Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.

A/N: Thanks to Blizzen who left an anonymus review!

OMGOSH! I'm sorry for the time it took me to update! I deserve no reviews it. I apologize again for the long wait! I really have no excuse for it.

Alright, I still want any new guesses on the spy. You will probably find out who it is next chapter, if not, then the one after that. But I want to know who you think it is, if you haven't told me already or have changed your guess. So, guess! Now!

Anyway, on to the story! I hope this makes up for the wait! Review this time, though, and I'll try to update faster! The more reviews I get, the more likely I am to update ASAP!

Chapter 9

"They meant the rebirth of Voldemort."

Severus stared at me, his eyes widening with every second that we stood there.

"What – no! You mean – that potion – ?"

"It will bring Voldemort back to life, yes," I replied, somewhat quietly.

"But that's impossible," he tried to reason. I shook my head and opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off. "Nobody can come back from the dead unless the Resurrection Stone is used, which Dumbledore buried some place only he knows."

"You know how Evan Rosier is amazing at potions?" Severus nodded slowly. "Yeah, well, apparently he can make potions too – as in, like, creating them. And he created one to bring Voldemort back. He's also the one who created the one that Draco's supposed to give to me."

"But – "

"There are no ifs, ands, or buts about. This time tomorrow, Tom Riddle is going to be brought back to life, and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"Surely we can, you know, go back there and – "

"Do you really think they're that stupid? Bellatrix probably had it moved someplace secret and has several people guarding it."

"So you're just going to let this happen?" he asked, bewildered. "Of all people, Nicole, I would never have thought that you would act so – so – nonchalant about this! After everything you did, everything you went through, everything that everybody went through to kill him in first place, you're just going to do nothing to prevent him from coming back alive?"

"What can I do to stop it?" I asked. "If anybody goes there to try to get rid of the potion, then I know they'll get caught. And if they get caught, they'll find out there's a spy among them. Draco and whoever got caught will probably be killed, and whoever the other spy is will probably be as well." Severus stared at me, something akin to contempt in his eyes.

"You used to be different," he said quietly and harshly after a moment. "You used to think it was worth the risk of your own life to save countless others. What made you change so much?" I sighed, ran my fingers through my hair and turned away. I hesitated for a moment before I answered.

"I've acknowledged that this time, I can't save others by getting myself and the other two spies killed," I said quietly. "On the contrary, more people would probably be killed if I died for this. I want to go get rid of that potion – oh, how I want to – but it won't help. This war, it – it hasn't even begun yet; believe me, I know. And I'm one of the few people willing to openly stand up to Voldemort and the Death Eaters, one of the few willing to make a difference, and if I died before the war even began...who's to say the light side would win the war in that case?"

"Who's to say we'll win the war anyways?" Severus questioned, but not as harshly as he had been before. "Even if you didn't do it and weren't killed? How do you know we'd win then?" I sighed again.

"I don't," I answered honestly. "I just...hope. That's all you can do at a time like this. You can never give up hope and stop believing you'll win, because then you'll loose for sure."

"Nicole...I shouldn't have been so harsh. I'm sorry," Severus said quietly. I heard the crunch of a few leaves as he stepped toward me a few steps and put his hand on my shoulder – I still had my back turned to him. "I just...it's hard to realize that there's nothing you can do to stop it for the first time." I sighed deeply yet again.

"I know," I replied, nodding. "We better get going."

"To the Ministry first?" Severus asked.

"You can go back to Hogwarts to tell Dumbledore, he's got to know as soon as possible, I'll go to the Ministry to alert Sirius. I won't tell him everything – just that their hideout is Malfoy Manor. If Dumbledore wants them to know anything else, he can tell Sirius personally."

"Alright," Severus said uncertainly. "See you soon, then."

"See ya." I waited for him to Disapparate before I Apparated to the Ministry.

Somehow, it was already late. The atrium contained only a few witches and wizards, most of which were on their way out or the night guards. I called hello to Louis Devlin as I passed him, as well as Casper Proudfoot and Valaria Lawson – they were all fellow Aurors. I saw Kingsley speaking to somebody I didn't recognize in what appeared to be a quiet, urgent voice. I didn't interrupt and instead threw the doors open to the Auror headquarters.

Only Frank, Alice, James, Tonks, Sirius, and the Prewett twins were still there. They seemed to be discussing something with one another around Sirius' and James' cubicles. Frank, who was speaking when I had entered, hushed and they all watched me until the door closed firmly behind me.

"Hey," Sirius said as I approached, pulling up a nearby chair and slumping into it between Fabian and Tonks. "Where's Snape?"

"I didn't think you needed two people to deliver the news," I replied, "so I sent him to go talk to Dumbledore. He hasn't been to see him since he got out of the hospital."

"So what's your news, then?" Alice asked.

"They're using Malfoy Manor again," I answered. "I don't know how they didn't realize that we would figure it out, but we did. We didn't find out much before we left – Bellatrix and Evan Rosier were brewing some type of potion, we couldn't find out what it was exactly, and they either do or think they do have a spy among us."

"Us as in the Aurors, or – ?" Frank started to ask.

"I don't think so," I said, cutting him off. "I think it's somebody who was or plans on becoming a part of the Order if it's remade." They all groaned. Tonks ran her hand through her hair. One of the Prewett twins whistled low. We sat in silence, each stuck in our own thoughts, before suddenly a silver phoenix came through the window. Dumbledore's voice floated out,

"Everybody who is there that is in the Order needs to come to the Room of Requirement as soon as possible. We have some huge news that needs to be shared with everybody."

"I guess that's us," Gideon said, helping Tonks to her feet as the phoenix disappeared in a wisp of smoke. "Can you still Floo?" he asked Tonks. She nodded. "Good, that's the only way to get directly to the Room of Requirement." They started to head toward the door.

"What's that about?" James asked, turning to me. Everybody else turned to look at me, and Gideon and Tonks stopped just short of the door. "You do know, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," I replied after a moment of hesitation. "But obviously, Dumbledore wants to tell you, so I'm going to let him. You can wait for a few minutes, can't you?" They all sighed, but said nothing more as we headed out. As I was leaving, I heard somebody up ahead call,

"Whoever is last out, could you close up please?" I was last, so I waved my wand and the lights went out and the door shut and locked behind me.

Our long procession made it's way down to the Atrium, which was now completely empty except for the three night guards, who paid no attention to us, and then to the fireplaces. Gideon went first, followed by Tonks and the rest. I, once again, was last. I said the words and flew into the Room of Requirement.

As I stood up and brushed myself off, I observed the scene in front of me. The armchairs and couches had disappeared, and instead a long table lined with wooden chairs, most of which were full, sat in the middle of the room. Aside from the Aurors who, like myself, had just arrived, I saw Dumbledore, Draco, Severus, Mary, all of the Weasleys (including Ron, Ginny, and Fleur), Scarlet, Remus, and Hermione gathered around the table. Mrs. Weasley was arguing with Mr. Weasley. I heard her saying that Ginny and Ron were too young, but he said that Ron was of age and Ginny was almost and therefore they old enough to be there. Alice was saying the same about Johnny and Neville, whom I had just noticed, but had already been convinced by Frank to let them stay just to hear what Dumbledore had to say.

However, Lily and James weren't so happy about Harry being there.

I hadn't noticed them before. I had been too busy watching Mr. and Mrs. Weasley (she was now saying, "They still have school to worry about, Arthur! They need to graduate before they can be in on stuff with the Order so they're not distracted!") to notice Lily yelling at Harry to leave.

"No! I will not hear of it!" Lily yelled. She was standing up, facing Harry, whose back was to me, and pointing to the door.

"It's just a meeting, Lily," James said obviously, trying to calm her down. She continued to glare at Harry though she directed her next words to James.

"First it's a single meeting," she snarled. "Then he'll be wanting to come to the rest of them! Then he will want to do small things for the Order! Then he'll ask to go to the battles! Then he'll ask to be a spy, which I – will – not – have!"

She's just going to love it when I tell her that I'm going to be a spy again.

While Lily went on yelling at Harry and James, I slipped around to the other side of the table and pulled the seat beside Draco out, quietly sitting in it.

"How long has this been going on?" I whispered.

"Since she saw him here. About five minutes ago," he replied, also in a very low voice.

"Where's Regulus?" I asked, looking around in case I had missed him. Draco shrugged, too busy watching Lily and James to probably even realize what I had asked. I sighed, watching Harry retaliate to Lily's latest defense, when the fire in the fireplace turned green, and soon Mad-Eye stood amongst us, Kingsley not far behind.

Only I seemed to notice.

It wasn't until the door opened and Hagrid, McGonagall, and Regulus entered that anybody else seemed to notice. Even then, it was only Dumbledore, Severus, and Draco who noticed. Hagrid stopped in his tracks, watching Lily threaten Harry, McGonagall headed over to Dumbledore, and Regulus made his way to me.

"Where've you been?" he asked me. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Severus got out of St. Mungo's, so we went to the Ministry to talk to Sirius, and – "

"Lily, James, Harry, if I could ask you all to stop and listen," Dumbledore said suddenly over the ruckus. I motioned to Regulus that I'd tell him in a moment and he sat down in the empty seat beside me and Charlie Weasley. Lily continued to glare at Harry but said nothing more. "Lily, Harry needs to be here for this. Whether you like it or not." Lily huffed, glared at Harry for one last moment before turning to me.

Great...

"Then Nicole leaves," she said stubbornly. "She's not of age yet, I can tell her what to do." I had sudden inspiration as I shrugged.

"Fine," I replied, standing up slowly. "I'll leave."

"Nicole – " Dumbledore started, but I cut him off.

"It's not like it matters if I hear what he has to say or not," I said, smiling innocently at Lily, "because I already know. As a matter of fact, I was the one who told him...well, sort of. I was the one who found out." Lily huffed and slumped into a seat beside Mrs. Weasley, who seemed just as upset. I was starting to not feel so apprehensive about telling them how I was a spy again. If I got through that so easily, surely it wouldn't be too hard to get through telling them how I'm a spy...right?

"Now, if everybody else could please take a seat," Dumbledore said. Those who were still standing found empty seats quickly. I noticed Harry purposely take a seat as far away from Lily as he could. His eyes met mine – I gave him a slight encouraging smile. He stared blankly at me.

How nice.

"Alright, is everybody here?" Dumbledore asked. I turned back to face him. Several people nodded. "Good.

"Now, you are all well aware of the recent situation – the Death Eater escape, Severus being injured and in St. Mungo's, Nicole taking over as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher until he recovered. I have more news on this topic, but first – we need to talk about spies. We don't need volunteers – we already have three, which is quite enough. Two will remain unnamed for the time. The other is Draco here."

"Malfoy?" Harry asked. I turned to him. He had his eyes narrowed as he stared at Malfoy. "You really think he can be trusted?"

"Do you not trust Dumbledore?" I asked him, interrupting whatever Dumbledore was about to say. "Or me? We both trust Draco, so you should as well."

"I just think it's strange that he comes from a Voldemort-loving family and you trust him as easily as you trust everybody who was in the Order and proved themselves last time," Harry replied snobbishly.

"Harry, we trust Draco," I replied. "Remember Severus in my original life? How we all doubted him despite the fact that Dumbledore told us that he trusted him, but in the end it turned out he was on our side? If that's how it's going to be like with Draco, then you really learned nothing by hearing of past mistakes made by the very people in this room." Harry opened his mouth to reply, but McGonagall cut him off – thank Merlin, I don't know if I could deal with fighting with Harry like Lily was at the moment.

"Now is not the time, Harry, Nicole," she said quickly. "If you must argue, do it on your own time, not on the rest of ours." We both shut up and let Dumbledore continue.

"As I was saying," he said, his eyes twinkling at Harry and I, "Draco is one of the three spies. One of the others will be named later tonight, the last will not be named at all yet." I felt the eyes of the people who knew that I was one of them on me, but ignored them as Dumbledore continued.

"Draco had informed me a while ago that the Death Eaters were using Malfoy Manor as their hideout again. He also told me that Bellatrix Lestrange was having Evan Rosier create two potions. The first puts the drinker completely under the person who poisoned them's control. It's a lot like the Imperious Curse, only you're fully aware of what's going on, but you can't fight it at all and it's a poison. However, if the poisoner doesn't forbid you from saying something or doing something, you can. It only works for two weeks, so it has to be given to you every two weeks – which is simple enough, because he can just tell you to drink it and you will "

Several people cursed – how were we to fight this?

"Now, luckily we have two spies who can keep track of who they're trying to get this too," Dumbledore continued as though he had heard nothing.

"I thought you said there was three," Hagrid said, confused, from the other end of the table.

"There are," Dumbledore answered, "but one of them was supposed to be given this potion by Draco, so they really wouldn't know. Draco is going to pretend to give it to them and they're both going to go on as though the person really is under it."

"Who is it?" Alice asked.

"I'm not going to say – yet. First, we need to talk about the other potion." He took a deep breath before saying bluntly,

"The other potion was to bring Voldemort back to life."

Silence overtook us. Those of us who already knew waited for the others to speak. Some seemed to think he was joking. Others were in so much shock they didn't know what to say. More seemed to believe that was what they were trying to do but that it wouldn't work because it was impossible.

"But that's impossible," Mary finally whispered into the silence. She was staring, pale and disbelieving, at Dumbledore.

"Apparently it's not," Kingsley replied. He was just as pale as his wife. "These guys know what they're doing. They wouldn't mess up this kind of thing."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Dumbledore said. "Which is the only reason I believe it's true.

"When Severus got out of the hospital earlier today, he and Nicole went to Malfoy Manor to sneak in and see the recent doings of the Death Eaters. They snuck into a room where Bellatrix, Rosier, and Draco were. They were talking about that very potion. Rosier told Bella that in exactly 24 hours,

Voldemort should be back alive."

Yet again, his words were followed by shocked silence. Now, everybody believed him. Not that they wanted to – they didn't want it to be true at all. Nobody in that room wanted Voldemort back alive. They knew firsthand – or had at least heard firsthand stories – what it was like when he was here.

"I – I don't believe it," Lily muttered, breaking the silence. "I just can't believe it. I mean, I believe you, Albus, but…I thought, when he was killed last time, that it was all over and done with. That we wouldn't have to deal with him again. And now…now that he's coming back, it's just…hard to take in."

"Who's the other spy?" James asked after another moment. Dumbledore's eyes flitted from one person to the next around the table, and when they rested on me, they held a questioning look. I nodded at him almost imperceptibly.

"It's Nicole."

A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.