Harry Potter and the Amulet of the Moon

Chapter 8

Keeping Secrets

George returned two hours after leaving, reporting that all had gone well, and the Fosters were very willing to help. George Foster would accompany Kingsley to India, where they would seek out his acquaintance together. Harry knew that Kingsley had hoped to avoid traveling outside Australia if possible, to minimize timeline-related dangers, but the alternative was asking Foster to impose on the Indian man a trip to Australia, which as the one seeking a favor he didn't feel he had a right to do. Realistically, there was almost zero danger. Then again, he thought ruefully, there had been almost zero danger in going to the island in the first place.

The atmosphere was tense the next two mornings because all the switches so far had happened in the morning, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred. On the third morning, some people darkly joked at breakfast that this would be the day it happened again, and an hour after training started, it did.

They were walking alongside a rocky creek; Harry stopped and looked around, as did Ron and Hermione. Malfoy appeared confused for a minute, then understood. "It's you three again."

"It's us," agreed Harry.

Malfoy continued walking; Harry decided to follow him. "So, you were saying? The Dark Lord--and I'll remind you again not to say the name--he did the Killing Curse on you, and you sort of died, I think was where we left it."

Harry finished explaining it. "I'm still not sure why it happened that way," he concluded. "I think he and I were linked somehow when he used my blood, but that's just a wild guess. We were linked a lot, too damn much if you ask me. Did you tell our counterparts about that?"

"Mmm hmmm," Malfoy confirmed. "Potter was less than thrilled at the thought."

"So was I."

"It was interesting to watch, actually. Granger and Weasley were getting on his back about it, as if he had actually done it! She said it was just the sort of thing he would do."

Harry was surprised. "That's a little strange, since I don't have much of a record of committing suicide."

"I think she meant, acting impulsively, without really thinking it over. I had to tell them I didn't have all the details, but she said that he must have done it without telling her and Weasley, since they'd have stopped him if he had."

"Pretty clever, that Hermione," mused Ron.

"I think," said Hermione to Malfoy, "she, I, also meant that it was like him to do something heroic and self-sacrificing. Though I know you'd never give him credit for that."

Malfoy snorted. "Heroic and self-sacrificing people don't live very long."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, well, we've already had this conversation." To Malfoy's quizzical glance, he amended his statement. "Okay, the other you. So, let me ask you, what's going on over here? What's the plan?"

"We're looking for Horcruxes, of course. But you'd know where they are, wouldn't you? This could really speed things up."

Harry sighed. "Let's sit down a bit," he said, having noticed a group of small boulders that could serve as temporary places to sit.

He looked at Malfoy. "What you say makes sense, of course, but I'm far from sure that's what I want to do."

Puzzled, Malfoy asked, "Why not? Didn't Weasley say last time that the timeline is already hopelessly compromised? As long as we get all the Horcruxes and the Dark Lord ends up dead, what difference does it make?"

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, their expressions indicating that they didn't disagree with Malfoy. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it, just that I wasn't sure. I'm just... reluctant to get too involved over here."

"Well, if it keeps up like this, you may be getting a lot more involved than you hoped," pointed out Malfoy. "It seems like these are getting longer all the time. At some point, you may just end up staying here."

Ron suppressed a shudder. "Now, that's a scary thought. We end up here all the time, then a year from now, we start going back, and it happens all over again... could we really spend eternity doing this over and over?"

"Calm down, Weasley. At least you'd have me to keep you company."

"I didn't know you had such a good sense of humor," said Ron sarcastically.

"Lot you don't know about me. Now, Potter, if you don't want to help us, do you have some other idea? Just sitting out the time you're here will only work for so long. Want to at least tell me where the Horcruxes are?"

"Speaking of that," said Hermione, "Where's the one I took from Umbridge? If it were here, we'd all know."

"It's in a safe place," said Malfoy casually.

Harry traded stunned glances with Ron and Hermione. "They let you keep it? Do they know where it is?"

"There was... a little debate over this," allowed Malfoy.

Ron scoffed. "I'll bet."

Malfoy glared at Ron; Ron stared back as if to say, 'you can make jokes but I can't?' Harry waited a few seconds, then said to Malfoy, "Well?"

"Before I tell you, I want to ask this. Did you guys drag it around with you until you were able to destroy it?"

"What else would we do with it?" asked Ron.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "You want to tell him?" he said to Hermione.

She looked at Ron. "Malfoy means we could have buried it, or secured it in some other way." To Malfoy, she added, "We just didn't think we could take that kind of chance. We had to be 100% sure that nothing would happen to it."

"Yeah, the other Granger said that too. So, you dragged it around for, I don't know, months, knowing the effect it has, just so you could avoid the one in a million chance that if you buried it, someone could somehow find it even though there's no reason in the world to look in the spot where you buried it. Not to mention that you're a lot more likely to do something stupid to get caught with it than without it. Sometimes, you've got to take a calculated risk.

"Anyway... I have a plan, by which I hope to extract the Horcrux from Potter without killing him. I don't know for sure that it will work, and I don't know exactly how to do it. My efforts right now are directed at finding out. The current location of the Horcrux has to do with that plan. But I don't think the plan is going to work if the other three know what it is, especially Potter. He might not agree to it.

"I think the plan I have is the only way to defeat the Dark Lord that doesn't involve Potter's death. Now, I know what you just said, but since even you're not sure how or why it happened, I don't think it's a good idea for him to try it. It might very well not work this time, for whatever reason. Agree or disagree?"

The three exchanged glances. "I wouldn't want to risk it," said Hermione; Ron nodded in agreement.

"Thought so. Anyway, we went back and forth over this for a few hours; they, especially Potter, said they couldn't trust me to have this plan and not tell them, even though it was indisputable that I'd betrayed the Dark Lord, and had nowhere to go except your side.

"Finally, we agreed on this. I would, and did, take an Unbreakable Vow that, for a period of one hour, one person--they chose Granger, of course--would ask me questions, and the vow was that I wouldn't lie or deliberately mislead in answering them. I could refuse to answer if I chose, but I couldn't lie. We also agreed that the questions I'd be asked would be negotiated in advance. For example, I wasn't required to tell them my plan, but I did assure them that what I'd said to that point wasn't a lie, that I had no ulterior motives, and that my true and real goal was the death of the Dark Lord. She asked the questions, I answered them, and they were satisfied. I could go off and do something by myself, and they wouldn't worry about what I was doing."

"I have a question," said Ron. "You said you had nowhere else to go, but you'd have to think that even given that you betrayed him, if you brought him Harry Potter on a silver platter, you'd be forgiven."

"If you think that, then you don't know much about the Dark Lord," replied Malfoy somberly. "Results are important to him, but loyalty is even more important. Granger mentioned this; I told her to feel free to add it to the list of questions I'd be asked. She did, and I told them that I honestly believed that if I went back and handed him Potter, he'd cheerfully accept, and then have me killed right alongside Potter. No, sad to say, you guys are my only hope now."

"Why is it 'sad to say?'" asked Ron.

"Because the Chosen One here has now almost said the Dark Lord's name twice. The three of you, I don't question your determination, but I do question your competence. I'd like to have a little more confidence in the people into whose hands I'm putting my life."

"Well, we'll do our best," said Harry. "Are you going to tell us your plan, or is it important that we don't know as well?"

"I'll think that over," said Malfoy. "I'll let you know next time you're back. Now, how about the location of the Horcruxes?"

"I'll think about it."

"Ah. Do you mean it like, you show me yours, I'll show you mine?"

Harry shook his head. "No, this isn't conditional. I'm inclined to tell you, and to help you get rid of them, but I do want a little time to convince myself that this is something I should be doing."

Malfoy inclined his head in a half-shrug. "So, what do we do in the meantime?"

"What were we doing before?" asked Ron.

"Looking for some sort of abandoned Muggle house," replied Malfoy, "or a house that wasn't being used much, way out in the countryside. Maybe a summer home, since winter is coming. It would be nice to have a base of operations."

Hermione spoke. "Wouldn't that be unfair to--"

"Oh, please, don't make me have this argument again," moaned Malfoy. "I already promised the other Granger that if the Muggles came back, we'd leave, all right? I don't fancy spending another half hour on this." Clearly not convinced, Hermione gave him a wary look, but said nothing.

"What did you argue about for a half hour?" wondered Harry.

"There was a lot of repetition," admitted Malfoy. "She was sure that I would end up hurting, or stealing the house from, the Muggles. Took me a while to convince her that I wasn't going to."

"Gee," said Ron sarcastically, "I wonder why she would think that, what with--"

"Ron," Harry interrupted as Malfoy looked ready to retort. "We're working with him, so we should probably try to avoid any unnecessary conflict." He glanced at Hermione, letting her know that the message was for her as well. Ron shrugged, as if to say that what he'd been about to say hadn't been all that important anyway.

Harry stood. "Why don't we continue on," he suggested. The others nodded, and they moved on.

After a minute, Ron asked conversationally, "So, Malfoy, what's going on with your parents now?"

Furious, Malfoy whirled on Ron. "I already said that--"

Ron's eyes went wide as Malfoy cut himself off, then exhaled sharply. "I told the others that that subject's not to be brought up."

Ron exchanged a glance with Hermione, then uttered a word that Harry never thought he'd hear Ron say to Malfoy. "Sorry."

Harry saw Malfoy's acknowledgment of the apology in his eyes, which was as close as Malfoy got to expressing it. He looked at the ground, saying nothing. Harry wondered what was happening to them, and he was sure that Ron and Hermione were now wondering the same thing.

Soon back on the island, the group had their usual post-switch meeting to exchange information. In his quarters a few hours later, he looked up to see Ron and Hermione enter. "Hey," he greeted them.

"How are you doing?" she asked him as they all sat.

"Not bad," he said. "Better than Malfoy's parents, I'd bet."

Hermione grunted. "Not that Lucius doesn't deserve anything he gets, with what he did to Ginny in second year. But I can see why Malfoy's sensitive about it. They may be dead, tortured, living in fear... for all we know, Malfoy himself may not know what's happened to them. But their son betrayed Voldemort, so you have to think his parents aren't having an easy time."

"What's your guess as to why he did it, given that it'd put his parents in such danger?"

"I'd guess," said Ron, "that it wasn't foremost on his mind then. Even in our timeline he didn't really want to kill Dumbledore, and even with two Death Eaters there, really hesitated. In the pressure of that moment, making that decision, he might not have thought about it like that. Then he does it, and maybe regrets it later--not that he regrets not killing Dumbledore, I mean, but regrets the effect it has on his parents. So, he doesn't want to talk about it."

"It makes sense," agreed Hermione. "Something like that. For us, the question is, does this pose a danger to us, or his counterparts? I wouldn't mind knowing exactly what they asked him. Maybe we could leave a note asking our counterparts to tell us that."

"Not a bad idea," he agreed. "But you heard what Hestia said, about how some of our counterparts aren't happy with the lack of information they're getting about what's going on, why they're on an island. I'm not sure how much cooperation we can rely on from them unless we start answering every question they want to ask."

"But she said the other Harry was urging them to cooperate."

"The other Harry doesn't have the kind of authority over the others that I do here," Harry pointed out. "We think our reason for withholding information is good, but since they don't know, it might not seem so good to them.

"Now, I wanted to ask you two about what I was talking about to Malfoy over there... should we be helping them get Horcruxes?"

"I think we should," said Ron. "If we start spending more and more time over there, and we're not trying, we could actually hinder them. This timeline is so different now that it feels as though we shouldn't worry about that. I know you're worried, and I understand, but it's not fair to them if we don't."

"Harry," said Hermione quietly, "this isn't your fault, you know."

He looked at her quizzically. "You looked like you felt that it was," she explained. "You've had that look a few times recently, like you got us into this or something. It's not something you could have foreseen."

"I'm Auror Leader," he said somberly. "That makes it my responsibility."

"And if you make a mistake that gets us into this kind of situation, then we'll tell you," she pressed. "But this wasn't a mistake. This was just... something weird that happened. You're going to be making a lot of big decisions, and you can't function if you blame yourself and feel bad every time you make a decision and something goes wrong. There's a difference between something being your responsibility and it being your fault."

He paused, mulling it over. "Maybe, but--"

Kingsley opened the tent's door. "Just got back," he said. "Do you want the briefing here, or out there with everybody?"

"Is there something you specifically think I should be told privately?" he asked.

Kingsley shook his head. "Just giving you the option."

"Out there, then."

Outside his tent, Harry made the whistling sound with his wand, though most everyone was around anyway. They sat at the table.

"Okay," said Kingsley. "It took a few days because the man we were looking for was very busy, and wasn't available at first. Once we were able to get him, he was very willing to help. He was quite pleased to see Mr. Foster again," he added, with a glance at George. "Having spent some time with Foster, I can see why George was so sure that he wasn't the source of the problem. He comes across as utterly sincere and reliable. A very good man.

"The three of us had a long and interesting conversation, but right now, I'll get to the important part. The Indian man, his name was Sanjay, felt based on what I told him that while he couldn't discount it entirely, it was very unlikely that what we're experiencing is time displacement. He emphasized that for events as rare as this there are no absolutes, so we can't totally rule anything in or out. But he's pretty sure that it isn't the case, mainly because we remember contradictions. As we've talked about, there should be either smooth adjustment or, with this many differences, a catastrophic event. He felt that since neither has happened, it isn't a time issue."

"Then, what?" asked Terry.

"He thinks that it's not a time shift, but rather, a dimensional shift," said Kingsley. "He explained that while it's hardly a certainty, many theorists in this area believe that there are many dimensions. A few think there are only two, or a limited number, while most others think the number is nearly infinite. He talked at length about this, more than an hour. He thinks this is far more likely. He emphasized repeatedly that nothing is certain, but said that if he had to act on the basis of an assumption, this would be it."

Harry spoke to the table. "Can anyone think of any reason, looking at it in those terms, why this might have happened?" He was met with silence and blank looks. To Kingsley, he asked, "Did the Indian guy, Sanjay, did he have any idea why this might have happened, and how to fix it?"

"I'm afraid not," said Kingsley. "Of course I told him what happened with you and Fawkes immediately after we got here. He thinks it's highly unlikely that it has anything to do with it, but again, he can't be sure. One question is, if this involves another dimension, does that mean that Fawkes took Harry to this other dimension, to see the 'other' Dumbledore? Or back in time, in our dimension? Either is possible, though knowing phoenixes, back in our time seems much more likely. We don't even know that phoenixes can do that, if other dimensions even exist.

"I asked him, if this other dimension exists, why does it seem to be identical to ours in every respect until Malfoy's encounter with Dumbledore, after which it diverges significantly--"

"Excuse me," Cho broke in. "I should say that mine hasn't diverged at all. Everything is happening exactly as I remember it, except for a few small things that are the result of this happening to us, the switching back."

"Me too," agreed Angelina.

"Maybe I should say," clarified Kingsley, "that the closer one is to Malfoy must affect how different it is. I was going to say that Sanjay said that under one theory, one universe can essentially split into two, create an offshoot, when an important decision point is reached. One goes one way, one goes the other. Deciding whether to kill someone is an important decision point. He said that one universe could have split into three at this point. In one, Malfoy kills Dumbledore. In another, the one we remember, Snape arrives before Malfoy makes the decision. In the third, Malfoy makes the decision and turns on the Death Eaters. There could even be others, he said, based on that one decision point."

"I gotta say," said Lee, "that this sounds kind of... off the wall."

"I'd say that too," said Corner, "except that this whole situation we're in is pretty off the wall too. So any theory about how or why this happened is bound to be off the wall as well."

Kingsley nodded. "That's a good way to put it, Michael. I think that's exactly right. If I'd heard this a year ago, I'd have thought it was esoteric theory, suited for people who live their lives in scientific academies and ivory towers. But, here we are, so we have no choice but to consider the bizarre as if it weren't.

"Now, one other thing... he theorizes that this started as soon as we reached the island, but we didn't know it because at first, the switches were for infinitesimal periods of time, and spaced far apart. As time went by, he thinks, they started happening more and more often, and for longer and longer periods of time. Based on the times I told him, he guesses that by Christmas we'll have reached the midpoint, twelve hours there and twelve hours here. How long was the last one?"

"Forty-two minutes," reported Hermione.

"Wow, exactly what he guessed it would be. He thinks the next one will be two hours and ten minutes."

"Terry and I did the analysis," said Hermione. "We came up with that as well. Then after December, and this is when it starts getting bad..."

Kingsley nodded. "By the end of January, the time you'll be spending here will be the same as the time you're spending there now. And by March, you'll virtually be living there."

"And," said Ron glumly, "you said this guy had no ideas about how we get back."

"That's right," said Kingsley.

Again, there was quiet around the table. "Let's look at the practicalities of it, then," said Harry. "Malfoy wants us to help him find the Horcruxes, which after all is what our counterparts are doing. If we assume there's no timeline to screw up, then there's no reason not to, right? But then in terms of going and getting them, suppose we come up with some extremely risky plan, like breaking into Gringotts. Do we need our counterparts' permission? How about when we're there for more than twelve hours a day? At what point does it stop being their lives, and start becoming ours?"

"All excellent questions," said Kingsley. "It's hard to say. Since the next one will be for a fairly long time, I should be able to have a talk with them about this. I'll also talk to their Harry privately, since what he'll agree to is an important factor in all this."

"Is this something you want to do," asked Ron, "or think you should do?"

Harry hadn't thought of it that way. "It's not as though I enjoy it, of course. But it seems to me that while I'm over there, I should be doing what I think he would be doing. And if I'm better able to do it, then it makes sense that I should. How about you two? Are you okay with this?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance. "Like you, I suppose," said Hermione. "I'm not thrilled to have to do it all over again, and I can't imagine how Malfoy hopes to get that Horcrux out of their Harry, but..."

"Thankfully, that's not our problem," said Ron.

Ginny, looking surprised, spoke up. "Do you feel less close to that Harry just because, you know, he's not your Harry?" Hermione also looked at Ron as though she disagreed with his last comment.

Ron shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't mean it like that. Just that it's a hard problem, and... my Harry's already been through it. And I'm glad about that."

That wasn't what it had sounded like to Harry, but he wasn't inclined to press Ron on it, as he was also glad it wasn't his problem. "Okay," he said. "We'll talk to Malfoy next time, develop tentative plans, and tell him to discuss it with our counterparts. Kingsley, when you talk to them next time, first talk to their Harry alone. I want him to be able to decide whether he wants the others to be told that I'm Auror Leader."

"Why?" wondered Neville.

"I don't want it to get out, to the public," said Harry. "The more people know, the more likely that is."

"But how do we explain the whole island thing to them if we don't explain that Harry's Auror Leader?" asked Neville.

"As I said, lying's not my first choice, but we could tell them about the deaths of all the Aurors and that they're here as Auror recruits, simply leaving out the information that Harry's Auror Leader. They'd have no reason to think otherwise."

"But Malfoy already knows that Harry's Auror Leader," pointed out Ron.

"And the worst that happens is that your counterpart and mine know," said Hermione. "I think they could be trusted not to spread it around."

"Do we really want to lie to our counterparts?" asked Neville. "I mean, no disrespect to Harry, or his counterpart, but it really doesn't seem like a good idea. We need them to trust us, and vice versa. The reason doesn't seem worth the risk it involves, and I'm not sure we should put that decision in the hands of the other Harry who, again, no offense Harry, might put his own privacy interests above more important group-based ones."

Again Harry paused, but no one seemed to want to respond. Finally Harry did. "I can't say you're wrong, Neville," he admitted. "There are things I've tended to keep to myself that maybe I shouldn't have. I'll think about it, and make the decision before the next switch."

"Speaking of that," asked Dean, "why didn't you tell us what you were doing last year, when you were hunting the Horcruxes? We could have helped you."

Harry held back from pointing out that the answer was obvious. "Dumbledore told me to tell no one else but Ron and Hermione. The reason he did it was that it was vital to keep secret the fact that we were hunting Horcruxes, because if Voldemort had known, he would've tried to collect them and hide them better, or worse, make new ones. I don't think it was that Dumbledore didn't trust you, and certainly it wasn't that I didn't trust you. He just thought it was much safer that fewer people knew."

"At the cost of whatever benefit you could have gotten with a little help," pointed out Neville. "I have to say, I don't find that totally persuasive. So I want to say for the record that I'd like to help. I don't know how my counterpart will feel about it, but I think he'd be on board with this. So, that's up to you. And your counterpart, I guess."

"I'm with Neville," said Seamus, as Dean nodded. Soon, most everyone was nodding or making comments indicating their agreement.

"Okay, I understand," said Harry. "I'll start working on a plan to make use of whatever you all can bring to the operation. Neville, what you should do right now is work your magic on the Room of Requirement, get it set up as necessary. Write a note to your counterpart explaining what you're doing, and ask him to stay there, make sure it stays open. Start enlisting the help of DA members who aren't here, but of course, keep it quiet. Everyone, write a note to your counterpart, and ask them to write back. Hermione, Terry, when's the next switch?"

"The day after tomorrow, late afternoon," said Terry.

"Okay. You don't have to do it right now, but by lunchtime the day after tomorrow. You'll have some time to think about it. After breakfast on that day, I'll let you know how I'm thinking."

Back in his quarters after the meeting, Harry reflected on the recent news. Of course it was less than certain that they were changing dimensions rather than time, but it made sense, and the thought was quite comforting. He wouldn't worry nearly as much about catastrophes, just about stopping the switching and helping their counterparts defeat Voldemort. He wondered which was more important.

After a while, his ruminations were interrupted by Kingsley opening his door. "Are you okay to talk a bit?"

Harry waved him in. "Sure. What is it?"

They sat on the sofa. "I've been doing some strategic and tactical thinking, and I thought I'd run some of it by you. It's too early to do these things, but it'd be good to start thinking about it." Harry gestured for Kingsley to continue.

"An important possibility--again, for the future, if and when you're there for more than half the time--is that you could go public as Auror Leader." Harry's eyebrows went high. "Yes, I can understand why you haven't thought of that," said Kingsley wryly. "I know it wouldn't be your favorite thing to do. But the symbol shows over there, and your Leader-specific abilities work. You could announce, in a public place, that you're Auror Leader, and assert that Aurors should follow you. I believe that most would do so.

"It would be a very stark and confrontational thing to do; it would basically be a declaration of war against the current government. There would be negative aspects, such as that it would shake the Dark wizards out of their complacency, and cause them to perhaps overreact in a way that would cause danger to ordinary citizens. The positive reason to do it would be that it would alert the population to the true nature of the government--most people realistically know, but as long as Voldemort isn't doing anything terrible affecting them, they're willing to pretend it isn't happening. That's why it was clever of Voldemort to only attack the Muggle-borns. There's enough prejudice out there that people were willing to throw them over the side. But if you rubbed people's noses in the fact that their leaders were Dark wizards, they might start to resist more, out of shame if nothing else. To me, the biggest advantage would be getting the Aurors on your side. But anyone with any connection to you would suffer. The Weasleys would have to go into hiding before you announced, as would DA members." Kingsley stopped speaking and leaned back, waiting for Harry to respond.

"Wow." Speaking slowly, he said, "You're right, I hadn't thought of it. A year ago, as you know, I'd never have been willing to do it. But now, I can imagine it. I can see the possible good points, but it also seems possible that I could recruit Aurors while keeping it quiet."

Kingsley looked doubtful. "Maybe, but the more you tell, the more likely it becomes that someone would betray the secret, and then you get the cost of being public without some of the benefit. Which reminds me, I was a little surprised that Dean and Neville questioned what Dumbledore did, telling you three to keep it secret. To me, that's a no-brainer. I'd have preferred to know so I could've helped you, along with trustworthy Aurors. But one person gets captured, given Veritaserum, and that's it. Which is why, and I wanted to mention this in private as well, you may want to seriously consider who you tell things to about your plans, and this could even include Ron and Hermione. Again, it's not a question of trustworthiness, but like I said, Veritaserum.

"Another thing I wanted to mention is the possibility of infiltration, secret attacks. Your Auror Leader ability to Apparate anywhere is a huge tactical asset, and it's easy to imagine ways to put it to good use, combined with your Invisibility Cloak. It would, for example, not be overly difficult for you to abduct Thicknesse if you wanted to. I'm not specifically recommending that you do so, but you get my point."

Harry nodded, impressed; that hadn't occurred to him either. "That's interesting. I'll give that some thought, too. And maybe come up with a few ideas of my own."

"Just keep in mind," said Kingsley, "that Hestia and I are the only two that you can speculate about plans and tactical ideas with, with no fear that they could be discovered. Since we're here, there's no danger. And the last thing is that you should get in contact with my counterpart. Here's how you can find him..."

* * * * *

Two days later, Hermione and Terry predicted that the switch would occur at 5:56 p.m., plus or minus fifteen minutes. Harry decided that they should eat dinner early to be on the safe side, but it wasn't until 6:03 that he, Hermione, and Ron found themselves sitting with Malfoy, half-eaten food on their plates; Harry recognized it as the miniaturized food, the same type they had on the island. He exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione. "Well, they can finish up dinner over there," he said wryly. "They may like that food better anyway, and Luna did make extra."

Malfoy glanced around as he chewed a bite of his beef. "Ah, you're back. How long for this time? Granger had a guess, but I want to know what you think."

"Two hours and ten minutes," said Hermione.

"I guess you have better information than her. She said between two and two and a half hours, but couldn't be more sure than that.

"The others wanted to leave you notes, but we don't have much in the way of paper and ink. The main thing they wanted me to tell you was that I'm a little bit compromised. They understand and accept it, but thought you lot should know as well."

Wondering what Malfoy could mean, Harry gestured for him to continue. "What I mean by 'compromised' is that when I agreed to work for the Dark Lord, I had to take an Unbreakable Vow. I Vowed that I would follow all orders that he gave me; there were no other stipulations. Just that. Now, it's really not that important, since if I find myself in a position where he can order me to do something, well, let's just say death would be the least of my problems. But it's theoretically possible that I could be in his presence but not his captive, and he could order me to do something. My choices would be to do it or die, and as I've told the others, in that situation I'll do it, whatever it is. Just so you know."

"I understand," said Harry. "That makes sense. Why did you not die, though, when you decided not to kill Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, I wondered about that too," agreed Malfoy. "One of the reasons I hesitated so long was that I thought I might. My best guess is that the Dark Lord said that my 'task' was to kill Dumbledore, and what I Vowed was that I would follow all 'orders.' Maybe a task is different enough from an order that the spell didn't kick in."

"Why would he just limit it to orders?" wondered Ron. "Why not something like..."

"You will be totally loyal to the Dark Lord at all times, and do what you believe he would want you to do in his absence, like that," Malfoy suggested.

"Yes, exactly," agreed Ron.

"Yeah, I don't know," said Malfoy. "Maybe it gets into too many difficulties, people could drop dead just for making a mistake. The more specific, the better." He took another bite. "Aren't you going to finish your food?"

"We ate before we came," explained Harry.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "These things aren't cheap, you know. I don't have a whole lot of money left, and there may be things we need it for."

"Maybe I should go to Gringotts," suggested Harry humorously.

Malfoy snorted. "Oh, yeah, go ahead and try."

It occurred to Harry that it wouldn't be impossible for him to Apparate into his vault, due to his Auror Leader abilities. About to mention the possibility, he suddenly refrained. It was better, he realized, for Malfoy not to know about his abilities until it was necessary for him to. But on the other hand, Malfoy might get tactical and strategic ideas that he otherwise wouldn't if he knew about Harry's abilities. Is that worth the risk of his getting captured and the information taken from him? Harry sighed internally; another in the never-ending series of difficult choices he had to make. For now, he would say nothing.

"Oh," said Malfoy as he finished his food, "the other Potter says that he's fine with your helping get the Horcruxes. The only thing he said was, 'tell him not to get me into any situation I can't get out of.' So, are you going to do it?"

"Yes."

Malfoy's face lit up. "Great. So, where are they?"

"Sorry, but... need-to-know. Security."

Malfoy gave Harry a very cross look. "You've got to be kidding. Look, if he captures me and gets it out of me before I die, in one case I know where they are and tell him, and in the other case, I don't know where they are, but I have to tell him that I may not know, but you do, and you're looking for them. In either case, he collects and hides them again. So, what's the damn difference?"

Harry was silent, thinking. "Stumped you, I see," cracked Malfoy.

"He's got a point," admitted Ron. "Since the V-man knows where they are... the only information that shouldn't be spread around is things he doesn't know. He does know this, so no harm in Malfoy knowing."

"Sorry, but you'll just have to make sure I don't get captured," said Malfoy, with a superior expression.

"Yeah, okay," sighed Harry. "Sorry, Malfoy. There really are a lot of security things I have to worry about, but I was wrong on this one.

"Let's see. There's my counterpart, that's the hardest one. There's the locket, which we have. Well, you have. The one that took Dumbledore's hand, that one's dead. The one in Bellatrix's vault, that also won't be easy. The one at Hogwarts, Ravenclaw's diadem, easy. We can get it any time. That's, what..."

"Five," supplied Hermione. "Riddle's diary, dead. Lastly, Nagini."

"So," continued Ron, "two are dead: the diary and the one Dumbledore killed. Two we have or can easily get: the locket and the diadem. One is hard to get: the cup. Two are in living things. So, except for the diadem, there's nothing more we can do without alerting the V-man that we're gathering his Horcruxes."

"Could he make more?" asked Harry of no one in particular. "Malfoy, do you know anything about this?"

"Wish I did, but no."

"It seems as though he should be able to," said Hermione. "Remember, he made Nagini one, and I don't think Nagini was around when he was alive before, so he must have done it after he came back. So, I don't see any reason why he still couldn't do more. Now, the more he does, the more unstable he'll be, so in a way, it's good. But as we said before, he'll just hide them better next time."

"How did you get it out of Lestrange's vault last time?" asked Malfoy.

Ron told the story. "We'd be hoping for a less dangerous way this time," he concluded.

"Yeah, I'd think," said Malfoy dryly. "I can't believe how you guys managed it, where you came from. You were so lucky, things just happened to go your way every time. But I have to say, I find it hard to believe that if you tried the same thing this time, it would happen the same way. So, let's work on a plan that's not so preposterous."

"It was the best we could do at the time," muttered Hermione.

Malfoy shrugged. "I didn't mean that in a negative way."

Ron and Hermione exchanged disbelieving looks; Harry shook his head lightly, to communicate that they shouldn't pursue the matter further. With clear reluctance, they said nothing more.

"So anyway," said Harry, "the diadem should be done as soon as possible, and of course it's important that it's done quietly; no one at Hogwarts should know. Neville should be setting up the Room of Requirement as we speak. I won't try until Neville tells me everything's okay, and we'll be here for a longer time."

"How are you going to get into Hogwarts?" asked Malfoy.

"It's no problem. I can get in."

"Fine, be that way," cracked Malfoy in annoyance that appeared to be only somewhat feigned. Clearly he knew it was for good security reasons, but he still didn't like it.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy, but it has to be that way. If it makes you feel any better, there are some things I'm not telling them," said Harry, gesturing to his two friends.

"Really?" asked Ron, surprised.

"Some plans I'm working on with Kingsley," he explained. "If I talk to you about them--"

"And we get captured, you can't do them anymore," finished Hermione. "Don't worry, Harry, I understand. We don't take offense."

"Well, maybe a little," Ron deadpanned.

Harry chuckled. "Sorry. Getting back to what I was saying, we do the diadem, and the big question is, then what? It seems to me that we can't do Bellatrix's vault, and of course Nagini, until we know how to get the Horcrux out of Harry. And now we're back to you, Malfoy. You had a plan?"

"A tentative plan," clarified Malfoy. "There's information that I need to move forward, and that information is very hard to get. It would be better to do it sooner rather than later. Potter, I suspect you have some other Auror Leader abilities that you're not telling me about, and like you said, I don't like it, but I get why. But here, you may be able to do something that I couldn't do. So I'll tell you what I need, and we'll see what you can do to help."

Harry nodded. "Why is sooner better than later?"

"It has to do with Dumbledore. The time in which he can help us may be almost gone."

Harry's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean, help us? He's dead, so how can he help us? Something he left us?"

It was Malfoy's turn to look at Harry quizzically. "He's not dead, Potter."

"What??"

"I didn't kill him, remember?"

"Yeah, but the Horcrux, his hand! He didn't have much time left anyway! There's no way he could survive all this time!"

"Well, he has," said Malfoy.

Harry thought he noticed a small difference in Malfoy's manner when he spoke the last few words; there had to be a story behind that. "How?" he demanded.

"Well, now, you haven't been the most forthcoming with information yourself," Malfoy protested.

Harry sighed, getting annoyed. "That's for a very specific and good reason. Can you say the same?"

"In this case, no," admitted Malfoy. "But in some cases, it could be. And I have to tell you, all this secrecy is starting to wear on me. Maybe it's for a good reason, but we're in this together. It doesn't always matter whether there are good reasons or not. When your counterparts and I agreed to work together, it wasn't with the stipulation, 'you'll only be told exactly what you need to be told and no more.' I think you need to be a little more forthcoming."

"You're the one who was going off by himself, not telling our counterparts what you were doing," protested Hermione. "Where do you get off--"

"All right, all right," Malfoy conceded. "But that was only one thing, and for a very good reason. All I can tell you is I believe what I said, it's how I feel. I think I can do more, we can do more, if you tell me more."

"I understand," said Harry. "I promise I'll think about it carefully, back on the island. Now, are you going to tell us how it is Dumbledore is still alive?"

Malfoy paused, clearly uncomfortable. "Can I tell you without you going berserk on me?"

"Ooh, this can't be good," said Ron.

"We'll consider ourselves warned," said Harry, bracing for the worst.

Malfoy spoke only two words. "Unicorn blood."

Ron's mouth dropped open; Harry winced and looked down. "Unicorn blood?" screeched Hermione. "Are you insane? Do you know what that does to a person? How could you possibly do that??"

"Well, one out of three berserk, that's better than I expected," said Malfoy wryly. "If you'll calm down, Granger, I'll explain it."

"I am calm!" she shouted.

"Not really," said an amused Malfoy, who then turned serious as he looked at Harry. "Potter, your counterpart told me what happened with you and him when you went to get the Horcrux, the one that turned out to be empty. Dumbledore told him, and I assume you, to keep giving him that awful water, even though he'd soon be begging you not to. And you hated to do it, but you did it. That's what happened with you as well, right?"

Harry nodded somberly, pained at the memory. "Yes, that's right."

"Well, my story is a little like that. After I turned on the Death Eaters, while you were under your Cloak, you--your counterpart--helped me get him out of Hogwarts. He told you to get back to Hogwarts and help your friends, that I would take care of him. You protested, but he insisted, and finally you left.

"He had me take him to this shack, a tiny place that's well hidden, and we talked for a while. He asked if I knew of any Dark texts that had any information about Horcruxes. I said I wasn't sure, but I knew that my father had some very old, very valuable volumes hidden away. I told him that once, my father had mentioned the book, saying that they contained 'the darkest magics.'"

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Hermione. "That book is supposed to be the rarest of all Dark magic books. And the most dangerous, too, though it's so rare it's hard to know if that's just a legend."

"I'll tell you, and I told Dumbledore, that from the way my father said it, I wasn't sure if he meant that that was the title of the book, or that he just happened to use the phrase 'the darkest magics.' I doubt it was the second one, because I don't think he ever used the word 'magics,' just 'magic.' But I couldn't be certain.

"This got Dumbledore excited; he seemed to know a fair amount about the book. He said he was sure there was a chapter on Horcruxes, and it might give just the information we needed. He told me about the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, and the fact that Potter was one. I couldn't believe it at first, but it started to make sense. The Parseltongue, the headaches, the prophecy...

"He said he'd always assumed that you had to die at the end of it, and he felt guilty for sending you out to do a job that would end with your death. He just didn't see any other way. But now, he had hope. He believes that the book will give instructions on how to extract a Horcrux from a living thing without killing that thing. And he thinks there may be one way, a way that required him to stay alive.

"He thinks it's very possible that there may be a spell, a technique, or something, that lets you pull a Horcrux out of one person provided it goes directly into another. He wanted to live long enough for it to be him the Horcrux went into. He would take it from you, die soon after, and the Horcrux would be dead."

"Oh, God," muttered Harry. Hermione was clearly on the verge of tears. Even Malfoy was clearly affected.

"It was Dumbledore who had the idea to keep him alive with unicorn blood. Not that he didn't know, but I told him that it would turn him into a monster, that it would make him darker than he ever thought he could be. He said he knew, but he said, 'After all that I've done with Harry, the mistakes I've made, I must do this for him. But, Draco, he must not know, until it is close to the time. He would not allow it, but I must do it. Please do this for me.'" Now, Harry could see tears trickling down Hermione's face; his own were threatening.

"Like I said, it was very similar to what happened with you and him, on the lake with the Inferi. He said that as time went by he would become unstable, even violent. I would have to take his wand, and refuse to give it back. He would beg to be released, or beg for death. But I must not do anything other than what he was telling me then, no matter what."

For the first time ever, Harry saw real emotion in Malfoy's eyes. "I'll be honest, Potter, it really hit me. I couldn't have imagined anyone doing such a thing. I wasn't raised to think that it was possible. Everyone looks out for himself, that's the way it is. For immediate family, maybe we do something, but nowhere close to that. It was like a revelation. I decided to make it my mission to do what he was asking. Not for you--I didn't care whether you lived or died, except insofar as it affected what happened to the Dark Lord--but because it was what he wanted. He also pointed out that it would increase the chances of killing the Dark Lord, because you would live, and the prophecy says you'll defeat the Dark Lord, but how can you do that if you're dead?

"He told me where to go to find a unicorn, but still, it took a few days. I got as much blood as I could, brought it back, and..." Malfoy shrugged helplessly. "He's still alive, anyway." Harry cringed at the thought of Dumbledore's likely current condition.

"But somebody has to take care of him," said Hermione.

"Dobby," said Malfoy.

Makes sense, thought Harry. "I want to see him."

"No way," answered Malfoy quickly. "He specifically said that he didn't want you to see him like that."

"That was the other me, not this one," argued Harry.

"You're splitting hairs," said Malfoy. "He wouldn't want it. You know that."

"He also didn't want me to know this," Harry pointed out. "But you've told me."

"This you, not the other you," said Malfoy with a crooked grin, acknowledging the inconsistency of this statement with his previous one, but standing by it nevertheless. "This you has power the other one doesn't. And, you're not quite as stupid as him."

Harry grinned. "Ah, yes, I was warned when I became Auror Leader that people would be buttering me up."

Malfoy chuckled. "Whatever, you get the point. Now, I think, and I emphasize that I think, the books are in a secret compartment in a room in the basement of Malfoy Manor. I should explain that except for one small area, all of Malfoy Manor is immune to Apparition. I observed it from a distance a few times recently, and it's being used as a base of operations for some Death Eaters." Harry almost reflexively asked about Malfoy's family, before remembering not to. "So, there's no way I could get in there. How about you?"

Harry nodded. "I can Apparate into places that are immune to Apparition, and I can take a person with me." Malfoy's eyebrows went high. "We come in under my Cloak, and we Stun anyone in the basement. Should be no problem."

"You can't Apparate there. You've never been there."

"Actually, I have."

Malfoy was again surprised, but didn't inquire further. "When do we do it?"

"Next switch, or maybe the one after that."

"Dumbledore doesn't have forever."

"I know, and it'll probably be the next one. Unless you're sure that it can be done in under an hour, we can't do it now, because we only get one shot. We have to be done--"

"Before the other Potter gets back, I know. All right, next time. But let's plan it out now, so unless something changes, we can do it as soon as you get here next time. We want to leave as much time as possible."

"Agreed."

An hour later, Harry Apparated to the place he'd been told to. He'd never been there, so he hadn't arrived at the precise spot, but he could see that it was close enough. It was at the bottom of a steep hill. At first it looked as though there were just a lot of trees in one area at the base of the hill, but closer inspection revealed that, as he'd been told, there was an indentation in the hill, and the trees served to cover up the entrance. A good place to hide, thought Harry.

He approached the entrance and used the Lumos spell as a powerful beam of light three times, then paused. Once, then a pause. Then four times, then one, then five. He waited.

He saw the barest hint of movement through the trees, then heard a voice. "Throw down your wand, two yards in front of you." Harry did so.

"Where should you never keep your wand?"

Harry paused, then chuckled as the memory came back to him. "In your back pocket, though Mad-Eye never actually knew anyone who lost a buttock."

Kingsley Shacklebolt emerged from the trees, wand pointed straight at Harry. He Summoned Harry's wand, catching it while eyeing Harry warily. "You look too old. It's only been a few months, but you look two years older."

"Yeah, well, for me it has been two years. Well, actually, more like one and a half."

"How's that?"

"Takes a bit to explain. Shouldn't we go inside?"

"I'll decide when we go inside. Now, how do you know about this place? I've told exactly nobody about this. Have you been following me?"

"Nope. I'm from--well, we're not totally sure about this, but I think I'm here from another dimension, a very similar one. The other Harry, the one that's native to this dimension, and I have been switching, along with over a dozen DA members. We don't know why, and we don't control it. It just happens. Our Kingsley isn't switching, and he told me to contact you. He told me where to find you, and the right sequence of flashes to let you know it was a friend."

Clearly taken aback, Kingsley paused. "That's just weird enough to be true."

"Yeah, that's kind of how I feel."

"Why are you here?"

"The short version is, we want your help. The long version, I don't want to say out in the open here." Harry almost asked for his wand back, but realized that Kingsley would give it to him when he was sure it was really Harry.

"All right, come in. Go first, and don't get any closer than two meters to me."

Harry moved as instructed. "Would it help if I told you that my aunt and uncle apparently have an immaculate lawn?"

Kingsley grunted. "I did kind of feel for you, growing up with them. But as you know, a Death Eater could have captured you and pulled all this from your mind."

Harry moved through the trees into the open area, which was no larger than a large living room in a house, well covered by the trees. "How about my knowing this place, and the signal?"

"That's why I'm showing you in. I'm close to convinced, but not there yet."

Harry sat on the ground, his back to one of the 'walls.' "How about--"

"Harry. In this kind of situation, you don't want to push too hard, considering that you're the one surprising me in my hideout. Let me decide in my own time."

"Okay, but just one more?"

Kingsley sighed. "Go ahead."

"Do Reveal Magic on my forehead."

It got the typical astonished reaction. "This can't be faked..." gasped Kingsley.

Harry shrugged. "If you say so. I didn't know that. I didn't have enough time to read up on all that stuff."

"How?"

Harry gave him the short version of that story, then more information about the dimension-switching. "I would tell you more, but I've already spent fifteen minutes of the thirty I have. I can't be here when I switch back, because my counterpart wouldn't know how to get back to the others.

"Like I said before, our Kingsley told me to contact you. Since things went differently in this timeline, or dimension, whatever, we can't do exactly what we did in my case. He hopes that you can provide support for us in some cases. Maybe extra people, loyal Aurors like Tonks and Hestia, maybe information, like how to get resources. In any case, he wanted you and me to have a channel of communication."

"Why don't you just take control of the Aurors?" asked Kingsley. "You're Auror Leader, it's your right."

"We thought of that. The problem is that the Harry Potter who'll be here in half an hour doesn't have anything on his forehead except a scar. If this keeps happening, that may be more possible. But the other problem is that it would scare the crap out of the Dark wizards, maybe provoke them to extreme measures. We have to be careful, move only when we're ready and know the consequences."

Kingsley stared at Harry. "You've grown up a lot."

"I guess. Having this kind of responsibility will do that."

"Yes. Well... tell my counterpart I'll do as he asks. I'll expect you back when you have something to ask or tell. Will I be seeing my Harry, or just you?"

"I'm not sure what our Kingsley is telling your Harry; they're probably talking right now. I'll let you know next time I see you."

Kingsley chuckled. "My Harry, your Kingsley. The universe is a funny place sometimes."

"Sure does seem that way," agreed Harry. "See you 'round."

* * * * *

At Hogwarts, soon after the switch, Luna was eating dinner by herself in the Great Hall. She'd thought about eating with Terry and Padma, but she knew it would look suspicious, or at least would draw unwanted questions, since she'd never had any connection to them in the past. In any case, they wouldn't be able to talk at the table about the thing they had in common.

She didn't mind eating alone, though, because she didn't feel like chatting with anyone. Too many disturbing thoughts were intruding on her usually Zen-like calm.

For the hundredth time since Kingsley had come back from Australia and India with the theory of the switching being dimension-based rather than time-based, she wondered if she was responsible. All the wondering in the world wouldn't change what had happened, but she couldn't stop it; it was as if some outside force had taken control of her mind and imposed these thoughts on her. It had taken all of her effort to appear normal to the others on the island.

Why didn't I tell them on the island, she asked herself. I had every opportunity, and a half dozen times I nearly went to Harry's tent. But I just couldn't. I pride myself on not lying, but this is a lie of omission. It's a lie just the same.

She went over the justifications again: it was far from definite that these switches were between dimensions, and even if they were, it was far from definite that her actions had caused them. And even if they had, what was to be gained from telling anyone?

Rationalizations, she told herself. Like Kingsley said, you can convince yourself of anything if you try hard enough. You can explain away anything. She knew what the right thing to do was, but she hadn't been able to look Harry in the eye and tell him what she needed to tell him. That was her failure.

After dinner, she walked to the library. There was no point in studying, of course, but she looked for any books she could find on the topic of multiple dimensions and other space-time speculations. She found a few, but there was little or no solid information in them. Terry and Padma have probably already checked them, she thought. Still, the looking made her feel as though she was doing something.

She decided to walk in the general direction of the Room of Requirement to see if Neville had set it up yet. Most of the way there, she turned a corner and was suddenly face to face with Professor Carrow, though it was hard for her to think of him as a real professor. He raised his eyebrows, as if delighted at having made an unexpected discovery.

"Professor," she said politely, and started to walk on.

He quickly shifted his position to block her. "Miss Lovegood. Where, pray tell, are you headed?"

It suddenly dawned on her that there was no place that she could reasonably claim to have been going; so preoccupied had she been with her self-castigation that she'd neglected to construct a plausible explanation if discovered. "Just taking a walk."

"An odd place for a walk, don't you think?" he responded with a smile that was far from friendly.

"Maybe," she acknowledged. "But I like to see all parts of the school. For example, on the third floor near the Astronomy Tower, there's--"

"I am familiar with the school, Miss Lovegood," he retorted, still smiling. "Another thing I am familiar with is how it appears when someone is lying to me. You will accompany me to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom."

A chill went down her spine as she followed him. Would she be tortured? It didn't tend to happen to girls, so she didn't think so. But then, what? She tried to keep calm as she walked. Along the way, Carrow shot something from his wand, a bolt of energy that went down the hall and curved around a corner, out of sight.

In three minutes they were in the classroom. "Take a seat," he instructed her. She sat down in the second row from the front. He sat and read from a book, seeming to take no notice of her.

A few minutes later, his sister opened the door; he walked over and stepped out of the room, closing the door. She tried to listen, but could hear nothing through the door. She considered getting nearer the door to listen, but decided it would be too risky. A minute later, he came back in.

"So, Miss Lovegood. Why did you lie to me before?"

"I wasn't lying, sir."

He chuckled and shook his head as if disappointed. "Miss Lovegood, you are not a very good liar. You must not have had enough practice." He sat and continued reading his book, saying nothing more.

Over the next hour and a half, absolutely nothing happened, except for her requesting and being granted a trip to the restroom ("If you take more than three minutes, I will come looking for you, and you do not want that"). Uncomfortably, she realized that it wouldn't be too long before the switch would happen, and the 'real' Luna of this dimension would find herself sitting in the classroom, not knowing why she was there. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about that.

The door opened, and Alecto Carrow entered, with a book in her hand. She put it on the desk in front of Luna as she exchanged a few words with her brother, then left.

After another minute, Carrow looked up from his book. "Miss Lovegood, you can go. But first, hand me that book that my sister just brought."

Greatly relieved that she was to be released before the switch--it had to be no more than a matter of minutes by now--she hastened to stand and do as he asked. Taking two steps forward, she reached out, picked up the book, and the world suddenly started spinning.

She found herself in a place that was dreadfully familiar: the dungeon in Malfoy Manor, where she'd spent so many days the year before. She'd barely had time to register this before three men grabbed her, pushing her hands behind her back and tying them together magically. Two men held her by the arms, while one stood in front of her. He was wiry and short, barely an inch taller than her, with slicked-back black hair and a weak chin. Dread filled her as she remembered who he was.

"Get her robe off," he instructed the other two with a smile. "It's warm down here, and we wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable." In a few seconds, her school robes were off; she was wearing only a thin shirt and a skirt. He looked her up and down, grinning. "Not bad, not bad at all. You'll be our guest here, young lady, for a while. How long that will be is up to your father. But in the meantime, there's no reason why we shouldn't enjoy ourselves."

Terrified, she said nothing as he unabashedly stared at her chest. She suddenly realized that the top two buttons of her shirt were unbuttoned, which she often did when she wore robes. Seemingly having noticed this, the man reached out to pull her forward by her shoulder to cause her to have to bend down somewhat. Looking down the front of her shirt, he whispered, "Oh, very nice, very nice indeed--"

In an instant, Luna was sitting at the main table, back on the island. "No!" she shouted, her face contorting in despair. "No no no no no no no no NO!!" The last utterance stretched out into a half-scream, half-wail.

Alarmed, everyone else at the table looked at her as she stood and staggered away form the table. "Luna, what is it?" asked Cho. Making noises that became less and less coherent, she headed for the tents without looking back.

Harry looked at the others in amazement. "Does anyone know...?" From their faces, he understood that no one did. He stood and walked briskly to her tent.

He entered without knocking, finding her on the edge of her bed, sobbing. Without thinking about it, remembering the last time he'd been with her when she was crying, he sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer to him, and held her. She sobbed into his chest. He wondered what had happened, but knew she had to get this out of her system first.

Finally, a few minutes later, the sobbing started to slow down. "It's all my fault," she whimpered between tears. "It's all my fault."

"What's all your fault, Luna?" he asked gently. "What happened?"

"I... she... was taken. The... Carrows, set up a Portkey, made me take it, back to Malfoy Manor. But it's all my fault! The switching is all my fault! I'm so sorry..." She started to cry again.

Befuddled, he asked, "Why is the switching your fault?"

Slowly, she explained how she visited the twin dimension; Harry suddenly remembered a detail from the visions he'd had during the trial he'd undergone after leaving Japan a few months ago. When her father had met her mother, she'd told him that she visited the twin dimension to see Snorkacks.

"I started doing it maybe a month ago or more, around the time George left... and that's not too far from when this all started," she said, looking down, Harry's arm still around her shoulders. Now she looked up into his eyes, as if beseeching him to understand. "I never thought anything would happen, it never even entered my mind. Even after the switching started, I didn't think it was me, because we thought it was going back in time. But after what the man from India said, I suddenly realized, it must have been me... Oh, Harry..." She buried her head in his chest again, and clung to him. "I'm so sorry."

He held her tightly. "We don't know that's the reason."

"It must be," she said, her voice muffled.

"But then why not only you? And why not Kingsley and Hestia, for that matter?" She shook her head, but said nothing.

He didn't want to ask, but knew he should. "Why were you so upset when you came back? I mean, it's very bad, what happened, but you were there before, right?"

She took a deep breath. "There was a man, who was... looking at me, at my body, in... you know, that way..." Harry cringed slightly, and waited for her to continue. "He had been there a few times when I was at Malfoy Manor, looking at me like that. But, one time...

"Draco would come down sometimes, to give me food, that sort of thing. He... didn't exactly apologize, not with words, but his manner said it. He said it wasn't his idea to keep me there, and I knew that. This man, the one who was looking at me when I left just now, he was there before, looking at me the same way. He made some comments, saying what he'd like to do to me if he was alone with me. Draco told him he'd better not, said that the Dark Lord had ordered that I wasn't to be touched like that, and the man would risk the Dark Lord's anger if he did it. The man looked as if he didn't believe Draco, but didn't want to take the chance that Draco might be telling the truth. He never touched me."

She looked up at him. Harry took his hand off her shoulder, and held her hand. "Harry... there's no way Voldemort gave any such order. He wouldn't have bothered. Draco did that, took that risk, to protect me from that... well, this time, Draco isn't there. There's nothing to stop that man from doing whatever he wants."

He could see the pain in her eyes at the prospect. Again, he didn't want to ask, but felt like he had to have all the information. "Had he done anything, when you switched?"

She closed her eyes. "He hadn't yet, but he'd taken off... my robe, and... the way he was looking at me... I really think he was going to. And she... the other me, switched back in... all of a sudden there she is, with this man..." She bowed her head in sorrow and shame.

"Luna..." Helplessly, not knowing what to say, he stumbled on. "Not that this is going to make you feel better, but that was going to happen anyway. They just took you from the school instead of off the train. And Draco wasn't going to be there this time... really, this wasn't your fault."

"It is... I should have known better, you even said, be careful about anything to do with space/time... I was stupid..."

"But, Luna, whatever's happening with her now, like I said, that was going to happen anyway. And the difference is a good one, because we can get you, her, out of there. And we will." He gently nudged her head with his hand, and looked her in the eyes. "I swear to God, we're going to get you out of there. That's the first thing we do when we go back."

She met his eyes, then looked down again. "I feel like fate is punishing me."

"Why?"

"I... I said, that morning, a month ago... that you and I could never be together, because of what you did, that day... it was arrogant of me," she said bitterly. "Now, here I've done something terrible, something careless, that's caused so much trouble, and you've been so kind... you were good to George, when he was having his problems... I... can't imagine why I would have said that. It just seems so ironic now, that I should have been judging you."

He found that he couldn't disagree with her, but he knew that he would never say such a thing. "You just said what you thought. You shouldn't worry about that, either. We'll get you out of there, and... we'll deal with the situation over there as best we can. Who knows, it may end up better with our intervention than it would have otherwise." She looked up at him with gratitude. I sure hope I'm right about that, he thought.

* * * * *

Next, Chapter 9, Malfoy Manor: The use of a magical pendant given to Harry by Dumbledore causes a sharp and unexpected turn in Harry's life as plans are made to break Luna out of Malfoy Manor.

From Chapter 9: "Ginny's never going to agree to stay one minute here," said Ron to no one in particular. "After what Lucius Malfoy--"

"Ron!" Harry nearly shouted, glaring at his friend. "As Auror Leader, I'm ordering you not to say another word!"