London, Ministry of Magic, September 10th, 1999, 16.15 hours

Wand-Leader Hermione felt the mirror in her pocket vibrate three times. The signal that Ron and the others had safely arrived back in France. She was relieved, but didn't show it - the Ministry was still in turmoil. No one knew what had caused the disaster in the Department of Mysteries, only that the entire floor had been evacuated, and that multiple Unspeakables had been brought to St. Mungo's for emergency treatment.

The muggleborn witch was waiting in the atrium with her team, looking at the Aurors arguing with an Unspeakable. Apparently, the two Unspeakables guarding the entrance were still refusing to let anyone but their colleagues inside. No one could get hold of the Head Unspeakable, Augustus Rookwood, and the Minister had been moved to his home at the first sign of trouble by his security detail.

Which meant that Dawlish's attempts to take over the investigation were not only premature, but doomed from the start. Hermione shook her head when a particularly loud yell from the argument the Head Auror was having with the Unspeakable reached her ears.

"Dean, keep an eye on the situation. Call me as soon as something changes. I've better things to do than wait until the Minister sets the idiots straight," she said. She had to remove the vanishing cabinet as soon as possible from the storage room, after all. "Colin, see if you can take a few pictures of the atrium." Preferably showing Dawlish making a fool of himself, she thought.

"Do you think we'll get to investigate it?" Dean asked.

"If Rookwood is dead or incapacitated, which seems likely since no one has seen him since the alert, then the Minister will send us to investigate," Hermione said. He certainly wouldn't send Dawlish's fools down there. "Though," she amended, "maybe not our team."

They had been doing criminal investigations, not disasters or accidents, almost exclusively since they had been formed. But if her team was ordered to investigate, then she'd know that the Minister suspected the Dark Lord was involved. Sabotage would be suspected soon enough. Dumbledore claimed he had a method to fudge the portkey logs, but a thorough investigation would reveal that the last group of evacuated Unspeakables never arrived at St Mungo's.

"Right." Dean nodded.

"I'll check on Luna, then finish my current case."

Her friend was standing at the back of the crowd on her tiptoes, trying to watch everything. She looked rather concerned too - she was likely worrying about her friends. Hermione nodded at Dean, then walked towards the blonde witch. Colin was already taking pictures. The young wizard didn't need to be told twice to use his camera.

"Hermione!" Luna hugged her as soon as the blonde witch spotted her. Yes, Hermione's friend had definitely been worried about her. Of course, since she didn't work for the Ministry, Luna couldn't have known that Wands were not allowed to enter the Department of Mysteries, and therefore unlikely to be involved in the disaster. "What happened? Did the dragon that attacked Diagon Alley escape from custody?" the younger witch asked.

"We don't know anything yet. The Unspeakables refuse to let anyone enter." Hermione patted Luna's back and her friend calmed down and released her.

"Oh... maybe their Lycanthropic Albanian Bubotuber used the power of the new moon to grow faster than their spells could cut it down?"

Hermione smiled. Luna was back to her normal self. "We'll find out as soon as the Minister returns."

"Oh... isn't it safe yet? He could send Draco down first, to check. He would do something useful that way!"

Hermione scolded her friend. "Don't let the Minister hear that!" She didn't trust the man anymore; who knew how a man who ordered her parents killed would react to such a comment? If something happened to Luna...

"Hmph." Luna pouted. "Will you be investigating the scene?"

"I think I might be involved, but another team will have the lead. Probably Benjamin's." The older Wand-Leader had investigated a number of magical disasters, including the explosion that destroyed an illegal brewing operation in Hogsmeade over a year ago. Hermione had guarded the scene then, one of her first missions as a new Wand.

"Oh." Luna looked around. "Daddy should be around soon. He'll love to write an article about this!"

"I'll be right back. I want to clear my desk, in case I get involved in the investigation."

Luna nodded sagely. "Good thinking! Daddy always says that good organisation and precise preparation are the foundation of any investigation!"

Hermione smiled at her friend, and left to remove all traces of her own involvement with the crime. And, maybe, make a quick call to check on Ron.

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Outside Argelès-sur-Mer, France, September 10th, 1999, 18.48 hours

Ron Weasley, lying in the bed in his usual room in Sirius's house, ground his teeth and hissed under his breath as the Skele-Gro was restoring the bones in his leg. As he had feared, they had not just been broken, but crushed, so the potion would take the whole night to work. Which meant he'd feel as if a thousand needles were pricking his skin for hours.

He wouldn't complain, though. Not with Percy and Tonks in the Emergency Ward in the Hôpital Hermétique in Paris. If not for some quick spellwork from Dumbledore, his brother would have died. What Ron had overheard... organs moving around inside his body, changing, breaking up, acid, blood and bile mixing... not even the Skele-Gro had caused him to retch like that. Tonks had been able to withstand the effect to some degree, thanks to her talent, but she would need days to recover. Percy would be lucky to be back on his feet in a month or two. But both would live, and that was all that counted.

Harry and Dumbledore had been the only ones to come through unscathed. Relatively unscathed, in Harry's case. Until now.

Ron could hear them coming. He glanced over to where Harry was sitting. "Been nice knowing you, mec," he tried to joke.

Harry grinned. Then the door was thrown open, and Ginny stormed inside, followed by another Harry. Ron's sister made a beeline towards Harry, jumping on his lap and hugging him so hard, everyone could tell she was their mum's daughter. The kiss that followed wasn't anything Ron wanted to associate with his mum though.

He looked at the other Harry. "Shouldn't you be intervening? Berating Harry for going on a dangerous mission without you?" He had expected both of them to rip into Harry, like they had after his infamous 'crashing catch' in his last Quidditch season at Beauxbatons. Sirius had wanted to come with them and it had taken Dumbledore to convince him otherwise. The Professor had insisted on taking only the people essential to the mission: Percy for his knowledge of the DoM, Harry for his ability to sense the Horcrux, Dumbledore because he was Dumbledore. Tonks because she could impersonate anyone at a moment's notice, which could be a lifesaver in a pinch. And Ron himself, so Hermione had an additional incentive not to betray them. Dumbledore had worded it a bit more diplomatically, of course.

Sirius Black shook his head. "I agreed with the plan. Helps his cover, and keeps the rumours of a split between the Red Spitfire and the Boy-Who-Should-Have-Gone-Pro at bay. I was the only one available who wasn't needed on the mission, and who knows Harry well enough to impersonate him." He leered suddenly. "And I got to spend an afternoon with a lovely young witch, and show her just how much more charming, suave and stylish I am than my reckless godson."

Ron saw Harry glare at the older wizard. "And so much older."

The wizard pouted in a very Sirius way, which was creepy to see Harry do.

"Don't worry, after I told him I'd hex him into a poodle if he misbehaved, he was the perfect gentleman." Ginny had broken off the kiss with Ron's friend. "He's still scared of redheads," she added with a smirk.

"I'm not!" Sirius, still looking like Harry, exclaimed.

Lily Potter and Molly Weasley had left an impression, Ron thought.

His sister sniffed. "I'm still not that clear why Harry needed to be seen while this went on. Even if Dumbledore said he had his reasons. Where is he anyway?"

"Went back to Beauxbatons," Harry said. He had his arms wrapped around Ginny's waist.

Voldemort knew that it had been Harry who had defeated him the last time, so it made sense that he'd keep him under observation. As long as Harry seemed to live the easy life of a member of the jeunesse dorée, spending his godfather's gold for idle diversions, the Dark Lord would focus on Malfoy. Hopefully. Ron didn't think the ruse would last that long. He hoped it wouldn't need to last that long. There was just one Horcrux left.

Harry and Ginny went back to kissing and whispering, and checking each other for bruises and wounds - Ginny had had a training session dodging bludgers.

"I should quit Quidditch," Ginny said suddenly. "We could elope, and no one would expect us to appear in public for a month or two. We would be free to focus on the Dark Lord." She was grinning, making it sound like a joke, but Ron knew his sister. She was more serious than she wanted to appear.

He rolled his eyes. "Mum would hunt you down. And if she didn't, no one would believe you had eloped."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him. She didn't see Harry's relieved expression behind her back. It wasn't the marriage, Ron knew, but the possibility that Ginny would get involved in the battle against Voldemort that scared his friend. He closed his eyes. His leg hurt terribly, he had almost been killed a few hours ago, his brother was in emergency care. He wasn't in the mood to see Harry and Ginny get into a row over his friend's overprotectiveness. As the youngest child of seven, and the only girl, his sister had a chip on her shoulder the size of the Eiffel Tower.

He pulled out his mirror. "I'm calling Hermione."

Ginny jumped up from Harry's lap and darted over to his bed. "Oh! The mysterious witch who caught my brother's heart!"

"Someone's been reading robe rippers again," Harry said dryly.

Ginny scoffed. "What else would fit the situation? Two enemies, falling in love, discovering a tragic past, and working together for a better future."

"Someone has been talking far too much about my love life," Ron muttered.

"We just worry about you, Ron." Ginny said. "It's also nice to see everyone focusing on another couple for a change."

"And it's amusing," Harry added with a grin.

"If you are going to be like that, I'll not call her until you've left," Ron threatened.

Ginny sat straight and folded her hands in her lap. "I'll be good!" she said, grinning exaggeratedly.

Ron patted her shoulder. She was trying too hard, he thought. Acting perky and flirty and cheerful. They all were, he realised. Gallows humour. He was familiar with it, from his time in the Gendarmerie.

"You know, I don't want to disturb her in the middle of something. She'll call once she can." He nodded at his friend. "Harry needs to rest anyway. Healer's orders."

After Ginny had dragged Harry off to his room, where they wouldn't get to rest for a while, Ron suspected, and Sirius had left to check the kitchen - more likely the wine cellar - he leaned back and held the mirror up.

Hopefully, she'd call soon.

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London, Diagon Alley, September 10th, 1999, 20.30 hours

"Why, hello cherie!"

Wand-Leader Hermione closed the door behind her, then nodded at the wizard in Ron's room in the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't know who it was. Fred and George were difficult to tell apart when they were next to each other. With one of them alone and polyjuiced into Ron, it was impossible. She didn't care either. She wanted to talk to Ron, not to one of his brothers. She needed to know if he had been hurt.

The witch pulled out the shrunken cabinet from her pocket and handed it over. To his credit, Ron's brother didn't try to make jokes, or act like Ron. "I heard from France," he said instead. "Everyone lived. Ron's not hurt seriously."

"Thank you," Hermione managed to say. Ron had been hurt then. She was used to friends getting hurt. Had been trained to expect it. And yet this felt like a blow to her stomach.

"Were there any problems on your side?"

She shook her head. "The senior team of the Investigative Branch is on the case. I expect to be called in as well, once they discover the sabotage."

He didn't question that this would happen. Another point for him. "Will you be in danger?"

"That is unlikely. Vanishing cabinets do not leave traces. The only way to connect me to them is if anyone saw the Unspeakables leave the storage room, and then check the records for my own visits there. They will have to interrogate far too many witnesses to reconstruct that." And by the time they managed that, Hermione suspected that the Minister would have been dealt with.

She turned away and pulled out the communication mirror, then cast a privacy spell. She didn't want anyone to overhear her conversation. Then she tapped the mirror.

It lit up almost at once, and Ron's face appeared in it. "Hermione."

"Ron." She could see that he was in bed, propped up by pillows. "How badly are you hurt?"

Ron winced, then frowned. "I see my brother's been talking." He sighed. "Not very. The bones in my right leg are currently regrowing. I'll be back on my feet and in Britain tomorrow."

Skele-Gro. She knew just how painful that was. Some of the older instructors pulled no punches when they were teaching muggleborns. But Ron was acting as if it didn't hurt, and so she simply nodded, accepting his words. "How are the others?" she asked.

"Harry's fine. Some bruises, minor stuff. My sister is making certain that he's resting. I hope." He grinned.

She snorted.

Ron grew serious again. "Percy and Tonks are in the Hôpital Hermétique. Badly cursed, both. They will live, but Tonks will take weeks, Percy months to recover."

Hermione didn't ask if there would be lasting damage. There usually was with serious curses.

"It was Rookwood himself. Took the two of them down, almost got me, before Dumbledore killed him."

She hissed. Ron had come really close to dying then. She controlled herself. She wouldn't make a scene. Especially not with his brother in the room. "Did anyone see you leaving the storage room?"

He closed his eyes briefly, then said "No. No one saw us. Unless they were invisible, and I think the Professor would have spotted those."

"Good. Then there's no chance they'll connect this to me."

That had him smiling widely, his relief evident on his face. Which caused her to smile. She wished she could go through the cabinet and visit him. Just for a few minutes. But she couldn't. If the Corps called her, which wasn't unlikely given what had happened, and she was in France, out of reach... or they entered the room, and she wasn't there, and the cabinet was... Ron would be back tomorrow.

"Ginny wants to meet you."

"Your sister?"

"Yes."

"Will she be replacing Percy or Tonks?"

He shook his head. "No. She'd probably like to, but she can't. She's Harry's cover. Probably literally right now."

She had to snort at that. And once again fight the wish to visit him straight away. She told herself he was too hurt anyway.

"So..." he said, "don't let my brother annoy you too much."

"Should I be worried?"

"I'm more worried for him." He grinned. "Love you."

"Love you." She placed a kiss on the mirror before it went blank, and felt like a first year discovering sappy novels. Again.

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Beauxbatons, France, September 10th, 1999, 22.15 hours

Albus Dumbledore used a spell to take the ring out of the strongbox and set it down on the marble table he used for experiments in his laboratory. A brief glimpse had already revealed that the curse on it was fiendishly strong, and clever. To think that Augustus had been using it...

"Impressive, isn't it?"

Albus slowly turned his head to look at the ghost floating next to him. "If you care for the Dark Arts, maybe. I would pick another word to describe those curses," he said, his voice carefully neutral.

Pandora's ghost laughed. "Magic is magic. You can admire spellwork without judging the caster's morals."

A very Ravenclaw view, Albus knew. A view he had tried to change, in his days. Without success, as this former student of his illustrated. "Even after you have been bound with this," he pointed at the stone, "you have not changed your views?"

Once more the ghost laughed. "Why should I? I'm just an imprint of the witch I was. Her soul has entered the afterlife."

That surprised him. He wouldn't have expected the witch he had known to show such faith. "You changed then, after I went into exile."

"No. You simply did not know me. You saw what you expected, and never looked past it."

"Maybe."

She sniffed, but didn't continue the topic. "You know what this is, do you?" she said, floating over to the cursed ring.

"Yes. Both the ring, and the stone."

"And you know how to destroy them."

"Yes." He wasn't planning to destroy both though.

"But you won't, or you'd already have dropped some Basilisk poison on both, instead of wondering about the curses on the ring."

He didn't answer. There was no need to.

"Rookwood told himself that he was researching a way to destroy all of them in one blow. Or a way to find the Dark Lord's soul, and bind it. What's your excuse?" The ghost sounded as if she was mocking him. "Are you searching for all three of them? Chasing legends?"

"No." He shook his head.

"Lying to me, or to yourself?" She laughed once again, then suddenly froze. "Unless... you found the other two already!" She sounded excited. "That's why you want to undo the curses! You want to save the stone! Merlin, the three Hallows, united!"

"It would be a shame to destroy such an artifact, but I will not unite them." Not unless there was no other way to deal with the last of the anchors.

"And you think you can resist its lure? The power it offers?"

"I learned my lesson decades ago."

"You might have. Others haven't."

"And they will not find it." Nicolas had been protecting a far more tempting target for centuries. His old mentor and friend would keep the stone safe as well.

She didn't believe him. Her expression made that obvious.

"Did Augustus kill you?" he asked, to change the topic.

"No." Her response was curt, and she looked angry.

He simply waited, studying the curses on the ring. Pandora had shown him how to disable the defenses of the strongbox, but not those on the ring itself.

"Lucius did," the ghost spat out.

"Did you know too much?"

She didn't answer, just sneered.

He didn't mention that she'd still be alive if she had chosen exile. "That is why Augustus bound you; to find out about the Minister's plans."

"An obvious deduction, Headmaster."

"What did Lucius try to keep a secret?"

"That the Dark Lord had made Horcruxes. Something Augustus already knew," she added, in a mix of amusement and bitterness.

"But you knew more about Lucius."

"Yes."

It couldn't be that useful, or she would have offered it as a trade for something already. Or simply to improve her family's fortunes. On the other hand, she might just be testing the waters, and she would have certainly learned more about Augustus's plans as well.

"Lucius had one of those Horcruxes, a diary. He asked me to research means to destroy it, without telling me what it was."

"And you figured it out."

"I did." Obvious pride was audible in her voice.

He didn't ask how she had died. Since her family was still alive, Lucius must have known that she hadn't told them. And he would have used very drastic means to find out.

"Do you wish to be released, once I have separated them?"

The ghost hesitated, and for a second Albus thought he saw through her mask. Then she nodded slowly. "But I want to see my family before that."

Perhaps she had not quite as much faith in her claims of being simply an echo, then.

"As you wish. It might take a bit of time though. They're currently staying in the Ministry after their house was destroyed by the Dark Lord. Both are safe and healthy," he added, after he saw her expression darken.

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Outside Argelès-sur-Mer, France, September 11th, 1999, 06.35 hours

Ron Weasley took careful steps on his way to the kitchen in Sirius's house. His leg still felt rather delicate, even though any medical charm would claim its bones had been fully restored. It simply was hard to forget how it had felt without any bones. Like a bag of meat. Or skin.

To his surprise, Ginny was in the kitchen, despite the early hour. Then he saw that his sister was cooking, and it made sense.

"Going to serve Harry breakfast in bed?"

The redhead jerked, then turned around, glaring at him. "Don't sneak up on me!"

"And a good morning to you, ma petite!"

That nickname she couldn't stand earned him another glare. He grinned and made himself some tea, then grabbed a pair of croissants. "Ah... I missed this."

"Mum would say you're not eating right," Ginny said.

"I'm not drinking coffee, am I?" Their mum had never been fond of French food, but seven years at Beauxbatons meant all her children had grown to like it. He lifted his head a bit. "Besides, that's not exactly a typical English breakfast you're cooking."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him, then turned back to cooking. After a while she asked: "Will you be visiting Mum and Dad before you return?"

"I can't," he said, without hesitation. "Either Fred or George is filling in for me, but they can't keep drinking Polyjuice."

"You don't want to meet Mum;" she accused him.

He didn't. Not right after Percy had been hurt like this. "I have a mission. They know I'm fine."

"They know you're not hurt seriously enough to require a stay at the hôpital. That's not the same."

"I wasn't in any worse shape than after a rough Quidditch match," Ron said.

"Mum will still worry."

"I know. But this is important. They need me. More than ever, with Tonks and Percy out of action for a while."

"You mean she needs you. Hermione."

Ron couldn't tell if Ginny disapproved of what she suspected. He shrugged. "If she has to spend too long in the company of the twins, she might develop an aversion to our family."

Ginny snorted, then narrowed her eyes. "You're that serious about her?"

"Well... " He had been thinking about it. And she had been thinking about it as well. But he didn't know how seriously. And the fact that he had been lying to her for so long wasn't helping.

"I really need to meet her," Ginny interrupted his thoughts. "You haven't been this hung up over a girl since Fleur."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I was twelve at the time."

She snorted. After checking the pot she was making porridge in, she sat down across from Ron. "I envy you, you know."

"Why?" He finished his second croissant and pointed his wand at the basket with the others, summoning a third.

"You and your girlfriend are fighting side by side. I have to watch Harry go off to Britain while I'm staying back in France."

And a good thing that was! Ron thought. "He's not exactly alone. He's always with at least Dumbledore, and usually with the rest of us as well."

"I hate waiting, worrying, being useless." Ginny flicked her wand at the self-stirring rod in the porridge, adding a few more rotations.

Ron didn't comment on her using Potions equipment in the kitchen. "You're not useless." He checked if anyone was nearby, then leaned forward. "Without you, Harry might do something too reckless. You know how he is. He needs a keeper sometimes. And I don't mean to guard the hoops."

"I'm a Chaser."

"You certainly chased him," Ron said, then held up his hands when his sister started to frown. "Calm down, it was a joke. He needs you. He'd sacrifice himself for everyone of us, but you're the one he'll survive for."

She sighed, but he saw her smile a bit. "I know. I still... I want to do more."

"So do Bill and Charlie. And yet they know they can't." He grinned. "Shouldn't have been so good at Quidditch, ma petite."

She looked down. "It's what made Harry interested."

Ron sighed. Ginny was, beneath her confident attitude, still a tad insecure. "That again? I told you, Harry's not that shallow."

"He doesn't want me to quit," she said, slightly morosely.

"Of course he doesn't! He knows you love it. And as any Quidditch fan, he knows it would be a crime for you to quit the sport." And, Ron added to himself, it kept her safely out of the war.

Ginny scoffed. "He has no leg to stand on, being the best Seeker in a century and not going pro."

"You know why he isn't going pro."

"He wants to finish Voldemort off first. Protect us all from that menace," Ginny said. "He's too damn noble." She scowled. "I wish this stupid prophecy didn't exist."

Ron shrugged. "We're making progress." One more Horcrux left. Then Dumbledore and Harry could kill Voldemort.

"You're also getting hurt!" She stood up. "Don't you worry about your girlfriend? She could get killed any day!"

He didn't stand up, but frowned at her. "Of course I worry about Hermione! But what can I do? She's not going to quit and hide. She's not that kind of witch." Quite the contrary. And, a small voice inside his head added, she was too useful for the mission now.

Ginny seemed to deflate. "And Harry's not the wizard to up and quit either. We've got the worst taste in partners!"

"Some would say we've got the best taste."

Ginny chuckled at that, then looked at the pot on the stove. "Merde! I almost forgot about the porridge!"

While his sister started to hastily gather all the dishes for the breakfast, Ron shook his head, gently smiling. And thinking of Hermione. Maybe he should try serving breakfast as well. Though a French breakfast, he thought.

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London, Ministry of Magic, September 11th, 1999, 10.30 hours

Lucius Malfoy was pacing in his office. He was alone, so there was no need to present the image of a calm, collected leader to others. The Minister for Magic was anything but calm and collected. The Department of Mysteries had been devastated! Whether by sabotage, an attack, or an accident was not known, yet. And Augustus had disappeared. Was he dead, or had he fled, hoping he would be thought dead? Or was he simply hiding until he was certain this hadn't been an assassination attempt?

Lucius stopped pacing and glanced at his desk. Parchment was piling up. He had read the most important reports already, of course, those from his investigators. But they hadn't found out much so far - the area was still deemed unsafe by Augustus's people. The Wands had found out that a group of Unspeakables had vanished, though - the group had not arrived in St Mungo's, but had been portkeyed somewhere else. An untraceable Portkey. Such things were very rare. If Augustus had been with them...

Lucius started to pace again. He didn't think Augustus would have died in an accident. The man was far too cautious for that. Assassination, on the other hand, was possible, but difficult - Lucius knew very well just how difficult it was; he had made plans for a long time, just in case, and hadn't found one that he would have considered likely to succeed.

So, who could have killed Augustus? One of his own Unspeakables? It was possible. They would have been the only ones regularly meeting him, and they worked where he lived. Lucius had considered bribing one of them himself, but he had had trouble finding one. And even if he had found one, he would have had to find a way to approach them without risking discovery. If Augustus had found out, he would have retaliated. Had it been a colleague, then it was possible that they had acted out of ambition, or resentment, of course. But Lucius didn't think that that was too likely. And the thought that someone else had succeeded where Lucius had failed was disturbing.

If Augustus was dead. Lucius didn't know, and hated his ignorance. And hated how vulnerable he felt. He wanted more guards around him, but he couldn't let them see him like this, much less observe his upcoming meeting.

A knock at the door interrupted his pacing and thinking. He sat down before answering.

"Yes?"

Greengrass peered inside. "Your advisor has arrived, sir."

Finally! "Send him in please, Daphne."

"Yes sir."

Severus entered, looking as grim as ever. He'd better have good news for Lucius!

As soon as the door was closed and the privacy spells cast, the Minister said: "You heard about the Department of Mysteries."

"Yes." Severus nodded.

Lucius waited, rubbing his artificial hand.

"I haven't spoken to the Dark Lord yet. I had no reason to suspect that he might have been planning this though. I'm, sadly, not privy to all of his plans."

Lucius had no stomach for the cautious remarks of his spy. Not today. He needed answers. Facts. "What do you think? Was this his work?"

"I would have expected him to consult me, should he have planned this. I am, after all, his best source inside the Ministry. Or so I assume. But I cannot exclude the possibility that he has another source, closer to Augustus."

For a moment, Lucius feared that Augustus himself had betrayed them to the Dark Lord. Then he dismissed the notion. The leader of the Department of Mysteries wouldn't have arranged such an accident, but would have stayed at his post and struck at Lucius instead.

He nodded. "Do you think Augustus is dead?"

Severus shook his head. "If he was killed by the Dark Lord, we would have found his mark floating over the body I believe. It would have been a huge blow to the public's faith in the Ministry. If another Unspeakable had killed him, he'd have left evidence of the man's death. Uncertainty would delay the promotion of a new Department Head."

"Unless such confusion plays into the hand of the assassin," Lucius pointed out.

The potioneer nodded, conceding the point. "That is always a possibility."

"But why did Augustus flee then? To escape an assassin?"

"I believe it is more likely that there was an accident, and he fled before he suffered the consequences."

Lucius nodded. He knew his spy wasn't talking about the magical effects. "You think the investigation will uncover a plot against me?"

"I think no matter how well he covered his tracks, the fact that the entire Ministry was almost devastated by his failure would have allowed your Wands to find any evidence you needed to deal with him."

Lucius smiled. "Maybe. My Wands are often too scrupulously honest to find the evidence I need."

"You raised them that way."

"I did, yes." And overall, it was for the best. He wouldn't be safe if his Wands started to get a taste for intrigue. "If Augustus has fled, though, where would he go?"

"There are a number of countries who'd welcome the former Head of the Department of Mysteries," Severus pointed out.

"Not many would do so openly though." Lucius shook his head. "And I know him well. He would not want to give up on Britain. His life's work was here, in the bowels of his Department. No, he wants to return. And there are only two ways he could have a chance at returning to his former position."

"The Dark Lord. Or Dumbledore." Severus nodded.

"Would the Dark Lord take him back?"

Severus paused. "I would not say it is impossible, but the Dark Lord does not suffer betrayal lightly. And yet... he hates you the most, so he might offer Augustus a deal."

"Which the Dark Lord will break, of course." Lucius scoffed. "But what about Dumbledore? He was not one to refuse a man a chance to redeem himself."

"I do not know that much about Dumbledore," Severus said. "But has he done anything in the last two decades? And would Augustus's flight be enough to make him go to war? Last I heard, France was holding firm to their policy of non-involvement in British affairs, and made this clear to the exiles."

"Did you hear this at the Dark Lord's court?" Lucius asked. Severus was correct about the French policy towards Britain's exiles. They had assured the Minister several times that France would not condone Dumbledore turning their country into a staging ground for a civil war. But would that have changed after a civil war had started in Britain anyway? And if the French believed that Lucius's government would fall?

"I looked into the matter after I overheard a few of the Dark Lord's remarks about his old foe." Severus winced. "He did not seem concerned about the possibility of Dumbledore challenging him again."

"Do you think we could set them against each other?" That would be a neat way to end this war.

"Voldemort avoided facing him in the last war. If he were to do the same again, would Dumbledore try to hunt him down, or would he turn against you?" Severus asked.

Lucius pressed his lips together. While his claim that the Dark Lord had gone insane and had become a danger to Britain had worked, it had also caused people to think of the Dark Lord's enemies in a better light. It was not unthinkable that they would turn to the old wizard, should they lose faith in the Ministry. Especially if the current threat to the Ministry seemed to fear Dumbledore.

On the other hand, if Dumbledore returned as an ally of the Ministry against this 'Half-Naga', this would certainly boost the morale of the public. Lucius could portray himself as offering his hand to the exiles, after two decades of separation, in exchange for working together against a new threat. More curse fodder would be useful, and a lot could happen in a war, after all.

But would such a move make him look too weak, instead of wise? And how far could he trust Dumbledore? And how would the Wands react when suddenly traitors were allies? Would they also believe their tales about the muggle world? Could his Wands handle orders to ally with the exiles, yet not trust their words, without losing their trust in him?

He shook his head. He couldn't. "He would turn against us. But only if he hadn't a much more urgent problem to deal with."

Severus raised his eyebrows. "The Horcruxes."

"Yes." Augustus had said he was close to a breakthrough. He had been saying this for some time. But for now, Augustus was not available anymore. Lucius wasn't a researcher. He needed help to find and destroy the Dark Lord's remaining Horcruxes. The other Unspeakables were not an option; they couldn't be trusted not to make a deal with the Dark Lord instead. Severus alone was not enough; he was already risking his life daily as a spy.

"If Dumbledore finds out about the Horcruxes, he'll focus on them. He's an old wizard and he would not risk an immortal Dark Lord taking over after his own death. And he will have to be discreet about it as well, in order to avoid letting the Dark Lord know about it." A Dumbledore working in the shadows was far less of a threat to Lucius than one openly fighting.

"A fake note from an Unspeakable, who has stumbled upon this secret during the accident and believes Dumbledore is the only one able to deal with this, should be enough, if sent together with some notes from Augustus," Lucius said.

"Dumbledore might not trust the note."

"I can send part of the diary with it, to provide evidence."

"That would do it."

"But first, find out what the Dark Lord knows about this. Depending on what you find out, we might have to change our plans." Any information about whether or not Augustus was still alive, for example.

"What can I tell him about your reaction?"

"Tell him I am panicking, afraid for my own safety, and do not know what happened."

Severus nodded

Once the spy had left, Lucius sighed. He still had to decide how to handle ... the mess. Half the Ministry had seen the events. People were talking and speculating about what had happened in the Department of Mysteries. Lucius could downplay the incident as an accident. A tragic disaster, but nothing that would have an impact on the war. An experiment gone wrong, research set back a little, but nothing that would affect anyone outside the department.

People would believe it, not know just how wrong they were. Dead wrong, to be exact.