Harry Potter and the War of Shadows

madscientist

Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 05/06/2005
Last Updated: 19/03/2007
Status: in_progress

Voldemort is dead. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna and the rest have begun to live, to have families and homes and lives outside of the fighting. However the darkness only retreated it, it did not surrender. Plans that have been in play since the first time Tom Riddle was defeated and indeed long, long before are coming to light. In the end, choices, will have to be made that may determine the fate of the world. Can our heros survive? Will they even want to? Sequel to Harry Potter and the Lions of Gryffindor

Chapters

1. Prologue

2. Ginny's War

3. What the Hell Were You Thinking, Agent Weasley?

4. The Switch

5. A Shadows Falls

6. The Deception in the Mirror

7. Puppy Love

8. The Quidditch World Cup

9. The Gray Dawn of the Next Day's Light

10. The Hunt for Red

11. A Dark Path Revealed

12. An Unexpected Detour

13. A Question of Divided Loyalites

14. What Fate Bequeaths Us

15. Love Before Duty

16. Where Else Would We Be on A Night Like This?

17. A Dark Choice

18. The Exile Years 1

19. The Exile Years Part 2

20. The Lion Unchained

21. Homecoming

22. Good Morning

23. A Night on the Town

24. Once more into the breach

25. A Study of the Past

26. Higher Education

27. What Happens When you Tickle the Phoenix

28. Yesterday…Yesterday, Seems so Far Away…

29. A Stitch in Time

30. A Family Dinner

31. A Winter's Tale

32. Coming Together

33. The Long Road Back

34. A Dark Reunion

35. Through the Looking Glass

1. Prologue

Harry Potter and the War of Shadows, Book 3
A/N Here we go again, I must be insane. As is usual for my long fics, this will be R rated, so there's your warning. Strong language, Violence, Sex and everything else will abound. The majority of the story as of the next chapter will start about six years after the events in Harry Potter and the Lions of Gryffindor and its prequel Harry Potter and the Darkness before the Dawn. If you haven't read those, then some of this might not make sense. As you might have guessed since HBP is coming out in like 40 days as of this writing, this will technically be AU.

Rating: R (Mature)

War of the Shadows: Prologue

Prologue
*Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Northern Scotland

"Your mudblood is dead Potter," The hooded man cackled, the red glow from his eyes growing brighter by the second. "She did not escape me a second time" Voldemort turned from the lifeless body, and turned back to him. Voldemort idly twirled Harry's wand. "I have your wand, Godric's sword is buried under the rubble and you are weak, so weak Potter, if you hadn't let me distract you with her fate you might have destroyed me. As it is, oh well, it is time to end it." The red glow illuminating his eyes grew bright as he pointed his wand at the feet of the statue, "OPEN" Voldemort hissed, but the words came out in Parseltongue. A panel appeared, with a carved channel that seemed to exactly replicate the outline of a sword, the very dark blade that Voldemort carried in fact. Voldemort turned back to Harry and idly pointed his wand at parts of Harry's body, as if deciding what part to torture first. "Shall I kill you now, Harry? Or shall I wait until after I have activated the chamber so you can see how utterly pointless your resistance was? Before you die."

Harry looked up with pure hatred in his eyes, but even so it did not consume him, for he knew something that Voldemort did not, it wasn't over not yet. Damn that's going to leave a mark. Hermione muttered in his mind, her thoughts colored with pain. He purposely put that fact out his mind, and on the job at hand.

Harry slowly, painfully, stood up, he could feel the ends of at least two broken ribs rubbing together and he panted with the pain. His eyes flicked to a spot slightly behind Riddle and with a last hiss of pain, a smile slowly grew on his face, and he laughed bitterly, "Tom, you just never learn do you, you have been trying to kill me for sixteen years, and you know what?"

"What?" Voldemort snarled.

"That power you know not, it's behind you."

"EXPELLIARMUS" Hermione bellowed, her hand outstretched, she had rolled onto her back, and fired the spell directly at Voldemort's back wandlessly, her sudden movement flinging blood from a gash on her forehead onto the stones below. A wave of pure force hammered the Dark Lord, Voldemort's wand and Harry's captured ones flew twenty feet from him. He started to spin towards where Hermione lay, her eyes glowing, panting slightly, blood plastering her hair to her forehead and staining the stones beneath her, but very much still in the fight when he froze, impossibly Harry had once again vanished from in front of his very eyes.

"Hello Tom." Harry hissed, and the Sword of Gryffindor danced. Voldemort barely caught the edge on his blade. A strike to the head, another to the body, both blocked. The clang of the ancient swords echoed off the walls. Harry struck again and again, each strike driving the Dark Lord away from the statue and his goal. Desperately, Voldemort fought back, his blade a shadowy blur, but in the end, despite his skills, despite his vast and dark powers, he was alone. A red stunner bolt snapped past his ear, he turned for an instant, and a silver blade hissed.

The Sword of Slytherin lay on the ground, his hand still attached. Suddenly the Chamber was still. The gentle drip of lake water, and the soft panting of Harry and Hermione were the only noises to be heard. Voldemort stared, amazed at the space at the end of his arm that used to hold a long-fingered gray hand.

A soft voice whispered in his ear, "Goodbye Tom." Eyes blazing blue, Harry snapped the Gryffindor sword horizontally at head height. For a long moment nothing happened, then Thomas Riddle's; Lord Voldemort's, head toppled from his shoulders to roll away in the darkness. Instead of blood, a weird green glow slowly oozed from the stump of his neck. Then in a blinding explosion of green light, Harry was knocked through the air, to crash into Hermione where she lay, several meters away. Both of their bodies seemed to be enveloped in a faint green glow, which changed to a brilliant white, before the glow was absorbed into their bodies. For a moment Harry could see the immense statue of Salazar Slytherin trembling, its feet cut out from under it by the explosion, then as the scene faded to black, he could see the statue start to slowly tumble down behind the body of Thomas Riddle, its fate echoing the that of the last heir of Slytherin.

***********************Somewhere Else*********************************

Somewhere, in a dank, dark cave, a crystal orb sat heavily on a black, wrought iron tripod. A pair of flickering torches was mounted to either side of the tripod, each burning with an odd, green flame. The legs of the tripod were shaped to resemble serpents, and the head of the serpents flared outward to form the mounting bracket for the orb. Without warning, the once dull, translucent white orb, flared bright. In an instant the orb was now a deep red color, as if the orb had been filled with fresh blood, and was now glowing, heatedly, like molten steel. The torches had all died with the awakening of the orb; the only illumination in the cave was now a dull red glow.

*************Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**************

June 20, 2006

A sharp breeze blew off the lake, scattering light debris and parchments about the grounds. Up at the foot of the castle, the remains of the ruined Ravenclaw tower still laid at the base of the castle walls. Even the house elves of Hogwarts had not been able to totally negate the mess resulting from one quarter of the school dorms' destruction. Almost two weeks had passed since the tower had fallen, and the world had been saved once more. In the end, so many, too many had paid the ultimate sacrifice so that others; muggles, muggle-borns and half-bloods could breathe the air and enjoy the sun. And many more had risked everything, their lives, their loves and their honor to stop the darkness, at least for a little while.

Those heroes and heroines, had mostly worn Auror midnight, or Ravenclaw blue or Gryffindor crimson, and at their head three had stood against the night, and beat it back. One had held the line, leading a forlorn hope to give the other two that most precious commodity, time, time to fight and delay, time to destroy the one that had, in some way, cast a shadow over their entire lives.

The last pair, bonded in blood and bound by their hearts, had fulfilled a prophecy and with the sweep of a thousand year old blade, had freed themselves from the night. Or so they thought.

At the main doors to the grand keep of Hogwarts Castle, that pair stood in the company of another. A fellow traveler that had seen far too much darkness in his almost one hundred and sixty years, who had stood in their place after the defeat of a Dark Lord, and had known as well that it would never be over, had stood with the love of his life and vowed to go on, to live.

The sun shown down on Dumbledore, glinting off his half-moon spectacles and shining off his silver mane and beard. Fawkes the phoenix alighted on his shoulder and cooed softly to the pair standing with him. "So" Dumbledore smiled, his eyes alight at his favorite two students, former now anyway, and his newest granddaughter in law. Of whom one of the pair represented in both parts, while the other had already been the grandson that he had been forced to hide for so many years. "You will take me up on my offer? I admit that the place is not a vacation resort, but I promise that no reporter from the Prophet or the New York Seer will be able to get past the wards." Dumbledore motioned over the grounds, "unfortunately here, or even in Grimmauld or the Hollow, I could not guarantee that forever. Too many others know of their locations."

"I think it would be lovely, grandfather." Hermione replied, the fingers of her right hand, intertwined with those of Harry's left. She looked down at their hands for a moment and her thumb absently played with a platinum and gold band on Harry's ring finger. "We will be able to relax, and I hear that part of the States is beautiful." She frowned for an instant as her some segment of her prodigious brain raised its metaphorical hand. "You never did tell us, exactly why you owned a horse farm, even a magical one in Kentucky."

Harry's eyes flicked over to her and he squeezed her hand in lieu of a laugh, "Yeah you never did, I am not surprised that you have been there, but a farm..." Hermione leaned into his shoulder as Dumbledore chuckled, an old memory flashing before his eyes. Harry held her as his other hand ran though his hair, leaving it even messier than before. His disheveled mop fell back over his forehead, only partially blocking the scar that would probably never fade away totally.

Dumbledore's blue eyes laughed, "I was once your age, and much less adverse to risk." He chuckled out loud at a memory and looked out over the lake.

"Well?" Harry asked impatiently.

"I was in San Francisco in 1899, they had just passed a law outlawing gambling in the city, and Nicolas and I were out having fun. Nicolas was without his wife for some reason, and Anne and I hadn't gotten married yet..." Dumbledore looked indulgently at them, "Nicolas somehow got me into the last game of poker officially played. To this day, I don't know how, I ended up playing this gentleman from Kentucky. He had had the plantation since the end of the American civil war when he had purchased it cheap from a widow. He was out of funds and he put up the farm for collateral. I tried to refuse him, but he insisted, and said it was a point of honor. Since I very well couldn't deny that, we played, and I won."

Dumbledore reached up and petted his familiar, "it was only after I first visited the farm that I realized the man was a wizard. I arrived and there were unicorns and thestrals and pegasi everywhere. It is a very restful place, you can relax there for a while before you take the rest of your honeymoon." Dumbledore gave them a sly grin behind his beard, "and you two can easily apparate anywhere in the States from there."

"Thank you" Hermione said softly, only peripherally talking about their getaway. She hugged the ancient wizard.

"You're welcome my dear." Dumbledore muttered. He stood back and hugged Harry as well. Dumbledore held out a large gold key to Harry, he took it with a small smile, "this portkey will take you there; the wards around the site have already been keyed to you. I will see you in month or so, yes?"

Harry nodded as he stepped back from Dumbledore slightly. Hermione grabbed his hand once more as from out of the cloudless, blue sky, a majestic, snowy-white owl settled on his opposite shoulder with a soft hoot. A large ginger kneazle padded up and leaned against Hermione's legs, purring all the while. Harry and Hermione gave a small wave with their joined hands.

In a rainbow fall of light, Harry, Hermione and their familiars vanished with a soft pop. Dumbledore nodded at their passage and started walking towards the fallen Ravenclaw tower to check on the reconstruction.

Away at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a cloaked figure lowered a pair of omniocculars with a grimace; the cloak was thrown forward to hide his face leaving only a few faint wisps of platinum blond hair to escape. On his right ring finger, a gold and onyx ring glinted in the gloom of the forest's edge, the stone inset with a platinum M. "Enjoy this respite, Tom was a fool. I will not underestimate you; I will take my time. You will die Potter, you, your mudblood and that old fool Dumbledore. And when you do, the world will be mine. But in the meantime, I wonder if I can come up with a way to remind you..." Malfoy trailed off, as a second smaller figure came up behind him.

"It is time, my Lord." The shadowy figure whispered, bowing low. "We have the orb, we are ready to open the portal fully."

Malfoy smiled darkly and nodded, he turned to leave, following the hunched wizard into the forest, along the trail that would lead outside of Hogwarts' grounds, and the anti-apparition defenses. "Good Barris, good, this will bind them to my cause irretrievably."

A/N: There you go; I'm back. I'm not sure what schedule this story will be updated on. But here we go. I'm also not sure how long this one will be, depending on how I break it, it'll probably be either about the length of Darkness with another immediately after or one long book. And yes Barris is named after the Dark Jedi.

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2. Ginny's War

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.

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3. What the Hell Were You Thinking, Agent Weasley?

I Really still own nothing...
Chapter 3 What the Hell Were You Thinking, Agent Weasley?

***********************Ginny Weasley's Flat, London***********************

3:25 am

In a large, crimson and gold decorated, four-poster, a fire-haired witch tossed and turned. Despite the cool breeze coming in the cracked open window, her hair was dark with sweat and plastered to her head. She rolled and moaned a word, possibly a name. Next to her bed on a carved, oak night table, the only adornments were a matched communication crystal and a secure muggle cell phone; magic resistant thanks to the Granger technology protection charm, a well used, but well taken care of ash wand and a color wizarding photograph.

The photo was framed in ash, and showed her and Neville sitting under the beech tree at the edge of the Hogwarts Lake. In the background, the squid would occasionally stick a tentacle up as if waving to the camera, while her and Neville just sat more or less motionless, his arms around her, she looking tiny in his arms. That picture had been taken the day of Neville's graduation and of the double wedding of the Potters and the Weasleys. Hermione had snapped the picture while she was on the run from Molly's ministrations. A second photo showed a young boy, somewhere around five or so, with fire-red hair but otherwise mostly Neville's features riding a toy broom.

"NO...NEVILLE, RUN DAMMIT...." She screamed as her thoughts flashed back almost four years.

******************Hogsmeade, The Three Broomsticks************************

Six years prior

August 28, 2006

"Ginny toss me a beer" her brother cried as he came in the door to the tavern, his new wife on his arm. She smiled and threw a pair across the room to Ron's waiting hands. He caught them easily; he had been the star Gryffindor keeper after all. She turned away from Ron, the grin still in place. Happy to see him, as she unlike most of those here, knew where Ron had been. She was quite aware that Ron had not been delayed by some random accident, but that his job, however real at Hogwarts, was just a cover and that infamous Gryffindor Trio continued their fight against the Death Eaters. However these days it was just clean up duty more or less. Voldemort was dead. His soul rended by Ginny, his body burnt, his head on a pike in front of the Ministry after Draco had filled a formal request with the Ministry, "to get the damn thing out of his parlor, it scared the house elves."

Harry had used Voldemort's head as a bargaining chip with a group of Death Eaters during an arrest soon after Voldemort's death. The vast majority of the Death Eaters, including the elder Malfoys had gone into hiding soon after Voldemort's death, popping up occasionally to cause havoc before going underground once again.

Glancing around the room, she saw Draco dancing closely with Padma Patil. Amazingly after he had secretly turned to the side of the 'angels' just in time, then publicly against Voldemort and his father in Great Hall at Hogwarts, much of the suspicion of the Gryffindors had vanished. Though Ron did glare at him every so often just to keep in practice. It was as if as soon as he proved his honor and courage, that they just accepted him, just like Godric did when he founded the house. Padma was seemingly taken with him, though deep inside Ginny suspected that it was nothing more than a fling for Draco.

Edging though the crowd, Ginny stopped and talked to Seamus, Lavender, Dean and Padma's sister Pavarti for a moment before she moved on, back to her fiancée and in two days, husband. Dumbledore, had come down like the Wrath of God on the Board of Governors, and hammered through in succession, the appointments of Harry, Hermione and Ron, as the DADA, Transfiguration and Flying instructors respectively, the accommodation for Luna being married to Ron, she wasn't taking flying anyway. And finally, the appointment of Neville as the new Herbology Professor, replacing Madame Sprout, who had retired to warmer, more peaceful climes, and to let Ginny live as his wife in Professor's accommodations while she was in school. In the final analysis the point was moot, she was on an Auror track and did not have Herbology, so Dumbledore had his way without a great deal of trouble. Though after rubbing the board's face in their incompetence and falling for Malfoy's lies a myriad of times, among other things, he was untouchable.

Ron's appointment as flying instructor after Madame Hooch left to coach the Kent Widgets wasn't actually that difficult either. It was Harry and Hermione's appointments to fill the ever-vacant DADA slot, and an assistant Transfiguration professorship, respectively that caused the hang up. It was only after they both had been forced to perform any spell that the regents could think up that they agreed to their appointments. Not that it would matter in the long run, Hermione had already confided that she was already working on a doctorate in Advanced Transfiguration and Arithmatic theory, and that she had made Harry get his in DADA to keep her company. Just exactly how Hermione thought they would pull that one off with their schedules Ginny didn't know. She did feel sorry for Harry however, even though she privately thought that Stonehenge U should just give Harry the damn degree, his practicum had certainly earned it.

Looking around she noticed that neither her relatively new sister or her even newer brother-in-law had showed yet, but she wasn't worried. Finally Ginny made it though the crowd, and with a great grin plastered on her face, she reached up and pulled Neville down onto her lips to the accompaniment of the catcalls of her twin brothers at the side of the room. She flung them a rude gesture that Molly would never have approved of as she deepened the kiss. Finally breaking for air, she looked up and smiled at Neville. "Having fun, Nev?" Ginny asked, chuckling.

"Yeah sweetheart, I hope that Harry and Hermione show up soon, I mean, knowing those two they are probably out snogging somewhere..." Neville replied with a laugh. And as his hand rested lightly on her stomach, he whispered, "and how is junior?"

"Annoying." Ginny replied, then glanced around guiltily, "Neville, love, I know that I was the one who wanted to keep secret, but I'm going to tell everyone tonight, Mum will be peeved, but she'll get over it. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Luna already know anyway."

Neville bent down and kissed the top of her head, and pulled her in tight, "whatever you want luv, I'll be there"

"I know Neville..." With a shock, Ginny broke off as a desperately familiar feeling settled on the bar. Her breath clouded in front of her as the room was suddenly freezing in the end of August. Around the room, more than one guest looked up suddenly and reached for a wand. That feeling was familiar. Too familiar. With a bang, the door to the Three Broomsticks snapped open, and a stream of dark, cloaked figures moved silently into the room...the figures, looked just like Dementors, except they weren't floating, and it was impossible to see under the hoods.

With a snarl, Seamus snapped his wand up, "EXPECTO PATRONUM," a very hairy, shaggy glowing dog, leaped from his wand towards the Dementors, if that's what they were, with absolutely no effect.

Then one of the figures, it was impossible to tell which one; did something no mere Dementor had ever done in known history, it spoke. "Foolish boy, we are not our fallen cousins, we are the, #%^@# (an unintelligible noise) and tonight you will die." The middle figure snapped its hand up, scaled palm facing Seamus, and a green bolt hissed across the room. Seamus went flying, hit the far wall with a pop and didn't get up. Instantly at least ten stunners snapped out from the partygoers but to no use. The X'Sheen just soaked up the stunners as if they were merely stinging hexes cast by a first year.

"REDUCTO" Ron cried as he and Luna dove behind a table, as the X'Sheen started returning odd magical bolts of some form. The middle X'Sheen was hit and knocked spinning into the far wall. It hit and slid down, and did not move, much. At least they could be hurt, but as Ron looked up, horrified, Lavender took a spell and fell as well. Ron dug into a pocket, whipped out a communication crystal and screamed into it. "HARRY, HERMIONE. HELP. WE NEED BACKUP."

After a second, a soft "we're on our way" crackled out of the crystal, but Ron had already dropped it. He and Luna were too busy fighting the X'Sheen to answer. So far it looked as if stunners and jinxes didn't work, but physics did, and spells that used physics did too. Reductors, severing charms, and magically propelled items managed to stop many of them but it generally took multiple hits to do so and the numbers weren't on their side tonight. With a quick count Ron guessed there were at least forty and there were only fifteen partygoers at the start.

"PADMA" Luna howled, Ron's head snapped around to see Padma fall from another of the green curses, then Draco who had been trying to fight off several, turned to see her fall. A look of horror bloomed on his face, but before he could utter a counter spell, he fell victim to a putrid yellow curse, similar to a Cruciatus judging from the effects. Across the room, the twins SHIFTED and the resulting pair of panthers tore another two down, but two more took their place instantly and the twins were suddenly too busy to fight except for their lives.

The final victim came as a shock; Ron glanced around the room to see Ginny and Neville running for cover behind the bar. He watched in helpless terror as Ginny tripped and sprawled across the floor, and an X'Sheen came slowly, inexorably for her. Neville ran back at a sprint. "NO...NEVILLE, RUN DAMMIT...." Ginny screamed from the floor, but it was too late. With a prodigious leap Neville jumped in front of the curse meant for his love, passing in front of her just as an odd, ultraviolet beam reached him. He fell to floor at her feet, and she screamed in horror.

His attacker didn't survive long. With a thunderous CRACK, the blue glowing blade of the Sword of Gryffindor snapped though the thing's neck and it fell to the ground with a loud pop, the body instantly vanishing in a flare of dark purple fire. Harry's eyes snapped around to her, they were glowing with the blue fire of magic; he turned back and flung his free hand in a wave across the front of the enemy ranks. Five of the X'Sheen were instantly flung backwards though the wall, crashing though onto the street beyond.

Behind him, Hermione snapped her also glowing blade across one then another of the X'Sheen, and in an eerie, utterly cold voice not entirely her own, her soprano hissed an incantation, "LAFLARMARE, DRACONUS PROJECTUS." She snapped her free hand into a fist, and flung it open at the X'Sheen. Three balls of blue-white fire, oddly similar to those yielded by the guardian dragon of Hogwarts, Norbert, shot out from her hand, each hitting and engulfing an X'Sheen, each instantly erupted into a pillar of fire, only to vanish into a pile of ashes an instant later.

Harry topped her a moment later, flicking the Gryffindor sword like a large wand, he mouthed an unintelligible spell, and lightning snapped out from the tip of the blade, striking and almost instantly evaporating a X'Sheen, the lightning bounded to three more in turn before it died out. For an instant, the pair stood silent, panting. Their eyes casting the majority of the light in the room as most of the torches and both fires had gone out in the bar when the X'Sheen had appeared.

In another instant, a third, taller presence appeared behind them. Standing a good six inches taller than Harry, and a good foot, if you counted the starred wizard hat, wore over bright crimson robes, Dumbledore glared at the X'Sheen, his eyes blazing white. As the survivors watched, amazed despite their horror, Dumbledore held his hand up, palm held as to cup a ball, and instantly a sphere of pure, blazing, hissing energy appeared in his hand. The X'Sheen rightly took that as a signal, and as one vanished instantly in a series of loud tearing sounds, like a giant bedsheet being torn in two. Dumbledore slowly closed his hand over the ball of energy, reabsorbing it and channeling it away. With a deep breath his eyes faded to their normal blue, though very little twinkle was home this night.

Immediately, Harry knelt next to Neville. Laying his fingers on Neville's throat, Harry felt the faintest of pulses. Ginny pushed past Hermione, crawling to Neville on all fours. She shook his shoulders, her tears falling in streams from her pain-filled brown eyes, "NEVILLE WAKE UP DAMN IT, WAKE UP..." Tears blossomed in Hermione's eyes as Harry's arms encircled her from behind. In front of them, her adoptive sister was crying into Neville's barely moving chest.

*****************************Ginny's Flat********************************

Present

With a soft gasp, Ginny snapped awake and sat up abruptly. The nightmare or rather memory, for it was both, had come again. For a long moment she sat motionless, her head cradled in her hands, her breath coming in gulps. She reached down to the floor next to the bed, grabbed a towel and levered herself up and out. As she walked to the bathroom, she peeled off the sweat-soaked t-shirt she had been wearing, and dropped it carelessly to the floor.

The cool night air hit her bare skin and she shivered as she bent over the sink and splashed water over her face. A simple gold chain dangled down between her breasts with a pair of matching golden rings threaded through it. Just as she stood up she heard a slight scratching at her window. Seeing nothing there, she fully opened the window and heard a rustling of quiet wings flutter into her room.

Grabbing her wand, not bothering with a shirt, she pointed her wand at her desk, "Finite." Instantly, a large snow-white owl faded into view head first, a note tied to her leg. Hedwig hooted softly as she extended her leg to make it easy for Ginny to retrieve her message. Taking the note, Ginny conjured a bowl of water and a small pile of owl treats for the bird. With a grateful hoot, Hedwig tucked in.

Ginny tapped the noted with her wand and it opened:

Agent Ginerva Weasley, as per SOP, pending investigation of the events of 23 June, you are suspended from field assignments. Please report to Ministry medical services at your earliest convenience for the standard physiological and physical testing. Reinstatement to field assignments is determinate on passage of these tests, and the outcome of the post-operational debriefing, which will be held at Group One headquarters, on 24 June at 9:00 am.

Signed
Sir Harry James Potter, Lieutenant Commander, Special Auror Group One
Order of Merlin, First Class

Countersigned
Dame Hermione Jane Potter, Lieutenant Commander, Special Auror Group One
Order of Merlin, First Class

As she watched, amused despite herself, the parchment erupted into flames, just like her life. Ginny looked over at Hedwig, who raised her head as if looking Ginny over. "I guess I'm in trouble, huh?" Hedwig didn't answer, but did give a remarkable impression of a shrug.

Ginny glanced at the owl once more and muttered, "fuck it," Crossing the room in three strides, she flung open a drawer and pulled on a pair of black BDU pants and a long-sleeved, gray T-shirt with a emblem of a Phoenix in flames in subdued colors with the letters SG-1 overlaid over the bird. She strapped a pair of Tevas on her bare feet, pulled her hair into a long tail, and reaching under a pillow, slid a holster that already contained a flat-black pistol behind her hip. She slipped her wand into her left sleeve and grabbed a light jacket from a chair. With a soft CRACK, she vanished. In the silence left behind, Hedwig let out a mournful, "HOOT" and closed her eyes to take a nap.

**************Secret Ministry Medical Facility, Location Unknown**************

With a CRACK, Ginny appeared in an otherwise barren room. The floors were white and featureless, as was the ceiling and three of the four walls. The forth wall was different, it was glass from the waist up, with a barred steel door set into it. Behind the half-shelf, an alert looking wizard sat, his hand hovering over a large red button. He looked at her with a nod. "Agent Weasley hold for the identification protocols." She nodded, and carefully did not move. He flicked a wand with his other hand, and the colors in the room inverted for an instant, red became blue, black, white before they reverted to their normal appearance. Beams of golden light reached out from the top corners of the room and scanned her body. The wizard's eyes glanced unseen to Ginny to a crystal screen. After a moment he nodded and took his hand away from the big red button. He flicked his wand again and the door clicked.

"Go ahead Ginny" the wizard said in a suddenly understanding tone.

She gave him a small smile and nodded, "thanks Eric" She opened the door. "I won't be long...I have to go in, I'm in trouble again."

"I heard." He replied with the air of someone who had been there before. She didn't take it bad; Eric Sanders had indeed been there. In fact if it were not for the urgent need for qualified personnel he probably would have been sacked, if not in Azkaban, after he took it on himself to chase down the Death Eaters that had attacked his sister in the sacking of Gryffindor Tower. It had been Harry who had heard of the impeding verdict of the Auror bureaucracy and had had the wizard quietly transferred to his new Special Group.

Leaving the entryway behind, Ginny walked cat-like down the hall, passing several open doors along the way. In at least half of those she passed, patients were sleeping. This hidden hospital was an even more heavily guarded secret than the existence of the Special Groups. It was another of the Potter Duo's brainchildren. Soon after the Battle of Hogwarts, and the attack on the Gryffindors months later, they had realized that there was no truly secure place where wounded and injured personnel and their families could be treated.

It was also where those who could not be healed, or those for whom no cure could be found, were housed. With that dark thought Ginny passed through a pair of swinging doors into a brightly painted room. Several doors led off the central room, which was centered on a large central desk. A dozen, large crystal balls showed the status of the patients held here in the long-term ward.

It was only six years of hard experience that kept Ginny from shedding a tear at the three orbs set side by side, labeled "Longbottom, F, Longbottom, A. and Longbottom, N." Neville's parents were conscious, even occasionally almost lucid, but they had not really progressed in any measurable manner since Ginny had first seen them in their closed ward in St. Mungo's on that long ago Christmas. Soon after the attacks, Harry had had them moved to this facility as it was more protected than St Mungo's ever could be. Once a week an operative meet Gran Longbottom with a clandestine Portkey that brought her here to visit her son and his wife and her grandson.

"Hi Alice" Ginny said softly to the nurse sitting the desk. The nurse had a sad look as she waved as Ginny entered the room directly in front of her.

Ginny walked into a dim room, the only lights; the gentle glow of displays of Neville's vitals. A shelf of several glowing crystal balls was hung above the head of the bed, in them; glowing green text floated showing Neville's heartbeat, respiration, magical energy level and other vital statistics.

She sat in an armchair next to his bed and took his hand. It was limp. "Hi honey," Ginny whispered. "I'm in trouble again with Harry and Hermione. Seems that I don't think before I act or I tend to actually kill the fucking bastards, or something..." Her eyes were wet, "I'm sorry I haven't been here luv, they've had me off on assignment. Hell, I'm probably not supposed to be here now." She squeezed his hand, "Elliot is growing so fast Neville, he looks just like you; your Gran says so anyway. I love him, I just can't always be with him...he reminds me of you so much it breaks my heart." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "I know the healers don't know what's up and Harry and Hermione and Dumbledore have all tried to reach you...but I know you're there...come home to me Neville. I...I don't think I can do this much longer, not without you."

In the dark room, Ginny's fiery head fell to Neville's chest. Her silent sobs shook the bed as her tears soaked his pajamas.

**************************Hogwarts Dungeon*****************************

June 24, 2012

8:45 am

"So Ginny are you sacked or headed to Azkaban?" Draco said quietly, a chuckle in his voice, but she had been his partner, for too long to think he meant it. He was an arse, he knew it, and had accepted that fact long ago. The pair of them continued past Snape's old classroom, now Draco's while school was in secession, and only stopped when they reached a seemingly blank stretch of wall. Torches had only lighted the corridor sparsely. In this cul-de-sac however, it was almost pitch black, the nearest torch twenty yards away down the hall. An observer, a very close observer mind you, would be quite impressed how the two of them, seemingly disappeared into the shadows without any conscious effort, an casual observer would have lost them long before.

Denied an answer Draco sighed and using his wand, he touched the stones of the wall in a curious, seemingly random pattern. For a long instant, both of them felt something inspecting them intently. Then as if they had passed some invisible sentry, the wall creaked and folded, a dark archway appeared, and they walked through it.

Behind them, the stones ground slightly as the wall restored itself, and with a huff, the room they had just entered became almost as bright as day. At the end of the room a heavy oaken door, carved with a phoenix was closed, several suits of armor lined the walls, and a slightly glowing circle was situated on the floor in the center of the room. Together, Ginny and Draco walked to the circle and stopped. The suits of armor had turned to follow them the entire way. Suddenly the room filled with a red/white flash, all colors inverted themselves and just as quickly everything was normal. The suits of armor all shuffled to face forward again and the door at the end of the room opened silently. The pair passed through the door into a new room, and the door closed behind them.

Unlike the previous rooms, there was life here. Desks sat haphazardly around a large open room, with several side doors opening off the main room. The desks were about half full, at one, Sean Asten, the Auror who had basically been drafted on Harry, Ron and Hermione's first official mission, was sitting talking to someone on a crystal ball. Ginny could just see the shape of a female head with long, black hair.

At another, her brother Ron was bent over talking to a blond witch, periodically pointing to something in a file on her desk. His back was to them, so he didn't see them come in. As he straightened up he turned slightly and catching sight, waved them over. "See if we can get that info from Bristol, Sam. If so toss it on my desk" Ron ordered quietly, and the blonde nodded and grabbing a cloak got up and headed for a back door to the room, slipping a wand into a holster at the small of her back as she went.

"Hey bro" Ginny muttered as they came up to him. Ron looked down at her and ran a hand over his chin. Since Hogwarts, Ron had decided to go Bill one better and had not only grown his hair long, and had it pulled back into a fiery tail, but he had also grown a goatee, he had seen someone wearing one in Muggle London and had liked it. When Hermione had first seen it, she had muttered something to Harry about "Ming the Merciless," he had laughed and Ron, thinking they were referring to a wizard that he hadn't heard of, had just grinned. Two years later, neither of them had explained yet. But since Luna liked it, he was cool. The habit of rubbing his hand over the goatee, had developed during a chess tournament in the finals, and he had kept it ever since.

"Ginny. They pulled you from the field right?" Ron asked, though it wasn't a question, he already knew. She nodded mutely, and he gave her a half-smile, and pointed, "it'll be fine, they're waiting."

Ginny shrugged uncaringly and headed towards an open door at the end of the room. Looking back she motioned to the door with her hand "Coming?"

Ron shook his head, "no I have to get going, we might have a lead on Goyle in London, and I'm taking Draco here with me as backup." Behind Ron, Draco shrugged; she nodded to him, turned and headed to the open office. Entering it, she closed the door behind her and sat without asking in a comfortable armchair in front of a scarred old oak desk that looked as if it had been found in the dungeons when they moved in. Behind the desk, Harry sat, his feet up, a file folder in his lap. To his left Hermione was leaning on the wall and looking down over his shoulder reading what ever was in the file.

Slowly Harry looked up at her, he closed the file and tossed it on the desk. Hermione leaned back and crossed her arms with a small yawn; she had been up at three this morning also. "What the hell were you thinking, Agent Weasley?" Harry said quietly, without any real heat to his words. "Is that what you were expecting Ginny?" With a sudden movement, Harry swept his legs from the desk, and plopped them on the ground. Leaning forward, he regarded her silently for a moment, and when she didn't say anything he continued.

"That is what certain bureaucrats were screaming at me this morning in London, more or less, except they substituted Potter of course. I was asked pointedly, in a closed session of the Wizengamot, just why I chose to use such an unstable agent. An agent that has earned the reputation of hexing first and answering the corpse questions later." Ginny's eyes flared at that statement but she still didn't respond. Bloody hell, Mione she won't even fight. Harry thought desperately to his partner at his elbow.

She doesn't care, Harry Hermione replied with equal desperation. "Ginny...oh bloody hell, damn it Ginny say something."

Ginny glared at her, before speaking flatly, "What Hermione? Let that fucker rape me? I'm sorry that I really didn't want to. I'm so sorry I killed him. I should have pulled that kick. Is that what you want to hear?" The tiny redhead snarled and sat back in her chair with a "humph."

"No damn it," Harry growled, a touch of fire igniting in his voice. "I really don't care that another Hamilton is in a body bag, though honestly I prefer the head on a pike approach. I do however care that we still don't have any real leads on Lucius. That's why you are here." Harry paused, and flicked his wand over a green glass orb set on a little stand in the center of his desk. A small image of a witch appeared, she had black hair, a decent figure and a face that had to be due to magic, and since everyone here knew the person in question, they knew it had been. Pansy Parkinson had had her "pug-like" looks magically altered sometime before their sixth year.

Hermione looked down at the witch in the projection and frowned, "Honestly Ginny, we are annoyed, as we were hoping to get the info on Lucius without this step. Since Albert isn't talking to anyone, we have to find another means of getting into the inner circle. Hence Pansy here, she's about the first of the new crop of Death Eaters that escaped Hogwarts with Malfoy, who have popped up. She was seen in muggle Sheffield last week, doing something. Luckily an undercover MLE officer saw her and had the sense to just report her instead of trying to take her down. He very well might have been able to, but she is usually escorted about by Crabbe and Goyle, the younger pair."

"That's where you come in, Ginny." Harry took it up. "We will be snatching Pansy, and replacing her with you, under polyjuice of course. The new stuff only has to be renewed every twenty-four hours, so you won't have to be like Barty Crouch, Jr., sipping every few minutes, but you still will be in great danger. There has been some information crop up, from a Death Eater that we grabbed last week in Edinburgh, that Pansy is being brought into Lucius' inner circle." Harry paused and glanced back at Hermione, "we think that she wants to be Bellatrix to his Voldemort, basically."

**********************London, Near Diagon Alley**************************

June 24, 2012
6:00pm

"Can I help you?" The host asked Draco as he came into Alexander's. This was the type of restaurant that he had not visited much since his graduation from Hogwarts. Not that he couldn't afford it, Draco was independently wealthy, even with the loss of funds that his father had siphoned off from the family vault before Draco could stop him. But ever since the battle at Hogwarts, and the raid that reclaimed his house, the old Malfoy manor from Death Eaters three days later, he had been far more likely to be eating a pizza from some muggle joint than to eat at a spot that had been known in recent history to exclude muggle-borns with occasional extreme prejudice.

"Yes," Draco replied warily glancing around the room. "I am meeting someone."

The host nodded sagely and straightened his robes. "I see, this way then." The host led Draco to a secluded booth. Draco could feel the protective charms surrounding the booth as he walked closer. The waiter left and Draco sat down, across from him a wizard was sitting, his hood drawn forward, stray wisps of Platinum blond hair escaping its confinement.

"What do you want, Lucius?" Draco snarled, his drawl thick with annoyance.

"Is that a way to greet your father? Your new friends have taught you too much disrespect." Lucius' slightly deeper drawl responded, and with a sigh, took a deep sip of his wine. "It is fitting that you hold the Potions position at Hogwarts, the last Professor in that job was a traitor also."

Draco was sorely tempted to try and stun his father, but he had a strange feeling that unlike six years ago at Hogwarts, it would not work. This close he could feel the energy coming off him, familiar in its intensity, but twisted. With a sudden shock and a carefully concealed gasp, he knew exactly where the feeling was familiar from. It was the same feeling that Harry, Hermione or Dumbledore gave off when they did not manage to damp off the presence of their powers. But these emissions seemed dark and twisted. Keeping his shock to himself, "am I here to listen to insults, or shall I leave...father?" the snarl when he said the last carefully insulting. "I never liked this restaurant when we came here when I was a child."

Lucius shook his head sadly, "yes, I came here to give you one more chance. Return to me, leave that fool Dumbledore's service, renounce Potter and his mudblood. I can reward you beyond belief, power, wealth. My spies report you have been seen with that mudblood-loving Weasley girl. Return to me and she will be your plaything, to do with as you will."

Draco glared at him, then with a sudden lurch stood up abruptly. "You never did get it, did you father? I woke up from that nightmare, years ago, but I guess you were stuck there. So plebian. I am going to walk out of this restaurant and the Death Eaters that have wands pointed at me will let me leave. Yes I can feel your power, but even you do not want to start anything so close to the Ministry. Not even in this place, with its shall we say, selective history on admission of patrons."

Lucius did not look up and the hood stayed in place, "Very well then, the next time we meet we will be enemies."

"We already were, for almost twenty years now, it just took me a while to wake up to that fact." Draco replied as if giving a deposition. Then with a swirl of his cape, he walked briskly out of the restaurant almost knocking down the host in the process.

A/N: Ok there we are, your fix ;-) Next Chapter Ginny goes to work, The twins have watched too many episodes of Alias and James Bond and think they are Marshall or Q, or both. And some other stuff. Oh and Fenris, if you are reading this, I managed to put the green bikini from Intervention into the story, later on hope you don't mind :). Think Dr. No.

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4. The Switch

A/N: Another chapter another dollar...wait I don't get paid for this JKR does, darnit.
Chapter 4: The Switch

*****************Hogwarts, Phoenix Group Headquarters*********************

June 27, 2012
6:15 pm

"Ok you two. What do you have this time?" Ginny asked, with the slightly apprehensive air of one who is standing on the edge of a ten meter diving board and is afraid of both swimming and heights, of the twin redheads standing on the other side of a stainless steel counter. Around the room, Fred and George had crammed almost everything that they could think of and some things that were probably actually beyond thinking about into the room.

On racks and shelves around the room, muggle and wizard weapons and equipment hung, everything from assault rifles with silver loaded magazines racked next to them, to ten different varieties of disguised wands, to joke items that had been modified for espionage, to a mechanical owl that looked disturbingly like Hedwig, but in shining metal, that tracked her with its yellow glowing eyes as she walked into the room. On a table off to one side by itself, a state of the art computer sat; amazingly it was actually running in Hogwarts, which since electricity didn't actually work, was weird. Not the weirdest thing in the room, but still weird. Curious, Ginny wandered over to it and saw the note proudly stuck to the wall above it:

Special Group One
Memo:
To: Fred/George Weasley.
Re: Dumbarses (memo #524 on subject)

I bloody well told you not to enchant a computer.

Signed: Your damn boss, Harry.

Ginny looked at the machine, she had one at her apartment, but that was different, this was Hogwarts. She jumped back as the screen suddenly came to life and a rendered pair of blue eyes turned to look at her, "Hello Ginny." The enchanted computer said in a soft female voice.

"Hello," Ginny replied hesitantly as the twins sniggered. "Who, what..."

"My name is Minerva, I am a Weasley Enterprises generation one sentience." The computer replied from a pair of speakers mounted to the wall.

Fred smiled and took pity on his youngest sister. "We were in muggle London the other day at a mall and saw one of these running a game and we thought it would be cool to see if we could enchant one to get it running here. We...um didn't think it would be sentient however...no offence Minerva."

"None taken" The response came from the speakers.

"However SOME PEOPLE thought it was a bad idea." George put in a bit too loudly.

"I HEARD THAT." An annoyed baritone shot back; George flipped the bird in the general direction of Harry's office and closed the door.

Fred snickered again and turned back to several items on the table. He held out his hand, "Your wand if you please, Ginny." Ginny handed him his wand, and with a flick, "IMAGIO DUPLICATA" the exterior of the wand changed from it's normal light ash color to a dark, polished rosewood. He handed it back, "There ya go; it now looks like Pansy's." With a wave of his hand he started pointing out the various objects on the table. "First," indicating a slightly bubbling flask, "the new improved polyjuice potion, we have increased the time to three days per dose from the older, few hours at a time." She nodded as he went on, "here we have a two-way mirror, it's charmed to only work if you tap it with your wand and say, 'Voldemort was a wussy'," She glared at him, "WHAAAT? No Death Eater is about to say that."

"Also, just in case you run into some of our furrier friends" George indicated the next items, "The blade on this dagger is a silver alloy and your standard issue 9mm P7 is loaded with silver hollowpoints. We still don't know why but more and more werewolves are coming over the to dark. Spells at the level most of us cast them," at that point all three of them glanced surreptitiously towards Harry and Hermione's office, "can't really affect a werewolf in animal form." Ginny nodded, having fought several of Malfoy's dark werewolves in Bristol last year.

"The normal assortment of potions, miniaturized" Fred waved at a small foldout case, and with a small breath, indicated one last item. The small talisman was carved to look like the green skull of death, the dark's symbol and an item many a Death Eater had been captured or killed with, "This is a emergency portkey, we got the idea off the beacon that Dumbledore used to rescue Snape your sixth year. Keep it on you at all times, it will either return you directly here, or if you touch it with your wand and say, 'call the cavalry', it will act as a beacon to guide us in." The twins came around the table and hugged her, "Be careful sis."

"Sure Q1 and Q2" Ginny grinned up at them and left out the door, which slid open and shut for her automatically.

"I'm worried Fred."

"Me too, George."

***********************Norfolk, England*********************
8:00pm

Pansy Parkinson walked into a slightly rundown restaurant accompanied by her inherited bookends, Crabbe and Goyle. Ever since Draco had openly changed sides, the pair of flunkies had gravitated to her. They were basically useless for any magical combat, any decent Auror would take then down in a heartbeat, and what the Unspeakable units would do didn't even bear thinking on, no they were more for muscle anyway, to intimidate prospective adversaries. She looked up at the sign over the door, "Elizabeth's" a small pub and grill that catered to wizards. The bar was crowded with the after work crowd and she was lucky as she stepped in and arranged for a table for her and her escorts. The waitress, a young witch, came over, a pitcher of water balanced with her wand. She poured the three of them glasses and took their orders for three specials.

Across from them at the scarred wooden bar, a rather non-descript wizard sat nursing a beer. The barkeep poured him another butterbeer without asking as he emptied his first. Idly the wizard glanced around the bar, he watched the barkeep walk to the other end of the bar to get something from under it. Dropping his head, he muttered under his breath, "Leo, Furball, she's on her way." Asten took another sip of his beer as Pansy walked past him on the way to the bar. He casually glanced up, and turned with the rest of the bar to watch a broadcast of the Ballycastle Bats and the Chudley Cannons' Quidditch match being shown on a wide screen crystal in the corner, courtesy of the Wizarding Wireless network. After a moment, a witch got up from a booth and trailed Pansy toward the back of the bar.

"Bookworm has her." Hermione whispered as her hand brushed her hair back over an ear. Pansy did not look back at all but went into the restroom not paying attention to her surroundings at all. Followed a moment later by Hermione. Hermione was very lightly disguised this evening; a ball cap with the Chudley Cannons' logo on it was pulled down over her hair, and tuned backwards, the bill resting on top of her ponytail. The Cannons were playing tonight, so it was not unusual to see their fans in the bar. The rest of her outfit of jeans and a tight jumper was par for the course for a witch since the end of the Voldemort war, anymore, younger witches and wizards seldom wore robes outside of official functions.

The door swung closed behind her, and outside, an agent in coveralls hung a "closed for cleaning" sign on it. Pansy was at the sink and did not look up as the door opened and Hermione entered, and stopped at the door. Pansy finished washing her hands, and looked up into the mirror to have her heart stop. A horribly familiar shock of jet-black hair topped the face of an enemy she hoped to never see again. Her hand finally dropped to her wand, only to watch it fly from its hidden holster to Harry's hand. Pansy glanced over to the door and gulped as she saw Hermione leaning there. She turned back to Harry, "so Potter you aren't really a teacher." Pansy glared as Ginny emerged from the stall next to the one Harry had been hiding in, wearing the exact same clothes as she had on.

"No Pansy, we're not...are you going to come quietly?" Harry asked, with a little smile on his lips. She started to shake her head, "SOMNUS" She slumped to the ground as Hermione lowered her wand and crossed to Pansy.

She knelt next to the Death Eater and pulled up Pansy's sleeve, finding the Dark Mark, she nodded grimly. "That's a death sentence Harry." Hermione quickly frisked through her pockets and pulled out what she found, with a jerk she pulled a lock of Pansy's hair and tossed it into a vial of green fluid. She shook it and tossed the bottle to Ginny.

Grimacing even before the liquid hit her lips, Ginny drunk a large gulp from the bottle, shuddering as the vile liquid worked its way to her stomach. Instantly she shook and dropped to her knees as the potion took over. Her hair changed from red to black, her face changed and her body filled out slightly. In another heartbeat, two Pansies were in the room. Ginny/Pansy looked at Harry and Hermione and in Pansy's voice, "I guess I'm ready."

"Luck, Sis." Hermione replied, handing her the items they had taken off Pansy, except Pansy's wand. Hermione pocketed it instead; "INCARCEROUS" ropes appeared from the air and wrapped Pansy tightly. Ginny nodded, hugged them both and exited the room. "Furball is in play." Hermione murmured over the wireless extendable ears.

Harry looked over at Hermione, then down at their prisoner then over at the door. "Mione?"

"Yeah Harry?"

"How the hell are we going to explain Ginny being gone this Wednesday at the family dinner?" Harry asked, as Hermione shrugged in perplexed response. Harry shrugged as well, and in another heartbeat, they vanished along with the captured Death Eater.

***************************Somewhere in Europe***************************

"Sire...we have brought her." Lucius Malfoy turned from the window and regarded the new arrival. The Death Eater that had spoken; bowed and exited without another word. Lucius slowly walked around the new arrival, noticing her black hair, still in the same pageboy cut Pansy had favored at Hogwarts, the same figure that had presumably entertained his disavowed son.

"Pansy..." Lucius smiled darkly, his eyes glowing slightly in the morning light from the window. "I have brought you into my inner circle after your dedicated service since you left that accursed school.

"Sire, I..." She replied hastily, dropping her head.

Lucius spun to her and grabbed her chin, roughly forcing her to look up at him, "It does not matter Pansy, only that you are loyal; you will find that I have a short way with traitors." He stepped back, "BRING HIM IN."

With that command, a man was dragged before them. He was beaten and bloody. Both legs were obviously broken as was his nose and his left arm. Even ten feet away, Ginny could see the lingering after effects of the Cruciatus curse, and saw the lifelessness in the man's eyes. Lucius sneered and walked around the prisoner, his wand bouncing in his hand lightly. "Alexander here; thought he would betray my location to that old mudblood loving fool, Dumbledore...as you can see he was mistaken. IMPERIO" Lucius snapped and any remaining life vanished from the man's eyes.

Reaching into his robes, Lucius took out a dagger and flipped it underhand to land point embedded in the hardwood directly in front of the traitor. "Pick it up." Alexander quivered a bit but bent and pulled the knife from the wood. Lucius smiled, "slit your throat." The knife rose, slowly, inexorably to his throat and with a quick slice, blood fountained over the floor. Nauseous, Ginny turned her head as the man collapsed to the floor.

"Go Pansy, I will give you your instructions later." Ginny left as quickly as she could without seeming too rushed.

**************************The Burrow****************************

June 30, 2012

The Burrow was an odd residence for a Minister of Magic, but it was one that Arthur and Molly would not give up. There were small differences of course, the old ramshackle house was now in far better repair than it had ever had been, the garden was professionally degnomed these days, and a permanent Auror presence was stationed here. But otherwise it was as Harry had first seen it when he was twelve, escaping from the Dursleys.

He waved at the duty Aurors as they responded to his and Hermione's apparation onto the lawn. They turned back to looking about, ever vigilant. They were definitely Moody disciples, which wasn't a bad thing as the Burrow had more than once been subject to attack. Percy had died here, Molly had been tortured here and not six months later the Death Eaters had attacked again only to be repulsed by the much stronger defensive contingent escorting the Minister of Magic. Normally Arthur traveled with about ten or so, and there was another five or so on duty here at all times, especially after the assassination of the Senior Undersecretary last year, by a Death Eater ambush.

Hermione smiled up at him and led their stampeding children towards the kitchen and the cookies that no doubt awaited them, "HORRY, EM" Molly shouted gaily as the door opened and Harry smiled. He walked around the corner of the house to the back yard to find Ron, Fred and George all standing around, nursing beers.

"OI" Ron yelled and tossed Harry a beer without asking. Harry caught it, uncapped it with his wand and took a draught. He came in close and stood in a little huddle with the rest of the boys, Ron clinked his bottle with Harry's and took another drink. They all turned to watch Arthur trying to light the grill with a pack of muggle matches. "Think we should help?"

"Nahh," Put in George.

"He's having fun," Fred replied.

"I'd like to eat today" Ron retorted, "Harry...please."

"Lord...you are all qualified wizards..." Harry stretched his fingers towards the grill, "Incendio." Flames erupted from the coals just after Arthur had dropped another unlit match on them, causing him to jump up and down and do a little dance. The head of his protective detail, an old grizzled Auror named Jacob Wells, turned and gave Harry a tiny clap. Harry shook his head and took another gulp of his beer.

HARRY, Hermione's voice suddenly echoed in his mind, come in here and bring Arthur...Molly wants a word.

Harry's eyes spun towards the kitchen, but not getting any more information from that quarter he shrugged, "I think I'm in trouble" The rest of the boys laughed as Harry walked over the grill and pulled Arthur to the kitchen along with him, Jacob following along. He was the only member of the security detail that had the clearance level that Harry or Arthur enjoyed, and he knew what Harry and the rest really did.

Harry and Arthur, along with his shadow came into the room. Molly looked at the three of them and scowled. Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table, a butterbeer of her own in her hands, looking at the rest of the room. Harry crossed to her and perched on the table next to her, "Get off the table Harry, " Molly snapped and in a flash, Harry flowed into the seat next to his wife, she giggled until Molly shot her a dark look.

"Sorry mum." Hermione muttered.

Molly nodded and turned to Arthur, "Does Jacob have to be here?" Her hands were on her hips as she looked at the Auror.

"Jacob I'll take responsibility" Harry said quietly and the Auror left to go stand outside of the door, Harry pointed a wand at the door, "Silencio." A brief white flash lit the walls.

Molly looked at the three of them, a curious fire in her eyes. "Where the bloody hell is my daughter? I seem to see her son outside with the rest of my grandchildren." She looked at Hermione apologetically, "Hermione you are mine as well, child." Hermione nodded, she hadn't taken offence.

"Working" Harry replied vaguely.

"Harry James..." Molly snapped.

"Molly...mum, I can't tell you, I haven't even told Arthur though if he orders me to I will." Harry muttered a slightly pleading note in his voice.

"Harry I bloody well know that you lot aren't only Professors and definitely not Aurors in the conventional sense, I'm just concerned. Do you think that I would tell anyone?" Molly whispered slightly desperately.

"No, mum" Hermione put in, softly, "But if someone got a hold of you they could get it out of you." Molly started to retort, but stopped at a hastily raised hand. "You are not a trained occlumes, nor trained to resist the Cruciatus or Imperious, we are, all of us are. And even that might not be enough, if they really had time to work."

"Please Molly," Harry interjected, "we can't...sorry."

Molly nodded and turned from them, she looked out into the yard and watched Harry and Hermione's kids interacting with the adults and with Ron's daughter Harriet, and the newly arrived children of Lupin and Tonks, and Elliot, Ginny's son. Sirius was laughing over something Remus had just said as the original surviving marauders wandered over to Ron and the twins. A small smile graced her lips as she watched Luna and Tonks chasing, or rather herding the children in the direction of the garden. Without turning from the window, "why Harry, why can't any of my family lay down the sword? You know what this has already cost us."

"Yes, Molly I do." Harry whispered, she heard him just fine however. He stood, and headed out the door, his hands in his pockets as he walked off into the woods. He did not look up past his feet as he headed down the same path that had seen his first animagus transformation; the same path that he had chased Hermione down after she had run from her father after she and her parents had fled here following a Death Eater attack. The same path where his heart finally beat it into his brain that he loved the witch that was even now pounding after him, with all his heart, even if that brain still held off matters for a few months longer. Finally, he reached a long familiar clearing and sat heavily on a fallen tree that was charmed within an inch of its existence to be as comfortable as a living room couch.

He did not look up either, as Hermione eased down next to him and grabbed his hand. "I hate secrecy Mione and here I am, I deal in it every day, I can't even tell my family what I do for a living." Hermione didn't respond with words, but just wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

**********************Headquarters, SG-1, Hogwarts************************

July 1, 2012
5:00 am.

"GET UP" a man in black snapped as he flung the cell door open and dragged Pansy from her cell. The constant harsh white light from the cell spilled out into the dim hall. She blinked as she tiredly looked up at a wizard and witch, both in black with no insignia on their cloaks. The witch was dark skinned with a shock of pure white hair and the man was almost swarthy and walked with a gait that gave evidence to long hours in a dojo, but beyond that she knew nothing. She had no idea what time it was or even what day it was, and certainly not that she was currently about fifty meters below the Slytherin dorms. Meals had arrived at random times, from what seemed like hours apart, to mere minutes. Her escorts tossed her into a room, all white, and lit from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. A large mirror took up one wall and she cackled at it, "come out Potter...or your mudblood, or maybe your traitor friend."

"Will I do?" Hermione asked softly as she conjured a table and single chair for Pansy, she waved for Pansy to sit. Pansy just glared, "SIT DOWN BITCH." Hermione snapped. Whether it was her tone, or the flash of her eyes or what, Pansy sat. Hermione crossed to the other side of the table, and leaned on it facing Pansy.

"I want my solicitor" Pansy snapped suddenly, Hermione looked at her for a long, incredulous moment, and then laughed.

"You are being held under The Defense of the Magical Realm Act of 2006 Pansy, you have no rights. Death Eaters like yourself should pay attention to the papers, the Dark Mark allows us to hold you forever if we want. Anyone else even we would have to show just cause for detaining past a few days, but the mark gives us all the proof we need." She grinned, without a single trace of humor lighting her eyes, "Pansy we have you on conspiracy to murder, theft of magical items, kidnapping, assault, and I'm sure it won't be a strain to find something more. We don't send Death Eaters to Azkaban anymore, we put them against a wall."

"You don't have anything on me, sure I fought at Hogwarts, but that was war...even the Wizengamot has ruled that declared combatants were..."

"My parents you little bitch. We've a witness that confirms that you were the one who set up my parents to die." Hermione snarled. Her eyes grew dark as she leaned over the table. A sudden silence fell over the room, only to be interrupted by Pansy.

"Oh muggles, I forgot." Pansy smiled sweetly. Hermione's form blurred as she MOVED. Picking up Pansy, she slammed her against a wall and held her there, one handed, while the other crackled with energy. A loud sound of a door slamming open echoed in the room and the beat of several pairs of hurried boots slapped the ancient stones of the floor. Pansy suddenly dropped to the floor as Harry arrived and pulled Hermione from the Death Eater. He waved the rest of the team that had entered the room back out and forcefully led Pansy back to her chair and sat her down in it, hard. Hermione watched her balefully from a corner as Harry glared down, his hands on the table, leaning forward. Pansy looked up at him and sneered, "Oh Potter, so this is what, good Auror, bad Auror?"

Harry grinned at her, but there was no mirth in the expression, "No more like kill you right now Auror, vs. beat you for a while first then kill you Auror, you decide which." Harry replied bluntly, and the color faded in Pansy's already pale face. "Hermione was correct, any Death Eater is up for the high jump when caught, unless they prove useful. The question is, are you useful Pansy? Honestly there are few whom my wife would rather see caught, but I expect she can put up with the disappointment, if say you give us information on Lucius' whereabouts, Or even Narcissa's or any of the others. Think about it." Harry gestured with a couple of fingers over his shoulder and the pair from before dragged Pansy from the room.

"Sorry Harry," Hermione whispered apologetically as she came over.

"Don't be, I killed Pettigrew remember." He turned and put his hands on her shoulders, "Dumbledore should have let you take care of her at Hogwarts." She gave him, a small, half-smile that she more or less meant. "Let's go, I think Ron has a briefing for us."

***************************SG1 Headquarters*****************************

8:00 am.

After a nice breakfast, there were definite advantages to having the Headquarters hidden at the school, provided by the now paid Hogwarts house elves. An early reform that Dumbledore had pushed through the board of Governors. Harry and Hermione walked back to the hidden chambers in the Hogwarts dungeons. Passing easily through the entry security they entered a large, white room. An oval table was in the room, surrounded by several comfortable chairs. A large, round crystal sat in the center of the table, strange patterns of light dancing in its depths.

Walking to the head of the table, Harry dropped into the chair waiting there and leaned back. Hermione sat at his right, and sat a notepad on the table in front of her. At the other end of the table, Ron was looking over some notes in a folder, his wedding ring making little tinking sounds as he tapped his left hand on the table absently. Fred Weasley was sitting next to him, doing something with his wand that Harry probably didn't want to know about, while across from him Draco Malfoy scowled into a cup of coffee.

He was looking down at a potions text, no doubt working up study plans for his cover job. Normally, as his usual field partner, Ginny Weasley would have been sitting next to him, but she was obviously gone today. Through trial and error, they had discovered that the only one who could put up with him on a regular basis was Ginny; she only tried to kill him twice, so she got stuck with him.

Instead of her, today a newcomer was present. Valerie Sommers was a short, honey blond girl that had been recently brought into the group to take over the interrogation section. As a rule, with the exception of the founders of this team, the Aurors, hit-wizards and Unspeakables that found themselves transferred into one of the Special Groups had several years of active duty under their belts, Valerie was a special case.

She was an interrogator. She was one of the few that could go into the minds of incapacitated suspects and rip thoughts out, and insert memories in, with the ease that other wizards might show with something as trivial as a levitation spell. She was a natural Occulemes and Legilmens, and of all those present in the castle, the only ones who could resist her full powers were Harry, Hermione and Dumbledore.

They were recruited young, as they tended to not last long before they had to go on sabbaticals to recuperate their powers, and their sense of selves. In most ways these natural interrogators, were often somewhat less powerful than the average wizard and were occasionally little better than Squibs. Valerie was again a special case, as were they all, she had actually lasted four times longer than the last one so far, and her magical powers were actually rather substantial, on the order of the average Auror's.

Harry looked up, and with a glance, the doors to the room closed. "Ok, lets get started, Valerie, you're up."

The blond looked up, and nodded, she knew better than to try to probe him even by accident. She frowned as she looked over her notes in front of her, "Sir, I did not get much from the subject, I am sorry to say. She did not resist much, however I do not think she was aware of much as well."

"Anything at all, Val?" Ron inquired, taking a sip from a cup of coffee at his elbow.

She shrugged, "Maybe, she didn't know where Lucius was at the time of her capture. She had heard of a possible plan against the Quidditch World Cup this year, as you know England is hosting again. However in her thoughts she was asking why they would bother. Also she has heard rumors, of corruption of certain Ministry officials, but we have heard those same rumors, and she really didn't know of any for sure. That's about it, sorry boss." She shrugged, looking down the table at Harry. A sudden thought crossed her mind, "Oh now that I think about it before I go, Harry can I take off a couple of weeks in August to flit over to the Colonies to visit my sister? She's working for the American CIA these days."

"Yeah sure Valerie, and why you bring it up, everyone please make sure that your reports are using their vacations. As to work, Ron use your contacts in the Sport and Games division to see if we can get some agents in place for the World Cup, just in case. It probably won't amount to much, the Death Eaters have threatened every year since that last one in England." He turned his head to his right, "Mione you want to go?"

"What about the kids?"

"Take 'em?" Harry shrugged. "It's probably safe enough. Like I said, it gets threatened every year."

"So we can be the irresponsible parents with little kids performing underage magic and flying on training brooms in front of muggles...sure." Hermione replied with a grin.

"Uh hem," Ron coughed from the other end of the table, "We have other topics today...sir." His eyes twinkling.

Harry sighed, as his thoughts went back to current events, "Yeah we do, we need to have a twenty four hour watch on Ginny's beacon, if she triggers it we go. Hermione has the field agents, Fred get with George and have a full loadout prepped for the teams. Make sure that we're loaded for bear, we have been getting rumors that Malfoy has enlisted Vampires and Werewolves in addition to his standard Death Eaters." He sighed, looked around, "Ok that's it, get going."

A/N: Ok there's your weekly allotment of the train slowly rolling downhill....

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5. A Shadows Falls

Rowling still owns everything, I'm just a piker. So far this is the longest chapter for this story, enjoy.

Chapter 5: A Shadow Falls

*************************Lucius' Liar*****************************

July 8, 2012
6:15 am

Flickering candles lit the darkness as a host of hooded figures edged into the room. Lucius Malfoy stood at one end of the room, Ginny, still disguised as Pansy stood with him as did Rabastan Lestrange, Xavier Hamilton and a few other Death Eaters. Crabbe and Goyle, the younger pair, stood against the wall next to the door. They jumped as the doors boomed closed.

The five figures that had arrived stood in the middle of the room, not speaking, not talking. Lucius nodded as Narcissa came into the room from a side door, he took her hand as she ascended the small dais he was seated on and sat next to him "Come before me."

"Lucius," one of the hooded figures dropped his hood. Cornelius Fudge stood, his indenity revealed, bouncing back on forth on the balls of his feet, "when will my restoration be..."

"Silence fool" Malfoy snapped as he turned, icy gray eyes becoming a sullen red as he glared down at the former Minister of Magic. "It was your incompetence that let Dumbledore gain as much influence as he did. You lost your place, through your own incompetence. If you had just followed the plan as it was presented to you...if you had had your lackeys in place to actually snap Potter's wand immediately..."

"But sire, Dumbledore was there almost immediately and I did put Umbridge into place..." Fudge objected weakly, as he slowly backed away from the Dark Lord's throne.

The sullen eyes glowed brighter, "Umbridge was a fool; she treated Potter and his companions as children, when it was obvious. They. Were. Not. Leave me, Fudge, I will inform you when the time is right for your bid. Dawlish." A short, wiry haired man dropped his hood and knelt before Malfoy. "What of Potter's operations?"

"Sire, Potter still thinks that his group is unknown. It was obvious, however once I examined the flow of funding in the Auror divisions, that a large amount of galleons were being funneled to a black group. Simple tagging of some of the standard Ministry supplies allowed us to trail them to Hogwarts, from there it is obvious that Potter is involved in, and probably leading the group. We also possibly know of three other, 'special groups.' Arrangements are underway to strike these immediately after our primary plan executes. They, along with the few remaining members of Dumbledore's accursed Order would be our primary opposition."

"Very well Dawlish...do not fail me." Dawlish bowed and left. Lucius turned to a dark corner of the room. "Are your brethren ready?" A tall, hooded figure separated from the shadows. The figure strode silently over the stone floor, light seemed to not escape its presence but rather seemed to be absorbed into its robes. It gestured broadly with a scaly hand.

"You do not command us, human..." The voice was ghostly and dark. Chills went up the spines of the Death Eaters nearest to the dark one. They edged away from it, their hands creeping towards their wands as they did so.

"But I do." Lucius laughed recklessly as he withdrew a red, glowing orb from his robes. "You are bound to it..."

"AHHHH" A snarl echoed in the room, but the dark figure bowed to Malfoy nonetheless, "we will do as you wish, for now. As will our brethren. You will honor our bargain...your master ignored us, to his detriment. If we had been with his forces when he met his end, as he promised..."

"Yes, yes, Tom Riddle was a fool, I will not make that mistake." Malfoy stood and waved at the door, "We will strike soon, and when they throw out their own leaders in fear..."

***************************#12 Grimmauld Place**************************
7:23 am

A beam of morning sunshine pierced the morning fog hanging over greater London and spilled through the glass of the window to the master bedroom of Grimmauld Place. Its radiance glinted off the feathers of a snowy white owl, who buried her head under her wing to escape. The light continued on to illuminate a mess of black hair sticking out from under a pile of blankets. The mass of hair groaned and rolled over, still under the red and gold blanket.

The door to the room creaked open slowly and Hermione eased in. She was still dressed in her pajamas, her hair pulled back into a pair of braids on each side of her head. Her left hand cradled a cup of coco as she crossed the room and looked out the window, watching the muggles as they began their day. She turned back to gaze fondly over the top of her mug at the sleeping mound still under the blankets, "Harry, love you need to get up." A low, grunting sound answered her, and she rolled her eyes. She took another sip, "OK." She announced loudly, "Get 'em."

Twin, dark-haired blurs blazed a path from the hallway to the bed. Hermione wasn't quite sure where they had jumped from, but almost faster than she could follow; Horatio was jumping on Harry's back with Emilia tugging on his hair. "Get up daddy..." she giggled at Harry's moan, "you promised to go to Diggy Alley today."

"Did I Mione?" Harry asked softly from somewhere under the covers. His hand appeared, holding onto the crimson coverlet.

Hermione laughed quietly, "afraid so, love." Harry just grunted and pulled a pillow over his head. Both of his girls giggled at him, and he groaned again.

"Come on daddy...Dad." The twins chorused, and succeeded in pulling the cover from their father. Harry started to get up, but somehow caught his foot in the covers, and rolled onto the floor next to the bed with a loud thump. Hermione held her hand over her mouth to keep the twins from seeing her laugh at Harry's predicament. On the floor next to the bed, Harry sat up and blinked owlishly, Hermione took pity on him and sent his glasses over to him with a flick of her fingers.

Harry's restored vision caught Hermione trying not to laugh, he crooked an eyebrow at her and she lost it. Suddenly doubled over with laughter, she sank onto the window seat, holding her side.

"Fine let me get dressed." Harry said, still on the floor, trying to gather whatever shreds of dignity left him.

*****************************Ministry of Magic***************************

"Oi Ron, what's up?" A familiar voice came over to Ron as he stepped out of the lift. Turning, Ron saw the tall features of an old friend coming down the aisle of the Division of Magical Sports.

"Oliver, mate, what are you doing here?" Ron shouted across the room, to the annoyance of several old wizards who were making notations on some sort of board. Ron hurried down the aisle and took Wood's hand, almost knocking aside a house elf that was carefully balancing a stack of papers. The elf walked off in a huff.

Oliver gave Ron a slight grin as he shrugged, "oh, ya know. Since England isn't going to make it to the cup this year, the Ministry is offering me the chance to commentate." He looked speculatively at Ron, "now next year, if you could get Harry to play, and yourself of course, and maybe Hermione and Ginny we could put together such an English team. I saw your seventh year match against Slytherin...blimey Ron. Of course you would have to beat me for a spot..."

"Of course," Ron agreed. Actually, probably unknown to Oliver, Ron had been approached about playing for England in this years cup season, along with Harry and the rest, and if it hadn't been for Lucius Malfoy, they might have, though Hermione claimed that she wasn't about to do it...she had said that about riding a broom to begin with, of course, and then later playing for Gryffindor as well. Harry could have gotten her to do it. Ron thought smugly as he nodded to whatever Oliver was saying at the time.

Ron finally shrugged, "actually Oliver, I'm here to pick up the tickets for the cup, Harry and Hermione and Luna and I are taking the kids, dad arraigned tickets for us."

"Good for you mate, you lot will be in the top box with me then, I'm announcing." Oliver replied with an odd mix of amusement and disappointment. "See ya later." Oliver gave a final wave, and headed off down the aisle.

After heading to the office to pick up their tickets, Ron headed down the lift, however instead of heading towards the main atrium and the exit he came into, with a quick, surreptitious movement, Ron stepped into a side hallway, through a door warded authorized personnel only.

He walked down a dark, corridor of old stained stones, lit only occasionally by small torches. At the end of the hall, a black, unmarked door stood. Ron opened it and walked in. The room was unlit, and as the door closed behind him, Ron suddenly couldn't see anything at all.

"Well lad, what do you have for us?" A familiar voice came from a dark corner of the room. Ron turned to the sound, and a single, blue glowing orb hung at head height. A click echoed in the room, and suddenly Remus Lupin and Tonks appeared, even though she was technically Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin these days. Remus was sitting behind an old scarred desk, his boots propped up on the top. Tonks was sitting on the edge of the desk, an interested look on her face.

Mad-Eye clumped over to the others and leaned against the wall. Ron nodded to him, "After we picked up Pansy, we questioned her but she didn't have much in the way of actual new information." Ron shrugged, "I mean there was one of the normal, vague threats against the Quidditch World Cup, but we get those all the time. Not much else. Hermione is still researching into just how Lucius is controlling the X'Sheen and the Dementors, we know Voldemort had some sort of deal with the Dementors at least, but that doesn't seem to be the case now. Intelligence reports seem to indicate more of a subservient role." He looked to Lupin; " we transferred Pansy to Ministry custody last night."

Lupin nodded, "yeah we got her, I signed off on the report from the duty Auror," he handed a folder of parchments to Tonks. She passed it to Ron; it was jet black in color, with Top Secret written in blood red diagonally across it. He opened it to find several files; the one on top seemed to be a complicated potion formula. Ron glanced up quickly at Lupin. Ron wasn't the best in the world at Potions, he had finally passed his NEWT with an O, but that was more because his two best friends and his fiancée at the time had almost sat on him until he studied. But despite that, he recognized this potion, it was the same modification of the animagus potion that Hermione had developed in sixth year, and had given Remus the ability to control his lycanthropy and had uncouple him from the moon. In effect making him an animagus with a werewolf alternate form.

"What's this..." Ron muttered, confused.

Lupin was pale as he responded softly, "As you know, after Hermione developed the potion...for my condition, we hid the notes. There were three copies in existence, her original notes which were and still are in the Potter family vault in Gringott's, a copy hidden in the Department of Mysteries, and a third copy that until his death was entrusted to Severus Snape. After he died an inventory of his effects did not find them, however as the Death Eaters that stormed Hogwarts trashed his quarters most thoroughly, we assumed that they were destroyed when they burnt the room. We now have reason to believe that that may not be the case."

Tonks nodded and turned from her husband, "we classified the notes, as while her potion does allow one to lessen the effect of werewolfism," she gave Remus a small smile, "there were concerns that some would use this knowledge to build armies of werewolves, as it also gives them the ability to transform at will. So it was decided by Hermione and Dumbledore to classify it for now. Ministry employees that are afflicted are offered the treatment and are given a secrecy and binding geas, that keeps them from sharing the secret, and keeps them from using the alternate form like Remus here." She shrugged.

"So what, the reports that we have heard are true?" Ron exclaimed incredulously, he's building an army of these..." Ron turned and shook his ruefully, "Luna was right." He looked back at the trio of Aurors, "we have been carrying silver loads for a while, just in case, and Ginny and Draco ran into a pack last year, but..." Ron shook his head once more and sighed, "I'll let them know."

***********************Diagon Alley***************************

The sight of the entire Potter family on the streets of Diagon Alley was, to put it mildly, an remarkable one. Even now, six years after the defeat of Voldemort, it would not be unusual for Harry and Hermione to mobbed as they appeared in the alley. It was even worse in a way when the kids were with them, as people totally unknown to any of them would gush on how cute they were. So in response Harry and Hermione tended to stay away from Diagon Alley and do their shopping in Hogsmeade, where the atmosphere was much more relaxed. And even beyond that, while many in the partially rebuilt Diagon Alley knew the Hogwarts trio had saved them from Voldemort, many of the residents of Hogsmeade had witnessed them doing so from their front porches so to speak. As a result in Hogsmeade they were respected enough to be mostly treated like everyone else.

But even at four, the Potter twins had already discovered that no one made as good a sundae as Florean Fortescue.

Florean had seen them coming, and had a table, two small sundaes and a large one for the parents to split already waiting for them as they approached. And like he had done in the summer before Harry's third year, he had insisted they were on the house. He did ask that the kids come by more often as he left the sundaes and headed off to attend to some Hogwarts students who were obviously in the Alley to do some shopping.

Fortunately in the wake of Voldemort's defeat, several new laws were passed, that while confirming the freedom of the press, the presence of the kids legally prevented the wizarding pavaratzi from annoying them. Harry or Hermione would be perfectly within their right to challenge any miscreants who disobeyed that edict to a duel.

Even the Daily Prophet's reporters weren't that stupid.

Thankfully today, there weren't too many people about. A few young kids stopped by the sundae shop to talk to them, several of whom had the Potters in school, or who had siblings who did or had.

A small smile lit Harry's face as he looked across the table to see Horatio with probably more chocolate ice cream on his face and bib apron than in his mouth. Thanks Mione. He whispered as his eyes cut to hers. She just smiled and held his hand for an instant.

An hour later, despite Hermione's half-heated protests, the four of them were out behind Quality Quidditch Supplies. Hermione was glaring at Harry as they watched the twins trying out a pair of training brooms. The small brooms were even, as Horry had so helpfully pointed out, "just like mum and daddy's" with the mini-Firebolt logo proudly inscribed on the handle. Harry turned to shrug, "what?" glancing away from Em, for a second. Hermione gave up pretending and flashed a grin, just as they both heard a wail, and their hearts leapt.

Harry didn't quite apparate the several yards to Emilia's side as he dropped to his knees beside his daughter. Horatio showed up an instant later with his mother in tow. Harry picked up Em, and brushed a curly lock from her eyes. H e muttered a healing charm on her skinned knee under his breath as he kissed her on the forehead. "Ok now Em?"

Emilia nodded, and quickly whipped the tears from her eyes as he set her down next to the toy broom. Without even a look back, she hopped back on it and started racing around the special paddock in the back of the store built just for this purpose. "Yep Harry she's yours alright." Hermione confirmed with a sagely tone.

****************Lair of Lucius Malfoy, current Dark Lord************

July 10, 2012

"Come in Pansy" Lucius said softly from within a dark room. With a hesitant sigh, Ginny walked in. She was shaking a touch, as Pansy would be in the same situation, but it was not all an act. Walking the length of the long room, she stopped and knelt before Malfoy hoping all the while he could not hear her heart beating.

"You wanted to see me, Sire?" Ginny asked; her face turned to the polished wood floor. Unlike his former master, Lucius tended to relish in the finer trappings, as was seen in his current surroundings. His current lodgings were impressive. Ginny did not know where she was, but it seemed that she was somewhere in England still. The castle that they were in was moderately sized, nowhere near the size of Hogwarts, but not insubstantial either. If she had to guess, it probably was a quarter the size of that ancient edifice. It certainly was unplotable, she had been unable to scry her position on a map and she was already in the castle. The revelations of just the other day had almost shattered her, the sight of the X'Sheen under the control of Malfoy, and the sight of Dawlish and Fudge bowing to him had nearly cost her, her cover right then.

She was out of communication with SG1, as soon as she had arrived, all of her possessions were taken, even her wand, and there was not an owl in sight. Her wand was returned, eventually, but nothing else. And she desperately wanted to communicate. The man who had ordered the eternal sleep of her fiancé, who had probably killed Hermione's parents himself, and whose' other sins were too innumerable to name, was only ten feet in front of her. Her wand hand itched as she imagined for an instant a jet of searing green light shooting out of her wand and killing the bastard. Its not the yet the right time...if I can just hold out a little longer and learn the rest of their plans and get my communication gear back...

"Yes" Lucius replied, drawing the word out. He smiled as he stood and walked over to her, "I believe that you can be of great assistance...Ginny" She gasped and desperately drew her wand, "STUPEFY" the jet of red light impaled Malfoy in the chest. He laughed harshly. With a wave of his hand the wand shot across the room to the waiting hand of...Dawlish.

"Thank you Dawlish," Malfoy chortled. "IMPERIO" the spell hit Ginny and she staggered. Her eyes went dull as she looked at Malfoy. He smiled and extended a small pocket mirror. "I think that it's time you notified your superiors of your status my dear."

*********************The Burrow****************************

July 14, 2012

Molly Weasley smiled at a wisp of air as her adoptive daughter vanished. Behind her, Emilia and Horatio were in a flat out sprint towards a large playhouse that Harry and Ron had magic'ed into existence last summer. Another CRACK echoed off the trees and Ron appeared, his daughter clutching one hand, with Elliot clutching the other. "Grandma" she screamed and ran full tilt at her, knocking her staggering as she hugged her around the legs. Elliot was much more circumspect, he let go of Ron's hand almost shyly and crossed to Molly as Harriet let go and followed the youngest Potters.

"Thanks for taking them mum." Ron said with a small smile, his eyes tracking his daughter as she trekked towards the back yard. Molly gave Elliot a hug and he wandered off after the rest of the youngest generation. Her eyes grew dark as she turned back to Ron.

"Ronald Bilius, where the Bloody Hell is Ginny?" Molly growled softly, her hands on her hips.

"I can't tell you mum." Ron shrugged, and in a desperate effort to forestall her questions, disapparated. Molly glared at the spot he vanished and with a huff, started walking towards the back yard and the kids. At the large playhouse, which truly showed off Ron and Harry's lack of building skills, Harriet, Emilia and Horatio were sitting closely, talking softly. They were obviously plotting something. Elliot, however, was standing to himself a little ways off. He had never been an outgoing child, his father's near-death state had scarred his mother, and it had rubbed off. Ginny loved her child, but he was just as often in the company of Ron and Luna or Harry and Hermione, or his grandparents as he was in his mother's, even when she wasn't on assignment.

"Why don't you join them Elliot?" Molly softly inquired as she came up to her grandson. She smiled encouragingly at him, but he shook his head and crossed his arms.

"I want my mummy." Elliot pouted, "I want to go home." The five year old pronounced petulantly. His ginger hair fell over his eyes as he looked at the ground in front of him. Molly heart sunk as she looked at him, he looked a great deal like his father, especially as Neville had looked when he first started Hogwarts.

"She has to work, Hun" Molly replied, kneeling to look him in the eyes.

"I don't care." Elliot snapped, "She should be with me. Em and Horry's parents are with them all the time!" Molly carefully did not cry at the truth in his words. Harry and Hermione and Ron and Luna, were in truth much better at this than her youngest daughter. Ginny loved her son, Molly was as sure of that as she was that the sun would rise in the east, but she also knew that every time Ginny looked at him, she was reminded of the man who might as well be dead. Elliot started sobbing softly as Molly pulled him into her arms.

"Your mum will be home as soon as she can Elliot, she has go to put bad people away." Molly whispered.

"Like the ones that took daddy away?" He asked in his childish voice.

Tears in her eyes, Molly nodded, "Yeah hun, like those people."

It was all she could do to keep the tears from flowing freely as she watched the five-year-old step back and wipe his eyes. Her heart skipped as he nodded like someone several times his age and she instantly knew what the sorting hat's decision would be in six years. "Ok, I'll wait for her." Elliot said softly and turned to go join his younger cousins.

*********************Secret Ministry Facility, Northern Scotland*************

"Ok Gred and Forge," Harry said mildly as he appeared silently next to a large aircraft hanger. "What am I doing here?" He had been working on the coursework for next year's students in his DADA office at Hogwarts when an ostrich had walked through his door, a sealed envelope in its beak. Even though the Hogwarts positions were cover assignments for his team, he and the rest of the group that doubled as Professors, took the responsibilities seriously. He really needed to get his syllabus and book assignments to Minerva McGonagall soon.

Harry looked around the seemingly abandoned airbase; it had been secretly deeded to the Ministry after the cutbacks following the end of the muggle "Cold War." Vast runways sat empty, towers abandoned, barracks dusty and full of cobwebs. Fred and George waved him into the hanger, smiling all the while.

As he entered the cavernous building, he saw that it was empty for the most part, except for a large, tarp-covered mound to one side. Next to a large workbench, large, glowing orbs lit the scene. The bench was greasy and covered with Muggle tools and several silver gadgets, which were spinning and whirring in seemingly random patterns. Fred and George's enchanted computer was set up on the bench, talking softly to a coveralled figure that was turned away from them. Harry's lips split in an unconscious grin as he glanced at Hermione's back; she turned at feeling his presence, returned the gesture and turned back to what she was working on. He followed the twins over to Hermione and the tarp-covered mound. Hermione walked over to him as Fred and George leaned on the workbench. "Well Harry we were thinking the other day." Began Fred.

"Well, to be honest it was about a year or two ago." Admitted George. "And we happened to look at the newest Firebolt as we were walking past Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"And, of course we had to check it out." Fred put in. He shrugged, "we started to look it over, but then we started to wonder, why it only did three hundred...I mean the muggles can do so much better. So we bought a couple and started to experiment." He waved his wand at the tarp; it vanished to reveal...a long, sleek black shape.

It resembled a streamlined fuselage to a muggle fighter aircraft with short, stubby wings. The craft had no visible exhausts or any sort of rudder. The bubble canopy was faired into the fuselage, and a pair of reclined seats was visible in tandem under it. Harry walked up to the craft, and ran an appreciative hand along its nose. "Harry "Leo" Potter" was inscribed in gold lettering under the canopy next to the front of the two seats,. Art on the nose showed a beautiful, dark-red haired witch with a steely glint in her emerald eyes, her wand held aloft and lit with the beginnings of a spell. Under the artwork, which was as realistic as only wizarding paintings could be, was the name, "Lily."

He glanced over at Hermione, she gave him a quick hug, "they asked me to help...seems that they found out that there were two problems with their initial idea." She walked to the rear of the craft, Harry and the twins following as her voice slipped into a lecturing tone. "As you know, modern brooms are limited by two factors. The first, of course, is sheer power. The second is that, honestly a broom with a rider is not the most aerodynamically viable shape. Magic can do a great deal, but even we have to obey physics, more or less." Harry nodded absently, as she indicated a pair of streamlined nacelles tucked into the fuselage under the stubby wings. "For the first we mounted a pair of broom cores in these pods, one on each side." She gave him a slightly embarrassed look, "I um, sorta...boosted the power from each; they started out as Firebolt Mark V cores...these put out around twenty times the power of those." Behind Hermione, Fred mouthed silently, "a bit more actually," and grinned.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Yeah," Hermione said, "I know, slightly excessive." But Harry didn't look as if he thought it excessive; on the contrary he looked like a third year on his first trip to Honeydukes. She bit her lip as she walked to the front. "We, um modeled the rest after the fuselage of an American F-16, some friends I know knew where a wrecked one was."

"How fast?" was all Harry could manage to squeak out. He ran a finger over a small port on the nose that looked a lot like a large wand poking out, interrupting the smooth skin of the craft.

"We actually don't know." Admitted Fred and George together, Fred flicked a wand, and a midnight blue jumpsuit similar to the one Hermione had on and a pair of helmets appeared on the workbench. "Want to find out?" Harry absently caught the helmet Hermione tossed him. Curious, he looked down at it. The midnight blue helm looked a great deal like a pilot's helmet from Star Wars, he noted amusedly. A stylized Phoenix was emblazoned on the right side, with a rampant Gryffindor Lion on the other. A small union jack was on the front above the visor, with Potter stenciled across it. He watched as the cockpit levered itself open and a small ladder floated over from the side.

Harry climbed the ladder to sit in the front seat; it was a mark of his shock, that he only distantly noticed Hermione dropping into the rear seat. "How do I?" He motioned towards the controls. A small joystick sat to one side, a throttle to the other, both studded with buttons. He waved his hand over the cockpit, and as it passed the craft came to life. Lights lit, and screens filled with numbers and complicated formulas. A screen set into the front of the cockpit, lit with a fiery graphics, just like wand lettering. Hermione stood in her seat and leaned over the back of Harry's chair, causing Fred and George to wander off quickly. Nice view Love.

Shut up Hermione replied, though she was laughing as she tugged her zipper all the way up to her throat. Harry bit off a chuckle, but stopped abruptly as her "Professor Granger" tone whispered in his ear. He forced himself to concentrate as thoughts that had very little to do with flying flickered behind his eyes, or at least flying in the conventional sense. She kissed his ear, and stretched out, pointing at the front of the cockpit.

"We had to replicate a lot of what there would be in muggle craft with magic. The screen in front shows magical energy sources, including magical creatures, on the current setting, and on this alternate setting," she flipped a switch on the throttle under his left hand, their rings clinking together as their hands touched, "it sort of acts like a radar...sort of. It actually doesn't work as well as the muggle version. That should be fixed when I get a moment. I should be able to get my technology protection charms to work on all the electronics. But I ran out of time."

"It's ok, Mione." Harry assured her. His eyes were twinkling, as he flipped his left hand over and grabbed hers for an instant.

"Anyway." She finished after a brief pause, "it's mostly like a broom, just like a broom handle push forward to go down, back to pull up. The main difference is the other stick on your left controls the speed. Or," She hesitated, "it should work by thinking at it." He turned and looked at her, "at least for you and me." She indicated the buttons, "there's weapons too. Just be glad that we have a really big budget." She looked slightly guilty at that last comment, Harry grinned further. "Lets just say that each of the missile analogs costs about five times what a Firebolt costs." Not surprising really, since we used Firebolts to make them.

"Lets go then" Harry muttered. Hermione dropped back into her seat, and pulled on her helmet over tightly braided hair. The straps in the seat closed over her chest and lap as he canopy closed and locked. "How do we get it off the ground?"

"It's like a broom Harry." Hermione replied.

Harry rolled his eyes as he touched the stick, "UP." The craft floated up, hovering about five feet above the cracked concrete of the tarmac. "Push the throttle forward huh?" He asked as he gently turned the ship towards the open doors. Hermione nodded, suddenly not really thinking this was really a good idea. With a breath, Harry rammed the throttle forward. A blurry afterimage remained behind, as the fighter shot out of the hanger, and with a quick pull on the stick, shot straight up.

"Harry..." Hermione grunted against the sudden feeling that she weighed about six times what she normally did, "the b..button under your left pinky, in..Invisibility booster." He pushed it, and outside of the canopy Harry could see the nose vanish. Unlike the time he and Ron had used an invisibility booster in the Weasley's flying car, he could still see himself and the inside of the cockpit. He rolled the craft level and backed off on the throttle, glancing out, he saw they were speeding over the North Sea. He looked in the rear view mirror, and saw Hermione looking back at him. With a laugh, he snap rolled the ship, spinning the craft across the sky. "Do you like your birthday present?" She bit the corner of her lip nervously as she asked. "I know I'm a few days early."

"Have I told you I love you today?" Harry said in lieu of a reply. He glanced down at the ground going by in a blur.

"I think you just did baby." She replied. Behind him, she flicked something, and a flaming red crosshair flickered to life on the canopy in front of him. "Want to know what else it does?"

"Can't wait."

A couple of hours later, a flicker of movement stopped over the tarmac. A breath later, a black shape faded back into view and settled to the ground. Fred and George ran up as the canopy rose, and Harry stood up. Leaning over the back of his seat, he helped Hermione to her feet, before the pair of them vaulted over the side of the ship, not bothering to wait for the ladder that was following behind the twins. "Nice." Harry said to the twins. They beamed.

"Glad you liked it." Fred said, "especially since Weasley Enterprises is releasing a civilian version this fall in the States. We can't get approval here, since the Ministry seems to think it's an enchanted Muggle artifact, like Dad's old car. They don't want to listen that we built the thing from scratch. Bloody bureaucrats."

"And especially since you and Hermione own the patents on about half the charms." George grinned. "I guess your Gringott's account might grow some more." Harry looked rather indifferent at that, as did Hermione, really. The money was a way of keeping score in a game neither really cared about playing. It was a tool that they had learned to use, but that's all it really was, a tool.

Together, the pair of them donated, many thousands of Galleons to charity each year, especially to the charities they had created after Voldemort died. Though to be fair, Fred and George were almost as generous with their newfound wealth. "We do have one other thing to show you." He flicked his wand at a tall, steel crate that Harry had not noticed earlier. Jets of steam erupted from the seams as the front opened slowly. As the steam cleared, Harry walked forward to find what looked like a suit of coal black plate armor; only much seeker than the thousands of suits lining the corridors of Hogwarts, like a cross between a muggle space suit and one of the medieval suits.

"We got the idea from your duel with Voldemort." Fred said softly, apologetically. Harry raised an eyebrow, "As you know, the X'Sheen are faster, stronger than humans and fire their curses wandlessly."

"Yeah."

"Well, we had Hermione look into the arithmancy on their spells." George explained. He motioned to Hermione; she stepped forward and ran a hand along the crate.

"As you know Harry, the Kedavra curse, while it cannot be blocked by conventional magical spells." She didn't mention Harry's and her own experience at defeating that spell, nor did she need to. "It can be blocked by solid objects, though it does act as a maxima grade Reductor on those solid objects." Harry looked thoughtful; he had seen that effect many, too many times. In the missed curses in the Chamber, in the fighting at Hogsmeade and other places and of the times Dumbledore, Hermione and him had used solid objects to block that particular curse when all else failed. "For any spell below the level of an unforgivable, the suit absorbs and channels the energy of the spell and stores it to power the suit and its own weapons. For a Kedavra equivalent from an individual X'Sheen, it will take one, maybe two of the hits. I still don't think it will totally defeat one from a wand though. It might mediate the effects, I don't know honestly. The math isn't clear."

Fred stepped up and flicked his wand at the suit. Slowly, it pulled itself out of the crate and walked, slowly, jerkily over to Harry. It stopped, facing Harry. "Its much more nimble when there is actually someone inside. He waved at Hermione.

"We used a similar enchantment to those used on the sorting hat, to allow it to interface with the wearer's own body. Without a person thinking at it, it's pretty stupid. But with one in it..." She wore an odd, half smirk, a look Harry had first seen second year, when she amply demonstrated that she was smarter than anyone else when she brewed polyjuice in a rundown girls toilet with stolen supplies. "It also increases the wearer's speed by a factor of five and strength by a factor of ten. There are ports on the wrist to mount the user's wand...and the destruction duo," She glanced over at the twins, they looked just a bare touch guilty, "have a few more weapons, both muggle and wizarding they are playing with to stick on it." She raised an eyebrow at them.

"Harry." Fred muttered.

"Yes..." he replied, with an air of one who really didn't want to know, but still had an overpowering urge to ask anyway.

"We umm...shot up the pitch at Godric's Hollow...by accident testing it." George admitted. "The minigun looked so cool on that muggle telley show."

Harry rolled his head around his neck, popping it loudly. He glanced at Hermione; she shrugged. So that's why we've not gone to the Hollow for the last month, I knew the excuse was pretty slim...

They claimed they were going to have it fixed by this weekend. I promised not to turn them into mice and let Hedwig and Crooks after them. They owe you three new hoops still.

Harry sighed, a long, suffering sigh. At least they're on our side...I think. He felt Hermione agree with him. "Fix my pitch boys." Harry growled, then a small, little boy grin blossomed on his face, "and I want at least ten suits ready to go by next month. We've been needing a way to stand up to the bastards."

A/N: Someone asked if weapons to fight the X'Sheen were being researched. I guess the answer was yes. I got the idea for the training broom thing from watching my niece do the same thing with her bike. Next Chapter, we finally learn just what that last scene meant in chapter 43 of Lions.

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6. The Deception in the Mirror

In honor of July 4th here in the states, here's chapter a bit early...Enjoy.

Chapter 6: The Deception in the Mirror.

******************Malfoy Castle, Somewhere in Southern England*********

July 20, 2012

"Bariss, do you have any further information on Potter's little spy?" Lucius Malfoy asked the short Death Eater trailing in his and his wife's wake. Xavier Hamilton was further trailing the trio, his head down as befitted the apprentice of the Dark Lord. Lucius and Narcissa were walking arm in arm down a dark stone corridor from the room that so resembled a throne room, if throne rooms normally had shackles and torture implements mounted to the walls for ruler to enjoy, "entertaining" with.

Bariss was a small man, balding with a slight limp. He had once been compared to Pettigrew until Bariss had crucio'ed the offending young Death Eater. But despite that, the comparison was apt. Bariss had also once been on the side of the angels, before submitting to the dark. He had been an Unspeakable before the Ministry had learned of his affiliation in the aftermath of Voldemort's death, but he had escaped just moments before the Aurors raided his apartment. Now he served as Malfoy's majordomo, coordinating attacks on the muggles and wizards alike. He looked up at Malfoy, "A bit sire, she has a son by the blood-traitor Longbottom. If you will remember our...allies performed the soul-rendering curse on him at Hogsmeade."

"Ah, yes...they do so run together...can we get the son, or perhaps the traitor Longbottom? We need to fully break her, and she is resistant to the Imperious." Lucius responded thoughtfully, "I have been able to keep her reporting under the Imperious, but we will need additional leverage to fully control her." Lucius raised his wife's hand to his lips as she stepped to the side.

Bariss thought for a moment, "I do not know, my lord." Eventually he shrugged, "it will be difficult, the children are well defended normally, and we are not sure where Potter has hidden his casualties. And as to your long term goal...the potion is ready, the special caldron has been acquired and configured as you specified."

"Excellent..." Lucius smiled, he turned to his minion, and his pale gray eyes lit with an inner, red fire. "We will make the fools react like puppets on a string, make them defeat themselves." He laughed darkly, "Potter and his little bitch think themselves invincible; they will learn that they have spawned their own defeat." A dark, hollow laugh echoed from four throats.

************************Hogwarts*******************************

Several hundred miles away, the golden trio of Hogwarts was walking down a deserted corridor. It was still weeks until the students, and even the majority of the staff returned from their summer hols. Sunlight danced in the hall from the great windows facing the courtyard. Harry looked over at Ron as the three of them exited the DADA wing and stopped, elbows propped on the railing of the bridge spanning between the towers. "I'm worried Harry." Ron pronounced suddenly as he watched several of the school owls swooping around the castle. "I was the one that took that latest status report from Ginny and she just didn't look the same. Something was wrong."

Harry sighed, "Ron...I don't know what to say, she's alive, if I knew where she was, we would have already raided the place. But unless she triggers the beacon..." Harry shrugged as he absently glanced down at his joined hands.

Hermione's eyes flicked over to his, "we could try a locating spell, but, it probably wont work. We've tried over the years, with Death Eaters we've let escape..."

Ron looked at his best friends. His eyes were haunted. "Damn it though, we can't let this go much longer." He turned his back on the vista of the castle, "She was just supposed to be under a short amount of time. Even with the extended polyjuice formula, she will run out about ten days after the QWC." Ron rung his hands, "maybe we shouldn't go to the world cup..."

Hermione glanced over at Harry, her eyebrow arched up. "I never thought I'd see the day that Ronald Weasley would try to turn down World Cup seats." Ron started to snarl a response, but Hermione cut him off, "I know Ron, I know." Hermione said consolingly, "but we almost have to go, now. You were the one who told everyone we were guests of Arthur. If we don't go, then some of the Death Eaters might put two and two together and wonder where Ginny is, and that could blow her cover even faster."

"Its just not the same, Hermione." Ron objected, "She should be there too."

Harry sighed, "I know Ron" He glanced down at his watch, a enchanted self winding one that Hermione had given him for his birthday several years ago. He checked the date and frowned. "Ok, Ron, here's how we play it. She has a week until the QWC, and ten days after that. If she hasn't contacted us by then and requested extraction..." He looked meaningfully at Hermione and Ron; "we get her out, what ever it takes...even if we have to blow cover and tear the damn country apart to find her. The bastards don't get our family, ever." Ron nodded and walked off, his hands in his pockets.

Harry turned back to the view of the grounds. He let out a small, tired sound as Hermione settled into his side. Harry pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. Mione, he's right, we shouldn't have put her this deep under. He looked down the corridor after his brother, he really was opposed to me assigning her this...It's all my fault if something happens, I...

Honestly, Harry...Hermione snapped, not every thing is your fault. Ginny is a professional; she knew what she was getting into.

Harry gave a small nod, Yeah...I know; it's just that I don't want to be the one to cause Elliot to loose both his parents. He ran his free hand through his hair, absently brushing it from his forehead.

Hermione hugged him, one-armed. I know, love. It will be okay.

Harry knew she was just trying to reassure him, even though they both knew all too well that there were no guarantees in their line of work. Gracing her with a tight, half-smile he nodded silently. They both knew what the real chances were for Ginny if she was revealed. If nothing else, Lucius Malfoy had learned from the mistakes of his former master. He killed traitors and spies instantly and efficiently, at least for the most part he did not let his own twisted desires get in the way of his security, unless there was an overriding benefit to letting them live, however briefly, the string of agents that had fallen to the newest Dark Lord had only been eclipsed by his former master, and Voldemort had had more time to play with.

Harry and Hermione stood together motionless, silent in thoughts and speech for almost ten minutes. Conversation was not really necessary for them any longer, unless there was actually something to say. With a soft groan, Hermione decided there was. Harry?

Yeah, Love? Harry whispered back as a pair of thestrals rounded the spire of Gryffindor Tower. Next to him, Hermione stepped back and faced him, standing far enough apart that she could see his eyes, his reactions. Harry looked a silent question at her, she shook her head briskly as she bit her lower lip and looked away. Harry waited.

Finally she met his eyes again. An odd look filled her chocolate pools, as she glanced away again. Harry knew she had something she wanted to say, but didn't know how to broach the subject. He knew from the way she held her head that she had uncovered some obscure fact that was destined to cause them, difficulty. You remember the very end of the duel with Voldemort? Hermione finally inquired, pointlessly. She knew quite well his nightmares, his memories, and how the two were quite often one and the same. They were hers as well.

Yeah.

Poppy brought it up...Harry, neither of us have really aged since we were eighteen, twenty.

That's funny I seem to remember a couple of kids who would dispute that. Harry retorted, humorously. But deep inside he knew she was right. There was something, different about the two of them. Watching Ron, even at twenty-five and a wizard, he took just that little bit longer to recover from a sprint, or an injury. Ok, Hermione, spill.

Honestly, I never thought about it either...not until Poppy said something. She paced over to the other side of the bridge. Absently she flicked her wrist and a cup of coffee appeared; not that she was probably thirsty or needed the caffeine, Harry knew, but to bide time. She took a sip. So I did some research... she grinned as she felt him grin behind her, shush you...her grin faded. At first I thought it was due to your relationship to Dumbledore and that it probably rubbed off on me through the blood bonding, but the effect is too pronounced for just that. Harry, I've seen the spells that bastard was using to stay alive...the only reason we beat him in the end was that he bypassed his own protections when he used your blood for his rebirth, and that by then we were bound by blood as well.

See I knew there was a reason I kept you around, that was your idea I believe. Harry thought as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She turned in his arms and flipped the half-full cup into the air. Harry flicked his fingers and it vanished before it hit the ground. Her arms came around his waist in turn as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Hermione kissed his shoulder softly; I combined that with the message Godric left for us. I believe that through some freak set of spells and circumstances and our powers, Tom Riddle gave us what he had been looking for all along...

For another minute, Harry's eyes grew distant, until they returned to her. Ok...some other gift from the bastard. Harry turned and kissed her, their lips finding each other in a melancholy kiss. I sorta knew something was going on...what are we going to tell our friends, heck our sprogs when their dates show up at the door and their mum looks their age?

Good genes? Hermione shot back, and they both chuckled softly for an instant. I don't know love, I could be wrong. We should probably wait and see. Maybe Ron won't curse us out again for holding out on him. They both knew she didn't think she was wrong, despite what she might pretend, and for Harry, it had been a long time since Harry had questioned anything she had done research on.

It's not so bad...we can just have Luna shag him, that what got him over it the last time. Hermione snorted as she squeezed his waist tighter. Whatever happens Mione, we'll get through it, ok? She nodded, and taking a deep breath, she extracted herself from his arms and grabbing his hand once again, she lead him back into the castle proper.

*********************Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts********************

Albus Dumbledore was once again fighting the current bane of his existence, paperwork. The activities of the world's foremost site for the primary education for wizards and witches were never ending. Piles of parchments crossed his desk every day, ranging from detention forms, and academic reports, to expenses for housing magical creatures to proposals for raises for the paid part of the house elf staff. He had pawned off a great deal of the mundane chores on Minerva McGonagall during the seven years of Harry's tenure here as a student, as he had claimed, rightly, that he had other vital tasks to perform. The day after Harry and Hermione's wedding she had marched into his office and ceremoniously dropped about a half ton of paperwork on his desk. She hadn't quite grinned as she had left.

And unfortunately, Hogwarts wasn't his only responsibility. He shoved a stack of papers over to one side to find a pile of cases to review, at least cursorily. His responsibilities as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot demanded no less. Most of them were minor cases, suits and such, cases that he honestly didn't really have time to look at closely, or the need. With a small sigh, he recognized that he should pay attention to the one on top however. He picked up the jet folder, marked conspicuously with the red "top secret" rating across the front. Dumbledore opened the folder and started to page through the documents. He frowned as he saw the photo of Pansy Parkinson. She would be tried in a closed session later this week. Hermione had not been kidding, Death Eaters were eligible for death, if their crimes had proven worthy. He looked at the notes stating that that the prosecution would seek the penalty in this case.

Pansy was far from the first of his former students to appear before him. Several had been executed, several others put into Azkaban for life and a few had gone free. Unfortunately he knew from sad experience that those that SG-1 brought in were probably going to achieve one of the first two categories. They seldom went after the minor players.

A knock interrupted his melancholy review. He looked up to find Mad-Eye Moody darkening his doorstep. He gave his old friend a bleak smile, "hello Alastor." Dumbledore waved at a chair, "have a seat. Drink?" Dumbledore inquired as a crystal decanter shimmered into existence. Moody nodded and poured himself a shot. "What brings you here?"

Mad-Eye scowled, "Preparations my friend. Are the contingency plans ready?" He leaned forward. His wood leg clunked on the floor as he moved, and his eye spun to cover the room. Above the pair of them, the gallery of portraits looked down curiously, each trying to act like they were asleep. Mad-Eye's eye finished his circuit of the room. "When are you going to tell them?" He asked suddenly, and something in his dark, beady natural eye stated that he wasn't talking about whatever mysterious thing he had just mentioned. Or rather not directly, in this case.

Dumbledore looked at his desk pensively, he took a sip of his drink before answering slowly. "I do not know. Sybil has no idea where she is any longer, not really. Tom destroyed her mind. I can not give much credence to anything she says."

"She's gotten two right Albus." Moody reminded him. He nodded to himself as he took another sip of his drink.

"Three actually, now." Dumbledore corrected him, gently, but did not elaborate. Whistling suddenly, he called Fawkes to him. Dumbledore petted the crimson bird absently as he considered Alastor's questions. And what to say exactly. "This last one, even if it is, is so vague that I can not perceive any course except the one we are on. As to your original question, yes I have prepared Grimmauld, Godric's Hollow and certain other, family locations. There will be a place to run, if needed."

"Albus, what exactly did Sybil say?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I did not hear it directly this time. She gave it to a nurse who was on duty in her ward. I did retrieve it from the nurse's mind however." Dumbledore looked at the old Auror over the tops of his old, half-moon spectacles. " I believe that her words were...Beware, a time of fire approaches, those thought safe will be assailed, those thought defeated will arise. A dark shadow will fall over the young ones. Shackles of blood will hold where those of iron would fail." Dumbledore shook his head. "She gave that right before Voldemort attacked the DA's family members, I did not hear about it until after that event, and until recently I thought that it did indeed refer to the events of those last few months, as everything more or less fit. Now..." He trailed off, frustration showing in his normally twinkling blue eyes.

"Bloody hell," Moody muttered, and stood. "Then, I will try to make preparations, however you know Arthur has refused many of my security measures." The frustration was quite evident in his voice as he spoke of his boss. "This would have been easier you know, if you had taken the damn job, I'm reasonably confident that you could probably defend yourself enough to get by." Dumbledore just nodded as he stood to leave, no reply was really necessary.

Mad-eye walked to the door, but just as he was reaching for the handle, he stopped and sighed. "Albus...Arthur has been a great Minister, but he never would sign off on all my requests. I understand his reasons and for the most part I agree with him, we can't sacrifice our liberties, but blimey... We exposed many traitors and spies in the years since Voldemort died, but all it takes is one we've missed. Lucius had all those years to plan, both the time since Riddle died, and the twelve years when he was plotting before then."

"I know" Dumbledore replied as Alastor left the room. "I know."

A/N: It's a bit early, but here it is. Finally the glow at the end of chapter 43 from Lions is resolved. Next chapter, Sirius Black, is not only back, but he's bringing a friend. Also, Harry's birthday, not much of a celebration, just what an old married couple can get up to, and S'mores...yes, S'mores.

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7. Puppy Love

Chapter 7: Puppy Love.

*************************Grimmauld Place, London*************************

10:00 am
July 31, 2012.

The front parlor of the old house resembled a mustering field for some small army. Piled in a large stack in the middle of the room, were at least six packs, several brooms, a couple of small training brooms, and one large, ginger kneazle sitting atop the pile like some triumphant victor at king of the hill. Running about the periphery of the mound, three, four-year-olds and one, single, fire-headed five-year-old were bouncing off the couch and chasing each other in some nameless game. Elliot jumped behind a chair, with Harriet and Emilia in hot pursuit. He ducked sideways suddenly, almost causing Emilia to crash into Dobby, who was trying to do something with the pile.

"Em, don't squash Dobby," Hermione said absently, as she sidestepped her other running child.

"Ok, mum." Came a soft, childish version of her voice in response. Hermione laughed as her daughter tumbled over the arm of the chair, landed behind Elliot and tagged him. "You're it."

"You know, love, Molly would probably think we let them do what they want." Harry observed as he wrapped his arms around her. He watched his daughter dodge Elliot with a move that he knew was unconsciously magic assisted and sighed slightly. Unlike her parents, she knew she was a witch from the moment she could understand the concept, and being Hermione's daughter, that was pretty early. And in many ways, she was Hermione writ small. She didn't look exactly like her mother, her hair while curly to the point of being bushy, was the jet of her father, and her eyes were a deep green, liberally flecked with gold. But the rest was pretty much the same; her face duplicated her mum's almost exactly with the exception of the usual, minor, childhood scars, and a faint, almost invisible one on Hermione forehead, a souvenir of the battle with Voldemort.

"We do Harry..." Hermione smiled; then shrugged, "more or less anyway." She waved at the kids, "this is harmless. And they need to burn off the energy anyway, do you want them running about the camp wildly?" She inquired pointedly. Harry shook his head, agreeing with her silently. "Where are Ron and Luna anyway?" Hermione asked, with a slight case of exasperation creeping into her voice.

"Hell if I know." Harry replied unthinkingly. Then ducked as Hermione swiped at the back of his head.

"Watch your language, Harry James." Hermione growled and Harry looked sheepish as he nodded.

"Daddy's in trouble," singsonged a childish soprano. Hermione nodded and grinned at her daughter. Emilia laughed, then screamed as her brother snuck up behind her and tagged her. He ran off up the stairs, with her, Elliot and Harriet in hot pursuit.

"Not too much I hope," Harry growled lowly as Hermione spun in his arms to face him. He lowered his lips to hers, she playfully moved them aside at the last minute to receive the kiss on the cheek. Harry's face fell, until her fingers wrapped themselves into his hair and pressed her lips to him.

"Not too much," she agreed, muttering against his lips as their bodies molded to each other's. Their tongues danced as the kiss grew deeper, and they did not break apart as a CRACK shattered the silence of the room. Hermione's hand swept an owl figurine from a nearby table as they backed up; it fell to the floor with a crash. Her back hit the wall of the room just as a familiar voice rang out.

"OI...there are children in the house." Ron said with more than a trace of humor in his voice, as he walked up with his blond-haired wife in tow. Both he and Luna were dressed in Cannons' away jerseys, while England had not made it to the QWC this year; one of the Cannons' normal beaters was playing for the upstart Australian team. Even after knowing Ron for years and years and having gone through everything they had together, neither Harry nor Hermione had the heart to tell him how utterly horribly the bright orange jersey clashed with his hair, which was worn long and in a tail these days. Not that either of them really cared for such things, but some combinations were almost too much even for their studied indifference.

"They're upstairs," Harry replied slightly breathlessly, as Hermione nibbled on his neck, "and besides, where were you? We got stuck with all the kids all last night and all day today." Hermione nodded into Harry's shoulder in agreement. No one noticed as Winky briefly appeared and waved her hand over the figurine. It leapt back together; she replaced it, and vanished without a word or sound. Her and Dobby were actually going on vacation together as soon as everyone left for the World Cup. They had both turned down Harry's offer of seats of their own for the cup.

"Oh, we were having sex." Luna replied casually for the both of them. As one, Harry and Hermione turned and glared at Ron. Luna did not seem to notice, "we thought since the kids were in the same tent as us, we might not get the chance, or at least Ron said so."

Harry worked a tongue around the inside of his cheek, he glanced helplessly at Hermione who sighed; "You wanted to take them." She pointed out, needlessly. Ron was curiously quiet; perhaps he had read the muggle quote about wizards and their being quick to anger. Or maybe he just had learned discretion in his thirteen years since he had first boarded the train to Hogwarts. Her eyes grew calculating, "we don't have to apparate with the kids, they could portkey with Ron...the match doesn't start until tomorrow." Harry chuckled as Hermione waved at the repaired owl figurine, with a whispered, "portus" it glowed blue and shook for a second. She levitated it over to Ron. "Your turn with the kids...brother." Ron just nodded, knowing better than to object, not that he would have anyway; he loved Harry and Hermione's twins as if they were his as well.

Ron stepped back and walked to the stairs. "OI, GET DOWN HERE." He yelled, and almost immediately a thundering beat of steps answered his call as four small children ran down the stairs, only tripping and falling once or twice on the way. Harriet, Emilia, Horatio and Elliot looked at him expectantly, the twins only giving their parents the quickest of glances. "We're going to go ahead kids, Em, Horry, your parents will catch up." He pointed at the pile, "Grab hold of the pile." The kids did not argue, Uncle Ron was notoriously soft on them; they would probably get ice cream out of this. With a mouthed, "you owe me," Ron, Luna and the kids vanished in a fall of color.

"Where were we?" Harry whispered, his eyes flashed for a second, and Hermione felt the house wards shift to where they would only let Harry or her in or out, no one else. She grinned, almost shyly as she leaned back in.

"Something about kids and Ron's sex life or lack thereof, when I get around to reading that new creative curses book." Hermione smiled as she pressed her lips to his. Harry groaned slightly as Hermione bit his lower lip lightly. She bit off a moan as his tongue danced with hers. A minute then two passed, as hearts thumped and air soon become an issue. They broke apart, Hermione's fingers tracing the bottom of Harry's shirt. A small, half grin danced on her lips as she jerked his shirt up and off his body.

Hermione's fingers lightly traced the muscles of his stomach as Harry's hands slipped between them and started working on the buttons of her shirt. Her shirt fell open and his lips fell to her neck. Hermione's back lightly thumped against the wall, as her fingers found the button on Harry's jeans. Her eyes were dark with concentration as she flicked her fingers and Harry's pants vanished. "We loose more clothes that way." Harry observed amusedly, Hermione giggled, as Harry's fingers disappeared down the front of hers.

"Yeah...d..damn..." Hermione squeaked out, "w..wandless...ma..magic" Her eyes were dark as she shakily unbuttoned her pants. She sighed, and ran her lips along his neck, as Harry took over and slid her pants down her hips. "Now what Mr. Potter?" She asked breathlessly, but before she could say another word, they were in their bedroom.

"Oh this." Harry replied as he eased her back onto the bed. His hand cradled her head as he eased her down onto the pillows. Eyes met and a conversation passed in a glance. They smiled knowingly together, as Harry's fingers trailed lightly up her leg and teased her lightly. A low, soft purr came from her throat as their lips met again.

A small, very, very practiced movement later; they slid together, and began to move. Her hips rolled, "Hermione...." Harry hissed, she giggled. "Come here." His thumbs swept wet bangs out of her eyes as she lowered her lips to his. She pulled back, her damp bangs falling back over her face as she rocked back and forth.

Ohh...god.... Harry...Hermione managed. Her heart thumping in her chest as sweat glistened in the light of the candles lining the walls. Harry felt her quivering, as his stomach muscles clenched, his hands fell to her hips, guiding her, helping her. A vast warmth filled both their bodies and minds, and a moment later, Hermione froze, quivering, shuddering. Only to be followed in instant as Harry crashed with one last thrust.

Panting Hermione raised her head slightly and brushed her bangs from her eyes. She smiled contentedly as she rolled to her side and curled into his side. With a soft sigh, Hermione wrapped her leg between his and kissed his shoulder. "Happy Birthday Harry." Harry grinned at her and closed his eyes, his arm pulling Hermione more firmly into his side.

*******************Diagon Alley, London, The Leaky Caldron******************
1:15 pm

Sirius Black sat in an isolated side booth in the slightly shabby Wizarding tavern and gateway to Diagon Alley. With a slight nod, Tom sat a pair of chilled bottles of beer down on the table, and with the tiniest of shudders he added a small, shot glass filled with a steaming red liquid. "Will there be anything else sir...mum?" Tom paused at the second as be backed up, just a hair.

A fire lit in Sirius' deep gray eyes as he opened his mouth to respond, only to shut it abruptly at a small, delicate looking hand on his. "No Tom." A soft alto whispered with an air of utter tranquility. A pair of liquid, violet eyes regarded the hunchbacked, toothless bartender from under a pair of long eyelashes. Honey-blond air was drawn into a long plait and pulled forward over her left shoulder. The young woman looked to be about twenty-five, with a dancer's body. A small gold crucifix hung around her neck, and three earrings hung in her left ear, two in her right. A short, dark blue t-shirt was worn over a pair of jeans with the knees torn out. She slowly smiled up at the owner of the bar, revealing a pair of ivory white fangs. At this moment, they were protruding just enough to be noticeable. He hurriedly excused himself with a muttered comment about checking on the other patrons. "Sirius," The vampire looked over at him, her eyes going soft as hers met his, "it's ok." She sighed as she picked up the shot of blood, and slammed it in one gulp. She gave a little shudder and took a sip of her beer, "if you insist on making this work, you'll have to."

"But I don't want to." Sirius objected and winced as he watched those violet eyes fall, "No...that came out all wrong Cordy. I'm sorry; I just can't stand how they look at you. Like you are going to go wild and kill everyone one here, it's not right." The animagi growled as he shot a lethal look at the back of the bartender. The pair of them had started off at a normal table, but after several, non-covert, dark looks they had adjoined to a semi-private booth. The occasional dark glances Sirius still got from passers by was bad enough, even after he had long since been proven totally innocent of the betrayal of James and Lily Potter. He had been there when Peter Pettigrew was killed, but that had occurred about sixteen years after he had been first accused of that act, and in the end, the rat had met the cat, or kneazle rather. Crookshanks still got a happy look every so often on his squashed face. "We could go back to Grimmauld Place, no one would mind."

She sighed and shook her head. "No, Sirius, I...I couldn't I mean I know you live with them...but it's the...I mean it's Harry and Hermione Potter for Merlin's sakes." Cordelia started to get up, almost escaping the booth before Sirius could grab her arm. She sat back down with a slight huff. A purple glare met his, "do you really want to see how strong I am Padfoot?" She snapped, in a soft, dangerous voice.

"Do you want to see if you are stronger than a grim...my powers are partially present in both forms too, Fangs." He replied heatedly with a quiet whisper. He sighed heavily, and gave her an apologetic smirk; "Sorry Cordelia...It's just that when I found you in Budapest last year...after so long, after I thought you had died, I mean..." His eyes looked wet, and took a deep draw on his beer. Over at the side in the main part of the tavern, an entire family came in through one of the floo fires. They headed to the entrance to Diagon Alley with barely a glance for Tom. Sirius looked slightly forlornly at them, for the briefest of moments he could imagine himself with a family, with a family with the girl across from him. He had done so before. "Cordy, when we where together at Hogwarts, I...I, when you left so suddenly that summer before our seventh year, no letters, no explanation, we thought that you had been killed. I never knew that..."

"What Sirius?" She asked resignedly, "that I was a trueborn Vampire? Of course not, I was still hiding it, I still could until I came of age. And when I was revealed as one, would you have wanted to be with me...huh? A blood-sucking creature of the night...my kind kill humans Sirius."

The marauder dropped his head to his hands, and shook it. Cordelia O'Connor watched him, her metaphorical heart beating heavily. Sirius looked up, one hand snaked across the table to grasp hers; while his other caressed her check softly. Reflexively she rubbed against the hand. Sirius looked into her eyes and chuckled. Her eyes grew wide, her pupils darkening, until he shook his head and placed his finger over her lips to cut off a response. "Cordelia...love, my best friend is a werewolf, he eats people too, by definition. His children, who I love as my own, are wolflings." Her mouth dropped open in shock. It was unusual to say the least that anyone would admit of their, or their friend's children were half-blooded werewolves.

Without a pair of werewolf parents the children of a werewolf wouldn't become wolves themselves, wouldn't be cursed with the transformation, no in the rare cases that a werewolf would reproduce with a non-lycan the children would be normal. It was almost unheard of, bordering on legendary, that the kids would have the speed and strength of their werewolf parent, and a couple of other identifying characteristics, but not the curse of the transformation. Sirius nodded, "and Harry and Hermione let their kids play with them all the time." He laughed again, his normal, bark-like laugh.

"Have you ever bitten a human, Cordy?" He asked suddenly. She started to speak, he shook his head, "that wasn't in combat. Who wasn't already trying to kill you first? I know you have fed in combat," Grey eyes grew hard, "I have tasted blood in combat, Lupin has tasted blood in combat, you have never hunted a human for food just because you were hungry, have you Cordy? Death Eaters don't count love. I don't care if you use a wand, a blade, a gun or your teeth, they come after you, you defend yourself."

She looked embarrassed, hurriedly she took a gulp of her beer. "No Sirius, I haven't...I always got mine from a blood bank...it's just that, the urge, it's always there. Do you know how it is to look over at that child, and know, deep inside that she would taste heavenly..."? With a sudden, convulsive squeeze the empty shot glass she had picked up to gesture with, shattered.

"I was told by a wise wizard," Sirius remarked reflectively, as he waved his wand over the broken glass, it leapt back together, "that it is our choices that define who we are, not our powers."

Cordy snorted, "yeah Dumbledore told me that right before I left school."

"Well Harry told me that, but...he heard it from Dumbledore, when they thought I was dead." Sirius replied as he got to his feet. He pulled her to her feet; she came unresistingly. With a small grin, he lowered his lips to hers hungrily. Cordelia let out a soft moan as his tongue teased her lips open. She let out the tiniest giggle as he acted as if he hurt his tongue on her fangs. "We are going to Grimmauld right now to meet the family." He said firmly, his look booking no debate; she sighed and nodded into his chest. At 5'6" she only came up to his chest. With a soft CRACK, they vanished.

*********************#12 Grimmauld Place***************************

Hermione took a sip of tea as she rubbed her still wet hair with a towel. A loose camisole and a pair of baggy workout pants completed the outfit as she walked from hers and Harry's bedroom. With a contented sigh, she tossed the towel over her shoulder and snapped her fingers. It vanished before it hit the floor, banished to the laundry basket in the basement. She looked up happily as Harry followed her from the room, he was wearing a loose pair of jeans and an old, decrepit Lions sweatshirt. Harry sat down on the couch and held out his arms, mutely. Taking the hint Hermione curled up next to him, almost purring as loudly as Crookshanks in her happiness. "Happy birthday Harry." She repeated softly.

"If I get treated like that every birthday..." Harry leered, she giggled, and together they lay back down on the couch. Softly Harry's fingers traced up under the hem of her top, lightly playing over the muscles of her stomach and periodically jingling her belly-button ring, only to cause a soft giggle with each jingle. He was feeling rather sated, for now, so there was nothing really meant by the action other than her being in his arms. "Love you Mione."

"Me too." She muttered softly, nesting into the hollow of his shoulder. "Are we bad parents if we don't go meet up with Ron until tomorrow. I mean he can watch them tonight...he is their godparent after all."

"No, not at all." Harry agreed. His gaze grew calculating, "and besides he deserves it after leaving us with all four of the hellions, all last night and this morning." Absently Harry reached up and picked up his wand from the end table, he flicked it over their heads in an odd pattern, and an instant later, both of the them felt the house wards shift to their normal, limited access mode.

Similar wards were in place at Godric's Hollow, the Burrow and Ginny's apartment. Like all of the families' defensive wards, they had three settings. The first allowed only authorized, read, family members to apparate in. The second, a privacy mode that depending on the location; locked out any but the casters. The first and second, merely bounced any unauthorized apparation away from the house, causing them to reappear at a random site away from the intended target. The third however...had never even been tested. Harry and Hermione had created it in the dark days right after Neville had been injured, the lockdown setting would allow the authorized people to enter, but any others wouldn't survive the experience.

None of these thoughts crossed her mind as Hermione nodded, "yeah he does, but Luna probably doesn't." She shrugged, "how about we take a nap since you were up all night with Em, and we apparate out there tonight before dinner? The sprogs would love to have wieners and marshmallows over the fire with their daddy."

"Ok"

CRACK, an apparation sounded out, a slight chime from the house wards announcing it. Crookshanks' ears perked up from his perch on the top of the couch above Harry as all three sets of eyes, green, brown and yellow looked towards the door to the room. A moment later, a soft voice came through the door. "Are you two decent?" Sirius asked through the door, amusement dripping from his tone. He knew. He always knew. Hermione rolled her eyes. She started running through ideas on which small, slimy animal to turn Sirius into, as she sat up, pulling Harry with her. Harry was muttering imprecations on Sirius' character as he realized his birthday nap with his girl was being interrupted.

"More so than you." Harry shot back as the door creaked open. Sirius walked in, slowly. His right hand trailed behind him, and a breath later, Cordelia came in on his arm. Hermione turned slightly and gave Harry a significant glance. Isn't he a little old to be bringing his girlfriend over to meet the parents?

Honestly hush...Harry could feel the happiness belie her false anger at him. Together they rose and walked over to the pair. Magical senses flared as they approached, Ok, then...

Sirius trusts her, good enough for me...for now. She's trueborn Mione, means...

That's she's a Homo Nocturnous, not an undead. Bram Stoker should have done his research better. The purebloods can stay out under the sun; it just hurts their eyes is all. Hermione extended her hand, "Hermione Potter, and this is of course, Harry." Bemused, Cordelia took it automatically, the last wizard that she had met; besides Sirius that accepted her unconditionally was Albus Dumbledore.

Harry held out his, "Yep, I'm just Harry, her punching bag." Hermione stuck her tongue out at him, "you must be Cordelia; Sirius has told us so little about you." Harry smirked at Padfoot. The grim gave him the smallest of glares as Harry shook her hand. Cordelia looked at each of them, Sirius came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. With a brief, annoyed gesture she shrugged them off. Only to throw him an apologetic glance an instant later. "Would you like something?" Harry asked cordially, "beer? Tea? Something to eat?"

Cordy looked at him and with a measuring look, she replied. "I wouldn't mind a touch of blood, if you happen to have any?"

Harry looked utterly unperturbed; he nodded and stepped out of the room. A moment later he came back with a small shot glass filled with a dark red liquid and three butterbeers in chilled bottles. Dobby and Winky had already left on their vacation, so Harry was playing the role of host. Harry handed her, her drink and tossed Padfoot a beer. He crossed over to Hermione and sat down on the couch where she had resumed her seat. "So Cordelia." Hermione began, her voice almost assuming the tone of a parent interviewing one of their children's first dates. "When did you meet Sirius?"

The blond looked at her appraisingly. She knew intellectually that Hermione could destroy her with a gesture if she so desired, but still she was amazed at the acceptance that both of them showed. Of course the fact that both of them were not even trying to mask their magical signature, could be a gentle warning that was not lost on the vampire, but it could just be, and from their reputation probably was, merely the fact that this was their home and they didn't feel the need to. Cordelia gave Hermione a small smile, which caused her fangs to appear once more, "I actually was dating Sirius for a while at Hogwarts...I knew your parents Harry, but I left the summer before my seventh year. Dumbledore allowed me to take my N.E.W.T.s in a private session."

"So why haven't we heard about you?" Harry asked curiously from next to Hermione. His arm had snaked around her shoulders, without any thought involved whatsoever.

Cordy sighed; she took a seat in an easy chair at Harry's gesture. Sirius stood behind her, and when his hands rested on her shoulders this time, she did not move them, but rather relaxed into his embrace. "It was thought that my nature wouldn't become fully evident until later." Her violet eyes glanced to the floor, "The hunger started earlier than usual for me, usually it doesn't fully bloom until after one reaches their early twenties, for trueborns like myself. But an incident that summer caused me to fully release my nature too early. As you know, certain emotional events can trigger magical potential and as vampires are magical creatures..."

Harry and Hermione nodded, Hermione gave her a small, but genuine smile, "that's ok, you don't have to..."

But Cordelia shook her head, she glanced up at Sirius who mouthed, "its your decision." She looked back at Harry and Hermione, "no, if I am to be with Sirius, who seems determined to be with me...I can't seem to loose him, he's like a bad case of fleas on a shaggy dog." Everyone laughed including Sirius. Cordelia waited until her joke had faded, "my family was one of the few who resisted you-know...damn it, Voldemort's call. Our line was an old one, and we had insisted that, Humans were not our natural prey. Others objected."

She stared at the wall, as if it were a window to some past time, "This was during Voldemort's rise to power, he was looking to attract followers and allies with special powers, Dementors, werewolves, and the like. He had come to my father, demanding that he serve him, and brought friends..." A harsh hiss erupted from her throat, like the one Crookshanks let out in a fight. "My father refused, said that he had no place in this war, especially not on the side of one who would destroy everything. I remember the noise mostly...or lack of it. Finally the door to the room I was in opened and someone stood there, he raised a wand to me, and I just remember everything going red. A moment later, I looked down and his throat was ripped out. And I could taste the blood in the air, I hungered for it and fed off him."

She looked down at her hands, "when we first go over, not counting the ones that are changed, that is a different process entirely, we are wild, uncontrollable. It's worse when you are younger. If the change happens when you are older, when the hormones aren't raging...you can control it. But when you are young, the slightest thing could set you off, and I knew it. Dumbledore found me that night, and I was lucid enough to insist that he couldn't have me at school. I had friends, and..." she glanced up at Sirius, "others that I could not stand to think I could hurt in a fit of rage, so I left. Dumbledore helped me relocate to Budapest, and found me a home with others in similar situations. I was there until Sirius ran into me on a trip last year. He kept visiting me, until he convinced me to move back to London." She looked up, to see Harry and Hermione nodding. Harry stood and flicked a wand at the door. It glowed white for an instant, Cordelia hadn't noticed as she leaned forward in her chair.

Mione, we need to know. You know the reports we have gotten. Harry's frown was soft, confined to his eyes mostly, enough so that Hermione was probably the only person who would notice it.

It'll break his heart if she is...

You think I like this any better than you, you know what Sirius means to me...to both of us. The briefest of inclinations of her head graced her neck as together they turned back to the witch, vampire, whatever.

Sirius did know them, quite well. Or rather, he knew James and in the end, many of James' unconscious mannerisms were his son's. "What Harry, I know that look, what?" He growled. Softly, he padded around the chair, subtly placing himself between Harry, Hermione and Cordelia.

Harry glanced at him; his eyes were soft as he gazed on his godfather. Cutting his eyes to Cordelia, "Cordelia, here is the situation. What has Sirius told you about what he does for a living...what we do?" He leaned forward in his seat, knowing Hermione had conjured her wand into her wand. Soundlessly and behind the couch where it couldn't be seen. "I would like to know a bit more of your history as well, where were you during the last twenty years since Sirius last saw you?"

"HARRY!" Sirius snapped, only to stop as Cordy laid a pale hand on his, he looked down.

"No Sirius, they deserve to know. I knew my baggage would always cause an issue, that's why I never wanted to meet them, oh, I did, but I was afraid rather." She gazed into Harry's eyes, deliberately meeting them, after a second she chuckled, "I can see, your natural powers of Occlumency are formidable. Even to a Vampire."

Harry watched as she stood, and stepped in front of Sirius. She turned her back on Harry and Hermione for a minute as she rose on her toes and whispered something in Sirius' ear. He didn't look happy, even after her lips met his softly. He did sit down in the chair she had vacated a moment before. Harry sat back down next to Hermione as Cordelia sat back down as well, this time on Sirius' knee.

"Ok Harry," She replied calmly, "I know that from your history and Sirius' as well, you have learned to be weary of "friends" betraying you." She turned and gave Sirius a tiny, tight smile, "I never trusted Peter, even before my nature fully bloomed; I knew something was wrong." A deep breath. "That was one of the reasons I never came back Sirius..." Her lip trembled as she lost herself in his gray eyes, " When I heard you were in Azkaban, and when I heard what for, I couldn't believe it. But all that evidence was there. So I stayed away. And then, later when you were found to be innocent, and then you died, and I blamed myself again, I thought that if I had said something then..."

"James would have never believed you, luv." Sirius said softly, "I never thought it either, never thought it even a possibility, or Voldemort would have never gotten James and Lily."

"Snuffles," Hermione interjected softly, her right had was still dangling behind the back of the couch, still clutching her wand. Her gaze flicked to Harry's and back. "You didn't know." Her lip twisted wryly, "what is it with the men in my life and their guilt complexes?" She asked rhetorically, Cordelia shrugged.

"So I kept far away, I ran across occasional people I knew, but most of them did not travel in your social circle, Sirius so I didn't worry about word getting to you. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't think you would want to see me." Padfoot looked hurt, but only briefly as she reached down and grabbed his hand. "I know better now, baby." Her eyes flicked back to Harry's and as they met his, he saw her violet irises glow for a heartbeat and he abruptly, almost fell into her mind as she dropped every barrier to her thoughts. Harry stopped himself from plunging into those depths, the act was almost enough to wipe any doubt, but more importantly a certain; implanted memory leapt the space between them. "I know what you and Hermione need to ask. No, I am not one of the vampires Malfoy has recruited...I am however one of the ones Dumbledore has."

"We know," Hermione, replied as she pulled her wand from behind the couch and casually dropped it on the couch.

"You knew?" Sirius and Cordelia asked together, for two very distinct reasons.

Harry shrugged and waved at Hermione, "Yes, actually we were sure the instant you opened your mind to be examined." She smiled, "Harry found the memory Dumbledore implants in all of his new agents ever since Mundungus betrayed us. It does...bad things if you betray the Order. Only direct family members don't get it. You are an Order member right?" Cordelia nodded, amazed despite herself.

"Yes, Dumbledore inducted me about a year before I met Sirius again, he was wanting someone to watch over the vampire situation. I agreed. I still felt guilty over staying out of the Voldemort war for the most part. And yes, there are still rumors in certain parts of Knockturn Alley and their overseas counterparts that you aren't really school teachers"

Harry looked a touch grim at that news but nodded knowingly anyway. "Rumors we can deal with." Cordelia realized instantly what was said, and what wasn't. Harry got up from the couch and paced to the window. Muttering a spell under his breath, the visage of muggle London became a projection of the Quidditch World Cup stadium, the image coming from hidden viewing orbs situated about the camp and stadium for obvious security purposes. He watched the brooms of the Australian team flash by as they practiced some complicated move. "Padfoot, how would you and Cordy like to come to a campfire this evening? We'll apparate there at about five thirty if you would like to come, I'm sure the kids would love to see Uncle Sirius and Aunt Cordy." His eyes twinkled as he turned back to the pair and Hermione laughed at the expression on Sirius' face.

Sirius glanced at Cordelia and after getting a shocked, silent agreement; he nodded with a faint grin on his face. "Excellent," Harry replied with a yawn, "now if you excuse us, Hermione and will get back to our nap. I'm afraid the kids will keep us up all night."

***********Encampment, Quidditch World Cup, Somewhere in England************

8:30 pm

At the small complex of tents that demarked the Weasley and Potter families shared campsite, a small impromptu party was going on. As the adults sat back against several conjured logs, the kids along with their new Aunt Cordy, were trying to make s'mores the muggle way. Unfortunately there seemed to be great difficulty in this task, as Cordelia had never done such a thing and the kids, were being themselves. They thought it great fun to drop the s'mores in the fire and watch as Cordelia would try to get them out. She was smiling though, so it was all good.

As to the rest of them, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Sirius, the twins and an arrived for the party only, Lupin and Tonks, they were sitting back sipping butterbeers and munching on a birthday cake for Harry that Hermione had caused to appear. It was extremely fortuitous that the QWC had been held a couple of weeks early this year due to the forecasting of an odd storm front that was predicted to strike the area in the end of August according to the weather mages at the Ministry. As Lupin and Tonks engaged the twins in a conversation about the possibilities of their opening a shop in Russia, Harry glanced over at Sirius, who was sitting across from him and Hermione, gazing with an odd expression at Cordelia as she laughed at the Potter twins' antics.

"You know, that just encourages them," Hermione remarked absently to Sirius, she was stretched out next to Harry on the ground with her head on his lap. Her eyes glinted in the firelight as she gazed over at her kids and the blond witch fondly. Harry smiled down at her as he absently played with a lock of her hair; he took a sip of his beer and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah I know," Sirius replied. He stretched out to his full length with a little groan and sighed, "but they're happy...all of them."

"What's wrong Padfoot?" Harry asked quietly, even though he could read the reason in Sirius' eyes. He had worn it himself, especially when he didn't think he would live this long, especially not long enough to have a family with the woman curled up with him.

"She's too good for me Harry," Sirius replied softly, he took a drink of his beer and ran his hand through his hair as he turned away from the fire to look at Harry and Hermione.

"So," Harry philosophized, "Hermione's too good for me. But she was crazy enough to love me anyway. Witches are all crazy Snuffles." Hermione rolled her eyes but didn't deign to comment verbally or mentally. Harry knew her however, "I never said I was sane either Mione." She smiled up at him and he bent over and kissed her. "In the end, if you love her, really love her, you'll never feel you're worthy of her Sirius."

"And she probably feels the same," Hermione added in a whisper that only carried to the three of them.

"Mummy?" Emilia's tired voice said quietly as Hermione's flicked upwards. The girl had staggered over from the fire; she was rubbing her eyes as she came closer.

"Yes, Honey?" Hermione asked.

The little girl came up next to her parents and sat down heavily, she looked up at Harry; "can I sleep with you and daddy?" Hermione nodded, and without another word, her daughter curled up next to her, Emilia's head was propped against Harry's leg just like her mother's. Harry grinned over at Sirius; the old Marauder smiled in return.

A/N: There we go, a smidgen early for your update since I gave ya'll an extra chapter this last week, but hey. Next Chapter...the Quidditch World Cup...

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8. The Quidditch World Cup

Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup.

***************************Moor from Book 4*************************

August 1, 2012
9:30 am

"MUM" Emilia squealed as she bounced ahead of Hermione on the way to the top box of the stands. Hermione rolled her eyes and followed quickly, mostly to make sure her four-year-old daughter didn't fall of the stands. Harry followed, his son tagging along; playing with a Viktor Krum action figure. Bulgaria was once again playing; this time verses an upstart Australian team.

"Mione, do you think Bulgaria brought the Veelas again?" Harry asked, biting his cheek to hold in his grin, as she turned with her hands on her hips and a single eyebrow crooking. She turned back and kept walking.

"Harry James," Hermione replied sweetly, without looking back again, "dear if you get entranced again..." Horatio laughed as Harry apparated the ten feet between them and swept his arms around his wife.

"I seem to remember that you were the one who snapped me out of it last time, Love." Harry whispered in her ear. He kissed her cheek from behind and with a parent's instinct, glanced back to witness Horatio start to wander off, back down the stairs, "Accio Horry" Harry muttered, and a giggling four-year-old flew through the air.

"Do it again." Horatio laughed.

"He's just trying to get you, Harry." Hermione observed as she corralled her daughter, "Lord how mum did this without magic, I have no idea." She whispered to Harry as they entered the box, thankfully with all of their kids. Up near the front waiting on the pair, Ron and Luna were camped, holding their seats. With a small grin, Harry noticed a thin, glowing line running to the back of Harriet's jumper from Luna's wrist. Hermione sat down next to Luna, Harry dropping next to her as he turned and pointed out something to Ron. In front of them, they observed with more than a little trepidation that the next generation seemed to be plotting something. "Harry, they're plotting again." Hermione whined as she watched the kids out of the corner of her eye, a slightly harassed expression crossing her eyes.

A loud thump was heard behind them as Arthur entered the box in the company of the Bulgarian Minister, and the Australian Minister, a petite woman, about Ginny's height with dark blue eyes and long, light brown hair. "AHH, Ministers, may I present some of my family," Arthur said proudly as he noticed them sitting up front, "Harry Potter and his wife Hermione, and Ronald Weasley and his wife Luna, I am afraid the little hellions you see in front of them are my grandchildren, Horatio, Emilia and Harriet." Arthur finished pointing to each in turn.

"Hello to you all," the Australian Minister replied warmly, "I am Elizabeth Stark, I am extremely pleased to make your acquaintance...the world owes each of you a debt of gratitude." She leaned forward and shook each of their hands in turn. "What are you doing now, that you are out of school, working for the Ministry I assume?"

"No I am afraid not," Hermione replied charmingly, "with the exception of Luna, we are all working at Hogwarts as Professors these days." Hermione smiled as she indicated the students she recognized about the crowd, a few of whom waved to her. Madeline Pierce and Mark Evans were seated together a few rows down from them, the pair had just graduated Hogwarts, and were known to be an item and in fact had been compared to their DADA and Transfiguration instructors more than once. They both had been in Harry's extracurricular DA sessions as well, when Harry actually had time to teach them and didn't have to get a sub.

"That is too, bad...however never let it be said that the education of our children is any less important than other issues." Stark replied with a slightly condescending air.

"UMM, Let us get to the match, Oliver should be here any moment to help announce." Arthur interjected quickly before his kids replied to that implied insult.

Any less important...Hermione snarled in her thoughts, as Harry fought to keep his laughter from boiling over. Woman better hope that Pansy was wrong...she observed as she started looking over the pitch, with a pair of SG1 issue omniocculars that were carefully disguised to look like the ones the hawkers sold below.

Yeah. Harry thought in return. He looked over the pitch, glancing down at the kids occasionally out of habit. Though honestly, if I thought there was something actually to that, the kids wouldn't be here, Mione. Pansy was the only source of that intelligence, every other terror attack they've waged over the last few years since Riddle's death; we've seen more info on.

True...Luna has the emergency portkey, right, though? Hermione asked, and Harry nodded. Hermione gave him a little smile, and glanced over the crowd again. Let's get to work then, anyway. "Bookworm, Leo, and Chowhound are in the stands." Hermione subvocalized the report so Arthur and his group would not hear, though over the roar of the crowd, and especially the Australian fans, whom seemed to have brought a herd of Kangaroo's with them, no one could really hear anyway.

"The Merlins are in position" Came Fred's soft voice over the wireless. He gave a small nod as Hermione's omniocculars crossed the WWW box in the stadium. The twins, aside from their night jobs as the gadget providers for SG1, had now opened their fifth franchise, and were today, if they got a chance, going to talk to some Australian wizards about a franchise down under. The current shops in London, Hogsmeade, Paris (convenient to Beuxbatons,) Chicago and Tokyo were going gangbusters, along with the OWL delivery service of course.

"Ghost is ready...I have the tactical team ready as well." Draco interjected as he observed the field from a nearby staging area, just in case. He had drawn the short straw, and was watching the game via the Wizard Wireless broadcast in a specially disguised tent along with ten members of SG1's tactical team.

"Good" Harry whispered, "I hope we don't need them." Harry's gaze unconsciously fell on the kids, and a sick premonition filled his stomach, Mione, Harry murmured in his thoughts, private from the rest of the team, Honestly, I'm getting nervous...I don't know why, but...

Me too Harry...I can almost feel something. Have Luna, reach out; see if she sees any preparations for something?

She'll kick Ron's arse, and ours as well, Harry pointed out, I really didn't put any credence into the threat...its just with the kids right here...Hermione nodded and kept scanning, after pausing a second to bend down and feed something to one of the kids. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Harry bend over and whisper something into Luna's ear. She turned and glared at him, a sight if one had never really seen Luna angry, but she nodded anyway. Ron looked at her anxiously as her eyes went blank.

Meanwhile, behind them, Oliver Wood had mounted the stand; he looked over the crowd, "SONORUS, WELCOME TO THE 432nd Quidditch World Cup." Applause thundered over the stands in response to Oliver Wood's words. "It is now my pleasure to introduce the Minister of Magic for Great Britain, Arthur Weasley." Arthur stood and waved. After the polite applause had died down, "Today, we have a terrific match, defending the North Goal, I give you BULGARIA, captained by VIKTOR KRUM." The crowd erupted at those words. Instantly almost the entire crowd, the male half anyway was captivated by the sight of almost fifty Veela taking the field. Hermione didn't have to worry though; even if Harry's mind weren't on other things, he wouldn't have wandered. But unfortunately that was a mere side issue, minute by minute; his sense of unease was growing.

Oliver didn't notice, he smiled, waved and spoke again. "And defending the South goal, AUSTRIALIA captained by the young Keeper sensation, Reggie Smythe." On the field, the Veelas rapidly retreated as a herd of bright orange Kangaroos started dancing wildly and playing Dinagroos. The crowd danced along with the Kangaroos and several small children were overheard asking their parents for one.

Oliver took a deep breath, "The officials have taken the field, and we are ready to go." Down on the field, the referee released the bludgers, and took an officially marked QWC432 Quaffle from a chest. She threw it up, and blew the whistle. The snitch took flight and instantly Krum was in pursuit. The quaffle however...instead of going in a direction, to the instant consternation of the chasers, the quaffle started spinning in place, and glowing, pulsing faster and faster.

Harry and Hermione's gaze met as they felt the magic concentrating in the quaffle, sucking the energy from the very ether. Luna turned to them, and with a sudden rush of power, her eyes glowed a bright gold, "IT'S A TRAP." She screamed fearfully.

"SHIT...LUNA PORT THEM." Harry snapped as Luna dove over the seats, grabbed the three kids...and vanished in a rainbow fall of light. Harry's eyes snapped to the now brightly glowing quaffle, sounds of panic were heard from the almost silent crowd...the quaffle seemed to collapse on itself, "PROTEGO ASTRULAS" Harry snarled, and felt Hermione join him an instant later as a golden wall erected itself between them and the quaffle, protecting a good sixth of the stands, not coincidentally including the Ministers of Magic of three countries, and a good number of the Hogwarts students in attendance. With a terrible roar, the quaffle erupted, a green shockwave snapped outward and the world collapsed. A terrible wave of green force hammered against their shield, crashing like a wave on a breakwater.

The stands shook and screams erupted in the crowd. After an instant, Harry and Hermione collapsed to the floor of the box, the shield failed, but they had done their job. Ron clambered over the seats. Finding them both, unconscious, he pointed his wand, "Enervate, Harry, Herm..."

"Go Ron, don't worry about our covers now, just go." Harry growled from the ground, panting slightly. Ron gave a terse nod and headed off to help where he could. Harry helped Hermione to her feet, and turned to Arthur. "Arthur...that was an attack." Harry didn't bother to say anything to Hermione; she already knew anything he might say. Without another word, she ran down to find additional help, her wand already out in her hand as she looked about the stadium warily. She headed directly towards were Pierce and Evans were already helping some of the people around them to their feet. Both of the teens had their wands ready.

"Yeah, Harry...go, you're in charge of the security forces until Mad-Eye gets here." Arthur replied taking charge, he took a communication mirror from his pocket and started talking urgently into it. In the background, screams could be heard from the wounded. On the field, medi-wizards started appearing, and dove into the crowd, yelling back conditions of patients to a harried looking nurse helping task the triage.

Hermione came up, "I put the Hogwarts DA to work too; they will help with search and rescue." Harry nodded and waved to Draco who had stopped to remove some rubble from a top a trapped family. "Looks like an attack Harry...damnit Pansy was right." She whispered harshly.

Harry held a hand over one ear and muttered under his breath, the magic of the Weasley twins once again carrying his words. "Yeah...Fred, George get looking at that device as soon as your guys get here with their gear...Draco, take the tac team and get the Minster out of here." Jacob Wells came up; as usual he had been working as Arthur's security detail head. Harry nodded to him, "assuming that you don't mind a bit extra escort, Jacob?"

"No Harry, in fact, thanks for shielding us, who knows how many you two saved. That device was aimed for the VIP box. I am honestly concerned, this isn't the end." Wells put in, and Harry nodded and waved towards the recently arrived tactical team. Wells walked off accompanied by Draco and ten additional wizards and witches each in their black battle gear, each with a phoenix shoulder flash, each with their wands in hand, questing for targets. A short, sharp argument broke out behind them between Arthur and Jacob. And after another minute, Jacob won, and all three Ministers, the SG1 TAC team and Draco vanished with a loud CRACK.

***********************Field Headquarters, SG1***************************

Several hours later

An exhausted Hermione Potter parted the tent flap and entered into the tent. With a loud sigh she sat at the table, an exact duplicate of the conference room at the Hogwarts headquarters. She dropped her head to her arms and shook. Around the table, the rest of the team that had been here at the time of the bombing sat; each and every one of them was stained with dirt and grime and blood from helping with the rescue efforts. Harry silently waved his hand over the table in front of Hermione, conjuring a cup of coffee.

Her head came up and reaching out slowly, she took a sip. Harry silently pulled her into his side as he felt her quivering at the close call it had been. Ok, Hermione? Harry asked, she nodded and he turned to the rest of the team. Ron was sitting opposite them, Mad-Eye had arrived and he was sitting on the other side of Harry along with Remus Lupin, Tonks and Sirius Black in his role as special investigator for the Minister. Draco was still at the Ministry, closely guarding Arthur. Arthur for his part was present as a projection. A crystal ball projected his image, along with a bit of the office as well.

Arthur sighed and looked out of the projection. "Ok Harry, what do we have, and by the way, the kids arrived at the Burrow fine." He added softly.

Harry, Hermione and Ron all let out breaths that they had not realized they were holding. "Thanks dad," Harry muttered before he sat up, and his tone hardened. "So far, it looks like whomever replaced the quaffle with that device did so before the quaffles were delivered here, probably during manufacture. This was a long term job." Harry shrugged slightly, and took a sip of his coffee as he tried to fight his parched throat.

"Why were the balls not examined?" Alastor snapped. Fury lit the Minister's eyes as he started to rise from his chair in the projection, only to stop suddenly and seat himself once more, slowly.

Hermione shrugged helplessly, "They were, they appeared to be perfectly normal until they were used, it looks like someone used a delayed, or possibly a remotely triggered transfiguration to change the quaffle into a device." She took a breath. "Honestly, it looks like we got lucky." Her expression amply showed she knew just how that word sounded right now.

"What do you mean, Hermione?" Remus inquired, quietly. He looked up from the notes he was busy scribing. The werewolf in him was showing, the sent of the blood carried on the air had caused his fangs to drop slightly and his breathing was occasionally a bit ragged, as he absently twirled his quill through his fingers.

"From what Fred and George and their team was able to put together, and what I got from looking at it, the bomb was supposed to evolve a Kedavra wave." Shocks of horror came from the table, and Hermione nodded grimly. "I didn't know it was possible either, at least not in such a small device, but it seems to be a derivative of what the Chamber was supposed to do, only on a much less selective basis. Fortunately the wave was much less...focused than a proper death curse, more like a giant reductor curse, as the soul-rending part did not propagate past the field itself. As a result, we were able to partially shield against it. Minerva has the remains at Hogwarts in her lab looking at it now, she will let us know if anything else pops out at her." She looked at the projection of Arthur, levelly. "Sorry Arthur, but she was the best to study it quickly"

"That is fine Hermione, I don't think we can or should even try to keep this under wraps." He looked at Harry, in the projection, his hands were clasped in front of him on his desk, "Harry, what about casualty figures?" His voice was even, but the fire had never left his eyes as he regarded his agent.

Harry sighed, "So far, two hundred dead, spilt between the crowd and the teams...both teams were wiped out except for the seekers. Both Krum and the Australian seeker were high enough to miss the Kedavra effect. As poor as word choice as it is, we got off lucky. Whoever set that up was after you, or at least wanted it to seem like it. They detonated it closest to the box we were in and the shield Hermione and I raised sufficed to keep damage to a...minimum." Harry's green eyes were dim as his thoughts flashed back to an afternoon of frantically racing to help those injured and the encounters with those who weren't that lucky.

"Tell them, Arthur." A soft, ancient voice commanded quietly from the entrance to the tent. Like the ancient lion he was, Dumbledore padded to the table and sat. Dumbledore waved a hand, and a white bubble erupted over the tent, knocking back several people clustered about it.

"I can't Albus..." Arthur replied, a pleading note in his voice.

"Then I will." Dumbledore said firmly, as he steadily gazed over the top of his half-moons. In the projected image, Arthur glared for a long moment before nodding and covering his eyes. "As those of you who paid attention in Muggle Studies know, the Muggle Second World War was inexorably linked to the Grindelwald war." Harry and Hermione nodded, and after a moment of reflection most of the rest in the tent did so as well. Most of them actually had not had Muggle studies, but they were more or less familiar with the time period, especially with their current line of work. "You know then that the muggle scientists of the various nations were in a race to construct a weapon that could end the war."

"The American Manhattan project?" Hermione asked a touch reflectively.

Dumbledore nodded, "indeed, however as you know, Grindelwald was in Germany behind that quest for power." He paused, "during that war, the American and British Ministries were becoming desperate. Many, many wizards died trying to kill him...until I ultimately destroyed him in Berlin. During that time, right before the end, the British Ministry developed a weapon that they hoped would destroy him should I fail. Fortunately I did not." He frowned, and his face grew dark, almost as dark as the night after Hermione's parents had died. "What they developed was a device that could render an entire city lifeless. Over the years wizarding kind has developed techniques and devices darker than even anything the muggles could think of. This was the worst...to state the situation plainly, they developed what was for all intents and purposes, an Avada Kedavra bomb."

Loud gasps of shock echoed off the silencing bubble, Harry frowned, Ron muttered, "Bloody Hell." But Hermione...looked thoughtful. She regarded Dumbledore and then her adoptive father darkly. Hermione had long since disregarded her instinct that authority figures where always right, and this seemed to only confirm it.

"They built another Philosopher's Stone?" She asked softly, at the inquisitive looks she received, she relented and explained. "It was always a theory of Flamel's that the stone could store a spell, like a battery, then magnify it exponentially and release it. From the notes that Dumbledore let me see of Flamel's he never did test it, as it would destroy the life giving properties of the stone once it was charged with the spell. That would have to be the only way I could see it would work," she frowned, "so why didn't Voldemort go after the one in the Ministry? After Harry stopped him from getting the original, that is."

"Because it was destroyed my dear," Dumbledore replied lowly from the side, "at my insistence, they destroyed the crystal, I did consent however to them keeping the plans under lock and key. It appears however..." Dumbledore's ice blue eyes cut to the projection of Arthur's, "that the Ministry has once again proven, insecure."

Arthur dropped his eyes from Dumbledore's, "actually Albus, It wasn't."

"What?" Dumbledore, Harry and Hermione asked together, the entire Gryffindor line in the tent, whether by marriage or blood shared the exact same tone of acidic disbelief. Control was the watchword as everyone else in the tent was extremely hopeful that the three, possibly most powerful wizards on the side of light kept control, they did, somehow. Together Harry and Hermione slowly panned to look directly at Arthur, while Dumbledore instructed him in a voice rimmed with steel, "please explain Arthur...that is not what was told to me in nineteen forty five, nor when Nymphadora investigated the escape of Barris Odom."

"I take responsibility Albus, the decision was before my time, but it is still my Ministry." Arthur replied from the projection, "After Grindelwald was killed, the Ministry dismantled the bomb but instead of shattering the crystal, they kept it for study." He shrugged, "It would not have done Voldemort any good, the crystal was designed to store the curse, it was twisted so that the life giving properties were twisted. The members of the artifacts research department; thought it was similar to fragments of crystals recovered off the sea bed near Bermuda."

"And the investigation by Nymphadora?" Dumbledore continued flatly.

Tonks opened her mouth to speak, but stopped at a wave from Arthur, "She was under orders, my orders to keep the situation quiet. Do not blame her. Should I have informed you? Yes, I should have Albus." Arthur admitted quietly, into the otherwise absolute silence of the tent. "But at the time, there were any number of other affairs that all of us were dealing with."

"We shall discuss this further." Dumbledore said with an air of utter finality. Reluctantly, Arthur Weasley nodded.

Harry gave a grim nod as well. He glanced over at Hermione and as usual, no words were needed between them. He watched as her eyes widened suddenly and her thoughts hammered into his brain. GINNY Her shocked realization of what this attack, and the lack of warning could mean.

Oh shit...Harry's heart leapt into his throat. He wanted to deny her thought...but he knew better. Ginny was hopefully positioned into Malfoy's inner circle, she would have know about this attack, either she had been turned...a possibility that both of them ranked somewhere below the sun going out this very second like a burnt out light bulb, or that she had been discovered, a scenario which was looking all too likely. As one they both glanced at Ron, from his expression, they both knew he was thinking along the same lines, then fleetingly at the image of Arthur. Should we tell him?

A slightly panicked look filled Hermione's eyes as her teeth found her bottom lip. Neither of them noticed that everyone else had stopped talking to watch them. Almost everyone in the tent knew by know what it meant when they shut up like this, and those that didn't had taken their clues from those who did. She looked at Harry, he nodded and looked out over the other witches and wizards in attendance, he felt Hermione's hand brush his under the table, and he mentally shot a image of a smile over to her. "This attack also brings up other possible issues." Harry announced firmly.

"There is every possibility that our agent within Malfoy's inner circle has been compromised...or turned." Harry said the last in the barest of whispers, but it was enough to carry to everyone in the tent and through the projection to the two wizards in Arthur's office. In the projection, Draco winced, his gray eyes growing hard as they glared down at Harry, at the implied slight on the possible loyalty of the Agent in question, she was his partner after all.

"Who was the agent inside lad?" Alastor Moody, who had been quiet until now, asked gently. Harry could tell the old Auror already had a pretty good idea. Mad-Eye glanced around the table and projection, "everyone here has the proper clearance."

Harry clenched his hands together on the table. Without looking to either side, he could feel Hermione's hand on his thigh under the table, and the supporting glance of Ron to the side. His stomach lurched, as he calmly, on the outside anyway, answered Mad-Eye's question. "The agent in question is Special Agent Ginerva Weasley." Harry stated with utterly no detectable emotion in his voice.

Arthur Weasley closed his eyes for a moment, he ran his hand over his face, and eventually nodded. "As I suspected." He replied to Harry in such a way, that he had already pretty much guessed that, but was secretly hoping that Harry had had her off on some other mission. He looked down at some papers on his desk for a moment, then back up into the room, "then besides the investigation into this tragedy, I would suggest." Arthur said softly, "that we try to determine the truth of Agent Weasley's whereabouts and her current status. You know the policy on turned agents of the Ministry, Harry." His last words came out strangely, almost as if they had to fight their way past clenched teeth. Harry only nodded. The same penalty that held for confirmed Death Eaters, was the same proscribed to Ministry turncoats. Barris Odom, and Rookwood, if they were ever caught were both up for the high jump.

In Arthur's office, a soft buzzer sounded. He held up his hand to stop anyone from uttering a word as he gestured to Draco. Draco went to the door, and after exchanging a word with the messenger, took a note and stepped back, closing the door. He flicked his wand at the door, reestablishing the silencing and impurtable charms on the door. Draco handed the Arthur the note. With a murmured "thanks" Arthur opened it, scanned down the words...and grew white. A moment passed as he slowly removed his glasses and polished them on the sleeves of his robe. He looked up into the projection. His eyes as they met the rest of the attendees were suddenly glazed, they had been full of fury and sadness, were now just flat.

"Sometime during the last six hours, most likely during the attack on the World Cup," He announced heavily, slowly, "the secret medical facility containing the Longbottoms among others was attacked and destroyed. At this time, the losses appear to be total," Arthur's continuance, so steady during the day's events, finally cracked as he dropped his head to his hands wearily.

Hermione gasped, and as her hand found Harry's openly, his other arm came around to pull her close. Quiet tears stained Harry's torn and dirty shirt as she mourned Neville. Ron muttered a curse and pounded the table, while Tonks looked close to tears. Lupin immediately emulated Harry and pulled his own wife to him, all the while meeting Sirius' tired gray eyes over her shoulder, the pair of them remembering Alice and Frank who had seemingly finally fallen in their fight against the dark. Dumbledore frowned slightly as he stood and paced to the end of the table. Alastor soon joined them, and after a muttered conversion the old Auror vanished with a soft, barely audible CRACK. Harry muttered something to Hermione, she nodded and he stood, his hands splayed on the table before him. He glanced up at the projection to look at Draco. "Draco get over there, take one of Fred and George's nerds with you." In the image Draco nodded and vanished a moment later, his SG1 credentials allowing him to apparate from the Ministry itself.

A/N: There ya go, this week's. I fully intend to finish this fic, even though as of about 72 hours from now, it will be AU. Unless of course something happens in HBP that turns me off from HP. We'll see. Next chapter, back to Godric's Hollow, Luna responds and Draco investigates.

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9. The Gray Dawn of the Next Day's Light

Chapter 9: The Gray Dawn of the Next Day's Light

******************************Godric's Hollow***************************

August 2, 2012
8:15 am

A tawny brown owl paused in its flight outside a seemingly abandoned, somewhat damaged white cottage house next to a bubbling brook. Flying in tight spirals, a large rolled tube of paper in his talons, the owl circled until, without warning, a soft hoot sounded from nowhere and the air shimmered in front of him. The picture before him cleared to reveal for just an instant a slightly larger house, still by the brook, still white. It was almost as if the old house was merely an image of how the house had been before someone fixed it up and added on. That supposition was correct.

One of the most basic magical defenses of Godric's Hollow, of the house that Harry and Hermione used as their country home when they couldn't stand to live at Grimmauld anymore or they just wanted to escape from everyone, was a projection of it in a run-down, abandoned state. It was very similar to the one that showed Hogwarts to muggle eyes as a ruined castle with prominent "keep out, danger" signs. The image was not as bad as the house had been after Voldemort had attacked Harry when he was one, but it was close. The house had been secretly repaired by Dumbledore and others during Harry's years at the Dursleys and later been expanded by Harry and Hermione when they had learned that they would have not one child, but twins.

The image of the decrepit house reappeared as the owl vanished from sight, only to reappear moments later without the paper.

In the rustic kitchen of Godric's Hollow, Hermione Potter was sitting at a comfortable breakfast nook. Absently she picked up the Daily Prophet the owl had just delivered and began to read. As soon as the events of yesterday had begun to sink in, Harry and Hermione had taken their children and vanished to the Hollow, where only their family could find them. The kids were understandably upset, their parents not much less so, just better at hiding it. In the end Harry had ended up with the kids most of the night, and had finally gone to sleep at about four. Which was only a half hour after the kids finally slipped to dreamland.

After a minute of pretending to read, Hermione sat down the paper and began to shake, the mug in her hand shattered as it fell to the floor. Her arms wrapped around herself as she looked down at the picture on the front page of the Prophet of the ruined stadium. That was too damn close...a moment later...if Harry or I hadn't picked up the energy concentration or Luna hadn't sensed the trap...Her lower lip began to tremble as the shakes doubled.

A bare instant later, just coincidentally approximately the time it took for a pair of legs belonging to a 5'10" wizard to run from their upstairs bedroom to the kitchen, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. "That was too close Harry." Hermione murmured tearfully. Harry didn't respond in words, he just tightened his hug slightly.

After another minute Harry finally whispered, "you ok?" Hermione didn't answer, just picked up the Prophet after a moment and actually began to read it. The glance she gave him in passing a second later was more than ample thanks though. He gave his wife a small smile and turned to pour himself a cup of coffee. She grinned at his back, at the sight of his hair resembling even more than usual the nest of some large bird. Hermione skimmed the first, main article quickly. It was more or less a factual, sober interpretation of the events yesterday, at least of the ones that were cleared for the public to know. She nodded as she noticed the byline, by Elliot Hanson; he had always been the most unbiased of the Prophet reporters. He sat his mug down next to her and turned back to the counter. Without thinking, she picked it up and took a sip.

She glanced up as Harry clinked a plate on the counter as he was fixing himself a breakfast from the food Hermione had already made for them this morning. She looked down, and froze. Oh Bloody Hell...

Did the Ministry know?

By. Rita Skeeter.

Oh Crap... "Harry, come here." Hermione held out the paper for him to read, and she knew without looking, of the flash of rage that swam across his mind before he ruthlessly beat it back behind barriers of steel. Her eyes flicked to Harry's, he nodded to the paper:

Yesterday's attack on the Quidditch World Cup was a tragedy. Of that there is no doubt. But what is in doubt is the exact knowledge of our leaders about the attack. Yesterday, in a terrible, beastly act unknown parties used a magical device of unknown origin to inflict hundreds of deaths and innumerable casualties on the innocent attendees of the event. That is fact. However questions must be asked, if we are to truly trust our leaders in this arduous time. First, just what is the origin of the terrible device used on the fans on that terrible day? Anonymous sources within the Ministry itself have informed this reporter that the device's effects seem to be similar to those of a weapon created in the dark days of the Grindelwald war. A weapon that was supposedly destroyed when it was no longer needed, that does not seem to be the case, now does it, dear readers?

Second, just what were the Potters doing in the V.I.P. box that also happened to shelter the Ministers of Britannia, Australia and Bulgaria? Their spokesmen would have you believe that they were only there for the match. But it that were truly the case, why would they have a portkey ready to evacuate their children from the hazard zone? And in the same vein, why would they be so ready and willing to put themselves between harm's way and the Ministers? Simple professors, no matter what their pasts, would seem to overmatched by these events but they were not. No, on the contrary they unthinkingly acted in a manner that admittedly, saved innumerable lives.

No dear readers, it seems that what this humble reporter reported years ago was true after all. Harry and Hermione Potter are not mere Professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While it is true that they do teach at the school, is that their primary purpose? What of the unexplained absences from teaching? What of the occasional spottings of them with Remus and Nymphadora Lupin and Alastor Moody, the very three Aurors at the head of the MLE? Were they merely reminiscing over old times, or planning further secret adventures? Once again, sources that this reporter regrets to have to keep secret, have related that secret, undercover groups were established to combat the remaining Death Eaters and their allies. Are the Potters members, or perhaps leaders of just such a group? Was their supposed, "reserve Auror" status a ruse, and there is nothing "reserve" about them at all?

And finally, it must be asked, respectfully of course, just where was the proper security at this year's games? Many excuses can be made, but in the end the responsibility must stop with the current Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley. Minister Weasley was by all accounts a compromise candidate, and even though the war against He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was won on his watch, he was seemingly helpless to stop the horrific assaults on our loved ones such as the Sacking of Hogsmeade, the attack on innocents in St. Mungo's, the Night of Fire incident and countless others that the Ministry would like to keep under wraps. Is Minister Weasley not suitable for the position after all?

Beloved former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was sought out for his expert opinion for this article. For the most part he refused comment, however he did comment on the last point, "Arthur Weasley has always been a dear friend of mine. He did his best during the war, albeit ineffectually, but he tried. Harry Potter saved us once again, and him of course. The problem is however, and I hate to say it, that Arthur does not have the stomach to root out the remaining Death Eaters root and branch. One need look no further than Lucius Malfoy; he has been on the run, launching terrorist attacks for how long? I should say no more, good day Rita."

Is Minister Fudge correct? Does the current administration have the necessary fortitude to lead us in these perilous times? And if so, what of the other questions this incident has evoked? Only time will tell us dear readers, but do we have the time to spare?

Harry looked up from the paper and pulled his glasses from his face absentmindedly. Pinching his eyes closed, he rubbed the bridge of his nose with a pair of fingers and sighed. "At least they did label it an editorial...Mione?" He added quickly as his eyes opened to see her seething.

"It's on the bloody front page, Harry." Hermione growled back. He nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. He swallowed and looked off into the distance thoughtfully. He watched out the kitchen window to the outside as a small speck swooped through the center hoop of the half-court Quidditch Pitch in the hidden backyard. The speck grew larger, it's color now a recognizable snowy-white. Harry moved his plate aside automatically as the window slid open at Hedwig's approach. She landed precisely on the empty spot and extended her leg. Hedwig's large amber gaze did not look happy as she took in her masters. Her nip at Harry's finger was half-hearted at best as he petted the snowy owl and gave her a discarded bacon rind.

With a concerned expression darkening his eyes, Harry took the official looking parchment and opened it with a flick of a drawn wand. Disarming as he did so, several security charms that were not ones used by the Ministry, but members of the Order of the Phoenix instead:

Harry and Hermione,

It looks as if your cover is blown. The editorial by Rita seems to be first salvo, I am trying to head off any further attempts by her or others to fully out your group(s). However she seems to have sources within and without the Ministry that are using this to push their agendas. I cannot squash her reporting without violating her rights, until and unless she is caught in a treasonous act, or unless new evidence proving her unregistered animagus status is uncovered. The MLE is currently investigating where her information has come from, however due to her allegations, my best agents, namely you and your group and Remus, Tonks and Mad-Eye are excluded. If I can find out about where she learned the information about the Weapon she can be dealt with legally as that information was and still is, highly, highly classified and therefore covered under numerous information protection acts.

I have discussed the situation with Albus and he has already stated his continued desire for you to continue in your Professor's roles, and the Ministry has utterly no intention of disavowing you or your group. If, as Rita seems determined to do, your group is fully outted I am already prepared to move your group into public accountability under Alastor, and I will take full responsibility for my and the Ministry's actions.

Molly and I would like to call on you tonight if ok. Please let us know. She is worried about Horry and Em. She was so worried about Harriet last night that the poor child gained a pound from her cookies. I will see you later in any case.

Arthur

Harry handed Hermione the note, he absently took a sip of her coffee as she blazed through it. She sighed and took her cup from him and finished it before speaking. "Well it's not like we didn't expect it sooner or later. We've run right at the edge too many times." She sounded pained as she stood and ran her fingers through her hair, temporarily brushing it out of her eyes. She didn't move from the window as Harry hugged her. "You ok Harry?"

"No."

"Me either." Her voice hitched, "what are we going to tell Ginny?" Her lip trembled slightly as a tear rolled down her cheek. "He was supposed to be safe."

"We have to get her back first love." Harry reminded her gently. Hermione nodded as she pulled herself from his arms and headed towards the kitchen stairs to the upstairs rooms.

"I'm going to go check on the sprogs." Harry nodded as she started up the stairs; she paused at the fifth one up and turned back, " Harry?"

"Em's a bit scared...ok, more than a bit. Horry is trying to act all brave, but he's scared too." Hermione nodded at his words, it was pretty much as she figured. "After I sent you to bed, Leo stayed out to protect them." Hermione gave him a quick, tired smile.

"See you can be a good dad." Hermione teased flatly. She headed up the stairs, just as an arrival chime echoed in the house. "Get that will you Harry?" She asked from the top of the stairs.

"Sure Mione," Harry replied softly, walking towards the front door even as she spoke. Reaching the front door, he glanced at a small crystal ball that was showing the outside of .the front door. He shook his head as he flicked his fingers at the door and it opened. As soon as it opened, Ron almost tumbled into the house; he was carrying a sleeping Harriet propped on his hip. He seemed almost grateful as she laid the sleeping girl down on Harry's couch, he carefully did not look towards his wife.

He was spared however as the minute Luna spotted Harry, she spun on him, her eyes flaring. Luna may have become less dreamy and more focused in the years since Hogwarts, especially since the birth of Harriet, though she never was what others called, "normal," but today, she was fully in the here and now, and primed for a fight. And that particular combination had never proven a good combination for her foes; just ask several Death Eaters who had met her ire at Hogwarts.

"And you." Luna hissed, carefully quietly enough to not wake her daughter. "What were you thinking, Harry?" Luna crossed quickly to him and waggled her finger in his face. "Taking my daughter...hell, your kids into the middle of a battle." Harry opened his mouth to respond, but closed it with a snap as she continued heatedly, "and to top it all, I have to find out that you three aren't really Professors, that you always have been active, even though Ron told me you all were only reserve officers, just consulting on odd jobs, like me, like the rest of us."

"That's not fair, Luna" Hermione snapped from the stairs, "they're still asleep love" she mentioned to Harry as she crossed to him, and stood slightly between him and the pissed witch, "you aren't stupid girl, even if you were never told, specifically...you knew we were more than Professors, hell Luna...did Ron coming home singed from dragons, and with cuts and bruises not let you know?"

Luna glared at her, and finally gave it up; she dropped into a chair and lowered her face to her hands. "Yeah I knew..." She shrugged, still not looking up at them; she didn't move either when Ron fell to his knees next to the chair. "I want in Harry...activate my commission, I know you can."

"Are you sure, Luna?" Harry asked quietly, hesitantly.

"They went after my daughter Harry. I want Lucius dead. I want every one of them dead." Luna replied darkly. Crookshanks padded down the stairs and jumped up on the back of the couch, surveying the scene. Harry glanced at Hermione; she closed her eyes, and after a long moment, nodded. He looked at Ron, who didn't look happy. Ron didn't disagree however, at least openly. His eyes were clouded as he gave a terse nod.

Harry frowned as he muttered something under his breath, and with an odd complicated movement of a phoenix-cored wand, a black dragonhide wallet appeared on the table. Harry flipped it open, to reveal a golden shield, inset with the crossed arms of the Ministry. Below it, an identification card held a moving image of Luna, along with her vital statistics and her rank and security ratings. "Agent Weasley, you are hereby activated to your previous rank, seniority as accrued on the inactive list." Luna looked up and mouthed, "thanks" as Harry handed her, her credentials.

"Well boss," Luna asked with a tiny, dark smile, "what's my first assignment?"

"Wait here until the kids wake up," Harry instructed softly, "then take them to the Burrow and join us at the Hospital site, I would like you to use your talents to look into the attack as well. You know where it is?" She nodded slowly as Harry and Hermione headed up the stairs.

*************************Secret Hospital Facility*************************

Draco looked exhausted as he gave something that might have been charitably called a nod as Harry, Hermione and Ron appeared suddenly with a soft CRACK of displacing air as Ron appeared. The once pristine arrival room was shattered; large dark cracks were in the once white walls and ceiling. The glass of the fourth wall was shattered and broken, with large red stains coloring the shards remaining. The heavy steel door was lying bent in the floor, the gaping doorway it had once guarded, warped.

"What do we have Draco?" Harry asked as he surveyed the damage. Draco gave him a grim nod as he pulled a small, steel-bound notebook from a thigh pocket. He motioned for the others to follow him as he stepped into the main part of the hospital.

Draco's voice was tired as well as he started reciting the litany. "At the time of the attack, and we have confirmed it was an attack as we found Smrynoff Waldinger in the wreckage. He was a known low level thug of Malfoy's, looks as if the agent on duty Kedavra'ed him before getting taken out himself. "

"Who?" Hermione interrupted softly, she was kneeling down, examining a piece of wreckage.

"Sanders." He replied heavily.

"Damn." Hermione whispered.

"Yeah," Draco agreed quietly. The four of them stepped over a shattered steel beam, the door to a room to the side was hanging open; the body of a patient was laying on a bed, with a blue robed healer draped over him. He continued, "At the time of the attack, there were eight healers, and fifteen medi-witches and wizards on duty along with twenty five patients in on short term care, along with the ten patients that were being held on a long term basis. In addition there were five visitors here at the time, all were on the authorized list, and according to the recovered security log, all were cleared."

He paused as they reached the end of the corridor, and stepped through the doorway to the long-term area. "We have accounted for all of the healers and thirteen of the medics. Almost all of the patients have been accounted for, and we actually found four alive." He shrugged, "I guess they missed them, they were down in the strength training area." He sighed as he used his wand to levitate a bit of debris out of their path. He stopped suddenly and faced Harry, Hermione and Ron. "We haven't found Neville...his parents, and Trelwany yeah, but for some reason they totally and I mean totally destroyed the room. There's just a pile of ashes where his bed was. They destroyed most of the security recordings before they left, we found a partial record from the entryway; it looks like there were at least twenty. But for the most part we don't really know what happened. Fred and George's forensic teams are working now, we looked over this area first of course."

"How the bloody hell did they get in?" Ron asked darkly, "the apparation wards were supposed to prevent this, and only security portkeys were supposed to be able to key in on this place."

"Not a clue" Draco snapped. He took a breath, "sorry Weasley." Ron just nodded. Several minutes of investigation passed with no new insights, only new horrors. The rooms they investigated were all grimly the same; bodies of healers, patients and the occasional visitor were horribly evident. After another hour, a new voice added herself to the mixture.

Luna stepped daintily through the wreckage; her ice blue eyes were truly cold today. Walking up to Ron, she whispered something in his ear, and headed to the long-term ward where Harry was standing, leaning on the doorjamb to Neville's old room. Stopping at his shoulder, she looked in. Harry glanced over at her, "can you get anything, sorry for making you use your gifts for this," he apologized shortly.

"It's ok Harry, I understand." Luna took a deep breath, and a second, and as she exhaled her eye lit with a golden light. She stood motionless, her gaze vacant for several tense moments. Occasionally, she would utter a low gasp, or a moan. With another breath, she snapped out of it. Harry caught her as she staggered, "I'm ok Harry. Its just the pain...it'll pass." She frowned, almost absently as her lips moved, with no sound coming out. She pointed towards the rest of the hospital, "they came in, in force, a single Death Eater apparated into the arrival point. He dropped something, like a small ball and apparated away instantly. It exploded a second or two later, and about ten seconds after that, about twenty came en mass. The door guard was stunned but he got off a Kedavra, before getting hit with about ten in return." Her voice cracked for an instant, but after another deep, steadying breath she went on.

"Most of them came straight here, Harry. They knew what they were looking for...the rest branched out." She paused, and her eyes faded to blue, "I can't SEE anything after that." He nodded and taking her by the shoulder as she was still shaking slightly he led her back to the disapparation point.

"Thanks," Harry glanced over at Ron who had just arrived. He looked haggard as he gave Harry a small headshake. Harry handed Luna off to him, and she closed her eyes as Ron took over the load. "Take her back to headquarters or home Ron, she needs the rest." The Weasleys nodded together, and with an arm around her waist to steady her, Ron led Luna off towards the entrance and the apparition point.

**************************# 12 Grimmauld Place***************************

August 3, 2012
2:33 am

Bright moonlight spilled into Sirius' bedroom. He made a small, grunting sound as he rolled over and absently tossed his arm over the blond next to him. Cordelia smiled in her sleep and rolled into his side. The pair of them had the house to themselves for a change, no Harry, Hermione and the kids, no Lupin or Tonks or their kids, no assorted Weasleys or other distractions. So of course, they both promptly fell together on Sirius' bed and went to sleep. Ever since the attack on the World Cup and on the Ministry's secret hospital, Sirius had been run ragged in his role as Arthur's troubleshooter. Between being sent to harass his godson over the investigation process and having to help with the notification of the families of the victims of the hospital attack to dealing with furious foreign magical dignitaries he was a pooped puppy.

Cordelia wasn't much better, even though her pureblood vampire status would, technically, allow her to keep going. She hadn't slept, or really had time to feed in almost three days. Dumbledore had been taken as much as surprise as anyone and the Order members that were exclusive of the Ministry had been working any angle they could find, desperate to find out Malfoy's next move. And in addition, she had been given specific instructions by Dumbledore himself to "talk" to those denizens of Knockturn Alley and other dismal hangouts, in some effort to find out what happened to Ginny. It was only after a long, frustrating night of knocking heads and ripping open minds to find only blank walls, that she had literally come in and collapsed on top of Sirius in his bed, knocking askew a report he had been blearily reading. When Harry and Hermione said they trusted her, they went all the way, adding her to the approved list on the house wards, thereby allowing her to surprise Padfoot.

Her hair was unbound; spilling over her face and mostly covering it, as Sirius, for some unknown reason opened his eyes and looked around. Absently he rolled onto his side and kissed his girlfriend's hair. A sudden urge caused him to look back over his shoulder, and a muffled curse escaped his lips.

A terribly, wondrously familiar pair stood in the corner of the room, A shock of raven-black, incredibly messy hair topped a pair of round-framed, black glasses that were displaying a pair of amused hazel eyes. The slim body beneath was tall, easily matching Sirius' stature of 6'2". A trim, auburn-haired woman stood at his side, her emerald eyes open and full of life. Ironic, since both of them had been dead for more than twenty years. "What..how..." Sirius managed to choke out. His eyes were wide and round, almost popping out of their sockets as he stared at the apparition of his long lost best friends.

"Honestly Padfoot," Lily responded lowly, "Magic...and you call yourself a wizard. Shame, shame..." James seemed to bite back a laugh as he looked in on his best friend. James walked in front of the window, and instantly Sirius knew they weren't mere ghosts. He was solid, blotting out the night sky beyond.

"What are you, you aren't ghosts...are you?" Sirius asked softly.

"No my friend, we're not." James agreed as he and Lily crossed to the edge of the bed and sat lightly on it. It dimpled down. He smiled at Sirius' confused expression and took pity on the Marauder. "But for now our time is limited. And we need to talk to you."

"Why didn't you go see Harry?" Sirius inquired reasonably, "after all, I love you two and all, but he's your son, and you could see the grandkids...they..."

A flash of pain crossed both James and Lily's eyes, "we can't, not right now Padfoot." Lily said with a touch of sadness in her voice, "believe me, I want to see, and touch my grandkids so much it hurts..." James' arm went around Lily as she collapsed into his shoulder.

"We don't have much time old friend, the preparations are not yet complete. There still might be a way for us, when Tom cast the spell to kill me and then Lily before Harry; he failed ultimately. Since he failed in killing Harry. You explain, dear."

Lily shrugged, and without raising her head from his shoulder, explained. "You know that my own and through our bond, James' soul helped defend Harry." Sirius nodded, "the way it worked out in the end was ironic in the extreme. Tom created his own downfall, by his own actions. Maybe." She paused, pregnantly, "if he had killed Harry first, all would have been for naught, but since he killed James, then me, then tried to attack Harry, in effect he tried to use the Kedavra to rend three souls instead of one." She smiled darkly, "even Hermione hasn't quite figured that part out yet; they are both so powerful, especially together, that they didn't need the extra protection that James' soul added to my own that night, when Riddle tried to kill her at Hogwarts." She shrugged again, "without that stacking effect, I'm not sure if my sacrifice alone would have been enough. Her equations were right, we were watching after all."

"Maybe some day we will be allowed to visit them," James interjected, "unfortunately, that's not the issue. Sirius, the time of troubles is just beginning. They might not be strong enough...or ruthless enough to handle them."

"Protect them Sirius" Lily whispered, "especially protect the kids...and Hermione from herself. In a way she is in the most danger, even though it won't appear as such." Sirius looked perplexed, but nodded nonetheless. Tears in her eyes, Lily came forward and hugged him, only to be joined by James a second later.

"I will" Sirius whispered, his eyes glistening as well.

"Goodbye old friend," James said as he stepped back, holding Lily's hand tightly. "One way or another. We will see each other again."

Sirius nodded to the space where for the barest of instants, his best friends had once more been alive. Sighing, he turned back to the bed. For a millisecond a small smile danced across his face, only to vanish abruptly as a soft tapping came from the bedroom window. He shook his head as he sighted a Ministry owl glaring at him from the windowsill. Easing from the bed, he opened the window Sirius and took a small rolled parchment from the aggravated owl and feed it a treat from a bowl of them kept by the window for that very purpose. It looked disdainfully at the slightly stale treat, but snapped it from his palm and leapt into night without another sound.

Grabbing his wand from the bedside table, Sirius disarmed the security charms on the message. An involuntary groan escaped his throat as his eyes scanned across it. "Damn it Arthur...no..." he hissed.

A soft moan answered him from the bed, "Wha...." Cordelia muttered, her voice laden with sleep.

"Go back to sleep Cordy." Sirius whispered and bent over to kiss her, she rolled over and went back to sleep as Sirius continued to look out the window silently.

A/N: There ya go, unless I get inspired probably the last chapter until after HBP is out for a bit.

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10. The Hunt for Red

The night is dark...I don't own any of this except the plot and those folks I invented. There is a long Author's note at the end.
Chapter 10: The Hunt for Red

****************************Malfoy Manor******************************

5:20 am
August 3, 2012

A loud BOOM echoed through the house as the front door exploded inward. Instantly a team of Aurors spilled into the foyer of the house. A small house elf clothed in the Malfoy house colors of black and silver went flying backwards as crimson stunner bolt impacted his chest. Ten black-cloaked figures fanned out, and sounds of stunners echoed off the walls as another house-elf, the companion of Spinner, Draco's new house elf, was stunned in the kitchen.

"What the fuck, are you arseholes doing in my house?" Draco snapped as he tumbled out onto the second floor landing, his wand in hand. "PROTEGO" a red bolt, then another, whined off his shield. At the bottom of the stairs, a hooded figure waved the wands down.

"Draco Malfoy" the Auror announced, "we have a warrant for your detention." The rest of the Aurors fingered their wands anxiously. "It was signed by Warlock Springbolt of the Wizengamot this morning." The Auror dropped his hood to reveal the wiry gray hair of Dawlish.

Draco's gaze grew calculating, "let me get dressed" he replied with a sudden air of acceptance. Dawlish agreed with a nod, and sent two of his Aurors to wait outside of Draco's bedroom.

Returning to his bedroom and closing the door, Draco quickly threw on a pair of worn jeans and a t-shirt, and tossed a dark robe on over that. With a glance at the door, Draco went to the back of his walk-in closet and waved a hand over the back wall. A small door slid open and he flipped a switch. A small, glowing device sat in the hidden compartment, along with a small bag of Galleons, a stack of muggle cash and various identifying papers. None of the papers were emblazoned with the name he had been born with. Draco pocketed the cash and papers. Reaching into the back, he pulled several weapons from the innards of the hidden safe and secreted them about his person. A loud knock hammered at his door, and he knew he was out of time. With a final, bitter shake of his head, he touched the glowing object and vanished in a fall of color and a rush of sound.

A second later the Aurors at the door got tired of waiting and broke it down. Curses were shouted out the door as they found an empty room waiting for them.

**********************Hogwarts, SG1 Headquarters************************

7:30 am

A bleary Sirius Black sat in company with Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, Ron, Luna Shawn Asten, Albus Dumbledore and Tonks around the briefing table. With a glance around, Hermione flicked her wand at the walls. The doors to the room shut and locked, and a white flash briefly lit the room. "Securus" Harry said as he touched a small orb set into the white tabletop.

Yellow beams shot out from the high corners of the room, sweeping the space. The beams paused on each person before continuing on. After they had finished examining the room for invisible adversaries. None found; Harry motioned to Tonks and Sirius. Sirius didn't waste time with preamble, not today, he went right to the heart of the matter, "early this morning, a rump session of the Wizengamot, that did not include the Chief Warlock due to possible conflicts of interest, removed the investigation into the status of Agent Weasley from the jurisdiction of SG-1 and associated personnel. Further..." Sirius paused a beat "a no-knock warrant was served on Draco Malfoy, for questioning as he is her normally assigned field partner." Shocked muttering greeted his words.

Tonks took up the refrain bitterly. "It seems that the warrant that was issued was issued over the signature of Warlock Springbolt." She gestured towards Dumbledore. He sighed and looked at the rest over tops of his joined hands.

His light blue eyes were troubled as he carefully considered his words, "I was not considered to be impartial in this case. As to Warlock Springbolt...he was not supportive of Arthur's election to Minister."

Tonks nodded, "as well, Lupin, Alastor and I were not notified about the warrant or the decision of the court as we are also considered tainted with our familial relations, until after the decisions had been made. Well technically Mad-Eye isn't related..."

She shrugged and then her dark eyes grew hard. "As of 0535 hrs GMT, Draco Malfoy is considered a fugitive, and full arrest and detain orders have been issued for him in Great Britain and all British territories, as well as requests for detainment in all allied countries. Warrants were also issued be served on Grimmauld Place, Godric's Hollow and the Burrow for the detainment of all senior members of Special Group One." She smiled grimly, "However due to the fact that the vast, vast majority of the Auror and MLE personnel in general, told them to go to hell, shortstopped that effort. And as soon as we heard about the efforts, about twenty minutes after Draco's took flight unfortunately, we squashed the warrants. If Draco had just let himself be taken in... "

"He couldn't Tonks." Hermione snapped, "You know damn well that SG operatives can't afford to be taken into custody. Especially him, after the threats against him."

"Yeah I know." She replied and took a sip from a mug of black coffee at her elbow. "Unfortunately the investigation of both Draco's flight and Ginny's status is now directly in the Minister's hands...or rather should I say in his special investigator's hands." Using her cup as a pointer she indicated Sirius who just nodded.

"Yeah, Harry I learned last night about Ginny's new status, but I didn't know about the raid. I was coming here in the mourning to discuss finding her, but..." Sirius looked at Harry helplessly. Harry nodded and sighed. "Additionally," Sirius added, "I am being overseen tightly by Dawlish and several other Aurors, I can't half-arse the investigation like Kingley did when they were hunting me." Harry nodded again and closed his eyes tiredly for an instant.

He looked about the room, stopping on Dumbledore. "This isn't the end? Is it?" Harry asked, but it was more of a statement than an actual question.

"I am afraid not." Dumbledore agreed, "However you will find that Hogwarts is still the safest place to be. I am afraid that the castle might not take kindly to uninvited guests if it comes to that." His eyes cut to Tonks, "It occurs to me, Nymphadora, that this seems too preplanned to be coincidence. I would suggest that you task some of your...trusted agents to discretely look into this manner."

At the end of the table nearest the door, Ron looked pained. He glanced at Sirius and then down at Harry. "Damn it Harry, it's Ginny, we need to be ones looking for her, not Sirius...No offence Padfoot, but we're the spies here, you're Dad's investigator for when he can't get hands on himself."

"I trust Sirius, Ron." Harry replied softly, "we have other fish to fry, that I suspect may lead us to the same place. Ok?" Harry tried to placate his brother, only to receive a glare in turn. Eventually Ron frowned and looked down into his coffee, not agreeing, but agreeing to table the argument until later. Harry sighed to himself and absently flicked his wand. The lights dimmed slightly and a projection of a building in a suburban office park sprung into being over the table.

Fred stood and muttered a spell. A thin beam of red light shot out of the end of his wand, and he used it to indicate the building. "This is the Rupp Metaphysical building in Salem Massachusetts. At one time Malfoy Industries controlled the company through a majority of public stock and after a couple of dummy corporation cutouts. Lucius Malfoy to be precise."

George waved his wand at the projection and it changed into a wire diagram of the ten-story building. "As you are all aware by now, the device used at the world cup utilized a crystal similar to the Philosopher's Stone in form and function...We do know that whatever crystal was used at the World Cup in that bomb was shattered, and analysis has revealed that it was not the prototype Project Green Sun crystal that was stolen several years ago." He flicked his pointer to a series of rooms in the basement of the building. "As of seven years ago, it was reported that they were working on an energy storage crystal. Or at least they were until Lucius was driven into hiding. At that time, their research into crystalline energy sources suddenly stopped...supposedly."

"However, thanks to Professor Dumbledore," Fred continued, "we have a list of materials that Nicholas Flamel used in his original stone, and several of these materials have continued to be shipped to the this location and in fact have increased in quantity over the last year or so."

"So is this a smash and burn?" Ron asked, his tone still holding an undercurrent of hostility, "we go in and blow up the place?"

"We can't Ron." Hermione replied as she pointed at the basement. "If they perchance have a crystal energized, even a more or less defective one like that used at the World Cup, it would kill everything in a several block radius. And it just so happens that there's a children's hospital right on the edge of this office park." She sighed, "and it just so happens that the security is tight enough to keep us from going in sub rosa. That is without a bit of help." She flicked her wand at the image of the building and it changed to a rotating image of a young, sandy-haired, light-eyed man. "This is Fredrick Marshall. He's sort of a prodigy, top of his class at Springfield Academy of Wizardry, top of his class at Salem Institute of Sorcery, with a doctorate in Advanced Arthimatic Theory and Metaphysics. He's good at what he does." Hermione gained a sheepish look on her face for the moment. "He's even followed up on a couple of my dangling threads in my published works." She shook her head.

"But that's not the point right now." She went on, determinately, "In the years since he graduated he's become a bit of a party boy. He frequents a club in Boston called..." she rolled her eyes, "Merlin's Hippogriff."

Harry glanced over at Hermione, then at the rest of the group, "Officially, I am moving all resources over to this mission, and handing over all files on Draco and Ginny to the appropriate authorities." Harry looked pointedly at Tonks, and then to the room at large. "Hermione and I will take the Salem mission. Fred you have mission prep and support for us. Luna you're with us as well, I guess Molly gets the kids again. Ron, you and George stay here, you will be looking into Draco and Ginny's cases as well as officially looking into any shipments from Rupp Metaphysics into Britain in the last...oh two years. Ok, lets go."

********************Boston, MA, Wizarding District**************************

* Drop Dead Gorgeous- Aerosmith
10:43 pm (East Coast Time, 3:43 am August 4, Hogwarts.)
August 3, 2012

A pair of young witches, one blue eyed, one brown sauntered into the club under a large, flashing neon sign of Hippogriff wearing a starred hat. The brown-eyed one flicked her fingers at the bouncer before he could say a word. His eyes grew glassy as they passed, clearing once they were in the club. Catching, Hermione's eye Luna nodded towards a sandy-haired wizard dancing with a tall, brunette witch.

"Bookworm and Moonbeam have the target." Hermione whispered under her breath to Harry and Fred. She and Luna moved to the dance floor and started dancing with each other, gradually easing towards Marshall and his partner. The song changed, and Hermione and Luna danced closer and closer together, each competing to catch Marshall's eye.

I'm getting a touch turned on, Mione. Harry sent over to her as he watched the pair of them from the bar. He laughed as he saw the sudden grin flit across her face. The bartender glanced at him suspiciously and Harry waved him off. The bartender turned back to his drinks as a noisy group at the other end demanded service. "Confirmed Bookworm." Harry muttered, he picked up his drink and sipped it, "Q? What do you have?" A soft, slightly metallic rustling of invisible wings answered his question."

"I'm not getting anything from Hedwig Jr., Leo." Fred's voice replied in all of their ears. "We don't see any known Death Eaters. Of course Merlin knows how many that bastard actually has." The shrug was evident even in his voice. Harry's eyes flicked up near the ceiling towards the hiding spot of the invisible metallic owl. Fred's voice took on a oddly thoughtful tone as he considered the relayed imagery from their remote Surveillance Owl. "You know Ron needs to see the recordings of this...it'll make his year. Maybe I'll just put it up on the big ball in the living room..."

"Q..." Luna whispered, her hand naturally flowing up to cup her right ear for a moment. Her ice blue eyes flickered for an instant, as she weighed the proper response to her brother-in-law. Eventually she decided on annihilation, "Do you like, Heliopaths...I do...I wonder what you'd look like as one? Hmmmm?" Hermione rolled her eyes she spun in place.

Harry sighed, and eased his left hand under his coat, to rest surreptitiously on the hilt of his wand. "Ok, we don't have all night...Go, Bookworm." Hermione's brown eyes flicked to his across the room, held there for a heartbeat and then with a tiny gesture to Luna, the girls started slowly and languorously moving together, the pair of them attracting almost every male eye in the club, including and especially their prey. His dance partner looked rather annoyed, until with a sudden blank look, she walked away. Across the room, Harry casually continued his hand movement as if he were working out a kink and returned to his drink.

Somehow, by means of natural and paranatural charms, Luna and Hermione ended up dancing with Marshall to the vast annoyance of the Y chromosomed contingent of the crowd. The two of them split apart, Hermione dancing behind him closely, with Luna in front, her eyes daring him to watch her. He did so, with a hungry, longing look in his eyes.

He never felt the whisper soft touch of Hermione's fingers as she planted a small button under his collar, especially not through his beating heart. Finally the song ended, and the pair slowly sauntered off, Luna mischievously tracing her index finger down his cheekbones as they passed. Marshall followed them with his eyes all the way through the neon lit dimness to the bar, where the pair, coincidentally leaned against it right next to Harry to place their orders. "Jack and Diet Coke," Hermione replied to the bartender and pointed to Luna, "she'll have a gillywater martini." The bartender nodded as he bent to fill their drinks. He dropped them next to the girls and headed down to the other end of the bar, where he began to chat up a small, bottle-blond, twenty-something girl who was obviously a regular. "It's planted Harry." Hermione whispered as she turned her back to the bar and leaned on it easily.

A brief wisp of a nod answered her. "Do it Q." Hermione ordered under her breath, and in a large hotel room, several blocks away, Fred moved aside a mostly empty pizza box and waved his wand over a presently blank crystal screen next to the one currently showing the dim, smoky interior of Merlin's Hippogriff. A instant later, a vivid, crystal clear image of the front of the Rupp Metaphyics building miles away in Salem appeared. Fred touched a button on a shining, metal remote and a searing fireball shot into view on the newest screen. Seconds later, a seemingly large fire erupted in the lobby of the building.

"How long Q?" Harry whispered as he watched Marshall dancing with some new girl, a rather tall redhead, wearing a rather short skirt.

In the hotel room, Fred checked a clock and ran numbers in his head. "The wizarding branch of Pinkertons is kinda slow...give'em about...now." In the club and on Fred's monitor Marshall stopped and took out a small vibrating device. He visibly cursed as he headed for the disapparation point for the club. "That's right Mr. Marshall, there will be no companionship in store for you tonight except lefty.

Hermione rolled her eyes as Luna let out a soft giggle. A muffled CRACK came from the direction of the disapparation room. "Ok, he's there. He's disarming the wards to get in...got it." Fred said triumphantly, "we have the ward signatures, we are good to go." Drinks were finished and Harry laid a twenty on the bar. With a large, dung-eating grin on his face, he led the two girls, one on each arm, out the door of the club and into the night.

**********************London, Near Trafalgar Square********************

4:45 am
August 4, 2012

A weary-eyed, blond-haired young man sat in a corner booth in this all night coffee shop, tantalizingly near the Ministry of Magic itself. His longish hair was unbound, much of it falling forward to occlude his face. The clothes Draco had on were the ones he had escaped in from his house almost twenty-four hours before. He just nodded as the waitress came and refilled his cup. A copy of the early edition of the Daily Prophet was in his hands, he had charmed it so the pictures would freeze and not give him away. Looking on the pictures of the devastation at the World Cup, now just three days in the past he sighed. Turning the page, he glanced up, and about had a stroke.

A calm, collected Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his booth, across the table from him. "I would recommend the scones." Dumbledore said as way of greeting, "they are particularly good with raisins." Draco didn't bother to hide his rolling eyes. Dumbledore twinkled a tad bit in return. This early morning, the greatest wizard of the age, maybe, had his long hair pulled into a silver tail, with a gold ring gathering his beard together in front. His normal, flashy wizard robes were gone, replaced with an old, black leather jacket worn over jeans, and what were probably dragonhide boots. The jacket was open enough to show a t-shirt with a large depiction of a dragon eating a wizard. The WWW shirts had an automatic charm to stop moving when outside of wizarding areas, so the image was quiescent. He absently pushed his half-moons up his nose as he took a sip of his coffee. "Nice place. Alastor and I used to stop here when we were due at the Ministry." Dumbledore reminisced briefly and sighed.

"What do you want old man?" Draco growled with only a touch of bitterness flavoring his tone, his eyes rolling slightly. "And how did you find me, Potter and Granger haven't even found me yet?" Draco took a sip of just short of scalding coffee and grimaced.

"While I may have taught them, many, many, things, I still hold many secrets." Dumbledore replied with a slight smile. He took a drink of tea and a bite from a scone and relaxed into his seat.

"You didn't answer my first question, Dumbledore." Draco snapped; his smoky eyes darkening as he glared across the table. "I'm not about to turn myself in to the Ministry, I'd be dead before the next dawn." He leaned forward over the table. His eyes cut left and right looking for anyone watching them. "I did what you wanted, old man. I met with my damn father, I told you about him, I did everything you wanted and look where I am now."

"You knew the risks, Draco." Dumbledore rejoined calmly, "Are you sure you won't have a scone? They are quite good. Not as good as the elves provide at Hogwarts of course..."

"I don't have time to talk about fucking scones old man." Draco snapped. The waitress and a couple of customers turned to them, only to quickly turn away at Draco's glare. Draco started to stand, only to sit back down abruptly as a sudden, irresistible compulsion overtook him. "What?" Draco hissed, "what else?"

Dumbledore's glasses fell down his nose, and a brief tingle on Draco's skin gave him notice of a sudden bubble of silence surrounding them. Ice blue eyes bore into his, measuring his very soul. "I never implanted you with the trap memory, the Order will protect you Draco, even from the Ministry itself if need be. Six years ago, you did not betray the light, and helped defend Hogwarts. In return, she will keep you safe should the occasion warrant." Dumbledore paused, as he took a small package from under his jacket and slid it across the table to Draco. "You have one more mission for the Order Draco, and your Wizard's debt, the one that your father abandoned to me will be released. The one your Grandfather incurred and he took on with his death."

Draco glanced over at him, speculatively, "What?"

"Find Ginny," Dumbledore replied simply, getting to his feet and placing a battered, black fedora onto his silvery mane of hair, "Despite your differences, your father will still want to take you back, he has no heirs since your mother's...difficulties."

"And if he kills me instead?" Draco snarled back snarkishly, "what then?"

"At least your debt will be resolved. Good day." Dumbledore vanished between two eye blinks, and not a soul in the restaurant other than Draco even noticed.

**************************Rupp Metaphysical, Salem MA********************

0015 hrs EST August 4, 2012 (0515 Hogwarts time)

A pair of ghosts danced in the night, not even a shadow nor a muffled footfall betraying their presence as they slipped past a brightly lit guardhouse at the gate of a ten foot chain-link fence surround the building and its parking lot. The lot was empty this early in the morning, with only a beat up pickup truck and a slightly newer Toyota sedan occupying the spots nearest the guardhouse.

Both guards were muggles, and neither had any idea what really went on in this building. Both of them thought this was merely another small science company, similar to those surrounding it in the business park. The pair of them were merely window dressing to the surrounding muggle businesses. After all, most of them had security patrols and fences so Rupp did as well to blend in. Muffled conversation from the pair drifted into the night about the small fire that had broken out in the office earlier tonight. Mr. Marshall had come by and told them it had been some unknown worker trying to sneak a smoke and had dropped a still burning ember into a trashcan, where it smoldered for several hours before lighting up. No one said they were the smartest of guards.

Marshall on the other had figured it had been some experiment gone awry, as the fire had started in the only upstairs wizarding lab. He had quickly used an oxygen-displacing spell to douse the flames before leaving to go home alone. All the while muttering about having to let those two girls go he had seen at the club earlier.

What he didn't know was that the brunette from tonight was even now shattering his security wards, without so much as a flicker on his detectors. Hermione stopped about ten feet from the building and silently held one hand up, fingers splayed. She closed the hand into a fist and behind her, Harry sunk to one knee as he spun to cover their back trail. A suppressed handgun was in one hand, a wand in the other as he pointed them out at forty-five degree angles to his body. She glanced back at him; he nodded and motioned with his head towards the ward wall.

Muttering a spell under her breath, Hermione described a doorway in the air in front of her and a heartbeat later, a faintly glowing archway appeared, hanging in the air. Hermione slipped through the opening and dropped into a crouch, ready to cover Harry. He eased through the opening, and with a hard, downward slash of his wand, the doorway disappeared. "Bookworm and Leo are past the outer perimeter." Harry whispered into the mike at his lips.

"Confirmed, Leo" Fred replied from his post in a black, unmarked van, parked about a half a mile away in a long-term parking lot. He checked the two crystal screens relaying images from the two surveillance owls he had aloft, both of which were showing green-tinged images of the area. He glanced over at Luna, who glanced up from her post long enough to give him a slight nod. Her eyes held a slight, golden glow as she had her senses stretched out. She gave a sudden jump as she felt an familiar sensation.

"Bookworm, Leo." Luna snapped into her headset, "Once you opened a hole in the wards, I felt the same things from the building as I did at the World Cup...be careful." In the van Fred gave her a questioning look and immediately returned to his mechanical owls, redoubling his efforts. Outside of the building, Harry and Hermione froze and dropped down together, back to back. Their wands and eyes were scanning the night for anything out of place.

"I...um have nothing Leo." Fred said eventually. He shrugged, it wasn't that he distrusted Luna, any of the family would gladly trust their lives to the others, but there was no evidence of anything amiss.

Let's do it Hermione. Harry decided as he rose from his crouch and ran to a blank section of wall of the building. The area he had chosen was out of the way behind bushes and sparsely lit. Somewhere in the night, several birds fluttered into flight. Open her up, Mione.

Hermione eased past him, and raised her wand once more. "PORTALIS" Just like behind the Leaky Caldron thousands of miles away, the bricks of the wall quickly and silently rearranged themselves into a small doorway into the building. The duo slipped inside just before the bricks returned to their previous confirmations with a whisper of grating stone.

Inside the building, it was almost pitch black; the hall was sparsely barely by tiny lights near the floor. Two pairs of eyes flicked through a series of odd blinks, and two pairs of eyes SHIFTED, pupils growing oval before opening fully. Suddenly to their enhanced cat vision, courtesy of Harry's primary and Hermione's secondary animagus forms, the room lightened to near daylight, with the colors shifted slightly into the red. A faint tracery of beams crisscrossed the hall, and in front of the elevator doors at the end of the hall, a latticework of beams guarded the entrance to the lower levels.

With a glance into a small pack strapped to his thigh, Harry jerked out an old friend. He smiled at Hermione as she tucked into his chest. With a practiced flick of his wrist, they vanished, whatever light there was in this dim hallway passing right through them. The secret of the cloak was that it bent light around it, so as to pass the image of what was behind the cloak to one on the other side. It did just as well with the light beams guarding the corridor. There were other ways of becoming invisible of course, and both of them knew them, but most did not accomplish the goal with the ease that Harry's inherited cloak did.

This brings back memories. Harry whispered as they inched down the hall together.

Yeah, too bad we are too busy to try to relive them right now. Hermione returned with a cheeky grin dancing in her eyes. Harry gave her a slight squeeze of the arm he had around her waist in response. Finally reaching the elevator doors, Harry flicked his wand and they shot open, to reveal an empty shaft. He crept forward until he stood looking down into the empty elevator shaft.

Looks like about two stories...easy. And with that, Harry stepped off into the abyss. He fell rapidly for an instant, until with a muttered spell, his fall slowed drastically and he landed lightly on the concrete floor of the shaft. Hermione dropped next to him an instant later and pointed her wand up. She flicked it sideways and the doors above closed, plunging the enclosed space into darkness.

With a casual wave of a hand, the doors to the bottom floor opened and bright light spilled in. Instantly, both of them felt the small hairs on the back of their necks raise up, and an involuntary rush of power lit their eyes, at the sensation of utter wrongness coming from up ahead. A quiet scraping of boot soles on the tiled floor echoed in the silence. Diving forward, Harry grabbed Hermione about the waist, waved back at the elevator doors closing them quietly and tossed the cloak back over the pair of them, all as they were still in mid-air.

Harry lay on his back in a corner; Hermione curled tightly to his chest as under the cover of the cloak they both watched a cloaked and hooded man come around the corner wand in hand. He was unmasked, but they both recognized him immediately. Marcus Flint, the former captain of the Slytherin House team, and current member of Lucius Malfoy's band of terrorists, thugs and general evil-doers. No wonder we couldn't find him in Britain, he was over here. What do you want to do? Hermione asked.

This. A bolt of red light rent the air and Flint collapsed to the floor without a sound. Harry stood and pulled Hermione to her feet. With another abbreviated motion of a wand, ropes bound Marcus and a final wave, silenced him. Harry plucked the Death Eater's wand from his unresisting hand and snapped it in two. "Incendio" He whispered and the shattered pieces burned to ash. Stashing Marcus in a convenient broom closet, they turned the corner and ran towards a heavy steel door at the end of the hall.

Hermione slid to a halt, grabbing a flat black steel disc from her waist pack. She slapped it against the lock of the door, FIRE IN THE HOLE. Fire flared from the disc, and BANG, a large hole was blown through the door. The heavy steel door swung open slowly and Harry dove in and to the right, Hermione followed almost immediately to the left.

An unearthly, somewhat sickening green glow lit the lab. Stainless steel workbenches lined the walls. Cauldrons of bubbling potion ingredients, smoked to themselves on one side of the room filling the room with a thin haze. On the other side of the room, with an odd purple light shining down on them, several large crystals were growing. Visible via a large window in one wall, a half dozen cages held dozens of large, gray rats. But none of that was the reason they were here.

In the center of the room, surrounded by a cage of fire, six, faceted, black stones sat on short pedestals. Three more pedestals were sitting empty. All six of the crystals pulsed in time to with each other, and a low almost groaning sound seemed to come from them.

Hermione ran over to a desk and filing cabinet in one corner and started riling through them. She pulled files and folders out quickly, scanning each for an instant before tossing it aside, either to the floor with most of them, or for a select few into a small pile. Finally satisfied, she shrunk the selected files and slipped them into her fanny pack. "Ok Harry, that's it."

Harry pulled two final objects from his gear and set them on the ground just outside the vertical, flaming bars. Both of them were conspicuously marked on one side, "this way towards the bad guys." Harry followed the printed advice and pointed them towards the crystals on their stands. "Ok they're set Q." He looked over at Hermione to confirm, she nodded, "Do it."

Outside in the van, Fred pushed a button on his console, and for the briefest amount of time, the sky lit with a yellow flash, as a loud ripping sound sent napping birds to flight in the trees surrounding the building. The pair of Muggle guards in the security shack stumbled out of their small hut, and looked up with matching befuddled expressions as a fading glittering light marked the demise of the main security wards for the building.

In the lab, sudden alarms rang out as Harry and Hermione apparated out. Two seconds past, then one of the two surprise packages flared to life. It vibrated wildly, and started glowing a dull red. On their pedestal stands, the black crystals started shaking, bouncing on their stands. BANG...BANG...BANG...BANG...BANG...BANG...one after another all six of the crystals shattered into dust. Ten seconds after that the second device lit, and the entire room, flared white. The light faded, only to blaze up instantly again as the entire room was engulfed in flames.

**************************Boston, Logan International******************

0200 EST (0700 Hogwarts Time)

The four of them, Harry, Hermione, Luna and Fred sat in their van, waiting for it to be loaded onto a RAF plane. The RAF crew had no idea that it was a wizarding intelligence unit; they thought it MI-6 or CIA. Over to one side, a crystal ball was projecting an image of Ron and George into the air.

"We're on the way back mate." Harry reported to the redhead, "We destroyed all the crystals that were completed, and the lab as well. They were missing a few, we have no idea if they were completed or not, the records that would indicate whether or not they had more than six done were missing. Hermione grabbed everything else of interest." Harry gave the slightest of eye rolls, "we do have enough to add yet another charge to the list against Lucius of course. There might be more, we haven't really had time to look into what we grabbed. How are you doing there?"

Ron shook his head, "still no leads on Ginny or Draco I am afraid. Fred and Shawn checked out a muggle warehouse in Norfolk where several shipments from Rupp were received over the last two years and according to records still in storage, but there was nothing. Not even a dust bunny. Bloody waste of time for the most part, I'll go and check on a couple of places that supposedly received goods from there next." He looked down at a note on the tabletop in front of him. "Hermione, Dumbledore stopped me on the way in, and asked me to pass on a request for you to go to Alexandria instead of coming home directly. Supposedly Dr. Jones has uncovered something at the library that you might be interested in."

Hermione grinned at the thought of being asked to go the Alexandrian libraries and nodded. "Sure Ron, I guess I can handle that, if Harry can handle the kids for another day."

Author's note (note all of this is entirely my opinion and if I have offended anyone, please let me know and I will make amends.)

July 20, 2005

Well after the...that was HBP, I still held hope. I held hope that my ship had not sunk, that all would be revealed in time...I was correct. As of today, the night has fallen in cannon, and for that I am truly sorry and heartbroken. I am sorry for many reasons not the least of which was that a great literary character was pulled down into mediocrity. And that what could have been, what should have been will never exist. I am truly sorry that I evidentially am delusional and that I obviously do not know true love or friendship. I guess that I have looked in the wrong places all these years.

I was planning on beginning a book to "repair book 7" and that still may be written...someday. However for now I will concentrate on this universe for it seems one of the few bastions where the light still shines, however dimly. (I feel there is no need to rewrite book 6, I already did so.) As I type this, my stomach crawls and my heart pounds and my heart shatters.

Once I got a review for Lions...the reviewer stated that he was amazed how in character I wrote Harry and Hermione. It was easy, they were with each other, now that will never happen in the works of Miss Rowling and for that the world is a poorer place tonight.

I am not promising when I will write the next chapter for this story, but I do intend to do so. A world where Dumbledore was never killed like a dog and were those whose main mode of conversion was the argument did not suddenly and inexplicably fall in love. I write this in anger, and for that I am sorry. I apologize to those who disagreed with me on his pairing. My anger is not at them, nor in all truth with Jo Rowling. This is her universe in the end and I have been very glad to play in it. It has been fun.

To all of my fellow authors and readers of this genre of Harry Potter, well it was a good run, and one that should not stop just because its run in cannon did. Mourn the passing of your ship but do not change your lives or your beliefs because of it.

Now as to the story. There will be elements of this story that seem to greatly mirror events that will eventually happen in cannon. In fact, it looks like I got many, many things right, just not the main ships ;-) There are also elements that will seem to have been written to bash certain characters, and that is and will be not the case. In fact one that might be seen as a direct assault was written months before HBP came out and was planned almost a year ago. As of now this universe is truly AU and that's cool, because all of the stops are coming out.

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11. A Dark Path Revealed

I still own nothing really

Chapter 11: A Dark Path Revealed.

***********************Alexandria, Egypt***************************

0815 Hrs local time
August 5, 2012

Muggle history for the most part, recorded the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria as a result of Caesar's battle at Alexandria in 48 BC, or at the hands of various invaders over the next few hundred years. In most ways the Muggles were correct about the first assumption, with the exception that the library had never been burned. That fateful night in 48 BC, seeing the flames racing from the harbor towards the collection of ancient tomes and texts, a group of Egyptian wizards had hurriedly used a series of hastily rigged transportation spells, the ancient forerunners of the modern portkey spell to transport the contents of the library into a series of caves just outside of the city itself.

Unfortunately the five wizards and one witch that had accomplished this great feat died a week later at the hands of the invading Roman army, caught in a battle between Caesar and Pompey's forces. The relocated library had been lost for almost two thousand years, until while on a mission for the American government to obtain an extremely powerful artifact; Dr. Henry Jones had found a clue that would eventually lead him to the relocated library twenty years later.

The noted archeologist, sporadically spent time here over the next several decades. Usually in periods between having to reestablish new muggle identities as his long life, while not as long as Dumbledore's, couldn't be explained by muggles. He was technically overseeing a project to catalog the library, and after all of the texts relating to wizarding directly were secreted, was planning on revealing its existence to the world as a whole.

Hermione appeared silently in the entrance to the caves holding the contents of the Library. She smiled absently as she looked out at the stacks and stacks of scrolls. There were books as well, while the Muggle world may not have started producing books until sometime in the sixth century AD and mass producing them starting in 1450, wizards had been conjuring them into existence hundreds of years before that. Still the practice wasn't common and wizards had mostly written on scrolls and tablets, just like their muggle neighbors until after Gutenberg invented his printing press.

She waved at several of the graduate students from Stonehenge University working in the front area. One of them, a tall, thin woman with strawberry blond hair and a slight sunburn, who was using her wand to blow dust from the tomes as Hermione came in, pointed to the back with her free hand, "Dr. Jones is in the back cavern Hermione."

Hermione nodded and started towards the back cavern of the series of caves. She was well known here, she had actually come here on vacation at least once, dragging along Harry, and giving Ron fodder to tease Harry with about being whipped enough to follow his wife to a "giant bloody library out in the middle of the desert for Merlin's sake." He had shut up as Luna had clonked him on the back of the head.

Hermione laughed to herself at the memory as she finally reached the furthest back cave. The cave was actually closed in by a door, and on discovery the door had resisted opening for years, until three years ago, Albus Dumbledore, Bill Weasley, who after Voldemort's defeat had returned to his prized job as a curse breaker, and Dr. Jones had spent a month cracking the various wards and defenses of this room. Culminating in a simple, anti-climatic Alohomora to open the door. After they entered it, they had been shocked to silence as the room was filled with texts, including several that had not been published until well after the chamber was sealed. It appeared that whatever spell the movers had used had continued to collect information. In fact, as if to prove her point, as she entered the room, a brand new text appeared with a soft pop.

This back cave was the largest of any, and in fact was expended by magic to be many, many times larger than seemingly possible. "Dr. Jones." Hermione shouted.

"Over here Hermione." A battered fedora caught her eye, and Jones replaced it on his head with a wry grin. His eyes sparkled under his gray hair. "And you can call me Indy; you know that." He grinned roguishly as she approached, "Or I guess I could call you Dr. Potter."

"Well if you must use my titles" Hermione replied dryly, "I would prefer you use the full set." He laughed, as he held out a hand to help her up onto the small stage-like platform he was standing on.

"Let's see, that's Dame Lieutenant Commander Hermione Potter, Lady Ravenclaw, Lady Gryffindor, Doctor of Arithmancy and Transfiguration, Assistant Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry..." he smiled, "I miss any?"

"You forgot the whole series of titles having to do with the Order of Merlin, and there's some rank in the peerage having to do with the old Potter line, but we don't quite understand it." Hermione shrugged, and turned to business with a small sound of annoyance, "what did you need me here for Indy? As much as I love libraries, I need to get home. Poor Harry is probably by himself with the kids and they already outnumber us two to two." Hermione joked. Jones chuckled, then with a sigh his expression visibly darkened. He grabbed an odd wand at his waist that had a length of braided leather attached to it. He flicked it in the direction of one of the hovering light orbs and with a slight whoosh of air it came to his call. Jones waved over his shoulder, motioning Hermione to a large, dusty tome that lay open on a old, carved golden table.

Hermione looked at it for a moment, absently running her finger lightly along the text. She didn't understand a word; the language in the text was unknown to her. It seemed to have elements of several ancient languages, but was more complex than all of them. It was almost as if those ancient languages were simplified derivations of this language. She looked up at Indy, "I don't know what to say; I don't recognize the language. Not really." She said, though something tickled the back of her consciousness, some fact that was trying to escape.

He looked grim, "I know, it seems to be a base language that some of the later languages are based on. I tried a translation spell, but it just backfired on me." He pointed at the book, "Turn the page." Hermione did...and let out a little gasp of astonishment. An illustration was painstakingly presented on the pages, an illustration of something that had not been seen for ten thousand years.

Shining towers of steel and glass filled the pages, behind some of the towers and quite visible through some trick of the artist's art, the ocean could be clearly seen. Small, tiny people were scattered in the picture, and from the perspective, Hermione could tell that some of the shining towers were immensely tall, perhaps as tall as anything in modern day New York or Singapore and except for the obvious odd curves and angles that indicated magical origin, would not have been out of place in either city. That wouldn't have been a problem if the book were new. "How old is this book?" She asked slightly breathlessly.

"Dating, both magical and mundane, puts it at, at least nine thousand years, maybe as much as fifteen. It has very strong intrinsic protective charms however so don't worry about hurting it." He replied softly, "Turn the page again." She did so and this time it was with not astonishment but horror, that a soft sound escaped her lips. The shining buildings were now shattered and torn. Vast black shapes hovered over the buildings with green shafts of destruction spilling down from them and sweeping the streets. Shattering, breaking the buildings, raking the land clean of life. "Turn it again, Hermione."

The next scenes were the telling ones. Black, hooded figures were shown advancing on what were obviously troops in odd uniforms. The troops were putting up a valiant fight, the picture showing illustrations of spellfire and other weapons spitting defiance at the advancing horde. But in the picture the good guys were loosing, ghostly, cloaked shapes were overrunning one segment, and as she watched the picture obligingly zoomed in to show in detail the Dementor, for that's what it had to be, giving some poor, long departed soul, the kiss. She touched the advancing dark line, and the image zoomed in enough to confirm that it was a X'Sheen she was seeing advancing on the line of defenders. "Once more Hermione."

She turned the page again, to see a white robed wizard standing defiantly in the center of the line. He was holding aloft a glowing red orb, and as Hermione watched the image a beam shot out of the orb, collapsing a shining, silver mirror-like portal at the back of the attacking X'Sheen. It seemed to be some sort of portal, or that's what it looked like when compared to descriptions of such things she had read in other ancient texts.

He looked at her, "I guess your problem has been around longer than a few years."

"Yeah"

*****************************Dublin, Ireland******************************

Ron led Luna and Fred into a small dusty shop in the old section of the city. As they eased the door closed, Fred flipped the sign on the door from open to closed and mouthed a locking charm on the door. The proprietor, a middle-aged man, dressed in an old, natty jumper and slacks looked up at them and started. He reached for something under the counter. "ACCIO WAND," Luna growled and the man's wand shot to her hand.

He raised his hands and stepped back. "Who are you people?" The man asked belligerently. He slowly stepped from behind the counter toward a cluttered shelf.

"Stop right there," Ron growled and the man froze. "Wayne McGovern?" The man nodded, Ron pulled a wallet from his jacket and opened it, flashing his credentials to the man. "We're here from the Ministry, we have some questions regarding goods that you are stated to have received from Kaiser Distributing in Norfolk on or about the ninth of June." McGovern jumped, just the tiniest bit, but enough for agents trained under the harsh eye of Alastor Moody to catch it. He nodded and lowered his hands slowly.

"Can I check my manifests? I have them in the back." He said and Ron agreed, flashing a warning look to Luna and Fred as he did. They followed him to the back room, and watched as he continued to a desk and a shelf behind it. He glanced back at them once, to see that they were standing in front of his desk, Ron and Luna together, Fred a bit back. He turned back to the shelf and, under the stack of papers he was reaching for, pressed a button.

Instantly the floor vanished beneath Ron and Luna and they went tumbling into darkness. The floor slid closed just as fast, and McGovern spun about with a new wand in hand. His hand was already raising, "AVADA..."

A red bolt of light impacted him between the eyes before he could utter the second word and he dropped like a sack of rotten potatoes. "Ron, Luna..." Fred yelled, pounding on the floor. He ran to the back of the room, and after a quick search, found the button McGovern had used. Fred repeatedly pushed it to no avail.

After a good, several second fall Ron and Luna crashed down together into darkness. They had both automatically cast momentum dispersion charms on themselves as they fell, so they were both alright, but where were they? "Lumos" Two throats muttered and twin beams of light speared into the gloom.

Low growling sounds escaped the darkness and an odd, sharp smell, like that of old blood and iron, identified itself to the two animagi. "Werewolves." Ron whispered to his wife. He grabbed her hand and tried to apparate, only to feel the effects of a quite strong anti-apparition field in place. He tossed his wand to his left hand and drew the modified muggle sidearm that they all had been issued since Ginny's encounter with wolves last year. Without looking he knew Luna had done the same. Together they stood back to back; Ron's light scanned right, and suddenly glittering eyes and ivory fangs appeared in the dark. The wolf leapt, and his gun barked three times. As it fell at his feet, behind him, other growls sputtered into being, one, five, ten

A heartbeat later the dark room erupted in flashes, Ron took down one, then another, and another and as a fourth wolf sprung from the dark at him, a soft click answered him. Behind him, Luna growled a curse as her slide locked back as well. The wolf stopped at the edge of his wandlight, growling. Ron could hear at least five more somewhere in the large room and gulped. "Luna..." He whispered, "Get ready, animagus forms it's our only..."

A loud explosion cut them off, Ron grabbed Luna and dove to the floor as flaming chunks of the ceiling fell almost on top of them, "RON, LUNA" Fred screamed down into the hole.

"Here," Ron replied "werewolves." Fred didn't waste time with words. A pair of conjured ropes dropped into the room, and as Ron and Luna grabbed one each, they shot upwards with enough force to almost jerk their arms from the sockets. Frustrated howls came from below at the sudden escape of their prey, as Fred frantically dragged Luna and Ron away from the hole in the floor.

His family clear, Fred smiled darkly and pulled a half-glass, half shining sphere from somewhere in his many pocketed jacket. "Argent grenade." He explained as he pulled a pin from the top and casually tossed it over his shoulder into the subbasement. A loud WOOF, came from below accompanied by a bright yellow flash. Howls of pain were heard for an minute, then silence. Fred took a small submachine gun from under his jacket, instantly causing Ron to wonder if there were expansion spells on his pockets. He pulled the magazine from it, and after confirming that it was loaded with silver and replacing it, he dropped down into the basement, his wand in his other hand providing light. After a minute of silence, he called up, "Its all clear down here." His face appeared down below, "send down a rope bro, and you might want to see this."

***************************Hogwarts*********************************

Ron, Luna and Fred's faces appeared on a mirror in Harry's office. They were still standing in the shop, looking somewhat the worse for wear. "We found a case of QWC quaffles, the same lot number and type as the one that was used at the World Cup." Ron reported, "We also found what looks like a lab of some sort." He looked at Fred.

"Harry, you probably want to get Hermione here or one of the people specializing in high energy magics and metaphysics," Fred stated, "But yeah, from going over the possible stuff we got at Rupp and what McGonagall discovered in her work, this could have been where they built the device. There are a whole bunch of spare parts as well, but no other crystals."

"Understood," Harry replied he glanced over at Valerie Sommers, she nodded, "what about the shop proprietor?"

"His mind's gone Harry," Luna replied, her voice slightly dreamy as she relaxed back into her normal state of being. She shrugged casually, "looks like he had charms put on his mind to wipe it, if he were to be captured."

"Shit." Harry muttered under his breath, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, after a second he looked back up at the trio of Weasleys on the mirror screen. "There's a sweeper team on the way to clean up the site and look for anything you missed, bring the guy in, maybe Valerie can still get something from him."

"Sure Harry." Ron replied with a frown. With a final nod, the image of the three faded from view to be replaced with a reflection of Harry's office.

Harry looked up at Valerie. "Get your team ready for when they get here, I doubt you will find out anything from the guy, but maybe we got lucky. I'm heading home, you can get me by mirror or phone if you need me." Harry said. He stood and locked his desk with a wave of his hand as he left the room.

*******************************The Burrow*******************************

Harry appeared silently in Molly's garden and on noticing the gnomes scurrying about he dropped to his knees and started chucking. After ten minutes and two-dozen gnomes sailing through the air to parts unknown, Molly stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Harry," She chided, "you know we have folks to do that now?" Her eyes chuckled a bit.

"Yeah I know mum," Harry rose from his knees and brushed off the knees of his jeans. He grabbed the robe he had had on at Hogwarts from a garden bench and followed the Weasley matriarch into the kitchen. He sat at a table as she poured him a mug of tea, and pushed a plate of biscuits across the table at him.

"So..." she looked at him over the top of her mug. Harry was instantly reminded of another conversion with her over a kitchen table, years ago and hundreds of miles away in another kitchen when she had confronted him about his and Hermione's new status. Harry looked down into his mug, "Luna as well then, Harry?" A trace of venom slipped into her tone, but was quickly squashed in favor of the pain that had caused it. "And not me, you still won't let me in?"

"Not so much as won't, but can't." Harry looked up and met her gaze evenly. He really didn't want to have this conversion, but he wasn't about to flinch, "I would if I could, I've learned keeping secrets just to protect someone..." Molly nodded unwillingly, "is not the best reason. In this case, it is genuinely that Luna, like the rest of us, was Auror and intelligence trained and commissioned right out of Hogwarts. She was active for a short period of time before she took reserve status to manage the Quibbler for her dad." Harry shook that off and glanced upstairs.

"The kids asleep?"

"Yes, Harry, and if you don't mind taking Elliot tonight?" Molly asked, as they both silently agreed to set aside their difficulties for now. He nodded and stood. Harry headed off, around the old scrubbed wood table, and paused with his hand on a slightly askew doorframe.

"Molly, if there's a way at all, we'll get her back."

"I know Harry."

****************************Stonehenge******************************

August 5, 2012
3:00 am

A bright full moon, shown down over the ancient site. The pale white stones stood up from the ground like broken teeth from some fallen giant. Howls rent the air, howls of hunting packs and conquests. A tall, thin robed figure strode through the night; flaked by a pair of low, lean wolves. His hood was pulled forward masking his features.

He reached the circle of stones, and a ring of cloaked, still figures parted for him. He passed between the silent ones to stand before a hasty altar. A crumpled mass of robes was laid upon the altar; a black pool of liquid was gathered on the stones below. A cloud that had been blocking the light of the moon from the altar passed, and a fall of red hair could be seen haloing the prostrate, motionless small body.

Lucius nodded at the scene and took a brightly glowing, red orb from his robes and held it aloft. He smiled darkly as he swept his robes back from his head with his free hand. His eyes were glowing brightly, fit to match the orb as he looked around his circle of gathered Death Eaters. "Witness our triumph." He turned so as to see all that come this night, "this is the beginning, our forces will scour the world...we will destroy those poor, misguided fools who consort with cattle as if they were worthy."

He raised the orb in both hands, "Enclosium Avertao Portalis." A purple/black beam shot out from the orb to the very center of the enclosed circle of stones and stopped. A tiny pinprick of light danced there, like a tiny star. Malfoy lowered the orb slightly and held it in one hand so as it was held in the tips of his fingers in his left hand. He held out his right and Bariss placed a bloodstained blade in it. He took the bloody knife and quickly sliced the palm of his hand holding the orb. He closed his fist around the orb, the red blood of the Death Eater's sacrifice mingling and with his own, dark almost black blood and coating the glowing red orb. "Come forth my servants, come forth and be bound to my service."

The pinprick expanded, growing, flattening, until it became a shimmering oval disc ten feet high, by five wide. Slowly, a scaled hand emerged, followed by the rest of a dark cloaked body. The X'Sheen stood, waiting, as one then another then ten, then fifty more appeared. As if controlled by one invisible puppeteer, one hundred bowed, prostrating themselves before the Dark Lord. Malfoy laughed as more and more emerged from the portal. In the forest beyond a wolf howled, and ghostly shapes blocked out the moon as a cohort of Dementors passed in the night.

A/N: Kinda short...sorry. I will try to get another up this week to make up for it, no promises. Next Chapter...A passing of friends? Schedules for school, weird wizarding photos, feeding Norbert, a dark surprise and an unexpected trip...damn we will be busy.

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12. An Unexpected Detour

A/N Here it is, sorry it took a while, blame the hard drive, I do.
Chapter 12: An Unexpected Detour

***********************Malfoy Castle********************************
Monday August 6, 2012
6:35 pm

A brown, mossy clump of vegetation moved slightly on the edge of a cliff overlooking a large castle. The castle walls were composed of a black, grained granite like stone, with large, wrought-iron gates closing all entrances, save one, the main one which was guarded by a pair of Death Eaters. A pair of lenses glinted in the fading twilight light for an instant before the omniocculars were lowered. Draco grunted slightly as he lowered his head to the telescopic sight on the rifle he had brought along in case of wolves. Draco frowned slightly as he considered the sight of a castle that he had been told by his father and grandfather was destroyed in 1795.

The ancient feud that had supposedly ruined this castle; that had set the Weasley and Malfoy clans at each other's throats was still unresolved even though few today knew the original sin that had started the hatred. The theft of the youngest daughter to the Weasley clan in 1789 for the Malfoy heir of that time to have a pureblood wife had precipitated a war that extended to this day.

The heirs of the allied clans that had responded to the Weasleys' call for assistance, the Potters, the Longbottoms, the Alexanders, and a proud young Vampire with the last name of O'Connor, did not know the reason either. Whether it was due to the near destruction of the Longbottom and Potter lines, the annihilation of the Alexanders at the start of Voldemort's first reign of terror or the deliberate hiding of the truth from the Weasleys did not really matter. In the end, the alliance had failed; Grace Weasley had died in the fighting, along with the unborn heir to that the first son of that generation of Malfoys.

None of that history was really important any longer. Draco had never been told of it and still would not know of it except for the words of one very old retainer when he was very young. Young enough that he had never thought about the possibility that the old redoubt still standing until he had run out of options...and hope. It was not only his promise to the old wizard that had him hidden outside of the castle of his ancestors, but his friend, one of the few he still had was hopefully somewhere inside this imposing edifice of stone.

Far below, a company of at least one hundred Dementors exited the castle and started off towards the west, directly away from him. Draco watched them leave and nodded to himself slightly. Under the cover of the gillie suit, Draco fastened a black bandanna over his all too visible hair. He checked his wand holster strapped down his thigh, a large dagger strapped hilt down on his chest and the pistol at the small of his back. He briefly considered the rifle laying on the ground next to him, and the vest full of magazines, but with a small frown, decided the additional weight wasn't worth it vs. the chance of running into werewolves. As the Dementors vanished out of sight, Draco rose to a crouch and started down the cliff, careful to keep out of direct sight of the castle.

*****************************Godric's Hollow**************************

Harry smiled as he hovered on his Firebolt, only about three feet off the ground as he slowly "raced" the kids on their training brooms. Hermione watched them from the back porch and waved. Harry rolled his eyes slightly as they passed going about ten miles an hour in their endless laps around the back yard pitch. Emilia giggled as her and Horry swerved back and forth in front of their dad.

Hermione leaned on the rail, a cup of tea in her hands, "yes Ron?" Ron shook his head as he walked out onto the porch from the kitchen door, a pilfered butterbeer from the fridge in his hands.

"Why don't I get those cool powers, the sensing people thing, the wandless magic, a sword named after me, huh?" Ron asked rhetorically. Hermione grinned and ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.

"It's because you are the sidekick, remember big brother?" Hermione replied softly, her eyes twinkling as she and Ron watched the twins start playing some sort of tag with Harry on their brooms. The kids dodged around the base of the Quidditch hoops, and Harry's laughter carried up to the house.

Ron laughed, after thirteen years they could joke about all the insults that others had thrown at them over the years. "Oh yeah, sis...I forgot." The smile faded from his face, and took a sip of his beer absently. "Valerie wasn't able to get anything from that guy." Hermione nodded, she had expected nothing else. "And there hasn't been anything from Draco, even on the secret drops...he's rogue Hermione, and the half of the Aurors out there will AK him on sight if they find them. Damn Springbolt has almost all of them out looking for him, instead of hunting Death Eaters. It's worse then when they were after Sirius." He rolled his eyes, "If you had told me back in school, I'd actually give a flying flip if Draco Malfoy saw the dawn, I'd thought you were taking the mickey." Ron rolled the bottle between his palms, "it's bad at the Burrow sis; mum's going ballistic. Dad's staying at the office and the twins haven't been over all week cause mum asks anyone who comes in the door, where Ginny is."

"And how are you doing Ron?" Hermione said softly.

"I have been better Herms," Hermione glared at him at the nickname but let it pass, "I want to be doing something, anything, its even worse than when we were seventeen and in that last month at Hogwarts, you know." Hermione nodded silently, "when we knew he was coming, well the inner circle did, we knew the bastard was coming for the chamber and I knew my brother was going to have to finally end it one way or another. But then we were training, making plans, having lots of sex just in case..." Hermione punched him in the shoulder. "Oh like you two weren't. But now there's nothing to do, other than to be ready just in case something turns up." He turned to her and his eyes held something else, some other thought that he did not want to relay.

Unfortunately, Hermione knew him rather well, not as well as Harry or her kids, but she had learned to read him before they had entered puberty. "What Ron?"

"Gran Longbottom came over to the Burrow today to talk to mum..." he turned away "She wants to have the funerals for Alice and Frank, and...Neville Thursday."

"Damn," Hermione whispered.

"Yeah." Ron agreed. They stood in silence, watching the next generation as they laughed and cavorted, totally unaware of the quiet angst that was unfolding on the porch mere meters away.

************************Minster of Magic's Office***********************

The door shut behind an Auror bearing a black folder and locked with a loud click. Arthur rose from behind his desk and paced to the hearth in the corner of the large office and lit the fire with his wand. A bare instant later, Alastor Moody and Albus Dumbledore tumbled from the flames. Arthur waved them to seats as he returned to his desk.

"There has been no word?" Dumbledore asked as he settled himself in a large comfortable chair. He absently looked around the dark-wood paneled office, and settled on a picture of the entire Weasley clan on Arthur's desk for a moment before falling back on Arthur.

"No." He replied, shuffling through a pile of parchments on his desk. "Sirius has been working almost nonstop. I finally had Lupin and Tonks drag him home to get some rest." He sighed and removed his glasses. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "There're rumors that a vote of no confidence will be called against me."

"That's arsine." Moody growled, "Bloody Fudge watched Voldemort try to take over and spent all his time trying to catch Black and discredit Potter and Albus. Voldemort had to show up here, right downstairs, before anyone went after that blowhard."

Arthur looked longingly at the photo on his desk of the entire family, including Harry and Hermione, though neither had been technically related when it was taken, the photo had been snapped by Remus of the entire group at Grimmauld place, right after Percy had returned to the fold. In it Ginny was actually the tallest of them all as she was sitting on Ron's shoulders. Percy was rolling his eyes at the rampant frivolity but at least he was there, while the twins were setting something at Ron's feet. Bill and Charlie were standing in the back, both still soot-covered in the picture from a floo trip while Harry was bent over whispering something in Hermione's ear. She was fingering her wand, and looking up at Ginny.

Next to these pictures, several smaller framed ones, held photos of the various grandchildren, some with and some without their parents in the photos. Arthur reached out and straightened them before answering. "It is not as if I haven't been expecting it, Mad-Eye." He said softly; "ever since that article by that bloody Skeeter woman, I have been expecting it. If it happens, it happens. At least I will have more time to spend with them."

"We need you here, Arthur" Dumbledore replied. He sat lower in his chair, as he looked over the tops of his half-moon glasses at Minister Weasley.

"Does it get tiring Albus?" Arthur muttered, just loud enough for all three of them to hear him. "Binding all of your friends and family with the chains of duty and honor." He looked up, "you should be in this chair, not me."

"I am afraid that you were the best choice for the position at the time, my friend. I needed the freedom to act that the position did not afford, and others were not ready for such a responsibility." Dumbledore pulled a many-handed watch from his pocket and examined it minutely. He nodded at something he saw there, "I have such members of the Order as I can trust to be discrete looking into matters as well, Arthur."

"Who?" Mad-Eye asked suddenly. He had an odd gleam in his one remaining eye as he thought over the few remaining Order members that were still young enough to participate in active operations and were not directly associated with the Ministry. "Who? Bill, Charlie, that bird of Black's?"

"I am afraid that information is classified my friend." Dumbledore replied as he rose and walked to the fire. He paced back and forth in front of it, his hands clasped behind his back, "I do not know whom I may trust these days...and even though I trust both of you, this place is not secure." He paused, considering his words, "let us just say that the um...operative I have on the case is free to act due to his unattachment to the Ministry." Mad-Eye's eye widened instantly discerning the meaning behind the words.

**************************Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office********************

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Minerva McGonagall walked around the staff gathered today for a pre-school meeting, handing out proposed timetables to each of the members. The circular office was full with the entire staff, minus two, congregated to go over items for the rapidly approaching school year. Dumbledore was sitting behind his huge oak desk looking through stacks of parchments and proposed book lists for the next year. Dumbledore looked pointedly at the blank spot where Draco should be seated, then at Minerva. "Very well..." Dumbledore started, and then was quickly interrupted as a large set of feet thundered up the stairs.

The door slammed open to reveal a large, hairy form completely filling the doorway and then some. "Hagrid." Hermione cried and jumped up to hug him. She barely reached his waist. "You're back." She smiled up at him, even though it was tinged with a touch of regret even now at the circumstances.

""Ermione you know I had to be back for class, and 'ell y' know" Hagrid didn't want to finish his sentence nor did he need to. She nodded as Hagrid turned to Harry, ""arry, you too, 'orry I missed you birthday. I 'ave something 'ere for you...somewhere." Hagrid dung in the cavernous pockets of his coat, until finally he found a coarsely wrapped package and handed it to him. After greeting Ron and the rest of the attendees, Dumbledore waved them to silence and restarted his abortive staff meeting.

"Now that you are here Hagrid..." Dumbledore announced wryly, "Minerva would appreciate your course outline for the next year and as to other matters...Hermione, I'm sorry to say that first years can only be expected to read one textbook..." Ron chuckled behind his hand before he became silent at a brown-eyed glance. Dumbledore acted as if he didn't notice. "Harry, I am not sure that we should have such an emphasis of dark creatures in year two, I would feel more comfortable with leaving them in year three." He looked up at Hagrid. Hagrid was standing near the back of the room next to Ron, talking in hushed tones about lunch. "Hagrid, I need to see you after the meeting about Norbert's rations for the year...he, umm seems to be over budget for the year already on his feed."

"Professor Dumbledore sir, he's a growing dragon sir." Hagrid objected.

"He's a hundred bloody feet long Hagrid." Ron replied incredulously, as Flitwick nodded from the top of his stack of cushions.

"Be that as it may." Dumbledore interjected quickly, "we do need to talk about it." The old wizard paused, and looked out at all of them assembled today. "I expect all of you will be attending the services tomorrow."

*****************************Hogwarts***********************************

Thursday, August 9, 2012

The ancient, haunting strains of bagpipes echoed off the lake as dozens of black, robed mourners followed three union jack covered coffins, each trimmed with crimson and gold, down a thousand-year-old worn path to a cemetery hidden in the trees bordering the lake. An escort of Aurors in dress midnights surrounded the coffins as the they came to rest beside three open graves in a graveyard that held heroes, almost exclusively. Almost the entire active, remaining detail of the Auror corps was here to honor three who had given all in the fight. Frank and Alice would be interred next to the empty coffin of their son, his body had never been found in the rubble of the Ministry hospital.

Hermione led Gran Longbottom to her spot next to Dumbledore. Gran smiled tiredly at Hermione as she let her arm drop. Hermione crossed to Harry, and found his hand instead. They watched as a detail of seven Aurors took formation to the side, their wands held at parade rest. Tonks, Lupin and Alastor all took positions next to them, their golden medals glinting in the afternoon sun, contrasting with the deep midnight of their dress uniforms. Tears fell from Tonks' eyes; she wiped them away angrily as she forced herself to look at the coffins.

Harry's green eyes were shaded, dark as he watched another of his friends be lowered into the ground. He did not hear the Minister, or Dumbledore, or Alastor speak of the heroics that the elder Aurors had undertaken, or the stand in the war against Voldemort Neville had took. A dull buzzing filled his thoughts as he watched Gran take a folded flag from Alastor and Molly took another in Ginny's place, the flag from Neville's coffin that she would be entitled to as his fiancée. He distantly felt Hermione shiver next to him, at the snap-hiss, followed by the crash of three sets of seven reductors fired into the air to salute the fallen ones. Eventually he turned away as Ron placed his hand on his shoulder and he, Ron, Luna and Hermione walked away together, none of them ever having said a word.

****************************Malfoy Castle*****************************

August 9, 2012
11:34 pm

Draco crept along crumpled stones at the base of the wall. He had been trying to find a back way into the castle for three days, without much success. Normally he would have had support, intelligence, surveillance, backup, but for now he had none. He was a shadow, a darker patch in the night as he slipped past a brightly lit guard post. Both of the Death Eaters on station were standing in the pool of light cast from gas lamps in the walls. They were talking and smoking, not paying attention to their surroundings in the slightest. The Death Eaters were utterly secure in their security; no one knew where they were, so no one could threaten them. It would have been child's play for Draco to stun or eliminate either or both, but instead he chose to creep past.

Easing down a corridor, keeping to the shadows and walls, Draco slipped down a long, spiraling staircase. A bare flicker of light guided his steps as he skulked into a dungeon that closely resembled the one he had slept in for every day in his tenure at Hogwarts. A stair creaked, "OI, who goes there." Draco froze, as a portrait of an old wizard in dark red robes looked out, startled at the sound. The wizard strained at the corners of his canvas, but finding nothing, he grumbled to himself and returned to sleep. Draco rolled his eyes, laughing at himself as he continued on his solitary quest.

Finally, he reached a corner, and dropping to the floor, he stuck his head around it for an bare second. Hastily he slipped back around it, just as one of the two Death Eaters he had spotted turned to the corner. His back to the wall, he considered what he had seen. A pair of Death Eaters, both as secure in their isolation as the duo above. But almost irrelevant fact was not what he was thinking about now. A clump of fire-red hair, Weasley red hair, had been briefly visible through the bars. The small figure was barely visible in the cell, its head down as it was held spread-eagled to a wall. Well Draco, I guess there is no time like the present.

Draco dove around the corner, "STUPEFY, STUPEFY," he muttered. Twin stunners shot across the room, dropping both Death Eaters before they knew he was even there. He continued his dive, rolling to his feet at the end. Draco sprinted for the heavy iron door, barely pausing to mutter an "Alohomora" as he reached the door. It sprang open and Draco ran to the figure on the hall, "Ginny...Ginny." He hissed, the figure stirred but did not raise its head. Draco reached for Ginny, his eyes back on the door. His eyes grew wide as he felt only air. He glanced back, to see his hand passing right through the figure on the wall, "Oh, shit." A new set of bars slammed down from the ceiling blocking the door. Draco spun to the door, a metallic rattle met his ears, and chains reached out from the floor and captured his legs. More chains flew up from the floor seizing his wrists and causing him to drop his wand. The chains pulled him to his knees, the grate at the door grated and three, cloaked figures walked into the room.

The figure in the lead laughed as he lowered the hood on his cloak. "Such a pleasure to see you again...my son." Lucius laughed as he witnessed his son at his feet. "I had meant this trap merely as precaution, I had thought this castle unknown in this time..." he paced around Draco, a contemplative expression on his face. His eyes glowed slightly in the dim room, as he rubbed his chin. His white-blond hair fell loose around his face as he shook his head, slightly. "Did you really think that you could rescue the poor blood-traitor by yourself? Really? One would almost think you were a Gryffindor? Charging foolishly into such a simple trap."

Lucius spun on his heel, and waved at one of the two, cloaked shapes with him. The X'Sheen extended a scalely hand, palm-first, and an odd, purplish black bolt took Draco in the chest. He collapsed to the floor, his body still as the grave.

"Are we ready for the second phase, Bariss? I fear my wayward...child may have set us ahead of schedule."

"Yes, Sire."

"Then we shall begin."

***********************Hogwarts*****************************

"Yes Albus? You asked to see me?" Minerva McGonagall inquired, as she entered the large circular office. Albus Dumbledore was packing a large valise with various odds and ends; he placed a large brown leather book into the bag and glanced up.

"Yes Minerva." Dumbledore closed the bag with a loud snap, and with a brief wave of his wand, the bag shrank to pocket size. It vanished into his robes as he stood and touched his shoulder with his free hand. Fawkes, his ever faithful companion, hopped to it without a sound and looked at the Assistant Headmistress quizzically. "It seems that an old acquaintance has requested my assistance in looking into a matter. I will be gone for several days, cannot be helped I am afraid."

"But Albus, the school year..." Minerva objected annoyed, "There are matters..."

"That you will have to take care of, Minerva" Dumbledore quickly looked around his office, and finding his hat, he summoned it to his hand with a flick of a wand. He placed it on his head, cocked it at a jaunty angle and nodded. He started to reach up, but stopped suddenly as a thought came to mind. "Minerva, if anything happens while I am gone...let the castle defend herself. There are no children to get in the way. Let us go Fawkes" In a fall of fire, Dumbledore and Fawkes vanished.

A/N: There ya go another chapter. Not incredibly long, but busy. Next Chapter...it begins.

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13. A Question of Divided Loyalites

OK here we go. Warning for the kiddies, there are scenes of torture in this chapter, be aware. It is rated R for more than the cursing and sex.

Chapter 13: A Question of Divided Loyalties

*************************Dungeons of Malfoy Castle************************

August 10, 2012

"All is ready Master" Bariss said sycophantically as he bowed Lucius into the cell. The door opened to find a small, red-haired form curled in a corner. Her hair was matted and stained, and the robes she had been wearing were shredded to little more than rags hanging loosely around her frame with more than a few patches of bare skin showing through. The polyjuice had long since worn off, disposing of the dark-haired form of the late Pansy Parkinson. Slowly, Ginny's head turned up; she glowered at him through the tangled fall of her hair. Half a dozen masked Death Eaters filed into the room behind Lucius and took positions around the room.

"Hello Ginny," Lucius whispered almost lovingly, "how are you today?" His hands rose to his hood and lowered it. His pitiless gray eyes took in the scene and he smiled darkly. A black, silver-chased wand appeared from beneath his robes, and pointed at her. Ginny rose into the air slammed back into the wall and hung there, as if behind held up by invisible chains.

"Fuck You." Ginny snarled. Lucius laughed and held up one bent finger. A Death Eater took two strides and backhanded Ginny across the mouth. Ginny glared at him, and spit blood on the floor. "Is that all you have Lucius? My mother hits harder than you people." She cocked her head, "What now, the imperious, crucio, maybe some more muggle torture...

"No Ginerva, no...rather I would give you one last chance...all you have to do, is call in Potter and his minions. Call them here...don't you want to be rescued? I know you had some little schoolgirl crush on him at Hogwarts...him rushing in and saving you from the basilisk." Ginny laughed.

"I got over that a long time ago." She laughed at his pitiful attempt. It wasn't worthy of a Dark Lord. She was right.

"Oh yes," Lucius replied in a thoughtful tone, "You took up with the blood-traitor Longbottom, instead...your families deserve one another, I will admit." A high-pitched laugh echoed from Malfoy's throat, sending chills down Ginny's spine as the last time she had heard its like was on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch the night Voldemort was defeated. Lucius turned to the door and gestured at the guard nearest the door. He bowed and left the room. Lucius turned back to her. "Never let it be said that I don't cherish young love..." Behind Malfoy, the door opened again, and a stretcher floated in accompanied by Xavier Hamilton and Millicent Bulstrode.

Ginny's heart fell as she saw the form laying motionless on it. Neville was lying there, totally unmoving, barely breathing. The same as he had been for all these years, "leave him alone you bastards" She strained against her invisible bonds to no avail. A pressure like a tidal wave held her against the wall, and she fought not to cry as Lucius waved for Neville to be positioned so Ginny could see him easily.

"You see, Ginerva, as he is, Mr. Longbottom is somewhat unentertaining, I know that your healers have tried and failed to revive him. Even the great and powerful Albus Dumbledore was unable to do anything for him." Ginny looked shocked, "oh yes, I still have many sources in the Ministry. However I am not so limited as that old fool," he pulled a sullenly glowing red orb from beneath his robes. Ginny held her breath as Lucius walked over to the stretcher bearing Neville. Holding the orb above Neville, his eyes never leaving Ginny, he chanted something under his breath. A flash erupted in the room, and Malfoy's eyes glowed red. A rush of sickly green tendrils of light flowed from Neville's body to the orb, and a heartbeat later, the tendrils reversed themselves becoming bright, shining white. Neville's chest expanded suddenly, he took a deep, deep breath as if he were coming from a great depth underwater.

"Wha...what..." Neville croaked in a voice that had lain unused for years. He looked frantically around, his vision cleared as his eyes found the Death Eaters surrounding them, Malfoy standing over him and Ginny splayed against the wall opposite. "Ginny" He whispered hoarsely, and tears finally fell from her eyes.

Malfoy smiled, "Now isn't that better. All I want Ginny, is for you to call in your rescuers" He held out the mirror she had been captured with. She shook her head. The Dark Lord nodded sadly, "As I had expected, a hero to the end. Of course the real reason I had Longbottom retrieved was this very situation. I know you would rather die than betray Potter. But as that old fool Dumbledore is so apt to mention, there are things worse than death. Would you rather see your lover, the father of your son die, or better yet be driven mad, instead?" The tip of the silver chased wand snapped to Neville, "CRUCIO." Horrible screams ripped from Neville's throat as a thousand searing knives dug into his flesh. Malfoy flicked his wand, and the screaming stopped. Neville lay panting, barely breathing.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ginny screeched, veins popping in her neck as she strained against her bonds. Her brown eyes were lit with fire as she glared at Malfoy.

"CRUCIO" Neville screamed again. A wand flick and silence reigned. Malfoy cocked his head at her; she shook hers fitfully. "Very well, Silencio, Crucio." Neville's mouth hung open in a silent scream, writhing and thrashing on the stretcher... "You know Ginny," Lucius said conversionally, "this is exactly what happened to his parents. It is a shame that Bella did not live, she was always so much better at this than me. All I ask is that you call in Potter; call them in for a fair fight between me and them. Is that so much?" Lucius flicked his wand, canceling both spells at once.

"No Ginny..." Neville croaked, "don't give him anythi...."

"Crucio."

"Stop...Stop, for the love of Merlin stop.... damn you, son a bitch" Ginny cried, her tears falling freely now. Neville tried to scream no in the background but it was too late. "Bring me my wand and that damn Death Eater brooch thing." Lucius nodded to Hamilton and his apprentice ran out of the room, to return several minutes later with the requested items. Lucius flicked his wand at her; she fell limply to the floor as Hamilton tossed the items at her. Lucius and Xavier both held their wands to Neville's head. Ginny mouthed, "forgive me," at Neville. Shakily picking up her wand, she touched the Dark Mark brooch and whispered, "Call the cavalry."

Lucius laughed and flicked his wand at Ginny, her wand flew to him, along with the tracker. "Let us leave the blood-traitors together." He paused as he reached the door, "if you behave I will let you die last." Ginny cried openly as the Death Eaters attending Malfoy laughed and filed out of the room. She crawled to Neville and held his head in her lap as the door closed shut with a boom.

Outside in the corridor, Malfoy turned to his lieutenants. "Bariss, Dawlish is in place?"
The short Death Eater nodded. "Xavier, take your team and leave now, I will meet you at the agreed on location." He looked directly at the dark-haired Death Eater, "remember on pain of your own death they are to be alive and unharmed, it won't work otherwise." Hamilton did not look as if he liked that order, but he nodded nonetheless and left at a trot. Malfoy turned to the guards, "I will send you word when it is time for you to leave."

"Yes sire." They replied together, and Malfoy turned back to Bariss, the Death Eater held out a portkey and they vanished in a fall of color.

***************************The Burrow*******************************

5:45 pm GMT

CRACK, the sound echoed over and over in the house and Harry, Hermione and Ron all turned to look to see who had just arrived. Even with the never-ending disasters befalling them, Molly had insisted that they all have a meal together at least once a week. So tonight the Burrow was crowded with almost everyone currently in the country, minus the twins, who were scheduled to be here any moment and Ginny, of course. The kids were running around in the back yard, while everyone was waiting for Arthur to return from work in a couple of hours.

"OI" Fred yelled, as he came running into the kitchen, sliding to a halt on the old, worn hardwood floor. He never even looked around at Molly cooking or Luna sitting at the kitchen table chopping vegetables. He didn't have time for small talk anyway. "Ginny just triggered her come get me now beacon." Harry, Hermione and Ron stood immediately and reached for comms crystals. Luna gaze sharpened noticeably as she slowly set down the large knife she had been using to chop vegetables. She caught Ron's eyes and he frowned, but nodded anyway. From out in the yard, Tonks, Sirius, Remus and Cordy ran in at the commotion, their eyes snapping about almost as fast as Moody's was apt to do as they looked for the cause.

Harry looked slowly and specifically at each person, and sighed as he agreed with Fred, "Okay lets go. Go to Hogwarts to get our gear, and then...."

"Harry," Hermione hissed, "the kids..."

Molly snapped, "get my daughter back, I'll watch the kids. We'll be fine, there is a full security detail here after all." Neither Harry nor Hermione looked terribly happy at that, but nodded and a second later everyone except Molly was gone from the kitchen in a crash of sound.

****************************Hogwarts, SG1 Headquarters********************

6:20 pm GMT

Witches and Wizards were already running as Harry and Hermione walked into the hidden headquarters, pulling on battle gear as they went. George was in a corner tossing out communication beads and weapons as they passed, he paused to nod at Harry and the others and kept on handing out gear. Harry strode briskly into the briefing room, and with a flick of his wand, the room expanded to hold the entire group. Forty wizards and witches stood, sat and perched about the room waiting on his words.

"Ok guys." He said quickly, "this is what we know, from the location of the beacon, we now know Malfoy's hideout is Malfoy Castle. According to Ministry records, it was reported destroyed in a feud in seventeen ninety five...I guess they lied." He flicked his wand at the screen behind him; a projection of a very old set of blueprints came up. "This is what the castle looked like then, we don't know if he's done anything with it since. This is a smash and grab; we don't have time for a real plan so be ready for anything. Lupin, take your group in here." Harry pointed at a point next to an old drawbridge. "The plans say there is a secret entrance there. I will be taking the rest in from the top, so we will be doing a broom insertion."

Harry glanced at Hermione, their eyes met and a world of words passed silently, "be ready for X'Sheen, Dementors and werewolves at anytime." He continued grimly, "Our operative has been out of contact for a very long time. It is unknown exactly how she triggered her beacon, and if she did so under her free will. This may be a trap, so act accordingly. However, we will keep covert as long as possible, we aren't going there for a fight." He looked out over a sea of faces, all hard and set. "Let's go, good luck."

**********************The Ministry of Magic, London***********************

11:15 pm

A security wizard was sitting at his desk, leaning back, a paper in his hands. The Ministry was mostly empty at this hour, the only ones present were a few security officers, various Aurors and Unspeakables working at this hour and the Minister himself. He had come in several hours ago, clearly in a rush accompanied by his security detail and Alastor Moody. Mad-eye had barked at the desk guard for his inattention, and the poor bugger had snapped to attention until the old Auror disappeared out of sight.

"Any word, Alastor?' Arthur asked tiredly as he witnessed his head of the MLE walking into his office. Jacob gave Mad-Eye a quick one over, and satisfied relaxed somewhat at his post near the door. The room was dim as Mad-Eye entered, and sat in an empty armchair near the fire. He pulled a small flask from somewhere inside his robes and took a slow sip before answering.

"No, not yet," he glanced at an odd, black faced watch that flashed various colors as he took it in, satisfied, he returned it to his robes. "Harry did not have time to properly brief me, however, if they are still on their preliminary timeline, they should be going in about now.

"I wish we had been able to contact Albus?" Arthur asked hopefully, but Moody just shook his head noncommittally.

"No we have sent Owls after him, but they all returned without delivery. We also have not been able to communicate with him over the old Order channels."

*****************************Malfoy Castle**************************

"Oi Greg," A dark cloaked and hooded figure cried out over the top of the battlements. Hearing no response, he turned, a puzzled look on his face. A shimmer of movement, and a black blade appeared from mid-air behind him. A gloved hand appeared at the end of an invisible sleeve, snaked around his mouth and pulled his head back sharply, a spray of blood wetted the stones and the Death Eater crumpled.

"Clear" a harsh whisper sounded on the roof, and soft, hushed footsteps loped to the door to the lower floors of the castle. It flew open with a bang, and black shapes appeared as invisibility cloaks were whipped off and stowed. Footsteps thundered as the group of twenty ran down, through the castle. Half a dozen masked figures dove out of a room, only to crash back into a wall at a gesture. Harry straightened and waved the rest past him. Crashing sounds were heard as doors were kicked open and spells shot inward to cleanse the rooms.

***************************London, Ministry of Magic********************

Large silver-gray shapes slipped from shadow to shadow outside of the run-down facade that hid the Ministry of Magic from prying eyes. Silver light from the shining moon, on this rare, clear London night, caught the white glint of teeth and claws. A tithe of dark ones joined them as they stood, waiting for some unknown signal. A high-pitched scream cut off suddenly as a Muggle made the mistake of taking an evening stroll at the wrong time, and most definitely the wrong place.

Five cloaked and robed figures crept towards a run-down telephone booth. The wizard in the lead exasperatedly jerked open the sticking door, and stepped in. He picked up the receiver and dialed a specific number on the dial.

A feminine voice echoed from the very air in the booth. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance. Please state your name and purpose."

"McAllister, Visiting a friend" the Death Eater replied, grinning, and a silver badge clattered from the change tray. He picked it up and laughed as the booth started sinking slowly through the street. The badge read: McAllister, Personal Business.

"Please report to the security desk for registration of your wand," The voice continued happily, "Have a nice evening."

"I certainly will."

***************************Azkaban, North Sea**************************

The dark cliffs overlooking the ancient stone fortress were filled with dozens of X'Sheen, with more and more exiting a shimmering silver portal with each passing moment. A fall of color, and a brief rushing sound erupted in the middle of the gathering army and Lucius Malfoy and his majordomo suddenly stood looking down at the black stones. He nodded and walked away from the ledge to an X'Sheen standing in the midst of ten others. This one was different from all the rest, a foot taller, and with dark steel armor worn over its robe. It turned its hooded face towards the Dark Lord.

"Are you ready?" Lucius asked, as he held the Orb of Maccabus lightly in one long fingered hand. The X'Sheen leader nodded, as its eyes presumably never left the orb. Its head did not move in any case.

"Yes, human..."

"Then go, and bring forth the time of my reign." With his words, a black horde of Dementors fell upon the fortress. Screams echoed in the night and a few Patronuses lit the darkness with a silver light, until slowly they faded to nothingness. More screams greeted the arrival of the rest of the Dementor horde, and far below, the ancient, black steel gates of the castle grated open at a silent command from the lead X'Sheen.

**************************Malfoy Castle**********************************

11:45 pm GMT

Shadows danced down the dark corridors of Malfoy's refuge. A soft squeak of a trainer on stone, and another Death Eater fell. Harry glanced across the hall at Ron, who gave him a quick thumbs up towards were he knew his best friend was, even though he was invisible, and levitated the Death Eater he had just taken out into a convenient broom cupboard.

Harry let himself be visible for an instant. He held up two fingers, pointed at Ron and Luna, and beckoned them. The pair slipped across the hall to join Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the command group. The remainder of the team dropped to a knee at either end of the hall and silently took up covering positions. Hermione flicked her wand around the gathered group, and the sounds of the castle faded away. "What's up?" Ron whispered, even though Hermione had cast a cone of silence around them. Moody embedded habits kicked and screamed before dieing.

"This is too easy." Hermione stated for the both of them. Her wand flicked idly in her hand. Harry nodded. She glanced at him, crooking an eyebrow, and he gave her a slight shake of his head and glanced around the hall, back where they came from, the hall ahead and the floor and ceiling before looking back at her. He shrugged. She held up her left hand and waggled it back and forth in front of her. Hermione returned the shrug, cocking her head at a slight angle. Ron rolled his eyes.

"What are they doing?" Cordy whispered out of the side of her mouth. She hadn't been around as long as everyone else. She wasn't used to the silent conversions.

"Ignore them." Ron replied with a sigh, "they do this all the time." Lupin, Sirius and Luna nodded. Lupin's team had met up with Harry and the rest on the second floor and together the teams had dropped ten Death Eaters, with barely a whisper to mark their passing.

"For your information, Ronald," Hermione hissed exasperatedly, "I was discussing the possibility of this being a trap with Harry. He said he didn't feel Malfoy's presence and I was agreeing with him, though we both agreed he could be masking it. We then discussed spiting the team back up to cover more ground, and decided that we couldn't risk it in case this was a trap...satisfied?" He eyes glinted dangerously in the light from the torches sporadically lighting the hallway. Ron just nodded; Hermione annoyed was dangerous. Hermione annoyed while engaged in an active operation that had the possibility of getting Harry hurt was closer to a force of nature.

"Where to then?" Lupin asked, but not before flicking a sidelong glance at Ron. Behind them, a Death Eater blundered around the corner. He opened his mouth to shout, but before he could get the sound out, a blade flashed and he was being dragged behind a pillar before his body was envesco'ed.

"Dungeon I guess." Harry muttered, "most logical place to keep a prisoner." He glanced down at his watch, and pressed the button that activated the light charm. "Ok, let's go...Sirius take Cordy go on ahead, check the passages to the side so we don't get jumped. The pair nodded and SHIFTED. A large black dog faded into the gloom, a large raven flapping silently above him. "Moony, can you and Tonks keep our backsides clear?"

"Yeah, Harry...they won't get through." Lupin and Tonks, slunk off to the corner they had just past. They tapped four agents on the shoulder as they went and the SG-1 operatives fell in with them.

"Luna?" Hermione inquired, waving around the hall. Luna shook her head, indicating her talents hadn't sensed anything either. Not surprising since she hadn't been able to even find the place with her particular talents. "Fine then, lets go." The group set off again, Lupin and his team trailing quite a bit behind so as to discourage any visitors from the rear. Off to the side, Harry heard a brief rustling sound, followed a second later by Sirius' hushed voice on the wireless reporting another two Death Eaters incapacitated.

Mione? Harry shot over, not stopping in his furtive movement forward.

Yeah? Hermione replied as she held her wand on the palm of her hand and whispered "point me down." The wand spun for a second before indicating the way to the stairs to the dungeon.

This still isn't right...Harry whispered, his eyes flicked to his left and met hers for a moment. You and I together, maybe just one of us, could have handled what we've seen so far. Blimey, Dumbledore could have walked down the center of the hall, whistling Weasley is our King. Where are the front line forces...the X'Sheen, Dementors, werewolves...most of these guys would have been a match, maybe, for a DA member in fifth year.

Hermione just returned a noncommittal gesture as they reached the stairs to the dungeon. The group slipped down them, the silence only broken by the occasional squeak of a boot on damp, polished smooth by the centuries, stone or the scrape of a piece of equipment on the stone walls. The dungeons were even dimmer than the halls above. All of the cell doors they passed were dark and abandoned, with neither guard nor prisoner present to contest their passage.

Finally after several long, tense minutes, Cordelia's raven form appeared at Harry's shoulder and SHIFTED into her small frame. "Up ahead," she whispered, as she crouched next to Harry, Hermione and Ron. "Around the corner, a cell with two Death Eaters outside, we couldn't get close enough to see inside, but it is lit. Sirius is watching." Harry nodded.

"Hermione and I will take care of this." Harry decided quickly, Kitty time. Hermione rolled her eyes. A blue glow flickered in them, and she SHIFTED. It had been a shock to her one day, when she had been messing around with Harry, tickling and rolling on the floor, when she had meant to shift to her animagus form, and ended up as a...lioness. Years ago, Harry had speculated during the aftermath of Arthur's attack by Nagini, that he had become a snake because of his link to Voldemort, and Voldemort surely was a snake as an animal. In that particular case, he hadn't been correct, Harry's link wasn't that tight to the late Dark Lord, however his link to Hermione was and hers to him.

Ron's jaw dropped as he saw Hermione's dark chestnut lion form looking expectantly at Harry. Harry shrugged at his friend and SHIFTED. A pair of brilliant emerald orbs flicked up to Ron the pair of big cats vanished into the hall. Soft footpads slapped the stones, and eased up to stand on either side of Sirius' Grim form. The giant black dog did a slightly comical double take as he found a lion on stationed off either shoulder. His dog head indicated the two Death Eaters and nodded. A giant, black-furred and maned head repeated the gesture.

Synchronized to the millisecond, Harry and Hermione took one, two, three bounding leaps, their cat paws slapping the stone floor almost silently and bounded once more. Three-inch claws extended and both Death Eaters fell to the floor, their throats gone. Harry's eyes glowed blue and the door clicked open. He and Hermione eased in as Harry pushed the door open with his head and froze.

Sprawled on the old stones, which were covered in dirt, straw and dark brownish stains that Harry didn't want to think about, Ginny's crumpled figure was sprawled on top of another; very familiar one. He and Hermione slipped forward, SHIFTING back to their human forms as they went and walked closer with their wands extended. Slowly Ginny raised her head to them, and Hermione gasped as she finally recognized Neville, unconscious under Ginny. "I'm sorry" Ginny croaked and passed out.

***************************The Burrow*********************************

11:30 pm

Molly Weasley walked into the front room of the Burrow trailed by a floating tray carrying several mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of freshly baked cookies. She smiled to herself as she took in the scene before her. Normally she would have sent them to bed long, long ago, and chastised their parents for letting them stay up this late, but tonight she hadn't the heart. Six children with a sea of black, red, blonde and brown hair filled the room, all crowed around some odd construction they were building with a set of magical tinkertoys. The slightly glowing knobs and pulsing orange joints were currently being put to use making a cage for Crookshanks and Spooky. Both kneazles seemed to be rather reluctantly tolerant of the situation. Hedwig and Pig were perched near the top the room, both looking as if they could, they would laugh out loud at their fellow familiars situation.

She set the tray down and as Elliot turned to her, his mouth already opening, a horrible klaxon echoed in the house. Molly's stomach dropped and as one all the kids looked up, Lupin and Tonks' kids, Abigail and Xander glancing at each other and jumping up from behind the couch. Emilia and Horatio grabbed Harriet and jerked her from the floor and they ran to stand with Molly, they screamed inarticulately as the door crashed open and Molly pointed her wand shakily at the door. Robert Mulkin fell in the door, he had been on duty as the commander of tonight's detail, "Molly the floo, get them out, they've a ward up..." he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Molly spun to the fire and tossed a pinch of floo powder in the hearth. Her heart stopped in horror as it did not light. OH GOD, she thought as her lip trembled and her knees shook slightly. "Children come here..." Her sentence did not finish before the door exploded inwards. The children screamed as one as black-hooded figures came though the door. "STUPEFY" Molly snapped, the spell whined off into ceiling as it was blocked almost absently by the lead Death Eater.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS" the searing bolt snapped out, freezing Molly and knocking her from her feet. A ginger streak hurtled from the side; Crookshanks hit the back of a chair and launched into the second Death Eater through the door. He fell back, blinded. Crookshanks used him a springboard, and launched at a third Death Eater, maiming that one in his surprise. He sprung again, and went flying into the back wall with a loud crunch as a red bolt came from the next room and knocked him back. Another red bolt skeeted Hedwig out of the sky as she dove on a Death Eater.

Xavier Hamilton strode into the room, pausing at the Auror, "AVADA KEDAVRA" the green bolt slammed into the Auror with a rushing sound; he stopped breathing and went utterly limp. He smiled darkly at the children, the defenseless children of his greatest enemies and laughed. He pointed his wand, "SOMNUS" All six collapsed to the floor. "Take them away." He snapped at the Death Eaters following him, as he walked over to Molly, "Tell Potter, it was good of your daughter to lure them away for us." He laughed harshly as Molly's eyes bulged in her sockets and with a further dark chuckle he walked out of the room.

A/N: I know it's a cliffhanger. It won't be the last. Its my fault really, I made it so that their biggest strength was also their biggest weakness. Next Chapter: we find out, just where the hell Dumbledore is and maybe why. The Ministry, the burrow and a flashback to a happier time. Stay tuned.

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14. What Fate Bequeaths Us

A/N See I haven't forgotten the Universe that makes sense. Oh yeah I guess Rowling still owns everything. WARNING: Major Character Death and scenes of torture.
Chapter 14: What Fate Bequeaths Us

**********************Somewhere in Tibet*********************

Albus Dumbledore swept his fur-brimmed hood back from his head and looked up at a massive dark tower rising from the snow and ice like the conning tower of some impossibly huge submarine. The walls of the tower were a black, metallic material with an odd sheen, almost like oil on water. The snow did not stick to the tower, if that's what it was, at all. Even the drifts seemed to pile up around it, but stop inches from the actual surface. Fawkes chirped a question to the elderly wizard and he nodded, "yes old friend, I am afraid that you are right." With a sigh, Dumbledore headed out, his staff and feet making an odd, tripod series of tracks in the snow. He rapped the iron-shod toe of the staff on the great iron door, and a moment later, it creaked open to reveal a dark, cavernous hallway. The door boomed to a close behind him and Fawkes took flight. Circling around his head as if to guard his partner against any harm.

A brief visceral shiver ran through 160-year-old bones as Dumbledore followed a line of torches that seemed to have been added after this structure was originally constructed. The wizard continued down the corridors, which where an odd, flattened oval shape, wider than tall. Periodic sealed metal doorways stood to either side of the corridor. Finally after almost another half an hour of walking in this never ending series of corridors, Dumbledore passed through a destroyed doorway that once, eons ago, would have signaled the end of the passage.

He emerged into a large, circular room. Strange, obelisk-like pedestals stood around the room, surrounding a large, crystalline orb, whose depths were filled with a hazy-purple-black fog. A man was standing next to the orb; he looked up at Dumbledore's arrival and nodded. "Ah Albus, it is good that you have finally arrived." The man was dressed in dark blue robes chased with bronze, a rampant eagle decorating his chest. The wizard's, for that's what he must be, hair was white and long as was his beard, which was gathered into a tail with small gold rings in front to match the rings holding his hair in a matching tail in back.

"Alexandrov" Dumbledore replied with a nod of greeting as he came to a halt next to the mysterious wizard. Fawkes landed on one of the pedestals and looked up questioningly at the pair. "I hope that you have something to show me. Now is not the time for me to be out of contact." Dumbledore's eyes were stern as he peered through his half-moons at the man. "I have no way of contacting anyone in this valley, nor can Fawkes do so without almost a days flight to clear its effects."

"I know, I know." The man replied with a raised hand, "however I was unable to satisfactorily transfer the information, and you, yourself requested that the Order of Ravenclaw help you in your quest. I am here to help you in that endeavor."

"I could have the heir demand your allegiance." Dumbledore replied slightly testily.

"Yes, we know of the appearance of a true heir, Albus, and if she ever demands our allegiance we will of course obey. However you have sworn a wizard's oath not to reveal our existence to her. She has yet to prove herself." The man's tone was almost simpering. Dumbledore's eyes flashed and any twinkle that had survived the long, overland trek, died. Even Fawkes bristled at the implication... "It is still the position of the senior members that Rowena abandoned her principles to fight with and later marry Godric and her heir, repea..." The man suddenly became silent as he was being held several feet off the ground motionless. Very few times in recent memory had Dumbledore's eyes held such fury, at the final battle with Grindelwald; yes. At the battle with Voldemort at the Ministry and later at Hogsmeade and Hogwarts; of course he had. And now, here thousands of miles away from any civilization, wizard or muggle, in an unknown construct, with a man who should have known better.

"It would do you good to remember, Alexandrov Smirnoff." Dumbledore said softly, lethally, "that my true allegiances are to the Gryffindor line, and its heirs" He smiled with absolutely no humor in his expression, "which as you so ably reminded me also includes the Ravenclaw heir...who ultimately can demand your loyalty. And those loyalties far outweigh any promises I might have made to your order of, what is the term that Harry used the other day..." he nodded to himself, "ivory tower intellectual fops. She choose to be a Gryffindor in the end...in every way. You will remember that." Alexandrov nodded slightly as Dumbledore let him drop. "Now, what did I come here to witness?"

Alexandrov backed away slightly and pointed his wand at the globe. Despite Dumbledore's earlier comments his voice dropped into a lecturing tone. "As you know Albus...the Order" Dumbledore ignored the slight sneer in the academic's voice. "Has been researching this topic for several years, and we have been able to determine the purpose." He flicked his wand and the orb cleared to reveal images of shining steel and glass towers and dark shapes. Of Silver portals and vast armies of darkness.

After several minutes in which Dumbledore grew progressively paler, his gaze shot to Smirnoff. "How long have you know this?"

"Our preliminary findings came in a year ago, however the council thought we should further..." he broke off as Dumbledore started back down the passage to the exit, his passage a blur, even as he knew in his heart he was already too late.

****************************Ministry of Magic*****************************

October 10, 2012
11:46 pm GMT

Mad-Eye looked up as sudden alarms screamed. His gaze shot to Arthur who instinctively grabbed his wand and turned to the door. Luckily for the aide that barged in suddenly, his aim was not the best of the old members of the Order of the Phoenix. His hurried stunner charred the doorframe, right above the newcomer's dark brown hair. "Minister...Minster..." he gasped. The man was pale, and his eyes wide with fright.

"What son?" Alastor muttered. His magical eye spun about as if to peer about the Ministry building for the cause of the young wizard's concern, but of course the wards around the Minister's office were too strong even for him.

"Sir...s..sir..."

"What?" Arthur snapped, as he slammed his wand back down on the desk.

"In the lobby, sir...werewolves." The aide opened his mouth again but no sound came out. It was as if he weren't there, Arthur dashed over to his fire, and tossed a pinch of powder into the fire. Nothing happened and closed his eyes for the barest of instants. It wasn't really a surprise that the Death Eaters could block the fires; it was actually rather simple to prevent them from linking to the Floo network. A rather simple scrambling spell that had been developed by the Unspeakables at the very end of the Voldemort war had been lost along with many other secrets when Bariss, among other agents, betrayed the Ministry. And a second later...he knew he was dead. A hissing growl came from the large reception area.

"BACK ARTHUR," Mad-Eye snapped as he swept the Minister behind him. Arthur stumbled to the back of the office, knocking his papers and the portrait of the family to the floor. The tiny people inside could be seen silently screaming as it fell and the glass shattered. Mad-Eye flicked his wand in an odd, almost epileptic fashion, and snapped, "mutatio argentium" Instantly a shining wave of magenta light panned across the door and wall leading to the entrance to the office. The light faded to reveal the glimmer of sliver. The walls, the door, even the carpet and the ceiling near the door were now shining the burnished hue of wrought silver. "Come on." The old Auror growled as he pulled Arthur towards a large bookshelf in the corner.

Reaching up, Mad-Eye pulled out A Report on Magical Beasts of Europe and with a soft creak of age set wood, the bookshelf swung forward to reveal a long, dimly lit stone passage. "Go damnit." Alastor said pushing Arthur and the terrified aide into the passage. "GO, follow it down, it splits off three floors down, one part leads to the atrium, the other to the basement of that muggle building next door. It should be far enough for you to be outside of the wards. GO." Arthur turned, lighting his wand as he did so.

A loud boom sounded behind him, "Alastor did you?" He asked but no response greeted his ears, he turned and looked back to find that his friend was not there. "No MAD-EYE NO!" Arthur screamed, as he desperately tried to reopen the passage, but try as he might through any magical or mundane means at his disposal, in the end he was not the equal of Alastor Moody.

****************************The Burrow**********************************
October 11, 2012
12:15 am

A continuous CRACK echoed out on the lawn of the Burrow, like the mother of all thunderstorms. With various flashes of light, puffs of smoke and sounds of apparition depending on their various power levels, almost forty wizards and witches appeared on the lawn of the ancient shanty. As their eyes adjusted to the dark night outside the house, Ron glanced up.

"NO!" He screamed and ran for the house; Hermione went pale and almost collapsed for an instant before Harry steadied her, though his face was as ghostly as the crescent moon shining down though the trees. The pair of them leapt forwards, their afterimages trailing behind them as they ran to the house, passing Ron on the way. A pale green glow hung low over the house as a giant, glowing, green skull lit the night.

Harry didn't even consciously notice the body of the Auror he stepped over as he swept into the room, both of his wands questing for a masked face. Hermione was at his shoulder and only a sheer act of will kept her wands from shaking in her hands. Their eyes swept the room hoping, praying, for the sight of a mop of black hair hiding behind a couch or a chair, but their hopes were for naught. They found Molly, her eyes bulging and with a wand flick, she gasped for breath.

"They have them." Molly screamed, and Hermione finally collapsed into Harry's arms as Ron and the rest of the family tumbled into the room. She was shaking, and great, sudden, silent sobs were fighting to escape as she refused to look around the room. Harry's eyes were bright and for the first time in his life, he was almost glad for the Dursleys having taught him to hide his tears in silence.

Two hours later found Harry holding Hermione, both were seated out somewhere in the dark lawn outside of the Burrow. No one had been able to even approach them within ten yards, their magic had thrown Remus and Ron bodily across the room as they attempted to approach and neither had even noticed. They were automatons as they had silently drifted out into the yard and collapsed together to the ground. Not an audible word had come from either of the two since they had arrived to find their children and their best friends' children gone and in the hands of the Death Eaters.

Thirty yards away, Remus stood talking softly with Ron. Both of their cheeks were suspiciously damp, while Ron's breathing was particularly ragged. Sirius came up to the pair, Cordelia at his side, and glanced over at the pair. "Remus, Ron, we still haven't been able to get hold of the Ministry." He sighed, a dark worried look on his face as he remembered a conversation with an old friend mere days ago as he looked out at his son and daughter-in-law in all but name. "Something is wrong. I was able to get hold of group three out of Nottingham, but they only have five agents on staff. Harry's group was the only fully staffed group. We were still ramping up from Fudge's years and replacing the casualties from Voldemort."

The Chief Auror nodded knowingly, "I know. I know..." He sighed as he wondered just what the hell the Potters had done in some prior life to piss off the gods like this, again. He bit his lip as he choked down his worry for his own children into a tight ball, twisting it into a cold, dark fury. There would be hell to pay for this night, whether it be one day from now or seven years, it would happen. "Sirius can you and Cordy see if you can..."

Sirius nodded and with a soft pop, they vanished.

**********************Minister of Magic's Office********************

October 10, 2012
11:55 pm GMT

Alastor Moody nodded to himself as he heard the pounding from behind the bookcase stop and hurried footsteps pound off. He sighed and slowly picked up his battered fedora from a side shelf, and placed it on his head. Booming thuds sounded at the door and plaster fell from the ceiling as Mad-Eye unhurriedly canted the fedora low over his magical eye. He sighed as he slowly pulled his wand from his pocket and looked it over carefully. Reaching under his collar with his left hand, he pulled a short, sliver blade and palmed it. He stepped back, just as with a final thundering boom, the door went pin wheeling into Arthur's cavernous office, missing Moody's head by inches.

Horrible howls rent the air as half a dozen wolves bounded into the door and their hand-paws touched the coating of silver that guarded the entrance. Mad-Eye hopped sideways on his pegleg, "SAGITARRIUM ARGENTIUM" he howled as his wand flicked in a great arc. Dozens of silver arrows shot across the room, impaling the werewolves that were howling on the silver entrance and another three that were coming in the door. A wolf jumped in, landed on one of his less fortunate fellows and bounded across the room, landing on the side and bounding again. "REDUCTO" Mad-Eye's curse shattered the wolf's legs as he landed. The wolf started growling and pulling its way slowly across the carpet until Mad-Eye placed another silver arrow in its eye. Another ten wolves bounded into the room, missing the silver barrier and formed in a growling, snapping line.

As one, the wolves perked their ears and responding to an inaudible signal they bounded out of the room. Mad-Eye stepped back as he heard the characteristic rushing sound of a portkey, and a reflected, multicolored light in the silver, mirrored surface of the wall. A horrible, shuddering cold filled the room. He jumped behind Arthur's desk as a half dozen green bolts hissed across the room, impacting and driving huge divots into the walls and the bedrock beyond.

"Lucius" Alastor sneered, as his eye effortlessly peered through the heavy oak and steel desk, "what's wrong, couldn't find any real minions to come visit?" He took a deep breath and threw the silver blade aside. Reaching into a pocket of his cavernous cloak, he pulled a baseball sized, dull black sphere and held it loosely in his hand. I hope this gadget of the twins' works...

"You know how it is Alastor." Lucius replied coldly as he stepped into the room behind a cordon of X'Sheen. Bariss and Narcissa flanked him as he entered. Bariss took up a post at the door, watching back into the room beyond. Lucius gestured with his free arm, Narcissa replied with a small graceful nod and stepped partially behind him, raising her wand and pointing it towards Mad-Eye's hiding place. "It is truly hard to find competent subordinates...I mean look at all of your security forces...they were so easy to defeat...a mere tithe of my werewolves were sufficient to totally subdue the Ministry. Where is Weasley Alastor? All you have to do, is give him to me and I will let you join me."

"Do you really think I believe that you will let me walk out of here Malfoy?" Mad-Eye chuckled darkly as he fingered the black orb. Using his wand, he tapped it three times and muttered something under his breath. "Lad, I have heard the same offer from little piddly-arsed dark wizards for the last sixty years, and I will give you the same answer that I gave them..."

Moody closed both eyes tightly, real and magical, and tossed the orb over his shoulder. A blinding flash of light lit the room and with a flick of his wand two coat racks shot across the room and impaled a pair of X'Sheen. He rolled to his right, another wand pass, "FLAGELLTIA" A hail of invisible knives shredded another X'Sheen. Mad-Eye fired a repulsion hex at his feet flinging himself across the room. He landed with a loud, "humpf" and rolled on his back. "Incendio Cyclonium" A howling whirlwind of flame swirled across the room, engulfing the last two X'Sheen, and an instant later the flames erupted around Lucius, Narcissa and Bariss.

Slowly Mad-Eye stood, his wand pointed towards the towering wall of flame at the far end of the room. Slowly the flames parted to reveal a shining black dome. The dome vanished to reveal the unburnt visages of the trio of Death Eaters. Lucius' eyes were glowing a bright, fiery red, he flicked his wand and Mad-Eye was flung against the far wall, to hang spread-eagled and inverted. "Reducto" Lucius whispered almost lovingly and Alastor's real leg shattered. He gestured and Mad-Eye fell to the floor in a heap. Another wand flick and three wands, four knives, a handgun and two more of the twin's flashbangs piled up at the Dark Lord's feet. "My Love" Lucius said, waving towards Mad-Eye, who was glaring at him from the floor. Alastor's dark natural eye was shining with fury and defiance as he glared upwards into Malfoy's sneering face. "It is only proper manners to entertain our guests" He smiled, "After all the Ministry is now ours, my Lady."

Narcissa's cold blue eyes glittered as she turned to Mad-Eye, "As you wish my lord...Evicserata" A red bloom stained Mad-Eye's robes and he slumped further. She smiled as she bent close to him and ran her fingers lightly over his face. "Pity, Alastor," she whispered tenderly. "You could have been so much more. Pity." She stood and walked back to Malfoy, "can we go now my Lord?" She asked as she intertwined her arm with his non-wand arm.

Lucius lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. "Yes dear we shall, after all we still have a reception to plan for Potter and a party to throw for his...spawn."

"You're a dead man Malfoy. Potter will have your guts for garters."

"We shall see, my old friend, we shall see...or rather I shall see." A silver chased wand rose slowly. "Goodbye Mad-Eye. AVADA KEDAVRA" A sound like the thunder of a hundred horses flooded their ears, and a brilliant green flash lit the office. With a flourish of a long cape, Malfoy turned on his heel and left the office, his wife at his side.

*********************Atrium, Ministry of Magic****************************
2:15 am

A soft pop sounded as Cordelia and Sirius materialized in the disapparation zone of the Ministry's lobby. Instinctually the pair turned back to back as a feeling of utter wrongness settled in their bones. Cordy took a deep breath, and a faint glow appeared around the edges of her irises. A soft, cat-like hiss escaped between her teeth as millennia-old genetic level responses flooded her brain. Lupin was one thing, this was entirely another.

The pair of them wheeled into a dark, cul-de-sac, "Sirius..."

"Yeah I smell them too." He replied darkly. "And..."

"Yeah." Cordelia's explanation was superfluous as the iron smell of fresh blood wafted past their noses. Fangs dropped in an unconscious recognition of the situation. "Where are the guards...the bodies or the Death Eaters..." Sirius shrugged. His eyes spotted a flutter of movement in the shadows across the way. He elbowed Cordelia and motioned in that direction with his head.

Her eyes glowed fully and the muted colors of the room and their dark outfits fell away to be replaced by cool blues and greens. She scanned over to find a pair of yellow and red outlines in the shadows across from them emerging from a rectangle so dark blue as to almost be back. One of the heat signatures she had never seen, but the other was familiar. "It's Arthur." She muttered. He nodded and without another word the pair of them sprinted across the room, their steps echoing oddly in the empty, cavernous room.

A wand tiredly rose to greet them, then lowered almost as fast as Arthur recognized them. "Sirius...where's..." he broke off suddenly.

Sirius didn't want to meet his eyes so he disguised his apprehension by not meeting his boss's eyes. "It was a set up Arthur...Malfoy has the kids." A sharp intake of breath answered his words but Arthur Weasley was made up of strong stuff, he nodded for Sirius to continue. "We got Ginny and Neville out" The Minister looked at him oddly, "yeah, he's awake and everything. Molly was incapacitated but she was ok. They wanted her to relay the message. By now, if Remus has followed protocol and been able to get close enough to them, every one will have been evacuated to Hogwarts."

"Them?"

"Harry and Hermione were flinging everyone across the lawn if they tried to get within ten meters." Sirius shrugged. A clattering sound echoed out as the lift began to move in the corner. "We have to go." The four of them, including the poor young aide who had been caught up in this scampered across the atrium to stand in a slightly glowing circle that demarked the hole in the wards allowing them to disapparate. "Burrow first...anyone else?"

"No." Arthur replied, and no other words were necessary. Sirius gestured at the jumpy young aide and Cordelia grabbed his sleeve. A crack echoed out and the room was empty. In the corner a pair of masked Death Eaters emerged from the lift and began walking around the room.

*****************************The Burrow**************************

Brown eyes stared unseeing into the dimness as a few fireflies added their scattered glows to the night. She sighed slightly as she leaned back into the arms holding her. The sound of their hushed breathing echoed oddly off of the very faintly glowing dome that surrounded them. Her thoughts were not here in this time, but years ago, and in a castle hundreds of miles away in the north.

**************************Hogwarts*************************************

October 8, 2007 (5 yrs prior)
2:12 pm

Hermione finished dressing as Madame Pomfrey murmured something about "another jinx?" and headed out into the main part of the infirmary shaking her head. Pulling her hair from under her shirt she pulled on a set of dark green Professor's robes and followed Poppy around the drawn curtain. With a slightly amused smile she waved to one of her fourth year transfiguration students as they were drawn up in a bed with a light purple potion being fed into her arm via an IV. Her problem as was often the case with magical mishaps at Hogwarts was obvious. The girl seemed to have tentacles for arms at the moment, and Hermione shook her head as she realized that she would probably be seeing something on that little incident. Susan Franks and her twin sister Elisa were both Gryffindors and that and the mere fact that they born within ten minutes of each other were probably the only things that kept them both alive so far. The octopato appendago spell seemed to be almost as much of a hallmark of her sister's as Ginny's bat-bogey hex was of the youngest Weasley.

Hermione bit back a soft laugh as she realized that the young student was in the same bed that she had spent so much time in, or rather the bed that had replaced hers. Poppy had had all three of the trio's second beds at Hogwarts put into storage, just in case. With a small sigh of exasperation, Hermione sat on the bed next to Susan. "Ok, what was it this time Susan?" Hermione asked. Over the last year, McGonagall had started to try to unload head of house duties on Harry and Hermione, as she was getting ready to take over for Dumbledore, who everyone was expecting to retire, just any time now.

The sullen faced, copper-haired girl glanced up at her and then back down at her sheets. Susan frowned, and finally whispered, "Michael."

Hermione forced herself to keep a straight face as she remembered how she had been in her fourth year. The twins had somehow become fixated on a fifth year, Michael Weaver. And of course, the almost sixteen-year-old boy had eaten it up. He had been known to lead them both on, and occasionally at the same time. And the fact that both of them were almost as identical as the Patil sisters didn't always help matters either. A brief flicker of pain wafted behind her eyes as she remembered Pavarti's twin who had died a little over a year ago. I just hope that they are as discrete as the Pails were. Otherwise I'm never getting any sleep in the next few years. "Susan, you two are going to have to stop this...it's just a boy..."

"What would you have done if it were Professor Potter?" Susan snapped, then shut up abruptly and covered her mouth with her hands. She looked petrified at her sudden gaff, but Hermione just chuckled.

"At your age, I didn't know what I wanted, honestly." She patted the girls shoe and stood, "I assume that you and your sister will probably be visiting one of us for detention?"

"Yes, mum, Professor McGonagall has already assigned both of us detention tonight with you...I um...got Elisa with a acne hex."

"Fine then, I will discuss this with both of you then, at seven?" Hermione did not wait for an answer as she walked into Pomfrey's office. Poppy looked up at her with a small smile on her lips as she flicked the door closed with a wand. A brief glow lit the walls as the permanent anti-eavesdropping spells kicked in. The student body of Hogwarts was and probably would always remain one of WWW's biggest customers. Thank Merlin that the twins keep their best toys for us. Hermione mused silently as she turned her attention to the medi-witch.

"Miss Granger...Mrs. Potter.... bloody hell, Hermione." Poppy began and Hermione grinned at her. "I have your physical results here." She waved a large, manila folder she had picked up off her desk. "You are in perfect shape."

"Good then, Poppy," Hermione replied, "then I guess I'm cleared for ops for the next year." She smiled as she started to get up, "I would love to stay and chat, but if you excuse me I have to be in class soon..."

"Wait a moment Hermione." Poppy replied, and looked up at Hermione. A slight twinkle danced in her eye as a small grin blossomed on the normally stern witch's face. "Normally around here, this isn't a good thing as most of my patients are somewhat younger...you are in perfect health...for a woman who is a month along." Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Are you sure?" Hermione squeaked. Pomfrey just nodded and Hermione jumped up and hugged the witch. She sat back down and trembled slightly as the permeations began to dance in her mind. And the least important seemed to be only one she could voice. "I'm out of the field, then."

Poppy nodded, she was one of the few at Hogwarts along with McGonagall and Dumbledore who knew all of the details of the double lives of several of the Professors. "Yes, I will be putting a notice in your file...standard precaution I am afraid." Hermione nodded, it was Ministry policy that pregnant witches not be assigned work where harm to them or their unborn children could happen.

"Can you hold off for a day Poppy."? Hermione asked and Poppy frowned, Hermione shook her head, "I understand the reason, I just want to let Harry know." Poppy grinned and nodded.

8:20 pm

Harry looked up as Hermione came into their shared quarters from giving detentions to the recalcitrant Franks twins and flopped into his lap on their old dilapidated couch that Harry steadfastedly refused to admit had been...acquired, from the Head's common room. Of course the small heart with the initials HP and HG carved into the wood trim on one of the arms seemed to belie his statements, but she didn't really mind. It was sweet. And after all, she had this odd feeling that the cause of her current happiness had been...created on this very couch on her most recent birthday.

Harry leaned back and regarded her oddly as an odd taste to her mind glow became evident. She was hiding something, not very successfully, but enough to keep it from him. He crooked an eyebrow. Hermione Jane...

Yes, Harry James...She responded with an air of utter contentment. He could feel the smirk that blossomed on her lips as she kept looking away from him and reached for a 453rd edition of Hogwarts, A History on the coffee table. The table seemed to sigh in relief as she lifted the huge tome, and since it was Hogwarts, it was entirely possible it did so. You wish to know something...honestly all you have to do is ask. She sighed as she opened to book to the chapter on married professors over the years in Hogwarts. She pretended to read for several minutes, her eyes flicking back and forth across the pages, but he knew it was a lie.

Mione...I know you're not reading...

And just how do you know that? She replied, trying to insert a snappish tone in her thoughts and failing miserably.

Harry grinned as he leaned forward to kiss her hair over her ear. You read out loud in your head...it's rather cute. She laughed as she set the book back down and snuggled closer.

I had my yearly physical today. Hermione explained it seems that I won't be joining you on assignments for a while. Harry stiffened and spun her around. A trace of fear danced in his eyes and with a small laugh, she took pity on him. Her fingers brushed a recalcitrant lock of hair out of his eyes, "I'm fine love." She whispered.

"Don't give me a shock like that Mione." Harry shot back. He sat back, considering what she had said, "though if you are not sick..."

"Actually I was sick this mourning Harry." She retorted as she fought not to giggle. And Harry knew. He laughed out loud as he fell back onto the couch and pulled her down into a kiss.

"Thank you Hermione. I love you." He replied as she curled up on top of him, "When?"

"May sometime." She whispered in his ear. "I thought of doing something with baby foods or leaving elf sized clothes laying around...but you know how thick you can be. And it just wouldn't be us." She paused, considering, "One more thing...it's twins Harry." Harry chuckled.

"I guess I need to get around to fixing up the Hollow then."

***********************The Burrow********************************

October 11, 2012
2:16 am

Harry closed his eyes for a long second; then opened them slowly. With a flicker of his fingers, he canceled the shield that one or both of them had subconsciously summoned. Hermione, love, I ah...

I will hurt you if you say this is your fault Harry. I am going to kill Lucius. You know that right? Harry nodded. Painfully. Very painfully. Very, very fucking painfully.

We're sharing. Harry returned and she just nodded. We need to get everyone one out of here Mione. It's not secure. Hermione nodded once more. I promise you Hermione, whatever it takes, I will get our kids back to you. Harry sealed the promise with a soft kiss to her forehead before flinging himself to his feet. Hermione glanced upward at him before bouncing to her feet next to him in one fluid motion. The group silently watching them witnessed as she took his hand and they slowly approached, and more than one of the waiting crowd stepped back involuntarily. Harry looked up as Tonks hugged Hermione with tears in her eyes, followed quickly by Luna and Ron. The impromptu pack closed in as Harry's eyes scanned around the darkened yard, catching faint glimmers of movement every so often indicating disillusioned agents. "Sorry everyone." Harry apologized but as one the gathered witches and wizards waved it off. "We need to get everyone to Hogwarts, its not safe..."

He was interrupted as a sharp CRACK rang out and Sirius, Cordelia, Arthur and his young aide appeared on the lawn. At least thirty wands pointed at their heads before the sound died away, but were soon put away. "We have to go." Sirius snapped as he came running up to the group, "they've taken the Ministry."

"Bloody Hell" Ron snapped as he gave his dad a quick hug.

Lupin looked at Arthur, "where's Mad-Eye?" Arthur just shook his head and that was all the response needed.

Harry closed his eyes and pushing up his glasses he squeezed the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn't once again squeezing Hermione's for dear life. He raised his voice. "EVAC NOW, SG-1 HEADQUARTERS, ALL CIVILIANS AND AGENTS, GO." Before the words had even faded away into the night, CRACKs of disapparation echoed out as wizards and witches started heading for the hidden secret passage entrance to Hogwarts outside of the Wards.

A/N there we go. Next chapter, a plan.

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15. Love Before Duty

AN It's always darkest before the dawn....and we're at about midnight right now. It's just getting started
Chapter 15: Love Before Duty.

********************Azkaban Fortress, North Sea************************

October 11, 2012
11:00 am

A pair of raven-haired, emerald-eyed children glared in unison as they rose and regarded the pair of Death Eaters standing post outside of a large cell containing them, Harriet, Elliot, Abigail and Xander. The Death Eaters looked at them, and unconsciously backed away. They wouldn't dare leave their posts, but they didn't have to stand close. Originally Malfoy had ordered a Dementor to stand guard, but it had left rather abruptly after looking at Emilia. Ever since, human Death Eaters had been the only ones to stand guard.

With an expression that eerily mirrored her mother's annoyed one, Emilia spun back to the rest of the children, while Horatio contented himself with glowering at the Death Eaters. He glanced back at Em, and she nodded silently. Emilia curled up next to Harriet and closed her eyes, and after another minute or two Horry joined them. The twins had not slept since their abductions and the exhaustion was catching up.

Just as their eyes closed, the door creaked open, and a party lead by a tall, cloaked and hooded man entered. Trailing him, a tall, severe-looking blond woman and another tall, dark-haired man walked arrogantly towards the children.

With the sudden, strident warning call of an almost genetic level instinct, Emilia and Horatio's eyes snapped open and a shimmering field snapped in place between them and the rest of the children and the newcomers. Lucius laughed darkly as he raised a hand and gestured, to no effect. A slight growling noise came from deep in his throat as his eyes glowed bright, blood red. He gestured again, and for the briefest of instants the twins' eyes flickered blue before the shield collapsed with a loud snap. Lucius laughed and gestured, freezing the children.

He looked back as Bariss wheeled in a cart with several beakers of a lightly smoking, crystal clear, wine-red potion. Alongside of the potions on a cloth-covered tray, several syringes glinted dully in the torchlight. Lucius turned to his minion as Xavier and Narcissa looked on interestedly. "Bariss, I think we should start with the Mudblood's leavings. He nodded as he carefully filled a syringe from a beaker, tapped out the air, and spurted a bit from the tip.

The twins' eyes grew huge as they fought their silent bonds.

****************************Hogwarts**********************************

An impromptu council of war had convened at the ancient castle. As the news of the fall of the Ministry spread, more and more had appeared asking for sanctuary. In London and several other towns, already a hidden darkness was spreading. Muggles were already vanishing inexplicitly, at least to the Muggles. Reports of werewolves raiding Muggle and Wizarding homes were trickling in, and more than one had been found soulless and empty, victim of unchecked Dementor attacks. The few Aurors that were in the field, who had not escaped to Hogwarts had quickly been captured or vanquished.

Whitehall Air Base was a ghost town, a few survivors who had escaped had told of dark, cloaked figures attacking in an endless tide as they emerged from a floating, silver portal. They had related how, even though one, ten, a hundred, would be taken down by the machine guns and explosives of the guards, ten more would take each's place. Hereford Army Base had fallen as well, but not before the retreating SAS teams had taken a terrible toll on the odd figures. And of course the fact that the Regimental Master Sergeant had attended Hogwarts in another life hadn't hurt.

In the midst of the chaos in the Great Hall, as displaced wizarding politicians yelled and screamed back and forth at each other, and various house elves popped here and fro distributing drinks and food, Harry Potter sat silently on the edge of the raised stage that usually housed the teachers' table. He slowly raised his eyes from his hands and slowly panned his hard emerald eyes over the bickering crowd. It's amazing...of all of the people I could use here right now; the bloody politicians are the ones who escaped. Where the hell are the Aurors, the Unspeakables...hell Hagrid. God I could use Hagrid here, I wish we knew what happened to him. And these dumbarses are screaming because they can't go to their cushy jobs in the bloody Ministry. He rolled his eyes for a second before glancing out over the crowd in hopes that Dumbledore had appeared, but as had been the case for the last several days, no one could find him. Harry watched, with a feeling of utter contempt as Warlock Springbolt was arguing with Arthur over some piddly little matter.

Harry watched as Springbolt snarled a bitter retort as Arthur who hadn't slept in almost two days, who had watched the fall of his Ministry, who had been forced to abandon a friend of almost forty years to the lethal pit of duty and who had come home to find that his grandchildren were in the hands of the enemy, barely kept from punching the man. After another instant, with a harsh, sharp gesture the room became silent. There were still lips moving for a good minute, but it was silent. Harry slowly stood and glared down at the assembled crowd. He could see a few grim smiles on the faces of the few agents and Aurors in the crowd as he took a breath. "Listen you bloody pounces." His words were not shouted, but they carried as if he was whispering in every ear. "I do not have time for this shit." He flicked his fingers and the silencing spell fell away.

Springbolt spun on him, "Now listen Potter..." he shut up as Harry turned in his direction, a harsh blue glow lighting his eyes and a curious energy crackling about his figure.

"No you listen Springbolt, you are part of this mess, and maybe if HALF THE FUCKING AURORS in England hadn't been looking for one of my agents then Malfoy wouldn't have been able to walk into an undefended Ministry." He sighed heavily, "I have discussed the situation with Minister Weasley and he agrees that for the time being that the majority of you should go to ground. Hide."

"What about us?" Samson Kingsley yelled from the back of the room, where a few Aurors who had been reluctantly on field assignments looking for Draco and thereby escaped the sacking of the Ministry and the reported assassinations of Aurors in the streets had congregated.

"You know the protocol Samson."

"Why can't we stay here?" Yelled an anonymous voice in the crowd.

"This is the first place that will be targeted." Harry responded with a bare trace of patience. He jumped down off the stage and headed out of the room without pausing.

Bare minutes later, he found himself walking the seventh floor corridor on the way to the Room of Requirement. While he could have used the SG-1 facilities far below, somehow this seemed much more suitable. His head down, he walked into the room, not even slowing as the door opened and closed for him. He barely noticed the room had oriented itself into a replica of the Gryffindor common room. He missed the ragged couches and the tattered chairs as he sat mutely next to Hermione. She slumped onto his shoulder and grasped his arm. Across from them on another couch Ron glanced at him and nodded while Luna looked off into the distance, not seeing anything in this room. Tonks was pacing, occasionally tipping over her own feet as she ran her fingers through lank, black hair until Lupin stopped her pacing by the simple expedient of hugging her so tight she couldn't move.

Finally Harry broke the silence. "What do we know? How bad is it."

Sirius glanced around before replying, "Bad...real bad. He's already begun moving in on the Muggle government too Harry. From the descriptions we got, at least a thousand X'Sheen overran Whitehall and Hereford, and very possibly three or four times that many. It seems that a Sergeant Major Paxton was an old friend of Dumbledore's. He was there when Dumbledore inserted into Berlin to go after Grindlewald...he's a bit older than the Muggles realize. He confirmed that it was X'Sheen that took that base, though they paid for it. Seems that explosives do a job on them, as well as large caliber projectiles. But he also confirmed that at least a thousand attacked there and probably more."

"Where are the kids Sirius?" Hermione whispered.

But Luna answered, "he has them at Azkaban. I will see Lucius die someday for this." She added almost contemplatively. Luna stood and looked off to the Northeast, as her eyes lit with an internal golden light. "He has everything there right now, he's waiting for us, and I can sense both anti-apparition wards and anti-portkey fields the likes of which I've never felt, not even here. I see at least twenty dragons, and fields of X'Sheen... oh and that's just what's outside, I can't SEE into the fortress... And I'm going to pass out now." Luna was true to her words as in her next breath, she collapsed bonelessly, her eyes slipping closed. Ron barely caught her and carried her back over to the couch.

"She's drained Harry." Ron commented softly, "How are we getting them back Harry?"

"How the fuck should I know Ron." Harry snapped, "I'm not Dumbledore." He took a breath as he watched his brother flinch and felt Hermione shudder next to him. "Sorry Ron." Ron shrugged it off. "I don't know. Hermione and I could maybe...maybe force the wards, especially if we had time or the element of surprise, I can't imagine that they could keep the transportation wards up that strong all the time, and if we could force them to guard from physical attack, it would be easy to penetrate them. But if they are as strong as Luna says, even if we could force them neither one of us could fight when we got there. If Dumbledore was here..." he shrugged. "Brooms are out too, even I can't outfly that many Dragons on a broom, and a boat's just suicide."

Hermione stood, as her eyes relit and ran her fingers inattentively through her hair. She bit her lip absently as she spun around and looked at him. "Not on a normal broom, no. We can though Harry. The twins told me just Monday that all of the weapons were fitted and ready to go."

Harry stood wand walked over to her. "Are you sure?" He asked in a bare whisper. She nodded and a second later, he did too. "Fine then." He looked at the rest of them. Sirius Cordy, you don't have to..."

"Are you bloody insane Harry -- of course we are coming," the Marauder shot back almost indignantly, and as one, the rest of the family who didn't have kids in the fight nodded.

"Ok then. Here's the plan such as it is. Arthur, you stay here with Molly, Ginny and Neville, Alicia and Angelina you too." Fred and George's wives nodded, they weren't exact really suitable for a fight as they were both around six months pregnant with their second child each. Arthur if Dumbledore makes it back." He nodded, "coordinate with Minerva to evacuate this place. We don't have the forces to take on Malfoy's. We are going to get the kids out. We can kill him later. Hermione and I will take the Lily and knock a hole in the Dragons. The rest of you follow on brooms. We get the kids and get out. That's it. We go as soon as we are ready. Go take a nap, I mean it even if Poppy has to knock you out, you'll need it." He waved and without another word the rest of them filed out. Ron squeezed Harry's shoulder for an instant as he led a hovering, sleeping Luna out at the tip of his wand.

As the door eased closed on the last of them, Hermione turned to him, and buried her face in his shoulder. Tears that she had been afraid to show to anyone else bloomed as Harry stroked her hair silently; there was really nothing he could say now. The lives of their children were suddenly contingent on the role of the astral dice. No Felix Felices potion, no magical object was able to help. It was just their skills and powers and the slim hope that that would be enough to get the kids out alive.

**********************Azkaban, North Sea******************************

8:15 pm

"Is everything ready Xavier?" Lucius asked as the sun set over the battlements of the dark stone fortress. Far below him, in the shadows of the tall, thick walls, hundreds, possibly thousands of X'Sheen mulled about. Half a dozen large mountain trolls, pulled on the chain of a reluctant Hungarian Horntail, while above his head at least twenty large winged shapes wheeled through the sky. At least a hundred Death Eaters lined the walls, looking out to sea as they waited for something to happen.

"Aye my Lord," Hamilton answered with a cruel half smile. He gave a small shrug, "I still think it would be better however if I was allowed to make an example. Perhaps if I were to send an arm from the spy's child."

Lucius smiled and shook his head tolerantly, as if regarding a small child who was selfish with his toys. "Nothing as pedestrian as that will be necessary Xavier. They will be here tonight. Potter can't resist playing the hero. And what better bait, hmmm?"

"But sire, how will they know where..."

"They already do. It was our former master's mistake to underestimate Potter and his friends, but this time it is them who will underestimate us. Their ancient protector is gone and they are coming to us this time." Lucius turned to walk to the stairs leading down. "Make sure that they reach my throne room...but don't make it too easy." Xavier nodded with an air of awe of the new Dark Lord as Lucius chuckled to himself and opened the door of the turret. His glowing red eyes lit the narrow passage the color of blood as he headed for the interior of the castle.

*********************Near Inverness, Northern Scotland*******************

10:17 pm

A hovering red-light orb cast the abandoned aircraft hanger on the outskirts of the old seaport town into stripes of pale pink light and deep shadows. In the exact center of the cavernous space, a large, sleek black shape perched on its landing feet, ready to spring into flight. Around and under it, Fred and George were crawling, waving wands and muttering notes to enchanted clipboards that were following them around. George tapped the belly of the beast and a pair of doors slid shut, hiding a rotary spindle filled with fifteen, slivery-white sticks. Fred walked to the front of the ship and pulled covers from a pair of wand-like antenna in the nose and a hollow right behind the cockpit that through which the top three barrels of an enchanted Gatling could be seen.

Harry nodded to them as he sat on the edge of the stubby port wing and looked out over his gathered family and friends. "Listen, this is when I normally try to get some or all of you to stay back to protect yourselves. I don't really it will work this time will it?" A sort of dark, forced chuckle answered his words. "I just want to say...thanks..."

"Yeah, thanks." Hermione repeated as she hoped out of the cockpit, paced lightly down the edge of the wing and dropped next to Harry. "We appreciate it."

"It's our kids too," Ron reminded them grimly. He glanced down to check that his wand was still secure in the thigh holster he had strapped on and that the falchion that he had taken at Hogwarts was still secure on his back. He crossed to Harry and held out a hand Spartan style. As Harry took it, Ron leaned in close, so only Harry and Hermione could hear. "Whatever it takes, you know that, just promise me one thing."

"Yeah." Hermione whispered.

"When we get the kids back and safe...we end it, every damn one of the wankers." He whispered hotly. His blue eyes glittered dangerously as he looked back and forth between then. "No matter what Dumbledore says about trials and fairness and whatever other codswallop, we end it."

Hermione leaned forward and placed her small hand on top of Harry and Ron's, "no matter what, he's crossed the pale this time big brother." She muttered as she noticed out of the corner of her eye Sirius and Lupin looking at the trio oddly.

Harry nodded, "there's nowhere on Earth, not this time."

Raising his voice, Harry gestured towards the center of the room with his wand. Muttering an incantation under his breath, a large map of the North Sea, with the Northeast corner of Scotland peaking in at the bottom left, appeared floating in midair. He flicked it again and the image zoomed in on a large, irregular island in the middle of the North Sea. It was flashing, pulsing slowly yellow. "You all know the where we are going, but we are going to go over it again."

Hermione pointed her wand at the island. A thin red beam shot out of the tip and she used it as a pointer. "Azkaban Fortress. Located approximately 150 miles or 241 klicks northeast off the coast of Scotland. It is, of course, unplottable to Muggles and highly secret, except that everyone knows where it is. " She announced flatly. "Used since 1475, or the end of the seventh Goblin Rebellion, as a prison for various wizards and witches by the British Ministry. Innocent or not." She added almost absently as Sirius caught her eye. The image zoomed out slightly. Four tiny dots appeared surrounding the island. "These four outlining islands act as a outer line of defense. They were created early last century to add an additional barrier to the island's defenses." She flicked her wand again and the map zoomed out again to once again show the coast of Scotland at one corner with Azkaban at the opposite. A new blip pulsed yellow about 2/3rds of the way to the Prison. "St. Christopher's Rock. I think you are familiar with this island Sirius?"

"Yeah I swam to that island in dog form and stowed away on a boat back to the mainland." He replied slightly thoughtfully as he remembered a long ago stormy night.

"Indeed." She responded softly. Small blue icons representing the Lily and several normal brooms appeared on the cost. "At 2345 hrs, Harry and I will depart in the Lily in echelon with the rest of you on brooms. At the maximum controllable cruising speed for most riders on your Firebolts, 200 mph, it will take approximately 36 minutes from launch to the edge of the island. Putting us here at St. Christopher's Island at 0021 hrs. This is important, as this island is exactly on the edge of the zone at which they can detect us approaching, or rather that they pay attention to. Since it is a Muggle fishing and supply hub for the nearby oil rigs, they ignore anything further out as the traffic is rather heavy."

"Here's the fun part." Harry put in. "As soon as we reach the island, I will put the Lily on the deck and floor it. At mach three, we will cross the gap in about a minute. It's our job to clear the skies, you follow as soon as you can.

"That will leave you two alone for almost nine minutes Harry." Sirius objected. He stood and walked into the projection. "Why don't we start off earlier while you loiter and then run in?"

"Can't Padfoot." Hermione replied quickly, "Honestly...this is the best chance, if we can hit them before they are ready. Just don't be late ok?"

************************Hogwarts*****************************

August 11, 2012
11:59 pm

Molly Weasley sat heavily, her hands in her lap, as she watched Ginny sleeping. A set of knitting needles flashed in the dim gas lamps lighting the infirmary as they worked on some jumper or hat or something, anything to keep busy. Ever since she had been freed from the Petrifaction Hex at the Burrow, she had not really said much. After since Harry and Hermione had forced themselves back into action and sent everyone to relative safety at Hogwarts, she had been sitting here.

Arthur had just left, with Dobby in tow carrying the uneaten remnants of her dinner. Yes, her precious youngest daughter had been rescued, but at such a price that even now, hours later, she almost could not stand it. Her thoughts kept flashing back barely a day, when she had convinced Harry and Hermione that she could take care of the kids. She had always known and accepted that she wasn't really a fighter. She had done so in the dark days of Voldemort, of course, but that was more because of her innate stubbornness really. If she had let her boys join when they had first asked instead of making each fight her in turn as they came of age she wouldn't have had to fight even then. Intellectually she knew that she couldn't have stopped Xavier and his men, especially not when the entire security detail had died trying to do so, but even so her heart still burned.

With a slightly tremulous expression, she reached forward to gently brush a lock of Ginny's hair away from her face. Her once vibrant red hair hung lank and flat. A large chunk was torn out over one ear. A bandage covered one cheek, with others covering her legs, left arm and one, she knew covering her side under the scrubs Pomfrey had placed her into after a hurried examination. There were other injuries that Molly only feared about, and that Poppy had refused to either confirm or deny. The lingering effects of the Cruciatus and the Flagellation curse were terribly familiar to Molly from the last war though.

Next to Ginny, with his bed scooted up to abut hers; Neville was laying heavily on his mattress. Both he and Ginny were hooked to several IVs, one with the age-old glucose solution common to Muggle and Wizarding medical care alike, and the other with an thick-looking dark purple potion that Madame Pomfrey had developed in the last few years, and that would probably eventually earn her an Order of Merlin for magical achievement, that cut short the after effects of the Cruciatus. Neither of the pair had woken since Ginny had passed out when Hermione and Harry had entered their cell at Malfoy Castle, but Poppy had confirmed that Neville was in a more or less normal sleep, putting aside his obvious injuries.

Ginny stirred and Molly leapt forward. "Ginny, dear." She whispered hopefully.

"Mum..." Ginny whispered and Molly suddenly remembered random scenes from Ginny's childhood, of bouts of Wizarding Flu, Dragonpox and the like. "Neville?" Her hand weakly felt about for his, and Molly gently moved it until she could feel him. Ginny visibly relaxed, then all at once stiffened. "Mum...where's Elliot, I wanted Neville to finally meet him." She croaked. It was Molly's turn to stiffen abruptly.

"Ginny, dear...Uhh"

"Out with it Mum." Ginny snapped, or at least tried to. The fire in her eyes was real however despite her physical weakness. She knew something was odd, immediately, as Molly looked about the room for help or something, but to no avail. Poppy had kipped off on a cot in her office, exhausted after almost a day straight of work, Arthur had left to go try to deal with the politicians, and the rest of the family...was busy. Bill and Charlie were presumably safe for now outside of the country and the rest of her boys were about to assault Azkaban. Ginny coughed, "out with it."

"They have them Ginny...All of them, they came in a rush, I couldn't stop them, and I tried." Molly blurted, and let out a soft wail. "Its all my fault."

"No mum, its mine." Ginny whispered, "ohhh God, its all my fault." She fought to rise and fell back onto the bed. "Get me a pepper-up potion, I'll be fine, I need to help."

"No Ginny." A soft, deep, ancient voice responded from the doorway. A tall shadow detached itself from the doorway and entered. As the figure came into the light, a long, silver beard glinted. Dumbledore sighed softly as he removed his half-moons and polished them slowly on his robes, as Ginny and Molly watched him mutely. "I am afraid it is too late for that, even for me. For good or for ill, it is up to them now. We must be ready for what is still to be." He glanced to his right shoulder, "however that does not mean that I should not send what help can get there in time. Fawkes."

The Phoenix chirped once and vanished in a fall of fire.

A/N Next chapter the start of the assault on Azkaban...

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16. Where Else Would We Be on A Night Like This?

Warning evil authorness ahead

Chapter 16: Where Else Would we be on a Night Like This?

***************************North Sea*****************************

August 12, 2012
12:19 am

Harry?

Yeah Mione? Harry replied distractedly as he looked out the canopy to check on the brooms keeping formation with them. Silver moonlight glittered down, turning the deep waters of the North Sea into a glittering cloth stretched out before them, and casting the riders flying alongside into pewter statues of wizards. At their current speed, the power output of the field drive enchantments keeping his ship aloft should not bother the riders, but he was concerned nonetheless. His eyes flicked forward, checking the HUD to watch a flaming circle bouncing aimlessly about. The dark outline of St. Christopher's Rock was off their nose, steadily growing bigger. Keys clicked as Hermione touched something in the back.

Are we going to be in time...are they ok, I mean...

We are going to bring them home today Hermione. Harry looked up at a mirror mounted above his head to give him a rear view. He caught her eyes searching for his, I don't care what Lucius has waiting for us, I will get them home with you, I promise. He looked up, "We're here." He heard Hermione take a deep breath in the back, and heard the soft click of her helmet sealing. He sealed his and touched a button on the stick. "Ok ladies and gentlemen, the snitch is released." He announced softly as everyone in formation heard him in his or her ears. "And Ron."

"Yeah, mate?"

"Now's when you fly like a seeker, not a slow-arsed keeper." Harry shot off to his left and laughed as he watched the dim outline of his best friend raise one finger in salute. "Ok Mione." Harry heard her mutter an incantation under her breath and suddenly he felt the plane crackle with power. His screen blossomed with glowing dots with little fiery circles surrounding each dot. Small text labels floated next to each one, with names like Hibernian Black and Siberian Acid.

A soft gasp came from behind, "I have twenty-five, large, airborne magical signatures centered at 320 degrees, most likely Dragons. I'm locked up Harry." Harry was never prouder of her as her voice never wavered, despite the emotions he could feel boiling under the surface in each of them.

He flipped a pair of switches and their chairs leaned back slightly, "just think, this will be first time anyone has taken on a Dragon with a plane, magical or otherwise." He was talking to keep his mind off of what they were about to do and she knew it.

"No Harry, the Americans shot one down in eighty two off of Alaska, thought it was an UFO. Lost the plane though, called it a bird strike or something." She added meditatively. Then after a long pause, he heard a slight creaking, groaning sound from under his seat. "Launching." A continuous ripple of blue, wavering witchlight erupted from under the plane and fifteen glowing points of light raced ahead faster than the normal eye could track. "GO HARRY." She snapped and a heartbeat later she was thrown back in her seat.

Ron, and the rest barely held themselves aloft as the Lily vanished from sight with a flare of blue witchlight and a rush of displaced air. Twin, hundred-foot-tall roostertails of water shot skyward as a crack of thunder sounded on a cloudless night. Off in the distance, huge, blue-white fireballs made the night, day. "I have fifteen kills on the dragons" Hermione gritted out, as Harry banked hard right. The light from the contained reductors had not faded as huge, winged shapes filled the canopy. Tiny riders on their backs could be seen urging them to wheel about in the sky, and a orange-red fireball shot by the plane on the left, right where they would have been had Harry not turned.

REDUCTUS SPARSI Harry growled and twin streams of blue spell bolts snapped out and two more Dragons went tumbling from the sky, a flick of a finger and a stream of tracers shot out from the Gatling and a third joined them. And they were through. Azkaban rapidly fell behind, and Harry pulled up as hard as he could. Wheeling about, two more Dragons fell to the guns and... BOOM. The entire craft shook and started to tumble. Hermione bit off a scream in the back as the sky outside rapidly alternated between sea and sky. Harry glanced out the window and a world of water filled his vision. "ARRESTO MOMENTUM." He screamed and the plane slowly, tentatively slowed, and he pulled up close enough to the water to see a kelpie diving out of the way. He panted heavily as he glanced back.

"Don't ever do that again." Hermione snapped, breathing hard. She looked up to catch his eyes in the mirror. "Good job, love." A brief, tight smile flitted across her lips under the clear visor of her helmet. But any other endearments she might have said were lost as a loud, blaring alarm went off. Harry glanced back to see a long plume of black smoke trailing from under his left wing and the plane suddenly slowed and movements became jerky. "We lost the port broom-core pod Harry. We are going down." Harry nodded as he slowly turned back towards the island.

"Grab our stuff then and get ready to go." He pointed the nose of the plane at the last five Dragons who were fluttering about in a rather stupidly tight group. Tiny riders could be seen holding on for dear life as the Dragons fought to stay airborne in the turbulent sky. REDUCTUS DELAYUS FIVE SECMUNTO...GO HERMIONE. Behind him, Hermione vanished with a soft pop, Harry rammed the throttle home, and vanished a second later. In the sky above the prison, a black arrow shot forward and impaled a huge Hibernian Black hanging in the middle of pack. It rider fell screaming into the darkness, and second later, a huge blue-white flash erupted, making the previous broom missiles' explosions look like a child's Christmas cracker.

Still five miles out, Ron looked up. "HARRY...HERMIONE." He screamed.

"It's ok Ron." Harry's voice rang softly in their ears. "Just hurry up ok?" He looked up from the pile he and Hermione had tumbled into after their hasty Disappartion, at the tide of X'Sheen pounding their way. "Really. It would be good." Hermione nodded as she got up next to him and tossed him the Gryffindor sword from a large bag open at her feet.

The millennia-old steel of the Ravenclaw sword sang softly as it filled her right hand, while a greenish glow lit the end of her drawn wand. "Really Ron." She agreed as her eyes lit blue, "It would be rather smashing if you got here pretty soon."

**************************Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office********************

Dumbledore swept a vast pile of papers from his desk as he placed a large, old, poster sized parchment on the aged oak. From the apparent age of the parchment, one might think it heralded from Dumbledore's own school days here. With a practiced flick of his wrist, an old, one might say antique, wand slipped from his sleeve into his hand. He touched the tip to the paper, "I love lemon drops." Tendrils of ink appeared filling in from the corners. Rooms and halls appeared with small, labeled dots representing people, familiars and several ghosts populating the castle. Up in the hospital wing, Pomfrey could be seen bending over a pair of dots labeled Neville Longbottom and Ginevra Weasley. A quarter of the castle away, near Gryffindor tower, a small dot labeled Mrs. Norris ran up to a dot labeled Crookshanks, hesitated a second then scampered off. Minerva McGonagall was pacing, back and forth in her office at the base of Gryffindor Tower. Down below the dungeons, several people could be seen scurrying about, packing or panicking or something.

Albus nodded and touched the wand to the parchment once more. "Foundrous Locatus Revelium" The ink lines slipped to new, unfamiliar outlines. Where once straight lines demarking rooms and halls were drawn, now a jagged, unknown outline of an island was visible. A large fortress with almost innumerable tiny named dots occupied a quarter of the island, with a large plateau drawn in overlooking it. Two tiny dots labeled Harry and Hermione Potter stood on that bluff, with a solid wall of ink coming towards them. Out over the ocean, just entering on the edge of the parchment, eight more dots labeled Sirius Black, Cordelia O'Connor, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Lupin, Fred, George, Ronald and Luna Weasley were approaching the island rapidly. From the opposite corner, a blip labeled Fawkes appeared and arrowed towards the island. "Hurry my friends." He whispered.

Dumbledore left the parchment open on his desk as he stepped to the center of his office. His left hand swept back his outer robes to reveal the jewel-encrusted hilt of the headmaster's sword. A soft hiss of steel on leather echoed in the silent office as the blade emerged. The thousand-year-old blade lit with a blinding white fire matched only by the sudden glow in Dumbledore's eyes as he spoke, "sanctorum protegum" Out of the window, a shimmering gold light encompassed the castle and grounds, shimmering and pulsing like a giant neon sign. "It is only temporary Minerva, I need Harry and Hermione here as well to fully unleash the castle's wards." Dumbledore said softy in the direction of the door. She had entered without a word, "I was not ready for this, not yet."

******************************Azkaban, North Sea*************************

Harry ducked the swing of a black blade wielded by a particularly fast X'Sheen and countered, opening the dark one up from hip to collarbone for an instant before it vanished with a flare of ultraviolet. An angry shove at the air threw an entire rank of X'Sheen back fifty feet and he Apparated to Hermione's side. She dodged a green bolt, decapitated a an X'Sheen and retaliated with a cone shaped blue bolt, that spread as it shot out and detonated taking ten X'Sheen with it. She panted as Harry settled at her back, "I guess they aren't members of your..." she grunted as she blocked a blade. She pulled her fist closed and snapped it open at her attacker, it erupted in blue flame, "your fan club." She finished tightly.

Harry flicked glowing blue eyes over his shoulder at her for an instant, "ASTRUM DELATARIS." Flashes of blue-white lighting hammered from the cloudless sky, plowing great rents in the advancing lines. A flicker of green caught the corner of his eye; he grabbed Hermione and flung both of them backwards closer to the edge of the cliffs overlooking the prison. Harry laid his palm on the ground as Hermione rolled over the top of his back, blocking a strike at his head, "Terratus Disperisum." Great rents opened in the earth dropping tens of X'Sheen into dark chasms. "Finite" he finished and the holes snapped shut. "You mean there is still one?"

"Yeah," She grunted, "I even attended a meeting last year as a speaker." Hermione tossed her sword in the air, slammed her palms together, and a wave of destruction flared outward, and more X'Sheen vanished in flares of purple-black light. She caught her sword as it fell and flicked it back into a guard position. A pause fell as a black tide surrounded them, backing them to the edge of the plateau they had landed on. Harry looked over at Hermione and gave her a small nod; she smiled slightly at him, "Shall we my Lord?"

"Aye, my Lady." Harry replied softly, but loud enough for her to hear him. A loud, shaking thunder crashed in the night, and under their feet, Harry and Hermione could feel the ground shaking slightly. Their enhanced night vision could see the X'Sheen army parting for something or some things, and moments later, twenty large mountain trolls thumped into the cleared area. The one in the lead grinned, showing blacked, broken teeth and Harry rolled his eyes despite the situation. Mione? Harry asked quietly as his fingers tapped idly on the hilt of his sword.

Yes Harry? She replied as she inverted her sword and jammed it into the ground at her side. A pair of wands came into her hands and their tips lit as tiny stars of energy rushed towards them to gather and dance on the ends.

His eyes flicked to hers, Do it. She smiled evilly and brought the tips of her wands together. A wave of brilliant orange light shot out enveloping each of the twenty trolls in a column of scintillating light. The light faded to reveal...twenty chickens. "DIFFINDO" she snapped, waving her left hand wand in an arc and suddenly there were twenty headless chickens. Harry looked over at her with a crooked eyebrow.

Hermione shrugged, I did still owe you for that troll in first year.

The X'Sheen gathered to rush them once more, and an odd keening wail broke out from their ranks as the leaders charged. Harry ducked one blow, flicked another X'Sheen away from Hermione and flipped over the head of another. Gradually, the circle closed about the pair, as gradually they slowed. Harry was a fraction of a second too slow as he caught a black blade in his side. "HARRY" Hermione screamed as she flicked her wand and a tiny void sprung up next to the X'Sheen attacking Harry and sucked them into the void.

A line of explosions shattered the ranks of the attackers as eight brooms swept overhead. Harry bit off a dark laugh as the eight settled next to them. "About time Ron."

"Traffic," Ron explained. "Here they come." The reformed enemies struck in a whir of black blades and a flurry of spells. Luna ducked under a green spell and her Impediment Jinx threw an X'Sheen. A shining blue Reductor met her target in mid air and it shattered. Cordelia blurred as she leapt to fight the X'Sheen on their own terms, one, five, ten fell to her sword and wand before she was knocked back to fly through the air. Sirius caught her with a cushioning spell and together they rose and counterattacked once more.

The ten held fast, outnumbered a hundred to one, but there were far, far too many X'Sheen.

"Damn it Harry." Ron screamed as he ducked another curse. The conjured, stone wall that Ron, Luna and Remus were sheltering behind took another shattering hit and Harry nodded across the barren stone battlefield. He rolled out of the way of another green curse and felled his attacker almost absently but Ron was right. There were too many.

Suddenly, in the midst of ugliness, of terror and pain, a haunting, beautiful song filled the air, driving away the fear and the hurt and causing their hearts to soar. Several dozen X'Sheen in the field and a good twenty Death Eaters on the walls of the fortress pointed up to the cloudless sky as a new crimson star decorated the heavens. The star circled, faster and faster, the sound getting louder all the time, and with a sudden realization Harry and Hermione's eyes grew wide as saucers.

"EVERYONE GET OVER HERE" Harry screamed as the star shot upwards like a moonshot. Ron, Luna, Sirius and the others dove to Harry's side, their wands pointing outward like the quills of a giant hedgehog. A dozen X'Sheen noticed the clustered targets and charged. "HERMIONE" He snapped as he tossed the Sword Of Gryffindor in the air. His eyes never left the ever-rising red streak of light as she caught the sword in her left hand, the wand held there previously dropping away to the ground. With a flare of power, the twin blades ignited with bluebell flames and she MOVED.

CLANG, Hermione caught a strike with her left blade, spun left and decapitated an X'Sheen with her right. A rising blade caught another, while a descending one caught a third. Hermione flipped and twisted over the heads of two more and backhanded both blades at once. Two more dark ones fell to her blades as she cartwheeled sideways and jammed the Ravenclaw sword into the ground. "TERATUS CONDUCTUS" Lightning snaked out along cracks in the hard ground, seeking the remaining seven and enveloping each in a pillar of fire.

Harry watched as the red star reached the top of its dive, turned over and a red streak shot downwards. NOW MIONE Hermione vanished and reappeared sliding on her knees to Harry. "PROTEGO ASTRALUS ENCLOSUM" A shimmering blue dome enveloped the ten as the red streak impacted the center of the X'Sheen forces waiting to attack. A blinding flash permanently etched their shadows on the rocks for all eternity as waves of fire shot out from the impact like rings on a pond. The protective dome shuddered and shook as the shockwave and fireball washed over them cleansing the area of X'Sheen, various overseeing Death Eaters, and the bodies of twenty headless chickens.

The shield flickered and died as Harry collapsed to his knees, panting. A thin trickle of blood was escaping his nose as Hermione helped him to his feet. Her eyes were concerned, even considering the still desperate situation they were in. Are you ok? Hermione asked softly as she looked about the suddenly almost empty battlefield. Between the fireball and the fact that X'Sheen generally didn't leave bodies behind when they died, the way was clear to the castle.

I'll be fine. Harry snapped, and immediately sent a flicker of apology her way. "Let's go." He growled and MOVED. His body shot ahead in a blur of motion, Hermione following an instant later. As Harry leapt over a tiny pile of ashes emitting a soft chirping sound, "RON." He pointed behind him even as he was sprinting towards the castle. Ron and Luna slid to their knees next to a tiny, shivering Fawkes as Lupin, Tonks, Sirius, Cordy and the twins sprinted past. Digging in a thigh pack, Luna pulled out a small, black medallion and with a muttered sticking charm, placed it on the baby Fawkes. A flick of her wand, a murmured, "Portus" and the Phoenix vanished in a fall of color and a rush of wind.

Harry slowed to a merely human pace as he approached the gates. Spells shot down from the parapets cratering the hard ground around him, with an almost annoyed sigh, he raised his wand and swept it along the wall, flicking it as it passed each Death Eater as if marking them. Thunder deafened them as twin forks of lighting stuck either end of the wall, striking the Death Eaters at either end and bouncing to the next. In milliseconds the incoming fire died as either there were no Death Eaters left alive to man the walls or they suddenly had found other pressing appointments.

"POTTER" a dark hiss echoed out over the grounds as a dark, cloaked figure faded into view. Dark steel armor covered its robes as it raised a long, serrated broadsword. Deep inside its hood, glowing purplish-black eyes gazed out from darkness. "It has been a long time since the Gryffindor Sword crossed mine." The words had an odd sibilant undertone as the Dark One strode to the fore and raised its sword in salute. "I shall return you to your ancestor."

The corner of Harry's lip twitched upward for instant, he straightened to his full height and slowly sheathed both of his wands. The field was oddly silent as Harry reached over his shoulder and with a soft scrape of steel on leather; his sword came free into his hand. Harry's eyes never left the glowing purple ones of his foe as he slowly brought his sword to the salute.

****************************Hong Kong, China****************************

(Two days prior, several hours after the fall of the Ministry)

A slim, athletic, raven-haired young woman climbed from the front seat of a jet-black SUV and sighed. Fashionable, dark, Muggle sunglasses shielded her dark eyes from the early morning glare over the harbor as she watched a sampan pass in the harbor. With a shrug, she settled her black leather jacket more comfortably on her shoulders and walked towards a taped-off scene near the entrance to warehouse.

She frowned to herself as she looked at the collection of Muggle police scattered about. A tall, very pale man with bright red hair stood out, as he was arguing with the officers in quite fluent Cantonese for a man born in Aberdeen. Andrew McFollet was the unfortunate victim of a peculiar difference in the treaties handing Hong Kong back over the Chinese. In 1997, the Muggle government of Britain had handed the responsibilities of government over to the Chinese, but due to a peculiarity in the treaty, a hidden passage only visible with the proper revealing spells, the Ministry of Magic of Britain still held sway over the Wizarding portion of the city until 2050.

It was for this reason that the two top Aurors of the British government in Hong Kong were here on this early morning, very early for Cho as she had had the day off today. Stopping for an instant, Cho dug a small vial from her jacket pocket, palmed it, and drank the contents discretely. Instantly, her hangover from last night's partying cleared, though a slight headache remained, as she couldn't stomach the version of the WWW Hangover BeGone that got rid of that as well. Reaching into her other pocket, she flashed a set of credentials to the guard at the edge of the tape, the badge looked to the Muggle patrolman to be a Scotland Yard ID. She padded towards the crime scene slowly, and stopped suddenly as an experienced instinct caused her to spin on her heal and cross back to the officer. She leaned into the man, and despite the fact that he was several inches taller; he leaned back slightly. Her tone was deceptively light as she whispered in his ear, "I catch you ogling my arse again, and I'll feed you whatever tiny little thing I find in your pants...understand?" She didn't wait for his jerky nod as she turned back to McFollet and stood close enough to talk quietly.

He grinned slyly at her, "Come on now, Cho." He was barely keeping from laughing, "even I think about that sometimes."

"I doubt it." She shot back, "Mei would have your balls fried up and on a plate with rice." She motioned him over to the railing over looking the water and they leaned on it, facing outward to make it harder to read their lips.

"Yeah you are right." Andrew agreed, then his grin widened slightly, "unless she was there too of course." Cho rolled her eyes but didn't disagree with the observation, "What's wrong partner?" His oddly dark brown eyes were concerned, as he looked over at his and his wife's best friend in the Eastern Hemisphere.

"Oh besides the fact that my damn crystal went off, just when I was getting to the good part." She laughed softly, "though the disappointed look on the boy's face was almost worth it, when I got up right in the middle. I thought the poor boy was going die. I guess he will have to take care of it himself." She groaned and shook her head slightly. "Why am I here Andy? A homicide, even a Wizarding one, isn't SOP to call me in on my day off."

"Because something else is going on Cho." His face was suddenly concerned as he glanced to either side to see if anyone had gotten closer.

"Start at the beginning, just like Dumbledore always used to spout."

He nodded, "At five fifteen this morning, a watchman found an unknown Caucasian male dead of no apparent cause outside of this warehouse." Andrew motioned over his shoulder with a thumb towards the covered body behind them. "When the report went out over the wire, the Ministry offices called me in to look over the scene. When I looked over the man, I found the signs of a Kedavra or similar, but there was no wand signature associated with the casting of that curse detected in the last seventy two hours in this city, and the vic has been dead only about four hours, somewhere around three, three fifteen." Her eyes flicked to meet his, "Yeah Cho, either someone with an off the grid wand cast it, or someone or something cast a wandless Kedavra. And that club, is a very short, very concerning list. According to the files here, there are maybe ten, fifteen wizards in the world who can do that without a focusing medium such as a wand or staff, and the majority already have officially unmonitored wands such as Dumbledore, and the Potters."

"None of them would have done it." Cho breathed. She frowned, "there is another possibility."

"What?"

"You'll laugh." She muttered, he shook his head, "Malfoy or the X'Sheen, or...v..v...Voldemort."

"He's dead Cho. I'd be personally more concerned that there are possible X'Sheen outside of England. One more thing."

"Yeah?" She asked, not really wanting to know.

"We can't get through to the Ministry or anyone at Hogwarts. Daniels took a portkey to the Ministry two hours ago...we've heard nothing back."

"You're right." She frowned as she turned and walked over to the body. She knelt and raised the sheet slightly to look at the body. The man was light skinned and tow-headed with a scar marring one cheek. His eyes were open and fixed in the usual aftermath of the Kedavra. She gasped suddenly and stood. "Come on Andy." Cho snapped and almost ran to her vehicle in her sudden haste to escape. He followed and jumped in the passenger seat as she threw the Land Rover in reverse and sped out of the lot.

"What the fuck is going on Cho? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I have." She shot back heatedly, "That was James Stackpole under that tarp. He was one of Dumbledore's special investigators for the Order. And if he's dead like that, either Malfoy or the X'Sheen are here...and we're screwed."

"How the hell would you know that?" McFollet retorted with a raised eyebrow, barely hanging on to his seat as she dodged back and forth in the heavy morning traffic. She seemed to be heading more or less in the direction of their downtown offices."

"Because I've been a member of the Order of the Phoenix since I was seventeen, okay?" Both of his eyebrows shot up, few members of the Order actually admitted it, save the Potters and Dumbledore as they were rather obvious. Order members tended to get dead if they did so, if not from Malfoy's various forces then from some up and coming dark wizard looking to make a name for him or herself. "He was here in town to check out some rumors that Malfoy was using Chimera egg smuggling to finance his operations...but he wouldn't have had X'Sheen here for that. They would only be here for an attack." She swerved hard into an empty alley and slammed on the brakes. "Take the truck back to headquarters and start setting up the Niffler protocol...just in case. Then get Mei and Stephen and get the hell out of here." She reached into a pocket and handed him a large, golden key. "This is a key to my place in Nottingham." He frowned, and she shook her head, sending her inky locks flying, "I mean it Andy, you two and your son are the only family I have left outside of the UK. It should be safe, it is warded and under a Fidelius charm, and I'm the secret keeper. The key will port you there."

"What will you be doing?" he asked as he reluctantly pocketed the key.

"Trying to contact Albus..." A soft pop was heard in the car as she vanished.

****************************Azkaban, North Sea***************************

Harry's sword was utterly steady as it dropped from the salute into a low ready position. All round him, and the X'Sheen commander at the gate, the very air became energized. Small sparks leapt from rock to rock and wall to ground as the two combatants stood, measuring...testing.

They were calm, utterly so at least on the outside, and if a raging conversation were indeed happening between Harry and Hermione's minds, it didn't show. His breathing was slow and deep, and the X'Sheen's, if it was breathing at all, was undetectable. Behind and around the dueling pair, and the watching Marauders, the few X'Sheen and Death Eaters that had survived Fawkes' fiery plunge were encircling them. They started to close in, with their wands and hands rising.

"STOP!" Hermione's voice shattered the stillness as a translucent, shimmering wall snapped into existence. Hands, feet, swords and not a few spells hammered it uselessly as her glowing eyes narrowed. She spun back to her husband; end this now.

As soon as I can. Be ready. "Why don't you walk away?" Harry asked as the pair started to circle each other slowly, "what does Malfoy have over you, what has he promised? You have to know that he won't share power."

The X'Sheen actually laughed, "Of course he will not. Never fear human, his power over us is temporary. Your ancestors at Atlantis learned that as well to their dismay. They should have been content with staying home instead of seeking us out." His black sword came back slowly, so slowly it was almost unremarkable, "when their ships came out of the blackness to find ours waiting for them, we laughed. At last there was someone new to conquer."

Harry felt a sudden realization as Hermione's thoughts spilled over into his. He saw flashes of an ancient tome with black ships hanging in the sky over silver towers bombarding them with emerald beams. Of wave after wave of X'Sheen and Dementors overrunning hasty defenses of a doomed city. "So...how did you lose?" The X'Sheen never answered. A huge black blade flashed for Harry's head, missing as he ducked and rolled to his left. He bounded to his feet to block a second at his head, then a third at his legs. Harry flipped backwards, slashing his sword horizontally and catching his foe on the arm. Black ichor stained the glinting steel of the sword as Harry watched warily.

The X'Sheen snapped up its free hand and green bolts shotgunned across the intervening space, but Harry wasn't there. They passed through the air where he had been standing as a black blur MOVED to the right. CLANG. Swords rang in the night, as Harry swung hard at its head, he flipped sideways, dropped to his back and swept. The X'Sheen stumbled as its legs were struck, Harry flip-kicked to his feet, gestured with his left hand, and banished the X'Sheen hard against the wall. It hit hard enough to leave a slight impression on the ancient stones and staggered foreword. A second wave of his hand and a cylinder of fire erupted around the X'Sheen.

Green bolts of spellfire shot out of the flames, and the Gryffindor blade whirred, blocking them and sending them whining off into the night. Hermione started to come forward, to stop at Ron's hand on her shoulder. "He's fine Hermione." His words came just as the towering, dark figure erupted from the flames, his robes smoldering. The X'Sheen charged, firing and swinging at the same time.

Harry spun on his heel and ran flat out at the wall. And time slowed. In the blink of an eye, it was over.

Harry's movements were a blur to everyone except Hermione. She clearly saw as he ran almost fifteen feet up the obsidian walls, flipped backwards and fired a Repulsion Hex, left-handed at the ground under the X'Sheen. She watched with no small satisfaction as Harry twisted in mid-air and sliced down and right with the Gryffindor sword just as the X'Sheen and he crossed paths. She witnessed the blade of the Founders, and mate to her own, neatly cleave the X'Sheen's broadsword in two and go on to do likewise to the wielder of said broadsword.

Time returned to normal as Harry landed in a forward roll and sprung to his feet. Behind him, ten feet in the air, a purple-black flash lit the night and two haves to a large, black sword clattered to the ground. His breathing was a touch rushed as he turned to glower at the audience assembled outside of Hermione's protective barrier to watch. He almost laughed as the human Death Eaters seemed to vanish into the very ground. The X'Sheen outside of the barrier, as one, gave him a brief nod and stood at some odd pose of attention. Not moving as if they had decided to sit the remainder of this battle out.

Hermione eyes caught his and he gave her a brief pained smile. They would have time later, Merlin willing. Harry slid the sword back into his sheath and turned to the forty-foot high gates barring their way into the fortress. He stood; feet shoulder width apart. His right slipped back a half pace as brought his empty hands together at chest height, the left cupped as to grasp a cricket ball, the right cupping it. Ron, Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Cordelia shared worried looks as they felt sudden tendrils of energy whipping past them, rushing towards Harry. Luna of course was calm, while Hermione stood at his back looking out into the night.

The energy built to a crescendo, and Harry pulled his hands hard into his chest and flung them forward, his hands flying open. A shimmering ball of blackness flew from his hands, impacted the doors exactly in the seam joining the two and halfway up. The massive doors, shook and rattled for a devastatingly long moment, then all at once, the material of the door seemed to melt and stream towards the singularity, faster and faster, and a heartbeat later, there was no door at all, only the black ball hanging motionless in space.

Hermione gasped and turned to face the prison. "Harry I can feel them." She pointed towards a large tower. "Up there." He nodded and with a shared nod, they vanished along with the rest of their party.

The group of ten appeared in a black room. A soft scrape came out of the darkness, and then a leering, drawling voice spoke, "So nice of you to join us Potter, we have been expecting you."

A/N: Yeah I know...a cliffie....sorry.

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17. A Dark Choice

A/N: I still own nothing really
Chapter 17: A Dark Choice
****************************Azkaban, North Sea**************************

Flaming torches sprung to life along the walls of the vast chamber their hasty apparition had placed them in. The room was dark and barren and possessing of a disconcerting sense of unreality. At least fifty cloaked and armed Death Eaters crowded the walls, twenty werewolves sat in a pack near the head of the room, and several X'Sheen warriors stood guard at the corners.

All of that was somewhat concerning, but none among the parents that had literally fought through an army this very night was paying them the least heed. No, what every eye that had fought through the night was fixed on; was a pile of small bodies, stacked haphazardly at the foot of a black throne. They're alive Hermione's eyes flicked to Harry as she slowly took three steps to her left.

A feeling of raw, elemental magic and a slight smell of ozone slowly filled the room as Harry nodded to her and stepped to his right. Behind and to either side they could feel the rest of their companions following suit. Cordelia took a breath and her eyes lit softly. Her knuckles whitened on twin daggers as she glanced over at Sirius. The two of them and the twins were the only ones without children here tonight. And it really didn't matter. It was the same as if he had sired any of them, especially the two raven-haired ones.

Ron growled and started to jump forward only to stop at a gesture. Harry caught his eyes and gave him a tiny shake of his head. A dark laugh echoed in the hall as a door opened and Lucius swept in, his cloak billowing behind him like some dark cloud. He was flanked by Xavier, Narcissa and Bariss as he sat on his throne and steepled his fingers in front of his face. The three others with him casually joined at least ten other Death Eaters in pointing wands at the children; the tips of the wands were already lit in a variety of colors. "You actually can learn Potter." Malfoy grinned darkly. His red eyes lit the deep shadows within his hood and reflected oddly off his platinum hair. "I suppose the Mudblood did teach you something after all." He stood slowly and approached the children. He leisurely knelt next to Emilia and ran a pale finger languorously along her chin. To his left, Harry felt Hermione shaking with rage. Flashes of the day Hermione's parents had died leaked into his forebrain from their link. Images of Malfoy running his finger along Hermione's cheek before sentencing her and Tonks to die came to mind and his eyes flared.

"Well you know." Harry replied darkly, "Even with my hard head, it eventually had to sink in." Harry carefully kept his hands away from his now-sheathed wands. "So what is this Lucius? You seem sadly lacking in minions to challenge us." The Death Eaters looked around at each other in confusion, clearly counting the five to one odds in their favor not even counting the werewolves or X'Sheen.

Malfoy on the other hand, chuckled. "Well said Potter. Well said." His fingers trailed down Emilia's unconscious cheek once more before he stood slowly and flicked his fingers absently in the direction of Hermione. All of those who had came here tonight stared at the slowly approaching form of the little girl as she drifted over and settled next to Hermione. Harry glanced back at Malfoy just in time to hear a soft gasp from Hermione. His eyes shot to her, and an instant later his body followed.

Without a word Harry knew why she had gasped. He could feel the dark magic radiating off the crumpled form of his daughter. Hermione's eyes were clouded with terror as she slowly ran a wand over Emilia. "What the fuck did you do Malfoy?" Harry hissed as the torches hanging on the walls flickered as a sudden wind rustled the clothes and hair of those here.

Malfoy stalked back to this throne and sat. He crossed his legs and leaned back. Narcissa sat demurely at his feet and looked up with a sycophantic expression. "It was so rewarding..." He replied contemplatively, "watching your enemies being led down the garden path as it were." A sinister laugh answered his words from Narcissa, Xavier and Bariss. He joined them for an instant before nonchalantly waving them to silence. "You were so weak Potter, both of you." He added, motioning vaguely in Hermione's direction with his off hand. "I watched Tom try to destroy you. I watched as he let his ego lead him to fight you at your strongest. To challenge you at your stronghold, to match you both strength to strength."

"Yes, you were always a half-arsed imitation of Tom, Lucius." Hermione said softly. Harry could hear something in her voice; he could feel her thoughts as she tried to shield him from some fact that she herself did not want to face.

"No, my dear Mudblood...I have accomplished what he could never do..." Malfoy's eyes pulsed slowly, "I have defeated you." Behind Harry, Luna glanced over at the kids and a soft, shocked sound came from her throat as softly glowing eyes evaluated the kids. Faint auras surrounding the small forms greeted her enhanced gaze. Instead of the normal, strong, blue-white auras surrounding the Potter twins, the slightly dimmer golden one that normally surrounded her daughter or the bright, emerald green ones that typically surrounded the Lupins, fainter, sickly imitations had replaced them. Each aura was further tainted with black tendrils writhing through the patterns of light.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Harry repeated.

"I have ensured my victory, Potter...what else?" Malfoy flicked his wand and a large vial of a shimmering; glowing potion hovered in the air. Next to Hermione, Emilia started coughing and shaking violently. "Ah yes, it has started." Hermione knelt and cradled her daughter, holding her to her breast as slivers of the girl's emerald eyes peeked through slitted lids. "Soon the tremors will become worse, their innate magic will lash out at all those around them, and then, for a short time all will be quiet, right before their own magic destroys them. All courtesy of the Draught of Nefrati."

Hermione let out a soft strangled sound, her head snapped to Malfoy's, "you FUCKING, SON OF A BITCH!" Harry barely stopped her headlong rush towards Lucius, as she jumped to her feet. Oh god...Harry, he's killed them.

What?

But Hermione never got the opportunity to answer, "I see that Granger recognized the reference."

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry said flatly in a voice that was tautly quivering.

"Simple, Potter. As your...wife has already realized, I am sure, the lives of your children are at my whim. There is no cure to the draught, merely a retarding potion that holds the effects in check for a time. Of course is an addendum even to that; the potion must be made in the same silver caldron that was used to make the original. That caldron is hidden and enchanted most completely...if I am killed, it is destroyed, if I am injured, it is destroyed," he chuckled, "if I get a severe cold it is destroyed. For your children's' sake you should hope I have a long, healthy life. I offer you a bargain, Potter."

"What?" Harry growled.

"Surrender to me...you or your wife, it does not matter in the end, the effect is the same. Surely you learned of the hostage concept in History of Magic, surrender and I will supply the counter once a year as needed. I will let the rest of you go, along with the children...well perhaps" he amended. "I am not sure my X'Sheen servants will let you escape so easily with your wanton destruction of so many of their brethren." No one noticed the slight bristling the X'Sheen present showed at the word, "servants" "We can of course begin this duel, but your children will die either way, and in fact, unless the retarding potion is given within the next hour or so, your daughter will die in front of your eyes." Lucius shrugged, as the rest of those who had came to the rescue shared a panicked look. "The rest of the children will follow soon after, well except for Ginevra's son, I decided that I would not dose him as a reward for her leading all of you away from them so Xavier could take them..."

Hermione...can you...can it be cured?

No. Hermione replied, her thoughts dead. It can't. I don't know if Severus could...no one has ever come up with a cure, it's an old loyalty potion, which was developed to keep court wizards loyal to their kings. It was outlawed four hundred years ago, even with the counteragent it killed about forty percent of those dosed. The counter keeps the symptoms in remission for a year, before it wears off and the new dose has to be administered. He's right about the cauldron; even caldrons made from silver mined at the same time and made by the same craftsmen won't work.

"Harry?" Ron asked urgently, Harry waved him to silence.

So can you come up with a cure? His eyes implored her.

Harry, NO!

We don't have much of a choice do we? His eyes held hers for a long moment as she swallowed heavily and tears bloomed in the corner of her eyes. She watched as he slipped the Sword of Gryffindor from his back and handed it to her, along with both of his wands. His hand held hers for an instant, I promised you Hermione. I would get them back to you.

Not like this. She argued hastily, I'll go...

No, Hermione, Harry looked over her shoulder and caught the deep gray eyes of his godfather. Sirius nodded. Hermione, the kids will still have their mother, and he won't kill me, not as long as he thinks he still has control. You are the only one that can beat this...figure out a cure; I'll be waiting. We have time. I love you Hermione Potter. His thoughts were choked and raw as his eyes implored her not to argue.

I love you too Harry. She replied but Harry had already turned and walked to Malfoy. She absently passed the strap of Harry's sword over her head with shaking hands, it's sheath crossing the one of its mate. Harry's wands slipped into her belt behind her back as she glared at Malfoy, willing the Dark Lord to die on the spot. Harry, I'll find a way, I promise...I'll come for you.... He paused for a breath and the slightest of nods bent his neck.

"You have me Malfoy, let them go." Harry stood unmoving at the foot of Malfoy's dark throne, and even unarmed; no Death Eater would approach him. Malfoy laughed, and gestured at the children. The pile of children, along with the vials of potion, silently rose into the air several feet and floated over to settle gently at Hermione's feet. Ron, Luna, Tonks and Lupin crowded around them to check on their children, but Hermione's eyes were only for Harry, and Sirius' were only on Hermione. He had made a promise to two generations of Potters, now, and he aimed to keep it.

"Well Potter, you have lost." Malfoy laughed. He stood and walked over to Harry and backhanded him. Hermione flinched as Harry staggered and flexed her hands. Malfoy gave her an evil grin before he stepped back, "you ever notice, Harry, that it is amazing the things that you find while looking for something else? Fudge had this made up for Dumbledore when he tried to arrest him, that year you sent me to this place..." he flicked a wand and two events happened all at once. A shimmering, flaming cage appeared around Harry, and Harry and Hermione fell to their knees as one. Hermione screamed incoherently as she collapsed into a fetal position. Malfoy's eyes widened and a huge smile appeared. "Better and better, you really did bond with the Mudblood, Potter." He laughed, but his laughter died as Hermione fought to her feet and faced him with eyes ablaze.

"Your time will come sorcerer." She snarled and started to walk towards Lucius. But any confrontation would have to wait.

Harry looked out of the flaming cage, and captured Sirius' eye, "GET THEM OUT OF HERE." He screamed before collapsing into unconsciousness; Sirius nodded and caught Cordelia's gaze. He was moving before she could signal her assent.

Sirius ran up behind Hermione and a red flash lit the room. She fell into his arms as Cordelia literally jumped on top of the children and the other parents and the entire pile vanished in a fall of color as she activated an emergency Portkey, which while inside the wards at least was strong enough to rip a hole to escape, it was always easier to ward against Portkey arrivals than departures. Sirius held Hermione against his chest as if she were his own daughter, as he stood facing the Dark Lord. "Count your days Lucius, this is not over." He touched a second, pocketed Portkey and they vanished.

*******************************Hogwarts*********************************

The sight of Emilia and Horatio lying silently in side-by-side beds in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing sent a tiny shiver across Hermione's otherwise blank, expressionless, almost dead face. Her eyes were seeing...maybe...she hadn't ran into anything or anyone as she had walked in here next to the floating bodies of her children but it was otherwise a toss-up if she were even alive. A rushing sound was filling her ears as she watched Pomfrey's lips moving, obviously saying something that she neither cared nor wanted to hear.

After a minute, Ron got up from his perch across the aisle from Hermione, where he had been sitting with Luna watching over Harriet. Tentatively, he draped an arm around Hermione's shoulders only to have it cast off angrily a moment later. Words never escaped her lips as she kept her silent vigil. Little sparks would occasionally dance around her hair, but nothing else moved, nothing else dared.

Finally after almost another ten minutes of silence, in which the deadness was broken only by the clank of potions bottles and the murmured whispering of words of comfort from Madame Pomfrey as she leaned over the unconscious children, a tall, powerful presence filled the room.

Dumbledore stood at the door, flanked by Sirius and Remus, their eyes constantly moving even here, in this temporarily for now, safe place. With a small gesture, he kept the pair at the door and crossed to Hermione. Sirius glared at him, before a moment later, following in his wake. Dumbledore bent down next to Hermione, and without asking, pulled her into his arms. For a minute, two minutes, she sat there frozen, as if petrified by some errant spell, until all at once she started to try to fight him off. She trashed, and pushed, magic flared up blinding everyone in the room, but Dumbledore held fast until she surrendered with a loud sob.

Great wailing cries escaped her throat as Dumbledore gently eased her to her feet and led her into the hall. Sirius, Ron and Remus fell in like an honor guard for the Queen as Dumbledore led her along the passages to his office. He flicked his fingers at the gargoyle guarding his office; it jumped out of the way with a bow. He nodded to it as he led the party up the stairs to his office.

As they entered they could see Ginny and Neville sitting together, more or less upright after their ordeal, after all Poppy had had almost three days to work on them. Hermione's eyes flared as they swept across Ginny, but a strong hand on her shoulder kept her from the girl. Sirius kept his hand on her shoulder as Dumbledore sat heavily behind his desk; the silent battle with his granddaughter-in-law had been more than slightly taxing. Without a word, Hermione sat down on the couch next to Sirius, who threw an arm around her like he was comforting his own daughter, which in many ways, he was. The animagus had argued vociferously that he or Dumbledore or Remus would be better to come and get her than Molly. Had argued that Molly trying to smother her and giving loud protestations that it would be all right would probably have caused more harm than good. He was right. And besides, he had promised Lily and James.

Dumbledore looked tired, and old. Even more so than the night Voldemort's Death Eaters had attacked the families of the DA, or even more so than in the aftermath of the battle in this very school. He sat silently, his lips pursed as he contemplated the events of the past three days. Fawkes cooed softly in his basket on the desk; absently he petted the tiny bird as he looked out over his guests. "Ronald," he said after a moment of contemplation, "please coordinate with Minerva to see that the school is ready to evacuate." Ron nodded "Lucius will send his forces here soon, we must be gone by then."

"Where to?" Remus asked gruffly, as he thought of Tonks and his two kids up in the infirmary.

"We will go into exile I am afraid." Dumbledore replied sadly, "alas, we cannot at this time take the risk of confronting Lucius directly without risking either Harry or the children." Hermione flinched as if whips accompanied his words to her ears. He took a breath and his eyes hardened, "we will however, do what we can, until we can solve this problem."

Hermione's head finally snapped up, "Solve it...Solve it..." she took a breath, "there's no cure Albus." A choked sob escaped, "they're...they're all dead." Her last words were closer to a wail. Every eye turned to her as she visibly hammered her emotions in check, "unless we do what he wants, stand aside and leave Harry to...to rot in there. He'll then deign to give us the sustaining potion." Hermione's eyes flashed as she scanned across the room once more to settle on Ginny for the briefest of instants. Not all of Poppy's words had escaped her, she had heard enough to confirm Lucius' claim that he had not dosed Elliot, Ginny's son, with the draught of Nefrati, had not doomed that child to an existence placated on Malfoy's suffrage, while all the rest were.

Dumbledore turned to her with a slight frown. "Hermione, I am afraid that you need to activate certain protocols, yourself. I wish you..." he didn't finish his sentence as she broke free from Sirius' arm and stood. Her face shut down once more as she nodded and silently headed for the old, oaken door.

Hermione staggered from Dumbledore's office, her face absolutely bereft of emotion. Her eyes, the huge, expressive, chocolate eyes that had anchored her face all of these years were dead, glazed and staring. She hardly blinked as she sprinted down the steps, down into the dungeon. She barely paused for the secret passage to open, and for the security systems to recognize her.

The red/white flash lit her features as the far door opened. The room was abandoned and empty, no one had come back, and now no one might ever again. As she approached, the door to her and Harry's office slammed open magically. Her eyes were dark as she swept the papers from Harry's desk and tapped the top in a peculiar fashion with her wand. A panel slid open on the top to reveal a hand-shaped impression, glowing faintly in the dim office. Dropping her wand, Hermione slammed her palm down on the handprint. Her voice was choked and raw as she whispered, "activate...c..code, ni..Niffler."

Actions, and events went into effect throughout Great Britain and the world.

In Gringotts, goblins grabbed for Portkeys and vanished, whisked away to alternate offices in New York, Bermuda and Cairo. As the last vanished, a five-foot thick magically reinforced wall of the same alloy that made up the blades of the Hogwarts Heirs fell across the entrance to the vaults. They had been forged by the same, lost to history, smith.

In a small cottage, set back in the woods in northern France, a tall, red-haired man with a dragon-tooth earring glanced up to see a flashing red light. He screamed, "Fleur, we have to go. Now." A pale-haired witch ran out of the kitchen, a towel falling from her hand as she went. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the flashing orb. She ran for the door, her voice cracking as she screamed, her accent kicking in fully as the adrenaline spiked, "TERESA, ANDREW"

At two houses, Grimmauld Place and a white, cottage bordering a stream in the little village of Godric's Hollow, a shimmering, pulsing hemisphere sprang into being. At the later, half a dozen Death Eaters approaching the house exploded, leaving only a thin, red mist slowly settling to the ground.

Upstairs, in the expansive Hogwarts Library, thousands and thousands of books rose off the selves and shrank to the size of matchbooks. The tiny books queued up in mid-air and marched into large trunks that popped into existence, filled, and as they filled vanished with a soft crack, only to be replaced by another in an endless train.

In Romania, Charlie looked down at a flashing charm around his neck. He ran out of his small, rustic house and waved his wand. Vast gates opened in equally vast paddocks. Shining, jeweled collars fell from the necks of a half dozen dragons and as one; the green behemoths took to the sky and vanished into the distance. Charlie watched them leave with a longing expression on his face and vanished as soon as they faded from view.

Hermione fell back into Harry's chair with a soft moan. Her head dropped to her hands, and she sat, shaking, not looking at anything as the tears, truly began to fall. Around the office, small items shot into the air randomly and smashed into the walls as her emotions spiked. Soft footsteps slapped the ancient stones of the castle, and a moment later Ginny stood in the doorway.

"Hermione, Dumbledore sent me, we need to..." She began, but the sentence was never to be finished.

Hermione never realized she moved as she came up out of the chair. Instantly she was across the room, and in that instant, she forgot she was the most powerful witch in a thousand years.

In the end, it was only Hermione's anger that saved Ginny. Her fist crashed against Ginny's cheek, knocking the tiny witch sprawling into the main room. She had forgotten her training, the intricately choreographed combat skills that could have killed Ginny with a blow or the magic that could have rent the very walls of this castle asunder.

Hermione followed Ginny out of the office, and in that instant, she had remembered her magic. Her eyes lit blue and a hand stretched out towards the prostrate girl. A blur of red hair came from the side, crashing into her and knocking her off her feet. Furious, she turned in the strong arms holding her, to find Ron's blue eyes looking at her with a mixture of fear and concern. "Luna," He snapped to his wife who had followed him down, "get Ginny out of here; now damn it." With a quick nod, she picked up Ginny from the floor and dragged the non-resisting witch from the room. His other sister gone, Ron turned back to Hermione. She was now shaking in his arms, "Hermione..."

"Ron...she, she...I can't feel him Ron, he's gone." Hermione screeched, tears flowing once more from her chocolate eyes. "I can't breathe Ron, I, I.... don't know what I am going to do." She pulled back and stared beseechingly in to his eyes, "what am I going to do Ron, what are we going to do?" She took a harsh, gulping breath, "she betrayed us Ron, she lured us away from the kids, and now they're poisoned and Harry's gone, and the Ministry's fallen...and..."

Ron's eyes were hard as he pulled her into his arms; he softly kissed the crown of her head. His heart ached as he held his shaking friend, his sister in all the ways that counted and right now, probably more than the one who was born such. His voice cracked slightly as he whispered a reply, "we run Hermione...we run, and then you find a way to cure the kids and we come back, free Harry and we kill every fucking one of Malfoy's little pricks." Hermione nodded mutely. "I'll be there for you Hermione, me and Luna, if no one else. We'll be there." Hermione nodded into his shoulder, the tears damping his shirt.

"Just keep her away from me Ron." She bit out as she pulled from his embrace and pried herself to her feet. Hermione angrily wiped away tears as she walked back to the office and began opening drawers, and filling a suddenly conjured backpack. He watched her, his arms crossed.

"Hermione, she did it..."

"Shut the hell up Ron." Hermione snapped, took a deep breath and pulled back the power flooding her bones. "Just be quiet Ron, I know why she it it...if it had been Harry I might have done the same..." her chest rose and fell deeply, flickers of fire danced in her pupils. Her voice came out in a flat hiss, "The. Logical. Hermione. Knows." Her eyes begged his for understanding, and with a nod he gave it, "the Hermione in charge right now is the one who took Dolohov's head Ron...just keep her away...please."

************************Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts********************

The door squelched shut behind Remus as he crossed to sit tiredly next to Tonks. Her eyes were only half opened as her head drooped to his shoulder. The pair of them had just left Abigail and Xander's side in the infirmary. Poppy had finally kicked all of the parents out, to ostensibly let the children sleep before submitting them to the stresses of a transoceanic Portkey trip, but it might have been more for the sake of everyone's sanity. There was one that she dare not try to command, not tonight, however. Right after activating the Niffler protocol and her abortive confrontation with Ginny, Hermione had returned to the infirmary and even Madame Pomfrey hadn't been willing to risk angering her. After a brief, murmured negotiation, Poppy had let Luna back in to watch over Harriet...and Hermione. If need be Luna could briefly siphon off enough of Hermione's anger and fear to, maybe, slow her down enough for Dumbledore to intercede. But only a small tithe, even Luna's empathic clairvoyance was limited.

Over at the window, Sirius stood looking out over the grounds. Far below he could see the overgrown paths that every generation of Marauders to attend this school had tread, and that he had hoped that the latest generation, the ones up in the hospital wing right now would play, walk, love and joke along. But that dream seemed to fade further and further away by the minute. He glanced back into the room to find Cordelia looking up at him with a concerned expression in her tired violet eyes. He sighed softly as he sat down next to her and took her hand absently. She squeezed it as Ron cleared his throat, "What do you want Albus?" He asked with a voice just this side of utter exhaustion. "We need to sleep before we evac, and despite what Poppy says I am going back to my daughter and godchildren. I'll sleep on the frigging floor if I have to..."

"As you should," Dumbledore agreed softly as he looked on his former student with eyes that looked a thousand years old. The old wizard frowned slightly as he gently petted the baby phoenix chirping helplessly in a basket on his desk. "It is those here in this room that I need to most talk to at this dark time, despite all of our desires to be elsewhere. It is those here that I might trust with a heavy burden, as well as Luna I am afraid Ronald, in addition to the huge ones already placed on your families by tonight's events."

Sirius nodded to himself as an early morning conversion with old friends long gone suddenly made sense, "Hermione." He stated simply and Dumbledore nodded.

"Indeed Sirius." Dumbledore tented his fingers in front of his face for an instant before nodding to himself. "Right now I need all of you in this room to understand certain facts, and the possible consequences of those truths." All five of the wizards and witches crowding the room leaned forward to hear, as Dumbledore added, "I will also trust you will relay this conversation to Luna, Ronald. I would also appreciate it if you did not relate it to your other siblings or parents...especially Miss Weasley." Ron nodded almost absently as he looked at Dumbledore.

"Fine then." Dumbledore fell silent as he considered his words, "As you all know, all of your children have been given the Draught of Nefrati." Silence greeted his words. "And that for what ever reason, Lucius did not poison Ginevra's son, Elliot. This is concerning to me. While I do not feel that Miss Weasley in any way intended what happened, that if she knew her actions would have uncovered the children she would have let both herself and Neville die or be driven insane." Dumbledore looked directly at Ron, who returned a tiny nod after a moment, "It is now all too apparent that Lucius paid close attention to Tom's defeat and attacked us at out weakest point. With this act he has effectively removed Harry, Hermione and myself from the board." Dumbledore's eyes gained a tiny hint of his normal fire as he raised one long finger, "however in concentrating on neutralizing our magical powers he has missed one of the most important ones."

"Hermione...Hermione's smarter than him." Remus put in he realized the course of Dumbledore's chat.

"Indeed." Dumbledore looked around the room, "Indeed, before he died, though he would have never admitted it to her, Severus admitted to me that she was perhaps even better than him at that age. And he was one of the Great Potions Masters before he died. Yes, he had more experience and time to read even more on the subject than the indomitable Mrs. Potter." Soft, bitter chuckles whispered as those who had known them in school remembered her papers and the constant embittering of Snape, as she knew the answers to his questions almost before he asked them. "However there is a catch. In the end, it will be mainly her working on the counter to the draught; I must be involved, however discreetly, in the resistance that will have to arise. She needs her facilities intact to solve this puzzle. Those she trusts must support her at all times. She does not trust Ginevra any longer, and may never again. It is regrettable but understandable as well."

"I have a question Dumbledore?" Cordelia interrupted, "forgive me as I came to his story late, but why wouldn't Lucius just kill Harry now? It would permanently take him off of the board instead of keeping him alive, where he could escape." She glanced over at Sirius who squeezed her hand supportively. "I'm sorry, I mean..."

"No Cordelia, it is a valid question...the answer is difficult as I do not know that he knows the full impact of what he has actually accomplished. Lucius has not only trapped us but himself as well. Yes, he does hold the periodic doses of the delaying potion against us, thereby keeping Harry from even attempting escape and also holding Harry's fate as a second bastion against direct action by myself or Hermione as neither of us, would dare take action that would result in Malfoy harming Harry, at least as of yet."

"As of yet?"

Dumbledore nodded, "yes. We must wait until Hermione finds a cure. I have already sent missives to those I trust who have expertise in the field near where we will evacuate to for a time, but I am afraid that it will still probably come down to her in the end. However there is a catch, and it involves, unfortunately both the depth of their feelings for each other and their bond." He sighed as his eyes took a far away cast. No one spoke as Dumbledore looked to be replaying some past time in his mind, "years ago, I shared a similar bond with my wife. Anne had many qualities in common with Hermione, she was smart," He grinned for an instant, "she also had a temper like Hermione's as well...and she was loyal...too loyal. Grindelwald surprised us in Hogsmeade. The war had just started in Europe and we had gone out to dinner while we still had the time for such things. Rosmerta's grandfather owned the Three Broomsticks in those days and he had lost a bet with me for dinner, something about turning chickens to diamonds or some foolishness." Dumbledore shook his head tiredly and looked down at his desk.

"Grindelwald appeared in the street with at least fifty of his Knights of Walpurgis. Anne and I fought. It was a Hogsmeade weekend of all things and the streets were still filled with students. She never would have left children helpless if she could help it. We held them for a time, for a long time actually. Grindelwald's followers never were the best of wizards in the main, and not to put too fine a point on it, we were much better."

"At the end, Grindelwald dueled myself, while Anne covered me. Something distracted me, to this day I still do not know what, and one of his followers fired a Kedavra at my back. The wizard who did so, was not a particularly powerful one and his curse was not fully realized. Anne dove between it and me, and took the curse. She lingered for almost a month."

"Albus...we didn't..." Remus said softly as a fresh horror bloomed in his eyes. Dumbledore returned a tight smile, and a small wave.

"Do not trouble yourself my friends." Dumbledore glanced around at the gathered wizards and witches. As one they sat in rapt attention. "I merely relate this story to explain a point or two of interest with regards to Harry and Hermione. I would suspect that Hermione and by extension Harry, have not been totally alone in their thoughts for a very long time, and right now, she is alone, separate from the one person who would never leave her of his own volition for the first time since I would guess their fifth or sixth year here." Slowly Dumbledore looked each of them directly in the eye, "I base my suppositions on what they have told me and what I have observed during Occulmency and Leglimency lessons with them. I trust each of you to keep their confidence." Heads nodded mutely.

"In some ways this result, while terrible, is the better of the two possible outcomes. If for some reason, it had been Hermione who surrendered herself into captivity, I do not feel that Harry would even be sane at this moment. She may actually be the stronger of the pair...however not that much stronger." He took a breath, "Right now, she is alone, scared and probably the most dangerous single individual in England and very possibly the world. She must be kept grounded or the results could be disastrous. And there is also one other consideration that we in this room must keep in mind. If, Merlin forbid, that Lucius kills or allows Harry to be killed while in his clutches and weakened, it will kill her as well."

Grim looks answered his words, but everyone knew more or less the depth of Harry and Hermione's bond. "I was able to escape that fate...or rather Anne kept me from that fate, but they would not. In their case...at the instant of his death, Hermione would gain all of Harry's powers as well as her own...and she would quite literally have nothing to live for. There has probably not been another bond like theirs in a thousand years; Lucius has no idea what he could awaken. The bound would eventually drag her beyond the veil, but before then..." Dumbledore left the statement hanging, but imaginations were quite able to fill in the blanks.

A/N: Ok, I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from here...remember we probably aren't even at the halfway point yet...

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18. The Exile Years 1

A brief chapter to tide you over.
Chapter 18: The Exile Years, Part 1
***************************Groom Lake, Nevada, USA*******************

August 17, 2014 (two years later)

The barren wasteland was flat and empty. A soft, hot breeze slipped across the desert like the breath of some slightly annoyed god as a curious group of four individuals stood around a sleek, coal-black aircraft. The plane was odd, weird, unusual, even for the experimental vessels that populated this most secret of Military sites. Sleek, forward-swept wings hung low over twin, faired-in pods that in the dimness under the wings glowed blue at the aft tips with witchlight. No air intakes or exhausts marred the smooth skin of the aircraft, just a pair of thin, antenna-like protuberances low under the nose, and a small open port just aft of the cockpit, through which the barrels of a rotary cannon could be witnessed. The open canopy glinted in the bright sunlight as a stocky, red-haired man, his face and arms burnt by the sun, stepped out from under the wing of the aircraft and slipped on a pair of dark glasses. As he stepped out of the way, an open bay could be seen under the plane, in which a giant cylinder held fifteen thin, stick-like rods, with slightly enlarged noses and faintly glowing tails.

He walked towards the others, two men and one, tall, blond woman. He paused halfway there, and after he pulled an eleven-inch oak rod from a sheath on his thigh, he flicked it back at the plane. The bay doors under the plane closed silently as he continued on to ultimately stand next to his doppelganger. The second red-haired man was identical, right down to the khaki BDU pants, sheathed wand, and black shirt with a patch on the left sleeve with a subdued logo of a phoenix rising out of flames over the letters SG-1. The second man was identical, save a thin trail of white hair that ran through the red over his scalp on the right side.

Fred had picked up that scar in London, a year and a half prior. He and George, along with Sirius, Cordelia and Remus had returned to England to help organize a resistance to the seemingly never-ending hordes of X'Sheen, Dementors and werewolves, along with their Death Eater leaders, that had overrun all of England in a week, most of Europe in a month, and a great deal of Asia in that next year and a half. The fringes of a Scuarabus Curse had hit Fred, and even though it had missed in the main, he had spent almost another month recovering back at the manor.

He nodded at George, who checked off something on an overstuffed clipboard and turned to the two officers standing next to them. The first, the blond woman, wore a mottled grey jumpsuit, and carried a flight helmet under one arm. A pair of silver wings glinted on a not unsubstantial chest, which only the thought that Angelina was still back at the manor house with their second child kept Fred's eyes north of the wings. The woman looked down and absently brushed dust off of her wings, at the same time cleaning a bit off a sewn nametag that read, Carter, S, USAF.

The man with her wore dark blue BDUs and stood motionless, an odd expression on his face as he looked over the plane with longing eyes as he ran his hand over closely-cropped, salt and pepper hair. The longing might have been explained by the silver wings on his chest, worn under blacked out stars on his collar, and a large knee brace covering his left knee. His hand fell to the hilt of a black, steel wand he wore strapped to his thigh in front of a large, holstered handgun. "So Mr. Weasley," he said to Fred, what are we waiting for?"

"Someone else is joining us." George replied.

"Jack," the blond put in with a slightly exasperated smile, "relax, you're not the one flying this thing. I haven't been on a broom since I was at Salem." She pushed her sunglasses back up her nose as she turned to him.

"Sure Sam," he replied, as a brief, boyish grin flitted across his face, "brag, I have this dammed brace on or it would be my mission." He turned back to the Weasleys, "Where is..."

The general's words cut off as a cloud of dust appeared out on the horizon, enlarging rapidly as what ever was causing it approached at a high rate of speed. The cloud came closer and closer, eventually resolving itself into a classic, 2005, emerald green, Mustang GT. Without a sound to mark the squeal of brakes, the car slid to a hard stop in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, the car stood, gleaming as if all of the dirt was magically repelled from its surface. The general shook his head as he noticed the bluegrass state plates emblazoned with the letters "FIREBLT."

The door opened and long, tanned legs swept out. The legs led up to a quite short, khaki skirt, under a dark green top that barely met the waistline of the skirt. Strong arms easily lifted a toned body from the dark interior of the car, as the strains of Bring me to Life died away. A pair of hard, brown eyes scanned the assembled quartet, then without pause as if she had been fighting for her life and those of her loved ones for almost her entire life, the security detail scattered in a hundred yard perimeter around the craft. She noticed idly the assorted wands and Muggle battle rifles the desert-camouflaged airmen carried and nodded. A free hand swept sun-kissed chestnut curls from her eyes as the other made the chocolate eyes vanish behind a pair of dark Oakleys.

Her fingers flicked idly behind her as she paced toward the twins, Carter and O'Neil, and the door slammed shut of its own volition.

"You made good time here all the way from the farm," Fred observed with a grin. She turned and looked at him, and the glare that he knew was hid behind those shades caused him to look away.

"I flew," she replied dryly in a soft, soprano and turned to the two uniformed officers and extended her hand to the general, "General O'Neil." Her quiet, refined British accent clashed heavily with the General's Minnesotan as he replied.

"Dr. Granger?" He looked confused as he motioned to his partner in the flight suit. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter." The blond nodded and took her hand briefly.

"Leftenant Colonel," Hermione nodded, "please, Dr. Potter, or Leftenant Commander Potter, or Hermione is fine as well. Any of those are correct, but please do get the familial name correct, we paid enough for it."

"Forgive me." O'Neil replied quickly but Hermione waved him off. She padded over to the plane, with more than one airman's eyes following her instead of watching the perimeter, and ran a hand over the lettering on the nose spelling out the words, "Lily II" She watched the portrait of an auburn-haired woman with green eyes watching her sadly and frowned to herself before turning back to the rest.

"General, shall we get to it? I have children to get back to. I am just here at the request of your government and these two miscreants." She waved at Gred and Forge. They smiled, the smiles vanishing as they watched her unchanging face. Hermione walked to the cockpit of the aircraft and Fred and George followed.

Behind them O'Neil leaned into Carter and whispered urgently, "Sam, who the hell is this...she fucking looks eighteen, and dresses like it too. But her eyes...before she put on the glasses, she scared the hell out of me."

Carter glanced over the aforementioned witch, to notice that she seemed to be in conversation with the Weasleys. "Sir...Jack," she shrugged, "She's exactly whom she said she is, you've read the intelligence reports."

"Yeah, but you know how hard it was to get anything out of the Brits, especially the Wizarding side before the fall. They built such high walls between the two worlds over there, it wasn't a surprise Malfoy overran the country before the Mundane government even knew anything was a matter. Hell if our guys, that we never admitted were wizards, in our military hadn't put the Portkeys on the nukes at Whitehall, he would have gotten that arsenal."

"You mean like us Jack?" she replied with a slight smile, then frowned, "She's one of the two that took Voldemort down, you know what would have happened had he won over there, the Secretary of Magic had convinced the President to authorize Space Command dropping an entire asteroid on England to kill him if they hadn't, and then taking the wraps off the Wizard branch of the Armed Forces and invading the lava flow, just to be sure. It would look like what we did to their old Ministry last year look like nothing.

No, she holds at least two Doctorates right now, one in Advanced Transfiguration and another in Theoretical Arithmancy with an emphasis in high energy Metaphysics. The theory that created the spells that protects that cell in your pocket from active magic along with half of the electronics in the current Military...she wrote that at sixteen in the middle of the night while doing something else, if the stories are correct. Folks that I know at SIW tell me she should officially receive her Potion Mastery, along with the Doctorate in that as soon as the paperwork clears. She walked into that defense, without ever having officially taken a class mind you, and stumped the Professors attending, even old Sidemore, and he had been teaching that subject since 1880. And I've heard that she should officially have one in DADA from the Witches Hollow branch of the University of Kentucky within the year. You know how stringent they are with that there, after almost two hundred years of dealing with the rogue witches they have in the mountains."

"Are you done establishing my credentials Colonel?" Hermione asked loudly from near the plane." She glanced toward O'Neil and away from the furiously blushing Carter. "Just as an addendum General, after I get done here and head back to the farm to see the kids, I am heading up to New Haven to look over the ships there." She motioned towards the plane, "Now if you don't mind, I would like to show you the aircraft."

The pair came forward a little sheepishly as Hermione sat on the wing-root of the plane and crossed her legs, not that she gave a damn if he got a free peek frankly, but it was distracting while she was lecturing. "The aircraft I am currently sitting on is the third prototype of the Weasley Enterprises X-3 Spitfire, Magically Propelled and Actuated Fighter/Pursuit craft. I am sure that you have seen the remote crystal recordings of the initial prototype, both its test flights and evaluations by the British Ministry of Magic and the later recordings of its use in combat. At that time the craft took on twenty five dragons and killed twenty outright, with the other five dying with the destruction of the Lily mark I over Azkaban prison." At a disbelieving look, "I was in the back seat."

She pushed off the wing and took the several foot drop without noticing. "The current version is powered by twin flight pods under the root of each wing with a combined propulsive ward field strength somewhere in the neighborhood of five hundred times a standard Firebolt, which if I remember correctly is the broom that your airborne forces are currently using." Hermione walked to the nose and indicated the twin antenna, and the opening for the Gatling. "The twin embedded wand tips are used as focal elements for twin energy crystals inside the nose. They may be used to focus multiple destructive spells, however they are optimized for Reductors in the gigawatt equivalent range. The Gatling port behind the nose is a modified Muggle Gatling with options for various loads...I would recommend the brimstone/silver azide binary shells, they give a nice bang." Hermione commented wryly as a brief flashback of a shot up Quidditch pitch danced behind her eyes. The Spitfire also holds fifteen Ashwinder Mark Two air to air or ground guided brooms, in a rotary launcher underneath."

"So she can fight," O' Neil challenged, "but can she fly?"

Hermione crooked an eyebrow, Harry would like this guy she thought sadly, "This version is capable of straight-line velocities of in excess of mach five at sea level, can achieve suborbital height in less than one minute and can reach mach ten in vacuum or near-vacuum." She patted the wing-root. "It can pull over thirty times gravity, with a damping factor from the built-in momentum dispelling wards of three, so a good pilot can actually pull the full thirty and only feel ten."

Fred and George kept from beaming, barely, as Hermione walked back to the rear of the craft and opened a faired-in nacelle in the exact rear that was not in the original prototype that she and Harry had taken on that Valkyrie ride over Azkaban. She waited until all had gotten where they could see the black, featureless, hand-sized cube that was floating and spinning slowly in the exact center of the small, spherical chamber. "This is the part I am most proud of actually," Hermione admitted as she started to warm to the subject. "The craft carries the first generation of the Granger-Edwards large displacement Portkey. Currently the Portkey will allow one to jump the craft approximately two thousand kilometers on one charge. It takes about three minutes to charge the drive from the ether. The units that are under development at NASA will have a several light years range, but they will take days to charge and are bigger than this entire plane."

"Dr. Potter?" Sam piped up as curiosity got the better of her.

"Yes?"

"I heard that you had been offered a slot on those ships when they go. Are you going to take it?" The envy was evident in the Colonel's voice as she thought of the new vistas that the crews of the exploratory ships, or rather lifeboats if it came down to it, would see as they escaped Earth, and if Malfoy won the word would literally be "escaped."

"No, I have people to...see to here first." Hermione looked out over the desert thoughtfully. She watched a small motion in the sands out near the fence line and with an SHIFT of her eyes to their raptor form for an instant; she identified it as a rattlesnake. "Maybe I will visit in few hundred years. I think Harry would like to see another world."

Hermione and the twins stepped away as the Colonel climbed into the front seat of the plane. Fred glanced back before asking in a low voice, "You know Hermione, we could have already had them in production if we had just used the blueprints of the original Lily, even she was overkill vs. the normal brooms or Dragons that Malfoy is flying."

She sighed as a soft moaning hum echoed out over the cracked concrete of this secret runway. The plane was taxing to the runway as they watched, "Yeah, against those, but not against what is actually out there. Against what Malfoy has stupidly released."

*****************************New Orleans********************************
October 30, 2014

Hermione walked down the streets of the French Quarter in a slight daze. She and Tonks were returning to their hotel after a late dinner, where they were staying after the conference at Grandolfs Institute of Magic, the preeminent magical school in the United States and the site of a seminar on how to terminate X'Sheen. Unlike the British Isles, magical learning was spread out among half a dozen Wizarding academies in California, Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Florida and the one here. Even beyond that, almost half of the ostensibly Muggle universities also offered advanced Magical degrees. Of course all of that had been secret, though not as much so as in Europe until the march of Malfoy's hordes had started. Now this was a nation once more at war, a war that the majority of the population had little idea of what the stakes truly were, or at least they hadn't...

They hadn't until two events happened almost all at once, six months after the fall of England. In those six months while confused reports of dark creatures sweeping down on entire cities and slaughtering indiscriminately filled the papers, and of governments falling right and left, and going dark, no transmissions or messages escaping them, the people of the Western Hemisphere who had watched their militaries rushing here and there on the roads had listened with disbelief as the President had tried to deflect questions about what was happening in Europe with an, "we are investigating, be patient," constant line. At that six-month mark, on live television, dark cloaked shapes had overrun a small town in the Florida Keys, and the final die was cast.

For the first time in recorded history, a national leader went on live television with a man standing next to him wearing a white robe and carrying a staff set with a glowing jewel, and announced the existence of magic, and introduced the man next to him as Jeremiah Steel, the Secretary of Magic for the United States. The questions that had erupted at that White House briefing were quickly overshadowed as the President pushed a button on the podium and a projection of the British Isles from space filled the air, and a moment later a brilliant flash lit the area where astute viewers, those knowledgeable of geography knew London to be.

The British Ministry had been Unplottable, of course, but the Muggle buildings next to it were not. And there were those who had been there physically. They had merely pointed to the proper spot on a map and with a whispered release code, twin "small" tactical devices had deorbited from "peaceful" satellites. London itself was not appreciably damaged, as the devices had been ones developed to shatter caves and collapse underground fortresses. They both dug to a depth of several hundred feet before detonating as one.

America's efforts to end the war with one strike failed, as Malfoy had stopped using the Ministry as his residence one-week prior. The Mundane devices had been chosen, as the magical "Kedavra" devices were still under development, and even if they had been ready, they would have probably killed London itself.

Soon after that failure, agents of the FBMI had knocked on the door of Marauder's Haven, the Kentucky plantation that Dumbledore had won a century ago in a poker game, and that he had prepared, along with the Florida beach house, for the Potter/Weasley clan's escape from England.

Hermione had given the agents in their trademark black and white suits a long look before nodding and letting them in. Now because of that, she was back in a city, that when she had last been here, her new husband had been on her arm and all was right with the world.

****************************New Orleans*********************************

July 31, 2006. (Harry's eighteenth birthday, approx 5 weeks after the death of Voldemort)
1:00 am

It was nice, Harry mused as he watched yet another of the endless parades go by in this magical city over Hermione's shoulder. He could feel the energy here, see the ghosts that walked every street corner and danced in the French Quarter all night. When Hermione had chanced on a book in Dumbledore's library at the Kentucky plantation, which had gained the name Marauder's Haven according to a note left by Dumbledore for them when they had arrived from Hogwarts to start their Honeymoon/vacation, she had immediately wanted to go, to explore the odd confluences of magic from the Cajun and Voodoo and European traditions. They had even toured the American version of Hogwarts; at least the largest one anyway, outside of the city as the school dean was an old friend of Dumbledore's.

Yes all of that was nice, but the girl sitting in his lap, nuzzling on his neck was rather nicer he decided thoughtfully, though it wasn't a terribly hard decision after all. Or at least the thinking part wasn't. Her eyes twinkled as they caught his, and she moved on his lap just to prove an unspoken point. There were few other places that one could sit in a street side café at one in the mourning, with some odd, red, alcoholic Muggle concoction called a Hurricane with two straws, and have a pretty girl, even if it were your wife, sitting on your lap in a very short skirt, and a top that stopped at least two inches above her waistline and have the police just wave as they walked by.

Especially not when your hands were tortuously on her bare arse under that skirt and she was moaning into your neck. Hermione leaned in for a kiss and their tongues dueled as they breathed through their noses for a while. She broke away with a slight gasp, and took his face in her hands. "We won Harry, you, I, we're free now..."

"Yeah Hermione, we're free." Harry agreed as she leaned in again, and the rest of the night became a blur. She giggled as Harry stood up abruptly and tumbled her to her feet. Harry tossed a couple of bills on the table and took her hand, leading her along Bourbon Street, periodically spinning them into an abandoned corner to snog until air once again became and issue and they had to move along.

Finally, within sight of their hotel Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered "ah screw it," and pulled Harry into a convenient alley. She gasped as he pushed her roughly against the brick wall of the old alley and kissed her hard. Hermione bit off a small moan as she managed...barely, to flick her fingers at the entrance to the alley to cast a see-me-not spell. An odd, purring sound like a contented lioness filled the alley as his hands slipped under the front of her top and teased her nipples.

She gasped as Harry, slid down her front and flipped up her skirt, as he pulled down her thong with the other. An emerald ring jangled as he nuzzled her belly button on the way down. Hermione keened lowly as Harry kissed her center. His tongue flicked, teasing, licking as Hermione moaned softly and threw her leg over his shoulder. Harry grinned against her thigh and redoubled his efforts. "UMMMM, Harryyyy." She whispered hoarsely. "Oh God..."

"UMMM?" Harry answered without moving from his task. Hermione did not answer as he felt the vibrations announcing quite distinctly her closeness, so like any good partner, he sped up; one heartbeat, two, and Hermione stiffened as her eyes rolled back in her head and her entire center exploded. She quivered against the wall, and slumped slightly as she came down after a moment, still shuddering randomly, held up only by the old, rough, brick wall and Harry.

After a moment, Hermione looked down at him with dark, almost black, brown eyes and a sated, lopsided smile. "Why don't you get up here big boy?" She asked, in a husky soprano. Harry smiled and lazily slid up her body, pausing to nuzzle her belly button and the hollow of her neck before his lips joined hers. She bit off another moan as she slid her tongue past his lips and she tasted herself.

"Are you sure you can handle me?" Harry inquired in a soft whisper against the hollow under her ear.

"Pretty sure" Hermione whispered. "Bring it on Potter." Her fingers were busy as she spoke, rapidly and skillfully undoing his belt and zipper.

**********************************Azkaban*****************************

October 30, 2014

A rusty, iron cell door opened and a bundle of rags was tossed forcefully into a cold, dank cell. Moments later, a battered metal plate with something charitably called food was slid in after him and the door was slammed shut with an awful creaking sound. Laughter was heard from the hall as footsteps receded away.

A moment later the bundle of rags stirred, and a shaggy, tangled mop of inky black hair emerged from the pile. A pair of cracked lenses was supported precariously by bent; black steel frames caught the dim light. Hard green eyes glared at the single guard outside of the cell, he muttered something about a smoke break and retreated rapidly. A small, half-smile flitted across the face under the green eyes and he sighed.

Harry reached out and pulled the plate to him, flicked his fingers over it, and watched as it changed into a large roast beef sandwich. He raised a single finger in salute towards the departed guards as he spit out a mouthful of blood from his most recent beating and took a bite of his sandwich.

It had been two years since he surrendered to Malfoy as the only way to buy Hermione desperately needed time in order to save their children along with those of their dearest friends, and he was tired. Not from the confinement in and of itself, no. Malfoy couldn't really break him physically or magically shy of actually killing him, and even the current Dark Lord was not yet willing to risk the consequences of that action. Of an enraged witch with Harry's own powers on top of her own already equivalent ones, knowing that the clock was literally ticking away the seconds until she crossed over to be with her husband, and an enraged Albus Dumbledore coming on her heels to clean up anything remaining. The children would still be in jeopardy, of course, but if that were to happen, Hermione might literally be beyond caring.

Harry frowned at the thought, and sighed. He might wish, sometimes, that things had not progressed as they had, but in the end who was to say what things would have been like had they not completed their bond on that grassy pitch that had either started on a train seven years prior or ten years before that. He finished his sandwich and sat staring at the wall across from him, wishing for something, anything to do. Really it was the boredom more than anything that got to one. He could handle the beating and the tortures, the Dementors ran from him now, fearful, when they crossed his path, but the boredom was...annoying. I wouldn't mind a copy of Hogwarts a History about now.

A sudden flare of fire erupted in his cell and his heart skipped. As the light faded, a large, crimson and gold bird sat looking up at him, its head cocked thoughtfully to one side. "Fawkes." Harry whispered joyously as the bird took a couple of steps forward so Harry could pet him. He sung softly for a moment, before he backed up and pushed a small, green glass ball towards Harry. "A rememberall?" Harry muttered and he swore that Fawkes seemed to give him a small shrug before vanishing once more in a flare of light. Harry crept to the bars and confirmed that the guard had not yet returned.

Having established that the coast was clear, he leaned forward and touched the ball, and with a soft pop, a tiny, 6-inch Hermione stood floating above the ball, looking up at Harry. "Hello Harry," she said softly with tears in her voice, "First of all, don't worry, this rememberall is charmed with a variant of the Fidelius I came up with, Lucius himself could be standing in the cell with you and he wouldn't see me or the rememberall, so if there are guards outside now, you are ok. Fawkes wouldn't have delivered it unless you were alone so the arrival should have gone unnoticed."

"Hello Hermione," Harry replied in a soft, hoarse voice.

"Dumbledore does not know I am doing this, he thinks it's too risky still, but I don't care, love. Fawkes seems to disagree with him as he agreed to deliver it to you, and not tell his boss. Actually Hedwig and him got into a bit of a tussle over it, but Fawkes won in the end due to Phoenixes' teleportation being better than that of owls." A tiny grin danced across tiny lips and Harry grinned for a moment as well.

The guard came back and looked in at Harry, but all he could see was Harry staring off into space, so he left and went for coffee.

Hermione glanced over at the guard and a tiny tongue blew a raspberry at the guard's back before she looked back up at Harry. "This artifact has a bit of me in it, so the recording is more realistic... Anyway, I'm screwing operational security, but hell with it. I'm in New Orleans, Harry, I wish you were here." Tiny eyes caught his, "I mean I reaaally wish you were here."

Me too, Mione.

"Tonks and I are at a conference, about our tall and dark friends." The sneer in her voice was plenty evident to him. "I would love to have this whole message to be a love letter honey, but we both know I can't...since I would guess Lucius isn't telling you how the war is going, unless he's bragging, here it is. He's taken all of England except for a tiny bit of Scotland that seems to be too much for him to handle. Europe fell in about six months and most of Asia within the next year. The Americans dithered a bit, but once an X'Sheen raid hit the Keys...they nuked the Ministry...it's gone. They have also established a ward wall around the continent...they haven't admitted it, not really, but both Dumbledore and I think that several wizards sacrificed themselves for that bit of magic. It's kept them mostly free. The Australians are still ok too, their wards went up soon after; there was enough native energy to power quite a defense. So the hordes are stuck with using boats...and they don't get too far. Steel bars shot from orbit at a tenth light speed are pretty hard to defend against with magic or science."

Hermione glanced down as if she were checking her notes before she looked back up at him. "I haven't solved it yet Harry...I'm trying, but I don't know..." The tiny image paused and wiped away tears angrily, "I know of a way, Harry if it comes down to it...it might cost me...us our souls, but I know a way. If it comes down to it, the Transference de Almas ritual will perform the task...but..." Harry took a deep breath and covered his face with his hand, and nodded as if his wife were in the room with him.

"I know Hermione."

"If the worst comes about...then I guess we will show Lucius what Dark Lords really are...our souls will be damned anyway." A tiny lip quivered as the image reached out to Harry, "Harry, I will be there, somehow...someway, I'll figure this out, hold on baby. I'm coming." The image faded away and the rememberall shimmered and faded into invisibility.

A/N There it is...not happy yet, stay tuned, the sun will rise again.

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19. The Exile Years Part 2

Ok, I'm still here, and I still own nothing....
Chapter 19: The Exile Years Part 2.
************************Kentucky Estate**********************************

December 25, 2017
10:00 am

Hermione smiled as Emilia opened a present, though the smile wasn't quite genuine, not as it should be, not the smile that could light a room when she wanted to or melt a heart into a puddle, Ron noticed absently. He watched from his perch next to Luna on an adjoining couch as Hermione's eyes flicked over to Ginny and Neville where they were sitting, talking to Elliot in soft, laughing tones. A normal wizard, one who had not had years of hard won training under Alastor Moody and later years of harder won experience in the field operations against the Death Eaters and their like might not have caught it. Actually even he might not have caught it, if he didn't know her better than almost anyone save his wife or his own daughter...or his missing brother. Emilia grinned as she held up the present, a copy of Modern Practical Wizardry; the version with chapters by her mother, her grandfather, and most importantly, her missing father.

Emilia grinned as she leaned over to her brother and opened the book to that very chapter. It was one Harry had written a couple of years after they were born, on Familiars and their usages beyond that of carrying the mail. Horatio nodded and pointed to a small sketch of Hedwig. She nudged Hermione and pointed to the picture. Hermione gave her a small, tight smile in response. As Emilia turned back to the book, Hermione excused herself softly and left the room.

With a tiny sound, a great deal like a moan, Ron leaned over to Luna and whispered something to the blond. She nodded as he got up and followed Hermione from the room. Behind them on another couch with Neville and Elliot, Ginny glanced up with an odd expression on her face. It was not quite sadness, or fear, or regret, though it did have all of those emotions in it. She jumped slightly as the door to the kitchen slammed of its own accord as the heavy door slipped out of Ron's hands.

In the kitchen, Hermione was bent over a tea kettle. Ron watched without comment as she filled it with water from the tap and set it on a ceramic coaster. With a wave of her fingers the kettle was whistling and bouncing as the water instantly heated to boiling. She had more or less stopped even pretending she needed a wand for such trivial magic as imparting kinetic energy to water molecules. Hermione poured a cup into a waiting cup and dipped a tea bag into it. Without turning around, "Do you want some Ron?"

"Sure Hermione," Ron replied even though he really didn't want tea right now, privately he thought firewhiskey would be a more suitable drink for this conversation. Or maybe tequila, it really didn't matter in the end.

"Now..." She paused as she turned and looked at him over the rim of her mug. Her eyes were glittering with emotion, as she looked him over.

Her and Harry...both of them, it's always the eyes, I can't read either of them like they can each other, like they always could, but even I can tell she's just barely hanging on. Ron thought distractedly.

"What?" Hermione continued, as she sipped her tea. Her chocolate eyes bored into his, as she leaned forward over the butcher's block counter. He didn't answer for a long moment.

Until, with a soft sigh he did, "Hermione you can't keep on with this. If not for her, then for the kids, yours and mine included. It's bad enough that Em and Horry are definitely cold towards her. It's effecting poor Elliot every time he walks into the middle of this silent war, and my daughter, your goddaughter by the way, is getting stuck in the middle." A slight tic developed at the corner of her eye, but he wasn't done, "and I'm tired of getting stuck in the middle between my sisters damn it." The last words came out more forcefully than he had intended as his fist crashed down on the heavy table, rattling several random dishes that the kids had been using for snacks earlier this morning.

Hermione glared at him for a good minute, and if he didn't care for her so much it would have been enough for him to run, but in the end she broke first. Taking her cup she paced to the bay window in the corner of the kitchen and looked out at the light snow falling over the grounds. "Ron," she said softly, tightly, "I know." She placed her cup carefully in the sink and walked towards the rear stairs, still without looking at him. "I'll be down in the gym Ron."

**********************Southern Florida, the Keys**********************

September 19, 2014

Hermione looked out over the waves from the porch of yet another of the various houses Dumbledore had acquired in his almost one hundred and sixty years. The gentle breezes coming off the Atlantic caused a little shiver as she was only wearing an emerald green bikini top over a pair of khaki shorts. She had just gotten back from taking the kids to swim, and had yet to change into something else. Of course the fact that she had been hit on, on the beach, by some local was causing more than a little heartburn as well. It was not the actual proposition, per say, but the circumstances. She had been approached many, many times on both assignments and in real life, but the fact that Harry wasn't there to turn them into a newt...that was the problem, as it always was.

She sighed and kicked her feet absently, causing the whitewashed porch swing she was currently occupying to dance gently back and forth. Her eyes cut sideways for a moment, "Hello, Albus." She said into the breeze. Albus Dumbledore padded over from the door into the main house and sat down next to her. "I'm glad you came, the sprogs missed you."

"As am I." Dumbledore replied. "I am heartened in how well they are doing." He half turned to her. "Hermione, my dear, I..." Dumbledore trailed off, even with all his experience, he really couldn't think of what to say. "I wish I could be with them more often. But I..."

"Am needed, I know, grandfather, and they do too." Hermione reassured him. She stood and leaned against the railing of the porch, watching absently as gulls fluttered about in the air over the beach. "Have you any news on your front?" She asked hopefully.

"No." Dumbledore replied bitterly, they both knew his tone wasn't directed at her, but at the situation. "The resistance has no idea where Malfoy might have hidden the caldron. We do know he does not have it with him or in his palace. If he had I would have risked a direct confrontation to retrieve it. However without it?" The ancient wizard shrugged. He groaned a bit, exaggerated enough to cause a ghost of a smile to flit across Hermione's lips before it vanished again. "We will find a way, Hermione." Dumbledore briefly placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"I already know a way..." Hermione turned and leaned back against the rail. "But the path may be worse than the cure." Dumbledore nodded minutely, but let her continue, let her get it out. "If Harry and I wanted to, we could put what Malfoy did to our children to rights...we would have to sacrifice other children to do it. But..." Her chocolate eyes begged Dumbledore for a solution. "Albus, if it comes down to it, if there is no other way, I hope you can stop both Harry and I." Her eyes dropped from his, and gazed at her clenched hands. "If I have to become the next Dark Mistress, and Harry the next Dark Lord, we will to save our children. Albus, God help me I don't want to, but I can't do this much longer. I want, I need to discover the potion that will counteract Malfoy's poison, but if I can't," Hermione paused and took a breath, and her next words were almost lost to the wind, "I will perform the transference ritual."

Without another word, Dumbledore swept his granddaughter-in-law into a powerful hug. Hermione's sudden tears stained his floral print shirt and his long, silvery beard. "I need Harry back..." she whispered hoarsely, "more than anything else. More than my honor, more than my conscience, more than my self-respect. And I will have him back." Hermione pulled back and stared him in the eyes, and the 6'5" wizard stepped back from the 5'9" witch in the bikini as a terrible fire glowed harshly in her eyes. "If he dies there in that damn fucking hole, if some goddamn little two-bit wanna-be Death Eater kills him because he can't fight back for fear of harming his children...Albus, know that before the bonding takes me to be with him, I will kill every Death Eater, and every creature under Malfoy's command. And God help me, I won't stop there...

*******************Training Rooms, Marauder's Haven*************
December 25, 2017
1:00 pm (3 hours later.)

What Hermione had blithely tossed off, as the "gym," was a training facility equivalent to the best the Ministry and Hogwarts had had to offer. Years ago, Dumbledore had prepared several facilities for them to run to and regroup in relative safety if the worst happened. The old house had evidentially been built on a series of caverns and caves, and immediately on exploring them; they had found that the stories of this plantation dating back to the American Civil War were true. From old documents they found in the caves, they seemed to have been part of the Underground Railroad, a fact that Hermione had briefly stated to Ron with a smidgen of her old joy at the new knowledge, before retreating back within her walls. In addition, Ron had been extremely grateful to find several casks of a very old whiskey and had shared one with the twins and Sirius already.

But whatever the original purpose of the cavern had been, the extensive caves, magically and physically, structurally reinforced, had become a very well equipped training and operations facility almost as good as their old headquarters in the dungeons of Hogwarts. A large gym, complete with mats, practice dummies and racked, bladed weapons and staves stood to one side. Next to that, a full weight and exercise room took up a corner of the main cave, while stuck over in a nearby, heavily soundproofed and ventilated cavern, a firing range stretched for almost five hundred meters in the Kentucky limestone.

That area was mostly Fred and George's when they were here. Every one of them was fully qualified with the Muggle weaponry, but they just thought it cool. Even though they did keep blowing up stuff, trying to improve it. The firearms had proven to be the most efficient way to battle the werewolves that Malfoy occasionally sent in after them as a great deal of silver darts or bullets could be sent down range very quickly, unlike the bows the old Ministry had tried to make the Aurors and agents use. A dirty, current American military issue pulse rifle sat, smoking slightly, on a range table, with many, many shattered targets down range.

Ginny noticed all of this as she came down the spiral stairs from the basement of the manor and passed the entrance to the range. I do need to get in some range time myself. She thought distractedly as she continued on towards the dojo and the sounds she heard coming from that area.

She stopped as she reached it and looked on, silently watching as Hermione stood in the center of the mat, as four slightly ghostly images surrounded her. Hermione was just dressed in a black sports bra over a pair of black workout pants, with the SG-1 logo down one leg. Her hair was pulled back from her face as she waited, not moving, breathing slowly and deeply. In addition to the physical targets and training aides scattered about, the area could, to a degree act much like the currently lost to them, Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, as evidenced by the "ghosts".

In a rush they attacked her. All four of the attackers were moving much faster than a human should have been able to do so, but when they reached Hermione...she wasn't there. Ginny watched with a slightly slack jaw as Hermione spun away from a roundhouse kick launched by the first one. Her outline was slightly blurred as she moved, fading to solidity as she stopped, briefly, between movements. Hermione's right leg came up with the motion of the spin, hammering the first on the back of the head and knocking him, spinning through the air. Two and Three launched punches at her simultaneously as Four swept at her legs. Flipping backwards, she dodged away from them. Four dove forward at her, only to meet her right heel as it came around in a high kick. He fell as if poleaxed and did not move. An instant later the ghost vanished as if he weren't ever there.

The other three retreated slightly, One having gotten up and rejoined the others. They stood slightly apart and visibly gathered themselves. Hermione glared at them, then as her eyes flicked over to visibly notice Ginny, she MOVED. A dark blur spun to the left and One crumpled, his head at an odd angle as he lay for a second before vanishing. Two and Three reached behind themselves and pulled weapons from nowhere, Two a dark, twisted wand and a long curved knife, Three a pair of small axes. They quickly moved to either side of her, and a green bolt shot out from Two; it passed though a blurred patch to strike Three. He slowly slid to the floor, but Hermione was already moving. She rolled forward and bounced up, leading with her elbow. It landed with a sickening crunch on its nose. A twist and a left handed blow later; the wand was shattered. Two stepped back, thrust its knife forward, and with a flicker of movement the knife was in Hermione's hand and back in its chest a half a heartbeat later. Two and Three flickered out together. As she was standing looking at the space where the pair had been, a fifth figure faded silently into view. Ginny opened her mouth to scream a warning, she knew the safeties were off, but it was too late.

A hated shimmering green beam shot out from the newcomer's wand directly for the center of Hermione's back accompanied by a terrible rushing sound. But right before it could strike, she flipped out of the way as if she were expecting it and spun in mid air, "Diffindo Pentratus." A four-inch hole suddenly appeared in the exact center of the newest attacker's chest. It took one step and collapsed, only to vanish a beat later. Hermione replaced her wand in the back of her pants and stood, looking at Ginny all the while. She sighed and walked over to her, "Hello Ginny."

"Nice work there," Ginny replied awkwardly. She looked down at her hands, her manner timid, like a kitten begging forgiveness from its mother.

"Yeah" Hermione replied softly. Behind her the training room, shifted, the training dummies dropping away, a pair of couches rising in their place. Hermione walked over to them and sat, motioning to Ginny to take the opposite one, she did. Hermione took the proffered glass of water the room provided and sat back.

"Hermione, we need to, ahh, talk, I'm..."

"No Ginny," Hermione replied softly, and with those muted words, Ginny felt more afraid than if she had screamed at her. "You need to listen, then, maybe we'll talk." Ginny nodded slowly as if a presence other than her own was controlling her body. "Logically, Ginny" Hermione began, her voice tight, "I know that I shouldn't blame you. I know it, Ron knows it, hell, my sprogs probably know it. I know that and still I can't help remembering every time that I look at you, especially when you are with Neville, that Harry is not here, and it's your fault." Ginny looked away, and Hermione's tone became edged with steel. "No look at me Ginny." Slowly Ginny turned back to her. "It's just that you made a choice, Ginny. A choice that maybe I would have made in the same place, would I have chosen Harry over almost anything else? Yeah I would have. Over almost anything else, but honestly Ginny that choice wasn't necessary."

"What should I have done then?" Ginny spat back, "Lucius was ripping into my mind, he is a Dark Lord damn it Herms, he found out about Neville, and once they brought him..."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, took a deep breath and replied softly, "You should have died then Ginny, it was your oath. I could argue that you broke a Wizard's Debt to Harry, when you let Lucius use you to uncover the kids. The use of the kids was the only thing that he had to stop us. We would have never negotiated for anything else. Harry has spent the last five years in Azkaban because of that and my children...and Ron's and Luna's and Tonks' and Remus' have spent those same five years with the very sword of Damocles hanging over their heads."

Ginny looked incredulously at Hermione, "Do you honestly think I made a fucking deal with Lucius Malfoy, not to poison Elliot? And to poison the rest Hermione...do you really think I am that evil?"

Hermione gave her a small shrug, "I don't know," she paused a moment for reflection, "but you better hope that I never decide that you are." She left without another word, leaving Ginny standing in the cool, slightly damp cave under the house, staring after her.

**********************Kentucky, exile years********************************

*Here by me. Three Doors Down

Hermione moodily shoved a stray lock of hair out of her eyes and looked back at the large text in her lap. Her eyes were dark and tired as she looked up towards an end table across the room. The hilt of her wand stuck off the edge of the table and with an annoyed sigh, she decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, her eyes went a bit unfocused and she snapped her fingers. In a brief flash of light, a steaming pot of tea appeared. She poured herself a mug and returned to the book.

Across the sitting room, Ron sat with Luna; she was leaning back against him on the couch. He was absently playing chess with himself by alternately moving both sides with flicks of his wand, while she was reading Reginald Catright's treatise on unconventional dueling, upside down and backwards.

After another long, silent minute, Hermione suddenly flung the cup against the wall, it shattered and tea trickled down, staining the eggshell paint. Not even looking at the devastation, Hermione jumped up, and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her with a flick of her hand. After another minute, long enough for Hermione to leave earshot, Ron turned to Luna, "Do you want to handle this one...honey?"

"No, dear" Luna replied softly, "I did last time...besides, I need to still look for the Black-Tailed Squeagles out back, they should be up and about soon." Luna stood easily and leaning over him, kissed Ron firmly. She let out a small giggle at this expression and walked out of the room humming 'Weasley is our King' under her breath. Ron managed to notice, barely, through her sudden distraction that she left in the opposite direction of that Hermione had taken.

"Bloody chicken," Ron muttered after his wife, smiling all the while. He groaned a little bit as his smile faded. The lights were soft in this room, even though they were electric. This hideaway, half a planet away from the land of their birth was thoroughly modern, unlike the ancient stone castle they had truly grown up in, or even Grimmauld Place, where they had spent so much time, both as young students in their final three years at Hogwarts and off and on in the years after. Ron turned off a wall screen with a remote on the table, it had been showing the news, though with the sound muted. He followed Hermione out onto the porch.

He found her outside staring up at the stars. Silver tracks of tears lined her cheeks in the moonlight as an errant meteor crossed the heavens. Hermione was sitting on a porch swing, her knees pulled into her chest as she rocked back and forth. She didn't look up as he approached, but she could have probably felt his presence in Lexington. Without a word, Ron sat next to her, and pulled her into his arms. Sobbing, she whispered, "I can't do it anymore Ron. My husband is gone, my kids and yours are poisoned and only a potion from a madman keeps them alive..." She bit her lip as she rocked in his arms, "Mum, Dad, Alastor...everyone's gone."

Ron frowned slightly, "Hermione, we just have to figure out the counter potion...if they are cured, we are free to act..." Ron tried to reassure her, but his words drove her sobs to a crescendo. After another long minute, Hermione had cried herself out, more or less.

Shakily she looked at him and whispered, "Ron...I figured out the potion two years ago..."

"WHAT..."

"It does us no good Ron, damn it." Her soft interruption silenced his exclamation, she nodded, "There's a key ingredient in the counter...essence of Star Dragon blood...the last Star Dragon died at Camelot in 587AD."

"Star Dragon, I never heard...Hagrid never mentioned..."

A pair of the estate's unicorns wandered past the porch, the mare in the lead, bowing its head to them as it passed. Hermione shook herself free from Ron. She stood and walked a bit away, until she was almost swallowed by the darkness. Leaning against a column, she glared into the night, "Draconus Astralus, the great Star Dragon." Hermione said softly, unconsciously adapting her teaching tone, the one she had used for her six years teaching at Hogwarts while under cover, or the seven years before when she was teaching mostly Ron and Harry.

"The last one died in the time of Merlin, Ron. Star Dragons were completely impervious to hostile magics. Even Merlin could not directly affect them. He finally stopped the one sent to destroy him by transfiguring a castle tower into a giant sword, sort of like Dumbledore did at Hogsmeade. It's the only substance that has ever been mentioned that could counter the Draught of Nefrati, and that was only in an old theoretical potions textbook, that no one except me has probably read in a hundred years because the crazy old coot who wrote it, alternated between high Latin and Celtic runes...in the same sentence, mind you."

Hermione spun back to Ron and leaned back, her hands on the porch rail. "Ron I received the second highest recorded cumulative NEWT score; ever," Ron's eyes widened at that fact, but she went on anyway, "I have four doctorates in various magical disciplines, and every one except the first one was obtained as a side product of trying to find a cure for my kids, so I could free my husband without killing them. At seventeen, in the middle of the bloody night while I couldn't sleep because I was worried that my best friend might not survive the week, let alone finally love me...I developed the basis for the theorems that sent the lifeboats to the stars; that allowed the Americans to combine science and magic, and so much more. And on any given day, I am one of the three or four most powerful and lethal light wizards alive in the world today," Her right hand clenched suddenly, and the wood under it splintered. The blue glow faded from her hand as she looked back up at Ron, "For two fucking years I have been trying to discover something that would substitute, with absolutely no success."

Ron shook his head as he joined her at the rail, "Why can't we use other dragon blood, concentrate it up somehow? What was so special about these Star Dragons, did they look different, what?"

Hermione shrugged, "According to the descriptions found in Legendary Beasts of Avalon, they looked like an oversized Norwegian Ridgeback, except they had ice blue eyes and shot a weird lighting plasma like this...Laflamare Draconus." Hermione whispered and a crackling, sizzling ball of plasma hovered over her outstretched hand, the sudden blue light from the energy ball lighting up the entire area. With another shrug, she reabsorbed the energy, automatically changing it to a safe form as she rechanneled the magic.

She looked over at Ron, but amazingly he hadn't even looked at the display of magic, his eyes instead looked deep in thought. Slowly he turned and looked at his second best friend, and his sister for one way or another for years. "Hermione" Ron said softly, "you just described Norbert."

A sudden stillness filled the night, as if even the crickets were afraid of uttering a sound. Hermione took a deep breath before she replied to Ron, "Ron, what did you say?"

"Just that Norbert seems to be a lot like those Star Dragons, but you said they had all died out, so it must be he's just special." Ron retorted, but Hermione shook her head disbelievingly, her eyes widening slowly. Pushing past Ron, she almost ran back into the house and directly up to her second floor study.

Every inch of the wall space was covered with bookshelves, with the exception of one large, wooden chest along the shortest wall. That chest, inscribed with the Gryffindor lion sat locked, and silent. Hermione dropped into her chair and pushed the LCD monitor out of the way on her desk. The computer might help with research, it was amazing how much Wizarding lore had leaked into the Muggle world, but what she was looking for was not posted on any website. Looking around the room, she held out a hand, and a tattered, torn copy of Legendary Beasts of Avalon flew into her hand; a second gesture and Merlin's Perils joined the first tome. Opening Legendary Beasts of Avalon to the proper chapter, she noted that the description fitted Norbert perfectly. Can it be, oh please God, please...

Opening Merlin's Perils, Hermione quickly turned to the chapter on bestial combat. She read:

Merlin faced many creatures in both his travels and later in his position as the Guardian of the early British throne. Perhaps the greatest of these was his encounter with the last known Draconus Astralus or Star Dragon. Unlike most dragons these particularly intelligent great dragons were known to side exclusively with the powers of light, this tendency was broken with the encounter in 587AD outside of the keep of Camelot, however. On this occasion, through means never discovered, Morgana Le Fay managed to bind this Star Dragon to her service against the light. The possession of this Dragon was particularly damaging, as even Merlin's magic seemed to be unable to directly affect this creature. Eventually after almost five hundred deaths at the hand of this controlled beast, Merlin was able to kill the creature by the transfiguration of the North Tower of the keep into a forty-foot sword, which he used to kill the Dragon.

Modern anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that the Star Dragon is not a separate species, but rather a random mutation of the Norwegian Ridgeback, that should, if one of these creatures is found alive, breed true.

Ron, who had been looking over her shoulder, gave out a whoop... "Yes, we just get a sample of Norbert's blood, he should obey you Hermione, you are an Heir, and..."

"Ron, we don't even know if Norbert survived..." Hermione objected, trying to put the discovery into perspective.

"He did." A soft, deep voice came from the entrance to the study. Standing there, tired, worn, and with a bandage around his left arm stood Albus Dumbledore. Instantly both of his former students leapt to their feet and assisted him to a couch. Tolerantly, he let them, and let Hermione summon him a mug of chocolate before he continued.

"I had planned to stay a bit, however, I will return in the morning to get a sample of Norbert's blood." He looked at Hermione, expectantly, "if this works, you know what must happen and how." Hermione did not look as if she particularly liked that permeation but she eventually nodded and waved off Ron's attempts to glean an answer. "Now, if I may...I will retire. Hermione, I would like to see Horatio and Emilia before I leave again in the morning, I had planned on staying with them for a bit..." Dumbledore did not finish his thought, for if this succeeded, he would be able to spend much more time with them. They would start to come into their powers soon, and he would training them to fight among many other things.

End of Part 1, the Fall of Night....

A/N: There's the end of the first half...next chapter, which will start part two, has werewolves, vampires, a grim, some Death Eaters learning just what their choices cost, and oh yeah, some little bit with Harry and Hermione reuniting.

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20. The Lion Unchained

A/N: Ok here we, go the kitties are back on the field... Much, Much thanks to Lady Starlight for her gracious Beta work.
Chapter 20: The Lion Unchained

***************************Azkaban, North Sea****************************

July 31, 2019

A crack of lighting illuminated the Dark Fortress. The ancient castle, then later Wizarding prison, had served that purpose until a night almost fifteen years ago, when Voldemort and the Dementors under his control had assaulted the prison, freed the Death Eaters imprisoned there, and killed the majority of the guards present. After Voldemort's death, the prison had once again housed Death Eaters, though without the Dementors to guard them.

In the six years since the fall of the Dark Lord, the war had gone underground, Lucius Malfoy had gained powers approaching that of Voldemort, and many, too many had died. In fact many of the surviving defenders of Hogwarts that awful night in June that Harry Potter had finally fulfilled his destiny, had died in a surprise revenge attack several months later by Malfoy's new shock troops, the X' Sheen, the unfallen progenitors of the Dementors. The X' Sheen, were faster and tougher than any merely human wizard, and could use deadly magic without a wand, making them nearly unbeatable opponents for both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. Britain and Europe had rapidly fallen under those seemingly limitless dark hordes, Asia soon after, only America, with an almost unthinkable combination of Wizarding prowess and high technology had halted the advance, though at a terrible cost.

The relentless rain that now poured over the prison was a side effect of that combination. The Americans had warded their continent against the X' Sheen merely Apparating or Portkeying over, and their wizards had divined the coordinates of the Old Ministry of Magic and Azkaban. The Ministry, which had fallen in a night of fire, death and betrayal seven years ago, was now a smoking crater in the ground, courtesy of a "small" fusion warhead. The old protection wards of the Ministry had never been envisioned to have to defend against the very power of the sun. Though rumors of the Department of Mysteries surviving the hit still floated about.

Azkaban was periodically bombarded from space; by giant lasers that once had guarded against missiles, but now served an adequate job of keeping the enemy's heads down and busy. The protective shields established over the prison had held, but at a price. Malfoy and his puppet Minister, Cornelius Fudge, now ruled from Buckingham Palace, the Queen and all other forms of Muggle and Wizarding government, long since dead at his hands.

However the single, dark cloaked figure that observed the dark granite walls was far from merely human. Those seven years ago, she had watched her husband, the father of her children, and the other half of her very soul, be dragged away behind these walls. That week of hell in August, seven years ago, he had meekly let himself be led away in exchange for the return of their children and the children of their best friends. And he had stayed there as the children had been poisoned, with Malfoy supplying a periodic counteragent to them, to bind him far more effectively than any chain.

Malfoy had thought the poison incurable, except for the temporary reprieve he sent once a year, that kept the woman hostage to keep her children alive. For unlike his former master, he had learned to fear them. He knew that then, at that time, he could not match their power, or the power of the grand old patriarch of that clan, even though he did not know their true relationship. But Malfoy, unbeknownst to him, had finally failed, for even as he feared their powers, he forgot that even without the freedom to truly use those powers, she was still perhaps the most intelligent witch since Rowena herself. And now Rowena's Heir stood in the pouring rain, glaring down at the fortress implacably. A pair of eyes, like chips of brown flint, scanned the walls as her mind skipped back a year; and several thousand miles away.

***************Estate of Albus Dumbledore, Near Lexington, KY USA************

May 23, 2018

It had come as a shock at least to some of the fleeing, Potter/Weasley clan, that Albus Dumbledore owned a large horse farm in the states, along with other properties. At Ron's incredulous question, he had claimed that he had won it years ago in a hand of Wizarding poker. He had instantly given it to Hermione to use and had vanished, back to England, to stir up what trouble he could for Malfoy and his legions. Hermione however, was chained to the States, not by links of steel but of blood. Horatio, Emilia, Harriet, Xander and Abigail had all been given the Draught of Nefrati, an insidious poison once used to control vassals; that was known to have no antidote, only a counter potion that would hold the effects in check, as long as it was taken once a year at the height of the full moon.

Unfortunately the counter potion also had to be brewed with the same caldron the original potion was concocted in, so the Potters and the Weasleys, those that were still alive, and by extension Dumbledore, were on their best behaviors, as Horatio and Emilia were his grandchildren after all. Even his return to Britain was a risk at best, but he felt he had to do it; he owed it to friends unable to escape. Sirius, Tonks and Lupin, had returned with him, though Sirius tended to show up at odd times to check on Hermione, to keep his word to an old friend.

In the last six years, Hermione, Ron and Luna had seen them only periodically as Remus and Tonks would come back every few months to check on their children, and Sirius would tag along to check on Hermione mostly, as he considered her the daughter he never had. Dumbledore less so, as he would appear once a year at random intervals, stay a week or so, and return.

It was due in great part to their efforts that Malfoy had never been able to truly assault America, as he was kept busy at home, and in his other captured possessions by the resistance and occasional strategic raids by American Wizarding and Muggle forces. It had been the Granger Unified Field Theory that had proven that Quantum mechanics was as many a Muggle student had decried, truly Magic or more accurately, Quantum described what little bit of magic that Muggles were able to measure empirically, more or less. Magic users were able to greater and lesser degrees to manipulate probabilities and the zero point energy fields of the universe. American Muggle scientists and Wizard researchers had built machines to do the same manipulations, carefully shielded of course, and had built weapons to fight the X' Sheen and the dark wizards, had cracked the secret of faster than light travel and even now had three starships on the way to distant stars, just in case America lost.

Hermione had been offered a position on one of those ships, she had added to the Doctorate in Advanced Theoretical Arithmancy that she had received from Stonehenge right before the fall, Doctorates in Theoretical Potions, Advanced Transfiguration Theory and one in DADA. That final one had been a 'gimme' though. Harry had already had his from Stonehenge before the fall, and she had helped with the research, of course. With this thought Hermione, who had been sitting on an old wooden swing on the main porch of the plantation house, got up and paced, with a restlessness that had not lessened over the last few years.

Ronald Weasley was sitting in a deck chair, a beer in held loosely in his hand, a concerned look darkening his face as he gazed over at her. She still looked, and biologically was eighteen or twenty, even though she would turn thirty-two by the calendar in September. He had asked, but she had never given him a straight answer about just how she managed that trick. In fact her daughter, who had just turned ten this very morning, looked much more like her slightly younger sister instead of her daughter. Ron and Luna on the other hand, while they definitely looked younger than Muggles their age, due to their magical genes, both looked older, closer to twenty-five or so.

But appearances were deceiving, for however young she looked on the outside, her eyes were old. Oh, Ron had seen them light up for brief instants with her children, or her adoptive family that had escaped from Britain, but most of the time they were cold, the life that had once dwelled there was gone. It was truly as if part of her was missing. Ever since Harry had sacrificed himself, one last time for their children and me he admitted to himself glumly, she had not been herself. The damnable thing was Harry was alive. It was easy enough to tell, as Hermione was still breathing as well. As Dumbledore had said all those years ago, Azkaban could not hold him, and it would not have held Harry, except he stayed to keep his and Hermione's children and Ron's daughter as well, safe.

As Hermione paced, she chewed her bottom lip, an old habit that she had never lost. The old jumper of Harry's that she had on over a pair of old, ripped jeans had seen better days, and her hair blew into her eyes from the breeze across the small lake, which the plantation house overlooked. A pair of unicorns stood in a paddock with several other horses, including a lone Thestral. As if it knew she was watching, it spread its wings and took to the sky with a soft cry. Her eyes crossed Ron's, and just for an instant, he could swear that he saw the old Hermione at home, a fire in those chocolate orbs, but as he watched they grew cold again. For that moment, Ron had gotten the impression that she had desperately wanted to tell her other best friend something, but had been prevented somehow. Once again Ron was right.

Like a ghost, a tall, thin frame appeared behind her. The crooked nose, the half moon glasses, the long silver-gray hair, they were all the same, but the eyes, the eyes once again told the story. It had been several years since those light blue orbs had truly twinkled, but they were in full force today. With a grin in his voice, Dumbledore turned to her without even a greeting, "Hermione, you were correct, the counter works. I have already given it to them, and the toxin is gone." Ron instantly cottoned on to what he was saying and while his heart leapt, it was Hermione that showed the greatest reaction, she jumped forward and crushed the old wizard in one of her famous hugs of old, and cried softly into his shoulder. After a moment, she stepped back and wiped away her tears. "It is time my dear." She nodded and with a nod to Ron, "Ronald" he vanished as quickly as he came.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

Hermione turned to him, and for the first time in years, her expression wasn't sad, or longing, it was predatory, hungry. "Ron, I'm leaving for a while, I need you and Luna to take care of Em and Horatio." She nodded at him, and without waiting for a response, walked into the house and up to her bedroom. The very same room that she would have been sharing with Harry, had he been here. Ron stared incredulously at the door she had just gone through, and after almost twenty minutes, he turned and marched into the house and right up to Hermione's bedroom.

In response to his beating on the door, a soft, resigned soprano rang out. "Come in, Ron" The instant he came in he saw the change, he knew she was done running, she was a hunter once again. Gone were the old worn jeans and beat up jumper. In their place a pair of black BDU pants was worn under a short, white t-shirt that was short enough to show the emerald in her belly button ring. On her hip was a Muggle sidearm, probably loaded with silver he knew, as many of the werewolves had gone over to Malfoy in the end, and holstered right in front of it was her old wand. On the underside of her right arm, a wand sheath rode with a second wand inserted, Lily Potter's wand he knew. Her hair was pulled back into a bushy tail, and the Ravenclaw sword lay on the bed, its dark sheath gleaming. She looked at him silently as she shrugged on a black, dragon hide jacket. As her left hand pulled her hair out of the jacket, Ron noticed that her ring was glowing softly.

"What do you think you are doing" Ron asked, looking her over.

"Honestly Ronald, what the hell do you think I am doing...I am going to go get my husband out of Azkaban." She growled lowly and turned from him.

"What the fuck brought this on, we've been over here for the last six years, because the kids were poisoned, and now your going to do this, abandon the kids, and probably get yourself killed because Dumbledore deigned to show up and...." Ron's bitter comment was interrupted as an arm of steel picked him up and slammed him up against a wall hard enough to dent the drywall.

Hermione glared at him, her eyes glowing a harsh, electric blue as she held Ron against the wall by the shirtfront, his feet dangling several inches above the ground. Her snarl, for the first time in many years, actually scared him, "RONALD WEASLEY, I love those children more than I can possible state, and Harry does too, that's why he stays in that place until I come to get him. Dumbledore was telling me that the counteragent that I had created works, the kids are free, and now Harry will be too." She dropped him, and he fell to his feet with a thump. "I am going back, I don't know how long I will be, after all we should not act right away..."

Ron looked at her with disbelief; first she had been all ready to go get him, now she was talking about waiting? "Hermione, he has to be wasting away, look at Sirius after all those years...."

"No Ron, he's fine, I can't communicate with him behind the walls of Azkaban, but I can feel him. Malfoy keeps him as a trophy, and as a hostage against Albus and I."

"Not without me. I'm coming with you." Ron snapped back instantly, and turned as if going to get his gear.

"No Ron," she snapped sharply, then with a soft, sad smile, "no big brother not yet...the kids are not yet old enough. Train them the best you can, they should start to be able to control their powers about when we started to learn control. I need you here Ron, Harry needs you here." Her ponytail snapped back and forth as she shook her head morosely, "they would have gotten their Hogwarts letters next summer, Ron."

She looked up into his eyes; "They will be in school, before they are twelve. Ron, in one year on August 1st, meet us at Hogwarts." Ron looked at her in shock. "Hogwarts never fell, we set the castle to defend herself and left. She has been waiting for us to come home, I know you wouldn't mind getting back to your flying instructor duties." As she said that her twins, the only thing besides that thin, nebulous thread of a connection to Harry that had kept her sane all these dark years, came into the room and stopped instantly at seeing their mother. They had never really seen this side of her, the raptor like predatory nature imbued in her main Animagus form, but they knew it all the same, it was buried in their very blood.

"Mom" Emilia said quietly, "I guess granddad told you the potion worked." Horatio glanced at his twin then back at his mother. Horatio was almost a smaller version of Harry, minus the scar of course, and the fact that his untamable black hair was slightly curly on the ends. His eyes were the green of Harry's and his build was almost exactly how Harry had been at that age, except he was a couple of inches taller than Harry had been. He had had regular meals for the majority of his childhood, unlike his father.

Emilia was likewise Hermione writ smaller, though she had a few more differences from the prototype than her brother; she was identical to her mother at ten, except instead of large chocolate eyes, she huge large jade orbs, liberally flecked with gold and her hair, while still the bushy mass that her mother's had been, was the jet of her father. The twins crowded in around their mother, she hugged them both and kissed them on the cheek. "When will we see you mum?" Emilia choked out and despite the situation, Hermione smiled as her daughter slipped back and forth between British and American English.

"You will join us at Hogwarts, in a years time," Hermione flashed a half, fleeting smile. "Listen to Ron and Luna in the meantime; they will be giving you all the training you can take. You're going to need it." She turned back to Ron, "Ron, its not a cave troll they'll have to deal with...."

"I'll do my best, sis, they'll be ready as soon as they can. Then the Marauders will hunt again." Ron gave a solemn vow.

"Remember with the fall of the British Ministry, the underage restrictions are no more, the Americans never liked them anyway, as soon as their powers manifest, Ron..." Hermione looked over at a cabinet, and with a motion of her hand, two rosewood boxes shot over to her waiting hands. Without looking at the boxes she handed one each to each of the kids, each box was carved with a rampant lion on the top, with an E or H below that. "Old man Ollivander sent those over as soon as you two were born. They should suit you." As one, the twins opened the boxes, and as they settled their hands on the grips, all the lights in the room flickered, and a strange wind erupted and rustled about. Hermione gave a satisfied nod and with a final hug and goodbye to them all, she vanished without a sound

******************************Azkaban, North Sea*************************

July 31, 2019
1:15 am

That had been a year ago, and the time had not yet been right to strike. She had been to this very bluff, standing in the same exact place, ten times in the last year. She could have done it anytime; the wait had been on the next generation, to come into their power, and on their eleventh birthdays, even thousands of miles away, she felt the first time they used a wand to control their magic. Now the time was at hand to return to the field. Thirteen years ago, Hermione had proclaimed the fate for whomever or whatever dared to harm her and Harry's family, and tonight, that fate would start to be meted out.

The instant she took down Azkaban, and after tonight the fortress would not be standing she vowed silently, Malfoy would know that they were back in the fight. She glanced down at her watch and waited, in five minutes, back in the ruins of London, Lucius Malfoy would start to learn to fear the night once again. As far as they knew Lucius had never discerned that Dumbledore was Harry's great-great-great-grandfather, and therefore the twins' as well, but he should have suspected something. Dumbledore had said the last time he had been forced from his beloved school, "They never should have dislodged me from Hogwarts," this night he would remind the Death Eaters why that was.

Even the anger of the greatest wizard since Merlin was not enough. For tonight, after too many years of dancing on the edge of actions that would result in the death of the children and possibly Harry in his Azkaban cell, the Marauders would once more slip their bonds. For far too long, Sirius, Lupin, and the rest had had to be content with advising the resistance, not fighting, lest one of the Death Eaters, or werewolves, or other dark servants of Malfoy recognized them.

Tonight, a grim, a werewolf, a vampire and a metamorph, along with the two greatest jokers and inventors of the last hundred years would soak the ancient cobblestones of London with the life's blood of those who had chosen, in the end...poorly. And if Malfoy's werewolves and vampires thought they knew destruction, they would learn differently.

*******************London, Near King's Cross Station********************

The streets of the ancient metropolis were broken and tattered. Only the light of occasional trash fires served to pierce the endless gloom that had settled over the city like a thick woolen blanket. As at Azkaban, a heavy, sheeting rain dampened the streets. A few, desperate souls flitted here and there, looking for food, or for savage, or as in the case of a couple of scantily clad witches, merely survival.

Down the center of the road, past the wrecked hulks of automobiles, and a pair of toppled double-deckers, a column of eight men and women marched, or rather to the point, strutted down the street. They were clothed in dark, black robes. An insignia of a green skull with a black serpent slithering from its mouth was emblazoned on the left side of each chest.

As they marched, a pair of the Death Eaters, a tall blonde, woman and a rather dumpy looking brown haired man shot out and grabbed one of the prostitutes plying their trade and pulled her screaming into an alley, the rest of the column stopped, and a sense of mirth rung out among them as they discussed, loudly, whose turn it would be.

They stood as the screams of the young girl sounded, pleading for help, and suddenly there was silence. One of the Death Eaters laughed, and stopped abruptly as a new scream rang out, a male scream. He looked at his fellows and back at the alleyway to see...

A pair of glowing, violet eyes hung in the night, resolving themselves after a moment, into a slight, blonde-haired, black clad girl. "Oi, it's another..."

But his comment was never to be finished as Cordelia MOVED. A soft hiss erupted from her throat, and the first two Death Eaters fell in a blur of movement. She danced over to the next, and he fell away into the muck with the accompaniment of a sickening crunch. She flitted to the next pair, and twin flashes of silver caught the firelight and they fell to the ground. She stopped and looked directly into the last Death Eater's eyes. "Come," Cordelia commanded in a soft, whisper.

He nodded jerkily and walked over to her, his legs moving as if they had a mind of their own. He stopped in front of her, frozen and watched as her hand slowly extended and curled her fingers into his hair. Cordelia smiled, showing twin fangs, she bent his head to the side with a sudden jerk and fed, her fangs sinking lovingly into his jugular. His heart beat for a full minute before it stopped and she flung him away to lie in the pile with the other Death Eaters.

She looked back to the alley to find newcomers. She gave them an easy smile and a small wave. Lupin looked at her, and then at the pile and just shook his head. While as a werewolf, he had absolutely no compunction against blood as a meal or a snack, he and Cordelia had a running discussion between the merits of her...artistic style, and his somewhat very brusque one. She frowned slightly as Tonks led the young girl out from the alley, wrapped in a blanket, scared but unharmed overall. She looked to be only thirteen or so, and was obviously a witch. Tonks gave her a small medallion and they watched as she vanished to Hogwarts.

"Love," Sirius said softly, "your lips." Cordelia looked a touch sheepish as she licked her lips and Sirius came up to her and pulled her into his arms. He leaned in and kissed her softly, growling a tiny bit as his Animagus nature tasted the blood still on her lips. "You know..." he mused, "that whole vamp thing..."

"Oh no, Sirius Augustus, your bloody son has tired me out enough as it is...you're just lucky that I have Death Eaters to feed on to regain my strength, my husband, or I might just wake up some evening and decide that you would make a tasty snack," Cordelia teased back, mostly, her accent getting heavier as she fought to be human once again, though Sirius really wasn't afraid.

"You alright, Cordy?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine now."

"I hate to break this up," Lupin announced tolerantly from the corner of the alley, "But any moment now, Hermione will be breaking Harry out, and I do not want to disappoint either of them, with our object lesson we are leaving tonight. There are still Death Eaters who don't fear to walk the streets. And besides...it's my turn." The other three watched as Lupin SHIFTED, and the eight-foot, bipedal wolf that appeared let out a great howl, and miles away, Death Eaters shivered.

*************************Azkaban********************************

With one last glance at her watch Hermione started down the path to the front gates.

Alongside the path, under an outcropping of stone about a hundred yards from the main gate, a pair of Death Eaters stood watching the trail. Or rather more to the truth, trying desperately to keep their cigarettes lit in the driving rain. Every minute or so, one of them would have to keep taking turns relighting their cigarettes with the tip of a wand. One of the pair glanced up to look out into the darkness, and just for an instant, he saw a pair of blue glows hanging in the darkness.

"Hello Boys" she whispered, and in a twirl of a cloak, she continued walking towards the main gates, two bodies tumbling slowly into the muck in her wake. She stopped at the foreboding gates and with a wave of her hand, the huge gates ground open. Hermione walked into the open walls, and stopped. Instantly at least twenty wands pointed at her from various Death Eaters scattered about the courtyard and the walls. Bellatrix Lestrange's surviving brother-in-law strode up, stopped imperiously and glared at her.

"Who are you?" He snarled. Her head rose, and with both hands, she slowly lowered her hood. The driving rain plastered her hair down, but as a flash of lighting lit the courtyard, they all knew her. Several of the Death Eaters started edging away until Lestrange stopped them with a cold snarl. "She's just a Mudblood, Potter was more powerful and he's in a cell for our Lord's amusement."

A cruel smile darkened her face, and with a negligent wave, Lestrange shot through the air to crash against a wall of the fortress, and slide down in a heap. The Death Eaters that had been pointing wands instantly snapped spells at her, only to hit air, and in at least three cases each other, as three Death Eaters fell to the ground dead. In rapid succession, three more fell, to a blade that had not tasted blood in many years. DIFFINDO PENATRATUS, ASPHYXIATIA, ASPHYXIATIA, a seventh Death Eater keeled over, a large hole where his heart had been, and an eighth and ninth turned puce, and collapsed to the ground. The few remaining Death Eaters that had not already run, stood back to back, peering out into the night, straining to see any movement, their final mistake. "Look up" She said quietly, appearing from the darkness. With a murmured, "finite" A large, flat chunk of wall fell on the clustered Death Eaters; she walked off calmly towards the cell blocks.

In a dark, cold, dank cell, a young man sat crossed-legged on a torn and stained mattress. He was thin, with long, dark, unkempt hair that fell over his eyes. His face held at least three days growth, and a pair of cracked lenses framed his emerald eyes. The cell that he was in was the very same cell that had once held the infamous Sirius Black, a bit of trivia that caused a very slight grim smile to this very day. He sat motionless, staring down at the floor. With a rush of life, a welcome, warm sensation that he had not felt for these long years flooded his mind, and that ever present, tiny trickle of a link exploded into a torrent. A smile gradually cracked on his face, and he slowly raised his head. He looked at the pair of Death Eaters that had decorated the outside of his cell for all these years and laughed.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING POTTER!" The one on the right, Sam Waters, snarled. His partner for the night, Tobias Green, looked in at Harry and a flash of something crossed his eyes. Tobias was a young Death Eater; he had actually been trained at Lucius' dark replacement for Hogwarts in the last few years, and had immediately been assigned here.

He had grown up with the hushed tales of Potter, the Weasleys, Granger and Dumbledore, and privately thought it was rather stupid of their master to leave Harry alive. After all, everyone knew, even though Lucius had tried to hush it up, that Potter had given himself up willingly, and that of the remainder of his greatest enemies only his blood-traitor son been captured alive. And those that had been killed had averaged about a twenty to one ratio before they fell. Draco was sleeping in a suspended animation trance in a cell down the hall.

"Why nothing Sam, though I would run if I were you." Harry's calm baritone replied lethally. The Death Eater turned and snapped his wand at Harry, Harry casually waved his hand, and the spell whined off Harry's shield and blew a divot out of the stone wall. "What, did you think just because you took my wand I was powerless?" The chuckle that issued from Harry's throat had no mirth, and with another nonchalant wave, the cell door opened.

"Or that I was too weak from lack of food, it's been a long time since Privet Drive boys." In a blur, Harry MOVED, the afterglow from his suddenly glowing eyes trailing along, as Waters fell lifelessly to the floor. Harry turned to the junior Death Eater, "It was trivial to conjure a bit of food now and then, not a great feast, mind you. Even Dumbledore would need a wand for that, but a sandwich is quite easy. You should try having twins to feed..." A blur again, then as the second Death Eater fell, he added thoughtfully, "or not."

With a sudden crash, the door at the end of the hall fell inward, and Harry turned to it. His eyes faded to green, a twinkle replacing the blue glow. "Kind of short for a Death Eater aren't you?"

After all this time, all she could do was laugh as she Apparated the twenty feet separating them, directly into his arms. She trembled slightly as he held her, her face pressed against his shoulder, "Never again, Harry."

"Yeah, love never again." Harry breathed, and with that she raised her eyes back to his. Leaning in, she brushed her lips against his and time stopped. Their eyes relit, and a wave of energy snapped outward, shattering several windows along one wall, and rattling several loose cell doors. They pulled away, and with a shuttering breath, Harry raised his left hand to run it over her hair. She captured the offending hand and examined it significantly.

"Harry you seem to be missing something." Hermione frowned as a single tear crept from the corner of her eye.

With a half-smile, Harry brushed the tear away with the hand of the still trapped thumb; "Lucius was such a gracious host he offered to hold my possessions for me." His glowing eyes lost focus for an instant, and in small flare of light, a gold and platinum band appeared on his ring finger, its inlaid runes glowing along with the matching runes on its mate that came up to greet it. With a tender gesture, totally unsuitable for the surroundings, she raised his hand to her lips and kissed the ring gently, just as she had first done thirteen years ago, the day they had exchanged their vows.

"Occulus Reparo" She muttered as the tip of her wand touched his shattered lenses. They instantly repaired themselves. "That's better, I can see your eyes properly now, Love." She looked down at the two dead Death Eaters on the floor, "I guess you couldn't wait could you?"

"Got bored," Harry shrugged, "I was at one hundred and two ways to escape, by the way, I beat Dumbledore; he said there were only seventy five." She laughed; again, like a cloud passing across the sun, she grew serious again. With a nod, Harry knew her thoughts, "I agree, this place has stood too long. Malfoy's little friends are the ones who originally built it anyway as a home for their cousins." She nodded at this information; somehow it was not really a surprise. "However, first we have a friend to visit...I found Draco."

"WHAT!" came the shocked surprise, Draco had disappeared at the start of Lucius' takeover, and even Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin, who had worked over the years to find him, had found no trace.

"They dragged him past my cell that first week I was here. You wouldn't happen to have my toys in there would you?" Harry asked hopefully. Hermione smirked and flicked her fingers. A snap of light lit the dark chamber, and the ancient sword of Gryffindor appeared followed instantly by a pair of very familiar wands. "And of course I can't have you out dressing me," He gave a complicated wave of a wand over his head, and the torn and dirty robes he had worn for last seven years vanished, to be replaced by an outfit matching hers, the black BDU pants worn under a gray sweater. The cloak of the Order of the Phoenix reappeared on his shoulders, the symbolism in that name, never more appropriate. "Shall we?" Striding briskly, Harry took off down the hall, Hermione trailing his in his wake. As they passed, long dormant torches flared to life, and each cell door swung open. They reached a black door at the end that did not open. "REDUCTO" the door blew inward, spinning into the room beyond. A pair of Death Eater guards spun to the door as it flew past followed by a dark blur. Harry stood still at the far end of the room, as behind him, first one, then the other Death Eater collapsed slowly, the head of the second one preceding his body to the floor.

On a slightly raised platform, Draco lay, not moving, and breathing perhaps once a second, he looked as if he had not aged one second since they had last been seen, and substantially that was correct. Hermione walked slowly up to Draco and slightly hesitantly, felt for a pulse. It was there, thready but there. "Harry, how do we get him out of here?"

"We were going to Hogwarts?" At her nod, "Portus" The platform itself that Draco was laying on flashed blue, than with a further flick of Harry's wand he vanished in a fall of color. Harry turned back to his wife and nodded. Together they Apparated to the open courtyard, the ancient black stone walls surrounding them on all sides. Instantly at least forty Death Eaters appeared from out of the darkness, along with a hundred Dementors to block their way. Immediately they stood back to back, each with a wand in one hand, and a naked blade in the other. "Your call, Dementors or Death Eaters?" Harry asked over his shoulder, his eyes blazing once again now.

"How about we share?" On three "EXPECTO PATRONUM" The cry erupted from twin throats, and a pair of Patroni suddenly shown in the darkness. A stag and an otter, each the size of a decent sized dragon charged the Dementors. The otter swam through the air as if it was water, and any Dementor it crossed was gone an instant later. Across from the Otter, Prongs was having a grand time, ripping and tearing with his glowing antlers. Finally after two thirds of the Dementors had been vanquished, the remainder turned and ran, or rather flew away as fast as they could go. Prongs pawed at the ground as it watched them escape, while Hermione's otter swam up next to him, both of whom looked as if they wanted nothing more than to chase down their foes. With a final paw at the ground, the Patroni vanished, to await their masters' calls once again.

The surrounding Death Eaters looked at each other nervously, but held their ground. Most of them were like the late, unlamented Mr. Green, young enough to not have faced the Order in battle, and none of those here had fought against Harry or Hermione at Hogsmeade or Hogwarts. They feared their master far more than even the two in front of them, their mistake. Ready Mione?

With a quick glance around the courtyard, she sighed, exasperatedly, Honestly...Only forty for the both of us, almost insulting really. She fingered her wand, the same one that she had had at the Department of Mysteries all those years ago.

Harry instantly knew what she was remembering they have no idea. And with a flourish, Harry opened up the festivities. He reversed the Gryffindor sword and rammed it into the hard ground, cracking the earthen courtyard, Terra Conductus Radiatus. Along the cracks in the ground, dazzling white streaks of lighting snaked out and enveloped ten Death Eaters. Each instantly erupted into a pillar of fire, and dropped into a pile of ash almost as quickly.

30-2

Thirty bolts of green light snapped at the pair, but oh so slowly, Harry dodged a pair of Kedavra curses, and with two quick Asphyxiation Charms two more Death Eaters were dead. Ten feet to his left, Hermione vanished from right in front of three more Death Eaters, only to reappear behind them a microsecond later, their bodies already victim to two well placed severing charms and another asphyxiation charm.

25-2

From that point it became almost like a dance, Harry bounded back to the sword, and in one quick movement, pulled it from the ground and felled three more Death Eaters. Behind him, almost as if she were an extension of his own body, Hermione blocked a strike by a sword armed Death Eater, and her rebound stroke cost him his arm. In less than a minute's time, the Death Eaters' numbers had been reduced almost in half, and less still in another instant, as Harry banished another group of three, with a sickening thud, against the granite side of a stone guardhouse.

Harry and Hermione parted once more, Harry to the left, Hermione to the right. REDUCTO Harry snarled and the low wall behind which five Death Eaters had tried to hide vanished in a eruption of stone, ACCIO One of the Death Eaters flew at him, and Harry swatted his dark face down to the ground with a back hand slash. The one other remaining Death Eater that had survived the wall's explosion turned to run, DIFFINDO but his legs failed him.

13-2

On the left Hermione vanished once more, reappearing behind another group of five, a cut left, a slice right and two more fell, LAFLARMARE, DRACONUS PROJECTUS, three orbs of dragon fire exploded outward from an outstretched hand, and the other three were soon piles of smoking ash at her feet. With a grim nod, she vanished once more.

8-2

The remaining eight Death Eaters stood in a tight clump, but as they tried to escape, they soon found that they could not break the anti-Apparation charm that they were suddenly under. As one, they all looked up as if expecting another chunk of stone, but as she appeared silently to their left Hermione shook her head sadly at them.

INCARCEROUS, Thick, glowing cords instantly appeared and pulled the eight into a tight bundle. With a flick of a wand, all eight of theirs shot from their trapped hands to land in a pile at her feet. On the other side Harry appeared like a ghost, and looked balefully at them.

The Death Eaters at Azkaban, had tried to have their fun, periodic beatings, and starvation were the norm, it had only been his ability to conjure simple food, and heal himself to a degree even without a wand that had let him survive. For the last couple of years, he had been left more or less alone though, as if Lucius had been merely content to know that he had him in his clutches. It had been several years since Lucius had deigned to torture him directly. "It occurs to me," Harry said calmly, politely even, "that in a great part, you have brought this on yourselves. In the old days, you might have survived. I would have put you in a cell, up there." Harry pointed up towards the cells where he had been held. "But now..."

"Our master will come..." one of the Death Eaters cried, though there was little hope in the words.

"If he does, which I doubt, Lucius was always even more cowardly than Tom, you will be dead." Harry replied almost sadly, in a tone eerily reminiscent of Dumbledore discussing a particularly bad academic performance. As he had been talking he had slowly edged his way back to Hermione, who turned her head and looked directly into his eyes. Their eyes glowed even more brightly, and their free hands joined, "TERRATUS VOLCANUS" The incantation was spoken together, in voices not totally their own, and without another word they vanished. Beneath the Death Eaters, a red glowing crack appeared in the ground, instantly growing large enough to swallow a house, the bound Death Eaters fell into the glowing earth, their screams echoing through the night.

For a long moment the world was quiet, then all at once, the cracks spread and erupted. Magma boiled from the ground, and fire shot into the sky from a hundred rents in the earth. The ancient fortress shook as if a terrier the size of the moon had it in its jaws. Slowly, ever so slowly the walls fell, the towers shattered and tumbled into the sea. The eruption continued throughout the night, and in the morning only a charred; smoking stump would remain above the waves, all traces of the ancient fortress gone.

(A/N: The kids would have a sort of bastardized American/British Accent, where they may use words from either dialect interchangeably, hence the Mom from Em, note she might also use mum at times.

Harry's back...next chapter we go home and Harry and Mione have a touch more of a reunion...)

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21. Homecoming

A/N: I still own nothing. Thanks once again to Lady Starlight, without whose help, this would surely be...not so good.
Chapter 21 Homecoming

******************Hogwarts, DADA Professor's quarters*********************

"Merlin that felt good," Harry muttered as he staggered out of the shower, clad in only a pair of pajama bottoms. The haggard wizard that had left the prison hours before was gone, replaced by a seemingly eighteen-year-old young man, albeit one who needed a few meals, and who had sat through Madame Pomfrey's healing charms for two hours as she repaired the cracked ribs, a slightly cracked skull, four missing teeth and other minor indignities that the Death Eaters had inflicted on him over the years.

Malfoy had always been careful to have his healers repair any major damage to Harry, but his guards weren't always as considerate. Harry had been able to dampen the pain and shove it into a small little ball as soon as Hermione sundered the gates of Azkaban and hence the ancient, ancient wards preventing their minds from fully linking. Malfoy had never learned the true depth of their bond or he might have tried to just kill Harry to take them both out. Of course if he did, a Hermione with Harry's powers as well as her own would have ripped him to shreds before the bond dragged her beyond the veil to be with Harry would have most likely proven to be his last mistake. Harry's exhaustion and pain had finally crashed as he arrived at Hogwarts, collapsing into Hermione's arms in the midst of Dumbledore's office.

On the couch, before a roaring fire despite the fact it was still July, Hermione sat, her feet up on a cassock, an old decrepit copy of an immense tome open in her lap. Without asking, Harry flopped down on the couch, and dropped his head onto her lap. She lifted the copy of Hogwarts a History automatically, a sign of long, long practice at this particular maneuver. Smiling, she bent forward and met his lips, she had already been flexible when she was a teen, and fifteen years of combat practice had only helped.

Sitting up with a small smile, she absently ran her fingers through his messy hair, another thing she had desperately missed all these years. Harry just snuggled closer if possible, and let out a contented sigh. Hermione stared into the fire as she spoke; haltingly, even now he was the only one she would let see with her emotions as they were. "I'm sorry, Harry" she murmured as she choked back tears.

"C'mere, Mione" Harry muttered as he sat up for a second, then grabbing her hand, pulled her back down until they both lay on the couch, her nestled in his arms. She could feel the slight quiver in them, both of his feelings, and of his utter, absolute exhaustion. Even as powerful as he was, he had been in Azkaban for seven long years, and he had spent a great deal of energy tonight and was literally tapped out. Even so, his first concern was for her, a thought that even after almost twenty years together in one fashion or another, and all they had seen and done, still gave her a quiver in her stomach. "For what, love?" Harry asked, genuinely puzzled at her apology.

"I took too damn long, Harry" Hermione snapped, but he just squeezed her tighter in response. Wriggling, she turned until she faced him, still lying in his arms. "I should have figured out the potion sooner, then we...I waited another year, until the time was right, until the resistance was ready and the Americans could get the supplies in place..."

He didn't respond right away, other than gently planting a kiss on her forehead. He looked into her eyes, It's all right; I knew what I was doing...

But Harry...

We had the time; he replied with a thought as bent his head forward to hers. Another of the curses Tom inflicted on us. The tone of the thought was ambivalent, as they had last discussed the repercussions right before those terrible nights in August seven years ago, to outlive our children, and their children's children.

I could be wrong Harry. She responded instantly, but they both knew that she wasn't. Voldemort had ultimately failed in his quest for immortality, but that night that he had fought them for the last time in a dark, dank cavern under Hogwarts, with his death, one last power had been transferred to them, and fused with their own. Hermione had speculated that the energies he had released with his death, had acted synergistically with their own, far, far from insignificant powers and had imbued them with what Voldemort had desired. Since that day, despite the birth of two children, and other trials and tribulations, they had not aged significantly. I think Ron knows, somehow. She shrugged and settled her head under his chin.

If he does, we'll deal with it. Harry replied sleepily. With that last thought his eyes grew heavy and he slowly drifted to sleep, Hermione following not a moment later. The first true sleep either had had in almost seven years. A minute, then two passed in the room, the only sound a slight crackling and popping from the fire. Then quiet enough not to wake either of them, a slightly louder pop rang out. From the level of the seat of the couch, a pair of bright green eyes, hovering between a pair of bat-like ears, and sitting atop a pencil-shaped nose appeared. Dobby cracked a smile, and snapped his fingers. A blanket appeared on the floor, and carefully so not to even come close to waking the pair, Dobby spread the blanket over them, and backed away.

"Welcome home, Master Harry, Mistress Hermione" Dobby muttered as he absently swept a tear from the corner of a large green eye, then with another snap of his long fingers, he was gone.

9:00am

"UH Hem" murmured a bespectacled old man with long, silver-gray hair and beard, a crooked nose and twinkling light blue eyes. Dumbledore was sitting in an old armchair across from the sleeping pair on the couch, his feet up on a bedraggled ottoman. He folded the copy of the New York Times he had been reading, as there were no functioning newspapers Wizarding or Muggle left in England, or most of the world for that matter.

With Lucius' conquest of almost the entire eastern hemisphere, the majority of the world's population had entered a second dark age. Only the Americas and embattled Australia remained free, though the island continent was constantly besieged. And only the presence of American forces, in the guise of their orbital weapons, and Navy kept the Dark Legions at bay. Soon after the American wards had been established, the Australians powered their own, with ancient, tribal magic, and just as in America, no X' Sheen, or Death Eater had been able to Apparate directly over. The route by sky and sea was similarly guarded by the American orbital platforms, and third, fifth and seventh fleets, its fusion powered aircraft carriers bobbing next to its magic powered dragon carriers.

Dumbledore had instantly known their exhaustion after Dobby had found him on his return to the castle. He had been operating out of this ancient fortress and school for almost his entire, long fight in Britain; it had been the last place anyone would think to look, as it was so obvious. Their fatigue was readily apparent, as he had been able to walk directly into the room without either stirring. A feat that would have been almost impossible, even if he were sneaking, had they been anywhere near normal. He had heard of what they had done last night and he wholly approved. Dumbledore had more than once thought of tearing down the prison himself.

He looked over as Harry blearily pried an eye open, then closed it just as rapidly. Eyes still closed, "wake me tomorrow" Harry murmured, and tightened his grip on his wife, who shrugged closer to him, not fully waking. Dumbledore smiled indulgently at the pair, then he stood, and raised his voice, "OK you can come in" The couple's eyes flew open as two pairs of thundering feet ran into the room, and stopped suddenly. Five feet from the couch, two pairs of green eyes, one set flecked with hazel, stood, staring at their mother whom they had not seen in over a year and a man that they had not seen since they were in preschool.

Slowly Harry and Hermione sat up, and looked over at their children, she bit her lip not knowing whether to laugh or cry as her daughter and son looked at her then at Harry and back. A long moment of silence fell, as in the background Ron appeared and leaned in the doorway, trailed by Luna, and his daughter, Harriet. He silently held out a hand to stop them from interfering, and looked over the tableau nervously.

Emilia looked at her mother, as if wanting to ask a question. Her finger idly twirled a curl of her bushy hair, while her other hand rested lightly on the hilt of a sheathed wand. Then with the same flash of fire that her mother's eyes held when she had been conned into doing something potentially dangerous by Ron or Harry, "Daddy?" she asked, softly, hesitantly.

"Em..." Harry replied quietly, his voice cracking. Then neither said anything intelligible as both children swept into their parent's arms, so fast that anyone else would have thought they Apparated there. His tears wetted her dark curls, while Emilia's dampened his chest. Horatio crowded in on one side, and Hermione wrapped her arms around them both from behind. "I'm so sorry..." Em made shushing sounds in response, once again reminding Harry of her mother, and he smiled.

******************************Astronomy Tower***************************

2pm

Harry stood looking out over the grounds, a view he had not seen for all these years. Far, far below, he could see the kids playing some game; Emilia and Harriet seemed to be teamed up against Horatio and Abigail Lupin, while Lupin and Tonks' other child, Xander sat under a tree with Elliot reading a large book and taking occasional notes. Over to the side, he could see Hermione, Tonks and Luna talking together; intermittently looking over at the kids to make sure too much damage wasn't occurring. He noticed that over by Hagrid's hut a single Thestral meandered out of the dark forest, and nosed up against the overgrown pumpkin patch. Harry sighed bitterly as he thought of Hagrid. Hagrid had came back to Hogwarts in Harry's first year teaching as a full time professor after a brief fling with Maxine, then had disappeared early in that week that everything fell apart. "Oi mate" Ron called as he came out onto the tower roof. He ambled over to Harry and propped his elbows on the parapet, and followed Harry's gaze out over the grounds. "We never found out, did we, bro?" Ron muttered, as he too looked at the ruins of Hagrid's hut.

Harry growled a bit, and never taking his eyes off the grounds or his kids, "Ron" he asked out of the side of his mouth, "What happened after..."

Ron made a small noise, and spoke, "After we got the kids back...we ran, there was no other word for it. Hermione, she got us back here, I still don't know how...Lucius may have given his word, but the Death Eaters didn't seem to have gotten the message. We got here and Dumbledore had already sent the staff and most of the house elves into hiding.

When we got here, Hogsmeade was already abandoned too. I remember when we all arrived; Dumbledore met us at the secret passage into our old headquarters and didn't even ask a question, he just levitated the kids to the infirmary. We held up for a day or so before we Portkeyed to the States. Dumbledore activated the defenses of this place, it never really fell." He frowned and looked down at his feet, "I guess they were better than those on the Ministry; it's just a hole in the ground now. The Americans dropped a nuke, I remember watching the announcement on the telly at Dumbledore's place. I forgot, that Portkey took us to some estate that Dumbledore owned in the States; he said it won it in a game years ago, and kept it 'cause he liked it. Said he enjoyed the horses, nice place outside Lexington, that's a city in Kentucky, that's in the States..."

"I know Ron" Harry replied tolerantly, an amused look decorating his eyes.

"Sorry about that, I didn't until we got there." Ron shrugged, "America's different, now...after Lucius took the rest of the world, that was kind of hard to hide from the Muggles, and after the Ministry was nuked the Muggles could see Dragons, Dementors and such. It seems that the old wards were centered there, and when it died, they died. Between the two, and the fact that the wizards and Muggles had to work together to keep from being slaves...they more or less get along." Ron chuckled at some random memory, "You know Hermione's theory; the one she wrote for her NEWT thesis?" Ron asked another laugh escaping his lips.

"Yeah Ron I even understand it...more or less" Harry replied as far below, Horatio knocked Emilia sprawling. She got up and started chasing Horatio, wand in hand. Merlin, I feel for him. He "heard" a giggle in his head and waved to the brunette standing next to the fuchsia-haired witch.

"Lucky you, I have enough problems living with a clairvoyant. Anyway about three years after that theory was published, turns out that it filled in the missing piece in several bits of Muggle 'science', she was invited to speak at a University there in Lexington. You should have seen the way she responded when some old bloke stood up and goes, and I quote, 'so basically magic is just physics'" He chuckled to himself, "I thought she was going to conjure an alligator and feed him to it. I think his name was Fagen or something. You know she picked up a couple more doctorates, one in Potions and one in DADA, she more or less did them to keep her mind off you...but Merlin...it was bad for all of us, but she..." Ron shrugged and turned from the grounds and stared back at the castle. He turned his head to look over at Harry, "She almost came after you, two, three times, even before she and Dumbledore cracked the potion to cure the kids. I could see it in her eyes, but otherwise, she wasn't all there, not all the time."

"You know the hell of it Ron?" Harry muttered, and before Ron could say anything, he continued, "You remember when I told you about when Umbridge and Fudge tried to take Dumbledore away in fifth year? He told them Azkaban couldn't have held him, only wasted his time. It was the same, I could have left, I probably wouldn't have destroyed the place on the way out, not alone anyway, but I could have left. I stayed 'cause I couldn't risk them," Harry waved over the grounds, and Ron knew he included his and Lupin's kids as much as Harry's own, "I knew that when Hermione solved the riddle, she would come for me. She said as much before I let them take me. That's the same promise she made when I had to go to the Dursleys that last summer, and she kept it then, I knew she would keep it again. Ron, she was the only one who never doubted me, never lied to me if she could help it at all...I mean I love you Ron, you were the brother that I never had, but even you doubted me for a bit..."

"Sorry about that mate" Ron murmured.

"Forget it, bro..."Harry broke off, then with a breath to settle his nerves, "what about the rest of the family, Ron? Hermione hasn't mentioned anything, or even thought about it, I can tell she's not even thinking about it on purpose."

Ron muttered something under his breath, and with a nervous gesture he pulled his wand from a holster along his leg and examined it minutely as he rolled it between his hands. Still not looking at Harry directly, "Mum and dad...they're alive. But they are both carrying guilty consciences about as wide as the Thames around. Dad still blames himself for the Ministry falling, and Mad-Eye dieing, thinks he should have done something else. And mum, mum still thinks that it was her fault that the kids got taken in the first place. Hermione has gone out of her way to let her know it wasn't her fault. The whole Ministry thing is moot though now...The Americans took out the place for good. There's actually a rumor that the Department of Mysteries survived the hit, though." Ron put in as an aside.

Harry looked tired at the news, Ron walked over and put an arm around his shoulder, "Sorry mate, for the rest of us it's an old hurt." Ron sighed, "Charlie was last seen in Romania, Bill and Fleur disappeared in France, they had Teresa and Andy with them." Harry grew progressively paler at the news, but motioned for Ron to go on, fortunately the remainder of the news was better. "Fred and George are both somewhere in London, Angelina and Alicia are back at the estate in Kentucky, they'll be here this week, both of them are preggers...again. I'm not totally sure how that happens, since they are always working." Ron laughed at another random thought, "It was funny when we would go out to town and we had this little group of British accents in the midst of all these American drawls. I don't guess you noticed that your daughter can drawl a British accent." Both Harry and Ron laughed; Harry had noticed the habit, but knew better than to comment.

Harry looked down at his feet, then at Ron standing next to him. Below, almost five hundred yards away, Hermione's head spun back to them as she could feel a decision being made, as if it were being written in fire in the very air. He turned to Ron, and Ron knew, as Dumbledore knew in the war against Voldemort, that the die had been cast. "Lupin and Sirius are coming back here tonight?" Ron nodded slowly, "Call the Order...all that survives, and that will come."

"Do you really wish that course, Harry?" Dumbledore asked quietly, he had just appeared on the rooftop, his robes like that of old; purple, today, topped with a soft squashy hat. The wind suddenly kicked up and whipped up Dumbledore's ropes, and Harry and Ron's hair.

"You fought the last three wars, I need your help Grandfather, but you are not obligated, you can stay here..." Harry replied calmly, evenly.

"Of course I will be at your side Harry." Dumbledore responded instantly, a slight glow lighting his eyes at the words.

"And me" Ron said somberly, his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"And me, Love" Hermione muttered, she had appeared next to Dumbledore, with no more noise than the breath of a ghost. She rushed over and threw her arms around Harry and he squeezed back, their thoughts racing back and forth.

"Harry...happy birthday" How about I show you just how happy it can be?

We do have years to make up for. Harry replied as Ron and Dumbledore discretely vanished. The wind whipped up her hair as she leaned in to nuzzle his neck. A flare of energy flashed and they vanished to reappear in their quarters. What about the kids?

Lock the door. Hermione's chocolate eyes darkened as Harry waved his hand in the general direction of the door. It flashed white and the door sealed with a loud squelch. A soft gasp escaped her lips as his fingers slipped under her shirt. Her small hands threaded themselves in his hair and pulled his lips to hers. A soft growl was heard as his tongue slipped past her lips. She smiled into the kiss as Harry unbuttoned her shorts and slipped them down her hips.

"No foreplay?" Harry growled as she nibbled his neck.

"I've been ready for this since I woke up." She replied and Harry laughed. Hermione snapped her fingers and Harry's pants vanished to join hers on the ground. Her back thumped softly against the wall as his hands crept down under her arse and lifted her up. Hermione's legs came up and wrapped around his waist as her hands cradled his face and pulled him to her. She let out a strangled moan as his tongue danced with hers.

Emerald and chocolate eyes met and flared blue; they fell into each other's thoughts. Harry staggered slightly as they tumbled onto the nearby bed. Hermione grinned saucily as she flipped them over on the bed so that she was smiling down at him. Harry grunted softly as she rubbed against him, and sat back to finally jerk off the t-shirt she had been wearing. Harry whimpered a bit as he was reminded afresh that she hadn't felt the need for a bra today.

Hermione captured Harry's hands and held herself up on them as he braced his elbows against the bed. Her heartbeat, or was it his, pounded in his ears as she slowly lowered herself. A purr of utter contentment came from somewhere in her chest as she sat motionless for a long, heart stopping moment.

Slowly, languorously, she moved. Still balancing herself on his palms as her hips rolled, Hermione leaned foreword to once more capture his lips. A curtain of hair hid their faces as they became one once more. "Ohhh..."

"Hermione...I..."

"Shu...shut up." She whispered harshly, "less talk..." Harry smirked slightly as he looked up to see the blue glow leaking from her half closed lids as soft, cat-like mews greeted his ears.

He could feel the quiver in her arms that signaled her readiness to let go, and knew that he wasn't far behind. One more bounce, two and she froze, shuddering, and he went with her an instant later as a wave of energy snapped out from them. Vases and glasses shattered and books fell to the floor with a clatter. Harry collapsed limply to the bed as Hermione fell on his chest with a sigh of happiness.

She smiled and kissed his nose, then his lips chastely as she snuggled into him. Harry swept her damp locks back from her eyes, which were brown once more. She glanced around the room at the destruction and laughed. "I thought we had stopped that when we were eighteen."

"Yeah...damn spontaneous energy releases." He replied with rolled eyes and she giggled. He turned serious for an instant, "I love you Hermione Potter...I can't tell you how much."

"More than anything Harry." She crooked a chestnut eyebrow as a sudden reaffirmation of his feelings became evident. "Well if you insist Mr. Potter."

"I do."

************************Gryffindor Common Room*************************

July 31, 2019

10:00pm

The cast assembled in the old Gryffindor common room this night was a varied lot, not that there was much choice. Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil and Cho Chang had arrived together; they had been with a resistance group out of Edinburgh. Fred and George Weasley had arrived only minutes after Ron's call. Malfoy's Death Eaters had learned to fear going into London in groups under twenty or so on their watch. Sirius, Lupin and Tonks next came in the room together, and claimed a couch. No one here yet knew the events of last night, but even with Malfoy's total control of normal news channels there had been rumors. The Creevy brothers arrived next, both looking terribly older, and tired. Finally Minerva McGonagall, Dumbledore and Cordelia came in the portrait hole together, accompanying Neville and Ginny who were leading an obviously weak Draco. Fred, George, Luna and Parvati all ran over to Ginny and gave her huge hugs. She smiled wearily at them as Fred and George waved her to a seat on the couch. Neville sat next to her. The pair next helped Draco to a seat beside them, the Weasley's mistrust of Draco had been burnt away, by almost thirteen years of his battling his own father, or being locked in an endless sleep in Azkaban for his actions. Cordy watched him be seated before crossing to Sirius and planting herself on his knee.

Harry and Hermione had yet to reveal their presence, both were watching, standing over to one side under Harry's infamous cloak with Harry holding her tightly from behind. With a slight smirk, that only he could see, Hermione mentally pointed him at Cho and Parvati whose joined hands seemed to indicate more than a platonic relationship, well that's new, she mused as she watched both of the girls look at Draco interestedly.

Harry returned a silent bark of laughter; I don't know what I should think about that...I guess she couldn't find anyone else that measured up...after me, so she had to get two. Harry teased, mischievously.

Bullocks, Potter, I know that she never...Hermione reached up and back and gave him a soft, undetected tap on the back of the head under the cloak, as they were quite practiced at much more aggressive movements under that cloak, it wasn't hard. I always did suspect Parvati and Lav, though.

Suspect, hell, Ron caught them once didn't we ever tell you? Hermione shook her head, I guess Ron was too busy with Luna and forgot. Harry felt the grin flit across her face, and he squeezed their joined hands under the cloak, Lets do this, Hermione. With a sharp, practiced move, Harry swept the cloak from them. "Hi guys," he said simply. Cho and Parvati gasped; while Ron just smiled, he knew they were there all along. Luna already knew as well, but it was just possible she could see though the cloak anyway. Fred and George sprung up and jumped the several feet, each grabbing them in a huge hug, trading for the other after a second. Sirius and Lupin already knew, they just nodded, but McGonagall's, McGonagall's reaction was classic. She turned and whomped Dumbledore aside the head, hard.

"ALBUS" she snarled in her burr, even as she was crossing over to Hermione, "you didn't tell me Harry was free and they were both back." Without waiting for a reply and while Dumbledore was still rubbing the back of his head, she grabbed Hermione in a crushing hug, the strength of which would have been surprising for any eighty year old, witch or not. After a minute and getting a murmured comment and nod from Hermione, she pulled Harry into a hug too. Tears were pooling behind her glasses, as she looked at them. Harry and Hermione, of all the students she had ever had, might as well have been her grandchildren. She had been at their wedding, she had carried them up to the head's chambers after the battle with Voldemort, had sat with Hermione after her parents were murdered, had watched Harry battle his demons after Sirius had seemingly died, and had watched the pair dance around their true feelings for years, before they finally admitted them in fire and blood. Hell, she grinned in her head, I probably was in the same room as more than one of their make-out sessions, knowing just how good they were with that cloak and silencing charms. And I of course knew they were living together for the last two terms of their schooling here.

Harry smiled at her, in his mind too, she had been almost a grandmother to Dumbledore's grandfather, though in that he really was. "I will answer all of your questions in a bit, but first Hermione and I ask for your indulgence. During the last war, I was kept in the dark for entirely good reasons, but in the end it cost us." Harry looked directly at Sirius when he said that last, and the animagus nodded in silent agreement. Harry glanced at Ron, Luna, Lupin and Tonks, and they all gave their agreement, with another series of silent, hesitant nods.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Get them" he said simply and watched as Dumbledore vanished silently. Harry sat down on the edge of the table; Hermione jumped up next to him, and rested their joined hands on his leg. Five minutes passed while some of them made small talk, then the portrait hole opened again, and the six youngest witches and wizards in the castle came in, hustled along by the man who hopefully would once again be their headmaster. Harry and Hermione shared a knowing glance, as all five of them sat down together, in a little pack, just like the Gryffindors they may yet become. After they had been settled, and most of the wizards and witches took a drink of coffee or coco, that Dobby had brought by, Harry swept his gaze over the lot and sighed. "Just as way of introduction, the six that just came in are Emilia and Horatio, my and Hermione's twins, Harriet Weasley, Abigail and Xander Lupin and Elliot Longbottom..."

The kids had each raised a slightly nervous hand at the introduction, and most of the adults had good-naturedly chuckled at their discomfiture, except Draco who just gave them a nod, and winced a bit, clutching his side. It turned out that Lucius had not been content to let him sleep, but had had him woken for periodic beatings. "As I said I was kept in the dark, by adults that I trusted to have the best intentions for me, and honestly, I feel that they had their hearts in the right place." He added consolingly to those few survivors of the old Order. "But I'm not going to repeat that mistake..." At the questioning glances he received with the words 'I'm', "yes...Albus has had to lead the fight against the Dark three times now."

"Harry, it was your abilities and those of your friends and family that defeated Tom in the end," Dumbledore demurred, though almost everyone present rolled their eyes, yes, Harry, Hermione and Ron, along with their friends had fought Voldemort and his minions in those pivotal battles first at Hogsmeade and then at Hogwarts a year later, but both times, Dumbledore had almost single-handedly held their flank, first against trolls and dragons at Hogsmeade, then against a almost hundred strong force of Death Eaters at Hogwarts.

"That would include you, you barmy old codger." Everyone including Dumbledore laughed, then with a small smile, "Honestly..." Hermione responded for the both of them, "Thank you, in case I haven't said it...for everything."

"It was nothing...granddaughter." Dumbledore replied with a slight case of the misty eyes. She nodded and the few that had never known of the familial relations in this room looked confused, someone would tell them, later, for now theirs was a war to handle.

"Seriously...thank you everyone," Harry said quietly, but every ear heard him. "Thanks to Ron to helping raise...grandfather...Minerva...everyone." He jumped up from the table and stated pacing, Hermione did not get up, but her eyes tracked him back and forth. "As of early this morning Azkaban is gone." There were excited murmurings at that, and at least one "ALL RIGHT!" From Sirius. Before that announcement, the only ones to know had been Ron, and Dumbledore.

"Mione and I dropped the dammed place into the sea." Further murmurings, along with several slightly shocked glances, that announcement was right up with 'a few trolls and a dragon' from Dumbledore at Hogsmeade in Harry's sixth year. Harry stopped pacing at glanced back at his wife; she gave him a reassuring glance so he looked back at the rest. "That was probably an over reaction on our part, or maybe not we're not yet sure. But in those years I was there I learned things, which I'm sure Lucius never meant for us to know. First and foremost, He and Tom and Grindelwald, they all seemed, from snatches of information from the older Death Eaters as guards, and when Malfoy would think he had tortured me unto unconsciousness, that they referred to a 'source' of their powers, that's the part I'm not sure of. I do know that they all seemed to get their powers from somewhere." Dumbledore nodded at this information, he had suspected something of the like for years. Second, Lucius' propaganda aside, he did not capture me. I gave myself to him." Cho, Parvati and Dean groaned in unison as he related that tidbit, most everyone else had known. "They had the kids. Our cover had been blown somehow..."

"Harry," Cho interrupted, a perplexed look on her face, "cover...I thought you all were teachers here when the fall happened. I was an Auror based out of the Hong Kong office, and I..."

At her confusion, Harry, Hermione, the Weasley's, Hermione and Draco all chuckled. Luna rolled her eyes at them, but grinned a bit shaking her head ruefully. Harry quickly acted to cut off Cho's hurt look, "Sorry Cho, we just can't believe that the cover still holds." She raised her shapely eyebrows in a mute question, "The Phoenix Group, Cho.... that's us, and about ten levels down, the headquarters are still there and functional."

"But that group, that was a myth, wasn't it? I mean you guys had..."

"All the toys, an unlimited budget and licenses to kill as MI-6 used to say. Yeah Cho we did, still do technically, though I'm not sure Fudge would recognize our charter any longer." Harry replied with an air of dark mirth. "We had Fred and George on gadgets, myself, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Ron, Luna, along with some others as field agents." Harry glanced over at Hermione who shrugged, he looked back at Cho and gave her a 'sorry' gesture with his hands, "You were actually scheduled to come in for an interview, Cho. Your work in Hong Kong was good. And from what I've heard from Ron and Sirius, your fight to make it back to Britain from Hong Kong, to fight in the resistance was a thing of legend."

Harry nodded to himself as she squirmed in her seat. "Lucius is right now wondering exactly what happened at Azkaban. By now, he should know the place is gone, but there were not any survivors from the Death Eaters as far as we know, some of the Dementors did get away of course, but we all know their loyalty to the current Dark Lord is problematic at best. None of them may have actually deigned to let him know yet. So just in case he doesn't know, I want to remind him." Harry paused once again as he looked over the assembled wizards and witches, his mind's eye filling in the absent friends and loved ones. Lavender, Seamus, Padma, Hagrid, Flitwick, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, Arthur, Molly... the list was long and tiring, not all of them were dead of course, Molly and Arthur were too old for this fight, and a few of the others were possibly still alive even, especially Bill, Hagrid, Charlie and Fleur, since no one had heard from any of them in nine years and no one had actually seen them die, but the chances were slim.

Harry looked down at his hands, and then growled slightly, as if he were in his animagus form. "Ok, Fred, George...the palace, Fudge and Malfoy are in it, in London?"

Fred glanced at his twin, they had just got beck from that beleaguered city, "Fudge yeah, Harry. He never leaves it any more, ever since he went out last summer to be among the people, and Malfoy had to call out his stormtroopers to save his little puppet. A mixed batch of Muggles and Wizards rioted, though anymore, Malfoy's started registering wands, and taking them away."

"Like any tyrant, he's afraid of the people..." Harry mused aloud, "Malfoy though?"

"Lord Malfoy if you will, Harry, mustn't be disrespectful" George said from the back of the room, and everyone laughed grimly. "He might be, but he seems to be held up somewhere else, most of the time. Easy to tell though, every time he's in there they fly the Death Eater flag above, why?"

Harry didn't answer, he looked at Cho and Parvati, "Ladies, how would you two fancy a bit of street work?" Hermione snapped her gaze over to him, and quietly moaned.

A/N: Next....back at it again...

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22. Good Morning

Once more, a splendiferous amount of thanks goes out to Lady Starlight for her work on this fic...and yeah, I still don't own anything...

Chapter 22: Good Morning

**********************London, Buckingham Palace*********************

August 2, 2019
1:00 am

The streets outside the palace were littered with vagrants, trash, and occasionally the bodies of dead animals, and at least one or two humans. A Muggle coming from the turn of the century would have thought he had been transported to some desolate, third world country. He would have been right. Since the fall of Muggle civilization, 2/3rds of the world had regressed into something from the middle ages. Technology either didn't work, or those bits that did work, such as combustion engines, might as well as not have, as any users were put to death on the spot. Electricity was a long gone concept, and any electronics if they had been there, would have been a joke. Of course across the ocean, Muggle technology, along with the new concepts combining Wizarding and Muggle technology were flourishing. There were even three large ships, launched just in case by the Americans, that were currently accelerating hard to get to a speed where they could activate their G-E stardrives, which were in reality, really, really big Portkeys.

But in London, one aspect of life remained that had been around for as long as there was civilization of any sort, whether it was the high tech/high Wizarding one across the ocean, or the tyranny over here. Many girls, and not a few boys, walked the streets in this neighborhood, their intentions and services, amply demonstrated to passers by. A pair of just such girls sauntered up to a pair of darkly cloaked Death Eaters who were on guard at an entrance to the palace, each puffing on a cigarette, jeering out at the working girls. "How much for you two?" the tallest of the pair called to the two approaching girls.

"It depends," the black-haired girl replied, she and her partner were both dressed in rather short, schoolgirl outfits. The brown-eyed, curly-haired redhead just smiled saucily at the pair as a ghost passed behind them, unknown and unseen.

Cho started in on a heated discussion of just what the pair could get for a sickle apiece, as the other girl stood back and listened to the voice in her and Cho's ear. "Mum would have really thought you look like her daughter now, Hermione," Hermione heard Ginny's voice in her ear courtesy of the two-way-wireless extendable ears. "Though I'm not sure that she would approve of the outfit."

Hermione smiled shyly at the smaller of the two Death Eaters, while Cho continued negotiations. She replied under her breath to the tiniest Weasley, "Why not Gin? This actually is one of my school uniforms."

"When you were bloody well twelve," Ginny shot back, and only the dint of long experience and the continuing slight edge of uneasiness between the sisters kept Hermione from laughing in return. "Or when you were shagging Harry in the Library."

"I heard that Furball," a calm baritone interjected, "and for the record, I rather enjoy that outfit." There was a smile heard in the words; then the words grew cool, "Leo's in play; get out of there." Cho having also heard on her channel immediately insulted the guard she had been discussing with, he grabbed for her, and she kneed him in the balls. He crumpled to the cracked pavement, as his partner laughed. Hermione and Cho quickly vanished around a corner, and then vanished entirely.

In a small anteroom just off of the service entrance, Harry looked up as the door eased open and closed without a visible cause. His wand flicked up and down just as fast as he recognized the presence behind it. He smiled tightly as an invisibility cloak was swept off and Hermione appeared. His fingers made an odd gesture near his ear and Hermione's did the same. "I wasn't kidding, I really like that outfit."

"I know," Hermione grinned at him as she quickly shed it. Harry waggled his eyebrows and laughed softly as she caught the black jumpsuit he handed her from his pack and slipped it on. She packed away her other clothes in a small conformal pack built into the suit and started tying her hair back. Her grin fell, "Harry."

"Yeah."

She finished stowing her gear and checked the fit of her wands in their sheaths and the sheath of her sword on her back. With a sharp breath, Hermione crossed the gulf between them, threw her arms around his neck and with the aid of black gloved hands that were lost to sight in his hair; she pulled him into a kiss, hard. A moment later, she pulled back a step, biting off a chuckle at the expression of longing in Harry's eyes. "Later. Careful Harry, I can't take another separation from you."

"That's why we are here together, remember?" he replied as he reached out and squeezed her hand for an instant. She nodded and like a cloud blocking the sun her expression blanked. Reaching back she pulled a tight hood over her head and vanished. The invisibility cloak had been the bellwether for vanishing in plain sight for a hundred years. The older Wizarding tech still had its advantages, for instance it could be stowed and used to conceal over any garment and could as Harry, Ron and Hermione had proven so often in their years at Hogwarts be used to camouflage more than one person. But it also had the disadvantage of getting caught on things and not being the easiest thing to fight in. The shadow suits that Harry and Hermione were modeling tonight, were as were many things, out growths of the twins' possibly, moderately, insane minds. The vanishing hats that they had designed all those years ago had been refined to these seek armored jumpsuits, which due to their Dragonhide and Kevlar inserts could deflect a great deal of damage as well as vanishing the wearer.

The door to the closet opened and closed silently as twin, silent gusts of air passed through.

***********************Several Hours Later*******************************

5:00 am

Cornelius Fudge stretched and glanced about the sumptuously appointed bedroom. The bed he was lounging on and had just slept the night away on, was gilt, the hangings around the large, antique four-poster were of the finest pre-fall silks as were the sheets and pillows. The environment he slept in and that he had had his entertainment in, before he sent them away last night, was of another world from the squalor that he championed during the day. During his first reign as Minister of Magic, he had been accused of corruption, malfeasance and other things, and he had been guilty, but that was nothing as it was now.

Now under his supervision, Death Eaters roamed the county, raping, killing and pillaging what little there was left, except for their small enclaves of purebloods, where nightly parties and society events showed their "superiority" to the common riffraff. His only concern or check was that Lucius Malfoy, his master, demanded that he kept control of the populace. Usually an easy enough job except for the few rogue wizards and Muggles that would occasionally try to stand up to a Death Eater patrol. Or that had been the case until a few nights ago, when at the same time, Azkaban had fallen, literally into the sea, and here in London ten Death Eater Patrols had almost vanished to a man. Each patrol, containing only one Death Eater when they returned if they were lucky, as a single Death Eater, walking alone in London, was just an invitation to mayhem. Each of the few survivors claimed under torture that they had been walking their patrol, when all at once they were utterly alone.

His master had denied that anything had happened at Azkaban, so Fudge stopped prying. He figured it was a failed experiment in Dark Magic by Malfoy. It certainly wasn't Potter, that poor bastard had been broken, and tossed in a cell to rot. I guess he's dead now. Fudge smiled a small little smile and got up out of the bed. He bent over to pick up a dressing robe, flicking the pink thong of one of last night's 'guests' off of it as he shrugged it on. Habitually, he was a politician after all; he looked across the room into a carved mirror perched on a beautifully carved, antique dresser, and with a look, he felt his stomach vanish. Slowly, very slowly, as if to verify the mirror wasn't lying to his shocked eyes, he turned and looked at the wall over the head of his bed.

Charred into the ancient wood and still smoking slightly, the dual symbols of the Phoenix and the Lion glared down at him. "GUARDS...GUARDS" he screamed, and after a long tremulous moment, he edged towards the door, his wand quavering in his hand. As he entered the antechamber, he found his door guard, dead, the man's head lying at an odd angle. Fudge sprinted out of the room screaming for the guards, and finding none to answer his call, but first one, then another and another, and another dead. He gulped as he recognized the effects of Severing Charms, Asphyxiation Curses, Bone Vanishing Jinxes and other curses he didn't even recognize. It was almost as if some past master of mayhem had not practiced in a while and had been trying things out to see if he remembered them. He trembled a bit more as he knew how light a sleeper he had become, and had never heard a thing, not a bloody thing.

***************************Hogwarts*************************************

August 4, 2019

4:00 pm

Ronald Weasley glanced up at the kids, where they were currently practicing their flying under his watchful eye. Soon after they had returned, most of the adults had decided that the kid's educations, both magical and Muggle must continue, so they were in effect in a mini-Hogwarts curriculum, they got out of Divination, History of Magic and Herbology though, though Neville was already clamoring to start that up as well.

As it was, the six children were getting the attention of some of the world's foremost experts in Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions, and definitely the world's greatest minds on the subject of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was exceedingly lucky, as they were up against the world's greatest practitioners of the Dark Arts. The kids even populated Gryffindor Tower, though the fact that each currently had their own rooms, left an empty feeling in his stomach. They had already had Transfiguration for almost two hours, with the undivided attention of Minerva McGonagall, a fate that Ron wasn't sure he was brave enough for, and he had gotten an E on that subject in his NEWT. They then had immediately progressed to another two hours of Potions, which today was actually under Draco who for safety, he claimed, had had the class in the Dungeon. It was their last class of the day before this, their DADA class, which had shocked them; Ron had seen it in their eyes when they came out. The six, especially Emilia and Horatio had gone into the class, expecting, well they hadn't gotten what they had expected as they came out drained and tired, and truth be told, a little fearful.

Harry had not taught their first year DADA class as he had his first first-year class all those years ago, when he had been Head Boy. Ron, Hermione and Luna had all stood at the rear of the room, each under a Disillusionment Charm, as Harry laid it out. Ron still could hear the words.

****************************DADA #2***********************************

Three hours previous.

Emilia, Horatio and Harriet were chatting back and forth, tossing a miniature quaffle they had found earlier in their tower dorm to each other as they spoke. Abigail was sitting next to Harriet, she was watching them as she jotted down something from their Potions class this morning; or rather she was doodling a picture of Draco on a spare scrap of parchment. Xander, as usual had his head in a book, his lips moving as he read some passage. With Elliot, as was often the case, just taking every thing in with a thoughtful expression coloring his face. With a slight gust of wind, a dark cloaked figure swept in and stopped, leaning against the teacher's desk at the head of the room, his arms crossed, a wand held in his right hand. The kids glanced up at him, and Emilia even gave him a wave, he just glared. She bit her lip nervously at that, and to Ron and Hermione, hidden at the rear of the class, they could see the spike of pain that caused in Harry, but he said nothing. After a minute of silence, "EXPELLO" a silver bolt snapped out and blew Abigail's parchment across the room, the banishing spell, missing her by a mere hair.

His eyes hooded, he regarded the students, not a peep came from them as he began to speak slowly and distinctly, no emotion in his voice, "Normally, this class begins with, hi I'm Professor Potter, how are you? Today we will learn a spell, class. However, there is no time for that foolishness, not anymore. You are here because there are people out there who will kill you, they will hurt you; they will hurt and kill your friends and family. And I am sorry to say because of an accident of birth, you have been forced into the midst of another cycle of this war that has been raging with various Dark Lords in charge for the last hundred years." Harry looked at the six and nodded, turning away as if to get something off the desk. Damn it Mione, I can't do this...I'm not Snape, he wailed in his thoughts, as many years of practice barely sufficed to keep the emotions off his face.

You have to Harry, she murmured back, but Harry could tell she didn't really mean that either or rather she did, but couldn't hardly stand it either.

Screw this love; I have to cut a middle ground. He could feel her frown, but in the end she silently agreed. Harry's stern expression fell a bit, and he leaned backwards and perched on the edge of the desk. Emilia looked up hopefully, and was rewarded with a microsecond smile. "Sorry guys, but I'm not kidding, at all. In a way, I think this puts it forth better than the last, sorry about your parchment Abigail." Harry flicked a wand over at the board and on it a screen dropped down. With another wand flick, a picture of 2005 London appeared. The photo was full of Muggles, their cars and motorbikes. A familiar witch was waving from the photo, that day with bright pink hair, and undoubtedly many additional wizards going unknown about their business in the background.

"This was London, as it appeared as I was about to enter my seventh year here. Yes, Abigail, Xander, that is your mother and yes Emilia and Horatio, your mother was taking the picture. They were out doing some shopping." From the rear of the room, Harry felt the shadow of an old pain, sorry, he apologized, and he felt her shrug it off.

"That was then, this is now," Harry flicked his wand again, and another picture appeared, this one dark and cold. There were cars in this picture, though most were ruined hulks, and you could tell several people were living in the immovable vehicles. There were people too, but most of them were vagrants, half-dead prostitutes on their rounds, and in the center, caught in the act of pushing around a girl not much older then the kids in the room, a squad of Death Eaters. "That was two days ago."

The kids looked shocked, they had not seen any of this post fall London. They had not left Hogwarts since arriving via clandestine portkey from the States, and had stayed here with Dumbledore and McGonagall while the rest went to London for Harry's little visit. "Kind of different from what Hermione and Ron have told me life is like in the States, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically, and getting no response and expecting none, he flicked his wand again, and a darkly cloaked figure appeared, the man had his hood thrown back to reveal a haughty expression, pale, almost white-blond hair, a long straight nose and pointed chin, and a dark look in his gray eyes.

"That is Lucius Malfoy. Or as he would like to be known now, Lord Malfoy the restorer, though I really don't know why he would want that moniker, or exactly what he thinks he is restoring. Arsehole, scumbag, I give him those." As one the kids giggled, and Harry cracked his first real smile. "Ok come up here," Harry waved at the rear of the class, and as one, three figures faded into view, Hermione came and propped up next to her husband on the desk, while Ron and Luna leaned against the wall.

"Due to the subject matter of the class, in this topic you will have the greatest supply of teachers, depending on whether or not we are busy with something else, you may have myself, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Lupin, Tonks, heck we might even con Sirius into teaching a class. But I feel that I must impress this on you, now matter what you hear about my exploits when I was young, I was lucky; then it came back to bite me in the arse. You are here to learn, more or less, how to defend yourself, that's it. If the Death Eaters come in that door tomorrow, you run...you don't fight," Harry looked over at them, and knew in his heart that he was probably wasting his breath. He had already heard from Hermione, and explored enough of her memories of the past seven years, that his kids at least, probably had the best and worst qualities of their parents, including a penchant for trouble, and an almost suicidal allotment of courage.

Hermione glanced over at him then back at the kids, "Harry is not kidding. If you have any doubts corner Cho, Sirius or Lupin or maybe Fred or George, they have been fighting these...people for the last few years non-stop, they will let you know how it is. It is my fervent hope that none of you ever have to deal with the dark, but just in case, remember, what you learn here, indeed in any of your classes may save your bum on some dark street."

She paused and looked out the window for a moment before looking back at them, "Honestly you have an advantage, especially if you get time to really learn, from what I've heard and seen, magical training since the fall is pitiful. Almost none of the Death Eaters patrolling the streets would have held a candle to the average DA member in my fifth year here and they have all theoretically been fully trained." Harry couldn't tell if she was more peeved about the abysmal state of the average Death Eater's education and skills or the fact that they held 2/3rds of the world in thrall. "All that means is that you better learn, and since there is only six of you for now and about twenty or so people to teach you..."

*******************************Hogwarts*******************************

Current

Yep Ron thought as he looked up at Horatio weaving between the towers of the castle, being followed closely by Elliot, they had the law laid down, and I've never seen a DADA class where the stunner was introduced the first day, but the devil drives the details. As he was looking up, Emilia landed softly next to him, swiftly followed by the rest of the class. From almost twenty years of knowing her mother, Ron knew that Emilia, and probably by default, the rest of the kids had a question that they wanted answered.

Emilia looked at him, the hazel flecks in her green eyes flaring in time. Ron recognized the look as he had spent a year training the kids in what he could, as they were coming into their powers. Harry had been able to go directly to the stunner as Ron had already taught them the disarming charm, and many other spells and skills. "Uncle Ron" She said, and five pair of eyes looked up at him. "Tell me the truth, just what did mum and dad do, before that is, I bloody well know that they weren't simple professors, like mum said when I asked her a few years ago.

Ron sighed as he saw his own daughter dieing to ask the same question, though of him. "Well Emilia we were...but that wasn't everything we were. After your dad defeated Voldemort, out over there," Ron waved in the general direction of the lake and the ruins of the chamber under it. "Dumbledore did indeed hire us on as Professors, however that was our day jobs. Basically what happened was we failed," the bitterness was ample in his voice with those last words. All six kids looked up at him quizzically, "It was our jobs, to make sure another Dark Lord didn't arise. Turns out Malfoy had been planning this since the first time Harry defeated Voldemort." As one the kids turned to each other, each thinking maybe we do need History of Magic. "He had been putting his tendrils into everything, from Fudge, to Wizengamot members...to who knows. We might have been able to handle that, except, very soon after Voldemort...was defeated..."

"You mean Dad killed him" Horatio put in impatiently, instantly reminding Ron of Hermione. "Honestly, Uncle Ron, we are eleven."

Ron nodded and touched his head as if signaling a point in a duel. "Ok yes, Horatio, after your father cut Riddle's head off, yeah." To his slight dismay, none of the kids really turned green at that, Harry must have really made them realize what they were in now. "After Voldemort was killed, there was a lull, for about three months after there was very little Dark Activity. Your parents and I were working undercover and they had taken in a Death Eater to the Ministry when out of the blue, a new group of blokes attacked. We found out later that they were the progenitors of the Dementors, remember them?"

Ron received a sextet of slow nods in return; "They showed up and attacked a party I was at with some friends, those friends I showed you on that plague in the hall on the second floor. Parvati's sister and a very dear friend of mine died that night, along with several other good friends that Harry and I had lived with for seven years. After that, the war went underground, we got some of them; they got us, until they hit us all at once. I guess Malfoy had been waiting for years for his chance. He set up events so as to lead us to doing exactly what he wanted. Mum, never has really forgiven herself for what happened."

"For what?" Abigail asked puzzled. She played with a lock of long hair and watched absently as it changed color from jet-black to fiery red. Next her, her older brother rolled his eyes at her before he turned back attentively to Ron.

"Because, in a way that event was what brought the downfall, at least here anyway," Ron shrugged at their questioning looks. "Lucius Malfoy was not Tom Riddle. Even assuming that he did get his powers from somewhere as you heard the other night if you were paying attention, he had not had time to develop them. So he bought himself some time. You understand, we had been after Malfoy for years, quite apart from the obvious of him trying to be the next dark lord, your mother and father, Emilia, Horatio, have issues with him, even more intense than most here. I will have to have you ask about that from them. OK?" The twins nodded and Ron nodded with a half-arsed smile. "But to gain himself time, he raided the Burrow at its weakest, back then at times there would be fourteen, fifteen of us, plus whatever security detail dad would have had. But as it was, Malfoy somehow found out that Mum was there for a couple of hours, with just her, you six and four Aurors outside. Lucius left her alive so we would know that he had you. Lucius demanded that Harry surrender himself to him, and he did, of course. We got you back, but as a way to keep Harry and Hermione, and maybe Dumbledore out of the fight, he had dosed each of you with a Potion that had no cure, or at least he thought. But you all know about that don't you?" At that Ron received another six identical, slow nods.

"So you all were Wizard policemen, umm Aurors?" Emilia said.

"Not quite. At least not totally. I mean we had Auror badges." Ron glanced down at his watch, "Actually its better if I just show you. Come on, you can leave the brooms." Ron swept off towards the castle, the kids in trail. Ron climbed the marble stairs, climbing and climbing until he reached the seventh floor hallway opposite an old tapestry.

With a finger to his lips, Ron opened the door that was already manifested in the wall, and stepped through. In a comfortable chair near the door, Albus Dumbledore sat, a mug of tea in his hand. Next to him, leaning against a wall, Remus Lupin stood next to his wife, all of them watching though what appeared to be a clear wall of some sort. Beyond the wall a matched pair stood, a pair of matched swords held in their hands. Remus looked over at the kids, then after a moment nodded, accepting the enviable. "It's ok, you can talk, they know you are here of course, they can probably sense your magic across the castle. The Potter kids shared a look at that, they knew from reading their mother's books what that meant, and they knew quite well that their parents were wizards...but that was almost unheard of, why that was...as one they turned to Dumbledore, and with that realization and Lupin's next words, they finally realized what they were up against, "Yeah, that is what you are up against, at the top."

In the main part of the Room of Requirement, the pair had indeed sensed that their progeny come into the part of the room portioned off as an observation gallery. Well Harry, I guess Ron wanted to give them a show.

Let's give them one then. Harry replied, and with a breath the clock stopped ticking, for them anyway. The Ravenclaw sword snapped in at his left, he blocked it one handed and sprung away, using the power of her strike as propulsion, he snapped a return stroke at her head, then another at her side. Both of which she blocked as if she knew they were coming. She spun and ran full tilt at a wall, Harry in pursuit, their forms blurs to all but Dumbledore in the gallery. She ran up the wall, flipping back over Harry just as he swung, the blade passing under her feet. Hermione landed behind him and snapped a downward cut, Harry blocked the attack, and spinning, swung hard at her but once again he missed as she flipped backwards and SHIFTED, the eagle flew away at a rate entirely too fast for any normal eagle, SHIFTING back, she snapped a quick stunner at his back, only to have it whine off into the ceiling via a hasty shielding charm.

Harry looked up at her, smiled coldly and SHIFTED. The great black lion bounded, once twice, thrice, and was knocked sprawling though the air, with a wave of Hermione's hand. Harry should, by all rights have hit the wall, but an instant before impact, the lion vanished, only to reappear in human form, next to Hermione, his sword already coming around to her throat, his wand already pointed between her eyes. At the same instant hers followed a reciprocal course. In less than a heartbeat, two thousand year old blades quivered at two throats, and two wands, one phoenix feather, one dragon-heartstring; were poised, tips glowing.

Back in the observation room, Lupin chuckled as Ron just shrugged at him. The kids, especially the Potters stood gap-jawed at what they had just seen. They had grown up around wizards all of their life, but...finally Horatio looked up, "they're Animagi?" He asked, a little stupidly, especially as he already knew they were.

Lupin laughed, "Aye they are, in addition to being faster and stronger, able to perform a great deal of magic wandlessly, if necessary..."

"Well actually Harry is still kind of weak on wandless transfiguration," Ron put in a mock-thoughtful voice. "And I don't think either of them can fly without a broom, as humans that is..."

"Yes there is that." Lupin quickly agreed, then with a final laugh, then his expression turned more or less serious as he turned from the window, where Harry had summoned a towel and chivalrously offered it to Hermione, to the twins. "Actually your parents are the two surviving Heirs of Hogwarts, with all the powers that entails. And in addition to that, they each have their own peculiar abilities. The Animagi thing isn't really all that uncommon around here, lets see, there's me...technically," at their confused look, "I'm a Werewolf, more or less, but I have control over my changes, thanks once again to your parents."

He looked over at Harriet, "and of course both of your parents and your aunt Ginny and your uncles Fred and George, and Minerva, and Dumbledore? Are you?" Dumbledore smirked, but did not answer. "And Sirius too of course. Tonks is an Metamorphmagus, as you obviously know son, daughter." As he addressed his own, Abigail smiled and changed the color of her hair again. "And what else?" Lupin mused, a half grin on his face, "Oh yeah, Luna is a Clairvoyant, but like most, she has to keep her talent under a relatively tight reign most of the time, and Ron has a touch of Seer, but its pretty well limited to foreseeing strategies. There were more of us, once. It was amazing the amount of talent that was squeezed in a twenty year slice of time here at this old place."

*************************DADA Professor's Quarters************************

8:00 pm

Harry was sitting on an old, slightly decrepit couch that looked as if could be and probably was the old couch from the Gryffindor common room, staring into the fire that was burning for purely sentimental reasons. The DADA professor's quarters were as they had been before the fall. The room was decorated in Gryffindor colors, portraits of Harry and Hermione's parents on the wall above the fireplace. The room defiantly showed the character of its inhabitants, bookshelves covered almost every wall, stocked with everything from old Sci-Fi paperbacks by Heinlein to many, many reference works on DADA, Charms, Potions; Quidditch...to at least five different editions of Hogwarts a History. On a small table to one side, a two-tiered rack held the paired blades of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and in the corner a pair of well kept but well used Firebolts were propped.

Hermione was sitting at a small writing desk, looking over reports from various resistance cells in and about Great Britain. She made notes with a quill made from one of Hedwig's tail feathers as she perused Fred's scrawled writings. Over in the corner, the aforementioned owl slept on a stand. The half-kneazle lay on the edge of Hermione's desk, enjoying an occasional rub, as Hermione would turn a page. A soft knock rang at the door and Hermione looked up, an eyebrow crooked. Harry just shrugged. "Who is it?" Hermione shouted at the door.

"Us mum." A familiar voice came from behind the door. With a small shrug Harry got up and opened the door. Emilia and Horatio followed him back into the room, each dropping into a chair across from the couch. Hermione got up and walking around the couch, dropped next to Harry, "What's wrong dear?" Hermione asked, a touch nervous for some odd, undefined reason.

"Mum, Dad" Horatio piped up, glancing at his twin as he did so, "Uncle Ron, mentioned some thing about Malfoy...said you had other issues with him, before." The twins sat quietly, totally unlike themselves as they looked at each other.

Well, Hermione...we really don't have to tell them.

Of course we do.

I meant you don't, I can handle this. Harry's thoughts were colored with concern. But Hermione shook her head with only the slightest twinge of regret.

Hermione's hand fell to his, and without an actual command from either of their brains, her fingers interweaved with his. She smiled rather bleakly, "Yes, your father and I had...issues with Draco when we where in school."

"We meant Lucius, mum" Emilia responded, with a slight roll of her eyes. "Though, now that I think of it..." she shook her head, "why does Lucius hate us so much?"

"A whole bunch of reasons honey," Harry replied tiredly, "but mostly because our family is the biggest impediment to his rise to power. He hates the Weasleys and they hate him, he hates Draco because Draco came over to our side during the war while we were all still here in school. He hates your mother and I because we put him into Azkaban and unmasked him as a Death Eater...and for other reasons."

"But dad," Horatio chimed in, "that's why he hates you or rather us, I guess, but why, besides he's evil, which I guess is enough, do you..."

Harry sighed, "Em, Horry, Lucius Malfoy killed your mum's parents, Vernon Dursley, and probably Mad-Eye himself, along with his forces killing many of our friends. The twins exchanged a look, but the revelation wasn't really a surprise. "Its time that we told you what really happened in the wars..."

A/N Duh, Duh, Duh.....Next chapter a small...party? And That kooky Dumbledore, what will he think of next...

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23. A Night on the Town

A/N: I know it's been a while, sorry, RL has been heck. Many thanks to Lady Starlight for her help on this fic.

Chapter 23: A Night on the Town.

*********************SG-1 Headquarters, Hogwarts Dungeon*****************
August 9, 2019

With an annoyed jerk, Harry pulled his glasses off his face and tossed them roughly to his desk. His fingers massaged the bridge of his nose absently as he slumped into his chair. His shoulders slumped, then as small hands suddenly started massaging his shoulders softly, Harry let loose a small moan as his tense deltoids started to unwind. "What's wrong?" Hermione whispered as she came around from behind his chair and perched on his desk facing him.

Harry waved at the papers littering the desk, at the data crystals and assorted reports enumerating the efforts of the resistance in occupied England and Europe. He flicked his fingers and a stack of data crystals discussing the contributions of the free allies sailed into a small box and closed themselves in a drawer. "What are we doing Hermione?" Harry said, his green eyes dull. His hand shook slightly as he reached for a cup of coffee.

Hermione's hand intercepted his, her right held his left steady as her other hand came across and took the cup from his hand. Her eyes met his as she slowly held the cup up for him. Humoring her, Harry took a sip. "Harry, you can't keep up at this pace love...you just got out of..."

"Cause I screwed up again."

Hermione glared at him, before shaking her head, her eyes softened as she looked down at him, "no Harry, not because you messed up." Harry shook his head, not agreeing, but not wanting to argue with her. He never would again if he could help it at all. In an effort to forestall more words, he scanned the folders lying open on his desk. A smile, a dark mischievous smile lit his eyes as he read the header of one report from Fred and George on the activities of the Pureblood society crowd in London.

"Mione," Harry asked as he levitated the folder into her hands, "do you remember Berlin?" She read the header, and glanced at a picture of the Death Eater field commander for Scotland. Brown eyes came up to his, and her lips twisted in a small, twisted grin that caused his heart to flutter.

"I think I have the perfect dress."

***********************London, Minister's Palace***************************

August 10, 2019
8:15 pm

For the second time in less than two weeks, Hermione Potter's hair was red. Deep red curls were piled on the top of her head, with a few loose tendrils falling loose to frame her face. Emerald green eyes smiled up at Harry, as he held out a hand to help her from the carriage. White teeth flashed in a grin, and then captured her lower lip, as Harry tucked her arm into his. Together they walked towards the entrance of Fudge's residence. Rumors had escaped of the events of the second, and like any politician his first priority was appearances. He must show that he was in total and utter control. So, to show that he was, he threw a party.

Harry returned the tiniest of winks as he stepped between a pair of masked Death Eaters guarding the door. In deference to Hermione, he had taken her eye color today. His hair was a light sandy color, though no possible amount of magic could actually tame it. With a temporary spell on his eyes to correct for his nearsightedness and a glamour hiding his scar, no one who casually knew Harry would think it was he. After all, why would Harry and Hermione Potter just casually stroll into the largest gathering of Death Eaters in London?

As they entered through a brightly lit archway, they stepped into a large, open ballroom. Deeply polished hardwood floors passed under their feet, and chandeliers of enchanted crystal softly swept through the colors of the rainbow above their heads. They strode though the midst of tables set elegantly with white linen, and burdened with the "elite" of English Society, or at least whom Malfoy considered the elite. A curious thing had happened when the Ministry fell all those years ago, it seems that the ranks of the Pureblooded had vastly increased. Malfoy had elevated individuals and whole families to the ranks of the Purebloods. At the same time, those such as the Weasleys who had fought against him; were declared tainted, equal to Muggles. Of course, as there was in all struggles of this type, the ones in between, the individuals and families who did their best to stay out of the struggle. Who might hate and despise the Death Eaters, the roving werewolf packs, the Dementors, the X'Sheen and most especially their leader, but not enough to risk their lives and the lives of their families.

Looking around Hermione, Hermione saw Fudge standing, talking to a pair of young witches, one blond, one brunette that looked as if, if they tried real hard, could maybe figure out how to tie their shoes. Hermione turned to Harry, their eyes exactly level in the short heels she had on. He carefully didn't smile as her currently emerald eyes flicked up towards the heavens for just a second. I would make a blond joke about the one on the left, but that would insult just about anything I could think of, including blond ferrets...and I don't mean Draco.

Yeah, Mione. Fudge looks awfully happy for someone who woke up just the other day with a flaming copy of the house crest above his bed. Harry gave her tiniest of grins, more of a wrinkling around the eyes than anything. He took a plate from a sideboard and started filling it from a groaning buffet. All this, and half a mile from here...

Yeah, but those people didn't sell their souls to Lucius, Harry. Hermione replied in a silent growl. She glanced up at Fudge once more, Back to work love...Fudge can answer for his sins later, I promise you. Her eyes flickered for an instant, and Harry nodded.

"Hello there." Cornelius Fudge said brightly as his eyes obviously took in Hermione, only barely flitting over Harry before returning to her. He smiled as he took in the jet-black, fitted dress; held up with only a thin pair of straps, with a slit up one leg all the way to her hip on the right. A thin black garter was visible on her leg as she moved slightly and extended her hand demurely. Fudge brushed his lips against her knuckles, and Harry repressed a shudder...and the sudden desire to start to experiment with new and interesting curses. "I don't believe that we have met, my lady?"

Hermione graced him with a smile, "Adrienne...Adrienne Weber," she said, her soprano slipping into the upper class accent of her youth without a thought. She waved vaguely towards Harry, "this is my companion Reginald Saganami-Flint"

"AH, Yes, the Webers and the Flints" Fudge commented airily, "both upstanding families with the proper, outlook, on the roles of Wizards and lesser folks in society." He turned to Harry, "Flint, eh...any relation to Marcus Flint?" Fudge inquired.

"Distantly I am afraid." Harry responded, his voice adopting an accent totally unlike the tone of his youth, of a life spent with the Dursleys, who despite their dreams, had been anything but upper class. "And your companion?"

Fudge looked briefly embarrassed, and then recovered, "My apologies, this is Deraus Smythe, he is my personal assistant." Deraus nodded. Fudge engaged in some small talk, until with a muttered excuse, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him to the dance floor.

Harry smiled as her arms came up to his neck, her elbows resting on his collarbones. He reciprocated immediately as his arms dropped low on her waist. Harry! Hermione giggled silently as his fingers dipped a bit lower for an instant. They moved slowly together, their eyes never leaving each other's. They danced for one, then a second song, never even bothering to stop dancing. The room faded away, the Death Eaters, the society snobs, even the poor bedraggled house elves that were silently and cringingly serving the guests, were less than shadows to them.

"That was fun last night." Hermione whispered. "I am still a touch sore though."

"We aim to please." Harry murmured back as they spun, through the midst of the dancers. "That little yipping noise is new...excited much?"

"Well we do have years to make up for." Hermione replied. Her eyes danced, and even though the color was his, for the moment, his stomach hiccupped. She opened her mouth, but was suddenly interrupted as a voice, in which they could actually hear the twinkle from almost the entire length of the island away murmured in both of their ears through the tiny communication beads both had inserted into their ear canals.

"Um. As interesting as the bedroom adventures of my grandson are..." Dumbledore said over the wireless from his office in Hogwarts, "you are supposed to be working." He managed not to chuckle too much.

Hermione checks flushed red; she dropped her face to the shoulder of Harry's dress robes to hide the sudden blush. "We're on comms still aren't we?" She asked unnecessarily.

"YES" Ron, Ginny, Lupin, Tonks and Sirius all replied as one over five more sets from their hidden locations in the surrounding area. "So Hermione," Tonks asked in a feigned, husky voice, "what noise was that?"

"There's our target." Harry mentioned almost casually, both to stop this train wreck before it started and for the odd, strange reason that he actually had spotted his target.

Gregor Anderson strode into the room. The field commander for Lucius' efforts to finally subdue Scotland and consolidate his hold on the British Isles looked tired as he talked to a short blonde witch next to the robe clad orchestra. The music swelled as he led her onto the dance floor. The stout wizard led the small witch roughly, stepping on her toes at least twice as Harry watched. Hermione winced against Harry's shoulder as he did it once again. We're on. Hermione commented, and Harry returned the slightest of nods.

Absently, Harry led Hermione in their dance over next to Anderson. They danced next to the mismatched couple, for another song, until the orchestra stopped. The dancers drifted off the floor, vaguely towards the tables and buffets. A few of the guests started to cluster together, to talk about how beautiful their gardens were in their country manors, the Quidditch season, Malfoy had forced several teams to play for his followers entertainment, and how utterly horrible their lives were as they were inconvenienced as they might have a shortage of tea. A scraggly house elf levitated a tray full of flutes of champagne past them, and Harry grabbed a pair and handed one to Hermione.

Her eyes flicked sideways as Anderson's dance partner left attached at the arm of a tall, dark haired man in the robes, but not the mask of a Death Eater. Her eyes grinned up at Harry as they drifted vaguely towards Anderson. Mione, Harry whined silently, why am I always the one that this happens to? Why not Draco or Ron? You like hitting Draco...you're good at it.

Because, you probably would curse them if they danced this close to me...and if they said what you are about to. Ready?

I guess, Harry sighed, "Bookworm is in play." He said in a whisper that only carried to Hermione's ears, and the others on the wireless ears. He heard an affirmative from Lupin. Hermione's eyes were on Anderson; she caught the wizard's eyes and gave him a bright smile. Harry growled at her, and snarled something quietly.

"What...HOW DARE YOU." Hermione snapped, and as every eye in the room looked to them...CRACK. Her hand snapped across Harry's cheek, leaving a bright red hand mark on his face. Sorry Love, I'll make up for it tonight. She stalked off, leaving Harry standing, seemingly dumbfounded in her wake. Her path seemed to randomly cross Gregor's she turned back for an instant, and still walking forward crashed into Anderson, her loosely held champagne flute emptying down his front.

"Oh...My." Hermione squeaked, her face growing red. "I didn't see you there."
"I gathered." Anderson replied dryly. A moment later his front was dry as he flicked his wand over his robes. "It looks as if your companion is somewhat annoyed." Hermione glanced back at Harry, who was glaring at the pair of them.

"He gets that way, I don't know why I agreed to come here with him." Hermione agreed, and turned back to Gregor and extended her hand, "Adrienne Weber."

Anderson took it, and brushed his lips across her knuckles, as before with Fudge, Harry repressed a shudder and Hermione had a brief, nauseous sensation. "Gregor Anderson, I am head of Operations for Scotland for Emperor Malfoy." His words weren't quite boasting.

"Charmed," Hermione replied and glanced back, quickly at Harry. He had his arms crossed and continued to glare at the back of her head. She glanced to Anderson. She looked slightly embarrassed. "Look can we get out of here, he'll be like that all night." She smiled at him, with a look that promised...something. Suddenly unable to speak, Anderson led her to a small side door. They went through it, into a small ornate hallway. After passing five or six doors, he bowed her into a darkly paneled room and eased the door shut. It locked with a soft click and he pocketed his wand.

The room was a library of sorts; a large desk sat at one end a huge chair behind it. Several other comfortable lounge chairs and a large leather couch provided the seating. Shelves lined the walls, filled with leather bound tomes. Hermione walked to the shelves and ran her fingers along the bindings. Her eyes grew dark as she turned to Gregor. In a rush she was across the room. She roughly grabbed Gregor and pushed down onto the couch. Before he could utter a word, she was straddling him, pushing him further into the cushions. Almost purring Hermione nuzzled his, neck. Her left hand inched up until it was tangled in his hair, while the other slipped down, and eased under the thigh of her dress.

A blur of steel whirled around her right hand as she jerked his head back, and a five-inch balisong blade nicked the skin of his throat. "Don't make a sound." Hermione growled lowly. Behind her, the door clicked open and Harry eased in. His fingers flicked and the walls lit with a brief, white flash. Hermione stood from the shocked Death Eater and froze him with a gesture.

Gregor watched helplessly as Hermione turned her back to him, sauntered over to Harry and flung her arms around his neck. Her hands fisted in his hair as their lips met and tongues dueled. Harry staggered back a step. They broke for air as Hermione stepped back and crossing to a chair, sat in it facing Gregor. She crossed her legs, exposing a great deal of leg as her right rested on top. She leaned back and flicked her fingers at Gregor.

Harry leaned against a shelf next to Hermione's chair, crossed his arms and glowered. He was very good at glowering after all. A blue flash flickered in his eyes, and his hair grew dark. As the blue faded, his eyes returned to their brilliant green. He smiled darkly at Gregor as his scar faded back into view and the Death Eater swallowed heavily.

Hermione's now chocolate eyes were hard as she looked across at their target. She regarded him silently for a long minute, then in a soft, toneless voice, spoke. "In the old days, we would have arrested you. Now...I'm afraid that the options for you are more, shall we say extreme." Her eyes bored into his. Her mind stretched out, her probe instantly hitting a mental wall. She raised an eyebrow, her eyes flickered and the wall shattered. A cascade of images flooded her mind, and an instant later she smiled as "Interesting..." she turned to Harry. "He's keeping the prisoners at their little school."

"Potter..." Gregor said disbelievingly, finally, "You're dead."

Harry stood and walked over, he leaned over the back of his wife's chair until his eyes were level with Gregor's, "No," he replied flatly, "no I am afraid that your master's wet dream hasn't come to pass." He stepped back and waved his hand. Anderson flew across the room, to land splayed against a wall. He struggled, but an invisible, irresistible force held him spread-eagled about three feet off the ground. "We're not going to kill you, or even Obliviate you." Harry mentioned casually, almost as if he were merely discussing the weather for a pickup Quidditch game. "On the contrary..." His eyes glowed softly as an invisible wind snuffled every candle and lamp in the room. Plunged into darkness, Gregor could only see two pairs of glowing blue orbs. "Tell your master that his greatest mistake was to ever come after my family...I would suggest that we never meet again." The orbs vanished without a sound and a moment later the lights returned.

The room was empty, other than the frozen Death Eater, still pinned to the wall like a fly in amber.

**************************Dumbledore's Office, Hogwarts********************

August 15, 2019

5:15 pm

"Thank you all for joining me." Dumbledore said politely, nodding to each of his guests in turn. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Luna were sharing a couch to one side, Harry petting Fawkes who had come over to see old friends. Minerva was sitting in one of the normal guest chairs while Lupin, Tonks and Sirius were occupying the couch opposite Harry and Neville with Ginny in his lap, and Draco two further chairs beside them.

The light from the late afternoon sun was shining in the windows and glinting off Dumbledore's glasses. The old wizard was wearing a small smile, the type that indicated that he knew something you didn't and one that had infuriated almost everyone in this room over their lifetimes. He looked down at a stack of parchments on his desk, periodically marking something before going on to the next. He looked up and his eyes twinkled, "School starts in seventeen days, ladies and gentlemen."

McGonagall looked at him, and crooked an eyebrow, "Albus, we are already training the kids..."

"No Minerva," Dumbledore's grin grew, "I meant the regular school year. Hogwarts will reopen on September the first." Shocked mutterings erupted in the room, as Dumbledore's words sunk in. Behind Dumbledore, the sorting hat stirred and stretched as if it were getting ready. Above and around him, wizards and witches started dodging from portrait to portrait, urgently whispering in each other's ears.

After another long minute of shock, Hermione finally spoke up, "Albus...how?" She looked at Harry, he shrugged, "I mean, you won't have any students...besides our kids of course."

"We will..." Dumbledore held up the stack of parchment he was holding, "These are the students who, should by rights, be in school. They will get their chance." He motioned to Fawkes, and in twin falls of fire, the bird teleported across the room. Dumbledore flicked his wand at the stack of parchment, and with a bright white flash, the parchments became filled envelopes, quite familiar to everyone in this room. Harry alone had probably had five thousand delivered to him in one momentous day, almost twenty years ago. "Dobby" Dumbledore said softly and with a quiet POP, the elf appeared.

"Professor Dumbledore sir, what can Dobby do for you?" Dobby smiled as he glanced around the room, "Ohh Harry Potter sir, I did not see you there, or his Mione either, Dobby appolo..."

"Its ok Dobby" Harry replied quickly as Ron sniggered at the "his Mione." With a flashback to yesteryear, Hermione whacked Ron upside the back of the head, "OWW."

Ron glared half-heartedly at her as Luna giggled at him. Dumbledore smiled and turned to the elf, "Dobby please see that these owls are sent out by the school owls as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir, Dobby will..."

"Wait a moment, Dobby," Harry interjected, "you never mentioned how we were going to get the students here, or how that we were going to keep Lucius' hordes from overrunning this place as soon as he learns that it is reopened. And if we do, we don't exactly have a staff."

Dumbledore turned serious and rose from his desk. Walking over to the window, he looked down at the grounds, his hands behind his back. The Headmaster looked slightly tired, but not beat. His fingers tapped a rhythm only known to himself as he looked down at Hagrid's hut, the hut now even more decrepit and worn than it had been when Hagrid was occupying it. He took a breath and spun to them, "Lucius will not attack; himself...not yet. He will send his dark minions first, that will be your job, Harry, Hermione."

Harry stared at Dumbledore, a slightly unbelieving look on his face, Our job, are we supposed to go mow down every one of them? Hermione just shrugged and gave him a little half-smile, the question was a mystery to her as well, "and just how will we do that, Grandfather?" Harry inquired, with more than a little sarcasm in his tone.

"You two are going on a little trip." Dumbledore smiled, "I have studied the X'Sheen since they first appeared. But it was your discoveries while captured, and Ginny's before she was discovered that gave me the clue." Looking over at Ginny, "while you were undercover, before your capture, you witnessed Lucius with a glowing red sphere, correct?"

"Yeah" Ginny replied, puzzled. She shook a bit as unwanted memories of that last assignment flicked through her thoughts. Neville gave her a supporting squeeze; she turned and gave him a small smile before returning her attention to the ancient wizard at the window.

"The Orb of Maccebus." Dumbledore said into the silence. "I have given great consideration to how Lucius gained so much power after his master's death..." Without looking, he could almost feel a hand going up, even though she never moved, "Yes Hermione?"

"Isn't that a myth, the Orb was supposedly lost with Atlantis, wasn't it?" Hermione said, the gears grinding behind her eyes. She bit her lip as she flicked back through twenty years of reading, and finding nothing, really only half remembered legends. "Wasn't it supposed to be like a magical battery or something?"

Dumbledore nodded, impressed with her for the innumerable time. "Yes, that was one of its purposes, its original one, anyway." He sighed, "Wizards, despite what Lucius may have decided are not inflatable, not now, and not ten thousand years ago. What I know about the object is thus: The Atlantians were involved in a terrible war. A war with ones, not of this world." Dumbledore nodded at their shocked expressions, "Yes that is the legend, I do not know if it is fact or fiction. Plato was correct, there was a great city in the sea, its towers shining for all to see, but the dark ones came. In a desperate attempt to stop them, the great Wizards of that time used the Orb to enslave a great deal of the attackers to it. However during their attempt, the enemy detonated a great green wave in the midst of the city causing all life to cease. I am afraid when the Ministry created the Kedavra Bomb they were only repeating history."

"So what happened to Atlantis, and how was the orb..." Harry asked quietly.

"The Muggle legends are more or less correct on that part, the city was an artificial construct, it sank beneath the depths of the Atlantic. They are wrong about the location, it was much further north than once was thought." Dumbledore stated.

"But what does this have to do with Malfoy's powers, and what does it have to do with the X'Sheen?" Hermione retorted. Glancing over at Harry, "and what does this have to do with us?"

Dumbledore nodded, he took piece of parchment from his desk and handed it to Hermione. The parchment was seemingly in gibberish, with the markings of Hogwarts, and the emblems of the founders at its top. "Malfoy used the Orb to jumpstart his abilities, naturally he would not be nearly as powerful. Unfortunately now that his body has learned to channel the greater energies, for lack of a better term, he does not need to use it to manifest his abilities. He is as great as his former master now, make no mistake."

Harry looked grim, he grabbed Hermione's hand and squeezed. Here we go again.

Yeah Harry.

Dumbledore must have read their thoughts in their eyes, "Yes he will be a great foe, to defeat him, first we must strip him of his X'Sheen allies."

"How will we do that?" Draco snapped suddenly, "My arsehole of a father has thousands of them under his thrall, hell maybe millions, and they are individually as powerful as the average surviving wizard and twenty times more ruthless.

"I know..." Ginny suddenly peaked up, Dumbledore waved in her direction, silently yielding the floor. "When I was undercover...right before they caught me..." Ginny stopped, and closed her eyes for a bit, clearly not wanting to remember something. She opened them again, but she did not meet anyone's eyes, especially not Hermione or Harry's as she looked absently out a window. No one spoke, after a moment, she went on. "Lucius had a meeting with the X'Sheen, they tried to leave in it, after he said something that insulted them, but he put his hand in a box and they were dragged back like a giant magnet had them."

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed, "The Atlantians bound many of the X'Sheen to the Orb, in an attempt to use them against each other. In retaliation, they stuck with all of their available forces at the city. Mutual annihilation was the result. And the cause of our dilemma today. Because Malfoy controls the Orb, he controls the X'Sheen who control his empire." Dumbledore looked at them, a slightly predatory look in his eyes. "If the Orb is destroyed, the X'Sheen will abandon him. They may be back, and most likely will be back, but we will loose an enemy at least for a time." Hermione nodded as she squeezed Harry's hand. She had known this, or at least much of it years ago.

"But to destroy the Orb, we will have to confront Malfoy, and go through the Death Eaters and werewolves and Dementors and X'Sheen just to get to him." Harry pointed out bitterly, "No offence grandfather, but I don't know if all of us together can do that. Sure we can play a prank and sneak into Fudge's ball, but to destroy Malfoy..."

Dumbledore nodded sagely, "Yes, if that were the only way, the task would be nigh impossible." He walked over to his desk and sat lightly, "However...there is another way. Hermione if you translate that document, you will that it is, for lack of a better term, find a treasure map."

"Huh?" At least four voices uttered at once.

"That parchment gives clues to the location of an item that may allow us to fight this war on an even footing," Dumbledore replied, "it is an record of writings of the Founders, they knew the old legends were true, and that the Orb, if recovered would be a force for evil, so they created a counter. The Orb of Annakus."

"Is that even real?" Hermione growled, a tad exasperated, "There are so many legends about them, that we know can't possibly be real, I know that Godric was trying to create a magical battery as well, but it was never completed."

"Actually Hermione," Dumbledore replied softly, "It was. However to keep those that were unworthy from misusing its powers, he hid it, somewhere. The parchment should start you on a series of clues that should lead you two to the Orb."

"And what then?" Harry inquired, curious despite himself.

"Then dear grandson" Albus Dumbledore paused as the looked over the two for a long moment, "Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, we storm Malfoy's lair. You use your Orb to cancel out Malfoy's, releasing the X'Sheen from his service and we kill the bastard." His blue eyes were hard, "it is as simple as that."

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24. Once more into the breach

Sorry it's been a bit on this...but, other things got in the way. Thanks to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 24: Once more into the Breach...

*****************DADA Professor's Quarters***********************

August 15, 2019

10:30pm

In the light of a roaring fire, a fire that amazingly seemed to give no heat, Harry sat staring into the dancing flames. In his callused left fingers, a wand twirled, spinning to some inner rhythm. Hermione was lying on the couch, her head in his lap, her eyes watching the flames as well. Neither of them had spoken since returning from the meeting in Dumbledore's office, in voice or thought. Absently, in his other hand, brunette curls twirled, as they lay curled together. Finally Harry spoke, softly, hesitantly. "Hermione..."

"Yeah?" She whispered as her eyes flicked upward to his. He had not looked down at her; his gaze had never left the flames.

"I don't want to do this."

"Don't want do what, Harry?" Even though she already knew.

"Go on this damn fool quest of Dumbledore's to find some Orb..." Harry shrugged bitterly as several logs crackled and popped in the fire. "Why can't someone else be the bloody hero, I want to see my kids, I've already missed so much." Harry's voice was strained as he paused, watching tears blossoming in the corner of her eyes, and knowing that his must be doing the same. Collecting himself, he went on. "I mean he could send someone else, the twins or Lupin, or...and if we do go and he does bring in all those kids, who will defend the place?"

"Dumbledore will be here," Hermione whispered back, but from her tone, Harry didn't need the ability to read her thoughts to hear the hesitance in those words. He squeezed her shoulder, supportively.

"Yeah he will, but he's getting old Hermione...this has taken too much from him," he stated sadly, the words almost forced from his throat.

"I know."

****************************Hogwarts, Great Hall********************

September 1, 2019
7:00 pm

A long line of awed young students filed into the vast Great Hall, a hall that, for the first time in seven years was set to welcome a new class of students. The long line was unusual as for the first time in many; many years there were as many, or more, older students than there were the traditional eleven-year-olds that had populated the new classes.

As they entered, many of them automatically looked up, at the charmed ceiling showing the brilliant night sky outside, at the Hufflepuff banners hanging from the rafters symbolizing the last house to win the House Cup, at the lighted sconces lining the walls filled with multi-colored flames. Several of them whispered and pointed at the four long tables lining the halls and at the few students already seated at the one furthest on the right.

At the head of the room, the old Head Table was back, with Dumbledore's golden throne occupied as normal by the ancient wizard. In a change from his normal practice, Fawkes was perched on the tall back of his chair, looking out over the room. Off to Dumbledore's right, an empty seat sat, with Harry and Hermione sitting quietly together next to McGonagall's chair. On the other side of them, Ron and Luna were sitting together, talking rather loudly about Snorkacks and debating if there was a wild herd in the Forest. On Dumbledore's other side, Sirius and Cordelia sat together looking out over the hall. Sirius was pointing at something at the Gryffindor house table, relating some prank he had performed while here.

Dumbledore stood while McGonagall placed an ancient, torn floppy hat on a conjured stool. She looked to him and nodded, before she went to stand at the side, waiting. Dumbledore looked to the line of students crowded down the center of the aisles, and smiled, raising his arms for silence. "Welcome, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During your years here, you will learn Magic, and hopefully, wisdom." He waved around the room at the long house tables, "In more settled times, there would already be classmates waiting for you, but for now, know that, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin," indicating each table in turn, "that no matter what affiliation you may be assigned in the next few minutes, know that Hogwarts is one school." He pointed at the waiting hat, "When Professor McGonagall calls your name, please come forward and the hat will be placed on your head and your house be chosen. Please go to your House Tables."

McGonagall looked to the hat and watched as the torn and dirty fabric stretched and turned before a rip near the brim opened and it began to sing:

Once long ago, I sat here thus...
Amid hearts broken and crushed...
A dark tide defeated but not forgotten...

Tonight we come full circle again...
Once more the Lion and Eagle stand alone...
Waiting for the end to begin...

United we must be once again...
Or the end that has begun will never end...
Stand once more together as the Fortress of Light lives once more...

Or the night shall rule forever more...

The hat fell silent, and in the host of students, facility and staff present that night, the majority looked on blankly, unfamiliar with the Hat's tendencies. Hermione cut her eyes over to Harry, and gave him a tiny shrug, as the song seemed familiar. She glanced out into the hall to see Horatio carefully watching the hat, while Emilia was leaning over talking to Harriet. The rest of the few Gryffindors already present were talking and laughing softly. Elliot was looking longingly at his empty plate, waiting for the sorting to end. Hermione glanced over and caught Ginny's eye where she was sitting with Neville, Remus and Tonks at the very end of the Gryffindor table, and mouthed, "He's related to Ron." Ginny rolled her eyes and nodded, before turning back to her tablemates.

McGonagall took a breath, and glanced down at a ledger floating at her elbow, "Abercrombie, Denise." A timid, dark-haired girl slipped forward at Dumbledore's wave and soft smile and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on the girl's head. Everyone from the youngest new first year to the ancient wizard watched as the hat frowned, paused and...

"RAVENCLAW..." Applause broke out from the faculty and guests as the girl smiled shyly and went over to sit at the table just across the aisle from Harriet. Her robes automatically took on the sapphire and bronze trim of her new house as a proud eagle appeared on her lapel.

The sorting of the next three hundred or so students took an long time, as the hat kept considering its opinions. In the end, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff gained in one night, almost eighty students apiece, instantly filling in their ranks from first to seventh years, even though, for now, the distinction was purely on age, not academic experience. Slytherin house still lived as well, even though few of the children that had been placed in it seemed happy with the hat's choice, as another forty-two students found their new homes in the dungeon of Hogwarts. The new wearers of the green and silver sat talking worriedly amongst themselves, looking fearfully at the other tables until Harry caught Dumbledore's eye, nodded and stood.

Harry jumped down from the Head Table and paced over to the Slytherins and waved them in. He looked back at Draco, who would be filling both the Slytherin Head's and the Potions slots for the foreseeable future and motioned for his former rival to join them. Harry looked at Dumbledore and waved, holding the elder wizard from giving his new speech for a moment. Harry returned his nod, gave Hermione a soft smile and jumped up on the Slytherin table. "There is something that I feel I need to say," He said in a utterly normal tone of voice, though every ear heard him as if he were standing next to them. "These ladies and gentlemen," he grinned slightly, "and Draco here," Draco shook a fist at him, before leaning on his ebony cane, "were chosen for Slytherin. This does not mean that they are evil...it means that they are ambitious, that they have a desire to prove themselves. Any of you could have entered this house; it is not dishonorable, nor evil." Harry waved over the now seated students and then at the faculty table, "Over the thousand years of this school, there have been Dark Wizards who have been born in this house, but that can be said for any of the houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff alike. It is not what a piece of enchanted cloth says that determines our fate, but our choices." Harry looked around, paused to let the point sink in, "Now let's eat."

Dumbledore rose and started to applaud as Harry leapt from the table, stopping from doing a flip off of the top at a small headshake from his wife, and muttered something to Draco. Draco nodded and sat at the table of his House and began to chat with his new students. Cho and Parvati came and joined him after a few minutes and were soon engaged in conversation with several older girls. Dumbledore did not say a word, but looked on approvingly before he waved his hand and watched as platters of food appeared from the kitchens below.

Good job, Love, Hermione whispered as Harry took his seat next to her. She reached down under the table and squeezed his hand for an instant before dropping it and looking up around the room.

Harry glanced over at her, his cheeks slightly colored in embarrassment, I only said the truth, Mione; either of us could have entered that house just as easily. I'm not going to let that animosity take hold again if I can help it, he added as he took a rather long sip of the mead he retrieved from its placement at his elbow. Hermione gave him a minuscule nod, smiled at Em as she caught her mother's eye and returned to her dinner.

After a half hour marked by laughter, the clank of plates and silverware and Neville turning into a giant yellow chicken courtesy of something the twins had slipped in his food, Dumbledore rose back to his feet and motioned for silence once again. "Normally," he said, "in years past I would be informing you that the Forbidden Forest was off limits to those who valued their lives, it still is if case you were wondering," he added wryly, "and that Magic is not allowed to be performed in the halls. However, this year I will add something, something not of security or of rules, but of courage and honor and thanks. I thank you, each and every one of you students who are here tonight, for having the courage to defy the evil forces that hold the lands to the south, and for having the honor to stand for what is right. Thank you." The audience was quiet as Dumbledore rose from his chair and saluted the students with a raised goblet.

********************Hogwarts, DADA #1****************************

September 20, 2019
4:30 pm

"Alright, that's it...class dismissed." Ronald Weasley shouted out to the class of assembled Hogwarts students. Unlike the years before, the classes were small; this class of what would have normally been considered first years was actually one of his largest. Technically, all of the students currently enrolled were first years as this was the first time in seven years that Hogwarts held students, but to facilitate the varying power and experience levels of the students they had been separated by age. However, with the exception of some of the older students who had fought with the resistance, and the children of the Marauders, the majority of them were pretty well untrained.

Those young ones however, were actually better trained, in combat at least, than their parents had been at their ages. His own daughter, and Harry and Hermione's twins, along with Elliot and Lupin's kids were actually probably almost as good as he or Harry, but probably not Hermione, had been by the end of their third year, technically, though none had their raw power. They all could use light combat spells such as stunners, and basic shielding charms, even if they had yet to reach their adult powers. Ron watched as the strawberry blond head of his daughter nodded at something that Abigail muttered under her breath. The young metamorph had her hair long and black today, with long crimson streaks running down it to match the trim of her uniform. He watched as Em stopped and said something to her brother and turned back into the room. She walked back up to him, and ran her hand through her inky curls as she bit her lower lip, almost exactly as her mother had at her age, with the exception that her teeth were perfectly normal, Hermione had had no qualms about fixing them with magic.

She looked around the room, and watched as a pair of students wearing the colors of Ravenclaw house left quickly, the last of the students remaining except herself. Emilia bit her lower lip slightly took a breath before walking over to Ron's desk at the front and stopping, her eyes downcast at the various papers littering the top. After a moment, in which Ron watched her surreptitiously with a small, hidden smirk, she looked up at him, "Uncle Ron, can I ask you something?" She glanced around; "in private?"

Ron nodded and waved towards the Professor's office, she followed him up the curving stairs and stopped in front of the desk. Ron crossed to the desk chair and sat. Somehow he wasn't surprised as Emilia turned and with a couple of flicks of a wand and a muttered "Colloportus, Silencio" The door locked and sealed itself, and a brief, white flash lit the walls.

"Yes, Emilia?" Ron inquired calmly. He leaned back in Harry's chair. His two best friends had left the day after the school year had started, on a quest to find the key to taking Malfoy's allies away, to cleave the X'Sheen from his service. He was just keeping the seat warm, until Dumbledore let all the Marauders loose instead of just their leaders.

She looked nervous, her eyes refusing to meet his, but in the end she was the daughter of the two stubbornest graduates of Hogwarts ever, not to mention the hat had placed her in Gryffindor without even a quibble. "Uncle Ron...can I ask you about mum and dad?" He nodded, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. She looked at him, "I know what you said about mum and dad, and we saw them...practicing. But it's just that...well I saw them practicing, and right after they got done, well they scared me." She took a breath as he looked on, with a thoughtful glint in his eye. "No, not really, I mean it sorta felt like I should be scared, if I wasn't their daughter. But I wasn't. I felt safe." She got up and looked out the window. She looked down over the grounds, staring out at the trees near the crumpled ruins of Hagrid's old hut. "It was like I was down in the center of the forest, in the middle of the night, but I had the two deadliest predators in the whole forest on either side of me. Do you understand, Uncle Ron? I mean I don't know what to think...Horry thinks so too, I can tell, but he won't say anything."

"That's because he's his dad's son in many ways, possibly too many." Ron replied. He looked pensive, as he worked to frame his answer. Finally he sighed and looked at her. "Em, listen. I'm going to give you a bit of history, some of it I'm sure your parents have already told you, but there probably is a bit that they haven't. Some because they, still after everything, still think of themselves as that little, worthless, Muggle-raised boy who survived at the expense of his parents' lives, and a know-it-all, bossy, ugly Mudblood." Emilia hissed at him, and despite the fact that Ron was an extremely powerful, combat-trained and tested wizard; her wand was instantly pointed at a spot between his eyes. Ron sat at his desk, unperturbed, his hands carefully displayed on the oak desktop before him. He smiled to himself as he felt a breeze start to pick up in the room and just as suddenly stop as she took a deep breath. He continued softly, "And some because they are two of the finest people I have ever met, and the best brother and sister I have," he grinned, "don't tell the rest of them that." Emilia sighed and lowered her wand, but did not apologize. Instead, she sat back and glared, her gimlet eye an exact copy of her mother's.

Ron flicked a wand, and a pair of butterbeers appeared, both wearing the label indicating that they were the non-alcoholic kind. He uncorked one and took a sip. Despite herself, Emilia picked up the other. "You have to understand, Emilia." Ron said softly. "Before I met either of your parents, they had already started their tempering...oh your mother wasn't nearly as bad off as Harry, but she learned to get teased everyday, because she was 'weird.'"

"Weird?" Emilia repeated, confused.

"Yeah, you never had to deal with it, I never did either really, when you have five older siblings, people outside of the family don't stand a chance...Even if events hadn't turned out as they did, you probably would have gone to a Wizarding primary school, maybe, but you would have known that you weren't odd, that there was a reason that the teacher's hair might spontaneously erupt in flames, or how you Apparated onto the roof to get away from your aunt's dog." She looked at him oddly; Ron nodded. "Yep, those are all things that your parents did that got them ostracized in Hermione's case, or just beaten outright in Harry's." Emilia put her hand to her mouth, as her Uncle, in just a few words, confirmed rumors she had heard growing up and had never dared to ask about.

"Em, listen, a lot of what I'm saying to you, I probably shouldn't, but they are off trying to save the world again." Ron added the last a touch bitterly, she looked at him oddly, "Yeah I should be with them...and I will be, I'm just here long enough to get you guys started. Dumbledore will be sharing the duties with a few of the other Hogwarts' alums." He shook his head as Emilia digested that bit, "Your parents have gone through hell in the time that they've known each other. They've lost family, friends and loved ones and then your dad put himself in Azkaban in trade for your lives. There are two times when animals are at their most dangerous, when they are wounded and when they are protecting their young, and they have been there in one form or another for the last seven or so years."

Ron smiled at some inner joke, "Even back when they were in school, long before they ever realized what they meant to each other, they were, quite frankly, dangerously defensive of each other, and they would do literally anything for each other. Your mum never, ever, lost total faith in your dad, even when he was a total arse. Not really. I mean even I did and more than once, to my everlasting shame." He looked down at the table for a moment, "never again," he muttered before looking up once more. "And for his part, Harry never had anything but the absolute confidence in her. They were and are the best team I've ever seen, and frankly, probably the scariest at the same time. I was and still am their best friend in the world, we were 'the golden trio of Hogwarts' and I have known them for the better part of twenty years and I still don't always understand them."

"I know all that, Uncle Ron," she objected quietly.

"Then you have to understand...from their point of view, they failed you."

"No, they didn't!" Emilia snapped, the familiar Potter and Granger fire lighting in her eyes. "Dad let his arse get dragged away for us and mum...I don't think she slept from the time they took dad until she and Grandpa Albus solved the potion." Blue fire flickered in her eyes as they bored into his, daring him to say she was wrong. Despite himself, Ron flinched from the eleven-year-old witch, as he was reminded, forcefully, just whom had carried her for nine months.

"No, they didn't, Em." Ron agreed conciliatorily, "nor do I or anyone else...except them think that they failed." He waved around the room and out towards the grounds. "It just that, they blame themselves for all of this. They think that it's their fault that you didn't ride the train in from King's Cross to start school, or that two thirds of the world is a wasteland. They blame themselves for letting Malfoy consolidate power, and dragging you into a war the generation before couldn't stop. That we couldn't stop. That deep inside we all saw coming. They blame themselves because they are the heroes of his story and anything less is beneath them. Do you understand?" She nodded softly, tears dotting her eyes. Ron held out his arms and she crossed behind the desk and collapsed into them, as the tears started to flow freely.

******************USS Tiamat, Indian Ocean************************

Fierce winds and twenty-foot waves rocked the flagship of the United States 13th fleet. The fleet, that until Lucius Malfoy had released the X'Sheen on the world and caused the destruction of the ancient wards separating the Muggle and Wizarding worlds in the old Ministry in London, had not existed. At least not that anyone knew. The massive ship was about twice the size of an American Nuclear carrier, but there was a quite pressing reason for its massive size. As another wave crashed against the hull, that reason roared. A large, gold dragon waiting on alert standby grumbled further as his rider and several well armored keepers got him to calm down.

Parked a little way away from him, several sleek, mottled gray teardrops sat, their outsides shimmering as their barely visible outlines blended with the gray sky and sea beyond. The American fighters, or P-99 Sea Mustangs as they were called officially, were vastly improved versions of the combat equipped broomcraft that Fred and George had developed years ago. They were the seagoing versions of the Spitfire's that the twins had demonstrated at Area 51 years ago. They were transonic if needed; their sleek armored fuselages were capable of turning many destructive spells and Muggle projectiles that could be shot at it. The aircraft or brooms, no one was quite sure how to classify them yet, were direct beneficiaries of Hermione's theories combing magic and technology and of the Weasley Twins' never ending inventiveness. And in fact, were produced by a joint venture between Weasley Enterprises and Lockheed.

Harry watched as Hermione was bent next to one of the fighters, listening intently as an American crewmember explained certain aspects of the craft. She nodded as the tech explained the propulsion system, she didn't have the heart to tell him that she literally wrote the book on the subject; and that her adoptive brothers had built the first prototype seven years ago. Harry turned away with a smile to person standing next to him. The bearded face of a man, who by all appearances had been born at sea with the ease he took the salt spray coming over the bow and the rain dripping down from the brim of his ball cap.

Alexander Nimitz wore the uniform of the American Navy, but until a few years ago, he had been thought dead, by his Muggle classmates at least. It had always been difficult for nations to consolidate their magical and mundane forces, and especially to train their magical ones to fight as cohesive militaries. With the exception of relatively small units like the Aurors and Harry's old Special Groups, most Wizards learned to work alone or at best with a partner, never to truly work as part of a unified command to actually defend a nation. The Americans had changed that paradigm, though in secret. And their solution was elegantly simple, if hard on families and friends. The Wizarding forces were trained alongside the regular ones, their personnel passed through the same academies and boot camps, and then after they had passed through, were quietly disappeared, through fake accidents, missing persons reports, and other deceptions. Of course that was all in the past now, now the blinders were off.

Barely half a kilometer off the port bow, an American Nuclear carrier sat, its aircraft still mostly mundane, but it and them had been shielded from the EM fields generated by active magics. It had been a nasty surprise for Malfoy's forces when the aircraft from the Pacific Fleet had bombed his forces from the air, destroying hundreds of Dark Ones and biding time for the second American evacuation from the Philippines in a century.

"Albus tells me that you two can take care of yourselves, but I wish you would let me send some of my Marines with you. Or I have a SEAL team," Nimitz said as he watched a larger, transport version of the Mustangs, one that could carry passengers being towed out onto the flight line, causing the alert dragon to growl once more. They would drop from it into the mountains of Nepal. Very ancient magic protected the region where they were going. While Harry and Hermione might be able to Apparate in, they would have to force the wards, which would prove exhausting and could prove deadly if someone was waiting for them.

"No Alex." Harry countered, shaking his head. "I wish we could, but you might need them."

"So might you, son," the old Admiral rejoined, he sighed and wiped the rain from his face. It didn't help. "Do you know where you are going?"

"To a degree," Harry responded. "We have clues from some of the histories of Merlin and Godric and Rowena where this site might be, but I admit they are rather vague." He shrugged. "The best I can ask is that your crew drops us off where we agreed and try for pickup a week later."

Nimitz nodded bitterly. "Very well, Harry. We will be there, and if you're not at the rendezvous, I am sending all my Marines after you, so you better be. They hate getting cold."

Harry clapped the old Admiral on the shoulder, noticing not for the first time, the resemblance to another old, gray haired, blue-eyed wizard, though without the long beard. "We will, if we can."

*************************Himalayas, Tibet*****************************

September 25, 2019
4:00 pm

"Harry, we need to find shelter for the night!" Hermione screamed over the howling winds and the freak blizzard that surrounded them in white. Two hours ago the storm had suddenly and without warning broke upon them. They were still about a day from the probable location of the temple they were looking for. Hermione shivered in the wind, her brown eyes the only spot of color Harry could see in her otherwise white parka and snowsuit.

"Yeah," Harry agreed shortly, as he took a Muggle compass from his pocket and glanced at it, the compass looking tiny in his huge gloves. He looked about the area, and after a second pointed towards a dark patch in the nearby rock wall. Grabbing her hand, they struggled together towards it. Finally after several minutes of straining against the storm, they fell into the dark patch, the wind instantly disappearing. Getting back to his feet, Harry reached down and pulled Hermione to her feet. With a smile Harry led her to the back wall of the cave and slid down it to the floor. Hermione dropped her pack nearby and slid to the ground next to him. After a minute of sitting she started shivering even more violently.

Teeth chattering, she drew her wand and pointed it towards the center of the cave. Just as she was about to whisper an incantation, Harry reached out and grabbed her wand. "Don't, Mione."

She glanced at him, and then with a sudden, sheepish look in her eyes, "Sorry ,Harry," she looked at the center of the room glumly, "but we might not have to worry about someone detecting the magic, if we freeze to death. I guess this means no Muggle fires either."

Harry looked at her mournfully, "Yeah, sorry, Hermione...didn't think of this problem on the way in." He glanced around the cave, looking for a solution to the problem. A sudden realization flicked across his eyes, and with a breath he SHIFTED. Hermione raised an eyebrow at the eight foot black furred, green eyed lion that suddenly shared the cave with her. Think of me as a giant furry blanket.

I already do, Hermione shot back as she reached out and ruffed Harry's mane. With a soft sigh, she curled into him; he was indeed much warmer in this form. With a soft, purring sound Harry got even closer. Crookshanks will be so jealous. He likes to curl up with me.

I can go back and get him...see if he's any warmer, Harry's jade eyes, the same in both his human and feline forms, glared half-heartedly at her. Hermione grinned as she stretched, kissed him on his nose and tucked herself back into his chest, his black fur soft against her cheek. Are you getting warmer? Harry inquired seriously.

I'll be fine, love. Will you be? As she asked, a large chunk of snow fell across the opening to the cave, dimming the light further. A tiny glow flicked across both of their eyes. While they might be wary of using active magic such as Pyrophorism or a warming charm, inner or passive magics such as the Animagus transformation and their automatic shifting of their sight into the low light arena were basically undetectable. A heavy paw fell across her stomach, its three-inch claws carefully sheathed. Most humans would be understandably freaked with a large lion covering them like a blanket, but Hermione thought it a normal bit of life. Her much smaller human hand, rubbed Harry's paw in the same way it would have had he been in his human form. She heard Harry's soft purr get louder. She giggled softly at a sudden thought. You know Muggles have laws against this?

A cat snort answered her. Proves Muggles are weird, the large lion philosophized, as he purred.

Watch it dear, I'm Muggle born...and if I remember right, you might as well have been, Hermione teased back, the two of them able to joke about subjects between each other that would have had them at the throats of any others that would have dared to disparage their parents, or each other.

Your point? Harry retorted softly. Hermione shrugged. There really was no point. She was talking to be talking. His paw moved slowly on her stomach as his eyes slipped closed. Let's get some sleep. She nodded and he felt it as she SHIFTED into her own lion form and curled up with him.

Next chapter a visit to some friends, and a visit with the kids.

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25. A Study of the Past

Here we go again, sorry it's been a bit, on this one...Thanks, as usual, to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter. But as usual, any mistakes are purely mine.

Chapter 25: A Study of the Past
******************************Tibet********************************

September 26, 11:45 am.

A pair of lions, one tawny lioness and a large, jet-black lion stopped and looked down at a night-black tower rising from the snow like an angry finger pointing up to the blue sky. The area was curiously quiet, as they looked down at the tower. The very air seemed to have become afraid to move in the valley. Not a bird or animal other than themselves moved anywhere near the area.

The male looked over at his companion, What the hell is that? he asked her perplexedly, That doesn't look like any temple I've ever seen, Mione. A soft, growl slipped from his chest as he padded over closer to her, to stand protectively near her.

I'm cold Harry...and I don't mean the temperature...that place is evil. The great cat's chocolate gaze caught his, as a fanged jaw trembled slightly. She glanced over at the tower and back to him, as a trick of the light seemed to cause the tower to shimmer.

Me too, baby, me too. Harry replied and rubbed up against her, purring slightly before he sighed and started off down towards the dark tower. Hermione shook her furred head once, remembering every single time one of the boys had gotten them in trouble before following him without another thought.

They paused as they reached the base of the tower and looked up. Up close the tower, was not of stone, but seemingly of some odd metal, that seemed to be dark with oil...or blood. The entrance was dark, rusted iron, obviously not original to the tower, as it seemed only thousands of years old, the tower, for some odd unknown reason seemed much older and darker. Harry glanced over at Hermione and SHIFTED. He shook his head vigorously to dislodge snow still there from his lion form and watched as Hermione shimmered and grew. Her from shrunk slightly, as she stood and morphed into her human form. She gave Harry a small, fleeting grin as she brushed the snow from her hair and took his gloved hand in hers before nodding and stepping back from him slightly as twin wands appeared in her hands.

She watched as he took a breath and brought his hands together in front of him, cupping them into a ball. His right foot slid back a half pace as she felt tendrils of magic shoot past her to gather between his hands. He took a breath and thrust both his hands forward as a shimmering, blue-black ball shot to the doors and stuck in the exact center. The door resisted for a bare ten seconds before it seemed to melt and flow into the dark void.

Harry panted slightly as he looked into the ten-foot high, now empty doorway. A long, seemingly endless passage led down and away from the door, its depths vanishing in the darkness. Hermione summoned a white ball of light in the palm of her hand and set it in the air at his shoulder. It hovered there as Harry and Hermione walked into the depths together.

They passed sealed metal doors on either side of the odd, flattened oval-shaped corridor they found themselves in. Extinguished torches were mounted on the walls every twenty or so feet, but none were lit. A curious attempt by Hermione to light one resisted her powers for a full minute before it erupted into flames. She shrugged to Harry, and neither of them tried to light any more as they continued their explorations.

After almost a half hour of walking down the seemingly endless corridors, they came to a door blocking the passage. The door was oddly, incongruously, an iron-shod oaken door, set into a doorway of the same, oily, black metal of the corridor and the tower itself. The shattered fragments of the original metal door were scattered about the corridor still. The door was inset with an eagle ensign, identical to that on Hermione's sword. She canted her head to the side and glanced at him in the light cast by her floating light orb. Hermione waved her hand and the door creaked open and they entered.

They entered a large, circular room. A half-dozen, black, obelisk-like pedestals were scatted about the periphery of the room. Centered in the exact center of the room, a beach-ball sized crystal orb sat on a pedestal with a hazy, purple-black fog filling its depths. A tall man dressed in dark blue, bronze-trimmed robes stood with his back to them as they entered. Long, white hair trailed down his back and was gathered into a tail, with a series of gold rings down his back.

He turned to reveal a long white beard, also drawn together with rings and a rampant eagle crest decorating the chest of his robes. A slight sneer was on his lips under hard, black eyes as he glared at Harry, "Just like a Gryffindor," he said scornfully, "always for the dramatic gesture, you could have just opened the door." His expression softened slightly as he turned to Hermione and...bowed, "Lady Ravenclaw, it is an..."

He never completed his thought as Hermione MOVED, and crossed the room in a blur. She backhanded him, knocking him through one of the obelisks into the wall, where he slid to the floor. The broken obelisk sparked, odd, greenish sparks as Hermione crossed the distance to her victim in two strides and placed the tip of her wand in the exact center of his forehead. "Hermione, what the..." Harry shut up as Hermione raised her hand behind her, and glared down at the blue-clad wizard.

"Tell me, why, I should not terminate any member of the Order of Ravenclaw, Alexandrov?" she asked to his shocked expression, "Yes, Dumbledore told me, when your actions, or rather lack of action put the future heirs...my children in jeopardy, any of his oaths that your order may have held him to were null and void. You could have warned us two years earlier about Malfoy's X'Sheen, their numbers and origins. "

"My lady, we needed more time to study..." he said fearfully, as he looked up at her, wiping a smear of blood from his lips. "Frankly, my lady, if you had chosen a worthy mate..." he shut up abruptly as brown eyes lit with a blue fire, she gestured with her empty left hand and he rose into the air.

"Shut up," Hermione snapped, "You will answer my questions, and follow any Orders, I or my husband," her lip twitched slightly, "Lord Gryffindor, give you. After we leave here, you will bring the Order fully into the war, there will be no hiding in the shadows biding your time. I hereby recall the Order to my service. Any machinations that you and your proctors may have had in place to 'clean up' the Ravenclaw line are hereby null and void."

He nodded as Harry looked at him, and then pointedly at Hermione, Hermione what the hell is going on? I have your back no matter what, and I'd like to think that I'm not totally stupid, but I need some sort of clue here, Mione.

Hermione sighed in her thoughts. She did not take her eyes off Alexandrov as she replied, Briefly, the Order of Ravenclaw was and is an Order of spies, intellectuals and watchers. They began as Rowena's associates in the years before the founding. Then after Godric and Rowena were married and then later died, a great number of them decided that Godric was a...bad influence on the Ravenclaw line. When it jumped bloodlines to mine, they followed, hoping to influence the selection.

They contacted Dumbledore, evidently when I was Sorted into Gryffindor, she smiled slightly, or rather when I chose Gryffindor, tried to get me re-Sorted into Ravenclaw. They didn't reveal whom they were then though, but did force Dumbledore to swear an oath not to reveal them; I don't know why he agreed. They tend to prefer a hands' off approach. They like to watch, and not to act, or if they do act they do so from behind the scenes. Several of their covert actions over the last thousand years have been attributed to others, such as the Illuminati or the Masons...but they have one problem.

What?

I am Lady Ravenclaw; remember? They have to obey me, whether they like it or not. Rowena was smart, after all she chose Godric, just like I chose you, love. Dumbledore filled me in on this while you were indisposed.

Glad I had a choice. Harry replied sarcastically. He flicked his fingers and the man's wand, two daggers and several vials of variously colored potions floated over to fall at his feet.

Hermione giggled in her thoughts, even though her face never betrayed any such emotion to her captive, You never had a chance Harry. She felt his nod as she replaced her wand behind her back, knowing that if somehow the Ravenclaw could shake off his conditioning, Harry was watching. "Do you understand?" Alexandrov nodded fitfully as Hermione waved again and he fell to his feet. "Now do you know why we are here?"

"You are after the Orb of Annakus." He answered, in a flat monotone. He brought himself to his full height, several inches taller than Harry and paced over to the crystal. "It is not here. He raised his hands at Hermione's glare, "If the Order had it, we would, of course, supply it at your command. Instead I have the duty of guarding the beginning of your journey."

Oh joy, Harry thought idly as he looked upon the wizard. He paced to a spot directly opposite Alexandrov and seemingly vanished into the deep shadows there. He watched as Hermione's lip twitched at his thought.

"What is this place then?" Hermione demanded, her tone booking no evasion. "It's like no other tower I've seen records of..."

"Of course not," Smirnoff replied with a superior air. He began to pace as his tone dropped into a dry lecturing one amazingly similar that that Professor Binns had used for all those years. "This is not a human construction at all, Wizard or Muggle...it is an X'Sheen construct. In fact the tower is just the top of it, it goes much deeper into the snow and soil, though the passages are collapsed further down. This room seems to be their...viewing room for lack of a better term."

Hermione frowned as she looked around the room; she knelt next to the broken pedestal for a moment before her mouth opened in sudden shock. Harry gave her a concerned look, but she waved him off and turned back to Alexandrov, "Then this...construct was around at the time of the Atlantian fall, correct?"

"Yes, unfortunately we have not been able to ascertain its function. It is a great distance from the Atlantic, half way around the world in fact."

"What about the Orb?" Harry interrupted impatiently.

"Just like a Gryffindor, always..."

"Answer him," Hermione snapped, and he nodded reluctantly.

"Very well, there is a recording that was found here, many years ago by my predecessor in this post. It seemed to refer to the Orb. It is a message from Rowena, to her heirs." At her raised eyebrow, he pulled a green Remembrall from his pocket and handed it to Hermione. She looked at it and tossed it in the air. It hung there for a moment, before a life-sized image appeared in the room.

A woman appeared in front of them. She was a touch taller than Hermione, with almost the same hair and eyes. She could have been her sister, or her mother. The woman wore worn leather breeches under an off-white linen shirt, which was closed with leather ties at her bodice. A slightly soiled, black cloak overlaid that, with a sapphire blue lining peaking out, where the use-polished hilt of an ancient style wand, and the sapphire and ruby encrusted hilt of a familiar sword hung. Her brown eyes were tired, as they looked outward, seemingly directly into Hermione's.

The image looked down for a moment as if gathering her thoughts and then at Hermione, "If you are seeing this message then Godric and I failed." The image spoke in an ancient, yet recognizable dialect of English, "Only my future heir or that of Godric's may see this image...or Helga's as well, I suppose." Rowena sighed, "Godric and I have already lost our son to this quest, I do not wish to loose any more...I am not going to loose my daughter as well. We have not been able to find the Orb of Maccabus...In the end we were not dark enough, Godric feels that only those with a truly dark nature can now find the Orb, and so we are returning to Hogwarts. Helga should have it rebuilt by now, the damage repaired from Salazar's betrayal repaired."

Rowena paced a bit in the projection before looking back out into the room, "If you have not already done so, make every effort to find and destroy Salazar's Chamber...it must be destroyed, as if it were to fall into the hands of the enemy the results would be catastrophic...Salazar was influenced in making the Chamber, and told that it would, remove, all of the Muggle-borns and Half-bloods in the school. We, Godric and I, now think it would have removed all the humans in the school, along with the elves, ghosts...everything. If it is left to age, to gather magic, it could scour the world of humanity, which is what I think the enemy had in mind all along. I am not sure where it is, most likely only a Parseltoungue such as Salazar could open it, or find it, and at this moment the only known Parselmouths are dark wizards."

Hermione glanced back at Harry, he just shook his head. Timely Rowena, timely.

She continued, "Since we have not been able to find the Orb, we have hidden our counter. We could not risk the Annakus Orb being corrupted like the Maccabus Orb. It has been bound to evil ever since the failed attempt to control the ancient enemy, it was with Morgana at Avalon, and was probably with Salazar as well. " The image motioned and a scroll appeared in the air in front of Hermione and Alexandrov gasped. "Our heirs should have the tools by now to decode this missive. I am sorry that this quest will not be easy, but if you have embarked on it, the need must be great." Rowena looked down and clasped her hands together, "Know that even if you succeed, you will only break their bond to the Orb, the enemy will abandon the current Dark Lord, but they will return, for they can not stand the presence of more than one magic-using race in this plane of existence. Good luck and Godspeed."

The image faded away back into the Remembrall, it shot back to Hermione's hand and she pocketed it. Hermione turned to Harry, ignoring the presence of the Order of Ravenclaw member, Let's go.

We do have a walk ahead of us, Harry agreed and turned on his heel and paced out of the room.

Hermione stopped as she came even to Alexandrov. "What should I do, my lady?"

"Study or something...I expect a Order representative to be waiting for me when I return to Hogwarts," she commented softly and followed her husband out of the odd room and into the dark corridor.

********************************Hogwarts*******************************
2:00 pm

Emilia looked up, bored as McGonagall went over a simple switching spell, again. The influx of students had been both a boon and a bust to her and her friends and family. On the one hand, they were suddenly surrounded by new children their age, who could also do magic, who knew what they knew intrinsically, but on the other hand, so many of them were...So stupid, Em thought absently as she ran her hand through inky curls and glanced up to watch it fall right back in her eyes. I wonder if mum had to sit through these boring classes.

She glanced over from her Head of House's attempt to get John Clark to perform the spell right to find Xander looking at her with a small smile, she mouthed "what" and he just shrugged before looking back up to the front. In reality, it wasn't most of the students' fault they were so...backwards, magical education what there was of it, until Hogwarts reopened seemed to have consisted of a means to control the potential influx of partisans against Malfoy more than anything.

Emilia glanced over to see Horry and Elliot laughing at something. "Potter...Longbottom," McGonagall commented without turning, "do you find something interesting in the reading? Would you care to share your findings with the class?"

"No, ma'am," Horatio replied without looking up to meet her hard eyes. Emilia shared an amused glance with Harriet and Xander, glancing back to her notes just as Minerva's grey eyes panned over her. She nodded and waved for Sarah Thomas, a newly minted first year Hufflepuff, and a second cousin of Dean's, to attempt the spell.

The young, rust-haired girl's wand shook as she pointed her wand at a russet owl that was glaring at McGonagall, as if he was plotting his revenge for this. She almost screamed the incantation, "SWITCHIUM" A wavy, sparkling orange beam shot over the top of the owl, scattering papers across the front half of the room, and singeing Terrance Kerpatrick, a Ravenclaw to exclaim, "BLOODY HELL."

"Language Mr. Kerpatrick," McGonagall commented absently as she flicked her wand to pick up the scattered papers. The class bell rang and a soft, appreciative sound came from the room, before McGonagall looked back, "Since we don't seem capable of mastering the assigned work...three feet on Switching Spells, by next Tuesday." A chorus of groans answered her as the class quickly escaped before it became four feet.

Most of the class progressed down the second floor corridor, down the main steps and out into the lawn of the castle. Emilia jumped a bit as Xander came up next to her, "Hey, Em." He laughed slightly as they watched a pair of the Hufflepuffs try to mount a pair of training brooms. "How about a real flight?"

"With what, Xan? We have these bulloxed up training brooms," Emilia replied annoyedly. She huffed slightly as they watched the two girls squeak as their brooms rolled sideways to dump them to the ground.

"Not necessarily..." He replied as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the class.

"XANDER..." Emilia squeaked as he pointed his wand at the lock of the Quidditch broomshed, it clicked open and she looked on dumbfounded as he pulled a pair of Firebolts from within. "We can't..."

"Are your parents Marauders or not?" He mounted his broom and kicked off. With a soft twinkle in his eye, he pulled a small, miniature Quaffle from the pocket of his robes. He bounced it a couple of times on the palm of his hand before tossing it as hard as he could towards the top of the Astronomy tower.

Emilia never even gave it a thought as she kicked off in pursuit. She laughed as she barrel rolled around an errant owl, dodged under Xander and swept up, plucking the ball out of the air inches from a tower window. She looked over at Xander, waved; "Catch me if you can..." she shot off around and through the towers of the castle. She led him under the flying bridge, through the Owlery windows and out onto the other side. They shot around Gryffindor Tower, behind Ravenclaw and out over the Pitch.

Hushed murmurs whispered below them as the pair shot over the gathered students. Xander shot ahead and weaved in and through the golden hoops of the south end of the Pitch.

Emilia rolled ahead of him, sliding her broom through the sky in a dangerous skid. She rolled to her right, diving into the trench surrounding the Pitch. The timbers of the trench shot past, fast enough to terrify...unless your last name was Potter.

Xander sighed as he followed closely, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief as Emilia pulled up hard and shot straight up. He followed her like he was attached to her tail with a rope, and they turned back towards the castle. They shot past the Astronomy Tower and they both stopped hard enough to almost throw themselves from their brooms.

McGonagall was standing on the ramparts of the tower looking...disappointed. She pointed at her feet and waited as the two floated over and landed next to her. "Just what are you two doing..." she growled. She paced and straightened her square glasses, "It is up to you and the other...more experienced students to provide an example." McGonagall marched over to the edge of the tower and looked down at the gathered crowd. "Go, carry those brooms back to the shed, and report to my office at seven...we will discuss your detention then." She grabbed her robes and stomped off.

After she had left, Xander looked over at Emilia sheepishly, "I'm sorry, Em..." He held the door for her as they headed down from the ramparts to carry the brooms back to the shed. She bit her lip slightly as they passed the stairs to the third floor, and stopped.

"Don't worry about it." Emilia replied softly, with her emerald eyes slightly downcast, and not quite meeting his. "It was fun..." she gave him a shy smile and handed him her broom. "But if you are feeling guilty, you can carry my broom for me." She laughed as she took off down the stairs.

"I never said I was feeling guilty," Xander yelled down the stairs after her.

********************Near Bermuda**********************

A dark, shimmering portal hung motionless in the air, in the dank undersea cave. A pool of water sat below it, leading to the ocean beyond. Scattered about the cave, broken bits of pottery, scraps of steel, and bits of other ancient flotsam where evidence of the age of the ruins the portal seemed to be nestled in.

The mirror-like surface of the portal shivered as a scaly hand on the end of a black sleeve emerged from its depths. The rest of a cloaked figure followed it, then another, and anther and anther until the room was full, with hardly a space to stand, with X'Sheen.

At an undisclosed signal, the entire host of dark ones vanished into thin air with the sound of a thousand bedsheets tearing.

*************************Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts******************

Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his huge oak desk, his normally serene features slowly darkening with rage as he read a report from within a black-bound file. He glanced up at Fawkes, his blue eyes cold as his familiar nodded as if he knew what his partner was thinking. Dumbledore pulled his half-moons from his crooked nose and pinched the bridge of the same tiredly. After a long moment of consideration, he scrawled a quick note on a scrap of parchment and handed it to Fawkes who vanished in a fall of fire.

Dumbledore rose from his chair and began pacing back and forth along a well-worn track in his office carpet. He waited for almost twenty minutes before a soft knock sounded on his door, "ENTER," Dumbledore commanded as he stood looking out over the grounds. He did not turn to the door as Ron entered slightly out of breath.

"Sorry, Professor," Ron panted, "I was over on the other side of the castle.' Dumbledore nodded, still without turning to look at him. A tiny grin flitted across his ancient features as he watched Emilia and Xander streak past his window. His face was flat though as he finally look at Ron.

"Sorry, Ronald, I was lost in thought," Dumbledore apologized, he waved a hand at his desk and the black folder he had been perusing floated over to Ron and dropped in his hands. Ron opened it and blanched slightly. "Have you ever heard of the Muggle concept of Education Reform, Ronald?" Dumbledore asked darkly. Ron shook his head as he started paging through the file on Umbridge's Death Nibbler school on the Scottish-English boarder. "I want two plans, Leftenant Commander," Dumbledore announced in a soft, formal tone, "both for the liberation of that school from...Delores." He took a breath and petted Fawkes as the Phoenix hopped to his shoulder, "One with the assistance of the Potters and one without. I will be sending Fawkes with a missive for them to return. Both plans should concentrate on taking the facility with as few casualties as possible to the students, even at the cost of our personnel."

"Yes, sir," Ron replied automatically before his higher brain functions cut back in, "Professor, I will need reconnaissance of this castle. We don't have any assets on the ground. Also, what resources may I put towards this assault? Frankly, sir, I am not sure that we have adequate people here to take the castle with few casualties, we can take it, yes, especially with Harry's, Hermione's and your assistances, but I don't know what I can do if the older...students try to defend it. If we actually have to assault the castle, if that is the case, it will get bloody sir, and I will not participate in that action." Ron's words were formal in tone as well.

Dumbledore nodded again, and paced back to his desk, and took another folder from it, he tossed it at Ron who opened it and grinned just slightly. "I would not either, but I think that those plans might help." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled somewhat, "Lucius made a mistake when he chose a former Ministry facility for his school, I suppose that he never bothered to learn during his tenure as a Governor that Hogwarts holds a complete copy of the pre-fall Ministry archives."

**************A Small Village, 30km from the X'Sheen 'Tower'*****************

A pair of lions looked down on a sleepy village nestled in between a pair of snowcapped mountains. A large flat area was to the north of the town, a perfect spot for a UA-55 Wyvern from the Tiamat to pick them up and would do so in a few hours as per schedule. Hermione looked over at Harry as he SHIFTED, pulled a pair of Omnioculars from his pack and looked down over the village.

Looks peaceful enough, he commented with a raised eyebrow as Hermione transformed next to him and rolled her eyes.

And how many times have we seen that before? she growled and headed down towards the village before Harry could reply. He frowned as he took off after her, throwing snow up as he took bounding, leaping steps down the hill. She glanced over at him out the corner of her eye as he caught up to him, and apologized with a soft glance. I guess we can get something to eat, she commented as they looked up to find a sign outside of a larger building at the end of the High Street, what there was of it, labeled simply with "Inn" in large block letters.

Joy...goat.

If we're lucky, Hermione agreed. Her eyes twinkled slightly as they walked into the room, Remember that time in Russia where Ron ate that entire dinner before we found out it was roast Grindlylow? She paused as their eyes adjusted to the gloom to look into the room. A long, battered wooden bar sat against one wall. A short, stocky man with one eye was minding the bar. A long knife was hanging upside down from a bandolier on his chest, its handle blending well with his furs. Near the back corner, a pair of dark, cloaked figures sat nursing steaming cups of a dark red liquid, they turned to look at the Potters and hurriedly looked back to their cups, the vampires, turned ones, not trueborns like Cordelia, knew that they should find their suppers elsewhere.

In a dark dim corner near a set of stairs heading upward, a pair of girls who looked to be barely eighteen, if that, were laughing with the edge that amply communicated their utter despair as they negotiated with several robed travelers. The center of the room was empty as if none of the patrons wished to have their backs to anything other than a nice, solid wall. Hermione rolled her eyes as she lead them to a table in the center and sat after casting a discrete cleaning charm, You take me to the nicest places, Hermione mentioned resignedly.

I still remember when you thought the Hogs' Head was bad, Harry retorted and took a breath before chancing it, Mione what's wrong? And I don't mean being in a shithole for dinner.

The bartender came up then and demanded their orders in a broken mix of English, Mandarin and Tibetan. Conversation stopped abruptly in the bar as Hermione swept down her hood to look at the man. "We'll take two ales and whatever you have that's dead and cooked," she replied in perfect Mandarin, commandingly, and he nodded quickly and walked away. I just...I don't know, I'm just in a bad mood ever since that Smirnoff arsehole...she looked at Harry and bit her lip slightly, I'm not like that am I Harry, I don't overanalyze things and not react do I?

Not really, he reassured her and paused as five black robed soldiers came up behind her. One of them reached out and placed his hand on Hermione's shoulder as he lowered his robe's hood to reveal a dark, goateed face, with hard gray eyes. A green skull decorated the shoulder of his robes, and a pair of small, crescents the collar of his black shirt, which was visible under the robes. A pair of his minions slowly drew wands and looked at Harry menacingly. Along the walls another six perked up, they didn't often have, sport, this far in the hinterlands.

"What do we have here boys?" the Death Eater officer asked in an accent that belonged to Lancashire. The ones with him laughed, and Hermione sighed and blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. "A pair of misplaced vagrants. Do you have your papers, or should we discuss other...arrangements."

Hermione crooked an eyebrow as her eyes glittered with an expression that only three humans on the face of this planet could safely disregard, one of which was sitting across the table from her and the other two she had bore for nine months. She turned her head slightly and in a crisp, flawless upper-class English accent she responded, "Please remove your hand, before I feed it to you."

"You shouldn't say such things to a Leftenant in Lord Malfoy's legions, little girl," he hissed and tightened his fingers into her shoulder painfully. A couple of his followers chuckled gleefully and at least one went to get a key from the bartender to an upstairs room. Hermione looked at Harry, canted her head slightly and MOVED. Time stopped as her hand floated up to the one on her shoulder, pulling it forward, rolling out of her chair and grasping the back of the Death Eater's head. She slammed it forward into the table and his nose and the table shattered in a spray of blood and splinters. She came to her feet like a ghost, and a three-foot length of steel appeared in her hand.

Hermione stepped right and swung left. A hand containing a wand fell to the floor and the Death Eater screamed; only to be silenced forever as she continued her movement right and he fell away to the floor with half a head. She caught the incredibly slow swing of a Death Eater's blade on her own, beat it off and reposted with a thrust to his chest. Jerked her blade free, inverted it and thrust backwards in time to catch an attacker from the rear.

She ducked backwards away from a mistimed swing of an axe by the fifth Death Eater, spun right and dropped him as if pole-axed with a rising, spinning heel. The Lieutenant rose up shakily, turned to her, and died as his head preceded him to the floor.

Harry watched her for a moment with something between pride and resignation as the rest of the Death Eaters in the bar stood to charge her. They never were the brightest bunch, he mused as the Gryffindor blade appeared in his hand and he stood in front of them. The Death Eaters did the only thing they could really, they charged at him all at once. He ducked one flashing sword, rolled right, cut up, caught a green curse on the blade and bounced it back to its sender and flipped left. He dropped to a crouch, swung hard at ankle height and floated back to his feet, swinging the sword through a shimmering figure eight in the air, all in about ten seconds. Six more fell to the floor with a long, extended series of muffled thumps. He turned back to Hermione and shrugged.

She moved to a new table, pushed a Death Eater off her chair and cast a casual Scourgify with a negligent hand wave. Hermione looked over at the bartended pointedly; their food and drinks came rather quickly after that. "This is not too bad," Hermione commented after their food arrived, "Not stringy at all."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "we have had worse." A sudden howling sound like a half-dozen werewolves being drug behind lorries came from outside, and a minute later the door kicked in followed quickly by a half-dozen men in mottled grey and white camouflage, wearing shielded night vision goggles on their foreheads and toting a mixture of wands and Muggle pulse rifles. Hermione looked at the leader, a young black man with a neat, blond goatee and subdued, Lieutenant's bars at his collar. The rest of his troops fanned out around the room as he let his rifle drop on its sling and walked up to them.

"Trouble, sir, ma'am?" he asked politely.

"No John," Hermione replied as she conjured a napkin to wipe her lips and stood, "we were just finishing our dinner." Harry stood and summoned hers and his packs to him and handed them to a machinist first class with hard, grey eyes and a pale complexion. He nodded and swung both of them over his shoulder without even noticing the weight.

They walked out into the snow, the rest of the squad that had entered the inn, peeling off in a reverse fashion to follow them out. As they cleared the building they found the source of the howling.

A Wyvern transport was squatting in the snow, surrounded by at least another fifteen troops. The Wyvern's autocannons were slowly panning back and forth looking for a target, while the wandcannons on the nose were lit with the pre-discharge glow of kilowatt range Reductors. A pair of P-99s slowly drifted overhead in a tight pattern, with another pair barely visible several thousand feet above their heads. Harry stalked up the ramp and dropped into a seat along the port bulkhead, Hermione following suit next to him. The Lieutenant took a seat next to him and yelled at a stocky man with a white bandanna covering his head at the door, "LET'S GO CHIEF."

He turned to the officer and nodded before touching his hand to his ear, "EVAC NOW." He barked and the entire team of twenty reboarded the aircraft at a run. Twenty seconds later, the chief turned and nodded.

"LET'S GO CABBIE!" he snapped toward the pilot, who flipped the bird over his shoulder, an instant before they shot into the sky like a rocket. The ramp finished closing as they turned to the south and distant booms could be heard as the craft and its escorts went supersonic.

"You were a bit early John," Harry observed as he stretched slightly and Hermione leaned against him and closed her eyes.

Lieutenant Simons shrugged and unzipped his camouflage parka to reveal a black inner layer with a small trident insignia on his chest. "You know the old man, he was nervous, who were the Death Eaters piled about the room?"

Hermione didn't open her eyes as she replied, "The usual scum Lucius has in his hinterlands. They wanted...payment for our passage."

"I guess they got it." He agreed and gasped as a sudden fall of fire lit the dim cabin between them. His jaw dropped as Fawkes bleeked up at him and turned to Harry, dropped a note in his hands and vanished in a second fall of fire. "Was that a Phoenix?" he asked, stunned, after a long moment.

"Yeah," Harry replied, and leaned his head against Hermione's, and closed his eyes. "Wake us when we get to the carrier," he ordered and drifted off before he could hear a response.

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26. Higher Education

Here we go once more. Thanks again to Lady Starlight for her gracious work

Chapter 26: Higher Education
**********************Castle McDuer, Kirkcaldy, Scotland*************
October 7, 2019

A tall hooded presence swept in the doors of the ancient castle that the 'winning' side had appropriated for their new Wizarding School. Several figures wearing black cloaks emblazoned with a green skull insignia swept in at his heels and spread about the room forming a perimeter between their lord and master and the students assembled waiting for his to grace their presence. A large, stocky Death Eater tossed an old, wrinkled woman out of his way and to the floor when she was too slow to get out of his way. She looked up at him from the floor with curiously hard; black eyes then dropped them and eased out of the way around a corner and out of sight.

The tall man dropped his hood, which was part of a richly appointed, embroidered deep black traveling cloak and looked about at the assembled students. The host of children, none over sixteen or so was dressed identically in black and dark green school uniforms; the only difference was the girls were wearing skirts. Not an inch of variation of length or a tie out of place among them, in other words, little soldiers. He nodded almost absently, then as he scanned back, his hard grey eyes flared, their irises glowing with a sullen red fire. "Delores," Lucius hissed suddenly, as he waved his hand and a short, fat, toad-like woman floated across the several feet between them to fall at his feet, "where are the rest of the students that should be here?"

"Sire," Umbridge looked around fearfully and glanced back at the assembled students, but there was no help to be found, "many did not return, especially the first and second years...I think that they may have gone to...Hogwarts my lord."

"Hogwarts is destroyed Delores," Malfoy laughed and flicked his fingers. A searing yellow bolt snapped into her and flung her back, writhing and crying out in agony as the Cruciatus took hold. No one approached her as she screamed for a solid minute until he canceled the curse and paced off to the left, down the main corridor of the castle. "Bring her Xavier," Malfoy commanded behind him and didn't notice as Hamilton picked her up from the floor with a spell and yanked her to her feet. The odd procession followed along behind as Malfoy strode to a large statue of himself that stepped out of his way at a wave to reveal a large, oaken door, blackened with age.

He entered the room, Umbridge's office with a sneer on his lips and settled behind her desk as the Death Eaters following him tossed the simpering toad to the floor. He leaned back and steepled his fingers in front of his face, "I came here, Delores, to...discuss with you the quality of initiates that we have been receiving." She looked up at him through small, beady eyes filled with pain as he idly examined the office. In many ways Umbridge had tried to replicate Dumbledore's office, the large, two-level circular room was lined with books that Malfoy knew that Umbridge didn't understand the concepts in half of, and various gadgets or mementos. An utterly horrible collection of plates covered with images of frolicking kittens sat in a corner cabinet under pictures of the woman with various dignitaries before the fall.

"Sire I cannot make wheat from chaff..." Delores pleaded from the floor, looking up at beseechingly.

"You have the children of the cream of Pureblood society Umbridge, that is the wheat," Lucius flicked a wand again casually and Umbridge was once again screaming before he cut it off with another wave. "You will provide better soldiers and officers...and companions to my forces or I may have Xavier return to...discuss the matter with you." Umbridge grew even paler at that prospect as Lucius stood and paced the door, his retinue following behind him.

Malfoy swept down the halls, and inspected the gathered students; occasionally he would remark something about at particular student to Bariss, who had remained silent, pointing out ones that he thought would make good troops, officers, or those female students who could serve in other ways, secretaries, house-mistresses, and other functions.

Eventually he left, after his followers gathered the indicated students and bundled them off to retrieve their processions in the case of the boys and a small bag that might be suitable for carrying a change of underwear for the girls.

He was not all seeing...as they left, the old woman from before, stood straight, the bend vanishing from her spine as she glared at him and carefully extended one, single finger towards his back. She stepped into the shadows, pressed a slightly protruding brick on the wall and vanished.

*********************************Hogwarts*******************************

7:00 pm

Emilia sighed and swept a black curl back behind one ear as she picked up a large box of utterly identical white mice and dumped them into a cage. She frowned as she picked one up by the tail, and dumped it squealing into the box, "One." She picked up another, and dropped it into the box, "Two."

"Honey...what are you doing?"

Em's eyes grew wide as she turned and found Hermione leaning against the doorway of the Transfiguration classroom. She smiled as the eleven-year-old jumped up and ran to her, staggering her a bit as her arms wrapped around her waist. "Mum...when did you get back? Where's dad? Did you find anything? Can we go with you..."

"Hold on, there Em," Harry's amused voice said laughingly as he eased into the room, and let out a soft, "Umph" as his daughter crashed into him. "Merlin, you did inherit your mother's hugs," he muttered as he pretended to rub his ribs.

"Dad."

"You never did answer me what you were doing down here Emilia Jane," Hermione put in with an upturned brow as she leaned back against Harry who had moved next to her. She looked around the room pointedly at the scattered boxes of mice and matchsticks, a large cage of iguanas, several pans of buttons and a large tub of what looked to be teacups. Hermione crossed her arms and looked down at her, with a moderately lethal glare...she knew of course what was going on, and she was glaring to keep a straight face.

You're not supposed to torment our own children dear, Harry muttered as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Emilia didn't quite smile as she dropped her eyes to the floor.

Oh hush, this is the one of the fun parts...and you're ruining the effect, she sent back peevishly, as her gaze automatically lessened.

You want me to stop?

Are you touched in the head? "Well?"

"Detention," Emilia admitted, and showed her age as she flopped to the floor next to the cage of mice she had been trying to count. "McGonagall said I had to do the inventory of all of the first year supplies, and I couldn't do magic," she huffed and crossed her arms and glared at the mice, as if it were their fault. Crookshanks sauntered in, looked at the box of mice as if he were deciding if it were worth his trouble to jump in the box, looked up to see Hermione give him a small shake of her head, and flopped down on his side in front of Emilia and purred. Em reached out and started rubbing his belly automatically.

"Aw yes," Harry replied knowingly, "We know this one well." He grinned at Hermione whose eyes widened suddenly as a shared memory flitted across her thoughts. Her mouth opened in a silent "O" and a tinge of color darkened her cheeks. "We had this one for a week seventh year."

Emilia glanced between them, "What did you do?"

Hermione turned back and looked at him, pointedly. She smirked slightly as, Well, dear, are you going to explain what we were doing to get that detention?

When she's fifty maybe, Harry retorted with instant horror, and Emilia's ears perked as she heard Hermione giggle softly behind her raised hand, Bloody hell, love, I'm just glad that Minerva thought we were ONLY snogging back in the back. And if I remember right, that was your idea anyway.

I was horny...you went along with it, Hermione retorted and Harry shrugged, as Emilia rolled her eyes, and started counting mice again while she waited.

I was seventeen, Harry reasoned, I would have gone along with you if you had asked to go at it on her desk.

You're thirty-one, now dear, and I doubt you'd not go along if I'd ask today, Hermione replied with a smile and kissed him, turning back to Emilia. "Let us help you with that." Hermione walked over to her daughter and dropped into an easy lotus in front of the box of mice, Harry sat down next to her and grabbed a box of buttons. "You pick them up and I'll count them.

"What about dad?" Emilia muttered out of the side of her mouth as she started picking up mice and dropping them. Crookshanks sat up on his hind legs and batted at the mice as they started falling into the box in a steady rhythm. She looked back towards the door to the classroom, "And won't Professor McGonagall get mad, mum?"

"Let us worry about her, honey," Harry replied easily as he kept counting buttons, "We're used to her being angry at us." Behind them, in the door to the dimly lit hallway, a grey and black tabby stopped and sat a moment in the door. It shook its head and paced off without a sound. "What did you do to get Detention?" Harry asked lightly as the clink of buttons and the sound of angry mice filled the room.

"Got caught," Emilia muttered looking down at her box of mice. Hermione glanced back at Harry who shrugged.

"Obviously," Hermione said dryly, "at what?" She picked up a mouse and looked at it funny, she could have sworn it was acting like an Animagus. She held it out to Crookshanks, who purred, she shrugged and tossed it back into the box.

Emilia flushed slightly, but looked up at her anyway, "Xander and I were running a chase through the towers on our brooms in Flying Class. McGonagall caught us...I think Granddad saw us, but he didn't say anything." She reached down and picked at a loose thread on the hem of her jeans, "She gave me a week of detention...and," she looked up with a huge grin, "the Seeker's slot for Gryffindor."

"That's my girl," Harry announced jubilantly and Hermione reached out and punched him in the arm.

"Don't encourage her," Hermione growled, however the light dancing in her eyes belied the statement. She reached out and pulled Emilia into a hug, "Congratulations, Em. You'll have fun..."

Em looked at Harry, he shrugged as she came over to get her hug from him. "Um...Hermione, what about no crashing into the pitch or having a Bludger break an arm or?" Harry asked as he and his daughter looked at Hermione oddly. She just shrugged and flicked her wand. A pair of chocolate ice cream sundaes appeared with a small pop. She scooted one over to Emilia and leaned against Harry to share the other with him.

"I doubt Minerva said anything about eating, dear." Hermione commented with a grin and took a bite of her ice cream. "And don't crash into the pitch or have a Bludger break your arm," she paused in thought for a moment, "Don't have Dementors try to crash your game or let Dobby try to 'protect you' or jump off your broom, or land and punch the opposing seeker in the face, I can do that for myself, thank you. Do try to stay away from the Whomping Willow as brooms are expensive these days and please, please try to keep from being cursed while on your broom by a reincarnated Dark Lord..." She looked at Harry, "Anything I've missed?"

"Pretty well have it all I think," Harry replied, laughing.

"Mum, dad, we have our first game Saturday," Emilia bit her lip slightly as she looked between the two, "Will you guys be there?" she asked softly, hesitantly. "Horry's playing Keeper and Harriet's a chaser..."

Harry looked at Hermione, she smirked slightly, "We already knew, honey," Hermione admitted, "We already saw your brother." Emilia rolled her eyes at their 'joke' and neither of them missed the muttered, 'parents' that didn't quite escape her lips. Emilia finished her sundae and looked back at the mice, "Seventy two mice dear. How are you liking school?"

"It's alright."

"It doesn't sound like it Emilia," Harry replied after a moment. He picked up a quill and marked down two hundred and ten under buttons on Emilia's piece of parchment and sat back, scooting back until his back was against the leg of a table.

"I like it well enough..." Em protested softly, she picked at a couple of miniature chocolate frogs that had been on her sundae, "It's just that...we, it's boring, I've already read all the topics that they go over in class, Defense isn't so bad, at least we get to duel every so often and the creatures are kind of neat...but...Xander and I were bored with Transfiguration, I mean honestly, how many times can you go over Switching Spells. It's not like they are hard or anything, and they're in the book, after all..."

Oh, this sounds familiar.

"Em, dear, it's not just the school work, but...you know being with kids your age, too." Hermione said softly, ignoring Harry, "It can't just be about schoolwork, or books." She ran her bottom lip through her teeth as she leaned back against Harry slightly, "I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had your father and Ron to drag me out of the Library every so often."

"I know mum," Emilia replied exasperatedly, so much so that Harry laughed. She looked around, at the boxes, and grinned, "I think we're done, thanks, mum, dad."

"No problem."

***************************London*******************************

A black flag, emblazoned with the green skull of the Dark Mark fluttered above the palace as Lucius paced into his opulent throne room and sat. Torches lit the walls, and reflected oddly in the polished black granite floors. A dozen Death Eaters braced to attention as he passed, their eyes fixed straight ahead. Bariss and Narcissa trailed him, she sneered at a petite, seventeen-year-old girl kneeling at the side of her throne.

She sat and looked over at the girl, a frightened young blond girl, "Go; await Lord Malfoy and I in our chambers." The girl looked like she was close to tears but went anyway. Lucius gave her a small nod as he settled in his throne, set slightly higher than hers and crossed his legs. A half dozen Death Eaters filled in led by Xavier Hamilton and knelt in front of the thrones. Bariss settled at Malfoy's ear and held a notepad and quill ready.

"Report," Lucius commanded flatly. His eyes fixed on the black uniformed Death Eater next to Xavier, with a pair of small five star clusters on each collar. Gregor Anderson looked as if he had lost a great deal of weight since the night he had meet the Potters. His leg might have shaken a bit as he looked at Lucius, and nodded fitfully.

"Sire...I regret to report that we have made no progress in Scotland," Anderson kept his head bowed as he reported. "The resistance is very powerful, and the foreign forces are operating openly as well. I have only a battalion of Death Eaters available." He glanced back at a tall, black-cloaked figure, with dark spiked armor. "Perhaps if the X'Sheen forces could be directed..."

"My brethren cannot force the barriers human, you have allowed the Phoenix Wizard too much time. He has erected the barriers the Founders placed with the establishment of their fortress." It paused and its depthless hood turned to Malfoy, "Perhaps if we may summon the entire host..."

Malfoy laughed, "Do you think me a fool, you forget your place." He slowly pulled a glowing red orb from within his robes and held it aloft. The X'Sheen bowed its head but did not fall to its knees, if it indeed had them. Lucius frowned, and looked back to Anderson. "I have grown tired of your excuses, Gregor. AVADA KEDAVRA." A green beam snapped across the fifteen feet between Malfoy's throne and the Death Eater. He flew backwards several feet before skidding to a halt against a gold statue of a hooded serpent, dead. Several ragged House Elves appeared with a pop, picked up the body and vanished just as fast.

Lucius did not comment as he turned to a tall, blond witch in leathers. She nodded and waited. "How goes the invasion of the rebel lands?"

The field commander for the South Pacific frowned, but did not lower her gaze. Michelle Prichart, did not fear death, for she was already dead. She had been turned in 1791 in the south of France near the village of St. Angelo by a living immortal, Andrew O'Connor, a rogue member of that family. She had been at the near death of the O'Connor clan in the heyday of Voldemort, and had only missed destruction by chance as a small, blonde whirlwind exploded out of a closet, killing her Death Eater partner and vanishing into the night. "We have yet to land a significant force, my Lord, the damnable American Fleet and devil weapons prevent it."

Malfoy pursed his lips and stood. "I will be in my chambers, Narcissa, attend me."

****************************Hogwarts********************************

October 8, 2019

9:20 am.

Harry leaned up against the open back door to the Potions classroom and watched his childhood nemesis walk around the classroom with the help of a slim, ebony cane that Harry knew to contain a thin but quite effective sword blade. Draco looked up at him and nodded before continuing to pace about looking at the student's efforts. The Slytherin, spy, bad guy, good guy, traitor, friend, had yet to fully recover from the effects of his imprisonment at Azkaban alongside Harry. He had not had the magical strength or abilities to heal himself without a wand, or potion and the Death Eaters had not had the unspoken threat of annihilation hanging over their heads if he were to die. He reported to Poppy once a week to take an IV of a thick, burning potion that was trying to rebuild the nerves in his left leg, with so far, only limited success.

Harry smiled slightly as Hermione came up behind him and placed her chin on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. They watched as Draco paused next to Horatio and Harriet's table, bent down between the kids and pointed out something in Horatio's caldron, and then used the tip of his cane to point at the directions on the board. All three of them laughed at something he said before he moved on, unconsciously straightening his robes, which were of the finest fabrics and his hair was impeccably coifed. Its kind of scary how good he actually is at teaching.

Yeah, he's better than Severus was any day. He might not know as much, but he's leagues better at actually imparting what he does know, Hermione agreed as she pulled one her arms up enough to see her watch. We have to go Harry, Albus wants to see us.

Harry nodded as she slipped her arms from around his waist and took his hand, a brief flare of power lit the fabric of the universe in the hallway, unnoticed by any in the class except two, and they vanished without a sound.

They reappeared in the second floor hallway, next to the stone gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's door and it jumped, rattling nearby windows in their frames and sending several random pets scurrying out from behind suits of armor. It glared at them for a solid minute before it stepped aside and bowed them up the stairs muttering under its breath. The ancient oaken door stood ajar at the top of the stairs and as they entered, Hermione lurched to a stop in disbelief as she looked up. Harry barely managed to avoid her, dancing to the side. The reason for their shock was obvious, about as subtle and unexpected as an anvil falling from heaven.

"'Arry, "ermione." The floor shuddered as huge feet about the size a kitchen sink apiece thundered across the room, and trashcan sized hands at the arms approximately the diameter of decent sized tree trunks picked them both bodily from the floor and swung them around as if they were still eleven.

"Hagrid," Hermione squeaked, with unabashed glee, and not a modicum of shock as the huge half-giant noticed them turning slightly blue and let them down gently. "Where...how..." she reached up and wiped tears from her eyes, and glanced back to find Harry similarly effected.

"Olympe and me've been hiding...her school was destroyed lass, 'e've been running ever since, until Fawkes 'ere showed up with a letter, from Dumbledore, saying it was time." She hugged Hagrid again and stepped back as Harry gave him a hug before they walked to Dumbledore's desk at the ancient wizard's gesture. They leaned Harry perched on the edge of the desk, with Hermione more or less on his lap, not because of anything other than there was no room. Harry and Hermione looked around, speechless as almost the entire staff of when they were here as students was crowded into the room, Filius Flitwick was perched on a windowsill, Madame Sprout had come from somewhere, last they had heard she was in retirement, Vector and Glyph shared a conjured couch, and even Sinestra had arrived. Hagrid was leaning against the back wall looking on.

Ron, Sirius, Luna, Remus and Tonks were all scattered wherever they could find space looking around at those, who for most of them, had been their teachers. Dumbledore smiled, his ice-blue eyes twinkling as they did more and more these days, "I do not think introductions are necessary." He looked at Ron, "No offence to your teaching abilities, Harry, Hermione, Ron...others," he nodded at Sirius, Remus and Tonks, "But I felt that your...talents would be more useful in other pursuits." Dumbledore gave Luna a small nod, "I am afraid that we might have to call on you to teach a few Divination seminars...I feel that a full class would be a waste, but perhaps a demonstration or two." He added with a raised finger.

"However, even with the students that we have here now, and a most outstanding turn out that it was...I think it is a severe insult to my school that so many have chosen Delores to teach their children." His blue eyes hardened to tiny, sharp blue diamonds. "In your absence, Harry, Hermione, Ronald has developed a plan to liberate that school from that...person. I will not stand by and have children treated as that...creature does." Dumbledore didn't rise from his chair, but it was suddenly as if he towered over them all. A shocked silence passed around the room as a black folder was passed from hand to hand. Hagrid's great beard quivered in rage, as Flitwick muttered dark implications under his breath. McGonagall had already seen the reports from their agents, crystal balls and Tonks' daring infiltration during Malfoy's inspection.

Ron nodded and flicked his wand. The windows darkened and a glowing, floating diagram of an unfamiliar castle, perhaps two-thirds the size of Hogwarts. Ron pushed off from the wall, Luna's hands trailing after his arm for an instant. "This is Castle McDuer. It is situated on the Firth of Forth near Kirkcaldy. Which was a poor choice." Ron pointed his wand at the image again and several small glowing dots appeared. "For obvious reasons we can not directly assault this castle. I believe we could take it, particularly as Harry and Hermione have returned, and the fact that as of this morning we will have a battalion of Enchanted Armor by Friday." A few feral grins answered that announcement.

"Fred and George are not here, as you might have noticed," Ron put in a touch sarcastically; no one could miss the absence of the jokesters. "They are with the first battalion of Royal Marines working up the armor. Seems that there were more than enough of them out of the country or that managed to E and E to constitute a battalion. Unfortunately...they are reserve only for this operation. We cannot use them in the castle, without undue risk to the students." He sighed and reached back to pull on his red pony tail, they will be in position about four miles away if we really need them, we are of course concerned with a possible X'Sheen counter if we are held up too long."

"You are proposing going in at night Ron?" Harry asked as he and Hermione stood and walked to the projection to look at more closely. Ron nodded and waved at Tonks.

"Seemed safest from my recon Harry," she agreed, "Umbridge has organized her school differently than Hogwarts. The students that are underage are all confined to a large, singular dorm after hours. She does not have the students divided into Houses as they are here, more so because the majority of the students under age are there as hostages to their families' behaviors..." Tonks muttered a dark curse under her breath as she looked over at Remus to find his slow nod. He put his hands on her shoulders as she fought to say something she obviously did not want to say. "It seems that sometime after the students turn of age...they are pulled from their normal dorms and placed in the older ones, one for the girls, one for the boys, and they are given the Mark...and if they don't want it...they are convinced."

Harry's eyes flared and a crystal ball on a side shelf shattered with a BANG. "Very well, Ron...work it up for execution Saturday evening...we take the school, evacuate the students that can be saved...and terminate or capture any Death Eaters we find. Delores is to be taken alive, and held on charges of Murder, Torture, conspiracy to commit same...and whatever else we find. We get the kids out, and drop the castle around their ears."

AN: Dum, De Dum....

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27. What Happens When you Tickle the Phoenix

I Know, I know, it's been a bit, sorry.... Thanks again to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.

Chapter 27: What Happens When You Tickle the Phoenix
****************************Hogwarts***********************************

October 12, 2019
11:58am

Great banners of red and gold, yellow and black, blue and bronze and even a few of green and silver flew over the massive Quidditch Pitch, snapping in the early October winds blowing down off the mountains surrounding the castle. Throngs of students, Professors and assorted attendees sat in the stands, yelling and screaming their support of their favorite teams, or in the case of the few Muggle refugees, just screaming to be screaming. A substantial throng of fans from Hogsmeade, which was once again beginning to come back to life under the protection of the great castle on the cliff overlooking the lake, cheered loudly as Norbert barrel-rolled through the airspace above the pitch.

None of them really considered that the reason that there was a dragon flying cover over the stadium, or that in the distance, armor suits could be seen patrolling the perimeter of the forest and the lake, was that they were at war. Hogwarts itself, even more than the Americas across the sea, or the defiant Australia, was a sharp stick in Malfoy's eye. Far up the hill, next to the castle, several new, long, low stone buildings could be seen, the new headquarters for the armies defending Northern Scotland.

Harry glanced back towards the castle as he reached the top of the Gryffindor stands and squinted slightly. Tiny black dots could be seen walking the battlements, with a mixture of Muggle and Wizarding troops, not that there was much difference any longer except for the fact that some toted wands and some rifles and some both.

Hermione reached up, tousled his hair and nodded towards their seats. Luna was already seated next to their empty seats, her Lion hat fully restored and operational. Ron had not known whether to be proud or appalled, as he had overheard Harriet muttering loudly, using words that he was not sure that he knew, as her mother had walked past with the hat on this morning at breakfast. Harry and Hermione had just laughed. Their recent return to only field work had relieved them of any perceived need to be impartial, which was rather excellent as both of the elder Potters were wearing their own Gryffindor jerseys, both with Potter on the back. Gred and Forge had gifted Hermione with a new revised one right after the last Slytherin game thirteen years ago and she was wearing it today. Far below, Ron looked up at them and waved from the pitch, he was officiating today, because he had lost the draw.

"You know that your daughter only ate like half a slice of toast this morning, and then puked that up?" Harry asked Hermione, leaning over to whisper in her ear over the noise of the crowd. Below, on the field, Ron was waving the teams forward, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, to listen to his pre-game talk.

"Like father, like daughter," Hermione whispered back, nudging his ribs with an elbow. Next to them Luna looked at them, oddly, before returning her gaze to the field where her daughter was hopping back and forth, with her broom in her hands as she looked around the pitch, obviously not listening to Ron.

Harry quirked a jet eyebrow, and plucked at Hermione's own robe, "And you were so calm before your first match...I seem to remember someone not sleeping the entire night before. Only daring coffee for the whole morning."

"How the bloody hell I ever let Ron and you talk me into playing, I still have no idea," Hermione retorted, shaking her head.

Luna smiled and leaned over to them, her hat almost knocking Hermione back into the row behind them, "Your brain was addled with large amounts of sex, Hermione." She shrugged, "It happens to the best of us, now the Snorkack, it never-"

Harry dropped his head as Hermione and Luna proceeded to start to debate for the nine hundred and seventy second time, the existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. This time with the added invective involving the resistance of the Snorkack to the amorous advances of one of its own species. He flicked his wand, summoning a couple of mugs of Hot Chocolate, he handed one to Hermione, who paused in her affable discussion with Luna for a moment to thank him before returning to the debate. After letting them go for another moment, Harry ended it, by pulling Hermione to his side, ostensibly to warm up on this blustery day. No one was fooled, but the girls ceased with matching grins anyway.

All the eyes in the stadium turned to either the announcer's box or the Pitch, as a familiar, deep voice picked up the microphone. "WELCOME, LADIES, GENTLEMEN, FAMILIARS AND ANYONE ELSE I'VE MISSED!" A familiar pair of fire-mops stood together in the box and behind Harry and Hermione, Angelica and Alicia muttered as one, "Oh. Bloody. Hell."

"I think that there might be a few Unicorns that you didn't include, Fred," said George.

"Right you are, George," quipped Fred, "and while we are waiting for the whistle, we would to share a word from our sponsors, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, now reopened in Hogsmeade, and soon to open once more in London." A cheer rang out at that implication and Fred nodded and waved the microphone over the crowd. "That word is...orange."

"Today we have a classic match-up...well maybe not so much, we aren't playing after all, but it should be fun," said Forge.

"Right O," said Gred, "Today we have the Badgers of Hufflepuff, verses our alma mater, the Lions of Gryffindor."

"However we will be very even in our commentary."

"Indeed, if you suck, we'll let you know."

"MISTERS WEASLEY..." yelled McGonagall.

"Sorry Professor," they sing-songed as one, "As I was saying...classic, Fred."

"Indeed, George, indeed. For today we have the third generation of Potters to play for Gryffindor, along with the....well we are still working out exactly what generation of Weasleys we are on..."

"True, true, but it's all about the game, Forge, and it looks as if our dear brother is about to blow the whistle." Fourteen streaking forms on brooms shot to the air and darted about the pitch. A thunderous roar built in the north end of the pitch as Horry dove between the hoops and swerved to stop in front of the center one, waiting. He watched as Harriet, Xander and a tiny blonde girl named Michi Chen, which no one understood, formed in a hovering line a third of the way down the pitch. The pair of Gryffindor Beaters, started to swoop back and forth, crossing between the line of waiting Chasers and the golden hoops.

Emilia smiled slightly as she and the Hufflepuff seeker, Melissa Perry began to circle the center of the pitch, twenty-five feet up, waiting for the release.

The whistle blew and the bright red Quaffle shot into the air. It was snatched out of the air by Greg Smart, one of the Hufflepuff Chasers as and he turned sharply towards the goal. He swooped under a bludger, rolled around Michi and fired at the leftmost hoop. Horry was already in motion, and a beat later the Quaffle was sailing back down the Pitch into the waiting hands of Chen. "A TERRIFIC BROOM SAVE THERE BY YOUNG MR. POTTER...WE MAY HAVE A NEW KING IN THE HOUSE," Fred added as Ron swooped by on his broom.

"AND CHEN HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE DODGES A BLUDGER, AND PASSES TO LUPIN, TO CHEN, TO WEASLEY, SHE SHOOTS...SHE SCORES...TEN, ZERO GRYFFINDOR" George screamed, jumping up and down as Harriet, snap-rolled right, dove left and tossed the Quaffle through the far right hoop as the Hufflepuff Keeper was going the opposite way.

Meanwhile, far above the action, Emilia was still hovering, looking for that tell-tale glint of gold somewhere about the field. She glanced out of her eye as she sloth-rolled to avoid a bludger to find Perry still looking, hanging back near the Hufflepuff goals. Emilia shook her head; hanging back normally was a pretty bad tactic. After a minute, a glimmer of gold caught her eyes near the Hufflepuff stands, and she rolled on her back and dove. Across the pitch, Melissa shot into motion, and in the Gryffindor stands, Harry winced as Hermione's hand tightened on his. Emilia shot almost straight down, snapping through the center of the Gryffindor Chaser formation as they swept down the field on the way to the goal, the Quaffle missing her head by millimeters as it was passed from Harriet to Xander.

The snitch danced to the side, and Emilia only distantly heard it the crowd roar as Xander scored, and Fred's jubilant announcement as it echoed over the pitch. She rolled to her right, following the Snitch as it dove into the trench surrounding the Pitch; she ducked under a beam, rolled left past a vertical support and pulled straight up, only to loose the small ball in the sun. "Bugger," Em muttered as she streaked upward to start circling again.

The far end of the crowd cheered as Hufflepuff scored its first goal of the game, a tricky fake followed by a toss directly behind Horry accompanied by at least one Bludger near his head. Back in the stands, Hermione started muttering dire implications to the future existence of the other team, Ron for refereeing, and Harry because he was there, before Horry waved to show that he was all right. She almost immediately was jumping up and down, cheering as Horry deflected another shot on goal, catching the Quaffle going away and flinging it downfield to Harriet. "AND WEASLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE PASSES TO CHEN, TO LUPIN...OHHH THAT HAD TO HURT," Fred said feelingly as a Bludger hit by the opposing Hufflepuffs hit Xander in the shoulder, he spun several times before regaining control.

Kathy Luceno captured the Quaffle and she headed down the pitch towards the north. She only made it about one hundred feet before twin, crimson blurs ran over her, stripping her of the Quaffle. Michi tossed Harriet the ball, swerved around a Hufflepuff Chaser, dodged Ron as he sat in the air, and flipped the ball to her left. Harriet tucked it under an arm and corkscrewed around the remaining two Hufflepuff Chasers. She rolled inverted as the Bludgers crossed where her body had been before going on to nail the Hufflepuff Beaters, she dodged left as she witnessed the falling form of her best friend on the way after the Snitch, pulled up and shot, scoring through the center hoop. "GRYFFINDOR SCORES." George screamed, and from the Gryffindor stands a lion ROARED. "GO, GO, GO, AWWWW......" the shouts from the Gryffindor stands filled the stadium as Emilia reached for the Snitch only to be thwarted by a bludger bent on Pitch domination. Harry laughed as he read her lips through the omniocculars he had pressed to his eyes.

What's so funny? Hermione asked as she glanced over at her husband. He just shook his head and handed her the Omniocculars, and after a moment, she giggled. A sudden shaking rocked the stands as Hagrid started to jump and down, and Harry and Hermione both dove to stop him before he collapsed the stands, while they might be able to fly away due to one of each of their animagus forms, not everyone here could. She giggled in her thoughts as she and Harry spun back to the game just as Fred announced another score by Harriet. The Weasley contingent was ecstatically screaming, including and most especially, one blond-haired witch who had her wand in her hand, shooting off red sparks.

Another hour went by with Gryffindor scoring another ten goals to Hufflepuff's six, making the score one hundred thirty to seventy. "GO, EM..." Hermione screamed as her daughter shot past in a blur and Harry grinned. Perry was on her tail, evidentially choosing the same tactic that had not done Draco any good when he and Harry were still in school, chasing the small, gold ball on weekends. Emilia's eyes flitted sideways, finding the Snitch out of the corner of her eye and she nodded to herself. She pulled up sharply and shot straight up, up and up until she lost her pursuer in the clouds. An instant later she nosed over, arrowing down. She shot past Michi, and heard the blonde's curse as Perry followed her, almost hitting the Gryffindor in her haste to catch up.

"Just because your father is the "Boy-Who-Lived", doesn't mean you are any good Potter," Melissa spat, almost catching up to her.

"No," Em agreed, "I'm good all by myself," she leaned forward and vanished, her broom gaining another twenty miles per hour in a breath. She reached out, dodged another Bludger and snapped her gloved hand closed as tiny, fluttering wings tickled her palm. She pulled up at the last instant, the bristles of her broom sweeping the manicured grass of the pitch. A soft thump was heard behind her as Perry augured in, tumbling.

"POTTER HAS THE SNITCH....GRYFFINDOR WINS, GRYFFINDOR WINS...."

The Gryffindor crowd exploded as emerald eyes danced with joy as the small, black-haired girl stopped in mid-air. She looked dazedly at her clenched fist before a huge grin broke out on he face and she thrust her hand skyward.

She landed in the center of the field a minute later, and laughed happily as the remainder of her team grounded and greeted her. Michi and Harriet hugged her, and the boys clapped her on the back. Horatio walked up and muttered in her ear, "Good game, sis, but you sure took your time about it." She rolled her eyes and hugged him, to his vocally expressed complaints. Horry walked over to Harriet and said something to make her laugh.

Emilia turned as a hand touched her shoulder, and she spun to find Xander there, looking slightly sheepish; he glanced down and fingered a large gash in his Quidditch Jersey. "Did you get that when you got hit?" Em asked softly, looking up at the rather tall, for his age, boy, "did it hurt?"

"Nah," Xander replied and through some odd sense that she couldn't quite place she knew he was lying for her benefit, "not really." Em looked down for an instant before she grinned and jumped forward, hugging him. She let go and jumped back just as quickly, as Xander looked at her with an odd expression on his nearly thirteen-year-old face, "What was that for?

"Luck?" Em replied nonsensically and spun around and ran to her parents as they came down the stairs, sharing knowing grins, "MUM, DADDY," she yelled and launched herself at Harry, he caught her in mid-air and swirled her around.

"Have fun?" he asked as he set her down. Hermione rolled her tongue around in her cheek, trying not to laugh at something.

"It was brilliant, Dad," she enthused, and hugged Hermione around the waist, "thanks for letting me play, Mum."

Hermione smiled as she nodded, before her chocolate eyes flicked over to where Xander was talking to a witch with bright magenta hair, braying in laughter at something, "What was that with Xander, honey?" Harry glanced over at her and they shared a look, which communicated a great deal in a single glance.

"Umm, wishing him luck," she replied quietly, looking between her parents.

"One generally does that before the game, Poppet," Harry replied wryly, before reaching out and mussing her hair, "Well what are you waiting for, Gryffindor generally throws a decent victory party." She smiled at him and sprinted off, heading for the cluster of red and gold clad Gryffindors waiting for her a ways off.

*******************Harry and Hermione's Suite, Hogwarts***************

October 12, 2019
11:36 pm

A soft knock disturbed the slightly tense silence in the common room of Harry and Hermione's quarters at Hogwarts. Harry glanced over at Hermione; she was bent at the waist, fastening the holsters for her twin wands on her thighs, her hair still loose and falling forward to hide her face. She straightened and shrugged as she looked at him, and Harry frowned slightly as she zipped up the front of her night black, shadow suit, before pacing to the door.

She rolled her eyes, knowing before she opened the door whom was on the other side, "No, you are not going," Hermione said with a slight exasperated mien as the twins entered and dropped on the couch. Twin emerald gazes dropped from her eyes before looking at Harry.

"No," Harry said quickly, "no, you are not doing the 'divide and conquer' thing." Harry glanced at Hermione as she stood next to him, shaking her head.

"But, Dad," Horatio objected plaintively, "you guys did this stuff when you were our age."

"We were stupid," Hermione snapped, and took a breath, apologizing with a glance to Harry. An odd, half-smile of understanding graced his face, and the twins rolled their eyes as one. Crookshanks took the opportunity to jump on Emilia's lap, he purred loudly and settled in, as Hermione slightly self-consciously corrected herself, "Alright, honestly, there were times that we either didn't have a choice or at least we thought that we didn't have one, but you two are still staying here."

"Please, Mum, we won't get in the way," Emilia pleaded, knowing it was already a lost cause.

"No, Emilia Jane, your mother has already said..." Harry growled.

"But if it were up to you, Dad?"

Hermione looked at Harry curiously, he didn't even look in her direction as he walked over to the twins and knelt down next to them, "The answer would still be no, Em," he looked Horatio, "This is not a place that you want to be tonight...I don't want to be there tonight, and I definitely don't want your mother to be there, but we have to go, it's our...duty to do so. Please don't fight us on this," Harry said softly, and Emilia glanced at Horatio.

"Alright, Dad," said Horatio

"We'll stay," continued Emilia.

"But you have to promise us that you'll come back," Horatio went on.

"And when you get back, you'll stay for a while," Emilia whispered. Hermione quickly crossed the room to her and sat down on the couch, squeezing between the twins. They protested half-heartedly as she pulled both of them to her. "We don't want you to leave, Mum." Hermione didn't respond, other than to plead with her eyes to Harry, he sighed.

"Listen," he muttered, "why don't you stay here and wait for us...you don't have to be at class tomorrow." Harry raised a hand and left the room for several minutes leaving to the bedroom, a brief flash of magic whipped across the air and Harry came back in holding a folded piece of parchment, he thrust it at Horatio, "Here, you two get to share that...don't let anyone know you have it."

Harry?

It's a copy, Mione...besides, who knows, they might need it, Harry reasoned, as Horatio and Emilia spread the blank piece of parchment out on Hermione's lap. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said, touching the tip of a holly wand to the parchment. The parchment filled in with words: Messrs. Padfoot, Moody and Prongs welcome yet another generation of Marauders to the Marauders' Map, have fun and don't get caught...

The parchment filed in with lines from the corners, lines demarking classroom, halls and staircases. Towers, bridges and the Great Hall. Tiny, labeled dots filled in, in various spots around the map. A dot labeled Albus Dumbledore was pacing around in his office, "He does that a lot," Harry confirmed, and Hermione grinned at him. More dots, labeled with the names of their classmates were crowded in the various dorms, a few named dots of familiars and professors. A squad of troops were walking the grounds outside, their erratic movements indicative of a professional patrol. "When you are done using it, touch it again and say, 'Mischief Managed'."

Hermione glanced up at a clock, and then significantly at Harry, "We, need to go," she said haltingly, "you two can stay here tonight if you want." She placed the Map on Emilia's lap and stood up, before crouching down and giving each of the twins a hug in turn.

Harry did as well and grabbed Hermione; they stepped back and vanished.

An instant later, the two tiny, labeled dots joined that of Albus Dumbledore in his office. The kids watched as several more dots, with names such as Black, Weasley and Lupin joined them, and a beat later; Dumbledore was alone as the Portkey took them away. He started pacing again; Emilia closed her eyes for a moment, "Mischief...Managed."

**********************Castle McDuer, Kircaldy, Scotland*********************

October 13, 2019
2:25 am

A pair of dark cloaked shapes stood in the dim light escaping the main castle doors. Their faces were in shadow, as they stood lounging against the stones. The sullen glow from a cigarette lit the face of one, showing a hard-eyed, scarred face as he took a final pull and tossed the butt out into the darkness, where it impacted something before it hit the ground. Neither noticed, as the other one, the one who had not been indulging, looked to his partner, "Did you see that new one?"

The Death Eater with the scarred face nodded, "You mean that little brunette they just moved up?" His partner nodded. "Yeah," he smirked, "I bet she'd warm your bed...too bad she's already marked for the London Legion."

"Again..." the exasperated groan was evident, "they get all the decent ones." They looked up as a soft, scraping, sound was heard on the stone, and saw, just for an instant, a pair of faint blue glows hanging in the night, several yards away. One of them, the older, scarred wizard opened his mouth to shout and...died, as a large, curiously red and black tiger and a night black lion bounded out of the darkness and killed them contemptuously in passing.

Harry and Ron SHIFTED into their human forms and looked down at their handiwork grimly. Harry waved to the darkness and watched as several dozen new presences appeared out of the night and took up positions around the entrance. Harry waved them in, and except for an even half-dozen that crouched looking outward, wands and weapons at hand, they looked to him. His wand flashed and a bubble of silence surrounded them, "You all have the maps that Tonks provided, Ginny, Neville... take your teams and secure the younger students' dorm. I'll send the signal when we can start to Portkey them out. Mione, Tonks, Luna," he muttered and they nodded, "you take your team and secure the older female dorm." Hermione nodded in response to another unspoken comment, and no one noticed as hers and Harry's gloved hands brushed together.

"Sirius, Cordy, Remus, you take your group and control the halls. Incapacitate any students, prefects or the like you might see, terminate any Eaters with extreme prejudice." Harry looked up at a tall, stoic presence at his shoulder, "John, leave your team here, in case anyone runs into trouble." He nodded. "Let's go people."

"What will you be doing Harry?" Sirius asked as he stood from his crouch.

"Frog Hunting...I have a long overdue visit with a toad."

'***********************************************************************

Hermione slipped through the dark, foreboding corridors of the castle and paused as just around a corner she heard rough voices echoing down the halls. She bobbed her head around the corner, invisibly and watched the two witches standing guard chatting, not paying attention to their surroundings at all.

"So, what did you get for letting Huthig in tonight?" the taller of the two, a blonde with odd, almost amber eyes, asked curiously. Her partner, a shorter, skinny witch with deep red hair that almost exactly matched the color of her blood-red robes, shrugged, and looked back over her shoulder at the painting of a witch holding a skull over a cauldron.

"You know Shelia, she's got some deal worked out with that Mudblood girl, seems she's a potions genius, has got her making all sorts of stuff you can't get anymore premade, stuff like Morning After Potion, Aliatum, other stuff... I get a cut of it."

"I don't know why the Toad let any of their kind in," the first witch said, contemptuously, "I don't know, they're only good for a few things, really, barely better than those damn Muggles, I can't wait until-"

"Until what?" a low, hard soprano interrupted. A patch of air shimmered in the dim corridor, fading to reveal a black-garbed presence leaning negligently against the grimy stones of the wall several meters away. Both Death Eaters' hands blurred for their wands, with Hermione never moving from her casual pose. "Until what?" Hermione repeated softly, "I also admit that I am curious just what 'their kind' are good for." A chestnut eyebrow crooked slightly as the tip of the redhead's wand lit green, "That wouldn't be the most brilliant of ideas ladies...."

"AVADA-" Hermione vanished, blurring into movement as she rolled to the side, watching disinterestedly as the redhead mouthed "K-", as her left hand floated up and precisely tapped the blonde on the temple with one extended knuckle, spun right, "ED-" and her leading leg neatly snapped the redhead's wand in half, milliseconds before her trailing left snapped the redhead's head around with a loud CRACK. Hermione landed lightly as the two dead Death Eaters slid to the floor behind her.

"Wotcher, Hermione," Tonks griped as she and Luna appeared at the head of another ten witches and wizards. "Why do you and Harry even bring the rest of us along, I mean really..." Luna ignored them both, as her eyes went blank and started to glow a soft golden color.

"There's at least one Death Eater in there...one floor up," she said slowly, "she's seems to be yelling at a girl about seventeen, who looks as if she might want to kill her if she got the chance...I can sense a large concentration of magical cores, inside a small room, wands maybe?"

"Makes sense," Tonks put in, as she motioned several members of the team to take covering positions at the corners. "Delores doesn't trust her students with their wands outside of classes, at least the younger ones...and the trouble makers I guess."

Hermione, nodded and held her hand to her ear, "Bookworm to all units," she muttered over the wireless, "Rescue units be advised that the kids' wands may not be with them, recover them if possible, look for a lockbox or storeroom near the common rooms of the students." Several whispered confirmations answered her call, and she nodded and turned to the portrait. "Open up," Hermione snapped.

"I most certainly will not," the Dark Witch snapped, and looked down on Hermione haughtily. Hermione rolled her eyes as behind her, Luna, Tonks and Jim Smith, snickered.

Hermione stood with her hands on her hips and glared at the portrait for a long moment, with the only movement being her right index finger on the Dragonhide of her wandbelt. A dark, half smile lit her lips, "Decolorato," she whispered lovingly and watched as the paint melted and flowed as a soft scream sounded from the canvas. A moment later, only a blank parchment remained, and a moment after that, it fell forward off the wall with a soft clatter."

"What the hell was that spell?" Tonks looked down at the empty framed canvas.

Hermione shrugged, "I just made it up." She looked back at the various Witches and Wizards she had brought, "Boys, stay here, we'd hate for your mugs to catch sight of some girl in her delicates." Half of her team nodded, and quickly without another order switched places with the female members of the team. "Let's go then."

Hermione slipped through the now open hole in the wall, reminded darkly of another night and another tower, though she herself had not been there as she had been a touch too busy. She stepped into a large common room, stepped right, and snapped a red beam across the room. A darkly robed witch crumpled as a seventeen-year-old started to let out a scream, then stopped as she looked at the intruders. All of who were female, and wearing what she distantly remembered from a time when she was very young, was the insignia of the good guys.

The girl stood and backed away from a smoldering cauldron, backing towards a blank stone wall and dodging around several barren, metal tables, surrounded by austere straight-backed chairs. Hermione took a quick glance around the common room, struck by the vast difference between the warm and inviting Gryffindor Common Room where she had spent so very much of her youth and this dark, depressing spot, which seemed to have, as it's only purpose, a place for the stairs from the dorms to go. "Who...Who, are you?" The young girl questioned with more than a trace of fear.

Tonks appeared at Hermione's heels, and glanced over as Luna knelt next to the Death Eater and gave her a small nod, "Wotcher, girl, we're the bloody good guys," Tonks replied with a touch of exasperation.

"That's what they said when they came to my parents house and took me, they took my sister later, she's here in the younger girls quarters," the girl snapped, "Why should I trust any of you?"

Hermione sighed and crouched down, her hands on her knees so her eyes were lower than the girl's; her gaze snapped to the door that behind it, Luna had sensed several wands and her eyes lit. The door shook for a second before ripping from its hinges and flying back into the room to come to rest uneasily against the far wall. Hermione watched the girl look at the now open room longingly, "Go ahead," she said encouragingly, "go get your wand."

The girl frowned, and shook her head slightly, "I'm a Mudblood, ma'am...I don't own a wand, I can only have one during class." Her eyes dropped, as she looked over at the cauldron.

Hermione looked around the room, at the other six black-garbed witches that had entered, "Go, check out the dorms; get them ready to go, but be careful." Hermione looked back at the girl, and closed her eyes for an instant, But for the grace of God, go I...she quoted to herself absently before opening them again, "What's your name?"

The girl swallowed and lowered her head; she looked up at Hermione through a curtain of straight, russet hair, "Makaila," she whispered finally after a long moment, "Makaila O'Brien, I'm from...I mean I was from Dublin."

"Makaila," Hermione smiled at her, and sunk to her knees in front of the girl, "That's your work there, right?" Hermione asked, pointing at the cauldron, Makaila nodded, "so you know how to use a wand right?" the girl nodded again, "Good," Hermione approached her slowly and held her hand back towards Tonks, "I hate to see a talented witch without her wand, Tonks, give her your backup." Hermione looked back to her, and knowing without looking that the young girl was looking hopefully at Tonks now, Hermione watched as Tonks unzipped the front of her shadow suit and withdrew an plain, eight-inch dark oak wand.

Tonks tossed it to the young girl, "Here ya go, eight and a half inches, oak, dragon-heartstring, its just a general one, but it should do until we can get you to where your real wand will chose you."

Makaila held the wand out in front of her in the palms of both of her hands, "I can't take this ma'am," she whispered, wistfully, "I'm just a -"

"Muggle-born," Hermione whispered as she reached forward and gently closed the girl's hands over the wand, "So am I...and it doesn't matter."

"We have the girls ready to go, boss," an agent said suddenly as she came down the stairs from the dorms, "they were already all asleep, so we put them out the rest of the way, and have them ready to Portkey out.

Harry, we have the older girls ready.

Just a moment, Mione...I'll convince Delores to lower her wards. You can join me if you want to, he sent an image of where he was, I'll be waiting, love.

One sec, Harry, Hermione sent back, and felt him nod, "Makaila, I need to go see my husband, Tonks and Luna will take care of you until we get to Hogwarts." Hermione did not miss the sudden smile that bloomed on the girls face as she looked up suddenly and seemed to want to ask a million questions at once.

But in the end, she just asked one, "What's your name, ma'am?"

"Hermione Potter," Hermione replied and vanished noiselessly, vanishing before she could see the pole-axed expression now decorating the young girl's face.

*************************Security Barracks, Castle McDuer*******************

The last Death Eater slumped to the ground as Lupin straightened from the crouch he had been in and slowly sheathed his wand. He looked over as Sirius rolled his shoulder with a slight sigh and followed suit, crossing the room, stepping over several bodies on the way. "Tell me something, Padfoot," he said softly as they both watched Cordelia licking her lips slightly as she casually tossed a Death Eater across the room without so much as a grunt of effort.

"Yes, Moony?" Sirius replied as he flicked his wand to vanish a Death Eater before sitting on the now vacated bed. He yawned mightily and grinned to himself, as Cordelia paced. She motioned forcefully to several of the agents that had followed them into the room, and supervised as they started to Evanesco the Eaters.

"Why is it we are cleaning up after Junior, he always gets the fun parts?" Lupin grinned at Sirius, as he yawned again, "What's wrong, getting old there, Snuffles?"

"James kept us up all night," he raised his voice slightly, "now since my lovely wife is, a creature of the night," she rolled her eyes and extended her fangs for his benefit as she stalked over to him, "It doesn't bother her, but I need my beauty sleep."

"Is my little puppy tired?" Cordelia asked, as her burr lightened and rose back to her normal alto as the bloodlust slowly drained from her. She slid down to perch next to him, and draped herself over his shoulder. "I seem to remember that our little bundle of joy was at least half your fault...and I don't seem to remember that you carried him, love," she purred in his ear, nipping it lightly with her fangs as she did.

"I love you, Fangs," Sirius whispered seriously.

"I know dear, otherwise," she shrugged, "I'd probably have ate you by now." Cordelia pecked him on the lips before standing and holding a hand to a collar around her neck, holding it to her throat with one hand, "Leo, Fangs, we've secured the Barracks, anything that's left is a straggler, we have a confirmed count of," she looked at Sirius and he mouthed a number, "of twenty five, that's two five DE's down here and in the castle that Sweeper Group has encountered."

She frowned as Harry asked another, grimmer question over the wireless and looked at Sirius as he answered softly, "Two KIAs Leo, Silverstein and Morrill."

***********************Headmistress' Office, Castle McDuer******************

"Confirm that, Padfoot," Harry muttered in return, closing his eyes as a part of his thoughts already started writing another unwanted letter to family. Eldon Morrill wasn't even a wizard; he was one of the British Army troops to escape the initial assaults by Malfoy's forces seven years ago. His daughter, however, was. She's eleven, Harry's traitorous mind supplied helpfully, and in Hufflepuff. A curious occurrence had arrived with the destruction of Voldemort and the Chamber of Secrets, soon after, the various Ministries and such throughout the world had noted a sharp increase in Muggle-born births.

On the other hand, Robert Silverstein was a Wizard, he had been an observer from the American forces liaisoning first with the Resistance, and now the forces holding Hogwarts and more and more of Scotland every day. To his sudden shame, Harry didn't know if the rather withdrawn man had had a family. He looked up as Hermione materialized out of the darkness next to him and crouched next to him. She looked up at the statue of Lucius guarding the entrance to Umbridge's office and quarters before looking at him.

I heard, she announced softly reaching out to brush her hand over his neck before drawing back.

His daughter's Em and Horry's age... Harry muttered, Hermione nodded slowly, but didn't respond, there was nothing to say really. She pointed at the statue and nodded; Harry stood and paced to it. Its eyes snapped open, looking at Harry, and it's mouth opened to shout a challenge, only to fall to dust as Harry sent a helical, yellow curse at it.

A dark, almost black oak door stood suddenly revealed. A large tarnished brass knocker in the shape of a coiled serpent decorated the center, with dark iron hinges on the top and bottom. Harry looked to Hermione, and with a negligent gesture she sent the heavy door pin-wheeling into the office beyond. Ladies first, Harry sent, bowing her into the room.

Why thank you M'Lord, Hermione replied darkly as she strode into the room. She immediately looked around behind the tip of her wand...and her jaw dropped. Thousands of books, several of which Hermione herself wasn't sure she'd understand on the first reading were plastered about the walls of the two-story office, she was relatively sure that Umbridge had never read any of them.

"WHO THE HELL ARE..." A high-pitched, whining voice screamed from the entrance to the private quarters beyond the office. Hermione flicked her wand and Umbridge flew across the room to smash into a large china cabinet filled with plates with cavorting kittens. The short, toad-like woman pried herself from the floor and straightened a bright pink dressing gown. She extended a rather short, stubby wand and pointed it shakily towards the pair of figures in the shadows.

Incendio, Harry muttered and around the room, starting with a torch directly about Delores' head, a ring of torches lit, a wall of light cascaded around the room until finally, with the last torch, her guests were revealed.

"YOU!" Delores cried, extending her wand towards Harry, before moving it slowly to Hermione and back.

Harry rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers, and watched as Umbridge's diminutive wand erupted in flames. She shook it several times before she dropped it to the carpet with a loud cry of dismay. The wand was only ashes before it hit the floor. "As the sage said, stories of my death were premature," Harry commented, before flicking his hand tossing Umbridge against the wall and holding her there like a fly in amber.

"You can...can't be alive...you were in Azkaban, Lucius-"

"His time is coming," Hermione replied, her eyes flickered, and Umbridge's mouth flapped several times, with no sound escaping. "From my tour of your...school, I could tell that you liked rules, Delores, so I took the liberty of giving you a bit of assistance..."

"Delores Umbridge," Harry picked up, "You are under arrest for the crimes of abuse of minors, murder through inattention, kidnapping, conspiracy to place others into servitude, and terrorism. You are to be held until such time a jury of your peers can be assembled for a capital trial..." Harry waved his hand and she vanished, banished to a dungeon cell, already prepared for her far, far below the dungeons of Hogwarts. Harry looked to Hermione, "Ok, Mione, we need to finish this, lets get the wards down...you got it?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Hermione replied absently, not really listening to him as she reached out, sweeping the environs with her senses. She slowly turned, watching as the images of faintly glowing magical signatures replaced her normal sight. She passed over Harry's sun-bright aura, catching the slight pale green and white glows of the various books, before she stopped, looking at what seemed to be a blank wall, providing one was using only their mundane eyes. Hermione found a bright, orange glow seeping from behind the wall, she took a step back, snapped up her wand, REDUCTO, a searing blue bolt snapped across the room, shattering the wall. Harry flicked his wand, and with a sudden, produced breeze, the dust cleared.

A head-sized, faceted green crystal was standing on a wrought iron stand, slowly pulsing. Harry and Hermione could both feel the pulses in time with the wards of the castle, "Typical half-arsed Death Eater instillation, they don't have the skill to imbue a place like this with a permanent ward," she muttered derisively. She slashed her wand sideways, then straight up, a chartreuse cone of light shot from her wand, crossing the room and impacting the crystal. The steady pulsing of the crystal grew faster, and faster, and faster, until, for one endless minute a solid screeching tone emitted from it, until it shattered with a loud, gunshot-like BANG.

The wards around the castle flickered and died. Without Harry or Hermione uttering a word over their communicators, they felt a cascade of Portkeys activating. For five minutes, they felt the Portkeys going, until, "Leo, Furball, we're clear, and we're gone..."

"Padfoot and Sweeper team is clear, and gone..."

"Cover team is gone..."

Hermione grinned and flicked her wand around the room and watched with no small satisfaction as every book vanished. Harry chuckled as she looked at him sheepishly, "What...they were going to waste, Harry," Hermione explained softly.

"I know, love," Harry whispered as he wrapped his arms around her, and vanished.

Several minutes later, the walls of the castle began to shake, and with a horrendous crash of stone on stone, as four strategic keystones were Reducto'ed in the depths of the castle, the walls that had lasted hundreds of years, and many different occupants, fell.

There you go, it's been a bit, R/L and a slightly sprained wrist didn't help.

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28. Yesterday…Yesterday, Seems so Far Away…</

Yeah, it's been a bit, but I've been busy with RL and other works...

Chapter 28: Yesterday...Yesterday, Seems so Far Away...

*******************************Godric's Hollow***************************

October 31, 2019
1:00 pm

The lion and phoenix over looking the twin, white stones was dirty and weather worn, as Harry dropped to his knees on the overgrown grass covering a pair of graves. Down below, Harry could see the house where he had lived his first year and a half, and then had lived off and on for almost six years after Hogwarts. A small hand found his shoulder and he bent his head towards it, as Hermione's fingers worked gently against the tension. He glanced up and smiled at her slightly before she slid to the grass, to kneel next to him. "Hi, James, Lily," Hermione whispered softly and reached out to touch their headstones.

"Are we ready, Mione?" Harry muttered as she reached out and weaved her fingers through his, she just nodded. "I don't know when we'll be by again, mum, dad." He looked out towards the unseen sea, "We'll bring by Horry and Em when we do, though, if we can. They are back at school; Granddad reopened it, as I guess you already know. I guess Hermione and I and the rest are off to save the world again." As if drawn by his words, he saw another four presences appear down by the house, and he nodded, "From Lucius this time, because we didn't clean up our mess the first time. We'll be back, I promise." Harry stood and held out his hand for Hermione, after kissing the stones; they started off, down the hill towards the house and the waiting Marauders.

Harry and Hermione had already been to the graves of Roger and Jane in Canton, when they had arrived to find the entire village deserted. Not a soul stirred in Godric's Hollow, save the two that paced down an empty street filled with fall leaves and a couple of rusted, broken down cars. "Harry," Ron, said softly as Harry approached. The long, black traveling cloak he wore flapped noisily in the late October winds, "Ready?" Luna shivered, before Ron pulled her into his chest and wrapped his cloak around both of them.

"Yeah," he replied softly, glancing up towards the hill where his parents overlooked the house where their grandchildren had played. "Let's go," Harry said, looking at each of them in turn.

"Where?" Neville asked, with a slight shrug, as he checked his wand's fit in the sheath along his thigh. Ginny glanced over at him, before reaching up and back, pulling her long hair into a tail and tying it back.

Hermione glanced over at Harry, "Budapest," she pulled a small blue ball from a pocket, looked at something in its depths and replaced it.

"You were there, right Harry, a few years back before...?" Ginny asked absently as she reached out for the large flashing Portkey, that Dumbledore had especially charmed to rip through Malfoy's barriers around the island.

Ron grinned slightly as he looked over at Harry and Hermione and the original trio shared an amused smirk, "Yeah, he was, Ginny, and his timing couldn't have been worse..." the Portkey flashed, and the sextet vanished in a fall of color and a rush of wind.

*************************Budpest, Hungary**************************

May 23, 2008 (11 years before)
1:00 pm GMT.

"Why the hell are you here, mate?" Ron growled as he slid up next to Harry and slid a pair of Omniocculars over the low lip of the roof that they were laying on. Far below them, several figures in poorly fitting Muggle clothes stood nervously outside of a warehouse, jumping every time a car drove by. The ancient district they were in was full of old, worn-down buildings like the one Harry and Ron were hiding on or the one they were observing. Several members of the oldest profession were clustered in a group up the street from where the few, poorly disguised Death Eaters were clustered. Harry watched with a small shake of his head as a Police patrolcar pulled up to the group.

One of the girls, a tall raven-haired girl strode over to the car, and bent down into the window. She said something lost in the distance and handed the driver a plain envelope before sharing a rough kiss with him. The car drove away, as the girls waved. Harry rolled his eyes, reminded that Wizard or Muggle it was all the same, except for the car, nothing down their would have been out of place in Knockturn Alley.

Harry looked at Ron and shrugged, before putting the glasses back to his eyes and continuing to observe. "Ron...You know that I married Hermione Granger, right?" Harry asked rhetorically, "and you know that I love that girl more than my own life right?" Ron nodded, puzzled at Harry's point. "She bloody well kicked my arse of the door this morning and told me to get my arse out here, and finish this op. She's already pissed off enough that she's out of the field until after she's had the twins and is cleared by Poppy. And she wants them more than I do, but she also developed the intelligence for this one herself, and I fuck it up...well..." Harry stopped and crooked an eyebrow at Ron, "Come to think of it, why are you here, Harriet's what, six weeks old..."

"Yeah," Ron grinned, and rolled on his back, keeping behind the low lip of the roof and out of sight of the street below, "I have new pictures," he added with an odd, happy smile.

"Cool," Harry replied and waved for an agent to take over observation as he slid down to look at Ron's new pictures of his Goddaughter. In the first, Luna was sitting in a large, wooden rocking chair that Harry knew was on the porch of the Burrow, cradling Harriet in her arms as she smiled up at the camera, occasionally waving and every so often picking up Harriet's limp arm to wave. In the light of the twilight setting, when the picture had been taken, the already thick blonde hair of the infant was taking on the reddish highlights she got from her father. "That's a good one, bro."

"Here," Ron handed him another one as he took the first picture back, "you can keep this one, it's a copy I had made for you and Herms." Harry silently nodded his thanks as he took the new picture and his heart hitched for an instant as he saw the teary chocolate eyes of his very pregnant wife, holding a sleeping Harriet to her chest and rocking her. She was smiling softly as she looked down at the infant and then up, towards himself. It was the day that he and Hermione had taken the oath to be the Godparents to Harriet, just like Ron and Luna already knew of and had accepted Harry and Hermione's wishes for them to do likewise for the newest Potters. "She's gorgeous," Harry whispered unconsciously.

"Yeah she is, gets it from me," Ron smirked.

"I meant Mione, dufus," Harry retorted softly, "but yeah...they're both beautiful. Are you really sure Harriet's yours, Ron, I can see Luna in her, but..." Harry grinned as Ron growled at him.

"Boss, they're moving," Sean Asten snapped, lowly, as his partner, a small, reddish blonde girl, rolled over the top, and loaded a sniper rifle with silver.

Harry kissed the picture of Hermione, before slipping it into a pocket of his combat rig. He reached down, patted his wands in their leg sheathes, pulled a pistol from its holster at the small of his back, checked the load and reholstered the weapon. He looked back over the roof, at the five additional agents with him, "GO!" he snapped and vanished.

*****************************Hogwarts, Transfiguration 2********************

1:05 pm GMT

Hermione Potter was sitting, propped against the corner of her desk, watching as her first year class was trying to turn mice into teacups. The sudden crunch and tinkling sound of broken china seemed to indicate that it wasn't going that well. She sighed and placed both hands over her rounded belly, wishing furiously that Harry was here. I made him go, he didn't want to, but I made him, damn duty...sometimes I wish I had been a Hufflepuff.

Her head shook at her sudden thought as Jamie Spinerett, a cousin of Angelina's, dropped her mouse on the floor and several girls jumped up on their chairs screeching. Hermione rolled her eyes; she had never understood why girls were supposed to be afraid of mice. "Crookshanks...go," she whispered as her Familiar snapped into motion, leaping from her desk, bounding once off the front-most table, right between two Gryffindor firsties that had yet to hit their mouse with a spell, let alone change it, to land as a ginger-colored streak. A quick, non-scuffle later, Crookshanks hopped up on Jamie's table, dropped the unharmed mouse in front of her and sauntered off back to his mistress. Hermione grinned down at him as she scratched his ears in reward.

Hermione's hand froze as she felt a warm dampness running down her legs. She fell back against the desk slightly as she took a breath, "THAT WILL BE ENOUGH FOR TODAY," she announced calmly, though her heart was suddenly racing. "I would like two feet from each of you on his assignment in one week, dismissed." Harry, love...now would be a good time to come home...I really wish I hadn't made you go, a flicker of fear snapped along her nerves as she watched the last of the first years leave and followed them out of the classroom, with Crookshanks on her heels. She slowly started to walk towards the Hospital Wing, not trusting herself to Apparate without nature's cushioning intact for her children. She started on the stairs, took a breath, and muttered imprecations about her own ancestors who designed this castle with so many stairs.

Curiously, not a single staircase moved while she was on her way, in fact every one she needed was sitting, waiting for her as she climbed to the Hospital Wing. She stepped in the door, and looked around until she found Poppy tending to Wade Wilder, he had evidentially annoyed a Stinging Mountain Rose in Herbology. She spun to the door at the bell announcing a patient and found Hermione, who just gave her a nod. "Take this and don't annoy the plants again," Poppy growled forcefully, handing the boy a slightly glowing yellow potion, before she hurried over to Hermione. "It's time then, dear?" she asked softly, already knowing.

Poppy led Hermione to a small, decorated room adjacent to the infirmary with only one large bed. Several glowing orbs were hovering over the head of the bed, along with an assortment of other medical necessities. "Sit on the bed, Hermione," she paused, and flicked her wand at the door, knowing that the news of Hermione being in labor would be all over the school in minutes anyway, but that there were things better not heard. "How fast are they coming, dear?" she asked as she helped Hermione lie back on the bed and shed her heavy outer robe. "And should I send for Harry?"

A flash of pain whipped across Hermione's face, but Poppy knew from the monitors, it was from her comment only. "About 5 minutes apart," Hermione responded as Poppy began to run a faintly glowing wand down her belly. "Harry's on assignment Poppy," Hermione whispered, "I made him go, he didn't want to, but I didn't want them to miss the chance to recover it..." Pomfrey nodded, as she didn't even want to know what "it" was. Hermione shuddered slightly and reached out to grab Poppy as she started to move away, "He'll be here," Hermione voice held a hint of fear, but more over a sense of total irrefutability, "he has never let me down."

"I know, child," Poppy whispered to the twenty-year-old girl as she went to go secure supplies, this almost ludicrously powerful witch, who was scared out of her wits, desperately needing her other half and too much a Gryffindor to ever admit it to anyone but him.

********************************Budapest********************************

1:10 pm GMT

Both Death Eaters guarding the door, spun with wands drawn at a soft scraping noise, and crumpled as a blur shot between them, dancing out of the shadowed alley. Harry straightened at the door, not turning as a pair of SG-1 agents pulled the Death Eaters into the alley. Harry shared a nod with Ron as the redhead pulled a baklava down over his face and waved towards the door. Harry drew both his wands and took a step back, as Ron pointed his wand at the door and pulled a suppressed pistol with his other hand. Alohomora, the door clicked open and they eased in. The door closed behind them, as a pair of agents took the place of the Death Eaters in the late Eater's outfits.

As the door closed behind Harry and Ron, they were plunged into darkness, broken only by the light spilling from an open doorway several meters down the hall. Harry slipped to the door, and paused, hearing two rough voices from within. He held up two fingers to Ron, who nodded, took a breath and rolled around the corner. Two muffled pops sounded from the room, as Harry stepped around the corner. Ron looked up from the two Death Eaters and frowned slightly. He pointed at a an odd black stain spreading from the wound of one of the Eaters, "Hermione was right," Ron muttered, "silver reaction, they were werewolves."

Harry nodded as he crept to the closed door at the other end of the room. He reached out to the door with his left hand wand, and froze. His breathing became ragged, as he turned to Ron, with his eyes glowing softly. "I need to get home," he stood and turned towards the door, Ron gulped as the air seemed to crackle with power, "and Lucius' minions are between me and there." His fingers flicked and the door opened.

Harry took one step into the room and stopped as ten Death Eaters standing around a large, open crate in the center of an almost otherwise empty warehouse looked up. All ten drew their wands and pointed them at the door, then around the room as Harry vanished from in front of their eyes. "Surrender, NOW!" Harry snapped, his voice thundering in every ear.

"Get him," the tallest one roared, firing off a curse into the darkness.

A black blur danced out of the gloom. Harry stepped right, ASPHYXIATIA, DIFFINDO, a Death Eater fell away, his hands to his throat as the first watched his wand hand fall away still holding his wand. Harry spun and vanished as eight Kedavras shot through the space he had occupied. Two more Death Eaters crumpled as the Eaters' spells claimed their own.

A black lion bounded from out of the shadows, opening the throat of a Death Eater as he passed, bounded once and with a crunch of impact another fell. Harry SHIFTED back to human, stepped right and sliced upwards with a suddenly-appeared sword. Harry ducked backwards under a swing from an axe-armed Eater, and swung sideways. A head fell away into the dark, as Harry flung out a hand and summoned another Death Eater onto the return stroke of his sword.

Two wands clattered onto the concrete floor as the pair of remaining Death Eaters raised their hands over their heads. A spot of darkness solidified in front of them, and Harry gestured annoyedly.

Glowing steel cables pinned their arms to their sides as Harry walked over to the crate and looked within, "It looks like it's here," he commented as Ron walked up behind him, summoning the fallen Death Eaters' wands as he came. A large, rune inscribed book was sitting in the straw, emitting a faint greenish light. "Natasha," Harry yelled as a tall, black haired witch in SG-1 blacks stepped into the room with a wizard's staff cradled in her arms, "clean up here, send the book to the Department of Mysteries."

"Won't Hermione want to look at it?" she asked, as another pair of agents nodded at her wave and started to search the fallen Death Eaters.

"She's a bit busy right now," Harry replied, softly, as he grabbed Ron's arm and vanished taking the redhead with him.

**************************************Hogwarts**************************

1:45 pm

Poppy looked into the side room where she had placed Hermione and winced as a glass vase shattered on the bedside table as another pulse of magic snapped out from the brunette witch. Hermione grunted and rolled onto her side, curling up into a ball the best she could. Her eyes were oddly bright as she looked over to Poppy, pleadingly. Poppy gave her a small smile, and placed a cool cloth on her head before walking back out into the main Infirmary, and closing the door behind her.

"How is she?" a concerned, tight burr asked as Pomfrey come out into the room. Poppy gave a tiny shake of her head, and a slight motion of her head towards the few students occupying beds. She led McGonagall into her office, and closed the door behind her.

"Your bloody damn Gryffindors need to learn when to put duty aside, Minerva," Poppy snapped heatedly, then took a breath, "The stupid girl sent Harry away, to go complete some mission, she needs him here." Poppy frowned at McGonagall, and at the older witch's nod, poured her a cup of tea from a service set on a side table.

"What's wrong?" Minerva inquired softly, her eyes flicking unconsciously in the direction towards where Hermione was lying.

"What I was afraid of," Poppy replied quietly, "right now she has little control of her own magic, and on top of that, she has twins, both of whom will probably be nearly as powerful as their parents."

"I've been at the births of other witches and wizards, Poppy," Minerva objected softly, "and they don't usually have these bouts of spontaneous magic, that..." a wave of magic snapped out, shaking the tea service, "damn near shake the castle apart."

"The witch's and the infants' magical levels can usually be measured on the standard scale too," Pomfrey retorted and started to gather items. "Also in a way, she's unconsciously protecting her children, even from me. She doesn't trust me, not without Harry here to keep her rational mind in control," she staggered slightly as another pulse snapped out rattling glassware in a cabinet behind her desk. Pomfrey frowned and left her office at a run, only to realize, all of a sudden, that the air was calm, and only the normal soft buzz of magic at Hogwarts surrounded her.

She took a step into Hermione's room and with a soft sigh of relief; she knew the reason for the quiet.

Harry was kneeling next to the bed, with his head leaning on the bed next to hers and the fingers of her right hand intertwined firmly with those of his left. Hermione's fingers were slowly combing through his hair, as if it were her doing the comforting instead of him. As she came around the edge of the bed, a faint blue glow could be seen from Harry's almost closed eyes.

"Are you in any pain, child?" Poppy asked as she ran a wand over Hermione and raised her eyebrows at the results that printed themselves out on the clipboard floating after her.

Hermione ran her bottom lip through her teeth as she ran her thumb over the back of Harry's hand, she didn't look up as she responded; "I've been in worse." She laughed softly, "Who would have thought the Cruciatus would be training for childbirth..." Harry laughed with her without opening his eyes.

McGonagall and Pomfrey shook their heads as one, "It could still be a few hours, Hermione, I will check on you in a while." She looked down at Harry, "You should probably get comfortable, Harry, or there is time for you to get something to eat, if you would like to."

"I'll stay here," Harry replied not moving from his uncomfortable spot kneeling on the hard stone floor. Poppy and Minerva nodded and stepped from the room, closing the door behind them once more. "I'm sorry, Mione," Harry whispered, "I should have been here."

"I told you to go, Harry," she whispered, and winced as a contraction shot through her, "now get up off that floor, and help me up, we'd probably both be more comfortable."
"Really?" Harry said hopefully.

"You, anyway," Hermione corrected, "but I'll feel better, at least." She smiled at him, as Harry flowed to his feet and pulled her to her feet. She let out a small sigh, snuggled back into his arms as he wrapped them around her from behind, and closed her eyes. "Did we eat least get it?"

"Of course," Harry responded in a mock-affronted tone, "don't I normally do what you ask?" She nodded and brought one of his hands to her lips where it rested against her belly and kissed it, before replacing it back on her stomach. "I had the book sent to the Department of Mysteries, didn't think you'd want to be reading black magic anytime soon." Hermione waved at the wall and watched as the bricks rearranged themselves into a doorway. Grabbing Harry's hand, she pulled him out onto the balcony and looked out over the Hogwarts grounds. Far off in the distance, she could see Norbert flying through the waterfall at the far end of the canyon leading to the lake. Hermione let out a small laugh as down near Hagrid's hut, in the other direction, several tiny dots were running, screaming as something large and furry chased them.

"You're probably right," she agreed as a small orb floated over her, relaying her vitals to Pomfrey. "I wish that our parents were here, Harry," she muttered after a bit.

"Me too, baby, but they're watching," Harry replied as he looked over her shoulder at the scene. He squeezed her hand, "Ron went and got Luna; there's a crowd outside waiting." He frowned, considering the scene he had left, "The twins and Sirius started a pool," he shrugged.

"They do know that I can get them through that wall, right?" Hermione smirked, and winced as another contraction hit. She turned with a grunt, to look at him.

"They like living dangerously," Harry replied with a shrug, "what can I say?"

"Promise that our kids won't grow up like them?" Hermione pleaded, slightly.

"Sorry, love, bad genes for that."

"That's alright," Hermione giggled softly, then groaned. "What time does Dumbledore have?"

"Sorry, Mione, he has five thirty," Harry apologized and reached up, pushing a damp curl out of her eyes and behind an ear. He bent forward to kiss her forehead. "Has Poppy given you anything, or are you wanting to..."

"Harry, I've been shot, hit, tortured, had Dark Lords in my dreams and mind...I've had enough in my life, to know better...She can't because 'I'm special'," Hermione rolled her eyes and glanced pointedly in the direction of Poppy's office. She gave Harry an odd look, and don't you go taking all the pain away, Harry, she added suddenly, as she felt any discomfort start to vanish totally, he moderated his efforts, That's fine you can take the edge off, but you aren't doing the 'I'm guilty' thing.

I love you, Mione.

Yeah, you too. She sighed and pulled on his hand again, leading him back to the door, Let's go walk around the corridors and you can tell me about the mission.

Harry looked at her, and let her lead him from the room, Do you want to see Molly and all of them? She just shook her head and walked, slowly until she reached a barely protruding stone, she pressed it and watched as the wall opened. Do you really want to wander away from the Hospital?

We'll be fine, now that you're here, Harry, Hermione replied, and besides we're not going far. A long line of torches blazed to life to light the hidden corridor in a soft, yellow glow. The pair of them clumped along, for several dozen yards before Hermione pressed another stone, opening another door and slipping back into the main passages. Hermione looked back at him and indulgently let him hold her, as they walked down the hall. They waved to a pair of Hufflepuff fifth-years who whispered behind their hands as the duo passed, When are they going to give up giggling every time we pass?

Never as long as you are soo cute, Harry replied, and kissed her on the cheek. They passed out onto one of the flying bridges that connected the Hospital wing with the Astronomy tower. Hermione took a breath and leaned against him as they looked down, at least five stories onto the grounds below. After a moment, several owls and a large eagle rolled over the top of the covered bridge and dove at something far below. We got the book; it was shipped in under a Muggle carrier just like you said.

Hermione nodded, only half paying attention as they watched several seventh year DADA students, probably Auror candidates, working with Wizard Staffs. The clank of wood on wood carried up all the way to them from their practice field on the lawn. Ever since Harry's acceptance of the DADA professorship the class, especially the NEWT levels were more, serious. The twins will be here in eleven years, Merlin willing.

Yeah...He grinned at her, so...think of all the stuff we can teach them, Hermione.

Don't go planning on getting my babies expelled before they even get here, Harry.

We never got expelled.

We probably should have been, Hermione shot back, and Harry nodded after a bit. She grabbed her stomach once more and looked over, Let's go back in, Hermione reached up to play with the hair on the back of his head, you should let Dobby bring you something to eat. Harry opened his mouth to object. No baby, you haven't ate anything since yesterday, have you?

I'll be fine Hermione, Harry objected as they started back. He held the door open for her, guiding her through the door with a hand on the small of her back.

Oh, I forgot, I already had a kid to take care of, silly me, Hermione grinned as Harry mouthed , "Yes, mum." She giggled slightly as Harry Disillusioned them both and they slipped past a large crowd populating the benches outside of the main Infirmary. Molly was holding Harriet and rocking her in a conjured, oak rocker. Ron was sitting on a long wood bench, with his head thrown back against the wall, and his feet pushed out in front of him. Luna was sleeping with her head on his lap; Hermione knew she had not gotten much sleep the night before. The twins had conjured a large chalkboard, and had written names and times down on it.

They noticed that Tonks had 3:20am, and glanced over to see the Auror had arrived, looking pregnant, with a fifteen-month-old Xander dressed in a tiny Quidditch robe asleep next to her. Lupin was probably still at the Ministry, as he had complained, half-heartedly to Harry the other day that all the female Aurors and agents either seemed to be pregnant, or still on maternity leave, so he was even more understaffed. Harry hadn't really listened to him, as his wife was one of those Aurors.

Ginny was sitting next to her, holding Elliot with one hand as she read the prophet she had propped up against a raised knee with the other. She was still wearing her Auror uniform, with the shoulder flash indicating that she was still a trainee, in the, in her case, extremely abbreviated program. She thanked Dobby softly as the elf popped in and handed her a mug of coffee, before giving one of tea to Molly, and a goblet of Pumpkin Juice to Tonks. Hermione started to giggle again, almost giving them away before Harry silenced her with his hand, and pulled her back into the room.

5:45 pm

The entire extended clan had appeared from everywhere and anywhere to be here at this time. Sirius had returned about an hour ago from an assignment in Romania, flushed from running all the way from the gates to the grounds that marked the edge of the Apparation wards. Lupin had arrived not ten minutes later, still in his work robes, with his badge hanging around his neck on a chain from where he had had to go look into a Death Eater sighting in Bristol. He had immediately sat next to Tonks and picked up Xander and set him on his lap, quieting the child from where he had woken noisily. Tonks gave him a grateful look and leaned against, sighing slightly.

Molly had returned Harriet to her mother and was pacing back and forth, talking a mile a minute to Arthur who along with his security detail had appeared an hour into the vigil. Fortunately there was enough of a presence of the MLE and Unspeakables to send the detail away to hang out somewhere else. Which from the look that Jacob had been wearing, was much appreciated. All of them, except the kids, who were thankfully all sleeping, looked up as Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall approached from the direction of the Headmaster's office and paused, just inside the waiting nook. Dumbledore smiled and looked to the door to the Hospital, and as if his arrival had been a signal, it opened slowly.

Harry eased out into the room, still in his blacks, though with only his wands still strapped to his side, he had vanished his vest and sidearm back to his quarters, and paused to take a breath as everyone silently looked to him. Harry looked down at where he was absently flexing his right hand and rubbing it with his left. He looked up with a tired grin; he took a breath, "Sorry guys, Poppy had to, uhh, heal my hand..." Muted laughter came from the waiting audience. Harry glanced over at Fred, who was manning the chalkboard, then at the rest of the awaiting audience, "For the record, and the to settle the books," Harry said wryly, "Emilia Jane Potter was born at 5:15 weighing in at five pounds four ounces and sixteen inches long." Xander stirred slightly and whined in his sleep, causing Tonks to stand up with him and start bouncing slightly. Harry chuckled at the interruption, "And her brother, who already seems to have the relaxed attitude of his namesake decided to come greet us ten minutes later. Horatio Sirius Potter," he paused as Sirius jumped up and held his joined hands as if he had won a race, "done Padfoot?"

"Almost," Sirius replied and did a small jig before returning to his seat amid loud whispers for him to "Sit down and let Harry speak."

Harry laughed, "My son came in at the same height as his sister, but a ounce heavier," he added in a slightly choked voice. He took a breath, "Mum and the twins are sleeping, fine." He was almost immediately crushed by a hug from Molly, "Can't breathe..." he muttered and she let him go with a tittering laugh. Harry suffered through embraces from the rest of the family, until finally Luna let him go, kissed his cheek and took Harriet back from Molly where she had handed her while she was congratulating Harry.

Harriet cried, hungrily, as Molly handed her back and Luna glanced over at Ron and nodded towards a side room. Ron nodded, and turned to Harry, he threw his arms around him, and rapped his back sharply, "Congrats bro," Ron whispered, his voice almost as choked as Harry's had been. "Hermione alright?" Harry nodded and stepped back, wavering slightly on his feet. Ron's hand shot out, catching him before anyone else noticed, "Let's get you something to eat," Harry shook his head and started to turn back to the Hospital wing, Ron rolled his eyes and tossed his arm around Harry's shoulders, "Hermione will be asleep for a bit, probably, and even if she isn't she'll want you to take care of yourself mate, come on," he whispered and started to lead a mostly unresisting Harry towards the Great Hall where Dinner was now being served. "I'm going to take Harry to get something to eat," he announced in a normal tone of voice and the pair left by the door that Dumbledore had arrived at.

Behind them, over by the twin's tote board, Dumbledore took possession of a small sack of gold, which he pocketed with a smile.

**************************Budapest, Hungary***************************

November 2, 2019
2:20 am

A pair of shadowed shapes sat huddled together on a balcony of a sixth floor room of the old, ruined Muggle Hilton, overlooking the shattered city. They sat back, under the lee of the half-fallen balcony from the room above as a black, winged shadow passed between them and the clouds above them for a minute before flying on with the odd, warbling roar of a Siberian Acid Dragon. Harry sighed, and looked back into the room, through the glassless frame of a sliding door at the lumpy, double sleeping bag on the floor of the room, with only Ginny's long red hair showing in the dim light from a metal can of Gabrathian Fire, which Hermione had summoned for warmth, on this early November night. Up on the broken bed, Ron and Luna were tightly wrapped up together in another double bag. Ron was silently snoring, courtesy of the Silencing Charm Harry had cast soon after he and Hermione had taken the watch.

They had arrived in Budapest to find the conditions much as they were in London, with a few select Death Eaters and their supporters living much as they had done before the war, with the majority of the Muggle population living as best they could in the absence of electricity and heating fuels. Every so often far below, the flicker of spell fire or more rarely the discharge of a Muggle weapon broke the snowy darkness as some Death Eater on patrol, or a Muggle defending himself, or trying to survive would come in dispute. Hermione shivered slightly, before worming her way back under the cover of Harry's cloak.

Winter had come early, hastened by the small, hundred-ton, boulder that American forces had dropped from space on a concentration of X'Sheen a couple of hundred miles away where they had gathered in a wilderness area for some odd reason. For whatever reason they had had, it had not been a wise choice as the "clean" strike had utterly destroyed that force, at the cost of a temporary weather shift for the region. Unfortunately, there were still Legions more, dark forces untouched. Hermione gave him an invisible smile as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to share their body heat. Go into the catacombs in the morning? Harry asked as they watched another of the Dragons that Malfoy's European forces tended to use to patrol over the captured cities, which no one really controlled.

In the end, as Dumbledore had avowed earlier, the main factor holding together Malfoy's empire was his enslaved legions of X'Sheen. An estimate by the American Wizarding Intelligence Agency, the counterpart to the Unspeakables of Britain from before the war, estimated that there were perhaps as many as five hundred thousand actual Death Eaters under arms in the world. This was verses a population of at least ten million wizards or witches worldwide with at least some degree of magical ability, if untrained in many cases, and a population of almost seven billion humans at the start of the war. The count of other fully sentient creatures, centaurs, house-elves, merpeople and higher-level familiar animals and others was unknown but substantial as well. That was what the situation had been at the start of the current phase of the struggle seven years ago; now the population map had changed. Many, many had died of starvation, abuse and other factors, the numbers of which had yet to be, and might never be truly tallied.

However as dark as that statistic was, there was an odd light at the end of the tunnel, providing that humanity didn't destroy itself, or let its ancient enemy do it for them. Since the founding of Hogwarts, over a thousand years ago, the number of Muggle born children and half bloods had been more or less constant with the numbers ebbing and growing, but always staying at about ten percent of the population for the Muggle born births and perhaps as much as thirty percent as Muggle borns for the half blood students, where only one parent was a wizard or witch. The main reason for this was of course, simple. Muggle borns and half-bloods alike, tended to marry other wizards and witches, in effect making their family lines purely Wizarding after a generation or two, though those lines still tended to occasionally intermarry with the general human population. The Pureblood lines, the true ones that had only married based on genealogy were slowly dying out and being replaced by other "pureblood" lines created only by longevity to keep the ratio of "Purebloods" approximately the same as the others.

That had been the case, up until the destruction of the Chamber of Secrets. When it had died along with the last known Heir of Slytherin, the odd force that had been gathering power for ten centuries had died with it, and along with that, the force that had been suppressing magical births, especially among Muggles. When Emilia and Horatio had been born, Minerva McGonagall had already been making plans on how to handle the largest first year class in nine hundred years, with the increase almost entirely due to Muggle borns. It would have been even higher, one would suppose, save that so many wizards had died, at least in the region that Hogwarts served in the twenty years of on and off warfare that had preceded that event.

In the dim evening, lit only by a bit of back-scattered light from the fire behind them, Hermione's thoughts were, in the main, not here but thousands of miles away, among rugged highlands and inside ancient stone walls. I suppose, Hermione replied inattentively, we've had the entrance under surveillance for the last two days with no movement. Godric's manuscript said to go to where the keepers of time rested their heads, forever. Budapest is the city where the Wizard Baralan Tabor and his followers created the first Time Turners. Considering the time when he wrote the clue, this is probably where he meant.

They'll be fine, Hermione, Harry whispered leaning forward to kiss her hair, and pulling her back to him, tighter, as he took a sip from a large mug of conjured coffee. Hermione reached back and grabbed the mug from him and took a sip, before handing it back. Ewww--Hermione spit, Harry teased.

I'll remember that the next time you want a kiss, and as if to prove her point, she leaned back and kissed him pushing back into his lips, see, I remembered it. I know Harry, I know. It's just that...I never wanted this for my kids Harry, we both lost our parents to this...and Em and Horry aren't stupid. They know what we are up against, they know that we might not come home to them...Harry didn't reply. Behind them Ginny muttered something about someone hurting Neville. She started to thrash about until Neville's soft tenor muttered to her, and she calmed back down, murmuring in her sleep. Harry ran his fingers through his hair, frowning before he looked back to the outside. That girl and her sister we pulled from McDuer...Makaila and her sister, Caitlin-both of them were going to be slaves Harry, more or less, they could have been our kids-or me if we had failed in the slightest way with Tommy.

We got them out, Mione, Harry reminded her, as they watched a pair of red bolts snap across the skyline in the distance. She nodded, and pulled Lily's wand from the holster strapped down her left thigh and started to twirl it absently through her fingers. They sat silently for minutes more, sharing the mug between them until it was gone, watching as several figures hurried down the street, trying to avoid the attention of several toughs standing on a darkened corner. They passed on with only some comments shouted to the shorter of the figures.

Em and Horry were so brave when you were gone Harry, Hermione said after the group had escaped, you would have been proud...we used to talk about having more kids...do you still want to?

Yes, but like usual, our life is fucking with us, Harry replied bitterly, and rested his head on top of hers.

Someday, Harry, someday...Harry?

Yeah?

About Makaila and Catilin, I've spent some time with them...they need a family, Harry. They are all that either one has left...the Eaters killed their parents in front of them when they took them...Makaila should have been at Hogwarts not at Delores' little school six years ago, not in hiding from Lucius' little nibblers...and definitely not as convenient punching bags for whatever Death Nibbler came along.

Harry sighed and ran his finger through his hair. He scrubbed his scalp vigorously before frowning slightly, and looking out into the night. That's a big step, Mione...We need to talk to Em and Horry.

Yeah, we do.

A/N There you go, I love this universe, I've just had issues with it...Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.

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29. A Stitch in Time

It's back...... Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 29: A Stitch in Time.
**************Hogwarts, Room of Requirement************

November 3, 2019
8:30 pm

Emerald eyes blazed as a young, eleven year old boy took a breath and rolled back to his feet. He dove sideways, never taking his eyes off the tall, grey-eyed man, with longish black hair, and retrieved the plain, oak staff that he had dropped. He took a breath, panting slightly, as his knuckles whitened on the staff. He took another breath, and....

Horatio snapped the staff in a wild, horizontal swing at Sirius' neck. Sirius grinned as he rolled sideways, snapped out his own staff at ankle height and watched as Horatio went tumbling. Sirius recovered and stood leaning on the staff, looking down on the youngest Potter, by ten or so minutes, as he shook his head and looked up at Sirius with utter annoyance.

Sirius gave him a small smile, and set his own staff aside, before approaching the boy and extending his hand to pull him to his feet. Against his better judgment, Horatio let him pull him up. Sirius did not let go of his hand, but used it to pull him close, "Control, Horry," he whispered in the young, raven-haired boys' ear as he dropped his hand. Horatio reached up and swept long hair out of his eyes and glanced around to see the various other members of the "dueling club" working on spells, hand-to-hand and other techniques. Over in one corner, Harriet, Emilia and Cordy were standing, talking to a familiar young girl his age. They were demonstrating the full body bind on Xander, who was taking the abuse good-naturedly.

He rolled his eyes as he watched Xander give Emilia a pleading look, and smiled slightly when he saw her mouth back, "shush." He caught Harriet's eyes, and they shared an amused grin, even as he was wondering when she had changed her hair color to the darker red she had on now, he seemed to remember her having had a much lighter shade this morning. Horatio looked back up to Sirius, "It's no fair, Sirius, you're much better than me, I can't beat you, I'm not mum or dad, I'm just a kid."

"You will be, my lad, you will be," Sirius replied as Horatio knelt down to rub his slightly throbbing ankle. Sirius hid a grin as he caught Harriet looking at Horatio, oddly, before he carefully blanked his face and knelt down next to him. "Listen Horatio, I knew Harry and Hermione when they were scared thirteen-year-olds, not much older than you. They didn't have everything given to them, yeah they are powerful, but they studied and trained for years to get where they where...still do. You just have to keep trying. Besides," he smiled and glanced over at the girls, "you are much better at this than your sister, she forces it too much, even more than you."

"She's trying to show off," Horatio muttered.

"Whatever gives you that idea," Sirius laughed, as they watched Caitlin O'Brien, the young girl that the other girls had been talking to, try the spell with a newly acquired wand. The young girl shouted something, and Xander jumped, rubbing his leg and glaring at Emilia, who just shrugged and smiled devilishly. "Stinging Hex," Sirius and Horatio muttered as one. Sirius looked down at his watch and groaned, "Horry, I have to do something, can you go work with Elliot for a while?" he motioned towards the twelve-year-old Gryffindor who was practicing his marksmanship against several room supplied targets over to one side. Horatio nodded and watched as Sirius ran over to Cordelia, whispered something in her ear, and kissed her cheek before leaving, not even staying to watch her nod.

Cordelia continued to lecture the rest, walking among the students as they practiced whatever spells she had set them according to their skills. She sidestepped absently as an errant Stinger escaped from Clark and spun in place dodging a wild swing of a staff by an over-excited fifteen-year-old. After another hour she looked up as Sirius returned to the room with a large leather roll over his shoulder and nodded to her. "Alright, that's good for tonight, everyone," she yawned slightly as a slight brogue undercut her words. Cordy blinked a couple of times, "we'll pick up here day after tomorrow." The students began to file out, in singles, twos, threes and groups. Horatio and Emilia shrugged and walked over to the side of the room to pick up their bags. They stopped at a hand on Emilia's shoulder from Sirius.

"Can you and Horry stay here a bit?" he asked softly.

Emilia looked up at him frowning. She shared a subtle glance with her brother before shrugging, "Yeah, sure, Sirius. We'll catch up guys," she said towards the group of Gryffindors that was hanging back slightly, Xander, Elliot, Harriet, and their newest member, Caitlin. They nodded and waved, Caitlin looked a smidgen reluctant to leave Emilia, but as Harriet leaned in to her shoulder and led her away, she smiled and followed them out.

Sirius looked to the door as it closed and sighed. He flicked his wand towards it, and nodded as the flash of Silencing Charm on a surface lit the room for a microsecond. He frowned, taking Cordelia's hand as led them towards a pair of couches that had appeared in the center of the room. A small coffee table arrived with a flash, complete with several sweating, cold goblets of Pumpkin Juice. Horatio looked at Cordelia oddly as she leaned forward and picked up two of them. She handed one to Sirius, and took a long drink before returning Horatio's gaze with a pale, crooked eyebrow, "What?"

"Um, Aunt Cordy...why are we here?" he asked, as Emilia took a drink of her juice before nodding.

Cordelia gave Sirius a slight nudge, he looked at her, she nudged him again, "Fine..." Sirius reached up and ran his hand through his hair roughly, "Um, your Aunt and I...well you two can't just be as good as your peers...you have to be better. I really, really don't want to do this..." He reached over and picked up the roll from the floor next to the couch. Sitting it down on the table, he opened it with a flick of his wrist.

Emilia gasped slightly and gave her twin a disbelieving look. She reached forward to run a finger lightly along a two-foot Damascus blade. She looked to Sirius; he gave them a smile and gestured towards the weapons.

Neither Cordelia or Sirius missed the tiny flare of light that lit the twins eyes as they picked up the blades. Emilia ran her eyes down the blade, twisting it, and casting the dappled light reflected from the candles around the room. She fingered the cord-wrapped handle, set with three emeralds on each side. "They are not quite the Sword of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw," Sirius said lightly, "but they should do the job."

"Sirius and I will teach you," Cordelia put in, softly, "They are a few of the toys we pulled from the Potter vault before..."

****************************Budapest, Hungary****************************

November 3, 2019
10:20 am (Previous morning)

The soft drip of water trickling down from above was the only sound besides the occasional scrape of a boot on stone or a periodic cough as someone inhaled a mouthful of dust. The catacombs below the ancient city were undisturbed from the current unpleasantness above.

Luna jumped back slightly, as the beam from her wand crossed a skeleton. She looked back and gave Hermione a slight shrug as Ginny held her hand over her mouth, muffling her sniggers. Luna shot her a rude gesture, before turning and continuing down the long abandoned corridor.

They had entered the ancient catacombs under the city this morning, following the clues laid down by Rowena and Godric a millennium ago. A small, tingle of fear slid across their nerves as they walked amidst the corpses of long-gone inhabitants of the city. Luna frowned, her second sight picking up something. She closed her eyes and waved them forward, ducking under a rotting beam holding up the low ceiling.

The group slipped forward, heading ever deeper under the city. Hermione glanced to Harry, I wish we had Cordy with us, she mentioned softly as she ducked under a beam; you know what these catacombs have held before.

Come on, Mione, afraid of a few neck-biters?

Um...yeah, she admitted sheepishly; then sighed internally, no, not really, but this is their territory, we are at a disadvantage here.

Harry reached over and squeezed her hand for an instant before dropping it. "Let's go," Harry said softly, "it shouldn't be much further." The sextet, the same one that had gone into the Ministry of Magic for the first battle of the second war continued on. They moved down, perhaps another quarter mile into the earth under the ancient city.

They stopped before a tall, sealed black iron door. The door looked as if it was new, not a speck of rust or hardly any dust adhered to its surface. Hermione waved the rest of them back, Ginny and Neville dropping back covering their rear as Hermione started to mumble soft Latin words under her breath. She slowly ran her wand along the ancient lettering causing a faint green glow to come from the letters. Hermione groaned to herself and looked back to Harry. Without a word of explanation to the rest of the group, she slowly peeled off the glove she was wearing on her left hand. "Mione, I can do that," Harry objected as Hermione reached up and pulled a silver folder from a pouch.

"No, Love," Hermione whispered, stepping to him and pulling him into a quick kiss with her ungloved hand, "let me." She smiled slightly as she stepped back, and a flash of steel whirled around her right fist as she flicked open a stainless balisong. She winced as she drew the razor-sharp blade along her palm. She closed her wounded hand, squeezing it, before flicking it open at the door.

A loud rumbling sound sounded as she stepped back, wiped the blade on the leg of her pants and replaced it. She smiled up at Harry as he grabbed her hand, looking at her reproachfully as he ran his wand along the cut, sealing it without a scar. She shrugged slightly, as they turned back to the now open passage. The beams of light from their wands appeared to be slightly distorted as they shined into the passage. Harry started forward, stopping as Hermione reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Harry," she hissed, "wait...look," Hermione pointed up towards the top right corner of the passage. They watched as small rocks, dislodged by the opening of the door slowly slid downwards as if in oil. She reached back, drawing her sword and slowly pushed it into the field. The resistance was stiff, but not impossible as she drew it back and examined it. She reached over and took Harry's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Harry gave her a nod and looked back at the others, "Stay here, we'll be back in an hour."

"And if you're not?" Ron snapped, looking at them and then at the doorway warily.

Harry shrugged, and he and Hermione stepped forward. After a minute of pushing though the field, with a feeling as if stepping through a vat of molasses, they emerged on the other side. Hermione's jaw dropped slightly as they looked around to find the entire passage suddenly as new as if it had just been constructed. Brightly polished marble floors and tall, black granite pillars decorated the corridor. Small gold sconces were lit with gold and red flames, burning cheerfully. "Time field?" Hermione muttered.

"I suppose," Harry replied, "but aren't those inherently unstable outside of something like a Time Turner's field?"

"That or a relativistic event," Hermione agreed as she took his hand, nervously, and led him forward. A long pristine corridor stretched out before them, and with identical shrugs of annoyance they headed out. After several hundred yards, Hermione looked down at her watch, and cursed softly, "Bloody watch stopped."

"Mine too," Harry confirmed with a grimace, "hope we aren't gone too long." Another fifty yards in, the long corridor opened up into a huge, circular room. The far side of the room was lost in the gloom. Situated directly in the center of the room, a tall, golden chair remarkably like the one that Dumbledore sat in at every meal at Hogwarts faced away from them. Harry waved to the left, Hermione nodded and moved off as Harry drew his wands and started to circle to the right. Harry stopped and took a shocked breath as a black-haired face looked up and grinned. A night black goatee framed white teeth, which were bared in a slight, knowing grin. The wizard's legs were crossed in front of him, clad in battered leather breeches, worn under a white linen shirt. Emerald eyes twinkled in the light of twin wands. He set aside a bejeweled sword, placing it on the ground next to his throne and clasped his hands lightly together in his lap.

He laughed, "I'm glad to see that our clue to this place was not too obtuse," Godric, grinned, "Rowena thought that we were probably being too smart for our own good. She never really trusted others to be as smart as they were."

"Umm," Harry said oddly, "aren't you..."

"Dead?" Godric asked cheerfully, "Probably, or rather the real me is, I am sure judging from your clothes and your accruements...Lord and Lady Gryffindor." Hermione glanced over to Harry, her mouth hanging open slightly. "It is not such a mystery that I would know, M'Lady," Godric said laughingly, "Only the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw heirs would wield those blades, and Rowena's would only reappear when her heir, in this case you, had reappeared and was reunited with mine." The shadow stood from his chair and waved his hand. With a pop of light, a small gold triangle appeared, hovering in the air before him. The three sides of the triangle were inscribed with Runes, with lines leading from each point to a faceted diamond the size of a Galleon set in the center of the triangle.

Godric or rather his image plucked the triangle from the air and tossed it like a Frisbee to Harry. Harry snatched it from the air and looked down at it as Godric went on. "The first part of your quest, I am afraid. When that item is reunited with it's two brothers, only then can you find the Orb."

"You just had to make it difficult," Harry muttered, lowly. Hermione gave him a reproachful look, but Godric only chuckled.

His expression darkened, "I am sorry, but there were and are reasons." He waved his hand though the air, and a large spinning representation of the globe appeared hanging in the air. He motioned again, and the world stopped spinning. The globe zoomed in and in and in, until an image of a shining, white glacier appeared. "The next piece will be found only when the night overpowers the day, in the land of those who commune with the Raven..."

Around them, an ominous rumble started, and Godric's image started to fade, "You have about two minutes until the chamber collapses." His image vanished as Hermione took a breath, caught Harry's eyes and the pair of them, MOVED. Twin blurs ripped down the hallway, jumping over pillars as they fell as the ceiling collapsed at their heels. They sprinted out and dove through the bubble just as it vanished with a loud ripping sound.

They stood, and ducked as a hissing black form dove out of the darkness at them. Spell fire ripped out around them as Ron glanced over, "VAMPIRES." Harry ducked and waved a hand, tossing back an attacker into a wall. The Vampire stood and shook his head, before he bared his fangs and hissed, cat-like at Harry.

Harry looked around as he felt Hermione ease up to his back, her sword already free in her hand and glowing softly. The vampires hissed and back up slightly as Harry's came into his hand as well. Glowing blue eyes hung in the darkness sneaking back into the corridors, regrouping. Around the corridor, Neville was kneeling down over Ginny, she had been knocked out, while Ron and Luna were back to back, periodically firing Incendios off at the vampires surrounding them.

The room seemed to take a breath all at once, and the dark ones rushed out of the dim corridor. Harry ducked, sliced upward and left. He continued his spin, dodging under a swipe as his first attacked vanished in an eruption of flame. A sword clanked behind his back as he bent over, Hermione rolled over him and sliced downward. A second vampire vanished as she recovered, and pushed at the air.

A group of four approaching Ron and Luna from out of their view shot backwards as if fired from cannons. Harry! He turned, looked at her, and nodded. Hermione drove the Sword of Ravenclaw into the ground at her feet and muttered a spell over it. A wall of flame appeared, surround the six, leaving only two vampires within. As one, both charged Harry.

He spun, sliced up, and back down. Two more vampires dissolved in bouts of flame as Harry summoned Neville and Ginny to him. Ron and Luna sprinted over just as Hermione pulled her sword from the ground, kicked a stone into the air with her boot, and caught it. PORTUS! The other five grabbed onto her shoulders and arms and between beats of a heart, they vanished in fall of color and a rush of flames.

The circle of fire slowly died, leaving darkly hissing shadows that slowly vanished into the gloom, their prey gone.

****************************South China Sea*****************************

Lucius Malfoy's forces were vast, destructive and in their numbers almost unstoppable. Except for one, small disadvantage. They didn't swim all that well. During the dark years when his forces had overrun all of Europe, most of Asia and a decent amount of Africa, leaving the interior untouched, he had been able to send them by land or via various means of transportation, without recourse to water.

Unfortunately for his aspirations at world domination, the Americas, both North and South were not reachable by this technique, at least not easily. Vast invasion armadas set sail, to establish beachheads in which portals could be established to bring X'Sheen in overwhelming numbers. But boats, no matter how big, suffered one fatal flaw...they had to travel over the ocean.

Spears of fire rained down on a long line of wooden ships propelled by magic as they steamed down the Mariana's straight towards Australia. Australia, the last bastion of freedom in this part of the world had been under almost constant threat of invasion by Death Eater led, X'Sheen forces, which were now withering and dieing on the vine.

Dragons wheeled overhead, fighting tooth and claw as streaks of grey shot out of the clear, blue sky to have Dragons bearing the green skull fall from the air. Great steel ships floated in line abreast, turning broadsides to the wooden armada flying the flag of the Death Eaters. With a torrent of blue Reductors, great fireballs of cannon fire, and sun-bright flashes of plasma, the enemy fleet burned.

Australia was saved again...for now.

****************************Hogwarts*********************************

November 4, 2019
8:35pm

Emilia looked up from her library book, frowning. A shadow crossed her table, one she had secured soon after starting school. It was hidden far, far back in the back corner of the vast library, and free from interruption for the most part. She ducked sideways as a tall pile of books floated past with no regard to any humans who might be in the way. "Did you hear that?" she whispered across the table to her brother whom she deigned to let sit there. He shrugged and returned to his Potions text, marking down some obscure fact for an Essay on moonstones.

She looked across the table towards Xander, and Caitlin, they were leaning together working on an assignment for Lupin. Xander gave her a small smile and looked back to his book. After another minute she looked back to her book, her lips moving slightly as she started in on her History of Magic assignment.

A soft scrape of wood on wood sounded again and Emilia looked up. She stood, walking towards the sound when she stopped and turned back towards the table, "Now I know, that..." she saw Xander's eyes widen as he leapt out of his seat, crashing into her and sending them tumbling. With a tremendous crash, the bookcase slammed to the ground, sending hundreds of books tumbling down. Xander bit out a curse as a large, heavy metal smashed into the arm he had thrown across Emilia to protect her head.

Footsteps thundered away, and Emilia carefully rolled out from under Xander. She looked up to see her brother already charging away, his wand in hand. "Go, Em," Xander groaned, "I'll be fine."

"But you're, you..."

"Go, Emilia," he snapped, groaning slightly. He rolled up to a seated position, cradling his right arm. He reached across his body, drawing his wand awkwardly with his left hand. Emilia bit her lip, but nodded, and sprinted out of the library, even as voices shouted as they ran to the back of the room.

Emilia sprinted past Lupin as he ran in the opposite direction. He continued on as she waved him towards the back, yelling about Xander. She reached the hall, her wand flicking back and forth. She barely checked a stunner as Harriet and Horatio came around the corner, shaking their heads. "Crap," she whispered hotly.

*************************Hogwarts, Hospital Wing*************************

Emilia watched as Madame Pomfrey made Xander drink some vile concoction and moved away, into her office. He shuddered, looking around the room as Remus came closer. Emilia stood and walked to the window as Tonks rushed into the room, tripped over a chair and almost fell on her injured son. Lupin's arms snapped out with long practiced skill and caught her.

Emilia bit her lip slightly as she looked out over the dark lawn, broken by the lights of Hagrid's hut and the roving torch and wandlights of several patrols. Her arms wrapped around her, and rubbed along her arms unconsciously, as she felt a slight chill that the warmth of the castle in November did not account for.

Behind her, Tonks wept softly as she gathered Xander in her arms, hugging him. Emilia grinned to herself slightly as she Tonks go on and on until she was finally dragged from her son by Remus. He said something to Xander, and pushed Tonks towards the door, muttering something about the 'boy needing sleep'. Remus glanced towards Pomfrey's office, slipped Xander a package of chocolate frogs from his jacket pocket and led Tonks away.

Emilia looked back over her shoulder towards the door, waiting until it closed behind Xander's parents. There had already been a parade of well-wishers through the infirmary, Tonks had just arrived last as she had been in Hogsmeade going over security precautions with the town MLE detachment. Abigail, Harriet, Horatio and Elliot had all been here until just before Poppy had decided she could go ahead and give Xander the potion. She had kicked all of them out, but at Emilia's silent intransigence, Poppy had just shook her head and muttered something about "bloody Potter women." Emilia had not understood the reference.

She padded over from the window and knelt down next to Xander. She looked around the brunette's bed, frowning slightly before she reached out and gingerly touched him on his arm. He turned his head to look at her, and gave her a small smile. She frowned, "T...thank you, Xan."

"Hey, it was just a shelf, not a troll," Xander quipped. He was caught unawares as Emilia jumped up and crushed him in a hug hard enough to draw a soft grunt of surprise. Sudden tears burned down her cheeks as she sobbed softly into the shoulder of his hospital robe. Xander looked down at her, frowning, desperately confused as what to exactly to do. He eventually just decided to lie motionless and to not say a word as the small girl cried.

**************************London*********************************
November 5, 2019
6:20 am

Fred and George stood uneasily in the deep, cloying London night. Across the potholed and trash strewn street, a pair of black-cloaked, rather pale figures stood on either side of heavy steel door. The leftmost one, a thin, brown-eyed woman, who wore a short, leather skirt, and a blood-red, short top under her open cloak, in spite of the cold, smiled slightly, exposing pristine white fangs. She opened her stance, and fingered the hilt of a worked dagger before drawing it slowly, and kissing the flat of a cobalt blue blade. "Sorry, Luv," Fred said lightly; "married."

"Your loss," the vampress replied, laughing.

Beyond the steel door, a curious meeting was occurring in the light of a few flickering oil lamps. A small, blonde woman looked around the room with curiously vibrant violet eyes. She was alone, having come down from Hogwarts for this meeting with only the twins for an escort. Sirius was somewhere in France, meeting with a resistance cell. An ancient, dark presence sat across a small, bare, except for two steaming goblets of blood, inlaid table.

Cordelia watched as the ancient extended a withered hand, complete with bejeweled long skeletal fingers, and took a sip from his goblet. He set it down and looked to her with a contented sigh, "Why should I support either side, Cordelia? My children hunt every night, their bellies are full." He smiled thinly, and licked his lips clean of blood. "We do not have to hide, we can walk openly in the night..."

"Down broke and shattered streets, hunting poor pitiful wretches, please," Cordelia spat, disdainfully.

"I don't see you refusing your drink, Cordelia," the Ancient, Marcus Octavius answered, sneering.

Cordelia made a show of subtly sniffing the goblet before purposefully bringing it to her lips to drink. "I can tell the distinct scent of Death Eater miles away. This was from the patrol your forces ambushed earlier this evening in Surrey." Marcus chuckled and saluted her with his own goblet. Cordy did not smile however, as she stood and leaned over the table. Across the room, the main dining room of an old, Muggle Chinese restaurant, several tall, lethal-looking vampires stepped from the shadows. Cordelia slowly looked at each one, her eyes glowing softly before she looked back to the ancient. "You do not want a war with us, old fang...and you do not want our attentions to turn to you once this...unpleasantness has passed."

"What do you want?"

"You and yours are to limit your hunts to only those who deserve it. As simple as that," Cordelia replied and started to the door.

"Are you sure that you don't want to stay?" a tall, dark vampire asked from behind Marcus, "It will be daylight soon. We have a spare bed down below; you could see what it's like with your own kind...

Cordelia's head spun to him, her eyes lit fully and she MOVED, flashing across the room and knocking the tall vampire through a dividing wall into the next room. She paced to the new hole in the stained and peeling wall, seeming to reappear across the room without crossing the intervening distance, she looked down at him sprawled on the floor and slowly showed her fangs. "I am a Pureblood vampire, the Sun holds no terrors for me, nor does death. Be careful, or I will feed you to my husband in bite-sized chunks." She turned on her heel and walked quickly to the door. "Remember what I said, Marcus, I would hate to have to visit in a somewhat less social manner, perhaps with...Albus as my partner."

She left the old restaurant in silence as her words sunk home.

There you go, another chapter...next time, a dinner conversation.

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30. A Family Dinner

Another chapter, finally...I've had too many distractions. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.

Chapter 30: A Family Dinner
***********************South Pacific, near Fakfak, New Guinea ****************

December 3, 2019
2:00 pm

Dozens of black-clad, armored forms spun from behind rocks and trees, bushes and came out of the very ground and unleashed a torrent of spellfire, energy and glowing projectiles on a black mass moving quickly though a valley. Scores of the cloaked figures fell to the assault, but it wasn't enough. The dark horde of X'Sheen below turned as a mass and returned fire, horrible green and yellow curses erupted from their hands, and at first a few, then more and more armored suits began to fall.

The X'Sheen poured spellfire into the hills surrounding their open position, not bothering to take cover, as they tried to kill the American, British and Australian forces desperately contending their match towards Australia, following, purely coincidentally, the path that the Axis powers had taken almost eighty years before. Behind a large, moss-covered bolder, an armored suit paused and lifted his dark visor, revealing tired blue eyes set on a haggard and careworn face. His armor was stenciled on the right shoulder with a fluttering American flag that was almost scored away and on the chest with "Grierson, M, MAJ." A pair of subdued oak leaves were barely visible on his shoulders, as he looked at a smaller, mostly because the wizard he was looking at was in BDUs not the heavy armor, he and the rest of his force were wearing. "You wanted to see this, Admiral," Grierson growled. Behind the Admiral, several more armors, each stenciled with a grey trident on the left breast above the names and ranks of the sailors, stood looking outward, watching for movement in the jungle beyond.

"It's your show, Mark," Nimitz replied shrugging, "I'm just here to stretch my legs." The leader of his protective detail, a Lieutenant named Simons rolled his eyes, visible as he, lone among his men had his visor up and was facing the Major and the Admiral.

"As you say, sir," Grierson replied, with the tone that lower ranks often took when they thought their bosses were insane. "Valkyrie Flight, this is MudDog Six," he muttered to the air.

A soft crackling noise was barely audible over the sizzling hiss of spellfire and plasma bolts, and the ripping sound of miniguns, and a slightly drawling, Southern American accent answered him, "That you, Mark?" it asked in a tone of amazement, "I thought you were in Coronado?"

"No, Sam, I'm here, got bored," he replied laconically as a green bolt snapped past the rock formation he was sheltered behind to fell a two-foot thick tree in the forest beyond. "Listen, bud, I have a bug problem..."

"Lay it on me," the voice replied, its tone growing serious.

A loud yell of pain sounded over the air, and Mark groaned under his breath, "Danger close, a two-battalion sized force of X'Sheen in the open, in the valley, elements of the 4th and 7th are on the south and east canyon walls, the Brits are on the west walls, be careful."

"Always...One minute out, MudDog," the voice paused as a loud, whistling whine rent the air, "Smoky, Gorgeous, lay down incendiaries. Tequila, Farmboy, clean up after them, ladies and gentlemen, tally ho."

From out of the sun, a pair of mottled grey dart dropped from the sky like meteors, thundering down towards the valley below. Armor suits dove for cover as the planes pulled up, meters from the valley floor and streaked along it. A pair of six-foot-long, smooth cylinders tumbled from each's wake. As they hit, a wave of flames ripped down the valley floor, incinerating countless X'Sheen. The flames started to fade away, revealing many, many fewer cloaked figures and then, it was over.

Another pair of craft popped up from behind the south ridge where the Admiral was overseeing this ambush of an X'Sheen raiding force. They slipped over the top of the ridge, their field drives soundless, and their noses exploded in the cyan blue of gigawatt range Reductors. The craft swiveled slowly, moving the lines of energy like huge brooms of death, sweeping the remaining X'Sheen before them. Another two craft appeared from behind the East ridge, and the opening two returned, howling in on a reciprocal course to the one they had before and joined their brethren. A shocked silence fell over the valley as the craft stopped firing. The ships rose silently on field drive spells waggling their wings before they shot off to the south, towards the heavily defended waters surrounding the Australian coast where the USS Tiamat, and HMS Merlin sat waiting, patrolling for new incursions.

"There you go, Admiral," Grierson said, waving towards the wrecked valley floor as his sergeants and lieutenants led the troops in sweeping the valley floor for X'Sheen that had not escaped or hadn't been killed. There were no bodies, of course, as the ancient enemy tended to vanish when killed. A fusillade of fire erupted as they watched as a hidden enemy popped out to attack, and died as a half dozen suits hit it before it could release its spells. "As long as we catch them in the open, we can stop them, but if they get in close, it gets...dicey."

"Unfortunately, you were the lucky ones, Mark," Nimitz replied tiredly, "They overran Port Moresby, this morning. It's under orbital bombardment right now. Unconsciously, they glanced to the southeast, and found faint streaks of fire trailing down from above. "Let's get back to the ship, John."

Behind him, Simons reached back and pulled a small, pulsing orb from a compartment on his armor. The other three members of the security detail crowded around, not a easy thing to do in full armor, and touched the orb, touched someone touching it. "Portus," Simons muttered and in a rainbow fall of colors and a rush of wind, the Admiral and the four SEALs, vanished.

******************************Hogwarts**********************************

Half a world away, the travails of the forces fighting for their freedom was the last thing on the minds of almost five hundred students as they sat in various classes listening to Professors drone on about the most mundane things. In one particular room, set in on the second floor off the ancient castle, a tiny Professor stood on a stack of books, piled on top of his desk and pointed to the board, "I can tell you from experience," Flitwick squeaked, pointing back at the board, "That one of the most used charms you will use will be the Warming Charm." He stood, and held up his wand for everyone to see. Emilia looked on, slightly bored, and glanced over at her brother, who was, as usual, not even pretending to pay attention.

She sighed softly, and propped her chin on her hand as Flitwick gave his wand a curious little shake, "The wand movement is as such," he announced, "and the incantation is Tepidus." Emilia dutifully took notes, even though she knew quite well that both the incantation and the specific wand movement were only mnemonic devices to properly focus magic to a given task. She looked up as Flitwick looked around the room, "Does anyone care to perform this spell?" Instantly, Emilia's hand shot up, she didn't glance over to see Horatio roll his eyes. She did hear the soft pop as Harriet, punched him lightly under the table. Harriet smirked at his pained look as Emilia pointed her wand, a twelve-inch long, English yew wand, carved with subtle runes and cored with a feather from the tail of a California Giant Phoenix, the pristine white variant of the breed. Hers was the first wand that Olivander had ever made with samples from that rare subspecies.

Em flicked her wand at a beaker of water sat on the table in front of her, "Tepidus," the beaker started roiling slightly, and Flitwick clapped.

"Excellent, Miss Potter, five points to Gryffindor," Flitwick proclaimed and waved his wand at the board. Words appeared there, replacing the text already there, "For next class, chapter ten please of the Standard Book of Spells, Grade One, two feet on the manipulation charms therein." A distant bell rang, and Flitwick nodded, "Very well, class dismissed." A flock of black robes vanished from the class in moments, leaving Flitwick chuckling under his breath.

The Gryffindor pride of first years, exploded into the hall, and stopped immediately as, "DAD!" Elliot yelled and ran forward, to hug his father with absolutely no sense of embarrassment. Neville returned the hug, before letting his son free. "Where's Mum?"

"She'll be down in a bit, she's getting a cut fixed up," Neville replied patiently. Elliot looked worried, but Neville waved him off, "She's fine, she cut it on a broken piece of glass," he explained, not mentioning it had been in an old abandoned house, in the midst of a firefight in France.

"Uncle Neville, are Mum and Dad here?" Horatio asked, and Emilia and Harriet perked up, Harriet because where Harry and Hermione where, Ron and Luna were sure to follow. He nodded and waved towards the general direction of the dungeon.

"Harriet," he added quickly, before the red-haired girl could follow her friends, "Your Mum and Dad went up to their quarters, I think your Dad wanted to change clothes." She grinned and gave the twins a wave before sprinting off towards the staff quarters.

The twins broke into a sprint, jumping past and through throngs of students as they meandered through the halls on the wall to the library, or their dorms or in the case of an unlucky few, towards detention or extra assignments. They ran up several flights of stairs, jumped over a trick stair and looked over as a huge, ginger Kneazle matched them stride for stride. Em stopped at a landing on the fifth floor near a large painting of Edward the Handy. She looked to each side, waved Horatio close and touched the lower right corner of the painting. It swung open on silent hinges, and the pair of them slipped in.

Behind them, unseen in the hall, an older student in an unmarked robe slipped from the shadows and headed off towards the Library wing.

A wing away, several minutes later and six floors down, a bronze statue of a serpent came to life and slithered aside, revealing an opening, through which the Potter twins and Crookshanks emerged into the Dungeons somewhere directly under Gryffindor Tower. The statue of Grezzle, the familiar of Osborne Snark, hissed a greeting at them, and Emilia gave it a small smile, {Thank You,} she hissed and waved as they started down the dimly lit halls.

They passed the main Potions classroom, and jumped slightly as a muffled explosion shook the closed door. Emilia giggled softly as she heard Draco's drawling voice berating some fifth year for mixing Moonstone and Nitric Acid. A small cloud of smoke wafted from under the door, smelling of iron and vomit.

The twins passed on further, slipping into darker and darker regions of the corridor, the torches lighting the halls becoming sparser and sparser. Finally, after looking to each side they slipped down an utterly black cul-de-sac, with the darkness seeming to close in behind them. Horatio could barely see the tip of his wand as he tapped a blank wall with his wand in curious, seemingly random pattern.

An ancient presence seemed to evaluate them for a long moment, then with clearance from unseen entity, the wall in front of them creaked and folded, and a dark archway appeared in the stone, though which they passed without a thought. Behind them, the stones of the arch ground against themselves as the wall repaired itself, and with a series of loud puffing sounds, dozens of torches lining the walls came to life, illuminating twin lines of polished suits of armor. The twins and familiar walked to a glowing circle and waited, looking towards a polished oak door emblazoned with a Phoenix ensign, as the colors in the room suddenly inverted and righted themselves. The door opened and they headed though.

Several uniformed and civilian clothed, wizards and agents sat at desks, or moved between them, working at what had become by default the center for the fight against Malfoy in England.

"Oi," a familiar voice yelled from the open door to a side room, the twins turned from their path towards the offices at the back and passed though a door way under a sign that said "Warning: Secure all Appendages before entering." Emilia and Horatio came to stand behind a clear barrier with Fred. It had taken the Death Eaters to finally make it easy to tell them apart, the thin white line of hair that ran through his red mop outlining a scar picked up years ago in London provided instant identification...except when Fred spelled it red as well. Beyond the barrier, set down a tunnel off the main workshop George was setting up a dummy in a chair. He ran back and looked down at the twins.

"Watch this," he said with a grin. He flicked his wand towards the dummy, which stood and floated upright towards a door. It crossed a invisible line...BOOM...A loud explosion shook the dungeon, causing several cursed threats from the main room towards the elder set of twins. A plastic arm inscribed with a green skull bounced off the plexiglass barrier and Fred pumped his arm up and down.

"Cool, it works," Fred said and looked out into the main area, as if waiting for someone. Not seeing them, he motioned the Potters closer, over to one side. George handed them a box.

"A few new surprises from the shop, a couple of vials of the ImpEEious, the usual You-No-Poo, and our newest rendition of the Puking Pastille, this one stops automatically after ten minutes, no need to take the antidote." George said.

"Thanks, guys," the twins said as one, and after skillfully hiding the items in their robes, they headed back out into the main room. They walked past a tall, pale, almost albino man, dressed in khaki utilities, with a large handgun strapped to his thigh and a wand holstered just above that. His uniform had a patch on the sleeve neither youth had seen before, a red and gold Phoenix perched on a sword, set over a Union Jack. They looked at him oddly, before he gave them a small smile and a casual, waved salute. Emilia frowned slightly, looked over at Horry, who shrugged, and pushed open a closed office door at the back of the open office area.

They stepped in and "MUM, DAD," Emilia groaned as she found her mother perched on the edge of Harry's desk, next to his chair, leaning down and forward. The elder Potters broke apart; Hermione smirked slightly, and slid down to sit in Harry's lap.

"Yes, Emilia?" Hermione said lightly, "Though I do seem to remember that I taught you to...knock before entering a room." The twins shrugged as one, before Horatio pushed the door closed, and the two of them sat down in the guest chairs facing Harry's desk.

"Oh like you guys would be doing anything in your office," Horatio said, offhandedly, Hermione's gaze shot to Harry's and a slight, faint blush dusted her cheeks, "and besides that's so gross," he added absently. Harry dropped his head, looking down and grinning. Hermione gave him a light tap on the back of the head.

Behave, Hermione whispered, before she turned enough to look at the kids. "What do you guys need, or are you just coming along for the Twins' goodies?" she asked perceptively, and both Potter twins suddenly wore expressions of utter innocence that would have fooled anyone else but her.

"We...uhh, just wanted to see you, Mum, Dad," Emilia said with a grin. Hermione and Harry laughed together. "We miss you," Emilia said softly, jade eyes glistening. Hermione seemed to float up out of Harry's lap and around to her daughter. She pulled Emilia into her arms as Horatio rolled his eyes, muttering; "girls." Harry shared a smirk with his son.

Harry waved absently in the general direction of his desk and several non-alcoholic butterbeers appeared, and a pair flew over to the kids, and dropped in into their hands. Hermione stood and perched on the edge of the desk looking down at the kids as they both looked around the office. A small orrey moved in the corner, several silver instruments spun in place on a small table in the corner, and behind them, set on the wall opposite the desk, images of the castle and surroundings competed with a map of the UK with glowing dots and moving indicators of people and entire units, both friendly and enemy.

"Yeah," Horry agreed, "we wanted to see you...it gets so boring, here." Harry glanced to Hermione as she looked back at him, they shared an eyeroll. "So how long are you here...Mum, Dad? Are you going to be here for Christmas?" Horry added in a soft voice, and Emilia looked at him worriedly.

Mione? Harry whispered, we could, it'll be about the right time anyway...

I dunno...Hermione muttered, we could drop them off at the Farm...I don't really want to take them to the next site. We have to be there on the twenty-second...

"We'll be here for a couple of weeks at least, at least through the end of term," Harry said looking at the two of twins. He caught Hermione's eyes again as the twins flinched slightly at the implication they would spend the second Christmas in a row without their mother, and the eighth without their father, "But then, I think all of us might take a trip together," he didn't even have a chance to finish as Emilia squealed and jumped up, almost bowling over her mother as she dove into Harry's lap.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" Emilia asked breathlessly, she glanced back to see her brother hanging on the answer as well.

"Well," Harry looked to Hermione, she nodded, "your mother and I need to pick up a small item on the equinox, you two are not coming," he looked at kids pointedly, and they nodded reluctantly, "but then I expect that we can spend Christmas and New Years together at the Florida House." Emilia hugged him hard enough to cause him to gasp, "air..." She let go with an embarrassed giggle, and sat back on his lap.

"That is, of course," Hermione put in firmly, "that I don't hear any reports of you two skiving off." A chestnut eyebrow crooked, and gave each a meaningful look to each one of them in turn.

"Yes, Mum," both twins sighed. They got up from their respective perches, and crossed to the door.

"We are having dinner in our quarters tonight, if you two would rather eat with your boring parents than in the Great Hall," Harry added as the duo started to leave.

"Ok, Dad" Emilia grinned, and gave a little wave before the pair of them left. Hermione flicked her fingers at the door; it closed with a soft squelch.

"Is this a good idea, Harry?" she asked quietly, her voice slightly nervous for some reason. Her eyes were soft as she looked on.

"I'm not spending another Christmas away from my kids, Love," Harry growled, he gave her a wry grin, and shrugged, "It's not like we are taking them to Alaska, they'll be at the Farm, thousands of miles away, we go and get the next piece, and are back for Christmas, and take everyone down to the beach."

"We are taking Makaila and Caitlin too?" Hermione put in knowingly.

"If they want to come, we still haven't talked to the twins about it," Harry reminded her, "maybe tonight at dinner."

********************Harry and Hermione's Quarters, Hogwarts*****************

7:15 pm

Hermione slipped past Harry with a large steaming bowl of pasta, as he tossed a salad with a pair of tongs, and set it down in the center of a small butcher's block table already set for four. Harry set the salad next to the pasta and a pan of meat sauce, and a loaf of garlic bread. Hermione looked over at the couch set in the other half of the open space connecting the kitchenette, dining area and living room, "Food."

She rolled her eyes slightly as Horry flipped over the back of the couch, almost sprinting towards the table. He dove past Harry, sliding into a chair and grabbing a slice of bread, which he devoured immediately. Hermione slowly crooked an eyebrow as her daughter approached at a more sedate pace, and sat down opposite her brother, "You could have waited, glutton," Emilia said, and looked down at the meat sauce, "Mum, what's that?"

"Spaghetti," Hermione replied, shrugging, "sorry it's not what the elves have."

"No, Mum," she replied, sighing, "I mean what did you make it with, turkey?" she added hopefully.

"Cow," Harry replied, as he scooped up a plate of pasta and handed it to Hermione, before filling his own. He gave his plate a generous dollop of sauce and dug in, he then frowned as Emilia grimaced slightly. "I'm sorry that's not up to what you wanted..."

"It's ok, Dad," she shrugged and served herself, filling half her plate with salad and the other half with pasta, barely tinged with red as she put a small amount of sauce on it, "I was just hoping..."

"What's wrong, Em?" Horry said around a mouthful of bread, "I bet Xander would eat it." Harry looked over the table and shared a meaningful look with Hermione. She looked away an instant, to hide her face, and then back, her expression carefully hid. "I seem to remember you watching him eat the other day closely enough."

Emilia blushed slightly, "We were talking about Quidditch, Horry..." She smirked slightly, and cocked her eyebrow. She sat then back and took a sip of Pumpkin Juice, "Though if we're on the subject, of interesting conversations, just what were you and Elliot and Harriet up to Tuesday, when I saw you three huddled together outside of Potions..."

Hermione glanced up at Harry as she heard his laugh in her thoughts, Harry?

Someone spiked Draco's coffee, turned his hair bright pink...he didn't even know until Tonks congratulated him on his fashion sense after his first year class, Harry explained, shrugging mentally.

That's tame...they are our kids right? Hermione inquired, as she started to turn and regard her son with a gimlet eye, that isn't even a patch on...

Gets better, Harry assured her, that was just a distraction...when he unspelled his hair, it set up a backspell on his wand so that every time he used it for the rest of the day, he started singing, "I'm a little teapot..."

Hermione giggled silently and dropped her eyes to the table, rolling her tongue around in her mouth before she looked up to catch Harry's eyes. He could still see the laughter hidden in hers as she looked back at Horry, "You are lucky that you didn't get caught," she said firmly with the exact same tone she had taken in regards to many of Harry and Ron's adventures, those that didn't involve mortal peril of course, "I should turn you into your head of house..."

"MUM," he pleaded, as Emilia carefully did not laugh. She reached for a slice of bread, keeping her eyes carefully on the food, while she reached down and petted Crookshanks as he rubbed against her legs, begging for a bite. She snuck him a piece of hamburger while Hermione was occupied with Horry, and Harry and her shared a small smile.

"But," Hermione went on, and sighed, "that would be hypocritical..." Horry perked up at the same time Emilia looked at her with a disbelieving mien. Hermione glanced at Harry, "I can't believe that no one told you..." the twins hung on her words, she shut up abruptly and shook her head slightly. "Um...never mind, just promise me two things, both of you. Nothing mean-spirited and harmful, if you are listening to the twins, they danced right on that line more than once. And don't pick on anyone who can't take it." She gave Horatio an examining look. Then glanced at Emilia, whom she knew darn well was not as innocent as she might be trying to act with her distraction from Xander. They both gave her a short nod and she smiled at them, "Draco...he should have been ready, Merlin knows much, much worse was done to him."

She bent down and took a bite of salad as the table returned to a compatible silence. Harry broke it after a moment, asking if there was anything in particular they were wanting for Christmas. Hermione watched as both twins' faces lit up as they talked to their father; she bit her lip and stood suddenly. "Excuse me," Hermione said softly and walked down a small hallway towards the master bedroom and ostensibly the bathroom. She slipped in, closed the door, and sat down on the bed. Soft, silent tears slipped down her face as she held her face in her hands. A faint whisper of displaced air sounded in her ear, as she looked up to find Harry kneeling on the by her feet looking back at her. She fell forward and buried her face in his shoulder as his hand came up to cup the back of her head.
"I'm sorry, Harry," she muttered into his shoulder. He cooed softly to her, rocking her for a moment. She sniffed loudly and sat back. Harry reached up and wiped her eyes, before he leaned forward and kissed her softly.

"What for, Mione?"

"I...ah...I saw you there talking with the twins and it just hit me," she whispered, and closed her eyes for an instant, she coughed, "you've...we've missed so much of their lives and we'll miss more...our own kids must hate us, Harry..."

"They don't, Hermione, they love you more than they can say, just like I do," he reassured her, standing slowly and pulling her to her feet. His hands settled at the small of her back as he leaned in to kiss her again, more firmly than before. He broke away a moment later, eyes flickered and in an instant, Hermione looked as if she had never shed a tear. He stepped back and took her hand, and led her from the room, Let's talk to them and see if they are amenable to taking Makaila and Caitlin with us for Christmas. It's a first step, see if they are really that close, as everyone says. Hermione gave him a small smile.

As they returned to the living room, the twins were, once again, good-naturedly bickering over something. Harry coughed, quieting them instantly. Twin, emerald gazes looked up from the table, waiting. Hermione sat down in Harry's vacated chair as Harry stood behind her with his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. "Your mother and I were talking," he said, looking at both of them in turn, "and we wondered if either of you would mind if we asked if Makaila and Caitlin would like to go with us for Christmas and New Years. They don't have any family, and would otherwise be stuck at Hogwarts, though most students are staying, still they..."

"REALLY?" Emilia squeaked, jumping up from the table and running over to her parents and hugging them, "Can I go ask them, please?" Harry glanced back at Hermione, she chuckled and nodded, and with barely a "BYE!" Em vanished out of the main door, no doubt headed in a flat sprint for Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione looked over at Horatio who was sipping his pumpkin juice, "Are you alright with it, son?"

"Cor...it's cool, Mum," he replied, shrugging, "Cat's nice enough to hang out with, now that she's not so jumpy any longer...she's pretty good on a broom too, for someone who hadn't ever rode one before." He looked down at his empty plate, "Is there any dessert, Mum?"

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, I think there's some pie left."

There you go...sorry it's a touch short...

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31. A Winter's Tale

A/N: Here we are, this fic is still percolating along, it's just taking a bit with various distractions. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.

Chapter 31: A Winter's Tale.
**************************Near the Artic Circle*****************************
December 22, 2021
11:50am

A pair of oddly displaced lions padded slowly across an endless expanse of ice and snow, their heads bent low against a wind howling from the nearby Bering Sea. The larger of the two, a jet-black male, shook ice from his mane, a mane that was inordinately disheveled, even for a lion, and looked over at its mate, with worried emerald eyes. She rubbed her head against his for an instant, before she started out, trekking for an odd outcropping of rock that poked above the snow pack, like a finger pointing to the sky. The other lion fell in at her side, periodically glancing over at her as they continued to move along the path towards the rocks.

She stopped, twenty meters from the outcropping. The air in front of her seemed oddly distorted, as if it were being viewed through a freznel lens. She glanced over at her companion, as he stopped at her shoulder and leaned into her, or rather they leaned together instinctively. A large black-furred head tucked hers under his, as they watched the patch of distorted air together.

Somewhere, a clock clicked over an hour, and the air shimmered; then cleared. The lions paused, and then stepped forward, through the formerly distorted region, into a large, ornate entrance hall to an ancient stone keep. As one, the pair SHIFTED, their forms shrinking slightly and changing, until two humans, a man and a woman, both in black parkas stood shivering. The man pulled down a hood, and ran his gloved hands through messy inky locks, driving snow and ice from it, before he reached over and pulled the girl to him, holding her against him tightly as she shivered.

Are you alright, Mione? Harry asked with a hint of desperation in his voice. Chocolate eyes glanced up at him, under iced lashes. She shook her head, slightly, her teeth chattering. Harry waved his hand around the room, lighting several extinguished braziers that sat waiting for another to use them after all these years. The air in the room began to warm, Harry pulled off his gloves with his teeth, tossing them to the flagstone floor of the entrance, before he unzipped her parka to reach in. He rubbed his hands along the sides and front of her chest, trying to bring warmth back into her as fast as she could.

I'm fine, Harry, she muttered after a minute, shrugging off her parka, and checking a small pack, are you?

As long as you are, I am, Harry responded instantly. Hermione glared at him, and he shrugged slightly, I really am alright, Love, he said pulling off his parka as well. He grinned slightly, did you bring your green one?

You will just have to wait and find out, Baby, Hermione whispered, before she pressed her lips to his quickly and stepped back, looking around the dimly lit stone room. It was round, with stairs leading down as if it were the very tip of some castle's tower. Well, shall we?

Harry shrugged, and glanced around, Why not, he muttered and waved his hand, summoning a floating ball of light that hovered several feet in front of him. He followed he floating orb as it slowly descended down the stairs, and leveled out into a buried corridor. Hermione looked at him, and then glanced around the corridor, her eyes widening as she recognized features of a structure thousands of miles away, in the currently besieged Scottish Highlands.

Hermione took his hand, and held it as they slipped down the dark corridor, the bright white light of the orb casting odd shadows along the walls. Dark suits of ancient, thousand-year-old European armor stood guard, along with dark, empty portraits. They slipped down the corridor, and after several minutes of walking, each carefully not stating of where this reminded them of, they came to a empty chasm. She looked across the empty space, sending another glowing orb racing across to stop next to an Eagle inscribed door, set off a landing directly across from them. "We could fly over, I suppose," Hermione said softly.

Just as the words slipped from her lips, beams of light shot across the expanse, cris-crossing with each other to weave a glowing bridge. Alright, Harry muttered and took a single step onto the light. The floor was solid under his feet as he reached back and held Hermione's hand as she stepped onto the bridge. Unspoken words caused them to hurry, if not outright run across the distance, moving to the door and pausing in front of it.

The door had no keyhole, or handle or knocker; in fact the only sign that it was a door at all was the heavy hinges on the left side of the door. A hand-sized rampant eagle carving glowed on one side of the door and without thinking, Hermione reached over and pressed her palm to it. She felt a sharp sting in her hand and pulled it away. Her eyes widened as she turned her hand upward to find five small puncture holes oozing blood.

The wounds matched five needles set in the shape of a star. Hermione hissed slightly as Harry took her hand and flicked his fingers over it, causing the wounds to seal and vanish. They turned back to the door just as the eagle flapped it's wings and let out a soft cry, and the door opened silently, leading them into a cozy, round room, decorated in blue and bronze. A fire burned merrily in a corner hearth, set among walls filled with shelves of books, and currently empty portraits.

A single, apparently occupied chair, as witnessed by the slim, leather clad legs that were resting over a padded armrest, sat before the fire, its back to them. Harry motioned towards the chair, and Hermione nodded, before they slipped around either side of it, to stop, looking down at it a slim, brunette witch, reclined in the chair and paging through, what appeared to be, a very, very old, tattered tome on her lap. She looked up and smiled, dark brown eyes twinkling and saluted them with a steaming cup of tea.

"Yes, my dear," Rowena replied happily to Hermione's unasked question, "even a memory, such as myself gets thirsty." She gestured in the air, and a small gold triangle appeared in the air before them. The faint Runes inscribed along the edges glowed a soft red, as Harry reached up and took it, slipping it into a pouch. "I wish this were easier," she mused. "Had we only known the cost of delay," Rowena's eyes dropped from theirs, and when they looked back up, they held unshed tears, "I would have developed...something else to keep the counter safe, but there is no correcting that now."

She glanced up at Hermione, who had moved to Harry's side, and sometime while Rowena had been talking, slipped her hand into his. "I think that you will enjoy the next more than this...It will be found on the day opposite this, where the road to a city lost to fire in the sky has sunk beneath the waves." She chuckled as she remembered a long ago day, "Though my bathing costume was of necessity a tad more, revealing than even yours, Lady Hermione." Hermione's eyebrow shot to her hair, and Rowena laughed, waving towards a crystal ball set on a stand, "I do look out into the world occasionally...you should leave, this place won't collapse like Godric's little hideaway in Budapest, but I think that you have something to get home to."

Harry nodded and started away, even as Rowena's image flickered and vanished, leaving behind an empty room.

**************************South Florida, the Keys**************************
December, 23, 2019
3:30 pm

An otherwise abandoned, white sand beach held only six souls, Out to sea, towards the east, a small vessel could be seen passing by, standing well clear of the rocky point several hundred yards to the south. Back to the west, set up on a small rise, a large, light blue house, almost exactly the color of the cloudless sky, overlooked the private beach. Or at least it was these days, after the owner, an elderly gentleman with a slight Scottish accent and quite long grey hair, purchased the surrounding two houses at twice their market value and paid to have the houses moved and donated.

A light breeze carried the scent of salt water inland, as two of those souls dropped to a large beach blanket set up on a dune, and watched the other four as they played in and around the ocean. Hermione sighed softly, scooting back to let Harry wrap his arms around her, which he did with alacrity, She turned her head slightly, grinning at him, and mouthing something, before she leaned back to peck his lips, almost absently. Hermione leaned her head to the right, pressing her cheek to Harry's as he rested his head on her shoulder.

His hands rested warmly on her bare belly, several inches above the top of her bikini bottoms. Harry twiddled his thumbs, causing a soft giggle to come from his wife, "You know," Harry said after a moment, as he watched all three girls ganging up on Horatio, splashing him, and flinging wet sand at him, "Horry and I are rather outnumbered these days."

"Love," Hermione smirked, "you were when it was just Em and I." Harry nodded silently against her shoulder, knowingly. She cut her eyes right, meeting his, "Do you still want to work on that imbalance, Harry?" she asked seriously, nibbling on her bottom lip.

Harry was momentarily distracted, as he watched her working at her lip, Merlin, you are so cute when you do that, he thought idly. Hermione grinned, and reached up and back, cupping the back of his head to pull his lips to hers. She moaned softly, as she felt his tongue run over her bottom lips, and opened slightly. She let him pull her backwards onto the towel, and rolled on top of him. Harry hissed as she rubbed against him, cradled between his slightly splayed legs. She froze suddenly and sighed, dropping her forehead to his. We probably should table this for later, since the kids are about fifty-five meters away, Harry muttered regretfully.

Fifty-three, she corrected him, but yeah, we should definitely continue this, after they are out.

"I really want to, Mione," Harry resumed their former conversation, rolling them both on their sides; Hermione spooned back against him, as they watched the kids continue to play. Though, in all honestly, only three of them were kids, and it was highly debatable in those cases. Emilia, Horatio, and their new friend, and possible future sister were definitely not unfamiliar with hardship. Emilia and Horatio had, of course, suffered through their kidnapping when they were only four, poisoning, and the loss of their father to them for almost seven years. Caitlin, and her older sister, Makaila, had watched their parents, Patrick and Vanessa O'Brien, die in front of their eyes, an event that Caitlin had blocked from her mind, to the point that she seemed to disavow their very existence. Both girls had then been forced into Umbridge's foul magic school, with their only future to look forward to, being a life of servitude or worse, to Malfoy's Death Eaters.

Harry watched as the small, even smaller than Emilia, girl pull shoulder-length dark red hair from her eyes and laugh at something the emerald-eyed girl said. He could not see it from here, but he knew that her dark blue eyes would be laughing, and he smiled to himself. "But I don't know if we should, before the issue of Makaila and Caitlin is settled." He kissed the top of your head, "And as much as I miss your charming mood swings during pregnancy, and the odd hours I would spend repairing something in the house when my otherwise perfect wife's magic slips out of control, 'cause she is the most powerful witch alive," Hermione smirked slightly, "We can't afford it right now. Sometimes I wish we had gone ahead and given the twins more siblings, we talked about it, but we thought we'd have time to wait, Merlin knows we have time. And back then, we weren't sure if the...life extension transferred to the twins."

"It only partially did," Hermione whispered, "It will probably extend to their mates if they ever get married in a full bond, and I guess, Mike and Cat, would get the same as the twins if we adopt them."

Hermione looked up as one of the two girls appeared as if summoned. Makaila looked down at them, in a sapphire blue copy of Hermione's bikini, and reached back to wring ocean water from her russet hair. She grabbed a towel from a stack set next to Harry and Hermione, flung it open and sat down, crossing her legs and facing them. "Are you two snogging again? Aren't you a bit too old for that?"

Hermione stuck out her tongue, and Makaila laughed, "Age is only a state of mind, dear," Hermione replied, snuggling back into Harry.

Makaila grinned, showing white teeth that had been straightened by Madame Pomfrey as part of her physical upon her rescue from her former near imprisonment. "Yes, Mum," she laughed, and Hermione stiffened slightly. Makaila shook her head, "I'm sorry," she misconstrued, "I didn't mean anything by it."

Hermione sat up quickly, leaning forward and pulling the brown-eyed girl into her arms. "Oh, Honey," she whispered against her hair, ignoring the fact that the girl was dripping wet. Hermione combed her fingers through the tangles in the girl's hair, "It's alright; you can call me that anytime."

"Really?" Makaila whispered hopefully, her eyes shooting back and forth between Harry and Hermione.

Harry nodded, and Makaila sobbed softly," What is with it with me and sobbing girls?" Harry mused as he took the girl from Hermione and pulled her into his chest. He held her as she cried into his shoulder, her front soaking through his shirt. Harry rocked her back and forth slightly, until she sniffed loudly and pulled back a touch, wiping her eyes. Finally she pulled from his arms and sat up, her legs tucked under her bum, "We haven't said anything to either of you, we've barely broached the subject with the twins. And not really then, other than to feel them out about you two coming with us."

"Em, bloody well about knocked us down, to run to tell Caitlin, Horry was a bit more circumspect, though," Hermione said watching the three kids doing something at the edge of the water. She saw Emilia shoot a wave of water at her brother with a wave of her wand; it broke off a suddenly appeared shield protecting Horry. He drew his wand and froze a patch of water into a handful of snow and started to chase her. The annoyed scream carried all the way up the dune as he caught her, and shoved it down the back of her one-piece.

Makaila nodded thoughtfully, "I wouldn't worry about that, he's just feeling a tad henpecked, he'll get over it...or he'll never see a bathroom again." She frowned slightly, "I'm more worried about Caitlin, really, she's never gotten over...you know," Makaila paused and visibly forced herself under control once more. She held up her hand to Hermione, shaking her head slightly, "I'm alright...now, I'm free, I'm armed," she fingered her wand, which was strapped in an SG-1 thigh rig, even here, since she had finally received a wand of her own, she had not gone more than three inches from it, as if it were a talisman protecting her from the nightmare she had escaped from. "And there are people who care for me. Caitlin never dealt with it, not really. She didn't talk for the first couple of years after they...died. I would worry that she might take it wrong, that you were trying to replace them."

"We would never..." Hermione said quickly, almost panicked.

"I don't and I don't think she would either, really, if she thinks even a bit about it. She loves Em, and tolerates Horry, exactly like a girl her age would do with a brother. But she might not think of it that way."

At that moment, the soft crunch of sand under bare feet announced the approach of one of the other kids, especially as this house and it's environs were protected by wards that few could defeat quietly. "Mum," Horatio groaned, and flopped on the towel next to Makaila, "I'm hungry." He squinted slightly, as he looked at the group, "Is there anything to eat?"

Hermione crooked an eyebrow, "I will have you know, that I made a perfectly presentable lunch, perhaps if you had eaten then?"

"But, MUM!" he whined, and looked at her with large, emerald eyes.

Hermione sighed, and waved towards the house, "There's some pumpkin juice and pizza in the coldbox, you can reheat it..." he jumped up and started to run off towards the house, along an elevated boardwalk that led from the large pool area to the beach. "Don't track water all through the house," she yelled after him and he waved behind him, placatingly.

Makaila stood slowly and started back towards the house as well, "I'll make sure he doesn't wreck the place." Hermione nodded and watched as she headed up after him. She stopped, and looked back at Hermione and Harry, "I'll talk to her," she nodded once and sprinted towards the house as she heard a crash of a dish against the tile floor of the kitchen through the open sliding glass door, her bare feet slapping wetly on the floor.

Before even another thought could be processed, even in Hermione's thoughts, the other two girls appeared, Emilia opened her mouth, "Pizza in the kitchen, girls," Harry said smiling.

"Thanks, Dad," Emilia shouted, taking Caitlin's hand and pulling the girl along with her. Caitlin giggled loudly as the two crossed the wooden bridge. A moment later, a loud splash came from the direction of the pool.

"YOU"RE MINE, EM!"

Harry stood slowly, and pulled Hermione to her feet, "We should probably go keep them from destroying Grandad's house." Hermione nodded and bent down, pulling on a pair of short, khaki shorts on over her bottoms, leaving the top button undone and took his hand again, letting him lead her along the path to the house.

****************************************
December 24, 2019.
2:35 am

A large, blue pool, lit by floating white globes which were filled with twinkling, multi-colored fairy lights, sat surrounded by the a bank of low shrubs. The shrubs were pierced on one side by a wooden bridge leading to the beach over an artificial stream filled with small colorful glowing fish and the large open to the breeze doors of the house on the other, and still in the early morning. A waterfall trickled over a wall of rocks set at one end; the wall wrapped around and shielded a small grotto set behind the waterfall. A white slide emerged from an archway in the rock wall, with another stream of water bubbling into the pool. A soft scrape, of metal on stone, whispered across the still night air, followed by a soft giggle, as a pair of shapes slipped from the shadows into the faint light from the pool.

"Harry," a soft, laughing soprano whispered breathily, "we are going to get caught, what if the kids wake up?" the shorter of the two leaned against the other, and tossed her arms around his neck. She leaned up, capturing his lips before dropping back, still giggling softly.

"So? It'll save us the 'talk' later," Harry murmured, as he pulled them past an empty deck chair and closer to the pool. He took her hand, pulling her to the edge of the pool and stopped, and stepped back, pulling off his shirt, leaving him in only a pair of black trunks with a subdued, grey SG-1 emblem on one leg. He turned and dove into the pool, kicking to the surface to tread water, and looking up at her. "Well are you coming, Mione?"

"I suppose," Hermione rolled her eyes, and unbuttoned short khaki shorts. She peeled them down, shimmying slightly, to reveal a pair of emerald green string bikini bottoms to match the top she had on. She took two steps, arched into the air, and dove into the pool in front of him. She swam, otter-like, from the bottom of the pool to slide up into his arms. "Hey, Love," she whispered, reaching forward to kiss him, as they swam backwards, to stand shoulder high in the grotto shielded by the waterfall.

Harry reached up with both hands, pulling her wet hair out of her eyes and behind her ears, his fingertips trailing lightly over her lobes before lacing his fingers behind her head to pull her face to his. She pulled away breathlessly, to rest her forehead on his shoulder. A soft purring sound issued from her core as she felt his fingers trail slowly up and down her back. They slowly moved back, walking slowly though the chest deep, warm water until Hermione's back lightly touched the wall of the pool. She ground her thigh into him, watching as Harry's eyes went forest, before a shimmering blue glow started to fill them from the iris in. "I think you are trying to drive me crazy," he breathed in her ear.

Hermione giggled softly, "Is it working?" Her own eyes lit softly, and slipped half-closed, as she felt something pressing against her hip, "Never mind. I love you," Hermione whispered forcefully, pushing him back slightly. She reached up and back, pulling two bows free and letting her top fall away, it floated away on the current as she reached down, and pulled her bottoms free. "Your turn," she muttered, swimming forward and ducking under the water to pull his trunks down and off. She tossed them out of the pool landing vaguely where her own shorts were, before she molded herself to him once more. She kissed him, hard, reaching between them to stroke his cock for an instant, Harry moaned softly, as she began to increase her pace. She leaned forward, biting his shoulder lightly as she worked, then with a soft chuckle she stopped and pushed back, performing a graceful somersault in the water, and dove down, skimming the bottom of the deep end before coming up for air meters away. She stopped directly under the waterfall and waited, water streamed down her face and front, she blinked it away, as she waited.

Harry arrived an instant later, appearing from under the water, and launching a giant splash at her with a wave of his hand. Hermione laughed, and pointed at him, redirecting the flow of the fall with a thought to drive him under the water. She squeaked loudly as he reappeared next to her, grabbed her under her bum and picked her up. Her legs came around his waist automatically, as she felt him poised at her entrance; she nodded once, her bottom lip in her teeth and groaned, loudly enough to wake the kids if not for Harry's charm as she slid down on him.

They rocked together slowly, not moving much as the waterfall fell down on their heads. Slowly, they drifted towards the wall, stopping only when Hermione's bum hit it. She bent her head forward, kissing him, as she reached down, pulling his hips to her, urging him on.

Harry grinned roguishly, and began to move faster, lifting her slightly with each movement. Soft mewing sounds escaped from her throat as she crossed her heels behind his back and began to buck against him in time with him. Harrryyy...

Yes, he gasped, kissing her again, before dropping his head to her shoulder, and nuzzling her neck as he sped up, his hands started to wander as they were now free from holding her by the support of the wall. Harry's fingers slipped between them, caressing her where they were joined as she tangled her fingers in his hair. Oh...Merlin...Mi...Mione... Harry groaned as he felt her start to approach the edge in their shared thoughts, then with another breath, she crashed, biting his shoulder to keep from crying out. Hermione stared at him for an instant as she realized he was still going.

Oh...shit, she whispered, Harry smirked and redoubled his pace, as she started to feel herself cresting again.

She took a shuddering breath, her mostly closed eyes communicating all she was able as moaned loudly, a sound cut off as Harry covered her mouth with his. Their nervous systems started to crackle with energy as several of the deck chairs skittered away across the deck. Hermione groaned as she felt his own approaching release in tandem with hers, their thoughts and feelings now indistinguishable from each others. She felt another pool of warmth begin to gather in her core, trebling her earlier release, "Mione..." Harry groaned against her lips and bucked up into her, pumping desperately as he let go. A beat later, Hermione felt her own release snap out along her nerves, tangling and mixing with Harry's, as she shuddered against him for a long moment. She breathed heavily, as she slumped against him, with Harry more or less holding himself up by leaning back against her and the wall of the pool.

I love you, Harry, Hermione whispered, and stirred slightly against him, he kissed her in response; his mind not recovered enough yet to from proper words. After another moment, Harry pulled back, causing Hermione to whimper slightly as he pulled away from her and let her drop her feet to the bottom of the pool. She took his hand and led him to the stairs of the pool. She flicked her fingers, righting a chaise, and pushing Harry down on it. She curled up on it with him, and with an absent wave of her hand, they were more or less instantly dry and a blanket appeared over them.

You too, Harry whispered, kissing the top of her head, before pulling her more tightly to him. He looked out over the water at the huge, full moon hanging over the placid waters and moved his leg slightly as Hermione tangled hers with his under the cover of the blanket. She smiled softly, and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of warmth on her back. Shouldn't we go back in?

I want to stay out here, Hermione whispered in return; it's still twenty-seven or eight out here, plenty warm. Her hand gestured in the air, an extended forefinger sketching out a fiery rune in the air that flashed and vanished. That'll wake us up five minutes before the kids get up.

Harry grinned and tightened his arms, tucking her head under his chin as he closed his eyes, I have such a smart wife...Night then, Mione.

Night, Harry, she replied automatically, then giggled as she felt the soft buzz in her mind that signified that he was already asleep. She shook her head, slightly before she yawned mightily and closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep peacefully, not worrying for once about what would loom out of the darkness next at them.

4:30 am

Hermione's eyes snapped open as a sudden spike of something passed through her. She moaned as she rolled of the chaise, pushing at Harry with one hand as she called her clothes to her with the other. He glanced at her, squinting, as he pawed under the chair for his glasses, he groaned, as he didn't find them there. They appeared with a pop as he waved over a spot on the ground, Apparating them from where they had ended up next to the pool edge, he put them on and cocked his head slightly in invitation.

"Something's wrong with one of the kids," she explained, she gnawed at her lip as she pulled on her shorts, and tied on her top. She glanced back as Harry absently transfigured the blanket into a long sleeved t-shirt and tossed it to her, she shrugged it on and headed briskly into the house as he finished dressing.

Hermione walked through large sliding glass door to a large living room, which was open to let the breeze through the house, she glanced back, found Harry behind her and went up a set of spiral stairs to the next floor two at a time. She slipped past the first bedroom, currently occupied by Makaila without stopping. Harry glanced to the side as he felt Hermione's magic reaching out to the kids as she passed, checking them. He glanced in the open door to Horatio's room; he was restlessly tossing and turning on his bed, the light sheet that had been covering him, kicked off to the floor where it was fluttering in the breeze from an open window. Harry kept following Hermione, towards the last bedroom on the right, before their larger one at the end of the hall.

She pushed open the door, and paused at what she found. "Mum..." Emilia whispered harshly, "No, Daddy, not again, I'm not worth that again..." Tears crackled in her voice as she flopped back and forth in her sleep, kicking the covers from her as she thrashed about in her sleep. Her hand flashed out, knocking a lamp from the table where it shattered nosily. Magic crackled in the air, shattering several knickknacks on the shelves and tossing Emilia and Caitlin's books to the floor from a half filled bookshelf halfway between the girls' beds. A blue shimmer flashed, surrounding the two girls, as Harry's hand shot out, restraining his own daughters' magic.

On the other bed, Caitlin was tossing, as well, crying furiously, and whimpering over and over, "No...no...no..." The girl curled into a ball, and Hermione waved towards Em, "You have Em," Hermione flashed across the room, sliding onto the bed next to Caitlin and pulling the small girl up into her arms. She cooed softly to her, rocking her as the girls blue eyes cracked open for an instant, shimmering with tears in the moonlight before she closed them and buried her face in Hermione's chest, sobbing inconsolably.

Six feet away, Harry knelt next to Emilia, and reached out to touch her shoulder. Magic crackled for an instant at the place of contact, before she opened glowing blue eyes and stared unseeing at him. She blinked, the light in her eyes not dimming at all, "Daddy?" she whispered, her voice disbelieving. He nodded, and barely caught her as she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck, hard enough to almost choke him.

At the door, Horatio and Makaila appeared, rubbing sleep out of their eyes. His eyes flashed to his sister, he started to move, but stopped as she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, whispering something in his ear. He glared at her, but didn't fight her as she pulled him back into the hall.

Harry glanced over at Hermione, almost helplessly, as he sat up against the side of the bed, and pulled Emilia onto his lap. She was still sobbing as he cradled the back of her head, and ran his hand up and down her back absently. He watched as Hermione picked up Caitlin and carried her over to him, settling down next to Harry with Caitlin in her lap, still rocking her. Hermione let herself lean against him, glancing up at Harry, worriedly. Not again, she murmured. She gave Makaila a brief, thankful nod as the older girl placed a blanket over them, half wrapping it around the younger girls.

She mouthed, "I'll be in the kitchen," grabbed Horry and pulled him along, muttering something about chocolate.

Harry looked at her, his eyes heavy with meaning as she read sorrow, fear, and an unneeded apology in them. It was like this when I was gone, wasn't it, Hermione? he asked, already knowing the answer somehow, she nodded, not trusting either of her voices, mental or physical.

Emilia and Caitlin quieted, almost as one, which caused both of the elder Potters to share a quick look. Caitlin burrowed her face deeper into Hermione's shirt, sniffling, but the tears had stopped. Hermione continued to rock her silently, as she looked over to find Em's eyes open, and thankfully once again her natural emerald. "I'm sorry, Mummy," Emilia whispered, her lower lip trembling slightly. "I didn't mean to wake you and Daddy up...or Cat..." Caitlin whimpered slightly, but reached out blindly to grab for Emilia's hand.

Emilia took it, squeezing her roommate's hand, as Harry kissed the top of her inky locks, "It's, alright, Em, it's not your fault, nothing to be sorry for." She frowned slightly, and Harry fought to keep from rolling his eyes, "Poppet, of all the things to inherit, my sense of guilt was probably not the one," he teased, and for an instant, Emilia grinned. She pushed back from him slightly, and pulled at the t-shirt she had worn to sleep in, fanning it against her. "Caitlin, are you, alright?" Harry asked, knowing the real answer to that question from experience. She nodded against Hermione, not speaking, but peaking her head out to look at him.

"I don't think I can go back to sleep tonight," Emilia said after a moment, she glanced over at Hermione, "I'm going to go and read by the pool, after I have a bit of a shower, that is." Hermione nodded knowingly, remembering long hours of doing similar things at Hogwarts, if without the pool, and warm, semi-tropical nights.

A half hour later, Hermione watched through the open sliding door as Emilia settled herself on a chaise, and flicked her wand through the air, creating glowing white ball of light hovering in the air. She opened an old, battered copy of Hogwarts, a History, and began to read, her lips moving silently as her eyes scanned down the page. "That seems familiar, somehow," Harry muttered as he wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist from behind, and rested his chin on her left shoulder.

"Yeah, a smidgen," Hermione admitted, quietly. "Oh, Harry, what did we do that made them have to suffer too?" she asked plaintively, pushing back against him, as he tightened his arms.

"No idea, Love, Harry whispered. "The rest of them headed back to bed, Caitlin's in with Makaila," he glanced back into the living room, at a large pine, lit with a rather insane number of lights that he had conjured when they had arrived at the house, "hell of a Christmas..."

"Not, you too, Harry, I'm not taking that shyte," Hermione sighed.

"No, Hermione, don't worry, I'm not doing the 'it's all Harry's fault thing'," he replied, softly. She squeezed his hand where it rested on her belly.

"Good, I'm glad you're trainable," Hermione smirked slightly, "makes me happy that I chose you, over all those other suitors."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, "I think."

"You're welcome," she murmured, "I don't want to go back, Harry," she added contemplatively, "even with this, there's no Dark Lord, no evil hordes, no nothing here. Nothing to come out of the dark with wands and blades, coming for my babies, coming for us."

Harry didn't answer other than kissing her neck and holding her close, watching as Emilia turned pages at an entirely too slow a rate to be actually reading, especially for having a mother like hers.

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32. Coming Together

OMG...A chapter. Sorry, I've been distracted from this universe. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her wondrous work on this. I do plan on finishing this story, just so you all know.
Chapter 32: Coming Together

**********************Hogwarts, Astronomy Tower**************************

January 31, 2020.
8:20 pm

"I'm not stupid, Makaila," a small girl shivered slightly in the cold atop the tower but did not move otherwise except to wrap her arms more tightly around herself. She glanced back, deep blue eyes looking almost black in the gloom. She walked to the edge of the parapet and looked down at the ground far below.

"You are acting like it," a seventeen-year-old girl muttered, just loud enough for the red-haired, eleven-year-old to hear. She glanced over at a faint shimmer standing on the top of the next tower over. It vanished totally, leaving no doubt to give them privacy. "Why are you so against this? I know you, Cat, you bloody well love them, I saw it in your eyes at Christmas."

"They are not Mum and Dad," she snarled, and swallowed heavily, "I...we saw those bastards kill them." She turned around and leaned back against the low stone wall. "I...ah...don't want to f...forget them," she whispered, her voice cracking as a hint of the brogue that sometimes filled her sister's voice as well crept into hers. She folded herself into her sister's arms as the taller girl stepped to her.

"They can't replace Mum and Dad, and they don't want to, they want to give us a family, Cat," Makaila muttered into her hair, as she slowly ran her hands down the small girls back. An owl flitted by, looking at the pair standing close together under the starry night. She hooted softly, and settled down watching them closely, her alabaster feathers glinting in the scattered light from lit windows on the tower over. "We've been alone all these years, Caitlin, I'm tired of it, aren't you?" she whispered as she held her sister to her chest. Hesitantly, Caitlin nodded against her chest, sobbing softly.

Hedwig watched the two girls for a moment longer, and then took flight, gliding silently through the night as she looked out over the buildings and grounds of the ancient fortress. She slipped unnoticed above two silent, almost invisible eight-foot hulking figures guarding the main doors, which were open, spilling light into the night. A faint, almost invisible barrier held the heat in the castle. She turned sharply right, her amber eyes glowing softly and seeking for something or someone.

She hooted quietly, and dove towards the trail along the lake and braked to a halt, landing perfectly with a single back beat of her wings as she settled onto Harry's left shoulder. Hedwig hooted softly as Hermione turned into Harry, never letting go of his right hand, which she was holding onto tightly, and petted the owl. "Thanks for watching them, Hedwig," Harry whispered as he reached up with his free hand to run his fingers along her feathers as well. She hooted at him, and reached out with a wing.

"She hates us, Harry," Hermione moaned, not speaking about Hedwig. "We pushed it, too fast, Makaila was wrong too. I just wanted to give them a home."

"It will be alright, Mione," Harry whispered as he wrapped his arms around her. Hedwig remained precariously on his shoulder and gave a soft hoot of acceptance. Hermione snorted a sniffling laugh at the owl's words.

"You're such the optimist, Hedwig," Hermione said against his shoulder. Hedwig seemed to shrug and pushed off, vanishing into the night as her masters began to slowly walk along the lake again. Harry squeezed her hand, watching as the squid reached up to drag something underneath the water. "We are going in soon, aren't we, Harry?"

He shrugged, "I suppose," Harry agreed, recognizing her attempt to move the subject away from the painful one, or rather to a less painful one. You're sure about the ward wall, Mione?

Yeah, Harry, I am. You know the true history of his place. We have enough power here to establish the wards...or rather to reestablish them. It's why Salazar built the original chamber here...It gathered magic from around the world, yes, but it needed the original powers to kickstart it to function.

Fine, but we just need to what...retake the whole of Scotland first?

We've already taken the Northern half; he lost it the instant the school reopened. With the Armor regiment worked up and doing raids, they had to start pulling back, contracting their lines. The whole of the country is de facto ours; only Edinburgh and Glasglow are still in their hands.

Let's see about that, Glasgow is much less defensible from their standpoint, the X'Sheen refuse to barrack it for some reason. Perhaps if the resistance can put a touch more pain their way, they'll withdraw everything to Edinburgh...they almost have anyway. Harry yawned slightly and closed his eyes for an instant, Let's head back to the castle, Love, we haven't slept for like two days now, cause of this and...other things.

Hermione did not comment on the "other things", but nodded and turned them around, and started to head back towards the castle. In the shadows trailing them, a brief sound of foliage against cloth came their ears, but neither turned towards the detail keeping station on them, that just so happened to have to be in the area.

*********************Harry and Hermione's Quarters, Hogwarts****************

10:15 pm

Hermione sighed softly, and leaned back against Harry. She smiled back at him softly and used his knees as armrests as she looked back to the novel she was holding in one hand. She parked the mug of tea she was drinking in the air with the other, before yawning slightly. "Wanna go to bed, Harry?" Hermione asked, marking her page and setting the book down next to the couch. She closed her eyes and half turned, burrowing into his chest as his knees closed in to hold her.

"As long as you're there, sounds good to me," Harry muttered as he kissed her forehead. She nodded slightly, and gestured for her mug of tea to return to the kitchenette. It made a soft chinking sound as it settled into the sink. "It's been a long day, Love," Harry mentioned, rubbing her side idly. She nodded, biting her lip as she picked at a hole in his jeans. She slowly pulled on a long thread, opening the hole a bit more. "Ron wants to plan something for Luna's birthday," Harry mentioned.

"He's not going to give her Biting Roses again is he?" Hermione groaned, tilting her head back to look at him.

"Merlin, I hope not," Harry replied, shrugging. "He was sleeping on our couch for a week last time." Harry shuddered, shaking his head.

"No, that was when she was seven months pregnant;" Hermione reminded him, shrugging. "She turned him into a squirrel for the roses. He was trying to hide things for weeks after, remember?" Harry barked a laugh, and nodded.

"Yeah," he chuckled. Both of them turned quickly at a soft knock at the door. Harry glanced at Hermione and she shrugged, and sketched a rune in the air with a finger. A wall lit up with an image of the corridor beyond outside of their quarters. Two girls, one redhaired, one russet, stood looking at the door nervously. The smaller girl was holding onto the older one, her hand shaking slightly. Hermione took a deep breath and canceled the projection.

She moved slowly towards the door, knowing her as he did, Harry could see the trepidation in her stride. She opened the door, and smiled, nervously. "Can I help you...umph," Hermione grunted as Caitlin sprang from her post next to Makaila and wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm sorry," Caitlin muttered against her shirt. Hermione glanced back helplessly at Harry, he shrugged.

"For what, dear?" Hermione asked, looking directly at Makaila as she smiled back at her. Hermione started to stroke the girl's hair, "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I yelled at you," Caitlin said sadly, "I shouldn't have."

Makaila looked at Harry as he stood from the couch and crossed the small living room to the door. Harry knelt next to Caitlin, "We understand, Caitlin, we shouldn't have, we ah..."

"I want to," Caitlin interrupted, her voice trembling slightly. She pulled out of Hermione's arms and gathered her robes around her more firmly. She swallowed and looked into Hermione's eyes, "please." Hermione closed her eyes for an instant to control the tears that tried to escape, she opened them and looked to Makaila, she nodded silently.

Hermione nodded, took her hand and led her to the couch. "If you really want to," she waved Makaila to the couch beside her, Hermione waited as Makaila settled herself next to her sister, "then you need to learn everything. And then make your decision, alright?" She held both girls eyes until they nodded.

"If you still want to go through with this..." Harry walked up behind Hermione and leaned against the back of the chair that Hermione dropped into across from the girls. "I won't lie to you, there is every chance that Hermione and I may not make it though this war, we've already been through so much..." He took a deep breath as Hermione reached up and squeezed his hand, "Also, this puts you in danger frankly..." Emerald eyes shimmered with the memories of seven years of pain, "Em and Horry were taken as almost the first act of this war...to get to us."

"We know that," Makaila replied, looking at her sister who nodded, "we talked about it, we know the risks..." She glanced down, and fingered the lion on the chest of her robes, "We still choose to...if you will have us?" Hermione nodded, and barely caught Caitlin as she hopped from the couch into her lap.

"This alright?" Caitlin asked and Hermione smiled at her. She curled up in a small ball, and closed her eyes. "Well, go on," she asked in an utterly adult voice and the other three in the room laughed.

"Since you've proven that you have as tenuous a grasp on sanity as the rest of the family," Harry said; Makaila pretended to laugh. Hermione gradually, unconsciously, began to rock Caitlin in the chair. "The deep, dark family secrets, some of this you know, some of it you don't, but I'll try to let you know everything I do...mind you, that's not always that much." Hermione snorted and Harry bent down and kissed her, "It all started, depending on which version you want to believe, in a tiny village in Wales about eleven hundred years ago or around thirty years ago. Or I guess you could say, that in a way, it began in a cheap room above the Hog's Head..."

February 1, 2020
12:25 am

Hermione stood at the open frame leading to the kitchen and looked back into the living area. She slowly sipped from a cheap, heavy coffee mug with the words "World's Best Mum", as she watched the two eleven-year-old girls snuggled together on the couch. Emilia had picked out the mug when she was three, and Hermione had found it in their offices downstairs when they returned. Soon after Harry had begun to relate both the known and unknown elements of their shared, complicated history, Hermione had sent for her...other children. She watched as Harry continued to talk quietly with Makaila. Emilia and Caitlin had fallen asleep an hour ago, now the two had curled up against each other, with Caitlin, being the tiniest, resting her head on her new sister's shoulder.

Hermione turned as she felt Horatio come up from behind her, he looked up at his mother and she smiled down at him, before wrapping her free arm around him in a hug, "You are still alright with this, Horry?" Hermione asked quietly, "Your dad and I won't love you and Em any less."

"I know, Mum," he replied and took a drink from the can of soda he had retrieved from the coldbox in the kitchen, a taste acquired over years of living in the States. Crookshanks rubbed against their legs before continuing on to plop down next to the two girls. He purred softly as he rested his head on Emilia's bushy, black curls and closed his amber eyes. Horatio yawned, "I'm going to sleep here, Mum," he said tiredly. She nodded and let him go, watching as he moved down the small hallway and turned into the room he had here in their quarters. Hermione watched as he closed his door quietly, You are so much like your father, when he was your age, Horatio Sirius Potter, Hermione thought tenderly, and sat down in Harry's lap, and joined in the conversation.

*************************Room of Requirement************************

February 1, 2020
10:10 am

"Thanks, baby," Parvati whispered as she took a black, conformal pack from Cho. She kissed her softly, "See you at lunch?" She ignored the soft gagging noises from Elliot, Horatio and Xander and the equally annoying, synchronized, "Awww"s from Emilia, Harriet, Abigail and Caitlin.

"Yeah, I should be there, unless Dumbledore sends me back to Hogsmeade with Sirius and Cordy, they were working to rebuild the defensive wards around the inns. If not, we're at Draky's tonight, remember?" Cho shrugged and kissed her again, before leaving, walking backwards for an instant and waving as she reached the door.

Parvati waited until the door had closed, "Seriously, you lot are almost enough to keep me from wanting my own." Her tone was serious, but she smiled as she said it. She shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly as she set the pack on a helpfully appeared table. She touched her wand to it and waited as it opened like a flower, laying out several items. "Alright, since I had to get up this early on a Saturday," she paused, waiting but none of the kids said anything, "let's get this over with. Technically, I'm supposed to be a Healer with a specialty in infectious diseases...Instead, I'm a combat medic these days. Unfortunately we don't really have enough, the ragtag groups that you will often see out and about are never with any healing capability...You wouldn't believe the things that Cho and I saw in Edinburgh when we were hiding there."

"But we're not Healers, ma'am," Caitlin put in hesitantly. She was standing very close to Emilia, and had not left her side, really, since late last night. She glanced over at her, and Emilia shrugged.

"I know, you won't be, at least not for a few years, some of you might decide to become one in a few years. Hopefully you'll be able to do it in London, where I did, but if not..." she made an odd, throwing away gesture and sighed. Parvati turned back towards the pack her lover had brought along and started to take items out of it. She arranged them on the table to best display the contents, leaving a few in, "This is the standard field Healer's pack that that's made to mate with the Shadow Suits that you've seen. It also cloaks along with the suit so it becomes invisible as well. That's a state secret, I'll have you know, so it's another thing that you'll get trained for only because of who your parents are."

"I am going to teach you, over the next several weeks to at least a basic level, what the Muggles call a EMT. So let's get started, shall we?"

*****************************Glasgow*******************************

Harry moved silently down shattered, empty streets, he froze, and glanced back towards where he knew at least one of his companions was, as he felt her heartbeat right alongside his own. She gave him an odd shrug, which he only felt as she along with him and the other four with him were effectively invisible in the rare shadow suits.

The suits were just now in mass production, the Twins' improved version of the Invisibility Cloak had been created almost four years ago during the time of Harry's imprisonment, but the Demiguise fur needed for their creation had been almost nonexistent since Malfoy's capture of their breeding grounds. The breakthrough had come when a researcher had found a way to imbue fabrics with a potion that duplicated the effect.

Harry waited as Hermione moved next to him, he felt her hand brush his arm unerringly as she bent close, This is...odd, Hermione whispered, as she looked around the area. Not another figure moved, not an animal stirred. She watched as an unlatched door swung in a soft breeze.

Several overturned cars were laying in the street providing cover that they didn't need as Harry reached up and pulled down an invisible hood. His slim image shimmered into existence, and looked over as Hermione appeared next to him in the same black outfit. She unzipped the top halfway and fanned it a moment as Harry looked at her with a slightly dazed expression. She smirked slightly, and gave him a look that caused his heart to race, That's not fair, he muttered as she giggled in the back of his mind.

I suppose they really did abandon the city...we already knew that most of the civilians, she glanced over at a shattered car that had a large reddish brown stain remaining on the shattered driver's side glass. But why would they leave the city to us? She closed her eyes and sent out a visible pulse of magic, she gasped slightly, so that's it, they thought they could trap us, or at least someone.

Harry and Hermione vanished, and reappeared across town, in the center of an otherwise empty floor in what had most likely been a Muggle office building. A faceted, black crystal sat on a pedestal, pulsing and emitting a soft whine. As they watched the pulsing increased in tempo and the whine grew louder. "VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE," Hermione snapped over the wireless, and instantly she could feel the Apparations as the recon team they had with them leapt away, reappearing fifty kilometers away. Her eyes snapped to Harry as they felt anti-Apparation wards go up over the building.

Harry dove at her, grabbed her in his arms and vanished in a fall of flame.

Twenty kilometers away, a large phoenix appeared from nowhere, on the top of a tall grass covered hill overlooking the city, his wings wrapped protectively around Hermione. The wings slowly opened, as Harry SHIFTED back from his alternate Animagus form, Harry pulled Hermione back to him and dove to the ground as a green wave enveloped the center of the city. A horrible roar filled the air and a shockwave picked them both up and threw them down the hill.

"HARRY, HERMIONE!" Ron's terrified voice came over the wireless. "ANSWER ME, GODDAMNIT..."

"We're fine, Ron," Harry replied, standing slowly and pulling Hermione to her feet. She leaned against him, and took a deep breath. He looked back towards the city to see a large dust cloud hanging over the city. He concentrated slightly, changing the channel on the Wireless to the command frequency to Hogwarts, "Phoenix Command, Leo, authorization sierra charlie seven twelve five nine zulu..."

"Go ahead, Leo," a soft alto replied from the depth of the Hogwarts dungeons.

"I need a armor battalion and a Dragon wing to Glasgow and I need them here now."

"Negative, Leo," the voice replied, "All assets are committed...Fox battalion is raiding in northern England, and the American regiments are holding Hogwarts and...."

"Pull Fox, my authority, now, damn it," Harry growled, "The city is ours if we can take it right now." A brief murmuring conversation came over the background. A minute later, the voice returned, somewhat sheepish. Harry watched, eyes zooming in automatically as black suits Appeared from nowhere, as the advance part of the armor battalion appeared, Apparating in.

"All magic using members of the Battalion are on site now, Leo," she reported, "the rest will be in place within the hour as soon as the airlift gets them to your position. Air cover is coming, a Dragon squadron is inbound, and a fast mover squadron will be overhead in ten minutes."

"Thanks, command," Harry said softly, and didn't turn as a half-dozen Apparations sounded out around him. "Looks like someone just screwed up by the numbers, we just took a city without any casualties to our forces."

"Now if we can just take the X'Sheen from him," Hermione whispered and Harry nodded.

******************************Hogwarts******************************

February 2, 2020.

8:00 pm

By its very nature, a formal adoption into a Great Family, was a secret, closed affair, only attended by those either of the family or conjoined to it by ties of blood, marriage or oaths of fealty. A dark, dimly lit room occupied by only a handful of wizards and witches in deep black robes who stood quietly around the periphery of the room. Albus Dumbledore stood across from an unmarked oak door braced by a pair of lit torches. Next to him, Cordelia's eyes glowed slightly as she picked up the scent from a large golden cup set on an unadorned table in the exact center of the round, stone room. Next to her, Sirius stood impatiently looking around at the others. On the other side of the ancient Phoenix wizard, Tonks leaned against Remus, the two of them talking quietly, with their own children fidgeting beside them.

Ron and Luna stood next to them; Luna was looking towards the cup, her eyes not quite focused as if she were watching some scene, taking place just beyond the room they were in.

Ron rolled his eyes slightly and looked over to a knot of figures in white robes. He reached forward and placed his hand on Harriet's shoulder. She leaned back into him slightly and glanced up at him, giving him a smile before she looked back across the room. Ron watched, as her eyes didn't leave one of the four figures in white robes. He sighed slightly, as Harriet shared a look with Horatio. He grinned at her, and she gave him a small wave. The rest of the Weasleys that were actually present in this country, Ginny, with Neville and Elliot by extension, and the Twins with Angelina and Alicia waited next to them, waiting as witnesses.

The quiet conversation died as two more appeared in the center of the room, appearing silently and looking around the room. Hermione dropped her hood, and nodded to Emilia. She grabbed Horatio's elbow and after pausing to give Caitlin a hug, she pulled him over to stand next to Ron, Luna and Harriet. Dumbledore smiled and stepped forward. He looked to the four now standing around the table. He nodded silently as Hermione reached over and interlaced her fingers with Harry's. Both girls looked across at them, Makaila as tall as Hermione and looking almost as old, as Hermione could pass as a seventh year if need be, and Caitlin, even tinier than Ginny had been at her age.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Dumbledore said and waved his hand over the cup. White flames erupted from the cup. It sat, burning merrily as he looked to the newest Potters. "Adoption is one of the most sacred of acts both for the ones being adopted and for the those into whose home and hearts they are placing their trust. In the most ancient of times, the great families were often expanded by the adoption of promising young wizards and witches. Adoption is meaningless, however, without the love and devotion of a family, for it is for that, that single, most simple, but most perplexing of all emotions that all else hinges."

He held his hand out over the cup and motioned, the flames turned red then returned to white. "It is for that, that we are here tonight," he looked to Harry and Hermione, "Harry, Hermione, do you, here in front of these witnesses, wish to invoke the holy bond of adoption, to formally claim Makaila and Caitlin as your own as if they were your own issue? To protect them and care for them, shielding them from harm as you may, to give them succor as they may need in the lightest or most perilous of times?"

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand, she swallowed slightly and looked up at him, "We will," they replied as one. Makaila looked down at Caitlin as the small girl looked directly into Hermione's eyes. She nudged her, getting her to look up and gave her a small, reassuring smile.

Dumbledore just nodded and looked to the girls. "This part hurts a bit, I'm afraid..." neither of them looked concerned in the slightest. His eyes twinkled slightly as he continued, "Harry and Hermione have already donated of themselves to the cup in front of you...If you sincerely wish to join them, to formally be adopted into the Families of Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Potter, but more importantly to acknowledge Harry and Hermione as your parents, that while they are not the ones that may have given you life, they are the ones that will henceforth welcome you into their homes and hearts and to acknowledge you as their own." He motioned towards the cup, the flames extinguished. "If you wish this, and agree to shoulder the burdens that unfortunately must also be born by one of such a distinguished house, you must deposit of yourself in the cup and agree in front of all of these witnesses."

Almost surprisingly it was Caitlin who drew her wand first, and slowly drew it along the palm of her left hand. She winced, an expression shared by both Hermione and Emilia, as she looked into her new parents eyes and held her hand out over the cup. She squeezed it into a fist, drops of blood dropped into it and bright blue flames shot up, briefly wrapping around her fist before dropping down to dance along the lips of the bowl. "I do wish it," she said softly, though no one in the room failed to hear.

Makaila took a breath, and repeated the action. The flames shot up, enveloping her fist, before falling back to hover several inches above the bowl. "I also wish it," she said...The flames died for a moment and...

"Then by your own words and actions," Dumbledore said, evenly, and looked between the four, "so be it." He snapped his fingers, and the flames shot up, to hover in a bright white ball between the newest Potters and their parents. A beam of pure white light snapped from Harry and Hermione's joined hands as their eyes lit fully to impact directly on the hovering ball. The pair staggered slightly, Harry's other hand coming up to grab Hermione's shoulder as the beam cut off. The ball began to spin, faster and faster, then stopped, and twin white beams snapped out to touch the foreheads of both girls.

Dark brown and deep blue eyes lit blue for a moment...and the girls collapsed, their knees buckling, with Harry and Hermione appearing instantly to break their fall. She cradled Caitlin on her lap, pulling the unconscious girl to her chest as she felt her forehead. She's alright, Love, Hermione confirmed and smiled slightly as she saw his answering nod. Hermione glanced over and gestured their other two children closer as the rest of the Wizards and witches present filed out noiselessly, content to let the newly expanded family have peace.

Let's get them home, Mione, Harry said. Hermione reached out and grabbed his free hand with hers, eyes flickered and all six of them vanished silently.

A/N: There you go, next chapter, an eviction notice.

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33. The Long Road Back

A/N: Look we're back...Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her splendiferous work on this chapter. Now, let's blow stuff up.

Chapter 33: The Long Road Back
****************************Hogwarts*******************************

April 15, 2020

Harriet Weasley moved at a trot down the halls of the ancient school, panting slightly, as she looked back at a black-haired, green-eyed boy following at her heels. "Move your bum, Horry," she snapped, her voice oddly distant as her eyes seemed to see far beyond him, "we're late because of you."

He smiled slightly, and slid to a stop just as she did, "Come on, Harriet...it was just a little stinkbomb," he paused and leaned close. "You won't tell on me, will you?"

Harriet sighed softly, and looked to either side, she reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, "You know I won't, Horry," she replied very quietly. He grinned at her, and opened the door to DADA. Remus Lupin looked up, his eyebrow crooked as he turned to the door.

"Care to make an explanation as to why you are fifteen minutes late, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley?" he asked just loudly enough for the rest of the class to hear. Several of the other first years tendered chattering laughs. Near the front, Emilia dropped her head to the desk where she sat between Xander and Caitlin. Caitlin looked back at her adopted brother, and leaned down to whisper something in her sister's ear. Emilia shook her head as Lupin watched Harriet and Horatio's slow headshakes, "Very well, that will be five points from Gryffindor from each of you. Take your seats if you please."

Lupin watched them take their seat at an empty table and turned back to a diagram on the board, "As you know, at least those of you who were on time," he added wryly, "that with the current...lack of control of Magical creatures by the Ministry, we must be on the lookout for creatures that would normally not be a great threat. Creatures, such as the wyvern and pendlecast, can and have attacked young people and even older humans. Wyverns, in particular, have been known to attack and carry off any animal up to seventy kilograms."

"Sir," Emilia asked as she raised her hand, "What about the larger, more dangerous animals, Dragons and the like." Several of the others made soft gasping sounds as the young wizards, especially the pure and half-bloods, thought about the permutations. As if planned, a large black shadow passed the window at that instant as Norbert swooped amidst the towers.

"Sir," Illea Johnson a rather timid Hufflepuff girl with oddly yellow eyes put in timidly, "what about...Norbert...he's a..."

Professor Lupin smiled and nodded to her, he proceeded to walk to the window just as Norbert swooped over the lake and dove with a happy roar, skimming his claws along the top of the water. Lupin looked back over the class, which seemed to be evenly split among those in awe and those in fear. He looked around the room, "Miss Potter," he said looking at the front table. Both Emilia and Caitlin looked up at him, and he shook his head slightly, "Emilia, if you please, would you enlighten the class on Norbert?"

Emilia nodded. As she responded with a voice almost identical to Hermione's at her age, Remus felt years and tragedies fall away for an instant. "Sir, Norbert is a member of the subspecies, Draconus Astralus, or Great Star Dragon as he is conventionally known. The species is believed to be related to the vastly more common Norwegian Ridgeback, which was actually the initial identification of Norbert. Norbert however, is at least twice the size of a more typical Norwegian at over thirty meters long. The breed also seems to be related in someway to the American Storm Dragon, as the charged plasma he can discharge is closest to the lightning that that breed uses as it's primary weapon."

"All of that is interesting, Potter," a smug voice drawled from the back of the class, Emilia looked back as a dark-haired boy in silver and green smirked at her, "But you didn't explain why he won't eat all the poor little kiddies."

"Mr. Prescott," Lupin said firmly, "I realize that you started the year at a school not known for it's...pleasantries, but normal courtesy allows us to let one finish their words, five points from Slytherin. Miss Potter, if you please," he motioned towards Emilia.

"As to why Norbert in particular won't hurt you," Emilia went on, her voice carrying just a slight edge, "Norbert is bound as the guardian dragon of Hogwarts. He is bound under geas to the defense of the school and her inhabitants...providing one is loyal to the school in turn of course. You could run up and punch him in the nose and he, probably, wouldn't eat you."

"Exactly, Emilia," Remus said, "Five points to Gryffindor. Now as to other, greater Dragons, the ones that are in the wild, the usual breeds in Europe, Norwegians, Hibernian Blacks, Hungarian Horntails, and others, can indeed be dangerous. However, Dragons being at least as intelligent as large cats and possibly in some cases of human level intelligence, do tend to not attack humans, as we tend to hunt them down and kill them if they do. Additionally, at this moment, there are very few wild Dragons, as most have either been captured or persuaded into military service on either side or are being used for breeding in one of the various enclaves, in Iceland or Newfoundland, or in our adversary's case in France and probably Wales. Wyverns, however, have become more and more of a problem. This is especially the case as there seems to have been a breeding program to create more vicious breeds, by our inhospitable neighbors down south, that have been released in the wild to harass us."

He shrugged, "They cannot be stopped with low level spells. The mastiff-sized or larger ones, that have been spotted recently, most likely will require something on the order of a level two Reductor or other appropriate offensive spell. A Stunner, at any normally attainable level, will only bounce off their hides, which show the same magical resistance as the Greater Dragons. An alternate technique would be to cast some sort of Distraction Charm and slip away unnoticed."

"Sir, what would we do we were to run across them and couldn't get away," Emily White said with a touch of anxiety, "What if they got into the grounds or the castle or something?"

Several of the other students sniggered, but Remus cut them off with a look, "Unlike several former professors here, I nor none of the ones that are here, will prevaricate on this...Hogwarts is the most safe place for you, right now, unless you can somehow escape to the Colonies, and even then I don't think that they will be safe forever...Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, even when the Ministry still held sway, creatures much, much worse than any Wyvern transgressed these grounds. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it can never happen again."

**************************Edinburgh, Scotland*****************************
10:35 pm

The sky over the cracked and broken buildings of the once-modern Muggle city lit again with the rainbow traces of spellfire, the cyan of plasma bolts and the ruby of tracers. Dark shadows wheeled and turned overhead, as Dragons turned and fought above the rooftops. A ripping boom scattered broken glass as a half squadron of craft snapped overhead, pulling up sharply to avoid lines of green spellfire ripping towards them from a vast seething tide of black, filling a large open area that from the burnt and stunted trees might once have been a park.

A large ovoid tumbled from the broomplane, and a roaring line of fire enveloped the X'Sheen far below. Unearthly screams and brief flashes of ultraviolet appeared and vanished as fast as they came, as the dark company died.

Far above, on the roof of a half destroyed high-rise parking garage, a dark figure overlooked the fighting. He sighed, reaching up to scrub his fingers through his hair again and shook his head annoyedly, as he found the fabric of the black bandanna covering his head and keeping unkempt locks out of his eyes, in his way. He sighed again, frowning as a green bolt shot out of the darkness below and shattered the edge of the roof next to him. With a contemplative look, he turned his back on the fighting below, a pair of round lenses catching the light of the fighting, and walked back towards a vastly disparate group standing or kneeling around a small white orb that was projecting a diagram of the city into the air.

Harry glanced over at Hermione as she fell in beside him, not noticing or at least pretending not to notice the four, eight-foot, armored suits that kept pace with him several meters further out. He let his gloved hand brush hers for an instant as they headed towards the command group in the center of the roof; she glanced up at him, with a faint tight-lipped smile. Several overturned, wrecked cars had been moved by magic and enchanted armors to provide a rough barricade around the group, with at least a platoon of coal-black armors forming a rough perimeter around that, patrolling the edge of the roof and periodically letting loose with plasma or Reductors as a foolish Death Eater or an X'Sheen would show themselves. The large group that had just been taken out was the latest in a long series of attempts to destroy this particular concentration of liberators.

Harry looked around at the command team he had left for this, as somehow, he had found himself the highest ranking field officer, or at least the one everyone seemed to listen to, remaining from the Wizarding government, and possibly Britain as a whole. He looked around at three imposing suits of Armor, two carrying the stars and stripes and one with a curious red and gold phoenix overlaying a union jack. Another three smaller forms, two in the mottled, digital grey and black camouflage that had proven as effective against night vision spells as the their electronic counterparts and a single grey-cloaked woman bouncing a wand idly in the palm of her hand.

Seven days ago, it had been the last truly occupied Scottish city, as Malfoy's hordes had slowly contracted back into England proper, behind the ancient line demarking the two countries. On a rainy April morning, the grey overcast sky above the occupied Scottish city, had been torn asunder with the sound of sonic booms as the entire strike wings of the USS Tiamat and the HMS Merlin roared in from the North Sea and glowing, pulsing blue orbs fell from their bellies in their wake. Seconds later, all two hundred and eighty eight craft shot straight up almost achieving low orbit, before the entire northern side of the city lit with a blinding, white light. Dark, wet stone buildings vanished in waves of plasma, shattering the barracks of almost two regiments of Death Eaters along with a battalion of X'Sheen, gathered to head out to terrify the countryside again.

On the heels of the strike, terrible, reverberating roars shook the remaining Death Eaters to the core, and out of the dreary, rainy morning, giant winged shapes slipped over the landscape, raining fire and lightning down on an already shaken occupying force. The two divisions of Dragons, almost every Dragon that the resistance, American and free British forces could spare, brought terror to the Death Eaters, especially after their leader had told them that only he controlled the Dragons.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Death Eaters had broken and ran, fleeing from the Dragon onslaught. Columns of Death Eaters, running and finding themselves under anti-Apparation wards, were destroyed on the roads as the fighters returned. It had taken two days for the Death Eaters leadership to turn the troops around, even with the visceral examples of what treason to Malfoy cost thrown in front of them. But those two days had been crucial to the liberators. It had never been the intention of the liberating forces to destroy the city, that could have been done simply enough, but with the Death Eaters in disarray, the only resistance that Malfoy's legions could field for the two crucial days was a short regiment-sized force of X'Sheen.

That wasn't enough as almost a division of Powered Armor, wizards and Muggle troops, slipped into the city under the cover of Dragons and the P-99s of the two Carriers. They were establishing toeholds and starting to drive the dark legions back, back towards England and the ancient protective wards dividing England and Scotland. Wards powered by old magic that Malfoy, like his predecessor, disdained. They, with Malfoy's forces no longer maintaining a presence, could be reestablished and could hold the threat of X'Sheen and Dementor attacks to a minimum.

Since then, the fighting had degraded to a house-to-house, street-to-street affair. Carefully timed attacks by the allies had gone in against weak points in France, China and Egypt, holding back Malfoy's forces from reinforcing beyond what he already had in England and Scotland. This definitively proved that his legions, while vast, were not unlimited. That revelation, as it spread across the globe via old short wave receivers run on carefully horded batteries, Wizarding Wireless receivers set to pirate stations and on the wings of birds of every stripe, had set the interior of Malfoy's empire ablaze. Open rebellions in Siberia, India and Mongolia were tying up almost the entire Asian forces.

The few organized forces; consisting of the Americas, Australia and the free British, French and other units that had escaped intact more or less by being overseas; struck back. Though only the Americans had had large-scale Wizarding forces before the war started, the old Russian, Soviet era counter long gone in the cutbacks that had happened to both the Magical and mundane sides of that country. American naval forces joined by two British carriers converted to magical broom craft and dragons shattered Malfoy's entire invasion force for Australia, setting back any plans for possibly years. Marine powered armor had destroyed the headquarters of Malfoy's Southern African command in a blitz raid, and two days later, the same Raider division ripped apart the Hong Kong command post, before withdrawing, having decapitated that region of Malfoy's empire, at least until a replacement could be sent from London.

Harry nodded to himself as he considered it, and looked around at the group again. He opened his mouth to speak; just a soft POP came from behind him and to his right. At least six wands, two miniguns and a large, pintle-mounted battle wand pointed towards the quartet of new arrivals. Harry sighed softly, shaking his head, "They're mine," he said, just loud enough for the various members of the security platoon to hear. He watched as the smallest of the four, a five-foot, lithe form in a shadow suit stepped forward and pulled down a tight hood.

Ginny shook out her hair, grimacing as several knots caught in her fingers, "It's where we thought it was, Harry, they seemed to be holed up in one of the old towers on the south side of town." She gestured back towards a slight, black-haired girl being looked over carefully, by another inky-locked woman. "We got hit on the way out, but I think we made it seem that we were just a scouting patrol."

Parvati looked back at Harry and shrugged slightly, before she unzipped a hidden zipper on the front of Cho's shadow suit and spun her around, pulling the top of the suit down to expose a bloodstained t-shirt. Parvati cut away part of the shirt to expose a nasty slice along her partner's ribs and started to apply a steaming, yellow ointment from a pouch. "FUCK!" Cho howled, biting her lip to cut off any more sounds. She whimpered slightly as Parvati conjured a bandage around the wound, before she pulled the suit back up, and partially zipping it closed. "I'm fine," she hissed, watching the several people who had been watching her.

"Get your bum back to Hogwarts to have that looked at, Cho," Harry replied.

Cho looked at Parvati, "Go, hun, I'll be fine," she smiled slightly and made a small sign with her hands down low at her waist. Cho mouthed, "Love you," and vanished with a soft POP of Apparation. Parvati shrugged and started throwing her gear back in a conformal pack and slinging one strap back on.

"You can go too, Par, if you want to," Harry said softly. Several floors of a building a block away exploded as a torrent of green spellfire ripped from a force of suddenly-appeared X'Sheen, Harry turned as two dozen armored Marines bounded out of the night, pouring down spell fire until the X'Sheen stopped, dead, they never surrendered nor ran. One of the suits staggered back, collapsing on its back. A marine medic sprinted over, a suit picked him up in his arms and bounded from the rooftop of the garage to the building, setting down next to the fallen solider. The medic shook his head and Harry closed his eyes for an instant.

"No Harry," she replied slowly, "I'm your only combat qualified healer," she smirked slightly, "Are you going to carry Poppy around with you?"

"I should, she's not as much of a smartarse." He waved towards a tarp hung off the side of a wall. Several other wizards and Muggle combatants were standing around with slung weapons, waiting in line for a matronly woman in grey robes to hand out rations, "Get yourself something to eat or coffee, whatever." She nodded and headed off, and Harry looked back to the command group. "Alright we need to end this, we can't let this go on too much longer. Lucius will either find forces to reinforce with, or he'll get some stones and launch a counter somewhere else...like Hogwarts." He looked at one of the three camouflaged figures, "We can't get any more reinforcements can we, John?"

"No, Harry," John Simmons replied, shrugging. As it was, we snuck the Tiamat and Merlin and their attached groups and the Divisions with us here from the Pacific. The Royal Marines and ours are staying, but the carriers may or may not...it all depends. I doubt we can free up much more, our resources were already stretched when this started. We lost too much overseas when Malfoy's forces came out of nowhere. There's too much demand to 'Keep them home'."

"I know," Harry replied and looked to Ginny, "You think you can take a strike group back to their headquarters?"

"Yeah," she frowned, "But, why...".

"We knock them into disarray, we can drive a team to the Rune site, and activate Merlin's wall, the one that the Romans built...and that was used to keep the upper island from the lower. It'll make a great ward foundation, we already own Glasgow, as they abandoned it," Hermione said airily, waving her hand in a throwaway gesture.

"You've been hanging around Luna entirely too long, Hermione," Ginny replied... "How in the bloody hell are we going to establish a ward that size, the Australians did it with ten-thousand years of ancient magic, and just how many Wizards died establishing the Americans'?"

"Two hundred and twelve," John muttered, and shrugged slightly at the dazed expressions on several faces, "I worked security for one of the groups...they all sacrificed themselves."

Ginny's face paled under her freckles as several of the others only closed their eyes. The grey-cloaked witch, a liaison with the resistance that had laid the groundwork by getting the precise location of the Death Eater forces to the allies at the cost of several of their own, just nodded. She had seen her daughter and son killed in front of her, to gain her cooperation with Malfoy. Teresa Scott had watched Grindelwald kill her husband in the first war, had fought in the second, and had almost had her grandchildren taken along with her children in the third, the cost to win was almost immaterial to her by now.

Harry still cared, "I have no intention of sacrificing myself, or Hermione, or anyone else." He looked out over the city, "We have something that they didn't...we have Hogwarts."

Harry reached up and touched an ear as expressions ranging from suddenly enlightened to perplexed to slightly smug lit the faces around him, "You there, Keeper?"

"Yeah, Leo," Ron's soft voice came over the wireless in several ears and in the helmets of the armors.

"We're doing a Riddle, Keeper," Hermione replied over the sound of combat in the background wherever Ron and Luna were and on the rooftop, "decapitation strike." She looked to Ginny and motioned towards her ear.

"Keeper, Alleycat, grid 773 by 456, over," she said, watching as the rest took notes or started to lean over a projection of the city one of the suits was providing. "Estimate one company of X'Sheen warriors providing outer perimeter, another of wizard to warrior class Death Eaters, with possibly one or two Mage class."

Ron sighed, "Harry, how are you wanting to play it?"

"Off the cuff, mate, sorry. John, take your team and see if you can get in position to target the X'Sheen for a fast mover strike?" He nodded, and Harry turned to the single suit with a modified Union Jack, "Major."

"Sir."

"Take your battalion, and hold move it here covertly, move under stealth," Harry pointed to a spot on the map about 2 kilometers from the hidden headquarters of the remaining Death Eater forces in Scotland, "and hold it. We'll either need you in a hell of a hurry, or I need you to drop in here...if we take out the leadership, you can drop behind their lines and roll them up between you and Marshall's'," he waved towards one of the American suits, "forces."

"Ron we'll meet up at 455, in that abandoned department store, should provide cover for us to form up." Harry reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand, slowly threading his fingers through hers. "We go in two hours, ladies and gentlemen, let's get it done." He took a breath and vanished. A beat later, every non-armored presence except the cloaked woman and the one handing out rations vanished, either directly or as a wizard partner grabbed them and Apparated them away.

The British Major gave a jaunty salute to his American counterpart, nodded to three other suits and jumped off the roof in a three story bound, along with four escorts. The suits shimmered and vanished from sight as they moved. Around the area two hundred more suits rose into the air and vanished, moving quickly on the way towards their ordered rendezvous.

******************************Hogwarts**********************************

April 16, 2020
12:05 am

Seven children, sat huddled, clinging to each other in the darkness, lit only by the light of a small fire lit in the grate to give some measure of security. They sat together, for once not worrying about appearances at all as they sat awaiting some word of their parents, every single one of them feeling years old memories rushing to the fore.

An eighth, older figure stood near the portrait hole, watching the rest. She watched as a younger version of herself, only with hair the color of the flames in the hearth, cuddled up next to her black-haired sister, who in turn was sitting quite close to a brown-haired, dark-eyed boy, whose eyes seemed to reflect the lights of the flames like a cat's.

Makaila smiled tightly as she watched one of the 'Gryffindor Seven' get up from the tight clump on the couch, her hair changing colors kaldescopically, and grabbed a blanket from a neighboring couch. She sat back down with the rest, and pulled the blanket over the rest of them, even though by rights they should not need it in the middle of Scotland this time of year, even in the Highlands. Makaila took one last look at them, a gold badge glinting on the chest of her robes, before she turned and walked out of the portrait hole, to go on a patrol that she really would rather not go on. She would much rather huddle with the rest, but duty demanded otherwise.

Caitlin and Emilia watched their sister go out of the corner of their eyes before they slid even tighter together, and Abigail and Harriet, pushed in as well, the four of them along with Xander sharing a space on the couch that three or four might normally take up. They all sat, looking down at a shared DADA text, even though none of them had actually read a word in an hour.

Elliot and Horatio sat on the floor in front of them with a chessboard between them. Horatio had his back against the couch next to Harriet's legs; she would periodically lean forward and give him advice gleaned from years of watching her father. Elliot had long ago given up trying to get her to stop, so he just ignored her. Horatio reached out and took a sip of the hot chocolate that a certain, green-eyed house elf had delivered earlier and sighed, pondering his next move.

They continued to pretend for a time longer, as the clock ticked away the minutes in the corner, before a tremulous voice spoke up, "Do...do you think Mum and Dad are alright?" Caitlin's chin trembled slightly as she looked over at Emilia. The rest of the kids grew absolutely silent, hardly even breathing as they waited an answer.

Emilia swallowed and caught the eyes of her twin for a long moment; he shook slightly as he dropped his eyes from hers. A small hand reached forward from the couch and grabbed his shoulder, as Harriet leaned forward to say something to him, to share a quiet word. "I...don't know, Cat," Emilia replied after a moment, "I hope so."

"I'm scared, Em," the girl replied, and looked at the other young witches and wizards with a tremulous expression, afraid to admit her weakness.

"Me too," Emilia admitted as she leaned forward to give the girl a hug, and continued to watch the flames dance in the hearth.

**********************Edinburgh, Scotland************************

12: 30 am

Harry watched as the flames danced in the shell of an old, wrecked BMW across the way, like a large, odd, kettle stove. He sighed, closing his eyes as he felt a smaller hand work its way into his, and a head fall to his shoulder. What do you think that the kids are doing, Mione? Harry asked as he continued to look out of the shattered window of the old Muggle department store, where behind them, Harry could hear the muted movements of his teams as they prepared for the assault.

Hermione shrugged, as she gave his hand one last squeeze before she stepped away, checking the fit of her sword in its sheath, and drew both wands before slipping them back in their sheaths alongside her thigh. She checked the chamber of her pistol and twisted the suppressor on before reholstering it behind her back. Probably all huddled together pretending they are not afraid to the rest of the tower...Let's go Harry, I want to go home.

Harry gave her a tight smile, and grabbed the back of her head, bending it forward. He kissed her hair, Let's go cause rampant properly damage, Love.

But, Harry, we don't have a bed here...Hermione replied, utterly innocently, and he laughed softly. She followed him as she and Harry moved back towards the small group congregating around a small table, slowly packing away their toys around their persons.

Harry looked around at the small team that would be entering the Death Eater's Scotland headquarters, most of them he had known since he was a teenager, "Let's go, Hermione and I, along with Cordy, Sirius, and Remus," he waved generally in the direction of the recently arrived from Hogwarts, reinforcements, "we'll do the entry...fast and silent. Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Tonks, Draco, you have overwatch. Parvati, you hang back with them." He reached up and touched his ear, "Surfer, are you in position?"

"Yeah, Leo," a soft, whispered, Californian drawl answered in their ears, "The Tiamat's wing is holding just over the horizon, with the Merlin's on close support in the city." An orange-white explosion lit the sky to the north, as if in illustration to his point, "I have my team in position, we can lay beacons on the X'Sheen, they are in echelon to the north of the objective, about a half klick out...Boss...if they drop on them, it could get you in there."

"Make sure they don't, John," Harry replied, "my wife would probably kick your arse if it messed up her hair." Hermione punched him in the shoulder. "Keeper will have the call on the timing of the strike. The clock has started, we go in ten, people." Without a word, the room emptied in a series of soft POPs.

A dark company composed of masked and unmasked Death Eaters stood in and around the ruins of the Babcock Tower, a thirty-story monolith that had once held the company headquarters of one of the world's foremost Biotechnology companies. None of the high-tech computers, or phones, or lab equipment had ran in years, indeed, the only facilities still in use, were the various labs, whose stainless steel countertops and assorted glassware had been shanghaied for the use of Malfoy's Potion Masters assigned to the area.

At the moment, however, only the combat forces remained, Malfoy's Potions Masters, Healers and other auxiliaries having been withdrawn back to London for something else, some grand purpose that was rumored to be the key to the war. Grangle Ortega had heard all of that before, he thought, as he looked out the shattered fragments of a fifteenth story window at the flashing colors of the fighting far below, and out in the city.

Ortega was the fourth commander of the Scottish Holdings in the last two years; his immediate two predecessors had been executed by Michelle Prichart, for incompetence, or rather she drained them for a snack. The first commander, and the one who had held the country the longest from the fall of Great Britain until his fall, Gregor Anderson, had been tortured to death by Malfoy himself after Potter's forces had taken and destroyed the school that Delores Umbridge had ran up until her capture. Ortega knew that a similar fate awaited him, that is, if he did not hold this city.

"When will Lord Malfoy's forces arrive from London?" he snapped, turning from the window.

A smallish Death Eater, with Captain's pips on his collar looked to the side as several other officers slowly edged their way out of the line of fire. "Two legions of X'Sheen will arrive in the morning-"

"Are there no, human, forces available," Ortega hissed, his fists flexing at his side. He moved from the window to stand over a large, lit map table that held a map of Edinburgh and the surrounding countryside. Small glowing arrows filled the map, in reds and blues. A fat arrow in red was pointing from the north, directly at a crosshatched circle indicating their current position. Small images of red and blue dragons slid over the map, with occasional flitting sparks as observers reported sightings of American and British fighters attacking his forces. Far to the south, at the very edge of the map, a thick blue arrow approached, but slowly, too slowly. He fingered the map, "Do we have any idea where Potter's seventh armor is? Those damn accursed suits have caused too much damage already...for that matter, where the BLOODY FUCK IS POTTER!" He swept his arm across the table sending cups of stale coffee, overflowing ashtrays and the remnants of dinners to the floor.

"We do not know, sir," a sheepish voice came from behind him.

His hand slipped down and knuckles tightened on a sheathed wand. He took a breath, "Well then...FIND HIM!" A scurrying answered his shout and he dropped his head, planning already how he would smuggle his ill-gotten fortune out of Malfoy's territories.

"Go," Harry muttered, and around the tower, an explosion of hidden activity occurred.

To the north, overlooking a large concentration of black figures, a concentration so dense that light itself seemed to vanish, even in the night vision goggles and enchantments that the Allied forces were using, a half-dozen wraith-like shadows stirred. The bombed-out parking garage, filled with rusting hulks overlooked the large, cleared area around the Babcock tower, where the outer defenses, at least a company of X'Sheen warriors, but very possibly two stirred, waiting for the attack they knew was coming.

They had no idea.

"Confirm, Leo, be advised, we are launching the strike now," Simmons said, the sound audible only inches away from a large, man-sized clump of what appeared to be only a bundle of rags. The bundle of rags shifted, as a hood was pulled back, and Simmons slipped his head over the edge of the berm surrounding the parking lot. Several meters away, another head, then five more appeared, two rising up enough to slip the muzzles of rifles over the edge, while a third peered down through Omniocculars at the crowd below. Simmons pulled a set from under his gillie suit and clipped his wand to them, he touched the wand with a finger and a thin, red beam shot out of it. He put the glasses to his eyes and scanned down at the crowd.

"Valkyrie flight, this is Surfer, we have trade. Illuminating now," he added as the tiny red dot he could see in the glasses touched at the feet of one of the X'Sheen standing in the center of the milling mob of shadows. "Be advised, Danger Close..."

The sound of a harsh breath came over the wireless, "Understood, thirty seconds, to impact..."

Far above the city, beyond the reach of most any spell and definitely any Dragon which comprised the extent of Malfoy's air forces, so far, a mottled grey dart, almost invisible in the night sky, let loose a single, large cylinder. It fell from the heavens tracking unerringly towards the projected magical signature it saw so far below.

Inside the X'Sheen perimeter, a second line encircled the tower. A thin line of Death Eaters, perhaps twenty, stood at the entrance, their wands and eyes questing for targets. It did not help.

A flicker of spellfire, and several quiet coughs, and ten of the Death Eaters slid to the ground. "WHAT THE..." the commander of the guards yelled, he reached for an alarm crystal, and watched with disbelieving eyes as his hand fell away. A blade whirled, the wielder becoming visible as he turned; he then cut up sideways, neatly lopping the head of the commander. Harry spun to his left, catching the gaze of a Death Eater, who froze as a blade magically skewered his heart.

He slid to the ground and Hermione ducked, slicing sideways as Harry sprinted at her and flipped over her head, cutting down at the Death Eater rushing up behind her just as Hermione's blade took another at the ankles.

To their left, a blonde wisp of a girl with shimmering violet eyes erupted into a knot of four, she cut left, rolling as the Death Eater fell away, his head following him to the ground. Cordelia caught the arm of a second and pulled, ripping it away. She tossed it down, spinning with the motion to land a kick in the chest of the third, sending him flying twenty feet into a wall. He hit with a wet crunch and slid down just as she grabbed the hair of the fourth, yanked, and ripped out his throat with her fangs. She let him fall away, and sprinted towards the tower, not turning as a huge black dog tore down a Death Eater lining up on her. She slid into the entrance on her knees, her wand in her hand and pointing into the building.

"Three...Two..." Hermione's voice snapped, and Harry dove to the side, pulling her with him. They rolled behind a large concrete planner their fronts together tightly, and took a breath...

The world exploded in a white flash...Unearthly screams filled the air as X'Sheen and Death Eaters alike died, the plaza where they had been forming suddenly as hot as the core of the sun for a brief instant in time. The flash died away, and up in the parking garage, Simmons rolled back from behind the large concrete pillar he had been sheltering behind, it was blackened and charred, and looked out on the plaza. Only a few remnants of the Death Eater Liaisons to the X'Sheen remained, their carbonized forms, glowing bumps on the smoldering concrete, the X'Sheen, as usual when they died, left nothing behind. "You're clear, Leo, back door is not only open...it's gone."

"Confirm," Harry muttered into the wireless, and rolled slowly off Hermione, his hands briefly flicking over her torso to check her. She rolled her eyes, before meeting his and nodding. Harry called his sword to him, he had dropped it covering his wife and stood looking around at the others he had brought in with him, "Everyone alright?"

A chorus of silent nods answered him, as the rest of the team he had brought in, the old survivors of SG-1's command staff and their...friends, including for the first time in months, Draco, patted themselves down, checking to see if everything had survived the mad rush in. "We're just fine, Harry," Cordelia called in a purring tone from where she was standing next to Lupin, he had a slightly guilty look on his face, and she was slowly licking her lips, cleaning them of blood.

Harry shook his head, and looked around the area. He caught sight of a single Death Eater still breathing and stood, vanishing and reappearing across the room. A muttered "Enervate," and the Death Eater stirred. His eyes grew huge as he blinked them open to find ten faces, with a rainbow of eyes, all of them hard, looking down at him. The fact that two pair of them, sat on top of mouths with rather pointedly pointed fangs probably did not help his confidence either. Cordelia licked her chops and he trembled, and looked away at their boots until Hermione knelt down, grabbed his chin and forced his eyes to hers.

He slumped back to unconsciousness as she stood, "Fifteenth floor," she said.

"That's brilliant," Ron replied, shaking his head. "Do you have any idea how many damn wankers are probably between us and them? It's not like we can Apparate up there, even I can feel the wards..."

"Ye of little faith," Harry replied, he shared a look with Hermione for an instant, she smiled slightly at some thought, and he glanced to Ron's right, only peripherally noticing Draco, Tonks and Lupin spreading out in a rough triangle about them, covering the approaches. "Luna?"

Her eyes went unfocused and acquired a soft golden glow she unhurriedly paned her head up, more or less following the invisible line of the staircases. "About a...hundred, Harry, most on the landings between here and there...ten on the fifteenth, they are all in the stairway, waiting...the reception area is clear, and there are another ten or so in the main office area, it's open..." She broke off, swaying slightly as Ron reached over and caught her. Luna took a hard breath and looked to him, smiling slightly as she steadied herself.

"Fine then, gather round..." Harry SHIFTED changing form, arms neck extending, as his legs grew smaller. A moment passed, and a large, Phoenix hovered in the air in front of them. Emerald green eyes looked to each of them and without a word, the eleven others that had come this night, grabbed onto long tail feathers and vanished in a fall of fire.

Fifteen stories up, a single Death Eater standing behind a ruined receptionist's desk looked up as a fall of fire erupted tend feet in front of him, reached for a wand, and died without a sound as a silent silver beam shot from a wand, taking him high in the forehead. Ginny rolled her head on her neck slightly as she moved towards her victim, broke his wand with a quick kick, and looked back, giving a brusque nod to the hard-eyed brunette in the middle of the room, with a large phoenix with an odd, lighting bolt shaped patch of gold feathers on his red brow, and luminous green eyes perched on her shoulder.

Harry reappeared in an instant, leaving Hermione's shoulder and flowing back to his human form without a sound. He looked at the team of Ginny, Neville, and Draco standing near the door to the stairs, and at Ron, Luna, Remus and Tonks who were already stacked at the door to the main, open office area. Parvati knelt in place, her wand held low and ready at her knee. He held up five fingers in a wait gesture, and drew both wands, and pointed them at the door to the offices, as he walked to the door. He felt Hermione at his back and glanced to the right to see Ron already with a wand in one hand and a pistol in the other, both pointed at the door. He took a breath, nodded....

"REDUCTO..." Ron snapped, a blue bolt hissing past Harry and shattering the wooden door leading to the offices, and sending flaming shards tumbling into the room, killing a Death Eater instantly who had been standing at the door. Harry distantly heard an explosion behind him as Ginny destroyed the door to the stairs and charged.

Eyes shifted and changed, compensating for the sudden darkness as every source of illumination in the room died. Harry spun to his right, his left and right wand tracking, and two Death Eaters flew backwards as turquoise beams blew flaming holes in their chests. Another fell as Hermione threw him backwards out the window with the flick of Lily's wand, crossed her own under her arm and a stuttering red bolt took the arm off another. She slid to her knees, sliding under a Kedavra, as Ron came in on her heels, his pistol coughed once, taking a Death Eater halfway through his transformation and dropped him.

Behind them, Remus and Tonks slid in to the right and left, moving quickly, but smoothly behind their wands. Ron followed them, his weapons tracking as he scanned along the walls for something they missed as Luna remained in the lobby covering their medic, and facing towards the staircase, just in case.

Harry dove to his left, deflecting a spiraling gold curse upwards, shattering long extinguished fluorescent bulbs, and sending glass raining down over his head. He glanced over the top of a desk and back down quickly as a Kedavra shot over his head, exploding a man-sized hole in the wall to his rear.

A huge, bipedal shape rose from behind a desk, followed by another as the last of Anderson's security detail, the two surviving weres out of four he had started with, finished their transformations and charged. They leapt over the desk Harry was covering behind, and pounced at his head, missing by inches as he rolled to the side, and snap-kicked to his feet in one motion.

A blade appeared in the gloom, its edge, a silvery sheen. With a tremendous roar, the two pounced, tossing aside desks in their haste to get to him. Hermione caught one in mid-air, redirected it, and knocked the final defending Death Eater out the window. His scream dopplered away in the night and she spun back to Harry, her hand already reaching for her own blade, when a great, grayish-brown shape flew in from the side, tackling the slightly smaller of the pair to the ground, the one that had gotten behind Harry. A loud roar, a brief scuffle and a wet crunch, and the new werewolf stood and crouched slightly, watching the duel that erupted fifteen feet away.

Harry spun, batting aside a flashing paw, as it shot at his side. He ducked under another strike, spun left, and his blade flashed upward. A tremendous howl thundered in his ears, as a smoking brown-furred paw fell past his vision. The were's face shot at his, gleaming fangs glinting in the few lights leaking in from the shattered windows, and caught only air as Harry vanished from view. He reappeared behind the wolf, a silvery-blue glow lighting his eyes, and swung, spinning with the motion and folding to a knee.

The wolf took one stride and fell, his torso falling forward and his legs backwards. Harry looked up and over at a softly glowing set of blue eyes, Sorry...

You better be...

Harry drew his left wand, flicking the thousand-year-old blade in his right free of blood and slowly started to move through the room, weapons at the ready.

Behind him, in the lee of the room, a small door opened that lead to a bathroom from the sign, a wand poked out.... Twin hissing Reductors tore across the room, leaving a glowing trail in the vision of everyone there, and vaporized the last Death Eater. A thin red mist hung in the air for a second as Hermione took a breath and slowly sheathed her left wand, holding Harry's gaze as he sheathed his, then his sword.

Lupin morphed back to his relatively unassuming human guise, and took a long, panting breath as Ron walked over to the shattered remains of the last Death Eater, and gingerly picked up a black piece of bloodstained cloth. He held it up to Harry, indicating the embroidered green skulls of a Death Eater general. "I think they are pretty well...." A huge explosion cut him off, shaking the building to its core.

"Sorry, Leo," Draco's laconic voice drawled over the wireless, "Red got a touch...carried away."

"Confirm," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes, to Harry in her thoughts, "trap that way and get up here."

"Um...Bookworm," Parvati asked, "How are we getting out, Harry again?"

"No," Harry replied, changing the channel back to the ones the rest of the team was on, "In style..."

In the distance, out the even more shattered remains of the windows, a pair of sun-bright lights appeared. They shot towards the windows at an impossible speed, and half of the team dove to the floor, praying not to die right now...The lights swerved at the last millisecond, and turned, stopping in midair and resolving as their eyes adjusted to the predatory, dragon-sized craft bobbing slightly in the air currents next to the tower. A pair of fighters dropped in next to it, the tips of their wands glowing a bright blue as they scanned back and forth.

A glowing red doorway opened in the side of the craft an smiling man with a gleaming, shaved palate and a bright orange goatee leaned out, holding onto a strap, "PLANNING ON STAYING?" John Simmons yelled across and tossed across a handful of safety lines.

"GO," Harry snapped pointing at the hovering craft out the window as explosions stated to come from the booby-trapped stairs as Death Eaters charged up the stairs, which was amazing in retrospect as they normally ran these days when their X'Sheen thralls were taken out of the equation, but that was not the case this night. Harry spun back, towards the door and a stream of spells ripped from his wand, blue, gold, silver, red...

He watched Parvati sprint past him, Draco pulling at her elbow, followed closely by Neville and Ginny. He noticed almost idly that Neville was limping as they crossed his gaze. He stopped firing and rolled left, moving behind Hermione as she started to fire with both wands, sending a stream of covering fire. The first four boarded, not bothering with the safety lines as they simply cast Summoning Charms on the plane and let the vast difference in mass pull them to the doorway. Simmons and a grizzled chief in urban camouflage flung them into the craft, and barely got out of the way as Ron and Luna arrived.

Hermione rolled right, leapfrogging back as Harry started in again. She stopped by the window, and watched as Lupin took the simple expedient of grabbing Tonks and leaping the thirty feet to the aircraft. Cordelia threw Sirius in the plane and followed, jumping across the distance as easily as stepping off a curb. Harry fell back the window just as a Death Eater made it to the doorway and poked his head in, loosing it instantly. A flood of green spells snapped through the door as Harry spun, his eyes glowing fiercely, grabbed Hermione's hand and leapt into space, landing in a roll in the cabin of the Wyvern transport.

"PUNCH IT, TOM!" Simmons yelled to the front, and without a word of warning, the nose of the craft dropped and it shot away, leaving only a faint visual residue of its field drives behind.

Both fighters turned like huge hornets, their Reductors and autocannons roaring, and shattered the thirteenth through sixteenth floors in a maelstrom of destruction, as they quickly backed away on their drives. A silver dart detached from under each, flashing across the distance.

A white flash lit the night as the two fighters tore from the scene, meeting up with the transport as it flashed north, heading for safe territory. Inside it, Harry pulled himself to his feet and took a breath, glancing out at the darkened terrain flashing by. He reached up to his ear, "Phoenix Actual to all units...Execute."

He took a breath as Hermione grabbed him and pulled him to a bench seat. She made a motion to Parvati, who was finishing wrapping Neville's ankle, and caught Parvati's med pack in one hand. Hermione pushed Harry back against the seat as he tried to rise again, and held him there by the simple expedient of straddling his lip. She gave him a half-hearted glare as she unzipped the top of his shadow suit and peeled it down, exposing a damp with blood, tight black shirt underneath. She reached over to the pack, still not moving from his lap. What am I going to with you? she muttered exasperatedly.

Take me home and have your wicked way with me? Harry asked with a touch of hope. Hermione snorted, and kissed him quickly before she started to dab on a thick, yellow potion onto a group of shallow cuts on his neck and upper chest from the glass. She stopped occasionally to use her wand to remove slivers of glass from the wounds, before taping a white gauze pad to his neck and setting the medical supplies aside. She fell forward against him and sighed. It was just a werewolf, Mione, Remus got the other-

Hermione did not answer for a long moment, before she reached up, and pulled his head to hers. She groaned softly, feeling her mouth fall open instinctually, and felt his tongue dance with hers. Hermione's eyes were only half open and fully lit as she pulled back, and buried her face in his shoulder, breathing quickly as she fought herself back under control. Every other eye in the transport section of the aircraft looked away, finding something else interesting to look at, read, or talk about.

She took a breath and leaned back into the hands she could feel at the small of her back, fingers slipping under her weapons belt to trail against the fabric there. I know, Harry...

I wasn't being reckless, Love, Harry objected reaching up and running the fingers of his right hand through her hair, not any more than you... A moment's reflection passed before she nodded tardily, and slid from his lap to the bench next to him, there was acres of room in the back of the craft that was designed for a platoon of Armored Suits with heavy weapons, that currently held only Harry's command team, and a SEAL scout team, a force less than a twentieth the mass and three fourths the bodies.

Harry looked up as Simmons looked back at him from near the door. "Where to, Boss?"

"Take her up, out of Dragon range and wait, let's give the Armor a chance to do their jobs." Simmons gave him a thumbs up from the door and spoke into a thin wire at his lips.

*************************Edinburgh Castle**************************

4:25 am

Edinburgh castle was ancient, almost as much so as Hogwarts herself, if not as animated. Over the years, it had been refurbished from what it had been, an ancient, run-down fortress to a Muggle tourist trap, just like so many of the other castles dotted here and there around what had been, in happier times, the United Kingdom.

The castle had been occupied for the last seven years by a large battalion of Death Eaters. Their trash was strewn everywhere, cluttered in humps along the low walls of stone walkways leading up to the castle proper. The Death Eaters, once the power in the town, the absolute rulers of all they had witnessed for the last seven years, had been decimated in the battles in the city and their attempted retreats over the past several days. They had abandoned the castle, leaving only a token force of twenty that had lasted all of seventeen seconds from the time that the first Armored Suit kicked in the door, to the last call of "CLEAR!" over the wireless.

The rest of the city, except for a few random holdouts, all Death Eaters, had been secured if not quite cleared an hour ago. Of course, the fact that civilians had pulled bound and gagged Death Eaters in to the streets out from hiding, the ones that they didn't beat to death, had helped immensely. The majority of the Death Eaters, sans their orders from their superiors had broke, running for their lived into the hills or straight south, trying desperately to fight past the sudden cordon of armor, air and dragons which were both really, that had appeared between them and the perceived safety of England proper.

The X'Sheen, Malfoy's dark enforcers, had reacted typically, spending themselves futilely. Instead of retreating out of the city to join up with the legions that were still five hours out, having been slowed immensely by the random anti-Apparation wards spread from airdropped talismans, snap raids by armor companies and air strikes by Dragons, or instead of forting up and waiting for reinforcements, they had attacked. The Armor forces were happy to stand atop buildings and rain down fire as attached Wizards held them in place with anti-Apparation wards, and to watch as flights of dragons and fighters along with daring wizards on normal brooms, swoop down to rain destruction on them. Malfoy's own dragons and brooms had been swept from the sky as almost the opening act of the battle.

Harry stood on the tallest tower of the castle, looking south, observing impassively from the broad, flat, circular stone platform surrounded by granite battlements, the flashes of spellfire and mundane warfare far to the south, almost fifty kilometers now as the 507th Heavy Assault Division along with unknown numbers of unarmored military, resistance and even civilians long oppressed harried the dark forces away.

Harry glanced over at Hermione, a cup of coffee in his hand, the first such drink he had had in five hours except for the tepid water in the suit bladders, and watched for an instant as she fanned her half-unzipped top, trying to cool off. Heat was one of the major annoyances of the shadow suits, that while even stealthier than the old invisibly cloaks, they retained heat and scent as well, both vital for avoiding magical and mundane guard creatures, but a pain after a day solid in them. Harry took a long breath to calm himself as animagus senses, already on alert, caught a whiff of his wife's pheromones, stronger than even normal due to the danger. She looked up at him and gave him a small, promising smile, letting him know she felt the same way, before she let it fade, returning to business.

Fuck it, Harry whispered, and took her hand, pulling her in front of him, and resting his chin on her shoulder, feeling relatively secure with an entire company of armor and a half battalion of British Marines surrounding the castle, their magical and mundane weapons, and at least two Cerberi on patrol looking for infiltrators or other threats. A soft inconsistent pulse danced along the edge of his senses, as the anti-Apparation wards cycled.

Across from them, sitting with his back against the battlement walls, Ron was munching on a sandwich Luna had conjured for him. She sat between his legs, her elbows resting on his knees as she held her head forward and slowly tried to comb the knots from the tight hood of her suit out of her now unbound hair. Her zipper was even lower than Hermione's on her top, causing one or two of the sentries to occasionally let their guard slip as they glanced over. She looked up at Harry, and shook her head, tossing bangs out of her eyes, she gave him a quick nod and looked back.

In the center of the tower, an inlayed gold circle glowed. The circle had been set in this tower for ages, but had remained undetected to Muggle eyes. Harry sighed, and looked to his watch, an old, battered stainless steel chronograph that his children had 'bought' for him years ago, years before this had started, and frowned. Where the hell is he, Hermione? Hermione just shrugged; leaning back into him, as she concentrated on their next move, back to the hunt for the next clue.

Harry's question was answered in the next instant, as with a fall of fire, Dumbledore appeared in the exact center of the circle. His Familiar rode his shoulder as he turned and looked at Harry, "Sorry I am late, I had a touch of trouble with a detention."

"One of ours?" Hermione asked, her eyes closed.

"No...Slytherin I am afraid." Dumbledore's eyes hardened as he took a breath and Fawkes took flight, swooping briefly around the perimeter of the tower before perching next to Harry on the battlement wall. Dumbledore held out his wand, horizontally in front of him and gave it a shake. A soft, rumbling came from nowhere as the wand grew, lengthening and thickening. An intricate white cage surrounding a faceted, glowing jewel appeared at the end, and a moment later, a seven-foot-tall wizards staff had grown from Dumbledore's wand.

Dumbledore parked the staff vertically in the air at his right hand and reached under his robes. With a sigh of infinitely sharp steel on leather, he drew the Headmaster's Sword from the depths of his robes and held it in front of him. He looked to Harry; Harry tightened his arms around Hermione and gave him a slow nod. Both of their eyes were already lit as Dumbledore glanced back, found Luna looking up at him from her seat next to Ron, her eyes glowing their gold color as well.

Raw power thrummed through the air, causing the few totally electronic components in more than one suit to wig out before the technology enchantments managed to drain the excess magic to ground to allow them to restart. Dumbledore's eyes lit with a fierce white light, he raised the sword high...With one powerful, blurred motion, he inverted the sword, ramming it point-first into a slit that appeared milliseconds before the blade touched stone. Dumbledore gave the sword a half turn, like a giant key, the exact same motion he had undertaken at Hogwarts and at Glasgow earlier this night. The sense of something terribly huge filled the air as Dumbledore withdrew the sword, and resheathed it.

The butt of his staff rapped the stone sharply and the gold ring lit, sending a translucent cylinder of light straight up into the sky. He raised the staff above his head, "ARTHRIUM RESTORUM..." The cylinder started to pulse, Dumbledore raised the staff higher... "PROTECTORUM," the butt of the staff slammed back to earth and a thick white pulse snapped out, speeding away at nearly the speed of sound towards the horizon and driving every magic user in its path to their knees. Harry staggered back to his feet and looked to the left, just in time to see Dumbledore appear there, the circle still unbroken.

The cylinder became solid, sending a solid, ten foot thick beam of light to the heavens, it slowly bent to the Northwest, a second beam from directly west lit the sky in that direction, that beam bent slowly until they touched, at the very edge of space but approximately in the center of Scotland.

Many, many kilometers to the north, the ancient fortress of Hogwarts awoke as the entire castle shuddered. Children rushed to the windows to witness, for the barest of an instant, vast, ghostly white walls surrounding them, the very walls of the fallen Avalon they lived atop every day. Emilia fell from the couch, crashing to her brother as both of their eyes lit, the castle's presence filling their minds as it asked a single question, "May I?, my Lord, my Lady..."

A stunned Emilia answered, I guess, and outside of the window a solid beam of light erupted from the center of the courtyard streaking upwards to the heavens, bending to the south until it intercepted the other two at the very edge of the atmosphere. The three beams pulsed once, and vanished, leaving behind a glowing white dome over all of Scotland.

Throughout the country, X'Sheen erupted and vanished, screaming in flares of purple-black fire, until after a minute none remained in the countryside. To the south, approximately fifty kilometers to the south of Edinburgh, the Armored suits fell back, their orders clear. They and every other Allied troop passed through the barrier without the barest sense of resistance, and stopped, reforming on the other side.

Endless tides of X'Sheen crested the ridges in pursuit, raced towards the barrier and were thrown back, crashing into those behind them, and sending the entire host to its knees.

For the next ten hours, the X'Sheen tried to force the barrier with everything they had, to no avail, before falling back at Malfoy's orders, Scotland lost to them.

A/N: There we go. Next chapter, someone comes home, changed.

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34. A Dark Reunion

A/N: Look, a chapter...As usual, I own nothing really. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.

Chapter 34: A Dark Reunion
****************************Southwest Florida****************************

June 1, 2020

A small, wooden boat pushed ashore near a modest, blue and white beach house. The dark night, unlit by any moon as it was hidden behind the clouds, was apt cover for the fell deeds that were to begin here. Four dark, cloaked figures leapt from the boat, grabbing packs and a large, inlaid chest between them, and started up the beach, heading towards the house and a small, glowing emblem of a green skull that floated in the air.

The boat rowed back out to sea, slipping back to the hijacked fishing trawler that had been captured by a few Muggle sycophants of the dark forces occupying the majority of the world. A single dark-clad figure stepped from the shadow of the house and dismissed the Dark Mark. "Hurry, and get out of sight, in the house," he said without preamble. "There are Muggle clothes and food; we need to get out of this area, and moving before a patrol comes along."

"They are just Muggles," one of the Death Eaters growled as he stepped over a body lying face down on the porch, presumably one of the former owners of the house. Blood pooled under the body.

"You'll think that if they drop a platoon of their damned armor on us, or a wizard reaction force."

The Death Eater growled a response under his breath and headed in, leading the others. Their contact followed them into a house that was wrecked, furniture broken, papers strewn about. A large television was shattered in the corner, with the drawers under it, and throughout the house dumped to the floor. "I had to make it look like a robbery gone bad," the contact explained. "I have transport ready to move us, when do we strike?"

"We are to set up and wait, for the master's signal," a gruff response answered his words as the Death Eaters started to dig through paper bags full of clothes.

*********************************Hogwarts*******************************

June 3, 2020
2:20 pm

Harry Potter moved slowly around the black lake, his hands in his pockets, his head down. A pair of worn, baggy cargo pants and a loose t-shirt bearing the legend, "Something goes bump in the night...call a Gryffindor" hung on his slim frame, in contrast to the several students walking around on this warm, summer afternoon in their school uniforms.

He did not acknowledge the four operatives that trailed him at a distance, even though they moved as ghosts, without a word between them, he knew they were there. He just did not care really. The war had ground to a stalemate once more, after the taking of Scotland from Malfoy. Periodic attempts to retake the northern half of the island, with purely human forces, were easily swatted down, and the Allies did not yet have the strength to challenge Malfoy in the heart of his Kingdom, even with the base for the light so near. Europe and most of Asia, along with the northern part of Africa remained under occupation with vast X'Sheen hordes, Dementors by the thousands and Death Eaters, both marked and unmarked casting fear deep into the populace.

Harry sighed, and looked down at his feet as they moved along the trail he had traveled innumerable times before, since he was eleven and the sight of the majestic castle towering over the Black ake had first filled his vision. It was his only home now; these days really, Grimmauld was still sitting in occupied territory in London, as was Godric's Hollow in Wales.

Perhaps only four or so wizards or witches left in the world could come close to his raw power, these days, his wife and great^3-grandfather among that number, but still his hands were tied, tied as he waited for the retrieval of one more piece to the key that would lead to the counter to Malfoy's control over his dark legions. Harry kicked a small stone, causing it to bounce along the trail. He nodded to Hagrid, as his oldest friend was lecturing loudly to a more or less attentive class of fourth years about how cute and cuddly Grindylows were. Harry just shook his head and moved on, remembering those same Grindylows and a desperate swim.

Harry glanced back as a large black dog padded up silently next to him, and butted Harry's hand with his head. Harry's face gained a small, half-smile as he stopped in a secluded inlet along the lakeshore and sat down on a large, flat rock, pulling his knees up to his chest, and resting his chin on his knees. He glanced over, moving just his eyes, as Sirius SHIFTED and sat next to him on the rock. "What am I doing, Padfoot?" Harry muttered, but more than loud enough for the Animagus to hear, "I didn't want this, I killed Voldemort...well, Mione and I did with a lot of help, I just wanted to live in peace, watch my kids go off to Hogwarts, maybe play a touch of Quidditch every Saturday, and love my wife. Why the hell can't I have that, don't I deserve it?"

Sirius shrugged and pulled a silver flask from his pocket and took a draught. He offered it to Harry, who refused with a gesture, "Yes, lad, you do deserve that, not this, no one deserves this...except maybe Lucius. But if you don't, who will?"

Harry took a breath, and scrubbed at his face, "I'm tired of sending them to die, Sirius...Do you know how many friends, family members I've seen die in this war...I've been fighting this same fucking fight since I was a year old, and what has it got me...

"A wife, four children, now, and friends that would give anything for you," Sirius replied, snorting softly and taking another drink. He looked out as the squid pushed up the surface, moving lazily before slipping back under the low waves.

"Speaking of that," Harry replied, looking back, "Why aren't you with yours?"

"Cordy kicked me out, James was napping...something about me being too...loud or something."

"I'd never believe that," Harry laughed, then shrugged, "he still wanting blood in with his milk?"

"Nah, he gets that from Cordy." Sirius explained, "does make it hard to get babysitters though."

"I would imagine." Harry smiled; then let the expression fade, he looked over at Sirius and frowned slightly as yet another of those decisions that he wished not to make, flashed to the forefront of his mind. "How would you and Cordelia like to get away from your sprog for a while, Hermione and I will be glad to watch him."

Sirius looked at Harry for a long, evaluating moment, "Where?"

"Paris...we think that Charlie might still be alive."

Sirius looked down at his flask, at the engraving that read, "To my best man, don't drink it all at once, Padfoot." "Cordy and I would go of course, but why not send Ron or Ginny or one of the other Weasleys?" Sirius replied quietly, as Harry already knew he would.

"I don't want them to get their hopes up," Harry replied and took a breath as he took off his glasses and ran long fingers through inky hair, "And...the rumor is...he was turned, Sirius. That's why I want to send Cordelia." Sirius closed his eyes, nodding, and stood from the rock.

"We'll be ready to go in the morning, Harry." Sirius reached over and patted Harry's shoulder, and started up the path towards the castle to tell his wife that they were on a mission.

"Sirius."

"Yeah."

"If he's one of the feral ones...one of the ones that lost their souls when they were changed..." Harry broke off; he opened his mouth again; to force himself to give an order he did not want to give.

"I understand, Harry," Sirius replied, his voice flat, but curiously gentle all the same, as he saved Harry from the words. Sirius started towards the castle, his grey eyes slightly downcast. He changed in mid-stride, morphing to a large, hairy black dog and padded off, leaving Harry with his thoughts.

******************************Paris**************************************

June 6, 2020
1:15 am

Down a dark, cluttered street, strewn with the wreckage of cars, a couple of bodies tossed to the side like yesterday's empty coffee cups--and other signs of the occupation, of the utter desolation of modern society after the Death Eaters and their thralls had swept across Europe like a dark plague--two people, moved with a purposeful stalk. The pair, both cloaked in black, like most of the others that moved openly through the city these days, moved towards a rare spill of light and noise into the streets.

For the most part, the once-great City of Lights, Paris, was also shattered, broken, much like the cities across the channel. Muggles scurried from cover to cover, scavenging what they could, those that had not escaped into the countryside that was. A few city dwellers tried to scrape an existence out, cut off from fuel, and electricity and other once necessary staples of a twenty-first century life. But, for the most part, the city was almost abandoned, leaving behind only the refuse, animals and the desperate...and those who prayed on them.

Death Eaters did not travel much in the city, it being mostly useless to them, with no real infrastructure to support them, or victims to prey on. The French Ministry had fallen only days after the British one, the first to do so in a domino effect that spanned continents. Into the city, the dark ones had come, establishing themselves as the dominant force controlling the city, werewolf packs spawned by Death Eaters, hags, succubi, all of those walked the streets openly now, preying on those Muggles they could catch and on each other when they could.

All of those were enough, but in Paris, it was the vampires that controlled the streets after dark. No French Auror patrolled, no slayers moved in the shadows, to control their more base impulses, and especially not the treat of an open feud with the Gryffindor/Potter/Black line that kept the bloodsuckers more or less in line in occupied London.

The pair crossed the street towards a small, oak door set down several wet, crumpling steps from the street. The smaller of the two, coming up only to the chest of her tall companion, lowered the hood of her cloak and shook out a fall of blonde hair. Violet eyes dilated, and suddenly an odd rune glowed faintly above the door they were approaching. She frowned slightly, looking down at the pair standing at the door, one on each side. The one to the left, a brunette girl, wearing what appeared to be a Beauxbatons' uniform, the top at least two sizes two small and a skirt that Madame Maxime would have never allowed, pushed off from the wall as they approached, and climbed the stairs, tossing away a marijuana cigarette as she moved. She stopped at the top of the stairs and rested her hands lightly on her hips as her mouth opened slightly, exposing ivory fangs.

"Don't, Love," the blonde whispered to her black-haired companion, holding out a hand as he started forward. She looked up and back at him, giving him a quick smile before she moved forward, her boots making absolutely no sound on the cobblestone street. "I have business inside, move aside."

The brunette Vampire smirked, showing her fangs more, "I doubt it," she looked up at the black-haired man, he smiled slowly and opened his cloak, a wand and a short, curved sword rode his hips. "And that is supposed to scare me?"

"You're young," Cordelia replied with a throwing away gesture, and waved around the area, "You don't know any better..."

The brunette took a step, a cat-like hiss slipping from her throat, and leapt...A silver blade flashed and the vampire vanished in a flare of fire and a cloud of ash as a silver blade whipped through the air. Her partner leapt from his post, towards Cordelia, and erupted into flames in mid-air. A wooden stake clattered to the ground and Sirius sighed, stepping forward and picking it up. It vanished as he slipped it inside his cloak.

"I thought we were being discrete," he said with a faint, half-smile.

His wife glared at him, before re-sheathing a slim sword on her hip. Cordelia just shook her head and started down the stairs to the club, knowing he was following her. She pulled the door open and stepped into a dim, smoky corridor, lit with a source-less red lighting. Cordelia glanced back before heading down it, towards ear-shattering music, blaring from somewhere ahead.

The door closed behind her as she reached the end of the corridor, taking a step out of it, into a sight that would not have been out of place before the war, any one of a thousand clubs that dotted Europe. And that is exactly what this place had been, before, when young Parisians partied the night away, blissfully unaware, except for those unfortunate enough to end up as a snack for silent partners in the club. A soft snarl came from Cordelia's lips as her fangs dropped fully and her eyes lit.

Her heartbeat, normally a mere ten beats a minute, when she was excited that is, skyrocketed to an almost human sixty, as the scent of blood, both old and new filled her nose. She slowly walked through the scattered, dimly lit tables skirting the dance floor where young, looking anyway, vampires gyrated together to loud Muggle music. She looked over, at a young male vampire; he had a maybe, seventeen-year-old girl in his lap and her throat in his teeth. Her eyes were glazed over with hormone-induced euphoria, as her blood trickled down her neck, and under the low-cut shirt she had on.

Cordelia moved on, her violet eyes glowing now as she moved with the preternatural stillness of a trueblood, her steps utterly precise as she dodged patrons of the club, moving towards the back of the room, where she could see two tall, black-clad vampires, standing guard over a corner table. They were armed with Muggle weapons, current US issue pulse rifles in fact, and her eyebrow crooked. She glanced back toward Sirius, and he nodded, before holding out his hand.

She smiled faintly, and shrugged out of her cloak before handing it off to Sirius. Conversation and a few feedings in the immediate area stopped as she straightened her swordbelt hanging on slender hips that were covered in black leather today. She reached up, unzipping her top slightly, letting the zipper hang open halfway down her chest, before straightening her weapons belt. She smirked slightly and leaned up, pulling Sirius' head down to hers. He growled faintly as her fangs nipped his lip just lightly enough to draw blood, before she pulled back a few inches, licking her lips. "Got my back?"

"Always," Sirius muttered, as he hung her cloak over his left arm, and slipped his right, holding his wand under it, under the cover of her body.

"Good, you'll get a Scooby Snack for that later," she replied with a faint grin, which vanished as she spun on her heel, pacing towards the two guards. As she approached, Sirius following at a more sedate, watchful pace, the two came to a quasi-attention, but she ignored them, focusing beyond their bulk to the five people beyond at the corner booth.

Or rather, her attention immediately focused on the two males sitting at the booth, the three females, she disregarded, mostly, the pair that should have been in Beauxbatons or their Muggle equivalents, a almost identical, scantily dressed pair of blondes, hung off a red-headed man, who had his head down in his drink. She shot a glance back at Sirius, who nodded, before she perfunctorily checked out the pair of black-haired vampires, sitting next to the red-head, the girl was curled up in her master's lap, letting him slowly lap at a small gash in her neck. She shuddered, and her breath caught, before he set her aside in the seat beside him, and she pulled up into a cat-like ball.

"Go away," the guard on the right, whose only distinguishing characteristics from his partner, was a steel nose ring, and a broken right fang as he opened his mouth.

"I have business with your boss," Cordelia said and stepped forward, only to be cut off as the pair stepped together, blocking her path. Behind her the music changed, becoming even louder, and the left guard reached for her...

Cordelia MOVED, sliding right, and twirling, a silver blade came free of its sheath, it flicked upward. A flare of fire lit the room behind her as her blade neatly separated the head of the second bodyguard, and his body flared, crumpling to a neat pile of ash at her feet. The club went silent for a long moment, the music stopping suddenly and every eye looking to them. Cordelia smirked slightly as she re-sheathed her blade and stalked to the table.

Sirius leaned casually against a beam supporting the floors above, as his wife grabbed a chair from a nearby table, set it on the open arc of the corner booth and sat down. She stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankle. She glanced at the redhead, who still had not looked up, then over at the dark-haired, older vampire. He sat back in his seat, bringing a white napkin up to his lips to wipe them clean. "What do you want, O'Connor?" he snarled, looking briefly at the twin piles of ash that had been his former bodyguards.

"It's Black, now," she said darkly, "We came for him." She nodded in the direction of the other male vampire, whose 'dining companions' were nuzzling his neck, purring softly as they started to climb into his lap.

"Aw, yes," Wulfric Cannos murmured smirking, as he set his napkin on the table in front of him. He let his hand trail down to his consort's bare belly, trailing his fingers along the pale lines of her stomach, and letting them run up lightly to stroke along a breast. "I had forgotten that you...married, your pet, Cordelia...what would your father have thought?"

"He would have probably come with us, to kick your arse," Cordelia spat, and her eyes lit, hammering into his own and keeping him in his seat without moving a muscle. "I came for him, you can keep the slags."

Wulfric looked around the room quickly, as if expecting a dragon to come out of the empty bottles scattered about. He reached forward, and picked up a tumbler full of a glowing green liquor. He slammed it back, "I am a Master Vampire, child; over two hundred years old; I walked the streets of this city when the Muggles rioted for bread, when they cut the head off their own king. You are what, thirty, forty, you aren't even their best fighter...No, I will not give him to you, he amuses me, we have a bet, you see, on how long he lasts before the hunger truly takes him." He looked up towards a table set on a low balcony where a female vampire was coupling violently with a thrall, his blood dripped down her chin as she moved on him. Wulfic looked back at Cordelia, "No, I know you can feel it, taste it in the air, I know you want it...the hunt, the chase...the kill...and even if I did not have money riding on it, he was entrusted to me by the Dark Lord's Fang..."

Cordelia took a breath, and watched her opponent as he glanced down, then up at her, her eyes glittered with lethal promise, "Let me be perfectly clear, Wulfric, I was sent here to recover a family member. " She looked over at the man with long, red hair that fell forward covering his face, "I will kill Prichart, I will spread her guts along the ground and stake her undead arse out on the top of a mountain, before I sit with a fine wine, perhaps a nice '05 Rothschild, and wait for the sun to roast her soulless body. You should feel lucky actually, that I don't think that you were with Voldemort that night..."

"I have a hundred vampires here, you wouldn't last five minutes..."

Cordy looked up and back as Sirius moved to the table, he had set aside her cloak on an empty table and doffed his own. He leaned on the table, his wand still in his right hand, "If... your supposed hundred minions did manage to kill us, you, your kin, and any spawn would not survive the week...this club, your lairs, your accounts, your every endeavor will be destroyed, and the ground they once stood on salted. An hour, after you managed to kill us, you will wish God and his Angels were the ones angry at you, they might give you mercy."

"I am not afraid of Potter, why isn't he here, if he cares so much," Cannos sneered, but he did it very quietly, and both Sirius and Cordelia sniggered.

"Then you are stupid," Cordelia said flatly, "Harry had a Quidditch game to watch; his kids were playing."

"Charlie," Sirius said and for the first time, the redhead looked up. Despite herself, Cordelia let out a soft gasp, as dim blue eyes looked up at hers, she reached for him, and the room exploded into fire.

The chatter of a half dozen subguns roared across the room as enforcers attacked. The bullets whined off into the ceiling as Sirius quickly shielded them both. Wulfric roared and dove over the table, a long sword coming into his hand as he struck at Cordy. She flipped up and back out of her chair, hitting the ground rolling and bounding up, almost hitting the twenty-foot ceiling, before she landed. A long, bastard sword crashed into hers, she batted it away and snapped her blade at Wulfric's, batting him backwards through a table. She bounded forward in a lighting thrust and missed as he twisted, only barely managing to catch his riposte a breath later before it ripped out her guts.

A dark half-smile lit her face as Sirius glanced up, stood and with seemingly no concern for the bullets tracing towards him, tracked his wand to the bar. A flick and dozens of liquor bottles shot across, crashing into the attackers. A jab and a fireball shot across, igniting all six in pillars of fire. Dark screams filled the air as he spun back to Cordelia, she took a breath, and stood with her sword held back and low.

She reached forward, and motioned with her free hand, "Let's end this." A roar and Wulfric charged, his sword already moving. Cordelia vanished, leaving behind a faint afterimage of her form as she took a single step to the side, and snapped her sword sideways. Wulfric crumpled, his body shriveling even as he fell way.

Cordelia stepped over the body, knowing that Sirius had her back and stepped to the table. Her she reached for Charlie, who was looking at her with wide eyes. She reached with her left hand, and in a timeless moment, she realized her mistake.

A spot of blood from a long, shallow cut on her arm dripped onto the white linen, Charlie's nostrils flared and he leapt, fangs fully extended and reaching for her. Cordelia's fist crashed across his jaw and he crumpled, falling to the floor. "Let's go, Padfoot," she yelled over her shoulder. He dove for her, grabbing her shoulder as she touched a small, black ball and the three of them vanished in a rush of wind and a fall of color.

***********************Hogwarts****************************

4:25 am

Harry strode, yawning, into the Hospital Wing, a section of the castle now living up to it's name, with the various wards now taking up four floors of the Wing, with two others dedicated to Potions labs, shielded instrumentation and other medical devices, magical and mundane, all to attempt to replace the long lost St. Mungo's. Poppy Pomfrey now looked over a staff of healers and nurses, with patients ranging from the month old daughter of Fred and Angelina, to a hundred-year-old Muggle that one of the teams had brought back with chest pains.

He nodded to a pair of guards in armored suits outside of a secluded ward; they braced to attention and relaxed as he entered, no doubt chatting to each other on their private line. Harry turned back towards the door as it closed behind him and waved a hand, instantly a bright white flash lit the walls as privacy wards established themselves.

In the room, a small, white-washed interior room with no windows, and only a couple of portraits to provide color, a single bed sat against the back wall. Small, glowing runes lined the top of the walls, and in an inset semi-circle around the bed. An IV bag filled with blood fed the occupant of the bed, who was currently both unconscious and restrained. He paused, taking a breath as he took in the lank, crimson hair, surrounding a pale face.

"So," Harry said, coming over to stand next to the other three already present in the room, Hermione, who looked about as tired as he felt, Poppy Pomfrey, who had refused to pass this case off to one of her junior healers and Cordelia. Cordelia frowned at him, and shrugged, pacing over to the bed and stopping just outside of the runes. They probably wouldn't effect her, being a pureblood, probably anyway, but she was not taking a chance.

"I don't know, Harry," she said, her voice burring his name as exhaustion, more mental than physical fought for dominance. She took a breath, glancing back at Harry as Hermione slid in next to him, and leaned against his side. "You know the difference, in my kind right? Between the purebloods, the turned soulless ones, and the ones that are turned, and still more or less sane?" None of the others said a word and she turned back to the bed and watched as Charlie lay perfectly still, "Purebloods, like me, and James, it breeds true, usually, have all of the classic powers, the real ones anyway, not all of the bullocks that Bram Stoker made up for the Muggles, none of us turn to smoke, for example. We can enchant almost any Muggle or Wizard, have them walk right off a cliff or right into our fangs...The Imperius was an attempt to copy our powers, frankly."

"The thing is, purebloods, which is an old, poor choice, it should be living or trueborn, or something, we aren't dead...Yeah my heart beats a lot slower than normal, but it beats, my skin is warm to the touch, and though I won't shrivel or explode into flames if you take my head, or drive a stake through my heart, I'll die. We have a soul...and most of us...expect to answer for our...sins, one way or the other, no matter what they might believe in. I'll take a Death Eater, suck them dry, I'll use my fangs instead of a wand or a sword, or whatever, but the innocents...they are off limits. To a point I guess." Cordelia frowned and pulled on the tight tail that her hair was in as she took in their slightly concerned faces. "Feeding is one thing, I can take just what I need and leave my...victim alive with at most a bit of a lightheaded feeling...but truly Feeding, sucking them dry..." She glanced back at Hermione; "You know the possible cost of using the Kedavra, especially on an innocent, right?"

Hermione nodded slowly, "Yeah, it can fracture your soul...especially when used against a Wizard, and even more so an innocent..."

"It's the same, really...evil begets evil and what goes around, comes around, that's what saves us, saves me, will save my son. There isn't a karmic toll, with them as prey...they are evil, hell most of their souls are already damned, it doesn't take much to send them on their way." Cordelia wrapped her arms around herself, as if she were freezing in the warm castle, "That's why most of the living vamps, go out of their way to keep from being in situations where the hormones take over and the hunger is unstoppable. But when they are changed, it's different."

"How is it different, child?" Poppy asked, curious despite herself.

Cordelia shrugged and took a breath, and with a visible effort of will, strode through the runes. She let out a breath when nothing happened, and looked down at Charlie, before pushing damp, with sweat, hair off of his brow. She looked back at them, "The fact that I can walk through that barrier, proves I am still on the side of the angels. When a vampire bites a human, pureblood or changed, they inject a retrovirus/neuroinhibitor, that in small doses, such as a bite, cause euphoria, and in the case where a vamp drains a target totally, can actually inject enough of the retrovirus to modify their DNA to start them along the path the truebloods are already on. I can eat normal food, and I do, I need the same vitamins and minerals, protein, everything else you do, but I still need blood, animal will do...for a short time, to provide certain elements that I can't get otherwise. But even I need at least some human blood, to keep me sane. When they are changed, however, they can't...their only sustenance, is from blood... In the magical world, we take it as granted that blood is life, its, very, very true, all of their powers, their strength, everything is based on blood. Some of the older, turned ones used to bathe in it."

"So you are saying, there's a chance he already has destroyed his own soul," Hermione said in a horror-tinged voice, "Harry and I knew, but..."

"Harry was right, Hermione, when he sent me, there were a lot of ferals there, ones who have gone and taken without regard to anything, just let the hunger, for everything that is, blood, sex, power, whatever. All of the bullocks Stoker said we all craved."

Hermione frowned, and moved across the circle of runes to stand on the opposite side of the bed. She bit her lip, as she checked something, before looking up at Cordelia, "What about Sirius, I've seen you bite him loads of times..."

Cordelia smirked slightly, the tips of her fangs gleaming in the light from the torches. "Sirius is my, mate, he was before, even before I left and came back, it's a evolutionary adaptation, to allow us to procreate with unchanged humans...he is immune to the virus, courtesy of another that gets injected during...coitus, with a bondmate. If I absolutely had to, I could take several liters from him, without effecting him untowardly, other than he'd be even more randy than he already is...and he'd really crave a large, bloody steak, or two."

Harry coughed softly behind them, "All of this is interesting, ladies, and you should probably give a few lectures to the DADA classes, Cordy, as the books are very vague on vampires, but it doesn't answer the question of what to do with Charlie. I will take him out myself if he's feral, I won't risk him around my kids, or any of the others."

Cordelia clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and shrugged, "We won't really know until he wakes...but he won't hurt any of them, Harry. I'll take his head myself before that happens."

***************************London********************************

June 10, 2020
2:20 am

Shadows moved in the dark, trash-strewn London streets, around the former palace of the Royals. Death Eater patrols moved constantly, sweeping the edge of the fenced grounds, which stood perfect, restored to and beyond their pre-war glory, for the pleasure of the occupiers, while a kilometer away from the walls, Muggles fought for scraps amidst the ruins of the ancient city.

One of the shadows stopped, directly across from the main gates of the castle, where a platoon of Death Eaters, paced back and forth watching into the darkness from under the bright lights casting the area immediately around the walls into nearly daylight brightness, and everything else into to nearly stygian pools.

What do you think, Harry? Hermione whispered, as several of the Death Eaters talked to each other lowly. Do you think we can get in quietly?

Harry shrugged invisibly, Probably, but getting out with the package? Quietly anyway? Doubt it. He looked to his left, towards the dark shadow where he knew that Ron waited silently. I suppose you could do the 'scarlet woman' routine again.

Hermione looked in his direction, and rolled her eyes. Is that because you think it will work...or you want to see me and another random female agent dressed in almost nothing, parading around on the street to distract the guards.

Harry laughed silently; Can I get back to you on that? He leered invisibly, Maybe later tonight? Hermione laughed in the back of his mind. "Alright," Harry whispered, his voice coming in clearly over the ears of the two dozen or so scattered around him on the streets, in the alleys and hidden on the rooftops within line of sight. "Last time we were here, we left a message, tonight, since its recipient didn't seem to listen, I suppose that we will have to follow up."

"Code black entrance, ladies, gentlemen and Padfoot," Hermione added, already knowing Harry's decision, she paused looking towards where Harry was standing, reading his expression without seeing it. "Go."

Hermione's whispered words over the wireless set off a flurry of silent, invisible activity. A pair of soft POPs sounded in the night, along with a pair of faint, luminescent traces and the pair of guards closest to the gate collapsed. Three more turned to their fallen comrades only to be grabbed by steel-like hands from the shadows and pulled from sight.

Four, faintly-visible outlines rose from behind a pair of shattered cars about a hundred meters from the gates and a group of ten Death Eaters jerked and staggered as if being pummeled by a hail of invisible stones, before they collapsed. The remaining six Death Eaters looked around fearfully, gathering into a small group. One of them darted for the guard shack and an alarm crystal, and tumbled to the ground as a jet of silver snapped out of the night.

A soft whistle sounded out of the darkness, and the remaining five Death Eaters looked to their right, and several assorted curses ripped out, crashing into the crumbled facade of a ruined building across the street. The darkness twisted and swirled, collecting into the shape of a single, slim form. A pair of wands rose gracefully, and bucked, a flurry of silver darts ripping out and sending the remaining Death Eaters crashing down into a steaming pile of robes on the ground.

Instantly, several more came from out of nowhere, troops in the mottled grey and black digital urban camouflage of the allied forces raced across the open ground, grabbing the fallen Death Eaters and surrounding them. The bodies vanished in quick bursts of light, courtesy of the Wizards among the newcomers, and the rest moved to the sides, taking positions to cover the entrance from either direction.

Harry appeared next to the still-closed gates and looked up at a five-meter high wall, set with broken glass and warded with at least four different variants of anti-Apparation and Portkey wards. Hermione slipped up, standing next to him and sliding a pair of wands back into their sheaths, So...now what? Harry, blow a hole in the walls?

Ye of little faith, Harry muttered, and she gave him a faint smile, and he shrugged. Her eyes cut to the gates, and he nodded, she made a small waggling motion with her hand and stepped to them, just as several more black-clad figures faded into view. "Tonks, Ron, Luna, Cordy, Padfoot, you're with me, Remus...I trust that you can stay here it dissuade any pursuit?"

Remus nodded, bent to kiss Tonks on the top of her hooded head and slipped into the deep shadows next to the guardhouse where a pair of operatives where standing, their dark clothes looking from a distance, at least to be Death Eaters. The few named moved quickly to the gates, and Harry looked at each, frowning.

He spun to the closed gates, feeling the shimmering magical reinforcements darting along his senses. Harry cocked his head slightly, shared a long, but quick, silent conversation with Hermione, the contents of an entire Grimoire flitting between them at the speed of her thoughts, before his hand darted to his thigh, his wand came up and pointed at the exact center of the gate.

A cloud of sparkling particles rushed from his wand, tiny fireworks exploding silently as each particle hit the wards on the gate, sending a curtain of light spinning faster and faster, growing and growing, until with a silent snap of purple light, the ward vanished. Still more particles rushed onward, hit the gate, and with a sizzling sound, as if a huge pale of acid had been tossed on them, a perfectly round, ten-foot hole melted in the bars. "After you," Harry said softly, pointing at Cordelia.

She snorted quietly and drew her sword, inverting it to lie back along the length of her arm and padded onto the grounds on cat-like feet. The rest filed through the slightly glowing hole, vanishing in faint, brief shimmers as they moved down a hundred-meter gravel path towards a side entrance to the castle.

After a few steps, Hermione whistled softly, and the group froze, waiting as she flicked an invisible wand and a shimmering gold fog oozed out, covering the grounds, and casting into sharp relief previously invisible Intrusion Wards, their pale green beams scattered here and there, seemingly at random.

Harry nodded towards Cordelia and she flitted from clear zone to clear zone, leaping, and diving over the beams, nimbly dodging their sight. She sprinted forward, flipped over a large statue of Malfoy and landed nimbly on the very top of a rock from which all of the wards seemed to be emanating from.

She crouched down, reaching into her pouch and pulling free a long, phosphorescent blue glass ampoule and set it down at her feet almost gingerly. She transferred her sword to her left hand and drew her wand and touched the phial. Instantly the glass faded away, and with a boiling cloud of sharp smoke, the rock melted away, even as she flipped away.
The anchor stone for the garden wards vanished and the wards faded, a bare millisecond before she dropped back to the ground, faced towards Harry and the rest, bowing at the waist.

Sirius gave her a polite, silent clap as Ron muttered something about, "Damn showboating Vampires." Hermione grinned slightly, white teeth glinting in the dim light spilling from the castle, before she took a breath and started off, vanishing from sight as she sprinted towards the castle. Harry flickered into motion after her, Cordelia already gone towards a secluded entrance that had once allowed staff to enter without disturbing the affairs going on in the main entrance.

She flicked her wand at the door and shook her head as she found a simple intrusion ward that would not have Flummoxed an average Hogwarts fifth year, let along the group coming up behind her, any of whom could have bypassed this when they were twelve. She sheathed her sword and ran her wand along the edge of the door, she was about to cast a spell, when with a rush, the wards abruptly died, and the door opened.

A Death Eater stepped out, the lit coal of a cigarette already dangling between his lips. He looked over to his right, blindly into the darkness, missing the briefest flicker of motion as Cordelia stepped up behind him. He started to spin, clawing desperately for a weapon as a faint, cat-like hiss came from near his ear. Small steel hands twisted in his hair, snapping his head to the side, as needle-sharp fangs descended.

Cordelia swallowed heavily, as her eyes slipped half-closed, as a thin stream of blood trickled down her chin. The Death Eater slumped in her arms and she picked him up one handed and tossed him in the bushes. Harry just nodded as he passed Cordelia and slipped inside a wand in each hand. Hermione followed on his heels, slipping in and stepping to the other side. Sirius paused next to his wife and motioned towards her mouth, she blushed slightly and turned away, wiping at her chin.

Beyond, Harry slipped silently through a darkened kitchen, and crouched at the corner of a doorway, through which the sound of several low voices could be heard. Emerald eyes glittered darkly as he heard one particularly rough voice bemoaning the loss of "Mudblood talent" when Umbridge's school had been destroyed. He felt Hermione at his shoulder and she tapped it. Harry looked back to find Tonks looking at him, crouched next to a large, stainless steel preparation table.

He nodded and she stood, took a breath, and SHIFTED, her hair changing from black to a dusky blonde, and lengthening slightly, as she gained mass, filling out and gaining several inches, her face filling out and faint blonde stubble sprouting on her cheeks. She dropped her head and looked up, to look at him with the face and body of the Death Eater Cordelia had eaten. She concentrated again and her clothes transformed to the dark robes that he had had on. "Go," Harry mouthed and she slipped into the hallway.

Four Death Eaters looked up at her approach, "Oi, Grandle, forgot your fags?" a tall woman with dark reddish-brown hair called snarkishly. She was leaning against a door at the other end of the wide hallway, with a crumpled bundle of cloth at her feet. Tonks barely restrained a gasp, as the bundle moved slightly and the face of a youngish woman was revealed. She looked up at Tonks tiredly and sat up, her slightly shaking fingers automatically working at the catch of her threadbare robes.

The other three Death Eaters, who were all crowded around a small table with cards and a pile of Galleons spread out on it laughed. Tonks grinned slightly as she moved towards the woman and the alarm crystal she could see mounted on the wall at head height near the door. "No," Tonks said lightly as she continued to walk down the hall. She passed the table and shrugged to the men there, "I decided that I need a touch more of a break than that..." she leered at the girl, and the rest laughed again, a dark and hungry sound that sent shivers up her spine, especially as her traitorous brain insisted on putting a slightly older version of Abby's face on the girl.

Tonks slipped up to stand over the girl, who started to shakily rise, and felt the female Death Eater step up behind her. A flicker of motion out of the corner of her eye and Tonks spun, flicking her wrist, and catching a silver blade and driving upward, driving the Dagger up into the Death Eater's brain.

"WHAT THE..." One of the card players shouted, and all three started to rise, sending cards and Galleons flying, when a web of silent silver beams snapped out and they crumpled, blood oozing slowly from several holes. Tonks shifted back, her face rapidly becoming heart shaped and her hair darkening to her 'natural' coloring. The girl whimpered and crawled backwards as the rest of the team appeared behind Tonks. She reached for the girl only to watch as she shuddered and looked away.

The girl's eyes went blank suddenly as Cordelia approached and knelt before her. The girl slipped forward, curling against Cordelia like a cat, and a brief, pained look flitted across slightly-glowing, violet eyes. "I enchanted her, Harry," Cordelia whispered with a touch of pain. Sirius and Ron finished vanishing the bodies and looked over as Hermione and Luna both lowered their hoods and knelt down next to Cordelia.

Hermione looked over at a closet set in the wall, and reached out, touching the girl's cheek, "What's your name, honey?" she murmured. The girl, looked back at Hermione blankly, and shook her head, causing a veil of dirty blonde hair badly in need of a combing in front of her face. "It's alright," Hermione went on, as the girl burrowed back into Cordelia's arms, still under the Vampire's spell, "none of us will hurt you." She's a witch, Harry, Hermione said almost unnecessarily, and he nodded, the practice was typical of the Death Eaters here in the former capital.

"T...Teresa..." the young girl, who on closer inspection was fifteen or sixteen, said tentatively, as if the word was half-forgotten, lost to her through disuse.

"Teresa, honey..." Hermione whispered as the boys slipped to the door to the rest of the castle, "I need you to be brave for me, I need you to hide in that closet and wait for us." The girl shook her head and clutched to Cordelia tightly, her eyes now cleared of her enrapturement, but still holding onto the slight woman as if she were a lifeline, an oddly appropriate commentary on the times, really.

"We'll be back," Cordelia murmured softly, and if there was a trace of compulsion under her words, so much the better, "You can go hide in that closet," she reached up behind her back and pulled a small silver dagger, and slowly placed it in the girl's hands, anyone but one of us comes for you, you can stick them, ok?" A darkly glittering look came over the girl for a moment, and she nodded, letting Cordelia lead her to the broom closet and settling in on a set of pillows that the vampire conjured for her. Hermione flicked her wand and a softly glowing ball of light hovered near the top of the closet and Teresa settled back in the furthest corner.

They slowly closed the closet, and Hermione flicked her wand, locking it with one of her spells, no Death Eater was going to open that closet. "Let's go," Harry muttered and the rest nodded.

In the year since Harry's last visit to the castle, security had been doubled, redoubled...and promptly had faded back to its pre-infiltration state, basically because none of the Death Eaters cared, not a one would give their lives for their masters. Especially not the one lying snoring on his stomach, his amply apportioned room totally redone since Harry's redecoration.

A totally-new antique bed held the former Minster of Magic, and Lucius Malfoy's current 'Prime Minister'. Harry shook his head as he faded into existence and muttered a word; oil lamps flickered to life, revealing a scene that only further annoyed him. Fudge's pajamas, a red silk set, were nearly invisible under the nude bodies of a pair of 'companions' his arms wrapped tightly around them. Harry looked to each side and nodded to Sirius and Ron, and the pair slipped forward and in unison, slipped their hands over the women's mouths.

Both woke instantly, but when they saw the black-clad heptet in the room, they instantly stopped any struggle and let themselves be pried gently away. They huddled together in the corner, arms around each other, and remained silent without a word from any of the invaders. Harry grinned faintly as Sirius SHIFTED and a large, shaggy black dog took his place. Padfoot bounded up on the bed and poked Fudge with his nose.

"WHA..." Fudge blinked awake and sat bolt upright, suddenly realizing that he was alone in his bed as Sirius leapt off the bed, transforming in mid-air to his human form. He walked over to Cordelia, and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her chin as she half-unzipped her shadow suit and fanned herself with it, her eyes glowing faintly and her fangs dropped below her lip. Fudge instantly recognized Sirius, and his mouth trembled as he looked around the room, finding the rest, his company for the night in their corner, and the rest spread out around his bed. Slowly, he looked to the foot of his bed, where Harry and Hermione were copying Sirius and Cordelia, though Harry wasn't quite tall enough to rest his chin on the crown of her head as long as they both were standing fully upright. "P...Potter."

"Hello, Cornelius..." Harry said pleasantly, "I believe that you know everyone," he paused as Hermione reached into a pouch riding behind her hip and tossed a set off Auror issue, magic-disrupting cuffs on the bed next to him, "you're coming for a bit of a Holiday."

***************************Hogwarts********************************

June 10, 2020
2:00 pm

Horatio glanced over at the redhead walking next to him, and smiled faintly as she pulled slightly ahead, as he saw, again, the flashing green patch in the back of her hair. "She's going to kill you, you know," his sister whispered as she passed with Xander and Elliot and Caitlin, as they thronged towards Hagrid's now somewhat expanded hut and their class for the day. The prevalence of rogue magical creatures without the Ministry's control had pushed the class to younger students.

Horatio just shrugged, and continued on, following Harriet, even as he debated murmuring the counter-jinx. He let her take another few steps, and with a slight shake of his head, he canceled the spell. Emilia crooked one eyebrow, but did not say a word as the first year Gryffindors came to a stop outside of the hut, looking worriedly at a large, covered cage that Hagrid had waiting for them.

""Ather round, 'ather round," Hagrid called, pulling in the mixed crowd of students to him. A large, covered cage dominated a cleared area next to Hagrid's pumpkin patch, never a good sign, really and several of the students gathered closer together. Safety often truly was in numbers after all. He laughed heartily and whipped off the covering to reveal a mother Kneazle with nine tiny kittens. A palatable sense of relief spread through the class as they watched Hagrid open the cage, and with incredibly gentle hands remove a jet black kitten. "T'day we will be looking into Kneazles...Who can tell me about them?"

Emilia's hand immediately shot up, and Hagrid nodded to her, "Kneazles are cat-like creatures, known for their loyalty and their ability to discern the intentions of others. They historically have been associated with witches often as Familiars, and are particularly prized for their ability to act as a focusing and grounding agent for large spell workings."

Hagrid grinned at her and bent down, handing her the kitten, watching as she held it to her chest, "Ten points to Gryffindor," he said happily and watched for a moment as the kitten wormed its way into Emilia's robes. "These kittens have just been weaned and we are needing homes for them...I think that I have just found a home for one," he added as Emilia absently petted the feline.

The rest of the class moved in quickly, especially the girls as Emilia walked over to a tree and sat down, holding the kitten to her chest tightly, but not tight enough to actually hurt it. The cat did not seem to mind, as it looked up at her with green eyes a shade darker than her own. I hope Mum doesn't mind...she thought desperately, as she stroked the kitten's head with two fingers and it slipped off to sleep, purring quietly.

She looked up, and gasped as Caitlin sat down next to her, her eyes wide as she held another kitten, this one grey and black stripped in a tiger-like pattern. It looked around at Emilia with dark blue eyes. It held her gaze for a moment, then purred, turning and nestling against Caitlin.

Hagrid let them talk amongst themselves for about thirty minutes, the class at this level more of a familiarization course than anything before he cleared his throat loudly and Em, Xander, Caitlin, Harriet and Horatio looked up from under the tree were the girls had gone to sit, Horatio was playing with a bit of loose string, dangling it in front of the black kitten. It scampered back under Emilia's robes, crawling up between her skirt and outer robe to crawl up on top of her lap and look out at the half-giant, "'At's it fer, t'day," Hagrid boomed, "I wanna see two pages on common Familiars for next week, now git."

******************Potters' Private Quarters, Hogwarts*************************

Hermione slipped into the room, yawning, and stretching slightly before she unzipped her shadow suit, which she had not taken the time to change from since they got back about an hour ago, towing several, new, rescued orphans and a very uncooperative Cornelius Fudge. She slipped out of the tight outfit; the close fit an arithmetic necessity for the formation of the cloaking field, and tossed it at a hamper set to one side of the room. She padded along the hallway to her bedroom clad only in a pair of knickers, and rummaged around until she found a long t-shirt of her husbands and donned it.

She walked back into the living room and collapsed on the couch, letting the shirt ride up to her hips as she nuzzled against a throw pillow and closed her eyes, dropping off to a shallow sleep almost instantly. A few minutes later, Crookshanks entered the room through a magical cat-door set in the main entrance and looked around. Finding his mistress, he leapt up on the couch and lay down next to her. He tolerated it, a moment later, as she wrapped her arms around him in her sleep and pulled his body to her chest.

He looked up and met Harry's eyes as Harry entered the room, and walked over to the couch. He bent down, and gently brushed aside her hair to kiss her cheek. "Join me," Hermione muttered sleepily, turning her head to look up at him blearily. Harry kissed her again, more properly this time and nodded, she smiled closing her eyes and drifting back off, as he padded off towards the bedroom.

A couple of minutes later, Harry emerged, clad in a pair of sweatpants and a slightly tattered t-shirt, bearing the legend "Seekers do it in the air". Crookshanks gave him a glare, but slipped out of Hermione's arms as Harry slid down onto the couch, pinning Hermione between him and the back of it. She slowly, half-asleep, wiggled until she was lying on top of him, letting him lay on his back on the couch, and tucked her head under his, and let her legs tangle with his.

Hermione nuzzled at his neck, languidly, and looked upward, moving just her eyes, "Wanna shag?" she asked quietly, sighing as she felt Harry's hands push up under the back of her shirt to run along her spine.

"Yeah," Harry replied. His hands slipped down and pushed at her knickers, sliding them down and off, as she reached down and pulled on his sweats until they were below his bum. She groaned softly, as she felt him against her belly, and reached down, moving just enough to guide him home. Her eyes slipped closed with the sensation and she let her head fall to his neck, bonelessly.

Soft, quiet sounds came from her almost instantly and Harry raised his head just enough to see that she had fallen asleep. He laughed quietly and reached up to the back of the couch, grabbing a throw and pulling it over them. His arms tightened around her as she slept, he kissed the top corner of her forehead, and closed his own eyes, "G'night, love."

A/N: And there you go, the shortest shag scene I've ever written :)...next time a very, very long trip.

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35. Through the Looking Glass

A/N Still here. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter. Any mistakes are purely, my own, however. I still own nothing except the plot.
Chapter 35: Through the Looking Glass
*********************Near the Edge of the Bermuda Triangle******************

June 22, 2020
1:15 pm

Over the past several hundred years, planes, ships and at least one submarine, which the American navy had never acknowledged, had vanished in a roughly triangular patch of sea demarked by Florida, Bermuda and the Bahamas. The vessels had vanished, mostly without a trace into crystal skies and deep blue water, never to be seen again, or if they were found, they were generally found years later, empty and abandoned.

Into this stretch of ocean, six people were riding a fifty-foot yacht. A red banner with a gold lion decorated the transom of the Sea Lion as they headed towards a destination that very few people in the world could even see. Up on the open bridge, a ballcap pulled low over his eyes and covering a mass of jet hair, Harry glanced out over the waters looking for their destination, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see it. He glanced down at a map, with a scrying glass moving slowly over it, marking their destination. He nodded and took a drink from a water bottle clipped to the console in front of him. He turned around to look to the rear after touching his wand to the wheel. It started steering by itself, tracking ever closer to a spot on the map marked with an 'X'.

Off of the back of the ship, Ron and Neville were fishing...supposedly. From the pile of bottles next to them, it seemed that the pair was more interested in the beer than the fish. He shook his head as a slight, fire-haired young woman climbed the stairs behind him to stand at the rail next to him. Harry glanced over at Ginny and nodded. She handed him a beer as she looked at Ron and her husband. "I saved this from the endless appetites."

"Thanks Gin." Harry replied. They pushed off and walked back to the front of the bridge.

"It's not fair." Ginny griped suddenly, as she looked down onto the foredeck. Harry followed her gaze and smiled slightly as he saw Hermione and Luna lying face down on a pair of beach towels sunning. Both women had the ties of their bikini tops undone and were stretched out with their long hair pulled up and out of the way. Luna appeared to be asleep, with Hermione reading a large book, of course.

"What's not, Ginny?" Harry asked bemusedly. He took a sip of his beer, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"This," Ginny snapped as she waved over herself. Harry grinned at her slightly as he noticed the desert camo boonie hat pulled down low to shade her face, and the light weight long sleeved shirt that she had on over her black top. Her legs were slightly red under a pair of shorts. "I look at the sun funny and I burn, or worse get about a billion freckles, but those two..." she waved towards the bow, "they just get tanned." Harry laughed.

"You'll live." He pointed at the helm and Ginny nodded. Harry tipped up the beer bottle, finishing it in a few gulps and stepped down to the ladder. He vaulted over the rail, not bothering with the ladder and landed lightly on the deck below. He took another pair of beers from a cooler next to Ron, before shaking his head at Ron and Neville's efforts at 'fishing'. "It works better if you actually put the lines in the water," he commented sotto voice and headed forward, ignoring their sputtering protests.

Harry paused and watched Hermione from behind as she read some thick book that she had picked up in port at a small Wizarding shop hidden down an alley. He paced across the deck and dropped next to her, crossing his legs before him and bending forward to kiss the side of her head. She turned her head and smiled at him, before sitting up to face him. She grabbed her top from the blanket and tied it back on, before accepting the cold beer he handed over. How long? she asked as she took a sip of her drink.

Harry shrugged and scooted backwards until he reached the railing. Hermione moved, settling in between his legs and resting her head back on his shoulder. Dunno, Harry replied after another couple of minutes, taking the time to settle her more comfortably and take a sip of his drink, looks like four or five hours...we'll have to go in at night, I suppose.

That's fine, as long as we make the window before tomorrow morning, she replied, closing her eyes and letting him support her. She snuggled back, letting his arm wrap around her more tightly. Em and Cat want you to help them with new cathouses, by the way, Daddy...seems that Hipper and Nergal must have them, even though they will probably never use them...and you know that Horry is going to want something...an owl perhaps.

There has to be a joke there, four girls...women and three cats at home, but I'm too smart to say it, Harry muttered and Hermione laughed out loud.

She turned her head enough to peck his lips, Good boy...See how well I picked, you're the trainable one. She sighed and looked across the ocean, watching as a rouge kelpie splashed by. Hermione looked down at her toes, wiggling them for a bit, This whole, every equinox thing sucks, Harry. I understand why they hid them in a pocket universe, but they should have had them cascade release when we got the first part...We'll be spending Christmas looking for the Orb, yet, I'd bet. Harry just nodded as she went on, reaching down and absently spinning his ring on his finger. Do you think we can hold on another year?

We're going to have to, aren't we, Hermione? Unless we cut off the X'Sheen, cut them from his control, we can't hold...unless we want to turn the planet into a cinder. Harry kissed the top of her head as she slipped down slightly; Let's just hope that Lucius would rather have something to rule, than the alternative.

************************London*****************************

Lucius Malfoy swept down the hallways of the palace, like a dark wave of malcontent followed by the remainder of his inner circle. His wife, still loyal after all these years, even after the defection of her son to the light, his major domo, Bariss, Xavier Hamilton and Michelle Prichart, his enforcers and executioners. He pushed open a set of doors leading into a darkly apportioned throne room and stalked down a black runner, passing prostrated Death Eaters and weres.

A pair of Vampires stood against the wall, watching with practiced indifference as Malfoy sat on a dark throne, his wife folding herself at his feet. The smaller of the two, a black-haired vampiress, smiled faintly and reached down, pulling her pet to her feet. She lowered her lips to the young girl's neck, as she reached in through the blonde's mostly unbuttoned shirt and lightly caressed a breast. The girl shuddered, her dark green eyes utterly vacant, as the vamp slowly slid her fangs into her neck, causing a thin stream of blood to trickle down the column of her neck and between her breasts.

The vamp lifted her head, and licked the girl's neck clean after a moment, only having wanted a snack. She smiled faintly as the girl spun in her arms and started to nuzzle on her neck, small hands slipping under the vamp's shirt to run along her back. "Not now, love," Rebekka muttered, even as she let her fingers slowly, work along the hem of her pet's short skirt.

The Familiar sat at her feet, looking up adoringly and wrapping her arms around one slender, leather-clad leg. "What have you called us here for, Malfoy?" Rebekka said flatly, looking across the room, at the new Dark Lord. She looked across to find a pair of dark, robed figures in the shadows, "we are not bound to you, I am here merely as a courtesy."

Malfoy snarled softly, and rose from his seat, "I wish to know why the clans have chosen to not honor my requests?"

Rebekka reached out and stopped her bodyguard as his fangs dropped and he started to leap forward. She gave him a small, almost indistinguishable headshake, and then looked at Prichart meaningfully, "Because the clans do not do a human's bidding, unlike your pet."

"Cowards," Prichart snarled, "you are afraid..."

"Yes," Rebekka said softly, "if that is what you wish to believe, then so be it...Unlike you, not all of us are undead whores to command." Prichart leapt across the room, fangs bared and crashed back against the far wall as a small fist flashed. Rebekka slowly knelt down next to her human familiar, who was whimpering softly, she slowly pulled the girl's face up and kissed her gently, then kissed her forehead, "Know your place Prichart...Yes, we have refused your, request, to kill the Potters' children, Malfoy."

"How dare you defy..."

"Silent, Bariss," she snapped, and glared at Malfoy for a long moment, "It is the combined opinion of the clans that we will not participate in this war...those individuals that are already involved," she nodded to Prichart who was slowly picking herself from the floor, "may of course continue to act as they have." She picked up the girl from the floor, cradling her to her chest like an outsized child and started towards the doors, her bodyguard falling into step after her.

"What about O'Connor?" Prichart yelled after her.

"I seem to remember that your last human master started that feud..." she said with a small smile and left, casually tossing a Death Eater standing in her path back to crash against the wall of the dark room.

Malfoy snarled and looked over at the Death Eater slowly pushing his way back to his feet, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A bolt of green rushed across the room, sending the Death Eater tumbling back down, his suddenly lifeless eyes staring up at the slightly gothic carvings decorating the ceiling. The body was almost immediately removed as Malfoy's grey eyes flared red, and slowly panned around the room, settling, finally on Xavier Hamilton, then over at the dark corner.

Silently, a tall, armored X'Sheen slipped from the shadows, dark black steel plates whispering against each other as it moved. It stopped in front of Malfoy's throne, and sketched a barely respectful bow to the Dark Lord. Malfoy's scowl deepened, but he did not comment, nor reach for the glowing orb that even now rested in his pocket. Instead he steepled his hands in front of his face, and started towards the new X'Sheen general, the one that taken the place of the fallen leader Harry Potter had executed at Azkaban so long ago.

"Are your forces ready?" Malfoy asked without explanation. The dark one nodded mutely and Malfoy looked to Xavier. "Xavier."

"My Lord."

"The time is upon us, execute the plan." He smiled darkly, "If I cannot end Potter's line then I will settle for removing his allies." Xavier gave a quick, sidelong glance to Bariss, but nodded and spun on his heel. Every eye of Malfoy's inner circle watched him leave, even Prichart trembling slightly. Malfoy stood and extended his hand to his wife, pulling her to her feet. "Bariss, find something...appropriate for my lady and I to enjoy...send her to our chambers." He left, passing through a shimmering portal at the rear of the room, directly behind his throne.

***************************Near Bermuda******************************

10:15 pm

In the late twentieth century, Muggle Archeologists had been puzzled by the discovery of a "road" lying underwater just off the north shore of a tiny island in the Caribbean. At the time, the stones, lying along the sea bed in the warm, shallow waters had been thought, by many, to be a road to, or perhaps part of the long lost city of Atlantis, whose existence had echoed across both Wizarding and Muggle cultures alike.

They had been partially right.

The flat lines of stones had been a pathway of sorts, but not for foot or animal or even wheeled traffic, but the landing zones of the Atlantian versions of the magical powered crafts that darted along the skies these days, launched from military bases or carriers, or as had happened within the last year, from Airports that were slowly converting to the newer "technology". The actual city, one of several actually, had been several hundred miles to the northeast, centered around, what was now the island of Bermuda.

The secret of the location had been hidden from the public, both Wizarding and Muggle for centuries, pushed aside with misdirection in the Wizarding world, and outright denial in the Muggle one. Not that there were not ones who knew, in fact the Bermuda branch of Gringotts', which was currently the headquarters for the financial institution after the sealing of the London Office, used a converted and relatively poorly disguised section of an Atlantian fortress, sunken under the waves, as the basis for their vaults. In all that time, in the thousands of years since the lost of the continent to a series of X'Sheen attacks, few had returned, and only two had returned to where six prepared to go.

The waves slowly rocked the Sea Lion as Hermione finished pulling on a darkly colored wetsuit. She gave Harry a brief smile as he pulled her thick plait of hair out of the way and zipped it up for her, before she grabbed a equipment belt from the desk and buckled it on. She bent at the waist, buckling on a wand sheath to each thigh and straightened, watching as Harry began to pace.

She slipped up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder, stretching slightly to do so. She smiled, faintly as she heard Ron growl a curse, and disparage the Muggles who ever invented such a thing as a wetsuit. Remember the last time we did a night dive in these waters? she asked, smirking as Luna muttered something about gits and her hormones and went to help Ron.

Yeah, Harry replied, though we both had a tad less on, at the time. He spun, turning sideways to see her out of the corner of his eye. He kissed the side of her head and looked up towards the flying bridge, where in the dim, red night lighting, her could see Ginny and Neville looking down at him. Ginny gave them a high sign, both her and Neville were staying topside, just in case, and Harry nodded. "Ready to go, oh, King?"

"Shut it, you," Ron growled, even as Luna giggled faintly. She finished with Ron's suit, having already donned hers and grabbed a pair of fins from a dive bag. She walked to the rail, sitting backwards on it, and looked off to the east, where the lights of a Muggle resort on the coast of St. George's Island could be seen, several miles away.

"Let's go," Hermione said, glaring at both of her "boys" for an instant. She sat next to Luna, and both of them concentrated. A faintly visible shimmer surrounded their faces as modified Bubblehead Charms took hold, and without another word, the pair rocked backwards, falling into the ocean with faint splashes.

"Come on," Harry said, and followed Hermione, his charm establishing itself a bare instant before he hit the water. Ron muttered something, and yelped as Ginny flicked her wand, sending him crashing into the water.

The black waters instantly lit as Hermione thought a spell and a floating white orb of light appeared at her shoulder, and she started down, swimming towards a sandy bottom thirty feet below. She looked back, up towards the surface where the running lights of the boat could be dimly seen, finding the other three swimming down towards her.

As they slowly approached the bottom, passing schools of brightly colored fish, a pair of slight annoyed sharks and a immature Kraken, which snapped its beak at Ron. He sent a jet of hot water at it from his wand and it swam off, shooting a cloud of ink his way. His sputtered complaints came over the wireless in their ears for the next few minutes, as they moved ever closer to the bottom, that as they got closer seemed to look further and further away, the image, even in the dimness of their lights seemingly distorted and warped.

Hermione swam a touch longer, and without warning, the image ahead suddenly cleared and changed. Where there had been only sandy bottom, suddenly, several obsidian columns reached for the surface, like fingers of a hand. Directly in the approximately circular formation, a shimmering two-dimensional oval hung vertically in the water. The surface of the portal was opalescent, like a bit of mother-of-peal. Hermione looked back towards Harry, and waited as he caught up to her.

She reached back grabbed his head and pulled them both forward. She reached out and gently touched the surface with just the tips of her fingers. For a long instant nothing happened, then...

Without warning, a slamming sensation, like they were a pair of bludgers hit by the world's largest Beater's Bat, slammed into the small of their backs sending them flying forward. A sudden rush of images, of impossible places and creatures, of young children and old wizards snapped past. A tall man, with a long beard and a carved staff waved at them, and suddenly they slammed to a sudden halt on a white sand beach under a bright yellow sun. They tumbled along the beach for several meters until coming to a stop with Hermione sprawled artlessly across Harry's stomach.

Hermione rolled off Harry, pushed up on her hands and desperately canceled her Bubblehead Charm as her stomach rebelled. She heaved, spewing the contents of the last three days dinners onto the sands. She leaned on her hands, dry heaving and looked over at Harry to find he had done the same thing.

Hermione fell to the side and Harry grabbed onto her as she curled back into him, shivering from a sudden, unknown cold. After a minute, she stopped shaking and Harry sat up, pulling her up with him. They leaned together as Hermione conjured a canteen and handed it to him, and watched him wash out his mouth and hand it to her.

What the hell was that? Harry said hotly, if silently. He watched as Hermione chewed her lower lip in thought, and slowly looked up. Her eyes panned across the cloudless blue sky, and tracked about thirty degrees to the right, finding a smaller, orange ball of light

She swallowed heavily, and her hands shook as she reached out and grabbed Harry's hands in hers. Harry reached up and ran his hands over her wet hair as he looked into huge brown eyes, What's wrong, Hermione? he said softly.

Look up, Harry.

He paused and looked at the sky for a long moment. Oh.

Yeah.

That's probably not good.

You think? She snapped, then gave him an immediate, apologetic look. She closed her eyes and took a breath. I think we just took a Portkey Jump for lack of a better term.

You mean like the starships?

Like the GE Large displacement Portkey Drive...yeah...we ran into that same issue with the first prototypes, took me a month to balance out the effects, Hermione held his gaze for a beat, before she answered the question he did not ask, I don't know where we are, Harry. Somewhere in a binary or maybe tertiary star system. Maybe...Alpha Centauri...but that's just a guess and it really doesn't matter all that much.

Harry looked around, Where's Ron and Luna?

Hermione shrugged, I guess they weren't let through or something. She slowly pushed to her feet and looked down at her bare feet then walked over and picked up her flippers. She shook them once and watched as they changed to a pair of rafting sandals, which she strapped on. She reached back, unzipping the top of her suit and pulling it down so the top half hung loose from her hips, exposing the bikini top she had worn underneath.

Harry turned to her; then looked out over the ocean, watching as something large and orange leapt out of the water at the edge of the breakers. "I suppose we should look for the third piece of the guide," he said without turning from the waves. Hermione came up to his side and linked her little finger with his. "So you think this is Alpha Centauri?" Harry said quietly, "You think we can get a place here after this is over?"

"Kids would like it," Hermione mused, "not too many paparazzi to harass us, nice lines of fire for security," she watched something small with entirely too many legs scamper by at the edge of the water, "plenty of things for the cats to chase...why not."

"It is a rather fine place," an unfamiliar voice said from behind them, in a perfect Oxford accent. Harry and Hermione flickered and vanished, reappearing meters apart, all four of their wands pointing at a man that neither of them had ever seen before. In many ways, the man looked like Dumbledore, his long white beard bound with small gold rings and matching the tail of hair behind. Incongruously, the man wore a dark, tailored suit, with polished short boots that even from a distance, Harry could tell were the finest black dragonhide. He leaned on a tall, carved staff, set with a fist-sized faceted diamond that glowed and pulsed, readily visible even in the daylight.

But it was the eyes that sent a flutter through their hearts. They were featureless, depthless, glowing lights. Even when Harry or Hermione, Dumbledore's, even Voldemort's eyes, when they lit from within with magic, there was still structure to be seen, even if faintly, underlying the glow. In this newcomer's there was none to be seen. "I had thought myself about establishing a home here, perhaps in another thousand years or so..."

"Who are you?" Harry asked, even as his eyes lit, followed a moment later by Hermione's...

A deep, roaring belly laugh came from the Wizard, he leaned on his staff, totally unconcerned with the shimmering energy gathering at the tips of four wands. "Why, Lord Gryffindor...my name is known to many, and yet known to none. I have walked the worlds of man and of races yet unknown, and I have stood in the line when the hordes charged Arthur on the fields of Glyndonberry."

"That does not answer my husband's question," Hermione snapped, her eyes flaring further.

The Wizard snorted, "Lady Ravenclaw...if I could only express the number of times Rowena railed upon me when a fact eluded her." He stood straighter, and fingered his staff, "Very well then, let me introduce myself, my name dear lady, my Lord Gryffindor, is Merlyn Ambrosius, First Court Wizard of Britannia, defender of the Magical Realms and creator of the sandwich..." Hermione gave him a look. "Lord Sandwich stole my idea, quite improper that."

****************************Hogwarts************************************

Horatio Potter sprinted through the halls of the castle, chased by his sisters, all three of them, and a pair of scampering kittens. "Horry," you're dead," Emilia screamed, as her hair flashed bright blue and stood on end. He laughed and dove into a hidden passage that slammed closed just as Emilia and Caitlin reached it. Emilia flicked her wand at it, and growled, as it did not open.

"Come on," Makaila said from behind them, grabbing her sisters' hands and pulling them down in the opposite direction, "That passage leads to next to the kitchens, we can cut him off near Dumbledore's office." They sprinted off, towards a staircase down, a large glowing smiley face in the back of her hair and two kittens running after them as fast as they could move.

***********************Somewhere with a Binary Star************************

Merlin smiled at their gobsmacked expressions and waved his free hand. An overstuffed couch appeared across from a large, chintz armchair. A small table complete with a silver tea set, the pot already steaming, appeared with a slight twitch of his left eyelid. He looked at Harry and Hermione, Harry still in his wetsuit and Hermione in hers, half undone and he waved his hand.

Instantly, a column of sparkling golden light appeared around Hermione, fading slowly to reveal her, clad in a soft white, shift-like dress, her hair unbound and hanging loose down her back in soft waves and her feet bare on the white sands. The Ravenclaw sword hung from her slim hips off a black dragonhide belt, the rubies and sapphires in the hilt glinting softly in the light of the sun. She glanced over at Harry, to find him in a dark black suit, his hair wild as ever, but dry, and the Gryffindor sword, likewise at his hip. "Excellent," Merlin said, and waved to the couch, "please."

He sat, parking his staff vertically in the sand and poured himself a cup of tea. He watched over the rim of the cup as Hermione shared a quick look with Harry and she sat, carefully detaching her sword and laying it at her feet, before bringing them up onto the couch beside her. Harry sat next to her, setting his sword down on the sand, crossing over hers.

Merlin gestured in the air, and the third piece of the triangle, appeared, spinning in the air next to his head. He pointed to Harry and it floated over to him, dropping neatly into his hand. "There is what you came for, as you surmised, only the pair of you, together, could proceed through the portal. I will not send you on a misleading, meandering thought process to find where you must progress next. The Orb of Annakus may be accessed on the longest eve of the year, at the hold of night, with this key, at Stonehenge. In the same place that the first portal was opened. I myself created the pocket universe."

Hermione reached forward and took a cup, and had Harry do likewise with a glance. Somehow it did not seem...polite, to not do so. She took a sip and gave an appreciative nod, "Then we will be able to break his hold on the X'Sheen?"

Merlin nodded, "Yes, however the Orb has been hidden away for so long that it may take time to gather enough power to challenge its brother..." He took a contemplative sip, and then looked down, at the twin swords lying on the ground, "Your blades were part of a set of six actually...Lord...Harry," he said with a faint smile, "it was often speculated that Godric's blade was in fact, Excalibur...It is not, though she was made at the same time, with many of the same powers. Either yours or Hermione's may suffice to destroy the Orb of Maccabus, providing that you first bind its powers with the light Orb. If that is the case, you may break Malfoy's hold on his dark legions."

"Then the field is level," Harry said softly.

"One would think, my friend, one would think," he agreed, "However you must be careful, when they are released from the Dark Lord's hold, they may strike out randomly, or they may choose to pull back to their dark origins to wait their chance to strike. Remember that their goal is ultimately the destruction of humanity. They have had the same goal for the last ten thousand years." He looked out over the crystal waters. "As a boy, I watched the dark ships of the sky rain down blood and horror on Atlantis...and I watched from the shores of Britannia as the west horizon lit with fire."

Harry slowly reached over and took Hermione's hand in his, "Sir...we need to return." He paused, "If you would join us sir, surely you could..."

"I am very, very old, Harry, even though I feel rather spry, and in fact would dearly love to go dancing. Perhaps I will in the New World, tomorrow..." his gaze went suddenly blank, "You must return...to my eternal regret I am not permitted to directly participate in our conflict at this time, it is my duty to hold the line here...waiting for the time when the true host of the Dark Horde will appear in the night." He stood and waited as Harry and Hermione stood confusedly, gathering their swords in their hands. Harry slipped the fragment into a pocket. "I will see you again my friends, please give my best to Albus, and tell him he still owes me fifteen Galleons from the Portree Game in '05."

"They were pretty good in 2005," Harry said absently.

"No, Harry," he corrected him with a grin, "nineteen O' five." Merlin grasped his staff and raised it above his head. The diamond started to pulse rapidly, "Goodbye, my friends, I will see you soon, perhaps only a century or two from now." A bright white thunderclap of light filled their senses, and they felt themselves being tossed back, hurtling the way they had come.

The same sensations, though muted from before grabbed them, and a heartbeat later, they tumbled out of space a dozen feet above the softly rolling deck of the Sea Lion. Both of them twisted in the air automatically, landing softly on their feet. Harry looked over at Hermione and causally waved his hand, dismissing the wands of Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville.

"Bloody Hell, where the fuck did you come from," Ron shouted, his eyes still as wild as when he saw them vanished into the portal and it collapse behind them almost four hours ago. He looked over them critically, "And why are you two dressed for a bloody ball?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you, Ron," Hermione replied for the both of them, reaching over and grabbing Harry's hand. "Harry and I are going to bed, I'm sure between the four of you, you can manage to get us back." Hermione gave them a small smile as she and Harry stepped below and a loud, happy squeal came up to the main deck a moment later and then silence.

"Yes, ma'am," Ron replied to the air and waved Ginny to the upper bridge, "You heard the man, sister dear, come, luv," he grabbed Luna's hand and started towards the cabins below.

"Why us," Ginny groused, loudly, even as she started to climb the ladder to the bridge. Neville did not say a word as he followed.

"I outrank you, Ginevra," Ron replied with a grin, "And I'm older."

He managed to just shut the hatch cover as a Bat Bogey Hex glanced off the hatch.

**************************Mount Weather, Maryland*********************

A large, glowing stone stood in the center of a ring of inscribed runes, the center keystone for the defensive wards preventing the invasion of the X'Sheen into the east coast. Around the stone, a dozen, flat black armored suits stood, looking outward, swaying slightly in the insanely high winds that ripped across this mountaintop on a daily basis.

One mountaintop away, a truck pulled up, and stopped. Within the truck, in the back of the stolen, panel truck that rocked and swayed in the winds, four cloaked figures sat, looking at a dark, twisted crystal that sat on a burnished metal tripod. "How long are we to wait?" one asked as he poured a cup of coffee from a thermos.

"We are to wait the signal, then we are to plant the device and leave," another, who had been the driver for the conveyance answered. He started to say more, but fell silent as he watched the crystal begin to pulsate faster and faster--

A green wave tore through the early morning sky, reaching across and shattering the keystone into a billion shards, even as the Kedavra Device destroyed its defenders and sent them tumbling into the night.

All along the Eastern Coast, a line of fire erupted in the eastern sky as the wards crumbled, and a beat later, at a hundred sites all along the sea coast, from Florida to Maine, flat depthless portal opened in the darkness with the sound of a thousand screams and dark, cloaked shapes appeared and green fire lit the night.

A/N And there is its, the game is fully afoot.

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