Author's Note:

I just discovered this site has deleted the scene break separators from several of my chapters. I thought it was just the newer chapters, but that would make too much sense.

I've replaced the set of characters I was using with horizontal lines in the affected chapters: 28, 46, 48, 52, 53. I'll be using a horizontal line from now on, until that stops working too. (This site, man. A little worse every year.)

Anyway, venting over. Enjoy the new chapter.

Update: For consistency, I updated all published chapters to use horizontal lines for line breaks.

Neville was glad he'd resisted his Gran's wish for him to stay home for the last week of the term. Even so, with that last week now almost over, he was looking forward to putting the school year behind him.

Talking with Harry and the others had helped him start to wrap his mind around his experience in the graveyard, and the impossible role he or Harry or both were destined to play in the fight still to come. But to really sort through it all, he needed to spend some time alone in the family greenhouse, reflecting on things while he tended to his plants. Hopefully by September, he'd be ready to begin learning how to face danger like a proper Gryffindor, by fighting back.

When Harry approached him in the common room after dinner to ask for a word in private, Neville assumed he and the others wanted to talk more about their Hogwarts misadventures, perhaps to go over details they'd forgotten to include. It had been a lot to try to fit into a single conversation.

Harry led him to a corridor on the third floor, where Hermione, Ron, and Ginny waited near a statue of a hump-backed witch.

Harry turned to him and asked, "Feel like taking a little trip?"

With a jolt, Neville realized they all had their faces set in their someone needs to do something expressions. He'd seen them like this a few times before over the years, but this time, they wanted him to join them. The thought was terrifying. He'd asked them to include him, but already? What could he do? He hadn't received a single extra Defense lesson yet.

And then Sirius Black appeared, as he ended the Invisibility Spell he must have cast on himself.

Neville hadn't gotten a good look at the man the night he'd broken into their dorm room, hunting for Ron's rat. The entire episode had been too dark and chaotic. By the next time he'd seen him, Harry and his friends had already managed to prove his innocence by capturing Pettigrew. This had the effect of making Harry's godfather and the notorious escaped convict seem like two separate people.

Seeing Sirius Black now though, lurking in a dark, out-of-the-way corridor, obviously a part of whatever Harry had brought Neville along for… There was something about the man's eager, manic grin which truly connected him for the first time in Neville's mind with the laughing maniac from the wanted posters.

Harry greeted his godfather, then turned to mutter something at the statue of a witch. The statue's hump opened to reveal a short slide down a tunnel.

Neville hesitated before climbing in with the others, but told himself that if he decided he wanted no part of whatever they were doing, he could always climb right back out again. He wasn't irrevocably committing himself yet.

When they'd all gone down the slide, Harry looked at him and said, "I guess you're wondering where we're going."

"Yeah."

"The Department of Mysteries. Specifically, the Hall of Prophecy."

"Prophecy? But… we all promised Dumbledore to wait to hear the rest."

Harry grinned. "And we're going to keep our promise. In fact, we're going to keep it extra hard. You see, we're not going to listen to the orb with our prophecy. We're going to destroy it, so no one can hear the rest."

His godfather said, "When Dumbledore asked us to make that promise, he almost had me convinced to wait and see how things develop. But I could also understand your grandmother's side. And then she asked me how I felt about all the secret-keeping." He grimaced. "I have a bad history with that word."

Neville asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I knew he wouldn't budge. He rarely does. He always has his reasons, but this time he's wrong. Or rather, he's wrong about the best way to go about it. If a secret is dangerous, you don't try to keep it hidden. That never works. You destroy it, if you can. At least this copy. Dumbledore will still know it, but he can take care of himself–even when it comes to Voldemort."

"What about his theory that Riddle wants me or Harry to seek the rest of the prophecy?"

Ron chimed in. "If your opponent is trying to lead you to do one thing, you should always consider doing the opposite."

"Okay, but wouldn't the opposite be if we all stayed away from it altogether?"

Neville winced at his own words. Nobody had complained yet about all his questions, but he hated sounding like a coward in front of them. He avoided looking at Hermione, so he wouldn't have to see how disappointed she must be in him. It helped to remind himself of Dumbledore's words about how much bravery it takes to stand up to your friends. If there was ever a time for that, it was when those friends might be walking into danger when they didn't have to.

Black replied, "Riddle would never expect us to act so soon. That's why it's brilliant! Let's say Dumbledore was right about why Riddle told you about the prophecy. Riddle would have considered it as being like planting a seed, in the hope that seed might grow with time, while he sat back and waited for the right time to pluck the fruit."

Neville idly wondered if Black knew of his fondness for Herbology, and had chosen the metaphor accordingly.

Black continued, "Riddle and Dumbledore both scheme and plan over months or even years. Just look at Riddle's long, drawn-out, complicated plans for the Triwizard Tournament. Thinking like that seems to be a failing of older wizards." He broke into a grin. "Unlike strapping young fellows like me and Harry, who know how to strike quickly and decisively!"

Harry rolled his eyes somewhat at the last part, but said, "Sooner or later, Riddle will get tired of waiting and send someone else after the prophecy. We have to act first, and we have to do it now. The term is coming to an end. It'll be a lot harder for everyone to sneak away and get together once we leave Hogwarts for the summer."

Neville asked, "Why do we need so many people, if there's no danger?"

Black answered, "The Hall of Prophecy is big. The more people we have searching for the orb we want, the quicker we can get out of there without the Ministry catching us."

"I don't know. Dumbledore wanted to slow things down, so Harry and I would have more time to prepare. This feels like escalating and speeding things up."

Harry glanced in Hermione's direction, and not for the first time during the conversation. Neville still couldn't bring himself to look at her. Harry and his godfather were being polite and answering his questions, but Hermione must be fuming at him for his hesitation.

Harry said, "The specific thing Dumbledore wanted to slow down was Riddle learning the rest of the prophecy. That's what we're doing, but by acting, rather than just hoping. We also discussed Dumbledore's idea of catching Riddle at the Ministry to prove he's back, but that seems like a stretch."

"That was never going to work," agreed his godfather. "Riddle is hiding from the Ministry, which makes it the last place he'd show his ugly face. Not when it's easier for him to Imperius a Ministry employee, or send his pet Polyjuice addict to pose as one."

Black must have seen that Neville's doubts persisted, because he went on, "The day of the third task, I snatched Harry away from right under Riddle's nose. Well, you know, if he still had one. I acted fast, rather than waiting for the full threat to appear. And doing so kept Riddle from getting Harry, or his blood, which was the one thing he wanted most. I'm sorry for what happened to you that day because of it, but I'm going to make it up to you. That's part of the beauty of what we're doing tonight. Riddle wants you to get the prophecy for him. If the copy you can get at no longer exists, he'll have no reason to come after you again. What we're doing solves the problem for good."

"What if Riddle finds out we were the ones who destroyed the orb, and assumes we listened to it first?"

"Thank you!" exclaimed Hermione. "I asked the same question. I asked most of the others too, and more besides, but that's the one which points at the biggest flaw in this crazy plan."

At that, Neville finally dared to look at her, and found her scowling at Harry rather than him. She didn't appear too disappointed in him for raising so many objections after all.

Black argued, "We'll be so stealthy, no one will know who did it."

Hermione folded her arms, shaking her head.

Seeing this, he added, "Though if anyone does figure it out, we'll make sure word gets back to Riddle that we never heard the prophecy. Maybe we'll let a Death Eater's kid conveniently overhear Harry mentioning it. You can always find a way to leak information. Secrets get out even when you don't want them to, which is why we have to destroy this one. And we have to strike now, tonight, before Riddle gets a chance to set his plans in motion."

Harry exchanged looks with Ron and Ginny. "Funny you should mention letting a Death Eater's kid find out."

He walked a short distance further along the tunnel, then stopped to lean over and reach towards the floor. He closed his fingers and lifted what turned out to be an Invisibility Cloak, revealing an unconscious Draco Malfoy.

Neville stared at their classmate, as Hermione and Black exclaimed in surprise.

Harry rushed to explain. "This is our witness. Let Riddle poke around in Malfoy's head to find out what happened. Better him than one of us."

"This wasn't the plan," said his godfather.

"No, it certainly wasn't," agreed Hermione.

Harry said, "Well… it wasn't not the plan. Hermione even complained about how that part was too vague to consider the whole thing a proper plan."

"Don't play word games," she snapped.

Ginny gestured at Neville, "Crouch and Riddle took one of ours first."

"We're lettings those two set our ethical standards now, are we?" demanded Hermione.

"If that's what it takes to beat them. Because if you want to argue about ethical standards, I have one of the oldest on my side: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

"No. We can't start playing by their rules. It still matters how we win."

"Not as much as that we win. Because if we don't, everyone will wind up living under their rules."

Harry's godfather's face took on a haunted expression. "Ginny has a point. I've lived through times like that. None of you are old enough to remember, but I sure do. The Dementors found nothing to their taste in those memories. We need to get in whatever strikes we can while Voldemort is still assembling his forces. I shouldn't have been so flippant earlier. I've thought about this a lot, and I'm not doing it on a lark. If I could go by myself, I would. But from what little I've been able to find out about the Hall of Prophecy, I may need Harry or Neville along to retrieve the prophecy before I can destroy it. The rest of you can still back out. Even you, Neville. You and Harry don't both need to go."

Hermione scowled at Ginny. "This was your idea, wasn't it? And you went to Harry and not me, because you knew it would be easier to convince him."

Ginny looked away. "You weren't around. You must have been in the library or something when we discussed it."

Hermione scoffed and turned to Ron. "Were you in on this, too?"

"What's the big deal?" he asked. "It's Malfoy. You didn't seem too worried about knocking out Crabbe and Goyle in second year."

"We just shoved them in a closet. We didn't take them out of the castle!"

Ginny said, "At least we're going to bring him back, rather than dumping him somewhere, leaving his family without even a body to bury. That was how I almost ended up, thanks to the Malfoys, so I'd say we're being awfully generous in comparison."

Everyone was silent for a long moment, until Hermione said, "Everything that happened to you, or could have happened, was because of Draco's father. Not Draco."

"Rotten apples don't fall far from the tree. Draco was all in favor of the attacks by Slytherin's monster, and not shy about saying so. Don't think for a minute he'd have shed any more tears than his father for a blood traitor like me."

Black added grimly, "I doubt he inherited much good from his mother's side of the family either. Narcissa isn't the girl I remember growing up with. I'm not saying her views back then were what you'd call progressive or enlightened, but at least she wasn't so damn firm in her convictions."

Hermione asked, "So you're okay with this too, now? Draco believes some truly abhorrent things, but that doesn't justify kidnapping."

He looked down at the unconscious Slytherin. "It's not ideal, but he won't be in any danger. If I didn't think this was safe, I wouldn't bring any of you."

"Besides," Ginny argued, "it's not like Death Eaters would attack one of their own."

Black held up a hand. "Whoa. Let's not go that far. You need to be cautious of anyone who comes from a family like the Malfoys, but that doesn't make Draco a Death Eater. Don't push too hard on someone who might still be on the fence. When I was your age, I thought the sides were nice and clear too, but now… You all seem so damn young. Including Draco."

He turned to Harry. "Not every kid from a bad family is beyond hope. At least not if they have somewhere else to go, like your father and grandparents gave me."

Harry said, "It's not the same. You wanted out. You got sorted into Gryffindor! Malfoy is happy being exactly who his parents expect him to be. You haven't heard the way he talks about Muggle-borns. And that's not the word he uses for them."

His godfather grimaced. "I can imagine."

Ginny said, "Listen, the optimists among us can look forward to the day when Malfoy sees the error of his ways. In the meantime, can we go do this? The night isn't getting any younger."

Black considered Draco for another long moment before agreeing. "Fine. But you should have told me, Harry. I know someone choosing to ask for forgiveness rather than permission when I hear it."

Harry said. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

Hermione threw up her hands in resignation, and said nothing further.

Black addressed the entire group. "Okay, listen everyone. I don't expect to get caught, but we need to have our story straight, just in case. The Ministry isn't ready to accept Voldemort's return yet, so we won't mention that. The part we can say, which happens to be true, is that Dumbledore told Harry and Neville about a prophecy involving one of them, but wouldn't reveal the whole thing. They both wanted to hear the rest, but it got destroyed by accident before we could listen to it. I agreed to escort you because I was afraid otherwise the lot of you would go on your own, and get into trouble."

Neville said, "Sorry, maybe I missed this part, but I don't think they let people just walk into the Department of Mysteries, prophecy or not."

"True, but I know a way in. If we get caught–which we won't–but if we do, none of you should get in much trouble, since you're underage. And they won't come down too hard on me, after having wrongly imprisoned me once already. Not to mention my favorable public image these days, after my generous contribution to the Yule Ball. Generosity works wonders, and the worst that'll happen is I might need to extend my generosity to a few Ministry officials."

He paused and looked at Draco. "Although bringing Draco could complicate matters."

Harry said, "We'll say he must have found a way to follow us. It wouldn't be the first time."

"I guess that could work… if we all stick to it," agreed Black, eyeing Hermione.

Just then, Luna Lovegood came walking down the tunnel from the other direction. Everyone froze.

Luna gave them a puzzled look. "Was I supposed to meet you all here?"

"No, Luna," answered Ginny.

"Oh, okay then." She looked at Malfoy lying on the ground.

Harry said, "Uh, we can explain."

"Can you? Sounds fun. I can hold my breath and swim underwater really far."

Hermione asked, "What's that got to do with anything?"

Luna blinked at her. "I thought we were sharing facts about ourselves to get to know each other better."

Without waiting for an answer, she walked over to Malfoy, drew her wand, and cast a tickling charm. When nothing happened, she said, "Well, that was disappointing."

"What were you expecting?" asked Ginny.

"I've always wondered what the school motto was all about. Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. Never tickle a sleeping Draco."

"No, 'Draco' is Latin for 'dragon'," Hermione told her. "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."

"How can we be sure? They're spelled the same way, after all. Perhaps the motto means you shouldn't bother, because it would be a waste of time? Hmm. Seems oddly specific."

Before Hermione could pursue the argument further, Harry asked, "Luna, how did you know about this secret passage?"

She looked around at the group. "Is it a secret? It doesn't seem like a very well-kept one."

"Fair point," he admitted.

Luna smiled and nodded and started to continue on past them, but stopped in front of Black and peered up at him.

"Do you like blinds?" she asked.

"Pardon? Blinds?"

"Yes, Venetian blinds. Do you like them?"

"Uh, I suppose so. Why?"

"You seem like the sort of person who wouldn't get along well with drapes. They might even be curtains for you." Having expressed that opinion, she resumed walking away.

Ginny called after her. "We should hang out over the summer. I mean, if you're at home and not traveling with your father."

"That sounds lovely," Luna called back. "I don't think daddy will be up for much traveling, as he's already so far away."

After she passed out of sight, Black said, "She seems… nice."

"She is. Very much so," confirmed Ginny. She gave him a steady look, waiting to see if he would comment further.

"Okay… Is she going to report us?"

"Luna? Hardly. I doubt she even found the situation unusual."

"Right, then. Let's do this."

"You coming, Neville?" asked Harry. "You said you wanted to be part of things from now on."

"You're all still going? After everything we've talked about?"

"Absolutely," Harry answered without hesitation. "All we've done since Riddle returned is talk, talk, talk. I'm done talking. It's time to act."

Hermione stepped closer to Neville. "Like I said, I asked the same questions you did, and more besides. But since I failed to convince them, someone sensible has to go to keep them out of trouble. Or more likely, pull them out once they've already stumbled into it."

Ron said, "And if they're going, of course I am."

"Yeah, same here," agreed Ginny. "Also because Harry is right. Riddle is back, and no one is doing anything about it."

Ron added, "Besides, if Ginny gets killed, mum would make sure I followed soon after."

"Of course. I'm the family favorite."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Black said, "No one is getting killed. It's not like we're going to find a bunch of Death Eaters running around the Department of Mysteries. Not this soon, at least. Like I said, just look at how they faffed about all year with the Tournament. There might be dangerous artefacts down there though, so don't touch anything. In fact, don't even go near anything which looks weird or gives off bad vibes."

Hermione said, "This place doesn't sound as safe as you've been making it out to be."

He gave her a puzzled look. "We'll be fine as long as we don't touch anything. Since we all know not to do that, what's the problem?"

She shook her head. "I'll never get used to the way the wizarding world has such different ideas about risk tolerance than I'm used to."

"You might be onto something there. I remember Lily making similar remarks. She thought it came from us having more advanced medicine than the Muggles. And fewer lawyers."

"Anyway," said Harry, growing impatient. "I'd love to hear more about my mum's thoughts on the differences between the two worlds, but this isn't the time. What do you say, Neville? You in?"

"It would be perfectly reasonable if you refused," Hermione told him.

Neville knew he wasn't ready. Not if anything went wrong. But he looked around at Hermione's closest friends, and wondered how much time she had in her life for anyone who was perfectly reasonable. He felt less awkward about asking questions since learning she'd done the same, but in the end, she was still going anyway.

"I'm in," he told them.

"That's the spirit," Black said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thank you for including me, Mister Black."

"I've known a lot of men named 'Mister Black', but never met a decent one. Call me 'Sirius'."

"Oh. Okay. Sirius."

"Good. Let's be on our way."

Hermione cast a charm to cause Draco to rise from the tunnel floor and float beside them, though she didn't look happy to be doing it.

They set off down the tunnel, Draco in tow.

As they walked, she asked Sirius, "Is Remus meeting us there?"

"Ah, no. He was busy tonight," he replied, without turning to look at her.

"Busy? You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Well, I tried to, but he wanted no part of it."

"Did you tell him you were still planning on doing it anyway?"

"It would have led to a whole big argument which would end up going nowhere. If he wouldn't hear me out on the basic idea, it's not like he'd be able to give good constructive criticism. Don't worry, you and Neville filled the role admirably, and the plan is much stronger for it."

Hermione sighed but continued walking.

They reached the other end of the tunnel, which let out into the cellar of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. The shop was empty, but Harry used his Cloak to once again conceal the unconscious Malfoy anyway.

"Wait here," Sirius told them. "I'll Apparate to our destination alone first to check it out. I'll be right back."

When he returned, he Apparated the students, two at a time, to an alleyway near the Ministry of Magic's underground location in a rather shabby business district in London.

"That's so handy," remarked Hermione in a quiet voice when they were all gathered once more. "I wish we didn't have to wait until we're seventeen."

Sirius was busy glancing warily up and down the alley, and gave a hasty, distracted answer. "Seventeen to get a license, but it wouldn't hurt for you all to learn sooner, for emergencies. I'll try to arrange lessons."

He hurried to the end of the alley to peer out into the street, making sure it remained empty. When he returned, he checked under the Cloak to make sure Draco was still unconscious, then studied the bricks in the wall they had appeared next to. Drawing his wand, he tapped one of the bricks, causing the wall to open in a manner much like the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley behind the Leaky Cauldron.

As they stepped through, they found themselves standing at the top of old stone stairs spiraling down into darkness.

Ron remarked, "Dad never brought us into the Ministry this way."

Sirius said, "No, he wouldn't have. This entrance is secret and usually locked down. Dumbledore sorted it out somehow, so Order members can use it to get in and out to stand guard on the prophecy."

"Lucky this was here," said Harry.

"Lucky, but not too surprising. Wizards can't seem to resist creating secret passages in the things they build."

Ginny said, "True. We even have one at the Burrow."

"Do not," said Ron.

"No one ever told you? Huh."

"Shut up. You're making this up to mess with me."

"Am I? If you say so."

Hermione asked, "Why does Dumbledore have people standing guard if he doesn't expect Riddle to act yet?"

"He doesn't. Not yet," Sirius told her. "Hasn't even worked out who all to let in on it, let alone what the rotation will be. But he'll have people watching soon enough, which is another reason we need to do this tonight."

Ron peered down into the darkness and groaned. "Isn't the Department of Mysteries like nine stories down? I wish wizards were as keen on creating secret lifts to go with their secret passages."

"Let me check something." Sirius twisted in place and Disapparated, returning a moment later. "No Anti-Apparition Charm here. We'll have to walk once we get properly inside though."

Sirius used side-along Apparition to convey the students–Malfoy included–to the bottom of the stairs.

"When do we wake up Malfoy?" wondered Harry.

Sirius said, "We can't let him know about the secret entrance. We'll take him to the lifts, so he assumes we came down that way."

When they reached the lifts, Harry removed the Cloak from Malfoy and revived him, but petrified him before he could move or speak.

"We just arrived at the Ministry," Harry told the Slytherin. "You'll see why soon enough. Pay close attention, as you will be tested on this material. And I expect Voldemort will do more than deduct points if he decides your answers aren't thorough enough."

Using the secret entrance had let them avoid the night-duty watchwizard posted at the golden gates separating the Atrium–where visitors ordinarily arrived–from the rest of the Ministry.

Unfortunately, though they didn't realize it, they had failed to avoid the attention of Walden Macnair, known to most as the Ministry Executioner.

Macnair hurried off to send an urgent message to the Dark Lord who held his true allegiance.