London, September 9th, 1999, 20.05 hours

"So, Hermione, we finally meet face to face!"

"Good evening, Tonks." Wand-Leader Hermione nodded at the witch after entering the Weasley's safe house in London.

Tonks turned to glare at Ron. "You told her about me!"

"Of course I did," the wizard answered. "I'd rather not have a misunderstanding."

"Hmph." Hermione noticed that the metamorphmagus slightly changed her lips when she pouted. "Anyway, I've been dying to meet the witch who managed to seduce our master spy!"

"It wasn't like that!" Ron cut in.

"Oh, so it was you who did the seducing, James Bond style?" Tonks wriggled her eyebrows at the wizard.

"The details of our relationship are private," Hermione said. Ron had said Tonks was much more professional in the field than she acted 'back at the base', which didn't seem that hard given what she had seen so far. The muggleborn witch was not amused at the metamorphmagus joking about her relationship.

"Wow. You sound like Percy!" Tonks frowned at Ron. "You made her sound much friendlier."

"I've recently found out that I've been lied to by the Minister all my life, and that my parents were murdered on his orders. Please forgive me for not joking around," Hermione said in the coldest tone she could muster. Ron wrapped his arm around her waist in support.

"I'm sorry." The metamorphmagus had the grace to look ashamed. "I'm just the last of our group to meet you, so I got a bit…" she trailed off, shrugging.

A slightly awkward pause followed.

Ron broke it. "Actually, Harry's the last one of our group whom she hasn't met yet."

Hermione could see Tonks wanted to make a joke, but restrained herself. The Wand-Leader felt no small amount of satisfaction at seeing that. She also felt more than a bit petty, but she wasn't in the mood for jokes and horsing around.

"So… what's up today? The message said we'd be taking part in a meeting?"

"Dumbledore said 'Operation Deep Penetration' is a go for tomorrow night," Tonks said.

"I'm certain he didn't call it that!" Ron said through clenched teeth.

Hermione didn't quite roll her eyes when Tonks smirked. Apparently, making jokes about something other than the Wand-Leader's life and love life was alright in the metamorphmagus's opinion.

"It's a fitting name for a James Bond mission!" the other witch insisted.

"You plan to infiltrate the Ministry then. The Department of Mysteries, to be precise," Hermione said.

Tonks looked surprised. Before she could say anything, Ron cut in: "And that's why we don't let you name things. Code names shouldn't be that obvious."

"Without knowing what your brother has been doing, I wouldn't have come to the conclusion as quickly," Hermione said.

"But you would have, right?" Ron grinned.

"I might have considered the Minister as a target too."

Tonks grumbled: "Well, it is the DoM. We're going to enter the most secure place in Britain outside Gringotts."

"I can get you inside the Ministry," Hermione said, adding 'with some effort' to herself, "but the Department of Mysteries is off-limits even to Wands."

"Don't worry, the Professor has a cunning plan."

Ron snorted. Hermione frowned. "Do you think his plan will need to be improved?" It did seem rather hasty, seeing as she was not brought into this conspiracy until a few days ago.

"You've never seen Black Adder, have you?" Tonks grinned at her.

"Is that a movie?" Hermione asked.

"TV show" Ron said. "Tonks loves it."

"Muggle culture is not permitted in Wizarding Britain," Hermione said.

"That would have just made it more popular in our school," the metamorphmagus said.

Hermione had confiscated a number of muggle books at Hogwarts, but she didn't feel like mentioning that, so she simply nodded.

"Anyway. Let's get to France, Dumbledore can explain his plan better than I can!" Tonks said, making shooing gestures towards the entrance to the cellar.

"You don't know it either, do you?" Ron said.

"Hmph!"

Hermione really hoped that they were more professional in the field. Or in the Ministry, as it was. Wands joked around in their quarters, but not in the presence of outsiders. She blinked. Maybe they didn't consider her an outsider.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●

Argelès-sur-Mer, France, September 9th, 1999, 21.00 hours

"And that's the Boy-Who-Lived, youngest Seeker in a century at Beauxbatons, and fiancé of the star Chaser of the Avignon Aigles, Harry Potter!" Ron Weasley said. "Harry, this is the youngest Wand-Leader of Britain, Hermione."

"Just Harry Potter," his best friend said, shaking the hand of the witch and sending a glare to Ron.

"Hermione."

"I have to point out that you didn't deny anything," Ron said, grinning.

"How do you keep him under control?" Harry asked the witch, seemingly ignoring Ron.

"The details of our relationship are private," Hermione answered, though unlike when she had said the same to Tonks, she was smiling now. More than just being polite, at least. Ron was glad his best friend and his girlfriend seemed to be getting along well.

"Ah, I guess that means I can't use the same means. Not without his sister killing me, at least," Harry said. "Mind you, sometimes it'd be worth it."

The witch snorted. Ron thought they might be getting along a bit too well.

"Until Ron told me otherwise, I always thought that the story of the Boy-Who-Lived was a lie," the witch said.

"Understandable, given what Malfoy did to you and the rest of Britain," Harry said, neatly deflecting the implied question.

"Where's Sirius?" Ron asked. He'd have expected the wizard to be there with Harry, in case Hermione turned out to be a danger.

"He was held up in the kitchen, I think." Harry's eyes flickered to the door, and Ron almost shook his head.

"Here I am!" Sirius Black entered, as if he had heard his cue. Which he probably had - Ron was certain that the older wizard had been watching them disillusioned, or using Harry's cloak. The wizard smiled widely, then bowed to kiss Hermione's hand. "Sirius Black, at your service!"

"Good evening, sir."

The witch looked surprised, and Ron reminded himself that she wasn't used to being on the receiving end of pureblood politeness.

"Call me Sirius! 'Sir' makes me feel old - and a wizard should never feel old in the presence of a beautiful witch."

Hermione nodded in response. She didn't seem to be too impressed by the older wizard's charm.

Sirius must have noticed her reaction as well, and frowned at Ron. "I hope someone hasn't been spreading rumours about me," he said. "Baseless rumours, all of them! I've never left a witch unsatisfied," he added, with a leering smile.

"Mrs Malfoy seemed to differ, judging by what I overheard of her conversations," the witch answered.

Tonks made exaggerated sounds of surprise. "Just wait until I tell mum! Sirius and my aunt…"

Sirius gaped. "I've never touched her!"

"I was referring to the inheritance issue," Hermione clarified. When Sirius smiled again, she added: "I'm certain she wouldn't talk about past lovers in the company of Wands."

"I never had any relationship with Narcissa," Sirius grumbled while Harry and Ron chuckled and Tonks was laughing. The wizard cocked his head. "Dumbledore has arrived. Let's get up to the salon."

Ron sneaked a glance at Hermione as they followed Harry and Sirius upstairs. The witch had a faint smile on her face, which slowly changed to a serious expression. She might not be as outgoing as Tonks, but she would fit in with his friends, he thought.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●

London, Ministry of Magic, September 10th, 1999, 06.45 hours

"Good morning, Ralph."

Wand-Leader Hermione nodded at the wizard at the entrance of the Barracks. Ralph had been a year below her at Hogwarts, and was on his tour as a guard.

"Good morning, Hermione. Early shift?"

"I'm working on a case."

"Ah."

Ralph wouldn't suspect anything - Hermione getting up early to work on case was not unusual. Nor was her working late. Wands were never off duty, after all. She felt guilty for deceiving him, despite how she had been deceived all her life. It just felt wrong to not tell the Corps the truth. She felt like a traitor.

And she was nervous. The moon was rising right now, as far as the new moon could be said to rise. The Unspeakables had received the trapped artifact the day before. They could be starting their experiments any minute now, no matter how unlikely Dumbledore had said that would be. The Wand worried. The whole operation seemed too rushed to her, even though everyone else had taken it in stride - Harry Potter even had joked that he preferred not to wait too long, since he was in greater danger of dying from boredom while waiting than from curses while infiltrating the Ministry.

Well, he would have to wait for her signal. And she'd have to wait for the alert. After she had smuggled the vanishing cabinet that was currently in her pocket, shrunk, into the storage room. Its counterpart was in France, where Ron and the rest of the 'Infiltration Team' was waiting. Which was probably why Hermione was feeling so isolated, despite being surrounded by friends and comrades she had known for years.

She didn't head to the storage room right away. She headed to her office, and forced herself to sit down and read reports, before 'remembering' that she needed some evidence.

Then she went to the storage room. The one with the evidence from completed cases. The chance that someone else would visit it that day was very small. Not zero, sadly. She pulled the cabinet out and placed it in the corner. Hopefully, even if someone did visit the room that day, they'd mistake it for another filing cabinet. The Corps used to get a hodgepodge of equipment, early on, and the Ministry wasn't much for standardisation anyway. She placed a case number on it - not from a case of hers, of course - grabbed the file she used as a cover, and left.

The communication mirror in her right pocket felt very heavy while she walked back to her office. It would be a long day, waiting for the alert, wondering when it would go off, wondering if anyone would discover the cabinet…

And she didn't even have an interesting case to focus on.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●

London, Ministry of Magic, September 10th, 1999, 15.30 hours

Ron Weasley couldn't help feeling nervous when he stepped out of the vanishing cabinet. This was not like when they had been sneaking into Hogwarts. That had been a school. This was the Ministry, in the middle of the day, filled with Aurors and Wands. He wasn't greeted by hexes and curses, though, but a plain storage room, devoid of people. He could hear an alert in the background, shrill and loud. The plan was working, as far as he could tell.

Behind him, Tonks stepped out of the cabinet, followed by Percy, Harry and Dumbledore. All of them were wearing the hooded robes of an Unspeakable. Once he opened the door, the alert was much louder. Somewhere out there, Hermione was acting like a good little Wand in an emergency, probably herding Ministry employees away from the lifts.

"Let us be off. We have no time to lose," Dumbledore said. Percy took the lead, as the one familiar with the route. They reached the atrium without anyone questioning them, as expected. Few would try to stop an Unspeakable, much less five of them. Even less so in the middle of an emergency.

The group reached the lift and after a check with Harry that the Horcrux was in that direction, took it down to the Department of Mysteries. And to a tense situation. About a dozen Wands were in the corridor, facing the open entrance to the department. Reddish smoke was wafting out of the open door, and two Unspeakables were guarding it - from the looks of it, against the Wands. A third was stumbling out, part of his robes, and limbs, dissolving, Ron realised with a sinking feeling.

Dumbledore took the lead and marched straight on, the Wands moving aside. "Take the man to St Mungo's!" he ordered, and two Wands all but leapt forward to grab the wounded wizard. The two Unspeakables at the door hadn't moved a wand to help their colleague. Ron hoped that meant other Unspeakables were likely to ignore the group as well.

The two guarding the entrance didn't matter since Dumbledore had hit them both with an Imperius before they could react. While the Professor whispered instructions to them, Percy led the rest into the Department of Mysteries, past the massive iron door gleaming with runes inlaid in silver. More reddish smoke filled the hallways behind it. Bubble-Head Charms went up.

"This direction!" Harry whispered, pointing ahead right when Dumbledore rejoined them.

On the way, they reached a round room with twelve doors, two of them spewing red liquid out, which formed a rapidly growing pool on the floor.

"Do not touch this," Dumbledore cautioned them. "Harry?"

Harry pointed to the left. "This direction."

"As expected," the Professor commented, and led the group to the right.

Doors didn't lead where they should on this floor, Percy had told them. It still felt wrong to Ron. They gave the alchemical concoction a very wide berth. Ron had heard the twins gleefully describe what it did, and he didn't fancy being dissolved and turned into more acidic poison, or poisonous acid. While being paralysed.

Through the rightmost door, they entered a hallway untouched by the deadly fluid, and Harry stumbled.

"It's right ahead," he mumbled.

"Augustus's office." Dumbledore nodded, then pulled out his wand. "The wards on the door are far from the ones that guard the department itself, but nevertheless it will take some time to alter them so we can pass through. Be vigilant."

That was ominous. Ron had his wand out, facing the door behind them. A few minutes later, the door opened. Another Unspeakable, her robe smoking in spots, rushed through, then stopped. "What…"

She didn't get any further before Ron struck her down with Stunning Spells. He knelt down to check on her. The smoking spots on her robes were tiny, but spreading. Given some time, they would turn the robe, then the witch, into liquid. And spread further. Stone took far longer, but wouldn't resist. He pulled out the vial of the catalyst that would render the concoction inert, and poured some on the robe. That liquid started to spread faster, and where it touched the smoking spots, they stopped spreading.

"I don't want to run into a part of the escape route turned into that, should we have to retreat," he said, glancing at Tonks. He couldn't tell if the metamorphmagus believed him or not, but she didn't say anything against his action.

More minutes passed. Ron imagined the red tide rising in the department. Filling hallways, until a door was carelessly opened. Maybe they should raise a dam, just to protect themselves, if the Professor took any longer. He trusted Dumbledore, but…

"Done," the old wizard announced. A flick of his wand pushed the door open.

The office of Augustus Rookwood looked almost disappointingly normal. Banal, even. Shelves, an impressive, but ultimately normal desk, a few chairs, a seat behind the desk, and two doors. Harry held his forehead and pointed at the left door. This time, they took it.

Rookwood's laboratory, which that door revealed, was dimly lit but spacious. If not for the Bubble-Head Charm, Ron was certain his nose would have been assaulted with the stench of dozens of exotic compounds and ingredients, mixed together with dusky moldy tomes. He looked around, wand out, while Tonks guarded the door with Percy.

Harry walked to the centre of the room, turning slowly around, then pointed at the far wall. "There."

"Hidden inside the wall?" Dumbledore asked.

"I know - how unimaginative!" Harry said. "At least it's not hidden behind a painting."

Ron snorted, and even Dumbledore chuckled. The Professor swished his wand, and the wall seemed to peel off, revealing a strongbox.

"Not even a safe," Harry muttered. "No respect for the classics."

"For a British pureblood wizard, that is a classic. Safes are a muggle thing, in their opinion," Dumbledore pointed out.

"I didn't think that would stop a Death Eater from using it."

"Augustus might have been concerned about his public image," Ron added, "if he planned to replace Malfoy one day." And what traitorous Death Eater wouldn't have planned on becoming Minister for Magic himself?

"As fascinating as this speculation is, we are a bit pressed for time. The spells on this box are exceedingly strong."

"Not as strong as the ones on the ring inside."

Ron whirled around when he heard the voice. How had anyone been able to get past Percy and… He gasped when he saw a translucent witch floating in the corner. A ghost!

"Pandora." Dumbledore nodded towards her.

"Headmaster." The ghost bowed.

"Not any longer. I am a mere Professor these days," Dumbledore said.

"And the leader of the British Exiles, here to destroy the Horcruxes of Voldemort." The ghost floated closer. She looked familiar to Ron, somehow.

"You are remarkably well informed for a dead person, my dear." The old wizard glanced to the side. "Though if you are haunting this place, were you killed by Augustus, perchance?"

The ghost shook her head. "No. I am bound to this place by the ring in the strongbox. Or rather, by the stone set in the ring."

Dumbledore jerked. "The stone?" He asked in a voice tenser than Ron had ever heard from him.

The witch nodded. "Yes. Be warned though: It is cursed. To touch it means certain death."

"Quite considerate of you to warn me. I would not have expected this from a supporter of the Minister."

"I chose to stay in my home instead of going into exile to prepare for another war." She shrugged. "And I chose a career in the Ministry, something denied to me before the change in regimes."

"You were banned from employment following a fatal accident."

She waved her hand. "I was cleared of all wrongdoing in the investigation. But since it was the nephew of that stupid cow Bagnold who had died due to his own idiocy and greed, I was blacklisted."

Harry coughed. "I don't like to break up this touching reunion, but… Strongbox? Horcrux? Ring any bells?"

Ron snorted at his best friends comment. Even the Professor seemed embarrassed.

"You are quite right, of course." Dumbledore turned back to the ghost. "You would not be able to help with that task, would you?"

"I could." The ghost seemed to study her nails intently.

"And what would you desire in return for your assistance? Revenge perhaps on whoever killed you?"

Pandora scoffed. "What do you take me for, a fool? No. In exchange for my help, you will take care of my family. They will not be harmed or otherwise punished for choosing peace over exile. No matter what they did. Make up a lie about them helping you, if you need to."

"As you wish."

The ghost seemed surprised at Dumbledore's quick acquiescence, and narrowed her eyes. Before she could say anything though, something exploded in the office next to them.

Ron Weasley cast a Shield Charm, then pulled the door open, getting out of the line of fire. Harry, shielded as well, jumped right through, into a roll. Not quite Gendarme standard, but it worked for him. Ron slid around the door, leading with his wand.

Inside, Percy was on the floor, unmoving and bleeding. Tonks was staggering, as if drunk, and bleeding as well. From her mouth. In the middle of the room stood an Unspeakable, exchanging spells with Harry. Another was entering the office from the hallway.

Ron cast a Reductor Curse at the door, more to distract the second enemy, and followed it up with two Piercing Curses and one Sticking Charm aimed at the floor. The Unspeakable's Shield Charm deflected his curses easily, but the explosion must have made him - no, her - miss the third spell, and she stepped on the patch Ron had aimed at, becoming stuck.

It didn't take the witch more than a second to cancel the spell, but that was enough for Ron. He cast two more Piercing Curses as he rushed the woman, shattering her shield just before he crashed into her, slamming the witch into the wall and grabbing her wand hand while his own wand dug into her throat.

"Reducto!"

The spell decapitated the witch, showering the wall behind him with blood and gore. Ron checked the hallway - empty - and was about to turn away and help Harry when something grabbed his leg and swung him around, into the next wall. His shield took the brunt of the impact, but pain shot through his leg when the grip tightened. He screamed, and twisted around.

A tentacle as thick as his arm was wrapped around his leg, crushing it. Other tentacles were flailing around, battering Harry's shield. All were sprouting from the floor, where Rookwood's desk had stood. It hadn't been that normal, after all, Ron thought.

"Diffindo!"

His desperate Cutting Curse sliced into the tentacle, right when he was swung around again, and he crashed into the next wall, trailing a severed slimy appendage. This time, it hurt even more, his leg must have been broken in multiple spots - or crushed. He was in so much pain, he didn't feel worse when he hit the floor.

Another tentacle moved towards him, and all he could do was to cast a Shield Charm. Before it hit his shield though, it suddenly vanished. Then the Unspeakable in the room started screaming. Ron stared while the man's legs dissolved and he fell, into the puddle of red liquid that had been his limbs a few seconds ago. His flailing arms followed, then his torso, and finally his head. Ron hoped the man had been dead already by then, but it had happened so quickly…

Dumbledore strode into the room and threw a vial in the air. He flicked his wand, and the vial grew, then emptied clear liquid over the red puddle. The alchemical concoction stopped hissing at once.

"Merlin! You didn't tell us how fast it was, Professor," Harry said, in a shaking voice. Ron's friend looked battered himself, but he could still stand.

"Just as the right catalyst can speed up the reaction that would have rendered it inert after being exposed to air for an hour, another can make it react far more aggressively," the alchemist explained while running his wand over Percy.

Percy!

"Your brother will live, Mister Weasley, but he has been the victim of quite a nasty curse. I have stopped it, for now, but to remove it will take the efforts of a dedicated Healer, I think," the old wizard said.

Ron sighed with relief.

"I've been hit as well," Tonks said, shaking still. "Just not as…" After another wave from the old wizard she sighed in relief. "That curse tried to rearrange my organs. I managed to stop it, but…"

Ron felt ill, thinking what Percy must have suffered. He almost forgot his own pain, until Harry walked over and turned his pants to stone for a crude splint and bandage.

"If you had fought like this, maybe you'd have defeated the Dark Lord twenty years ago," the ghost remarked.

"Why would you think I did not?" Dumbledore answered. "But let us retrieve what we came for, and leave the premises."

"At least no one is likely to stop us 'evacuating our wounded'," Harry said, while the ghost and Dumbledore went back to the laboratory.

"They better not!" Ron spat out.

Tonks transfigured the remains of the desk into two stretchers, then levitated Percy on one while Harry did the same to Ron.

"Just lie back and enjoy the ride," Harry said, grinning.

"Do you say the same to Ginny?" Tonks asked. "Or is that her line?"

Ron groaned, more to humour her. Seeing that the metamorphmagus was back to her usual self, or faking it close enough, was a relief after seeing her shaking and … he closed his eyes.

Dumbledore returned. "Ah, good. We'll follow Harry's plan. Our robes certainly look battered enough to lend credence to our cover." He looked around. "Hopefully, Augustus's death will be blamed on his own experiments. Our ghostly ally will join us later."

The ride back was more nerve-wracking than Ron had hoped for. They had to deal with the red tide, as he was thinking of the fluid, twice. Then they reached the exit. If someone had discovered the Imperius on the two guards…

But no one had. And no one tried to stop a group of Unspeakables evacuating. The Wands even cleared the lift for them. A short ride later, they were in the atrium, on the way to the Apparition point where Dumbledore's portkey would take them back to France.