Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know it's been a while, but I've barely had time to sleep, let alone post. So this is a long chapter for you, with a small little bit that I think that more than one of you just might have been looking forward to...I know that a couple of our favorite characters have...Yeah, it deserves the NC-17 rating. Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her incomparable work on this chapter. Yeah, I still own nothing, really. Have fun. Say tuned for another note at the bottom of this chapter.

Chapter 38: A Step into Darkness, A Leap into the Light
************************Somewhere in Ireland****************************

March 25, 2016
2:27 am

Draco's hand was cramping as he gripped his wand beneath the fluttering fall of a drab black cloak. He moved quickly down the cobblestone streets of a back alley between crooked, decrepit buildings, his eyes glancing into every darkened doorway and corner that he passed. A tattered, scraggly cat, that might have been white beneath dirt and grime, raced across his path and he froze, before continuing with a restrained sigh.

The last time he had been in this place had been eighteen years ago, when he was on the run from both sides. Of course, after the events that he would set in motion, with his meeting, there was every chance that he would be so again. Especially when the next generation found out what he had done-then, only the grace of God and Merlin would save him. But he had to take the chance, as there was no other choice that he could see.

A soft scraping noise came from behind him, and he spun dropping to a crouch, with his wand coming up in both hands to point at the noise...only to find another pointing back at him. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and slowly lowered his, "Merlin damn it, woman," he hissed, as he found hard brown eyes meeting his from under red locks shorn at slim shoulders. "I fucking told you to stay home."

Ginny grabbed his shirtfront and dragged him out of the street, into an even darker doorway. A rat softly scurried away as she glanced around, before she leaned forward, rising on her toes and pulling herself up with one arm around his neck to glare at him from only inches away. "You seriously think that I'm going to let you come here without me, you great fucking prat?" she growled, her eyes flashing.

"I didn't want you here, Gin," he muttered and she sighed, before she let herself down and took a half step away.

She looked him over slowly, and her eyes widened after a second, as sudden realization set in. Sighing, she closed her eyes for a beat, "We're in this together, Draco." She stroked his cheek with a grey-gloved hand, "No matter where it leads. I know what you were thinking, and you can just stop that."

"I wanted to give you an out..."

"When they come for us, Draco," she whispered, as she continued to stroke his cheek, "if we're lucky...it'll be the kids...they will possibly still care enough for us to just kill us..."

"You know what that means, luv," he muttered. "It could give us an out, though."

She nodded and stepped away from the shadows without a word, and only a single squeeze of his hand. Her wand filled her hand openly as she moved down the street, with Draco trailing. Ignoring his slight huff, she stopped, and looked into the darkness, "Come out, I don't have time for this."

"And what's a lass like you doing out in this area?" a rough, low voice replied as she waited. A shape, slowly resolved from the darkness, not quite coming into the light from a flickering streetlamp. "Someone like you could meet up with the wrong sort."

"Shut it, Seymour," Draco snapped as he took a step towards the scraggly wizard. "Were you able to get it?"

The man looked between them thoughtfully, "One wonders exactly what such an paragon of society as you, Guv'nor, would want with Night Blossom extract? A banned, undetectable poison-"

"It's an ingredient for a potion," Draco snapped, "I repeat, do you have it?"

"Do you have my gold?" he retorted, as his hand slipped into an interior pocket of his robes. Draco growled and tossed a small, jangling bag at him, he caught it and pocketed it in one practiced motion. "He ya go then, laddie," a large glass phial caught the scarce light as he flicked it towards Draco. Almost at the same instant, Ginny's wand snapped up and a red bolt sent him crumpling to the ground.

"Obliviate," Draco muttered and a yellow fan reached out, and danced over the head of the wizard lying in the street. A soft purple beam scanned over him next as Draco cast a delayed Reviving Charm, "Fucking wanker."

Ginny glanced down as Draco grabbed her hand, and pulled her to him, "Are you going to take the gold back?"

He shrugged, "No, he earned it after all, and he probably expected to be Obliviated anyway. I was more concerned with him knowing you were here...He knows not to try and betray me." A faint crack filled the street a moment later as air rushed to fill in the sudden void left as the Blacks vanished.

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

April 1, 2016.
6:35 pm

"I swear to Merlin," Emilia growled as she stepped through the portrait hole, her hair hanging almost totally straight for once, as it lay sodden nearly to her waist. Her shoes squished slightly as she walked towards the couch where Lawrence was snorting and fighting not to break into outright laughter.

"D...did you run into a p...puddle?" Lawrence laughed as she came closer. His smile slowly faded as a faint glow seemed to infuse her eyes. He stood slowly and casually backed away, before he glanced up and back towards the boys stairs, and then towards the portrait hole, "Um...I need to find....um, Gina for dinner..."

He vanished out the portrait hole in between breaths, just as Virginia slipped down the girls' stairs, Kris's hand tightly in hers. "Where'd he go?" she asked perplexedly, "He was supposed to wait for us. We got...delayed."

Emilia did not comment on the girls as she waved a hand over her head. Her hair slowly recurled as the water vanished. Another flick of her wand, and her school uniform smoothly morphed into jeans and a red jumper. Scowling, even as a part of her mind still tracked Lawrence on his fruitless attempt to escape, she kicked off her Mary-Janes, and looked pointedly towards the boy's stairs.

A set of brightly colored trainers floated down, to drop in front of her feet just as the Portrait Hole opened once more, revealing Harriet, Sirius and Rain. Rain looked back over her shoulder as the Fat Lady closed behind her, "Does anyone know why Lawrence was sprinting past like a Horntail was on his ass?"

Emilia shrugged as she bent at the waist to pull the bungies tightening her trainers on her feet. She stood, flinging her hair back over her head, and stalked towards the exit to the room, and out it without another word.

"Think that we should maybe stop her?" Rain mused as she crossed to the couch and dropped onto it, sprawling across it headless of the image she might present. Harriet sat down in the space between her legs, and Sirius rolled his eyes as he sat down across from them in a battered armchair. Rain glanced down and idly fixed her skirt, not that she would have been terribly bothered by flashing Sirius, before she flopped her head to the side.

Sirius shrugged, "Nah...I doubt she'll kill him too much," he yawned slightly, "Are you hungry?"

Harriet smirked and stood from the couch, took one step and spun and dropped into Sirius' lap in one motion. She kicked off her shoes, before pulling her knees up and tucking her head under his. Half turning, she started to undo his tie, unknotting it with practiced fingers before letting the undone tie fall loose. She undid his collar button, and rested her head on his chest. "No, not really." She played with his top button idly, more focusing on keeping the occasional flicker of a place not here away than anything else, "Though I would like some pie."

Rain rolled her eyes and rolled over to face the back of the couch, as Sirius sat back, pulling Harriet with him, "I guess we could have pie, though you should probably eat something a bit more substantial..."

Harriet sighed, and slowly stood from his lap, bending back down to pull Sirius up just as Rain rolled over to face them. The black-haired teen closed her eyes, "Harriet, love," Rain muttered, just loud enough for the redhead to hear, "forget something?"

Harriet straightened, frowning slightly, "I don't think so, though now that you mention it, I do need to put out Smegie bait for this evening, they are in season you know, and they have the nicest rainbow colors...Maybe I can convince one to be a hair comb."

"She's yours, Sirius," Rain said with a roll of her eyes. She rocked to her feet in one motion and kissed Harriet's temple. "Behave, sis, you just have a week to go," she whispered in Harriet's ear and left, not catching the sudden brightening of grey eyes behind her as she took the girls' stairs two at a time.

Harriet turned back to Sirius as he frowned slightly, "What was that about?"

She smiled softly and shrugged as she took his hand and started towards the Portrait hole,

"Aren't you going to get your shoes?" Sirius asked.

"No, not unless you think I should," she nibbled on one corner of her lip and Sirius sighed faintly as he took a step over and retrieved her shoes. She held out a foot, with a small, unnoticed smirk, and he dropped to his knees, and slid the shoe on, as easily as a glass slipper, though slightly more comfortable to be sure. He placed the other without prompting and looked up towards her face.

A faint sharp breath, and his ears and cheeks flushed, as his eyes widened, before he slowly stood, seemingly fighting to control himself. He brushed one fiery lock back over her left ear, pausing to play with a small, beaded braid hanging there, before his fingers slipped to the back of her head, and pulled upward, lifting her on her toes slightly as he bent down.

A few, loud wolf-whistles carried across the round room, as Harriet reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. Her tongue slipped past his lips and he groaned, his hands, which had fallen to her waist tightening and pulling her close into him. A beat later, they broke away, panting, and Sirius glared over her shoulder at the third years paying rapt attention to them, until Abigail emerged from the girl's stairs, glanced between them and the third years and growled. They vanished almost instantly, and Abigail giggled, before skipping over to jump up and kiss Sirius' cheek with another giggle and vanish up the boys' stairs herself, no doubt to gather Elliot for dinner.

Harriet glanced down, as Sirius held her tightly to him still and then back up into his eyes, "We should get to dinner, I suppose, you need to study after all."

"Do I have to?" he whispered, as his fingers idly pulled loose her white blouse from the waistband of her school skirt to find warm skin.

"I'll make it worth your while," she mused, "somehow." Smaller fingers intertwined with his, "Come, my prince, you need your strength." It was difficult to keep holding hands with someone who was as apt to skip as to walk normally, but Sirius managed, somehow as the pair of them vanished into the castle and headed towards dinner.

"Come out, Lawrence," Emilia said loudly as she moved through the castle, her hands clasped behind her back, with her wand held point up along her spine. The high, bushy tail her now dry hair was pulled into flicked back and forth with her head movements, like a cat's tail on the prowl. "I just want to talk."

Behind her, Flitwick stepped into the hall from a side corridor, shook his head, and kept on going.

Emilia walked for another few minutes, slowly, letting her quarry move in front of her, darting from hallway to hallway. She took a step around a corner, into a dead-ended hallway and stopped to lean against the wall for a moment, as Lawrence looked back at her, his hands shaking as he held them out towards her.

"Now, Em, I'm..." he reached back with one hand and touched a brick, and the wall spun about, taking him with it, but not before a tiny, almost unnoticed flick of her wand occurred.

She grinned and spun on her heel, flowing between one step and the next onto four legs, and into night black fur. A tufted black tail flicked once, and she lifted her snout and took a deep breath; instantly a thousand scents carried to her nose, and she disregarded most of them as inconsequential. A second, deeper breath caught the faint scent of food and the barest whiff of the sharp scent of wolf, and she grinned a cat's grin and padded off silently, vanishing into the shadows lining the walls.

Five minutes later, Emilia stepped out of the shadows near the Great Hall and into her human form. She reached up and back, straightening her ponytail before she swept into the already crowded room. She grinned and waved towards several girls from Hufflepuff in her Arithmancy class before she slipped down the length of the Gryffindor table to stop behind Xander. She pulled his head back and gave him a quick kiss before slipping between him and Harriet, who seemed much more interested in sharing a large piece of pumpkin pie with her brother from his plate than in Emilia's existence.

Xander slid over an already filled plate for her without a word and she kissed the ball of his shoulder before she picked up a fork and tucked in. She cut into her roast beef, and took a bite, Xander having already seasoned it to her liking or his. It was hard to tell any longer, her tastes having gradually bled into his over the last year or so. Pushing around a bit of the rather bloody beef, she glanced over the top of the table to meet Rain's eyes, and gave a quick shrug before she returned to her meal.

"Where were you, Em?" Dan asked from next to Rain, even as he handed a basket of rolls to Chastity on his other side, "Poor Xander's been salivating over all that meat."

"He's a good boy," Emilia replied with a grin, "I had to take care of..."

She broke off as Lawrence stepped into the room, his eyes on Emilia, and stepped past a group of young girls at the far end of the Gryffindor table. A loud chorus of giggling carried, and as he turned to look back, the students around Emilia broke out into outright laughter.

The entire rear of Lawrence's trousers was gone, along with the boxers beneath, as if they had been cut that way. He spun back to Emilia and the rest, with a perplexed look on his face, even as Gina, who had been laughing as hard as the rest stood with a sigh, kissed Kris's cheek and hurried over to her brother, even as the giggles increased from behind him.

She leaned into him, murmured something and he flushed before turning and sprinting out of the Great Hall with his hands ineffectively covering his arse.

"EMILIA!" he screamed as he escaped, which only resulted in the exchange of Galleons and high-fives at the Gryffindor table.

"Miss Potter," Neville said as he stood from the Head Table, while his wife hid her face in a napkin and several other professors, which thankfully did not include the currently absent Headmaster, fought to keep from laughing as well.

"I'll see you Monday, Professor," Emilia said contritely, or at least appearing to be so to anyone who had not known her since she was an infant. He just nodded and sat back down, and hid his own smile behind his wineglass.

********************************London*******************************

April 2, 2016
1:25 am

A long, black limo slid to a stop in front of a long line of people waiting to enter a neon-lit doorway, under a sign labeled with the rune for-adult activities. A young man in a completely black suit, the cut of which did not quite disguise a bulge at the right hip, slipped from the driver's seat and held open the door.

After a few seconds, a slim, muscled pair of tanned legs emerged, followed by the rest of a young woman with night-black curls, and clad in a black dress that was precariously held up by two thin straps, flowing down from bare shoulders to paint an athletic body, before it flared out at her hips to a loose mid-thigh-length pleated skirt. She took a step forward, ignoring the stares of the onlookers as she turned deep brown eyes back to the limo just as a second woman emerged from the passenger compartment.

The newcomer gave her a small, knowing grin and stretched her arms above her head, before she slipped her hands down her sides, smoothing out a deep blue top and pulling it to almost meet the waistband of a short, black skirt wore low on her hips. She reached out her right hand and took the other girl's left. She interlaced their fingers as she smoothed long, straight black locks with deep blue highlights that exactly matched her top back over her head with her free hand.

Bypassing the line, the pair climbed three short stairs, to stop in front of the rather hulking bouncer that was guarding the door. He cocked his head at them, his hand coming up to cup a headset and nodded to some unheard voice. "Go right in, ladies," he said gruffly, and received a pat on the cheek, from the black-eyed one of the pair. He sighed as he turned back to the line waiting to enter.

Inside, the pair stepped through a curtain and around a sharp double bend in a narrow corridor, almost like the ones in certain entrance gates to old castles. A wall of sound greeted them as they walked forward, and started down a long set of stairs, that might have been designed to display the legs-and other attributes of the more feminine visitors to the club.

The concept was foremost on the mind of the curly-haired young woman as she sighed and started downwards, "I can not believe that you made me pay off that bet on a mission, Nymphadora," Hermione subvocalized over the flat, invisible disc that adhered to her throat, carrying her words to the tiny bead in Tonks' left ear.

Tonks brayed a laugh, "Now if Harry was here, you'd have no problem."

"No," Hermione growled back, and cast a covert Notice-me-not charm, "I would have started the night just fine...if they ended up in his pocket...well that's," she grinned and glanced over out of the corner of her eye, "a good night really."

Tonks laughed and pulled her the rest of the way down the stairs, and towards the crowded bar. She ignored a pair of offers to buy them a drink, and took a pair of shots. She handed one to Hermione, they clinked them together and downed them as one, down to the faint shivers of aftertaste.

Hermione looked up and across the room, her eyes slowly scanning the room, noting absently the dark-eyed men and women scattered about the edge of the room, seemingly randomly and paying not a bit of attention to the rest of the club, but she knew better. She sighed softly and took Tonks' hand once again, leading the other woman to the crowded dance floor, where almost instinctively they started to move together to some slow, almost hypnotic song.

The music changed, moving into an even more liquid beat and the girls continued to dance, their eyes seemingly never leaving the other. Tonks slowly pivoted, her arms coming up and back around Hermione's neck as she danced against the other woman, as Hermione's arms came down to cradle her hips, holding her in place.

A pair of young men in rather expensive club fashions worked closer through the throngs of dancers on the floor, but backed off as Hermione held their eyes for a second. Tonks licked her lips slowly as she held the gaze of another young, dark haired man. He swallowed and turned away, and she laughed to herself as she spun back to face Hermione.

"So, do you see anyone you know," Tonks muttered, her lips almost against the skin of Hermione's ear.

"No, but Deirdre said that we needed to be here, tonight..." She stopped suddenly as a familiar lithe brunette seemed to just appear, moving aside dancers without seeming to even try. "Oh, look," Hermione growled under her breath, "my Mum's Halloween guest."

Clarissa sauntered closer, stopping only inches from Hermione and Tonks. A flicker of lighting, unnoticed in the bright, strobing lights of the club danced around Hermione's fingers, held low next to Tonks' hip, as Hermione watched her darkly, her eyes slowly becoming hazel, as the green bled in.

"Potter," Clarissa snarled, showing a faint trace of her right fang, "Metamorph..."

"Bitch," Tonks greeted in return, "fancy meeting you here."

"Come with me," she hissed and spun on three-inch heels attached to knee-length patent leather boots. She sauntered off, her hips swinging to each side, flicking her skirt like a cat's tail.

"Hermione..."

"Follow her," she whispered, letting her eyes flick to one side just as a brown haired man walked past in the other direction towards the bar, bumping her arm in passing. The faintest tingle danced in her arm and a small smile crossed her lips.

The pair of Aurors passed between two tall, pale men at the back of the club and through a green door that led into a darkened hallway. A quiet buzz carried over the invisible bead in her left ear canal, "We're on site, Bookworm, Chameleon," Remus' warm tones whispered, "but we are light here, it's just me and Leo, and a couple of young kids, there was an attack on a Dragon's Blood storehouse in Manchester just as we were about to leave."

Neither witch commented as they stepped through another door, this one dark red into an intimately lit room. A large fireplace was burning brightly in one corner, shining on a large, soft black leather couch that filled two walls of the small room. A large skylight above let in the light from stars, that for once were shining brightly on a nearly crystal-clear night.

The soft white light, served admirably to accentuate the pale skin of the trio of occupants of the couch, all three of whom looked at them with hungry eyes.

Glancing over, Hermione watched as Lucian stepped from the shadows, and gestured to them, beckoning them closer to the couch. Clarissa gave them once last sneer and settled next to the pair of vampiresses lounging on the couch. Sara and Olga settled around her and Kendal spared the trio a found gaze before he turned dark eyes to Hermione.

"We finally meet, Commander Potter, Commander Lupin," he smiled and gestured towards a small, matching loveseat set in the vee of the couch. When neither moved, he smiled, letting his fangs show, "If I wanted to harm either of you, I would have already done so, please."

"No," Hermione agreed softly and slowly sat onto the loveseat. She crossed her legs and leaned back into the soft black leather, which today matched her hair almost perfectly. "There is that...though I think that you would find the attempt-costly." She slowly looked from him, letting her eyes pass over the three females, and then up towards the hulking Lycan who was now standing to one side before looking back into his eyes, "That and Merlin himself could not save you when my husband kills you, your wives and every adult member of your clan before the next sun set."

"There is that," Kendal agreed quietly. He reached forward and took a deep drink from a crystal goblet of steaming blood, "Forgive me, is there something that you would like? I have a nice chardonnay that one of my California estates puts up." Before Hermione could even open her mouth, a young witch set a pair of filled goblets on the table in front of her. "Now, as to why I had Deirdre arrange for this meeting." He reached over and slowly ran his hand over Clarissa's belly, "I know you have heard the rumors of why we left our homes..."

"And attacked my children," Hermione growled, her eyes lighting fully.

"No," he growled, and looked up and over at Lucian, "while, yes, some of my forces were on that attack, they were under strict orders not to harm any of the children..."

"I rather think that my daughter took a few heads that say otherwise," Hermione replied very quietly as her eyes blazed and every molecule of air in the room seemed to freeze.

"They were not mine, but mercs hired for the occasion, as I am sure that you already knew. And yes," he looked over at Clarissa, "a few of mine were...overzealous, but they have already been, dealt with, and those that died...we both know the cost of what we do."

"I still have not heard a reason while I should not destroy you all right now," Hermione said pleasantly.

"Because, so far, neither of us have crossed the line to where the only recourse is annihilation. And neither of us want that, do we, for no matter who would win, the cost would be prohibitive."

"So why should I trust you?" Hermione asked, picking up the wine and taking a small sip. She sent it floating back to the table, and clasped her hands on her top knee, idly letting one finger stoke the inside of her knee as she fought to keep from showing any emotion.

"Bellatrix Lestrange was behind the attempted murder of your Minister and the death of his wife."

"We know," Tonks growled, "as does everyone with the IQ of a chinchilla."

"But do you know that she is only a pawn," Kendal asked softly, "a pawn that tried to use my loyalty to my people, and my own love to my," he looked at Clarissa once more, "children." He held Hermione's gaze, without a hint of the coercion that she knew that he could bring to bear on almost any other mortal, "I know what you would do, have done for your own, what would you do if your own kind wanted to kidnap them...hold them for your continued...behavior."

Hermione started to reply but stopped as the witch from before walked into the room. Stiffening, Hermione rose as her powers flared as some vague clue filled her senses, her hand flashed downward as the witch reached into her bosom slowly and drew a light wood wand.

"REDUCTO-"

Hermione took a staggering step backwards as she adsorbed the spell, not wanting to deflect it in the tight quarters, only peripherally noticing the red bolt that snapped past her ear as Tonks' Stunner took down the witch.

Kendal rose, hissing as Hermione dove to the young girl's side, "I did not..."

"I know," Hermione said softly, as she flicked her fingers over the girl's face. She frowned as the girl glowed purple, and Hermione ripped away the her top, exposing a softy pulsing red gem on a gold chain, "Someone put a Compulsion Amulet on her, it's like the Imperious, but undetectable to the standard wards that you have on the place."

Kendal nodded as Hermione ripped the necklace from the girl's neck and closed her hand around it. Her eyes flared and the gem powered in a white flash of light. Sudden screams carried to her ears, and she looked back just as a pair of Lycans rushed into the room, small, boxy submachine guns in their hands.

"We're under attack...Death Eaters..."

"It seems," Kendal said lightly, and reached down, pulling his wives to their feet, "that someone has taken exception to our meeting."

"Kendal," Olga said eagerly, like a third year on her first trip to Honeydukes, "does this mean that we can eat them?"

"Yes, my love," he leaned down and kissed her hair, "you can." She started to bounce on her toes, and he looked to Hermione, "Clarissa, Sarah, go with her, and none of you bite the nice Aurors by mistake...they will be ones shooting at the Death Eaters."

The trio vanished, followed quickly by Lucian and the pair of Lycans who had entered. Hermione glanced to Tonks, who reached down under her skirt and drew her wand from an invisible sheath. Hermione followed suit and looked back, just as Kendal cleared his throat, and looked at her with eyes gone fully black, "It seems, M'Lady that your foes have become mine...I must say that my allies are improving."

Hermione nodded and darted out through the passage she had entered, the doors ahead of her already hanging open. The world became a blur of sight and sound as she slipped from the hallway back onto the floor of the club. The lighting was strobing frantically, pulsing in waves through the thin smoke that hung in the room, and only serving to further accentuate the lines of spellfire and the occasional muzzle flash that echoed back.

A brief flicker of warning and she dove to the side, as a crackling blue-white beam stuttered through where her head had just been. A bright orange flare came from her other side as one of Lucian's lycans retaliated only to fail a beat behind the Death Eater as a storm of silver darts from a second shredded his chest.

Hermione vanished in a blur, darting around a table, and vaulted behind a long, chrome and black granite bar. She glanced over to see Tonks panting, and already sporting a long cut down one leg, "Lovely." HARRY!

I'm still outside, he growled back, and she could feel the rush as he shot off a Reductor, that hit a car and detonated with a crash that she heard inside...and incidentally vaporized the two Death Eaters behind it. They Portkeyed a perimeter in place to keep out Aurors, and sent in a second wave into the club...Remus and the pair of kids I had out here are down, Remus is alright, though he can't walk at the moment...I'm coming, Mione...

I'll be here, she snapped back and took a breath, letting her now glowing eyes lose focus as she felt out through the still crowded room, Love you, Harry, she whispered as she flicked back into the fray.

An errant shot snapped into the ceiling, tearing off a sprinkler head lost in the black expanse and suddenly a dark, cold rain filled the room, sweeping the smoke away and replacing it with torrents of water. Hermione spun out of the way of a screaming Muggle and flung her to the ground just as a Death Eater sliced at her with a large knife. A flashing heel and he crumpled to the ground as his neck cracked with a loud snap heard over the sound of spellfire.

Hermione leapt backwards, and flicked her wand sideways. A purple wave neatly sliced another in half and she vanished, reappearing behind another pair near the door. One spun, lifting his wand, and screamed hoarsely as his wand hand fell away, only to silence a heartbeat later as she flicked her right hand blade across his throat. A push at the air and his partner flew across the room to crash through a drum set set on a small stage.

The dark rain and still strobing lights were surreal as she watched a pair of female Death Eaters go down under the fangs of Kendal's wives. Hermione batted away a Cutting Curse and vanished, reappearing and slashing her wand downward.

A silver jet neatly drilled a hole in the white mask of yet another Death Eater, even as the two standing next to him fell with the loud boom of a shotgun blast. She paused, vanishing into invisibly, a trick that would not have worked except for the lack of light, due to the rain still pouring down on her and took a look around. Still another ten or so Death Eaters stood or crouched around the room, opposed by it looked to be three or so Lycans still standing and the three Vampiresess. Tonks was back behind the bar, wrapping a conjured bandage around her leg. Hermione's stomach quivered as she noticed at least ten, probably more young Muggles on the floor, victim for the most part of Kedavras, the dark's spell of choice, along with one of Kendal's Lycans', his chest ripped away by a ripper and two dark, charred spots that were probably once vampires.

Now, Harry's voice cried in her mind and she took a breath and leapt slightly in the air. A gold ball shot from her wand, and exploded on the ground, sending out a ring of force that sent everyone crashing to the ground-just as the wall to the outside exploded inward.

A dark shape strode through the car-sized gap, a gloved hand flashed and a blue ball of plasma vaporized a pair of Death Eaters as they rose to their feet. Another two died, as Kendal walked from the side corridor and snapped their necks as if matchsticks without breaking stride even as Harry vanished and reappeared in the center of three more.

A long, blade whistled through the streaming water, passing just above his head as he dropped to one knee and cut up and right, exploding back to his feet with the movement to complete the circle around and down, sending a forever-stunned head rolling to the floor in a spray of blood that was quickly washed away by the sprinklers. A third Death Eater roared and leapt at him, just as he flipped the blade inverted and stabbed backwards, skewering him through the throat.

Hermione spun to the left, avoiding a Kedavra that blew another hole in the barback above Tonks' head, and dipped, before flipping upwards and twisting to land lightly behind another pair, her short-sword length blades flashing downwards as she moved. A soft cry came from behind her as she landed on cat feet and ducked, sweeping her leg to take another down, killing him with a Piercing Charm before he hit the both with a wet thud. She looked up as a last Death Eater gathered himself to Apparate away and contemptuously vaporized a leg, sending him tumbling into the half-flooded floor.

A burst of gunfire from her left, and she spun, just in time to watch a Lycan raise the muzzle of his weapon from a Death Eater's head, who had been on the ground. A sudden, near-silence filled the air, except for the distant wail of sirens as the Muggle Authorities started to respond to the sudden commotion. Bloody terrific, she groaned and looked down at herself just as Harry slipped over, steeping around the smashed remains of tables, and stopping periodically to check on wounded Muggles that had been caught in the crossfire.

A loud series of, continuous pops, like a popcorn popper on amphetamines came from the street outside, audible through the large, new door Harry had added to the club, and Hermione watched as white-suited witches and wizards rushed in to start to tend to the wounded, hot on the heals of a half dozen flying squad members in Dragonskin and Kevlar armor, that had been summoned from the standby teams at the Ministry. They lifted their various weapons towards the remaining vampires and Lycans, even as they did as well.

"NO," Hermione snapped, "They are on our side."

"But, Ma'am--" Tom Barrington, the leader of the on-call team started to object, looking between her and them even as the rest of his team kept them covered.

"They are on our side, for now at least," Hermione said more calmly, and jumped just slightly as a medic triggered a Portkey, taking her and three patients away. "Secure the perimeter...Now, damn it." The team scurried to obey, and Hermione felt Harry's lips brush her hair on his way past to check on Tonks. He vaulted the bar and she glanced over as he fed her Tonks' condition over the link; nothing that the Metamorph could not fix with sleep, and a bit of protein.

"I am impressed with your prowess," Kendal remarked softly as he approached Hermione, with his wives slowly crowding around him. "I am even more grateful that we may be able to see our way out of our impasse, now that my ex...associates, show their true colors." He nodded to Harry as Harry came up to stand next to Hermione, his sword still in one hand and glowing faintly, the water hissing quietly as it touched the blade.

The indoor rain stopped as someone got the fire system shut off and the sound of sirens died as someone in the Ministry got the Muggle authorities diverted for now.

"What do you want, Kendal?" Harry asked in a growl, and the vampire shrugged elegantly.

"I wish safety for my beholden and my progeny, which is what all of this was about in the beginning. There were promises made, that were not held to, lies that were told to us, that we, that I believed, or let myself believe in an attempt to get me and mine out from under the thumb of the Elder Clans. However, as Bella and her master, seem to think us...unreliable, I think that we will oblige them."

"What can you tell us about her...master?" Tonks asked as she limped over, pushing away a medic who scowled and left to look for someone more...tractable to heal.

"I have never met him, but I know that he controls her in some fashion...Nor can I tell you where he is, as I am positive that his location is under the Fidelius, and possibly other charms. However, I can tell you this...They are waiting for something, I know not what. I think, that originally, they were going to use my forces as a distraction, or possibly as a route to get something...something that would prove difficult for them to do on their own. But they seem to have abandoned us, and now have betrayed us...I will not forget this..." He looked to Hermione, "Nor will I forget that you and your compatriots fought them when you could have just waited for the two sides to sort themselves out."

He took a step back, "Now if you will forgive me, I need to get Clarissa out of here," the female vampire was almost quivering, her fangs were glinting a red tinged white and her eyes were still fully black unlike her two companions, who had returned to their 'natural' hues. "She is rather...excitable in her condition." The quartet vanished into nothingness and Lucian gave the Aurors a warrior's nod before slowly backing away and leading his remaining people out the back, carrying their fallen with them. Hermione waved away the Aurors to let them pass and sighed and took Harry's hand as he led her outside through the hole in the wall.

The crowd that had been in place when they arrived was long gone; the streets aside from a dozen armored Aurors, and about that number of healers and investigators, were empty. Harry led her into the limo she had arrived in, and closed the door after them.

Instantly, as soon as the door closed, Hermione crawled into his lap with a soft squishing sound of wet cloth on leather. She tucked her head under his as he stoked her bare leg, Alright there, Mione? he asked after a moment, and conjured a brightly colored blanket one handed and draped it over her shoulders.

Yeah, I'm fine, Love...she looked down and sighed, but I have to buy Em a new dress now...since I sorta borrowed this one.

Harry snorted and kissed her wet hair. She started to play with the zipper of his infiltration suit, This was an...interesting night.

Doubt it, Hermione shrugged, I think he gave us what he knew already...It can't be Tom, Harry, she said quickly as a thought crossed his mind, he's dead, there's no way he could have split his soul even further. He wouldn't have had enough control to battle us like he did, if he could have even kept his body together.

We killed Tom and I was only seventeen, and you eighteen, he reminded her.

Hermione nodded and cuddled closer, But even so...we couldn't have killed him except together, and then even Dumbledore had a part...he would only be one person...still, why are they waiting, it doesn't make sense, there has to be some reason. Maybe Luna has finally been able to see something concrete.

She's young and scared, and her future husband is possibly in danger, and even if he isn't really, she'll think he is...I think that that one prophesy is all we are going to get out of her. She doesn't have the distance to see clearly, if at all, and I really doubt Luna does either.

************************Room of Requirement*****************************

April 8, 2016
8:15 pm

A head of inky black hair was bent low; tired, green eyes scanning slowly over a long series of notes on the theory of the Opporto Felicium Charm, a modified Fidelius Charm used to hide objects for a brief period. Sirius had been trying to study for his OWLs in the Gryffindor Common Room but had rapidly given up as a dozen Sixth Years were having a raucous "study session"-complete with their significant others.

Likewise, the Heads' Common Room was useless to him, even though his aunt was one of the Heads, as Anastasia and Nathan were most likely "studying" as well. The Library was always filled with chattering first years at this hour, none of whom ever seemed to understand that he really did not want to tell stories of his parents.

After another minute of exasperated staring at the same page, Sirius took off his glasses and set them on the table before dropping his head to his book and sighing mightily. As he rested his mind, and eyes, the heavy oak door behind him opened without a sound and another joined him.

She closed the door, taking care not to disturb him and stopped to watch him for a moment. A faint sigh slipped from her lips as she took him in, the stack of books, the pile of papers, and the several broken quills that had ended up in a pile on the floor next to him.

She toed off a pair of sandals and started over to him, walking silently, the ponytail that her just-beyond shoulder-length red hair was in, swinging with her movements.

"Hi, Harriet," Sirius muttered as she got halfway across the room. He hunched his shoulders slightly, then relaxed almost totally as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed the back of his neck.

"When did you know it was me?" Harriet breathed in his ear; she glanced over at a comfortable-looking, overstuffed red couch that had just appeared in front of the fireplace that the room insisted on creating almost every time it was used.

Sirius smiled slightly into the book, "About when you stepped from the Common Room."

Harriet grinned and pulled him up from the book and started to pull him up out of the chair.

"Harriet, I have to study...you told me I needed to study..."

"But I want to snog," she pouted as she managed to pull her only moderately resisting boyfriend to his feet. She sighed contently as he wrapped his arms around her, slipping the tip of his fingers into the back pockets of her jeans and pulled her to him. Her wish was granted a moment later as he leaned in. Harriet moaned as her mouth opened to his, and her thoughts slipped away, so much that she only was bumped back to reality as the back of her knees hit the seat of the couch and she collapsed back into the seat, breaking away from him. "You need to take a break, anyway," she added with an utterly practical lilt to her voice, reaching up to grab his hands, "you really don't want your brain to overheat, then I would be very lonely. I don't like being lonely."

Sirius smiled and sat down on the couch next to her. He barely had time to take a breath before she crawled over to straddle his lap, settling in comfortably and resting her head on his shoulder. "You'll never be lonely as long as I'm here," he bent his head slightly to the side, kissing her hair. "I thought you and Em were working with McGonagall on her project?"

"Got bored," Harriet replied, squirming on his lap enough to cause a slight groan from the youngest Potter. She pulled back slightly, and reached up, pulling his glasses from his face and tossing them in the general direction of an end table next to the couch. "There we go, much better."

"Now how will I see?" he asked, slightly amused.

Smirking, Harriet moved on his lap again.

Sirius felt his face color as he reacted to her; he looked down, away from her eyes. "I'm...sorry..." he muttered, still not looking up at her as he tried to set her aside.

Harriet rolled her eyes slightly, and grabbed his hips, holding herself in place, "I'm not," she let go of his hips, taking his face in both of her hands and pulling it to hers. Silvery-grey eyes focused on his, slipping past barriers both natural and trained. Sirius swallowed heavily, as he felt himself stretching towards her without moving a muscle, and shook his head slightly. "What's wrong, Sirius...I do make you...horny?"

Sirius laughed despite himself, "That's it...no more classic movie nights for you..." Slowly, he reached up, tracing his fingers along her cheek, she leaned into his hand, as her eyes slipped closed, "Are you sure that you want this, Harriet?" Sirius shuddered slightly as he fought his own soul, fighting to hold it back from the bright presence only inches from his own. "Someone...safer...you saw what they tried with Xander, they went after him to get to Em, to my parents..."

Harriet closed the inches between them and kissed him, shutting him up abruptly. She pulled away, resting her forehead on his as she slowly opened her eyes, the faint glow there competing with the flickers of emerald fire that lit his eyes. "And Em and him stacked them like cordwood, and that was before your parents and his showed up..." Harriet took a breath, "I don't want safe, Siri...I want you." She looked down without moving her head, "It's your birthday, Potter."

Sirius grinned, and kissed her nose, "What did you get me?"

"Me..."

"Oh..." He took a quick breath as she reached to his waistband and started to slowly undo buttons from his belt buckle upward. "You weren't giving me the mickey, were you?"

Harriet shook her head, and kissed him, holding her lips to his as she finished with his shirt and started to push it from his shoulders. She pulled back slightly, looking around the room, she caught sight of a simple, large four-poster in the corner, decorated in red and gold, and she took a slightly shaky breath.

Harriet glanced down at herself, "I'm sorry I didn't dress up...I must look a fright, I mean...Em gave me a book to read, and then I got...but then I realized that I had forgot that you were up here all alone, and...but then I had to stop and keep Gaheris from eating some Slytherin's cat, though I don't know why really, if they really wanted their pets to survive they wouldn't let them around my Familiar-"

Sirius kissed her, silencing her quickly, "You are gorgeous, Harriet, you are here...the rest is just details." He kissed her forehead, not quite meeting her eyes, not yet, as he felt his mind slipping away, his soul quivering to slip forward a few inches in space, to intertwine with hers. His eyes relaxed slightly, slipping unconsciously into another spectrum, to see the lights of her aura, blue-white radiance, dancing at the edge of his own, blending into one solid color where they met. He blinked, and the image faded away from his eyes, but not his mind, as he took a breath, his hands shaking slightly as they rested on the small of her back, under her shirt.

"Is it going to hurt, Sirius?" Harriet whispered.

Sirius lifted a hand to run through her hair, letting it down from the tail she had had it in, "I don't rightly know, Harriet... I'm not a girl, luv, and I never want to lie to you, either way." He shrugged slightly, "I don't think I could, even if I wanted to."

"I didn't mean that-I already talked to Mum about that," Harriet responded quietly, tilting her head to push into his hand, "and I know you can't Sirius, at least not to me."

"Oh..." Sirius lifted his eyes to hers, holding them for a long moment, "I don't know, Harriet, I don't think so, not in and of itself anyway." He smiled, slightly stroking her hair and leaning up to kiss her brow, "I'd have thought you'd done your research on the topic."

She smiled, "There are five-hundred-thirty-three recorded instances of Soul Bonds, Marriage Bonds, whatever, in the archives over the last five hundred years...at least where the participants show at least limited telepathy. Curiously, your parents aren't listed, nor are Em and Xan, of course...Though until Granddad became Minister, the Ministry was evil, of course, so..."

"So you don't know," Sirius replied, and Harriet shook her head quickly.

"No, I don't," she admitted almost shamefully.

He took a breath, and let his eyes meet hers, feeling it as they flared to life fully, the emerald glow falling onto her cheeks, as his fingertips slipped down from under her shirt, to find the very slight bump of her coccyx, revealed as her jeans gapped in the back, where her tail would emerge. Sirius let his fingertips start to rub her bum, though the thin cotton of her knickers, "Let's find out, then, love."

Harriet swallowed, her eyes damp where they looked into his. She gasped as a trickle of magic bridged the small gap between them, "R...really..."

"I think it's about time, don't you," he muttered as he leaned forward and kissed her, sending a pure line of fire directly to her core. His lips slowly left her lips, trailing across the side of her face and down her neck to settle in the hollow of her neck.

She could only let out a soft moan in reply, and nod, as the one last barrier of her mind that had doubted their joining crumbled away. Oh...Merlin, she whispered as her mind and soul slipped forward, weaving inevitably and irreversibly with another. Harriet gasped, as she moved against him automatically, feeling a wave of warmth race down her body, from an entirely different set of nerves.

The world slowly swirled and shook, as sparkling bits of witchfire lit the corners of the room, sparkling in time to their suddenly-shared heartbeats.

She looked down as his fingers worked at the edge of her sweatshirt, her arms went up automatically at he pulled at it, tugging it loose with only the slight resistance from her hair. His hands fell back to her waist, cradling her as she leaned forward, hiding her nose in his neck, and pressing her chest to his.

Inconceivious, she breathed. She felt the odd buzzing that had filled her head for so long, start to fade to silence, to slowly be replaced with a faint warm presence wrapping around her thoughts, caressing her heart even as physical hands slipped up to slowly rub along the sides of her breasts, causing a soft gasp, as much thought as uttered, to slip out.

Sirius' fingers trembled as she leaned back, as if reading his mind, and he brushed his thumbs across twin nubbins.

A whimper, then she bit his shoulder, almost hard enough to draw blood. She felt herself being lifted up, a hand under her bum and a second cradling her head, as Sirius rocked backwards to his feet, holding her all the while.

He set her gently down on the bed an instant later, God you're beautiful, he murmured, and her eyes widened, as the thought became fully manifest.

S...Sirius...she whispered, her 'voice' wondrous as she 'heard' his voice in her head, as clear as anything that her ears or dreams had ever provided.

He just nodded, crawling onto the bed to hang over her on hands and knees. He balanced there and reached down, slowly stoking her cheek, before he leaned down and kissed her.

Reaching up, Harriet lost her fingers in his hair, watching as they vanished and reappeared, before pulling him down to her. She moaned, arching up into him, as he kissed her, allowing their tongues to duel for a moment, before his lips trailed down and settled on her throat. Her fingers left his head, tangling in the comforter, as he continued downward slowly, almost timidly.

Grey eyes slowly flickered closed, hiding occasional flickers of emerald fire, matching the eyes that were lit above her, and casting a faint glow on her chest as the lights in the room dimmed. Only the soft light of several dozen candles and the fire from the grate remained. She let go of the comforter and grabbed his head with both hands, as he took a nipple between his lips, teasing it, until it stood to attention. Her eyes opened and closed, showing a flicker of slightly oblong pupils, before her fingers slipped down, to lightly press between them.

Sirius hissed as her hand brushed him through the fabric of his jeans. He worked more between her legs, and rocked against her instinctively.

Harriet wrapped one leg around his and rolled them over, before sitting back up on her knees, straddling his thighs. Pausing, she looked down him with a hungry look filling her eyes, every inch the tigress she could become with a thought...or occasionally with much less. She let her fingers brush his chest, feeling along the muscles of his chest, tracing along the lines of his abs, before she took a breath, her hands shaking slightly as they stopped, resting on the top button of his jeans. She let her left hand fall to the side, unsnapping the buckle of the thigh strap on his wand sheath, before she unbuckled his wandbelt with both hands.

The battered dragonhide fell to each side, as she pulled her own wand from a leg pocket and tossed it onto the small table at the bedside. A small pink tongue slipped out, wetting her lips absently as she unbuttoned his jeans, her eyes locked on bulge in a pair of boxers with a large smiley face on the front.

Sirius laughed as Harriet stuck her tongue out at the animated image; then he groaned, as a small hand started to stroke him through the cotton. H...Haarrriet, he sputtered, only to hear her giggle in his thoughts. The boots vanished with a thought, to make it easier on her as she pulled on his jeans working them down and off, taking his socks with them as they reached the edge of the bed. His heart skipped a beat as Harriet continued down to roll off the bed, to stand next to it, the soft, flickering light of the candles casting shadows on her face and torso.

"I love you, Sirius," she mouthed before she unbuttoned her jeans and started to slide them off, holding his gaze the entire time. Harriet let them pool on the floor, before hooking her thumbs in the sides of her knickers, displacing the Kneazles cavorting around the fabric. Folding in two, she slid them down to her ankles and stepped out of the pile of clothes, before she stalked back to the bed, to crawl on top of him. Your turn, she murmured as she pulled his boxers down and off, only to giggle again as he stood to her attentions.

A shuddering breath passed through her lips as she lowered herself between his legs, reaching up to cradle his head between her hands as she kissed him. She slowly let her weight fall on him, pressing him into the soft bed. Her head dropped to his shoulder, allowing her to nuzzle at his neck.

A quiet purr filled the room, as his fingers started to stroke along her spine, causing her to begin to grind against him, moving up as she did to end with her forehead pressed to his. She slowly opened her eyes, holding his gaze and sharing breath as she nodded once, slowly, her lower lip trembling slightly.

Rolling them over, Sirius held her head with one hand, cradling it until it was resting on a gold silk pillow, once again provided by the ever-helpful castle. Are you sure? he whispered, his breathing slightly strained as he fought his instincts, his eyes tracking down her neck to watch her chest heaving nervously under him.

Her hand slipped between them, and grabbed him. How am I going to get shagged if you keep asking, and not doing? she asked in a wry, forced voice as she positioned him, or at least tried to... "Ow."

"Sorry," Sirius replied reflexively, met her eyes, and they both laughed. He swallowed as the smile fell away, "I do love you, you know," he mentioned, softly, and she nodded, grabbing him again, and this time aiming a touch better.

Her eyes slipped closed as Sirius slid home, groaning as he felt her around him, warmer and softer at the same time than anything he had ever even imagined, let alone experienced. He froze as he felt resistance, Harriet, I...

She reached up, rolling her eyes slightly and pulled down on him. A soft hiss escaped her lips, and she panted, her eyes closing tightly, as a sharp spike of pain flickered through her belly. Harriet tightened her arms around Sirius as she felt him start to slip backwards, pulling him tightly into her.

Sirius kissed her eyelids, urging them to open. He smiled as she met his, the faint glow increased, and her pain slowly faded to nothingness, leaving only a warm, content feeling. Please, Harriet...can I?

She rocked upwards, once, and fisted her hands in his hair, kissing him as he started to move in her awkwardly. Harriet let her legs fold open further, and with an instinct much, much older than herself, brought them up to cross behind his back. She started to rock disconcertedly back against him. A few more moves, and slowly, they fell into a rough rhythm.

Faintly flickering greenish-grey eyes fluttered closed as she felt Sirius speeding up, and she pulled his head to her shoulder. Letting one hand drop from his head, she reached down between them, half-remembered stories from her sisters flicking though her thoughts as she started to rub herself desperately, trying to catch up to Sirius as she felt him start to tighten.

Flickers of fire raced from where her fingers touched, joining the slowly growing flames from somewhere slightly below, to puddle deep in her belly. The warmth grew and started to boil, as Sirius started to pant heavily, as the base of his spine and his abs tightened.

"Ohh..." Sirius grunted, his eyes closed as Harriet pulled his head back to hers with the fingers still tangled in his hair, and rubbed even faster. "I'm going to..."

"G...go ahead," Harriet whispered harshly and Sirius groaned and gave up on the losing battle.

He bucked into her several more times and let go with a harsh scream. His world spiraled away as his thoughts and soul fell forward to intertwine totally with hers.

Pure color and sound washed over Harriet as his feelings intertwined with hers, even as a welcome warmth filled her. She gasped, "S...Sirius..." she cried out, shocked, as she followed, the movement of her fingers along with his feelings, pulling her over the precipice. The world dimmed, becoming a single pair of half-closed, glowing emeralds, as she collapsed limply against the bed.

The world returned in sputters of color, as her vision slowly returned, and she watched as the pure colors of their combined auras filled the air around her. She fought for air, seemingly more exhausted than if she had dueled for days, and started to stroke his spine, finding the energy to tighten her legs and arms around him as he started to pull away. No, stay.

It's alright, my Prince...we can work on it. She kissed the side of his head, for the rest of time if need be.

That's a long time, he whispered as he settled his weight on her, which she took gratefully, and closed his eyes, yawning slightly.

Yeah, love, Harriet replied, it is.

A/N: Ok, there you go. Next chapter, A date in Hogsmeade, and the Darkness does dark things....

Ok, as for the announcement. Barring meteorite strikes, or invasions by sixty-foot-tall aliens that look suspiciously human and are looking for an odd flower, I am planning to have at least one Christmas Fic up, and possibly two, though if the second gets done in time, it will be posted at my Livejournal, as it will be a Harry/Hermione/Luna fic....snigger.

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