The portrait of Dumbledore looked at the assembled group and smiled his old enigmatic smile.
"Well Draco, how are you?" he asked pleasantly as Harry, Hermione and Draco positioned chairs facing the portrait and sat down. Kingsley declined and remained standing.
"Fine sir" Draco replied
"You don't have to call me sir. Albus will do fine" said the ex headmaster. He turned his head to face Harry.
"So Harry, what is the problem?
"Voldemort is back"
"Well I knew it would happen" Albus shook his head sadly "How?"
So Draco talked Albus through the ritual and the finding of the old heroes. During the tale Albus listened silently and carefully. When Draco recounted the battle of the ministry and how it had been won. Albus smiled and looked at Harry.
"Saving the world again Potter?" He said in his best Professor McGonagall voice, which broke the silence and the tension.
"Yep, old habits die hard" Harry replied.
"So how can I help?" Albus asked, now businesslike.
"Why was Voldemort scared of you?" Harry asked
"Because I had the power he knows not" Albus said.
"He knows not?" Draco asked
"Love Draco" Harry explained but Albus shook his head.
"No Harry, not love. Love is to abstract a concept. Anyway he did know love. He loved power and he hungered for it. The one thing he did not understand was pain. He had never had anything to lose and so didn't know what pain and loss could do to a person" Albus stopped and wiped away a tear.
"Go on" Hermione urged.
"You all know pain and grief, you have all lost someone close to you and that pain had never left you. You know how that feeling builds up inside you and how it affects you and changes the way that you see things and react to things." Albus explained.
"But how does this help? Surely he would just prey on our pain to weaken us" Kingsley put in from the back of the room.
"Because the knowledge of that pain is a substitute for fear. It keeps you sharp and stops you taking unnecessary risks. Voldemort has nothing to fear and no knowledge of how he would feel if he lost someone close to him so he will throw caution to the wind and take dangerous risks." Albus explained. As he did he looked from person to person. Kingsley was nodding and thoughtful. Draco was composed, while Harry and Hermione were looking at each other with disbelief.
"Don't worry Harry you will be alright" Harry looked at the old headmaster when he said this and shook his head.
"Sorry I do not share your confidence. I always thought my love of Hermione and Sirius and my parents and Luna and all of the rest of them would be what helps. But now you are telling me that the pain of losing family and friends will be what wins the day" Harry told Albus. Albus nodded his agreement.
"Yes Harry you know how it feels and you know what you would do to make sure you never feel that way again" Albus stopped then as the door flew open. Luna ran in breathless and red-faced and looked round the room.
"They have got Neville!" She yelled at the 5 wizards in the room. The reaction was immediate. Draco stood up and grabbed his cloak from the back of the chair in one swift movement, strode to the fireplace and threw in a handful of floo powder and called "Auror Offices!" and in a flash of green fire he was gone. While he was doing this Kingsley had leapt to his desk and grabbed the communicator on it and was now speaking quickly to the person on the other end.
"What happened Luna?" Hermione asked as she guided her old friend to Draco's recently vacated seat.
"He was coming to work from his Gran's and he was going to meet me at Diagon alley for breakfast. When he didn't arrive I went to his Gran's house and found that it had been attacked. His Gran was standing in the doorway with her wand in her hand and a trio of Death Eaters at her feet. She told me that Neville had arrived on time but just as they were going in a squad of Death Eaters arrived. They tried to fight them off but they managed to stun Neville and they apperated away with him" Luna said quickly as she sagged in the chair.
"Dreadful. How can we help?" said Albus voice. They all looked at the portrait and saw just an empty chair. Then Albus's voice continued to emanate from the frame.
"Sorry just had to get something" he said when he walked back on from the side. He was holding his wand in his hand. He turned his back on them and waved his wand at the wall behind him. There was a small creaking noise then the whole wall with the frame swung open to reveal an alcove. The alcove was empty except for a scabbard. The scabbard was made of black leather and studded with four gems. Three rubies were set in a perfect triangle on the front, just below the hilt of the weapon. The last gem was a large golden diamond set in the centre of the triangle. When Harry approached the weapon, the diamond started to pulse with light. As he reached out to pull the weapon from its holder a beam of light shot out from the diamond and shot through his chest. He felt a warm glow shoot through his body and he clasped his hand around the handle of the weapon and drew it from its scabbard.
The sword of Godric Gryffindor glittered in the light of the lamps in the room and Harry swung it in front of him remembering the weight and feel of the weapon even after 15 years.
"There you go Harry" said Albus and Harry retrieved the scabbard as well. When he had removed both items the alcove swung shut and Albus sat down.
"Well it is lovely but how will it help me" Harry asked
"Alas I cannot tell you that, but I will say this. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who deserve it" Albus said solemnly and closed his eyes.
Harry turned away from the portrait and, sheathing the sword, attached the scabbard to his belt and grabbed his cloak.
"Let's go find Neville" he said to the two women standing in front of him and he held out his hands to them. Hermione took one and Luna the other. With a nod from Hermione, Harry apperated the three of them away. Kingsley looked up from his desk at the sound of the apparition and shook his head.
"I have got to go Beryl. Just sort out a protection detail" he said and hung up.
"Well I will just sit here shall I?" he asked the empty room. He sat for a minute in thought them made his mind up. He stood and walked to the fireplace. Throwing his floo powder in he shouted "Malfoy Manor" and he was gone.
Albus looked up from his chair and smiled. Then his smile turned to shock as the door slowly swung open.
"You!" he said as the figure raised his wand. Albus dived to one side off the edge of the frame just as a bolt of fire shot from the stranger's wand and incinerated the picture. Looking around the room the mysterious wizard aimed his wand on Kingsley's desk.
"Frye"