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A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this out, I had an accident with my flash drive and everything on it was deleted including the first draft of this chapter. But things are on track now, so getting back in the swing of things, a rewrite of the chapter from the beginning… Read, review and enjoy!





After taking Simon’s wand and returning Luna’s to her, Harry left the boy magically bound on the couch with Jacey to watch over him. Allowing him to gently pull her down the hall to the dusty bathroom, Luna perched on the edge of the deep Victorian-style tub and watched as he searched the tiny cabinets. At last he came up with an ancient first aid kit, pulling out gauze and tape before reaching out to turn the faucet on the sink. They were both surprised when water actually came sputtering out, a rusty color at first that quickly turned refreshingly clear. She took the hand he offered her and let him carefully clean the blood from her wrists… she knew he was angry and did her best not to wince or let on that the cuts stung like crazy. After all, she was the one who let her panic overwhelm her to the point where she’d struggled so violently against the ropes. Simon hadn’t seemed at all intent on injuring her, she could have just sat and patiently waited to see what was going to happen rather than fight her bindings to the point where she cut into her skin. It was her own fault she’d gotten hurt at all.

He shouldn’t have gone so far as to tie you up in the first place. Harry argued with her thoughts as he leaned down to kiss her now freshly bandaged wrists.

Well, let’s go see what he so badly wanted to tell us. She softly suggested, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair in that way she knew he found soothing. She needed him to calm down and realize the need to fight was over, to have an open mind and really listen to what Simon had to say. Her vision was becoming clearer to her now that she been able to sneak a few peeks into the boy’s mind. He was out to betray his sister before she could betray him and apparently the victor of their little sibling squabble would become Harry’s ally. From her warning she knew Harry was already leaning toward Elanya if not Elise and Sarah… and that had to be because of what they’d seen in Erebos’s head. But they obviously needed the whole story and Simon seemed willing to provide it.

Together they walked back into the parlor and Luna was relieved to find that Jacey was back to being herself as the potion had completely worn off. If Simon was alarmed by the fact that a strange girl now stood where Tristan once was he gave no indication. "I’m sorry Luna." He blurted out as soon as he saw her.

"That’s easy to say now that you’ve been caught." Harry muttered, glaring at the boy as he slumped down on the other couch. "So? Let’s hear it, what’s this big revelation you have to share with us?"

"Can’t you undo the binding spell? I promise I’ll just sit here, I won’t do anything." Simon pleaded.

"Your word doesn’t mean much to me at the moment." Harry returned, refusing to release the spell.

Simon sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can see why."

"Just tell us what you have to say..." Luna said, sitting next to Harry and locking her gaze on Simon. She pushed the feelings she wanted to project outward and watched as both boys visibly relaxed, though Harry alone knew what she was doing as he was the only one aware of this little extra power of hers. She just wished she had better control of it.

"And why don’t you start with what the hell you were thinking when you decided taking us hostage was the best way to make your point." Harry crossed his arms, refusing to be lulled into calmness and shaking off the effects she was trying to spread around the room.

"Big gestures are the only way to get people to listen." Simon said quietly repeated himself from earlier. "Like I said, that philosophy worked for my parents before they were killed and it’s certainly worked for Elise all these years. I wasn’t going to hurt either of you… I needed you both there and so I figured I could use Luna to keep you listening rather than attacking me… I guess I figured that if you saw how serious I was you would believe me. I was going to let you into the classroom, but you let yourself in first." He looked at Harry almost accusingly, clearly implying that he blamed Harry’s rashness for so many things going wrong.

"What did you really expect me to do when you go around tying people up?" He returned angrily. Luna reached out and grabbed his arm to keep him from leaping to his feet in indignation… she knew they all had to stay rational and sort through this, it was important.

"It doesn’t matter, you’ll never believe me now."

"Why? Because you are now the captive one instead of them?" Jacey scoffed from her place leaning against the wall.

"You can trust that one or all of us will know whether you’re telling the truth." Luna quietly assured him.

Simon slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess you’re right… I do know that about you. And so does Elise, which is why she had to plan so carefully. I know you figured out the spy is Erebos. But what you don’t know is that she wanted you to figure it out… so that you would search his head and find the memory of her asking him to set up Elanya. She knows about your powers and so she’s decided to use them against you." He said with a sly smile before looking right at Jacey. "Except for you, they have no idea about you. Elise has had Erebos trying to find out, but apparently Dumbledore has been very careful to keep you and other visitors a secret from those professors he doesn’t trust. I promise, whoever you are, they still have no idea about you though they’d very much like to find out."

"You don’t need to worry about her or who she is." Harry said, noting to Luna and Jacey that they had to be careful not to say her name in front of the boy. "Just tell us why you’ve apparently decided to turn on your sister."

"You have to understand… I never fit into Elise’s life." Simon looked down sadly. "I was less than a year old when our parents were killed… even after Voldemort was gone they, like so many others, refused to stop fighting and were cornered. Rather than be captured by the Ministry, they forced the Aurors to kill them. Elise was sixteen at the time and the only living family I had. Rather than take care of me, she decided to dump me at the orphanage, but she would at least come visit every year on my birthday. When I was ten she came back for me, ready to take her place as my guardian. But it was only because she knew I was about to be heading off to school and she was hoping to mold me into someone she could use to start setting up her plans. I guess she knew Voldemort was attempting to come back and that his followers were doing everything in their power to make it happen. She saw this war coming and decided long ago that she would be no one’s follower, that she would make her own place in the world. When I came to Hogwarts and wasn’t sorted into Slytherin like everyone else in our family, she was livid. But then she figured Hufflepuff was better as no one would suspect me there. For years I did everything she asked me to do because she threatened to leave me again if I didn’t and all I knew was that I never wanted to go back to the orphanage. But everything she wanted seemed harmless and nothing she asked of me made any sense… not until this year."

Simon shook his head and sighed before continuing on. "I received a letter the last week of school this past summer from Elise telling me we would be departing for Australia the minute I got back. Well, she wasn’t waiting for me at the train station so I went home and wound up overhearing a meeting between her and Voldemort. I listened as she completely manipulated the Dark Lord into thinking it was his idea to find Sarah Elaine… and then I heard her tell him that she planned to kill me as I was going to prove more useful to them dead. I didn’t know what to do, I was more terrified of my sister in that moment than I’d ever been of Voldemort- after all which is scarier, the sword or the expert hand wielding it? And she knows how to play him very well. So I went with her to Australia and I continued to follow her orders hoping she would change her mind. But she didn’t because a few days before I was supposed to come back to school I heard her talking to Sarah… they plan to kill me while I’m home for the holiday break and make it look like someone else did it. My own sister was going to kill me and use my corpse to start a fight. What could I do? Even if I ran away, they’d just bring me right back to her, I’m only sixteen. And who besides the people involved in this whole scheme would believe the long ridiculous story I have to tell? So the only thing I could do was expose her to the people she was trying to overcome… I chose you guys over Voldemort. Maybe Dumbledore was right about the sorting hat always knowing where people are supposed to go… maybe I’m a good guy, maybe I’m just a bad guy who’s looking for the best means of survival, I have no idea either way. I may not the happiest person in the world, but I’m not ready to die either. So I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about her and her plans."

"You said she wanted us to go looking in Erebos’s head, that we were supposed to see her set up Elanya… why?" Luna asked, her gut telling her this was an important question in terms of Fred’s fate. She was trying not to sympathize with Simon, but he seemed to have gotten stuck with a pretty miserable life… but still, there was something about him she found unsettling and so that allowed her to keep some sort of an emotional detachment.

He nodded and offered a smile. "You wouldn’t believe how long Elise has been plotting. A long while ago, after your group and Voldemort’s destroyed the Ministry, she snuck in during the confusion and looked up the files on every major player on either side. Using that information, she was able to figure out not only what you and Harry here can do, but also how you, your friends and Voldemort’s allies would react in any situation. Originally we went to Australia this summer to find a guy named Adam who was apparently postcognative. We traced him to a little pub where he liked to write his articles but we never even talked to him… it was like the minute she saw him, she knew he wasn’t what she wanted. That’s when Elanya approached us. Apparently she’d been living there with her grandmother who had recently passed away and when those two girls met it was like fate had brought them together. She fit in perfectly and Elise instructed her on how to handle Erebos who arrived at the hotel later that day. I guess it didn’t matter whether it was Elanya or that Adam guy, Elise had already planned Erebos’s part in all of this… but clearly a young pretty girl would gain more sympathy. The point was that when you all figured out he was the spy, you were meant to see Elise talking him into using Elanya, you were meant to think she’d been set up and blackmailed the same way they’d done it to your friend Fred. She’s probably on that island right now, telling him her sob story so that he’ll take her side and help talk you guys into helping her. She was supposed to be a mole, to learn all the secrets about you that they didn’t already know. And then Elanya was supposed to begin causing discord among you all to weaken you and make it more likely that you and Harry will abandon your alliance to Dumbledore and the Ministry and come join them."

"So what you’re saying is basically that they want to create their own army of psychics?" Harry asked, his voice heavy with doubt as he tried to hide the fact that they were doing something very similar with the coven. Luna felt both his and Jacey’s horror at finding out how close Elise had been to getting her hands on Adam, another coven member. She knew it was crucial that they leave as soon as possible to begin approaching people themselves, before they could be scooped up by someone else.

"Yes, as ridiculous as that sounds. Why do you think I thought no one else would believe me? But she wants the both of you to join her and Sarah… and she has big plans to use your friend Fred to do it."

"Except that Fred isn’t just going to accept whatever Elanya tells him. He’s no idiot." Harry argued.

Simon laughed. "You underestimate Elanya… She can become whatever she has to be in order to convince someone of something. If she, Elise and Sarah have been able to fool Voldemort for so long, then who is Fred Weasley to withstand them?"

"They won’t have a chance. We’re going to save him from that island." He returned darkly. Luna still had a hold of his arm and she could feel him become even tenser as he felt more things were growing beyond his control.

"I wish you luck with that. I really do." Simon grinned.

(BREAK)

Fred had skipped out on lunch and intended to walk the beach until well after dark in hopes of avoiding Elanya until tomorrow… tomorrow when Hermione had claimed they would be coming to get him. But had she been here? He just didn’t know what was real anymore. But whether he’d seen her in his mind or in real life, one thing had become clear… he couldn’t stay here anymore. No matter what, this was going to be his last night on the island. Should Hermione’s presence prove to be a delusion and no one came for him, then he would find his own way out and go to her. He knew he couldn’t apparate, he’d already tried and discovered that like Castellumshire, the Gateway Islands also carried anti-apparation charms and the only people he knew could get around them were Harry and Luna.

A delicious smell wafted through the air, allowing his rumbling stomach to interrupt his planning. Looking up at the sky and using the sun, he was able to determine that while it was well past lunch, it was still too early for dinner… clearly she knew he’d skipped meals that day and cooked such great smelling food for a reason. He was tempted to go into the water to catch a fish to fry just to upset her plans but decided he was being ridiculous. He knew Elanya was trying to tempt him back to the campsite, but just because he went didn’t mean he was letting her win. They both knew he was more than capable of providing for himself, but at the moment he was too hungry to wait long enough to catch and cook his own meal. Besides, he’d just decided that no matter what, this was his last night here… what could it hurt to spend some of it with her? He would simply go, eat and then leave again.

Arriving at the camp he saw that neither the food nor Elanya were outside. With a heavy sigh, he opened the flap of the ordinary looking tent and entered the impossibly spacious glamour of the inside. "Well, I guess it’s true what they say… the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach." She said upon seeing him, gesturing to the delectable spread on the ornate table as she sat down. Toying with her seashell necklace, she shot him a seductive smile.

"Whatever you say." He muttered, sitting as far from her as he could before beginning to pile his plate. "Thanks." He said without looking at her, too well trained by Molly to be completely rude. They ate in silence and he could feel her becoming irritated, it only made him more comfortable.

"Well, I’ve decided that in the interest of continuing a civilized conversation we will play a game of sorts." She announced after a short while.

"Boy, it sure is easier not to have to think for myself… I wish someone had been making my decisions for me my whole life." He answered sarcastically.

"Putting your snarkiness aside, I’m offering you a one in a million chance to understand me better."

"Who says I want to?"

She smiled, ignoring his attitude. "I’m going to let you ask me whatever you want about anything and I promise to tell you the truth."

"And I’m supposed to believe you?" He raised an eyebrow. "Exactly which one of us do you think is the crazy one, because I’ve been casting my vote for you for awhile now."

"Humor can be a great way to deflect anything real from reaching you." She replied steadily. "Come on, I know you’re curious…."

And he was. There were quite a few things he’d like her to clear up for him, but how could he trust anything she said? The only way was to test her by throwing in questions he already knew the answer to. "Okay, I’ll play your little game. But if I think you’re lying to me, I’ll just go resume my solitary walk."

"Fair enough." She rested her chin on her hand and stared at him expectantly, wearing a genuine smile that reached all the way to her golden eyes. "So?"

"Why are you doing this to me?" He blurted without thinking it through. It was the thing that was most on his mind and so the question had burst out of him before he could really plan what he wanted to say.

"Oh Fred… I’m not doing this to you, I’m doing this for you." She dropped her gaze slightly as a hint of sadness overcame her. "Everyone is trapped by something… We’re both prisoners right now, so why not make our cage the best it can be- a beautiful island paradise?"

"And how exactly are you trapped?" He asked though he felt she’d crafted her answer in order to manipulate his next question. Apparently there was something she specifically wanted to talk about and was in the process of directing the conversation. He allowed it simply because he was curious, but he forced himself to remember that he knew what she was doing.

"I thought I had fairly bought my way into something when really it was all set up to ensure my future alliance and obedience." She answered, lowering her eyes to hide the flash of embarrassment that passed through them.

"Meaning what?" He pushed, intrigued despite himself.

Elanya sighed and shook her head. "I’ve always considered myself to be pretty clever… I’m sure you used to think the same about yourself. Well, let’s just say that Elise and Sarah have humbled us both the last few months with the grand scheme they’ve wrapped around us."

"The difference being that you helped them do it to me." He said angrily, brushing off her attempt to get him to empathize with her.

"Only because I had no choice!" She protested. "When they told me that I had to take you away while they set up things in London I tried to get out of it, I really did. But that’s when Elise told me the truth, that she’d tricked me and I wasn’t even close to coming up even for the assistance they gave me in getting rid of Edmund."

Pushing his plate aside, Fred leaned forward on the table and decided it was time for him to turn the conversation his way so that he could test her honesty. "And what did you think you had already done to repay them?"

She hesitated as if she really didn’t want to tell him. But then she shrugged, remembering that this had all been her idea in the first place. "I thought I had provided the spy… but it turns out he and Elise have a long history together and bringing him into things had always been a part of her plan. They set it up so that he and I would run into each other… I had thought I was being so careful, making sure I would go into this not owing anyone anything."

"Who’s the spy?" He pushed, already knowing the answer… that is if Hermione’s brief visit hadn’t been some sort of delusional mirage.

Elanya met his eyes and offered a sad smile. "Well, what can it hurt? It’s not like you’ll be able to warn anyone back at Hogwarts. It’s Professor Dolos Erebos."

He made sure to show an appropriate amount of surprise, letting his eyes widen and his jaw drop slightly as if this was the first time he was hearing this. "Really? A professor?"

She nodded slowly as she carefully studied him. "I met with him in Australia and he was everything Elise had told me she’d been looking for. I had thought I was the one convincing him to join us but it was all part of their plan to trap me."

"And why would they go through such elaborate measures?" Fred was almost sure she was telling the truth so far… Hermione had certainly indicated that Elanya may be in trouble and now the girl was confirming it. He just didn’t know why she was telling him all of this, but he may as well use the situation to his advantage and learn as much as he could.

"Because Elise and Sarah truly believe they can make their own place in this war and that if they have the right kind of people on their side they’ll be able to take on both Voldemort and the Ministry." She shook her head angrily. "I was appalled to learn that Voldemort’s idea to collect a psychic army was actually Elise’s brainchild. It was how she got him to help her find Sarah. But they planned to make allies of the people he gathered, to get them to work towards taking over completely."

"So that’s how they learned about Luna?"

She nodded. "And Harry Potter too. At first Elise and Sarah didn’t care who lived or died in battle while they quietly plotted their own uprising. But when Harry started showing his potential and they learned Luna Lovegood was a seer, they knew they wanted them. It’s why Elise burned your shop in Diagon Alley during the summer."

He sat up, suddenly extremely interested. He’d been wondering for a long time the real reason Elise had targeted his store. "What do you mean?"

Elanya sighed deeply as a look of remorse settled over her. "Voldemort had a seer named Jasper, he was old and not as good as Luna seems to be. But that didn’t matter to Elise, he was all she had and so she’d already convinced him to give his ultimate loyalty to her over Voldemort. He told her that he’d had a vision that something was going to bring Harry to Diagon Alley alone and that Voldemort was going to make his move against the boy. She worried about the outcome as she wanted Harry on her side, working with Sarah specifically since they share the same power… of course, she’d only just found Sarah at that time. So not knowing what else to do, Elise decided to set your shop of fire, ensuring not only that Harry wouldn’t be alone, but that there would be several Aurors in the area. After all, the minister would be sure to respond in full force to a report of arson at his son’s store."

He took a steadying breath, trying to look on the bright side as he argued with himself… had something brought Harry to Diagon Alley alone that day to face Voldemort, his Death Eaters and the Dementors, there’s no way he could have survived. At least Elise’s destruction had kept the unthinkable from happening… he’d much rather have his shop ruined than his friend dead. After all, they’d already rebuilt the shop… there wasn’t another Harry Potter laying around. "I remember reading in the paper that Jasper died rather mysteriously." He said at last. Of course he hadn’t read anything about it, but he recalled Hermione telling him about it during one of their secret conversations.

"There was nothing mysterious about it. Jasper made the same mistake I did by thinking he was an equal in their plans. I guess he was scared enough to want to tell someone about his vision, but he chose the wrong people. He saw his own death though not the hand that brought it to him, and then he saw your friends up at Hogwarts using that silly ring to try and contact him from beyond for information. He thought it was Voldemort that was going to end his life so he went to Elise who saw her opportunity. Sarah may not have a wand, but she has mastered many other skills, first and foremost her astral projection. They decided to kill him so that she could merge with his consciousness and send herself in his place when they called him… When it never happened, they guessed that Luna must have seen something and stopped her friends from using the ring. It only made them want her on their side more, especially since they’d so hastily gotten rid of Jasper."

Fred’s mind was reeling. So many things were coming together now, it was impossible that she wasn’t telling him the truth. But his instincts were screaming at him that something deeper was going on. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"I don’t really know." She smiled, crossing her arms and leaning forward. "I guess I’m tired of you thinking badly of me. I’ve never gone so long being so thoroughly ignored. Maybe I figured that if you saw that I was as much a victim of their plotting as you are, then perhaps you’d treat me better while we’re stuck here together."

"You made yourself a victim." He stated firmly, once more determined to keep himself from empathizing with her. He remembered her once telling him that the best way to pull of a lie was by mixing in the truth… It was clearly a skill she had mastered.

Elanya looked away, but even in profile he could see a mixture of shame, regret and anger settle over her features. "Yes, I suppose I did."

He couldn’t help himself, he had to know. "If you were so intent on killing your father, then why didn’t you do it yourself, without involving them?"

"You think I haven’t tried before?!" She yelled as she leapt to her feet and began pacing in agitation. "Edmund Fritz was a high-profile man who was extremely paranoid… and rightly so. I certainly wasn’t the only one who wanted him dead and he made sure that it was nearly impossible to get to him. I was scared to use my true identity as his daughter to reach out to him… I knew that my mother had sent me away and died trying to protect me because he wanted to use me, to hand me over to Voldemort in a never-ending quest to gain favor from a man who favored no one. I didn’t want her to die in vain but it soon became clear that my real name was going to be the only thing to get me near him. But I knew I couldn’t go in alone, that I needed someone strong backing me up in case something went wrong."

"And that’s what Elise and Sarah promised you." He said quietly, watching her grow more upset as her story went on.

"It was only after the deed was done that I found out they had wanted to get rid of Edmund anyway. Apparently he’d become jealous of the attention Voldemort was giving the girls and so he was doing his best to undermine them. They figured there was too good a chance he’d figure out some part of what they were up to and so they knew he needed to go. They must have tracked me down, found me in Australia… my grandmother had just died and I’d just gone back there to spend her last few days with her… I was in a vulnerable place and Elise showed up offering me the chance to do the thing I’d been wanting for years."

Fred had been careful during the whole conversation, wanting to pick up on any signs of dishonesty. For the first time he found one… her voice had gone up slightly in volume. It could be due to her gathering excitement as she recalled these events, but he had the nagging feeling that things hadn’t happened exactly as she described. What did it matter how she and Elise came to join forces? Why lie about it? But he couldn’t ask these questions and expect any kind of answer. His only hope was to go on and hope he could piece it all together himself. "Do you regret killing your father?"

She stopped pacing and turned to look him straight in the eye. "Not for a single moment." She steadily replied. "I only regret that I couldn’t have been more patient and found a way to do it by myself. When I tried to back out of this whole thing, when I told them I didn’t want to be a part of kidnapping you… Elise made it very clear that despite the false evidence I left at the scene, she could very easily tie me to my father’s death. I have no doubt that she would send me to Azkaban without a second thought. So I had to choose, a jail cell locked away with the giants or stranded on an island with you. I took the better sounding punishment."

"But if you hadn’t killed Edmund, you never would have had to make that choice." He argued.

"Maybe, maybe not. They could have found another way of ensuring my cooperation if they really wanted to. The important thing to note here Fred, is that regardless of whether it was me or someone else, you would have always wound up on this island." She seemed frustrated. Clearly this wasn’t going the way she wanted, he wasn’t giving her the response she’d expected…

But then he wasn’t going to allow himself to be like all the other people she’d been able to wrap around her finger, he’d always been determined to be stronger than that from the first moment she’d walked into his shop. "You’re probably right… We’ll never know though will we?"

"Do you hate me?" She asked quietly, taking him by surprise.

"I thought I was the one who got to ask the questions." He said with a nervous laugh.

Elanya smiled. It was a slow coyly confident smile as she reveled in the fact that she’d finally unsettled him. "And I’ve answered them all. Can’t you answer just one for me?"

"That wasn’t part of the deal." He stalled.

She slowly walked over to lean on the edge of the table in front of him. "You know, there’s only two reasons you won’t answer. Either you do hate me but you’re too much of a gentleman to say it… though we both know that you’re more than willing to tell anyone exactly how you feel about them. So the only other explanation is that you’ve realized you don’t hate me and just can’t bring yourself to admit it for some mysterious reason."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he regarded her with false confidence. "Or I’ve simply decided it’s best not to go through life hating anyone. Of course, I could always make an exception if you’d care to push the issue."

"Has anyone ever told you that you’re completely frustrating?" She asked with a tight smile.

"Many times over." He grinned easily, once more enjoying that he’d managed to ruffle her feathers by not playing directly into her hand.

"I’m going for a walk." She announced, standing up and taking a deep breath. "I cooked, you can clean." She added before leaving the tent.

Fred looked around feeling completely off guard. She’d never left him alone in the tent before, which had only led him to believe that she had things to hide from him here. But clearly her frustration with his lack of gullibility had caused an oversight on her behalf and he knew he needed to take advantage of it. He raced to her room, pulling back the flap that separated the space from the rest of the tent and taking a cursory look around before carefully proceeding to go through everything. Ensuring he returned things to the way he’d found them, he went through all of her stuff hoping to come across a communication device of some kind… or even better, his wand. After a long and thorough search, he came up with neither.

(BREAK)

Harry stared at Simon, trying to determine exactly what he thought of the other boy. He just wasn’t sure… he couldn’t get past the extremes the guy had gone through in order to have a simple conversation. But then, had Simon been right? Would they have listened had he simply approached them and asked to talk? He shook himself out of his thoughts, refusing to let his anger and confusion make him do anything stupid. "How do we know that having you tell us all of this isn’t part of the plan?" He asked. After all, if Elise had gone through so much, then why wouldn’t she go even a step further and send in the clown? Surely she didn’t expect them to take Simon seriously even if they did know he thought he was telling the truth… or at least the truth as she wanted him to know it.

He sighed and shook his head. "I had a feeling you’d ask me that. All I can say is that I only know what I’ve seen and heard. She certainly hasn’t told me to come to you and I doubt she realizes I know that she wants to kill me. But has she somehow directed things so that I would come talk to you, I just don’t know… anything is possible with her."

"So as far as you know, Elise’s whole plan is to gather as many psychics as she can and then fight both sides of the war, hoping to come out on top?" Luna asked quietly and with far more control over herself than Harry could manage. But he tried to remain calm, to remember that they needed to know what they were up against… she still had her hand on his arm, trying in vain to help him be successful in relaxing though he could sense her uneasiness at what she was hearing.

"It’s part of her plan." Simon seemed a bit uncertain for the first time since he’d begun talking. "I guess even I don’t know everything, but I figured if I told you enough, you’d be able to at least stop her doing me in. And yes, I really believe she’d murder me if it helped her cause… She ensured they got rid of Jasper simply because she wanted you Luna, she knows you’re a better seer than that old man ever was, you’ve already helped thwart hers and Sarah’s plans a few times. She was trying to help Voldemort capture you, though she had no intentions of handing you over… she wants to convince you and Harry both to join her." Again he looked directly at Jacey. "And if she knew you were a firestarter like her, she’d want you too."

"I am not anything like your miserable sister." Jacey said defensively as she cupped her hands together and began rolling them until she had developed a sizable fireball between them. She lifted it over her head and brought it down, engulfing her entire body in flames as she stood there smiling at them. "I am much more powerful." She laughed, extinguishing herself and leaving no indication that anything out of the ordinary had just transpired.

Simon swallowed hard as he stared at her in disbelief… clearly he’d never seen his sister do something like that before. "Good." He said at last. "Someone should be. They already knew Harry was stronger than Sarah, that’s why they had to make sure he lost his powers before they tried to talk to him."

"You’re talking about what happened at Azkaban? How could they possibly know that they weren’t going to kill me with that Psychohemia potion?" Harry asked in exasperation. They all knew Simon was telling them the truth, but he just didn’t like what he was hearing anymore now that it was going against what he knew had happened. But then, he was quickly learning from the other boy that there lots of things he didn’t know about the things that had been happening to him, his friends and his enemies. Elise had apparently been pulling several different strings for quite awhile.

"Because they’d convinced Jasper to work for them long before then." Simon answered carefully. "True the old guy told Voldemort that some decision was going to lead you to the prison and right in front of Cho, but it was Elise who made the Dark Lord think it was his idea to use Sarah’s talents to try and take you out. But Jasper assured her it wasn’t going to kill you, that you were going to get help in time to save your life but not your power."

"Except Sarah did nearly kill us at my aunt and uncle’s house." Harry replied, hiding the phantom pain he felt in his hand and leg where he’d been stabbed all those months ago. Glancing at Luna out of the corner of his eye, he remembered her face covered in blood after Sarah kicked her and how her arm had been broken while trying to keep Sarah from killing him. "She didn’t seem too concerned with convincing us to join her then." He added angrily as everything from that night came back to him including Ron nearly being burnt to a crisp.

"Yeah well, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the only problem Elise has in partnering with Sarah is that the woman is more than a little unbalanced. She was only supposed to torture you, it was your muggle family she was supposed to kill in front of you… on Voldemort’s orders, not Elise’s. But I guess something about them reminded her of all those people she was forced to live with growing up and she came to resent you for putting up with it… She began to really see you as weaker than her and so she alone decided in that moment that she didn’t want you to join them. At least, that’s how she explained it to Elise after they broke her out of the hospital and woke her from the coma. Trust me, Elise let her have it for deviating from the plan and nearly killing you both. Anyway, Sarah said she really lost control when Luna came in with the ring… she wanted it and they all knew Voldemort wanted it and so obtaining the ring became her main priority above all else, including her safety as well as yours. By the way, after finding out that you all got out and managed to capture her for a short time as well as get your power back, she no longer thinks you’re weak."

"I’m flattered." Harry said sarcastically.

"Does she know that we went into her memories while she was unconscious?" Luna asked, squeezing his arm as concern overwhelmed her.

But Simon stared back at her in surprise, allowing them to instantly relax. "No, not that I’m aware of. I certainly had no idea you’d done that… what did you see?"

"Do not worry about that, we will be the ones to ask the questions." Jacey said with authority.

"What about Cho? Where does she fit into all of this?" Harry picked up where they’d just left off, thinking that what they had seen in Sarah’s head at least confirmed that the girls were working together behind Voldemort’s back.

He sighed and nodded. "Well, she’s plotting with Sarah only. But whatever plan those two had going, it was in place long before Elise reconnected with Sarah. In fact, I remember Elise trying to talk Sarah into dropping Cho but she had insisted the girl would be valuable again once they broke her out of Azkaban. My guess is that if they manage to get Cho out, Elise will find the opportunity to get rid of her as soon as possible. Just because she and Sarah are close confidants doesn’t mean they wouldn’t betray each other in a second if it meant furthering their own agenda. Loyalty means nothing to them." Simon said bitterly as he struggled against the spell holding him in place. "Will you let me go now? Please?" He pleaded.

We have to get back anyway… Dumbledore is looking for us and I think we’re in a lot of trouble. Luna said. Harry turned to look at her and realized she had that far off expression that meant she wasn’t completely present in the room.

"Fine." He waved his wand and released the other boy from the binding.

Simon leapt to his feet to quickly stretch before eagerly reaching into his pocket and pulling out his flask from which he took a long gulp. "Phew, I needed that." He said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. After another gulp he seemed less shaky and nervous.

"We have to get back to the school, are you going to be okay?" Harry asked Jacey.

"I will be just fine." She assured him with an easy smile.

"What are you going to tell them about me?" Simon asked, suddenly scared again. "I never intended it to turn out this way! I was going to unlock the door, I didn’t mean for you to actually damage the school!"

"Yeah, this is all my fault." Harry rolled his eyes. "Just keep your mouth shut when we get back there and let me do all the talking." He reached out and roughly grabbed the boy’s arm before apparating back to Hogwarts with Luna a few moments behind them. They were sure to arrive behind Hagrid’s hut where the chances of being seen were very slim.

Silently, they all three made their way up to the castle, running into Hermione in the courtyard. "Where have you been? And what are you doing with him?" She demanded, eyeing Simon suspiciously.

"It’s a long story, Mione." Harry sighed. "We’ll tell you after we deal with Dumbledore."

She nodded and led the way through the halls to the Headmaster’s office. "Just so you’re aware, Dumbledore has all the prefects out looking for you guys but I think he knows you left school grounds." She warned them. Sharing a look with Luna, she and Harry both decided to let Hermione enter first, hoping the sight of a good student would soften the old wizard’s mood. "Sir? I’ve found Harry, Luna and Simon."

"See them in Miss Granger and then you are dismissed." He replied from behind his desk. Hermione let them walk past her before she closed the door and bolted down the stairs. Dumbledore gestured to the three chairs in front of him and waited until they settled themselves. He looked at all of them, but it was clear he was addressing Harry alone. "What did you think you were doing damaging the school like that?"

"It was an accident." He quietly answered.

"I have no doubt that it was." Dumbledore said, his voice quivering as he tried to hide his anger. "Why would you do this Harry, when you’re so close to being done here? This isn’t something I can cover up for you."

"So don’t. I’ll go fix it."

He shook his head. "It’s not that simple. Like the ministry and certain other buildings, magic isn’t enough to repair the damage. It must be rebuilt by hand to maintain the strength of the charms we place upon our school. And even if you did fix it, my hands are tied in regards to how we can handle this, especially after I’ve pushed so hard to have the recently disappeared Tristan Macnair expelled."

"What are you saying?" Luna asked nervously.

He sighed sadly. "I’m saying that after having Miss Patil, Mr. Mason and Mr. Macnair go missing, after the destruction Cho Chang caused last year, and after all the cumulative trouble that has been caused… I have no choice but to expel you all from Hogwarts for your unfavorable actions, effective immediately."

"You can’t!" Harry protested.

"You all were involved in an incident that resulted in severe damage to one of our classrooms and then you all left school grounds in direct violation of the code of conduct. I have to take this action before the less reliable of the Aurors out there decide to try and say that you had something to do with Tristan’s escape and attempt to take you all into custody for questioning. Should that happen, it’s not guaranteed that Arthur will be able to see that you get into the right hands." Dumbledore seemed to slump down in his seat. "You’ve put us all in a tight place and we must be careful how we proceed."

"But wouldn’t it be better to find a way to keep us here? The Aurors and anyone else could still come after us once we leave, but if we’re here then we’re more protected." Luna argued.

"I agree, but if I didn’t go through with this, it would be far too easy for them to accuse me of favoritism and things are too fragile right now. The slightest thing could give them the excuse to oust me from here and put anyone they choose in place as Headmaster. As you saw last time, there are too many impressionable young minds here to allow that to happen. I refuse to let this school become a training ground for the next wave of Death Eaters. Everyone must be free to choose the life they want."

"So instead you just throw away our futures?" Simon asked incredulously, not knowing anything of the Order and therefore unable to comprehend the need to keep things a certain way so that the power didn’t shift in the enemy’s favor.

Suddenly the office door swung open behind them and Lupin came rushing in. "Stop! It’s not their fault, it’s mine!"

"And do you really expect anyone to believe that?" Dumbledore asked tiredly.

"Does it matter as long as there’s someone to blame?" He pressed. "Tell them whatever you want… tell them that the kids were working on a project for me and things went wrong. They left the school to come looking for me because they knew that I had snuck out to see Tonks and didn’t want me to get in trouble. That story should be good enough."

"You realize what will happen if you decide to go through with this… given what you are, the parents already have a low threshold of tolerance for you. If you take the blame for the destruction to the classroom, if you insist these students only left school to cover up for you… then I’ll have no choice but to terminate your employment here."

"No!" Harry protested, leaping to his feet.

Lupin reached out to grab his shoulder, using his considerable strength to force Harry back into his chair. "I understand the consequences. I accept it."

Why are you doing this to yourself? Harry asked pleadingly.

Because, I feel I owe it to James and Lily to do everything in my power to have you finish school. I can’t just let you screw it up with two weeks to go. He answered with a grin. It’ll be okay, Harry. I promise.

He held his breath and glanced at Luna and Simon out of the corner of his eye and realized Lupin wasn’t just doing this for him. The other two were only in their sixth year and he felt guilty that his brash actions may cause them to lose out on their education. Letting out the breath slowly, he turned to look at the older wizard, awaiting his decision along with everyone else.

Dumbledore took his time studying Lupin before at last shaking his head and rising from his seat. "Okay, if this is the way you want it to be. I’ll see to it that you are able to finish out the final two weeks of this semester, as it will be impossible to replace you on such short notice. It’s been a pleasure to have you here."

"It’s been wonderful being here." Lupin assured him before quickly ushering the teens from the office before the headmaster could change his mind. Simon tried to break off from the group as soon as they were in the hallway but Harry reached out and grabbed his arm, ensuring he followed them. He still had a few things to say to the other boy. They walked silently down to Lupin’s office, though the older man was the only one who seemed to be in a good mood.

"Are you sure about this?" Harry asked as soon as Lupin closed the door.

"Of course I’m sure. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done it." He grinned. "I had planned on resigning at the end of this year anyway. I really like teaching, but I’m certainly needed elsewhere and like you Harry, I hate feeling locked away here when there are so many things happening out in the world. And with you and Draco leaving, there’s really nothing to keep me here any longer. Plus I don’t like being away from Tonks for so long, her job already keeps us apart so why should I continue to let mine add to the strain when I have another choice? So you see, I’m entirely positive that this is the right thing to do."

"But you won’t exactly be leaving here on the best of terms if you take the blame for this." Luna argued.

Lupin reached out to reassuringly pat her shoulder. "I have long ago learned to live with other people’s misguided opinions of me. As long as I am in good standing with the people who know me, that’s all that matters." He went to sit behind his desk and pulled out a roll of blank parchment and a fresh quill. "Besides if I were to stay here, then who would be out there looking after you all when you get yourselves stuck in a corner?" He teased, reminding them that this wasn’t the first time he’d helped get them out of their own mess. "Plus Draco is going to need guidance in navigating life out in the real world where people don’t take as kindly to what we are so I’m actually glad to have a reason to leave my position early. The fact that it helps you kids out is just a bonus."

"Well I certainly appreciate it." Simon said gratefully. "I mean because I have no where else to go besides Hogwarts so I’m glad I get to come back." He added quickly when he saw the glare Harry had shot him for speaking at all.

Lupin nodded and smiled. "Think nothing of it."

"It just seems unfair that we can’t simply explain what really happened." Luna said absently as wrapped her arms around herself.

"What happened to you?" Lupin asked, finally noticing the bandages that peeked out from the sleeves of her school robes.

She and Harry shared a glance as Simon looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet. "Just a slight accident caused by a simple misunderstanding." She said at last, lowering her arms and pulling the hems of her sleeves down.

"I see." He shook his head and sighed. "To answer your earlier musing… no one would listen if you tried to explain what really happened. It’s a play for power out there and no one is interested in the truth unless it gets them what they want. Too many things have been happening here, no one would take a student’s word on anything when they barely trust what the professors and Dumbledore have to say."

"Especially if one of the students is me, right?" Harry asked miserably.

"It’s a sad but true fact that adding your name to anything will instantly make it more complicated. But don’t let it bother you, having enemies only means that you’ve stood up for something important." Lupin answered with a gentle smile. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I must write to my wife and inform her that we are soon to become a one income household for awhile."

"You know that you and Tonks always have your room at my house." Harry offered, feeling it was the least he could do.

"And we may just have to take you up on that." He laughed. "The price of rent is ridiculous these days."

Leaving him to write his letter, the teens all stepped out into the hall. As soon as the door closed behind them, Harry grabbed Simon up by the front of his robes and shoved him back against the wall. "If I find out that you’re somehow setting us up I swear to you that your sister won’t have the chance to murder you because she’ll never find your body." He threatened, wanting to scare the boy into revealing whether he was truly trustworthy.

"I promise I’m not setting you up!" He instantly replied, his eyes wide and his heart banging wildly in his chest.

"We’ll see." Harry muttered before bringing his face in close to Simon’s, tightening his grip and pushing against the boy’s throat. "From now on, if you think you have something you need to tell someone, come straight to me because going anywhere near Luna or any of my other friends would certainly be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make in your life."

Simon nodded in agreement, clearly seeing in Harry’s eyes just how much he meant his threats. "I’ll come right to you!" He gasped out, reaching up to try and push Harry away.

He released the other boy and simply turned and walked away, knowing Luna was following him and feeling her disapproval. He waited until they were all the way back to his room before speaking to her. "I’m not sorry about how I dealt with him."

She looked at him a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay." She said quietly.

"I know you’re mad at me…" He began pacing, feeling all of the energy and adrenaline he’d been building up since she’d first called out to him begin to bubble over as it tried to find some way to escape.

"Of course I’m not mad… I’m not sure what I am. This has been a very strange day and I’m still trying to process it." Luna argued, sitting comfortably on the edge of the bed as she watched him walk around the room, allowing him to get out some of his pent up frustration.

Harry went to the window and clutched the sill as he stared out over the school grounds. He took several deep breaths before turning back to her. "But you really are okay, right?"

"I’m fine, just a bit troubled by what we’ve learned." She gently assured him. "I guess it’s even more important that we go get Fred before Elanya has the chance to convince him that her version of events is the truth."

"Couldn’t it be?" He debated. "I mean, I know Simon was telling us his version of the truth and I believe Elise and Sarah are that cunning. But what if their whole plan was tricking him into telling us all of this so we wouldn’t believe what Elanya had to say? What if they really are setting her up and what we saw in Erebos’s head is true? Maybe they did know we’d figure out who the spy was and that we’d want to look in his head… what if they used Simon to spread around doubt so that we wouldn’t know what to believe?"

"Well, if that’s the case then it seems to have worked, at least on you." She pointed out, smiling as he stared at her in utter confusion. "Personally, I think I believe him even though there’s something about him that unsettles me… but despite that, I truly think Elanya is very much working with Elise and Sarah."

Harry nodded in hesitant acceptance. He’d learned his lesson about questioning her intuition, if she thought Elanya wasn’t the victim they were trying to portray her to be then that was most likely the way it was. "Okay, so we go on with the assumption that she’s against us."

"I think that’s the safest for us… to assume she and Simon both are the enemy until they can definitively prove otherwise." She stood and came over to wrap her arms around his waist and hug herself against him.

He kissed the top of her head and returned the embrace. "I have no problem with that."

She pulled away and looked at the door. "Hermione knows we’re done with Dumbledore, she’s on her way over here."

Sure enough an insistent knocking came at the door and Harry went to let her in. "So? What happened?" She demanded, walking in and turning to face them both. Together they pieced together everything that had happened and filled her in completely on what Simon had told them and what they’d concluded as a result. "You’re sure Elanya isn’t being set up?" She asked, her face going white as she began to panic.

"Almost completely positive, what’s wrong?" Luna went over to lead Hermione to a chair.

"It’s just that… I so badly wanted to see Fred, to make sure he was okay. I decided to practice my astral projection and to my surprise, not only did it work, he was able to see me." She answered, nearly shaking as she tried not to cry.

"You talked to Fred? Did you let him know we were coming to get him?" Harry asked, kneeling next to her and taking her hand in comfort.

"Yes, but I also told him everything else! I wanted to assure him that we’d taken care of everything so he could leave without worrying… including that we knew who the spy was! I told him that you guys found out that Elanya was a victim of Elise and Sarah’s plots too… he thinks she isn’t the enemy!"

"It’ll be fine, Hermione." Luna said softly. "We’re going to get him tomorrow."

"No!" Hermione leapt to her feet and turned to them in anguish. "She’s making him talk to her now! He’d been refusing this whole time but I saw her threaten to send Erebos after Ron and Ginny if he didn’t start speaking to her. Don’t you see? I led him to believe that she was just another pawn in Elise and Sarah’s game… what if he lets his guard down? What if she’s able to convince him to believe her?" She stared at them in horror as every implication of Fred trusting Elanya ran through her head. "What have I done?" She whispered.

(BREAK)

As soon as it was dark, Fred grabbed his entire bed roll and went down to the beach. Ensuring he was far enough from the tide, he set everything up and built a small fire, silently thanking his father for teaching him how to do so the muggle way- without a wand. Sure it was the more difficult way to do things, but at last his father’s obsession with learning the why’s and how’s of all things muggle had paid off. Once sure the blaze had caught, he lay back to look at the stars. He didn’t know where Elanya had gone, nor did he care… she hadn’t returned from her walk and the longer she was gone the more certain he was that he didn’t want to be there when she did show up.

She’d told him so many things and enough of it had seemed not only to be likely but made too much sense not to be true. He was confused… If Hermione had really been on the island, then she’d told him things that Elanya had completely admitted to. Did it matter? And if it did, then why did it matter? Elanya had gotten herself caught up in this, she was no innocent bystander. Had she not wanted so badly to kill her father, the other girls wouldn’t have had anything to tempt her into accepting their offer. On the other hand, he was now able to put himself in her shoes… why wouldn’t she want to kill the man who murdered her mother and was trying to use his own daughter to buy his way into the good graces of an evil man like Voldemort? Even Willem had come to terms with the fact that his niece had killed his brother and was still willing to reach out to the girl as it was clear even to him that she needed to be rescued… if not from Elise and Sarah, then from herself. So if Willem could forgive her, then who was he to judge her?

Clearly he didn’t think as badly of her as he’d thought anyway… why else wouldn’t he have just told her hated her? It was the one thing that bothered him more than anything else. She’d been right in saying that he had no problem telling people that he didn’t like them, so why couldn’t he just say it? Annoyingly she had picked up on the only reason… because he didn’t hate her. But so what? Not hating someone wasn’t exactly the same as liking them. After all, he knew he couldn’t trust her as far as he could throw her, but then, did that matter either?

"So, you’ve decided to sleep under the stars."

He sat up and whipped around to find Elanya standing in the trees as if his thoughts of her had forced her to materialize there. Her hair and dress were dancing softly in the slight breeze and her eyes glowed even more brilliantly in the faint firelight. "Well, aren’t you the observant one." He said sarcastically.

"I’m sorry I walked out on you earlier." She said, taking a few hesitant steps towards him.

"Think nothing of it. I’m pretty sure our conversation was about done anyway." He brushed her off and lay back down again, closing his eyes and acting as if she were nothing more than a pesky disturbance to him.

"It’s so beautiful out here… and so relaxing. You have the right idea sleeping here on the beach. Mind if I join you?" She called, her voice carrying her amusement.

"Sleep wherever you want, what do I care?" Fred made sure to sound annoyed, hoping that if she did sleep on the beach, she would choose to do it far from him. He heard her soft footsteps as she glided through the sand and then felt her attempt to climb under the covers with him. He sat straight up and scrambled away from her as he got to his feet. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?" He demanded angrily.

"Well, my blankets are all the way back at the campsite and I’m tired now." She looked up at him with a coy smile.

"Fine, take my stuff, it’s all yours. I want to go for a swim anyway." He turned and walked straight toward the water, repeating Hermione’s name over and over in his head lest he allow himself to go back and do something stupid.

"You can’t go out there now!" Elanya called as she ran after him. "It’s dark! There could be sharks or any number of other dangerous things and you’d never see them coming!"

Despite the genuine concern for his safety that he heard in her voice, he ignored her and walked straight into the water fully dressed. He continued on until his feet could just barely touch the bottom before deciding that was far enough to deter her from following him. Turning, he began swimming parallel with the shoreline hoping to go down far enough that she wouldn’t care to walk after him. He could barely see his hand in front of him and realized that is was more than the exercise that was making his heart race. It was very dark out here, and Elanya had been right… He’d never see an underwater attack coming. Quickly deciding he’d gone far enough, he began swimming towards land, crawling up onto the sandy beach and allowing himself to lie there and rest for a moment.

Now more than ever, he was determined to leave the island tomorrow. He couldn’t spend one more day alone with Elanya, he was beginning to forget what was real and it was becoming more difficult not to fall into her stories. All he had to do was get through tonight. Climbing to his feet, he brushed off as much sand as he could and made his way into the trees to look for some kind of shelter. Coming to the base of the tallest mountain, he found a shallow cave. Gathering leaves, he quickly made himself a place to sleep before gathering enough wood to start a fire to keep him warm. Once again he silently thanked his father while hoping that he would get the chance to thank him in person very soon.

(BREAK)

Draco woke already feeling nervous… he didn’t like lying to Ginny and while he may not know the exact details of what was going on, he had pieced enough together to know that she’d be mad to learn they’d kept Fred’s possibly being in trouble from her. But today was supposed to be the day it would all end and no one would have to lie anymore… at least not about this. It was simple really, while the professors and most of the students were down at the quidditch pitch enjoying the game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Potter, Luna and Granger were going to whisk themselves away to rescue Fred from whatever mess he’d gotten himself into. Draco’s job was to make sure neither Ginny nor Ron found out they were gone and more importantly, to keep them both away from Professor Erebos who Potter had said was a spy and more than willing to hurt someone.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Ginny’s door. "Ready to go down to breakfast?" He asked as soon as she opened up. Seeing that she was still in her robe and pajamas, he realized she hadn’t done much since she’d left his room earlier. "I guess not." He said in response to the silent look she gave him, closing the door as he walked in.

"I don’t want to go watch that stupid game today." She said, climbing onto the bed and grabbing her pillow to clutch to her body. "I don’t want to be a part of anything to do with Ron at the moment."

"I guess I can understand that." He said slowly.

"It’s been almost a week!" She was clearly frustrated and had her pillow been Ron’s neck, she’d have already squeezed the life out of him. "I just can’t believe he hasn’t come around to apologize to everyone for what he said."

"Why would he?" Taking in the glowering look she shot him, he quickly w