"We got him."

Harry could reasonably figure that Hermione was only standing before him, fully conscious, because she had been burning the candle at both ends using Legilimency to coordinate and that being awake was actually less exhausting. The other part was even easier, since they had been looking for Rookwood, and had a lead on what his particular vice might be. Ginny was also looking proud of herself.

"Well, I suppose you're about to say that the method was important, which is why we're having an all-hands."

"We discovered that there have been multiple shipments of captive Veela from the continent. For a while, no one knew where they were caught, and no one knew where they were going."

"You can just capture them?" Michael asked.

"It's not legal," Hermione said. "Apparently Belgian authorities in particular are cracking down on it. It's also not exactly easy. In the wild, Veela flee from witches, and they can detect us from a long way off."

"What if you used a polyjuice potion?" Neville asked.

"Well, there's a chance that you would succumb to their charms. I'm really not sure. In my reading, it said that only your soul would remain the same, so perhaps a witch disguising herself as a wizard would have no better chance of catching them. It's possible that they worked with a homosexual wizard, but that part of this doesn't matter." She sighed. "It's possible that Rookwood justified indulging this vice of his by saying that they would give him an advantage if Harry ever showed up."

"Even if they're not certain that we have the Time Turner, or that we would be able to use it to counter the prototype, it makes sense for him to be willing to permit something like that," their leader said. "I doubt it would have any effect on Voldemort, and I'm certain that the Veela would run from them if they could."

No one said anything back to that. It had been suspected without any real evidence that their enemy was uninterested in anything other than power and immortality, and he had every confidence that the dark wizard could have personally caught the creatures if he felt like it, but it seemed unlikely he would go so far to oblige a subordinate, even a valuable one, and even when he only had a few left. Before that, though, could he ever personally commit to a trick like that to win against a teenager?

"It would have been more dramatic if we had gone after him at the height of his power," Hermione said. "I, for one, don't care about theatrics, though. We killed his subordinates because he projected them on missions, exposing them to the danger that he presented. Initially, he underestimated us, and now that's at an end. I say all this to anyone who thinks that this leaves a bad taste."

"It doesn't exactly feel like that," Neville said. "It's just whenever I expect something to be hard, I get a bit suspicious when it seems... well, not easy, but definitely doable. Maybe he knows we're going after him and he decided to set a trap that we never would have expected. Maybe everything else so far is a red herring."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, he basically got better at Legilimency and we really need to take care of him before he can take care of me. We're on our own for this. The Order's dealing with something else and it's arguably worse," Harry said, shaking his head.

"What could be worse?" Michael asked. He had not been in the loop about the issue at all.

"Well, the short version is that Voldemort has even more ambitious plans than anyone saw coming," Hermione said. "There have been wards and protective enchantments that haven't been working."

"He can just do that?"

"He's our only suspect," the leader said, throwing up a hand. "They have no idea what he's actually doing. They have no idea where he would begin to research that sort of thing, except possibly with some other secret that the Death Eaters really shouldn't have been allowed to take out of the Department of Mysteries, but he's the only one who would do something so risky and he's the only one who might have the talent."

"How does he just stop spells from working?" Neville asked.

"Well, like we said, we don't know; you would have to ask someone like Dumbledore to get to the heart of that. For him to think that he can stop it, he must have some idea." He frowned. "It's a strategy that makes sense for Voldemort. As we've said a thousand times, he's the only one he's ever feared, and it's because he thinks magic really only comes down to skill and learning. He doesn't really get why I'm fighting him; he thinks I'm a dullard or a super committed teacher's pet, and even if I've produced some results during the war, he thinks I'll be effectively neutralized if he can tie up everyone over... twenty, really- Merlin- either way we have to give it to him or he'll just disappear or something. It's even money he knows that Rookwood's proclivities can be used to track him down and he's thinking either we figure it out and send a single person and he'll just torture him or her until he gets another Ron out of it, or we send the barn and he kills everyone in seconds."

"It's hard to know one way or another whether he knows he can be found," Blaise said. "If he does, and this is all a trick, that's probably part of the point of not just telling us. He's been staying hidden for months, and that alone might make us think that we can catch him by surprise." He frowned. "What we really have to figure out is how exactly he expects to kill us all in seconds. I know he's proud of himself, and I know he's got a few tricks up his sleeve-"

"He's right," Hermione said. "He knows he's not dealing with someone stupid enough to try anything alone. At least he suspects that we have time manipulation on our side. For anyone who finds that bit hard to follow, well, the best way that I can explain it is that even if Rookwood can stop time, it won't apply to anyone who shows up before time is stopped, and he can't keep it stopped forever; his device has limitations just like our own."

"How exactly do we do that, though?" Neville asked. "Can't he just freeze us earlier if we show up earlier?"

"The assault will happen like this. It's a plan that was originally devised by Ron, and we can be sure that he would not have divulged it; he would have died first. When we are all together, each of us takes the Time Turner and goes a few minutes into the past, and then passes it on. The device can't be used whilst it's in use, but it can be used by multiple people at a time, and it can be handed off while in use. The plan is to take each earlier version of the Time Turner and pass its use between us until we have at least seven waves of us, each who are only going to be around for a few minutes at a time."

"Wait, if he can only freeze one place at a time, why do we even need time manipulation?" Michael asked.

"He's too clever to use the ability if he thinks more of us are waiting in the wings. That's why we can send the barn multiple times."

"What happens if we die while we're time traveling, though?" Blaise asked. "He's bound to kill a few of us."

"Those will all be future versions of ourselves that needn't trouble us," Hermione said. "Ron and I worked on a whole diagram of timelines; I can assure you that it's viable. I wouldn't have recommended something that could cause time itself to unravel."

"I don't think the Time Turners are even capable of that," Harry said. "That's probably an unintentional advantage to the fact that they're limited in scope. They wouldn't have given a teenager something that could have ended the universe."

"Wait, so is it only turning back time for a specific area?" Neville asked. "What if someone else walks into it?"

"It's not like that; it's more like you can only turn it back for as many people as can fit in the chain and there's only so far back you can go before it starts skipping. It would probably just crack down the middle if you tried anything absurd with it. The area limitation only applies to the prototype."

"I suppose we would have heard about it if the rest of the world suddenly stopped," Michael said.

"More or less," Blaise agreed. "There are more forces at work out there than just one department of the British Ministry and they could have detected a time freeze had it impacted them. Most likely, at the edge of the area of effect, things move more slowly."

"We have every reason to be confident in our plan for how to get there, and how to neutralize the advantages that most likely lie in wait," Harry said, looking over at Hermione, who nodded. Each of the wizards was at least reasonably practiced at Occlumency and if nothing else the secondary effects of the discipline should at least make them aware of the effect of the allure of Veela. There was no plausible way there were enough there that the witches could not take them out. Fleur, who was working with the Order, had confirmed that they were powerless while unconscious, and that the allure was something they actively used, primarily to protect themselves. In that context, and given that they were most likely innocent victims of Voldemort's machinations, the plan was to stun them and only kill them if they had some reason to think they were cursed to stay conscious. "What we need now is something that can account for all the things we can't have predicted."

"Well, we can't get outside help, not with things as they are all over the country," Neville said. "The recruits have been telling me that they've got their hands full with foreign criminals."

"Then the Dark Lord has figured out how to involve some part of the rest of the world without drawing the ire of decent people in other countries," Michael muttered. "Of course it would be something like that. Their governments are going to be quietly thanking him for ridding them of their worst nightmares, and they'll make sure to pursue a non-intervention policy, and actively keep their subjects to it. Even if they thought they could get something out of showing up here with an army- I don't know, Chester? - they still would be right back where they started with the dark wizards and regular criminals."

For once basically no one had anything to say back to the position of consistent negativity. They had long since ruled out the possibility of help from the rest of the world, but they had allowed themselves to believe that Voldemort would not enjoy any either. He was taking something of a risk in inviting their help, and it must have required some careful maneuvering that only the more subtle of his Death Eaters would be able to accomplish, but most likely the move was a net gain for him, even if something he only kept in his back pocket if he could not count on the native government any longer. Even if he could still win the war for public opinion, it was unrealistic to think he could snap his fingers and sic the Auror Corps on someone.

"We'll have time to coordinate and clean up the mess after Voldemort's dead," Harry said after a moment. "Everyone who worked with him internationally is going to be formally outed just like they were outed here, and they'll suffer the consequences that the public deems appropriate. Again, we're not supporting the mobs that wanted to kill people just for having used the phrase 'the Dark Lord' or for being related to someone who was helping him. Fundamentally, people like that don't want to go after actual criminals, because they're are dangerous, and it's much easier to go after thought criminals to stay away from the sharp side of the guillotine. As I said, though, that's a concern for after the war is over."

"We've gone over the main points of the strategy in previous discussions," Neville said. "Believe it or not, I remember everything we said, or at least my side of it. I just want to know this, though- what are we going to do if we see Ron there?"

"It's the same rule," he said, grateful for having practice with what it took to get the words out, if not what it took to practice. He shook his head. "It's the same rule as the Veela. If we can put him down harmlessly, that's what we'll do, but if not, we'll kill him. That's what he would want. I know it for a fact."

After having told the others the truth about the Horcruces and the earlier planning stages, and even those who had disagreed with him gained more respect for him after hearing that he would have died to accomplish the mission at Hogwarts, though they were all grateful there had been another way that time. No one was so stupid they thought that they had saved his life for nothing. Even if he had died the next day, no good deed ever failed to leave a mark on the soul, if nothing else.

"When are we doing this?" Michael asked.

"Getting restless?" Blaise asked

"I'd sooner put my affairs in order." He shrugged. "Go ahead and assume you'll live through it; I don't care."

"When Susan and Luna return, we'll be as ready as we'll ever be. We'll need Hermione and Daphne to be awake for the greatest length of time we can manage, because neither of them would otherwise be much use against Voldemort. You can't double team someone in Legilimency, and even if you could, it's not something I would want to authorize, not with the risks involved. There are weaknesses in our approach and we wouldn't want him to know. We'll have our memory charm expert erase everything we don't need to know, but even then we'll proceed carefully."

"Should the rest of us put our affairs in order?" Neville asked. "I wasn't planning on it. I just don't want to bet on it."

"I won't give you an order," Harry said. "We've got as good of a shot as we're getting, and even then we might die. It's actually optimistic to assume you won't be one of the ones who lives through it, because if anyone lives through this, I'll be thrilled, wherever I am. I'm not worried about it." He took a deep breath. The afterlife had not been described extensively, but he knew that there was a world between worlds, and everyone passed through there. He could only hope for some amount of clarity there.

"Well, I'll see you when you wake me up, I suppose," Hermione said. "I'm not able to detect for other Legilimens if I'm sleeping deeply."

"It won't matter. Tell Daphne that she needs to rest as well. The rest of us are going to follow suit."

Even as he said that, and everyone left the room other than Ginny, he had no confidence in his own ability to sleep, or at least not to wake up again after that.

"I hope you're not lying," she said. "You've been something of an example for me."

"I might have to take you up on your offer to knock me out."

"I know," she said. "I... it's impossible to describe how terrifying it is to anyone else, but I know what it's like to have him in your head, and I know that sometimes the Phoenix can... I'm sorry, even though you've said it, I still don't know what happened back then."

"My eyes were opened," he said. "It's not going to get any clearer than that." He shook his head. "I don't know virtually anything about what the Phoenix wants apart from how we're expected to behave, but I know it's not going to be easy. We're not going to have everything done for us, not anything that we can do ourselves."

"Anything that... we're at our limits. We can't tell if we'll come out of this alive or not. If this is possible for us, I'd hate to see what can't be done."

"When I'm asked to tell you something you want to hear, I'll let you know. The text is clear on this. We'll have to fight. It's not really-"

"I know," she said. "Ron said it. It's not really faith if you're just sitting around. That's just hoping. That's just wishing." She looked back at him after a moment. "There's a girl who really wants to hear something from you."

"I'll give it a shot," he said. "If we live through this, I'll take you wherever you want to go- Madam Puddifoot's, even, assuming that awful-"

"Please, anywhere but there," she said, looking down and then back up with her eyes. "It means a lot to me that you would go back there, though." She squinted. "You know, from afar, Cho didn't seem like the kind of girl who wanted to go there either."

"Quidditch wasn't really her nature acting itself out," he said after a moment. "I think it was more like a personal achievement thing, or maybe a family expectation that she would excel at everything."

"Oh, well, her parents should be proud that she managed to captivate the attention of the single coolest boy at school for... what was it, two years?"

"You were aware?"

"I was jealous. I wanted to see what kind of girl you liked, since you didn't like me at all."

"You could have done without the singing valentine. I was mortified."

"I didn't know what it would be like; I thought it was going to be something pleasant."

"I personally did loads of stupid stuff at that age so I honestly thought I was doing you a favor by forgetting it. I'd prefer if Ron and Hermione forgot a few things." His eyes widened as he frowned. "Actually, I'm not done making mistakes at all, so who knows, maybe I'll ask Luna-"

"Well, I don't care if I'm punishing myself, but I don't want to forget anything," she said, getting up from the table. "I don't have a lot going for me in terms of knowing who I am, so at least my memory being intact is going to have to do it for me." She looked back. "And just so you know, I'm a real Quidditch witch."

"Shut up," he said. "That's an order."

"I'll shut up when you go to bed. If this is the last thing I get to say to you it's going to be something impolite and not that funny."

"I don't know," he muttered, getting up so he could be above eye level with her again. "It was pretty amusing to see you run around acting like I was going to die. Then, in context, seeing you act like you're not afraid at all-"

It was hard to tell if she kissed him because she just wanted him to shut up, because in some way she appreciated his sense of humor, or because she had not been listening past a certain point and her thoughts had remained on the pain of losing him that seemed so likely on the horizon. Fortunately or otherwise, he did not need to know why, and he kissed her back. It was, probably, the nicest thing to happen in months.