A/N: Rowling still owns everything in this universe, I'm Just playing. Warning there is implied
character death in this chapter.
Chapter 2: Ginny's War
********************The Dead Irishman, London*************************
June 23, 2012
The favorite hangout for young wizards and witches, in old London these days, after the war had been smoldering for almost for almost six years, was an old, almost destroyed Muggle pub, adjacent to the only partially repaired ruins of Diagon Alley. To keep it private, the pub was charmed against Muggles so they only saw the run-down, half-condemned building. But inside, the joint was packed almost every night. Sometime since the death of Voldemort, at Harry Potter's hands a bit over six years ago now, someone had installed a charmed muggle sound system that played at almost full volume 24/7 and god awful flashing colored strobes that were enchanted to pulse at the heart rates of the dancers. The owner had had to pay for particular good silencing charms, but hey they worked.
The clientele of this establishment was the young crowd: the muggle bornes, and tolerant pure and halfbloods that hung with them. For the most part, any self respecting dark wizard, especially those of the Death Eater variety, or just those who despised "mudbloods" wouldn't get within a thousand yards of this place. However there were some who just didn't learn. Albert Hamilton, or as he was known in this place and this time, Samuel Johnson, was one of those. While not quite as well known as his brother, Xavier, who had led the assault on Hermione Granger's house six years ago, he did share the proclivities of his brother. Including an almost unrelenting need to dominate and destroy, by whatever means, the opposite gender. That was not his only sin, however. For the last three years, he had led a cell of Death Eaters here in London. The fall of Voldemort had not ended the war, no not at all. In the days and months following his death, Lucius Malfoy had stepped into Tom Riddle's shoes. Lucius had gained a great deal of Voldemort's powers from the same place that Riddle had received them, however he was not as powerful or as skilled as Voldemort had been, not yet.
For Lucius had another set of problems, the same problems that in the end had cost his master his life, for the last time, and had driven Lucius, himself, deep into hiding. Harry and Hermione Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Lucius could or would not stand against one, let alone all three, not directly, not yet. So he worked from the shadows, a reign of terror only matched in the darkest days of Voldemort's campaign of terror. Many had died in the shadow war since Voldemort fell, for that is what it was in the main, a war of shadows.
Malfoy had legions, the Dementors called his cause their own for whatever vile purpose of their own, the remaining and new Death Eaters were his as well, and most heinous of all, the new evil, a race of cloaked, dark beings That struck at Malfoy's call. Their true names were unknown; in response they had been named the "X'Sheen" after a dark, distantly remembered legend of similar cloaked ones. And other, dark creatures continually came to his call, as they knew the lines had been drawn with the death of Tom Riddle, that if they did not stand with Malfoy eventually they would be hunted down.
It was just such a strike that had reopened the war, when a party of X'Sheen had brought Malfoy's vengeance down on the defenders of Hogwarts. At a happy, almost family, get together of the Gryffindor alumni of the year of the Potters and Weasley, with the seemingly odd addition of Draco Malfoy, who was there with his current girlfriend, Padma Patil. Only a mere three months after the events of the Voldemort's final defeat, they had struck. A party of almost forty X'Sheen had assaulted only fifteen wizards, most of whom were more than half drunk, and several of the defenders of Hogwarts had gone onto that next great adventure.
The Potters did not show up until after the party was attacked, they had been held up at the Ministry, with arrest paperwork on another captured Death Eater, and arrived in the middle of the assault. Timing that saved the remainder of their classmates. The X'Sheen were very resilient to injury, but the paired Ravenclaw and Gryffindor blades of the duo, were in a whole other league of damage.
In the end the carnage was horrendous, Draco was wounded, almost mortally, though he did manage to recover after a while. He got off lucky, for Seamus Finnegan, Padma Patil and Lavender Brown did not live to see the dawn. All three had been among those who held the hallway against the Death Eaters in Hogwarts only three months prior, allowing Harry, with Hermione's assistance, to destroy Voldemort without the distraction of additional Death Eaters coming to their master's call.
But it was the final causality of the night had been the cruelest. In a desperate bid to save his fiancée and unborn child, Neville Longbottom had leapt in front of a curse, and had collapsed, not dead, but not truly alive either. He now slept in the in dark neither region between. He was hidden in a secret Ministry facility to this day several years later, in hopes, however slim, of a recovery.
Albert was leaning on the bar, chatting up a young muggle-born, with every intention of taking her back for a spot of "fun" before sharing her with his cell, when like a thunderbolt, his attention was snatched away by a stunning redhead sliding in next to him at the bar. She was tiny, with large sparkling brown eyes, hair the color of dragon's fire and a figure that almost made him want to thank the heavens that robes were more than out of fashion for the witches, these days.
Tonight she had on a short, tight, black skirt, with a jade green silk top, both carefully tailored to emphasize her assets. "Hello, I don't remember you here before." Albert muttered with the smile, that on more than one occasion had sealed the deal. Curiously for a Death Eater, Albert looked much like their arch nemesis, he had the same broad shoulders, lean seeker's build and the same raven hair of the hated Potter. His eyes were a shocking, ice blue however, and he was almost four inches taller than Potter. He had however, on occasion, even taken advantage of that resemblance to lure in his victims.
"Not from around here," the redhead returned, a brilliant smile lighting her face, "Just got out of Hogwarts, and I'm looking for some fun. Damn boring place, Hogwarts."
With a forwardness that should have sent any sensible witch packing, Albert gently reached out and ran his thumb along her jaw line. She shivered at the touch. "What's your name?" He muttered, a crooked grin on his face.
"Virginia, Virginia Dursley" She purred, "I...ah...start work at Gringott's in a few days...what's yours?" Virginia was more than a little distracted by the hand that was slowly working its way around the hem of her already very short skirt.
"Sam Johnson, I ah work with the crews surveying Diagon Alley to rebuild it. Damn shame it never was really rebuilt after you-know-whose attack." Daringly, he leaned forward and ran his lips along her neckline, to the escort of another shudder from her. With his free hand, he dribbled a green liquid from a vial hidden in his sleeve into her drink, unseen.
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Virginia leaned back and slammed her drink down, never noticing the potion she had ingested. Several long minutes passed, with small, overtone-laden talk passing between the pair. Finally after fifteen minutes, Sam gave another charming grin, "How about we go back to my place, and ah...talk." With heavily clouded over hazel eyes, she nodded stupidly, and taking her hand, they disapparated together, with a rather loud CRACK that was lost in the general noise of the club.
In a dim corner, a rather attractive, quite beautiful actually, woman with long honey-brown curls looked up at the bar, and just for a millisecond her brown eyes seemed to flicker with an inner blue light. A large man passed between her and the bar, when he passed, she had vanished as if she were never there.
******************Flat of Albert Hamilton, Outside of London******************
Sam and Virginia, apparated into a tastefully decorated flat on the outskirts of London. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and they were kissing, furiously. Grinning against her lips he asked in a whisper, "Do you like it when I take charge?" She nodded, still glassy-eyed, and with a chilling grin he walked the corridor to his bedroom. His smile grew dark, and with a sudden toss he threw her on his bed.
With a flick of a suddenly revealed wand, chains appeared and pulled her into a spread eagle. "What the FU..." She shouted, only to suddenly be struck silent by his silencing charm.
"Aw yes, another poor little witch, oh well no one will notice another washed up on the Thames." Virginia eyes grew wide, and it looked like she was screaming but no noise escaped her lips. She started thrashing against her bonds, as he started, with carefully placed severing charms to cut off her clothes, only drawing a minor flick of blood with each charm. In a moment the fire-haired witch now lay there exposed and chained, a look of sheer panic in her eyes. Albert chuckled evilly as he looked down at her, causing her to squirm even more.
Leaning towards her he stopped suddenly, as without warning, an odd chime rang out in the apartment. "Fuck, my wards..." Albert turned to towards the door of the bedroom and started into the hallway. Behind him on the bed, the restrained witch SHIFTED into a small, red and black kneazle, and without pause back to a tiny, naked young woman. Hearing a noise Albert turned back, only to meet a small heel with his temple. His eyes rolled upwards, and he collapsed to the floor bonelessly, dead. The witch landed softly in a half-crouch, blood from her numerous cuts soaking into the light blue carpet of the room.
A huge explosion was heard from the front room, and small fragments of the door exploded inwards, clattering against the far wall. "GINNY" A bellowed, slightly drawling voice screamed into the room, followed by at least three sets of footfalls.
"Here," Virginia Dursley, or rather Ginvera Weasley, said, in a more or less normal tone of voice.
Draco Malfoy, closely followed by her brother Ron and Hermione Potter rushed into the room. Without a word, Draco conjured a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for her, which the witch pulled on gratefully, not bothering with underwear. Ron bent down over Albert, and noticing the purpling bruise on his temple, and the fact that his head was not quite the proper shape anymore, placed his fingers on the carotid of the Death Eater, "Bloody Hell, Gin you were supposed to..."
"What dear brother...let him rape me?" Ginny snapped back. "It's not like any of these fucks deserve to live." She didn't even raise her tone at the retort, just turned her back on her brother and turned to her boss and adopted sister, who happened to share the same body.
Lieutenant Commander Hermione Potter, second in command of Unspeakable/Auror Special Group One, sighed, "Ginny, go home, Harry and I will talk to you tomorrow, Draco, get her checked out and make sure she gets home ok." Draco nodded, and with only a bit of resistance, he led Ginny out into the front room from which Hermione and Ron heard a pair of disapparation CRACKs a moment later.
Hermione looked around the bedroom; it was as tasteful as the living room, and except for the dark chains on the bed, and the blood and the dead body on the floor, rather a charming room. The room was colored in a rather tasteful beige, and decorated in a subdued masculine theme. With a growl under her breath in another language, perhaps parseltongue, she pulled a cell phone from inside her jacket. A muggle sidearm in a hip holster and an additional wand were visible for an instant as the jacket flapped open. Hermione muttered several terse sentences into the phone and hung up. "Ron," CRACK, a team of four wizards in white robes appeared, Hermione just pointed at the body, and immediately they started to clean up the area, "Look the place over see if there is anything to point to Lucius." Hermione turned to leave.
"Hermione"
"Yeah, Ron" Hermione replied, annoyed but not really at him, as she turned back.
"Don't blame her." Ron said immediately.
"I don't Ron...a muggle once said that if you look too long into the abyss it looks back at you...I try to stay away from mirrors... I can't blame her really, what if this had been Xavier, instead of his brother..."
"Harry would have taken his head." Ron put in immediately.
"If he could have beat me to it...yeah...I mean this piece of shit, was the brother of the...person, who helped kill my parents...who...ah..." Hermione didn't finish the thought, "We need to end this Ron, but she might have it worse of us all, I mean Harry and I still have each other, and you still have Luna, but she...we don't know if Neville will ever get better and..." Hermione nudged the dead Death Eater with the toe of her docs, "he's probably lucky that he died that easily...Ron, I don't know what would have happened if Harry was like that, or had died, I'm afraid I would be...."
Ron cut his second oldest friend off quickly before she could go down that road. "Go home sis, go get your kids...I'm sure mum is ready for you to pick them up, what with Harry working with Remus and Albus." Hermione nodded, but paused at a noise from her adoptive brother, "Hermione, can you and Harry take Elliot home with you guys, you know how Ginny is after an op..." Hermione nodded again and vanished, silently, once again as if she had never been there. "Damn I wish I could do that." Ron mused, as he swiveled to watch a cleanup wizard look at the body with a touch of awe.
"How did she do this?" The wizard exclaimed softly, as he examined Hamilton's damaged head.
"Back heel spin kick, I'd guess" Ron replied with a grim, half-smile, "Probably launched off the bed, to give her an extra bit of spring. Without another word, Ron started casting charms over the room, looking at the effects, trying to find secret passages or compartments.
******************************Ginny's Flat****************************
CRACK, Ginny and Draco apparated into her modest two-bedroom apartment on the south side of London. Ginny immediately went to the kitchen and without asking, poured two water glasses a quarter full of Ogden's reserve. At least the pay of a Ministry agent is okay, the hours suck though; she mused. Walking back into the living room, Ginny wordlessly handed the second glass to Draco. He took it with a nod and sipped a bit as he looked about. Unlike Hamilton's apartment, this one wasn't tasteful, in fact it had much more in common with a bachelor's apartment, clothes and some toys were on the floor, and a couple of pizza boxes were on the kitchen table, empty. At least a case of empty beer bottles was sitting near the door, ready to be recycled. Ginny swept a pile of clothes off her large couch, the only piece of furniture she had that was more or less new, and sat down heavily. Draco perked up an eyebrow as she downed the whiskey in one gulp. "Ginny."
"Don't Draco...just don't, I'm not apologizing. We aren't Aurors, Draco, you know that, no matter what our badges say, Harry and Hermione can deny it all they want, but it comes down to blood on the ground more often than not. This would be the unspeakable portion of the job." Ginny glared at him as she dug in the cushions for the remote for the stereo, giving up, she flicked it on with her recovered wand. It immediately started playing an American muggle CD, some dark song about fifteen thousand tears and going under.
Draco just shrugged and got up to refill his drink, he returned with the bottle and without her asking he refilled hers as well. "I'm not asking you to, and honestly I don't think they are asking either. They are the ones, after all, who tossed Voldy's head onto a table full of Death Eaters, and asked if they wanted to keep going, and added two more to the pile before they left. Do you know how long it took me, with hired help mind you, to get the stains out of that floor in my parlor? Do you know how much Dobby charged me for that cleanup job?" He shook his head, "That's not the point Gin, we needed information, not another dead Death Eater..."
"DAMN IT DRACO..." Ginny snarled in a tone reminiscent of her mother, though the scene they had just left would have driven Molly into hysterics. She still didn't know what Ginny and the rest really did, she just thought them Aurors with a cover assignment of teaching at Hogwarts. Of the group that fought the Death Eaters all those years ago in the Ministry, her, Harry, Hermione and Ron, still fought the shadow war against the Death Eaters, in an official, albeit highly classified, capacity.
Luna was now the Head Editor of the Quibbler as her dad had retired to take safaris looking for odd creatures, and was perpetually annoyed at Ron for not telling her what his job really entailed. Even though she knew more or less. She had had the same training at Hogwarts after all, and Neville, Neville was not here. Neville fought out like the lion he was at heart, but in the end, there were too many X'Sheen that dark night. Ginny had been wearing his ring when he was struck down, and had been almost three months pregnant with their child. "I DON"T CARE...I'm just so empty anymore..."
"Ginny you weren't the..."
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW DRACO? Yes sure, you had Padma die on you...but were you in love with her?" Draco didn't answer, he just met her gaze evenly, a slight frown on his face, as she continued with a sob, "I was in love with Neville, I still am DAMMIT...I gave birth to his child you son of a bitch." Draco didn't even flitch at her words, he just swept her up into a tight hug as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. A long moment passed and then with a slight growl, she pulled away and gave him a funny look, "How the hell did you end up being friends with us...with me...last I looked our family was in the middle of a blood feud with yours?"
Draco shrugged, and gave her his patented, bad boy smirk, "I don't know weasel girl. Maybe because my family disowned me, though I got the house, you son of a bitch..." Draco did not direct the last to her, but to the air, as if his father, the cause of a great deal of their current problems could hear. Draco moved away from her and paced to a straight chair. Pulling off his coat he flung it on a pile of other clothes, and flipping the chair around sat down backwards on it with a slight THUNK, as the wand holster he had on under the jacket slipped forward and smacked the back of the chair. With a wand flick, he summoned his drink to his hand.
Ginny rolled her eyes and refilled her drink again. She gestured with the bottle at Draco, to ask if he wanted another. Seeing a slight headshake, she recapped the bottle and started nursing the drink. With a tired, old look, Ginny regarded him, "How the hell did we get here Ferret-boy?" She asked, the words insulting, but not the tone, it had none of the fire that it would have had towards him only six years ago.
"How what?" Draco pointed around the room, with his empty glass, "How did we end up, being the people that normal parents tell their children to be afraid of...how did we all end up broken, or a degree or another...war...death...dear, it doesn't make sense, I'm not sure it is supposed to. I mean, hell I'm supposed to be the typical pureblood hottie." He gave her a small grin at her snort, "I mean, hell, I have no parents, not that I claim anyway, neither do Harry or Herm, besides your folks, of course...and you and Ron, aren't exactly untouched either..."
"No shit?" She muttered as he felt through his pockets for something.
"Ginny," Draco paused, his tone soft, "Are you going to be ok tonight? You aren't going to do anything stupid again...are you?"
"Yeah, partner, I'm fine, I'll meet you at your place tomorrow, and we can go into the office for the debrief." She whispered, but after almost three years of working together off and on, he knew her well enough to catch her words. With a nod, Draco carefully set his empty glass on the floor. CRACK, Draco vanished without even bothering to get up from his chair. "Show off," she muttered as her eyes scanned the room, "Draco, your coat, you git..."
**************************Hogwarts, DADA Office*************************
June 24, 2012
3:00 am
Hermione, carefully, quietly eased up the spiraling stairs to the DADA Professor's office. With a wry look, she opened the old, solid oak door that was carved with a rampant lion. In the flickering light of several old oil lamps, she saw, with a small smile, the disheveled raven black mop of hair bent into his chest, his legs up on the desk, a open file folder, laying discarded in his lap. Padding to his side her eyes swept his desk and fell on the three, framed pictures sitting together in one corner. The first, she knew quite well, it was the old picture of his parents dancing in the snow taken soon after their wedding. The second was of her; it was just after their kids had been born a few years ago.
She was sitting up in the hospital bed at St. Mungo's, her eyes were exhausted but shining nonetheless. Emilia Jane and Horatio Sirius were propped up in the bed next to her. She was waving with a little happy smile; occasionally she would pick up one of the kids and hold them up, as if showing them to the camera. Hermione barely kept a laugh from escaping at the memory as she gazed upon her smaller self. Harry had been so nervous that day that he had almost thrown up. The Boy-Who-Lived, had bucked it up in the end though, and he had been with her when they were born, he had even held her hand and siphoned off her pain into him though their shared link.
With a tiny, repressed sigh, the final picture brought the times back full circle. The black-framed photo was a picture of the six of them, the sextet that had fought the first real battle of the second, or third war, depending on who was counting. The picture had been taken at Grimmauld place right before her and Harry's seventh year. In it, everyone was happy, she and Harry and Ron and Luna were basically hanging on one another, while Ginny and Neville were standing slightly to the side. Neville's arm was nervously around Ginny's shoulder, but in the picture Ginny would roll her eyes at him, and just occasionally, she would jump up on her toes and give Neville a kiss on the cheek to his embarrassment and the laughter of the others in the picture.
Two days after that picture, Hermione's parents had been killed, and a little over a year later, Neville was driven into a coma, along with several others even less fortunate, at the party that was to have celebrated his and Ginny's marriage in two days. He had just been given the Herbology job at Hogwarts, and she had had special permission to marry a teacher, he wasn't going to teach any of the classes she was in anyway, like Ron she had been on an Auror track.
Shaking off the melancholy thought, with a tiny wave of her hand, Hermione summoned the papers from his lap and set them next to his feet on the desk. She eased into his lap, never so grateful that Dumbledore had gotten Harry a huge desk chair and desk, exact duplicates of his own by the way, for a present when Harry had "taken" the job of DADA teacher. Which amazingly enough, was about the same time she had "accepted" the Transfiguration slot. With a sudden flash of memory back to seventh year, "Professor Potter" Hermione whispered, huskily, "I've been bad...I need to be punished."
Harry's lips twitched, but he didn't open his eyes. In a soft, stern, authoritarian voice, "What is it this time, Miss Granger?" as his free hand slid up her jean-covered leg.
"I've been snogging, boys, in the hall again." She whispered, with a smile.
"Please demonstrate this behavior to me," Harry replied, still more or less in role, though the fingers idly tapping her outer thigh were definitely unprofessional. Hermione leaned in, and captured his lips with her own. The quick, chaste kiss rapidly grew, as his tongue danced around her lips, eager to meet its mate, which it did quickly. After almost three minutes, Hermione pulled away slowly, her tongue teasing his until they were too far apart to touch. With a sigh, she settled back against her husband and sat half-facing forward, her head resting on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I wasn't there tonight, Mione" Harry said softly, as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Its okay, love" She replied, snuggling into his chest.
"Not that I'm complaining, but where are our children?" Harry muttered as he kissed her hair.
"Mum, still has them...she said that I shouldn't wake them, and to come get them in the morning. And by the way, Ron pawned Elliot off on us for tomorrow. Damn, Harry, it's still weird, to say Mum and mean Molly, instead..." Hermione trailed off as she stopped the traitorous thought. Yes, Jane Granger had raised her, and had loved her very much. And Hermione was grateful that she and her father had lived to see her officially, as they had put it, fall in love with Harry. But it still broke her heart that they hadn't lived to see her get married, never mind just how they had died. Still though, Molly Weasley was as much a mother as anyone could ask, she and Arthur had adopted her after her parents' deaths, according to the wishes of her birth parents, and they had been glad to do so. Also, as Molly was the only mothering figure Harry had ever known, in a way she was both of theirs, however incestuous that thought sounded.
"It's ok, love, I do the same thing, with my mum, I'm sure they understand." Harry muttered as she relaxed in his grasp. After a tired pause, "Ok, as much as I hate to do this, how did it go tonight?"
"Was that the report?" Hermione asked.
"Only from Poppy on Ginny's injuries, how did she get cut up Hermione? Did it go bad? Because I wasn't there?" Harry growled, with the ingrained instinct to take the burden on himself.
"NO..." Hermione snapped, then sighed, "No, Harry, the pick up went fine, Ginny managed to lure Hamilton to pick her up instead of the poor muggle-borne he was hitting on. Not that that was hard, seeing her tonight, I'd hit on her...if I batted for the other team, of course."
"Of course...we could invite her over sometime..." Harry bit his lip, only to receive a light slap on the arm.
"I think you need to stay on topic...sir" Hermione said, with a small grin. Harry nodded slightly and kissed the back of her head.
You know, there's only one witch for me, love. Harry replied in his thoughts. Without asking, he conjured a pair of cups of coffee on the desk next to his feet. Leaning forward, which abruptly reminded him just how they got those two kids, Hermione wordlessly handed him one of the cups, taking one for herself.
I know Harry She replied silently, took a sip of her coffee and continued the report. "They apparated directly to his flat, I followed, but as per procedure, I waited for Draco and Ron to catch up. While I waited, which was only like five minutes at most, he led her back to his bed. Where he evidentially chained her to the bed, and severed her clothes off. That's where she picked up the cuts. I guess when Ron and Draco arrived, it set off his wards, and that distracted him enough for her to transform and escape her bonds. She killed him, Harry, right before or as we took the door down. He would have...but he didn't get the chance."
"Bloody hell" Harry snapped, "No info then..." Hermione shook her head, ticking his nose with her brown curls. "Hermione, I know that technically she's your agent, but I'm your boss...in this only," Harry hastily added, but she just chuckled, she knew quite well what he meant, "So...Lieutenant Commander Potter, I formally request that you remove Agent Weasley from active duty pending inquiry and a medical and psyche workup." Harry said, with a more or less official tone, putting aside totally the fact that the subordinate he was addressing was currently sitting in his lap, idly running her fingers though his hair as she sipped her coffee with the other hand. Hermione nodded, as she was going to suggest that action anyway.
"Yes, sir" She replied formally, then with a slightly worried look in her eyes, "Harry I'm worried about her, she's never really recovered from...I mean it's like what I've imagined I would be like in my nightmares if you had died...and its even worse in a way." Harry comforted her with his free arm at the thought, "Honestly, Harry, I know what we have to do isn't pretty, and I've accepted that, if for no other reason, than hopefully they won't" Hermione gestured with her coffee cup in the approximate direction of the picture of their children. "And I know and have accepted, God help me, that the majority of the remaining Death Eaters will never let themselves be captured alive, but she doesn't even try, and I'm not sure she ever has." Hermione took a sip of coffee and let out a soft, sad sound. "Even Elliot doesn't hold her. I had hoped that he would at least...but she doesn't even seem to have much stake in him."
"I know...I don't know if it comforts you, or frightens you, it does me a bit of both, but I'm the same, if you had died...I don't know if there would have been a living Death Eater in England in twenty four hours...Hermione I damn near have to use her on this infiltration, even with the new, improved polyjuice, I can't risk you, and not just because you are my wife," He inserted, rapidly, just in case, but she seemed fine with the thought so he went on, "Her body type almost exactly matches the target to be replaced which helps with the longevity of the potion, and Tonks is out on assignment and can't be recalled. And you know how much you ask for trouble when a male agent to impersonate a female for an extended period of time...Though I could ask Justin" Harry joked, and received the prerequisite laugh, "I need both you and me, just in case for the extraction, in case it gets...nasty."
"Are you sure Harry?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, I don't want to have her replace Pansy. But since we located her, and we know that Lucius is having her taken to his lair, we can't risk not taking the opportunity. I was hoping that we would have got something out of Hamilton, but as he isn't talking...I don't suppose you found anything of interest there?" Harry asked, his tone hopeful.
"I didn't, Ron was still looking when the clean-up wizards got there, but I doubt it." She replied, shrugging.
Harry nodded, he had expected that, "Get up a sec, hun" Hermione grimaced a bit, but stood up. Harry leaned forward and quickly wrote a message on a piece of parchment, and signed it. "Hermione" he pointed at the parchment, and as was normal for her, she read the short order in about two seconds, pursed her lips and countersigned it. Harry sighed and with a wand flick, sealed the parchment with a charm that would cause it to self-destruct if any one other than the intended recipient opened it, and to burn ten seconds after the intended person finished reading. He had learned it from Dumbledore after all. "Hedwig."
Hedwig looked up from her perch and hooted, mournfully. Only cracking one eye at him.
"You ruddy owl," Harry snorted, "and you call yourself a creature of the night." Hedwig hooted reproachfully, but fluttered over to him from her window perch and landed in front of him, extending a leg anyway. Harry tied the note to her leg, careful not to laugh at her, and with a wand tap, disillusioned the owl. "This is to Ginny, Hedwig. You don't need to stay for a reply." The invisible owl hooted again and took off out the open window with a beat of her great wings. Harry stood, stretched and took Hermione's hand "Come on, Mione, lets go and try to get some sleep."
Harry led her to the entrance to the DADA professor's suite, their quarters while at Hogwarts. Hogwarts, which was not only the preeminent school for young wizards in the world, but was also the headquarters of Auror/Unspeakable Special Group One, informally known as the Phoenix group, as it contained not only the four of them from tonight and Harry and in an unofficial, official, occasional capacity, Albus Dumbledore. Remus, Tonks and Mad-Eye had all been placed into positions in the devastated MLE to replace the disastrous losses at the battles of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. Immediately after the battle of Hogwarts almost six years ago, Harry, Hermione and Ron, had taken jobs at Hogwarts, as covers for their nocturnal activities. They had been commissioned into a covert group with the mandate to stop the Death Eaters and Lucius Malfoy at any cost. Hogwarts was both a cover, and even more so than the Ministry itself, the best defended magical site in Great Britain. In this new role, Harry only reported to Arthur Weasley, as the Minister of Magic.
Hermione pulled ahead of him at the door, and dropping his hand, she raised hers to his head and pulled his head in again. Pulling back from the kiss, for breath, "Or something else?" She asked, her eyes dark, her voice deep.
"Or something else" Harry agreed as he leaned in again. She grinned against his lips as with a muttered charm the door closed and locked.
A/N: Ok here we go, some of the events referred to in the chapter will be shown in flashbacks in this book, while
others maybe shown as separate one-shots, ficlets ala the honeymoon, and the birth of the twins. Maybe.