Hermione felt a distinct sense of déjà vu the next morning when she woke to see Ginny's red hair peeking up from under the covers of the cot beside hers – it was so like the night they'd spent in the hospital wing back in her second year, the night Colin Creevey had been Petrified. And yet, in spite of the immediate similarity, the situation was at once totally different, not least because they hadn't come out unscathed this time around. Madam Pomfrey had been kept busy tending to all sorts of injuries the night before, and if Draco was to be believed, then Dumbledore was…Hermione shuddered. She believed Draco, of course she did, but at the same time, she didn't want to. She didn't want to believe that the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared was dead, because the ramifications of that statement were too scary for any time of day, never mind when she was still feeling very vulnerable and sleepy.

Hermione then rolled onto her side and peered across the dimly lit hospital wing to Draco's cot, which was across from Ginny's and therefore within easy sight. Draco was still unconscious, but Hermione could make out the steady rise and fall of his chest, which she took as a good sign. His blanket had ridden down a bit over the course of the night, revealing the thick bandages encasing his torso, and Hermione found herself unconsciously growling lowly in the back of her throat. She was annoyed by the fact that Ron clearly still held prejudices against Slytherins despite having fought extensively alongside several of them in D.A. meetings, but what really made her mad was that he thought it was ok to test an unknown spell on another person. It didn't matter that he'd cast it in the heat of the moment; their professors had lectured them on the dangers of unfamiliar spells more often than Hermione could count, and even in those cases, the students had at least known what the new spell was supposed to do. If the look on Ron's face when Draco had collapsed was anything to go by, Ron had had absolutely no idea what that particular spell did.

"Herms?"

Hermione pulled herself out of her mental tirade and returned her attention to the cot beside hers. Ginny was curled up in a ball, her brown eyes sleepy as she gazed at her friend, but she was awake nevertheless.

"Hey, Gin," Hermione said softly. "You sleep alright?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Ginny whispered back. "Anyone else come in after I fell asleep?"

"No, just Harry," Hermione said. True to her promise, she hadn't been able to sleep knowing that one of her boys was outside the safety of Hogwarts, but instead of waiting up for Draco as she'd originally suggested, she found herself waiting for Harry. It was almost two in the morning when Professor McGonagall had arrived in the hospital wing levitating an unconscious Harry, and it had taken every bit of strength Hermione possessed not to leap out of bed and clutch her friend's form to her while demanding to know what was wrong. Instead, Hermione had sat back against her pillows and listened as Professor McGonagall had explained what she knew to everyone who was still awake – Harry's Patronus had appeared in her office minutes earlier, and he'd barely made it through the school's front gates before he'd passed out. After a quick examination, Madam Pomfrey had declared that Harry was exhausted but otherwise unharmed, and everyone had gone to sleep feeling far better than they'd had only moments before. They still didn't know what had happened to Harry or where he'd gone, but Hermione suspected they'd find out when everyone finally awoke.

"So everyone's accounted for, at least," Ginny murmured.

"Yeah." Hermione yawned and stretched before propping herself up against her pillows. "I still don't understand half of what happened last night. It was all so confusing."

"I think we'll have a better idea once we've heard what Harry and Draco have to say," Ginny replied. She paused and glanced around the ward to make sure they were the only ones awake, then added in a much lower tone, "Do you think they found it, then? Draco and…Dumbledore?" Hermione bit her lip.

"I really don't know," she said. "It's possible, I think – they were gone for a few hours – but then, maybe they ran into trouble and couldn't come back right away? Some sort of trap at the manor?"

"I don't think so," Ginny replied with a shake of her head. "Snape reset all the wards on the property, remember? Didn't you tell me one of the reasons Dumbledore asked Draco to go with him was because the wards will only allow people through with Draco's express permission? If even Dumbledore couldn't get through those wards without help, I don't think the Death Eaters would be able to, either."

"You're probably right," Hermione conceded. "My brain's just creating all of these wild scenarios because it doesn't know the truth, and it's worrying me."

"I'm sure you'll feel better once they've woken up and told their stories," Ginny said soothingly. "How's your arm?"

"Much better," Hermione said. It was still bandaged, but the wrapping was more to protect it from irritation during the first night after its healing than anything else, as Madam Pomfrey had completely healed the wound long before Hermione fell asleep.

"We all got so lucky," Ginny whispered. "Well, except for…" She trailed off and nodded towards the far end of the ward, where the last bed was still curtained from view. Hermione nodded solemnly.

The girls continued their quiet conversation as the sun slowly rose, and one by one, the other occupants of the ward began to waken. Madam Pomfrey immediately began fussing over each of them in turn as soon as she noticed they were up. While the teenagers were enjoying breakfast in bed, the Order members who'd fought with them the night before returned and updated them on the latest news, which wasn't much – nobody had managed to figure out where Nott and the Death Eaters had gone upon fleeing Hogwarts, nor did anyone know what it was about the Room of Requirement that had allowed the perpetrators access to Hogwarts in the first place. The only new information was that Pansy Parkinson had also disappeared, and none of her roommates knew where she'd gone or when she'd left.

"She's probably with Nott," Ginny said at once. "I mean, she is his girlfriend, isn't she?"

"Yes, but why would that lead to her disappearance?" Hermione asked with a frown. "She wasn't amongst the fighters last night, so why would she have to leave so suddenly?"

"It doesn't make sense," Tonks agreed. "I say there's something going on there we've missed."

"Pansy's spiteful and nasty, but you're right – that doesn't make sense," a new voice croaked. All eyes turned to the bed across from Ginny, where Draco was rubbing sleep from his eyes and attempting to sit up.

"Don't move, dear," Madam Pomfrey commanded as she quickly rushed to his side. "I need to examine you first." Draco, who if his expression was anything to go by was still at the very least uncomfortable, fell back onto the pillows without complaint and allowed the matron to strip off his bandages. She busied herself checking him over, muttering incantations and studying the associated data projected above her patient. Seemingly satisfied, she applied a salve to his wounds and helped him sit up before bringing him a tray of breakfast. Now that the bandages were gone, the others could see the thin red lines crisscrossing Draco's pale skin, the scars shiny thanks to the layer of medicine working to reduce them. Draco took a long drink from his water glass before meeting Hermione's eyes and smiling slightly.

"We match, Lotte," he said quietly, gesturing to his scars. Ginny chuckled in spite of herself, understanding Draco's reference to Hermione's own scar, while Hermione herself just smiled and shook her head.

"I suppose we do, Dragon," she said. "How are you feeling?" Draco swallowed a mouthful of eggs and shrugged.

"I've been better," he admitted. "I still feel like I could sleep all day, and I'm really hoping someone will tell me last night was all just a horrible dream, but this" – he paused and motioned to his chest once more, then to the ward in general – "pretty much disproves that theory, doesn't it?"

"I'm afraid so," Mr. Weasley said. "You all went through quite an ordeal, from what I understand, and I don't even know the half of it – do you think you'll be up for sharing your portion of the tale in a little while?"

"I s'pose you'll want to hear mine as well?" Harry's sleep-tousled voice chimed in. The dark-haired boy rolled over and pulled his glasses on, yawning widely as he attempted to flatten his hair.

"Oh, Harry, you're awake!" Hermione exclaimed. "You looked awful when Professor McGonagall brought you in last night, I was so worried!"

"I'm fine, Maya," Harry reassured her. "Tired, but alright."

"I think it's best if we hear the whole tale from the beginning," Professor McGonagall said briskly as Madam Pomfrey checked Harry over and provided him with a breakfast tray. "I don't think anyone here knows everything that happened last night, and I daresay things will make quite a bit more sense when we have all the facts."

"If we're starting at the beginning, then I need to go first," Draco said, setting down his fork. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and began to speak. "Professor Dumbledore requested a meeting in his office after dinner. He had reason to believe that something of value to Voldemort" – here Draco ignored the flinches and gasps at his use of the name – "was hidden in Malfoy Manor, my ancestral home. After the incident with Krum last summer, Snape adjusted and strengthened the wards around the manor so that no one can enter the property without my express permission – in other words, I need to be physically present to bring anyone new through the wards."

"And the headmaster felt it necessary to retrieve this…object in the middle of the night during a school term?" McGonagall questioned sharply. "Why?"

"I don't know," Draco confessed. "All he said was that he wanted to do it last night, and would I please go with him. We left Hogwarts at ten o'clock and returned around midnight."

"And what happened in the interim?"

"I think this is where we come in," Hermione said, gesturing towards herself and Harry. "Draco told us where he was going and why before he left, and Harry and I promised to wait up until he and Dumbledore returned. We were watching…that is, we had a way to…"

"You had the Marauder's Map," Lupin said helpfully. When several people looked at him in puzzlement, he explained, "It's a map of Hogwarts that shows where everyone is in real time."

"A creation of Sirius, James, Peter, and yourself, no doubt," Professor McGonagall said drily. Lupin pinked a little and nodded.

"Yes, it is."

"I shan't ask how this map came to be in Mr. Potter's hands for now," the Scottish witch said. "I'm sure it's a tale I'd rather not hear anyway. Miss Granger, please continue." Hermione blushed.

"Er…yes. Well, Harry and I were watching the map, waiting for Draco's return. We'd been waiting for just over an hour when we saw a name appear on the map outside the Room of Requirement – it was Theodore Nott. Except he wasn't alone – he had a number of people with him, and while we didn't recognize all of the names, the ones we did were known Death Eaters. That's when we sent out the distress call via the coins. We sent one through the D.A. coins as well, which is why Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna joined us – I think we would've had more help if it hadn't been so late, but most people probably don't keep those coins on their person while they sleep."

"And after you sent out the message?" Tonks asked.

"We left Gryffindor Tower and came to meet all of you," Hermione said. "And you all know what happened after that."

"Well, I don't," Draco reminded her. "What happened?"

"Remember that lucky potion I won from Slughorn back in September?" Hermione asked. When Draco nodded, she continued, "Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Ron and I all took a sip, and I really think it saved our lives – there were horrible curses flying all over the place, but none of us suffered much damage, except for Ron's leg and my arm, but even those injuries were far less brutal than they could've been."

"But someone died," Draco cut in. "I tripped over a body when I ran off after Harry and Nott – who was it?"

"It wasn't a body," Lupin said, his normally calming expression suddenly dark and forbidding. "One of the Death Eaters got hit by a rebounding Killing Curse, but you tripped over Bill."

"Bill Weasley?" Draco asked. "But…what happened? There was so much blood…"

"Fenrir Greyback happened," Lupin almost growled. For a moment, the teenagers could see Lupin's inner wolf clearly on his face. "Greyback is a werewolf, the same one who infected me when I was a child. However, unlike most werewolves, who only attack at the full moon, Greyback takes pleasure in biting however many people he can, no matter what day it is. He's responsible for an alarming percentage of Britain's werewolf population, and he will continue attacking as long as no one stops him."

"And Greyback bit Bill?" Harry asked in shock.

"He certainly attacked him," Lupin replied grimly. He drew back the curtains around the ward's furthest bed, and the teenagers gasped when they caught sight of the body laying there. Bill's once handsome face was completely covered in savage scars, some so deep they looked like crevasses gouged into his skin. The damage made Draco's injuries look like nothing more than a few childish scrapes. Beside him sat Fleur Delacour, her head bowed over their intertwined fingers and her silvery hair obscuring her face. Harry felt a pang of deep sympathy for the French witch when he recalled that the pair had been dating for roughly a year.

"So is he a…" Harry couldn't bring himself to finish the question.

"We're not sure," Lupin replied quietly. He made to close the curtains, but a soft voice murmured, "Non – leave zem open." Fleur looked up then, her deep blue eyes sad but fierce.

"Eet ees too early to tell what will 'appen to Bill, 'Arry," she said. They could all see the remnants of tear tracks on her face, but her voice was steady. "Last night was not ze full moon, and so we theenk Bill will not be a full werewolf, but 'e might show some traits – mood swings, per'aps, or eating rare or raw meat. We do not know."

"I'm sorry, Fleur," Harry said. Fleur shook her head earnestly.

"Do not be sorry," she replied. "Zese scars show Bill's bravery, every one of zem, and I am proud to be beside 'im."

"Bill was the only severe injury on our side – Hermione was right when she said we were lucky," Lupin said. "Now, is there anything else we need to know?"

Harry and Draco continued the tale from there, Draco explaining what happened at the manor without giving away just what they were after or why, and Harry adding the details of Dumbledore's murder, including their conversation with Nott afterwards and the revelation about the Vanishing Cabinet. He then told everyone about his removal from Hogwarts' grounds and his subsequent duel with Voldemort.

"You fought Voldemort?" Lupin asked sharply.

"Well…no, not exactly," Harry confessed. He then explained what had happened when they had cast their first spells, including his conversation with his father.

"Priori Incantatem," Hermione murmured. Harry looked at her in surprise.

"You've heard of it?" he asked.

"That was the spell Mr. Diggory used on our wands – you remember, when we got caught in the wood at the Quidditch World Cup?" Hermione said. "It proved the last spell we'd all used was a Lumos charm."

"But in that case, the wand tips were touching, and he recited that exact incantation," Mr. Weasley said with a frown. "Did anything like that happen last night, Harry?"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "We both tried to cast spells, but instead of reaching their targets, they collided halfway, and Voldemort's wand started…how did my dad put it? 'Regurgitating every spell it's ever cast, in reverse order'."

"That definitely sounds like a word James would use," Lupin muttered, rolling his eyes.

"But that doesn't make sense," Professor McGonagall cut in. "Priori Incantatem doesn't connect two wands like you described, not to such an extent – why would your wands have reacted that way?"

"I have no idea, Professor," Harry admitted with a shrug. "But it probably saved my life, in all honesty."

"Did you ever find what you were after, Draco?" Tonks asked suddenly. "At the manor?"

"We did," Draco replied, and turned to McGonagall. "Professor, if you happen to find a carved wooden box, could you please bring it to me as soon as possible? It's about this big." He mimed the approximate dimensions with his hands. "Dumbledore had it with him when we returned from Wiltshire, and it's very important that I get it back."

"I'll do my best, Mr. Black," McGonagall promised.

The conversation and speculation continued until lunchtime, at which point Professor McGonagall excused herself, stating arrangements for Dumbledore's funeral and the students' early departure as her reasons for leaving. The rest of the Order dispersed as well, save for Fleur who refused to leave Bill's bedside. As Draco still needed regular doses of blood-replenishing potion, Madam Pomfrey forbade him from leaving the hospital wing, and though Ron had to leave to meet with Snape and Neville and Luna wanted some air, the others decided to stay. Keeping Draco company was a far more appealing prospect than answering awkward or uncomfortable questions from their housemates, who were bound to be curious about the previous evening's events and no doubt knew by now which particular students had been involved – the Hogwarts grapevine was, after all, notorious for spreading gossip faster than anyone thought possible. Dobby was more than happy to provide them with a pack of playing cards at Harry's request, and the group spent the afternoon playing games while they chatted idly about what was to come.

About an hour after the adults had left, a second house-elf appeared in the hospital wing, this one carrying a cloth-wrapped parcel.

"Professor McGonagall is wishing me to bring this to young master Draco Black," the elf squeaked.

"That's me," Draco said, reaching out to accept the bundle. "Thank you." The elf nodded and disappeared once more, and Draco carefully unwrapped the cloth to reveal the little wooden box.

"Is that it?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"Yeah. No idea how to open it, though," Draco replied. "Lotte, want to take a look? It's covered in runes." Hermione accepted the box and held it up, studying it closely. Her face settled into a frown, and her expression didn't change during the long minutes she spent examining the box.

"What is it, Herms?" Ginny asked once Hermione had finally set the box down.

"It…it doesn't make sense," Hermione replied. "Half the runes I don't recognize at all, and the others…well, the others just spell a simple unlocking charm."

"You mean like Alohomora?" Harry asked.

"Exactly like Alohomora," Hermione said. "But if this is really what we think it is, why is there so little protection on the box?"

"Maybe because the protection spells on the trapdoor were so intricate, Voldemort didn't think he needed to do the same to the box?" Ginny suggested, though her tone said quite plainly that she didn't believe her own words.

"I think we should take this to Professor Babbling," Hermione said.

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Professor Babbling, Harry – she teaches Ancient Runes. If anyone can tell us what these runes mean for sure, it's her."

"Well I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," Draco said, jerking his head towards Madam Pomfrey's office. "She'll murder me if I so much as get out of bed."

"A bit counterproductive to you getting better, but you have a point," Harry joked.

"Why don't Hermione and I go while Harry, you stay here with Draco?" Ginny suggested. "We both know Professor Babbling since we both take her class, and we'll probably be back faster if everyone involved knows a little rune-speak." The trio agreed with Ginny's idea, and the girls left at once.

"Any ideas about your wand?" Draco asked once the girls were gone. Harry shook his head.

"Not in the slightest. Why would the wands react like that? And why did you ask, anyway – do you have an idea?"

"I do, but you're probably not going to like it," Draco admitted. Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Go on."

"Back in the summer before first year, when we went to get our wands, Ollivander said something odd when your wand chose you, do you remember?"

"Vaguely," Harry replied, looking thoughtful as he tried to recall a conversation that had happened almost six years previously. "He said something about it being interesting that that particular wand chose me, because it…" He paused and gasped, his eyes widening in recognition. "Because it had a brother."

"A brother that he'd sold over fifty years ago, and that had done something significant ten years before you bought yours," Draco added.

"My wand and its brother share core feathers from the same phoenix," Harry murmured, still looking shocked. "Brothers in arms will unite like has rarely been seen before – that was part of Trelawney's prediction yesterday, I remember. You don't think…"

"It's possible," Draco said quietly.

"Bloody hell." Harry flopped back against his pillows, his mind racing with these new thoughts. Could it really be true that his wand's brother belonged to Voldemort?

"I think we need to add a conversation with Ollivander to our to-do list for this summer," Harry finally said.

"What's that?" The girls had returned in time to catch Harry's last statement, and it was Hermione who asked after its meaning. Draco quickly explained their thoughts about the wands' unusual reaction.

"I think I'd want a new wand," Ginny said with a shiver. "Being wand brothers with Voldemort…"

"Never mind that," Harry said quickly, clearly not wanting to think about it anymore than Ginny did. "What did you two find out about the box?"

"It's just as we thought – a simple unlocking charm," Hermione said. "The other markings aren't really runes, per se, just strengthening symbols – the lock is too powerful for most people to open alone, but two or three of us should be able to do it easily."

"Let's wait until we're on the train," Harry said at once, nodding towards Fleur, who still sat with Bill, and Neville and Luna, who had just returned from a quick trip to the kitchens. "We'll be able to be alone there." The others agreed, and Draco carefully rewrapped the box for safekeeping.

The remaining days until the Hogwarts Express' departure passed quickly. Everywhere they went, the friends heard of someone else who had already left the school – the entirety of Wizarding Britain knew of Dumbledore's death by then, and many parents had pulled their children from Hogwarts as soon as they'd heard. Eloise Midgen had argued with her parents for three days just to be allowed to stay for the funeral, and there were rumors that her family was seriously considering leaving Britain altogether until the war was over.

"I don't want to go," Eloise said, angry tears welling up in her eyes as she and the other Gryffindor girls packed their trunks the night before the funeral. "I want to stay. I want to help. England…Hogwarts…they're my home."

"I don't want you to go either, but you have to be safe," Hermione soothed, drawing her friend into a hug. "And if you do go, we'll keep in touch via the D.A. coin – it's not much, but it's better than nothing, yeah?"

Dumbledore's funeral took place outside on the lawn beside the lake, and it seemed as though every magical person in Britain had come to pay respects – the golden chairs set up for the funeral-goers were all full, and a crowd even larger than that occupying the chairs stood on all sides of the seated guests. The mermaids and centaurs both paid tribute to the fallen headmaster, and a number of people made speeches. In Harry's opinion, the service was both far too long and far too impersonal – the ancient wizard presiding over it spoke at length of Dumbledore's many accomplishments, but the words and deeds felt so detached from the man who greeted them with nonsense words at start-of-term feasts and who favored the names of sweets as passwords. The only part of the funeral that stirred any sort of emotion was the moment Dumbledore's body, which had been placed on a table at the front of the crowd, was encased in a magnificent tomb of white marble, Fawkes the phoenix letting out a joyful cry before plunging into the flames surrounding it.

The Hogwarts Express departed immediately after the funeral – Harry, Draco, Hermione, and their friends all elected to take the train home rather than Apparate back with their parents, desperate for the semblance of normalcy the ride would bring. Sirius agreed to pick them up at Kings Cross later that evening and Disapparated, leaving the teenagers to find a compartment a little more than halfway down the train.

"Things are going to be a bit different next year, aren't they?" Harry said as they stowed their trunks in the overhead racks.

"Is McGonagall taking over as Headmistress?" Draco asked. "She was Deputy Head, after all."

"I would think so," Hermione said as she dropped into an empty seat. "We'll need a new head for the Order as well."

"Can we just…not think about any of that for now?" Ginny asked, sounding exhausted. "We'll be busy enough ironing out the details of this, that, and the other thing over the summer. Draco, do we know when we're going to Tracey's yet?"

"Not yet, but hopefully soon – we both want to get it over with, so Tracey's going to contact me as soon as she can."

"Shall we take a look at the box?" Harry asked. "We do have quite a bit of time to kill."

"Can't hurt," Draco replied with a shrug. He pulled down his bag and extracted the box, placing it on the floor in the center of the compartment.

"All four of us, then?" Hermione nodded.

"I think that should be enough, yes," she said. They drew their wands.

"On three. One…two…three!"

"Alohomora!"

A soft but sharp click echoed through the compartment, and the four friends looked at each other with nervous anticipation. The box was open…but were they prepared for what lay inside?

Thus concludes part 6 - the story ends with part 7, 'Three, Four, Six, One'.

A/N: Sorry for keeping you guys waiting - real life got in the way a lot more than I was expecting this week. To make up for it, I've given you two chapters tonight - the last chapter of this one, & the first of part 7, which is going up in a few minutes. That story is called 'Three, Four, Six, One' - hope to see you all there!

Thank you all for the follows/faves/reviews, & for reading! The stats on this series are both amazing & humbling - I can only hope you've enjoyed reading this half as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. Please R&R, & I'll see you in part 7! :)