Once Matthew had made his intentions clear and had fiddled around the controls at the Tardis' helm, Harry was sure that they would be hearing from Enola straight away. He stood in the console, eagerly rocking on the balls of his feet as he waited for her return. He was perhaps making it far too obvious as to how excited he was, when he'd planned to keep his feelings at bay. But Matthew was too busy working away on the panels and Hermione seemed to be focusing on her boyfriend, a frown on her face.

"How does it work?" Harry asked, not picking up on the reason for Hermione's concern. "Is it just like making a phone call? Does the Tardis have a phone number? Do you have to pay a bill? My uncle would always get mad if someone was using the phone for longer than he thought was necessary."

Matthew, evidently lost in his thoughts, snapped back to attention following the question. He looked fairly dazed, as if his eyes had lost focus until he'd returned to reality. Harry should have been focusing on that, focusing on whatever was troubling his friend, but the idea of being reunited with Enola captured his mind entirely. It was a problem that every teenage boy was made to go through, so he couldn't truly be blamed for being distracted.

"Hmm?" Matthew replied. "A telephone? It's a rather crude comparison, but I suppose it works. Although only another Tardis could contact us like this, and vice versa. Enola's smart. She knows that that means the conversation can't be traced, unless she's overheard. It's a bit like when an owl delivers a letter - sometimes, they just know instinctively where the recipient is. The other Tardis…Enola's Tardis…can sense mine, which allowed her to reach out in the first place."

"If you've had this at your disposal all this time, why haven't you brought it up before now?"

"Harry!" Hermione hissed, as if she were chiding a toddler for poor manners.

"What? I think that's a perfectly reasonable question. I'm worried that Matthew has been stalling things for months, just because he doesn't want to face Enola."

"And I think that's a perfectly reasonable position to take, given what he's been through and what their history is like."

"But he told me. He told me right before we left for Christmas that he was going to at least hear her out, that he wasn't going to stand in the way if she reached out for a second time. I'm starting to think that that was just an empty promise designed to appease me."

"You shouldn't be so cynical. Matthew's the one who just said that we're going to reply to her."

"Only because we happened to be here when he found out. He might have kept this to himself otherwise. Or maybe he's known all along and we weren't supposed to hear all that beeping."

"Can you stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" Matthew asked, rubbing painfully at his forehead. "One mention of her and we're instantly at each other's throats. I don't want to take that as a bad sign…"

"You can't go back on your word," Harry argued.

"I don't plan to, if you just give me a chance to explain everything. I know that you're worried about her. I know that you think each day that passes just makes it likelier that something has happened to her. That's probably why you're being so annoyingly tetchy right now."

"I wouldn't call it being tetchy."

"Then what would you call it?"

"...impatient. And I know that that's not much better, but it's all I've got to cling onto."

Matthew moved closer to him. "Harry, this is the first time that I've known Enola has been trying to speak to us through the Tardis. And I didn't even realise that that was a possibility."

"You didn't?"

"You've got to remember that, when I was sent from my home, this Tardis was the only one in existence. Enola's arrival obviously suggests that at least one more was made. With all that in mind, it's not as if I've ever had someone else to contact before now. I doubt my family even meant for it to be a function when the Tardis was first designed, but she's always been crafty, with plenty of tricks up her sleeve."

"...oh."

"So, we're good?"
"I feel like a bit of an idiot, to be honest, jumping down your throat like that."

"You were being a massive idiot, so it's a good job that I'm more than used to what you're normally like."

"I probably deserve that."

"There's nothing probable about it."

Matthew gave him a sweet and goading smile, though it was quick to disappear once he was facing the console again. Harry, meanwhile, tried to give Hermione an apologetic look following their brief and ill-judged spat, but she remained acutely focused on the behaviour of the other boy. Taking that as his cue, Harry followed the same course of action, watching as Matthew slowly and methodically managed the controls.

They'd seen the boy pilot the Tardis plenty of times. He tended to do so with gusto and bravado, forever a showman, if just for his small audience. Whilst there wasn't any chance that the ship was going to be put in flight for this particular situation, they still might have expected to see Matthew running around the platform, operating random switches whenever they took his fancy. Instead, he was rather sluggish now, staring at the same light that had been flashing just a few moments before.

Only then did Hermione look in Harry's direction, as if she could tell that he'd finally caught up. Perhaps that was what she'd been trying to do from the beginning, alerting Harry to the growing problem without saying it out loud, as if that would embarrass their target. For a few seconds, the two of them shared a silent conversation, debating who it would be who took on the responsibility of broaching the topic. Thankfully, for Harry at least, he wasn't in a relationship with the troubled boy, which meant there were some obligations he didn't have to attend to.

He was all too happy to take a step backwards as Hermione tentatively approached Matthew, who was now leaning against the console with both palms spread out in front of him. She grabbed his arm softly and his eyes drifted closed, showing the easy comfort that came from her touch. In that regard, Hermione was always going to be the best person to soothe him, even though he and Harry weren't afraid to share a hug from time to time.

"You're nervous," Hermione whispered.

"Can you blame me?"

"Not in the slightest."

"I was worried that, since you obviously view me as some dashing hero, you wouldn't like seeing me as some sort of emotional mess."

"Then it's a good job that I don't view you like that." She huffed in laughter at his offended look. "Yes, you can be a hero. Too much of one for your own good, which we know can have disastrous consequences. But you lay your heart bare for those you trust. After everything you've experienced, that's no mean feat. Especially now there's a chance that Enola took that same trust and used it against your family."

"I'm okay with being angry at her."

"Good. Because I'm hoping to have a few choice words with her too when the opportunity eventually arises. And some of those words might include one or two curses, though I haven't decided which ones yet."

"It's just…I haven't spoken to her in so long. This'll be the first time in years that I properly hear her voice. I can't help but build it up in my head. And…"

"And?"

"I'm worried that, as soon as I hear her voice, I'll be transported back in time. At least in the proverbial sense. I'll be reliving those times we shared together as kids, and all that anger I'm feeling will disappear. How do I deal with her if my feelings start to get confused?"

"By relying on Harry and I," she reminded him. "We're…outsiders to this, I guess. That means we can be objective. Within reason. She hurt you, or might have done, and I've already outlined that I won't necessarily be held accountable for my reaction when I see her."

Harry considered that point. Was he going to be objective when the time came? Or had Enola already left a lasting impact on him? She had, after all, saved his life. Then again, Matthew had done that on countless occasions. Did that mean he was going to be impartial? Was it actually about taking sides or trying to find common ground amongst all the shared history?

"It's a nice change of pace for you to be the protective one," Matthew said. "Normally I'm the one being all grandiose."

"Then you haven't been paying attention nearly as close enough," Hermione argued. "Because I'm always protective over you. Over both of you. My boys. I haven't let anyone come between us yet, and I'm not about to start. Regardless of how powerful and persuasive Enola might be."

"That's not a battle I'd like to see."

"Worried about me?"

"I'm more worried that I'll get caught in the middle of it."

"It's good to see you returning to your normal self after a momentary blip," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, I know that I've got to do this. Not just for my sake. There's every chance that Enola holds the key in saving Harry from the horcrux."

"I thought you said that you and Hermione might be enough," Harry pointed out. "What's changed?"

"Nothing, not really. But we'd be exposing you to a tumult of magic. An extremely potent one, and one that would likely activate the horcrux within you. We've seen what they're like when they're under threat. If it was to react negatively to the exposure…"

"...it'd probably kill me in the process, yeah."

"And I know you're of the opinion that it'd be a worthy sacrifice if it meant the horcrux was gone, blah blah blah. But I'm not standing for that. We need as much power as we can get our hands on, and Enola has that in bucket loads."

"Except she doesn't want to leave Voldemort's side. We wouldn't have to be doing this stupid dance now if she'd just come with me in the first place."

"Then it's your job to convince her otherwise."

"My job?"

"Why should I do all the heavy lifting? She's evidently taken a shine to you, so use that to your advantage. There's too much history between me and her for anything I say to be persuasive enough. It's up to you, Harry. If she's as nice as you claim, then she'll do whatever it takes to save your life. If she makes an excuse not to get involved, then we'll have our answer about who she really is. And I'll do the classic 'told you so' dance, which I'm sure you don't want to be on the end of."

Harry had witnessed that far too many times and he wasn't about to give Matthew another chance to show off. He nodded his head resolutely. When he'd spoken to Enola up to that point, there'd been the occasional bump in the road. Such as her unleashing the full fury of her powers to teach him a lesson. But he liked to think that, since they'd navigated those obstacles, that suggested that she would be willing to listen to him. And if she didn't?

Well, it would likely be her life on the line as well as his, based on the anger Matthew and Hermione already felt towards her.

"Do it then," Harry said. "There's no point in messing around."

"Oh, it's been ringing ever since I first pressed the button," Matthew told him. "It's a waiting game now."

"But…you…you watched me and Hermione debating what to do…you started banging on about your nerves…"

"The same nerves that would have stopped me from doing this if I hadn't gotten it out of the way immediately. As soon as I figured out what was going on, I returned the call, so to speak. Otherwise, I would have just chickened out."

"You're unbelievable."

"I thought you'd be happy!"

"I feel as if I need more time to prepare!"

"You're speaking to a girl, for Merlin's sake. You're not taking on Voldemort."

"I think I'd rather do that, based on how funny my stomach is feeling."

Hermione pinched his cheek. "It's nice to see you acting like a normal boy, Harry. If only this situation wasn't completely abnormal."

Harry felt like he was sweating. The issue was that he'd learnt to face every problem that came his way with a wand in his hand, so when that was no longer applicable, he felt remarkably exposed. He wondered how Matthew must have been coping, seeing as this was surely a bigger deal for him. His friend had already shown that the potential reunion was affecting him, but even he looked to be more composed than Harry was now.

Perhaps down to his panic, or because he'd been so righteously frustrated a few moments before, Harry hadn't picked up on the soft beeping that was emanating from the Tardis. It was a subtle noise, belying the severity of what was to come. Harry only truly noticed it once it was gone, for it was a sudden absence that caught all their attention. In an instant, the cavernous chamber was a space of silence as they waited for the response.

"Hello?"

The three of them froze at the sound of the voice. Hermione and Matthew were quickly looking at Harry, as if they needed him for confirmation. It was true that he'd been the last one to see Enola, which meant he was the only one of the three who could possibly tell if it was that particular girl who was speaking now. Had so much time passed that Matthew couldn't recognise her voice? Or was he just stalling to properly prepare himself for the conversation?

"Hello?" the same voice echoed.

Once Harry gave a nod of his head, Matthew grimly returned the expression before looking down at the console. Again, he hesitated, though this time Hermione left him on his own, as if she knew that he needed to make this step alone. As a few more seconds ticked by, Harry grew unsure as to whether he was actually going to have the strength to go through with it. Until Matthew was resolutely setting his face into a look of determination, a fist clenched against the controls.

"Enola," he said gravely at last.

There was a pause. It was far more prolonged than Harry had anticipated. From what he'd seen from the young woman, she was a bombastic character, refusing to back down, even when faced with the likes of Voldemort. Her own hesitancy now suggested that she was just as nervous as Matthew, again highlighting how similar the two of them were. Harry doubted that Matthew would be too happy to hear that at the moment.

"It's you, isn't it?" she eventually replied. "Matthew."

"Would you expect anyone else? You're the one who contacted my Tardis."

Harry couldn't help but be a little disappointed, however. Having not known what form the ship's communication relay would take, he'd envisaged Enola appearing before them, akin to the way she'd spoken to him through the letter. There was no such luck this time around, with her voice being the only thing to greet them. He shouldn't have been so preoccupied with seeing her, but he told himself that a visual test would have been the easiest way to confirm that she was alright.

There was obviously no other reason.

"Your voice…it's so very different."

"That's what tends to happen when years go by."

"And yet it's still somehow the same. There's a weight to it now…and an anger, for sure…but I knew straight away that it had to be you. Not just because you'd be the only one stupid enough to call me back."

Matthew raised his eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?"

"Do you understand how reckless that choice was?"

"As I've already made clear, you were the one to instigate this."

"Yes, because then I could control when this conversation was held. I'm sure you've been told about who I'm currently with. If they were to hear my ship making a suspicious noise, then that would have raised alarm bells. You're lucky that I was close by, so that I didn't have to make any excuses for my absence."

"If you're wanting me to feel sorry for you, then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. You've chosen to be a spy, if that's what you're really doing. With that, you'll know that your life is constantly on the line. You've made your bed."

"Do you really not care about what happens to me?"

Since Enola's face wasn't there to be a distraction, Harry instead focused on his best friend. Matthew's jaw tightened in response to his question, and he looked as if one more irritating comment would see him end the call. Harry had never seen someone prove to be so effective in getting under his skin. Matthew had always been able to bat away the likes of Draco Malfoy, but Enola Karstark was evidently a much greater opponent.

"Absolutely not."

"You never were a good liar," she replied with a laugh. "How long has it been for you? How long has it been since you last saw me?"

"Long enough."

"And yet you still made me wait. I've been trying to reach you for weeks! Do you want to explain the delay?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you. I don't owe you anything."

"Maybe I was wrong about you changing…because I never once heard you speak so coldly in the past."

"That should at least prove that you don't have a clue as to who I am, so stop pretending otherwise."

Enola was surprisingly quick to relent. "Fine. If you simply want to get down to business, so be it."

"At last, something that we can agree on."

"If you're calling me, that means you need something from me."

"You called first. That means you need us for something."

"Is this how it's going to be? How long are we going to do this dance for?"

"For as long as need be."

"You know, I almost thought that you'd be happy to see me again. Or at least, hear from me. Just ask Harry about how disappointed I was when you were supposedly dead, or how elated I was when that was proven to be false."

Much to his dismay, Harry found that Matthew was now looking at him, seeking confirmation on that point. He'd much preferred it when he was able to sink into the background, watching the spectacle of their contest unfold.

He nodded his head, which didn't seem to be the response that Matthew was looking for. "She's right."

"Oh, is Harry there?" Enola asked gleefully.

"He doesn't need to be a part of this," Matthew argued.

"Of course he does! This is all about him. The Dark Lord is completely obsessed with him. Not a day goes by without Harry Potter's name being cursed."

"And are you one of those cursing his name?"

"If just to keep up appearances. I've got to look like a Death Eater, otherwise I won't be alive by the time you're wanting another of these chats."

"But you're not a Death Eater?"

"What do you think of me, Matthew? Do you really think that I'd support such a man?"

"Frankly, Enola, I don't have a clue what to think when it comes to you. I'd much rather keep you at arm's length, maintaining this level of distance between us and you."

"I'm sensing a 'but' on the horizon."

"But…there's a small chance that we're going to need you."

"You can't even say it without adding a caveat, can you?"

"I don't rightly want to believe it."

"But you're putting Harry's life above any ill feelings you might have towards me," Enola surmised. "Now that's more like the boy I knew. I knew he was hidden away somewhere."

"You automatically assume that this is about Harry…"

"Isn't it?"

"The horcrux."

"The one I discovered inside him. You're welcome, by the way. You've been with him for years but couldn't sense it within him, whilst I detected it almost straight away. You must be slacking."

"Or you're more powerful than me."

"Was that a compliment?"

"An indictment on the fact that you got to spend more time around natural pure magic than I did. I don't have to go into details about how that's the case."

"Matthew…whatever you believe about what happened back then…

"No," he said firmly. "We're not going to discuss that now. You don't…you don't get to control that conversation. And you're especially not going to do it when I can't look you in the eye."

"Okay," came the soft response. "I understand."

"Right now, we just need to focus on Harry."

"It's one of the main reasons why I was trying to get in touch in the first place. Voldemort's goals have shifted, at least for the time being."

"How so?"

"He was there when I made the discovery, when it was revealed that Harry is a horcrux. That means he knows he's vulnerable."

"And it means Voldemort knows that we know he's using horcruxes to keep himself alive," Hermione reasoned.

"And who might that be?"

Hermione blushed, having kept quiet right up until that point. Even without seeing her, they could tell that Enola was wearing a smirk. It was like she was somehow scanning Hermione despite the fact that she wasn't there, and Harry could tell from Matthew's sobering expression that he was feeling acutely protective over his girlfriend.

"Never you mind," he said.

"I deserve to know who I'm speaking to."

"You don't deserve anything. I've made that perfectly clear. Hearing you out is basically a courtesy at this point, so don't push your luck."

"You just said that you need me, Matthew. Are you really ready to risk pushing me away?"

"I'm Hermione," the girl in question spoke up.

She was moving to join Matthew by the console, with the boy giving her a pointed look that was supposed to keep her away. As always, Hermione was one of the few people who was willing to completely ignore him, and she resolutely stood by her side. Even so, Harry could tell that there was an anxiousness permeating off her, as if this was a test that she was having to pass. He wouldn't have put it past Enola for that to be the case.

"Hermione," Enola echoed. "Granger, isn't it? The Mudblood. That's what they call you here."

"I'd warn you against using that term in front of me," Matthew spat. "Or this call will be cut short, no matter what help you can provide."

"I'm simply sharing the only context I have of her. It's not as if I believe that the purity of blood defines the power a person possesses. We both know that it is the purity of magic that they contain that controls everything."

"They…speak about me?" Hermione wondered. "The Death Eaters?"

"Is that really a surprise?"

"I'm not important. Not compared to Harry."

"Weren't you captured once by Voldemort and his lackeys? They barely speak about the incident, out of shame, but I hear the occasional whispers. If you're important enough to face his personal wrath, then you're a key player in this game, Hermione. And you must be close to Harry…and Matthew."

If Enola had been there, then Harry would have been scarpering away if just to protect himself. Even with her being hundreds of miles away, he still felt the air dancing with electricity, as if something was about to happen. Dark magic and evil wizards were a walk in the park, but getting in between the ex and the current girlfriend? You were dicing with death by that stage.

"I am," Hermione told her. "And even Voldemort isn't strong enough to keep me away from them."

"I'm glad to hear that, if just because it's good to know that…Matthew found someone in the end. He's rubbish at being alone."

"We're getting off track," the boy interjected, apparently not wanting an analysis of his life to take place, which seemed like a reasonable request. "You were telling us about Voldemort and his horcruxes."

"Deflecting?"

"I don't care if I'm obvious."

"The Dark Lord is now acutely aware of the fact that he's exposed, and he has been taking the necessary precautions in the months since you last saw him."

"Which entails…?"

"I don't think he intends to create any other horcruxes, if that's what you're worried about. He wanted seven because he believed that that's the optimal number. Now that there's an extra one in the form of Harry, he's of the opinion that he's stretching his powers too thin as it is. He's started to claim that his past defeats are down to the fact that he's had a part of his power stolen from him."

"Ha!" Harry exclaimed, forgetting that he was supposed to be remaining quiet. "He just can't handle the fact that he's been beaten by a kid loads of times. And it's not like I stole it. He's the one responsible for putting the horcrux inside me, accident or not."

"Be that as it may, it's the line he's taking. The issue that concerns you and your efforts to stop him is that he's even more protective over the horcruxes he still has control over. Before you ask, I don't know where they are or what they are. Telling me would go against this cover of secrecy he's operating under. But…if I was a betting woman…I wouldn't be surprised if one was hidden right under your noses at Hogwarts. He might want to kill you all, but his desperation to get into that school runs deeper. I think he's scared that you're going to stumble across something."

"Hogwarts is a pretty big place," Matthew pointed out. "It's a clue, but a rather poor one."

"It's the only one I can give you, at least in terms of the horcruxes."

"Meaning you've got something for us that isn't related to them?"

"Always as sharp as a tact. I'm getting murmurings that he's winning the goblins to his side."

"Goblins?" Harry hissed.

"You know what they're like. They're only loyal to the highest bidder, and money is something that Voldemort possesses in bucket loads."

"But why would he be focusing on winning their favour?"

"Because the goblins control everything," Matthew explained on Enola's behalf. "As in they control our money. If they were to shut off Gringotts…there'd be riots. And people would be quick to side with Voldemort if it meant they were reunited with their gold. Sadly, that's the way the world works. But no, they wouldn't do that. It's in their best interests to remain neutral at best."

"I can only tell you what I've heard, and the Dark Lord definitely has an interest in goblins. What that means for you, I'm not so sure."

"Is that everything?"
"Isn't that enough?"

"Not enough to have him dead by the morning, as I'd like."

"The only way you're going to kill him is by getting the horcrux out of Harry. Worrying about anything other than that right now is a massive waste of time. And I imagine that's where I come in."

Matthew leaned forward. "You've come to the same conclusion?"

"You want to use pure magic to overwhelm the dark shard currently cutting through Harry. I hoped to do it by myself but that wasn't possible, and if it's still there, then that proves that you're just as lacking as I was. You're missing the obvious, though."

"Which is?"

A brief pause. "You need me there in person, don't you?"

Matthew gritted his teeth. "Sadly."

"Don't be like that. I'm already risking my life by speaking to you. Making that trip would be signing the death warrant. There'd be no going back. I wouldn't be able to return to Voldemort. You'd lose your one source inside his camp."

"You said it yourself, everything else is pointless if we don't take care of Harry. So…"

"...so…are you going to ask me?"

"Do I have to?"

"For old time's sake, if nothing else."

"We need you here, Enola. Can we rely on you?"

"That's still to be determined. I'll have to wait for the perfect opportunity to get away. If I were to up and leave, the Dark Lord would know what I've done. I'm hoping it won't be much longer. Largely because I can't wait to see you again."

"I wish the feeling was mutual."