It is good to see you." He looked around. "It has been long time. I do not recognize everyone--"

Draco put a protective arm around her. "I'm Draco Malfoy," he said. "Her boyfriend."

Hermione gave him a surprised glance, but didn't deny it.

"We all grew up," Ron said, stepping up to Viktor. He was a few inches taller than Viktor now. "We're not children anymore."

"Viktor--" She wrested free of Draco's grasp and aprroached him. "Look, we need your help. Is there a way--" She broke off, turning to the people behind her. "We're dealing with Horcruxes."

He sat down hard. "You are sure?"

"Yes, Viktor, quite sure."

"Vot evidence is there..."

"The counter-curse," Harry said. "I've performed it four times."

He put his chin in his hands. "There is von possibility."

"What?"

"The Dementors," Viktor said. "They are soul-suckers."

"That's stupid," spat Ginny. "How do you know which soul they'll suck out?"

"You could use Occlumency! Or Legilimency!" said Draco. "Couldn't you?"

"In theory," Hermione said.

"But I've never been good at it," Harry interjected.

Draco turned to him. "You're getting better," he said. "Really. I think we could teach you enough--"

"You're all forgetting one very important thing," said Luna calmly. "The Dementors. They're gone, aren't they?"

"They went through the veil," Hermione said softly.

"So you'll have to follow," said Luna. She blinked.

Harry thought hard about this. "So Malfoy, what do you think would be the best way to go about this?"

"Well," Draco mused, "If you used Legilimency, you could call up Voldemort's memories and squash everything down that was your own. That might draw the Dementors to his soul and leave yours."

"So you're going to go through the veil of death, endure a Dementor's Kiss, hope it doesn't take your soul, and then come out to kill Voldemort?" Ginny said.

Harry looked at her. "Well, it's not like I'll be coming out to face him right away..."

She let out an abrupt laugh. "I don't like it."

"But this way I have a little bit of a chance."

"How are we going to get into the Department of Mysteries?" Hermione said.