The procuring of their second victim was laughably easy for the dark. Harry and Hermione had both been sure Dumbledore would want to check out the proposed meeting, and was unlikely to go alone, and of course they had been proved right. A back-up plan had been in place for the following day, but of course it hadn't been needed as the first plan had run exactly to plan.

Voldemort had arranged the meeting for somewhere they could gain access to before the time, and hours before the proposed meeting a Death Eater was secreted in a nearby house which offered perfect views of the graveyard. As such they'd been able to watch the Order arrive, and pass on the information to Voldemort. And then while Voldemort and half a dozen of his followers had made a big entrance and acted as though they were waiting for Harry to turn up, Bellatrix had snuck into the graveyard undetected and snatched one of the watching Order members. In actual fact the witch she had ended up taking had been one of the potential victims of their secondary plot.

Now the dark had a second victim ready to send back to the Order. Only before that could happen, Voldemort wanted the next target lined up. He knew Dumbledore wouldn't risk the same thing happening a second time, so this time they would have to take a prisoner from elsewhere. Also, given the fact Hermione hadn't been able to get home, and likely wouldn't be able to for a while, they didn't have up to the date information about the Order. Instead they would have to work with the information they already had, and target someone whose movements they already knew about.

Sorting out the next target was Voldemort's main priority, which was why he had called a meeting of his most trusted aides. Along with Lucius and Bellatrix, he was pleased that Severus Snape had been able to get away from Hogwarts for a few hours, and in recognition of the work he'd already done for the plan, he'd allowed Draco to join the group.

"Do you have any idea how things are with the Order?" Voldemort asked Severus. Technically Severus was still part of the Order, but with his school duties he didn't always get much chance to spend time with them. Luckily, he was trusted implicitly by Dumbledore and the headmaster often kept him abreast of developments.

"I don't know about the rest of the Order, but I do know Dumbledore is taking a lot of responsibility on his own shoulders," Severus replied. "He was the one who suggested a stake-out of the meeting, and even though everyone had already agreed that they were willing to take the risk of not letting Harry attend the meeting, I don't think he really expected any trouble. It didn't seem to occur to any of them that they would be putting themselves in the line of fire."

"He expected me to wait, and to then react," Voldemort said with a chuckle. "Although even if this wasn't all a plan, and I hadn't already known that Harry wouldn't be there, I still would have been prepared for a no-show."

"Well, one things for certain, he won't be caught out like that again next time," Severus advised. "You're going to need a different tactic to grab the next person."

"Which is why I wanted us all to discuss the matter," Voldemort said, addressing the reason he'd called the meeting. "We need to choose our next target, and know when we can get at them before I send the next body back to the Order. As Severus said, taking a victim the same night isn't going to work as the Order will be ready. Plus, I don't want them catching on that we already know that Harry is going to be a no-show."

"I guess the obvious solution is try the same tactic as we had in place for our back-up plan," Lucius mused. "We target someone whose work pattern we know."

"I was thinking a Professor might be a good route to go down," Voldemort admitted. "Plenty of Hogwarts staff have connections with the Order, and it would be a bloody good blow to Dumbledore to lose one of his staff."

"There is a Hogsmeade weekend scheduled for this weekend," Severus remarked. "That is if he doesn't cancel it. Given what is going on, he might not want to risk the risk to staff and students."

"That is a point," Voldemort muttered, hoping that his plans weren't going to be wrecked by Dumbledore's wariness.

"Surely the staff don't need a Hogsmeade weekend to go down to the village," Bellatrix argued. "Surely they must have a life outside of teaching."

"I never noticed it when I was in school," Draco snorted.

"And how much attention did you pay?" Severus shot back. "I'm sure you missed plenty while you were at school. And Bella is right, the staff often go down to Hogsmeade for a drink. In fact, we're about due to have our monthly head of house meeting and that often takes place down in the village."

"Do you think you can manipulate it so that it's held down at Hogsmeade this time?" Voldemort asked eagerly. "Any of your fellow heads would be perfect targets."

"I'll see what I can do," Severus promised. "But if we do this, I don't think we're going to be able to get near the school again. Dumbledore will certainly suspend Hogsmeade visits if one of the staff goes missing from the village."

"That doesn't matter," Voldemort said with a wave of his hand. "I don't intend to drag this out too long anyway, so there won't be a lot more victims."

"Isn't being unable to take anyone from Hogsmeade going to ruin our plans with the Weasley girl?" Draco asked in concern. "I thought we decided that she would be the victim that caused Harry to break ranks and meet you."

"But she isn't in school," Severus pointed out. "Dumbledore allowed her to go home when her brother went missing, and given there's his funeral to come, not to mention all this other drama, I don't think she's going to be back anytime soon."

"Don't worry young Draco, I had thought of all of that," Voldemort said, chuckling slightly at the sheepish look on the young wizard's face when he realised that he hadn't considered the consequences of their first victim being a Weasley. "I'm sure either Harry or Hermione can get her away from Order headquarters or The Burrow."

"I doubt Harry can considering that he's a virtual prisoner," Draco argued. "And wouldn't it put Hermione in danger if she's with a second Weasley and they go missing? People might get suspicious of her."

"I trust Hermione is devious enough to ensure no suspicion falls on her," Voldemort answered. "Besides, if she feels it's too risky and it can't be done, there are two other Weasleys just perfect for the taking. After all, the twins do own a shop right in the middle of Diagon Alley. I do think the girl will have more impact, but truthfully any Weasley will do to force the final confrontation. Although I want someone else before then, so do we have any other suggestions?"

For the next half hour other options were discussed and Voldemort eventually decided on a couple of potential targets. However, that was for the future, right now target number three needed to be secured before they set their next meeting with Harry. With attention turning back to their third target, it was decided that Severus would let them know if he managed to arrange the heads meeting to take place down in Hogsmeade. If that wasn't possible, he would then keep them up to date about a Hogsmeade weekend, and if that was also cancelled they would then re-think their plans. Even though Voldemort was keen to press on with the plans, he wanted to do so without messing up Harry and Hermione's scheme, and if that meant holding onto their second victim for a couple of days then so be it.

Standing in front of the mirror, Hermione checked out her bruised face with a wince. The aches and pains were fading significantly, but her face was currently turning from black and blue to yellow. By her estimation it would still be several days before her face was free from the effects of the attack she'd orchestrated. Although maybe when the bruises faded she could consider a brief trip home to check on the progress of the plan, and to see if her help was needed in any capacity.

Hermione had already decided that once the plan was in action, her trips home would be far less frequent. Firstly, she was trying to keep her father from seeing the full extent of her plan as even though he had known what it entailed and had given it the green light, she doubted he would have been happy to see her all bruised and in pain. But more importantly than that, she wanted to be around the Order as their plan took place just in case they didn't react as she and Harry had predicted and she needed to get an emergency message to her father. Although so far, that hadn't happened and all their predictions had come true.

"When do you think the next move will be?" Harry suddenly asked, reminding Hermione that she wasn't alone. Her best friend was currently sprawled across her bed as they'd discussed how their plan was working.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted, joining Harry on the bed. "Ron was delivered back in under two days, but they've had Tonks almost that long. I guess they're lining up their next victim, and this time they won't be as easy to get hold of."

"True," Harry agreed with a nod. "All this waiting is still frustrating though. I just want them to get to Ginny, so we can have the final showdown. I've got to let Dumbledore talk me out of at least one more meeting, maybe even two, and that will get harder to make convincing. Everyone may have agreed with him when Ron turned up, but will it be the same when Tonks comes back? The more people who are killed, the less people are likely to want to protect me."

"It will be interesting to see if the dynamics have changed the second time this happens," Hermione mused. "Especially with someone like Remus. He was more than willing to protect you last time, but will he be so keen now his girlfriend is gone."

"You mean will he blame me for her death," Harry snorted.

"In his grief, he might," Hermione replied with a shrug. "It was different with the Weasleys as you never had a chance to save Ron. But with Tonks, you could argue that had you gone to the meeting, she wouldn't have been taken. And Remus might struggle to get over that."

"You know, if this plan was real, it would be brutal," Harry remarked with a low whistle. "I would be so racked with guilt that eventually I would break and attend one of these meeting, no matter who the latest victim was."

"I have to admit, we did come up with a good plan," Hermione admitted with a chuckle. "Not that all of it was pleasant," she added with a wince as her laughter had caused her still aching side to throb.

"Do you need Madam Pomfrey to check you over?" Harry asked in concern, not wanting there to be any long term damage to his best friend.

"No, I'll be fine," Hermione assured him as she got to her feet. "Come on, let's head downstairs and see if there's been any news. Tonks has to turn up sooner rather than later."

Heading downstairs, they found the house was pretty quiet and the only person in residence seemed to be Sirius. The Weasleys had all returned home, although Bill and Charlie had asked to be contacted when Tonks turned up as they wanted to be kept abreast of what was going on. The only other regular person they would normally find at Grimmauld Place was Sirius's best friend, but he explained that Remus had gone to see Tonks parents to console them as no-one expected her to return alive. Harry hadn't attended the suggested meeting, and so Tonks had been snatched in retaliation, and when she as returned, she would no doubt have with her the details of another meeting.

Even though none of them were overly hungry, Sirius made them something to eat and they were just finishing their meal when a distraught Remus stumbled into the kitchen. Sirius immediately jumped up to comfort his friend, but Remus simply collapsed into his arms in tears. He was far too upset to talk, and it took Sirius almost fifteen minutes to get it out of him that Tonks body had been returned to her parent's house while he'd been there.

"Dumbledore's with Andromeda and Ted now," Remus explained as he finally started to calm down. "No doubt he'll be coming here afterwards."

"Was there a note?" Hermione asked.

"Tomorrow at midnight, the graveyard at Little Hangleton," Remus replied in a hollow voice.

"A pattern seems to be emerging," Sirius mused. "Although I guess it makes sense in a twisted sort of way. Graveyards are pretty quiet at the best of times, but especially at midnight."

"I'm sorry Remus," Harry said softly, reaching out to his former Professor. "I feel so bad. If I'd gone to that meeting, Tonks would still be here."

"And you would be dead," Remus said, taking Harry's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Tonks wouldn't have wanted that. She agreed to take the chance, we all did. No-one could have predicted they would be lying in wait to take one of us. None of us went to that meeting thinking we were in any danger. We all thought another attempted snatching would take place the next day."

"I suppose we know to be prepared this time," Sirius said. "Surely the logical thing to do is for everyone associated with the Order to be in a place of safety tomorrow night. I can accommodate as many people as needs be."

"I think Dumbledore had something like that in mind," Remus admitted. "It does make the most sense."

"No, what makes the most sense is me going to the meeting and saving everyone else," Harry argued.

"The situation hasn't changed, Harry," Sirius argued. "Everything Dumbledore said the other night still stands. We lost you, and we could well lose our chances of ever defeating him. No, you are staying put tomorrow night, even if I have to chain you to your bed."

"What happens if no-one is taken tomorrow night?" Hermione asked, jumping in before Harry felt forced to argue the issue. Chances were they would go over the same ground once Dumbledore arrived, and he would have to argue then, so she could save him some time and effort now.

"Then we're all on our guard the following day," Sirius answered with a shrug. "We all know what to expect now, and we're not going to make this easy for them, Hermione. The dark may think they have a pretty straightforward plan, but they're about to find they've been underestimating us, and that we won't go down without a fight."