Harry met her gaze. "Why did you tell me all that?"

"Because," said Tonks, "even after everything I've done, you and I are still ultimately on the same side."

"You're joking," said Harry.

"We both want to stop the sacrificers," said Tonks. "After that, I'll happily submit to a court and answer for everything I've done."

Harry growled. That was exactly what Voldemort had promised of Wormtail.

"Or, I could expose you, and you can answer for it right now," he said.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Tonks asked. "I would be a real asset in the war against the sacrificers. You'll need all the help you can get; the remaining ones will probably band together and be even tougher than Dumbledore, and Merlin only knows what Umbridge will do now. And if you out me, Voldemort will turn on you. Where will you go, when the Order knows you tried to kill their leader? Heck, with Malfoy controlling the Prophet, most of the world will probably think you were the one who dealt the finishing blow."

"I'll pay for my own sins by myself," said Harry, "and if it means the Order and all my other friends desert me, then it'll be no more than I'll deserve. So be it."

"What about Cho?" said Tonks. "She's sort of a hostage right now. And then there's Hermione; if we reveal she was at the Ministry attack on our side, there'll be at least two factions after her blood, possibly as many as four."

Harry growled again. "Voldemort already manipulated me once by emotionally blackmailing me about a girl. I'm not going to let you lead me by the nose and kill another seventy people. Besides, Hermione's stronger than me. She can take care of herself, and as for Cho, we've rescued her before. Don't think I won't give an encore."

"If you just let me keep my cover until the sacrificers are dead, you'll get everything you want anyway," Tonks said. "They and I will face justice, you and Hermione will be safer, and –"

There was a flurry of pops, and a dozen red-robed Aurors appeared, wands out.

"Auror Tonks!" said one, a tall black man with a gold earring. "What are you doing here?"

"Auror Shacklebolt. I followed Dumbledore here," she said. "It was an ambush. Twenty Death Eaters and a few Dark Creatures. They overwhelmed him with numbers."

"Did you say Dumbledore's dead?" Shacklebolt said, and turned to Harry for confirmation.

Harry thought for a moment and made his decision.

He locked eyes with Tonks. "I'll give you fifteen seconds," he said quietly. "Run."

"What?" said Shacklebolt.

Tonks give a bitter smile and shrugged. "Good luck," she said. "You'll need it." There was a crack, and she was gone.

Shacklebolt turned to Harry, questioning.

"She's the Marionette Man," Harry said. "She's been a secret agent working for Voldemort all along, and killed Dumbledore five minutes ago. And I …"

He looked down, folded his conjured umbrella, and cast it aside. The rain beat down on him. He squared his jaw and looked up.

"Voldemort manipulated me and one of my friends," he said. "We helped him coordinate this trap. I – I thought it was right, but – well, it isn't a confession if you try to excuse yourself."

The Aurors exchanged disbelieving looks.

"We'd better take you back to HQ so we can get a statement," one said at length.

"Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge is probably waiting for me," Harry said. "She's the acting Minister now."

"Even a full Minister doesn't have the power to convict someone without a trial," the Auror said gently. "You're underage, I'm sure she'll understand."

Harry stared. "'Doesn't have the power to convict someone without a trial'?" he repeated. "Are you and I talking about the same Ministry here?"

"Er," said the Auror. "We do still need a formal statement."

"Find me at Hogwarts," said Harry. "I need to talk to a friend." With a pop, he was gone.

… … …

When Harry returned to the castle, the students had been taken back to their respective Houses and the school was locked down. Harry was far past the point of letting that stop him, though, and flew into his dorm under Disillusionment and Obfuscation. Downstairs, he invisibly tugged Hermione's hand, leading her up to his dorm. Perhaps it was fortunate that she had few friends, because no-one objected to her leaving the crowd of anxious people in the common rooms.

In his dorm, she pulled off his hood and kissed him. He closed his eyes and pressed against her for a moment, then pushed her away.

"Hold that thought," said Harry once he got his breath.

"'Hold that thought'?" Hermione repeated.

"We need to talk about the attack first," he explained.

"Oh, that's true," she said. "You're an idiot.What were you thinking, flying off after them like that?!"

"Well, for one thing, it means I saw everything," he said, and he related the attack to her.

Somewhere along the way, she flopped down onto his bed and begun rubbing her temples.

"So, to summarise," she said when he finished, sitting up to look him in the eye, "both Dumbledore and Voldemort are dead, although the latter will probably regenerate soon. Dolores Umbridge, whom Lupin described as, quote, 'the second coming of Baba Yaga', is now Minister for Magic. Since the previous three were all either impeached or killed over the last six months, probably there won't be much competition for a while. She has the legendary Elder Wand, with which Dumbledore more than held his own against twenty Death Eaters. As Minister, she's likely to try the ritual soon and become stronger.

"Tonks was working for Voldemort as the Marionette Man. She got away yet again and, since you dobbed her in, they're back to being enemies. I'm certain you broke at least ten laws today, so the Ministry is likely to be after you too.

"Meanwhile, the sacrificers no longer have Dumbledore to worry about, so there's no telling what they'll do, except quite likely go on abduction and killing sprees. The nearest thing we have to anyone who could stop them is Voldemort who, as previously noted, is both an enemy and currently dead.

"Have I missed anything?"

"No," said Harry, "I think that's pretty much it."

She flopped back onto his bed.

"Oh, no, wait," said Harry, "I'm probably expelled, too."

"You're WHAT?"

"Perspective, Hermione," Harry said.

"Schooling doesn't suddenly become 'not important any more' just because other things are bad!" she exclaimed.

"Can you haul me over the coals later?" Harry said. "Right now, we have to decide something urgently. Do we tell people about the ritual?"

She blinked. "Why is that urgent and why would we now?"

"Well, we didn't before, because then Dumbledore would have Obliviated and/or sacrificed both of us," Harry said, "but that's not an issue any more, and I think the remaining sacrificers won't believe that we don't know anything when it comes out we helped assassinate Dumbledore. On the other hand, we won't be able to un-tell everyone, and there might be a good reason to keep it secret I haven't thought of. It's urgent because four floors away is Madame Pince, and in about fifteen minutes she's going to find out that the one reason why she hasn't been allowed to sacrifice the entire school is now dead."

Hermione blinked.

"Oh dear," she said.

"And within five minutes of that, Ollivander will hear it too," said Harry, "and then the Flamels, and that's assuming Voldemort knew about all the sacrificers and was telling the truth. So: do we tell people, and what do we do about Pince?"

Hermione sat her chin on her hands and thought for a full minute.

"There are some potential problems," she said at last, "but if we don't tell people, we'll give the sacrificers a huge advantage. We'll probably meet with some scepticism, and I'm sure Voldemort and Umbridge will spin it to their advantages somehow, but I think it's worthwhile."

"Agreed," said Harry. "People have to be warned if they're to stand a chance against the Flamels and the others. And Pince?"

"What can we do?" Hermione said. "If she's in Dumbledore's league and he fought off twenty Death Eaters, then all the teachers here together couldn't subdue her."

"You know," said Harry, "Voldemort tried taking Dumbledore head-on, and accomplished nothing until Tonks tried a subtler approach."

"What did you have in mind?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going to talk to her," he said.

"I notice you just used a singular pronoun," she said.

"So I did," Harry replied. "I'm prophesied to kill or be killed by Voldemort. Pince won't kill me."

"I'm not sure it's wise to rely on that," Hermione said. "History is littered with the bones of people who thought they could manipulate Fate."

"I promise I won't make a habit of it," said Harry, "but right now, I'll be less of a target than you."

"You will?"

"I'm the Boy Who Lived," he said. "People will notice if I suddenly vanish. You, on the other hand …"

"Am only a prefect and known by everyone in the year as the girl who skews the grading curve beyond all recognition," she said.

"Yes," said Harry, "and by not a single soul outside of this year and our own circles of friends."

Hermione frowned.

"Look. We need someone to convince people about the ritual," said Harry.

"True," Hermione admitted. She kissed him again. "Don't do anything rash, alright?"

"Who, me?" said Harry.

They held hands and descended the stairs. Gryffindor was packed with students trading ever-increasing rumours; there was a sudden hush when Harry came into sight, then people began clamouring his name.

"Good luck," Hermione said to Harry.

"You too," said Harry, and they parted. "Spread the word."

Professor Trelawney was at the far end of the room, and looked as though she was undecided what to do. Harry wordlessly pushed through the students in his path, making for the exit.

"Sonorus," said Hermione. "People of Gryffindor, I have an important announcement to make, so I'd appreciate if you could all be quiet for a moment and listen, please. Don't mind Harry; he has something he needs to take care of. I said don't bother him! What I'm about to say is very important. There is a certain Dark ritual, in which the actor –"

The portrait folded shut behind Harry.

His footsteps echoed through the empty halls as he descended on staircase after another and walked to the library. He flung the doors open.

Madame Pince was re-filing incorrectly shelved books; she looked up as he entered.

"Mr Potter! You should be in Gryffindor Tower."

"I know about the ritual," he said without preamble.

"What ritual?" she asked.

"The same one Dumbledore and the Flamels use," Harry said. "The one required to produce the Philosopher's Stone."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Are you?" he said. "Because the teachers are coming here, and they look sure you do."

Her mouth set into a line.

"Really," she said.

"Dumbledore isn't here to protect you," said Harry. "So I thought I'd take the opportunity."

"How do you know about this?" Pince asked.

"It's a long story," he said.

"I see," she said.

"Are you thinking you can defeat them?" said Harry. "Maybe you can. But there's this one spell … how did it go? Oh, yeah. I'm pretty sure the incantation was 'pertoten flamans'."

Madame Pince stiffened.

"You wouldn't dare," she said.

"Who exactly do you think you're talking to?" he retorted. "Someone who isn't already looking at probable expulsion and possible jail time?"

"No fifth-year could hope to control cursed fire," she said. "You'd burn up."

"The way I see it," said Harry, "either you could dispel it, in which case I've lost nothing, or you couldn't, in which case, my life for a sacrificer's is a pretty good trade."

"I can dispel it," she said. "But not enough to save all the books. And believe me, if you damage them, I shan't bother saving you."

"Since I don't have a chance by any other strategy, I'm willing to bet my life that you're bluffing," Harry said.

Pince glared at him.

"I want time to take my books with me," she said.

"The teachers are mere minutes away," said Harry. "You don't have that time. Look. Leave, disappear. I'll make sure the books are well-treated. I'll talk Professor Black into talking McGonagall into hiring a good librarian. But if I ever hear of you again, taking a single life for a sacrifice, I'll burn it all."

"You wouldn't," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I can still kill you now," Pince said.

"Even if you could do it before I got a few good fire spells off," said Harry, "someone's likely to notice if you kill the Boy Who Lived."

She glared.

"The longer you dawdle, the closer the teachers get," he said. "If they get here, they won't ask questions; they'll break out the Blasting Curses and Fiendfyre, and I'll help."

"Fine," she said. "T-treat them well."

"Hermione would hex me if I didn't," he said.

She walked over to a far window. It opened by itself; she floated out; it shut behind her. Harry slumped against a book shelf.

… … …

After all that, the last few days of term passed in a blur. Harry told a pair of Aurors what had happened, without any lies or omissions, while Sirius, McGonagall and Snape listened.

"How can you be certain of this?" McGonagall asked, after the Aurors left.

"Because I saw Flamel myself, when I rescued Cho," said Harry. "If you want hard proof you don't need to trust me or anyone else to believe … there isn't any. It's a conspiracy led by people who are absurdly old and magically powerful; they know how to cover their tracks. There's statistical evidence, though. About twenty percent of the students here are Muggle-born, right? But of the total population, they're less than ten percent."

"That's not proof," McGonagall said. "Muggle-borns have a higher rate of emigration, both abroad and to the Muggle world. The entire conspiracy could have been fabricated whole-cloth by You-Know-Who."

"No," said Harry. "No. You are not going to let us lose now, just because of this. I saw him, alive and casting wandless magic, with three-dimensional rune arrays and Cho Chang in a hospital bed."

"You could have been implanted with a false memory," Sirius pointed out. "It's the sort of thing He'd do."

"It's not the sort of thing he can do, to me. Occlumency guards against memory attacks."

"A skill which He helped teach you," said Snape. "How can you be sure he didn't leave a deliberate vulnerability?"

"Try to use Legilimency and find one, then," Harry challenged.

Snape gave him a withering look. "He wouldn't leave an obvious one, Potter. If I could find a hole in your defences, there'd be no point teaching you anything."

There was a pause.

"However," Snape went on, "I can confirm that Potter's tale is at least partly true. The prophecy is correct."

"Did You-Know-Who tell you that?" asked McGonagall. "He would have told you both the same tale."

"He did," Snape granted, "but I'd already known it for years, because Dumbledore told me."

"Why did he do that?" Sirius asked.

"For personal reasons," Snape said idly. Sirius frowned.

"Wait," said Harry. "Professor McGonagall, you remember your old students well, don't you?"

Two years earlier, she had remembered that Peter Pettigrew had been a lacklustre student.

"I remember every pupil I have ever taught," she answered.

"Do you remember a … Mary Hatter?" Harry asked. "The Marionette Man – Tonks – I caught that name while reading her mind. Mary Hatter, I remember Christine Prestio because there aren't many Italians here, and there was another one, a boy. Tonks thought they'd been sacrificed."

"I … don't think I've heard anything about either of them since they graduated," McGonagall admitted. "But that doesn't prove anything. They could have left Britain. Or You-Know-Who might have murdered them himself, and lied and told Tonks the same thing he told you."

"Tonks also told me that she'd been Obliviated of her memories of them," Harry said.

"Yes, but she could have been lying about that," Sirius said.

"That means," Harry went on, "that the sacrificers probably do that to all of their victims' close friends, so that they never investigate. They don't bother with everyone, at least not immediately, because some of Cho's friends still remembered her. But that means that you can check. Ask those girls' classmates whether they remember them."

"You-Know-Who could have erased their memories," McGonagall countered.

"Are you going to dismiss every single argument that I or anyone could possibly make as being planted?" Harry cried in frustration. "Does it even matter? If you don't protect people from that sort of threat, you won't be protecting them from Voldemort or his Death Eaters, either."

"Those are fair points, actually," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"I should think it would matter for your punishment," Snape observed, his eyes glittering.

"I recall it was school policy not to punish students for their actions while affected by mind magics," said McGonagall.

"If you're referring to Miss Weasley's misadventures three years ago," said Snape, "you'll recall that she was possessed, which Potter was not, and also that she did not succeed in killing anyone."

"The principle's the same," Sirius shot back.

"Could we put this off for a week or so?" Harry asked.

The three adults gave him questioning looks.

"I'm not trying to shift the blame here," said Harry. "I made some bad decisions. I'll happily accept whatever punishment you think is fair. But first, I have to fix as much of this mess as I can."

"You can hardly bring Dumbledore back to life," Snape pointed out.

"I'm not sure whether I even would," Harry returned. "But Cho Chang is in Voldemort's hands, and that's my doing, even if I didn't have any better options. And there are innocent people in danger that maybe I can save; maybe some people would listen to The Boy Who Lived. But I can't do either of those things if I'm sitting here in detention."

"I think we're past the point of detentions," Snape said.

"There's another thing," said Sirius. "You admitted the prophecy's true, and that Voldemort knows it. Before, he was willing to leave Harry alone, because Harry was working with him and wasn't a threat. Now he isn't, and that makes him a target."

"He won't kill me," said Harry. "As long as I'm alive, the prophecy says no-one else can kill him."

"Then," Snape said impatiently, "to ensure you won't be a threat ever again, he'll have you given the Dementor's Kiss instead. Or worse."

McGonagall gave him a look. "Suppose the sacrificers do indeed exist," she said at length to Harry. "How can you be sure Dumbledore was one of them?"

"He admitted it during the battle," said Harry.

"So the Death Eaters all know about it, too," said Sirius. "So they might start using the ritual, too."

"Assuming you believe Potter," said Snape, although he was clearly just saying that to stay in form.

"I do," Sirius replied.

"The Death Eaters didn't overhear," said Harry, ignoring the argument. "Voldemort does, but … I don't know. I think he has a personal grudge against the ritual. I don't think he'd allow them to perform it."

"He can be very persuasive," said Snape. "If he persuaded you of it, then that is precisely what he wanted you to believe."

"I don't know," said Harry.

"I do," Snape said. "The Dark Lord is the most charismatic person I have ever met. He persuaded both you and his Death Eaters that he was manipulating the other, despite both groups knowing he told the other the exact same thing. He did the same thing to acquire my loyalty during the former half of the first war. I would not be surprised if he took Miss Clearwater for his own use."

"I would," said Harry. "Dumbledore fought him and twenty others; he would have crushed Voldemort in a one-on-one. Voldemort isn't in the same league, in terms of power; if he's used any enhancing rituals, he obviously hasn't done many."

"At least four more witches and wizards, all much more powerful than Voldemort," said Sirius, lounging back in his chair and shutting his eyes with a wince. "That's not good."

"Even so," said Snape, "do not underestimate him."

"What should we do now?" said Sirius. "It sounds like we can't fight the sacrificers and the Death Eaters at once. Honestly, I'm not sure we could win against either. We didn't, last time."

"Hogwarts is likely to be a target for the sacrificers," said McGonagall. "We should send the students home."

"Minerva," said Snape, "with all due respect, you do not understand the first thing about strategy. To scatter would be to invite defeat in detail. The sacrificers want nothing more than for us to be divided and easy to pick off one by one. As do the Dark Lord's forces, for that matter."

"So, what?" said Sirius. "You think we should hole up in here?"

"I think you understand even less," Snape said. "Given Tonks' defection, the Black Hole is no longer secure. This is our only defensible position."

"Abandoning the rest of Britain," said Sirius.

"Providing sanctuary for the rest of Britain," Snape corrected. "The Ministry, sacrificers and the Dark Lord are all more powerful than the Order. We have no choice but to hold this fortress; we certainly can't win the war in open battle as things currently stand."

They sat and thought for a minute.

"We'll need to persuade everyone we can to come to Hogwarts or flee the country," said McGonagall.

"Use the owl fleet to send letters?" Sirius suggested. "Put ads in the Prophet?"

"A good start," said McGonagall, "but many people will require personalised persuasion."

"What did you have in mind?" asked Sirius.

… … …

Students crowded onto the Hogsmeade platform, waiting for the Hogwarts Express. Neville was a little apart from them, talking seriously with Hannah. He gave Harry a smile and a wink. He hadn't held anything against him.

Lavender and Parvati were with Padma and a few other Ravenclaws, including Anthony, who was prodding at her radio with his wand, trying to repair it. They definitely avoided Harry's eye.

Sirius was with the other teachers. They were busy discussing strategy. No help there.

Pansy Parkinson was hanging off the arm of a Hufflepuff seventh-year, clearly trying to make Malfoy jealous. It didn't look to be working; Malfoy hadn't so much as glanced at her. He and Ginny were in a corner, bickering in low, heated voices. They would be back together by the end of the ride.

Crabbe and Goyle were now with Zabini and Nott. They were punching one another in the solar plexus, and seemed to be firm friends.

Daphne was with her little sister Astoria, sharing a private smile. She noticed Harry glancing at her, and her expression hardened. Since Tonks had said where she'd got the Berserker Potion, he'd been unbound by his promise to her and had told the Aurors about it. No doubt her family would buy its way out of any real punishment.

Kevin Entwhistle and some of his gang of Ravenclaws made their way over to Harry and Hermione.

"Hey," said Kevin. "Harry."

"Kevin," said Harry.

"I thought I should apologise," he said. "I've always assumed the worst about Gryffindors in general. Despite Hermione proving me wrong about a lot of the stereotypes." Hermione glowed. "The thing is, I always assumed being brave was just a polite way of saying someone was stupid. But, you … well, people say You-Know-Who can trick anyone. I don't know whether that's true. But I do know that most stupid people wouldn't be brave enough to admit it."

"You're new to this entire apology thing, aren't you," said Harry. "I can see why you and Hermione get along so well."

"True," Kevin admitted. "What I'm trying to say is, owning up to it, that was brave. That was a good thing to do. I have to respect that. I think it's more than I personally would be a good enough person to do. So I'm sorry for every time I've ever looked down on or been rude to or dismissed you or any other Gryffindor. I'm sorry for talking down to your friend, W– Ron. I think, in retrospect, maybe I was the stupid one."

"… Thanks," said Harry. "You don't need to apologise for that sort of thing, though, everyone thinks their House is the best."

"And if we really are the best, I shouldn't have made that mistake," said Kevin. "Anyway, good luck with your … er … aunt?"

"Honestly, I won't be too bothered if they refuse to go into hiding," said Harry. "If nothing else, anyone who does enough research to find her will have done enough research to know they couldn't blackmail me through them."

"He's mostly coming to help me with my parents," said Hermione. "I, er, might have left a few details out of my letters home; they might take a little persuading."

"Fair enough," said Kevin, and he and his friends waved them off and walked away to rehash their exams, much like Quidditch teams often rehashed matches.

"Thanks for this, by the way," said Hermione.

"I was going to be in the area anyway," said Harry.

"Because of the Dursleys."

"Yeah. Also, I'm going to see if I can't persuade some people in Diagon Alley to hide. And as long as I'm out of the castle, I might as well see if I can't find Cho Chang. It's my fault she's with the Death Eaters, after all."

"Sounds like you're going to stay busy this summer," said Hermione. "Need any help with that?"

"If you could help track Cho down, that'd be great," said Harry. "And I could do with someone watching my back. I heard the Ministry issued a warrant for my arrest."

"Sounds like fun," said Hermione. She took his hand.

Author's Notes

When I first began this, I figured I'd probably finish within about 30k words. Hmm. It was supposed to be an exercise in mimicking Rowling's style, since she's apparently rather better at this author shtick than I am.

The original plot was a single point of departure AU. Honeymort was lying through his teeth about everything, including that he made the ritual up. The idea was that he's described in canon as being charming and charismatic … but really isn't. What would an intelligent, charismatic Voldemort have done? Try to subvert his enemies' key players, of course. To everyone who thought the first chapter was not all the convincing, this is why; I deliberately brought my B-game because he was lying about most of it and making a fair amount of it up as he was going along.

Then I got 70k words in and realised that this would put him in a much stronger position than in canon. In canon, he almost won. I'd have the choice of a deus ex machina, the Light winning due to some massive contrivance, or an incredibly depressing ending in which Harry helped him win and conquer Britain and ultimately the world. Ouch. As is, things are bad, but not strictly worse; the heroes still have a chance, if they play their cards well, although the villains have plenty of new aces hidden up their sleeves.

Tonks and Ron were planned from the start; if you reread this, you'll find hints in their first chapters. Also, Tonks was one of two characters OOC for no apparent reason; the other was Malfoy, who is canonically pretty flat. He's basically the Team Rocket of the Potterverse, and so predictable I couldn't bring myself to write him. I likewise can't write Luna for long without being repetitive or going radically OOC, but she's much easier to justify writing out of an AU book five. Cameos were all I could give her for fear of that.

The sequel, Milk, is now available from my profile page.

Thanks, everyone who's read and especially reviewed. Until I began writing, I never appreciated how important that encouragement was, even just simple "good work", although of course longer reviews are much better. Special thanks to Sakhr al-Jinni, who's been encouraging the entire way; and conversely to Bulwersator, who gave me the most brutal reviews. Highlighting areas of weakness is crucial to improvement. I don't think I'd like to have all my reviewers be so critical, but having one or a few was good.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Geoffrey Norrish