TO ALL NEW READERS: Welcome. Now, as this story is part two of the Real-Time Series, it is a sequel to the first part, Shot of Chaos, which can be found in the profile. It is necessary to read Shot of Chaos before this story, or the plot will not make sense. Playing catch-up is not an option, as the plot can be very complex, especially when cliffhangers arise. So, if you haven't read Shot of Chaos yet, please, go do that now, its in the Team Graecisso profile. (It would be nice if you reviewed it, too.)

If you are still reading at this point, I am assuming that you have finished Shot of Chaos, either recently or while I was still posting it.

TO ALL RETURNING READERS: Well, I'm guessing my final Shot of Chaos cliffhanger have made the last couple months a very long wait, hasn't it? (New readers can consider themselves very lucky that they avoided that, though even worse cliffhangers are coming.) In case anyone forgot, SoC took place about four months after the conclusion of OotP, on October 16 and 17, 1996. This story is taking place forty days after Shot of Chaos, from November 25, 1996 at 11:00 A.M. to November 26, 1996 at 11:00 A.M. Twenty-four hours, I'm sure everyone knows the drill by now.

Reviews will be responded to at the bottom of the page, the same way as in Shot of Chaos. I have to admit that I wasn't satisfied with the amount of reviews that SoC received. This time around, following the example of my wonderful girlfriend Nimbirosa (gestures toward her profile in recommendation of her stories) I may withhold chapters if I don't get enough reviews. Aren't her ideas wonderful? So, please, everyone, review, I would even prefer flames to people who do not review.

UPDATE SCHEDULE: Bad news for those who read Shot of Chaos while I was posting it, but I'm on a one-chapter-every-two-weeks update schedule for now. (You get chapter 2 on December 14th.) I know this isn't great news, but I have to plan ahead because of the Christmas season, and I doubt that the average reader would be reading my fanfic on Christmas week anyway. I'll try to get back to 1-chapter-per-week as soon as I can, but I'm not promising anything.

(sees angry readers taping their feet, wanting the author to get on with it) Anyway, without further ado, let us begin!

The following takes place between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M…

11:00:00 AM

Ginny ducked as a green jet of light whizzed through the air. The Killing Curse shot harmlessly past her, burning into the wall.

Beside her, she saw Harry narrow his eyes in frustration.

"PERCUSSUM!"

The Punching Spell shot through the air, hitting the Death Eater in the head. He fell back, his wand falling to the ground.

Ginny darted forward and grabbed the wand. The instant her hand gripped it, she felt a rush of power through her, almost like an electric shock.

It was really happening. She was escaping.

Harry grinned at her. "Time to get out of here."

The Weasley girl nodded. "I can't believe you came! I mean, after he told me, I thought Bellatrix would fool you."

"No one could ever substitute for you."

Ginny smiled wider, before her face grew a troubled look. "But then, when he…"

"It doesn't matter, Ginny. All that matters is that you are safe."

She smiled in relief. The two of them continued running along the corridors of the Sky Fortress. Ginny dodged to the right as a curse shot towards her, she quickly retaliated with a Bat Bogey Hex, covering the head of the Death Eater with the flying bogeys.

A nagging voice in the back of Ginny's mind told her that something was wrong, but she pushed the thought away.

Looking over, she saw Harry in the middle of a fierce duel with a Death Eater. The Boy-Who-Lived ducked underneath a fierce curse, and raise his wand. The Death Eater did the same.

"STUPEFY!"

"CINDRIO!"

"BANISHIO!"

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

The spells flew. The Stunning Spell missed, but the Banishing Charm hit the Death Eater head-on, sending him flying along the corridor into the Reactor Core room. Harry took the Cinder Curse in the chest and winced with pain, but still ducked under the Body-Bind.

Harry quickly fired a Locking Spell at the door of the room, trapping the Death Eater inside. Ginny smiled.

"Can we go now?"

"Gladly."

The two kept running, when Harry stopped. Ginny looked over at him, eyes widened.

"Harry, what…"

He leaned in. Ginny's heart fluttered as she realized they were going to kiss, the first kiss since the nightmare day of October 17, 1996. His bright emerald eyes glistened like pools of fire as he leaned in…

"Pathetic."

The fake-memory vanished. Ginny screamed as she re-appeared in her true location, a Launch Base prison cell.

"Bastard! Get out of my head!"

Across the room, Voldemort smiled at the restrained Ginny Weasley. "Why? Do you not find these memories, fake as they are, more enjoyable then your current situation?"

She was about to yell back, but smirked instead. "You always stop them at the best part."

"Would you like my version of the best part once more?"

Her eyes widened in horror. The Dark Lord grinned.

"Ah, what a shame. I thought you loved me, Ginevra…"

"I hate you!"

"Strange, that isn't the way the diary remembered it…"

Ginny gave an unintelligible scream.

Voldemort laughed. "Do you not want me here?"

Ginny considered trying to ignore him, but instead fixed him with a calculating look. "Why are you here? After that…time…you just left me for your Death Eaters."

"Lets just say, Ginevra, that today is a very important day. I'm sure you remember the last twenty-four-hour period and what it did for my plan?"

"Unfortunately."

"Well, it continues today. You don't even know what day it is, do you? Of course, I'm sure you can pass the time by thinking what Harry and Bellatrix may be doing…"

She let out another tirade of screams. He shrugged.

"Regardless, though I cannot spend all the time I want to, you are quite important to the events that will take place today and tomorrow. Very important. However, other matters will occupy some of my time."

"What a shame."

"Indeed. Now, Ginevra, how about another memory of possible escape…"

Ginny screamed as she felt Voldemort access the link between them.

11:04:57 AM

Arthur Weasley, flanked by Tonks and Williamson, walked quickly through the Ministry of Magic.

He had just come through the Floo network, and saw several lineups of wizards and witches waiting to receive security clearance to enter the Ministry.

He calmly entered one of the shorter lines. Williamson stared at him.

"Arthur, we don't need to stand in the lines."

"I'm not abusing my privileges as a Ministerial candidate."

Tonks nodded. "It will look good as well. You aren't big-headed like Fudge."

Williamson fixed her with a sharp look. "It's still Minister Fudge, Tonks, until nine A.M. tomorrow."

"He's on his way out, why would I care?"

The argument was cut off by their arrival at the end of the line.

Four wizards, all Western Alliance security force members, looked the three up and down. The fifth member of the security force, a young witch, was holding a clipboard.

"Names?" she inquired.

Tonks answered her. "Nymphadora Tonks, Squad Commander of the Elite Auror Division and Vice President of Magical Law Enforcement, along with Auror Williamson, escorting Candidate Arthur Weasley."

The witch nodded, giving Arthur an impressed look. "You're Arthur Weasley?"

He nodded. She grinned.

"I hope you get elected. After hearing the truth about You-Know-Who, I was hoping Dumbledore would run for office. However, since you are part of the Order, I'm sure you'll do just as well."

Arthur nodded again. "Thank you."

Things had changed a lot in the last month since the Sky Fortress disaster. Ever since Neville Longbottom had been sent to Azkaban prison without trial for having the Dark Mark on his arm and being convicted for the murder of Bellatrix Lestrange, who, though a Death Eater, had been wanted for questioning by several governments. With a security risk hit so close to home, they had been blundering around. Fudge had done anything to hold onto his position, but nothing was working. If the Western Alliance hadn't voted unanimously, (minus one of their members, who had been killed by a sniper,) to send five hundred Aurors to assist with security, the Ministry would probably have fallen.

With the current situation, they could instead focus on electing a new leader. Arthur Weasley knew that his own joining of the race had prompted a dropout, and wasn't sure if there were any candidates to oppose him.

However, as Dumbledore had insisted that he win the race, he had worked quite hard to make sure he had a good chance.

Tonks shook her head as the three headed towards an elevator. She was amazed how much the excitable man had changed since Ginny was rescued from the Sky Fortress.

"Look! My shipment of batteries!"

She sighed. Evidently, he hadn't changed that much.

11:07:51 AM

Neville groaned as he lay on the bare floor of the Azkaban prison cell. His round face had faded away from the effect of the Dementors and the low amount of food. His eyelids were droopy and his arms were slopped uselessly on the floor, the effort required to move them already proven to be too much.

"...hello, Frank…"

He winced at the voice. That was the worst thing about Azkaban prison, you never got used to it. The place itself was a dark claw, gripping at the soul, threatening to devour it.

Worse still, he had a mark on his arm that had an effect worse then any Dementor.

"…you know what will happen. You're no fool. Tell us…"

He winced once more, then looked at his arm. The Dark Mark burned brightly, a sickly green design etched on the skin.

The Dark Mark was more then a tattoo, he knew now. The mark was a special pathway, directly between the wearer and Voldemort. He could affect the bodies and minds of all of his Death Eaters, allowing him to perform the strongest Cruciatus Curses on his own Death Eaters.

The link was unbreakable. In the few days he had spent in secure Ministry custody before coming…three days…four days…he did not know…he had tried everything.

The brand of Voldemort shined upon the arm of one who hated him most.

"…the First. Tell me who she is, and I will let you and your family live."

He hated that mark.

He hated it more then the Dementors that roamed the halls.

He hated it more then the Dark Lord who had cast it on him.

He hated it more then the Ministry who had believed the worst, fighting back the best efforts of Albus Dumbledore to save him or even see him.

He hated it more then Bellatrix Lestrange herself.

"Where is the First? Where is the second break? You know we will find out…the only difference is how much pain your family will endure…"

Eyes narrowed, Neville tried to mentally push the Dementors back.

However, though his sanity was starting to slip, he still knew that was a losing battle.

…very well…here is your reward…"

"CRUCIO!"

11:11:31 AM

"Now, everyone, you will have to listen very carefully."

Minerva McGonagall glanced sternly around her classroom filled with fifth-years. Because of the difficulty of Transfiguration, most people, even the Slytherin students, always paid very close attention in class. She was quite proud of the Gryffindor students in this year, many of them were almost as talented as Hermione.

"Everyone, swish your wand at your pig and say…"

The teacher looked over in surprise. Ginny, one of her favorite students, was simply slouched there, staring at the professor with a look of boredom.

"Miss Weasley, why aren't you paying attention?"

The redhead fixed her with a look of pity.

"Because Transfiguration is boring and easy."

McGonagall looked quite taken aback. "Well, then, why don't you show us the spell?"

The redhead smirked, and calmly swished her wand, whispering the incantation. The pig transformed into a perfect golden statue of a black-robed woman, wand raised in triumph.

The mouth of the Transfiguration professor opened in shock.

"Miss Weasley, that is amazing. Your skills have improved drastically in the last month."

Behind the visage of Ginny Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange smiled. Nobody had suspected anything wrong with the behavior of the redhead after her rescue from the Sky Fortress. She had tested several teachers, including Nymphadora Tonks and the new Potions teacher Alastor Moody by acting out of character, but no one had suspected anything by that or her drastically improved magical knowledge.

The only problem was that Muggle-born Hermione Granger. She knew something was wrong, and it was only a matter of time before it was traced to her.

Something would have to be done about that situation.

"Now, in order to return the statue to animal form…"

11:14:26 AM

The First smiled as she calmly accessed her communicator. She had finished one of the tasks of her mission, and was now back on her island.

The head of a Death Eater appeared in midair.

"Password."

The redhead grinned.

"Halloween."

The Death Eater disappeared and the First felt her head rushing through the temporary Floo connection into the Launch Base.

When the movement stopped, she looked up.

"Voldemort."

He spun to face the fireplace. "Hello, my dear…"

"I don't need to hear my name."

"Fine."

Ginny Weasley was staring at the fireplace with a look of shock. She probably noticed something familiar about the face of the First, who had not bothered with Disguise Charms.

The First shrugged. It would not matter. Both her and the Dark Lord knew how everything would play out.

Voldemort turned to face Ginny again. "Would you like to watch? After all, I have very enjoyable information extraction techniques to be performing…"

"You know I have more important matters."

"The Western Alliance?"

"Yes, but more specific."

"The Iota?"

"Yes. She may know what I am up to, and we obviously can't risk the world knowing my identity."

Voldemort laughed. "Did you have a good Halloween?"

"The best."

"Is everything ready?"

"Your dear Bellatrix will handle the Changeover, Lucius has played his trump card for the Ministry, and the Skygate is ready. You will need no more from me."

"Good. Go settle your score."

"Gladly."

The head of the First disappeared. Voldemort smiled wider and turned to face Ginny again.

"Now, I believe you wanted to escape. Shall we browse the ways that can be done?"

11:18:36 AM

Harry Potter calmly copied down notes as Nymphadora Tonks explained the properties of the Splitting Charm and how it was different from the Severing Charm.

The Defence teacher looked exhausted, and Harry knew why. After finding the corpse of Bellatrix Lestrange, the Order had assumed the raids would stop. However, the Death Eaters had managed to spread their influence into several magical governments, severly limiting the people that the Order could trust.

It was also possible that she was working for Neville's release. Though Dumbledore had tried everything, Fudge had flatly refused to allow a boy with a Dark Mark on his arm out of Azkaban prison. Dumbledore knew that the only solution was getting Arthur Weasley in as Minister, and had pressured him into doing so.

Of course, since Tonks had arrived by Floo only minutes ago and informed them that this would be a short class, she could be helping at the Ministry there.

"I need a volunteer."

Her voice snapped him out of his reverie, and he glanced up at the Metamorphagus. Her hair was a dark brown, with chocolate brown eyes and a soft face. She faced the class again.

"Come on, no one can beat up an old hag?"

Her face shifted into looking like an old witch, and the class laughed. Tonks grinned and went back to her brown-haired form, facing the class again.

Sighing, Harry raised his hand. Tonks shook her head.

"Sorry, Harry, you beat me up enough in special training."

He grinned. She faced Hermione instead.

"How about you?"

Hermione looked startled. Tonks smiled.

"Come on, Hermione. Show the class your style."

She noticed that many were giving her hopeful looks, (probably not wanting to duel themselves,) and Ron looked quite excited. She sighed.

"Fine."

Tonks grinned. "Excellent, all we…"

Her voice was cut off by the appearance of an envelope in mid air.

She opened it, read it, and sighed.

"Everyone, wait here. Hermione, you can have five minutes to prepare."

Tonks surprised them all by disappearing into thin air.

11:22:31 AM

"Project Helix commenced."

The Death Eater operating the machine let out a sigh of relief. His companion gave him a scornful look.

"Did you really think it wouldn't work?"

"I didn't want to think about the reaction of our Lord if it didn't."

The second nodded. "Boot it up."

The Death Eater pressed several buttons. The computerized voice echoed through the room again.

"Select clone DNA."

"Scan for DNA of Bellatrix Lestrange."

The computer clicked as it calculated. Thirty seconds later, it responded.

"Four genetic samples found."

One of the Death Eaters looked scared. "The Dark Lord wanted five."

"We have no choice. Tell it to run with four. It isn't our fault."

"Try telling that to our Lord."

He sighed. "True. Activate Project Helix clone program."

"Activated. Clone I is 0 complete. Clone II is 0 complete. Clone III is 0 complete. Clone IV is 0 complete."

The two Death Eaters stood there. After waiting for a long period of time, one sighed.

"How long will this take?"

"I don't know. Check."

"Status report."

A status report printed out. One read over it.

Clone I – 1 complete

Clone II – 0 complete

Clone III – O complete

Clone IV – 0 complete

The reader of the report sighed. "A long time. That's how long it will take."

11:25:05 AM

Arthur sighed.

"You still don't know who the other candidates are?"

Tonks shook her head. "Other then Madame Bones, no one has made their application public."

Arthur sighed. The Order hadn't even planned to run a candidate when Madame Bones had announced her plans to run, but everything had changed when she confessed that she did not believe that Neville Longbottom was innocent. Dumbledore, unwilling to leave a Hogwarts student in Azkaban prison, convinced Arthur to run for Minister.

After a month, he was starting to get used to it, but was still planning to resign when Voldemort was defeated.

Assuming he was, of course.

He looked over as a dark-haired witch approached.

"Yes?"

"Western Alliance officer, reporting. No security risks."

Arthur nodded. "Good. I don't think there will be."

Tonks shook her head. "We have to be careful. This is a high-profile event. Even though it doesn't seem the Death Eaters are running a candidate, they may still try an attack, either to capture the Ministry or as a diversion."

Arthur nodded, turning to one of his campaign officers.

"What's coming up?"

She briefly scanned her agenda. "You have two debates, at 1:30 and 2:30. The 1:30 one is cancelled if you are the only candidate. Also, Perkins wants to meet with you before 1:00."

Arthur nodded. "Thanks. Tonks, I know you have a class to finish, but we really need your help. Are you teaching the whole day?"

"No, after my current class, some of the other teachers are taking the rest of today's and tomorrow's classes. I'll be back soon."

"Good. Who is in class?"

"It's the Gryffindor sixth-years. Hermione is about to duel me."

He grinned. "I'm sure Ron will enjoy that."

"Yeah. Anyway, see ya!"

Tonks activated one of her hidden Portkeys and disappeared again.

11:27:31 AM

The class looked up as Nymphadora Tonks appeared.

She grinned. "Wotcher, everyone. Hermione, are you ready?"

Hermione stood and walked towards the front of the class silently.

Ron quickly led a round of applause, causing Hermione to blush. She looked Tonks right in the eyes, then bowed formally.

Tonks bowed as well, much more flexibly because of her abilities. Tonks quickly compressed her bone structure, increasing her speed and flexibility.

A small penguin on the desk started beeping, and a countdown clock appeared on its chest.

5…4…3…2…1…

The duel began.

Hermione aimed her wand. "TRIQUAVIUS!"

Three jets of water shot at the Metamorphagus, who calmly dodged aside and aimed her wand.

"PERCUSSUM!"

The Punching Charm hit Hermione in the chest, and she doubled over. Tonks immediately let out a flurry of Stunning Spells, and Hermione dodged blindly out of the way. Then, an idea came to her.

"Accio Desk!"

The teacher's desk flew at her, which put Tonks squarely in its trajectory. The Metamorphagus dodged to the side, and Hermione continued her plan.

"BANISHIO!"

The Banishing Charm sent the desk flying right at the surprised teacher. Tonks was hit in the shoulder, knocking her back. However, even as she fell, she swirled her wand.

"SKYGATIUS!"

The thousands of lasers shot upward as Tonks opened their gate to the sky. Hermione was hit with several, wincing at the sharp, instant pain.

Tonks took advantage of her distraction to recover. When Hermione had recovered and aimed her wand, she found that the Metamorphagus had done the same.

"IMPEDIMENTA!"

"BANISHIO!"

"STUPEFY!"

"DAKRAMIST!"

Hermione's spells, the Impediment Jynx and Stunning Spell, both missed and burned harmlessly into the wall. She dodged the Banishing Charm, but shocked that Tonks would use a Dark Arts spell, the Dark Mist hit her. She fell to the ground, coughing and choking.

Tonks aimed her wand again.

"Glacius!"

The Freezing Charm hit Hermione in the shoulder. Her arm froze. Unable to move her wand hand or say a spell because of the mist, the duel was over.

Tonks quickly undid the charms and spun to face the class. "Now, first of all, Hermione had an excellent performance. However, there were some mistakes. What did she do wrong?"

At first, though several of the class seemed to know the answer, none seemed willing to actually say it. Then, Harry raised a hand.

"Yes, Harry?"

"She didn't expect you to use the Dark Arts."

The class nodded in agreement. Tonks looked like she was about to say something, but instead stopped and fixed Harry with a searching look.

"Harry, from what you saw of the duel, do you believe I was justified in my use of the Dark Mist spell?"

"Yes."

Several members of the class looked shocked and began to whisper excitedly to each other.

"Why?"

"In a real-world situation, such as fighting a Death Eater, they would not hesitate to use any means, even the Dark Arts. Everyone should be prepared for them."

Tonks nodded. "That is correct. Also, this classroom was a closed situation. If I had to, I could end the duel instantly. You can't ask a Death Eater for a five minute break."

Hermione stumbled to her feet and made it back to her seat, still coughing. Ron patted her on the back several times, causing her to expel some of the last particles of dark substance.

Tonks looked at her. "Go get a drink."

Hermione stumbled off, not even surprised by her teacher's bluntness. They all seemed to be like that now.

She was surprised when she heard the voice of Tonks behind her again.

"Oh, Hermione?"

"Yes, Professor?"

"Excellent job. Ten points to Gryffindor."

11:35:17 AM

The Dark Lord calmly smiled as he walked through the corridors of the Launch Base. Despite the fact that the distress of Ginny Weasley was quite amusing, he had no time to concentrate on it now.

Namely, he had to make sure his plan continued as he wanted. The first two Phases which had taken place over a month ago had been easy to pull off, none of the Light side ever suspecting that he would sacrifice his ultimate weapon as a part of a grand scheme. However, today would be much harder.

There were many things he had to concentrate on. The climax, of course, all came down to Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, but there were many other things to worry about. Making sure the Ministry election went as planned was very important, (though Lucius was handling most of the important parts,) as was the assassination of very important targets. His newest assassin, a secret project no one except him and Bellatrix knew the complete truth about would be used the most, though he had a very cruel and enjoyable plan for his major target.

Albus Dumbledore.

Just the thought of how the Headmaster of Hogwarts would be dead before the clock struck midnight filled him with an almost childish glee. He had learned patience from the prolonged period in a state of vapor, but being close to fruition still managed to make him lose his calm and cause his mind to delve into happiness.

He briefly checked the time. It was almost noon in British Ministry time, and he decided to take his next step.

He calmly picked up a communicator and dialed it.

"This is Death Eater Three."

"They don't know about her yet?"

"No, everything will go according to plan."

"Good. Do you have time right now?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Call the third squadron. We're moving the girl."

"To where?"

"Nowhere in particular, we're coming back here. We're planning several stops to attract Dumbledore's attention. Some for fuel, some for no reason…"

"My Lord, though it is not my place to question your judgment…"

"Far from it, Lucius. What is it?"

"Isn't there a chance that the girl could escape? Your Doom Ship is not the Sky Fortress, my Lord. Despite how many spots could be used for hiding places, it won't take off carrying more then twenty."

"Well, Lucius, think for a second. An unarmed female in a secure prison cell against myself and eighteen Death Eaters. Do you really think she can escape?"

"The chance is slim, my Lord, but still exists…"

"Silence! This is the day, Lucius! You have doubted my plan for too long! You doubted that anyone could be fooled by Phase Two, and they all were! If you continue with this pitiful behavior, you may find yourself in a very precarious position, even though you are Death Eater number three."

"Very well, my Lord, I apologize."

"Good. Get everyone ready to transport the Weasley girl, and continue your part of the plan. We will have many great victories, Lucius."

"Of course, my Lord."

Voldemort ended the communication. Then, he decided that teaching Ginny Weasley a lesson would be a good idea.

No matter where she went, she would never be safe.

He focused on their mental link then thought some dark things…

Five hundred feet away in her prison cell, Ginny screamed out in pain.

11:39:27 AM

Arthur Weasley looked up as a flying memo flew into his campaign office, stopping directly in front of him. He calmly unfolded it and read it.

A. Weasley,

Please proceed to Atrium for announcement of candidates.

One of his associates peered over his shoulder. "Candidates? Evidently, some people have entered late."

He shrugged. "It may just mean me and Amelia. I hope so."

"Who else could enter?"

"Anyone could, but I doubt anyone could enter at this point and still manage to win. It is possible."

"Should I tell Dumbledore?"

"No, I want to see for sure first. Call my security team. We'll head up there now."

The woman ran off. Arthur sat back in his chair, hoping that everything would be as easy as Dumbledore said it would be.

11:40:46 AM

Lucas Nott sighed at the sounds of two of his team arguing.

"Why do we have to wait here for all these clones?"

"That's what our Lord ordered."

He entered the room, and the two shut up. Though Nott was not an intimidating figure and he had lost much of his prestige with his failure to take down Remus Lupin, he was still respected among the Death Eaters, most of which were new initiates from international sources. Seeing Voldemort as the key to taking down the Ministry, he had recruited almost one hundred Death Eaters in the last month, replacing all of those lost in the fateful day over one month ago and then some. The rough hierarchy, (with Voldemort leading, the Three Death Eaters behind him, and ten or so codenamed Death Eaters after that, with Nott among that rank,) placed him as the ninth-highest-ranking Death Eater out of about one hundred and twenty.

He was quite pleased with this position, though he did eventually want to replace one of the three. Bellatrix was not someone that anyone planned to replace, though he thought he could manage to grab Wormtail's undeserved second spot.

Shaking his head to rid himself of his thoughts, he faced the two. "What is the progress of clone production?"

One of the Death Eaters printed out a status report and handed it to him. He read it.

Clone I – 57 complete

Clone II – 24 complete

Clone III – 6 complete

Clone IV – 0 complete

Nott looked in one of the chambers, in which the first clone was. The body was completely done, something the three watching Death Eaters seemed quite pleased with, considering that cloning machines did not produce clothing. Evidently, only personality and memory transfer remained. Project Helix was not perfect in this area, but the clones were still produced reasonably well.

He glanced at the Helix mark on the left hand of the first Bellatrix clone. It was completely identical to the one used to fake the death of Bellatrix, the amazingly successful clone that had almost killed both Remus Lupin and Neville Longbottom. However, where the Helix mark of the original clone had been plain, this clone had the Roman numeral I superimposed on the mark.

He turned his glance to the second clone. It had the Roman numeral II. Evidently, as Voldemort did not plan for these clones to fool anybody into thinking they were Bellatrix, who they assumed was dead, he would rather be able to distinguish them apart.

Nott sighed. "Inform me when this is almost complete. I have business to attend to."

The two Death Eaters nodded, so he left.

11:43:17 AM

Tonks sighed and calmly reviewed her lesson plan. She had hoped to give the class more information about Splitting Charms, but she knew that she had to return to the campaign.

"Class dismissed."

They all looked up in surprise, not expecting to be let out over fifteen minutes early. Seamus raised his hand.

"Is anything wrong, Professor?"

Tonks shook her head. "I have a very busy day ahead, class. I won't be here this afternoon or tomorrow, so don't be surprised if any of your friends in other years or houses mention a substitute."

The Metamorphagus noticed that the dark mood that everyone had developed over two months ago when her aun…Bellatrix had started her raids was still hanging around. Despite feeling exhausted herself, she decided to try and lighten the mood.

"Why are you all worrying? I'd thought you would be happy for more free time."

This got a few grins. Tonks grinned herself.

"Maybe my company is so wonderful, you can't bear to leave. Is that it?"

Laughter this time.

Seamus grinned. "Yes, Professor, this class is the highlight of our day."

Ron glanced over. "Compared to our other classes, this one is the highlight of our day."

There was much nodding at this. Tonks quickly waved goodbye, then not wanting to waste her last Portkey to the Ministry, instead grabbed a handful of Floo powder and hurled it into the fireplace.

"The Atrium!"

Tonks stepped in and disappeared. The class left.

11:45:19 AM

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, sat uneasily in his office. For some reason, he had already sensed that this day was not going to be a good one.

Though he doubted any day would ever equal those twenty-four hours of hell that had occurred little more then a month ago, he still thought that some form of trouble was brewing.

He tried to wave it off. After all, Voldemort interfering in the Ministerial election was almost inevitable, and between the Order and the Western Alliance, he doubted that anything would occur that couldn't be controlled.

However, he was still unable to shake his dark feelings.

He strode over to his cabinet, calmly pulling out a silver instrument. At first glance, it appeared to be a simple Muggle amusement device, eight silver spheres on strings. Four were attached, as were the other four. They continually bounced off each other, and they were the perfect weight so they wouldn't stop.

However, these eight spheres were some of Dumbledore's most powerful devices.

He pointed his wand at the first sphere.

"Revealum."

The sphere briefly turned green before returning to silver. Dumbledore sighed. That bead was the Darkness bead, symbolizing one tainted by darkness within the walls of Hogwarts. Severus Snape had caused it to glow before, but even though he was now in an Azkaban prison cell a long distance away, it still glowed. He sadly assumed that it was one of the Slytherin students from the more extremist pureblood families. They would need a Dark Mark or severe dark actions to set it off, however, so he was still slightly suspicious.

He aimed his wand at the second sphere.

"Revealum."

It began to flash green, once for everyone with a Dark Mark within one hundred miles.

1…2…3…4…5…

Albus sat back with a sigh. Evidently, this would take a long period of time.

11:47:37 AM

The First smiled as she saw the two vehicles racing down the highway. She knew that this would have to be timed perfectly.

The leading vehicle flew into the air through use of a magical jumping device. She smirked, knowing perfectly well she had found the right vehicle.

Now, it was time for the next step in Project Skygate.

She knew how perfectly she had to time this. She jumped onto the highway, landing directly on the roof of an SUV.

The driver, a female about thirty-five, looked at the redhead in shock. "What are you doing?"

The First grinned.

"Imperio!"

The Imperius Curse allowed her easy access to the mind of the driver. She told her to keep driving the road, and get as close as possible to the Omega's vehicle.

The driver, unable to control her own mind, did not even notice the bullets being fired at the Omega's vehicle by the two police officers in the cop car pursuing them.

The First crouched low on the hood of the vehicle, eyes narrowed.

She smirked as she passed the Omega.

"Imperio!"

She knew perfectly well that the almost-natural Occlumency of the morpher would allow him natural Imperius curse resistance. The instant the curse took effect, she went right for the part of his brain that controlled emotion, and turned his anger to maximum.

She quickly cut off the curse. Luckily, with bullets whizzing past the Omega repeatedly, he was too busy to notice the quick mind change. She quickly ordered the driver of her vehicle to pull back several meters.

She smirked as she saw his hands tighten on the wheel. Then, as the chase continued, it looked like he would manage to escape without further incident.

Furious that the Muggle policemen were about to let him go, she turned around and fired a bullet directly in the centre of their windshield. She grinned as the policemen thought the Omega had fired, and aimed their guns directly at him.

One fateful bullet went right through the morpher's shoulder. With the temporary changes she had made to his emotions, she knew the cops were dead.

With a satisfied smirk, she released the Imperius curse on the driver and Apparated away.

Snapping out of her mental reverie, Voldemort's partner smiled.

That moment, on the day of the first two Phases, though necessary to Project Skygate, was small. A much bigger one was coming.

Reaching into her cloak, she pulled out a picture of the Boy-Who-Lived.

She smiled almost lovingly as she stared into his emerald eyes.

"Oh, Potter, you will have a fate much worse…"

11:51:17 AM

Arthur Weasley walked quickly into the Atrium, where a raised platform had been set up. He looked around, unsure of the specific thing to do.

Luckily, Tonks was now here, and came sprinting over. "Arthur, good, you're here. As of now, you and Amelia have been confirmed, but there are rumors that a third candidate has applied last-minute. We don't know who, but it may turn out to be a good thing that you did so much to earn the public vote."

That was one of the most unusual things about the Ministerial election in Britain. Some Ministries chose their leaders exclusively through the international Wizengamot, some only through public vote. The British Ministry used an unusual system that had proven so successful that the Canadians and several others had copied it. All British citizens got a vote and so did the Wizengamot, but the Wizengamot votes were worth more. In the end, if everyone voted, about 60 of the vote would be comprised of citizens.

That made politics a double game for re-election, as you both had to impress the Wizengamot while in office plus garner public support. Arthur and Amelia were almost guaranteed to split the Wizengamot vote as they were both Ministry employees, unless the third candidate held a lot of sway among the upper class.

That would be the possibility that could create major problems. However, he hoped that everything would be okay.

Unsurprisingly, the announcement of the candidates did not help this mentality.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic! This is time to commend the three candidates who will be vying for the position of the new British Minister."

The entire audience in the Atrium went silent.

"First of all, we have a member of the Wizengamot, leader of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, an individual dedicated to peace and prosperity. I present Amelia Bones!"

The audience applauded as she rose, bowing briefly to the audience. Arthur scanned down the front row, trying to figure out who candidate number three could be.

"Second, a Ministry official who is the complete representative of hard work and dedication, often working to exhaustion in the first war with You-Know-Who. Arthur Weasley!"

He stood and bowed to the audience, but his anxiety was rising.

As he sat, he knew it. This was it.

"Our final candidate is one who is dedicated to the prosperity of wizardkind, well versed in the traditions that we have practiced for centuries."

Arthur winced. A pureblood supremacist. The last thing they needed.

"Though wealthy, this individual has made significant contributions, both to the medical professions and the campaigns of former candidates."

Arthur reaffirmed his previous statement. A wealthy pureblood supremacist was really the last thing they needed.

"Our third candidate. Narcissa Malfoy."

Arthur was quite surprised he didn't fall over on the spot. Narcissa had not been seated in the audience. Instead, she entered through the Floo the instant her name was called, bowing and waving to several Wizengamot delegates.

Arthur looked over at Tonks. "Go tell Dumbledore."

The Metamorphagus hurried off. Narcissa looked into the front row, smiling at Amelia as the two made eye contact. Then, she looked at Arthur, and the smile froze.

11:54:47 AM

Lucas Nott glanced over at the Project Helix cloning machine as it beeped.

"Clone I complete."

He grinned, and hit the button to deactivate the chamber that clone was contained in. The smoke cleared away, and the chamber opened.

The first Bellatrix clone stepped out. Her eyes were narrowed and stance erect as she calmly surveyed the room. She turned and looked at Nott.

"Where is our Lord?"

Nott shook his head. "Not here. He has instructed me to wait until all four of you are complete. You will play a role in our plan for Harry Potter."

The first clone glanced towards the other three. "How much longer?"

Nott quickly printed out a status report and handed it to the clone.

Clone II – 47 complete

Clone III – 31 complete

Clone IV – 3 complete

The first clone sighed. "Very well. I will go see our Master."

"Why?"

The clone gave a seductive grin. "This brilliant plan will be very stressful. He will need to relax. I can help him with that."

Nott nodded.

The clone fixed him with a searching look. "Do you need to relax?"

He shook his head. "No. No relaxation required."

She smirked. "I thought not. I'll be back when the clones are complete."

"How will you know?"

She held up her hand to show the Helix I mark. "This."

She left.

11:57:09 AM

The Project Helix machine produces the Bellatrix clones…

Tonks goes to contact Dumbledore…

Harry, Ron, and Hermione head to the Great Hall…

Voldemort concentrates on his plan…

11:58:37 AM

Luna calmly walked along the corridors of Hogwarts. She turned to the redhead beside her.

"Ginny, you've been awfully quiet all day. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Ginny, those born under the shield of the Horntail can not hide their feelings."

"The what?"

"Your dragon shield. It symbolizes the way it is best to act."

"What's yours?"

"The Common Welsh Green. It means you should try not to be normal."

The Metamorphagus snorted.

That explains a lot.

Luna stopped and looked right into the chocolate eyes of the redhead. "Really. Tell me what's wrong."

Behind the face of Ginny Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange smirked.

"Well, lets just say I have a feeling. This is going to be a very important day."

11:59:58 AM

11:59:59 AM

12:00:00 PM

Well, the first hour is done. I know it was probably pretty boring compared to the finale of Shot of Chaos, but stick with me, it is going to take a few chapters to start the main plot.

Responses to reviews from Shot of Chaos: (Mostly from chapter 24)

pixielax06 – Yeah, the last scene was hard to write, I only got through it by reminding myself of how cruel a cliffhanger it was…don't worry, the Dark Lord won't be doing that again.

Nimbirosa – Well, the MSN thing worked out quite well, didn't it? I sincerely doubt Gamma can do anything to me, you know. Idle conversation? That's all we have? pretends to look offended Talk to you soon, and keep reviewing!

Thanos Farek Seid – Thank you, the sequel is here.

meehanium – Whenever I inspire threats in my readers, I feel like I make a difference. Sorry to tell you that I already have some cliffhangers planned that are much, much worse.

Nuova – You were proud of Neville? I'm guessing this may not have been your favorite chapter then…he'll definitely be doing some important things, though. That's the beauty of fanfiction, as I can update one chapter at a time, I can have cliffhangers whenever I want. Don't you just love that system?

vagabound – Thank you. Not to put any pressure on you, but any other HP fans you can recruit to read the Series would be appreciated.

Padfoot – (24-1) Yes, I know perfectly well how long the wait was until December, and it was a very, very enjoyable wait. I'm your number one favorite? Very, very glad to hear that. Yeah, I know that Hermione's 'death' was very cruel as well as Neville's, but it was all part of a plan. By making people think that Harry finding one of his friends dead would be the super-evil ending cliffhanger, people ignored the Voldemort hints. Wasn't that wonderful? Neville was acting on adrenaline, rage, and knowing the entire horrible truth of what happened to his parents, which Dumbledore told him a few days before SoC occurred. Voldemort explaining every small thing to the real Ginny was dropping anvils on all my readers, I couldn't risk someone not understanding the ending. The Omega isn't the 'supreme-keeper-of-all-information,' he couldn't tangle with the First with blackmail and win, for example. Bribery could work. This is November anyway, not December. I've read Amazing Bouncing Rat, it's my favorite humor fic and #4 on my top ten overall HP list. Perfect story? Thank you very, very much. realizes something Hey, since I got this up one day before December, where are those other reviewers you promised? on November 27, goes back and writes more review responses Okay, there's one reviewer…anyone else? New reviewers will help me update faster, you know. (24-2) Post it the same day as the PoA DVD? That wouldn't be smart, because all my readers would be watching the movie and not reading. I was, too, so unless I could have trained the cat to use a computer, it wouldn't happen. (24-3) Only fifteen days after the fifteenth, that wasn't that long, was it?

elvenarcher13 – You checked the box? Good, and glad to hear that I made your favorites list.

dxwaterwave73 – Aw, the seconds thing was unnecessary? What a shame. Yeah, CR was from the PoA game, and this one is primarily focused around Harry and Ginny rather then the other members of the Sextet.

Ab2007 – Imperius Curse? Mind control would negatively affect my writing. Nice try.

grace - I turn fifteen next week. Yes, I'm quite proud of the plot, and many of the loose ends from SoC will turn up in this fanfic or a future sequel. Draco successfully Obliviated everyone, so no one, including the attackers, know that Nott and his cronies tortured Draco. I know I should have actually shown that, but there was no space in the plot. Prophecy 24 is very…tricky…with two loopholes that will be exploited, so don't worry about it. I know the prophecies were too specific, but as the average reader seems to miss most of my hints and they needed to be understood, I went with easy prophecies.

YamiPaladinofChaos – I'm glad that you like my story, I've read several of your fanfics, (most of them during the time when reviewing was disabled, so I'll go back and review eventually,) and you are one of my favorite authors on the site. (#16, I think, I'm too tired to check.)

Laen – Yeah, I was quite pleased with the SoC finale, though the time structure was a nightmare. (Many of the scenes that should have taken five minutes were squished into two minutes to keep the plot moving.) Well, I evaded the flametorches. sighs in relief

hyperknuxisdabomb – Your computer broke down? Ouch, I remember when that happened to me…so, you liked Snape's capture? I had a really good picture of that scene in my head, but I was a little disappointed with how I actually wrote it.

gamegeek2 - Yeah, Ginny definitely doesn't deserve forty days with the Dark Lord. You thought it was Snape? I'm quite impressed, I was hoping people would think that Snape was wrong about Moody but not the mole, so suspicion would go to Minerva, and it worked to a certain extent. Thanks for the review.

El Shabang – Yeah, the sequel is here, and a third is guaranteed at this point barring catastrophe or major disaster.

mario H. – (2) Thank you. (4) Yeah, I know the dialogue between the Canadians was confusing, but it does have purposes for character development. (5) No, I would never kill Tonks. Well, never in the first story, anyway, but you never know about this one…

starwriter600 – Thank you. Yeah, hopefully you can get on the computer more, as you've got some catching-up to do. (Of course, by the time you read this review response, you'll be caught up.) Could you thank Padfoot for recommending Shot of Chaos?

Sneak peeks:

Bellatrix laughed. She noticed that she had not been concentrating on her appearance. Her freckles had gone, and the color of her Ginny-hair had darkened. Cursing, she quickly restored her appearance.

Then, she heard a beep from the communicator. She walked over.

"The Phoenix is here."

"Good. This is the First. Message received."

"I trust you have an objective?"

"I do. I want to test this newfound blood fever that you seem to think Harry Potter has."

"On who?"

"Get him to attack Draco. Lucius has an interest in attacking his son, and it will serve as a good indicator, because of their rivalry."

"Tell the Master that I'm worried. I mean, after he learned the Prophecy from the Weasley girl. Is it safe to involve Harry Potter so extremely?"

"Of course. This is foolproof."

"Excellent."

The communicator buzzed, indicating that the First had cut the communication without bothering to respond. Bellatrix shrugged, smirked, then headed back out.

She saw Harry up ahead in the corridor, and concentrated on her Metamorphagus abilities. Tears began to flow from her eyes.

As she approached Harry, she let out a great sob, running towards the nearest empty classroom.

Harry's eyes opened in shock. "Ginny? What's wrong?"

The Metamorphagus ignored him, knowing that was sure to make him follow. Sure enough, several seconds after she had entered the empty classroom, Harry followed.

"Ginny? Are you okay?"

Bellatrix spilled several tears, shaking her head, trying to stop her smirk from showing. Harry sat beside her, pulling her into a hug.

"What is it?"

The redhead choked out the word. "Dra…Draco."

Just as she knew he would, this was already sparking Harry's anger and suspicion. "What did he do?"

The redhead gave a mental grin. Harry had automatically moved to suspect Draco. This would be too easy.

"I was in the dungeons, you know, to ask the Potions professor something…"

"Yes?"

"Draco cornered me. He was laughing with his friends…how he tricked Dumbledore…then he pointed his wand at me…and…and…"

"What?"

"He used…used…"

"Ginny, what did he do?"

"Cruciatus Curse."

The slight whisper of the redhead had been quiet, but Harry had heard it.

He stood up. Pulled out his wand.

The redhead looked up in feigned surprise. "Harry, where are you going?"

"I'm going to kill that bloody bastard."

Bellatrix grinned at the look in his eyes.

Blood fever.

Without another word, she heard him leave. She knew perfectly well that within five minutes he would be searching for him on the Marauder's Map.

Within fifteen minutes, he would be blasting the Malfoy heir with spells.

Bellatrix grinned. The first test was in progress.

Thank you for reading, and remember to review!