Author's Note: Sorry for the abnormally long wait! Moving took a lot longer than I'd anticipated. I'll give you a brief outline, just to prove that I haven't been making you guys wait on purpose. But as always, feel free to skip my little ramble and go straight to the chapter.

Wednesday (8/17) I took a subway to meet my parents at a friend's house, and I stayed the night. Didn't have my laptop with me. Thursday (8/18) I moved into the new apartment. I had to set up my loft (in case you don't know what a loft is, it's like a bunk bed, except the bottom bunk is actually a desk), dresser, and a chair. Friday (8/19) I shopped for supplies and groceries and then helped my first roommate with some cleaning. Saturday (8/20) I helped my sister move into her dorm room, which took until about 1pm, and then I came back to my apartment to help my other roommate set up a dresser and a desk, and then we spent the rest of the time reorganizing furniture to make the place look home-y.

I didn't really have any time to look at Turncoat during all this time :( I answered some messages, and I read your reviews for Ch. 58—believe me, I appreciate them all the same, even though I didn't have time to reply to most of them. You guys are the best!

All right, enough talking. Here's the new chapter!

Chapter 59

I make my way down the hall stealthily, wearing a set of robes that have been Transfigured to look just like standard-issue Death Eater robes. The hood is pulled low over my head to hide my hair.

I'm under a Disillusionment Charm at the moment, but the disguise will be necessary soon.

I reach my target location—the seventh floor, right by the Room of Requirement. The Death Eater should be here in two minutes. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and raise my wand.

Then I see a tall figure turn the corner.

Stupefy! Wingardium Leviosa!

The man is levitated before he can hit the ground, and I lower him to the ground gently so that he won't make a sound. I step over with my wand still pointed at him. Then I cast a Full Body Bind Curse on him, followed by a Disillusionment Charm.

Now I just have to wait for his replacement.

Almost a full minute later, another Death Eater rounds the corner, and I deal with him in the same way that I subdued the other.

I can't believe it worked.

I levitate both invisible bodies and move over to the Room of Requirement which, at my request, opens into the Room of Hidden Things. I lift the Disillusionment Charms on myself and my two bound victims before stepping back out of the room.

According to Draco's information, which has turned out to be infallible so far, each shift is eight hours long, which means that there are three Death Eaters assigned to each position in order to cover the full twenty-four hours in a day. There are twenty available positions, which means that by the end of the night, should we succeed, we will have captured sixty Death Eaters.

The trouble with Death Eater patrols at Hogwarts is that they're staggered. Shift changes occur every two hours, with five replacements coming onto the grounds and five sentries leaving. This means that this operation is going to take at least sixteen hours, starting from the beginning of the shift of our first group to the end of the shift of our last group.

We decided to start at ten thirty because the cover of night would be helpful. It is now half past midnight—I'm in the second group to enter the grounds. Harry, Blaise, Ron, Neville, and Fred should already be patrolling somewhere, in disguise. The ten Death Eaters that they subdued should all be temporarily stowed away in the Slytherin Dungeons. Now that I have the Room of Requirement covered, the other four from my group—Angelina, Charlie, Dean, and Hannah—will bring their victims up here.

I put on a fake Death Eater mask and start down the hall. Now I just have to patrol for eight hours, until the third and last man for my patrol route shows up to relieve me.

It's about four hours into my shift, and my feet are beginning to hurt. I have to hand it to them, patrolling for eight-hour shifts must take some discipline. I'm not used to being on my feet for such long periods of time.

As I contemplate whether or not I should numb the soles of my feet—the disadvantage would be that I might be a bit clumsier, but at least they wouldn't hurt anymore—I run across another member of the Order.

Damn, is it that easy to tell our disguised robes apart from the real ones? I really hope that it's just because I already know there's a difference.

He fires a hex at me, and I block it. I know his voice.

"Colin, it's me," I hiss, lifting the fake mask briefly.

"Hermione? Blimey, I thought I was done for," he mutters.

"You're late—hurry up and get to your station," I urge him.

He scurries away.

Colin's in the fourth and final group of Order members coming in. After the last five Death Eaters are subdued, Hogwarts will be ours. In two hours, Harry's group will have finished their shift, and they will be waiting to subdue their replacements. When the shift for Colin's group is over, we'll have captured the last twenty Death Eaters.

I can't believe how close to success we are. This seems almost too good to be true.

I round the corner and see the Fat Lady's portrait. Oh, all the memories… the Fat Lady frowns when she sees me—I guess she assumes that I'm just a Death Eater. I consider revealing myself to her, but it's just safer if I don't do so until this is all over.

I look out the window at the end of the hall and take in the view. As my eyes rest on the Forbidden Forest, I think of Draco. I hope he's all right.

He left without saying goodbye. Just remembering how it was to wake up without him there stings me.

And he didn't even reply to my taunt. I know that he's probably busy keeping his cover, but can't he spare a second to send me a message and let me know that he's all right? That he's alive? I'd been so sure that he'd respond when I called him an arse…

About ten hours later, I'm sitting on my bed in the dorm room that I'd lived in for six years. I haven't seen Lavender or Parvati for such a long time. Then again, I haven't seen Fay or Clarisse, either.

I heard that Lavender was forced by her parents to join them in hiding right after the Battle of Hogwarts. After being so severely injured by Fenrir Greyback, I wouldn't have blamed her for never wanting to fight a battle again.

I'd thought that Parvati was killed, but apparently Draco was able to save her and her family. A small smile forms on my lips as I remember how shocked I'd been upon hearing of what Draco had done for the Patil family. I hope they're doing all right in India.

After taking Hogwarts, all of us congregated in the Great Hall for a celebratory brunch. The house-elves returned to make the meal at McGonagall's command—as she was Deputy Headmistress, she had the authority to summon them back.

There were no casualties on either side. We've rounded up sixty Death Eaters and locked them all in the dungeons for later questioning. And now we have sixty extra wands, distributed among the members of the Order. You never know when you could be Disarmed during a duel, and having an extra wand could save your life.

A knock on the door rouses me from my thoughts, and Ginny enters.

"Harry was looking for you. He started coming up the steps—idiot forgot that the stairs would turn into a slide if boys tried to come up here," she says.

I laugh. It sounds like something that might happen to Harry.

"Do you know what he wants?"

Ginny sighs. "McGonagall wants to talk to you, Harry and Ron. Not me, of course."

"Sorry, Ginny," I say. I know that she wants to be more involved—she hates being treated like a child.

"Oh, it's fine," she says. "I was going to ask to stay with you, but I'm guessing that you three are going to be leaving again soon. I'll just stay with Katie and Angelina."

I nod, and we exit the room. She heads upstairs for the elder girls' room, and I walk down to meet Harry.

"What do you think McGonagall wants from us?" Ron asks, joining us as we walk through the portrait hole.

"Why don't we just wait until we see her?" I say.

Exiting through the portrait hole and walking down these halls with Harry and Ron beside me is such a familiar feeling, and nostalgia begins to set in. I wish I could rewind and go back to those days, when we could truly feel safe at Hogwarts because of Dumbledore's presence.

The walk to the Headmaster's office is short, and McGonagall is standing in front of the stone gargoyle when we arrive. She takes us up into the familiar office and shuts the door behind us.

"First things first," she says, "we should see to it that the Horcrux is destroyed. Potter, since you speak Parseltongue, we'll need you to retrieve a basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry nods. "I can do that now."

"Just a moment—I did have something else to tell you."

We wait silently for her to continue.

"We've set up wards around the grounds to make it safe. We kept the same boundaries that we used to have, but we've added a safety measure. Anyone with a Dark Mark will not be able to cross. If a Death Eater attempts to pass through the boundary, he will be given a nice shock and then thrown out. Warn Mr. Malfoy not to come here."

I feel sorry for him. I'm sure that Draco liked Hogwarts a lot, and it'll be disappointing to him to find that we've successfully taken over Hogwarts with his help, only to put up a barrier that he won't be able to pass through.

"We'll do that," Harry says.

"Good. Now… well Mr. Potter, we are now in the open. I think it would be safer for you to return to my home, because it is still under the protection of the Fidelius Charm."

"I'm not going to hide—" Harry begins to protest.

"We need you to stay safe. The prophecy said that you would have to be the one to kill him. We can't afford to lose you out of carelessness. You can take Weasley, Granger, and perhaps Zabini as well."

"The rest of us aren't all that important," Ron says. "We shouldn't have to hide."

"Yes, but Potter shouldn't be left alone. On second thought, perhaps you should go to Mr. Malfoy's private dwelling. I don't want you to be traveling unless it is absolutely necessary. If Mr. Malfoy has information, then you will already be there, waiting."

"I wanted to be here to interrogate the prisoners," Ron says. "I saw Crabbe and Goyle, and—"

"Mr. Weasley, this is no time to be thinking about pranking our prisoners."

Ron bites back a protest. "Sorry, Professor."

Harry sighs. "After we destroy the dagger, we'll go."

"Where's Shacklebolt?" I ask.

McGonagall hesitates for a moment, then says, "Well, I see no point in keeping this a secret from you. Voldemort has left England."

Harry frowns. "Where is he?"

"We do not know for certain, but our sources say that he's in Russia. There have been a series of attacks on Muggle settlements for several nights in the past week. Kingsley has gone to see what he can do to rally our Russian allies to fight back. Their Ministry wasn't infiltrated when Kingsley was last there, so we still have some hope that they will join us."

"But the chances can't be good, can they?" Ron says. "I mean, look at what happened to our Ministry."

"The effects are beginning to be felt around the world. And after the first war, I'm sure that the rest of the world will have learned at least that we have to band together in this time of need."

"I want to do something," Harry says. "I want to face him—to kill him. I don't care if he still has Horcruxes. If we kill him, the Death Eaters will be disorganized, and it'll be much easier for us to find Horcruxes, if there are any more."

"After what happened the last time Voldemort fell, don't you think he'd take precautionary measures this time?" I point out.

"Voldemort thinks he's invincible. He—"

"He's arrogant, not stupid," I say.

"Miss Granger is correct," McGonagall says.

"But with Voldemort out of the way, even if the Death Eaters stick around, they'll be weaker than they are while he's here, won't they?" Ron argues.

"Perhaps," McGonagall concedes. "But for now, we will try to control the situation abroad. Don't spread the news—let the others celebrate our victory here."

"But they deserve to know," Harry says.

"Yes, and they will know. But our morale is low enough as it is, and I want to make the most of this success before breaking the bad news."

"Well… I guess we should go get ourselves some fangs, then," Harry says.

"Yes—be careful," McGonagall cautions.

"We will," I say.

The three of us leave the office together and head down toward the second floor.

"Do you think he's really gone to Russia?" Ron asks.

"It's not impossible," I say.

I wonder if Draco's with Voldemort right now—he did say that he sees Voldemort on a "daily basis". He could have been exaggerating, but if he is with Voldemort, I hope he's taking care of himself.

Then I remember that McGonagall mentioned bringing Blaise with us.

"Harry, do you have the Marauder's Map with you?" I ask. "I want to find Blaise."

"Is he really coming with us?" Ron asks, sounding reluctant.

Harry produces a blank piece of parchment and passes it to me. "Yes, Blaise is coming," he says. "He's one of us."

Ron groans and follows Harry down the hall. I tap my wand to the parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

It takes me a moment to find Blaise, but I eventually locate his name only a floor below me. I head toward the nearest staircase and notice that he happens to be moving toward it as well. I meet him halfway up the steps.

"Oh, Hermione," he says, surprised. "I was about to go looking for you."

"We're going back to Malfoy's," I tell him.

"Why?"

"McGonagall said that she wanted us to avoid moving around as much as possible, and since I'm still Malfoy's contact, it'd be best for me to stay where he'll be able to meet us. And Harry needs to stay safe."

Blaise nods. "All right, then. Where are Harry and Weasley?"

"They went to take care of the dagger," I say.

As we make our way toward the girls' bathroom on the second floor, I fill him in on what McGonagall told us about Voldemort's appearance in Russia.

"I stayed in Russia for a few years as a kid, actually," Blaise says.

I look at him, surprised.

"Yeah, my third stepfather had some business there," he adds. "The discrimination against Muggle-borns wasn't very strong. There was more of a divide based on social class than anything else. We never talked to the poor kids, and they never talked to us."

"Then there's a better chance that they'll choose not to support Voldemort on his quest against Muggles."

"Probably. But I don't know. I haven't been there since I was eight, so you can't really take my word for it. These things change."

When we reach the bathroom, I see the gaping hole that leads down into the Chamber.

"Should we go down there?" Blaise asks.

"I'm sure they'll be right up," I reply.

"All right, then." He leans against a bathroom stall. "Have you heard from Draco since he left?"

I shake my head. "Nothing."

Maybe Blaise is as worried about Draco as I am—they're best friends, after all. He seems completely unconcerned, but I already know he's pretty good at masking his feelings—seems to be a Slytherin trait.

"If the four of us are going back to Draco's, then isn't Ginny coming too?" he asks.

"That'll depend on Harry," I reply.

"Oh. She's not going to like that when she hears," Blaise says.

"I know."

I wonder if Ginny's said anything about what she saw between me and Draco just over a week ago. But since none of the guys have approached me about it, I'm pretty sure that she's kept her mouth shut.

And I'm thankful—I really don't want to deal with Ron's reaction. It's bad enough when he thinks that I might be interested in Blaise. I'm positive that it'll be exponentially worse if he finds out that I care very much about Draco, that I actually really like him.

God, I miss him so much. I feel like it'd be so much easier for me if he'd just spent an extra minute with me before leaving, if he'd said something, or kissed me goodbye…

"What are you thinking about?" Blaise asks.

I shake my head, pushing those thoughts away. "I just want this war to be over," I lie. "I want Voldemort to die and the Death Eaters to vanish. I guess I'm in a whiny mood."

He chuckles. "Hermione Granger, in a whiny mood. Now that's something you don't see often."

"It was a Horcrux, all right," I hear from the entrance to the Chamber.

I move over to give Harry a hand, and Blaise helps to hoist Ron out. When Harry and Ron are both on level ground, the Chamber closes up again, and Harry holds up the dagger, which is covered in a black substance that's about the same consistency as blood.

"We brought a fang up with us," Ron says, holding it up. "Do you have something safe to put it in?"

I conjure a wooden, rectangular container. "We can store it in here, for now," I say. "It'll probably be a good idea to get something sturdier to make sure the fang can't stab through."

Ron places the fang inside the box, and I close it and tuck it into my beaded handbag.

"Harry, Hermione filled me in," Blaise says. "Do you think we should bring Ginny along?"

"We shouldn't," Ron says before Harry can reply. "You saw how worried my mum got last time when we explained that she'd be staying with us at Malfoy's."

"All right, we'll let her stay here," Harry says. "Let's give the dagger to McGonagall before we leave."

"Shouldn't you at least say goodbye?" I suggest.

"Nah," Harry says. "She'll just protest and try to get us to take her along. It'll be easier to leave without saying anything."

I bite back the words that want to burst out of my mouth. Harry doesn't know how it feels to be left behind with no explanation. If he knew, he wouldn't be doing that to Ginny. But I guess it isn't the first time he's done it to her, and at this point, she might expect or even be used to it.

I don't think that I could ever get used to the uncomfortable, bitter feeling that's been following me around ever since Draco left.

I resist the urge to reach for the charm around my neck. The boys all know about it now, so the gesture would make it way too easy for them to guess what—or rather, whom—is on my mind.

Please, Draco, come home soon.

Author's Note: All right guys, I have a question for you. Did you notice that the spot where Hermione chooses to pause during her patrol in this chapter (the part where she looks out the window and thinks of Draco) is the exact spot where Draco is located when we first see him in this story? Please review if you did (even if it's just to say "Yes, I noticed"), because I'm so curious to see how many people remembered that little tidbit from the beginning. Oh, and it'd be lovely if you were honest about it :P