Kent, United Kingdom, August 27th, 1999, 21.45 hours

Wand-Leader Hermione stood at attention outside the Greengrass Manor while the Minister for Magic listened to Wand-Leader Sarah report the night's events. According to seniority she would succeed Daniel in command of the Corps, unless the Minister promoted someone else in her place, of course.

Hermione's usurpation of command had been as short-lived as the battle itself. She didn't think she'd be punished given the circumstances, but as always when she had done something against the rules, but for a good reason, there was that lingering doubt until matters were settled properly. Which wouldn't happen for some time, she knew, with the losses the Corps had taken today. So many dead…. over a dozen Wands had been killed and even more had been wounded - some with crippling curses, already in St. Mungo's.

At least the enemy had been hurt as well. Over twenty of them had been killed, a handful captured. Among the dead was Rodolphus Lestrange, one of Britain's most wanted wizards. The Fanatics had been struck a heavy blow, but Hermione didn't think it outweighed the loss of Daniel, and so many others. At least Dean and Colin had survived. The younger wizard hadn't been hit by a dark curse, so he'd be back on duty in a day or two.

She stood even straighter when Sarah reported that Hermione had taken command after Daniel's death, and the Minister's attention turned to her. "That was good and quick thinking, Wand-Leader. Your actions may have won the battle."

Hermione felt a warm glow inside her upon hearing Minister Malfoy praise her. "Thank you, sir. I was merely at the right place to act, any other Wand-Leader would have done the same I think. I'm sorry that monster escaped."

He smiled. "It won't escape next time, now that its powers are known."

The Minister turned back to Sarah, when a Wand approached them: "Sir! The Greengrass family has left their manor!"

Hermione turned and drew her wand, as did the other Wands. It was highly unlikely that the Greengrasses were a threat, but no Wand took the security of the Minister lightly. Especially out in the field. There was the family, and there was...

"Hermione!"

Wand-Leader Hermione had to struggle to keep her composure when she saw her best friend rush towards her. She almost shouted 'Luna!', despite the Minister's presence. Knowing nothing she could do would dissuade the blonde witch from her chosen course of action, Hermione opened her arms and braced herself just in time for Luna to slam into her and hug her hard. She just knew she would get teased about this later by her friends!

"I knew you'd save us, but when I saw the snake-creature attack I was so worried…" Luna sniffled.

Hermione was briefly confused. How had her friend seen the snake that had killed the Commander? Maybe afterwards, when the unnatural animal had tried to climb out of the pit she had created? No, it had been cut to pieces with multiple curses from a squad of Wands before it reached the top.

"And when he flew off… I wanted to go out right away, but the Greengrasses said we should stay until we were certain it was safe!"

Ah, she was talking about that creature! Upon reflection, the monster had looked a bit like a snake, with its missing nose. Hermione nodded. "We beat it, Luna, no worries." No need to go into the terrifying details; the younger witch was unnerved enough already. "I got your message, and alerted the Corps." And she really should create a better way to communicate; a way to send actual messages.

Looking around, she saw that the Minister was talking with the Greengrasses. From what she could overhear the family was, of course, very grateful that they had been saved by the Minister's forces. Daphne Greengrass even looked like she wanted to hug him. Hermione understood the sentiment.

"Come, you have to meet them!" Luna started to drag her off before she could object.

"Wait!" Hermione said, but to no avail.

"Mister Greengrass? This is Hermione, the friend I contacted when the Floo was down! I told you she'd save us all!" Luna yelled, heedless of the fact that she was interrupting the Minister himself. But the Minister looked amused rather than annoyed. He was fond of Luna's family.

Once more Hermione found herself the centre of attention. She tried to say that she had just done her duty, but Luna was already talking about the coin, and Hermione's achievement in creating it.

Hermione could only nod and hope Luna didn't start telling tales of their time at Hogwarts.

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London, Diagon Alley, August 28th, 1999, 01.29 hours

An owl pecking at the window of his room had Ron Weasley up from his bed and letting the bird inside in a few seconds. He hadn't been able to sleep anyway, worrying too much about Hermione and Luna.

The owl had a ring with the Ministry seal and was carrying a rolled-up parchment. He all but ripped it off the bird, ignoring its protests, and read it. It was curt, but told him what he wanted to hear after worrying for hours: Both Hermione and Luna were safe and unhurt. She'd talk to him later.

He sat down on the bed again, sighing with relief and smiling, then closed his eyes. He couldn't really deny it anymore - he had fallen in love, and hard, with the enemy. A misguided enemy, lied to and exploited by her commanders, but an enemy nonetheless.

"Merde alors!"

He had a mission, he reminded himself. Hermione had been called away because Luna needed help. Given her words before she had left, and the note stressing that both were safe and unhurt, the logical conclusion was that they had been in danger, probably in battle. Not against his family, he thought - he doubted Tonks would have attacked Luna, or if she had, wouldn't have given her time to call for help, and Fred, George and Percy were all busy with their own tasks.

But once they were ready… he didn't want his family to fight Hermione, and he certainly didn't want to fight her himself. He had to find a way to get her out of the war. Capture her, and move her to France, or somewhere else. She'd hate him, but she'd be safe.

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London, Ministry of Magic, August 28th, 1999, 10.21 hours

'Albino Half-Naga Attacks Greengrass Manor'

Minister for Magic Lucius Malfoy shook his head, staring at the headline of the special issue of The Quibbler. He briefly skimmed through the speculation that the giant snake that had been killed was a foster parent or sibling of the 'Half-Naga', then dropped it on his desk. "The things Lovegoods come up with…" he said with a smile. It was useful though. An exotic monster attacking Britain was certainly better for the country's morale than speculation about the Dark Lord returning from the dead.

The wizard sitting across from him didn't share his amusement. Severus, his nominal advisor in Defense matters, was quite agitated - understandable, since he was likely to be held responsible by the Dark Lord for the failed raid on Greengrass Manor. The spy scoffed. "I'm less interested in reading this nonsense than in finding out how the attack failed." He stared at Lucius. "You assured me that all precautions had been taken."

The Minister didn't like the suspicion audible in his spy's tone, even though it was to be expected. He had done all he had promised. "Everything had been prepared. But no one could have predicted that Miss Lovegood would invite herself to the Greengrass' family dinner to welcome their youngest daughter back, nor that she would have a way to alert the mudbloods. No one but a Seer, and as you know, those are in short supply."

Severus's eyes briefly opened, then they narrowed again. "Lovegood fouled this up?"

Lucius nodded. "It's quite a coincidence, but I looked into it. She's friends with a Wand-Leader, and they had created a way to contact each other during their time at Hogwarts."

"A communication mirror?"

"Not exactly. It was a variant of the Protean Charm. Quite primitive, of course, and unable to convey any information other than danger, but the mudblood in question assumed the worst, and mobilised the Corps." Lucius sighed. Hermione was proving to be even smarter than he had expected, but her tendency to act as she saw fit, evident in her taking command at the battle, was a two-edged blade.

"Who was the mudblood?"

"Hermione, from the Investigative Corps." Lucius knew his spy needed as much information as possible to placate the Dark Lord. Maybe the potential problem in his ranks would be solved by the Dark Lord himself?

"I think I remember her. Obnoxious attitude, and more eager to please than your average Ministry sycophant?" Severus sneered.

"She's very loyal and shows a lot of initiative." And would serve as a good scapegoat for the Dark Lord, Lucius thought.

The other wizard nodded. "I trust your relations with the Greengrass family have improved considerably as a result of this… mishap."

"They have." Lucius almost sighed. While the gratitude of the family was useful and would certainly serve to further prove the information Severus had delivered to the Dark Lord, Daphne seemed to suffer from a bad case of hero-worship. She had all but thrown herself at him last night, and he was not quite certain how to handle her once she returned to work - he had ordered her to take a day or two off, to recover from her ordeal. If Narcissa mistook her attitude for something else… his wife had a rather large, and usually irrational streak of jealousy.

"How many losses did the mudbloods suffer?"

"They are still treating some at St. Mungo's, but the estimate is that the Corps suffered fewer than twenty total losses. More than that was inflicted on the Dark Lord's forces. Among the dead was Rodolphus Lestrange."

Severus winced. He might have to pad those numbers a bit, or so Lucius thought, to avoid the Dark Lord's anger. Though according to some rumors, the Dark Lord might not be that concerned about the loss of Bellatrix' husband.

"The commander of the Corps was killed as well. You can portray that as a grave loss." It wasn't, actually, in his opinion. Wands were replaceable.

Severus nodded. "I'll inform you as soon as I have more news about the Dark Lord's reaction."

If he survived, Lucius thought. The man was quite the accomplished spy, but the Dark Lord sometimes lost his temper. He hoped Severus survived - he needed the man to win this conflict.

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London, Ministry of Magic, August 28th, 1999, 11.35 hours

Wand-Leader Hermione hadn't had a good morning. None of the Wands had. Everyone was dealing with the aftermath of the biggest battle the Corps had seen so far - and the most costly too. Her joy at having saved Luna had been replaced with sorrow about the losses the Corps had taken, and anger at the mistakes she and her fellow Wands had made in that battle.

She had already made a list of weaknesses that had to be addressed, first among them communications. The Wands needed a better way to communicate in a battle. Communication mirrors wouldn't work, and the Protean Charm she was thinking of using as a way to send messages to Luna wouldn't work well either, not in battle. It would have to be a sort of … a charm that let the commander address all the Wands, or a group of them, and let the Wands report back. But mirrors were limited to a pair. Maybe if each Wand-Leader received one… though the Wand-Commander would be stuck juggling them, unable to do much else.

She sighed, leaning back in her seat. Colin was still in St. Mungo's, but would be back later today. Dean was helping out Sarah. And she was supposed to be working on her investigation. But she hadn't found a lead on Keagan Banks and Ottokar Merriweather yet. They were not listed in the Wards License Registry. Which meant they were from families who already had warded houses. Which meant they were the heirs.

She'd have to check the wills. After she met with Antoine for lunch. Her boyfriend? Lover? She didn't know how he saw her. He was a pureblood, and a foreigner. But she knew that she considered him her friend. He had worried about her, as his note had told her. She felt guilty at having let him worry for so long - especially since she knew he had experienced war himself.

She checked the clock. Time to go and meet him.

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London, Diagon Alley, August 28th, 1999, 12.00 hours

Ron Weasley hugged Hermione as soon as he reached her. "You're safe!"

He felt her grow tense for a moment as she said: "I sent you a note as soon as I could." She sounded more than a bit defensive, and he berated himself mentally- he hadn't wanted to make her feel guilty, or anything.

"I'm sorry, I just…" he trailed off. She would understand the sentiment, he thought.

Hermione nodded. They remained in each other's arms for a bit longer, then separated and sat down at the table. He noticed the waitress grinning, but didn't care one way or the other. Who cared about public displays of affection when you were fighting a war?

"What happened?" he asked. "I've read Luna's article, but…" he grinned ruefully. "How is she doing, anyway?"

"She's either with Astoria Greengrass, or her father. It depends on how long she has to convince him to let her out of the Rookery ever again," the witch explained.

"Oh. Understandable, I suppose."

The frown she sent at him made him feel happy that he hadn't joked about wanting to keep her safe as well. She wasn't one of the witches looking for a big Gendarme to protect them, or at least acted as if they were, he reminded himself.

"So… was there an albino Half-Naga?" He asked, after ordering. He was curious, but this would also be very useful intel.

Hermione nodded, though he thought it was a bit reluctant. "The description in the article is accurate, though I couldn't tell if it was actually a Half-Naga. It was not human, that's certain."

"A monster cult?" He had heard of such things, though never encountered one. Some creatures could control the minds of wizards and witches, gathering groups of dedicated followers that way. Veela were said to have done that in the past as well.

The witch pressed her lips together for an instant, before answering: "Maybe."

He was rather certain she didn't think so, and didn't want to lie, but didn't press the question. It didn't take a genius to deduce that this had been the Dark Lord. "There was also a fierce battle, according to the article."

She nodded once more. "That's true as well."

"And you were in the thick of it." He reached out to grab her hand and ran his thumb over the back of it.

"I did my duty. As did everyone else."

"And you won. It won't bring the dead back though."

"No, it won't." She nodded with a faint, sad smile, probably thinking he had been in the same situation.

He felt guilty at deceiving her - he had seen fellow Gendarmes get cursed, but he had never been in a battle of that scale. He had studied enough about the war in Québec to fake it though. "Do you think they'll attack again?" It was a dumb question, of course. They would. The Dark Lord wouldn't stop just because a few dozen people had been killed.

"Their leaders escaped, as did some of their forces," the girl said, then bit her lower lip, as if she had said too much.

He acted as if he hadn't noticed her slip - the article hadn't mentioned other leaders. "I'm certain that you'll be ready for them though."

She nodded with a grim expression. "We will be."

He continued to lightly prod her for more snippets of information during the meal, feeling guilty all the time.

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London, August 28th, 1999, 13.54 hours

"You know, Ron, if you corrupt Harry to your ways, and turn him into a suave seductive spy, Ginny will hex you into a puddle."

Ron Weasley sighed at probably George. He had already briefed the twins on what he had found out, and correlated from the news articles. And of course they had focused on 'the Dark Lord ruining his date', and his 'James Bond act'.

Ron loved his family. Including his brothers. That didn't mean he assumed even for a second that he could ask any of them for advice about his love life. He had learned that lesson in his fourth year. And that had been just a boy crushing on a girl who didn't return his feelings. Not him sleeping with the enemy on a spy mission.

So, Ron was really glad that Harry would be arriving shortly. He needed a friend he could talk to about his love life. A friend who would not mock him, or spill his secrets to the rest of the family. Harry wouldn't do that, even though he was dating Ginny and Ron's parents considered him family already. That Ron knew a number of embarrassing secrets about Harry, including that incident with Fleur Delacour, was just insurance, of course.

The mirror next to the vanishing cabinet lit up. "I'm coming through now." It sounded like Harry's voice to Ron. He and George had their wands trained on the cabinet anyway before it began to open.

Harry stepped out, straightening and nodding at them. A few detection spells later, Ron patted him on the back. "Good to see you, mec! How's France?"

"The same as usual. Ginny's busy with her new team."

Ron nodded. "And our little sister is annoyed that you spend so much time in Britain, I bet. And that, being the new star player of the Avignon Aigles, she can't come with you."

Harry winced. "She understands how important this is. But with the matches on the weekends, and me not always there to support her, nor at the parties in the evenings… some magazine already speculated that I'm jealous of her success as a Quidditch player."

"Damn, that's bad." Ron knew Ginny had a temper, and wasn't one to simply endure such rumours. What she had done to the girl insinuating  Harry was trying to hit on Gabrielle…

"She's already planning a few 'outings' for us to counter such rumours," Harry said while the two went upstairs, to a hopefully bug-free room to talk. "But enough of my love troubles. What about yours?"

Ron blinked, and his friend laughed. "Please. I know you. You're not the type to seduce a girl to take advantage of her. Of course you'd have troubles."

Ron wasn't certain if he should feel flattered or insulted by that. But he had hoped to talk about that exact topic with Harry, even though he'd not have called it 'love trouble'. More like… Well, it was love, and he was in trouble, but still.

Once they were in the living room, he cast a privacy spell and sat down in the old armchair, sighing. "I feel terrible about lying to her."

"I somehow think you'd feel rather worse if you told her the truth, that you're a spy working for her dear Minister's enemies," Harry said.

Ron frowned at him.

Harry held up a hand in a placating gesture. "I'm just saying how it is. How serious are you anyway? I hope that you're not already thinking of names for your children."

Ron snorted. "We both use protection." He hadn't meant to say that yet.

"You're already sleeping with each other? Wow, that's..."

He glared at Harry, and his friend didn't finish whatever he had been about to say. Ron wasn't about to say it had just been one time. It hadn't been a one-night stand, even if they hadn't found the time yet to do it again.

"Merlin, haven't seen that glare since I told you about the rumors about Marie, in 5th." Harry smiled.

"Those were spread by Melanie." That jealous bitch, Ron remembered, had managed to wreck that relationship thoroughly. He'd been an idiot, back then.

"Well, you do seem serious. More serious than I thought." Harry didn't sound like he considered that a good thing.

"I just want to keep her safe."

"Pretty hard to do that, with her being a Wand and all," Harry pointed out.

"Well…" Ron trailed off.

His friend sighed. "And that expression I haven't seen since your 'fool-proof plan' in 6th. You know, the one that wasn't fool-proof at all. What are you thinking of now?"

"I was thinking of capturing her. Get her out of the country. Keep her safe until the war's over."

"She'd hate you. Sleep with her, then she wakes up a prisoner? That's not just bricking up the fireplace, that's blowing it up and cursing the remains. And we're not even talking about how she'd feel about you betraying her country."

Ron frowned at him. He knew that far better than Harry - who had never met her. "She'll hate me anyway, once she finds out who I am. At least this way she'll not be fighting us."

"Mec, you're screwed then."

"I know."

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London, August 28th, 1999, 15.01 hours

Albus Dumbledore studied the pictures taken of the Death Eater cottage - footage, the twins called it. "Remarkable pictures. To think the muggles have advanced that much in the last few years…"

"Yes, Professor. Dad's been on our case about the 'muggle options', as he calls them, ever since we joined the Order," Fred said.

"The older guard doesn't like his ideas," George added, "no matter how useful they are."

"Old people are often rather conservative," Albus said, smiling gently.

"You're even older," Fred pointed out.

"And I am quite stuck in my ways. It's just that one of my ways is being curious about new things." He chuckled, then focused on the pictures again. The Death Eaters seemed to leave with brooms, under the cover of disillusionment spells, or invisibility cloaks. That made them slow to deploy, and to return, but safe from surveillance. They'd likely be prepared for tracking charms as well.

"So, Professor, will we be blowing the cottage up? Roast us some Death Eaters?"

He shook his head. "No. That would reveal too much about our ability to track them." And threaten Severus's cover, which was already on very shaky ground, after the failed attack on the Greengrasses. "We'll need another way to lure Tom's followers into a battle with the Ministry's forces." He tapped the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler on the table in the safe house. "I think we have a few opportunities here as well."

Albus was quite certain that the Dark Lord would not tolerate looking like a fool, nor was he a wizard who tended to let those who defied him and escaped live. But Tom would take some persuasion and manipulation to launch an attack at either the Lovegoods or the Greengrasses, given his recent setbacks. Severus could work on that, once he had secured his position again.

Of the two families, the Lovegoods, former neighbours of the Weasleys, were the easier and more likely target for a raid. At least the Wand-Leader Severus had mentioned lived in the Ministry itself. That was a good thing, since she was the one young Ron was interested in.

Fate had a peculiar sense of humor, Albus thought.