Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to HP. It all belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Bros., and any other entities involved.

Draco called up the program and inspected the results at length. His frown deepened, and he was very worried.

"Things are very dire. It seems that as a part of Voldemort's plan, the authorities were to be aware of our presence, insuring that we spent a great deal of time obliviating the Muggles."

"However things have escalated much more than the Dark Lord anticipated. Apparently there is an international cabal that suspects the existence of magic."

Ginny interjected, "What, how could they?"

"They stole a detailed account of people obliviated and magical incidents. However they could not convince their superiors to vigorously pursue the cases. All this changed with this incident. High-ranking officials saw the machine disappear, and the pièce de resistance was the wyvern. Finally the cabal had concrete proof of their assertions."

"It seems they have the help of some people in the Wizarding World and government. All Wizarding enclaves have been detected and cordoned off, the Allied Armies will enter them tomorrow. Any resistance will be met with overwhelming superiority in numbers. What the governments want is to use us as research projects, breed us to give them weapons of war. They will brand us and shunt us off to 'settlements' or concentration camps as I call them."

"Our darkest nightmare has come true. Hogwarts is interdicted; the Floo network is down."

Draco thought about something that could conceivably help them and at the same time ensure that Harry was outside the danger zone.

"Harry, I have a portkey that will bypass the wards and take you directly to Hogwarts. Do you want to go there and confer with Dumbledore?"

"Yes, I will go there and try to see if we can negotiate with them."

Draco grimaced inwardly at Harry's naiveté. He continued, "I need you to present a plan to the Headmaster; are you aware of the concept of a fleet in being?"

Hermione gasped, and Harry replied, "No, I'm not, what is it?"

It was Granger who replied, "In the First World War, the German fleet presented a challenge to the Allies. The Germans did not engage in direct battle, worried that the ships would be sunk. Instead they adhered to the principle of a fleet in being, that is, their fleet would not fight directly, instead it would remain in the ports, and the enemy would be threatened by it, not knowing when or where it would strike."

Draco continued, "Hogwarts must remain free and with a considerable force of wizards. It must be strong so that if the Muggles mistreat us we can retaliate." He added mentally, "Perhaps something can be salvaged from this mess. At any rate it should keep you out of trouble, Harry."

Draco grabbed the quill that was the portkey and gave it to Harry. Inwardly he thought, "I know I have hurt you, Harry, but you must realize what you want. This way you are free from pressure and you can have time and space to work out your likes and preferences in peace."

Harry took the portkey and muttered the keyword Draco had whispered to him: "Arsenal."

Draco tried to appear professional as he was consumed with worry for his friends and despair for his mother's death. He perused the information available on the computer, collating the key content: the people that started the whole chain of events, their position and timing. He took notes on a piece of parchment which he put in his pocket.

He also took the time to send an e-mail to interested government officials detailing the place where they would find certain key evidence.

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Harry felt the pull on his navel and found himself in Dumbledore's office. He hastily stood straight and looked around. Many members of the Order were there as well as government workers. Scrimgeour was present, with him stood Percy Weasley.

Dumbledore looked old and worn, frail, like he was a century and a half. There was no twinkle in his eyes. He nodded somberly at Harry and continued with his exposition, which summed up would consist of the mantra 'listen to the Muggles and do as they say, hoping for the best.'

He was exasperated by Dumbledore's obtuseness. The old man seemed to think that the Muggles would find caring people to liaison with the wizards, that they would take time to convince themselves that wizards were harmless, that eventually they would arrive to that conclusion and would allow the wizards to move back to their towns and homes.

Harry was not certain of this at all. He could recall his family and their xenophobic feelings towards magic, their hatred of the very word. He frankly conceded that most Muggles would have that reaction, and that did not bode well for the wizards. They could expect to be blamed for everything under the sun, wars, famine, disease, poverty. When they proved unable to correct the world's ills and create paradise, the Muggles would turn on them and maybe even lynch them.

During a pause in the old man's speech Harry presented the idea of the fleet in being as if it were his own. The Weasleys, Remus and Kingsley Shacklebolt seemed interested and warmed by it, but Dumbledore disapproved, citing that it would show that they distrusted the Muggles and would thus weaken their position.

Despite the heated arguments of the Weasleys, Dumbledore and the majority of the Order rejected Harry's idea, and the discussion shifted to the best way to accept the Muggle ultimatum.

Harry wanted to howl and rage at the old man, but he knew it was pointless. The Order and the Government would follow as always Dumbledore's lead.

Percy stood up and pompously recited a list of places where the 'settlements' were to be built. Harry groaned and wondered for the first time if Voldemort was right in some of his ideas. Surely they would not just curl up and surrender, right? But that was exactly what Dumbledore and airhead Percy were suggesting.

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Draco surveyed his handiwork. He had a scroll with the time and place of the main events of this fucked up adventure, on another parchment he had written the key facts about Narcissa's death which he had gotten from his godfather, he had also written a timeline of the events leading to the attack on the manor and the way the wards were breached. He had consulted with Severus on ways to strengthen the wards.

It seemed he had all that he needed for his plans. Time to collect the key players. He looked at Tonks and said, "Chére cousine, would you care to go with me to do some errands?"

Tonks replied, "Whatever you say, Draco!"

Then he turned to Ron and asked for Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Ron was not agreeable to this idea, but the combined glares of Draco and Severus rapidly unnerved him and he caved. Presently he returned with the Cloak.

Draco turned to Ginny and said, "Would you come with me on a quest, Ginevra?"

"As you wish, my Prince."

Ron rolled his eyes and appeared to gag at the pleasantries exchanged.

Draco and Ginny got under the Cloak; then they and Tonks left and took a portkey to the Ministry, as it seemed that the Muggles – or Wizards working with them – had erected anti-apparition wards around the Wizard enclaves.

Tonks morphed into the prison guard and entered the Ministry, going down to the prisoner cells. They all could see the mayhem and confusion of the ministry workers, they were bustling around and there was a dark atmosphere of despair rolling off the workers in waves. Nobody paid any attention to Tonks and the customary security checks were not taken.

Draco took the time to whisper to Ginny, "Do you trust me, Ginevra?"

"With my life."

"Then trust me to say that what I am going to do is necessary for the survival of the Wizarding World, though you may not like my methods."

Outside Bellatrix Lestrange's cell, Draco and Ginny took off the cloak, Tonks changed into herself and they entered.

Bellatrix's eyes were huge as she spluttered, "You, you…."

Draco replied, "Yes, aunt, it is us. Could you please take us to your Master? The existence of the Wizarding World is at stake."

Bellatrix noted their somber demeanor, and even in her fanatical devotion to her Lord, she realized there was something very wrong here. Grudgingly she consented to Apparate to Voldemort's lair with the other three.

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Voldemort was perplexed and even scared. Apparently his plans to embroil the side of Light with the Muggles had backfired, and now the Muggles seemingly held all wizards at gunpoint, threatening them and ordering them to move to what effectively were concentration camps. All his life he had feared this, a main tenet of his crusade was to prevent this, and yet it had come to be.

He read again the parchment as the utterly scared Death Eater courier cowered in front of him.

His contacts with the Swiss informed him that the Wizarding community of Gstaad had tried to deal with the Muggles by force, believing that their magic would surely give them the upper hand. After indulging in a Muggle carnage, these retaliated with devastating force and anger and utterly destroyed the Wizarding quarter; all within had perished.

It did not bear thinking of, this could not happen; and it was because of him.

The doors opened and four people entered. Lord Voldemort would have never thought to see these four together, in apparent peace. Bellatrix Lestrange entered and strutted proudly. He could be sure it was Bella because right behind were her niece Tonks, the Weasley brat and the Little Lord himself.

Draco had hastily erected a shield, which proved fortunate because several hexes were directed at them. The shield flickered but remained steady.

Draco drawled, "This is not a very nice welcome for a person who wants to enter a deal with you, Lord Voldemort."

Draco knew he needed the Dark Lord for his plan to succeed, and it was imperative that he remain courteous to the evil git. After dealing with Lucius his whole life, he could deal with the devil himself if need be. He used his Malfoy upbringing to retain his poise.

"You are surely aware of the commotion caused by the attack. The Muggles threaten to destroy the Wizarding World; in fact, they will destroy it if we do not come to an arrangement."

"There is an old spell, called Reverto hora, which I'm sure you are aware of, that creates a unique time loop. Persons are sent back 30 hours and they can alter the timeline. The problem is that this requires a lot of power and can only be done once in a lifetime by the combined powers of the paladins of the Dark and the Light."

"You and I are such champions, and this is the only way we can save the Wizarding World. If we fail, wizards and witches will become slaves, toys of the greedy Muggle nations, and we will be hunted to extinction!"

Voldemort was stunned, how could Malfoy have learned such a spell? He was sure he was the only one in the world who knew that incantation, which had come with a handful of powerful charms in an old book containing Slytherin's personal journal. Had that Jenkins woman babbled about this to someone?

Then he attacked the weakest point in Malfoy's argument: "If it needs the champion of the Light, then where are Dumbledore and Potter?"

Draco smirked; the Dark Lord was reacting exactly as expected. Now he had to say the lines, play the Kabuki role and Voldemort would surely follow.

"Dumbledore and Potter are silly Gryffindors, Lord Voldemort. Even if we fight in opposite sides, you and I are Slytherins. We do what is needed to survive, nothing else. I'm sure Potter and Dumbledore would be too caught up in the ethics of the spell to perform it effectively, and when they decided to act it would be too late. We are ruthless in our need to stay alive, and we will perform seemingly unpalatable acts to ensure so."

"I will go back in time with Ginevra Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks. I'm sure you will want a participant from your followers, and I propose aunt Bellatrix, we will need her ruthlessness. We don't have much time; the 30-hour cusp is approaching."

Just then the doors were violently thrown back, and several Death Eaters appeared with bloodied robes. "My Lord, there is a contingent of Muggles outside, they ride on strange vehicles, and there are several flying vehicles around us. They are coming in!"

Draco was relieved. He knew the Dark Lord would prove hard to convince. He needed something to force You-know-who to face the cruel facts. That's why he had leaked the location of Voldemort's lair to the government in an email he had sent before.

Now if only the Dark Lord would react, they were running out of time.

There was a booming sound as a piece of the wall collapsed inwards. About half of the Death Eaters present died in the explosion. The Dark Lord was thus brutally forced to consider his upcoming demise. He turned to Bellatrix and whispered: "Go with them, Bella. Do what you can to prevent this! Surely there will come a moment when Malfoy will be vulnerable, strike then and kill him!"

Bellatrix nodded and she moved towards Draco, Ginny and Tonks. They stood in the center of the hall. Draco rapidly drew a pentagram and motioned for Ginny to take his right hand and Bellatrix's left hand, Bella grudgingly grasped Tonks' left hand and she was ready to take Draco's other hand when he finished the spell. Draco held his wand as he intoned the incantation and swished it just the correct amount.

Together, Draco and Voldemort chorused: Reverto hora! as the ceiling collapsed on them. Draco worriedly saw that most of the Death Eaters were hit by the debris and died. Voldemort was decapitated by a massive piece of concrete. He turned and saw Ginny get hit by masonry and go under; he was struck himself by several concrete pieces. As he observed a massive stone hurtling towards him, he thought "So this is the end? I wish I'd seen Harry one last time."

Just as the stone was about to reach his head, everything stood still for a moment. The dust clouds created by the explosion glittered under the sun, the pieces of masonry held still in mid-air as if they were exposition pieces in a museum; the corpses of his enemies were speckled with blood.

Then everything began to run slowly backwards. The concrete flew up and fitted itself into the ceiling, the dust clouds condensed to solid points and dove into the concrete and the persons hit righted themselves and moved backwards.

The acceleration backwards increased, and the four travelers felt the darkness rise and claim them.

tbc