Potter vs Malfoy: War's End

by Jedi Tess of Gryffindor

10 January: Chapter 10 edited and updated! Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy need near death experiences to finally reach a truce. That, and strongminded women. pre OotP, ships: Draco and Ginny, Harry and girl!Blaise, COMPLETE

16. War's End Part 2 :Beginning again

A/N: Okay, people, this is it. Okay, not it. There's still the VERY end to write – namely, the epilogue, which will be a series of scenes immediately following and spanning outward from the end of this chapter. By the end of this chapter, you will understand all. Don't worry; PLENTY of D/G in the epilogue and, I think, a fair bit in this chapter. Sorry it's not more graphic. I know I've been pushing Blaise/Harry quite a bit more. There IS a reason for that, have no fear. Remember that in the timeline they discover in the future, Harry and Blaise are together straight away after leaving school, whereas Ginny and Draco take longer to develop their relationship. Patience, my good readers.

This is your fifty-eight page Christmas present from your grateful authoress. THANKS for reading, reviewing thoughtfully, and e-mailing me. It's been a fantastic process and your support has kept me going.

Happy Christmas!

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good – er, I mean, we own nothing. Yeah . . .

Additional a/n: I want you to know, before you start, that due to my reckless promise to get this to you before Christmas, editing on this chapter (which took many, many late nights to write and never seemed to end!) has been scant. BIG BIG thanks to XX, my beloved beta, who did a fantastic, last-minute peep at it for me. I don't think there are any serious plot holes or slip-ups. I think we caught them all and I hope everything is clear to you. I WILL be editing this at some point, but you were all so eager to see it that I thought I might as well post it as not. It'll do well enough to satisfy any War's End withdrawls

CHEERS!

)PvsM(

It was as though a curtain of blue light dropped before their eyes, darting in from either side of their peripheral vision and drawing seamlessly together before them. Blaise blinked desperately against the haze, but her vision didn't clear. She reached out, groping for Harry or Ginny, who had been on either side of her moments before. Now there was only blue and nothing solid. She wasn't even sure she was substantial – she felt almost as though she were floating.

Red Robes, her mind gibbered. Focus on Red Robes. If you can't see, how're you supposed to stun him?

You could just kill him, another voice spoke up. It was the part of her that deeply hated Red Robes with every fiber of its being.

Quiet, you're not helping, the first voice admonished, the one that didn't encourage her to do things that would make her no better than Red Robes and that wouldn't help capture the bastard. They needed him alive – otherwise they couldn't prove that he existed or that he was wreaking havoc on the timeline.

It was at that moment that the blue curtain of light began to clear, to draw back. Its seam split and it drew up at the corners, inching slowly up and away to the sides. Blaise squinted – the first thing she saw was red. She blinked hard. The curtain widened and she realized with a shock what she was seeing. It was the bottom edges of a cloak – a dark, red cloak.

Impulsively, she tried to lift her wand arm. Nothing happened. She could feel her wand arm, but it was as though it was caught under a leaden pressure and it wouldn't budge. She clenched her teeth and pushed against the opposing force. The curtain drew further back and as it did, inch by inch, her arm came more fully under her power.

Why is this taking so long? she wondered frantically, tugging at her arm. All she needed was to have her wand pointed at Red Robes' legs – anything to keep him from leaving the room. The curtain crawled back and slowly, haltingly, her arm rose upward. It was trembling against whatever the barrier was that was holding it, but it was almost pointed at Red Robes' feet.

It was then that sound began to filter back in. It trembled and flickered – it was like listening to a fireplace in which the fire was going out (as even magical fireplaces were wont to do when it was raining hard). But it was something and Blaise, with her excellent hearing, was able to pick out words, even as the curtain of blue light continued to draw back and her wand continued to rise.

" . . . killed the . . . "

" . . . anyone else around this miserable . . . "

Blaise struggled to connect the phrases to people and events that she remembered, but the curtain of blue was still receding and sound was still wobbling into her ears as though caked in static.

" . . . not spent time with some of the Slytherins . . . "

Ginny – that had been Ginny! The voice was just recognizable and Blaise remembered the redhead's words from both of the other times she had heard the conversation. She couldn't remember which portion of the conversation it had come from, however, or how soon afterward Harry had activated the Time-Turner.

The veil of blue receded still further. Blaise's wand was two inches from the hem of Red Robes' cloak. The curtain was beginning to fade. It's thick, clear blue was now an opaque fog and hazy images began to form. Blaise squinted hard, continuing to lift her wand as quickly as movement was allowed her arm.

"Potter, give it to me!"

Red Robes was indeed directly in front of Blaise, red cloak easily recognizable through the blue mist. Blaise strained, gritting her teeth and watched her wand arm inch toward Red Robes' feet.

"Too late."

Her wand was level. The ground suddenly appeared under her feet.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Blaise shouted. Only it didn't quite come out. It was as though her jaw was asleep and the words she spoke sounded more like, "Pedifis Dodali." She hoped that the intent behind them had reached her wand.

Something clearly did, because a jet of glittering magic shot out of the end and hit the spot on Red Robes' robe that she guessed was covering the backs of his boots.

At that precise moment, the curtain of blue haze very abruptly dissipated. Blaise, taken completely by surprise, tumbled forward as the force of her push against the power of the no-longer existent blue haze sent her toppling forward.

She was then able to see how her body-binding charm had affected her target. She caught a glimpse of Red Robes back – he was tangled in his cloak on the floor – before she was thrown forward over him with the force of her wand arm and the spell she had just performed. Unable to catch herself, she shrieked and went sprawling, her wand flying from her hand with the force of her impact against the stone.

The next second there was an ear-splitting crack and the room exploded in a thick, white steam. Blaise twisted onto her back, dimly aware that her all sound seemed to have drained from the room. She blinked desperately through the fog, trying to see Red Robes. But the thick fog surrounding her made seeing her own hand a near impossibility. She groped desperately behind her, trying to locate her fallen wand. She had to stop Red Robes before he could get to his Time-Turner!

Her fingers brushed a long, cool piece of stone and she scrabbled desperately at it. She twisted around and pointed her Caduceus into the fog in front of her, figuring that Red Robes wouldn't be able to move around much, either. She kicked her leg, but couldn't feel him. He must have been just outside her reach.

No choice, she thought desperately, raising her wand. She would have to risk it – she only hoped the others weren't in the way.

"Stupify! Expelliamus! Stupify!"

Her lips pronounced the spells, but she heard nothing. It was as though her voice wasn't working and she wondered if she had inhaled too much of the smoky substance. Her throat didn't feel dry or sore, but she was sure she had heard nothing come out of her mouth.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she tried again, blinking at the smoke, which was already beginning to clear. She still couldn't see anything further than two or three feet away and she didn't appear to have voiced the spell allowed.

Too late, she thought dimly, slumping backward. Red Robes had now had at least thirty seconds – more than enough time to fish out his Time-Turner and disappear back into time somewhere –

Out of nowhere something heavy fell upon Blaise. Momentarily too terrified to attempt to scream she twisted away, scrabbling frantically at the floor. The body, for that was quite clearly what it was, moved with her. Blaise's voice returned and she opened her mouth. Nothing came out, just as before. She wanted to cry. It was terrifying. She tried to move again, but couldn't. She was pinned to the floor by the body across hers, which was much bigger and weightier than she was.

To her surprise, her assailant stilled when she did. A hand traced its unsteady way up her back, feeling her tousled hair as it went. It paused against the side of her face and suddenly Blaise recognized the hand. The calluses, the long fingers –

"Harry," her inactive voice breathed. Without thinking, she twisted beneath him so that she was on her back and reached up to twist her arms around his neck.

Clearly he had realized who she was as well, because he pulled her gently up and enfolded her tightly into his arms. She was too relieved to do anything but cling back for a moment.

At length, Harry pulled back. He gave her a quick once-over, probably checking for damage. Blaise did the same. By now the smoke had cleared enough for her to see several feet in front of her, and she took a moment to look behind Harry. Neither Ginny, Draco, nor Red Robes were visible yet, but the smoke was rolling back, allowing for increasing visibility in all directions.

Blaise felt a squeeze on her side and realized that Harry was trying to get her attention. His mouth was opening and closing as though in speech. In fact, it looked as though he were shouting. She shook her head at him and he tried again, rubbing his throat with his free hand as though it hurt.

It was then that Blaise realized that the problem wasn't their voices, but their ears. In the tremendous noise of the earlier explosion – at least, she assumed it had been an explosion – she must have been temporarily deafened. Indeed, as she listened more closely, she realized that she couldn't hear anything else, either. Not even white noise was discernable passed her plugged eardrums.

She quickly reached out and covered Harry's mouth to stop him screaming himself hoarse and then, her hand still over his mouth, she indicated his ears and nodded, hoping he would get the message. His brows furrowed in confusion for a moment and then he snapped his fingers and nodded.

Find Draco and Ginny, she mouthed at him.

He nodded, although his expression drooped. Yes, they would probably be able to find Ginny and Draco, but Red Robes was sure to have escaped by now. He had certainly had ample time and warning enough that he was under attack.

They had really screwed up, Blaise knew. And this had been their last chance.

Carefully, holding hands and sticking close together, Blaise and Harry began to navigate around the room. The fog was continuing to clear as their visibility became rapidly better. Blaise turned her head from side to side, hoping for some sign that either her hearing or visibility were improving. Nothing indicated that they were. Although visibility was growing slowly better, her ears were still completely unresponsive to sound of any sort.

It was a tight pressure on her hand that alerted her to Harry's discovery of Ginny. The redhead was climbing ponderously to her feet, shaking her head and clearly not hearing their approach. Harry reached out to touch her shoulder, but Blaise knew that a frightened Ginny might be dangerous and surprising her from behind might be harmful to one or both of them. Instead, she tugged Harry around to the side so that Ginny could see their approach.

She did and jumped a little, but didn't go for her wand. Her shoulders sagged in apparent relief and she indicated her own ears.

Great, Blaise thought sourly. Deaf, nearly blind, and Draco's still missing.

Ginny reached out and linked her arm through Harry's, pulling them deeper into the room, probably to the spot where she had last seen Draco.

It didn't take long to find him and when they did, Blaise felt her chest tighten. He was on his face and not moving.

Ginny's mouth opened in a silent exclamation of horror and she fell to her knees beside him, struggling to turn him over onto his back. She pressed her fingers to his chest and then his pulse, clearly checking that he was still alive. Blaise didn't see a wound, but she also hadn't seen if Red Robes had gotten off a Killing Curse before the explosion.

Ginny's expression a moment later confirmed that Draco was indeed still alive, although out cold. Clearly, Red Robes had been able to get off a few parting curses before disappearing. And there was no telling the severity of whatever he had used. He was a dark wizard, as far as any of them knew.

A thought suddenly occurred to Blaise. She had fired several badly aimed hexes into the fog. Could it have been one of her curses?

Crossing her fingers on both hands, she stepped forward and pulled Ginny away. Pulling out her wand, she pointed it at Draco.

"Enervate!" she cried. Though her voice was still not audible, the spell shot from the end of her wand and hit Draco. For a moment he lay perfectly still. Then he stirred and opened his eyes, wincing slightly as Ginny hurriedly pulled him into a sitting position. He rubbed the back of his head and Blaise could see blood on his fingers. She grimaced – he had probably hit his head on the floor when the spell hit him. She felt a flash of guilt – it could very well have been her curse. After all, Red Robes wasn't likely to bother with a simple "Stupify!", was he?

Ginny helped Draco to his feet and he leaned on her for support, swaying unsteadily for a moment. His lips moved and Blaise was sure he was cursing the air blue. She tried not to smile.

Harry motioned for them to follow him and the four teens moved together toward where Blaise guessed the stairs were. The smoke had cleared enough that it seemed more a heavy fog than a wall of gray. She could make out the wall toward which they were moving and guessed that it was indeed the one with the door set into it that led down the stairs from the tower.

They reached the door without incident, but Harry came to a halt before it. Blaise glanced sideways at him and saw him toying with the front of his Quidditch robes. A moment later, he withdrew a long, gold chain. Blaise stared, knowing what it was and wondering how she had forgotten he had it. A moment later, Ginny and Draco poked their heads over Blaise's shoulder, probably to see why Harry had stopped. Ginny's eyes went wide when she caught sight of the Time-Turner, while Draco's narrowed.

It was, Blaise realized as they stood clustered together by the door, a pivotal moment. With a strange feeling of déjà vu, she looked up into Harry's down-turned face. His expression was painfully easy to read. He saw a final chance – a chance to try again. What if they went forward in time again, got each other killed and snapped back? Surely they would be able to catch Red Robes if given a second chance . . .

For one wild moment, Blaise wanted to snatch the Time-Turner and turn it herself. What if they could go back in time – back to Monday night – and intercept Red Robes? What if they could stop him killing Hayden and Tristan? They were in real-time now – their powers would work against him . . .

Blaise blinked as another image rose in her mind. She was entering the Astronomy Tower to see Harry, Draco, and Ginny glowering at each other and arguing loudly. She could see Draco's cold grays slanted at Ginny and Ginny's browns narrowed as they passed back and forth between the blonde and Harry.

Harry's sharp green eyes were stubbornly flashing at Draco, but Blaise remembered the hope in them, too – the hope that he could put something right.

Ultimately, he hadn't. He hadn't changed a damned thing. None of them had. Were they really going to make that mistake again?

Before she realized what she was doing, Blaise had her hand clasped around Harry's, blocking the Time-Turner from view. He blinked and looked sideways at her. She shook her head, trying desperately to make him understand. He stared at her for a long moment without moving. Then abruptly his shoulders sagged and he let the weight of the Time-Turner fall from his hand and gripped her hand tightly instead. Blaise returned the squeeze firmly, feeling immeasurably relieved. She glared up at him in fierce pride.

Behind them, Ginny stirred. She rested her hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed. So, to Blaise's surprise, did Draco. When Harry turned to look at him in surprise, the blonde smirked slightly and gave him a nod. Blaise knew that he agreed with her assessment. It was time to let it go.

It was as she turned to look at Draco more fully that something behind him caught her eye. At first she was sure she imagined it, but a closer look through the increasingly sheer smoke told her she hadn't. It was an object on the floor toward the middle of the room.

She gasped. It couldn't be. It's couldn't!

Her gaping mouth alerted the others, who gave her questioning looks. Blaise pointed, knowing that she couldn't have talked if they had been able to hear her. They turned to look and she could see sharp breaths of astonishment on each of their lips as they regarded the bundle of robes that were now blindingly obvious and familiar.

Red Robes lay sprawled, face down, on the floor of the Astronomy Tower.

Blaise stared – and stared. It wasn't possible – it simply wasn't possible.

Harry was the first to move. He pushed passed Blaise and Draco and in three quick strides was beside Red Robes. He reached for the sleeve of Red Robes' cloak and pulled it up, clearly checking for a pulse. His fingers paused on the material – then he reached up as though to feel Red Robes' arm.

Blaise hurried over to join him, wondering what in Merlin's name he was doing. When she reached him and dropped to her knees beside him, she was able to see. Red Robes was lying awkwardly, his hands raised slightly off the floor and his legs bent oddly out behind him.

Draco and Ginny suddenly appeared on either side of Blaise, both staring down at Red Robes and still looking astonished. Harry's hand trailed back down Red Robes' arm and rested at last on the pulse. He held the wrist for a moment and Blaise noticed that it was slightly emaciated, as though its owner had not used it in a long time. Harry released Red Robes' hand and glanced at the others, turning his hand so that it was palm down and then flipping up so that it was palm up.

They all got the message. Draco moved the Red Robes' other side and Harry, Blaise, and Ginny slid their hands under him and pushed him over. Blaise noticed the instant that she touched him how unnaturally stiff his body was. Past rigid, it was almost stone-like and neither muscle nor skin reacted to her touch.

With Draco pulling from the other side, they managed to flip Red Robes onto his back.

Blaise hissed silently, yanking her hands away from Red Robes and falling backward in her haste to back up as two brilliantly dark blue – almost purple – eyes met her own.

Abruptly, a wind, generated from some unknown source, swept the remaining smoke from the room. Blaise blinked, staring dazedly around.

"Oh, no," Ginny muttered from Blaise's left. Blaise glanced down at the redhead, surprised by the sound suddenly assailing her eardrums. Ginny was staring toward the doorway to the Astronomy Tower with an arrested look – a deer in the Knight Bus' headlights. Blaise turned to look as well.

Albus Dumbledore stared back at her. There was no twinkle in his eye, no almost-smile hidden in his ridiculous beard. His eyes met hers and then moved on, probably taking in Draco, Harry, and Ginny.

His eyes froze on Red Robes.

"So," he said softly, his eyes hardening on the gaze that had repulsed Blaise moments ago.

"Si – sir," Harry began. He seemed to be having difficulty finding his voice.

"The four of you will please come with me," the headmaster said briskly. He withdrew his wand and pointed it at Red Robes. "Mobilicorpus," he said quietly. Red Robes' stiff form leapt into the air and floated along after Dumbledore as he turned and strode from the tower.

"Come on," Ginny said, breaking the stunned silence. She got to her feet, pulling Draco with her. He swayed, throwing an unsteady arm around her shoulders for support and the two of them moved slowly to the door.

Blaise got to her feet and made to follow, before suddenly realizing that Harry wasn't moving. She turned to look more fully at him. He sat on the floor, staring hollowly through the doorway.

"Come on, Potter," Blaise said gruffly, offering him a hand up. His head turned slowly back to her and he stared bleakly at her through his untidy fringe.

"I've really done it this time, Blaise," he murmured at last, looking so wretched that Blaise's chest tightened.

"What're you talking about?" she demanded rather roughly, gripping his hand and hauling him to his feet.

"I blew it," was all he said, letting her pull him from the room and down the spiral staircase after the others.

"What're you on about?" she asked, quickening her step. "We just caught a criminal. If anything, we're going to get rewarded."

"I doubt it," Harry said, and to Blaise's surprise, he sounded almost bitter. "He warned me, you know. When Malfoy and I first brought Tristy and Hayden to his office –" he paused and swallowed hard, before clearing his throat stubbornly and continuing. "He reminded me that the consequences of any more rule-breaking on my part would be – well, pretty bad for me."

"What – what do you think he'll do?" Blaise asked hesitantly. "I mean, it's not like he's going to lock you in the dungeons or anything."

"He told me last time that any more serious rule-breaking would get me expelled," Harry bit out harshly, dropping her hand. "And did I listen? Oh, no! I figured, hell, I'm Harry Potter, I can do whatever the fuck I want!"

"What's this? Am I hallucinating, Gin, or is Golden Boy swearing?" came Draco's voice from several paces ahead of them.

"Not now, Draco," Blaise said warningly, her mind working furiously for a subject change. "So – Red Robes. How about those eyes?"

It worked about as well as she expected. Some of the self-loathing in Harry's expression flickered out and was replaced by curiosity.

"Did you see any of the rest of the face?" he asked.

"No – the eyes threw me and I didn't notice," she answered. "I don't suppose you did?"

"Naw – the spell froze his hood almost completely around his face. Wonder what hit him."

"Before that – that smoke thing and the shock – right after we came back to real-time, I was able to hit his feet with a body-bind hex," she said. "I think the force of the transition to real-time and me leaning so hard into the blue curtain thing knocked me forward, because I tripped. I didn't see what happened after that."

"I saw part of it," Harry told her. "Right after you tripped, he grabbed something from his pocket and threw it down. It looked to me like a smoke bomb, but the sound wave that came with it . . . couldn't have landed more than two feet from you, anyway."

"I was completely deaf until Dumbledore drew the smoke from the room . . . at least, I think it was Dumbledore," she said.

"I thought it was the shock of the grenade going off that deafened us, but I think the silence was tied to the smoke," Harry mused. Blaise was relieved to see that his brooding expression had completely left his face and now he had his detective face on. "It was like sound suddenly cut back in when the smoke dissipated and I saw it moving in Dumbledore's direction before it went completely."

Blaise thought about this. It made sense – Red Robes through the grenade and then jumped to another time. The smoke and the silence would, in theory, give him all the time he needed to activate the Time-Turner. And since it was the smoke that caused the deafening effect, Red Robes had only to leave the area into which he had through the grenade to escape the effects of it. His adversaries, however, would never know how he had escaped or where he had gone.

"Brilliant," Draco muttered from up ahead. His pace had become slightly more unsteady, Blaise thought. She wondered if she ought to ask Dumbledore to send him to the hospital wing, but the old man was far ahead by now and she didn't fancy him the sort of man who appreciated being shouted at down corridors.

"Doesn't look so good, does he?" Harry murmured from beside her, indicating Draco.

"Snuff it, Potter – I'm perfectly all right!" Draco snapped, stumbling slightly. Ginny, unprepared for the shift in weight and certainly not on a similar scale as Draco, stumbled as well. Reflex only sent Harry diving forward to catch Draco before he fell on Ginny, who went sprawling as it was.

"Stubborn bastard," Harry muttered, taking Draco's arm and pulling it around his shoulders.

"Don't need your help," Draco grumbled, although he made no move away.

"Sure you don't," Harry said, taking far more of his weight than Ginny had been able to and starting off down the corridor again.

"Barking, both of them," Ginny mumbled as she dropped back to walk with Blaise.

"You say that like it's something I couldn't have seen with my eyes closed," Blaise rejoined, dropping her voice slightly. She followed Harry with her eyes, wondering if part of his readiness to help Draco had anything to do with his obvious need to distract himself from their current fix. Certainly their continuous banter would do that.

"Harry thinks he's going to be expelled," Blaise blurted out, her voice still low.

Ginny gasped.

"What?" she breathed after a moment's shocked silence. "Why does he think that?"

"Seems like Dumbledore gave him a warning about 'any more serious ruling-breaking' at some point," Blaise told her, trying to keep her voice neutral. She could feel resentment of the old man well in her chest. Harry was just doing what he thought was right. He might have screwed up, but so what? They had Red Robes. There was no way Dumbledore could possibly . . .

"Rubbish," Ginny said, though to Blaise's ears the assurance sounded a bit forced. "Harry and Ron have been breaking rules since they came here. If they hadn't, terrible things might have happened. You-Know-Who might have got the Philosopher's Stone, I might be dead –"

"Excuse me – what?" Blaise demanded, her head whipping round to stare at the redhead.

But at that moment, they drew level with the gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's office. It was already sliding aside – Dumbledore must have given the password already. Blaise saw Harry, who was following Dumbledore and the immobile floating body of Red Robes through the opening, bunch his shoulders, as though preparing all possible arguments in their favor in his head.

And he's probably not thinking about himself – he's probably trying to figure out how to excuse Draco and Ginny and me instead, she thought, letting the bitterness in her throat consume her for a moment as she mounted the steps behind the boys. Bloody hero.

When they reached Dumbledore's office, the old man snapped his fingers and an army cot appeared beside the four chairs that sat opposite his desk. He maneuvered Red Robes onto the cot, before silently motioning the others to take seats. Harry followed, lowering Draco into a chair before slumping into one himself. The blonde was seated nearest Red Robes and Blaise noticed that his wand had appeared loosely in his hand.

Blaise felt the coolness of her own Caduceus against her thigh, held there by the fastening of her shin guard. She seated herself in the last chair beside Ginny, crossing her right leg over her left and draping her hand casually across her knee. Beside her, Ginny was toying with her cuff.

Blaise smiled grimly to herself. No way in hell would Red Robes leave that room without an armed escort and a warrant to rot in Azkaban. Not after what they had been through.

Dumbledore waited until they were seated before sitting down behind his desk. His eyes behind his half-moon spectacles were as serious as Blaise had ever seen them.

"I confess," he said at last, "that I'm not sure where to begin."

"It was all my fault, Professor," Harry jumped in immediately.

Blaise let out a loud, rude groan, and Draco snorted.

"What?" Harry snapped, glaring back and forth between them.

"Cut the heroic crap, Potter," Draco advised with a faint sneer. "We all know you couldn't have forced the three of us to go with you."

"I was going to say that," Blaise said.

"Nice," Harry muttered, his expression so close to sulky that Ginny cracked a crooked smile.

"While I'm delighted that we've established blame so early on in our discussion," Dumbledore said, and Blaise noticed that his expression had relaxed ever so slightly, "I can assure you that at present, I haven't the smallest interest in how many laws you four have broken this evening."

His eyes, and theirs, turned to regard the motionless form of Red Robes.

"Am I right in thinking that one of you hit him with a Full-Body Bind?" Dumbledore asked after a moment's heavy silence.

"I think it was me, sir," Blaise put in. "When that fog came, I couldn't see and I just started firing hexes." She bit her lips and glanced at Draco, who was now glowering at her. Clearly, he realized the implications of her admission.

"One day, when you're least expecting it, I'm going to poke you in the eye," he grouched, rubbing at the back of his head.

"Are you feeling well, Mr. Malfoy, or should I have Miss Weasley escort you to the hospital?" Dumbledore asked. His expression was serious enough, but his eyes had a trace of sparkle in them.

"I'm fine," Draco retorted.

"For now," Ginny murmured, casting an anxious look at him.

"Don't fuss, Weasley," Draco said imperiously, turning his attention back to Dumbledore. "So – you going to expel us now or do we get to listen to you interrogate Red Robes?"

"I would not make so light of your conduct if I were you, Mr. Malfoy," the headmaster admonished, his eyes against deadly serious. "I have the impression that none of you are entirely aware of how dangerous or costly your actions might have been. You have been extremely fortunate in many respects, for which, believe it or not, I am deeply grateful."

Blaise glanced down the line and saw Harry's head droop. She wished she were nearer to him – whether to wrap her arms comfortingly around him or give his solar plexus a pounding for blaming himself for everything she didn't know.

"Now," the head master went on, resting his chin on his steepled fingers and gazing levelly at each in turn. "I believe your success in capturing this criminal is worth some reward and I believe the best time to give it to you is now."

The headmaster rose from his desk and moved to stand before Red Robes. He waved his hand and Red Robes slumped limply into the cot. Dumbledore moved quickly to him.

"Ginevra, Blaise – if you would help me recover the Time-Turner and any other weapons this person is carrying on him."

Blaise and Ginny exchanged surprised glances.

"Check pockets and sleeves," Dumbledore said briskly, kneeling beside Red Robes. "There should be no threat now, but it is best to be safe and it will save the Aurors a great deal of bother."

"How – how much do you know about him, sir?" Ginny asked as she and Blaise began rummaging Red Robes' pockets.

"All in good time, Miss Weasley," he said, gently removing a Time-Turner chain from around Red Robes' neck. It took him a moment to pry Red Robes' hand, which had been clamped around it in obvious preparation for flight, away from it. "I believe that part of this story is for our guest to reveal."

"But, sir," Draco said, turning slowly in his chair and not seeming to care in the least that the last time he had spoken he had been told off. "How did you know we were in the Astronomy Tower at all? I mean, surely you weren't thinking, 'Oh, I'm sure I'll find Malfoy wherever Potter is and Potter always goes up to the Astronomy Tower after Quidditch matches.'"

"Quite right, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, continuing to search Red Robes for additional weapons. Smoke grenades might not be the worst things he had on him, Blaise realized. They knew he was not averse to murder, after all. She made sure to check each pocket thoroughly. It was odd how thick Red Robes' clothing was. Even gender was difficult to gage through the thick layers.

"Well?" Draco demanded, when Dumbledore failed to elaborate any further.

"Let me put it to you this way, Mr. Malfoy," he said coolly, placing a long, thin rope with nothing attached to it carefully on his desk. "In addition to rewarding you in some degree for bringing this person in, I very much hope you will learn something tonight. I will not pretend to be pleased with what the four of you have done. Although I do not doubt your good intentions –"

"The road to hell is paved with them," Harry intoned dully. He didn't seem inclined to ask Dumbledore anything, or indeed look at him, which was extremely odd. Harry Potter had to be the most intrinsically curious person Blaise knew.

"In due part," Dumbledore agreed heavily. His hand paused over Red Robes' right arm and a moment later his long, wrinkled fingers withdrew a wand.

"Red Robes' Caduceus," Blaise said, staring at it in fascination. After all, it looked identical to hers. She supposed most Caducei were fairly similar, but Red Robes' looked to be a similar color and length as hers.

Dumbledore regarded it as well for a moment, before placing it on his desk beside the Time-Turner and continuing his investigation.

Five minutes later, they had recovered a couple of additional bizarre objects – probably weapons, Blaise thought. Red Robes' seemed the sort of person to be prepared in most contingencies. It struck her with equal parts embarrassment and anger that it had been sheer dumb luck that had caught Red Robes tonight, not any particular skill. Had he had milliseconds longer, he would have escaped.

At last, Dumbledore seemed satisfied that they had thoroughly disarmed Red Robes, he got to his feet. For a long moment, he was silent. When he finally spoke, his voice was resigned.

"I suppose, before you hear your assailant's testimony, it might do for me to tell you some of what I know about this incident. Or perhaps, it might do as well for you to relate your adventures to me that I might fit some of the pieces together and get a clearer picture of what has happened. Once we have explored our own knowledge of events, we can use this person to fill in the missing links."

He returned to the seat behind his desk and waited expectantly, not looking at any of them for too long and not urging them on. Blaise glanced around at her companions. Ginny and Draco looked as lost as she felt – how to explain the events that for them had lasted a couple of weeks in the space of several minutes!

"It's like this, sir." Clearly, Harry was about to try. Blaise looked closely at his face and saw the undisguised guilt in his eyes, accompanied by a driving need to make things as right as it was within his power to make them.

"I'm listening, Harry," Dumbledore said, when Harry paused uncertainly a moment later. Blaise was pretty sure that he was trying to figure out a way to relieve herself, Ginny, and Draco of as much of the blame as possible. Of course, there was no true way to do it. Harry knew it. Dumbledore knew it.

Blaise knew it and she said so.

"Get it out, Harry," she advised. "We're as responsible as you – you're not sentencing us any more harshly by telling the truth."

Harry glared defiantly at her for a moment, clearly trying to contradict this. He couldn't. His shoulders slumped slightly.

"It's like this, sir," he repeated. "Last Monday night was when it all started. After Draco and I brought you – brought you the bodies." He swallowed, then looked Dumbledore straight in the eye. "You know I can't let things like that go. I'm sure you knew it then."

"I did," the headmaster sighed. "I did. I was hoping to have answers for you before you did anything rash."

Harry looked slightly surprised by this direct answer.

"Then why not lock him up, sir?" Draco wanted to know. "If you knew he'd do something – "

"Innocent until proven guilty," Dumbledore said. "I had my suspicions only. I had hoped Harry's natural degree of common sense would do what I could not to restrain him."

Harry looked so utterly miserable that Blaise wanted to jump across the desk at Dumbledore. She settled with a harsh look.

"Since you apparently knew something about this already, you might have told him something," she snapped.

"Blaise," Harry said warningly, raising a hand to silence her. "He's right – we all know it. Let's move on."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said with an approving nod at his chastised student. "Go on, Harry."

"So I began devising a plan to go forward in time to warn Hayden and Tristan," he said softly, after another short hesitation. "I snuck into McGonagall's study and stole her Time-Turner."

"Indeed – an oversight on my part," Dumbledore said, with a rueful smile.

"Sir?" Harry said in surprise.

"I told you I suspected some action on your part," the old man said. "I made several contingency plans in hopes of preventing you doing exactly what you managed to do. I had forgotten that your connection to Miss Granger meant that you would have known Minerva had a Time-Turner and so, when I advised her to store it more carefully, it did not cross my mind that you might try for it first."

"What were you expecting me to do, sir?" Harry asked, looking suddenly curious.

"Quite honestly, I expected you to do your research and discover the location of another Time-Turner," Dumbledore said. "I assumed that you would think Minerva's too obvious a place to start and would go elsewhere to search for one." He sighed. "I had hoped that you would consult with Miss Granger first, however."

"But, sir," Ginny broke in. "Everyone who knows anything about Time-Turners knows how carefully protected they are at the Ministry. Surely you didn't expect Harry to break in and try to steal one!"

The expression on Dumbledore's face made it quite clear that that was exactly what he had thought.

"I never said I suspected you of successfully stealing a Time-Turner," he told Harry bluntly. "I expected you to try. I was prepared to stop you getting into serious legal trouble with the Ministry. The thought of you successfully time traveling never entered my head."

From the look on Harry's face, Blaise was fairly sure that the knowledge that his idol could miss something so simple, particularly when it was right before his eyes, was a bit of a nasty shock.

"Now, Harry, if you would continue your story," Dumbledore said, waving his hand encouragingly. "Go on – I will not interrupt so frequently."

"Okay," Harry said, still looking slightly shaken. "Well, so I stole the Time-Turner and planned my escape after the Quidditch match on – well, tonight, technically." He looked a bit sheepish. "I knew Malfoy was watching me – I really thought I was clever to have outfoxed him."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Draco said smugly.

Harry grinned rather ruefully.

"So when the time came for the match, I figured that Draco would be too wrapped up with his teammates to notice me leave. I hadn't counted on him being so . . . persistent."

"My, you're overflowing with praise tonight, Potter," Draco said with a smirk. "I'm flattered."

"Don't be so full of yourself," Blaise said sharply. "You were so busy sniffing out Harry that you didn't notice me trailing along behind you."

Ginny giggled when Draco scowled at her.

"And so that is how the four of you ended up in the Astronomy Tower together," Dumbledore prompted Harry.

"Yes, sir," Harry said. "Ginny followed me, Malfoy followed Ginny, and Blaise followed Malfoy. And it was Blaise who was last into the tower. She was spying on the three of us outside and then saw Red Robes and came in to warn us that something weird was up."

"And instead of hiding or getting the hell out of the tower, we stood around arguing until Red Robes finally came up and found us," Ginny said, mild self-reproach in her voice. She looked pleadingly at Dumbledore. "Sir, Harry saved our lives. Red Robes came in with his wand drawn and demanded that we give him the Time-Turner. If Harry hadn't gotten us out when he did . . . "

"Although several minutes into the past, rather than several decades into the future might not have been a lot to ask," Draco mumbled. Ginny kicked his ankle.

"I was wondering about that, sir," Blaise said, giving Draco a withering look. His sarcasm was thoroughly counterproductive at this point. "How did we go into the future? I mean, the few references to Time-Turners in our Defense Against the Dark Arts classes only talk about the Time-Turner transporting a person back."

"That is because information on Time-Turners, like the things themselves, are heavily restricted," Dumbledore told her. "Their usage is rare and with good reason. Those who do not use them strictly within Ministry guidelines can cause serious temporal damage. It is vital that those using Time-Turners know everything about their interaction with the timeline and, more importantly, about the function of time as we understand it." He sighed for the umpteenth time. "This is why I was hoping you would consult with Miss Granger, Harry. Before given a Time-Turner, Professor McGonagall took her very carefully over the uses of the Time-Turner and exact functions of the past and future. I was hoping Hermione would be able to explain it to you so that you could understand how ineffectual any action on your part might be."

"I didn't say anything to Ron or Hermione because I didn't want them being expelled with me," Harry said, looking miserable again.

"A noble impulse," Dumbledore said heavily. "I do apologize for interrupting you – please continue."

"So, Red Robes threatened us and I knew our only sure way out was the Time-Turner," Harry went on, with a deep breath. "I figured I would take us into the future, where we could warn Hayden and Tristy and then be off." He winced. "Things didn't work out quite the way I planned." He paused. "Will I be polluting the timeline any worse by telling you what exactly we did in the future, sir?"

"No, Harry, you will not," the headmaster assured him. "Go on."

So Harry did. As he told of their discovery by Snape, their first meeting with Hayden and Dorian, and later, with their older selves and Tristy, Blaise felt the vivid memories rise in her mind's eye. She remembered their drive to Red's Park – how lonely she had been and how resentful that in that strange and alien place, Harry and Ginny and Draco had made use of each other for company, even if Draco's methods created conflict rather than companionship. As in the future, she had been an outsider.

As Harry described their stay at Red's Park, their first sighting of Red Robes in the Quidditch stadium, and their subsequent abandonment of the Malfoy estate, Blaise thought about her slow transition from adversary to companion. There had been the tenuous bond between herself and Tristy when Blaise had jumped onto the troll to save Tristy's life. The first connection with Harry had sprouted soon afterward when he had flown recklessly into the fray and scooped her onto his broomstick to carry her to safely.

As Harry described their battle with the dragons in the midlands and their final arrival in London, Blaise remembered with a glow his first reassuring words, their first kiss, and his protective, supportive presence around her from that moment onward.

At the end of all that, would she ever regret following Draco to the Astronomy Tower? Even if she were expelled from Hogwarts tonight, would she wish away those two, technically non-existent weeks she had spent in her supposed future?

Harry went on, telling of their journey to Kendal Longbottom's flat, their discovery there, and their escape to Diagon Alley and off through the Muggle Underground to the train and bus that had taken them to Bath. And then their night in Bath and their long ride to Glastonbury. And finally, their day in Glastonbury and their discovery of the entrance to Avalon.

"Where we were somehow followed in by Red Robes," Harry said, his voice strong and sure as he related the events without interruption. "Neville said something about him being let in. As though they wanted him there."

"Which makes sense, actually," Blaise broke in, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Remember when we were talking about it during the walk up to the tower? We were speculating about how odd it was that Red Robes had only been following us around when it would have been fairly easy for him to attack us. If the Dumbledore in the future and myself and Longbottom –"

"And Cedric," Ginny added hesitantly.

"Right. If they knew we were coming, as they said they did, and they knew Red Robes was following us –"

"And they were using Cedric to guide us in the right direction," Harry put in.

"Then it stands to reason that Dumbledore was using us as bait," Draco finished darkly. "Using us to lure Red Robes to Avalon."

"To catch him, though?" Ginny inquired doubtfully.

"Why not?" Harry said. "Dumbledore, Blaise, and Neville were clearly in hiding. Maybe they were originally hiding from Red Robes?"

"That's a bit of a stretch, Potter," Draco said doubtfully. "We don't know a whole lot about Avalon."

"But we do know that Red Robes wanted that forty-year-old Blaise to be ransom for Tristan's release," Harry insisted.

"What is it he wanted you for?" Draco asked in mild frustration, glaring at Blaise.

"If Harry will please continue his story, I believe your questions can be answered," Dumbledore broke in calmly.

Harry finished at length, ending with his death and letting the others piece in the parts that he had missed briefly afterward. He told of their second attempt to stop Red Robes killing Hayden and Tristan and their entrapment within the timeless bubble. He ended with their release and their final adventure in the Astronomy Tower.

"And then you found us, sir," he said, nodding to Dumbledore

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully.

"Now do we get our answers?" Draco demanded loudly, then winced and rubbed his head.

"Are you quite sure you do not wish Madam Pomfrey to see to your injuries first, Mr. Malfoy?" the headmaster inquired. Blaise saw a bit of twinkle reenter his eyes for a moment.

Draco abandoned all pretense and glowered at the headmaster.

"Very well, then," Dumbledore said. "It is time for you to here another side of this tale – my side."

He stared off into space for a moment, and then began to speak.

"You may be interested to know that I had prior knowledge of the events of last Monday evening before they occurred," he told them quietly. He held up a hand when the four of them opened their mouths indignantly. "Not all, you understand, but just enough. You see, you four are not the only ones who have been messing about with time of late. I myself have had a hand in it."

"You, sir?" Harry said, clearly dumbstruck.

"Yes," said the headmaster, looking troubled. "Although I had little control over it. You see, a few hours before your arrivals in my office – " he nodded to Harry and Draco – "I had another caller." He paused. "It was, in fact, myself."

"Si-sir?" Ginny said, blinking incredulously at him.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.

"Surprising, yes," he said. "It was a twenty-three-year distant self of mine, come to give me interesting news." He paused. "It was all very cryptic, of course. He told me very little before ending his life."

Ginny gasped and Blaise saw Harry's mouth fall open.

"Do not trouble yourselves," the headmaster said. "It was necessary. It would be impossible for the two of us to coexist in the same time. The consequences would be too serious. Suffice it to say that he came baring important information for me. According to him, a series of events had transpired, which I might be able to prevent. Apparently, he was in the process of arranging permanent protection for one Blaise Zabini at a haven called Avalon when he received a most peculiar owl. The owl informed him that a younger version of Miss Zabini, accompanied by younger copies of Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter – by whom the owl was penned – were currently residing in Red's Park. In the owl, you, Harry, related all of the transpiring events of this past week to my elder self with warnings that a temporal terrorist was on the loose."

Dumbledore paused, pulling off his glasses, polishing them, and replacing them on his nose.

"As it happened, part of the reason that arrangements were being made for this particular Zabini was that she had certain – important qualities about herself that might make her extremely valuable. Herself, or her family."

Blaise felt a small flutter of relief. She had suspected, since the ransom demand had been made, that her elder self had left her family to protect them. Now, here at last, was the proof.

"When I – my future self – received Harry's letter, I was surprised. However, knowing Harry as I did, I suspected that no action on my part might spur him to take action on his own. I discussed the matter with Blaise, whose first concern was, of course, the safety of her family. She thought it might be best to draw out a potential enemy such as Harry had described by luring him to Avalon and entrapping him within the protective wards. Most time travel is not possible there – only automatically triggered responses, such as returning to the time from whence you originally left when killed while exploring the future."

The headmaster paused again, sighed.

"Dumbledore of the future told me that his plan worked famously. Harry soon discovered my last known whereabouts, namely Avalon, and Cedric Potter, who had discovered his mother's hiding place several years back, conveniently provided his tracking experience.

"When the group including Harry and his friends, as well as Tristan Potter, Cedric, Hayden Malfoy, and Dorian Weasley, first made their escape, the elder Malfoys, Potter, and Weasley were, of course, outraged and set out immediately to track them down. Halfway there, they were intercepted by an owl from myself, explaining the situation in a unique code devised during the war by Harry and Blaise."

"But, sir, they followed us all the way through London – Hayden and Tristan were chased onto the Muggle Underground by an Auror!" Harry exclaimed.

Dumbledore smiled faintly.

"My guess is that neither the Malfoys nor Mr. Potter wanted to risk their children's safety on my assumption that their assailant was merely tailing them and would not harm them. And I know Mr. Potter did not at all trust Cedric's intentions. I imagine they chose to trail you, perhaps even to nudge you in the right direction, until they were sure that you were on the home stretch."

"So our running from them in London," Draco said, a slow, disgusted look dawning on his pale face. "There was no reason at all to fuck around with subtlety – they were just helping us out!"

"Where were they when we ran into the trolls, then?" Blaise broke in. "And the dragons – hell, we were almost roasted."

"I imagine that you reached the cave trolls shortly before Mr. Malfoy realized that you were no longer on the grounds," Dumbledore offered. "Red's Park is large and his security sweeps would have taken time."

"And the dragons?"

"That, I do know," Dumbledore said. "Because your Portkey was tampered with somehow, they lost their trace on you until a while after you had arrived in London."

"So when they surrounded the building – called up threatening Ken and all that – they must have been trying to determine if we had been there," Ginny said slowly, with a look of dawning comprehension that probably mirrored Blaise's own.

"And tracking us so obviously through Diagon Alley – that guy in the Quidditch store, Malfoy – we must have been right about them pulling other trusted Aurors onto the job," Harry put in. "They needed to be sure that all of us were safely in London and on our way to Bath."

"But why let us go there?" Draco demanded. "Why not follow us to Bath or Glastonbury?"

"Who says they didn't?" Harry countered.

"But we would have seen them – in Glastonbury, at least," Draco insisted. "I mean, it's so small."

"They did follow you to Bath, but not beyond," Dumbledore said. "My future self assured them that Cedric was equipped to deliver everyone to Glastonbury, with ample information about accessing Avalon. They knew that you would all be safe within its borders."

"Why would they assume that?" Blaise asked incredulously.

"Now that I am not quite clear on," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "It would appear that your family's blood, Miss Zabini, is linked into the magic of Avalon and thus all those of your blood are protected within it."

"But how does that affect the rest of us?" Ginny asked.

"That I cannot explain," Dumbledore sighed. "My future self did not offer any information."

They all stood in silence a moment, thinking back and trying to understand.

Draco got it first.

"Remember when we had that 'family meeting' thing?" he asked, with exaggerated quotation marks. "Dorian Weasley went babbling on about the blood brothers' bond that he, my son, and Cedric Potter did one summer."

"Of course!" Harry exclaimed. "That would link the Weasleys, Potters, Zabinis, and Malfoys by blood – that covers all of us, doesn't it? That must have been what we – our older selves – meant. So long as each of us has blood from one of those families, we're protected in some measure by Avalon's magic."

"Probably why Cedric agreed to do the blood brother's bond in the first place," Blaise said thoughtfully. The more she thought of it, the more it made sense. "That sort of link could be dangerous – we should have known Cedric would have a reason for doing it. He must have been in contact with his mother – with me – by that summer they did it and figured it wouldn't hurt to extend the protection a bit."

"So, sir," Harry prompted. "Dumbledore's – the future Dumbledore's – plan worked. We led Red Robes to Avalon . . . "

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "Well, we've been over what happened there, which also corresponded to my plan."

"But Red Robes wasn't captured there and we were killed!" Ginny pointed out, confused.

"Exactly!" Dumbledore said. "I imagine you've gathered by now that the only successful way to return to your own time from the future is to be killed. Your essence, if you will, must end in that time in order for it to automatically snap back, as it is naturally inclined to do, to your correct time. I knew that you had a Time-Turner in your possession and knew that you had to be sent home in possession of it. If Red Robes were to have killed you, you still would have snapped back to your own times but Red Robes would have taken your Time-Turner first. There was also the fact that I wished to put you within a suspended time bubble so that you might prepare to catch Red Robes once and for all."

"If Dumbledore – you, sir – lured Red Robes all that way, why didn't he catch him?" Harry asked.

"Probably because he knew that if he killed Red Robes, that was one less loop in the timeline to be sorted out when Red Robes was apprehended at last," Dumbledore said. "It was unclear how many jumps Red Robes made, but it was quite clear that at some time he had entered the future. If he could be returned to a time closer to his own, it might make things a bit less complicated in the end."

Dumbledore paused, staring around at their stunned faces.

"So – this is what your future self told you when he came back," Draco said. "When did he tell you about Tristan and Hayden?"

"He didn't," Dumbledore said. "Or rather, not directly. You see, in Harry's owl Harry had mentioned Red Robes killing Miss Potter and young Mr. Malfoy, but obviously in that timeline it had never occurred."

"That timeline?" Ginny asked, beginning to massage her temples.

"You are beginning to understand the importance of leaving the timeline well alone," Dumbledore said heavily, though his voice was not without some sympathy. "In simplest terms, then – when one goes back in time, there become two versions of them. There is the one that is already existing in that time, doing what it originally did, and there is another, the one that does not belong there, who must not be seen and must follow the events of such a timeline up until their past and present selves meet and coalesce in the present. Suffice it to say, the past already exists – it is a fixed thing that cannot be altered without serious consequences.

"However," he went on heavily, "the future is another matter entirely. As the future has not occurred yet, there are infinite possibilities as to what might happen. What you saw on your journey was a possibility – just one of many – that might happen if present events play out in a certain pattern. However, should that pattern change, another series of events might occur."

The headmaster glanced at all of them for a moment before continuing.

"An example might be the branches of a tree," he said at last. "We start with the trunk, which might be considered the present. But from that trunk spring hundreds of thousands of branches and off those branches spring branches. Each time a choice is made in the present, a new branch grows. But there are always the might-have-beens – the possibility branches, if you will."

"So the Tristan and Hayden we saw Monday night," Draco said slowly, his voice constrained. "They were only – possibilities?"

"I'm afraid that's a tad too simplistic an explanation," Dumbledore said apologetically. "After all, their present is our future. Though from our standpoint they are possibilities, from theirs, they are wholly real and fixed in the timeline."

"So both images we saw – the Tristan and Hayden in the entrance hall and the Tristan and Hayden in the future we visited – both were possibilities – from different branches of the tree?" Harry hazarded, his face screwed up in concentration.

"Yes," Dumbledore breathed, sinking back in his chair. "Do you understand now, Harry?"

"Yes," he answered, with dawning comprehension. "You didn't want me messing with this because there was no way to alter it. All we did was mess around with a possible future."

"And the only way to determine that future," Ginny put in eagerly, "is to make choices in the present."

"So, then," Blaise said slowly, "does that mean that as we move ahead in the future, making it our present and therefore an actual part of the timeline, that we'll start forgetting the possibilities?"

The other three stared at her.

"Think about it," she ordered. "What we did occurred in the future – within a possibility of events. Once we live, within our time, through those times that are currently in the future and make them real parts of the timeline, the other possibilities will become impossible and won't exist anymore. How can we remember something that doesn't exist? Right, Professor?"

"I believe your logic is sound, although there is little we can do to prove it," the headmaster said with a shrug.

"So," Harry said, with a deep breath. "Now that we've sorted all that out – sort of – what's the rest of your part in this, Professor? How did you know to find us in the Astronomy Tower tonight? Did the future Dumbledore tell you?"

"He told me what should happen if when the temporal bubble burst – that you would all be released back to wherever you had begun from. It was a simple matter of deduction from there.

"When you left my office Monday night, Harry, clearly intent on trying to save your daughter's life, I knew that I had to try and prevent you, if I could. But once it became clear that you had made your plans without my being about to discover you, I knew it was time to catch up with you and stop you before you did something rash. So I watched you during the Quidditch match. I must admit," he added, with an apologetic look at Draco, "that I was rather surprised by Slytherin's win and thus I did not notice your absence from the match until I heard Miss Granger asking Mr. Weasley if he had seen you at all. By that time, of course, you all had long gone."

Dumbledore sat back, his fingers steepled under his chin.

"It didn't take me long to deduce your location," he said. "The further you, Harry, were from the Quidditch pitch, the less likely it was that you would be discovered."

"That had been my thought as well," Harry said sheepishly.

"Having investigated the seventh-floor classrooms and sending one of the ghosts to Professor Trelawney's classroom without success, I decided to try the Astronomy Tower myself."

"Which is where you found us shell-shocked deaf after Red Robes threw down that smoke grenade," Harry finished.

"It was not a smoke grenade," Dumbledore told him. "It was, in fact, a curious artifact from the early nineteen forties called a Concussing Shell. Terrorists under the leadership of the dark wizard Grindelwald used them to make clean escapes without having to leave murder victims behind as evidence." Dumbledore smiled bitterly. "Grindelwald created the Concussing Shell early on in his reign of terror, shortly before the threat of his campaign, or indeed the campaign itself, became clear to anyone. That way his followers could escape totally undetected from almost anywhere. No one could see who they were and the deafening aspect of the charm temporarily forestalled any communication between their enemies. Simple, yet brilliant."

"So if Red Robes had one, he could be a time traveler from as far back as Grindelwald's era?" Draco asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "As a matter of fact, I believe the identity of this person will be key in discovering his or her purpose."

Dumbledore stood slowly and moved to kneel once again at Red Robes' head. He slid a long-fingered hand into his robes and withdrew a small vial filled with clear liquid. He pulled out the stopper and then reached out a hand toward the face still mostly concealed behind the red hood. Blaise saw a shadow of a mouth being coaxed open by Dumbledore's forefinger and the vile being lowered carefully to the lips. With great care, Dumbledore allowed two drops to escape the bottle and fall into Red Robes' mouth. Then he murmured something under his breath, sat back on his haunches, and waited. Blaise saw the full lips purse briefly, as though Red Robes was swallowing.

This seemed to be what Dumbledore was waiting for. With a snap of his fingers, the army cot became a chair. With a few whispered words, ropes whipped out and bound Red Robes still-inert body to the chair. His head slumped forward slightly, as he was quite clearly still unconscious. Dumbledore regarded him for a moment, then murmured something else.

Red Robes' head rose slowly from his chest. The odd quality of his hood, which had seemed in times passed to shroud his face in voluminous depth, now seemed diminished. It hung limply, its length blocking Red Robes' eyes and nose from sight.

With a sudden, surprising surge of impatience, Blaise moved to stand before the chair and yanked back the hood.

Total silence descended upon the room.

Blaise knew her mouth was open and was sure that her heart stopped beating for several moments. She looked down into the vacant bluish purple eyes without knowing what she felt. She stared at the smooth jaw, the high cheekbones, the full lips, the aristocratic nose. The dark hair was long, longer even than Blaise's, and drawn into a heavy plait that fell over the right shoulder and down the back.

"It – it can't be," Harry whispered, his green eyes explosively wide. "It isn't possible."

"But – but we saw –" Ginny protested faintly. "In the future."

"No, you did not," Dumbledore told her. Blaise tore her eyes away from Red Robes just long enough to register the recognition in Dumbledore's eyes.

"The voice," Draco said disbelievingly, his eyes narrowed. "I mean, I know they can be altered, but –"

Together, the five of them stared at Red Robes.

The very alive, very female Red Robes.

The very Blaise-looking Red Robes.

"She is not Miss Zabini, I don't think," Dumbledore said, and Blaise felt a wild rush of relief. This woman sitting before her was the very image of the forty-year-old Blaise they had left back in Avalon. Of course, it was impossible that Red Robes could have been that forty-year-old Blaise, since the two of them had stood together in the clearing at Avalon, quite clearly two separate entities. But it could have been a Blaise from another time. Seventeen-year-old Blaise was blindingly relieved that Dumbledore didn't think it was.

"What," he said slowly and clearly, addressing Red Robes, "is your name?"

"Andulin Zabini," Red Robes said dully, her eyes blinking twice.

Blaise gasped. So they were related! There was no way they wouldn't have been, but hearing the words . . . most of Blaise's family had ties to dark wizards. She had just never met any of her extended family before.

"What year did you come from?" Dumbledore inquired of Andulin.

"1947," Andulin said. Blaise shivered. The woman didn't look a day above twenty-two.

"And what was your purpose in time traveling?" Dumbledore asked.

"I wanted to find the Holy Grail," Andulin intoned evenly.

"That explains her letting us lead her to Avalon, then," Ginny said.

"But she didn't ask for the Grail as ransom for Tristy, did she?" Blaise said. "She asked for me."

"For what purpose were you seeking the Grail?" Dumbledore went on, interrupting their speculations.

"To bring my master eternal life and youth that he might defeat Albus Dumbledore," Andulin returned.

Blaise blinked. Clearly her relative didn't recognize the man before her. In point of fact, she hadn't looked at any of them, including Blaise herself. And she was answering their questions awfully easily.

"Suppose she's lying, sir?" Draco cut in, clearly thinking along the same lines as Blaise.

"He gave her Veritaserum," Harry said absently, still goggling at Andulin Zabini. "That's what was in the vile. She has to tell the truth, whatever he asks her."

Blaise, Ginny, and Draco all stared at him in surprise.

Harry shrugged.

"I saw it used once in fourth year and Snape threatened me with it once," he told them, returning his attention to Red Robes.

"Who was your master?" Dumbledore went on.

"Lord Grindelwald," Andulin said, though her voice lacked any of the conviction Blaise had expected from one so close to the dark wizard.

"And what was your position within his ranks?" the headmaster went on, his voice unreadable.

"I am a member of the inner circle," Andulin answered.

"How many were within that circle?" Dumbledore went on.

"Five."

"Then why didn't one of them seize power when he died?" Blaise murmured. "I remember the history books – Grindelwald was defeated. No one would own up to being one of his followers."

"It was because by the time Grindelwald was defeated he had few supporters left," Dumbledore told them quietly. "We all suspected that he would have a protégé – most dark wizards do. But we never found any such person and no one ever laid claim to that title." His expression darkened. "A bribe was even offered to whomever would own up to being one of his closest supporters. Anyone willing to admit under Veritaserum would receive a lifetime sentence to Azkaban in exchange for what their punishment would be otherwise.

"What was the alternative?" Ginny asked tremulously.

"At the time, the Dementor's Kiss was considered perfectly legitimate," Dumbledore told her, his eyes darkening with memory.

He paused, as though lost in the past – a past he clearly did not like. At last, he returned his attention of Andulin.

"Tell me about your search for the Grail," he said. "Where did it begin?"

"My lord's supporters, myself included, knew that Lord Grindelwald was the greatest sorcerer in the world," Andulin said emotionlessly. "We knew that if a way could be found, he must be made immortal. He must be able to establish his world order. He told us so himself." A faint, slightly manic smile shadowed her full, red lips. "In fact, he offered us a reward. The servant to return with the most successful tool would be made his right hand. So I immediately began to plan. I knew my family possessed the ultimate weapon to use for my Lord Grindelwald's cause. The power of the Holy Grail had, at one time, been a widely acknowledged gift within the Zabini bloodline. It had the power to give my master the youth and immortality to govern the magical world forever." Her eyes grew darker and more intense. Blaise shivered again. "He would have Muggles eliminated so that wizards could take their true places, without fear and without having to hide. He would elevate those of us who'd been loyal to him and helped him achieve his reign. And I would be beside him, his hand – heir to his authority and his power."

She paused, her eyes losing some of their intense darkness.

"I knew that somewhere within my family lay the secret of the Grail," she said quietly, an eerie quality to her voice. "I had heard my own grandmother speak of it once. Zabinis have been linked to the Grail since it was first created. We are direct descendents of the noble man whose blood is within it."

Blaise saw Harry's mouth fall open.

"What?" she demanded.

"Remember what I was telling you about the Grail?" he said eagerly. "When we were on Glastonbury Tor? The Holy Grail contained the blood of the Christian's savior, Jesus Christ. But –" Harry frowned. "But that can't be right. The Christ wasn't supposed to have any children. He was the Son of God – he was wholly pure . . . "

"Within Christian teachings, there is speculation, supported by the teachings within their holy text, the Bible, that Jesus may have procreated," Dumbledore interjected. His eyes rested on Andulin Zabini with a mixture of perplexity and curiosity.

"So you're saying that the blood in the Grail might be Jesus' blood, and the Zabinis are blood relatives to Jesus, so in essence, it's Zabini blood as well?" Ginny said slowly.

"Let Ms. Zabini finish her story," Dumbledore said, his eyes not straying from her. "Go on. You began searching for the secret of the Grail within your own family. What happened?"

"I didn't know exactly what to look for," Andulin went on dully. "My father's extensive library, which has been passed down through generations of Zabinis, held the records I was looking for. According to those records, the power of the Grail was accessible only to Zabinis of a certain generation. That is, the ability to access it only appeared every five to ten generations. There were records of each Zabini able to do it, all the way back to the Holy One himself."

"What is the power of the Grail supposed to do?" Draco asked incredulously. "Specifically, I mean. How does it grant immortality?"

"The grail holds the blood of the Holy One," Andulin said. "He had the power to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and grant eternal life. So, too, did his blood." She gave a sudden, sharp inhalation. Then she continued as though this hadn't happened. "With such power as his very fingertips, my master would be invincible. I knew I had to find the key. During my research, I studied every Zabini woman on record. The ones who were suspected of holding the key to the Grail had several traits in common." She gave a sudden shudder and began blinking rapidly.

"She is beginning to fight the Veritaserum," Dumbledore said, getting quickly to his feet. He pulled the vial from his robes. Gently, he tilted Andulin's head back and allowed another drop to fall into her mouth.

Abruptly, she stopped blinking and stared blankly ahead.

"Continue from where you left off, Ms. Zabini," Dumbledore prompted, settling back into his chair.

"They had several traits in common," she obeyed. "Zabinis typically have darker skin and hair and dark blue or purple eyes. However, the only Zabini women on record who have true violet eyes also have uncommonly good vision and hearing. In addition, their bodies have unnaturally strong immune systems and their powers of self-healing are inexplicable by common medical standards. There was also a side note about their ability to utilize their access to the Grail being the most – potent, I suppose, during their fortieth year of life. " She paused and her strange, almost-purple eyes turned to glare almost directly at Blaise. "The most interesting thing, though, is that they are all on record as having the same Caduceus. It's thirteen inches, refined white marble, with the core of a unicorn tail hair."

Blaise stared down at her own Caduceus. She could feel the eyes of the others trained on her.

"Where did you get yours, Blaise?" Harry asked.

"My mother gave it to me before I came to Hogwarts," Blaise said faintly, with a shrug. "All I know is that my great-great grandmother put it in storage and told my great-grand mother to give it to my mum to give to her first-born daughter – me."

"How did she know to give it to you?" Ginny asked, awed. "She couldn't have even known you'd be born. She probably didn't even know your mum would be born!"

"The wand chooses the wizard," Andulin said, as though they had asked her directly. "The wand will find a way to find its wizard. It is always seeking to rest in the hands of its true master. Zabini women have passed Caducei down since the beginning. And every Zabini Caduceus has remained within our family."

"Is your wand the one she just described, by any chance, Miss Zabini?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Ye-yes," Blaise murmured, staring at it. "Refined white marble, thirteen inches, unicorn tail feather." She paused, then added with what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug, "I've always been decent at healing arts."

"So," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. He returned his attention fully to Andulin. "And so you were able to start identifying a Zabini woman possessing the key to the Grail," he prompted. "What did you do next?"

"There was an experiment within the Ministry's Department of Mysteries that I found out about on a reconnaissance mission less than a year after my master gave us his wish. They were experimenting with time travel and a device that could make it possible. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but my research into my family's secret began a few months later when Lord Grindelwald was coming more fully to power within the magical world. When I discovered that somewhere in my family's past or future there was the key to eternal life, I knew I had to have it. I knew that I did not possess the key, but somewhere, one of my nieces or aunts or grandmothers or great granddaughters did. I knew the time device the Unspeakables were working on was the way to discover the key holder."

Her face darkened and an ugly look marred her striking features.

"I was making my plans to steal a Time-Turner when war broke out in the wizarding world," she went on after a tense pause. "I was needed every moment with Lord Grindelwald, to plan and spy and help his cause and was left no time to prepare for his future." Her face filled with self-loathing. "Had I been more quick – but I was weak and too busy focusing on the present, instead of preparing for the future – my master's future."

"What prevented you successfully bringing Grindelwald the Grail?" Dumbledore asked, his voice suddenly steely.

"About a year into the war, my master had a duel," Andulin said darkly. "Albus Dumbledore, a newer professor at Hogwarts –" she all but spat the name – "and an upstart pupil of Dash Underwood, challenged my master to duel him. Well, it should have been no competition. Lord Grindelwald should have prevailed." Her voice grew vaguely desperate. "But Dumbledore won, somehow. He defeated my master. I was honored enough to see him fall." Her voice was bitter.

"What did you do?" Ginny asked, sounding both horrified and eager.

"I knew instantly that I had get a Time-Turner," Andulin said, the desperation back in her voice again. Her mood swings were starting to make Blaise nervous. "I finished my plans to break into the Ministry at the same time that I finished my research on the Zabinis. I knew that the Time-Turner was close to completion. Final tests had all been extremely positive. I knew how it worked – I listened around while I was spying and knew that it was operated by thought and the number of turns one gave it. I knew experimentation would show me the rest."

She drew a deep breath and continued, her rant becoming faster.

"My first thought was to simply steal the prototype and make use of it," she told them, her eyes wide and over-bright. "But then I thought, why settle for that when, should it work, the Time-Turner could be improved? Why settle for an experiment when I could have the real thing? My research on time helped me understand the importance of care. If I took the one existing Time-Turner and made off with it, they might not exist in the future. So I took the original, intending to procure one of my own from the future and then jump back and return the original. No one would ever know it was gone."

She smiled thinly.

"The plan worked out better than I had ever dreamed," she murmured. "Since the future is all pure speculation – no certainty, you know, since it hasn't yet occurred – I was able to find the Time-Turner I wanted, jump back in time, and replace the one I had taken without anyone being the wiser." Her smile widened unpleasantly. "I will never know if it was luck or destiny, but the random jump I made forward landed me near to someone whom I soon discovered was, in fact, a Zabini."

She paused for breath again and then continued.

"That first jump wasn't, in fact, the first," she told them. "I did a bit of experimentation with short jumps first. Five hours forward, for instance, or ten minutes back. Jumping back, particularly when you're within the time of your own lifespan, can be very complicated. I met myself once – very disconcerting. Anyway, after a few controlled tests I discovered that all I had to do was think about the future or the past to differentiate between them. As in, five minutes into the future, so that I would go five minutes into the future instead of automatically five minutes into the past. I found that even subconscious thought influenced the Time-Turner."

Blaise saw Harry wince. She suddenly realized that, when he had been using the Time-Turner to help them escape Red Robes the first time, he probably hadn't consciously been thinking about when to take them, but rather about getting them away. However, subconscious thought had probably still been going on about his daughter and thus, the Time-Turner had taken him to her time without him consciously telling it to do so.

"That must have been how it carried me so far without me realizing it," she went on dreamily. "I was trying to decide where to go and I thought I would try a random place in the future, as I had no factual information to work with. I simply thought about the future – and probably thoughts of my kin were floating around unconsciously in my head simultaneously, which directed the Time-Turner to the most likely location of one or other of my kin."

She paused again for breath.

"I rematerialized outside the Ministry, exactly the location I had started in," she said. "I discovered the year – 2021 – as quickly as I could and then tried to think of the next best course of action. It was quite easy to operate incognito, what with the fact that I didn't technically exist." She smirked. "I decided that it would be folly to go to the Zabini estate. I would be recognized and probably arrested. So I thought I would try a location where I would be very likely to find a Zabini.

"Hogwarts."

"Sir, doesn't this mean that she might have been a student of yours back in her own time – I mean, if she knew about Hogwarts?" Harry said suddenly. "Have you ever heard of her?"

"No, I'm afraid I have not," Dumbledore said regretfully. "Either she finished school here before I began teaching, or she was taught by Professor Underwood, rather than myself." He glanced at Blaise. "There is always the possibility, of course, that she never attended Hogwarts."

"All Zabinis have attended Hogwarts," Blaise said shortly. "Anyway, she clearly found her way onto the ground at some point. Isn't the castle protected from anyone getting in who hasn't been invited, with the exception of alumni?"

"Very true," Dumbledore said, looking impressed. Blaise found at present that his approval didn't mean very much to her. He nodded to Andulin. "Please, continue."

"I knew Hogwarts to be in Northern Scotland, but I had no idea how to get there." She smirked again. "But I knew how to get aboard the Hogwarts express from my own years of attending the wretched place. I pretended to be a parents attending to see my child off and then snuck aboard and hid in the luggage compartment. It wasn't difficult to unlock several students' trunks and steal a complete Hogwarts uniform, so I did. I did a simple color-reversing charm on my hair and played myself off as a new student.

"I spent the trip going from car to car, listening at door and talking to a few people," she went on. "It didn't take me long to find a likely candidate. Her appearance was a dead giveaway – a Slytherin and a prefect – and her wit, even more so." Andulin pulled another smile that was more a grimace. "I seem to recall her giving a blonde Gryffindor prefect quite a deal of lip."

Draco suddenly started, gaping at her in utter disbelief.

"Are you telling us that the first Zabini you ran into was Tristan?" he demanded.

"How do you figure that?" Blaise asked.

"The date, first of all," he said. "It took me a minute, but she said 2021. Tristan would have been seventeen. And she was arguing with a blonde prefect. Even if the year wasn't a giveaway, the fact that they were arguing means it wasn't you or I. You never argued with me before this whole mess started and you're not a prefect."

"Carry on," Dumbledore told Andulin, with an approving look at Draco.

"I never actually spoke to either of them, but I listened carefully," Andulin continued, as though she hadn't been interrupted. "It took me some time to confirm her identity, as her last name was not Zabini, but my patience paid off. I pretended that I had been sorted into Slytherin in a private ceremony before the opening feast and then sat near the girl and her friends. I stayed close to them for about a week before I got my answers. Eventually, her lineage appeared in one of her many arguments with the blonde prefect. Although her eyes were bright green, I thought I had better make sure she wasn't the correct Zabini woman, just to save time. It didn't take me long to rule her out. Her eyesight was dreadful, and a Quidditch incident about a month into first term put her in hospital for a month. Her powers were quite clearly not of the sort to be Grail-associated."

She paused, her eyes clouding.

"I skipped around within her timeline," she went on at last. "September to January to March and the like. By the time I'd jumped to March, I was ready to figure out my next suspect and be off. But then something happened that I didn't intend." Her eyes darkened. "I was preparing to leave for another time and I needed her mother's age – something to give me an idea of what time I might need to look for her in. I was trailing herself and her friends to a Potions lesson when they had a run-in with the blonde prefect. She was very adamant that he meet her before class so she could discuss something with him."

Andulin sneered.

"I assumed it was an excuse to escape into a broom closet – it seemed just the thing, the way they carried on. But I followed anyway, and soon discovered that it was an event of far more interest to me." Now a cold, wild smile began to tease her lips. "It seemed that Miss Zabini – or I suppose it was technically Potter – anyway, she had somehow procured a Time-Turner. Well, the blonde prefect – Malfoy, I believe – was very cautious at first. But Miss Potter explained her motives – she wished to go back in time and visit her mother, whom she had not seen since she was four years old. She was curious what her mum was like when she was seventeen. She told Malfoy that he could come or go if he was too cowardly. Well, that was Gryffindor baiting and he bit, hard."

Her face drifted from cruelly amused to thoughtful in an instant.

"I wasn't quite sure how to follow, so I thought I might try employing the subconscious direction trick. It worked well. It could sense, I think, that I wished to follow the children and it took me right in behind them. It even placed me at their backs. It was quite simple after that. I killed them, relieved them of their Time-Turner, and returned the original to its home not five minutes after I'd stolen it."

Blaise felt herself shaking. Well, now they knew the reason. Hayden and Tristan had died because they had simply been in the way. No heroics, no chance at all. To Blaise's right, Ginny was pale as a ghost and gripping Draco's hand. Harry was rigid with fury.

Andulin, meanwhile, continued as if she didn't notice.

"It was most convenient of Miss Potter to lead me to my next Zabini," she went on. "But Dumbledore was headmaster, so I had to be more careful than I had been with Snape." She grimaced, but carried on. "It took me a bit longer to track down Blaise Zabini, but not much. I had to remain completely concealed in the meantime. I sensed that Dumbledore would know I didn't belong, so I hid in the Restricted Section of the library. It worked quite well, as few use that interesting collection." She sneered faintly. "I listened to people coming in and out of the library and came to understand that there was a large Quidditch match that Friday. I was also fortunate enough to ascertain that Blaise would be playing in it. It was a perfect opportunity to witness her skill. Was her eyesight really superior? Would her injuries slow her up?

"The night of the match I left the library shortly before it closed. I borrowed an abandoned Hogwarts robe I found abandoned on a chair near the door to cover my own modest attire." She sneered again. "I watched from the edge of the pitch while Blaise helped play a spectacular match. Then I watched as, after the match, both the Gryffindor and Slytherin Seekers disappeared off the pitch. I was delighted when Blaise followed."

Blaise felt cold. Her fault – all that week she had been tailed by Red Robes – the very person who had nearly cost them so much. Had she but paid attention! But to what? She had had absolutely no knowledge of Red Robes – Andulin Zabini – until that very night. What could she have done?

"I followed them up to the Astronomy Tower and pretended that I wanted their Time-Turner. Little they knew – what I actually wanted was to find Blaise's forty-year-old self whom I was convinced possessed the key to the Grail. They left the tower and I used the same method I had used to track Miss Potter – I let my Time-Turner take me. At first, I couldn't figure out what Potter was doing. Then I realized, whilst listening to them argue – oh, yes, I was tailing you during your brief stay at Hogwarts before tracking your carriage to Red's Park – that Harry Potter thought he could save his little brat, whose body was found by him in the entrance hall."

Harry was suddenly on his feet and advancing on Andulin, his fists clenched. Blaise and Ginny only just kept him from smashing in her face.

Andulin continued as though there had been no interruption.

"I tailed the carriage to the Malfoy estate," she said. "I had a feeling that if I stuck with Potter and Blaise long enough, they would lead me to the Blaise I was looking for." She paused. "The myth of Avalon was something my grandmother had once told me of, along with the Grail. I had a feeling we were heading there when I saw Potter and Blaise lead their merry band away from the Malfoy estate. I tailed, leaving space between myself and the group. A couple of times, I began to have doubts about whether Blaise was the right Zabini. I thought it might be a good idea to test her a bit more, since we seemed to have extra time on our hands." She smiled coldly. "I knew that a few mountain trolls had picked up our scent off and on while we were traversing the woods – I set them on the group, hoping that Blaise would find some way of proving her worth to me unknowingly. She did – her excellent eyesight allowed her to jump off a cliff and attack a mountain troll without being seriously injured. I was almost satisfied. I thought perhaps one more test. I reset a Portkey in Batley, which I knew they intended to use to take them to a dragon hatching ground. Dragons are very violent, but on another magical creature – like a possessor of a key to the Holy Grail, I had a feeling that their aggression would be eliminated. I was right. Blaise was the only member of the party not hurt by the dragon after perhaps the closest encounter of any of them."

Well, that explained a lot, Blaise thought sourly.

"I was convinced that I must have the right one and that the answer lay in Avalon, where I was now sure that we were going," Andulin was clearly coming to the home stretch. "I followed them to Glastonbury, where I watched the group at the Chalice Well vanish. I wasn't sure how to get in myself, so I simply copied the movements I had seen. To my amazement, I was allowed entrance as well. I hid in the forest and crept around until I came upon the group. And there, in their midst, was the forty-year-old Blaise Zabini – the one I needed. It didn't take long to calculate her age based on my other jumps and what I knew of Blaise's age to her daughter's. At last, I had found the key to my master's eternal life."

She fell silent, but no one really needed to hear any more. They knew the rest.

"What I am still not getting," Draco said, after a long silence, "is this key thing. So forty-year-old Blaise was "the key" to the Holy Grail. Great – but the Grail is still missing from the picture."

Andulin didn't volunteer any information on this, so they all sat staring blankly off into the distance for a time.

It was Dumbledore who broke the silence.

"Perhaps it would be as well for me to solve this particular riddle," he said slowly, looking carefully around at them all. "You see, it all ties back to Dumbledore – myself, futuristically – taking such care to protect you, Miss Zabini. You, the key to the Holy Grail. But have you ever considered how you are the key?"

"Wouldn't it mean she could have special access to the Grail?" Ginny hazarded.

"In a manner of speaking," Dumbledore encouraged. "But try thinking of it this way. What is the Grail?"

"It's a cup," Harry said promptly. "A cup that holds the blood of Jesus Christ."

"And we were speculating about the Zabini family being direct descendents of Jesus," Dumbledore nodded. "Their blood is his blood – or vice-versa."

"Wait . . . " Blaise said, as his words flashed across her mind in blinding illumination. "Our blood is his blood . . . you're saying that there is no Grail. Or rather, not a Grail in the sense of a cup."

She paused, staring up into Dumbledore's light blue eyes with sudden understanding.

"You're saying that the Zabinis are, in a way, the keepers of the Grail," Blaise breathed, wide-eyed. "And that key Zabini woman who comes along every five or ten generations is the Holy Grail – the cup holding the blood of the Holy One!"

"Precisely," Dumbledore confirmed, looking pleased. "You may or may not recognize the importance of the age of forty."

"There are several references to that number in the Bible," Harry offered. His eyes were fixed on Blaise in wonder. "It's kind of a holy number, I guess. Lots of importance placed on it."

"So in order for my blood to be effective as the blood of the Holy One," Blaise said slowly, "it has to be at least forty years old."

"I believe it is most potent, then, yes," Dumbledore agreed.

Silence descended once again in the head master's office. Blaise felt numb – aloof, even. She couldn't take it in. She remembered Dumbledore's speculation that as time wore on they might forget all the events related to their soiree into the future and prayed that it would come to pass. She wasn't sure she would be able to stand it when she actually reacted to everything they had learned tonight.

"Well," Dumbledore said at length, and his voice startled Blaise enough that she jumped. "I believe that that is all we need to know." He murmured under his breath and Andulin Zabini's head lolled forward onto her chest, her eyelids drooping shut.

"I will alert the Ministry that she is here and needs to be taken away immediately," he said briskly. He waved his hand and the chair became a cot once again, although the restraints at her arms and legs remained.

His attention then returned to Blaise and the others. His expression was impenetrably grave.

"I believe I did as I promised," he said. "You have now learnt the whole story and, I hope, a bit more about time. It now remains to be seen what will happen to you all."

His eyes went over each of them in turn. Blaise sensed severe disappointment and couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for what they had done. It had been a rather half-arsed effort, after all was said and done. And the cost could have been far higher, fair more permanently damaging. But there was something else in Dumbledore's eyes, which, though serious, were also kind. There was a kind of empathy, as though he was aware of what it felt like to know that you had done what you thought was right and how unfair it felt to be punished for it.

At length, he spoke.

"As each of you will take away from this experience a different lesson, I think your punishments should be reflective of that," he said.

His eyes turned first to Blaise.

"Miss Zabini," he said. "You have learnt a great deal about your family from this experience. Your punishment – or shall we call it an assignment? Yes, that's much pleasanter, isn't it? Your assignment, then, is to learn everything you can about the Holy Grail and your family's history. You will have free access to any and all records within Hogwarts or the Ministry that pertain to your research. Your goal is to find out everything you can and acquit yourself so that you will never be forced to hide yourself away in the future."

He turned to Ginny.

"Ginevra, as this is one of few misdemeanors on your record and I can see that you are aware of your wrongdoings, your punishment will not be harsh. You will continue your current studies, but next year, in addition to your N.E.W.T.-level classes you will be taking a course taught by Professor Sinistra on temporal theory. I want you to become an expert on time. I will expect biweekly reports from you next year and I expect a final presentation on it for myself and the good professor at the end of the year."

Ginny nodded, head lowered, and Dumbledore moved on.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said thoughtfully. "To be perfectly frank, I am not entirely sure what to do with you. Your record is certainly not spotless and I'm sure some form of punishment is in order, but I cannot decide what might befit you the best." The headmaster paused for a moment, then nodded decidedly. "Your task within the next week is to come up with a punishment for yourself from which you will learn and grow."

Draco nodded, scowling at this harsh abuse, and Blaise bit her lip against a smile. Dumbledore's own eyes twinkled, until they turned to rest, at long last, on Harry.

"Harry," he said at length, his eyes filled with something that made Blaise go cold. She wanted to stop him saying anything else, but she knew better. Instead, she gripped her armrests with white-knuckled fingers.

"I'm afraid," Dumbledore continued after a slight pause, "that I did warn you the last time that any more serious rule-breaking would lose you your place at Hogwarts."

"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled, looking anywhere but at the headmaster. Blaise bit down harder on her lip and swallowed.

"As the mastermind behind this escapade you put three of your fellow students, as well as yourself, in grave danger – not to mention all of the broken laws in your wake."

"Yes, sir," Harry repeated dully.

"As I can see that you properly understand the seriousness of your behavior, I will not go on in this way," Dumbledore told him. "But you must be warned – your punishment is severe."

"I know." Not but a whisper.

"I am afraid that it is my duty . . . to expel you," Dumbledore said. The final word looked as though it cost him some trouble to speak.

"No!" Blaise and Ginny cried simultaneously, leaping to their feet.

"You can't!" Ginny said frantically. "We're just as much to blame, sir, and you're not expelling us. Honestly, it's not fair!"

"Sir, he was doing what he thought was right!" Blaise snarled, her hands clamping onto the edge of the desk as she leaned toward the headmaster. "Give him a chance to –"

"Don't send him away!" Ginny begged. "What about N.E.W.T.s? Graduation? He's so close to being finished – just let him finish!"

"We're two months from the end of seventh year!" Blaise added quickly. "Just give him detention with Professor Snape or something . . . "

Both girls slowly fell silent at the look on Dumbledore's face. Blaise sank into her chair, the shock from earlier replaced by a boiling anger. Harry didn't deserve this – he deserved another chance. He had done more for this school than bloody Dumbledore. How many times had he played hero to You-Know-Who's assaults since first year?

"I am sorry," Dumbledore said, and he certainly looked it. "But Harry has had fair warning. He made the choice and the consequences are his as well."

"So I'm expelled," Harry said numbly. He glanced sideways. "Congratulations, Malfoy," he added with stoic sarcasm. "It's the day you've been dreaming of since we first met. Shall we toast your victory?"

Draco grimaced, and to Blaise's surprise, didn't respond. He wasn't look at Harry, but was instead toying with his cuff.

After a tense moment, deadened green eyes raised to meet Dumbledore's. "Where will I go? The Dursleys?" He brightened almost imperceptibly. "I . . . don't suppose Snuffles will have me?"

"That's right – Snuffles!" Ginny said. Blaise wondered what the deuce they were carrying on about.

"I am afraid that Snuffles is working at present," Dumbledore said apologetically. Then, to Blaise's surprise, his eyes suddenly began to sparkle. Not much, but just enough. Her heart leapt for Harry. "However, I have a feeling that you will have ample opportunity to see him where you will be going."

Harry stared blankly at him for a long moment. Then a slow smile began to crease his face. Blaise couldn't figure out what he could possibly have to grin like that about. It wasn't a grin, per se, but it was look that suggested that a day of thunderstorms had just become morning showers with afternoon sun breaks.

"But . . . sir, I'd understood from Mrs. – from certain people that you didn't want me going until after school ends in June," Harry said, his tone still cautiously hopeful.

"As I am about to expel you, school will be ending for you very shortly," the headmaster said. "As for your N.E.W.T.s, which you will, of course, miss, I will have them sent to you and a license from the Ministry will oversee them." Dumbledore smiled at him at last. "Your punishment, Harry, is to study hard enough to receive twelve N.E.W.T.s. Removed from school as you will be, you will not have the distractions that many complain of. I expect a glowing report on your diploma. I also expect to hear that whomever they find to train you works you hard. You know it will not be easy, but I have faith that you can do it."

"Thanks, sir," Harry breathed, his own smile widening considerably.

"Someone mind telling us lower life forms what's going on?" Draco spoke up irritably. "Potter, you shouldn't be bloody smiling about expulsion."

"Can I tell them, Professor?" he asked, his voice almost eager. "I trust them completely."

"If you wish."

Harry turned to look at the other three. His expression sobered.

"I've been badgering Professor Dumbledore for the last year about joining the Order of the Phoenix," he explained earnestly.

"Oh, now, there's a surprise!" Draco said mockingly, sneering at Harry.

"Shut up, wanker," Harry snapped. He actually blushed. "Er, sorry, Professor."

"What was that?" Dumbledore asked mildly, rubbing his ear with a forefinger. There was a definite twinkle in his eye now.

"Anyway," Harry went on, "he told me straight out that I wasn't allowed to join until I graduated, at which point I would be ready and have a diploma and everything." He shrugged. "It's just stepping the schedule up a bit. I was going to make for Order HQ this June, but now I'll be leave in a few days."

Leaving in a few days. Blaise went still. She wasn't sure how many more shocks her system could take.

"Well," said Dumbledore, jumping into the pause after Harry's excited speech. "You have all had an extremely long week – I think it may now be time for a good night's sleep. Your punishments begin first thing tomorrow, if applicable."

They stood silently and headed for the door. None of them spoke as they exited Dumbledore's office and descended the spiral staircase. Blaise's chest ached and she was careful not to look at Harry. With any luck she would be able to slip away without him kicking up a fuss.

At the bottom of the staircase, Draco came to a sudden halt. He had been leaning on Harry again for support and his abrupt stop nearly sent the Gryffindor tumbling.

"What, Malfoy?" he demanded.

"So that's it?" the Slytherin bit out.

"What's 'it'?" Harry asked, sounding surprised.

"Oh, don't be a git – I know it comes naturally, but try to resist for thirty seconds," Draco drawled. "This sudden picking up and leaving deal. So it's just like that? Pack your bags and be off in a couple of days?"

"Something like that," Harry said, his voice rather tart. "I don't want to make a huge production out of it – I'll just let my friends know and be off."

"Us, included?" Ginny asked. Blaise saw that her lip was quivering. The dark Slytherin bit furiously down on her own.

"Of course!" Harry said, sounding astonished and mildly offended. "After all we've been through? You're my friends, too. At least," he added, with an uncertain look, "I think you are."

"Don't be thick, Harry," Ginny said, putting her arms around him, which was awkward as Draco was still leaning on him.

"He's so good at it, though – why ask him to stop now?" Draco put in smarmily.

"I could just let you fall down the last few stairs," Harry snapped.

"Friends," Ginny said sternly. She stepped back from Harry and shook her finger at them. "No stupid bickering, now. Not when," she swallowed, "Harry's going to be gone in a few days."

"Will no one pine for me when I'm away?" Draco cried dramatically.

"What're you on about, you great ugly prat?" Blaise demanded. She was still standing resolutely behind the two boys, not wanting to see Harry's face at all.

"Well, if he gets to go, so do I," Draco said, looking back over his shoulder at her as though she were stupid.

"What?" Ginny, Blaise, and Harry said together.

"Are you all suddenly deaf?" Draco demanded crossly.

"Possibly – I thought I just heard you say you were quitting school and coming to join the Order with me," Harry said, his face an odd mixture of suspicion and interest.

"Though perhaps not in so many words," Draco said.

"And I suppose your vanity will be mortally offended if I ask if you've actually given this any thought?" Ginny said sharply. Blaise could see her face as she glared back and forth between the boys.

Draco's expression went coy.

"Why, Miss Ginevra, I'd say you were going soft on me," he mocked, reaching out and tweaking her nose. She battled his hand away none-too-gently.

"Get off!" she snapped. "I'm serious. Did you just come up with this off the top of your head because it sounded like fun? Because it won't be! This is serious, Draco! You can't just go off joining random war efforts – what about your father? What about You-Know-Who? What about all those things I'm sure you haven't thought about that are bound to crop up and knock you –"

Draco suddenly lurched forward, wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, and pulled her mouth hard against his.

"Too close, too close!" Harry wailed, throwing his free arm – the one that wasn't struggling to keep Draco from crashing down the stairs – rather ineffectually over his eyes.

Ginny, meanwhile, had wrapped her arms around him. To Blaise's surprise, she pulled away rather quickly. She was blushing, but a small smile twisted her lips.

"If you're serious about leaving with Harry, don't you dare kiss me like that again until I can see you every day," she growled, punching his shoulder gently and then clinging tightly to him for a moment. When she stepped back, she was wiping her eyes.

Draco groaned.

"Damn it," he muttered. He turned a glare on Harry. "Why is it that you get the more difficult girl, but everything works out for you?"

"It's because I'm smooth, Malfoy," Harry chortled, helping him start back down the steps.

"So smooth," Blaise said with the utmost sarcasm lacing her voice. However, she fell into step beside Harry and took his free hand in hers. Ginny fell into step beside Draco, allowing their hands to brush occasionally but nothing else. Draco was looking supremely frustrated.

"Cheer up, Malfoy," Harry said, giving Blaise's fingers a grateful squeeze. "We'll be war heroes, you know. There'll be books written about our daring undercover missions, our heroic deeds. Rita Skeeter will have us with five different girls a week."

Blaise dug her fingernails into his hand.

"Ow!" Harry yelped. "Joking – I was joking!"

"So smooth," Draco murmured, sneering.

"Oh, but, Harry," said Ginny, with a wicked look at Draco, "your name's already in most of our DADA books."

"Yeah – go, Potty, go," Draco griped, the sneer vanishing under a pout.

"You know, someone should write a book about you two," Blaise said thoughtfully. "I mean, in the course of two non-existent weeks you became friends. What're the odds? What would your fathers say?"

"My dad's probably turning in his grave," Harry said with a crooked smile.

"Wish I could say the same," Draco said mournfully. He gave a smirk. "Wait until my father finds out I joined the Order. He'll piss himself and then do something homicidal."

"We could send our dad's copies of our memoir," Harry suggested, laughing. "I reckon they've got bookstores in the afterlife. Anyway, I have the perfect title: Stalemate."

"Or how about something really dramatic?" Ginny offered. "Like . . . I dunno – Potter vs. Malfoy: War's End?"

Harry and Draco glanced at each other. Blaise saw their lips twitching traitorously.

"Yeah," they both said, nodding slowly. "Yeah."

)PvsM(

THE END ('cept the epilogue, obviously)

I would just like to give MAD PROPS to a reviewer by the clever name of Bard's Soul. You are one insightful person and I was very impressed when I read your review. You are THE ONLY reviewer thus far to have correctly guessed any of the key points pre-final chapter! That "random guess" as you put it, re: Blaise being the Holy Grail was obviously true and I am, as I say, very impressed that you nailed the answer! Go you! Also, props to my v. faithful and comprehensive reviewer JoeBob1379, whose review for Chapter 14 was very much on the right track. There are several other people who came very close to nailing the answer in their reviews, so MAD PROPS to you all! You're insightful, intelligent people and I loff you! I also have to add a shot-out of reviewer phantasm3 for making me laugh v. hard by remembering "Jumanji." My friend, it may surprise you to know that I understand what you mean! Props to ya!

Also a quicky shout-out to my FA readers, particularly Sub, Spidey, Wyvie, and Toothpick. Sorry I haven't been around in a while. Thanks to all of you for playing with my characters on the RR and humoring me by reviewing here at You rock! Loffs and Draco Lollies (also a few Snape Cookies, but not a word to XX!).

And finally, here at the very end, there are two people who get entire PARAGRAPHS to themselves. The first is my original coauthor, Lee Velviet. She wrote several of the first chapters and has given me her help and input even after having to drop the project due to events occurring in "real life". She bore with my pleading that she coauthor a fic with me and then was big enough to humor me when I suggested a Time-Turner fic, even though she swore never to do one (now I know why, you genius girl, you!). She's been incredible and sharing this experience (even if it was half of what I'd hoped for) taught me a lot and meant a whole hell of a lot to me! Loves, sweetie! Thanks so much for everything!

The second is my incredible beta, XX (sorry, hun, I'm just not up to finding your full screen name tonight!). This girl was incredibly thoughtful and perceptive when she first began reviewing WE. She asked me hundreds of questions and made me really start thinking about the plot and the complexity I was dealing with. She is also a genius at grammar and the like and has done wonders in the way of smoothing out language for me. She also introduced me to FA and FAP, for which introduction I am eternally grateful. Anyway, the nub and gist is that she has been invaluable in this process and I can't thank her enough! Loffs to ya, hun – you seriously rock my writing socks (they have little cat head bobbles on the ankles – cute, huh? ).

And to all of you reviewers who egged me on, threatened me, and encouraged me, let me say THANK YOU! I have indeed read every review, and know that I don't deserve the praise many of you bestow so willingly upon, but I have done my best not to disappoint!

Thanks again to all! You've made my life as a writer a very happy one!

Epilogue (extensive, let me assure you) to follow in the new year!

Happy hols to all!

That is all.