"I'm taking my friends up to space with me to put the runes on the satellites," Xerosis said, dropping into his chair next to Voldemort.

The Dark Lord turned to him with a disbelieving look. "What?"

Xerosis rolled his eyes. "Me. A couple of teenagers. Putting runes on–"

"No!"

The teen gave the other wizard a dry look. "Why ever not? More people means less time spent up there."

"I–" Voldemort cast around the empty room for a valid argument, then snapped, "They're children! They don't understand the delicacy of the situation!"

"That was so weak."

"I forbid it!"

Xerosis snorted and turned away from the angry Dark Lord. "You did not just..." He started snickering.

"Potter!" Voldemort roared.

Xerosis jumped out of his chair and, snickering, ducked the string of increasingly more painful curses Voldemort shot at him between bouts of name-calling.

The games were halted when a throat was cleared in the doorway. When both Dark Lords turned to face him – one grinning madly, the other looking furious – Barty helpfully offered, "I got volunteered to come in and see if you're done trying to kill each other. My Lords."

"Not attempted murder," Xerosis corrected as he slipped back over to his chair next to a scowling Voldemort, "Just some minor maiming and great deals of pain."

"Just you wait, boy," Voldemort threatened.

Xerosis reached over and patted the side of the other Dark Lord's face. "You're so cute when you're murderous, Tom."

Voldemort let out a furious shout and Xerosis was again hopping around the room, avoiding curses and cackling to himself.

Barty returned to the other Inner Circle Death Eaters waiting in the hallway. "Best to come back in an hour, I think," he offered.

Bellatrix sniffed. "That little boy–"

"That 'little boy' is older than our Lord," Rodolphus pointed out drily.

Barty twitched while Lucius shook his head and turned away. "I have better things to do than stand around while you discuss our Lords as if they'll never hear about it," he offered over his shoulder before he started away.

"My Lord doesn't care what I say about that little brat–"

"Crucio," Xerosis intoned from the doorway of the meeting room. "Lucius, darling, you might as well come back." As the blond pureblood returned, Xerosis turned a threatening smile on the only female in the Inner Circle, letting up the curse with an idle twist of his wand. "Now, then, Bella, what were you saying about me?"

Bellatrix whimpered a bit and stayed on the ground where she had fallen under the curse. "Nothing, my Lord."

"Good." Xerosis turned and led the way back into the meeting room, commenting to Voldemort, :Handled. I give her a month before she starts talking about me behind my back again, though.:

Voldemort sighed. :I can try talking to her again.:

:Nah, this is more fun. I get to curse her once a month or so when she decides to be suicidal.: Xerosis smirked and fell into his chair, watching the Death Eaters shuffle in. :I am suddenly reminded that I had something important to talk to you about.:

:It better not be more suggestions about you taking a bunch of teenagers on a delicate mission.:

Xerosis shot the Dark Lord a grin, then settled comfortably back in his chair under Voldemort's distrustful look. "Lucius, I've heard some rumours of a move to dismiss Fudge from office. What do you know about this?"

"It's more than just rumour, my Lord," Lucius replied, inclining his head. "The vote of no confidence has already been cast and Fudge is only in office now because they're having trouble deciding how to vote on the new Minister. Normally, they would send a vote out to the people, but with these wars..." He trailed off with a helpless shrug.

"It was the people who voted him out?" Voldemort clarified.

"Popular opinion, yes."

"Why not utilise the Wizengamot?" Barty wondered. "Merlin knows that's who they usually turn to when the Minister is useless."

"It's in the Wizengamot by-laws that they can't vote in the new Minister," Xerosis commented, rubbing at his chin in thought. "If the Ministry ever gets their collective pansy arse in gear, who is most likely to get voted in? In your opinion, Lucius."

Lucius frowned a bit, then offered, "It's between Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour, I believe, my Lord. Bones is well liked for her fairness, but Scrimgeour has a less tolerant view of the Dark, so with this war..."

"Bones is the more sensible of the two," Xerosis offered, turning to Voldemort. "She might be reasoned with. Scrimgeour will not."

Voldemort nodded. "Put your lot in behind Bones," he ordered Lucius and the other three Inner Circle Death Eaters who were in the public. "If Scrimgeour becomes a problem, I'm sure he can disappear?" He glanced over at Xerosis who responded with an evil little smile. "Excellent. Anything else new in the Ministry?"

There wasn't a whole lot new, considering how closely Voldemort and Xerosis kept their eyes on the politics of the world around them. A few rumours about Harry Potter had again circulated through the Slytherin House, which had been passed on to parents. There had also been a new bombing on a magical household, but the family in question had escaped in time – Xerosis had determinately not smirked at that – and was currently making do with a Ministry crash-space while a new home was found for them.

Once the reports were done, the two Dark Lords sent them away with orders to spread to the other Death Eaters about supporting Bones. They would also be conducting a series of raids on some of the coastal towns, especially those near a naval base, so the Death Eaters had been warned to prepare for those.

With the Death Eaters gone, Xerosis and Voldemort quit the meeting room to enjoy a glass of wine in Voldemort's room. There, both Dark Lords returned to their more human forms, and settled into their usual seats by the table near the wall where all the maps were kept.

"What did you think of in the meeting room?" Riddle asked, swirling his glass a bit.

"Luna mentioned something yesterday that had me thinking, and then Death sort of agreed with it..."

"You spoke to Death?" Riddle enquired, curious.

Harry shrugged. "He came to mediate an argument between myself and Fawkes." Riddle snorted and Harry grinned at him, then continued, "Yeah, it was kind of insane. Anyway, Luna made a comment about living on the moon, and I thought–"

"The moon?" Riddle repeated, eyes wide. "Is that even possible?"

"Dunno, but if Luna suggested it..."

"You trust the word of that crazy child?" Riddle asked drily.

"Yeah, I do. Now, hush." Harry rolled his eyes. "Death didn't veto it, and for all that he likes people dying, I doubt he'd lead us astray on this one, so it should be safe."

Riddle sighed and inclined his head. "I suppose. But, still, how would you even get the population up there?"

Harry laughed and shook his head. "No idea. I mean, if the mundanes continue on their current path, the magical people will have to consider it, lest they be destroyed, but I'd rather find a way to move everyone up there before it gets that far, if at all possible."

Riddle cocked his head to one side, then called over a piece of parchment. "At any rate, we're going to have to make some form of atmosphere that will sustain life."

Harry grimaced and conjured a couple of quills, one of which he handed to his partner. The wine was forgotten as they both leaned forward over the parchment, rapidly offering and discarding spells that could terraform the moon. Both of them wracked their brains for any long-forgotten knowledge about the rock orbiting the planet, but came up with very little.

"Maybe, while I'm up there marking satellites, I could take a jaunt over to the moon and check it out," Harry suggested. "I mean, these spells are great, but unless we know exactly what we have to work with..."

Riddle sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I'm beginning to see the pros in you inviting your little friends up with you," he allowed. "If they can manage the satellites, you'll have extra time to fly out to the moon and back." He tapped the parchment with their scribbles on it. "I want to know what we're working with before we truly start discussing spells."

"Not to mention before we start debating how to get the ostriches up there with minimal fuss."

Riddle groaned. "Bloody hell. That will be a chore and a half."

Harry offered him a tired smile. "We're trying to save an entire race, here, Tom, and they don't much care to be saved; anything we do will be akin to pulling teeth."

Riddle shook his head. "I know. I wish they weren't so close-minded to the danger, though." They shared knowing smiles. "Where are you with your ways into space?"

"I ordered a couple of Firebolts and I'm modifying them during my free time," Harry reported. At Riddle's somewhat disbelieving look, he offered, "I've done this before."

The Dark Lord snorted. "I'll believe that," he decided. "Go on. Brooms won't get you the whole way."

"They might, though I'll have to really stretch one of them to get to the moon. That could be interesting." Harry grimaced, then shook his head. "Whatever. I'll figure that out later. I need to work on some sort of protective suit or amulet, still, but I intend to run tests on that next weekend while the others are sleeping, or something. While they're awake, we're going to use the Room of Requirement to simulate zero-G and figure out how to move up there."

"Hn. Interesting," Riddle allowed. "Although, I am reminded that these terraforming spells won't add any gravity to the moon. We'll need some other spells for that."

"Joy," Harry muttered sarcastically. "Creating yet more spells. You'd think, with the way mundane science is, some mundane-born would have made something for all this by now."

"They'd have been lynched for even considering mixing magic and science," Riddle pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." Harry sighed and removed his glasses to rub at his face. "Honestly, I'm not sure how well a spell would hold up, and if we're not around to maintain it..."

Riddle scowled. "Bloody Death."

Harry grinned.

"Shut up, Potter," Riddle snarked, earning a chuckle from the teen. "Not a spell, then. Runes, perhaps?"

"A rune stone tied into the terraforming spells that helps regulate gravity?" Harry murmured, raising an eyebrow in thought.

"Placed at the core of the moon, so it's even on all sides," Riddle agreed.

The next ten minutes were spent drawing and crossing out runes for the stone that could hold the complicated spell work they were planning, especially considering they would need to work with the dual gravity pulls from the Earth and the sun in their spell creation.

Eventually, they got to the point where they could mostly agree about the rune stone's basic runes, but without knowing the rest of the spells they'd be working in, there was no way they could finish their work.

Riddle magically tacked the rough sketch of the rune stone to the wall next to the maps of Europe, then summoned the time. "You should be getting back," he commented. "You have class tomorrow."

Harry sighed. "Some days, I really hate being a student."

Riddle snorted. "If you want anyone to take you seriously, you have to complete school."

Harry shot him the two-fingered salute.

"Very mature."

"You're a right bastard, you know that, right?"

Riddle rolled his eyes. "In all senses of the word, yes; I am familiar with how well it defines me. When do you want to get those wards up around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade?"

"How's Barty doing with throwing off the Imperius?" Harry returned, guessing Riddle had started the Death Eater on some training a few days ago, and knowing the way Riddle trained...

"Maybe another week and he should be fine," the Dark Lord decided. "Next weekend?"

Harry grimaced. "Merlin, no. I have no interest in being that busy. How about the following Wednesday? That should avoid most of the pub traffic, too."

"Hm. Good point." Riddle nodded. "We'll meet you in the centre of Hogsmeade at one, then?"

"Sure," Harry agreed. "I'll bring you a time-turner next weekend."

Riddle's reply smile was only a little evil.

Harry rolled his eyes and stood from his seat. "Good night, Tom."

"Good night, Potter," Riddle replied and the teen slipped back into some shadows and away.

Classes were as tedious as ever, though Harry quite enjoyed dodging Andromeda in between working on his brooms. By the weekend, he'd managed to figure out the perfect set of spells to get them into space without worrying about the gravitational pull or whiplash. He still had to work in protective spells to get them through the atmosphere in one piece and to survive in space itself, while still allowing for maximum dexterity. He'd also snuck into the Department of Mysteries and stolen another three time-turners, one of which he'd be handing over to Voldemort. The other two would be given to his friends so they could complete their trip to all the satellites without him needing to be there to take them back twelve hours.

Saturday, they met up at breakfast – Slytherins included – and Harry took them up to the Room of Requirement. After explaining how to use the room, he opened it and led them into a giant, empty cavern.

"Excellent." He smiled at them and got nervous smiles in return. "Oh, stop that. Now, I won't kick anyone out, but who is actually interested in taking a trip up to space?"

Terry immediately raised his hand. "Anything to ride one of those brooms," he declared.

"I second that," Tracey agreed. "Although, Potter, you'd best be willing to give us some training on those cursed things."

"That's part of the reason I'm asking who wants to come," Harry replied a bit drily. "Come on. Anyone else?"

"I want to go to the moon," Luna offered with a slightly hopeful smile.

Harry blinked, then shook his head. "We'll see, luv."

Luna pouted.

Millicent snorted at the youngest student, then offered, "I'll go. It might be interesting."

"And informative," Li added, nodding. "I will come."

"Excellent. I'll order the extra brooms this week and we can spend next weekend practising with them."

"Where?" Tracey demanded.

Harry waved a hand at her. "Off the school grounds. Possibly over the ocean."

"Harry!" Hermione cried, shaking her head. "That's not safe."

Harry cocked his head to one side. "Hermione, these brooms are able to go over eight thousand kilometres per hour. They're as safe as I can make them, but the only place we can truly test them without chancing hitting something before you can even see it is over the ocean."

"But what if you fall off?" Hermione pleaded.

"We'll fly low, which should keep any falls from being too damaging," Harry soothed her. "I'll keep my eyes peeled for any falls, and I'm capable of healing spells, if it comes to that." He smiled a bit. "I survived testing these, didn't I?"

Morag cleared her throat. "Will you need the rest of us to cover for you?" she asked before Hermione could complain some more. She might not much care for Harry's insanity, but even she had to admit that the Ravenclaw wouldn't let any of them be hurt if he could avoid it.

Harry nodded. "A little bit, yeah. I can create golems or something that you can pretend to work with in the library, but meals will be a problem. I'd suggest using a time-turner, but flying at these speeds is exhausting enough, as soon as we get back, everyone will probably want to go to bed."

"That's going to be a problem up in space," Terry pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "I know of a potion that will keep you awake and energised for an extended period of time, but I don't want you lot getting addicted to it, so we can use it for the actual trip, but practise will have to be planned around your own bodies."

Tracey sighed. "What if something does go wrong up there? You said something about not being with us during the actual trip?"

Harry had mentioned that in passing earlier in the week, so he nodded. "Yeah. I've got a side-trip planned. I can teach you lot a few spells for emergencies before we leave, I suppose..."

"We are still under the Trace," Li pointed out. "It will be active as soon as we leave the school boundaries."

Harry smiled. "You honestly think the Trace can tell on you when you're in space?"

"I thought it only worked inside the country borders, anyway," Terry added.

"To an extent," Harry agreed, shrugging. "Almost all of the European countries have linked their systems together, so it'll record it whether you're in France or Germany, say, but not in Egypt. China, Japan, Vietnam and parts of Korea have their systems linked, as do America, Canada and Mexico, but everywhere else is pretty much just that country. Uhm, but students like Li, who have dual citizenship, are registered in all of the countries they would be associated with."

"You're like an Encyclopaedia of all things Ministry," Lillian commented.

Harry waved her off. "Anyway, the point is, you can use magic in space without anyone knowing. You can also, technically, use magic over the ocean, but it's probably not a good idea to try it at those speeds, so..."

Luna poked Harry's arm. "Zero-G," she ordered.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Harry shrugged and suddenly they were all weightless.

"Cool!" Terry exclaimed, pushing off against the floor and shooting up towards the far distant ceiling.

They all spent a moment shooting left and right and failing at moving away from a flat surface. Finally, laughing at their antics, Harry cast a summoning charm to bring them all together again in the middle of the room. "Alright, I think that answers any questions about movement in zero-G."

"You definitely need something there to help you move," Hermione agreed. "You know, if you weren't using brooms, I might be willing to go with you."

Harry smiled at her. "Well, my side trip is to the moon. If I can work together some sort of long distance portkey, maybe I'll take you up there some other time."

"Really?" Hermione said, eyes bright with excitement. "Imagine, one of the first people on the moon!"

"The first mudbl–"

Harry cleared his throat and shot Tracey a significant look.

Tracey sighed. "Yeah, sorry, Granger. The first muggleborn, then."

Hermione sniffed in response, unable to turn her back on the Slytherin. "Whatever, Davis. But, yeah! Exciting!" She looked back at Harry. "Can we, please?"

"We'll see," Harry replied, shaking his head. "I don't even know if I can make a portkey for that distance."

"You can try making a portkey from the moon to Earth," Luna suggested.

Harry cocked his head to one side. "Hn. Yeah, that would make the trip easier..."

"Why?" Li wondered. "Because of time?"

"Time, and the stress on the brooms," Harry replied. "You lot should be fine, just going around the planet, but shooting off to the moon is going to add a lot of pull on the broom and I'm not sure how well it's going to handle that. I mean, I intend to take an extra, just in case, but I can only carry so many brooms up with me, and I don't know how much stress taking them back towards the planet will create." He glanced back at Luna. "But a portkey..."

Luna smiled.

Terry looked around at the group while Harry thought, then pushed off against Li, who was next to him, sending them both flying in opposite directions. Terry let out a whoop while Li shouted in surprise.

"Terry!" Li snapped.

Everyone laughed a bit.

Harry chuckled and had the room supply them with a large ball at one end of the room with much more mass than any of them. "Try using a summoning charm on the ball, huh? I want to see what happens," he called to Terry.

Terry did as ordered. The ball moved a few centimetres, but Terry was the one who really moved. He had some trouble stopping his momentum enough to keep from slamming into the ball, but he managed to get one foot up enough to take the shock of the impact, though it did send him shooting away from the ball again. "Ow," he offered, rubbing at his leg with some difficulty.

"Hm." Harry tried his own accio, mentally cutting back on the power behind it. He still went shooting towards the ball, but he was a bit slower. He took the minor shock with his forearm, wincing, then called, "Okay, it's going to hurt a bit, but feel free to summon yourself towards the ball. See if you can't regulate the power behind your spell a bit."

"And how, exactly, does one regulate their power?" Tracey demanded.

Harry blinked. "Oh. Uhm, when you cast the spell, focus on the draw of the magic." He cocked his head to one side. "I don't know really how to explain it, I suppose."

Hermione considered her wand for a moment, then closed her eyes and focussed when she cast her accio. She was so busy studying the way her magic worked, that she forgot to watch out for the ball, but Harry caught her, grunting as his back hit the ball.

"Oh! Sorry, Harry," Hermione apologised, flushing.

Harry smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. What have you got?"

Hermione bit her lip, but obediently explained her findings, "When I cast the spell, I paid attention to where my hand and wand were connected. I think... I think I felt something there, but I'd have to try it a few more times."

"Could we, I don't know, cushion the ball?" Neville asked.

Harry blinked. "Oh. Duh."

Everyone got a laugh out of that while Harry had the room cushion the ball. He also had the room provide a cushioned cube on the other side of the room, offering, "Have at."

"We're going to run into each other," Morag pointed out as Hermione and Terry both took off for the cube, while Li tried the ball.

Harry obediently conjured a dodecahedron above the door and an icosahedron opposite it. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." The Ravenclaw immediately shot off towards the icosahedron.

Harry rolled his eyes and used the ball to shoot off into the dead space above everyone, content to just lay in midair and watch his friends shoot back and forth across the open space.

They spent a good hour shooting around before Harry made them stop and had the room give them some old-model Cleansweeps, which Tracey and Terry both complained about, then had them all practise flying around in zero-G.

The brooms enabled them to move in any direction they pleased, but they did have some trouble stopping. The Slytherins and Terry blamed it on the brooms but Harry – who had ridden a Cleansweep a few times on auror business before they had the money to upgrade their closet of brooms – blamed it on the lack of wind and gravity resistance.

They played with the brooms until lunch, then made their way out of the room, all of them walking a bit strangely after four hours in zero-G.

"What have you crazy people been doing?" Stephen wondered as the Ravenclaws took their seats. "And with McDougal, too."

"Morag and I reached a truce," Harry offered.

"We're practising moving through zero-G," Terry explained, eyes bright with excitement.

Morag rolled her eyes. "Boot, have I told you recently that you're an idiot?"

Terry pretended to think about that, then answered, "This morning, at breakfast."

"Not recent enough. You're an idiot."

Harry snorted in amusement, then looked at Stephen, who was looking a little confused at what Terry had said. "We're playing around in a room that doesn't have any gravity. It's a lot of fun."

"Potter, you are not bringing more idiots," Morag ordered.

"It would be more fun with more people," Luna offered airily.

"And controlling your spell output is a good lesson," Li added. "Is it not easier to cast a spell now than it was before we started?"

Harry had taught them all an easy healing spell for bruises before they'd left for lunch, since they'd all hit a few walls on the brooms. Morag had to admit that it had been the easiest spell she'd ever learned, and she'd always been crap at healing spells. "Yeah, okay. A little."

"So, wait, what are you doing? It's really hard to move in zero-G, right?" Kevin asked, looking curious.

"We've got some really big objects that we summon ourselves to," Terry explained. "They've got more mass, so instead if it moving towards the caster, the caster moves towards it."

"We had to pad them, though," Li added, smiling at Harry, who grimaced. "You know how when you summon something it sort of smacks into your hand?" Kevin nodded. "Well, there is not a lot to stop you from moving in zero-G, so you just keep moving. We kept hitting the objects and bouncing off."

"It hurt," Terry added, rubbing at his leg.

"I healed that," Harry reminded him.

"Yeah, but it still tingles."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"It sounds like fun," Stephen decided. "Can we come with you?"

The others looked to Harry, who shrugged. "Sure. Like Luna said, the more the merrier."

"I didn't say that," Luna informed him.

"Oh, whatever. Same thing."

Morag huffed. "You know Granger and Longbottom are going to want to bring some of their idiots too."

"Only if someone tells them," Li reminded her.

"It wouldn't be fair if we only invited the Ravenclaws," Harry commented, silently conjuring some parchment and a quill.

"Some of the spells you know..." Stephen commented, a little jealous. "Harry, you have got to lend me your reading material."

"I'll let you attack my library tonight," Harry promised, quickly scrawling two notes, which he then sent to Hermione and Lillian, telling them they could invite their Housemates, if they wanted. But only the ones in their year. There was no reason to have a huge crowd.

As soon as lunch was done, everyone met up in the room again. Other than Kevin and Stephen, Anthony and Lisa had also come from Ravenclaw. From Slytherin, Blaise, Daphne, and Theodore had joined them. Hermione and Neville had brought along Seamus, Dean, and Ron, who was followed by a bright-eyed Ginny. Harry groaned quietly on seeing his ex-wife.

"Alright, Potter, Millicent said something about a learning experience?" Daphne snapped.

"How come I've never seen this room before?" Seamus wondered.

"Why are they here?" Ron demanded, pointing at the Slytherins with a nasty look on his face.

Harry had the room activate the zero-G and pushed off against the floor before an argument could start between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. When his friends followed him, leaving the newcomers staring after them with wild eyes, Harry muttered, "Maybe I shouldn't have let you bring them. Merlin."

"I always forget that Gryffindors and Slytherins do not get on so well," Li commented. "I mean, it is not so different with you all, but you can mostly behave, yes?"

"We have more self-control than Ronald," Hermione reported.

"Or Malfoy," Lillian added with a huff. "Sometimes, I wonder how that boy and his flunkies ever managed to get into our House."

"The eternal mystery," Harry offered drily. "Hermione, Lil, could you both go back down there and give the landlubbers a crash course in summoning yourself towards objects?"

"Sure," Hermione agreed while Lillian nodded. Both girls summoned themselves towards the cushioned objects on either side of the room, then pushed off them to get back down near the group on the floor, a few of whom were floating a bit off the ground.

"What about the rest of us?" Terry asked.

Harry grinned. "Well, I figured you lot should get some more practise in with the brooms." So saying, brooms appeared next to Terry, Li, Tracey, Millicent, Luna, and Harry. "Morag, Neville, what would you two like to do?"

"I'll take a broom, thanks," Morag replied and one appeared next to her.

Neville sighed. "I'll help Hermione and Moon, if it's all the same."

"Sure thing," Harry agreed and the Gryffindor summoned himself away. "Okay, troops, continue with turning suddenly in midair. And try to keep above the newbies."

The Ravenclaws saluted him while the Slytherins rolled their eyes, but all five of them headed off to do as ordered.

Harry sped down to where Hermione, Lillian, and Neville were trying to get the kids on the ground to stop arguing for five minutes. He waved a silencing spell at the Gryffindors and Slytherins as he came to a slow stop next to Hermione. "Better?"

"I should have thought of that," Hermione complained.

"We can't all be perfect," Harry soothed.

Hermione reached over to smack him, but only really managed to tap him before the momentum sent her back a few centimetres. "That is only a little obnoxious."

Harry grinned. "Sure you don't want a broom?"

"Like that's much better," Hermione replied as Luna went crashing into the ceiling with a whoop.

Harry snorted. "Luna's having fun," he informed her, then leaned forward on his broom to consider their newbies, all of whom were now floating out of reach of the ground. "So, the point of this exercise is to summon yourself to the objects above us. They're all cushioned, so it shouldn't hurt too much if you crash into them, but you will bounce away."

"What you want to be able to do is control your spell enough to not actually bounce off the object," Lillian cut in, shooting Harry a smirk. "Granger, if you could show us?"

Hermione nodded, then summoned herself to the ball. She had been the quickest to get the hang of controlling her spell, and with her added genius, was able to calculate exactly how much power to put behind her spell, depending on where in the room she was.

"Excellent." Lillian looked back to her audience. "Harry, could you show us how to do it badly?"

"Why me?" Harry wondered even as his broom disappeared.

"Because I know Longbottom can do it properly. You just sat there and watched us make fools of ourselves."

"I should have brought popcorn," Harry retorted, then aimed his wand at the icosahedron and shouted, "Accio!" As he shot towards the prism, he managed to twist himself so his feet connected first. He bent his knees as he connected to help lessen the impact, then unbent them to add to his momentum back down to the group on the floor.

"You cheated somehow," Lillian decided as Harry returned to her side.

"We all spent four hours in here," Harry reminded her. "I didn't need to be bouncing around like a demented human ping-pong ball to know how to move in here."

Most of the group laughed at that, albeit most of them silently.

"You've been in here for four hours?" Lisa asked.

"We came in right after breakfast," Hermione agreed. "We spent, what, an hour and a half-ish bouncing around?"

"And the rest of that on brooms," Neville agreed. "You know, I think this is the first time I've actually enjoyed being on a broom," he added with a nod to Harry.

Harry grinned. "That was sort of the point."

"It helps that there's no chance of falling off," Hermione allowed.

"A lot of running into things, though," Neville commented as Luna went slamming into another wall with a gleeful shout.

Ron raised his hand, a little red in the face from being ignored. When Harry took the spell off of him and motioned for him to talk, he demanded, "Why can't we ride the brooms?"

Harry cocked his head at him. "Because it's just like riding a bike, Ron. You need to start off with training wheels. In zero-G, that means learning to move around on your own and getting used to the different circumstances before you get to try moving around on something with its own propulsion."

"Trust me, Ron," Neville added, looking up at the Slytherins and Ravenclaws flying loops around one another above the giant prisms, "it's not as easy as it looks. There's no real resistance in here to help you stop, so even when you tell the broom to stop, you're still going to keep moving forward."

Ron huffed, disbelieving, but fell silent.

"Set them free?" Lillian asked Harry.

"Might as well," Harry agreed, freeing everyone from the silencing spell, since none of them had learned wordless casting yet. "Summon away, kids. And, remember, it's not as easy as it looks."

"The trick," Hermione added before anyone could go shooting off, "is to focus on the connection between you and your wand. You need to focus on how much magic you're using to cast, then lessen that so you move slower."

"Go on," Harry added when they didn't move right away.

Almost as one, the group shouted, "Accio!" and went flying off in various directions.

The four on the ground remained there for a few minutes, watching the new group collide with things.

"Okay, I can see the humour value in just sitting back and watching," Lillian decided.

Harry grinned and had the room supply him with a broom. "I'm off to join the others. Do you want brooms, or are you just going to use your own power?"

"Could you let us summon our own brooms when we want them?" Hermione wondered.

Harry cocked his head to one side thoughtfully. "I suppose I can give you three access, but you have to promise you'll only use it to get brooms for yourselves. We don't need random items appearing in someone's path at the wrong moment."

"I think we can agree to that," Lillian agreed. "If we did it, you'd make us heal them, whether we know the spell or not."

"I'm a jerk like that," Harry agreed, slipping onto his own broom and telling the room to listen to commands from his three friends. "Okay, you can summon or banish objects at will. You may not, however, control the gravity in the room. Understood?"

All three of them saluted him, so Harry sped off, between a couple of Gryffindors bouncing around, and into the airspace above them. "I'm back!"

"Oh, bugger," Tracey commented drily. "And here we were hoping you'd stick to playing with the preschoolers."

Harry grinned at her, then slipped over to Luna, who was humming as she healed a bruise. "Is there a reason you're hurting yourself?"

"It's fun," she replied, smiling.

"Do I need to pad the walls?" Harry enquired.

"Only if you want to," Luna said before shooting off and gleefully bouncing off the far wall.

Harry sighed and had the room add padding to the walls above the objects the other students were bouncing between. Luna might have thought it was fun to run into things like that, but Harry didn't much care to watch his friend hurt herself.

Two hours later, Harry's friends were all masters at moving in zero-G with the brooms or on their own. Of those they'd invited in, only Blaise and Lisa were serious enough about trying to control their magic output for Harry to let them on brooms; everyone else was having too much fun bouncing back and forth.

"I suppose I could just get rid of the padding and see how long it takes them to figure it out then," Harry commented to Lillian and Hermione, who were still trying to teach the idiots.

"We'd have to heal them all afterwards, though," Hermione pointed out.

"Nah. Just leave them and if one of them complains, tell them it's a reminder of the lesson they learned," Lillian grumbled. "They'd deserve it."

"Maybe just a bit," Hermione allowed.

Lillian moved closer to the Gryffindor with her broom and hugged her around the shoulders. "See, we'll make a Slytherin out of you yet."

Hermione grimaced at the thought. "Moon, let go of me."

Harry snorted in amusement. "What's this? Hermione Granger, refusing positive human contact?"

"I'm going to summon something into your path as soon as you go back up there," Hermione threatened, waving her hand up at where Terry and Millicent were helping Lisa and Blaise manoeuvre on their brooms.

The door to the room opened and the three near the ground, being the only ones able to hear it, all turned to watch as a few professors poked their heads in, eyes widening when they noticed the kids bouncing around above them.

"Aw, fuck," Harry complained.

"Harry," Hermione hissed, though it was mostly just reflex at that point for her to tell him off for cursing.

Harry sighed. "I'm going to allow real gravity for the two metres above the ground," he warned the two girls, both of whom nodded. He changed the gravity, then floated down to the floor. As soon as he could safely hop off, he did so, then walked to the door. "Hi?" he called while Hermione and Lillian also moved down to the floor behind him.

"Mr Potter, what is going on here?" McGonagall demanded, taking a careful step inside. Behind her, Flitwick and Snape looked a little less trusting.

"We're just having some fun, Professor," Hermione explained as she stopped at Harry's side. "Harry found this room that will respond to the wishes of the one who summoned it. He made it zero-G in here and we're all learning how to move around in it."

"It's a learning opportunity as well as fun," Lillian added from Harry's other side.

"Zero-G?" Flitwick asked, cautiously stepping into the room himself. Snape still looked like he had no interest in joining his colleagues.

"Zero gravity," Hermione translated.

"Luna was talking about one of her creatures that lives on the moon," Harry explained before the professors could ask why they thought it was necessary to play in zero-G. "Well, that got me thinking, 'What would it be like to move around on the moon?' And, well, the moon has really low gravity, see, and we thought it might be cool to give it a try, but you know it's kinda hard to simulate the level of gravity on the moon without knowing exactly what it's like, so we decided to just go with zero-G. Terry was talking about it at lunch and Stephen wanted to come, so I said we could all invite some people."

"Surely someone will get hurt," McGonagall commented, looking up at the students with concern.

"It's all padded, though," Hermione offered. "I mean, they weren't, at first, but then we did pad them and so it doesn't hurt at all."

"The walls are padded too," Harry agreed, mentally asking the room to pad the walls on the bottom half of the room and walking over to touch one. "See? So even if they miss what they're aiming for up there, which they shouldn't, they still won't get hurt."

"How are they moving around?" Flitwick asked, curious. "I see you three have brooms, but everyone else..."

"The lot of them up top have brooms," Harry explained, "but the others are using summoning charms to move between the constructs. Because the constructs have a greater mass, they don't really move, which causes the caster to move towards it instead."

"It's like how you can't summon a house," Hermione added, smiling. "It's bigger, so you'd go flying towards it, rather than it coming to you."

"I'm surprised Mr Weasley isn't on a broom," McGonagall commented.

"He wants to be," Harry replied drily, "but my rule is that they can't get on a broom until they've mastered regulating their spell power to keep from crashing into the constructs. He doesn't much care about that part, so he's stuck acting like a bouncy ball."

"You said ping-pong ball earlier," Lillian informed him.

"I am a ping-pong ball, Ron is not," Harry retorted.

McGonagall sighed. "While I approve of you having made this a learning experience, Mr Potter, I wish you'd had a professor in here."

"Why?" Lillian asked, eyes narrowed. "It's just a bit of fun. No one's been hurt or anything."

"But someone could have," Flitwick chastised her, "and you would have been stuck on the seventh floor with no assistance."

Lillian opened her mouth to respond, but Harry shook his head at her and she subsided.

"You're here now, if you want to stay," Harry offered, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "But if you intend to stay, you'll have to join us in zero-G. It's not safe to leave even this small portion of ground with gravity. Someone could shoot themselves down here and instead of just floating down, they'll crash. And then, yes, someone will get hurt."

"Always so certain of yourself, aren't you, Potter?" Snape snarked. "Too much better than everyone to even bother informing a professor of what you were doing."

Harry rolled his eyes at the professor in the doorway, then looked back at McGonagall. "Professor?"

McGonagall looked back down at Harry from where she had been watching the students having fun above them with a quiet sigh. "Very well, Mr Potter. If something happens, I ask that you send a house-elf for me."

Harry nodded. "I can do that."

"Minerva, surely you're not going to leave them unsupervised!" Snape complained.

McGonagall gave her fellow professor a dry look. "Unless you want to stay in here, Severus, I see no other choice." She glanced down at the Ravenclaw Head when Snape just scowled in response. "Filius?"

"As much fun as this looks, I have a great deal of work left to do," Flitwick replied, sounding truly upset at the missed chance.

Harry smiled at his Head of House. "If you happen to have a free weekend, Professor, I can set the room up again," he offered.

Flitwick sent him a wink. "I'll keep that in mind."

Harry glanced up at Snape, who was still scowling. "What's this, Professor Snape, no sense of adventure?" he asked, eyes sparkling.

Snape looked absolutely furious. "Are you mocking me, Potter?" he hissed.

Harry put on an affronted look. "I would never mock a professor," he swore.

Next to him, Hermione had to turn away to cover a giggle.

"You're just like your father!" Snape snapped.

"I like to think I'm more like my mum, personally," Harry replied oh-so-calmly. He turned to Lillian, who looked torn between horror and amusement. "What do you think, Lil, am I more like my dad or my mum?"

Lillian shook her head, not sure how to even begin responding to that.

"Potter!" Snape roared.

Harry grinned and, manipulating the gravity in the room to vanish around him, jumped into the air and away, offering the professors a jaunty little wave. "Bye, professors!"

"Twenty points from Ravenclaw!" Snape shouted after him.

"Severus, that's completely ridiculous," McGonagall chastised as she ushered her fellow professors out. "He didn't even do anything."

"He mocked me!" Snape snapped as the door fell closed behind them.

Harry was a little sad, he'd wanted to hear what the other professors had to say to that. He flew back down to Lillian and Hermione, asking, "Can I bring the zero-G back online, now?"

" 'Online'?" Lillian asked.

"Muggle term," Hermione offered as she got on her broom. "He wanted to know if it's okay to make this area zero-G again."

"Harry, stop being muggle," Lillian ordered, getting on her own broom.

"I'll work on that," Harry replied drily before he had the room get rid of the gravity on the ground. "What were we talking about before the professors came in?" he wondered as the three of them floated back up to their original watching position. "Oh, yeah! Getting rid of the cushioning!"

"OW!" a few people above them shouted at the same time as they impacted with some of the objects. More exclamations of pain followed.

"Sorry!" Harry called up, looking contrite. "Something about getting the zero-G back online knocked out the cushioning. Give me a minute!"

" 'Online'?" more than one person repeated.

Lillian snorted while Hermione turned to shake her head in amazement at Harry. "I can't believe you just did that."

"I can," Lillian replied, glancing at Harry. "Sadist."

"Oh, they deserve it," Harry said, grinning.

"They sort of do," Hermione agreed.

"Granger," Lillian said, "you're okay."

"Thank you, Moon. Don't hug me again."

Harry laughed.

"I've never snuck out of school before," Luna commented as they slipped out of the Ravenclaw common room on a broom. They were going to fly down to the school gates and slip out them, leaving one of them cracked open so they could get back through to change the school wards after they'd finished with the village wards.

"Enjoy it while you can," Harry retorted. "Tomorrow morning we'll have to be innocence personified in case anyone suspects anything."

Harry had originally considered shadowing down to the village and then shadowing everyone back into the castle, but a glance at the wards told him that wouldn't work unless Voldemort and Barty were actually welcomed at the gate. Not certain how the shadows fell down by the gate in the middle of the night, he decided it would be easier to just use the gate and avoid all use of his vampire powers. Especially since he was about to go cast two wards twice.

At the gate, they slipped through and Harry cast an obscure spell he knew of which would keep the gate open, then they dashed down into the sleeping village. The rest of the group was waiting for them around the large ward stone Voldemort had carved over the past few days.

"Are we sure it should be so large?" Barty was whispering to Lucius. "I mean, people are going to notice."

"That's sort of the point, Barty," Harry commented drily, smiling at the irritated look on both Riddle and Voldemort's faces. Next to Voldemort, Xerosis smirked at him.

"You couldn't have done that sooner?" Riddle demanded of Xerosis.

"It wouldn't have been as much fun for him," Voldemort replied drily. "He likes watching us get progressively more murderous.

"It is kind of funny, though," Harry offered, earning him disgusted looks from both Voldemort and Riddle.

"Do you have any idea how wrong it is to have four of you around?" Barty asked Harry.

"Yes," Harry replied. "I almost want to do it at a Death Eater meeting, just to watch a bunch of adults in masks slowly turn into a blubbering mess." He shot Barty and Lucius a mad grin, making them both sigh, then pointed to Luna. "This is Luna Lovegood, by the way, my favourite minion. Luv, Barty and Lucius. And Voldemort. Or Tom. Or Voldemort and–"

"Potter, I will Crucio you," Voldemort informed him.

"But the potential!"

"We'll both Crucio you," Riddle threatened.

Luna took that moment to walk up to Riddle with a bright smile and extend her hand for a handshake, saying, "It's good to finally meet you, ToMeister."

They were all silent for a moment before Riddle choked. Voldemort just sort of sighed and Xerosis and Harry both started laughing a bit madly. Barty and Lucius looked rather like they were in fear for their lives.

Luna turned to Xerosis with a smile, not minding that Riddle didn't take her hand like was polite. "We should get started."

"Luna, I love you," Xerosis informed her, dropping a kiss on her head. He then turned to Voldemort. "We don't have an endless amount of time to do this in."

"I know." Voldemort sighed and snapped his fingers in his double's face. "Go north," he ordered. "Potter west, Xerosis east."

Harry and Xerosis both saluted Voldemort before going off in their assigned directions. Riddle went in his direction with only minor grumbling.

Voldemort turned to the three who would stay at the stone. "Lucius, stand here. Barty, here. Lovegood, you're here, and for Merlin's sake, behave."

Luna smiled as she got into position. "Harry already explained the severity of the situation, my Lord," she replied with the same sort of easy seriousness that the teen-aged Dark Lord so often used.

"It's no wonder you and Potter are such good friends," Voldemort muttered to himself as he started off to the south.

Once in position, Voldemort cast the Parseltongue spell. :The rune stone and the south are in position.:

:The east is in position: Xerosis replied.

:The north is in position: Riddle added.

:The west is in position. Casting in five: Harry announced.

Voldemort counted to five, then started chanting. Probably the best thing about having him and Harry double themselves was that they knew their magic was compatible, so there would be no complications with the ward. Their magical cores were about the same size, too, which meant none of them would have to compensate for the others. Although, admittedly, both he and Xerosis had already done both the ward for the village and for the school once, but they'd decided that wouldn't be a problem, so had continued with the casting.

The ward took about twenty minutes to fully cast and another ten to anchor and set. By the time the casters got back to the ward stone, they were all tired and insanely grateful for the water and food Luna had called via house-elf. All seven of them took a break on a couple of benches off to one side in the square, the four Dark Lords sitting together while their minions whispered together.

"I don't think I want to know what they're up to," Harry commented.

"With Luna involved, it's probably best not to ask," Xerosis agreed. "Though, knowing her, it almost certainly has something to do with one of her creatures." He and Harry traded grins.

"ToMeister?" Riddle asked, grimacing a bit.

"At least she's not bestowing you with crowns of pink flowers," Harry replied, smiling.

"Anyway, ToMeister has a nice ring to it," Xerosis offered. "I might have to use it myself."

"Don't you dare," Riddle and Voldemort chorused.

Harry and Xerosis chuckled.

"Are you ready to go yet?" Voldemort demanded of the two teenagers.

"Hey, you are the old ones," Harry retorted.

"Potter, I am going to curse you," Riddle warned, reaching for his wand.

"Oh, save your magic for the wards," Xerosis told him, still chuckling a bit.

Harry winked at Riddle, earning him a growl, then stood. "I'm good."

"I need to do something before we go," Xerosis commented.

"Ah, yes. Best get that out of the way," Voldemort agreed.

"Fawkes!" Xerosis called, catching the attention of Luna, Barty, and Lucius, who all looked over a bit nervously as the phoenix flamed into existence.

Fawkes gave Xerosis a disgusted look.

"I know I promised to stay out of your way, but we," he waved his hand to encompass all of them, "are going to be coming onto the campus and adding to the wards. Also," he shot Voldemort a significant look, which the snake-like man rolled his eyes at, "getting rid of something someone added to them in a fit of pique."

"I like that ward where it is," Riddle complained.

"Hey, which of us is the student having to deal with that ward here, you or me?" Harry snapped. "We're getting rid of it."

"Or what?" Riddle snarked.

"Or I'll Avada your arse until you agree with me."

"He will, too," Xerosis helpfully offered.

"We're removing the curse," Voldemort snapped, scowling at his younger self.

Riddle paused, then commented, "I'm not sure I want to know what he did to make me agree to that one..."

Xerosis and Harry smiled a bit disturbingly.

Fawkes trilled angrily, reminding them he was still there.

"Oh yeah, sorry, Fawkes." Xerosis shrugged. "Anyway, we're going to be playing with the wards for the school, which should set off at least one of Dumbledore's toys. We'd be much obliged if you could, oh, borrow that toy – or toys – until we're done."

Fawkes huffed a lick of flame into Xerosis' face, which had the apparent vampire scowling, then nodded and flamed away.

"Right, up to the castle," Xerosis ordered, waving at the minions as the Dark Lords all rose.

Once everyone was up, they made their way up to the gate. Lucius, Luna, Harry, and Xerosis were all able to walk right into the grounds, but Voldemort, Riddle, and Barty had to be invited in. (Admittedly, Voldemort probably didn't have to be invited in, since he'd already been let in once, but they decided to invite him in again anyway. Just in case.)

On the other side of the gates, they stopped to get their directions from Xerosis. "Okay, the runes have already been added to the stone. Barty, Lucius, follow Luna and she'll show you where you need to go. Luna has a two-way mirror which Harry has the other half of. When you three are in place, Luna will tell Harry, who will inform the rest of us. Other than that... Harry, west; Tom, north; Voldemort, south."

Nodding, everyone started off to their positions. Riddle was able to mostly stay in his current position, since the gate was on the north side, though he did have to go back through the gate so he was actually on the ward line. Harry joined Riddle in leaving through the gate, then got on his broom and flew around to the west side, outside the wards. Voldemort and Xerosis were able to take their brooms inside the grounds to their positions, though they were probably the most obnoxious positions of them all: Voldemort would be floating near the far edge of the lake, while Xerosis would be deep inside the forest.

Once Harry had heard from Luna, he started the call for being ready. Riddle was quick to respond, then Xerosis. Voldemort took a bit longer, having the furthest to go, but as soon as he was settled they started their casting.

About ten minutes into their casting, they hit some resistance, which angrily demanded, 'What are you doing?' to all four casters at once.

It was Harry who responded, being the only one still obviously a student of the school, 'We're fixing the wards so the mundanes – muggles – can't see the school from space. Who are you?'

There was a long silence from the entity, then it responded, 'I am Hogwarts. One, no, two of you have added to my wards before. It was a curse and I don't like it.'

'We fully intend to get rid of it, if you'll let us continue,' Voldemort replied as politely as he could.

Hogwarts considered that for a moment, then replied, 'Very well. If you happen to "forget" to remove the curse, however, I will place a curse on all of you. Even the three at my ward stone.'

'Understood,' Xerosis replied.

Hogwarts' presence faded away and they were able to continue casting.

Almost an hour later, they finally finished. Harry and Riddle, as per their original plans, used their time-turners to go back seven hours, so they had time for a break before they would need to collect Barty and Lucius and cast the wards again. Xerosis – back as Harry again – and Voldemort, however, met back up with the others at the gate of the school. Luna had procured more water, which she handed to the two Dark Lords, and they all took a moment to rest.

Once he felt better, Voldemort straightened. "That was interesting," he commented to Harry.

Harry snorted. "Interesting is one word for it. Do you want me to try getting in contact with her again?" he asked, referring to the school.

"Of course. Having her on our side would be quite the boon."

"Will do." Harry nodded.

"I hate it when you start talking in code," Barty complained to Harry.

The teen grinned at him. "You know we only do it to irritate you."

"Barty, contrary to your own beliefs, our conversations do not revolve around you," Voldemort commented drily, shaking his head at his Death Eater. "Potter, how are your plans coming?"

"Relatively well," Harry allowed, glancing back towards the castle. "I want to get a couple more weekends of training in, and I haven't quite got the protective amulets ready, but we should be ready to move by the second weekend of October at the absolute latest."

"Now I know they're doing it to irritate me," Barty informed Lucius and Luna. The girl giggled, knowing very well what Harry and Voldemort were talking about that time.

"Let me know if you run into any trouble with it, then," Voldemort offered.

"I will, thanks."

Luna reached over and tugged on Harry's sleeve. "I'm coming too, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Harry agreed, rolling his eyes. Voldemort just shook his head, not even bothering to argue Luna's inclusion.

"Okay, now that is not fair," Barty complained. "How come a fourth year knows what you're planning and the rest of us don't?"

"Because Luna's my favourite," Harry retorted. "And because I spend most of my free time with her, so she figures things out."

Barty shot a glare at Luna, making the girl giggle.

Harry rolled his eyes while Voldemort considered Crucioing his Death Eater.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Perhaps it's time to leave, my Lord? It has been a tiring exercise."

"Doubly tiring for some of us," Harry agreed. He and Voldemort traded pained looks. "I'll let you know if anything comes up."

Voldemort nodded and ushered his Death Eaters through the gate. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he told his partner before Harry could close the gate.

"So, throw around the Cruciatus like a sweet and kill people if they really tick me off?"

"Basically."

Harry laughed and waved before closing the gate. "Come on, luv, let's get some sleep. It has been a very long day."

Luna smiled and hugged Harry as he shadowed them back to their common room. "Good night, my Lord," she offered before heading for her stairs.

"Good night, Luna," Harry called back, heading towards his own bed and a well-deserved sleep.