A/N: Yeah, I still own nothing really. Thanks to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter. Hmm, I wonder
where I got this chapter title....
Chapter 18: Deathly Hallows.
**************************Godric's Hollow********************************
October 31, 2015.
4:20 pm
Hermione blinked rapidly; fighting away the tears she could feel gathering in the corners of her eyes, as she stood on sodden grass, still vibrantly green, even deep into the autumn. A heavy, cold rain fell from steel grey clouds in solid sheets, pasting her hair to her back in soaked, dark-brown ringlets.
She shivered slightly, and wrapped her arms around herself, as nearly freezing rainwater trickled past her drenched collar and down her chest. A crack of lightning ripped the sky above her, and she slowly moved forward, falling to her knees behind a kneeling, dark-haired man with his head down. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the cascade of water that tipped down her front from the cup of his lowered hood.
Hermione kissed the crook of his neck, closing her eyes as she tightened her arms, and nuzzled aside drenched black hair, with the tip of her nose. She looked up, past his head, towards the pair of white stones standing silently under the sheltering branches of the beech tree, standing alone at the top of the hill overlooking their house. The crash of waves against an unseen shore came from her right. "We should go inside, Love," she whispered, breaking the silence.
You can go, Harry whispered flatly, shivering slightly in her arms. I'll just stay here.
Hermione took a breath, and closed her eyes. The only warm spot in her universe was where her front pressed against his back, and she pressed into it, focusing her thoughts to his. A shuddering breath slipped past her lips as she wove their minds together, and felt the sorrow filling his thoughts. She reached out, letting an immaterial finger stroke lightly over the surface of his mind. Let's go, Harry, Hermione concentrated, and they vanished, the rain filling in the space they had crouched in.
They reappeared kneeling in the floor of their bedroom. She fell back onto her bum, leaning back against the side of the bed and pulled Harry to her, cradling his head to her chest. Her fingers found his hair automatically, combing it from side to side as he leaned back on her.
Hermione awkwardly shed her dripping coat, and then worked at Harry's likewise wet cloak until she could remove it from him, and toss both garments to the side where they landed with a wet plop. I know, Harry...I know, Baby...
It's bad this year, Mione, Harry muttered, and she just nodded, kissing his head near his ear. It's just that...
Our kids are part of it, and you're scared, she finished for him. Harry nodded silently, Me too, Harry...me too. She toed off her trainers, kicking them towards the closet, before letting her fingers fall to the hem of his jumper. She peeled it off, tossing it vaguely towards the hamper in the corner.
What are you trying to do?
Get you out of these wet clothes, Hermione replied with a faint smile. She eased out from behind him and knelt in front of him. She looked down, running her fingers along his stomach before looking up into his eyes. Fingers trailed upward, running along the center of his chest, before finding their home in the hairs on the back of his head. She leaned in, kissing him, and sat up. Hermione reached down and pulled off her own jumper, with a heated look in her eyes.
Harry watched, feeling his pulse speed up, I love you, Hermione, he murmured, his eyes holding hers, seemingly not even noticing that she had been wearing only a jumper above the waist. Her lower lip took a well-worn path between her teeth as she nodded, and moved to straddle his lap.
Hermione stroked the side of his face, smiling faintly as he leaned into her touch. She bent forward, kissing his nose. The windows to the room shook slightly as the wind shifted, sending the rain hammering against the house. Neither of them seemed to notice as magic filled their eyes, and Harry pulled her down against him, hugging her to him. She closed faintly glowing eyes, hiding her face in his shoulder, and started to slowly nuzzle his neck, nipping lightly at his skin.
A soft, purring sigh slipped from somewhere inside, as she felt the buttons of her jeans undo themselves, and the waistband, already loose, slump down on her hips. Harry let his hands fall, slipping down to cup her arse underneath the cold denim of her jeans. She ground against him instinctively, growling as she felt him react to her, arching up into her hips.
Hermione pulled back slightly, looking up at their bed, and slowed pulled back from him, standing and letting her jeans fall to the floor with a small shimmy of her hips. She bent forward at the hips, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she followed the path of his gaze and pulled him to his feet.
She looked up slightly, wrapping herself to his front as she kissed him. A faint gesture at her side and a rush of wind swirled between them, and vanished, leaving Harry only in a pair of yellow boxers with a large, animated smiley face on the front. Hermione laughed, before pushing him back to tumble onto the bed.
A gesture to a chest set to the side of the bed, and a thick quilt floated up to drop next to Harry. Hermione crawled onto the bed, draping herself over Harry, and reaching up, tangling her fingers in his hair. She dropped her head to his, sighing into his mouth as he pulled the quilt over the both of them. "Thank you, Hermione," he murmured and she shrugged.
Like you wouldn't do it for me, she dropped her lips to his throat, rocking upward enough to cause a faint hiss to escape his lips. She laughed softly, and sat up enough for the quilt to fall back down, only covering their hips.
Harry reached up and traced the lines of her face, watching as her eyes flickered between glowing emerald and deep brown, before they settled into a soft glow. Harry laughed to himself at some thought, and a chestnut eyebrow crooked.
What?
Harry gave a faint shake of his head, Just that I love your eyes...
They are probably glowing right now, Harry.
Yeah, he let his hand slip down, trailing down her side, and sending a shiver dancing down her spine, to pool low in her belly. But it's both, I guess...the brown makes me feel so warm, so safe...but then the other, when the magic just spills out, he smirked, just proves what a randy little girl you really are.
Prat, she gasped, and smacked his shoulder. The glow increased, and she laid back down on him, kissing him. She giggled faintly as Harry rolled them both over and gratefully took his weight as he settled on top of her. Eyes fell half-closed, shuttering the soft glow glinting off his black hair.
Too heavy? he asked as he let his weight fall on her, lips trailing upward from her throat, across her chin to find her lips.
Hermione sighed and let her legs tangle with his, twisting hers around his right, Never. She arched her neck back and to the side, allowing him better access to her throat and purred quietly as his hands started to stoke lightly up and down her sides, occasionally diverting between them, to touch her in the few places they were not almost fused as one.
Lightning cracked the sky outside the window, sending a pulse of blue-white light into the room as it interacted with the defensive wards. Hermione pulled his lips back up to hers, and sighed as she let her tongue dance with his. Fingers trailed slowly down his back; her short nails exploding goose bumps all down his spine. She slowly pushed the tips of her fingers under his boxers and grabbed his arse.
So is that how you want it? he replied, slipping his fingers outward to tangle in the thin straps of her knickers. He twisted them around his fingers as he watched her eyes, more than practiced enough to read every flicker of emotion, even behind the fire of their shared magic.
She shrugged, and kissed him, You know that it doesn't matter...though we haven't done the sitting thing in a while, she added thoughtfully and Harry laughed, and glanced down as she twisted her fingers in the waistband of his boxers and they vanished with a soft POP, to reappear on top of the hamper. They were rather practiced after all.
Harry kissed her, holding her down with just the force of his lips on hers as his hands slid the last vestige of clothing down her hips, and to her knees. His lips left hers, and started to trail down her body, slowly moving down her neck, nipping a path down between her breasts to her belly.
She sighed quietly, almost inaudibly, as he took a moment to tease her navel, and let her fingers fall down to tangle in his hair. His continued on down, slowly sliding her knickers down and off her legs, flinging them over his shoulder to land near the hamper.
"Missed," Hermione breathed, then gasped as he darted forward to kiss the inside of her knee.
Are you sure? he replied, as he slowly nipped up her thigh, causing her to squirm under him, twisting the sheets in her fingers.
That's...no...f....ff...fair, she sputtered, as he slowly moved upwards, almost torturously.
He moved just a touch more, and words failed her, even in her thoughts, as he slowly began to kiss around her lower lips.
Soft, mewling sounds slipped from her lips as Harry started to work faster, letting his tongue out to taste her. She cried out, as his lips slipped a touch higher, and sucked on a small nubbin. "Harrryy," she moaned, and let her legs come up, locking his head in place as her hands rose of their own volition, to play lightly over her nipples.
Small objects, mostly unbreakable, started to float about, lifting from the floor or dresser, as an endless pool of heat filled her core, and her breathing shortened, becoming barely even pants. Eyes fell closed, leaving only the faintest slivers of greenish glows spilling onto the apples of her cheeks, as the sounds from her throat became a low, almost constant moan.
His hand slipped up, dancing along her belly, feeling as her abs fired randomly, and she let her hand slip down to interlace with his. He smirked, and slowly slipped one finger home from his free hand...and she crashed, screaming something vaguely resembling his name as her body arched upward and fire exploded along her nerves.
Harry gasped, as the sensations bled over, filling his mind and almost sending him tumbling after her, as her soul reached forward to grab his, and hold on, pulling him forward into her, even as her body continued to quake under him.
She collapsed back to the bed, panting, and her mind loosened its hold on him slightly. He slowly crawled back up the bed, and kissed her lazily. She growled faintly at her taste on his lips, and kissed him again, before letting her head drop back to the pillows, I t...th...thought I was cheering you up, she thought slowly, her thoughts clearly not all the way back in order.
He slowly stroked wet hair from her eyes, and let his fingers trail down her chest, lingering in the valley between before slipping back up to cradle the back of her head. That did cheer me up...and who said we're done?
A small pink tongue slipped out, running along lips, I'm always glad to help.
I know. His eyes fluttered closed as she reached down and stroked him.
Sit up, she muttered, and watched appreciatively as he sat up, moving until his back was against the headboard. A soft, half smile danced across her lips as she rolled over on the bed and moved to kneel on the bed.
Didn't we...and I mean you in the ' we' part, break a bed last time...doing this...
Are you complaining? a single eyebrow crooked.
No...I'm very good at Repairing Charms.
I know, she replied, as she slowly crawled along the bed until she was kneeling just beside his legs. She brought one knee over his legs, to kneel astride his lap, and took a sharp breath as she slowly ground against him, trapping his member between them. She kissed him as she rose up on her knees, and reached down, taking hold and guiding him, Isn't magic great?
Hermione let herself drop, impaling her body on his with a gasp. Harry groaned, and pulled her head to his shoulder as she started to move, and objects that had crashed to the floor with her previous release started to float again.
She reached down and back, grabbing his hands from her hips and intertwining their fingers, and started to move faster, even as her mind slipped forward, swirling with and joining with his, dropping the normally, almost absurdly low barriers totally separating their minds from each others, to nothing.
Harry groaned as he felt both of their releases starting to build, each feeding on the fire racing down the other's nerves as much as their own.
The bed started to squeak beneath them ominously, as Hermione started to apply more-than-human force to their coupling, and rocked on his lap faster, sending the headboard slapping into the wall. Harry started to move upward to meet her, as much as he could in this position and she pressed her lips to his, feeling the cusp coming closer and closer...Her tongue danced along his lips, slipping inward and moving in time with her hips.
P...please, she sputtered, and he reached between them, touching her and she exploded, crashing down against him as she convulsed on his lap, squeezing him. Her scream into his mouth was joined by his own as he came a moment later. Rocking up into her even as she was still writhing on him. Something shattered in the room, or possibly several somethings, and then silence, except for their labored panting, loud but unnoticed in their ears.
A soft, warm glow filled joined thoughts for a timeless instant, before they slowly pulled apart, enough to remember whose name belonged to which one of them, anyway.
Hermione continued to shudder randomly on his lap for several moments more, as he let the headboard take all of their combined weight, and hands slowly traced up and down her damp back, moving through a still sodden fall of curls.
Damn...
Yeah...
Harry slowly scooted down the bed, still holding her to him, until they were both lying down, her spread on top of him like a rather warm, favorite security blanket. She let her head rest on his shoulder as he continued to stroke up and down her back, blinking slowly, as even her brain had yet to reset.
Harry? she asked finally, and she felt him nod. That was cool...can we go again?
She giggled quietly at the unworded thought that answered her, and he moved his head enough to kiss the side of her head, Alright...I get to pick next?
She giggled again, and a distant corner of her mind rolled its eyes at sounding vaguely like Lavender and Parvati in forth year, but it was beat down by the rest that was rather enjoying the turn of events. Of course, Love, only fair and all.
Good...Harry smirked and rolled them over, draping his body over hers and rising on all fours. Let's see...what shall we do...I know...
**********************************Hogwarts******************************
6:20pm
Emilia tightened her hand in Xander's as they stepped into the Great Hall, and looked around. She absently ducked a flying pumpkin and sent a mental pointer to Xander, pointing towards the black-haired figure sitting at the middle of the table with several of their friends and family clustered around him. As she watched, she could not help to compare the grouping around Sirius to some pack protecting its alpha from some unseen danger.
She looked worriedly at Harriet, sitting across from her brother, her attention fixedly on Sirius. As if she had detected the entrance of the newest pair, which as it was Harriet, she probably had, Harriet turned and met Emilia's eyes. Emilia gulped, as she found her friend's gaze, at the depthless pools she found there, instead of the only vaguely unsettling unfocused look that resided there as often as not.
Emilia took a breath and let her magic free, instead of holding it tightly in check, a trick that her mother had taught her just this summer. She staggered slightly as hundreds of magical presences, ranging from faint sparkles to the nearly blinding presence of Dumbledore at the Head Table filled her expanded vision.
Xander's faint, unconscious growl greeted her ears as she slowly looked to her left, the sudden threat filling her thoughts. She felt a sliver of an unfamiliar smell flicker across her nose and she glanced up and back as she recognized Xander's senses overlaying her own.
She let down a wall that had she had held for a year, since when her mother had handed her and her brother an old leather-bound journal inscribed with the name of their paternal grandmother and said that the lab in the basement had what they needed, if they wanted to follow through on Lily's instructions.
Her vision changed again, colors shifting slightly as her nose flared, and the acrid smell of something tickled her nose. Emilia spun on her heel and nearly sprinted to Harriet and her brother, the clack of her Mary-Janes loud to her ears. "Don't..." Emilia snapped, reaching for a frosted pitcher of Pumpkin Juice set in the center of the table.
"Asperil," Harriet commented in a faint, light voice, "rather a pedestrian attempt, really." She flicked her wand at the offending pitcher and it vanished with a POP. "Though I admit that if I hadn't noticed that it turned the apple black when Sirius spilled a touch," she waved casually at a bright red apple with a charred, black hole burnt all the way through it, "I might have let him drink it."
"Or you," Sirius growled, menace replete in his tone, as he looked over her shoulder towards the Slytherin table, "Only because you insisted that I drink it first." He looked at her, and Emilia gasped faintly as she let her eyes relax into another spectrum, and she watched as the shimmering reddish-gold of her brother's aura reach across the table, flaring until it touched the scintillating rainbow of Harriet's. It drew back almost instantly, and she looked to both of them quickly, neither seemed to have noticed.
Rain looked over at her, from her seat on the other side of Justin, who was sitting to Sirius' right and gave her a small, helpless shrug. Emilia and Xander sat down next to Harriet, and started to look around, taking in her surroundings to gain time.
Flitwick had performed his usual charms on the hall, sending it into an autumn wonderland for the annual Halloween Feast. Large flying pumpkins flitted here and there, carved with the faces of Hogwarts' Professors, Staff and several select students, under a clear, star-studded sky filled with a huge crescent moon, unlike the raging storm outside the castle that had set in over the Isles. Tiny witches and wizards shot across that faux sky on minuscule brooms, occasionally chased by an owl roosting for the night in the rafters.
Up at the Head Table, the Professors were talking to each other, laughing at some joke. All except Dumbledore, who caught Emilia's glance with a piercing look. She felt no probe against her shields, but even still she had an odd feeling that he knew her deepest secrets. She swallowed and looked away quickly, missing him lean over and brush McGonagall's sleeve, who in turn nudged Neville.
"Emilia," Rain said lowly, and Justin, Abigail, Elliot, Chastity and Dan, looked at her searchingly, "they've..."
"What's happened?" Virginia asked, slipping in behind Emilia and dropping on Harriet's other side. She glanced up as Kris sat down across the table from her, and then back at Emilia.
"Bloody Slytherins have tried to poison Harriet or Sirius," Xander snarled under his breath. He looked back over his shoulder in time to catch Parker looking at them hungrily. He looked away quickly as Xander's eyes narrowed, before Xander turned back to the Gryffindor table.
Abigail sighed, almost helplessly and rolled her head around on her neck, producing a soft cracking sound, "So, what's the plan, are we going after them?"
Sirius looked at Emilia and then back at the others, though carefully skipping over Harriet, "I think that its time for a little reminder of what we can do, if we choose to..."
"We can't injure them, Sirius, too much," Em whispered heatedly, though he could read her doubts in her own words in her eyes.
"Why not," he snapped back in return, "what if they had succeeded in hurting Harriet," he did not look over at her, "What if they had..." his voice faded, and he took a breath. His eyes grew hard, cold, and his voice dropped to a near inaudible whisper that still everyone heard that needed to hear it, almost as if it were magic, "They already attacked one of our own," a glance to Chastity, "Probably two of our own for that matter, we can't let them get away with it..."
"We won't...but we can't go to their level," she clenched her fists below the table, "Not yet, Sirius...damn it, I want to rip their throats out," she whispered darkly, "but not yet. We can't be them. This is a little too pat, it has to be a trap of some sort."
"What if they succeed, while we are being polite?" his voice flat. "They crossed the line with Harriet just a few days ago." Emilia closed her eyes for a beat, as he acknowledged that he had known all along.
Emilia licked her lips, "Then they better kill every damn one of us in their first attempt, because Merlin himself won't be able to save them."
Dumbledore stood from the table, and waved for silence, cutting off any rejoinder from Sirius. Emilia looked towards the head table, grateful for the interruption, even as she fought her instincts that were screaming at her to turn and wipe the smirk she could feel directed at her back from Parker's lips-along with a goodly chunk of the back wall-if she used the spells that her brain helpfully, automatically, supplied to her.
"Another year, another Halloween Feast," Dumbledore began, his hands wide behind a golden eagle podium, he gripped the edges. "I hope that everyone has enjoyed the splendid feast provided for us by the Hogwarts Elves, I know that I have." He looked over the sea of students, most of whom were paying at least some modicum of attention to him, "Over the years that I have been at Hogwarts, this feast has become an institution, a time when the houses can come together in celebration of one of the eldest of our traditions."
He waved his hand in front of him, describing an arc over the entire breadth of the hall, and shimmering orange, sparkling lights rained down, shimmering as they hit hair and robes, before fading away. He held up one finger before him, "It is in this vein, that tonight, I announce another celebration, one that we have flirted with over the years, and that I feel should serve to once more bring unity and joy to the houses of this school."
"For this reason, tonight, I am announcing that a Yule Ball will be held on the nineteenth of December, on the Saturday before many of you will return to be with your families for the Holidays. It shall be open to third-years and above, with other activities," he smirked, "and slightly better food, I am told, available to those in their first and second years, or those not wishing to attend."
A loud murmur answered his words as students began talking to each other lowly. Dozens of students gave evaluating glances to others, measuring potential dates up.
Dumbledore nodded and smiled, "I will now let you return to your sumptuous feast, and back to ignoring me." He sat down, and the noise level spiked. Ice blue eyes panned to the Gryffindor table, and watched as Sirius gave his sister another hard look, and stood, walking from the Great Hall tiredly. A head of red hair turned to follow him and started to stand, but stopped at a look back from him and dropped almost bonelessly back to the table, crossed her arms on the table and buried her head in them.
*******************************Canton***********************************
11:15 pm
Remus Lupin smiled at his hosts and leaned back on the comfortable overstuffed couch. He pulled Tonks back into his side, and she tucked her bare feet up under her, reaching down automatically to smooth her skirt over her legs. She leaned forward and took a half-filled glass of merlot from the coffee table and brought it to her lips.
"More?" Roger asked Remus, gesturing with the neck of the bottle in his hand towards another glass sitting empty on the table. Remus shook his head, and Roger sat the bottle back down on a small tray and sat back in the overly large chair that the Grangers had purchased to sit with, with grandchildren. Jane walked from the back room, and squeezed in next to her husband, even though another chair was empty.
"Thank you for having us over tonight, Jane," Tonks said, smiling as she let her head drop to Remus' shoulder, she squirmed slightly as Remus tickled a bare stripe of skin at her waist as her top rode up, glared at him as he looked back with an utterly unrepentant expression and back to Jane. "It was lovely, Wolfie here is such a fan of your Beef Wellington."
"It was our pleasure," Jane replied, shrugging, and trying not to smirk at the look Remus was giving his wife, "I was in the mood to cook and since there aren't any kids or grandkids around here right now, it saved us from leftovers." She frowned slightly and looked away, "I do wish that Harry and Hermione could have come over..."
Remus took a breath, and Tonks reached down, squeezing the hand on her waist, "It's not the best time of year for Harry," Remus mentioned after a moment, quietly, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes. "It's probably for the best that they are alone."
"I'm sorry, Remus, I wasn't thinking, I knew better...I..." Jane said hurriedly.
Remus shrugged, and took a sip of Tonks' wine. He looked up and to the left, and then back at the Grangers, "I've had a very long time to say my goodbyes, but I knew them, Sirius and James for my entire Hogwarts career, and Lily scarcely less...at least I have the memories of them to wrap myself in. Harry doesn't even have that comfort."
Jane started to reply, but froze as both Remus and Tonks stiffened suddenly. Tonks shot to her feet as Remus held up one hand. He stood quickly and his eyes darkened and returned to normal as he shook off the minor alcohol buzz he was feeling from the evening's libations. "We seem to have guests."
"Six of them?" Tonks asked as she concentrated, and her hair shifted, pulling up from the long cerulean tail she had been wearing tonight, to a short, black style. Her loose denim skirt lengthened and split, darkening to a dark grey color, and her long-sleeved top darkened from deep blue to match her hair, to a dark grey.
He started to respond, and then shook his head as a fresh Apparition spike called to him from the wards, "Double that," he growled. He flicked his wand at the lights and they were plunged into darkness, and he looked to Roger and Jane, as his eyes changed and he could see them easily in the dark. His nose twitched, "They have weres with them and...a pair of vamps..."
"Bloody lovely," Tonks growled and grabbed Jane's hand and pulled Jane to her. She flicked a wand at her wineglass, and it turned blue, shook a couple of times and stopped. "Go," she said hurriedly, "I mean it, I'm sending you to the Hollow..."
"Tonks," Roger snapped, "I can..."
"We get paid for this, now go," Remus growled, his voice only partially human. Tonks pushed the glass into Jane's hands, jerked Roger into contact with his wife and they vanished in a rush of wind and fall of color.
Tonks followed Remus as he padded across the dark living room, into the kitchen and to the sliding glass door leading out into the back yard that they and the Grangers shared at the end of a long cul-de-sac near the edge of town. Several acres of dense woods backed the houses, and Remus looked to them as he and Tonks slipped from the house, any trace of awkwardness that might be present in his wife's normal movements utterly gone. A large, fake, second full moon hung low in the sky, directly between the houses, replacing the several days past full one hidden above the thick storm clouds.
The heavy rain that was falling at the Hollow and at Hogwarts was just as much in force here, instantly drenching both of them. Tonks shivered slightly, wrapping her arms around herself, but didn't make a sound as she followed Remus into the night.
Remus sniffed as he and Tonks sheltered in the deep shadows of the lee of the porch, before he reached over and grabbed the back of Tonks' head, and kissed her roughly. She tasted blood as her tongue pricked on his fangs, and she watched as his eyes vanished into depthless pools of black. "They are coming from downwind," he breathed in her ear, "the vamps are young, not even fifty, six weres, four wolf and two, that I think are bear...and four wizards. "
Remus gave her one long, soft look and SHIFTED, growing; changing until an eight-foot tall, bipedal wolf towered over her. Long, ivory fangs hung from an extended, furry muzzle, with serrated claws on the end of human-like arms. Tonks stood as tall as she could, rising on tiptoe behind the cover of the house, and pulled down on the muzzle of the beast.
Totally black eyes looked at her with intelligence not held in any animal's brain and she kissed the side of his muzzle, "Be careful, Remus," she murmured, and he nodded, before padding out into the night, angling for the woods and away from the attackers. Tonks watched him go, before casting several charms on herself, to silence, to take away her smell and to blend into the background. She rolled away, heading in the opposite direction of Remus, and desperately wishing that the various silver weapons that were locked in their arms cabinet were not on the other side of the attackers.
************************Godric's Hollow*******************************
Hermione stretched and rolled more comfortably against Harry, moving until she could press every possible inch of available skin against him. She smiled and let her eyes slip closed as she basked in his warmth, wrapping both of her arms around him as she tucked her head under his.
Harry sighed contently, and pulled the quilt up, covering her to her neck, and himself to about mid-chest. Long fingers slowly started to comb gently through her hair, still damp from their intermittent activities since this afternoon. He glanced over to the side, and hid a tiny smirk at the silver tray floating off to the side. Neither he nor Hermione had left the room since this afternoon, Dobby had appeared silently as they lay together, basking, and left a more than sufficient dinner for them both, before vanishing again without a word.
There was a reason that the Malfoys had prized Dobby...even as they had abused him.
The storm still raged outside, with occasional flickers of lighting crashing across the sky, silently, as Hermione had charmed the window to cut off the sound of the thunder. "Harry," she murmured after a few silent minutes had passed.
"Umm," he replied as his other hand slipped down under the covers to rest just at the top of her bum. She squirmed languidly for a moment and settled back down with her legs intertwined with his.
"Can we stay here until Monday?"
"Whatever m'lady wishes."
"Good."
Hermione's head snapped up, as a vortex of energy slipped through the wards, and erupted in their living room. She rolled from the bed without a word, snagging a long-sleeved t-shirt of Harry's from the hamper in passing and pulled it on in mid stride, barely taking time to pull it down enough to cover her bum as she headed out the door to the bedroom and sprinted towards the stairs.
Hermione let out a small, shocked sound as she found her parents standing in the middle of the living room. Jane was still clutching a wineglass, as she looked up to find her daughter already halfway down the stairs. "They're attacking the house, Remus and Tonks went out after them...." Jane trailed off as Hermione vanished and reappeared in their bedroom just as Harry was pulling on a pair of blacks and stepping into boots.
"I heard," he said, and waved his hand towards the closet, sending her own gear rocketing to her. She pulled on the pants and just transfigured the shirt to a dark grey, before tying her hair back with as her weapons belt floated over and fastened itself around her hips.
She stepped into her boots, they laced themselves, before she grabbed Harry's outstretched hand, and the pair vanished. They reappeared next to Roger, making him jump backwards. Hermione checked the fit of her wand holster, "Stay here," Harry muttered a liquid series of syllables behind her under his breath and outside the house, the wards over the house became visible, shimmering as scintillating sheets of light danced across the surface of the half dome over the top of their house and grounds. "The wards are on lethal, only us, Remus and Tonks and the kids can get in now...unless Ron and Luna decide to get their arses back."
"If we aren't back in an hour or two, contact Albus and have him evacuate you to Hogwarts...and keep the kids from coming after us," Harry added darkly, grabbed Hermione's hand once more and the pair vanished.
****************************Canton*************************************
Only the occasional flicker of light from a lighting bolt broke the darkness outside the pair of houses occupied by the Grangers and Lupins. Even the false moon the intruders had called did little to part the darkness. Several dark shadows moved across the sodden grass, splitting into two groups, six hulking forms, and a small, svelte, obviously female shape turned towards the Lupins, while three, lead by a tall, almost scarecrow-like figure turned to the Grangers. A final pair remained between the houses, holding wands pointed towards either house.
None of the attackers had felt the characteristic flicker of energy when the Portkey had executed, the skill unknown to any of them, and the wards, which unbeknownst to them had just become lethal, owed them no allegiance.
Tonks crept along a low spot in the yard, crawling through a near stream that cut between the houses that Remus had been supposed to fix for ages. She bit her lip, as the trio headed to the Grangers' stepped almost over her, and she turned to watch as they approached the Grangers' house. A flash of lightning lit the face of the one in the lead, the tall, skinny male, revealing fangs already extended past his lip. She looked down, searching for a stick or something in the gloom to transfigure to a stake, but frowned, as she found nothing usable.
The wizards with him lifted their wands towards the house and her time was up. Tonks rose silently on her knees, and her wand lifted in an unconscious smooth motion that she could have never equaled on any other day, one not helped along by the adrenaline that steadied her nerves, instead of made them jittery as with the majority of the population. Her wand bucked twice, sending hissing blue bolts of plasma downrange, and sending splashes of gore to coat the already sodden raiments of the vampire in the center.
He turned with a hiss towards her, and leapt, covering the twenty meters to her in pair of long bonds. Tonks dove to the side, dodging out of the way, her invisibility moot at this distance after she had given herself away. A terrible roar came from behind her as Remus engaged several weres in a running battle, but she did not dare to turn as the vampire charged her.
A harried wand flick batted away a pair of Cutting Curses from the pair in the center, and Tonks spun, backing quickly as she ducked under a strike by the vamp, and tumbled backwards over a root sticking up from the yard. The vampire chuckled darkly as it started to advance on her slowly. It flickered out of the way of another Reductor, and gathered itself to pounce.
A soft whistle came from behind him, and he spun...Just in time to see a flicker of blue fire as the Sword of Gryffindor lopped off his head. A rain of fire exploded in the darkness as he immolated and Harry dove forward through the fading flames, and pulled Tonks to her feet without breaking stride.
The pair of Death Eaters in the center started to rain a staccato beat of spells towards them. Harry blocked a torrent with a flick of his wand and dove behind a large, concrete bench set under a birch tree.
The Death Eaters took a step forward. The leftmost staggered as a silver blade appeared out of the darkness, and economically slit his throat, even as a second silver blade flashed past his face to bury itself hilt deep in his partner. Hermione called her blade to her hand and vanished, reappearing across the yard, at the edge of the woods, behind a tall oak.
Harry appeared one tree over at the same instant, and took a breath. He ducked around the tree and back, Remus has three of the weres chasing him, three more headed towards his house, and two DE's with them. He touched his ear, "Tonks, do you have comms?"
Silence answered him, and he gave Hermione a quick headshake.
Hermione gave her head a hard shake to flick a loose, soaked tendril from in front of her eyes, Take the vamp with them on the way in?
Depending on who that is, they could be more dangerous than all the weres combined, Harry reminded her, and she sighed.
Her eyes light from within, even more so than the normal green glow...She's mine...
Alright, Harry whispered, and glanced over, holding her eyes for a second that seemed to take an hour, Next year...I don't care if Dragons are running around in my garage...we are going to the beach house for a week over Halloween.
It's a date, she whispered back, I love you, Harry...go...
Harry vanished and reappeared fifteen feet back of the weres and vamps who were turning to ambush Remus as he fought three of the wolves. Remus caught one and tossed it thirty feet through the air to smash through Roger's tool shed, and Harry's wand came up, tracking...and a torrent of silver darts rent the night, shredding a wolf leaping for Remus' back.
A flicker of movement erupted to Harry's right, and he flipped sideways, as huge, man-wolf crashed into the wet turf. An arrow of fire shot past Harry's shoulder, impacting the remaining vampire and sending her flying back through the shrubbery, aflame, and screaming. The line of fire slowed, revealing a blue and red phoenix, which SHIFTED in mid-air to reveal Hermione tumbling into a forward roll.
She exploded out of the move, hopping upwards, dodged to the side and a silver blade snapped out, slicing up across a furred throat, dropping a werewolf to the ground holding its chest. A dark roar answered her, and a huge paw smashed into her side, sending her crashing into the back porch.
Harry ducked a swipe of claws, and glanced over as he felt Hermione's silent scream of pain. He spun in place as the werewolf swiped at his head, seemed to crumple and stabbed straight up with the Sword of Gryffindor, his right hand cupping the but and forcing the tip upward with a loud crunch, driving the blade through the soft palate into the were's brain. Harry jerked it free and sprinted towards Hermione in a blur of motion.
The werebear roared and charged at Hermione, a flicker of dark movement to its left, it turned just in time to see a blur sprint at the porch, leap, bound off the wall six feet up, and flip backwards over its head.
Harry sliced sideways as he landed and the huge were fell to the ground with a loud thump, shaking the ground behind beneath him. A loud crunch came from over to one side as Remus dealt with the last werewolf that Hermione had wounded, leaving only the last werebear roaring at them.
Tonks had already extinguished the Vampire and bound her with silver cables, and joined Remus.
Hermione smirked slightly and spun, flicking her wand at the false moon and it vanished. The were roared as it shrunk, changing slowly to a burly, bald man. "What are you going to..."
Hermione spun, her right foot coming up and clipped him precisely behind the ear. The were tumbled to the ground and Hermione looked over at Harry with a small, darkly-satisfied look in her eyes.
Remus changed as he stalked up to them, and Hermione carefully didn't look down, as Remus' clothing had not survived the transformation.
Tonks didn't even seem to notice as she dropped to her knees at his side and started to probe at a deep gouge at his hip.
Harry reached over and pulled Hermione to him carefully, feeling the damage to her side though their link without even looking. Alright?
Get me home, Hermione replied, shaking slightly as she let her magic slip away and the pain started to register. She reached into a pouch on her belt and flipped open her mirror.
The tired face of a dispatcher that had dealt with pranks all night, looked back at her. She snapped to attention as she recognized Hermione's face, and noticed the thin trickle of blood at the edge of Hermione's scalp. "I'm at Chief Auror Lupin's residence, we have sustained an attack here...scramble reinforcement teams to the Minister and alert Hogwarts."
"Inbound," the young blonde replied after leaning to the side and shouting something unheard in the mirror.
Hermione glowered at the unconscious were for a few moments, pausing only to flick her wand to the side to reinforce Tonks' bonds on the vampire as she heard her struggling.
Tonks conjured a set of blacks for Remus, clothing him and concealing the white bandage she had bound his side with.
Remus muttered something under his breath, flicking his wand in the air and his wards shifted back to normal mode, and a minute later, ten closely spaced CRACKs and POPs filled the night, and armed...and annoyed Aurors spilled into the night.
"Go, Harry," Tonks said quietly, "we'll deal with these in the morning..."
Harry tightened his arms and vanished, pulling Hermione with him and back home.
********************Godric's Hollow******************************
Harry and Hermione reappeared in the middle of the living room, and Jane immediately jumped to her feet from the couch. Roger stood as Hermione took a breath, and Harry let go. "No, Mum," Hermione said tiredly as Jane started to question them, "the house is fine, so are Remus and Tonks...we're just going to go to bed...The guest...Harriet's room, is made up...we'll see you in the morning, alright?"
Jane just nodded as Hermione wrapped her arm around Harry's waist and let him lead her up the stairs. A soft thump came back down as the door to the bedroom closed, and Jane looked back at Roger helplessly, letting him hug her. "You heard her, luv, everything will be better in the morning."
A/N: There you go, did you catch the kids secret, at least this one. It will be important later. Next chapter:
Interview with a Vampire.