A Witch, A Wizard and A

Mechanic
By: RhysThornbery

Harry's had enough. It's time to blow this popsicle stand. Turns out, leaving
behind friends is harder than one might think however. And an unexpected
lead towards a new life provides a surprise. Unfortunately life is rarely so
simple right? Pairings: MAYBE Harry/Multi, starting off Harry/Hermione.
GreaterGood!Dumbledore. Rated T may progress to M. On Hiatus.

Status: ongoing

Published: 2016-06-06

Updated: 2017-04-24

Words: 123422

Chapters: 15

Rated: Fiction T - Language: English - Genre: Fantasy/Romance - Reviews:

548 - Favs: 1,956 - Follows: 2,640

Original source: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11984787/1/A-Witch-A-

Wizard-and-A-Mechanic

Exported with the assistance of FicHub.net

A Witch, A Wizard and A Mechanic
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
Author's Note (Updated): I am in the midst of editing the currently
existing chapters of this story. This is in preparation for attempting to
press on with it, despite the existence of a rewrite. Hopefully these
edits will make this version more enjoyable for you to read.

Disclaimer: I don't really know that it needs saying. But I do not,

repeat, DO NOT, own Harry Potter. Anything you can identify as
being specific to the published series written by JKR is obviously
hers. I don't make any money of this either way. Anything relating to
other series that I reference obviously belongs to its respective
creator. Only original characters and ideas belong to me. Again, it's
not like I make any money off it though. This will probably be the one
time I post a disclaimer for this story.

Reviews: Deeply appreciated but not by any means mandatory.

Please keep this simple tenant in mind should you wish to review.
Please be courteous , as in please show the base modicum of civil
courtesy you would show a complete stranger who you don't intend
to fight with. I'm somewhat conflicted about even constructive
criticism, as it drains my willpower a bit. If you feel the need to be
critical, at least have the common courtesy to provide the means for
me to address your concerns by signing in to post your review.
Thank you.

Harry Potter, a skinny, dark haired boy of nearly sixteen, was

struggling. It wasn't the kind of struggle which could be overcome
with muscle and sinew. Or even the sort of struggle that occurred
between a person and a trial arrayed against them. It was the sort of
struggle, the sort of fight, a person houses within themselves. Many
have called this sort of internal struggle a battle against personal
demons. An apt phrase in this case, as Harry's problems were
certainly tenacious enough in holding out against him as to be
described as 'diabolical'. As is so often the case in such struggles, it
is a far harder battle than those of a more physical nature. After all
what foe could better oppose one than oneself?

Harry had been battling himself - his own feelings of guilt and
inadequacy - for the better part of two and a half weeks.
Understandable considering what had happened recently. The
troublesome thing about battles within your own mind is that it is
difficult to tell which thoughts are reasonable or rational, and which
are not. Which feelings are real and which are a construct of your
worst natural tendencies. Harry felt he was largely losing this
struggle.

The task which had been laid before him was monumental in scope
and implication. A prophecy existed describing a future in which he,
Harry Potter, the so called Boy-Who-Lived, would face and possibly
defeat the most powerful and evil bastard Wizarding Britain had
produced in living memory.

He was just a boy though, and by his own-admittedly faulty-measure,

not a particularly talented, bright, brave or even good looking boy.

He wasn't up to the task. He knew it, but nobody else seemed to

accept that fact. They all just blindly accepted, and had faith in, the
notion that a sixteen year old boy with only a handful of years worth
of basic education in magic, could face a man who had outmatched
and butchered almost every opponent he had ever faced. All
because of a prophecy made by a strange and perhaps not entirely
sane woman to a, possibly even stranger, man in the back room of a
pub.

Assuming that the prophecy wasn't complete hogwash to begin

with… He most certainly was not equal to that kind of task, and his
shoulders most certainly were not broad enough or strong enough to
take that kind of burden. It wasn't like most of those who believed in
such things had heard the actual wording of the prophecy anyways.

That prophecy - the very same one which Harry now doubted with
every fibre of his being - and one man's utterly misguided faith in the
truth of it, had led to the death of Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black.
But, try as he might, Harry couldn't discount it entirely either. After all
Dumbledore was - despite his many mistakes - no fool, and he
seemed to put a great deal of weight on the thing. Harry couldn't
help the feeling that it would be foolish to ignore the prophecy
entirely if for no other reason than to attempt to protect his friends.

And so it was that Harry sat up, as he had so many other times
before, the night of Sunday June 24th and contemplated his
dilemma. He had of course attempted to simply sleep through his
latest bout of melancholy and worry. It had worked before, so why
shouldn't it now? His doubts would pass eventually. But tonight as he
sat on the edge of his bed he was faced with a crossroads of sorts. It
was one he hadn't really expected to find himself at. But the
universe, for once in his life decided to reach out and cut him some
slack, sparking off a single sparkling light of inspiration within his
mind. Such a simple thing. A simple thought really, that for anyone
else not in his position would have come easily. A simple choice to
be made.

His first option was this. He could, as he had initially intended to,
take a single small pill he had pilfered from the upstairs medicine
cabinet and drift off to sleep as he had many times before.

Or he could try a new approach, and come at his problem from a

different angle.

To this point Harry had seen only one way forward. To sit and wait
things out until the man he had trusted above all others, the one
who'd actually put him in this situation, finally decided to free him
from his annual stay in the de facto prison also known as the Dursley
household. At which point, upon obtaining release, he would see
what the future held this time, and deal with it as he always had,
simply taking it as it came, moment by moment. The unfortunate
downside to this strategy was that the future so often held the
equivalent of a knuckle sandwich or a knee to the groin for him.
But a simple, frankly quite obvious thought had finally occurred to
him, seemingly out of nowhere. What if he didn't just sit and wait it
out this time? What if he did something about all this himself? So
what if he wasn't capable of living up to such a weighty prophecy? A
voice whispered at the back of his mind.

No one was, not really . After all not even Dumbledore himself had
managed to defeat Voldemort. Sitting here and waiting on a miracle
from heaven wasn't about to make his task any easier after all. He,
Harry James Potter, would need to find a way to become equal to
the task ahead of him. It was not in his character to simply not face it
at all. It was a quality he should have been proud of.

He could sit and wait and hope for someone to hand him the key to
victory, or he could go searching for that key himself. Oh, the scales
were still balanced against him, but perhaps he should see to
actually fixing that himself instead of waiting on someone else to get
off their wrinkled backside and do it for him. It wasn't like that plan
had actually worked well in the past anyways…

The question which slowly coalesced in his mind, suddenly became

crystal clear: Do I want to continue relying on others to show me the
way forward? Or, do I want to find the way through this myself? It
was a question without an easy answer as he had relied on others in
one form or another much of his life. Dumbledore, Hermione, even
Ron at some points. But how could he expect to grow in such a way,
that he would be prepared for the mission he was supposedly
destined to see through, if he let others bear the burden for him
without trying to shoulder it himself?

For many this would have been an insignificant moment of

inspiration, hardly worth commenting on at all. And so Harry sat
there and finally a thought occurred to him… yes, very impressive.
He snarked at himself for a second. But in truth for him, it was a
moment of truth. A defining moment in time.

Looking back, it certainly hadn't been his intent to have relied so

heavily on others. After all he'd basically had one lesson, above all
others, all but branded into his psyche by his "Oh-So-Loving"
relatives: Don't be a burden . Up until now he had only taken this
lesson as it had been intended by his rather unpleasant family, as an
insulting comment upon his heritage and character.

But now, in this moment of thought, he looked at it from a different

angle a different message came to light, one which he thought he
might be able to embrace more gladly: No one else should have to
shoulder your burdens for you. It's a kindness if they choose to do
so, but it should only be necessary in the circumstance when you
can no longer bear the burden alone.

Oh he had no illusions that he could take on Voldemort alone, nor

that this was some secret message his relatives had been trying to
bestow all these years, but he could become better equipped to help
face Voldemort and take upon himself what needed to be done.

This was an attitude that in many ways had been strongly

discouraged by Dumbledore and others in his life. They had all but
said explicitly to him that he should not not 'burden' himself or his
mind worrying about the task ahead of him. That he should not "wish
away his childhood." Even in less life threatening circumstances,
Hermione, his best friend, had always been there to catch him when
he was failing academically, a state of affairs which as he sat here,
felt shameful to think about…

He rephrased the question placed before him. Seeing how it

sounded under different circumstances. Do I rely on myself, or do I
continue as I have thus far?

When phrased like that, the answer became far more obvious. So
blindingly obvious in fact, even he in his less than ideal frame of
mind could not help but see the answer before him. An obvious
problem, with an equally obvious solution. One which had been
obscured from him until now. The way he had conducted - and
allowed his life to be conducted for him - had resulted in nothing but
disaster and heartbreak. One catastrophe followed by another with
absurd regularity. No, he told himself firmly, he could not continue as
he had. He had been fortunate in some ways, not to already be dead
and buried.

His latest, and most monumental failure to date, had cost him his
godfather, but in all reality it should have cost him a lot more than
that: it should have cost him his life and those of his friends. Luna
had been the only one not wounded in the battle for the Department
of Mysteries. Ron had been mauled and thoroughly addled by
floating brains from a strange aquarium of all things. Neville had
broken his nose, had his father's wand snapped and then he had
been tortured-mercifully briefly-by a madwoman. Ginny had broken
her ankle… and Hermione? Harry paused to take a deep steadying
breath here. She had been the worst off. He had watched on in
horror as she suffered a dark curse launched by Voldemort's duelling
master, Dolohov. Harry had to ask several times before Madam
Pompfrey (trying in vain to spare him the guilt) admitted to Harry that
it had been a curse intended to cause a long and painful death via
internal bleeding. Even with the fact that the spell was cast silently
she was confined to the infirmary for days.

No, he could not continue like this. Harry stood, pushing off the edge
of the bed and pacing over to the small trash bin next to the decrepit
old desk his room had been furnished with, and tossed the sleeping
pill into it. It was time he stopped sleeping his choices, his time, his
life away. It was time he set his own course. Before it was too late.

A grand declaration to be sure. Admittedly perhaps a bit more grand

than his actions and decision making process thus far truly
warranted, but to him, in that moment, it was perfect. Of course
taking control of one's own life when one has allowed it to be run for
them the majority of their life was not so simple a matter. He stood
proudly for a moment before a new question popped into his head.
Um-where do I start?

And in many ways this could have been where his self appointed
mission ended, it could have been where he simply gave up, fishing
the pill out of the garbage, taking it and going to sleep. But instead
he took the next small step, he asked the next question, a simple
one really. How did one wrest control of their life back from well
meaning -but stubborn-individuals who would be reluctant to allow
him to do so? Particularly without insulting them in the process.

So he did as Hermione often suggested he do when he was faced

with a troublesome problem to solve. He made a list. He paced over
to the desk and sat in the rickety chair before pulling out a sheaf of
paper and writing a short list.

Things in my life controlled by others:

-Home. The Dursleys I suppose, or Hogwarts thanks to

Dumbledore…

-Clothing? Dudley's cast offs or the Hogwarts Uniform.

-Money? I don't get money with the Dursleys, Mrs. Weasley handles
the shopping more often than not over vacation. Don't really find
myself needing a lot of money while at Hogwarts do I?

-Schooling? How do I pay for Hogwarts anyways? Am I paying for it?

And my grades are largely thanks to Hermione's help…

-Love life. What Love life? No, we're not going to talk about that
mess with Cho. Blimey

-My mission. Prophecy says I have no choice. And it doesn't really

matter whether it's destiny or not does it? Since I'm not about to
abandon the fight anyway… So I'm pretty much stuck there…

He peered at that depressing list before sighing gustily. I'm really not
in charge of much am I? And I made a fuss about the whole
Dumbledore's Army fiasco? He reflected with chagrin, shifting the
paper and started a second smaller list.

Things in my life I can control right this minute:

-Hygiene….Yup definitely need a shower.

-Food. Suppose I could grab something from the fridge if I'm quiet…

-State of rest. Not going to sleep right now, this is important.

-Where I am…

Here he paused and considered that last one. He didn't strictly

speaking need to be here. Not really, Dumbledore had of course
stressed the importance of keeping himself 'safe', but ultimately it
was just another tie binding him down. Do I truly want to be safe? At
least in the way Dumbledore meant it. Or do I want to do what I need
to, to get this done? Can I even actually accomplish anything staying
here? I can't do magic, I have little information from the Wizarding
World, and I can't easily study thanks to the Dursleys. He thought to
himself.

He pushed up out of his chair, and grabbed some clothing from his
drawers, before crossing the hall to the bathroom and closing the
door. He could consider that in more depth while dealing with his
shower. He went over everything he'd been considering for the last
half hour or so while he thoroughly scrubbed himself. Though he was
interrupted as he got out of the shower by a banging on the door.

Harry sighed, and finished pulling on his clean clothes before

opening the door, still towelling off his head. Aunt Petunia was
standing there glaring at him irately; she always had been the
lightest sleeper in the house. "What do you think you're doing,
showering at this time of the night?" She demanded.

Harry just observed her blankly for a minute. The answer he had
been seeking coming into his mind all at once. So he answered her
honestly. "Leaving,"

She blinked at him in confusion. "Leaving?"

Harry just rolled his eyes in a mixture of exasperation and weariness,

"Yes, Aunt Petunia, I'm getting dressed, I'm grabbing a bite to eat,
I'm packing my things and then I'm leaving," he answered the
obvious follow up question even though it wasn't asked. "And no, I
have no intention of coming back."

It was strange considering this was likely one of Petunia's fondest

dreams, but she seemed uncertain how to respond to such a
declaration. He just waited patiently for her to figure it out. "Y-you
can do that? Don't you have to have Dumbledore's permission to…"
She asked uncertainly.

He shrugged philosophically. "Strictly speaking, yes I assume so." he

allowed patiently despite his somewhat soured mood. "But I find
myself no longer caring about that. Why should I let him, a school
headmaster, run my life?" She apparently had no answer to that. "I
think I'll be needing to move fast without stopping for a while once I
leave here, you mind if I grab a bite to eat? Or are you intending on
keeping me here, despite the fact that you clearly want nothing to do
with me?" He asked a touch coldly at that last part.

Phrased like that Petunia seemed to find her bearings. She

considered him surprisingly shrewdly for a moment then nodded
briskly. "Go pack your things then. I'll have a sandwich and drink
ready for you in a minute." She spun on her heel and bustled off to
the kitchen. Planning on preparing food for him for the first time he
could recall in years.

He didn't bother watching her go, merely shaking his head and
walking to his room to gather his belongings. Such belongings as he
wished to bring with him that was at least, which were surprisingly
few. He reckoned he would bring his broom, if only to have a method
of getting around in an emergency, but otherwise it was just his
wand, a change of clothes, the old family photo album, a few books
from Defence Against the Dark Arts, the Marauder's Map, his Cloak,
a couple knick knacks and the remains of the mirror Sirius had given
him. At the very least he could see about repairing the thing; it could
prove useful someday, in fact he could already think of one use it
would be ideal for. That only left one remaining issue.
He looked across the room to Hedwig, his familiar and one of his
oldest friends, was considering him with interest. It likely wasn't
feasible to bring her with him on the run, he couldn't help but wonder
what to do with her. Leaving her here wasn't an option. For obvious
reasons, considering his relatives. But there was also the issue of
how to communicate with others if he needed them. As much as he
needed his independence he didn't believe he could do this entirely
on his own.

Which raised a new question. Who could he trust? Not just to take
care of Hedwig in his absence but to help him without alerting
Dumbledore. Sadly the pickings were slim. To his reckoning none of
the Order-even those he was close to, like Lupin and Tonks-would
hesitate to turn him in he was sure. Well maybe the twins wouldn't,
but they were busy with their own lives, as were Bill and Fleur. That
really only left Ron and Hermione.

Ron was right out sadly, despite being his best mate . The boy-or
perhaps man, as he was increasingly becoming-couldn't keep a
secret to save his life. Being sort of like Hagrid in that regard, really.
Ron also wasn't especially good at sticking by him, not when the
cacky really hit the fan. And the bloke wasn't ambitious or driven in
the least, so he wouldn't be eager to risk the easy life he had at
Hogwarts, or Merlin forbid, go off the grid entirely like Harry himself
was increasingly intending.

Hermione… well that was a more complicated question. Would she

go with me if I asked? Should I even ask? Is it right to ask something
like that of my friend? She wouldn't like to be separated from
Hogwarts, he suspected, her schooling was her life in many ways.
But… she had never shied away from taking the hard route,
especially if it was actually hard. Though he had to admit, she was
pants at lying, she wasn't entirely incapable of keeping secrets he
knew, the third year had proven that in spades. He believed she'd
learned not to blindly trust Dumbledore but he wasn't sure…

On the other hand, if she didn't come or if he didn't even ask, Merlin
knew he'd probably miss her worst of all. She had been the one
constant in his life basically without fail in all the years he'd known
her. Oh, the incident the year previous had certainly felt like she'd
abandoned him at long last, but she had done what she had with the
intent of helping him. If there was one word which described
Hermione Granger down to a tee it was Loyal.

He considered that while he sat in his chair at the desk, gazing idly
at his faithful bird. Before long a knock came at the door and his
Aunt peeked her head in. "I see you are packed. Here's your food."
She deposited the plate on the desk and bustled out without further
preamble.

He took longer than was-strictly speaking-usual eating his sandwich,

but that was mostly a result of how occupied his mind was with other
matters. It took awhile, but he finally managed to rough out a plan in
his head on how to attack his current problem. He handed Hedwig
the last bit of meat from the meal and waited for her to finish.
"Alright, Hedwig, I think I've figured out how we're going to play this.
I'm going to send you to Hermione with the request that she care for
you while I'm gone," he explained, "I'll include a second message
asking her if I can trust her not to go to Dumbledore and to just keep
it between us if I need her help." He reckoned he looked pretty
barmy talking to a species bird not typically known in nature for its
brains. * Well, not the mundane kind anyways.

The benefits of familiar magics, he supposed. "I want you to pay

attention to what she does. If she doesn't keep it to herself, refuse to
return any reply, she'll still take care of you either way I'm sure. If she
does try to keep it to herself but fails, then bring any reply that she
sends to the Tower of London courtyard on Tuesday. I'll be waiting
by those ruddy big ravens they've got gadding about." He decided,
as he began writing out his message to Hermione. "If she does keep
it to herself and is not caught out, bring it directly to me wherever I
am. Do you understand?"

The bird considered him then bobbled her head in a way he knew to
be the equivalent of a yes. He nodded, "If she agrees and doesn't
turn me in, then I'll figure out where to meet up with her." He spent
the next few minutes doing his best to word the message right,
before tying it to Hedwig's leg. "Feel free to dawdle on your way over
to her. I need a head start I think," he told her, and again she
bobbled her head at him, before allowing him to carry her to the
window and release her.

He didn't have time to watch her go, instead turning and gathering
his belongings so he could leave, wandering first out into the hall,
and then down the dimly lit stairway. To his surprise Aunt Petunia
was waiting at the bottom of them. As the two of them made their
way to the front door, Harry noted a confused expression cross her
face. She finally spat out what was bothering her around the time he
was doing up his shoes. "What will all this mean for us?" She asked,
clearly indicating herself and her husband and son.

Harry shrugged. "The defences on Privet drive, assuming they

meant anything at all in the first place, will last for a bit before they
fail all together, I think. That should give you time to prepare. In all
likelihood Dumbledore will insist on taking you into hiding…" He
cocked his head considering. "Assuming I've not been forced to
return before they fall." She had a sour expression when he
mentioned that and he had to suppress the urge to become irritated.
" Look, on the bright side, wherever you end up you likely won't have
to put up with me anymore."

She apparently chose to ignore the bitter tone in his voice, frowning
uncertainly before jerking her head once in acknowledgement, "Very
well, I suppose I should wish you good luck then."

Harry peered out the window by the door. "Depends on who's on

watch tonight really. Could you do me a favour? Check out the
kitchen window and tell me if you see anything in the bush across
the alley?" He couldn't see anyone out front, but that didn't
necessarily indicate they were not there.

She left silently, before returning a minute later. "Someone is

smoking next to the bush. Seedy looking fellow…" She grumbled.
He nodded, smirking, "Figures Dumbledore wouldn't give
Mundungus the boot after his last screw up… But it works out in my
favour this time." He rummaged in his pack for a moment and pulled
his invisibility cloak. "I'd still better make this quick though," He
muttered before pulling the cloak over himself. He heard Petunia
give a small gasp when he vanished.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself before resting a hand on

the doorknob. "Last chance to back out Harry", he muttered. Harry
shook his head, set his gaze and pulled the door open quickly before
he could change his mind. and he hauled on the door pulling it open
quickly and slipping out into the night. When nobody sprung out of
nowhere yelling for him to stop, he decided that he'd managed to
avoid notice for the moment at least. But he needed to move
carefully for a while, the sound of running feet was more likely than
anything to give him away. He closed the door behind him as quietly
as he could and inched down the walk.

A few minutes later Harry was confident enough to begin walking at

a more normal pace, and he began his journey in earnest. He felt
that this should, he hoped, be the last time he ever set foot on Privet
drive. He had no desire to see number four ever again, and did not
bother looking back over his shoulder for one last glimpse of the
place. He knew that there was no avoiding his next step however, no
matter the risks that would be associated with venturing there. He
needed to visit Diagon Alley.

* Owls are actually noted for not being terribly bright. Contrary to the
wise old owl stereotype you sometimes see…

Author's Note: Major Thanks to both Bearmauls and Temporal

Knight, who are pseudo-coauthors especially in regards to the first
few chapters and who have been much appreciated Betas for this
story.

Recommendation: Two recommendations this week in order to

inaugurate this story. First Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path by
Temporal Knight. I actually acted as beta for this story! So I hope you
enjoy it. And Second… It's Always The Quiet Ones by PixelWriter1,
a delightfully twisted and entertaining little one-shot following Luna
and what happens should you insult her mother… Don't do it, just
don't. That's all I'll say. *Shivers*
Chapter 2
Author's Note (Updated):

As noted before, this is an edited version of the original chapter.

Hope you enjoy the small changes I made.

Warnings: Mildly (very mildly) mature situations. Language.

Hermione stood before the mirror in her dimly lit room. It was still
early morning, the sun was barely peeking over the rooftops and
streaming in her window, so she had the lamp on too. She hated that
lamp, it always gave her such a sickly cast to her already pale skin.
She stared at her reflection and sighed.

She had been preparing for her morning shower, when she'd
stripped down to her plain pair of undergarments after her morning
jog, that was before she'd caught a glimpse of herself in the
reflective surface. Her scar, still an angry red, stood out across her
pale torso. A parting gift from Antonin Dolohov, Death Eater,
murderer, rapist and all around terrible human being. It had laid her
out for the rest of a battle which had become the pinnacle of a truly
terrible year at Hogwarts.

It had been less than stellar ever since leaving the school the year
previous really. She'd thoroughly blown the program early on by
ignoring her friend's pleas for information that summer, leaving him
to deal with the fallout from the Triwizard Tournament in solitude.
She had done just as Professor Dumbledore had instructed-despite
her own reservations on the matter. What a monumental mistake
that had been! She should have ignored the elderly wizard and done
what she'd known was right instead of trusting his authority on the
matter. Harry had been… less than happy with his supposed friends
when next they'd met. And who could blame him?
Their year had just gone downhill from there really. The systematic
alienation of her best friend by the greater British Wizarding world
had been just the beginning. Someone had actually gone so far as to
arrange an attempt on his life. She remembered the horror she had
felt when she'd heard about that. Then when he defended himself,
they made every effort to see his wand snapped and cast from the
Wizarding World for it. She had feared she'd lost him then, that she
was going to lose her friend forever. Thankfully he'd managed to
avoid that pitfall; one of Dumbledore's few timely interventions. She
truly despised the wizarding media for the way they had painted her
friend as the villain in all this. Apparently The Daily Prophet had
never heard of the concept of an impartial press. It had caused more
than a few rows in the common room once they returned to school.
She, Ron and Neville had been Harry's staunchest defenders.

To make matters worse upon returning to Hogwarts they had all

been afflicted, not only with the worst Defence Against the Dark Arts
Teacher to date, but by Harry's recurring nightmares. Umbridge was
by far the worst specimen of a Wizarding politician she'd ever
encountered or even heard of . The witch had even gone so far as to
torture her students with a Blood Quill when she wasn't busy being
utterly ineffectual as a teacher. Hermione hadn't been sure which
she'd found more offensive at the time. The witch had even come
complete with her own squad of corrupt little goons. Made up of
some of Hermione's least favourite students, The Inquisitorial Squad.
She'd gotten a taste of what Malfoy would be like with real power,
and it had frightened her.

This state of affairs eventually culminated in Harry being lured by his

greatest enemy to a top secret department in the house of the British
Wizarding nation's government. She'd tried to warn him, but looking
back she realized she'd pressed too hard, and dismissed his
concerns too quickly. Instead she should have taken the time to
reason with him further, a regret she carried heavily on her
conscience. It was there Harry had witnessed his godfather die, and
she herself had nearly died from a curse launched by the Dark
Lord's chief duelist. A painful reminder of their mortality. If she had
learned one thing this year it was this: those in power were just as
fallible and corrupt as any other person on the face of the planet.

They could miscalculate and make mistakes just like anyone else.
And they could be just as evil and corrupt as anyone else as well,
she'd realized one didn't need to be good to gain authority. For a girl
who had always looked up to authority figures for protection and as
role models, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Ultimately she had been
forced to… reexamine some of those she felt were deserving of her
trust. The most jarring of these failures was Dumbledore, whom she,
along with many others had come to see as an unassailable
defender of the light. But the way he'd managed Harry's welfare that
year had been… less than awe inspiring to say the least.

She felt at the slightly raised skin of the curse mark with her finger. It
trailed from just over her left shoulder and down, diagonally across
her chest, cutting under her bra along the edge of one of her breasts
and then down to her hip. It was huge, and in her opinion more than
a little unsightly. A constant reminder, of all the hard lessons of the
year, that would likely never completely fade. The world was making
less and less sense as time went on.

"Guess that's it for bikinis," she grumbled wearily. Not that she really
liked wearing them in the first place, she didn't feel anywhere near
attractive enough to really pull it off. Regardless, she doubted she'd
heal enough that it was even an option any time in the near future.
Thankfully, a tapping came at the window startling her from her
morose musings.

Hermione turned and spotted a familiar Snowy Owl sitting on the

ledge outside her window. She couldn't help it, she smiled a touch at
seeing the familiar bird. "Why hello there Hedwig, just let me get the
window," she said, hauling the pane upwards before lowering it
behind the bird as she hopped through to stand beside Crookshanks
who was curled up on her comforter.

"So Harry's doing well enough to send letters now is he?" Mostly she
spoke to the bird because Harry did. She couldn't communicate with
her own familiar as well as Harry did with that Owl. She didn't
understand it; how could he be nearly telepathic with a bird and yet
be utterly clueless when it came to the opposite gender?

She untied the letter from the Owl and sat at the small desk below
the mirror, before opening it and unfolding it so she could read. One
thing that could be said for muggle pens of any kind was their writing
was much more legible than that produced by Wizarding Quills.

Dear Hermione:

Sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I need a favour or two. They're…
rather big ones I'm afraid, and you're likely not going to enjoy them,
but it's important, I swear. First I need you to keep the contents of
this letter to yourself. Which I'm afraid means, no not even
Dumbledore may hear of this. Perhaps especially not Dumbledore.
I'm gonna have to explain a bit I suppose, you wouldn't be satisfied if
I didn't give a good reason. Things have come to the point where I
cannot in, good conscience, continue as I have thus far. Just taking
the world as it came at me, and following the lead of an old man who
has refused to tell me things critical to my survival, have ultimately
led to disaster after disaster. I nearly lost you in the Department of
Mysteries, Hermione. I was arrogant and reckless yes, but maybe if I
had known the secrets he had been keeping I would've been able to
think more clearly. I may have nearly lost you, but I did lose Sirius.

He was so important to me, Hermione, and I can't just ignore what

led to it. If I had lost you too… well it doesn't really bear thinking
upon. As it is you'll have a scar for the rest of your life because of my
mistakes.

Long story short? I'm making some changes, I'm leaving, whether or
not this just means the Dursley's or the UK in general, I don't know,
but either way, I'm not returning to Hogwarts next year. I just want
you to know that NO I am not running away, I couldn't do that to you
guys! But I am searching, I guess you could say, I need to find a way
to beat Voldemort. And seeing as Dumbledore won't show me the
way without ridiculous games, I'll find it myself. Which brings me to
my second request.

I need to move fast and light if I'm to avoid Dumbledore and

Voldemort both, I think. So I need you to take care of Hedwig for me.
Who else could I possibly trust with something as important to me as
her?

Honestly, I know you're probably not happy with me right now, I can't
blame you. Well I guess I'll just have to see what you have to say.

Fondest Wishes. Harry.

P.S It occurs to me I might as well include some 'last words' to you

just in case you know? So here it goes. You don't give yourself
enough credit, Hermione. Please stop listening to Ron when he
decides to have a go at you. Honestly what does the idiot know
about women? He's even worse than me! Hermione, there's
someone out there worthy of a wonderful witch like you, I'm certain.
Although, I admit, I have yet to meet such a person, and I hope you
find them. My final piece of advice to you is this: enjoy yourself a
little, you spend too much time being serious and working your life
away. I know your future career is important but what will it matter if
you're utterly miserable because you didn't stop to enjoy yourself?

Hermione felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Harry had
asked her for her help, but had basically informed her that this might
be goodbye as well. He had lost too much she realized, too much to
allow himself to just trust in Dumbledore's plans any further. And so
he was removing himself from them, and by extension from her life
as well.

She felt the beginnings of tears prickle in her eyes and wiped at
them irritably. Harry had been an essential part of her life for so
many years now, to lose him was intolerable .

And yet at the same time she felt a small measure of pleasure at the
thought, that of all the people he could have contacted, he had
written to her . Despite feeling the need to ask if he could trust her,
he already felt that he could, despite everything.

It was shocking really, that Harry would feel so… forsaken, that he
would abandon the closest thing to a home he had ever had. It
spoke to the level of suffering he had endured. The boy who had
fought a troll, a possessed professor, a basilisk, dementors, an
accused murderer, a traitor, and had won a tournament which was
just inches from being a blood sport, before fighting the most evil
Dark Wizard on the planet, before being turned on by his ministry
and to some degree his friends, had finally hit his limit. This was the
end she realized. Harry had finally understood, just as she had, that
the adults in his life apparently had no more idea of what was going
on than the children. They just hid it better.

There was a loud clearing of a throat and she gave a start spinning
towards the door. Her mother, Emma Granger stood in the doorway
looking at her with concern. "Hey hun, are you okay? Your eyes are
looking red, have you been crying?" she asked gently.

Hermione, wiped at the moisture absently and shook her head, not
so much in disagreement of anything her mother had said, than from
ruefulness. She picked up the letter and folded it as casually as she
could manage. "Yeah-mum, I'm fine. Just got some bad news from a
friend."

Her mother peered at her. "Oh dear. Anything I need to know?"

Hermione considered that and just shrugged. "No, not really. My

friend might need my help for a while though." Something about that
appeared to catch her mother's attention.

Her mother pointed to her and her voice was a touch harsher, "This
wouldn't happen to be the same friend who got you into whatever
gave you that scar?" She asked. She'd noticed the scar pretty early
on in Hermione's stay. It was just not feasible to try and hide it.
Still Hermione didn't appreciate the accusatory tone of the question.
"It's not Harry's fault I got the scar mum," she replied a touch sharply.

"Oh, then whose is it?" Emma asked challengingly, crossing her

arms over her chest.

Hermione growled a bit under her breath. "I chose to follow mum, he
didn't force me to, in fact he asked me not to come along. I got this
when I wasn't paying as much attention when the… when it started."

Apparently her answer was less than satisfactory. "You tell us less
and less each year about your schooling, and each year you come
back with more scrapes and scars. Your father and I are concerned."

Hermione couldn't help but bark a laugh at that, it sounded bitter

even to her ears. "It's far too late for me to back out now mum. You
know there's no going back."

Emma didn't like the sound of that. "How so?"

"Well for one thing, because the Wizarding world is run by a pack of
bigoted anthropocentric misogynists, who would, just because I'm a
female muggleborn, wipe my mind blanker than a newborns if I tried
to leave. Second, because I'm Harry's friend, his enemies would
happily hunt me down to torture and kill me. Third, again because
I'm a muggleborn, those same enemies would torture and kill me
whether I was his friend or not. That's if I'm lucky."

"I don't understand." Her mother murmured, looking worried now. "I
really don't, I don't see how I can when you refuse to explain it to
me."

Hermione sighed, "It's better you don't understand in some ways

mum, being a muggle with too much knowledge rattling around in
your head would paint an even larger target on you," Hermione
admitted tiredly.
"You can't tell us anything? Anything at all to help us understand all
this?" Emma pleaded.

Hermione huffed another sigh, more from exhaustion than from

exasperation this time. She considered what she might be able to
explain, "The short answer, Mum, is that we are at war. A Dark Lord
has declared war on Wizarding Britain; his whole platform is purifying
the Wizarding race of muggleborns and one day ruling over the
muggles like some sort of twisted emperor. Harry has the misfortune
of being stuck in the middle of this conflict, no matter what he does.
And before you ask, yes, I'm going to support him regardless."

Her mother stared at her shrewdly, worrying her lip as she clearly
mulled over what she had said. "Fine, maybe you can explain that a
little more over breakfast. It'll be ready in a few minutes." Emma
sighed, shaking her head. "Honest to God, Hermione, I don't know
where to even begin with all that." She turned and exited closing the
door behind her.

Hermione just stared at the door for a time before sighing and pulling
a pad of paper across the desk to write a letter back to Harry. Her
reply was admittedly a bit sharp in its tone, but she could mostly put
that down to her conversation with her mother. She got up and tied
the letter to Hedwig's leg and let the bird out the window, before
closing it behind the snowy owl. She honestly wondered how the
neighbours never seemed to notice an owl entering their house on
occasion.

She padded back to the middle of the room and glanced at herself in
the mirror. She shook her head, she'd dawdled enough, she needed
that shower. She reached up and undid her bra throwing it carelessly
on her bed, before bending down and pushing down her knickers.
She then padded into the en suite bathroom and closed the door.
She had a heck of a day to get prepared for if she were any judge.

A few minutes later, and many miles away, Harry-the cause of much
of Hermione's stress in one form or another-hurried out of Gringotts
onto the still mostly empty cobbled street of Diagon Alley. He had
gotten everything he needed from the bank. Not that it was easy .
The Goblins had provided him with a Credit and Debit card
arrangement, but had spent most of the time implying that he was
the lowest form of life form for requiring them to do so-it wasn't that
hard when they were so well built for sneering. Still business was
business, as far as they were concerned, so he got what he needed
out of them eventually. He had also managed to procure a list of his
family's assets-more extensive than he'd realized-which he could
peruse at his leisure at a later time. For now, he had other matters to
attend to. He was fortunate that he'd already eaten so he could at
least shave off a little time out in the open that way. But he still
needed some supplies, mostly in the form of useful books.

It did strike him as novel as he entered Flourish and Blott's,

Hermione's favourite store, that he was for the first time getting
books that were not mandated by his coursework and exams, but
were for his own edification.

He had spent most of the trip to Diagon-and during his time waiting
on the Goblins to cooperate-planning out what he most needed to
study most. First thing he had come up with was that, despite his
efforts with the DA, and despite the books Sirius and Remus had
sent him, his education in Defence Against the Dark Arts had
suffered under that toady bint, Dolores Umbridge. He therefore made
a point to pick out a few books on that topic which might be useful,
including some supplemental works on magical dueling. The second
and more important topic he thought of was Occlumency.

Harry's own education in that area had been sadly lacking thanks to
Snape's rampage and pillage approach to "teaching" it. It had, he
believed, left him wide open both to Voldemort's false vision, and the
attempted possession at the Ministry. There was no way in hell he
was letting that happen again.

Despite this resolution on his part Harry couldn't help but wonder if
Occlumency even applied against Voldemort, who didn't seem to be
accessing his mind from without in the way of regular Legilimency,
but from within somehow. Harry had figured out some time ago that
he and Voldemort were linked in some way. But the nature of
the…'connection' was nebulous to him and nobody had bothered to
explain how it might work. What a shock.

He couldn't dwell on his doubts now though, couldn't afford to let

them hobble him. Occlumency was the only method he was currently
aware of that might help protect him from such an attack in the
future, so that's what he would focus on.

Harry managed to find a few works on the subject at the back of the
store and was soon back outside, his new purchases in a shrunken
bag in his pocket. He truly had intended that to be it for that day, and
had begun making his way to the Leaky Cauldron when a familiar
shop caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

Ollivander's . The wand maker's shop, and by reputation, the best

wand maker in Britain. Although to be fair, Harry hadn't heard of any
other British wand-makers so that reputation might be a bit
meaningless. During his battle at the Department of Mysteries, he
and his allies had been disarmed or otherwise forced into an
impasse on several occasions. Neville had even been unarmed for
the rest of the fight after his own wand was destroyed. He himself
wondered about the true usefulness of his own wand that locked up
whenever it encountered Voldemort's. He paused, as he reflected on
the nature of Ollivander himself. An eccentric type, but not
dangerous by any stretch, so far as he could tell. He briefly
wondered if the man would contact Dumbledore about him if he
ventured in there. Nothing to that point had really convinced him of
such a thing. So perhaps it would be worth the risk?

He wandered over to the shop's dim and somewhat grimy door and
pushed it open, wincing slightly at the tinkling of the bell.

Garrick Ollivander, a stooped, elderly man of indeterminate age was

currently standing at the counter fiddling with a bit of wood. A bit of
wood which snapped audibly, causing the man to mutter a couple
curses before setting the pieces down on the counter and looking up.
He apparently took a moment to focus his eyes on the young man
approaching, but once he did his eyes lit up. "Ah, Mr Potter! Eleven
inch holly wand with a phoenix feather core. Still serving you well I
presume?"

This was the man's typical greeting, so far as Harry knew, so he took
it in stride. "Of course" he agreed.

"Excellent, now then what can I do for you today?" The elderly
gentleman asked brightly.

Harry wondered how to approach the topic, Ollivander was touchy

about his wands from what he could tell. "I assume you heard about
the fight at the Ministry?"

Ollivander nodded. "Ah yes, indeed I have. Terrible, just terrible that.
I was sorry to hear about Mister Black. I understand you were
close?" Harry wondered at who had been telling tales, but he just
nodded. No point denying it now.

"Thank you. In regards to that, I found that people getting disarmed

was a rather large problem for our side during the fighting. I was
wondering if you could help me find a backup wand, just in case I
should ever lose mine." He asked glancing about.

The man just smiled a bit, "Well of course I can. Now then, would
you prefer to do another off the shelf search, or now that you know
how your magic works a bit better perhaps you'd like a custom
build?"

Harry just blinked confusedly at him for a moment. "You do custom

wands?"

Ollivander feigned offence, reminding Harry briefly of Professor

McGonagall when one arrived late to class. "Of course Mister Potter,
I'm a wand maker after all. While there is always a good chance that
you'll find the right wand for you among the stacks, a custom wand is
generally a choice I prefer to reserve for those who have matured
somewhat. Can't have children trying to make a 'cool' wand which
doesn't end up doing them any good now can I? No, better that they
find one that's already made and works." He explained seriously. He
paused for a second and grinned. "Though I must say your current
wand is a fantastic match. I would be hard pressed to make a
custom suit you any better than that."

Harry had to admit the thought was intriguing. "How much will it
cost?"

"Low end? Two galleons above that of an off the shelf job. A little
more expensive for higher end materials, not more than two dozen
or so galleons more for a ridiculously luxurious piece."

Harry nodded. "Sounds fair. You take cards?" he asked pulling out
his new acquisition from Gringotts. The old man nodded agreeably.
"Okay then, how do we do this?"

Ollivander rubbed his palms together clearly anticipatory. "First

things first we need to know your needs for the wand. Since we were
talking about it already I assume you want a fighting wand?"

Harry nodded.

"Good, then we'll start you with woods that are either durable or very
flexible. Can't have a combat wand breaking in a fight now can we?"
He asked rhetorically bustling off for a box which he hauled up onto
the counter.

The box was filled with dowels of wood, each tagged with the type of
tree. "Good, now we'll start you off with this lot and go from there.
Grab a dowel, doesn't matter which one to start with, and then focus
on your magic. Just like you would for learning a basic spell like
lumos. These are from wand trees so they'll work where a normal
stick wouldn't."

Harry did as instructed and just about dropped the dowel when it
cracked right down the middle. He set it down on the counter
delicately. Ollivander sucked at his teeth as he considered. "Hmm,
too much 'juice' for this lot then," He picked a selection out of the pile
and put them off to the side. "The core will take the brunt of the
magic of course, but the wood around it has to deal with the
overflow, if just a little magic like that splits it, you need something
more durable than these ones." he explained.

Over the next few minutes Harry tried more dowels, and broke most
of them. Until only a final selection of three remained. African
Blackwood, Black Ironwood, or Jarrah Wood. Ollivander stopped him
here. "Now I want you to push as much magic into these three as
you can at once and we'll see what happens."

Harry did as instructed, albeit a touch hesitantly at first, until

Ollivander murmured encouragement. The Blackwood managed ten
seconds of extended input before it shattered in his hands. The
Black Ironwood managed a similar period of time before it ignited
into flames. The Jarrah wood had the odd reaction of suddenly
turning flaccid and floppy prompting Harry to drop it.

Ollivander appeared confused by these reactions more than

anything. "Huh, well the African Blackwood is probably the best fit,
better a shatter, than bursting into flame or doing whatever the
Jarrah Wood did. It's… strange, I've never seen those woods burn
out so fast before." He shrugged. "African Blackwood it is then. Now
then how about metals for a fighting grip?" He asked before
wandering off in search of just such materials. When he returned he
paused a moment, "Right, how much are you willing to spend on
this? We can stick with the two galleon extras or we can go into the
high end stuff for a bit more?"

Harry shrugged. "As much as needed, I need to be able to rely on it."

This answer seemed to brighten the man's mood considerably.

The man placed a number of small ingots on the counter before

looking at Harry again. "Now then, would you be willing to spare a
drop of blood on each ingot. No more than what Gringotts requires
for the identification tests."
Harry had no problem with such a small thing so, after a numbing
spell and a prick or two from an instrument provided by Ollivander he
dripped a bit of blood onto the ingots. Ollivander then proceeded to
have him push a bit of magic into the ingot via the blood and
observed the results.

Sometimes the blood boiled, filling the air with a strange metallic
tang, sometimes it merely changed colours, and yet others the blood
droplets began fizzling or hopping in place on the metal in question.

Ollivander carefully cleaned everything off and put forward two

finalists. "These two are Silver and Molybdenum, please focus as
much magic into each ingot as you can."

The silver responded to this by beginning a low resonant hum while

the 'Moly-be-damned'-as miners sometimes called it-began an
obnoxious buzzing. "Right silver it is then." the old shop keeper said
nodding in satisfaction.

He brought out a box of cores a few minutes later. Harry stopped him
for a question. "Shouldn't a Phoenix Feather be best?" He asked
curiously, his current had worked so well thus far for him.

Ollivander shrugged. "Not necessarily. You see, the cores are

imbued with a bit of the… personality of the creature which produced
it. You can never tell how a particular core is going to take to a
person. What I've got here today are samples of Dragon heartstring,
Unicorn Hair or Horn, Phoenix Feather, Merperson Hair and Thestral
Hair." He explained holding up some of the samples. "Now, I have a
feeling about which one of these will be most suited to you, would
you indulge me for a moment?" He requested.

Harry agreed and was presented with what looked like a small
bundle of muscle tissue, which began to writhe on the palm of his
hand as he channeled magic into it. He looked to Ollivander but
found a satisfied look on the man's face. "Yes that's about perfect I
think. In case you are curious, this heart string was extracted during
the medical treatment of that Horntail you flew circles around a
couple years back. You see, while the other core materials generally
find their best matches at the creatures whim or that of the material.
The best matches achieved with Dragon Heartstrings are those
between a witch or wizard and a Dragon they have conquered. A
fascinating area of study into a subject we don't truly understand. But
it appears that in some way the recognition of dominance is critical in
this manner of exchange," he explained and Harry handed him back
the muscle fibres. "Now then, would you like to wait around a while
while I work on your wand or would you like it mailed to you?"

Considering his current situation Harry's decision was simple. "I'll

wait around, how long will it take?" He asked.

Ollivander thought about that. "Probably an hour or so." Harry

nodded agreement. "Excellent, oh and it looks like you may have just
the thing to keep you occupied, an owl appears to be looking for
you." He noted nodding to the window. Hedwig was waiting patiently
on the sill.

"How'd you know she's with me?" Harry asked surprised.

Ollivander just chuckled. "All my mail comes into the rookery

upstairs, therefore that owl is here for someone else." Harry
chuckled ruefully in understanding. "Now hurry along young Mister
Potter, I have work to do."

Harry stepped out into the morning sun and collected Hedwig from
her perch before sitting them down on a bench in a relatively
secluded section of the alley. It was starting to fill up with shoppers,
and this extended stay of his would likely garner too much attention if
he was out in the open.

He was more than a little relieved to see the letter attached to the
owl's leg. "Hey there girl, so I guess she decided to keep it to herself
after all eh?" He murmured to the owl. Hedwig barked quietly and
started preening Harry's hair gently.
He opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

Harry:

Of course you can trust me! It's a bit insulting that you even have to
ask. But you better believe we are going to talk about this. I hope
you know what you are doing. Now then to business, I believe you
mentioned you might need my help. What can I do for you?

-Hermione

Harry winced a little, obviously she wasn't happy with him. He could
practically taste the sarcasm on that last sentence. He glanced at
Hedwig who was watching him expectantly. "Well what do you think,
should I give her time to cool off or should I ask her to meet today?"
He wondered. The owl tilted her head sharply, shooting him a look
that clearly said, What? Are you defective? and he chuckled. "Today
it is then."

He pulled out a pen and some paper and started writing using the
back of one of his books. He'd have to make it good whatever he
was going to say to her today.

Hermione, who had been studying, sitting 'indian style' on the warm
comforter of her bed, was startled for the second time that day by the
sound of rapping at the window. Sure enough it was Harry's ever
faithful owl once again waiting patiently when she got up to see what
it was. It was not lost on her however that the speed of Harry's
response suggested he was not so terribly far away. Probably
somewhere in the Greater London Area at least. Which… really
wasn't that small a space when she thought about it.

She allowed the bird into her room and untied the letter from her leg
and passing her a bit of bacon she had saved from breakfast.

Breakfast, what a… pleasant conversation that had been. Her

parents had been understandably equal parts, angry, disgusted,
confused and terrified by some of the things she had said and hinted
at. It was only her warning about what would happen to them all if
she was pulled from Hogwarts that kept her parents from doing so
right there and then. Which was precisely why she had not told them
up to this point.

She unfolded the letter and read the short reply.

Hermione

If you feel like it, meet me at the Tower of London by the Ravens at
noon today and I'll gladly answer whatever questions you have.

-Harry

The cloak and dagger tone of the note was not comforting, but his
willingness to accept her assurances that she was trustworthy was.
She didn't like this strange game her friend had started to play, but
she didn't see any choice but to play along for the time being. His
reply hadn't been open to a lot of different interpretations. However,
he was at least offering answers, which was something he was not
always good about.

She nodded to Hedwig. "You want to stay here, or fly around a bit
while I'm out meeting Harry?" The owl looked to the window before
bobbing her head.

"Out flying it is then. Try not to wander too far," Hermione opened the
window and allowed the bird out before padding with her books to
the shelf and replacing them. She then grabbed her purse and slung
it over her shoulder before making her way down stairs. Again
pausing as she pulled on her shoes to explain to her parents. "I'm
going out for a bit, I'll see you later."

Her mother was apparently observant or shrewd enough to guess

her purpose from her attitude. "Going out to help your friend?"
Hermione tried to gauge her mother's mood but she came up empty.
"Just to talk actually, but yes."

Her parents frowned at each other. "Perhaps we should come with

you, just in case?" Her father suggested.

She shook her head. "No, I believe Harry wants this private so it's
better if it's just me, and besides…" She stood up from tying her
shoe. "Even if there were trouble, what would you be able to do
about it?" Her parents were clearly not pleased with this logic, but
neither were they able to refute it. What could Dan or Emma
Granger, dentists do against wizards who could 'teleport' or shoot
lightning from a stick? "Now, I'll see you later, hopefully in time for
dinner, but if not, don't wait up."

With that she exited her house and made her way out onto the
sidewalk. She knew she wasn't precisely being fair to her parents.
She knew they meant well, and appreciated that they cared for her.
But really, right this moment, she didn't have either the time or
patience to argue with them about it all. Not when she was on a
deadline!

It was a relatively short walk to the nearest tube station. She could
be thankful for one thing at least. In the middle of the day like this,
the London Tube system was safe, fast and reliable, she could be to
the tower in time to meet Harry without any concerns. Well… no
more concerns than she already had.

Harry stood, leaning lightly against a tree in the central courtyard

space of the Tower of London fortress, doing his darndest to remain
utterly unremarkable to any who might pass. Thankfully this was a
relatively easy task in a crowded London tourist attraction. To many
who ventured here he'd just be another dishevelled teenager
loitering in an open space. Although they might wonder why he'd
spent the money to do so here of all places.
His attempts to remain unnoticed must have been fairly successful,
because not even Hermione saw him at first when she'd eventually
shown up. She looked good, hard not to when not wearing Hogwarts
robes for a change he supposed, but she looked healthier, if not
necessarily happier than the last time he'd seen her. Of course, the
last time he'd seen her, she hadn't been long out of the infirmary
after receiving that curse, so his judgment was far from impartial.

She paused, casting her eyes about before visibly sighing and
setting herself down on one of the benches beside the Raven's field.
Holy mother, those are some big birds, he thought to himself as he
approached her bench cautiously. He leaned casually on the back of
the seat next to her, and she gave a start. "Thanks for showing up
Hermione. I know it was sort of last minute," he greeted, smiling
briefly at her before turning his attention back to the birds. A 'beef
eater' was running about trying to corral one back to its pen without
much success.

He heard her blow out an explosive breath. "Honestly, Harry, it's not
like you gave me much choice. If I wanted to speak with you it had to
be here today remember?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Would you really have turned me down if I had given you more
time?" He asked, feigning curiosity, he knew perfectly well what the
answer was.

Clearly she did too. "No, I wouldn't have and you know it."

"Then it's just like I thought, and there was no point to beating
around the bush was there?" he pointed out calmly. "Now then, do
you want to talk here, or do you feel like taking a stroll?"

She considered that pursing her lips. "You sure that's wise? I didn't
think you'd want to risk being overheard."

He shrugged casually. "In a place like this? I figure anything we say

will either be ignored or written off as nonsensical babbling, the only
people around here who'll hear us are muggles." He noted, and she
nodded conceding his point. "Come on then, we'll visit the armoury
up there in White Tower, I feel like looking at some swords today," he
teased.

She smirked, "Don't you get enough suits of armour and such at
Hogwarts?"

He smiled crookedly at her as he helped her to her feet. "Well yeah,

but you've seen those things, they're mostly early renaissance era
stuff. I hear they've got a suit of Samurai armour here." He pointed
out.

She rolled her eyes, but it was mostly in good temper. "Fine, lead the
way."

They walked in silence for a goodly time, just admiring the scenery
or looking at the displays within the museum. Eventually they paused
in front of a series of armoured suits and Harry felt compelled to
comment. "Seems Henry the Eighth got to be shaped like some of
my relatives by the end of it eh?" He noted, nodding to a practically
spherical suit at the end.

Hermione just shook her head and sighed. "You really want to spend
our time together talking about that?"

He shrugged, and grimaced slightly. "Not really, no. But I figured I

had to start somewhere."

She stared hard at him for a moment. "Harry, why are you doing
this?" She asked tightly, "Why are you leaving-" She had to clear her
throat as it tightened, choking off what she'd been about to say. Why
are you leaving me?

Harry sighed, but he apparently had missed the internal dialogue.

"Dumbledore's made too many mistakes concerning me. And I've
made the mistake of allowing it to continue unchallenged. Here, I
wrote a short list of things that concerned me, looking back, while I
waited on you." He said and pulled a sheaf of paper from his bag
and handed it to her.

Short may not have been the word for it. Hermione reflected as she
examined what was a thoughtful and comprehensive list of
Dumbledore's known failings up to this point regarding not just Harry,
but the school as a whole. The list went on for a few pages, he'd
even attached notes with questions and hypotheses to some of
them. It was surprisingly well-written for Harry, especially given that
Hermione usually had to proof-read his assignments. And Hermione
being who she was read the whole of it.

She came to the end close to five minutes later, and handed it back
before sighing wearily, and rubbing her forehead irritably. "It's kind of
hard to argue against you running, when you lay it all out like that
isn't it," she asked as they paused in a small alcove by one of the
windows.

He glowered slightly, "Like I said, it's not running, not really. 'I'm
searching', I'm just going to be doing it without Dumbledore. I
wouldn't have to leave at all if I knew he wouldn't interfere. Force me
back into my cage." He looked at his feet and growled a little. "That
and I have a feeling 'running' would be not only cowardly but futile as
well in the long run."

That caught her attention and she looked up at him again. "How so?"

He paused considering her, his eyes darting around her face as if

memorizing it. She didn't know it but in a way he was. He might not
see her again, he realized. Possibly never again if he followed
through on his plan. Eventually he blew out a breath and looked at
the low ceiling above them. "I heard the prophecy Hermione,"

She blinked in confusion, before sitting up as his words sunk in.

"What, how? I thought it was destroyed?"

He nodded slowly. "Sure it was, but Dumbledore knew what was in it

all along, and told me himself for a change." He noted sourly.
She peered closely at his clearly strained features. "What did it say?"

"Long or short version?" He asked, looking out the window.

"There's more than one?" She asked confused.

Harry shook his head. "No, I meant, do you want me to summarize

or do you want the full thing right this minute?"

She decided getting to the point was important. "Summarize for me,
we can go into the details later."

He smiled sadly at her. "Basically? It says that it has to be me who

kills Voldemort. No one else can do it for me. It's either him or me,
kill or be killed." He noted her stunned expression. "And, as if that
wasn't bad enough… It's possible, judging by the wording that it
might mean that I must die before someone else can finish the job
after I'm gone."

She felt nothing but horror at this revelation, but Harry just smiled a
gentle, if sad, smile at her. Eventually she did what her mind had
been screaming at her to do for the last few minutes and lunged
forward hugging him tightly. There is no bloody way that wanker is
taking my Harry from me! She snarled to herself, I won't allow it, it's
unacceptable, that will not be his fate!

She looked up at him seriously, before once again resting her head
on his shoulder. "I don't care what any prophecy says Harry, you are
not dying on me you understand," She demanded.

He chuckled and rubbed her back, in a slow circular motion which

was fairly soothing "Yeah I'm not too fond of that interpretation either.
But it's pretty clear that I will have to face him myself, but I also know
that following Dumbledore will in all likelihood see me dead and
buried before I get very far. I sometimes wonder if that's been the
plan all along…"
She backed off him a bit, "Harry you can't seriously be intending to
take on V-Voldemort alone?" She cursed the slight stutter at saying
his name.

Harry just shrugged again, "I don't see an alternative really. I can't
really trust Dumbledore, the Order all follow his lead, and anyone in
the same postal code is likely to get killed off."

She shook her head in denial. "Harry, you can't possibly learn
everything you need to know to beat him on your own!"

"I can get books, and despite what the people around here would
have you believe, there really are other magical folks outside
Britain." He smirked a bit, "I'm betting there's someone out there who
can help me learn what I need for this."

I can't let him do this alone, that's suicide, no matter how he

pretends it isn't! He doesn't know who he can trust out there, not
really. Anyone could be an agent for Voldemort. No, I won't let him
go alone. She glared up at him and before leaning forward and
shoving him. He took a step back looking surprised. "You don't have
to go looking out there by yourself. Don't believe for a second that
I'm letting you face this alone, Harry! I'm coming with you."

He shook his head, and frowned. "Hermione, that's not what I meant,
I can't possibly ask you to-"

She cut him off sharply. "You're not asking. I'm volunteering," she
explained carefully, as if talking to a slow child, determination ringing
in her voice.

Harry was unhappy, "Yeah, to give up everything, to go on the run

with some schlub who's pissed off one too many people?"

She didn't back down. "To go on the run with my best friend, who
needs me," she challenged.
He was still shaking his head. "Hermione, you'd be giving up your
home, your education, possibly even your future. It wouldn't be
right…"

She scoffed. "And if I stay behind I may be giving up all those things
and more anyways! Do you think Voldemort and his Death Eaters
will be merciful if they capture me alive?"

Harry considered her as they started walking again. He was trying

hard not to think about what would happen to Hermione if she were
ever captured. It didn't bear thinking about… "Have you sent a letter
to Ron?" She asked eventually.

Harry shook his head, as they came to a stop in front of a case with
some particularly exotic looking equipment in it. "No, we both know
Ron can't keep a secret very well, and even if he could he'd grow to
resent having to give up his home and family. It could be years,
maybe even longer before I'm ready to face Voldemort." He gave her
a significant look.

She wished she could argue with him. "You're not wrong. But don't
you think he'll resent being left behind?"

He chuckled darkly. "He's going to be resentful either way as I see it.

Better resentful somewhere where he won't cause trouble. That's
another reason I can't and won't ask you to come with me,
Hermione."

She furrowed her brow in confusion, "You think Ron will need me?"

Harry just barked a laugh at that, "No, Ron will manage either way
I'm sure. He always does. Hermione, you have a future, an amazing
one is ahead of you I'm certain. I can see it, and so can anyone else
who's got half a brain." He shook his head. "I can stand Ron
resenting me for leaving him behind. What I couldn't stand would be
you resenting me for destroying everything you worked so hard for."
She pulled him aside and looked into his eyes, willing him to
understand. "Harry, do you remember what I said were the most
important things in life before you stepped through those flames in
first year?"

He growled, a touch exasperated. He knew where she was going

with this. "Bravery and Friendship."

I never did say everything I meant to say that night. I was right not to,
at eleven I had no idea of the real meaning in what I was saying, not
really. Now I do, and I'd say it all but we don't get do overs, She
reflected sadly. "How brave would I be if I let you go off alone? How
brave would I be if I hid and let you suffer for my future? What kind of
friend would I be if I didn't come with you when you will need me
most?"

Harry hugged his arms around his chest uncertainly, "A living one?"

She looked around sharply and got in his face. "Oh shut it, Harry.
You say you couldn't stand to have me resent you? Well I couldn't
stand to have you die when I could have helped. I couldn't stand for
you to be lonely when I could have kept you company." She wasn't
going to let him go without one hell of a fight. "I'm your friend Harry, I
want-" She shook her head. No use dwelling on wishes and wants.
They'll only break your heart. She chose a different tact. "I need to
be there with you seeing this through. Because if I didn't I wouldn't
be able to live with myself," she snapped.

Harry sighed and rubbed his nose, then surprisingly he chuckled.

"You know I had this grand plan about repairing the mirror from
Sirius and giving it to you so we could talk."

She shook her head, looking at her feet. "It wouldn't be enough, I'd
still miss you."

Harry was silent for a time. "Yeah, it wouldn't ever be enough." he

agreed. "You know, before I decided to leave the Dursleys, I was
thinking to myself, that of all the people I'd be leaving behind… I'd
miss you the most."

She couldn't help but blink at him dumbly in surprise. He saw her
confusion and explained. "Hermione, you're my conscience, my best
friend and my confidant. No one else even comes close."

She couldn't believe he was telling her this. "Not-not even Ron?" She
asked.

He chuckled a bit hiding a smile behind a fist for a moment. "Please,

have you ever tried to have a meaningful conversation with Ron
about something important? I mean, he either insults you, gets
irrationally jealous or goes 'bloody hell' all the while clearly not really
understanding what it all really means to you."

She smirked a bit, "I believe I may have noticed that over the years,
yes. I believe I said he had the emotional range of a teaspoon."

"Yeah, he's an okay bloke most of the time, but that's only because
we never really asked much of him before the Department of
Mysteries. And it's not like he could have backed out of that, not with
you and the others coming to my rescue… No, like I said, I'd miss
you most." Then he smirked a bit, sounding surprisingly cynical
about his 'best mate'. "And while I knew I would and could never ask,
I did wish I could bring you with me," he admitted.

She smiled at him, the first real smile in a while. "Well I guess wishes
do come true after all," she noted smiling saucily at him. He was
crumbling and she knew it.

He barked a laugh. "Ha! Yeah I suppose they do…" he sobered.

"Hermione, in all seriousness, think on this, really think on it, before
you commit, because once in it… I don't know that there's going to
be a chance to back out."

She glared at him, but it lacked any real heat. She'd won after all.
"You know, Harry, sometimes I really want to smack some sense into
you! I will not back out on you. So long as you need me, I'll be there."

He smiled, and looked away for a moment. "Hopefully not just

then…" He looked back at her and she could swear she saw a bit of
moisture in his eyes. "I want you around Hermione, I don't-I don't
know what I'd do without you to…" He trailed off.

She smiled impishly at him, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder.
"Die probably."

He laughed again. "I really should make a list of the sheer number of
time I owe you my life. I bet it'd go on forever." He teased.

She made to wave that off. "You don't owe me anything Harry…"

He gave her a stern look. "That's a load of bull and you know it. But
hey, if you want to turn down the opportunity to cash in on all the
kinds of favours saving my life might net you…" He teased
theatrically.

She laughed and looked away to cover the blush her overactive
imagination had created from that statement. Some of those favours
could be very nice indeed. "I might take you up on that someday
then… just imagine. A whole bookstore's worth of reading material."
She joked.

He laughed but was serious when he replied. "Hey, if that's what you
want I'll get it for you." he said earnestly. She couldn't help but be
touched by his sincerity. She tried to stamp down on the butterflies
that were fluttering in her stomach. She'd given up on that, sadly
some things just would never be. She'd accepted it.

She cast about for a topic as they once again exited the tower into
the courtyard. "So where are we headed next" Hermione asked
seriously. He sobered a bit and shrugged.

"I think I need to figure out a way to get rid of the trace, but first we
need to-" Harry blinked and a look of dawning horror spread across
his face. "God, how are your parents going to react to this? We can't
just show up and have you start packing your bags."

She nodded chewing her lip. "No, you're right, they-maybe I could…
no." She shook her head in frustration.

"What were you thinking?" He asked curious.

She shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I could obliviate them and
send them somewhere safe."

Harry grimaced, he had never liked obliviations, "Hopefully it never

comes to that. I think it'd be better to explain it to them. All of it, and-
let you say your goodbyes."

She winced at that but nodded. "They're at home today," She

ventured.

"How likely is your dad to try and kill me…" He asked then snorted.
"Hell, it's the mothers of most species who are the most dangerous.
The Horntail taught me that!"

She snorted, she'd just imagined her mother in a bear suit. "Piece of
advice before you meet them Harry, I'd advise never equating my
mother with a fiery breathing death lizard to her face."

"Even I'm not that stupid."

She felt a familiar argument rise to the surface. "You're not stupid
Harry, you just need to apply yourself…" she paused realizing how
ridiculous this was considering. "Well, I guess that's what you're
doing now isn't it? Just a bit more spectacularly than anticipated."
She noticed Harry was looking chagrined, "What?"

"I just realized I have no idea where exactly you live," he admitted.

She shrugged not bothered. "A few blocks from Belsize Park
Station."
"Ah," he said eloquently.

She considered him out of the corner of her eye. "How'd you get
here?" She asked.

Harry considered making a, "Well when a man and a woman really

love each other," joke, but thought better of it. "Knight Bus to Diagon
Alley, then walked here."

She blinked surprise. "You didn't take the tube? That must have
taken an hour or more!"

He shrugged. "Never really been on the tube by myself before.

Besides, I like walking just fine.

She shook her head, Harry was so odd sometimes. "Well, we're
certainly not walking all the way to Belsize Park from here." She
eyed the crummy clothes he was wearing and sighed. "And if we
want this to go smoothly it would be best if we go shopping on the
way."

Proving he indeed was no dummy Harry understood her meaning

immediately. His clothes could use some work. "You know it's a
widely held belief among males that getting taken shopping by
women is really an excuse for them to torture us. I managed to pick
that up even with the Dursleys," he noted dryly.

She sniffed, feigning offence, "You just haven't been shopping with
me when it didn't involve books," she said primly.

He grinned, "I know, and I'm not really arguing. Believe me, I know I
look like a slob in Dudley's cast offs."

She smiled grimly "Excellent, then let's get you sorted, and we'll face
the parental horde together!"

He paused considering that. "Is it wrong that I'm less scared of a

dragon than of your parents?"
"No," She said happily.

"Oh good ."

Author's Note: Major Thanks to both Bearmauls and Temporal

Knight, who are/were pseudo-coauthors especially in regards to the
first few chapters and who have been much appreciated Betas for
this story. Seriously, you guys freakin' rock!

Recommendation(s): First up we have… Harry Crow by Robst. I'd

be horrifically remiss if I never mentioned this Fan Fiction Classic.
[Though I'm sure not everyone agrees with that statement] So… go
on, read it you fools! And in a twist, I'm gonna recommend a cross-
over I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by Kathryn 518.
Fairly solid HP/Star Wars crossover, though unfinished and slow
updating. Hopefully that'll change soon.
Chapter 3
Author's Note: This one's been edited too now. Hopefully this
version will be slightly more enjoyable. Or at least more clear.

Harry had not taken the London Tube much before today. It was
difficult for one to not have at some point if they had ever even so
much as visited the city, however the Dursleys had never allowed
him to travel much. The tube was a massive and carefully planned
out network of subways, and as he learned from Hermione, it had
been in service in one form or another for close to a hundred years.
It had even seen service in the second world war as a system of
public bomb shelters. Hermione made a point of indicating points of
interest as they passed, making this particular trip interesting
compared to those previous.

Harry should have known some of this already considering his

residence in a muggle home in the Greater London Area, but as ever
his stay with the Dursleys had proven less than beneficial to any
concept of education. He and Hermione even had the pleasure of
the momentary entertainment caused by a tourist, Canadian judging
by the little Canadian flags all over his stuff, get hamstrung by the
automated doors of the train.*

When they eventually arrived at the Belsize park station, and made
their way to the surface, Harry was struck by the impression that this
was exactly the sort of neighbourhood he could imagine Hermione
growing up in. There was a pleasant little market district right out
front of the station. Hermione paused in front of a small used-book
shop and asked the shopkeeper about a book she had apparently
been waiting eagerly for. Clearly this was a store Hermione was well
known in, given how pleasantly the shopkeeper greeted her. After
paying for the new book, the pair moved past the market and into the
neighbourhood proper. The area beyond the market was saturated
with endless townhouses and flats, with the occasional small cul-de-
sac with slightly larger homes mixed in. It was in one of these small
enclaves that Hermione's home was located. It was a nice two story
house of moderate size sitting between two others of similar design.

The small green space in the centre of the cul de sac was filled with
trees, and Harry felt compelled to comment. "Somehow, this is
exactly the kind of place I imagined you living in, I can just picture
you sitting under one of those trees reading."

Hermione blushed, but still felt a surprised laugh bubble up past her
lips. "I still do occasionally, when the weather is nice that is."

They made their way up to the house, Harry politely waiting for her to
take the steps first. Hermione was about to reach for the door
handle, the other hand fumbling in her pocket for a key when the
door was opened by a woman who could only be her mother. She
was very similar to Hermione in appearance, despite the obvious
differences in age. Hermione had given a start as the handle was
pulled from her hand. "Oh. Hi, Mum."

Harry tilted a nod at the woman and waved slightly. "Hello, Mrs
Granger," he greeted and the woman's eyes centred on him.

"Ah, hello to you too. You must be Hermione's friend, Harry,"

Harry nodded agreeably, "Yes ma'am, we met briefly back in second

year I think."

She nodded, "Yes, but we didn't get a chance to talk much. Those
men got into a fight and we went to the pub to… relax."

"Yeah, sorry about that, the Malfoys and Weasleys all but have a
blood feud."

He informed her a touch ruefully. To say the Malfoys and Weasleys

loathed each other was a colossal understatement. She nodded
vigorously, probably remembering the incident in vivid detail, then
straightened a bit as she settled.
"Well, you'd better come in then." She invited and stepped out of the
way.

Hermione's house was different from other homes he had

frequented. If he had to pick a word to describe the small
contemporary house it would be… comfortable. Not too much clutter
but not hideously, and unnaturally organized like the Dursleys. He
only had a short time to reflect on this notion before a man Harry
assumed to be Hermione's father entered the hall.

The man's expression and demeanour was polite, but it had a

slightly wary edge to it as well. Harry could tell he didn't entirely trust
his daughter's acquaintance just yet. Regardless he approached and
spoke as amiably as could reasonably be expected under the
circumstances. "Hello, you must be Harry," The man greeted holding
out a hand to shake.

Harry grasped it firmly and shook, nodding, "Yes, sir."

"Dan Granger,"

Harry inclined his head, "A pleasure, sir."

The man led the group back into the living room. "So what brings
you to our house, Harry," he asked seriously.

Harry blew out a breath, and shrugged, "It's a long story, sir."

He noticed Dan grimace and realized this wasn't the appropriate

answer given the circumstances. Dan was hoping for the full story for
a change.

"But I am going to hear it, right?" Dan asked pointedly.

Hermione was appalled by her father's blunt approach, "Dad!"

Harry just raised a hand to stop her, "No, it's okay Hermione. I don't
mind," He turned back to Dan and nodded, "Yes sir, you'll hear it."
Dan seemed to ease a little bit, "Good,"

Emma was shaking her head, she knew what kind of trouble her
husband's tact had likely started with their daughter. Hermione had
spoken glowingly of Harry in her letters, somehow Emma doubted
she would take kindly to perceived attacks by her own father,
"Hermione, why don't you show Harry around?" she requested,
giving her spouse a look, "We'll start an early supper."

Hermione shot her mother a grateful look before taking Harry by the
elbow, "Thanks, Mum," She called over her shoulder as she led him
from the room. "Come on Harry, I'll show you my room."

Harry followed her up the stairs as he heard hushed voices start up

behind him. Hermione opened the door into the room and stepped
inside and out of the way so he could see. Harry was impressed, it
was quite a nice room. Far nicer than any of those at the Dursleys' in
his reckoning. It was open and airy, with a bed built into the wall at
the base of a bay window overlooking the backyard. Hedwig was
sitting on a perch Hermione apparently kept specifically for visiting
owls. Admittedly, she was currently turning a rodent of some
description inside out and disemboweling it on her perch, but still it
somehow failed to detract from the overall atmosphere of the room.

This was most definitely a learned person's room, but it also had a
distinct quality about it that screamed Hermione. Of course the room
was well stocked with book shelves, filled to the brim with books, but
surprisingly the room also had a large drafting table pushed into one
corner and many pictures adorned the walls. He had to peer more
closely to realize that all the pictures were hand drawn images, the
one he was standing next to was a detailed picture of Hogwarts from
down on the grounds by the Quidditch pitch. He considered that for a
moment before looking at Hermione, "How come I never knew you
could draw?" He asked, it would have sounded accusatory except
for the grin on his face.

She was clearly a bit embarrassed, and shrugged gesturing weakly

around the room as she rubbed the back of her neck. "That'd be
because I never draw at school?" She ventured.

He considered that, "I'd still have liked to know about your other
talent, these are really good. Though I suppose it's hard to draw with
quills?"

She shook her head, "Oh no, I do ink drawings too. It's messy
though, so I avoid it mostly. It's just I have more important things to
be doing at school."

Harry shook his head as he examined another image, "These are

very good,"

She smiled, clearly pleased, "Thank you."

The next picture he spotted was clearly a self portrait, likely a

duplicate of a photograph judging by the lighting and composition.
He smiled gesturing to it, "This is a really good one, I like it."

She cocked her head squinting at that one, apparently a touch

confused. "I'm not terribly proud of that one, it just doesn't feel right
to me."

Harry considered it. "Oh I don't know, the smile is just about perfect,"
he shrugged. "Not as good as the real thing of course. But still,
amazing what you can do with a piece of graphite isn't it? Maybe
you'll do one for me to have some day?"

She looked down, apparently pleased.

He eyed her thoughtfully then shook his head, getting back to

business. "So… how do you want to approach this, with your parents
I mean?"

She huffed a sigh, and glanced about uncertainly, "I don't know,
Harry,"

He nodded, understanding. This was hardly a typical situation. Mum,

Dad? I'm intentionally going on the run with a friend of mine, in the
hopes of learning how to fight a super powerful and evil mad man.
Ta! was hardly going to cut it. "Perhaps we should let them ask their
questions first, then? Let them understand why it is the way it is
first?"

She grimaced but nodded, "Sounds like as good a place as any, I

suppose."

Harry noted her hesitant tone, and correctly guessed that she was
worried about her parents' response to him. "You want to go down
and talk with them now?" She appeared uncertain, and more than a
bit afraid they'd blow up at him. "Perhaps it would be best if you were
to tell them?"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," she agreed, sighing.

"Do you want me to come along," He asked uncertainly.

She shook her head, "No, it would be better for me to handle it…"
She indicated the window. "Why don't you go out back and wait?" He
gave her a doubtful look, it didn't feel right, leaving Hermione to face
this with her parents alone.

"Okay," He turned towards the door then turned back to her, "You
know, I never wanted to put you in this position…" he offered,
remorse tinging his voice.

She nodded, "I know Harry, don't worry."

She pushed him out into the hall and led him down the stairs before
indicating the direction he should head in.

Harry followed the hallway through the door out into the back yard. A
small but pleasant affair with a pool and a set of lawn chairs. Harry
made his way tentatively over to one of the chairs and sat down. For
a time he sat in silence, but before long he was contemplating the
days to come.
Ultimately the first step would be finding somewhere to sleep for the
night. He was relatively certain the Grangers were not going to be
particularly happy with him. But that was a minor concern for the
time being. The next big step on the list was to see about eliminating
the Trace.

As he recalled the one who had made notifications for underage

magic use was a woman called Mafalda Hopkirk. But he honestly
had no clue as to whether or not she actually had the authority to
remove someone from the watch list. Oh Fudge would of course
have the authority, but there was no way Harry would be
approaching him, especially after the last year. Fudge dealt in
favours and influence, whatever price tag he'd put on removing the
trace would be too much, and even then Harry wouldn't wish to bet
on him not going back on the deal later.

He also vaguely recalled hearing something suggesting Fudge might

not be in office for much longer. Who were the replacement
candidates again? He'd need to ask Hermione… unless…

His mind stumbled upon someone else who might be able to help
him, though he couldn't be certain that she would. Madam Bones
was known for being just and fair, and was the current Director of the
DMLE. That had possibilities, though he was uncertain how best to
approach her.

Harry was interrupted from his line of thought by the back door to the
house swinging open and Mr Granger stalking out, thankfully his
hands were held in his pockets and he wasn't moving in such a way
as to suggest he was preparing to fight. Still he did look plenty surly
as he approach. Harry cautiously got to his feet.

Dan approached him and eyed him irritably before finally speaking,
voice sharp, "My daughter tells me you tried to talk her out of this
madness."

Harry nodded readily, "Yes sir, I did."

"But she didn't listen, not even to you…" Dan asked rhetorically, then
shook his head, "You know it is beyond frustrating when a daughter
listens more to her friends than to her own parents," he noted
somewhat accusingly.

Harry was sympathetic, "I can imagine it would be, sir…"

Dan shot him an unfavourable look, "May I ask you a question of you
then?"

Harry nodded, "Of course, sir."

"What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

Harry blinked in surprise, whatever questions he had been expecting

that hadn't been one of them, "I admit I wasn't expecting that, sir…"

"Well?" Dan asked expectantly.

Harry shrugged, "She doesn't see me that way, sir."

Mr Granger looked less than impressed by this argument, "How do

you see her, then?"

Harry wasn't used to discussing such matters, "Like I said sir, she
doesn't see me that way so it would be irrelevant either way."

Dan stared at him balefully for a time before sighing and shaking his
head, "I just wish we could have gotten more time with her before
losing her."

Harry felt guilty, he didn't want to break up the Granger family, "If I
have anything to say about it, you won't be losing her, sir."

Dan wasn't comforted, "Your mad war is going to see her

disappearing for who knows how long. We may not see her for
years, maybe even decades. By the time she returns she will be a
grown woman. My little girl will be gone."
Harry couldn't have felt much worse if he tried, "I'm sorry sir…"

Dan waved that off, "Oh, stop it with the sir already. I feel like I'm
back in the Infantry," he grumbled.

Harry eyed him speculatively, "I wasn't aware you'd served the
Crown… ."

Dan nodded absently, "Yeah, from 95 to 05." He looked to the boy

next to him, "So do you actually have a plan in all this?"

Harry nodded, "The beginnings of one at least." He looked out over

the back yard contemplating where to start. "First step is to find
somewhere to stay for the night, of course. But the next step is
definitely going to be getting the Trace removed so we can do magic
without getting hauled before the courts."

Dan nodded speculatively, "That's the thing which prevents you from
doing magic outside of school right?"

Harry nodded an affirmative.

Dan considered before sighing, "Well, I don't see what I could do to

help with that part, but you two are welcome to stay the night, that'd
at least give us time to say goodbye." He offered, daring Harry to
disagree.

Harry nodded, accepting the implied warning, "Just a warning ahead

of time sir, if the Order or Ministry comes here looking for us, we may
need to bolt sooner than we'd like. I can't control that."

Dan nodded, rubbing his face tiredly, "I understand."

Harry considered for a moment as they stood in silence. "If I may s-

Mr Granger," He corrected himself, "Could I borrow your phone
book?"

Dan gave him a funny look, "Don't have one, you looking to find
someone?" Harry nodded. "Well then, we'll try the internet, follow
me." The older man instructed and set off back into the house.

Hermione found Harry a few minutes later, laboriously working,

hunched over at the family computer in the study. She knocked on
the door frame, causing him to look up. "Hey Harry, hope my Father
didn't give you too much trouble. He promised not to be too hard on
you…" She sounded exasperated.

Harry smiled wanly at her, "He was fine Hermione, don't worry."

She nodded then indicated the computer in front of him, "What are
you doing?"

"Looking up Madam Bones' Residence."

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Way I reckon it, if anyone can remove the trace for us…" he started.

"It'd be the head of the DMLE, good thinking Harry," she agreed
sitting down next to him at the desk. "You having any luck?"

He nodded, tapping away at a search engine. "I think so, Bones is a

more common name than you might think, but here in London,
without a listed phone number by the way, there's an Amelia S
Bones and a Susan A Bones, living in South Kensington." He noted.

Hermione nodded comprehension, "That sounds about right. Susan

lives with her Aunt, right?"

"My thoughts exactly," Harry agreed closing out of the program and
writing the address down for later.

"So when are we visiting her?"

Harry chuckled. "I'm visiting her tonight, you are staying here to
spend some time with your parents," he directed pointedly.
She tried to protest, "Harry…"

He cut her off, "No, Hermione, your father was wishing he had more
time with you. It could be years before you see them again.
Hopefully not, but you should spend some time with them. Besides I
shouldn't be gone too long if I take the Tube."

She huffed a sigh, "Fine, when are you leaving?"

"Staying for supper, then I'm going to scout it out."

She put a hand on his arm, "Be careful won't you?"

He smiled a bit, "You've got it."

There was another knock at the door. This time it was Emma who
stood in the doorway. "Alright you two, time for supper, come along
before it gets cold," she instructed then disappeared again.

Harry helped Hermione to her feet before following her mother down
to the dining room. Harry was amused to note when he arrived that
apparently concessions had been made for the unusual nature of
Hermione's cat/kneazle mix. Crookshanks was looking exceedingly
smug as he sat at his own place at the far end of the table.

Emma sat down after placing meals in front of everyone. She looked
at Harry expectantly, "So, Harry, clearly Hermione hasn't been telling
us everything that goes on at that school. Would you be willing to tell
us some of it?"

"Mum, are you two planning on interrogating him every time you see
him?" Hermione groaned in irritation.

"It's okay Hermione, it's not like they'll have opportunities to ask
later," Harry pointed out. He looked to Emma, "You want the good
moments, I assume?"

Emma just shrugged philosophically, "All of them really, but yes the
good moments too."
Harry nodded, thinking of the stories they should want to hear the
most. "Well, I suppose I better start by noting that, as I'm sure you're
aware, Hermione is far sharper than most her age, always has been
in my experience."

They nodded agreement. "Well I got my first inkling of that fact the
moment she repaired my glasses using magic before any of the rest
of us knew our first incantations."

Hermione looked confused. "When did I do that?"

"Oculus Reparo, back on the train when we first met?" He waited

until she acknowledged that she remembered, before turning his
attention back to her parents, "But what you may not know, is just
how well she does at school." He took a bite of his meal, before
continuing at the Granger's interested expressions. "Your daughter is
always the top of our year group by an extensive margin. But on top
of that she currently holds the highest grade point average in the
entire school overall."

Hermione blushed, "Harry, you don't need to…"

Harry ignored her with a pointed look. "Now the way I hear it, only
three people in Europe have come even close in the last hundred or
so years."

Her parents turned with impressed expressions to her, "Honey, that's

the sort of thing your parents want to hear." Her dad sighed wearily.

She shrugged weakly, smiling a tad sheepishly, "I didn't think it was
that big a deal."

Emma asked the logical follow up, "Who are the three who came
closest?"

Harry had to think back, "Dumbledore, the current headmaster. Tom

Riddle, and Gellert Grindlewald," He listed off pensively.
Hermione winced, "Not a great track record there."

Harry just shrugged. "I don't know. Dumbledore means well, he's just
too damn convinced he's right all the time."

Dan had noted his daughter's distressed reaction to those names.

"And who are the other two?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but not at them so much as in general

exasperation. "Just the two evilest wizards to plague the wizarding
world in centuries."

Harry nodded, "The way I understand it, the reason they were both
so effective and dangerous was because they were both brilliant in
their own twisted ways."

The group considered that for a time, eating in silence. "What else
can you tell us about Hermione's time at Hogwarts?" Emma asked.

"She got sorted into Gryffindor, which you may or may not know is
the home of the brave." Harry considered additional points of
interest. "She stood by me through thick and thin really. She was
also among the first to manage a corporeal Patronus,"

That obviously meant nothing in particular to her parents. "Which

is?"

"A highly advanced and challenging piece of magic used to drive off
soul sucking abominations called Dementors," Harry explained dryly.

Hermione gave him a dirty look. "You managed that a whole two
years ahead of me Harry, it's not such a big deal that I managed it
years later." She argued.

"Hermione the only reason I learned that spell early was because I
needed to. Besides many adult wizards have trouble managing a
Patronus, that you managed it at fifteen was plenty impressive."

Dan and Emma encouraged him to keep telling tales.

"She got me through the TriWizard Tournament of course…"

"I wouldn't go that far," Hermione offered demurely.

Harry just rolled his eyes good naturedly, "She got herself invited to
the Yule Ball by Viktor Krum."

Emma looked interested at that, "Who is?"

Harry gave Hermione a put upon look, "Hermione, you seriously

don't tell your parents anything, do you?" He turned back to Emma,
while Hermione muttered something inarticulate. Harry explained
patiently, "Hermione got invited to the ball commemorating the
Triwizard Tournament by the Champion representing Durmstrang,
who just so happens to be the wizarding world's version of David
Beckham."

Emma looked apoplectic. "Ah! Hermione, you should have told us,"
she all but shrieked.

Harry just chuckled as he watched the byplay. "I'm telling you, you
should have seen her. Unbelievable."

Hermione blushed crimson. "Harry," she hissed, embarrassed

beyond measure.

He looked at her innocently. "What? You were. I didn't spare Fleur

more than a glance the entire night."

"I take it that's saying something," Emma asked.

Harry nodded, "Fleur Delacour was the French Champion, she also
happens to be a Veela, which means she's supernaturally beautiful
up to the point when she gets angry." Emma looked impressed, so
he continued. "Hermione was stunning, and don't let her tell you
differently"

Hermione tried to protest weakly, "I hardly think a date to a ball

counts as one of the most important moments…"
Harry gave her a look and gestured to her clearly pleased parents.
"It would seem it would be by your parents' reckoning though."

Emma was nodding, "He's right, Hermione."

Harry shrugged as Hermione squirmed a bit, "Regardless, Hermione

has been an amazing friend."

Here Hermione got a touch melancholy, "Except for last year…"

Harry looked at her seriously. "You made a mistake Hermione,

everyone makes mistakes. I forgave you a long time ago," he tried to
assure her.

She couldn't say that she was certain of that, had he really needed
to ask whether or not he could trust her earlier?

"Besides, you more than made up for it," he continued. "Helped me

keep out of trouble - a losing proposition I know. Helped keep me
sane when Snape was meddling with my brain. Helped me fix up my
hand after Umbridge. Helped out with the DA… Then to top it all off
you followed my crazy arse into the Department of Mysteries."

She rolled her eyes. "What was I supposed to do, let you go in and
get yourself killed?

Harry nodded slowly, "Yes, that would be the sane thing to do…"

"Never going to happen," she informed him sternly.

Emma had leaned back crossing her arms over her chest. "I take it
that last one is where she got hurt?" She did her best to stifle a
shiver at her recollection of the scar on Hermione's chest.

Harry looked down, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

The parents considered the young pair grimly, "So what happened,
exactly,"
Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I went to the Department of
Mysteries in the Ministry, hoping to help a friend who I believed was
in trouble," He explained, suddenly sounding exhausted, "It was a
trap, my friend was never there in the first place. Who was there
instead was Voldemort and his inner circle of murdering scumbags."
He cast about for some way to describe it, "We had no choice, it was
literally fight or die. So, we fought. Hermione performed
spectacularly,"

"Until I got over-confident…" Hermione growled, frustrated with

herself.

Harry shrugged, "It could have happened to anyone."

She shook her head, "I should have been more careful,"

Harry glowered, "So should I, but I wasn't and Dolohov caught you
unaware," He argued and shook his head. "Regardless, it was a
horrific mess. Sirius, my Godfather, was killed when he came with
the Order to try and rescue my worthless hide from the trap I'd
gotten myself into." Hermione tried to protest here, but he rode right
over her. "About the only good thing to come out of that mess was
that the ministry couldn't continue to deny Voldemort was back. He
trashed half the main atrium in a duel with Dumbledore in front of
dozens, if not hundreds, of witnesses. Including the Minister for
Magic himself."

Harry put down his knife and fork finished with his meal. Dan was
observing Harry closely, "Will you be getting my daughter into more
fights like that?"

Hermione pushed to her feet. "Dad, seriously? We've been over

this…" she snapped.

Harry put up placating hands, "Hopefully not, Mr. Granger."

"But you can't promise can you?" Dan asked sharply.

Harry was honest and shook his head, "No, not against people like
these."

Emma looked close to tears. "God…" she whispered.

Harry couldn't look more downtrodden, "I am sorry, more than I can
ever express, I am sorry that Hermione has suffered for being my
friend. It almost cost you your daughter…"

Hermione pointed at him, "Shut up, Harry. Dad! That's enough, I

chose-I choose-to follow Harry. He told me I didn't have to. Just like
he's telling me now," she barked in a raised voice.

Emma sighed, and looked to Harry as her family glared at each

other. "Harry? Perhaps we need to have another discussion with our
daughter? If you would give us a little time," she requested softly.

Harry nodded a touch jerkily. Talking about losing Sirius and

contemplating what happened to Hermione had taken its toll on him.
"Of course, I have some business out there tonight, anyway."

She nodded gratefully to him, "Thank you."

Harry got up from the table and left the room, picking up his bag from
by the front door, trying to ignore the raised voices behind him.

It was close to sundown when Harry found himself sitting in the

shadows across the street from an apartment complex in South
Kensington. He had secured himself under his invisibility cloak and
was now examining the building's security. He didn't anticipate
having to break in, he would have simply walked up to the Auror at
the front of the building a while ago if it hadn't been for the extra
watching the building from a vantage across the street.

Emmeline Vance, the dark haired middle age woman who also just
happened to be a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She was
undoubtedly here on Dumbledore's orders, probably part of one of
her regular patrols. The problem was he couldn't approach the Auror
without her seeing and reporting his presence to Dumbledore.

His current dilemma was how to deal with her safely, none of the
members of the Order were slouches… well, except Fletcher. His
only advantage at this point would be his invisibility cloak. Not ideal
but manageable. He had been waiting for the right time to make his
move for a while, when the opportunity finally came just as the sun
was dropping below the horizon.

She had changed her observation point from one side of the street to
the other, placing herself along a hedgerow near the alley behind the
apartment building. The Auror himself had moved to stand closer to
the door, perhaps understanding he was more exposed out in the
open.

Harry hurried as quickly as he could while remaining quiet. It was

much slower than he would have preferred. He cautioned himself to
be careful as he approached, he had noticed her shoulders tense
when his shoes scuffed slightly. She pushed her coat aside casually
as though to rest her hand on her hip, but it exposed her wand to his
view. He slid closer carefully as her eyes darted back and forth
across the street. His hand snapped out, seeker quick, snatching her
wand from it's holster.

She felt the tugging and whirled trying to lash out with a fist but he
dodged and pointed the wand at her. "Stupefy!" there was a flash of
reddish light and she crumpled. He didn't hesitate, he knew he was
short on time, and grabbed her under the armpits dragging her into
the alley and behind a dumpster, before anyone could notice.

He waited to see if his little stunt had alerted the Auror. Eventually he
got up when he was satisfied he hadn't, and pulled his cloak off,
stuffing it back in the bag before venturing onto the sidewalk again.

The Auror stood a little straighter as he approached, his hand going

to his other wrist. "Good evening. You have business here? You're
not one of the tenants. Are you making a delivery?" the Auror asked,
polite but insistent.

"Uh, no. Just hoping to talk with someone, would you mind if I called
up to Madam Bones?" Harry asked. The Auror's attention sharpened
on him.

"She's very busy, if you wish to meet with her it would be more
appropriate for you to make an appointment at her office," the Auror
noted grimacing somewhat. He wondered how some random
teenager had managed to find Madam Bones' home address.

"Could you call up and ask if she'd be willing to speak with me? It's
very important," Harry pleaded.

The Auror sighed irritably, who knew how many people tried to pass
security without permission around here. "Fine, who shall I tell her is
asking?"

"Harry Potter."

The man's eyes predictably zeroed on his face and then his
forehead before widening. He nodded, Harry didn't know it yet but he
had something of a reputation after his foray into the ministry. "I'll call
and ask," he agreed, and dialled the intercom.

The intercom buzzed for a minute before there was a click and a
familiar voice issued from it. "Yes?"

"This is Auror Daniels Director, Harry Potter has shown up and is

asking to speak with you?" He ventured uncertainly.

There was a pregnant pause on the other end followed by a sigh,

"Well, this'll be good. Bring him up please, Auror."

The Officer nodded and opened the door, "Follow me," He then
proceeded to lead the way up the stairs to the top floor. When they
finally arrived and knocked, the door opened promptly. It was Susan,
Amelia's niece and ward.

She beamed at him, "Hey, Harry, wasn't expecting to see you here of
all places," she greeted, hefting a bag on her shoulder.

He smiled ruefully, "Hi, Susan, your summer going well?"

She nodded, "Yeah… Sorry I can't talk right now, I'm just on my way
out the door. I'm supposed to meet Hannah and her family in a few
minutes at the market."

He bobbed his head agreeably, "Ah, tell her I said hello for me would
you?"

"Sure," She looked over her shoulder and called, "Auntie? Harry's
here, I'll see you later okay?"

Amelia herself arrived a couple moments later, a tall stern woman

who nevertheless spared her ward a tender look. "Alright Susan, see
you later, be careful though," she instructed.

Susan made one of those aggravated sighs teenagers are so good

at, "Yes, Auntie."

Amelia ignored her niece's act calmly looking to the officer standing
at Harry's shoulder as Susan moved out the door closing it behind
her. "Auror Daniels, if you'll wait in here, Mr Potter and I will speak in
the study."

"Yes, Director."

Amelia showed Harry through her large, spacious and surprisingly

modern apartment. He was surprised to see the majority of the light
fixtures were, in fact, electric. The apartment apparently took up the
whole top floor of the building, though it was possible Harry could
have been wrong and it took up more than that. It was a fairly open
plan, with what Harry believed was a sort of square of large open
rooms around a central courtyard open to the sky. The study itself,
located at the far end of the floor seemed to function as the hub or
go between at that end of the house between the two sides. Where
the rest had been modern and contemporary in design, the study
was all old-world sophistication, dark woods and rich leathers, with a
desk in front of a fireplace, and another door along one of the other
walls. "If you would sit, Mr. Potter?" Madam Bones requested,
indicating the chair across the desk from herself.

He complied easily, and she considered him, "Hello again, Harry. It

has been some time since we have spoken, hasn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes Ma'am, not since my trial."

She grimaced slightly, "Indeed, I apologize you were forced to sit

through that farce, but the Minister had manipulated matters rather
expertly up to that point," she commented, with a note of irritation,
clearly she was not Fudge's biggest fan.

"It's alright, it all worked out in the end," Harry assured her.

"Yes, it did at that," she agreed, leaning back in her chair folding her
hands on her lap. She watched him for close to a minute in silence
before nodding, "Now then, may I ask what brings you to my home
tonight?"

He spoke, a touch hesitantly at first then gaining in strength, "I have

a couple of things I'd like to speak with you about if you don't mind.
But I think I'll need to provide you with a bit of backstory so you
understand where I'm coming from," he hedged. Amelia nodded
understanding, it was often this way with witnesses or informants,
they wanted to get the record as clear as possible so there was no
mistake. He paused, considering where to begin.

"As you may have noticed, my life is a bit of a high end disaster."

"If half the stories I hear are even close to true, that is something of
an understatement."
He snorted in dark amusement, "Yeah, no kidding right?" He blew
out a breath, "I'm afraid a large portion of the chaos in my life can be
attributed to… mismanagement. Both on my own part, as well as on
the part of Dumbledore," Harry explained cautiously.

She raised an intrigued eyebrow, "Oh, how so?" She was curious to
see where this was going. It was rare to receive complaints about
Dumbledore from the students themselves. More often it was some
disgruntled parent who spoke up and started raising hell.

Harry silently handed across the list he had made for Hermione.
Amelia surreptitiously scanned the papers for tampering or other
harmful magics before taking them from him. Harry accepted that
without offence. She examined the papers closely at first then more
generally, a glower growing on her face as she read further. "This is
an accurate list and accounting of matters as you understand them?"
her tone sharp.

Harry nodded solemnly, "Yes, Director."

She flipped through a couple of the pages, grimacing. "Half of these

incidents have never even been reported to the DMLE as far as I
know."

Harry shrugged, pursing his lips "I'm not surprised. Dumbledore has
a rather lax stance on law and order. He seems to treat it as
something that happens to other people."

She read a few points on the list, "Like this," she said slapping the
page. "You say that Sirius Black never received a trial? As we know
now, he has been exonerated, but if Dumbledore knew half the
things he should have… Or this, do you know we've never heard the
details surrounding Professor Quirrell's death?" Shaking her head,
she pointed to another, "And why are you being housed with a family
against your wishes?"

Harry shook his head. "They're my relatives, Dumbledore believes

the Blood Wards will-" He stopped when he noticed her expression.
"Blood Wards?" Amelia's eyes flashed dangerously.

He nodded slowly, "Yes, the way I understand it they're tied to the

protections my mother created when she died."

She was shaking her head, her eyes closed as if in pain. "Mr. Potter.
Blood Wards, Blood Magic of any kind really, is highly illegal outside
the field of healing."

"I wasn't aware, Director," he admitted.

She sighed, "Maybe so, but Albus is, and apparently simply didn't
care." She nodded, opening her eyes. "Very well, I see your point
about mismanagement, I will review and investigate your list in
greater detail later. Now may I ask what it is, specifically you wish to
discuss?"

Harry nodded, "As you can see from that list, my life is effectively run
by Dumbledore. Considering what a horrendous mess my life has
been so far, I have to say that I'm tired of it. I could care less if
Dumbledore is my so called Magical Guardian. I want out before he
gets me killed."

She smirked slightly at his impassioned statement.

"Understandable…"

Harry nodded sharply, pleased he was on the right track, then a

thought occurred to him. "Are you aware of the contents of the
Prophecy Tom sought at the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked.

"Tom?"

"Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort." Harry explained.

"No, I can't say that I am," she admitted somewhat grudgingly

wondering where he was going now. She had never heard of
Dumbledore referring to Voldemort by any other name before now.
Clearly he had been telling the boy things. She was unaware of how
it was in fact the spectre of the villain himself in the Chamber of
secrets who had told Harry his real name.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…
born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month
dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have
power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of
the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with
the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh
month dies…" Harry recited carefully, making sure not to misquote
any of it.

She blinked in surprise, before cursing under her breath.

"Dumbledore knew this all along? He knew what this meant for you?"

"Yes, he was the one who heard the prophecy in the first place, and
yet he's done nothing of any significance to see me prepared for the
fight ahead," Harry agreed grimly.

She shook her head pushing to her feet and pacing. "Damn it all,
Albus! What are you playing at?" She asked herself.

Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably. "The point in all this is, I'm
leaving my relatives, and I'm going off the grid for a bit to see about
learning what I need to know. Dumbledore undoubtedly doesn't want
that to happen, and will attempt to stop me."

She eyed him speculatively and made a guess. "You want my help
getting out from under him?"

Harry nodded agreement. "Yes. More specifically I want the Trace

removed from myself and Hermione Granger so that we can defend
ourselves without getting dragged into court and re-shackled to
Dumbledore."

Something about that made Amelia sigh and rub her forehead. She
opened her mouth to speak when there was a knock at the door.
"Madam Director?" Daniels called.
"Yes Auror?" She asked irritably.

"Something just tripped the deep perimeter intent wards."

She stiffened and Harry came to alert. "How long ago," she asked
urgently hurrying to the door and pulling it open.

Daniels stood back, "A minute tops." He was clearly tense. "I-"

Harry felt the world shift and he was just about floored by the pain
from his scar. Obviously a teenager cringing and grasping their head
seemingly at random grabs people's attention, and the two adults in
the room looked at him in consternation. He struggled for a moment
before managing to slam down his admittedly extremely limited
occlumency shields. Harry's vision blurred, a shifting, shimmering
layer on the outside of the building he was standing inside, all
wavering overtop that of Madam Bones' study.

"Harry?" He looked up to see Madam Bones looking at him intently.

He straightened up, trying to keep from wincing at the pain in his

scar. "Director Bones, Voldemort has arrived, he's nearby."

"How do you know?" she asked, clearly shocked by his behaviour.

"I can feel him, he's observing the apartment now. They've set up an
anti-apparition ward." He reported dully.

She considered that for barely a moment before trying to open a

Floo line. The flames stayed stubbornly orange and red. She cursed,
"Someone in the Floo office has closed our line." She turned
considering them. "Daniels?"

"Y-yes, Director," Daniels was clearly severely unnerved now.

She spoke in a clear calm voice, so as not to risk

misunderstandings. "Under the sink in the kitchen is a blue bottle,
behind it is a small box with red lettering on the top. Bring it here."
She instructed and after a jerky nod he complied.
Amelia herself pulled a small but ornately carved box made of dark
wood and silver finishings from a drawer in her desk, opening it on
the surface before her. Inside was a set of perhaps two dozen rune
stones. Small polished stones, usually of marble with lines etched
into them in an intricate pattern around a central symbol. As she
proceeded to funnel magic into each stone, one after another, Harry
felt a shiver in the air. "Director?" He asked, hoping for an
explanation.

"Just raising the Wards to the highest alert level." She explained
tightly, before closing the box and restoring it to its former hiding
spot. There was a clatter and Daniels returned with what was for all
appearances a small plastiform packing crate. As she began
unwrapping it an uncomfortable thought occurred to him.

"Uh-" He cleared his throat, "I figure I should bring this up now,
before we go any further. But if we're about to be attacked, I suppose
I should mention that a member of the Order of the Phoenix is
unconscious outside in the alley, Madam Bones."

She just blinked at him for a minute. "What?" she barked.

"Well. I couldn't very well have her alerting Dumbledore that I was
visiting you, could I?" Harry reminded her sheepishly.

She sighed and looked at him sternly as she pulled out what looked
like a roadside flare and cracked it over her knee. "Stunned?" she
demanded, Harry nodded. She shook her head then looked to her
officer. "Daniels go get her, but hurry, You-Know-Who won't dawdle
much longer." She watched the Auror run somewhat jerkily from the
room. "Harry, we'll come to the matter of you assaulting someone
later," he winced, "But for now, thank you for warning me. Can you
feel anything else from him?"

Harry cocked his head, carefully lowering his shields a fraction, just
enough to get a flash before slamming them back up. "He's uh-
noticed the wards have gone up, he's… happy, ma'am?"
"Oh that's just wonderful, just what we need, a happy dark lord," she
muttered. It wasn't long before they heard Daniels returning, and
Harry felt something again.

"He's coming ma'am, I-what would you have me do?" He asked

uncertainly as Daniels, helping a staggering Emmeline, came into
the room.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" the Order member asked, clearly
confused.

"Er-Long story," he ventured, then turned back to Amelia who was

watching him speculatively.

"You've fought him more than just about anyone, how do you think
you can help?" she asked curiously.

"I'm no match for him in duelling, but he really wants me dead, I

might be able to distract him or draw him away if I make a big
enough fuss. But Voldemort's a determined adversary, he may
simply ignore me, coming after you first and then shift his attention
after you're dead. He's a bit fixated that way. He's not the sort to
rush, he likes to draw things out, he likes to play with his victims."

"So do you think between the two of us we can draw this out long
enough for help to arrive," Amelia asked, then winced as she felt one
of the outer wards fall. "Daniels, if you would take Miss Vance and
begin fortifying and sealing all the doors between here and the front
entrance, I would appreciate it," she instructed soberly. The Auror
took a considerably less foggy Order member by the elbow and they
hurried off again.

"Is there anything you can think of that would distract or anger him
enough to throw him off his game," Amelia asked.

Harry shook his head, "Making him mad might get him to focus on a
different target, but I wouldn't advise it, Voldemort's at his strongest
when he's angry. The reason he's so damn effective with Avada
Kedavra is that he's a master of harnessing his hate and rage. No,
our best bet would be to get him thinking and planning as opposed to
just attacking," Harry guessed.

Harry winced as there was an audible crack and another ward fell.
"Damn, he's strong," Amelia noted as Vance and Daniels returned.

"Harry, you shouldn't be here, it's not safe," Emmeline declared,

clearly worried.

Harry snorted, "A little too late for that I would say."

Amelia looked at Harry seriously, "Harry I need to ask something

hard of you. They will likely take the same route you and I did to get
to this room. I need you to take that side door and see if you can't
draw off some of his men-carefully. Distract and subvert, that's the
name of the game today, okay? Don't put yourself in unnecessary
danger, if it comes down to it. Run," she instructed firmly.

He nodded, "You've got it." He crossed to the door and stepped out,
pulling out his cloak and disappearing just in time to hear the front
door get blown off its hinges.

He heard the high, cold voice that haunted his nightmares calling out
as he edged his way cautiously towards the front of the home. "Ah,
Madam Director Amelia Bones," Tom's voice was mocking, "You
know you really have made such a mess for me over the years. I
made so many overtures of friendship to your family in times gone
by. But sadly every time I have been turned down." Harry could
practically feel him shrugging. "But I am done making offers of
friendship. Such a sad waste of a good bloodline." Harry heard
another door crash open and the pounding of feet.

He was laughing at her now, "It will break young Susan's heart to
watch the last of her family die before her very eyes. I've got her
here, you know? You really should be more careful with your loved
ones. They are ever such a weakness."
Harry stopped, his eyes widening as an inarticulate cry came from
somewhere ahead of him. He knew what he had to do, Susan was
the one thing which might force Amelia to capitulate. He slipped
through a half open doorway and spotted the first pair of Death
Eaters. They were searching the other end of the room, he even saw
one of them pocket a shiny bauble. The cream of Voldemort's crop,
these were not. Still, all Death Eaters were dangerous, and Harry
wasn't feeling very merciful.

Moving further into the room, away from the doorway giving himself
more room to dodge, Harry quickly sized up his first opponents. Two
Death Eaters, if you could call them that. Given how they were
randomly looting the house and not paying much attention to their
surroundings, Harry doubted they were particularly skilled. Certainly
nothing like those he had faced at the Department of Mysteries. Still,
no need to be cocky, he decided. Amelia and Susan were counting
on him.

He lined up his shots, drawing his second wand to cover both of

them at once. The first went down under a stunner but the second
caught a Reducto to the chest when he tried to draw his wand on the
source of the spell fire. Harry tried to ignore the smouldering crater
where the man's chest had been. Harry noted darkly that one man
was dead because of him, but there wasn't any time to think on that
now. Looking at the one who he'd stunned, Harry remembered how
easily the Death Eaters had revived each other at the DoM, and sent
a bludgeoning curse towards the unconscious man's knee. Slightly
sickened at the snapping noise it made as the kneecap shattered,
Harry was at least comforted by knowing the target wouldn't easily
get back in the fight.

He pushed forward, and heard murmuring ahead of him, but paused

when Voldemort started taunting Amelia again. "Come now Amelia,
hiding behind your defences while your family is in my grasp? Come
out and play, the longer you delay the more she will suffer."

Harry hoped she didn't do anything rash, he was almost in position, if

he was right he would… Yes there's Susan, I'd better hurry, I don't
like the looks of those two. Harry slipped as quietly as he could into
the room.

Harry bit down on a snarl when one of the Death Eaters roughly
groped her, but the scum got what was coming to him a moment
later when Susan head butted him causing him to fall back with a
cry. She caught a backhand from the other, the first was about on his
feet and reaching for his wand when Harry lined up his shots.
Although tempted to go with more destructive spells, Harry couldn't
risk hitting Susan with anything lethal and instead opened with
stunners. He cursed internally, as one of his shots went wide, but the
second caught the bloody nosed Death Eater in the chest flinging
him into the wall hard. The Second Death Eater barely registered
this turn of events when a cutting curse came in at shoulder height,
and he dropped near-silently to the floor.

Harry hurried to Susan and pulled back his cloak enough she could
see it was him as he severed the bonds around her wrists and
ankles. He pulled the gag which had been secured over her mouth.
"Sorry I couldn't get them sooner, I was lining up my shots. Nice
headbutt," he whispered.

The redhead clambered to her feet, shooting him a grateful look,

before aiming a brutal kick to the downed man's crotch followed by
another to his jaw which snapped his head back. Harry winced
appreciatively, "Never get on the bad side of a Bones, eh," he asked
as she started rooting around for her wand on the other Death Eater.

"Yeah, serves 'em right. Bastards." She growled before looking

around. "What now, Harry?"

There was another crash a short way off. "Now we see if we can't
draw off some of Voldemort's men, you think you can handle a
couple if I lend you my cloak?" He asked.

She shuddered slightly at the Dark Lord's name. "Yeah, I figure I

know this place better than anyone, what about you?"
As he handed her his father's Invisibility Cloak, Harry shrugged. "I'm
going to circle around and see if I can piss him off enough to come
after me instead of your aunt. Why don't you see about watching this
end of the house?" She nodded in return before she disappearing
beneath the cloak.

"And Susan?" Harry said, Susan peeking out from beneath the
cloak.

"There are more of them than there are of us. Don't hold back
yeah?" Susan's eyes hardened briefly and her replying nod was
much firmer this time. Never get on the bad side of a Bones indeed.

He had to buy some time and bait the monster now it seemed. "I'm
afraid you won't be doing anything to Susan after all Tom…" Harry
called as loudly as he could, hoping Amelia had heard that. He
moved to prepare for possible Death Eater reinforcements.

There was a pregnant pause. "Potter." His name was almost a hiss.
"Come to try and save the day again? That habit will see you killed
before long."

Harry heard running feet and a pair of Death Eaters burst into the
room. But Harry had placed himself well in the corner near the door
and as the two ran into the room, looking everywhere but behind
them, he caught the first off guard with a banishing spell to the back
of the head. There was a muted crunch and he went down with a wet
thump. The other spun and fired off a cutting curse wildly, which
carved through a small table several feet to Harry's left. Unphased
by the not-so-near miss, Harry prepared to respond but a red burst
from open air knocked the Death Eater down. Harry nodded in the
direction of the spells source before sending another banishing spell
into the downed terrorist's wand arm, breaking it and the wand he
still clutched.

Harry started moving again, more cautiously, as he was now without

his cloak. Voldemort apparently felt the need to speak. "If you were
hoping to distract me Potter, it won't work. First the Director then
you…" Harry had to move cautiously, that voice was relatively close.
He moved in silence and felt one of the inner wards fall, not long now
before Voldemort was to the study. He hoped Madam Bones had the
good sense to make an exit before she was cornered.

"You know, Tom," Harry called, "Considering everything we've been

through in regards to each other, I thought you'd put a little more
faith in prophecy. Then again you never heard the whole thing did
you?" Harry winced as a wall a few meters away blew out, he used
that time to move to another position. "No, you only heard that first
part," he spelled himself with a voice throwing charm and spoke
again, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord
approaches…" he mocked. "Well now, you couldn't have that could
you? You had to go and do something rash. Like hunting me down
and attacking me and my family." He moved again, cancelling the
charm to confuse any who might be searching for him, "You know I
often wonder why you did that?"

He paused, and he noted the attacks on the warded doors seemed

to have slowed, though one fell fairly soon after that observation. "I
mean, you'd think with your pureblood rhetoric nonsense you'd have
found the other possible target more appealing. I mean, why attack a
half-blood when there's a pureblood who matches the description
just as well? I can only come to one conclusion," he winced as he
felt the last ward fall and began speaking again, hoping Amelia had
moved. "Maybe, Tom, it's because you saw me as having more in
common with you?"

"Silence, boy! I will tear your lying tongue from your head!"
Voldemort shrieked, Harry assumed he'd just found the study empty
considering their were no sounds of battle yet. Peering around one
of the hallway's corners, Harry jerked his head back quickly as a
sickly yellow beam almost took his head off. Gesturing behind him
and hoping the invisible Susan would see and understand the
instruction to wait, Harry risked another quick peek down the
hallway, spotting a single Death Eater who was lining up a second
shot.
Ducking low, Harry aimed for a point on the floor part-way down the
hall before casting a reductor curse that sent wood splinters
ricocheting down the hall towards the Death Eater. Harry leaned out
from behind the wall to see said Death Eater deflecting most of the
shrapnel with a shield while he blinked and rubbed debris from his
eyes. Harry quickly followed up with a stunner, it didn't manage to
penetrate the shield, but it did stagger the Death Eater and prevent
him from returning fire for a moment.

Not wanting to get pinned down trading spells, Harry decided to try
something new. Aiming with his off-hand wand behind the Death
Eater, who still held the shield up, he cried "Accio!" even as he
began the wand movements for a blasting curse on his main hand. A
vase flew from the end table behind the Death Eater and smashed
against his back, who turned slightly at the unexpected attack. As his
shield flickered at the distraction, Harry finished the wand
movements and muttered, "Confringo."

The curse shattered the weakened shield and impacted the Death
Eater in the shoulder, removing his arm and sending his body
spiraling into the wall. He would not be getting back up.

Harry took a few moments to catch his breath before carefully

moving further up the hallway, feet shuffling on the debris laden floor.
That last spell had been anything but quiet. Casting the summoning
charm with his off-hand had been a lot harder than expected.
Certainly something to practice more, he decided. Harry quickly
recast the voice-projection spell before resuming his taunting. Glad
that Fred and George had taught him it before they had left
Hogwarts.

"Well, that's not very nice Tom, after all it was you who told me that
little story." Harry could practically taste the hesitation that had
produced. "You, or rather that shadow of you, was oh so happy to
boast and gloat right before I destroyed that memory container. I
mean really? Who makes a journal that can talk and then hands it off
to Lucius Malfoy? I mean that was just asking for-" He had to duck
as multiple sections of wall blew out all at once raining him in plaster
and wood splinters. The silence following that didn't last long, there
was a commotion and then the sound of spells on the far side of the
house began to echo about. He stifled a curse and began making his
way cautiously back around the perimeter of the floor toward
Susan's last known location.

"Boy, I will kill you slowly to be sure, but first I have business with the
Director," Voldemort gloated and Harry heard a strangled cry from
somewhere to his left. He made it to the front entrance before finding
Daniels. He had caught a cutting curse, and was lying on the floor
bleeding profusely. Harry didn't have time to stop and check on him
though as he spotted a Death Eater moving cautiously ahead of him,
he assumed it was with the intent of sneaking up on Amelia and the
others.

Harry stunned the man almost casually, and he crumpled smacking

his face hard on the floor, Harry heard the crunch of his nose hitting
the floor. Picking up the pace, he heard running feet but couldn't see
anything, he assumed Susan was moving to follow him as he
dashed towards the fighting.

Harry rounded the corner to see Amelia and Emmeline side by side
in the middle of what had been the dining room, taking partial cover
behind an overturned table while they shielded. The table had clearly
been enchanted to resist spell damage, but was already burnt and
gouged. Firing spells from across the room at the beleaguered
women was Voldemort. He stood in front of another entrance to the
dining room, red eyes bright and a terrifying grin on his face as he
threw a never-ending stream of magic towards the two women. He
was clearly toying with them.

As the Dark Lord kept the two on the defensive, four Death Eaters
were slowly creeping around the edge of the room, staying clear of
their master's line of fire and out of sight of the two women as they
moved to flank. Harry wasn't going to let that happen. Fortunately,
the four were too focused on the battle between Amelia, Emmeline
and Voldemort to have noticed Harry as yet.
Edging around the door frame, trying to stay as hidden as possible,
Harry lined up on the last Death Eater of the four before focusing all
his magic and taking a deep breath. He'd only get one chance at this
shot.

With a cry of, "Depulso," Harry unleashed his pent-up magic. The
white flare impacted the Death Eater center-mass and sent him
hurtling backwards at speed… directly towards Voldemort. Harry had
hoped the Death Eater would actually hit the Dark Lord, but
Voldemort's reactions had to be seen to be believed. Almost as soon
as Harry's spell had hit, Voldemort's eyes flicked towards the
incoming body. Taking a single step to the side and flicking his wand,
Voldemort effortlessly diverted his wayward minion, who flew past
and slammed into the wall with a bone-breaking crunch. Still, the
momentary distraction did allow Amelia and Emmeline to briefly drop
their shields and return fire.

Unfortunately, the three remaining Death Eaters had also been

alerted by Harry's opening salvo. They quickly turned and opened
fire, spells blasting past and through the wood of the door frame.
Harry flung himself back away from the spells, but still felt one of
them pass close enough to burn through his clothes over one rib and
sent him stumbling to the floor. As the Death Eaters charged through
the door, Harry rolled away behind some furniture which jerked and
pushed into him as it absorbed spellfire.

Coming to his knees, Harry peeked overtop of his cover in time to

see Susan's wand emerge from under the invisibility cloak and send
a spell into one of the Death Eaters, separating his head from his
shoulders, the body slumping to the ground. Unfortunately this
revealed her position and the remaining opponents fired blindly into
the area where the curse originated. As he watched, Harry heard a
thumping sound and Susan appeared on the floor, diving to dodge
the spells. The invisibility cloak had slipped off her.

Seeing Susan vulnerable, Harry growled and leaped over his cover,
sending simultaneous stunners from his wands at the two remaining
assailants. Even if he didn't hit them, at least it would take the
pressure off Susan for a moment. One Death Eater shielded,
although the curse shattered his shield, the other dodged out of the
way of the unexpected attack, but tripped over the debris on the
floor. Seeing the Death Eater still on his feet as the larger threat, and
hoping Susan could recover in time, Harry charged forward, still
firing spells. His target shielded, but was too busy defending himself
to return fire as Harry slid on his side under the man's shield,
straightening his leg into the Death Eater's knee. With a crunch the
man's knee bent backwards and he fell onto Harry yelling in pain.

The two grappled for a moment, but Harry had been expecting the
fight, while most wizards never even thought about non-magical
combat. Being pounded by his cousin and his friends for years might
not be the same as martial arts training, but if there was one thing
Harry knew, it was how to take a punch. Slamming his elbow into the
man's injured knee gave Harry the opening he needed; he twitched
his wand at his opponent and growled "Stupefy!" Still distracted by
the pain, there was no room to dodge and no time to shield. His
opponent slumped into unconsciousness.

Trying to move the weight off himself, Harry saw a flash of light and
pulled the unconscious Death Eater onto himself. He felt the body
twitch as it absorbed a spell in the back, before Susan's voice
shouted "Depulso!" Pushing the body away, Harry saw the last
Death Eater crash into the far wall, Susan standing panting, her
wand still trained at her target. Pushing himself wearily to his feet, he
nodded his thanks to her before staggering back towards the sounds
of continued fighting.

He wasn't sure what he intended to do in his condition but it wasn't

beyond the realm of possibility that - He paused as the distant
crackle and pop of apparitions filled the air. Reinforcements were
here.

Unfortunately Amelia's battle seemed to be going poorly. Emmeline

was down, dead or unconscious Harry didn't know, but she wasn't
moving. He spotted Voldemort as he advanced against the tiring
Director of the DMLE. He bellowed, "Tom!" With the same breath, he
launched a brace of reductors at the man. Another followed on his
own as Susan launched her own volley.

Voldemort snarled, he had been able to deflect or block all of their

incoming spells but not before he lost the initiative against Amelia.
He had heard the apparitions as clearly as they had. This battle was
over and he knew it. He hit the outer wall of the apartment and
dissolved into smoke before their eyes and burst outside. Harry had
seen Death Eaters and Voldemort fight before, he knew it was too
soon to consider this a victory. "Everyone down!"

Amelia and Susan hit the floor at the same moment that most of the
remaining walls and windows blew out as Voldemort launched one
last spiteful flurry of attacks against them. They waited, but Harry
could already feel Voldemort's presence rapidly dissipating. Among
the crash and tinkle of glass and broken walls Harry heard Susan,
"Is he gone?"

"I think so," Harry ventured, a touch nervously, he heard raised

voices in the distance.

Amelia was apparently on the ball. "Susan, give Potter that cloak
and the two of you head to my office. We'll talk there, but I need to
see to the reinforcements."

He took the rumpled invisibility cloak from Susan with a murmured

thank you as they dashed into the study. The door was sitting half
shattered on its hinges but otherwise the room was relatively intact
compared to the rest of the house.

He pulled the cloak around himself before he sat in the corner with a
huffed sigh. He heard at least two familiar voices as Amelia called
out to her Aurors entering the house. Tonks and Shacklebolt. "You
two, get Daniels and Miss Vance to Saint Mungo's. Tonks, you're on
muggle-wrangling duty, I can hear the sirens already. Shacklebolt? I
need you to help the others round up the bodies and prisoners.
Dawlish, Jones, Edgerly, you lot are with him." Amelia barked out her
orders.
Harry was impressed by Madame Bones' ability to appear so calm.
Barely a couple minutes before she had been facing death at the
hands of Voldemort himself, and now she was organizing the Auror
reinforcements like it was just another day. He was jolted out of his
musing by the sounds of a choked sob, and looked over to see
Susan sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest as she
shivered.

Harry knew about what she was feeling. He might have been
accustomed to the constant peril that seemed to define his life, but
Susan had probably never experienced anything like this. Casting a
silencing charm around them, Harry gently knelt down and moved
towards her, careful not to startle her as he slowly wrapped an arm
around her shuddering shoulders and positioned the cloak so it
covered them both. Susan initially stiffened at the unexpected
contact, then gradually relaxed and leaned into Harry's side, her
breathing steadying out slightly.

"Slow, deep breaths, Susan. According to Hermione that's the

adrenaline bleeding out of your system, you'll feel pretty jittery for a
while yet. Don't worry, it happens to everyone."

Susan inclined her head slightly, glancing up at Harry, her eyes

unable to settle anywhere for long.

"You… you seemed so calm the whole time. How do you do it?

"You're assuming I was calm. I was scared out of my tree the whole
time, I just don't let it get in the way," Harry replied with a small
chuckle that was anything but amused.

"I thought… I was prepared. I worked hard at the DA. I would have
gone with you to the Ministry if you'd asked. But when those men
grabbed me… I was so scared."

"You did great, Susan. You kept your head when it counted and
didn't give up. I'm sure your aunt is really proud of you. I certainly
am. You're going to feel messed up for a bit, but you did good
tonight."

Susan looked like she wanted to protest, but eventually let her eyes
drop. Harry gave her a gentle squeeze of his one-arm hug before he
heard her whisper, "Thank you. For saving me. For saving my aunt.
We'd both be dead if you hadn't been here."

Harry wasn't sure if that was true, but didn't want to argue with her.
He just rubbed her back gently before replying. "You stood by me in
the DA. You don't need to thank me for standing by you".

Susan seemed to relax a bit more at that, letting out her breath and
leaning more weight into him. She opened her mouth to speak
before they were both startled at a new voice from outside the
doorway. A voice they both recognized.

"Amelia?" Harry froze at that voice, Dumbledore. He hoped to high

heaven that Moody wasn't with him.

"In here, Chief Warlock," she called back.

There was a few moments pause, presumably as Dumbledore

picked his way through the wreckage towards her. "Amelia, I can't
tell you how relieved I am to find you alive."

He heard a dark chuckle. "It was a near thing, Albus."

"Indeed, it appears Voldemort has taken an interest in you,"

Dumbledore observed sagely.

"I was lucky I managed to get off the distress flare off when I did.
What are you doing here, Albus?" she asked tiredly.

"I heard word of the attack and came as soon as I was able," he
explained soberly.

Amelia snorted, "You hoped to catch Voldemort I take it," she asked,
Harry could hear the scepticism.
"I fear merely catching Voldemort will not work, not in the long term.
No, I'm afraid he will need to die. Even if I may not be able to find it
in myself to deliver the killing blow," Dumbledore explained.

"Your good heart might see many killed before this war is over
Albus," Harry heard her sigh, "Though I do thank you for the watcher
you placed on my house."

There was a pause. "Ah, I assume Emmeline told you who she was
with, then?"

"It's not exactly hard to figure out Albus. She lives nowhere near
here, and yet happens to be in just the right place at the right time to
help me?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "You always were a sharp student Amelia,

brighter than many. The hat laments fairly regularly letting you talk
him into putting you in Hufflepuff."

Amelia snorted derisively, following it with an exasperated sigh.

"Albus, as much as I enjoy chatting with you, I have an investigation
to run, and a house to clean up. How about I stop by your office later
and we talk details."

"Of course Amelia, I merely wish to once again convey my gratitude

you made it. Good evening, Madam Director," he said pleasantly.
There was a moment's silence, then the pop of an apparition.

A couple of Aurors had made their way back to Amelia and were
reporting in as soon as the Headmaster left. "Vance and Daniels are
on their way to Saint Mungo's, Director. The Medi-witch said Vance
had head trauma and will likely be out for a couple days. Daniels is
worse off, we'll have to see if they get to him in time. Still haven't
heard anything from Susan's tail…"

Whatever Amelia said was merely a murmur, before raising again.

"Very good you two. Check the perimeter and make sure no
witnesses slip the net. Auror Tonks, do you have a report?"
"Yes, Director. I've talked to the Police, they accepted that badge you
issued us without question. Surprised the heck out of me…" Tonks
noted.

"That badge marked you as the counter terrorism branch of their

intelligence agency." Amelia explained.

"Ah, spies, that'd explain it then." Tonks agreed. "Anyways, they've

backed off, and are helping with the cleanup."

"Anyone injured out there?" Amelia asked.

"No, thank goodness, seems when the explosions started the

Muggles ran for it. Can't blame them."

Amelia sounded relieved. "Good, now you head back to the ministry,
I need a squad put together and I want you to find out who shut off
my Floo line." Her voice was tense, clearly she wanted whoever had
betrayed her to swing from a very high branch with a short rope.

"Yes ma'am," Harry had to admit that hearing Tonks' professional

side was interesting, he'd only ever seen her off duty before-

This observation was cut off by the distinctive sound of Tonks

tripping and cursing. Harry had to stifle a snort of amusement. It
seemed that to a certain degree, Tonks was Tonks though. Susan
chuckled, apparently she too was familiar with Tonks.

There was the clomp of feet, and the sound of Amelia picking
through the wreckage paused. "Hey Shack," she greeted.

"Director, seems you've got quite a mess here ma'am. Just thought
you should know the Abbots just showed up, apparently they're
wondering why Susan didn't show up at the market?"

"She's here Shack, and don't worry, she's not injured. Though her tail
is missing," Amelia explained, and Harry could hear the relief in her
voice.
"Do you want to handle getting her statement, or would you like me
to do it?" Shacklebolt offered.

"No, that's fine I'll do it," Amelia assured him. "You have anything on
the culprits?"

Shacklebolt was apologetic. "Not yet, ma'am."

"Well… see to the perimeter with the others, we'll join you when it's
time to leave. I have some things to clear away." She decided.

"Yes ma'am." Shacklebolt's footsteps faded away.

They waited in silence for a time before he heard Amelia make her
way back to the study, muttering to herself. Harry dispelled the
silencing spell and removed the cloak from himself and Susan.
Amelia initially seemed surprised at their closeness as they became
visible, but her expression softened upon seeing Harry's arm
wrapped protectively around a still clearly distraught Susan. Briefly
making eye contact with him, she gave a small smile and her eyes
brightened in gratitude.

Harry gave a small nod in response before gently helping Susan to

her feet and stepping back. Amelia moved forward and swept her
niece into a tight embrace, which Susan immediately returned. They
stayed that way for almost a minute, both women reassuring
themselves and each other that they were ok, that the nightmare, for
now, had passed. Visibly steeling herself, Amelia stepped back from
Susan and motioned both her and Harry to take a seat on some of
the surviving furniture. Setting her face into what Harry now thought
of as 'Auror on duty' Amelia conjured herself a chair and sat in front
of the two teens, giving Susan an inquiring look only slightly
tempered by relief.

"Well that was a fine mess. Susan, you mind telling me why you
weren't with the Abbot's?"
Susan flushed a little in embarrassment. "Sorry, Aunt Amy, I got
distracted when Harry showed up and forgot some of my stuff. I
came back to get it and they caught me on the front step. I told my
bodyguard to wait on the walk while I came back in, it was just going
to take a minute, but they were right there as I headed back out."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright, I assume I have you to thank for that
too, Harry?" Amelia asked.

"I was just doing what I could to help ma'am," he said. "And Susan
was no slouch herself. We helped each other."

"Still, I'm grateful. Susan, I'm going to have to request you not
mention Harry was here tonight to anyone, okay? Nor anything you
might hear while we talk." She looked at her ward.

"Yes Auntie. Anything to help Harry," Susan agreed, bobbing her

head.

Madam Bones raised her eyebrow at her niece, who flushed slightly
further under her gaze, before turning back to Harry with a
considering look. "Now if I recall right, you wanted me to remove the
Trace on you?" He nodded. "Can't blame you, if Dumbledore is
having me watched, I would bet money that there are far more
watching you."

Harry shrugged, it had after all only been Mundungus the night
previous as far as he knew.

She sighed, then muttered, "Ironically, you needn't have worried

about it in the first place. Although in this case I'll be thanking my
lucky stars for the mistake."

"Oh?" Harry said.

She peered at him seriously, then at her niece. "Now I don't want you
spreading this around too much, but I'm going to let you both in on a
little secret, seeing as your warning and aid saved me and my
niece's lives." She spread her hand. "The Trace is effectively a
myth." She noted the shocked expressions. "It used to track the time,
date, caster and location of a spell cast within monitored areas. But
times have been tough on the Improper Use of Magic Office, the
department in charge of monitoring underage magic has had to…
modify its parameters. It will still detect large amounts of magic, and
we periodically check out unexplained sources, but only if they cause
consistent blips. Once a muggleborn starts Hogwarts, it only watches
those specific homes, and even then it's mostly just time and place,"
she explained wearily.

"Magical households aren't watched, as it costs too much to

differentiate between casters on such a massive scale, a pureblood
bill for budget cuts if ever there was one. I could go on about the
system's deficiencies but we'd be here all night," she finished.

Harry cocked his head as he considered that, "So tonight when me

and Susan were using our wands?" He asked.

"You didn't show up because this is a pureblood household." Amelia

nodded.

Harry could just imagine how irate that would make Hermione. All
things considered though, Harry wasn't about to complain. "Ah. Still,
I'm glad I was here to help."

"Us too," Susan offered.

Amelia shook her head. "There were five of us and still he tore us
up."

Harry and Susan both looked sheepish, "Uh, yeah, your house
seems to be missing a lot of doors and walls."

"Good point," She leaned back in her chair and sighed, brushing
back her hair which had fallen out of her working bun. "Damn, Fudge
is going to have me searching for vigilantes when he hears about
Vance, and Dumbledore will lose his mind when he figures out you
were here."

"Thank you for not tipping him about me, ma'am," Harry offered
shyly.

She chuckled, "You're welcome. After hearing your grievances I'm

not sure it was any of his business anyway." She shook her head.
"Damn him, and his Order. All he does is get good people killed," she
grimaced. "And if it's anything like the last time, half my damn force
is working for him anyways…"

Harry tried to cover his discomfort with a cough, but Amelia hadn't
gotten where she was by being unobservant. She peered at him
closely "And you know who they are don't you?"

He sighed, "Uh-yeah a couple, not sure I want them listed anywhere

though. After all if Voldemort somehow got a hold of the records…"
He didn't need to finish. She was already nodding.

She sat and contemplated him for a time. "If I were to give you my
word to not have it written down anywhere, no records, no lists, no
nothing, would you be willing to tell me who's working off the books
for Dumbledore?"

Harry considered, then grudgingly nodded. "Okay, but I could use a

favour as well if you're willing."

"Such as?" She asked cautiously.

"The Granger residence. I want it warded six ways to Sunday," he

stipulated.

"Hermione's house?" Susan guessed, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I can't believe the Death Eaters haven't paid it a visit yet,"
Harry voiced quietly, the thought of it filling his insides with the liquid
mercury of dread.
Amelia nodded, it was a small thing to arrange, they had a deal with
Gringotts for State witnesses anyway. "Deal."

Harry nodded and started thinking. "You want everyone I know

about, or just the Aurors?"

She shrugged, "Strictly speaking I can't do anything about the ones

who aren't on the force. Under our laws, they're not technically doing
anything illegal or unprofessional."

Harry considered. "Alright, but only you can know this. Nobody else.
I trust you, not the whole DMLE. Sorry Susan," he said, turning to
regard the girl beside him, "I trust you too, but I know for a fact that
both Snape and Dumbledore regularly use legilimency on students
and they aren't the only people with that skill. Given who raised you,
I'm sure you know some occlumency, but I don't want you put at
unnecessary risk by having this information in your mind."

Susan nodded in agreement with this line of thinking before she slid
further down the couch and deliberately turned her eyes away from
him and Amelia. He sighed, feeling like he might be betraying good
people, hopefully not in a way that would get them hurt or killed
before her aunt cast another privacy spell so only she could hear
him. He huffed a sigh, "Shacklebolt, Tonks, Jones and Moody are all
part of the Order. They're the only Aurors I know of in the ranks.
There are perhaps… ten maybe, people who aren't associated with
Law Enforcement as far as I know…"

Amelia blinked at him, then leaned forward and pinched the bridge of
her nose as if fighting off a sudden headache, for a moment clearly
too exhausted to be angry. "Shit, that's three of my best, including a
living legend all under Dumbledore's thumb."

"As I understand it ma'am, Tonks just followed Moody when he

asked her along. Shacklebolt's a friend of Dumbledore, and Jones
likely followed Tonks once she was talked into it all."
"Still… damn. No wonder Dumbledore never seems surprised by
anything," she muttered bitterly. Madam Bones looked up to him and
her expression softened. "Thank you Harry, I'm not sure how I'll
handle that just now, but I appreciate it." Harry nodded in response,
before tilting his head towards Susan, who was still patiently staring
at the far wall so she couldn't read their lips. Amelia nodded and
dropped the silencing spell before Harry gently tapped Susan on the
shoulder. She turned and smiled before scooting back to where she
had been sitting before. Turning back to Amelia, Harry caught her
gaze as she considered him for a time, her eyes flicked over him as
if analyzing and categorizing him. "You did well tonight, actually you
both did. I saw some of your handiwork out there, better than many
Aurors fresh from the Academy manage."

She looked at her daughter in all but fact with a measured gaze.. "I
had heard rumours about your little group last year, Harry. Nothing
concrete of course, just bitching from Dolores and Cornelius to be
honest… It never occurred to me to wonder if you had been part of
that, Susan. At the time I may have been… reserved in my opinion of
such a group." Amelia carefully gauged Susan's reaction, which was
to look at her feet in embarrassment before turning back to Harry.
"Now, however, I couldn't be more grateful for your part in her
education, Harry,"

Amelia's gaze turned to contemplate the boy before her and shook
her head. "You say you're leaving for a while though?"

"Yes, the hope is to find someway to defeat Voldemort," he agreed.

She cocked her head to the side. "And you don't trust Dumbledore or
the Ministry to help you in this," more stating a fact then asking.

"Not currently," Harry agreed, actually sounding apologetic.

She nodded thoughtfully not really blaming him. "There's a good

chance that Fudge will not be the Minister in very short order."
"I think I'd heard that, ma'am. Though I admit I can't remember
exactly where." At her quizzical expression, he followed up, "I don't
read the Prophet much, ma'am."

Amelia smiled thinly, understanding why that might be. "Ah." She
folded her hands in front of her on the desk. "Then it might interest
you to know that I'm in the running to replace him."

Harry blinked in surprise and caught her meaning with an

entertaining expression. "You'd be willing to help me?"

She chuckled, "Yes, for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is
that prophecy you told me about. But also because you appear to
piss off Voldemort like no other." She considered that as her niece
giggled a little bit hysterically, clearly she was still suffering a tad
from shock, or more accurately, from the earlier adrenaline rush and
subsequent crash. "Well, it is my considered opinion that if you are
indeed to play a critical role in what is to come, the Ministry should
be there to help you do so."

Harry seemed uncertain. "I-it wouldn't be like the Ministry using me

as some sort of poster boy would it? Because I don't think I could do
that ma'am."

She smirked, "Yes, I believe word has sufficiently gotten around that
you aren't the sort to revel in your fame."

He nodded in relief, "Not only that ma'am… I-it's just that they call
me the Boy-Who-Lived," he said the moniker with disdain, "like I'm
some sort of superhero or something, and really… it's not like it was
me who killed Voldemort the last time, I was just an infant after all."
He shrugged helplessly.

She understood. "Yes, that is something people seem to forget. But

nevertheless you seem to have caused his downfall," she pointed
out, but he was already shaking his head.

"No ma'am, that was mum who did that."

This caused obvious consternation in the other two. "Oh?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. As I understand it she used a spell, possibly

blood magic, but I don't know, to fuel the protections she placed on
me… basically with her love for me. Her sacrifice protecting me was
the ultimate display of that love. It was that which made the shield
strong enough to rebound the killing curse. At least, that's what
Professor Dumbledore seems to think, and this time I have no
reason to doubt him."

"That is intriguing, I hadn't heard that before."

Harry just shrugged. "So you see ma'am, whenever people look at
me like that, I feel like a fraud. They celebrate my supposed victory
over him, call me the Chosen One, or whatever and forget that
Voldemort's defeat cost me everything. My home, my family, my
childhood. And all along it wasn't even me who managed it."

Amelia nodded. "I understand. I guess I shouldn't be surprised,

either. Lily was a brilliant woman."

Harry was caught flat footed by that. "You knew her, ma'am?"

"Just as acquaintances. Your father was an Auror at the same time

as myself, I met her a few times at parties. The thing I remember
most about her was that Lily was always sharp as a tack," Amelia
said fondly.

Harry just seemed further exhausted, yet thoughtful, by that

revelation. "I didn't know Dad was an Auror."

She watched him for a time before returning to the issue at hand.
"No Harry, I wouldn't use you as a poster boy. Don't you worry about
that. But I would need to figure out how best to use your talents."
She shifted in her seat. "That is assuming I ever become Minister in
the first place."

Harry smiled wanly. "You'd have my vote ma'am."

"Thank you," she said offering a half smile in return. "Now then, am I
right in presuming you wish to be getting back to wherever you're
staying for the night? Do you need a lift?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Yes ma'am, but I could just catch the train."

She pulled out a polished stone from a bag in her desk. "The anti-
portkey ward is down, along with the rest of the wards, so if you'd
prefer to hurry, I'll use this to send you where you need to go, where
do you want to get dropped off?"

"Belsize Park station," Harry decided.

The older woman nodded but paused before going any further. "In
the days to come I may need to contact you. How do you wish me to
do so?"

Harry considered the question for a few seconds, his face making
interesting contortions as he struggled with an idea. "Do you have a
secure method we could use to talk privately, ma'am?"

She nodded, hesitating only a moment before looking to Susan.

"Susan, would you bring a couple of the personal communicators?"

Susan nodded and paced out of the room, looking at Harry and
smiling encouragingly to him. She had, thanks to the evening's
events and conversations between him and her aunt, come to
understand just how much weight was on his shoulders.

Amelia waited until Susan was out of the room, "Before we send you
on your way Harry, I had a question. Do you know exactly how it is
you can feel him like you do?"

Harry drew his hand back through his hair. "No ma'am, not really. I
just know I see him, something to do with my scar. It's always worst
when he's nearby, but if he's happy or angry I can feel it from far
away, too."
She peered at him closely, the shadows under his eyes were getting
more pronounced. "And which was he tonight?"

Harry grimaced and looked away for a moment. "He was happy
ma'am, he thought he had you. He was certain of it."

She grinned at him briefly, trying to buoy him up a little. "Glad you
proved him wrong."

Susan returned with a small pile of objects. Harry looked at them

before sighing. "Ah, communications mirrors. I have one, but it's
broken," he admitted, thinking of the shattered mirror in the box in
his pack, which was still in the room.

"Oh, would you mind if I took a look at it?" Amelia asked. Harry
nodded his thanks to Susan as she pushed one of the mirrors into
his hands and handing off the broken mirror to her aunt. Amelia
considered, it and played with the ruined pieces for a moment. "Not
spell damage then, hang on a moment." She drew her wand and
cast a repair spell at it. It took a minute but the pieces flowed back
into place and re-fused together. She handed it back to him. "If you
speak into your mirror and instruct it to request communications with
me, I'll hear my own and pick it up. If you want you can take one of
our spares, it's not like there's a lot of Bones' who need them just
now."

"Thank you ma'am. This will help a lot," Harry said quietly.

"I'll look into that matter I was discussing with you, but first let's get
you home, you look beat." She commented, and he smiled ruefully at
her.

Amelia set to work enchanting the portkey, while her niece surprised
Harry by giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Thank you,
Harry, you really saved our bacon tonight, we won't forget it," Susan
promised, blushing slightly.
Harry hugged her back before letting go. "It was my pleasure,
Susan. You take care of yourself."

Amelia stepped back from her work and offered Harry a handshake.
"Take care of yourself Harry, with any luck you'll hear from me soon.
In the meantime, well- search if you feel that's what you need to do,
but you have some time, take it, get your strength back, you've had a
hard time lately. Nobody will begrudge you a little time to get back in
working order." She told him seriously.

He nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Good, now get going kiddo, you look like death warmed over."

He chuckled and grasped the stone, and disappeared.

*Yes, this happened to me on a trip to London.

Chapter 4
Author's Note: Edited for better reading. Should hopefully be more
enjoyable. No major changes though…

Harry stumbled up to the small gate into the Granger's yard,

fumbling with the latch before staggering his way up to the front door.
He did his best to straighten himself out before knocking but it was
really a futile effort-he looked like a mess. It was a wonder he didn't
have a mess of police officers after him trying to discern what crime
or disaster he had been involved in. Thankfully the area surrounding
Belsize park station was not so busy at this time of night that the
average person had noticed his less than glamorous arrival by
Portkey in the alley behind the place.

His slow journey from there to the Granger residence had not
resulted in panicked cries or general panicked running about, so he
counted himself lucky. Why didn't I just use my invisibility cloak? He
wondered vaguely. Oh yeah, because I'm an idiot.

His knock was met with the sound of footsteps and scrabbling as
someone worked the lock back into its housing, before the door
opened and revealed Hermione. It took barely a moment for her to
take in his disheveled appearance and sigh. She shook her head as
she stood out of the way letting him through the door. "Oh Harry,
what have you been up to this time?" she asked in exasperated
concern.

He waved that off as he leaned against the wall just inside the door.
"In a minute okay?" He indicated his side. "You wouldn't happen to
have some burn ointment or some such would you?" he asked. It
was funny, he could swear that the burn hadn't hurt this bad earlier.
Was it possible for a wound to hurt worse over time? Oh, it must be
the Adrenalin wearing off. Is that a good thing or a bad thing I
wonder?
She nodded slowly. "Come on we'll get you settled on the couch, as
to ointment I'll have to ask mum," she said helping him into the living
room.

He was struck by the notion that he must have caught more debris
during the fight than he had thought, because judging by how his leg
felt he'd taken a hammer to his shin. Yet another thing which had
surprisingly not bothered him until now.

There was the sound of feet and Emma paced into the room only to
stop dead as she took in Harry's appearance. She took in the blood,
scorch marks and generally haggard appearance of the young man
before whirling to her daughter and pointing at him accusingly. "And
you want to be a part of this?"

Hermione shot her mother a look which would have liquified iron.
"Mum, so not the time," she growled firmly. "Do we have some burn
ointment?"

Emma considered her for a moment her face set in a stubborn

scowl, before finally giving a bit of ground. "We have an antiseptic
paste with anesthetic in it."

Hermione nodded. "That'll do nicely, would you please fetch it for

us?" she asked, studiously polite despite the tension between them.
Harry felt guilty at upsetting the already tenuous peace between
Hermione and her parents.

Emma nodded before bustling from the room, nearly colliding with
Dan who had likely been drawn by the sound of discontented voices.
Upon taking in Harry and his daughter his expression turned to a
scowl. He threw himself into the chair across from them and watched
them darkly with a closed expression. He looked to his daughter who
had stepped between her father and Harry, her arms crossed
protectively over her chest. "When we spoke this evening you said
he didn't go looking for trouble…" he noted sourly.
Any response to that was cut off by Emma returning, nevertheless
Hermione silenced her father with a quelling look, before turning
back to her friend. "Harry, what happened out there?" she asked
worriedly, all but wringing her hands. "I thought you were just going
to have a talk with Madam Bones."

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably on the couch with a wince. "That

was the plan." He agreed. "Turns out Voldemort was looking to add
another name to his list of kills though. He showed up while I was
there and attacked the house."

Hermione's mouth had dropped open in shock, but she promptly

closed it with an audible click. "Oh God! What happened, how are
you still-Pull up your shirt!" She instructed rapidly falling into a
frenzied need to ensure her friend was alright.

Harry ignored that instruction for the moment, gently warding her off.
"We managed to hold out until the Aurors and a certain Headmaster
showed up. Madam Bones was kind enough to cover for me, but I
think it was too little too late to keep it from Dumbledore," he noted
with a grimace.

Hermione pointed to the melted fabric of his shirt, and the scorched
flesh undoubtedly beneath it. "What kind of curse did this?"

Harry shifted, trying to find a comfortable position to lay in. "Cutting I

think, this is just the wash though. I got out of the way of the worst of
it obviously."

Emma raised a tentative hand to get the two teenager's attention.

"What's going on here exactly? Who is Madam Bones?"

Hermione shook her head ruefully, remembering that her mother had
no reason to know this already. "Madam Bones is the current head of
the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which makes her
roughly equivalent to the British Minister of Defence. Harry wanted to
talk with her about removing the Trace so we could legally defend
ourselves and went to her place in the hopes of meeting her."
Harry nodded, and hissed slightly as his shirt tugged at his wound.
"Yeah, but Voldemort decided she has been too big a roadblock in
his plans, so he came after her tonight with a pack of Death Eaters."

"How many?" Hermione asked, she had assumed the Death Eaters
at the Ministry had been the bulk of Voldemort's followers.

Harry shrugged. "Just over a dozen I think?" He saw her unsettled

look and explained. "It was me, Madam Bones, Emmaline Vance,
Auror Daniels and Susan against the lot of them."

A look of comprehension lit her face. "Ah, hence your cover being
blown. Vance is with the Order," she noted looking to his face for
confirmation.

He nodded. "Yeah, she and Daniels were knocked out in the fight,
they were both alive when I left though. The Death Eaters got the
worse end of the bargain though. I think these were the dregs, I
didn't see Wormtail or Bellatrix there. Susan and I were enough to
handle them while Amelia and Vance held off Tom…"

"Tom?" This came from Dan. He'd just heard dark wizards referred to
as WormTail and Bellatrix, somehow the name Tom just didn't
measure up.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Dark Lord of the British Isles Voldemort,
AKA The Dark Tosser, Head Hypocrite or Lord Voldishorts…" Harry
relayed tiredly.

Hermione noted his visibly waning strength. "Come on Harry let me

put the salve on your wound," she chastised.

He shook his head firmly. "Not right now Hermione, just let me do it,
we should be getting a move on, who knows how much time we
have." She hesitated, so he explained a bit more. "I managed to
wrangle some wards for your parents from Bones. Nothing that will
stop Voldemort himself if he shows I'm afraid, but enough to protect
them from his goons until help arrives. However they're not going in
until tomorrow at the earliest, so it'd be best if we hit the road sooner
rather than later."

Emma and Dan for their part shared a silent look, the kind of near
telepathic communications that only people who had lived together
for years managed. It was Emma who broke the silence. "Any
chance we could come with you two for the night?" She didn't relish
being in an unprotected home so soon after a battle with terrorists.

Harry saw Hermione's pleading look, but it wasn't necessary, he

nodded readily. "No problem, it'd probably be a good idea just in
case."

Dan pushed to his feet and jerked his head towards the door. "I'll just
get the Cruiser ready…" he murmured before stalking out of the
room.

Emma nodded, and smiled thinly at them, clearly more worried than
angry now. "I'll pack the overnight bags."

Hermione grudgingly handed over the ointment when Harry held out
his hand for it. He looked into her eyes seriously. "You're going to
want to grab everything you want to bring 'Mione, we won't be
coming back here."

She smirked and gave him a pointed look. "Mione?" she asked
archly.

He had the grace to look chagrined. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "It's fine. I know when you say it, you mean it as a
term of endearment."

Harry cocked his head. "And Ron doesn't?"

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "No, he uses it when he's trying to
wheedle something out of me - like my latest essay - or when he's
too darn lazy to say my name properly," she grumbled irritably.
"Ah," Harry noted articulately.

She considered him for a moment. Looking to change the subject

she said, "Do we have a plan? Did you at least manage to get the
Trace removed in all this?" She looked hopeful.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "No plan beyond tonight really. I'll
tell you about the Trace later okay. You should really…"

"Go get packed," She finished nodding agreement. "Okay see you in
a few minutes."

She turned and left, but Harry waited a couple minutes before easing
his shirt up and lathering the wound with some of the ointment. It
was definitely not as good as a potion, or one of Madam Pomfrey's
many and varied curatives, but at least it numbed things a bit which
was more than he had hoped for from muggle medicine. It could be
worse.

Hermione for her part had retreated to her room to begin packing.
Unlike Harry who had packed only the bare necessities when he
departed Privet Drive, Hermione had packed basically everything
she could foresee them possibly needing. Which - considering
Hermione's intelligence - the list included basically everything and
the kitchen sink. Thankfully her school trunk had an expansion
charm to allow for more storage space, currently mostly filled with
books.

She paused part way through packing away a pair of books on

Arithmancy, and glanced at Hedwig. She'd need to pack what they
needed to bring their animals with them. She knew that in theory
Harry and her would be better off without hauling their familiars with
them. But there were potential benefits as well, if only to their peace
of mind.

"Hedwig, do you think you can follow us to the hotel? It might be a

ways…" The look she got back from the owl was what could only be
described as scathing, prompting her to remind herself that this was
a magically enhanced bird capable of flying from one end of Great
Britain to the other without stopping. She paused to consider that,
just how far could a post owl like Hedwig, with all the magical
enhancements fly without needing to stop? After all, Sirius had once
sent letters with various tropical birds typically zoned for the
Caribbean and gulf states. That was a lot of open water to fly over…

Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Her

mother was waiting in the doorway expectantly holding the house's
first aid kit. "Do you think I should bring the kit so we can treat his
burns wherever we're going?" Emma asked uncertainly.

Hermione chuckled as she fought the Monster Book of Monsters into

its muzzle before stuffing it in the trunk, she had less… volatile
books on the topic, but sadly not many of them were as
comprehensive. Hagrid swore all one needed to do was stroke the
spine; well her copy had long ago decided that it would not be
pacified by platitudes. She swore she heard it trying to plot her
murder with the other more mundane books now and again. "It can't
hurt. Not with the way Harry accumulates injuries. Knowing him, he'll
get attacked by a rabid badger or a rogue bludger on his way into the
hotel." Judging by her mother's expression Emma was uncertain
whether or not to take that last bit seriously.

Her mother nodded and tucked the kit under her arm but did not
move to leave. "Do you have a moment to talk?" Emma asked
tentatively.

Hermione spared her mother an exasperated look. "Is now really the
time for this?" she asked stuffing some packets of cat chow into a
spare space along one side.

Emma matched her expression with one of her own. "When else are
we going to have the chance… and seriously how do you expect to
get a biting book through security if you leave the country?" she
asked dubiously.
"The books have notice-me-not and muggle repelling charms all over
them, they won't notice a thing." Hermione noted. "The only reason
you two notice is because you're family of the owner."

Emma nodded and just waited for Hermione to get back on track.
Eventually her daughter waved her permission with a sigh. Emma
steeled herself to ask the question which had been eating at her all
night. "Does he know how you feel about him?" Hermione froze, and
Emma could see the gears ticking over as her daughter fought to
compose a denial. She decided to cut her off at the pass. "Don't
deny it, I've had years to learn to read other women, and you in
particular. I'm not blind you know."

Hermione stiffened before sagging in defeat, shaking her head and

staring at her hands where they rested on the edge of the trunk. "No
mum, he doesn't," she murmured quietly.

Emma cocked her head. "Why not?"

Hermione pursed her lips and shot her mother a withering look.
"Because I haven't told him, and I have no intention of changing that.
Because he doesn't see me that way. And because I have no desire
to put myself out there just to get my heart broken or risk losing my
best friend." She shook her head sharply. "No, I've buried that
dream. It was a nice one: the girl gets together with her best friend
and they live happily ever after right? But no, it's not going to
happen…" she said firmly, trying to convince herself as much as
anything. It wasn't the only reason for her hesitation, but it was the
only one she was going to give to her mother.

Emma considered her, a touch of a waiver had entered her

daughter's voice, a touch of bitterness. "Are you sure about all that?"

Hermione nodded tightly. "As sure as I can be," she agreed.

Her mother smiled thinly. "I think you've misread the situation with
him." This was met with another silence, as Hermione fought to
stamp out the traitorous little spark of hope that threatened to glow in
response to that notion. Her mother continued after a moment,
"Have you considered that he may be no more certain of things than
you are?"

Hermione's brow furrowed at that. "What do you mean?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong but your friend
doesn't strike me as a ladies man. Does he have lots of girlfriends,
tawdry affairs and liaisons?"

Hermione could only snort in grudging amusement at her mother's

cajoling tone. "No, he's certainly not that. He's only had a single date
and it was a disaster." She said, recalling Harry's abortive outing with
Cho. Despite herself she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry that it
hadn't worked out. Not very kind, but there it was.

Emma nodded knowingly. "Then he, like most boys his age, is still at
the phase in which he's clueless when it comes to the opposite sex.
Honestly most young men are as thick as a brick sandwich when it
comes to such things. I'm sure Harry is a little behind that curve
considering he has to worry more about just staying alive…" She
noted her daughters skeptical expression and pressed on. "My point
is, he just might be as afraid to show his feelings on the matter as
you are."

Hermione sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose wearily. "Mum, what
is the point in all of this? You don't even want me having anything to
do with him. I believe you made that abundantly clear when we
discussed this whole problem earlier."

Her mother nodded. "For your safety, I still don't," she admitted. "But
since you have made it abundantly clear that you fully intend to
ignore me in that regard, that issue falls by the wayside for the
moment. I do however want you to be happy, so I'll give you a piece
of advice despite my better judgement." She explained patiently. "If
you really do have feelings for him, and want to know if they could be
reciprocated…" She opened her hands expectantly. "Tell him how
you feel. Be plain about it, let him know, because I promise you if
he's half as shy as I think he is, he's not going to figure it out all on
his own. Not with someone as restrained and circumspect as you."
She noted her daughters dubiously pensive expression, and nodded
in satisfaction. "There, end of advice. Now, let's get everything
packed into the truck."

Hermione had to shake her head to clear it of the ideas raised by her
mother. She had to pack them away, because for now, she didn't
really have time to consider that in depth. They needed to get
moving.

Madam Bones spent the first couple hours at the Ministry digging
through public records with her niece's help simply trying to
corroborate as many of Harry's notations as she could while waiting
for reports and autopsy results from the attack. This was, as much
as anything else, a way for her to keep her niece occupied until the
shock had passed.

Thus far her search had turned up nothing but confirmations of what
Harry had implied had happened. Dumbledore had been chronically
mismanaging countless facets of his responsibilities for decades
now. The extent of the fumbling was difficult to determine, as was
just how much of it may have been intentional. If even a quarter of it
was by design, there was a very real possibility she might need to
bring the man up on charges. She had, as Susan began to fade,
returned herself and her niece to her office and begun collating what
they had found.

It was well after midnight when there was a knock at the door. She
nodded to Susan who shifted herself out of the line of fire, and
placed her hand wand below the edge of the desk. She then cleared
her throat and called out, "Come."

The door had opened and her secretary peered into the office
nervously. "Uh-hello Director, an Auror Tonks is here to speak with
you?" Considering the foul evening/night Amelia had experienced
thus far, it was not surprising the administrative aide was so
cautious.

Amelia nodded, and gestured her acquiescence. "Show her in."

The secretary ducked out and was almost immediately replaced by

Tonks, who stepped tiredly into the office. Tonks had changed much
over the last month or so, and not for the better. Nymphadora Tonks,
a woman who would eviscerate you for daring to use said first name,
was usually flamboyant, excitable and dogged in her duty. If a little
bit lax in the uniform regulation area. Usually sporting clothing more
suited for a muggle teenager with a short bubblegum pink, or purple
haircut. Now she looked… aged, in a way clearly not healthy to the
young woman's psyche. Her hair had faded to a dull mousy brown
which hung limply to just above her shoulders. She had her uniform
trench coat on at least, but the clothing under it, a dull greyish blouse
and a dark pair of slacks were… boring.

Judging by Harry's revelations, Amelia believed she had the

beginnings of a reason why this might be the case with the young
Auror. But that was an issue for a bit later. Damn Dumbledore and
his Order anyways. "Report Auror Tonks?" She gestured Susan out
of the room and the girl scurried out - she had instructions not to
wander far. It still wasn't safe as far as Amelia was concerned.

Tonks nodded, watching the teen leave before starting in. "Yes
ma'am. As ordered I took a squad down to magical transportation's
floo department. We began auditing and investigating the place as
well as immediately quarantining the staff on duty at the time. The
place is a bloody mess ma'am, I have no idea how they get anything
done in there," she noted.

The Director just nodded thoughtfully, at least thus far Tonks was still
thorough, who knew how long that would last though? "Any leads
thus far?"

"One of the staff was missing on coffee break for an hour around the
time in question, but he turned up having some late night nookie with
one of the junior undersecretary's aides. Both have been issued with
official warnings, but no, nothing that's indicative as yet ma'am."

Amelia shook her head, this could take a while if that office was as
disorganized as Tonks suggested. "Very well."

Tonks stood expectantly for a minute before shifting impatiently. "If

there's nothing else ma'am, I really had better return to…"

Amelia decided now was the time to air some issues out in the open.
This problem with Dumbledore was clearly beginning to affect the
efficiency of some of her best people and it needed to stop. She had
just gotten her feet under her to work on bringing the Ministry up to
war footing, she didn't need her best crippled. "Actually there is
something we need to discuss Auror Tonks…"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Your conduct lately has been… irregular Tonks, and I think I know
why," Amelia explained carefully.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Contrary to what those gossips out in

dispatch say ma'am, me and Dawlish haven't got any sort of illicit
affair going. I don't know what they…"

Amelia stopped her with an uplifted hand. "No, that's not what I-
Dawlish?" Tonks nodded sourly. "What are they stupid?"

Tonks smirked a bit before smiling a touch wanly. "That's what I've
been asking ma'am."

Amelia shook that off. "No. I was not going to refer to any alleged
illicit relationship between yourself and another staff member," she
said pointedly. "I was referring to your membership in the illegal
militia group known as the Order of the Phoenix." Tonks' eyes
widened almost comically - Amelia was reasonably sure that it was
not the effect of any of the woman's metamorphic abilities.
She pressed on. "I shouldn't need to remind you of this but I'll do it
anyways as it is beginning to affect your duties. It is well outside the
bounds of professional conduct for you to even consider taking part
in operations with such a group. The only reason I'm willing to
overlook your membership with them up to this point is simple: up
until now the Auror Corps has not been actively engaged against the
terrorist leader known as V-Voldemort, nor his organization the
Death Eaters. Now that that has changed there is no room for
division, no time for doubts or divided loyalties. I assume you joined
out of a desire to protect people?" she asked, Tonks nodded mutely.

Amelia shook her head. "Regardless, the point is that you now find
yourself at a crossroads Auror Tonks. The Auror Corps needs it's
best - yes I am including you in that category - but you've become
distracted by your service to the Order. You can either continue to
serve the rightful and duly appointed law enforcement agencies of
the Ministry, or you can hand in you badge and run off to play soldier
for Dumbledore. Doing both is no longer an option, not in the current
environment. Things are different now, we're finally being let off the
leash to do what we signed up for." She cocked her head
expectantly at the young woman. "Do I make myself clear?"

Tonks nodded stiffly coming to a semblance of attention. "Yes

ma'am."

Amelia nodded slowly in return not taking her eyes from the Auror's.
"Good. Oh, and by the way, when you next see Aurors Jones and
Shacklebolt tell them to come meet me in my office I have the same
ultimatum for them."

Tonks nodded jerkily, more than a little unnerved how casually the
Director was dropping what were intended to be Order secrets. The
Director clearly had more secrets to throw around, judging by her
expression. "Yes ma'am I'll tell them..I'll-" She was cut off by her
wand emitting a flash of light and a warbling note. Amelia laced her
fingers together and leaned forward on the desk expectantly. Tonks
gave her a panicky and embarrassed expression clearly revealing
just who it was that was sending her a messenger spell. Tonks
cleared her throat and stepped a pace back from her desk. "I'll uh-do
you want me to head in right now and resign? Or-" She trailed off
uncertainly.

"That would be appreciated. I'll divert Irons to handle the

investigation until you return at the beginning of the next shift. And
please, while you're there would you mind terribly telling Albus I don't
appreciate him hijacking my people for his latest crusade? Next time
I catch someone answering to him instead of the agency they swore
an oath to, I'll have them in chains."

Tonks paled somewhat before her abilities brought it under control.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am," she murmured hurriedly before backing
from the room.

Amelia sighed, under better circumstances she might have been

able to risk allowing the Order to continue its work unhindered. But
sadly these were not ideal circumstances, she could hardly trust
anyone not to be in league with the enemy. She didn't need those
she did trust holding onto some senile old man's coat tales for
guidance.

Harry sat, somewhat stiffly propped up against the door of the

Granger's Land Cruiser. Why Dan Granger, a quintessential
suburbanite felt the need to own a vehicle suited to traversing all but
the harshest terrain was a mystery to his family, and possibly even to
himself. However, on nights like tonight when a person needed to
pack up a large amount of luggage and move it quickly from one
point to another the vehicle came in handy.

They had traveled for quite a while in relative silence before

Hermione remembered there was a topic she wished to cover with
him before he was too tired to discuss it. "So Harry, what was it you
were going to tell me about the Trace? You said you were going to
tell me a bit later…"
Harry had to jog his somewhat drowsy mind to remember just what it
was she was talking about. "Oh, yeah, that…" He shrugged. "Well
that comes tinged with a bit of irony really. It turns out I needn't have
gone to Madam Bones today in the first place." He admitted.

She crinkled her brow in confusion. "Why? Did she end up refusing
to help you?"

He shook his head. "No no, she was more than willing to help me.
It's just that she ended up informing me that the Trace is basically a
myth. Because of 'budget cuts'." He said this last with air quotes.

Hermione's eyes widened. "What?" she demanded.

Harry nodded, bouncing his head a bit against the window of the
door. "The Trace tracks locations, nowadays, because somebody
was looking to cut costs. At least that's the official line the Ministry
touts on it. I got the impression the purebloods pushed for it."

"But-that makes no sense!" she protested.

Harry gave her a lopsided grin. "Since when has that stopped the
Ministry from doing something?" Hermione made a face at that so he
continued. "The way it was explained to me, is that the Trace is only
put in place on non-magical households nowadays. Or in the case of
Privet Drive which lacked any other Magicals for miles, the
household and the general area surrounding it. This means the
Trace is in effect only placed on the homes of muggleborns and
muggle raised kids like you and me."

The gears were turning furiously in Hermione's head and she didn't
like the conclusions they were churning out. "But not on Magical
Homes…"

Harry shook his head. "Nope, near as I can tell it turns out they won't
pay the costs associated with differentiating between adults and kids
at such places so they leave it to the parents to police the use of
magic in their homes." He held up a hand to forestall her protests.
"Yes, that basically means that pukes like Malfoy can practice magic
all summer long without consequence. Yeah it sucks." He noted with
exasperation the raw irrationality of the way the British Ministry
handled many of its affairs.

"But that's so… biased! And totally unfair!" She protested.

Harry just hummed his agreement, before nodding. "Yeah, me and

you could both use magic right this minute and nobody would say
anything about it."

She raked her hand through her hair irritably. "That's infuriating!"

Harry snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it. Take it from someone who's
been tagged twice by the ministry for underage magic right?"

She blushed, realizing that he had more reason to be upset than she
did and yet remained calm. "Sorry, Harry, I know, it's just so…
frustrating how much is broken in magical Britain." She noted as the
Land Cruiser pulled into a hotel parking lot. It was quiet at this time
of night, only the occasional shuttle bus from the nearby airport
stopped through at this time of night.

Hermione ended up having to help Harry's now thoroughly stiff and

gibbled up self out of the vehicle before helping him make his way
inside.

For the first time in her memory Tonks approached the Burrow with
apprehension. The usually homely and welcoming… house, was
generally a sight for sore eyes after a hard day's work. The Weasley
family stronghold, if such a ramshackle estate could be called such.

In the time since the Order had abandoned Grimmauld place, as it

was no longer secure following Sirius' death, the Burrow had
become a sort of de facto headquarters. Which meant it was the
dead last place she wanted to be following Amelia's ultimatum.
However, in keeping with said ultimatum, it was exactly the place she
needed to be.

It was this nervous attitude which caused Tonks to practically hit the
roof when her friend grabbed her by the shoulder. "Whoa, everything
alright Tonks?" Hestia Jones asked startled by her friend's over
reaction. "Holy hell, you're jumpy tonight! What's with you?"

Tonks shrugged and smiled ruefully at her friend and coworker. "I'll-
uh. I'll tell you about it a bit later yeah?"

Hestia just shrugged before moving around the table of the Burrow's
large kitchen, sitting herself down and helping herself to a cup of
coffee Molly had supplied for the emergency meeting.

It took awhile for the majority of the Order to arrive and the meeting
only started after Dumbledore showed up with McGonagall in tow.
"Greeting everyone. We call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix
to order," he said solemnly, eyes twinkling a thousand miles per hour
and a small smile on his weathered face. "In case there are those
among you who were as yet unaware, the residence of Amelia
Bones was attacked earlier tonight by Voldemort himself along with a
band of Death Eaters." Many of the more expressive members of the
order such as their host Molly Weasley offered stifled screams at
hearing the Dark Lord's name. The muttering which followed was
grim.

"It is therefore my profound pleasure and relief to report that

Voldemort was forced to retreat when his allies were defeated and
Auror reinforcements arrived on site." He tilted his head deferentially
to Tonks and the other Aurors. A show of support which now failed to
comfort Tonks, instead making her uncomfortable, itching to leave
her seat at the table.

Molly voiced the question clearly percolating through the group. "She
managed to hold them off that long, alone?" she asked sounding
both skeptical and impressed.
Dumbledore shook his head. "Ah, no. She did in fact have
assistance, Emmeline Vance who was scheduled to begin her patrol
routine there, also lent aid during the battle, as well as an Auror and
Amelia's own niece Susan."

Remus perked up, "Emmeline was there was she? Is she okay?"

Tonks couldn't help but feel a touch bitter at the interest in his voice,
even if it was totally platonic. She'd been attempting to catch the
wolf's attention for months now, and his rejection had hurt a great
deal.

Dumbledore nodded. "She is currently in intensive care at Saint

Mungo's. I have stationed Alastor to watch over her while she heals."
He noted a touch sombrely.

Arthur snorted, before offering a thin smile. "Still, it's impressive. I

wonder if any of us could manage the same?"

Hestia cocked her head to the side and considered, she'd seen the
level of destruction in that house first hand. "Do we know how she
managed it?" She asked curiously. That was one thing that you could
always count on with Hestia, she was always eager to learn a new
trick, a new maneuver for a fight.

The aged headmaster shook his head. "No-sadly not at this time,
she has agreed to meet with me at a later date however. Perhaps
that shall offer some illumination?" he speculated.

"Speaking of illumination, I believe I may be able to shed some light

on this." Drawled an unfortunately familiar voice as Snape, the
Hogwarts Potion Master and double agent against Voldemort, swept
in cloak billowing behind him. Tonks had to credit the man with his
ability to make a stylish entrance though. She wondered how he got
that cloak to billow like that.

He paused briefly as he came to a halt at the table edge. "It seems

that Amelia had additional assistance in her defence that we were
not aware of. She was aided by one who is singularly infuriating to
the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore appeared intrigued and the rest waited in anticipation

for the identity of the mystery defender. "Who Severus?"

Snape smirked somewhat. "Harry Potter of course."

This was met with an outcry as shock and disbelief gripped the table.
"What!?" shrieked Molly. Tonks rolled her eyes, for a woman who
insisted Order business should be kept from her family Molly was a
master of raising the decibel level of these meetings.

Albus was suddenly urgent, all remnants of the grandfatherly

persona he favoured gone from his visage. "Severus are you
certain?"

Snape nodded calmly. "Yes, the Dark Lord was quite vexed and took
it out on one of my fellows before coming to the conclusion it was
merely an… intriguing coincidence rather than any cunning or
reckless design by the boy," he noted dryly.

"Is there any indication that this was why he attacked Madam Bones
last night?" Albus asked his eyes focused on the potions master's
sallow face.

Snape merely shook his head. "No, he truly had intended to kill her.
A fact he had concealed from the rest of us… perhaps desiring to
keep the kill for himself? Regardless, it appears that Potter was
merely there by… chance and intervened, to the Dark Lord's
detriment."

Suddenly some things clicked in Tonks' mind and she sighed

explosively. "If that's true it might explain some things," she noted.

Dumbledore's eyes were on her now. "Such as?"

"Such as why Dung has not reported any activity at all from him
today or yesterday…" she grumbled. "Such as Amelia calling me into
her office tonight and giving me an ultimatum: resign from the Order
or turn in my badge. Which brings me to my next order of business."
She grumbled irritably as she pushed to her feet. She herself was
unaware that for the first time in days her hair had shifted colour,
albeit briefly before returning to mousy brown. "I'm sorry
Dumbledore, but I'm afraid I have to turn in my resignation; I can no
longer be with the Order."

Molly puffed herself up. "I can not believe that Harry would tell
Amelia that…" she protested. Tonks shrugged, it made little
difference to her.

"Regardless me, Hestia and Shack are all facing the same choice:
the Order or our jobs." She looked apologetically to those gathered.
"Sorry guys, I'm out."

Hestia looked stricken and Shacklebolt looked worried. Dumbledore

meanwhile had adopted a friendly cajoling attitude. "Nymphadora…"

Tonks stiffened, she was not in the mood for more of Dumbledore's
typical behaviour in regards to her. "Dumbledore, I believe I've made
my position quite clear when it comes to my name?" she growled,
glaring at the old man, who was blocking her exit.

The man nodded readily, appearing contrite. "Yes, and you have my
apologies. But surely Tonks you see the-"

She cut him off before he could get his feet under him. "No,
Dumbledore, stop right there. I joined up to fight bad guys and
protect people. The Ministry now fills that role too and I'll lose the job
I have pursued for years up until now if I don't resign. I'd better say
goodnight to you now and hit the road. Good luck you lot," she noted
bowing her head slightly.

She heard a chair scrape and Hestia stood. "I'm afraid I'm gonna
have to do the same Headmaster, I'm sorry." She hurried to catch up
with Tonks.

Dumbledore turned pleadingly to Kingsley. Shacklebolt held up a

hand to forestall him. "I'll need to think on some things and speak
with Amelia first, Albus. I'll let you know."

Hestia caught up with Tonks as she was exiting through the front
door, struggling to pull on a boot before leaving the premises.
Hopefully not for the last time - regardless of affiliation with the Order
she was fond of the Weasleys. "Just how bad is it Tonks?" Hestia
asked in a hush. "How mad is Bones?"

"About the attack tonight or us being with the Order?" Tonks asked,
then let out an oof as she fell on her backside while struggling with
the boot. Hestia was kind enough to ignore it without snickering.

"Either, both?" Hestia suggested uncertainly.

Tonks rolled her shoulders as she got to her feet again. "In regards
to the attack I think Bones is so far beyond pissed she's gone
through it all the way into that dangerous calm on the other side. Or
maybe she's just too tired to shout; it's not always easy to tell," she
admitted quirking a weak smile. "Who can blame her right? Having
to throw down against You-Know-Who? As to the Order things?" She
shrugged. "She was perfectly reasonable with me but left me with no
doubt as to what choices I faced. She was right to call me on it."

Hestia blew out a breath as they began walking down the drive
towards the edge of the wards. "Guess she was lucky Harry was
there eh?"

Tonks considered that, "You know, I can't decide whether or not to

blessing or cursing Harry right now," she admitted.

Hestia glanced at her. "You think he really sold us out to Bones?"

It was Tonks' turn to blow out an uncertain breath kicking at the

gravel beneath her feet. "I don't know."
Jones appeared to consider that then shrugged philosophically. "It
could be worse I suppose," she allowed.

Tonks' raised a skeptical eyebrow at her friend. "How so?"

"Well, of all the people he could have risked telling, Bones is perhaps
the only one I could stomach. Can you imagine if he'd blabbed to
Fudge?" She mocked shivered.

Tonks reluctantly conceded the point. "True enough I suppose," she

agreed.

"Do you think she's right? Telling us we need to support the DMLE
over the Order?" Hestia asked eventually. They were past the ward
line now, but they needed to talk.

"Probably. Doesn't mean it doesn't sting a bit to realize what a

mistake we made. We're the line between order and chaos, we're
not supposed to run around with secret societies," Tonks noted
grumpily, irritated with herself more than anything.

"Do you think we were doing the right thing when we joined up?"
Hestia ventured.

Tonks sighed and rubbed her face. "I think-I think we were doing the
only thing we could do under the circumstances back then. Now
though? I don't know, now the Ministries finally involved…" She didn't
need to finish that statement, the meaning was clear enough on it's
own. "The Old Man means well I'm sure, of that I have no doubt,
but…"

They walked in silence for a time just enjoying the cool predawn air.
Clearly the issue was still bothering Hestia though. "Do you think
Harry told her?"

Tonks eventually nodded her head. "Yeah, I kinda think he did."

"Why would he do that?" the other witch wondered aloud.

Tonks shrugged. "Don't know, could be a whole boatload of reasons
for it," she argued.

Hestia looked worried. "Do you think he blames us for Sirius?" she
wondered.

Tonks scrunched up her face, she missed that old mutt. "It's
possible."

"Do you think he'll show at the will?"

Tonks grimaced. "Doubt it. Assuming he even knows about it, which
frankly knowing Dumbledore, I doubt. He'd have to be eight different
kinds of crazy to try and visit with Dumbledore there."

The silence fell again and they walked perhaps half a kilometre
together before Hestia spoke again. "Are you feeling alright Tonks?
It's just-you've not been yourself lately…" her friend ventured
delicately.

Tonks fought the urge to roll her eyes in exasperation, she hated
talking about feelings . They were too… girly. "My abilities are tied to
my emotions. Needless to say the last few weeks have really
sucked."

Hestia nodded rapidly. "Amen to that." She glanced at Tonks. "You

bummed about Sirius? or is it the other thing we talked about?" she
asked.

Tonks winced. She'd confided her interest in Remus to Hestia-she'd

therefore witnessed the big old ball of suck that was the aftermath of
his rejection. "Probably both" Tonks admitted sourly.

Hestia snorted, and resorted to an age old truth. "It never rains but it
pours right?" Tonks nodded agreement. Things never seemed to go
wrong in isolation from each other, they always went wrong all at
once. She cocked her head as she pondered something. "You know
it was really odd wasn't it?"
"What was?"

Hestia looked at her seriously. "Snape, when he showed up."

"How so?" Tonks asked furrowing her brow.

"Well, normally anything happens with Harry and he's slagging the
boy off. This time he didn't. He just reported what he knew and left
the rest of us to figure it out. I mean knowing the greasy old bat
you'd think he'd be muttering about Harry doing it all for the attention
or some such nonsense. You figure something finally changed his
mind about Harry?"

Tonks just about laughed at the absurdity of that comment. "I doubt
it. Whatever it is between those two, they hate each other's guts with
an unholy passion."

Hestia grumbled good-naturedly. "I don't know if that's comforting or

not."

Harry settled himself heavily on the edge of the bed in the room Dan
and Emma had rented for him. The thing about pain was that it didn't
merely dull your mind and impede movement, it sapped your
strength. Harry was downright exhausted, and it wasn't just from lack
of sleep. Hermione didn't wait long before starting in again. "Honestly
Harry, you've been favouring your side ever since you got back. The
salve clearly hasn't worked so lets see it, and I'll grab what we need
to fix you up."

"It's alright Hermione, burns just hurt more than most wounds," Harry
argued.

She was losing patience with his stalling and evasion. "Harry, just-
just show me the wound alright?" she said, clearly biting back on her
exasperation. Her patience was clearly fraying rapidly, and he saw
no purpose in continuing to be stubborn about this.
He sighed explosively. "Fine, hang on." He reached across delicately
and pulled up the edge of his thoroughly ruined shirt.

Hermione hunkered down on her haunches to examine it more

closely, before leaning over and pulling a sterile wipe from the first
aid kit. He hissed when it began to irritate the edges of the wound as
she wiped away some of the dried blood. She bit her lip as she
considered the wound as dispassionately as she could. "I'm
surprised this didn't burn through your shirt… or melt it to you skin."

Harry shrugged as much as his wound would allow. "Well it was a

cutting spell right? I call it a burn, but it's more like a wake from the
spell then a fire," he noted.

She bobbled her head noncommittally. "Plenty of things can cause

burns Harry, not just fire you know." She noted his quizzical
expression. "Liquid nitrogen can burn you even though it's absurdly
cold. But in this case what we're dealing with is more akin to a
radiation burn from the spells wake, think of it like a sunburn. The
raw energy bleed off from the cutting spell."

Harry grimaced. "Radiation, great…"

She smirked. "It's not like nuclear or solar radiation, but it's still
enough to scorch you." She noted gripping his side carefully and
peering more closely at the wound. "I think we'll need to prepare a
poultice for this one, then we'll secure it to your side with a wrap,"
she decided, she pushed to her feet and crossed to the door
between the two rooms and knocked. It was only a moment or two
before her mother opened it. "Hey, Mum, can you help me apply a
poultice to Harry's burn?"

Emma nodded shortly. "Sure, just a moment." She ducked into her
own room for a minute before returning and rifling through the first
aid kit. It was larger and more well stocked than most he had seen. It
took a few minutes to prepare the poultice from the supplies in the
kit. Hermione explained and named each of the materials they
planned on using while they worked. Eventually it was time to
actually apply it.

"Harry, you're going to need to take off your shirt so we can secure
this to your side properly.

Harry hesitated. "Is that really necessary? Where'd you learn all this
anyways?"

She rolled her eyes. "I took some training over the summers, and
paid attention when Madam Pomfrey was talking after your…
accidents. And yes, it is necessary," she argued firmly.

Harry grinned nervously. "What? You don't think your parents have
been shocked enough as it is?" He teased weakly, this only seemed
to confuse her.

It was Emma who spoke up, "I assure you Harry I've seen just about
everything a person can see over the years. I may specialize in
teeth, but I'm a medical professional remember?"

Harry sighed in defeat, before grabbing the edge of his shirt and
pulling it over his head. Sure enough he heard the hiss of indrawn
breath from Hermione and Emma. What they were seeing was in
short: scars. Many, many scars of varying sizes and shapes all
across his torso and back. "How did you get all these Harry?"
Hermione breathed, her eyes skating about his form as she took it in.

Harry pointed to a selection of them in turn. "Dragon, Basilisk,

various vicious creatures, duels with Death Eaters, my relatives and
my aunt's damn dog Ripper who just loved chewing on me."

Hermione felt physically ill. "Your relatives did this to you?" He

shrugged, seemingly nonchalant about what were in essence the
signs of extensive, repeated and methodical abuse. She shook her
head. "Harry… this is really bad."
"I know, but I'm away from them now right? No sense dwelling," he
argued stoically.

Hermione couldn't believe he could be so blasé about it, but for the
time being conceded the point. She handed him the poultice. "Here,
hold this to the wound and we'll get you bound up." Harry nodded
amicably and complied, holding the somewhat soggy mess to his
wound as Hermione and Emma worked to wrap him in gauze and
pressor strips.

Harry chuckled to himself. "I'll say this for Madam Pomfrey and her
horrendous potions, they're quick. Even if they taste like battery
acid," he noted sardonically.

Hermione sniffed. "Yes, well it's not like we have access to a lot of
potions right now is it?" She noted, uncertain whether or not this was
a comment on the skill of her ministrations.

Harry shrugged. "Still, it's impressive what non-magical folks

manage without magic and such to help them along," he noted
speculatively. "Remember when they tried stitching Mr. Weasley's
wound last year? Molly looked like they'd grown another head for
even suggesting it," he noted laughing to himself at the memory.

Hermione nodded. "I'm pretty sure that the stitching came apart like
that because they didn't use the right kind of threading or
sterilization. It basically rotted off."

"Doesn't matter now I guess. Molly won't tolerate them trying

anything muggle on her family ever again…" Harry pointed out.
"Sometimes-I swear, magicals in general are the most biased,
bigoted group on the face of the planet."

Hermione nodded seriously. "You won't get any argument from me."

Emma had been listening to this with interest as she secured the last
bandage. "Magicals have a problem with muggles?" she asked.
Harry nodded, "Well, let me put it like this. Regardless of the fact that
Hermione has the best grades of anyone I know, she will be forced
to fight tooth and nail for the good jobs just because she wasn't born
a pureblood." He noted her sour expression, "Most Purebloods look
on anyone who isn't one of them as lesser beings. Even the good
ones like the Weasleys look down on them a bit. Mr. Weasley
approaches studying muggles as a sort of eccentric hobby, and his
job in the Ministry is as a 'muggle expert'."

Emma looked at her daughter dubiously. "And you put up with that
year round?"

Hermione shrugged, it was a reality she was largely becoming used

to at this point. "I hope to change things one day. Besides, magic
isn't without it's perks, even when it comes with its costs too," she
noted as she helped Harry pull his shirt back on.

"So what do you intend to do now?" Emma asked.

"You mean besides get a good night's sleep?" Harry joked, then
sobered when he saw she was clearly not in the mood for joking. "I
was planning on discussing that with Hermione in the morning, but I
suppose talking about it now won't hurt. Let it percolate over night. I
was thinking we need to hole up somewhere and study, maybe take
the opportunity to just enjoy ourselves now and then when we're not
up to our eyeballs in spell work." He shrugged. "Keep an eye on how
things develop and then decide on a new course of action from
there. Way I reckon, one way or another there's going to be enough
studying to make even Hermione desperate for a break soon
enough."

Emma seemed perplexed. "So this is going to be, what, a holiday?"

Harry snorted derisively, "No, like I said, mostly we'll be studying, just
somewhere out of the way. I don't see the point of burning Hermione
and myself out right away either though, so taking the occasional
break now and then couldn't hurt, even if it's just to see the sights
wherever we end up."
Hermione was thinking that over. "Do you have any ideas about
where we could go?"

Harry's eyes flicked to Emma apologetically. "No offence to your

mum, but I don't want Dumbledore rummaging through her thoughts
to see this conversation. Eventually they'll figure out you went
missing at the same time as I did and check with your family."

Emma was justifiably unnerved by that. "He'd do that?"

Harry grimaced. "He does it all the time with school children, I
believe, so… yeah, he definitely would if it suited him," he agreed
then turned to Hermione. "Short of it is yes, I have a couple ideas of
where we could go."

Emma understood his position in this instance. "Then I'll leave you
two to it and let you figure out your next move," she said dusting off
her knees and getting to her feet. She picked up the bag and packed
it before making her way to the other room and closing the door
behind her.

Hermione sat on the bed next to him. "So what are we going to be
waiting for precisely?"

"Madam Bones mentioned that she might be willing to give me

Ministry support assuming she gets elected to replace Fudge. If
that's the case we might be returning soon enough and shouldn't get
bogged down in whatever else we're doing out there," Harry noted
easily.

"Where were you thinking we could go?" She asked, casting about
for something else to talk about.

"I've got a couple family properties which have apparently been

going unused. According to Gringotts the lot of them are Unplottable.
I've discounted the locations in the British Isles; way I reckon it
Dumbledore is far too likely to know where those are and look there
first," he noted. "But that just leaves two others - apparently my
parents inherited them from my Grandparents. A small house in the
Sandwich Islands, wherever that is, and a small cabin in Canada
somewhere."

"The Sandwich Islands is just another name for the Hawaiian Island
Chain," Hermione noted absently, considering those options.

"Do we know if there's any Magicals in those areas? I mean

specifically - I know Canada has Witches and Wizards…" Harry
noted, thinking of a couple international Quidditch teams he knew
about.

Hermione waved her hand airily. "Of course there are Harry, you'll
find Magicals just about everywhere you find muggles. There's
bound to be major magical sites in most large cities. It's just a matter
of finding them."

"Guess I should have made a point to look them up while I was in

Diagon," Harry noted a touch ruefully.

"No need, I have a book or two detailing Wizarding tourist

destinations around the world," she noted pointing in the general
direction of her trunk in the other room.

Harry chuckled fondly. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Hermione had spaced out a bit during the conversation. "Do you
think this is the right thing to do? Finding somewhere to hole up I
mean? Would it be better to keep moving instead?" she wondered
aloud. "I suppose it's our personal habits more than anything which
will determine whether or not Dumbledore or anyone else can find
us," she speculated. Harry lay back while she sat in silence thinking.
She eventually shook herself out of it a few minutes later.

Seeing she had returned to the land of the awake and aware, Harry
returned to the topic at hand. "So which one do you want to hit up?"
She considered for a few minutes frowning, drumming her finger on
her leg. "I think…" she began hesitantly. "I think this plan needs a bit
more work," she offered apologetically.

Harry watched her for a moment before nodding agreeably. He had

after all always known the plan thus far was short term at best. "I can
agree with that. What were you thinking?" he asked.

She chewed her lip idly. "We can't just run off into the sunset hoping
we'll find someone to teach us what we need to know," she asserted.
"We need someone to teach us, or this is all pointless."

He rocked his head tiredly back and forth on his shoulders. "I agree I
guess, but who could we really ask?" he pointed out. "I mean, the
few people I trust besides you to not try and kill us would tell
Dumbledore where we were in a heartbeat. Anyone else…" he
trailed off.

She wagged her finger at him. "Just because someone has not sided
with Dumbledore doesn't mean they are inherently untrustworthy.
Take a look at me and you, or Madam Bones? We could ask her
couldn't we? Maybe she can find someone?" She suggested
hopefully, nodding her head as she warmed to the idea. "And then
there are plenty of people who work for places like Gringotts, whose
loyalty isn't to the Ministry or anyone except the bank," she noted.

She gave a start when Harry gave a wry chuckle. "Yes, and if there's
one thing you can say about Goblins, they would never willingly do
something to help Voldemort," he noted. He paused mulling that
over. "Yes… we could talk with them in the morning perhaps?" He
then smiled at her a touch ruefully. "I still think we should get out of
town for a while. Where do you want to go?"

Hermione chuckled, likely understanding why Harry had to wait

before voicing that question. "Well I think we really need to know
more, but I hear Canada is nice, and I've always wanted to visit
Hawaii," she said, smiling a touch cheekily.
"I wonder how hard it will be to get a plane ticket on short notice?"
Harry wondered aloud, it wasn't like he'd traveled a lot in the past. "A
shame we don't have the flying car or something… well… if the car
came with a washroom that is…"

Hermione smiled fondly in recollection. "Do you even have a

passport?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah-I know shocked me too," Harry noted laughing

a bit at Hermione's surprise. "The Dursleys took me in to get it. I
assumed it was probably because they just wanted to make sure
they had a bag boy wherever they went…." He shrugged. "Not that
they ever intended to leave Great Britain as far as I can tell. Can't be
with those other countries having them heathen foreigners after all,"
he said sarcastically. "You should have seen the looks they got when
discussing the French."

Hermione shook her head in mild disgust with his relatives. "Not fans
I take it?"

"I think they might be the only group they hated as much as
Wizards," he noted. "Imagine if I'd had to go to Beauxbatons instead
of Hogwarts?" He mused, it was rare he considered himself lucky
when it came to the Dursleys.

Hermione tried to inject some levity into the conversation, "Knowing

you, you and Fleur would have somehow ended up together and
have had a bundle of French Veela babies in no time."

"Hermione, the one time I dated-" he protested.

She waved that off. "I know Harry, I was joking," she said pointedly.

They sat in silence a while longer, until Harry heaved a sigh drawing
her attention again. "I'm sorry you know?" Her expression clearly
stated she couldn't tell what he was on about. "For dragging you into
this I mean. It would have been smarter to just…"
She growled in aggravation. "Honestly, Harry, I've told you before, I
want to be a part of this. Do you understand?" she demanded. "I've
chosen this."

He nodded almost in resignation. "I understand."

She shook her head and pushed to her feet before pacing to the
door. Clearly exhaustion was getting to her friend, they were starting
to go around in circles. "Harry, get some sleep. Things will look
better in the morning.

Emma returned to the bedroom, trying not to think about a school

Headmaster who liked to take a dip into his students thoughts
whenever the mood struck him. It wasn't that which caused her to
become visibly disquieted when her husband looked up at her from
his book. "What's wrong Emma? You look like you've seen a ghost,"
he noted, concerned.

"I was just helping Hermione bandage up Harry," she murmured

making her way to the bed and shaking her head.

Dan grimaced and gave her a knowing look. "That bad is it?"

She struggled to find words for what she had seen. "It's not just the
burn, it's the scarring. He's got them everywhere," she said
mournfully. Dan was plenty sharp enough to know what that implied
and sighed. "He told us about some of them you know? Mentioned
Dragons and Basilisks like they were nothing. The ones that seemed
to bother him the most came from his relatives."

"So they were abusing him them," Dan muttered, more a statement
than a question. Emma answered him regardless.

"Yes, quite extensively… I can't believe some of the things that boy
has been through."
Dan groaned and rubbed his face. "And I practically accused him of
going out and looking for trouble," he noted, chagrined, thinking of
the conversation back at the house. "Turns out he was saving
someone's life…"

Emma nodded, then jerked her head in denial. "I just can't fathom it,
it's like… How does a war go by entirely unnoticed by us?" she
asked, clearly perplexed by the notion. Wars were loud messy
things.

Dan misunderstood. "Well in fairness, it's not like Hermione's been

entirely-"

Emma cut him off. "Not what I meant. I mean-how are we not seeing
it in the news?"

Dan considered that and what he knew of magic. "Maybe it is in the

news, think of all the bizarre stuff that's been going on lately,
collapsing bridges, random fires, freak tornados…" he pointed out,
thinking of some of the stuff that had been happening in the news
lately.

"You think that's their war?" Emma asked worriedly.

Dan shrugged. "Maybe? How would we know?" he asked.

Emma's expression soured. "I don't like the sounds of the way these
people handle things. I mean, do they really think so poorly of us
muggles they won't tell our leaders when-"

It was Dan's turn to cut his spouse off. "Who's to say they don't?"

Emma had to concede that she didn't know for a fact that they didn't.
But she felt the need to beleaguer the point somewhat. "From what I
can tell most of them really don't think much of muggles…" she
noted. "Have I mentioned how much I hate that word. I swear it
sounds like a slur," she complained.
Dan was nodding. "I don't know why Hermione would put up with it.
Why would she want to stay in that sort of atmosphere of prejudice?"
he wondered aloud.

Emma smiled sadly. "I don't think she would, were it not for Harry.
Remember how sad those first few letters from her were in first
year? Before she became friends with him?" Dan nodded grimly.

"It's that bad with her is it?" he asked after mulling that over.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure bad is precisely the word for it, but yes, I
think so. Though she's half convinced herself to see him as a brother
instead," she shook her head.

Dan just continued to frown. "I had a… similar conversation with

him," he admitted.

"Oh?" Emma asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, he said whatever he felt was irrelevant as she didn't see him
that way," he agreed nodding idly.

She giggled a bit to herself at that. "I can't decide whether that's
funny or whether I should be cringing in horror at how thick
teenagers are sometimes," Dan was starting to get a bit melancholy
at it all. He hated even thinking about the concept of a love life for his
daughter. At least in the near future. "What are the chances that
they'll come home from all this married with children?" Emma asked.

Dan uttered a heartfelt curse. "I don't want to even think about
that…" He cringed visibly. "Uh-do you know if Hermione's… er, you
know?"

"Sexually active?" Emma asked bluntly, then shrugged. "I get the
impression she's never even been on a real date."

"So-no then?" Dan asked hopefully.

She grinned indulgently. "That's a no, dear. I think she's been holding
out in hopes of landing the right one," she explained.

Dan groaned again. "Great and the one she considers the right one
is the one she'll be basically rooming with for god knows how long."

Emma smiled at him and patted him on the cheek. "Dan, I love you,
you know I do, so I hate to tell you this but-if you have two available
and sexually mature adults rooming together for any serious length
of time it's somewhat inevitable they're going to be in bed together
eventually. Well barring exceptional circumstances of course."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," he said petulantly.

She elbowed him playfully. "It's not like we were much older than
they are…"

"You know, there's a saying, that girls are god's revenge on males for
being men. That forcing them to live in fear that their daughters will
run into a male like them is some sort of karmic justice."

"Then should I be asking you what you did to piss off the almighty?"

"Har-effing-har!" he griped.

Dumbledore had just been subject to the worst roller coaster of a day
he had endured in years. The usual humdrum of daily life at
Hogwarts during the off season had given way late the previous
evening to the sheer unmitigated panic of the reports detailing an
attack on the Bones residence in London. This had in turn rapidly
shifted to relief upon arriving there to find her and the other
defenders still among the living.

Sadly, in keeping with his luck lately, that relief had once again been
replaced with confusion and panic upon hearing of Harry's
participation in the battle. The implications stirred up by Amelia's
ultimatum to the Aurors in the Order's ranks had merely muddied the
waters further.

He had with all due haste rushed to Privet Drive, in the vain hope of
finding the boy safe and sound at his relative's house. Instead he
found the boy's room vacated, what few of his belongings remained
were placed in storage in a cupboard under the stairs and his
exceedingly self-satisfied relatives were gloating about finally being
rid of their nephew. The boy had left, apparently claiming he never
intended to return.

He had proceeded to search all the most likely destinations, and had
come up empty. He was not present at any of his friends domiciles,
nor was he obviously present at Diagon Alley or Grimmauld Place.
The boy, his ace in the hole against Voldemort, had seemingly
dropped off the face of the earth and out of his hand in the struggle
against Voldemort.

He had of course contacted Amelia Bones, both to see if she could

provide clues to Harry's location and to attempt to cajole her into
withdrawing her ultimatum but had been met with a stony silence
from the ranks of the Auror Corps messages office.

This was not all to say that there were not a myriad of ways he could
attempt to track the lad. However none of them were particularly
viable if Harry had no desire to be found. It wasn't like he could just
hitch a tracking spell to an owl and send it to him. Tracking magic did
exist but not of the sort you could hitch onto an object.

It was somewhat ironic to note that had Dumbledore attempted to

track Harry or Hermione's movements the muggle way, he would
have had much greater success than his own attempts had afforded
him.

Adding to this sense of utter vexation was the attitude of one

Severus Snape. Where usually the man would be more than happy
to cast doubt upon Harry's character, and imply various negative
things about his parentage, he had instead opted to stay silent.
Indeed when queried about it, he had merely indicated he was
uncertain to what it was that Dumbledore was referring. The only
question which he had answered in a satisfactory manner was that
which related to the Dark Lord's own endeavours to hunt down Harry
himself.

It was cold comfort that the Dark Lord had, at least as yet, entirely
failed to find any trace of the lad either. How long that could last
though with Harry running amok was another question entirely. He
was quite frankly ruining all of Dumbledore's plans!

Author's Note: Once again thank you to Bearmauls and Temporal

Knight who beta/psuedo co-authored these first few chapters!
Without them this story wouldn't be nearly as good as it is.

Recommendation(s): Going off the beaten path a little here and

recommending a couple of Mass Effect/Various crossovers. First up
is "The Mission Stays The Same." by Broken Trident, which is a very
good Mass Effect/Warhammer crossover something which you
wouldn't think would work, but does and is technically ongoing
though it changes author around chapter 21… And second up for
today is Psi Effect, which is a fantastic Mass Effect/X-com crossover.
Chapter 5
Author's Notes: More Edits! Huzzah. The suckitude is reduced!

The next morning, after the four of them had shared a quiet
breakfast together in the hotel's complimentary restaurant, Hermione
and Harry found themselves sitting beside each other, on his bed in
their shared room. They had, upon consideration the night before,
decided that they should begin their search for people who could
help them learn the skills they needed to survive. So Harry pulled out
the mirror Madam Bones had gifted to him and considered it, clearly
trying to remember just how it operated. "Call Amelia Bones please,"
he instructed uncertainly.

The mirror hummed a few times. Hermione began to suspect it

hadn't worked when there was a scrabbling sound and the mirror's
glass became a whirl of motion before settling on Madam Bones'
face. Her eyebrows inclined in surprise. "Ah, Harry," she greeted, "I
admit I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

Harry grinned ruefully shaking his head. "I hadn't planned to, but-
Hermione and I were considering our next move and a thought
occurred to us…" Then he chuckled. "Actually it more occurred to
her, I just went along with it."

Amelia nodded smiling, and offered a small wave to Hermione.

"Hello Miss Granger. My Susan speaks very highly of you."

Hermione smiled a little at that. "Thank you ma'am, please give her
my regards?"

Madam Bones inclined her head in agreement.

"So, what is it that has brought you two to me today Harry?" the
director asked pleasantly.
Harry smirked. "We realized that simply running off and hoping we
could learn what we need was foolish," he explained and she
nodded, "And while isolation is still in the cards, we need someone
to teach us."

Madam bones nodded thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "Okay, I'm

following you so far."

Harry nodded. "The problem is that we don't know who is safe to

approach or hire. Most of the people I'd normally think of are
members of the Order, or Hogwarts, all of whom are likely to run to
Dumbledore the moment I contact them. I had thought Gringotts
might be able to set up secure tutoring contracts, but I'm unsure how
to get in touch with them safely. As you can imagine, I'm not keen on
walking down Diagon Alley at the moment. Then Hermione realized
that you might be able to recommend someone you considered
trustworthy, or at least know who I can contact."

The Director was following thus far. "So, basically, you want to know
if I can recommend anybody?"

Hermione leaned forward. "Yes, ma'am."

The woman smiled ruefully. "I think, given the circumstances, you
can call me Amelia, Harry."

The director leaned back in her chair. "Hmmm. Well I'd have to
consider that." She shot them an apologetic look. "Things aren't… as
I had hoped they were in my department, as you know." She got a
chuckle from Harry in response. "I need to do some checking
around… at the very least, I can easily deliver a message to
Gringotts on your behalf. Then they can get in touch with you via
owl."

Harry gave a worried frown. "What about the risk of the owl being
intercepted? I'm not exactly keen on having my mail read, and I
certainly wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to do something like that…"
The Director smiled thinly "You're right to be cautious, Harry,
especially given the circumstances, but Gringotts owls make use of a
fairly sophisticated Goblin warding system and are extremely difficult
to intercept. They send out account statements regularly to their
clients via owl, and I've never heard of one being waylaid," replied
Amelia.

"Um… Madam-Amelia, I've never received account statements from

Gringotts. Or any mail from them… like, ever." said Harry uncertainly.

Madam Bones' eyebrows climbed and she sat up straighter. "Harry,

you're telling me, you've never received mail from Gringotts?"

Harry shrugged, scratching his head a touch nervously "No… in fact,

come to think of it, I've never received any fan mail either. Not that
I'm complaining, far from it, but it seems unlikely that nobody has
ever sent any to me."

Hermione snorted in amusement "You're right, Harry. I don't know

how I never thought of that before. Even after all the hate-mail I
received during the Triwizard, you didn't get anything. There must be
something blocking your mail!"

Amelia sighed. "There are spells that can be used to redirect post
owls. They're normally used by pureblood parents to screen mail
sent to their heirs. It's fairly easy to send something dangerous via
owl post, such as compulsion-laced contracts or cursed objects.
Dumbledore probably used a mail redirection ward on you, Harry. To
keep you hidden."

"It always comes back to him, doesn't it" sighed Harry. "Admittedly,
that was likely a good idea while I was living in the muggle world. I
can't imagine what my uncle would have done if owls were bringing
me fan mail while I was growing up! But shouldn't he have it
removed when I started attending Hogwarts? Failing that, it would
have been nice if he at least passed the mail on to me!
Isn't it illegal to take someone's mail? I know it is in the muggle
world. Is there any way around it?"

"Not easily, Harry, and certainly not without Dumbledore's

assistance. As your magical guardian, it's still perfectly legal for him
to have the mail ward up. If he wasn't your magical guardian, the
post owls would probably be able to ignore it, they are magically
enchanted. Gringotts owls would certainly get through it. But as your
guardian, he does have the right, and arguably the responsibility, to
protect you from malicious mail, and Gringotts' mail is no exception
to that law. It's suspicious that you've never received your mail,
certainly, but nothing he could get in trouble for. At least, not with his
reputation" replied Amelia. "The ward will fade over time without him
around to re-apply it, probably within a few months. You could also
try overpowering it, but without knowing exactly which spell he used,
that would be difficult and probably beyond your current abilities.
While we disagree on a lot of issues, especially with his treatment of
you, he is still a very powerful wizard. Any ward he cast is likely to be
quite formidable."

"I think I might have a much simpler solution, Madam Bones' said
Hermione. "When you contact Gringotts for us, could you please
inform them of the mail-block on Harry and request that they send
their reply to me instead? I've never had any problems receiving
wizarding mail, whether I want the contents or not."

Amelia looked at Hermione in shock, then grinned. "Brilliant solution,

Miss Granger. I'll do just that. They won't be willing to send anything
confidential to you on Harry's behalf, of course. At least not without
confirmation from him in person, but I can foresee no issues with
them sending a means to get in touch, or a list of the possible
training services they can offer you. Depending on where you end
up, you may even be able to access another Gringotts branch; they
aren't common, but there are a few scattered around the world
besides the one in Diagon Alley."

She paused then cocked her head at them. "May I ask where you
are planning to go?"
She and Harry glanced at each other and she shrugged deferring to
him in this case. He nodded deciding he could trust her. "My family
owns a couple of properties around the world."

Madam Bones smiled at that. "Oh, very well-played…" she agreed.

"That will work nicely, I think. It is possible, although admittedly
difficult, to track post owls and locate the mail recipient. Fortunately,
the owl's own magic tends to resist tracking spells and throws them
off quite quickly. If you're out of the country, you should be safe from
that method to find you. I strongly recommend, however, that you
both learn the detection spells for sorting your mail. Dumbledore
could easily send a portkey-charmed letter, or compulsion-charmed
object as a method to retrieve you."

"I may know some people who could help you train, but the true
difficulty is finding someone who could commit to traveling to you
and staying long-term. Unregistered international portkeys are
tracked by the entry and exit countries, and a registered portkey
would leave a paper trail that someone with Ministry access could
use to track you down if they noted the repeated travel." She shook
her head ruefully. "I'll need to do some checking up on who might be
available. I assume, seeing as it's sunny wherever you are right now,
you have yet to depart for your destination?"

Harry nodded. "That's correct."

Madam Bones nodded. "Then I shall wish you a good journey. I

would offer to assist in getting you there quickly, but, as you may
have guessed, things are not secure at the Ministry right now. If I
have any further insights for you, I'll get in touch. Feel free to contact
me as well if anything comes up. I know the Ministry hasn't always
been kind to you, Harry, but I'd like to see about changing that going
forward."

Harry smiled wanly in agreement. "I'll look forward to that, I think…

Thank you for all your help, Ma'am"
"You're welcome. I promise, I will look into things for you. Good luck,"
the Director said, bidding them farewell.

The Department of Mysteries. A catacomb of secrets and lies, a hive

of activities tackling the hard questions. Or at least that's what it had
been like traditionally. Now it was busy, but in a way that it was
unaccustomed to. The usual eerily silent halls now rang with the
cacophony of workers, as they worked to reconstruct the department
following the recent battle.

The Time Chamber was by far the worst, the entire place labeled a
no-go zone. It was one big temporal anomaly following the
destruction of so many time turners. The experts said it would likely
be a century and a half before the enchantments fuelling the problem
dissipated entirely. Last time someone had stepped inside they
exited the room two days before they first arrived.

The Thought Chamber was better off, they had already completed
the reconstruction and the only remaining hurdle they faced was
tracking and wrangling the wayward, self-ambulating brains. One
particularly recalcitrant specimen had set up a nest in one of the
sublevels and had hospitalized both employees who had tried to
retrieve it.

The Space room was still being swept up for bits of shattered
planets…

The Death Chamber was, as ever, disturbingly immutable in its

consistency. It remained, seemingly unaffected by the heated battle
which had raged there, save for the occasional pockmark and crater
in the walls and floor. The chill in the room unabated despite the
activity which had occurred within it.

Amelia Bones was forced to search through just about all of these
rooms before she finally found her quarry in what was left of the Hall
of Prophecy. It was an irony which was not lost on her, considering
what she was here to discuss.
Saul Isaiah Croaker, senior Unspeakable, was currently assigned as
Head of the Department of Mysteries. A strange but thoughtful man
who appeared to be approaching middle age, although one could
never really tell with magicals, and even less so with with people
who worked in this department for any length of time. He was busily
tabulating, labelling and organizing a series of small glass globes
filled with pearlescent vapour on one of the rooms newly
reconstituted shelves. A frankly surprising sight, considering the
destruction which had been wrought on this room; Amelia had been
under the impression all the prophecy globes had been destroyed.

"There's already new ones coming in? I was under the impression
prophecies were fairly rare," Amelia noted, choosing not to waste
time on niceties.

Saul glanced up at her voice and smiled before glancing back at his
work. "Eh, sort of. These are, in fact, old prophecies, in that we've
already heard them, but with so many destroyed… Regardless, it
seems some of the seers currently active have been
receiving…'relapses'. It appears whatever force it is that decides to
send visions is reissuing some of them. New ones are…" He trailed
off as there was a dull pop and another globe faded into existence
on the shelf. He smiled brightly at her. "So, what can I help you with
today, Amelia?"

She nodded, not so much as blinking at the sudden change of

direction. "I had some questions. The first concerns the Potter
Prophecy, do you know it?"

Saul grimaced and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. It may show
up again, like these others, but, then again, it may not. Either way,
you'd need the subject of the prophecy to be present in order to hear
it."

Amelia sighed. She'd hoped to clarify things, but for now she was
satisfied. "I have another question, but it's somewhat sensitive in
nature."
Saul nodded slowly. "Alright, this is actually as good a place as any
to talk, it's currently restricted to just myself in here, the workers and
others won't disturb us," he assured her. It was rare for the Director
of the DMLE to show herself in his department. That she came in
search of answers was unusual, to say the least, and intriguing.

Anelia considered him in silence for a time. "What do you know

about mind-links or… being able to sense another person's presence
remotely?" Amelia considered a moment more before continuing, still
a bit cautiously, "I've run into someone who's able to detect another
very specific individual from a distance and read him, or at least
sense the direction of his thoughts and emotions."

Croaker blinked in surprise. "Ah, well I suppose there are a number

of possibilities in that regard…" he pondered that as he scribbled
down the details from the little plaque on the latest arrival.
"Telepathy, as defined by the muggles, is the unrestricted
communication from mind to mind. A myth, to the best of our
knowledge. Legilimency can, of course, achieve a rough semblance
of it, though it's not a two way communication precisely… Hmmm."
He scratched the stubble on his chin. "But, sensing someone from a
distance without eye contact… most peculiar. I would need to do
some research to find out more. The only other similar phenomena,
though it is much less precise, is a soul bond. But that's incredibly
rare," he noted.

Amelia shook her head promptly at that. "It's not a soul bond, the two
subjects involved are quite hostile towards each other."

"Huh, I wonder if a person could theoretically generate a sort of

reverse soul bond? One designed to sense someone you feel an
antipathy towards? Like a warning system," he hypothesized. His
eyes flicked to her sharply. "Could you tell me any more about the
subjects? It may be important…" He noted.

Madam Bones hesitated. It was, after all, not a small matter. "Only if
you are willing to swear that no other person beside yourself hears of
it, Saul."
He blinked in surprise. Magical oaths were not something demanded
lightly. "A magical oath?" he asked to be clear.

"It would set my mind at ease," Amelia agreed.

Saul nodded, considering for a few moments before seeming to

accept this, and drew his wand holding it vertically before him. "Very
well. I, Saul Isaiah Croaker, do solemnly swear upon my magic that
what Amelia Bones and I discuss in this conversation shall not be
revealed by me to any others, until such time that she releases me
from this oath. So mote it be." He swore and a small light wrapped
around his wrist from the wand.

Amelia nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you, Saul. The subject in

question is Harry Potter, and he reports that he can sense V-
Voldemort from a distance."

Croaker blinked surprise. "Truly? Fascinating… How did he describe

it?"

Amelia thought back, trying to remember anything specific Harry

may have said. Her thoughts had been understandably distracted at
the time. "He suggested it seemed to in some way be linked to his
scar. The one Voldemort gave him in 1981."

Croaker considered that, tapping his foot as he thought.

"Interesting… a magical bond built into a cursed artifact? Perhaps…
no- I need to read up on various kinds of mind to mind
communications. Mental links and such. That is hardly my area of
expertise."

Amelia nodded readily. "I understand, but if you find anything, I

would be grateful."

"Is there any chance that I could examine the subject? Potter, I
mean, not the other fellow. I hear he has a rather nasty temperament
that one," Saul noted dryly.
"Not in the near future," Amelia replied with a shrug. "But perhaps at
some point, assuming I get his permission," she stipulated.

Saul nodded soberly. "Of course. I promise I will do what I can in the
meantime."

Amelia blew out a relieved breath. "Thanks Saul, I owe you one."

He waved that off. "Think nothing of it. Now, then was there anything
else I can help you with?" he asked.

"Not right now. I've been up since yesterday morning, just so busy
with everything that happened last night," Amelia replied, running a
hand through her disheveled hair.

Saul nodded solemnly. "Ah yes, I had heard about that. Terrible
business-still! Lucky you survived eh?" he grinned.

Amelia grimaced. "Yes, at least me and Susan made it through.

Others weren't so fortunate. Auror Daniels passed this morning as a
result of his wounds. Emmeline Vance is still in a coma. The tail I
had on Susan has vanished entirely…" she noted bitterly.

"We must take our victories where we can get them," Saul agreed
sagely.

Amelia turned to leave. "True enough. I'll see you around Saul. I hate
to bail on you, but I have an appointment with Gringotts I really must
keep." Her departure was punctuated by another dull pop as a
prophecy showed up.

As the shuttle-bus from their hotel to Heathrow went over a

particularly rough bump, Hermione felt the thick parchment tucked
inside her jacket crinkle slightly. They had been fairly lucky, all things
considered, that the majestic owl Gringotts' had sent their way had
found them before leaving the hotel. She couldn't stop herself from
imagining airport security's reaction to a bird swooping down on
them past the screening point. The poor owl would probably have a
few more holes in it than healthy, and the letter would be well and
truly ruined!

The letter had arrived shortly before they boarded the shuttle.
Although it was killing her, Hermione had agreed with Harry to hold
off on reading the contents until their luggage was loaded and the
bus was safely on its way to the airport.

Harry, seated beside his best friend, watched her internal struggle
over the unread letter with barely suppressed amusement. He knew
how she was with books, it shouldn't surprise him how much it
bothered her not to read the letter immediately. Seeming to sense
his amusement, Hermione glanced over and caught the glimmer of
laughter in his eyes, before huffing in annoyance.

"Really, Harry? Is my impatience that amusing to you?" she

grumbled.

"Well…" Harry replied with a grin, only to let out a pained grunt as
Hermione's elbow caught him in the side. "Oh alright, Hermione. I
think we can read it now."

Hermione grinned and pulled the letter out, wasting no time as she
tore open the envelope and shook out the folded parchment. She
considered turning away from Harry in punishment for making her
wait, but eventually decided that it really had been safer to wait until
they were underway. She leaned slightly against his shoulder and
held open the letter so they could both read.

Miss Hermione Granger,

It has come to the attention of Gringotts bank that you might be

capable of providing this institution with unfettered access to one of
our chief clients. As you might imagine, the bank is quite concerned
that our standard operations are being interfered with, and we find
ourselves desiring to rectify this complication.
The issues are thus. This bank needs a reliable method by which it
might communicate with Harry James Potter. In addition, it is
required by contract to inform both Harry James Potter and yourself
that your presences are requested at the Will reading of one Sirius
Orion Black, of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black,
Thursday, July 5th.

It is known to us that, due to extenuating circumstances, direct

attendance may be impractical. As such, this bank is pleased to
inform you that remote attendance of the will reading is possible from
any Gringotts bank branch worldwide.

Both matters as described can easily be rectified should yourself and

Mr Potter approach the branch Manager at any of our fine locations.

The locations of Gringotts bank branches are as follows:

-Diagon Alley, London England (Primary Office Atlantic Division)

-Imhotep's Grotto, Cairo Egypt (Branch)

-Enchante Street, Rio Brazil (Branch)

-Magical International Market, Oahu Hawaii (Primary Office, Pacific

Division)

-Majak Market, Kalale India (Branch)

-Walcott Rd, Salem, USA (Branch)

We thank you for your attention and hope that you might aid us in
rectifying this matter.

-Senior Accounts Manager Ripsack.

Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London England

Hermione allowed the letter to fall back into her lap and looked over
at her friend. Harry had simply chuckled and rubbed his face
distractedly. "Well, we intend to be overseas anyways, so it's good
they gave us a solution. I wish I had known about the will reading…"
His tone indicated he knew precisely whom he could blame for his
ignorance in that matter. "Well, we were already planning on
checking out the Hawaii property, pretty convenient for us that
there's a Gringotts branch there too. Can't say I'm looking forward to
a flight that long, though. I'd love to get some sort of magic car or
something instead, fly there private and in style! I think only the
ministry have those, though, and I imagine they'd be expensive…
well except for the old Weasley car. Not that I fancy traveling around
in that, though, not after it's been living in the forest for a couple
years." He chuckled.

Hermione laughed too at the memory of Harry and Ron's

misadventure with the Weasley's enchanted vehicle. "Me neither. I
wonder where Mr. Weasley got that thing."

Harry smiled brightly, surprising her. "I asked him about that one.
Apparently he confiscated it from someone. Turns out they stole it
from its rightful owner, but the department couldn't return it because
they had passed away. Mr. Weasley then tinkered with it a bit, trying
to add to the modifications already on it." He smiled wistfully, thinking
of the conversation he had with the friendly redhead over Christmas
regarding it. "That car, and the old motorcycle Sirius had, they were
given to their owners by my parents. Apparently they had a knack for
modifying things. Not something the Ministry really approves of,
given the misuse of muggle artifacts law, but I guess when you're
from a Noble and Ancient House, you can get exemptions."

"Really? How come you never mentioned that before?" she asked in
surprise.

"Forgot really. Arthur told me a lot about that. Apparently they had
recently found another enchanted vehicle floating around, the
Ministry had confiscated it off someone I think. Illegal modifications
or some such," he offered and she smiled. "They thought it was one
of my parents creations, but the car's too new for that. Maybe
someone got a hold of some of their notes and took up the torch…"
"Maybe one of their friends?" Hermione suggested.

Harry shrugged, "Could be, now that I think about it. That car came
from somewhere in Canada. Maybe near their property out there? I
imagine they made friends while there…"

She nodded, a thought occurring to her. "Where did you say that the
property in Canada was?"

"Uh-I don't know that I did, I think it's in Churchill or something,

Manitoba if I remember right. Come to think of it, that is where the
car came from too." He seemed to brighten at the idea.

"Do you want to go visit there then? At the very least you might track
down someone who knew your parents, make some friends
overseas? We have plenty of time to check it out before we need to
be in Hawaii for Sirius' Will reading. I think he'd approve of you trying
to track down memories of your parents. We know he loved that
motorcycle." Hermione suggested. She knew how much Harry still
grieved for Sirius, and learning of the will reading would probably
make it worse. Finding some lost links to his parents, especially
since it was something they had shared with Sirius, would likely do
Harry a world of good.

Harry considered that. His expression had fallen at the reminder of

Sirius, but brightened again when she mentioned his motorcycle.
"Yeah, why don't we, I mean… we were already intending to visit
their other properties right, that is, if you're alright with it? I'd like the
chance to meet some of my parents old friends…"

She squeezed his hand before getting up. "I'm alright with it Harry.
First thing once we reach the airport, let's go find some tickets to
Churchill."

It was becoming increasingly difficult for a wizard to move about the

muggle world unnoticed. Robes of any sort had long since fallen out
of fashion. A shame really, Dumbledore mused as he finished re-
sealing the door to the Granger house behind him. Now, if someone
wished to move about in such places, one needed to dress in the
bizarre clothing Muggles favoured, unless, like Dumbledore, you
refused to do so and had to resort to disillusionment charms and
such. Even then, one had to be cautious, many animals seemed
immune to their effects and reacted strangely. Like cats! Cats were
the worst for this phenomena and had such a propensity for staring.
It was most disconcerting, and made Dumbledore grateful that
Crookshanks had apparently left alongside his owner.

He had come to see if the Grangers had heard anything from Harry,
though he supposed it may have been too much to hope that they
might have seen him after his meeting with Amelia early this
morning. Sadly, it appeared that they were once again on their
annual summer holiday. It was unfortunate that Miss Granger had
failed to inform him, but it was of no real consequence. He hoped
that the others were faring better in their search.

"And you are certain none of your children have heard anything from
Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked Molly Weasley as she shared an
afternoon tea with the woman.

"Oh yes, I asked them last night," Molly confirmed, bobbing her
head.

"We finally managed to confirm Harry was at the Bones' residence

the night of the attack. Amelia has been rather put out with us of late,
I'm afraid," McGonagall informed the Weasley matriarch sourly, her
tone clipped. "It seems she takes exception to us 'highjacking' her
Aurors."

"Can't she see that we need to work together?" Molly's tone reeked
of disapproval. This was her default state whenever she encountered
something contrary to Dumbledore's wishes. Rightly or wrongly, the
woman was very loyal to the man and his ideals.
"Oh, she quite agrees that we should work together…" Minerva
noted curtly. "She just believes it needs to be under the Ministry's
banner and not that of the Order. She seems to have shown a
willingness to work with Mr. Potter, she as much as admitted she had
covered for him. Though she refused to discuss why the two of them
had met in the first place."

"Well, I'm sure we'll keep an ear out for Harry. I don't know what that
boy is thinking, but I should turn him over my knee for worrying us
like this," Molly griped picking up the dishes and bustling to the sink.

"Thank you for the tea, Molly," McGonagall said, a touch

exasperated with the woman, as she got to her feet. "I'm afraid I
must be off, though. I have other acquaintances of Mr Potter to see
today."

"Oh, well I hope you have better luck…" Molly said farewell to her
friend. Neither of the witches had noticed the tell tale thin pink string
of an extendable ear that hung in the Burrows stairwell as it was
hurriedly reeled in up out of sight. Nor did they hear the muttered
whispers high in the shadows above.

Author's Notes: As ever thank you to Temporal Knight, Bonsly24

and Bearmauls. Without them this story would suck badly.

Recommendations: Harry/Tonks story, "Harry Potter and the

Summer of Change", considered by some to be a classic as far as
HP fan fics are concerned. Also, "To Infinity" a very good Mass
Effect/Halo crossover.
Chapter 6
Author's Notes: Blargh! Edits for the edit god! Words for the word
throne!

Tonks exploded through the door, boots pounding the tile beneath
her in time with her rapidly thumping heart, as they rushed to reach
Harry before the Death Eaters did. Judging by the screaming, they
had failed. The door opened into a large open room. It was circular,
with raise balconies lining the edge around a bowl like depression
with a great arch of rough stone in the centre, which was covered by
a black shroud. Below on the lower level near the edge of the bowl,
people had gathered. If she were feeling generous enough to refer to
Death Eaters as people .

They didn't wait for them to catching their bearings, only pausing to
ensure they weren't hitting the students in the process. Stupefy! A
large bolt of red light shrieked out of her wand tip and lanced down
toward a sneering blonde bastard who could only be a Malfoy. He
was quick though, she had to give him that, as he dove out of the
way. The stunner smashed into the ground where he'd been a
moment before.

She didn't pause though, following that up with a series of powerful

hexes and binders. Damn Dumbledore and his code of honour
anyhow. Soon there were spells being returned to them, some of a
more subtle nature impacting the balcony around them with a clatter,
others, like that last roiling purple one, blowing a solid meter of
granite and marble apart where it hit. She cursed, she hated fighting
like this. Fooling around with stunners, binders and minor hexes
while the enemy fired crap like that at them.

She moved towards the stairs as the others dropped into the
chamber below, it was all well and good for them to try mad stuff like
that but with her coordination she was as likely to break something
as not. Better to be patient, mind her surroundings. Constant
vigilance as Mad Eye would say. She halted as a figure stepped to
the bottom of the stairway.

The woman looked like her mother, if her mother had spent the last
couple decades sucking down poison instead of water. Wild black
hair around even wilder eyes. Bellatrix, her aunt. Possibly the
woman had been beautiful once, but not anymore. Now, she was
gaunt and wasted, with mad, wide, staring eyes. No hesitance on
Tonks' own part, she couldn't afford it, not even for blood, especially
not if Bellatrix were as ruthlessly insane as her mother had
suggested.

The woman deftly sidestepped the stunner Tonks had aimed her
way, a broad smile splitting her face. "Ah Ickle Nymphiedora! I
always wished we had gotten the chance to play back in the day,"
she cackled, unleashing a string of hexes which tore up the stairway
and followed with a spell which hurled the debris at her niece. "But I
guess my damn blood traitor of a sister thought I'd be a bad
influence on you!"

Tonks blocked the whirling debris with a shield and cast a string of
hexes and jinxes at her aunt who was ever so slowly working her
way up the stairs. Bellatrix merely flicked her wrist, almost
negligently really and the attack was batted aside. She heard
bellowing and explosions of sound as the battle continued around
them, but she couldn't afford to let it distract her. Not now. She
understood just what it was she faced.

Her aunt had basically acted as Voldemort's number two for the last
half of the previous war, and she was - despite her mad ramblings -
a deft tactician and a legendary duelist. She'd read her file back to
front, she knew what atrocities her aunt was capable of. She'd need
every bit of her skill to beat her.

She shuffled back, as Bellatrix hit her shield with a nasty curse which
was doubtless intended to disembowel her. The resultant movement
allowed Bellatrix to gain another series of steps quickly. They traded
fire like this, thunderclaps accompanying the battering of spells
against shields, and the ground shaking beneath their feet whenever
spells went wide and obliterated a portion of the balcony.

She had had enough, she couldn't continue like this, and lashed out
with something serious, a cutting curse followed by a blasting hex
which showered her aunt with debris. "Better, little Nymphiedora! I
thought you hadn't a spine, now I see you do! Dumbledore will be so
disappointed when he finds I've strangled you with it."

They traded blows, moving quickly, sometimes hurling hexes,

sometimes debris and transfigured objects at each other, but then
her luck ran out, the fighting had destabilized the balcony and it
shifted, Tonks had to quick step to maintain her feet and her heel
caught on a piece of wreckage. She tumbled to the ground and
rolled, but it was still more than enough for her Aunt to gain the
upper hand. She stood and tried to bring up her wand to shield but…

"Crucio!" Bellatrix crowed in triumph, and Tonks' world dissolved into

pain, worse than anything she'd ever felt previously. Aurors were
taught what the spell felt like as a matter of course, but that was a
training situation under strict supervision, this was something else
entirely. She did her best, trying to stay upright, but she felt as if she
were encased in flame, her nerves were alight with electricity and
her bones groaned. She tried, she really did, but she hit her knees
as her body succumbed to the pain. Then the spell itself stopped,
though the pain didn't and she saw her aunt stalk forward. "Not bad
little one, you held up better than most, but I'm an old hand at this,
and now you won't be getting old at all," she said in a low voice, her
tone for once devoid of its mocking edge, and its infantile tones. Now
it was cold and ever so deadly serious.

Bellatrix stepped back then lashed out with a foot, catching Tonks full
in the chest. She reeled back… into open space. She'd wandered
too close to the edge of the balcony and now it was going to cost
her. She fell and fell, and hit the floor below with a crash that she
would have described as bone shattering, had it not been for the fact
her nervous system was already half fried. Her vision winked out as
her brain was suddenly inundated with reports of catastrophic
damage.

She drifted, for a time, in a peaceful, blissfully painless silence,

before she heard a voice from far away. "Dumbledore! Dumbledore
is here…" She knew that should please her, though she couldn't
quite remember why. Her vision tunnelled again as she shifted
slightly, then words that she knew would haunt her for years to
come. "Sirius! Sirius!" The anguish in that tone managed to
penetrate even her fugue enough to communicate one final
message. He was gone, Sirius was dead…

Tonks bolted upright, eyes flying wide, a rattling gasp torn from her
lungs by the last frantic shreds of her dream. The last shreds of her
memory… She flinched, her hands coming up as her eyes screwed
tight shut against the images still cascading through her mind. She
drew another ragged breath, and then another. Again, it had
happened to her again! It wasn't bad enough she had to have lived it
the first time, now she had to relive it every night?

She cautiously opened her eyes as her hand dropped to grasp the
quilt. She gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes again, this time from
exhaustion more than anything, and let herself slump back, her
breath whooshing from her lungs as she flopped onto the mattress
before once again opening her eyes.

Tonks allowed her head to loll bonelessly on her shoulders to look at

the little alarm clock sitting beside her on the night table. It read as
almost noon, she'd forgotten to set the alarm. She'd slept solid, if
what she was doing could be called such, since around five a.m. Yet
another poor night's sleep. She'd had many of those since that night
at the Ministry.

The young woman groaned, shielding her eyes against the small
lances of light dappling her pillow from the gaps in the blinds. She
wished she could sleep, really sleep, if only to experience a few
hours of true oblivion, freedom from her life. It had been a miserable
couple weeks. Had it really only been that long? Sometimes it
seemed it had been an eternity since the Department of Mysteries.
Groaning, she rolled off the side of the bed and onto her feet. If not
for the sunlight coming through the blinds, she'd swear no time had
passed since she'd crashed at around five a.m. She fervently wished
she could collapse back into bed, just forget the last twenty four
hours, another miserable addition to an already miserable couple of
weeks.

First, getting the call to rally at DMLE HQ, and then being deployed
to her boss' house because the panic flare had been cracked. The
shock and confusion this had caused had been understandably
extreme. The Director's home naturally seemed unassailable to the
rank and file. She remembered the fear when she first saw the
damage to the top floor of the apartment building, and the panicked
muggles dashing about. That fear turned to relief when they made it
upstairs and found the fight over and Amelia alive and relatively well.

She'd been sent back to the Ministry to root out the right bloody
bastard who had sold out and shut down the Director's floo when
she needed it most. She'd organized a squad as ordered, and locked
down the floo office, she had even begun sifting through their
records and interrogating the confused staff when she heard Bones
had returned to the Ministry.

She had left the investigation in the able hands of a second and had
reported their progress to the director. At which point her evening
had taken another turn. The Director had firmly and definitively filed
Tonks' day under the crap column. It had been hard enough facing
the fact that she'd gravely disappointed a woman she had looked up
to for years. Amelia had been one of the few to believe in Tonks from
the very beginning when she had been recruited for the Academy.
She'd let her down, if not necessarily in joining the Order in the first
place, then in continuing to serve them once the Ministry had joined
the fray. It had been hard… telling her friends she couldn't help them
anymore. It had hurt seeing their shocked and disappointed faces.
She couldn't decide how she felt about the whole sordid affair.
On the one hand she had made a mistake and she knew it now. She
should be glad Bones had called her on it. Being an Auror meant
everything to her, it had been her greatest achievement, she'd
proved that the goofball nobody thought would come to anything
could get accepted into the ranks of some of the most elite wizards
in Britain. And she jeopardized it all by joining the Order. On the
other she was stung by the way that Harry had effectively given
away her secret, it felt like a betrayal. Though she would wait to hear
his side of the story before rendering judgement. She didn't know
what had been going through his mind at the time.

And she wouldn't get to see him anymore either. Though again she
wasn't certain how she felt about that. It had been beyond
humiliating to be shot down so… thoroughly when she had gone out
on a limb and declared her affection for him. That it had happened
where others had overheard had been much much worse. At least
he hadn't spoken to her last night. That would have put a perfect
crowning moment on her very rough evening.

Just one more bad day, in a long series of bad days. It seemed like
nothing but bad days had followed the death of Sirius. She missed
him, she'd thought her favourite cousin had been lost all those years
ago, then had found out he was innocent. He'd always been so good
about brightening her mood and looking out for her. He'd even
warned her not to risk her heart with Moony as he called his friend.
He'd been right, and now he was gone. Killed by her evil bitch of an
aunt Bellatrix Lestrange.

She couldn't dwell on that, it would just make her even more
miserable and she had to get to work. At least she'd been smart and
dumped all the fire whiskey down the drain the night after Sirius had
died. She'd have been in real trouble had she not…

She rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom and stared at
her bedraggled self in the mirror not really comprehending that that
was Tonks, that was her. It was funny when she thought about it, that
she never thought of herself as Nymphadora, not even in her own
head anymore. She was… Tonks. And that woman in the mirror
didn't match her image of Tonks.

She tried vainly to change her hair colour at least, that had always
been the easiest but it stayed that stubborn rough and tumble mousy
brown she been stuck with for weeks. She shook her head and
stripped for her shower. Perhaps she'd feel better after washing off
the sweat and grime from the last day? Half an hour, and a
breakfast, later and she wasn't much better off, but at least she didn't
smell. She sat chewing her cereal and glaring darkly at her small
apartment. It really was a dump, she realized taking in the tired
atmosphere of the house around her. She'd need to see about doing
something about that. Maybe once she found the energy to actually
do something besides eat, sleep and work everyday?

Luna was distraught, she'd barely held it together through the

questioning she had endured at the hands of the Order. But now, as
she sat under her favourite tree along the property line furthest from
her house, she finally allowed the tears flow freely. They ran in
rivulets down her cheeks as she allowed herself to sob.

Harry had left, and if what the Order suggested was correct, it
sounded like he had no intention of returning. Life could be
especially cruel she decided. It had finally given her a taste, a
glimpse, of what a life with true friendship was like, and then had
proceeded to take it away again.

She had other acquaintances now, which she could describe as

friendly, which in and of itself was an improvement. But it wouldn't be
the same, not without Harry. Harry who had been kind to her, had
included her and trusted her with secrets. Harry who, even when he
clearly thought she was being odd, never rendered judgement
against her or returned cruel nicknames and jokes at her expense. It
was in fact in being close to him, that she'd managed to draw closer
to the others. Without him, she had no doubt such relationships
would fade away again.
Life, or perhaps fate, had been unkind enough to take much from her
in her life. The accident which had claimed her mother's life had also
stripped away much of her father's sanity. Her childhood friends had,
one by one, turned their backs on her. It had been one of them who
had first labeled her Loony Lovegood. And some days, which
seemed to have been coming with increasing frequency in her long
isolation, she had grown to be uncertain of her own sanity.

It had been wonderful, escaping from her problems for a time, to

have friends. The world was different with Harry around; maybe it
was because he was a leader? When he spoke, others listened,
when he required it of them, they got along. But he also seemed to
make the impossible possible, things like her having friends. Causing
a situation she only dared dream about to come true. The DA had
been everything she dreamed Hogwarts could be, but it wouldn't be,
not without him. All that would be over now, and so she grieved.

She wiped at her eyes, hurriedly concealing the obvious evidence

she had been upset as she heard the crunch of footsteps on the
gravel path behind her. She dared to hope, that for once, it would be
her father coming to comfort her. But as she turned this hope too
was proven to be in vain.

It was Ginny Weasley, one of her more positive acquaintances, and

a neighbour. Judging from the redheaded girl's expression she had
heard the same news Luna had. She also clearly recognized the
same signs herself. "I take it you've heard about Harry?" Ginny said,
a touch tightly.

She nodded weakly and sniffed trying to clear her nose. "Yes. Did
the Order come around your place too?"

Ginny smirked bitterly. "Yeah, or rather they came and chatted at

mum and we children listened in." Her irritation was easy to hear as
she thumped down in the grass beside her.

"Your mother does not keep you informed about the Order?" Luna
asked, surprised.
Ginny made a distinctly unladylike noise. "No, if we didn't listen in we
wouldn't know anything at all."

They sat in silence, considering that for a time. Luna too would
prefer to be informed and worry than be blissfully ignorant. "Do you
know why Harry has left?"

Ginny grimaced. "No, he doesn't really speak with me a lot. Not

about anything important anyways."

Luna was disappointed. She wanted answers. "Does anyone know

why he left?"

There was a hesitant pause while Ginny considered her response.

"Maybe…" she admitted. "I overheard that Amelia Bones, you know
the Director of the DMLE? I heard she'd seen him since he left his
relatives."

Madam Bones, as Luna knew her, was a serious but kind woman,
who valued law and order above just about everything else. She'd
met the woman once or twice briefly when she'd been forced to enter
the ministry to post bail whenever her father got himself in trouble on
one of his crusades.

Ginny was nodding now. "Yeah, apparently Harry was with her at
some point… Oh!" Ginny yelped giving Luna a start. "Did you hear?
She was attacked. It was You-Know-Who himself!" she explained
with a shiver.

Luna nodded slowly. "I knew there was an attack, but I hadn't heard
that he was there, how did she survive?" she asked. Nobody
survived Voldemort, at least not regular people. People like
Dumbledore and Harry did. But not normal people like her or Madam
Bones.

Ginny scratched her neck absently and shrugged. "Don't know… You
don't think? Do you think that was when Harry was there do you?"
she wondered aloud.
Luna paused considering that. Harry Potter had perhaps the most
uncanny sense of timing when it came to trouble, and if he really had
been with Madam Bones at sometime in the recent past… What
were the chances after all of the woman having survived such an
attack alone? "Maybe," she allowed. "Do you know what he was with
her to speak about?"

She finally had a potential source on what was happening, she was
going to get what information she could. Ginny shook her head. "No,
apparently she's being really tight lipped about it all. She even
admitted to covering for Harry but would say nothing else…." She
trailed off as a thought occurred to her. "However, she did demand
all the Auror members of the Order resign from the Order the night
before…"

Luna cocked her head thinking about that. "The timing is interesting,
that would be about the right time…" She sighed. "I don't think he
plans to come back, do you?" Ginny merely looked askance at her
and explained. "Would you risk coming back under Dumbledore's
control if you had gone through the trouble to disappear? I mean it
appears he went through the effort of striking a bargain with Madam
Bones, if she's willing to cover for him like that."

Ginny nodded as she followed the other girl's reasoning. "What do

you think he's doing?"

Luna shrugged. "I don't know, but I intend to find out." They sat
together for a time just watching the wind ripple the wheat in a
nearby field. "Have you heard from any others about being
questioned by the Order?"

"No, not yet." Ginny said, shaking her head. "None of us Weasleys
have heard from him. You haven't heard from him. Hermione's out of
the country again, we think…" She stopped as Luna's head jerked
around to look at her.

"Hermione's gone, too?" Luna asked, shocked.

Ginny shrugged. "No, she just goes on vacation with her parents this
time of year. We've owled her but she hasn't gotten around to
responding to our letters is all."

Luna gave her a skeptical look. "Hermione? Not being punctual

about answering her mail? We are talking about the same woman
aren't we?" she asked, giving her friend a look that clearly
communicated how absurd a notion this was.

Ginny blinked as she considered that. "You think Hermione knows

and is just not telling the rest of us?"

Luna cocked her head quizzically at the redhead. "Who else would
Harry trust to help him in a time of need?" Ginny flushed and visibly
flinched, before stamping down hard on her temperament, it was
profound enough that Luna made note of it. "What? What is it?"

Ginny shook herself and looked chagrined. "Sorry, just-the thought of

the two of them alone… it still gets me sometimes," she admitted
sheepishly.

Luna eyed her friend blandly, Ginny had held a torch for Harry for
quite some time, anyone who knew her at all would find it obvious.
Still the restraint on her part was impressive given the situation. It
still raised questions. "Ginny? Why are you so fixated on Harry?
Romantically, I mean?" Ginny blushed at her friend's frank
description.

"W-well… I suppose it's because of a number of reasons really," she

admitted, looking away. "I mean, I grew up on those stories about
him… He saved my life in first year." She looked to her friend who
was studiously blank, a mild smile on her lips. "He's really nice? A-
and handsome too!" She protested, she gestured to Luna. "And are
you honestly telling me you don't fancy him too? Not even just a little
bit?"

It was Luna's turn to blush and look away. "Occasionally," she

admitted, weakly clearing her throat discreetly. "It's hard not to be
attracted to someone who's so nice to you," she defended. She
wouldn't dare so much as to tell her friend how often these
occasional bouts of fancy occurred for her. Her pride, what there was
of it, wouldn't survive it. And she wouldn't want to hear about how
often Ginny fantasized about such things. She shuddered a little
internally. "But Ginny-You and I… We don't stand a chance, you
know that right?"

Ginny flinched. "What do you mean?" she asked, her tone plaintive.

Luna struggled to find a kind way of explaining this, "Ginny, what do

you really know about Harry, the real him? What do you have in
common with him?" she offered gently.

"Well, I suppose we both like Quidditch?" Ginny offered a touch

lamely.

"And?" Luna prayed for her friend that that wasn't all she had. Sadly
the silence was telling. "You really don't know him well enough to
know anything more there might be do you?" She shook her head
ignoring Ginny's mildly humiliated expression. "But that wasn't what I
was trying to explain." She looked sadly to the redhead. "Ginny, who
of all the people at Hogwarts is it that people assume is dating
Harry?"

The answer was obvious and clearly Ginny thought it was too,
judging by the speed with which the response came. "Hermione…"

"And why do they always assume that?" Luna asked, leadingly.

Ginny grumbled and muttered, but apparently still ran through the
same list that was running through Luna's head.

"I see your point," the redhead admitted petulantly.

Luna nodded sympathetically. "So you see, you and me, we never
stood a chance, because he's always been taken. Ever since his first
year." She chuckled ruefully. "Though I would be surprised, knowing
those two, if the two of them had ever figured it out," she noted
fondly.

Ginny grasped one of the few straws of hope she had left. "But-
Hermione's been giving me advice!" she protested. "She's helping
me so I can get to know him better…"

Luna nodded. "That is because Hermione is kind . And unless I am

incorrect she believes Harry doesn't see her that way either," she
explained patiently. They sat, Ginny a touch grimmer than before
under the tree. Eventually Luna sighed. "I am going to miss him." At
Ginny's quizzical expression she elaborated. "He was always kind to
me, even when I confused him. He never once called me loony…"
She sighed wistfully.

Ginny winced, she had been guilty of calling her that before. But
pressed on. "How do you plan to find out what he's up to?" she
asked with interest. Luna had odd ways, but she always seemed to
manage. Perhaps she could do what others could not.

Luna shrugged, "I don't know, not yet. But I'll figure it out," voice soft
but determined. Continuing in the silence of her own head. Because
I refuse to allow life to take more from me. It's time I stop letting it
pass me by.

Harry had never actually been to an airport before, he had no real

idea what to expect. He'd not even really had a chance to see such
places depicted in movies. Harry had honestly been expecting to get
through customs and just walk onto the plane. Instead he got to
enjoy the splendour that was an airport passengers lounge. Filled
with-as ever-sleepy and unwashed travellers and surly airport
employees. The employees, of course, could be forgiven, after all
they had to deal with obstinate travellers all day every day.

He was currently sitting patiently, waiting for Hermione to return from

one of the small shops nearby in the Heathrow international terminal.
It had been… hard, watching Hermione say goodbye to her parents.
Neither she, nor they, had any idea when the next time they would
see each other might be.

Even when he and Hermione eventually returned, whenever that

might be, it was proving increasingly dangerous to associate with
him. It would have devastated her and by extension him, should any
harm befall them. So he'd done the only thing he could think to do
under the circumstances. He'd asked them to ensure they stayed out
of the country as much as they could. He had even provided a
portion of his funds to ensure they did it. Hermione had been taken
aback but grateful, while her parents had been hesitant to accept at
first but had understood in the end. They had promised to see about
leaving the country for a time in the near future, citing they had
responsibilities they could not just drop at a moment's notice.

Upon leaving each other's company, the two teenagers had

proceeded with the rest of the swarming masses to the counters and
checked Hermione's trunk and the animals in their carriers. That they
hadn't experienced any trouble as a result of trying to transport a foul
tempered cat, a snowy owl and a trunk which was bigger on the
inside than the outside was a curiosity that they had discussed for a
time as they wandered the airport. Hermione had theorized that
there might be muggle oriented incantations built into their trunks
and imbued in familiars to allow them to go largely unnoticed.
Though neither of them could prove it just then.

Customs and security, as was always the case for every traveler
since the invention of borders, was an irritating, but necessary, evil.
Their passports had been checked and triple checked before they
were finally allowed through. They had received a raised eyebrow at
the "sticks" they carried on their persons but nothing more, once they
had been examined. Harry thought he saw one of the agents wink.

It had then occurred to Hermione as they wandered the concourse

that they didn't have much to do on the flight itself. True, first class
should come with plenty of amenities, but considering they had a
long journey ahead of them they weren't really eager to take the
chance of getting bored. So she had wandered off in search of
supplies leaving Harry to ponder other things.

Such as the fact that he had no real idea what kind of shape the
properties around the world were actually in as such. He had a
disconcerting image in his head of a version of the shrieking shack
with feral critters living in it. On the plus side they'd be able to use
magic to effect repairs.

When Hermione returned she was apparently ladened down with

half the store's inventory. She had bags of magazines, books (of
course) and snacks. Along with a portable DVD player with
headphones, movies and a spare battery pack and power adapter.
Oh, and two of those strange neck pillow things… She had looked
rueful when he held those up, confused.

"Sorry I kind of got carried away," she apologized looking sheepish.

Harry had handled it with equanimity and shrugged. "Well you know
what we'll be needing better than I do. Just how long is this flight
anyway?" he asked curious.

She shook her head. "It'll take us the better part of a full day, though
I can't say I remember what the actual flight time would be, we'll be
stopping over in Toronto I think to refuel," she noted absently.

He flipped absently through the movie selection and paused

considering the titles. Oy….it was going to be a long flight.

Tonks stumbled into work, still half asleep about an hour later, feeling
and apparently looking a bit like the living dead, judging by the looks
her coworkers were giving her. "What's the matter Tonksy? Wake up
on the wrong side of the bed?" Dawlish had joked. Tonks responded
to that with the death glare it deserved.

"Shut it, John," Hestia Jones snapped, making her way over to her
and handing her another cup of coffee.
"Mmm… coffee… ," Tonks groaned blissfully taking a gulp. It burned
all the way down but she didn't care.

"You still on the Floo department case?" Hestia asked once Tonks
had deposited her extra gear at her desk. "Haven't heard any
progress from down there yet, but then again I'm not going assigned
to that…"

Tonks shrugged. "Last I knew, yeah. Not surprised they haven't, I

have no idea how those guys can claim they're getting anything
done in that mess." She remembered the haphazard piles of
parchment, many of them half toppled or covered in the wax from
burned down candles. "Sorry, I'll catch you later Hestia, I've gotta
check in and see if they've actually managed to dig anything up," she
apologized as she straightened and made her way to the door.

The Floo office-as with many such jobs which had been intentionally
filled with bottom feeders and rejects from the other offices-had been
hidden in one of the deeper sections of the seventh floor, which
made it essentially the ministry's sub basement. She stepped into
the elevator and rode it all the way down and then made her way,
winding through the side corridors until she eventually found her
target, just in time to watch one of the Aurors drag a petulant looking
employee out of his chair growling.

She sighed as the office worker started caterwauling. Her day was
looking less than promising. "Alright, that's enough. Dawes what the
hell was that about," she demanded as she stepped up and pulled
her man off the employee allowing him to regain his feet.

Dawes shook her off but didn't have another go at the man. "This…
loyal ministry employee has had the audacity to spend the entire
night bitching and moaning about being kept here when we've just
found out he has been criminally neglecting his duties." He gestured
at the mess around them. "You see this mess? We won't find any
paperwork explaining outages or maintenance, because guess what.
There are none. He and his staff haven't been doing it for over a year
now." He growled. "And that means there's no way to tell who shut
off the Director's Floo last night."

"Figures," grumbled the employee. "Some higher up is upset they're

Floo isn't working right so the Aurors get sent down here to rough us
up." They hadn't been told why they were under investigation yet,
just that they were. "What does Umbridge want this time? Another
favour for one of her friends. Free Floo travel internationally?" he
demanded.

Tonks blinked at him. "Umbridge?" She asked confused. What did

the demon toad herself have to do with anything?

"Yeah, that's who sent you isn't it? She's constantly on us to cut
costs. Shut down this hub to save costs for this department. Allow
this call for free. Of course we don't have any paperwork, she won't
allow it. It would mean people finding out she was doing people
favours. Guess we screwed something up though, if she's got you
down here."

Dawes and her looked at each other in dawning comprehension.

"And… last night, did she call for another favour?"

"Huh? Sure she did, wanted hub 238 shut down for maintenance,
said they'd been receiving complaints," he muttered, getting to his
feet. "You know this is auror brutality, I could have you charged."

"No, you really couldn't," Tonks growled. "Especially if what I suspect

is true. Tell me, does hub 238 happen to cover a section of London?
Say, South Kensington?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure, why?" Without a word the two Aurors came to a

silent agreement, and grabbed him under the shoulders hauling him
with them as they returned at speed to the DMLE. They only
continued the conversation once he was in an Auror interrogation
room.
"Because you doing favours for the Undersecretary just made you
an accomplice to a terrorist attack, idiot!" Dawes snapped. "She's
been having you do this for how long?"

The employee stared at them for a few moments, mouth hanging

open. "You're kidding?"

"No, we're not. Director Bones' apartments were attacked last night
and her Floo was shut off," Tonks growled. "Now are you seriously
telling me you have no records of these… requests, from the under
secretary?"

The employee peered at their deadly serious expressions and

decided discretion was the better part of valour. "Uh-well I mean,
sure. Just in case you know? I figured she was just-saving her
friends a bit of money here or there…" he offered lamely.

"Any idea who these friends might be?" Dawes asked sharply.

"Uh-not as such? You might be able to figure it out if you can figure
out why certain areas were down or free at certain times," he
theorized.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," Dawes noted sarcastically

before turning to Tonks. "So what do you figure?"

"I reckon we need to take a closer look at Umbridge. She's a heinous

pain in the arse, but she isn't exactly the Death Eater type. At least
not the marked kind. She'd never risk her neck that way. Possibly
she was just doing favours for someone else, and they used the
opportunities to help their real boss…" she speculated, then
glowered at the employee who was peering at them in vague
interest. "Either way we need to talk with Bones again. Fudge won't
let his favourite boot licker get hauled in for questioning by a couple
pavement pounders like us."

Dawes was clearly thinking about the mountain of political crap they
were going to need to dig through and climb over in the near future.
"You know, sometimes I hate working here."

Madam Director Bones, was sitting in her office sorting through

some paperwork. Technically it was her break, not that there were
many people who could force her to maintain a specific schedule for
such things. The reason she was still ploughing through this
mountain of parchment was that she had a lot of work that needed
doing if she ever hoped for her home to be livable once again. Not to
mention the issue of making the place safe again too.

The sole benefit, if it could even be called that, of being the last adult
survivor of a once prominent family was that she had the funds
necessary to do something about all this.

Susan, the only other member of her family to remain, was passed
out on the couch in the waiting room. She'd finally become tired
enough to sleep despite everything a couple hours ago.

Amelia peered suspiciously at the fine print on the contract offered

by the goblins for upgrading the house wards. Goblins were tricky
when it came to finance. They had absolutely no compunction
against taking ever knut they could reasonably expect to ask from
you on a deal.

The drudgery of trawling through bank statements and contracts was

finally interrupted by a hesitant knock at the door. She sighed setting
down her quill. "Come."

It was Tonks who poked her head in the door. "Uh-Ma'am, do you
have a minute?" she asked, sounding uncertain.

This was it, the moment of truth, would Tonks be staying with them,
or would she be turning in her badge? "Ah, Miss Tonks. May I ask
how your meeting went last night?"

Tonks winced at the directness of the question and the pointed way
Amelia had used a reference which did not make note of her job title.
"As well as could be expected, they were… annoyed I resigned, but I
did it anyways, ma'am. So did Hestia…" she ventured.

Amelia nodded, "Yes, she was already in here," she agreed. She
noted the lack of reference to Shacklebolt from either of them.

Tonks wasn't done though. "Er, right. So I came in as soon as my

rotation started this morning, and I went down to check on the
progress of the investigation down in the floo office…" she ventured,
hoping that they could just get back into working as usual.

"Yes, and?" Amelia asked, privately hopeful they had a lead

considering.

"Aannndd I walked in on Auror Dawes coming this close to punching

out one of the employees." She noted the director's wince and sigh
and hurried on. "Yes ma'am, however we avoided further escalation
and uh… there might be mitigating circumstances considering what
we found out."

"And that would be?" The Director trailed off expectantly.

"The Employee admitted, somewhat unintentionally, that he has

been doing favours at someone's request. Favours which included
things like shutting down Floo hubs to save costs over night and
taking down others for repairs," Tonks explained, a bit of excitement
seeping into her tone.

"And would I be correct in assuming one of these outages included

my apartment last night?" she pressed in turn.

Tonks nodded readily. "Yes ma'am. But we haven't had a chance to

cross check outages with other attacks yet."

Amelia pointed at her, "Do that, but may I ask who he's been doing
favours for?"
Tonks grimaced. "Undersecretary Umbridge." She nodded when the
director swore and palmed her face. "My thoughts exactly ma'am. It
was his impression that she wanted this done as a favour for a friend
of hers…"

"But, you can't bring her in for questioning without more backing,"
Amelia guessed.

"Correct, ma'am," Tonks said nodding stoically. "We knew Fudge

would cry foul if we even entered his office unexpectedly right now."

Amelia nodded, for the first time in a good day and a half smiling. "I'll
see to it myself Tonks. Good work."

Tonks felt a bit better at her boss' praise. A small victory in what had
been a string of defeats recently.

Dinner at the Lovegood house was a sad, quiet affair. Xenophilius

Lovegood could tell something was wrong with his daughter. But he
had long since passed beyond his comfort zone when discussing
personal matters with his daughter. He'd always assumed Pandora
would be around to handle female matters. So they sat in silence,
Xeno contemplating his latest theory on the Rotfang Conspiracy
while Luna ate her dinner in silence.

Her father had tried to ask what was wrong, but it had rapidly
devolved into his typical nonsense the moment the conversation had
turned serious. His leading theory on Harry's disappearance was the
Dibblethorpe Confederacy-whatever that was… That had effectively
put a halt to Luna's efforts to explain her concerns and feelings on
the matter.

It was a sad reality that the explosion which had claimed her
mother's life, had claimed her father's sanity. And considering some
of the creatures Luna saw which no one else could, she couldn't help
but wonder if it had claimed hers as well. Her mother had been a
gentle, but brilliant woman, constantly pushing the bounds of magic
hoping to better their world. Sadly when one pushed against
something as ephemeral and complex as magic it had the nasty
habit of pushing back, sometimes fatally. Luna never did learn what it
was her mother had been researching at the time that had resulted
in her death. She had been unusually close mouthed about it, and
had kept no notes except a small pad with a single equation on it.
One that Luna had failed to decipher thus far. Her mother had been
brilliant, but in the end she had reached too far, and it, whatever it
was she had grasped, had grasped her back.

She'd been the one to find her, she'd been instructed to hide in the
cellar should there be an accident, and she had, but eventually her
fear for her mother had overridden her fear for getting in trouble and
she had ventured out. The world had taken her mother from her, and
in turn taken her father. Now it sought to take the first good thing
which had happened to her in years. It was intolerable,
unacceptable, and she would not allow it. Not without a fight.

Author's Notes: As ever, thank you to my awesome Betas/psuedo-

coauthor-thingamajiggers Temporal Knight and Bearmauls. Without
them… well, there probably wouldn't be a story.

Afraid there's no rec this chapter. Will try to find more for the next
one…
Chapter 7
Author's Note: Blargh! Edits… need more edits! *Said in a Zombie
like-groan*

Amelia sat with a thump, causing her chair to drift slightly backwards
on its casters, and let out an explosive breath. In a mostly-thankless
job that didn't have a lot of good days, today was turning out pretty
well actually.

They'd managed to track down the source of the security breach

fairly efficiently, in part due to the incompetence of corrupt officials.
Something which the Wizarding media, for reasons Amelia couldn't
fathom, described as shocking. As though they weren't well aware
that Umbridge was crooked as a corkscrew and hadn't been among
the many to benefit from it? It was a fairly inelegant attempt on their
part to distance themselves from their wayward patron.

The DMLE had hauled in Umbridge, literally kicking and screaming,

before an emergency session of the Wizengamot, and questioned
her and the Floo department employee extensively. All despite the
decidedly suspect protests from various quarters of the wizarding
world's chief legislative body.

If Amelia were being honest, the trial had been almost comical.
Umbridge had managed to get herself labeled in contempt of court
no less than three times during the questioning of the other witness.

This had resulted in her, once again, being bound, gagged and
deposited face down on the floor of the courtroom until it was her
turn to be questioned.

The only reason that Madam Umbridge's own interrogation had gone
better was that she was put under the influence of Veritaserum. Not
that it had improved her disposition much. Instead of shrieking and
shouting, she had been calm and almost proudly forthcoming about
her bigotry against non-purebloods. That she had then admitted to
being firmly in the pocket of those who felt the same as her came as
no great shock.

It was revealed, as they pushed further into the questioning, that

she'd arranged the Floo shut-down as a favour to the Carrow family.
A minor, but haughty Pureblood house, currently without a
Wizengamot seat of their own, but with enough money to buy votes
on their behalf whenever they pleased. Umbridge had admitted that
she'd been hoping to get their support for a bill further marginalizing
what she referred to as "Undesirables."

She'd been found guilty in an almost unanimous vote and sentenced

to Azkaban.

As a result, at this very moment, Carrow Manor was being raided by

the Auror Corps. Amelia was hopeful that such a surprise strike
would net the DMLE some results.

What had been most offensive to Amelia about the whole sordid
affair, was the complete disregard shown by Umbridge and her
confederates for those she endangered. The woman herself had
blatantly admitted to endangering wizarding families in the South
Kensington sector of London and other nearby regions for the sole
purpose of currying favour with a party she had reluctantly admitted
to suspecting of being in league with known terrorists.

Her allies had, of course, attempted to stymie any efforts to nail her
to the wall. Ironically, it was not them who had proved the biggest
roadblock in their efforts. Dumbledore had, on multiple occasions,
attempted to divert the flow of investigation to suss out what Amelia
might know of Harry Potter's whereabouts.

She'd been able to stonewall him each time. But, in the end, she'd
been forced to threaten the man with censure if he could not stick to
the topic of the trial.
So now, here she sat, satisfied with her day's work, as she poured
herself a drink. It was funny, one of the things she was most pleased
with today was the way she'd been able to bring both Tonks and
Jones back into the fold. It had been Tonks who had broken the
whole case for them, so as a reward, and as a chance to further
prove herself, she had been assigned command of the raid of the
Carrow residence.

Amelia tossed back the small tumbler of firewhiskey and glanced

towards the waiting room. Susan was getting antsy with being
cooped up so long, but Amelia couldn't risk her going far right now.
Not only might Voldemort supporters try for her, in retaliation for their
losses that night, but Dumbledore would likely try and corner the girl
for questioning if she were out from under Amelia's aegis.

It was a sad state of affairs, she noted with a grimace, when the
supposed "Leader of the Light" was almost as much of a pain in her
arse as the corrupt politicians.

Tonks shifted nervously from foot to foot as she stood in the shadow
of an old oak, trying to avoid the worst of the rain falling in sheets
from the sodden grey sky.

She and the other Aurors assigned to this raid were standing at
various points just outside the ward lines for the Carrow Estate,
warrants for their arrest in hand. They had severed all
communication in and out of the residence prior to allowing the
Wizengamot emergency session to let out. The Judges were more
than aware the Carrows had friends in that room.

The Carrow estate was… obscene. The place was absurdly

luxurious, especially considering the Carrows had no official source
of regular income, conveniently excluding them from income taxes.
They claimed to live off a substantial inheritance from their parents.

Tonks snorted in derision as she eyed the massive estate, with its
recently expanded premises, stately gardens and gilded facades.
There was no way they had afforded all this on an inheritance from a
minor noble house.

The reason they were hesitating at the estate's ward line was that
the plan called for entering the grounds undetected, thus Tonks had
ordered a "quisling" of the house's wards, particularly those
concerned with apparition. It was a difficult operation to pull off
without alerting the residents.

A "quisling" was the process of reversing transportation wards target

criteria to trap the owners inside their own protection. In most cases
this course of action wouldn't even be a viable option. Tonight
however, their breaching team had discovered the Carrows had
been cheap when it came to security expenditures.

Had these wards been Goblin made, or even constructed by a

reputable wizarding corporation, they would have reacted violently to
such an attempt to subvert them. The aurors would likely be picking
bits of the breaching team out of the trees for weeks.

These wards, however, were black market 'prefabricated' specials.

Useful if one's primary concern was to avoid excess costs or
paperwork. Not so useful for actually keeping yourself or your
properties safe from a determined foe.

So here she stood, standing in the shadow of a tree looking over the
grounds of the Carrow Estate, next to a ward cracker, who was ever
so carefully working to twist the ward's rune scheme against its
owners.

And finally, as the rain was starting to leech the warmth from her skin
despite the charms on her to protect against the cold, the breacher
gave a muttered confirmation the job was done and shot her a
thumbs up. They were a go.

Tonks pushed off the tree and stood up straight, raising her wand
overhead. She muttered an incantation and a bolus of roiling red
energy rocketed into the sky before bursting into a small nova of
white light. She didn't wait to see the others move out, because she
was breaking into a run and dissolving into the twisting mists of
apparition, leading the charge.

Tonks slammed out of it a moment later on the doorstep of Carrow

estate. Hopping the distance from the perimeter like this allowed her
and her rapidly arriving team to bypass the traps and barriers no
doubt set around the grounds.

The other auror teams rocketed by overhead, crashing through the

upstairs windows in a thunderclap of sound. Her team would breach
and clear the manor from the ground up while those above worked
their way downwards to meet them.

"The door's warded!" Tonks warned, shouting to be heard over the

pounding rain, pointing out the runes etched into its surface.
"Prepare for combat breach!" She levelled her wand in time with the
others and began tearing at the defences.

Reductor curses pelted the door and the wards fizzled under the
barrage before giving out with a pop. A final curse, an overpowered
Reductor from Tonks herself, crashed into the metal door and
exploded it inwards, the shattered fragments pinwheeling inward on
boiling blue vortices of magic.

The aurors waited only a heartbeat for the blue glow to fade before
poured into the now thoroughly shredded entrance hall of manor.
Tonks wished desperately to break formation and chase off in pursuit
of the sounds of combat she heard echoing down from above, but
she had her own job to do, and she'd do it. This was her first active-
duty command. She had to do well, by the books, if she wanted to
see another one within ten years.

The red-robed magicals flowed out through the first floor of the
manor, trench coats swirling around them as they stormed from room
to room. The only tense moment in the procedure occurred when
they burst into the kitchens and startled a cowering family of house
elves. A particularly brave-or foolhardy-old elf launched himself at
them with a frying pan, croaking a battlecry. Thankfully the small,
wrinkled old elf was pretty close to blind and had missed her rather
spectacularly. The resulting confusion this caused allowed them to
talk the poor elf around, with the help of his apologetic family.

From there, Tonk's team moved up to the next floor, as the sounds of
battle began to fade above them. As they made their way through
and up to the third floor, the fighting stopped entirely. They found out
why as they poured into a thoroughly blasted drawing room.

The Carrows were down, bound and gagged on the now somewhat
less than plush carpet. Tonks noted with relief that, while a few of her
team were sporting wounds, all of them were alive and well.

She nodded to them all briefly before stalking forward towards their
captives. She knew what she was about to do was strictly speaking
against procedure, but she announced she was going to search
them for weapons, ignoring the protests that they had already been
patted down.

Tonks just raised her eyes at a now flabbergasted junior Auror as

she jerked down Amycus' sleeve revealing the Dark Mark. She
pushed to her feet and brusquely made her way to the other bound
captive, repeating the procedure and revealing the mark again.

She straightened and offered a grin at the team now almost fully
gathered in the room. "Good work tonight you lot, clear the house
again and search for evidence."

Tonks was about to hoist the Carrows to their feet for transport back
to headquarters when a worried looking Auror returned to the room.
"Hey, Boss, you should see this, I think?"

According to the map playing on the screen in front of Harry, the

plane was now passing over Quebec, and was about two and a half
hours out of Toronto. He couldn't be more grateful. He was sore, he
was stiff, and he was tired. Getting off the plane and transferring
during the layover would be a welcome chance to work out his
muscles. He still was faced with a question as he considered the
map, however. "You know, I didn't realize how empty Canada would
look," he observed to Hermione, who was reading one of the books
she'd picked up in the duty-free shop back in London. "I mean,
England looks lit up like a Christmas tree compared to this,' he
gestured out the window, to the mostly dark landmass below.

Hermione looked up from her book and nodded. "Well, Britain has
been settled for a lot longer than Canada," She shrugged. "And
Canada has a population roughly half that of the UK in a space
roughly forty one times that of the entire British Isles. Most of the
population is centred on the border with the United States. Can't say
I blame them, most of the country is technically arctic or subarctic."

Harry blinked and then chuckled. "Right, do you literally know

everything at this point? Because, I swear, I could ask you about
astrophysics and you'd know it from back to front…"

Hermione blushed, she knew that had been in jest, and took it as
such. But, as usual for her, the witch answered seriously, "No, not
even close. I prefer to think of it as knowing a little bit about a lot of
things…"

Harry held up his hands. "It's okay Hermione, I wasn't criticizing, it's
impressive."

She nodded and they sat in silence for a time allowing him to further
consider the map. "Merlin these flights are long…"

She grimaced and shifted with a wince before admitting ruefully, "I
know, I keep getting up for the bathroom, not so much because I
need to go, as that my bum has fallen asleep again…"

Harry tried not to think about Hermione's backside, somehow

mentally ogling her even in passing like that felt disrespectful to his
friend. He sighed, nodding. "How many hours left?"
She looked at the clock on the screen. "Eight I think, that's including
the stopover in Toronto."

"Sod…" Harry breathed leaning his head back on the seat.

"Language, Harry," Hermione chastised. It said something about how

much she agreed with the sentiment that it lacked any kind of real
heat.

"What do we have?" Tonks barked, as she marched into the

chamber concealed in the manor's basement. The Auror who had
led her down pointed at what was possibly the biggest freaking door
she'd seen outside of Gringotts. Judging by the runes etched all over
it, and the wall it was built into, it was warded all to hell and back.

"A door."

She sighed. "Yes, I can see that. Any clue what's inside?"

He shook his head ruefully. "Not a one. But I can tell you this. The
place has air ducts running into it…" He noted pointing to the ruined
conduits overhead.

"A safe room?" She asked.

He shared a doubtful look with her. "Kinda hard to reach from the
rest of the house, yeah?" She nodded in agreement.

"Can you get it open?"

He nodded, "Get me the breachers and curse breakers and we

might manage it."

"How long?"

The auror pursed his lips and considered, before shrugging. "A few
hours? The door looks scary, but it's not as bad as it could be, I
think…"
Tonks favoured the door with a dark and suspicious look. She didn't
trust a hidden door concealed in a terrorist's basement. Who knew
what was behind it? "I'll get them," she agreed and hurried back out
leaving the other Auror to stare at the door speculatively.

They were over Ontario now, flying north this time, towards their
destination, in a much smaller plane, after departing Toronto.

Harry hadn't gotten much sense of the city, given how little he'd been
able to see from the airport. Just another big city, like so many
others. Almost like an often colder lakeside version of any number of
rainy British cities. It had, nevertheless, been a welcome reprieve
from the cramped confines of an airplane.

Harry, for his part, was actually in the midst of pondering the latest
movie they'd watched. One of the Tolkien mythology. He felt a
mixture of admiration and skepticism for the film and felt the need to
comment on what he'd seen. "You know… I don't consider myself an
expert on such things," he ventured, "but I've seen the Goblins at
Gringotts… and I have to say, I'd swear none of them were that
ugly." He considered that. "Or tall, or evil."

Hermione cracked one eye from where she was dozing and peered
at him accusingly. "You do know that the people who wrote that story
and made that movie have likely never even heard of real goblins
right?"

He nodded thoughtfully, cheerfully oblivious to the mental cursing the

girl next to him was doing. "Right… what about the elves?"

She sighed explosively and rolled over. "Go to bed Harry…"

Tonks shifted forward on her feet as another pin holding up the now
decidedly less magical door was carved away in a small shower of
sparks. They hadn't been able to secure the Carrow's cooperation
with opening the door, they'd used the opportunity to attempt to
lawyer up.

As she had been unwilling to simply blast their way through the
wards and into the room beyond, they were forced to cut their way
inside the old fashioned way. That had been the last piece holding
the door in place. She signalled a pair of Aurors forward as the ward
crackers scuttled out of the way with their tools.

The pair levitated the door off its now wrecked frame and hinges,
dropping it to the floor with a clang. Tonks ventured forward
cautiously, her wand out, searching for any additional security that
might spring on her as she stepped through the smoke and peered
into the room. When she was finally able to comprehend what she
was seeing, she let out a low and heartfelt swear. Then spun on her
heel and jerked a thumb over her shoulder motioning the others
forward.

"You lot get this sorted out, and someone get me Director Bones…."

It was roughly a half hour later when Director Bones arrived in the
shattered entrance hall. "Hello, Auror," she greeted, stepping over
the shattered remains of the door. "I see you subscribe to the Alastor
Moody school of breach and clear," she noted with a wry smile.
Tonks offered an amused smirk in return, before sobering. "Now
then, your message suggested it was urgent?"

Tonks nodded and led the Director deeper into the house. "Yes
ma'am, if you'll step this way?" She explained a bit as they passed a
rather distraught house elf trying to put the corridor they were
passing through to rights. "You are aware that the Carrow twins
claim to live off a substantial inheritance and therefore make no
income?"

Amelia nodded, "Yes, and I don't believe it for a minute after seeing
this place," she said, as they made their way downstairs.
Tonks agreed. "Well, it definitely appears they were lying through
their teeth. They've been trading in illegal product and were actually
using their own estate as a base of operations."

"Oh, what product?" Amelia asked curious.

Tonks paused a looking a little green. She shook it off and grimaced.
"People, ma'am," before starting off at a brisk pace and leading a
startled and appalled Amelia behind her down into the concealed
warehouse.

As they passed through the shattered vault door, Amelia got her first
glimpse of the pens. Rows and rows of cells, like the prisoner block
in a muggle penitentiary. Each with its doorway pried open and each
still occupied by a cowering prisoner, many being attended by a
DMLE medic. Ideally the prisoners would have been allowed out of
their cells, but the confined space of the makeshift prison did not
allow for it. "Well… shit," breathed Amelia taking in the sad state of
those incarcerated here. Tonks nodded in bitter agreement.

"Near as we can tell," the younger witch explained, as they paced

down the rows, nodding to an Auror who was passing out blankets
on the way, "Ninety percent of them are muggle. Every last one of
them is female."

Amelia bobbed her head in understanding, she'd already noticed

that. She'd also noted an appalling number of them appeared
underage. "The remaining ten percent are witches, with the
exception of one there at the end. A Dwarven female."

Amelia blinked surprise at that. "Really?" Dwarves were, by and

large a reclusive lot, even those who dwelled above ground and had
forsaken their old ways.

Tonks nodded. "Yes, and judging by the tattoos she's clanned, so

you know what that means…"
Amelia blanched. A clanned dwarf was one who dwelled in one of
their concealed underground settlements. It also meant she would
be missed, and unlike a surfacer her kidnapping would be
considered a crime against the Dwarven kingdom. "There's going to
be hell to pay. Has she given us a name?"

"Not exactly. She gave us a clan name and then shut up on us. I'll
forward the message to one of our contacts in the Kingdoms so we
can bypass the liaison office," Tonks offered. That was probably a
good idea, Amelia reflected. The Goblins and Dwarves hated that
they were addressed through the ministry department which handled
"magical creatures." That, and reporting they had found a kidnapped
kinswoman from the kingdom would only heighten their ire. Nobody
smart wanted angry dwarves. They might be short, and lack what
was commonly called magic, but they were tough, utterly merciless
to their enemies, and lethal with hand weapons. Many a wizard had
underestimated them and ended up in pieces.

She would let Tonks handle that. "Is there any chance that they
weren't trading these people for the obvious reason?" Amelia asked,
as she tried not to stare at the stocky, tattooed woman sitting with
the blanket wrapped around her as she glared darkly out at them.

Tonks nodded. "I've got a man looking through the ledgers we found
now, but it appears they were mostly for the sex trade. With the
exception of those they couldn't shift in a timely fashion, of course.
Near as we can tell, those were traded to blood farms."

Amelia shuddered. Blood farms serviced blood magic users, and the
various Vampire families exclusively. Anyone who had been sent to
them was as good as dead. "Is there anything that will help us find
those they've already traded? Any chance we might save a few
more?"

Tonks hesitated. "Maybe… Our guy found another ledger, but it's
been enchanted to be unreadable without a code. High end
protections, it's likely a record of buyers. At least that's what we're
hoping… uh-" She hesitated again.
"Yes Auror?" Amelia asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her
subordinate.

"There is one other thing. You asked about the people here…"

"Please don't tell me they have more places like this…" Amelia
groaned.

"Not sure. The ledgers were unclear, but they suggest they have
another warehouse…" She saw Amelia's go on gestured and
ploughed ahead. "It looks like it's on the London Docks."

"And, therefore, right on the Ministry's doorstep," Amelia completed

with a sigh.

"Yes ma'am," Tonks agreed, she, for one, was glad political problems
like that were still above her pay grade, that was a headache she
didn't want.

"Are you feeling up to another raid?"

Tonks nodded agreeably. "Yes ma'am."

Amelia nodded relieved. "Okay. Have your people round all these up
for the healers and mind healers. If we have to call in the ones at
Saint Mungo's…"

Harry carefully reached out and gave Hermione a tentative shake.

She blinked groggily at him. "Hey, 'Mione, we're almost there."

She sat up a little and stretched, Harry tried to ignore her curves as
she did so, not entirely successfully. "Oh?" She leaned over to peer
out the window, still blinking sleep from her eyes. She looked a touch
disappointed to see nothing but darkness. "Huh, I guess we're not
going to see much at this time of night…"
The plane tilted slightly and there was a crackle over the intercom.
"Good Evening, passengers, this is the Captain speaking. We are
ten minutes out from Churchill. Local time is 8:00 P.M. and it is
currently a chilly -5 degrees celsius, we seem to have a freak
snowstorm blowing through…" Harry tuned out after that.

Harry wracked his brain, trying to figure out the time back home,
before giving up the game and asking Hermione. And she wrinkled
her brow, trying to compute that math in her head on so little sleep.
"Dunno, it's the third of July I think…" she ventured tiredly, her voice
slightly slurred. "We're almost a quarter of the way around the planet
from London."

Harry groaned. "Okay… Remind me, why didn't we just use a

portkey, again?"

Hermione gave him a wry look. "Well, for one thing, we never even
spoke about doing so. But, if you need a better reason, all
international portkeys are monitored and recorded by the ministry of
both the arriving and departing nations. So, unless you wanted to
just put out a great big sign telling Fudge, Voldemort, and
Dumbledore where we're going…"

He nodded. "We had to do it the old fashioned way. Got it."

Amelia was standing behind her desk examining where her hands
were fisted on its surface. "So," She started and glanced around at
her Aurors. "Anyone care to explain to me how the Carrows
managed to get away with this for who knows how long, while still
being so stupid as to use black market prefab wards?"

Tonks cleared her throat. "Best bet is that Alecto let Amycus handle
the 'mundane' side of things. He's known to be the less intelligent of
the two."

Kingsley, who had returned recently, explaining his resignation from

the order, snorted. "She still thought it was a bright idea to house this
all on her own property."

Tonks nodded. "Yeah, well, sad thing is, they probably would have
gotten away with it if not for the incident with Umbridge."

"Any indication of how long they've been running this thing?" Amelia
asked.

Tonks bobbed her head tiredly. "Not yet, their lawyers insisted they
be present before we…" she paused to stifle a yawn, garnering a
chuckle from the others, "question them," she finished, smiling
ruefully. "You just know Fudge would jump all over us if we did an
end-run around the Carrow's lawyers and 'harassed such upstanding
pureblood citizens'" Tonks finished, with a vindictively nasal
impression of the sitting Minister.

Amelia smiled blandly. "Go home, Tonks. You've had a long couple
of days." Tonks nodded and padded out without further ado. Kingsley
indicated he wished to ask a question again.

"May I ask, ma'am, what did you two find out in that warehouse?"

Amelia shook her head tiredly, "I think we'll cover that in the trial,"
she suggested, her tone woeful. "Some things don't really bear
repeating too many times."

Harry and Hermione stood in line with everyone else, unaware that,
back across the Atlantic, Tonks was just stumbling into her flat. They
were experiencing the monotonous joy of waiting for the cabin crew
to open the doors and allow everyone out, their belongings slung
over their shoulders or tucked under their arms.

Finally, there was a clunk and Harry felt a sudden cold draft flow
through the enclosed cabin as the door was opened and the plane's
atmosphere was replaced with that of their destination. He shivered
and cocked an eyebrow at Hermione. "Guess this is the place. But I
think we forgot something…"
She looked to him expectantly. "Oh?"

"This is northern Canada, snow happens occasionally, even in

summer," he noted, and indicated the passengers pulling on coats.

She looked at them for a moment, and very obviously fought down a
curse. "Well… great."

A good half hour or so later, Harry stared at the clerk behind the
desk in consternation. So… You're telling me they'd normally insist
on quarantining our pets for over a month?"

The clerk noted the shell shocked appearance of the youth and
smiled sympathetically. "Yup, your owl, anyway. The cat has less
stringent regulations," he agreed happily.

"But, we don't have to do that?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Nope, familiar magics prevent parasitic infections," the squib

customs agent agreed. "It's kinda my job to make sure magicals who
travel the muggle way don't get held up or cause a fuss over stuff
like that." She pushed the two cages over the counter to the two
teenagers.

"Why do they quarantine the animals?" Harry asked vexed.

The squib chewed her cheek idly. "Well, the way I hear it, concerns
about avian flu and the like are a big factor. Plus, Environment
Canada doesn't want the ecosystem getting shot up by introduced
species. We've got some endangered creatures in this area in
particular, who could be susceptible to foreign parasites or
pathogens. Heard security had to chase off a…" She glanced at
something behind them. "Ah-Now as much as I'd like to discuss this
further, the nice customs agent over by the door is giving us funny
looks and I don't want to have to summon the obliviators if he comes
over here again… He's funny enough up top as it is."
A few minutes later, Harry and Hermione, pulling their luggage from
the baggage claim with them, stumbled out into the evening air.
Hermione trailing behind a bit in exhaustion, apparently she really
didn't travel well.

Two things struck Harry as they did so. The first thing he noticed was
that it had apparently gotten even colder outside while they collected
their luggage and familiars, as it was when they first landed, and
second… There were pictures and models of bears everywhere.
"You know, I think the locals like bears a bit more than is usual."

Hermione nodded, "Polar bears, the town is somewhat famous for

them. Churchill is far enough north, and near enough to water, that
they move past here seasonally…" She muttered casting her eyes
about.

Harry hadn't actually expected a response and smiled cheekily at

her. "Oh! Are you actually awake? I had assumed I was being
followed around by a sleepwalker." Hermione groaned at his attempt
at humour. "Well, it's that or, judging by that groan, a zombie of some
sort."

"Erg… brains…" she groaned, then dissolved into tired chuckles

leaning on him.

Harry considered her with a measure of concern. "Now, I know

you're about to pass out on me, but just let me get you into a car
first," he noted dryly as he flagged a taxi, then proceeded to give a
start of surprise when an SUV pulled up.

The window rolled down, and the cabbie stared at them expectantly.
"Can I help you, sir?" he ventured after a moment of them looking
blankly back at him.

"Uh-Does this cost any more than a normal taxi?" Harry asked
uncertainly.

"No, sir."
"Alright, then yeah I suppose so," Harry agreed, and the Cabbie,
apparently a friendly sort in a coat hopped out of the vehicle and
hurried around to help them pack the trunk into the vehicle's boot,
although the Canadian called it a trunk, silly colonials.

"So, where are you two from?" He asked, his voice somewhat
muffled by a balaclava, as the luggage slid in and he took in the bird
in the cage being slid into the back. Oddly enough, this was one of
the few places people actually went where Snowy Owls were
common.

"England." Harry reported as he straightened. "Just got in off a long

flight…"

The cabbie chuckled, "Ha, better you then me my friend." The two
exhausted teens slipped into the back seat as he slid in himself.
"Well, in case nobody bothered to properly greet you, welcome to
Churchill."

Amelia gave the old man a dark look as she tucked a sleeping
Susan back in on the couch, before throwing up a double-sided
silencing ward and motioning Dumbledore to her more
uncomfortable chair. "Alright, Headmaster," she put a sarcastic
emphasis on his preferred title, "What is it this time?" Dumbledore
had managed to corner her and Susan on their way into the office,
and she couldn't put him off again.

He looked at her imploringly. "Amelia, I can't stress the importance of

this issue enough…"

She cut him off with a gesture "Believe it or not, Albus, I have more
important things to be dealing with than your unhealthy obsession
with Harry Potter," she growled.

Dumbledore puffed himself up indignantly "You must trust me when I

say…"
She snapped a little at this. "No. I am required to do nothing of the
sort. Harry made your failures in regards to his welfare painfully
clear, Albus. I won't be helping you find him."

Dumbledore glowered. "Amelia, Harry's complaints are those of a

petulant teenager, we must put them aside for the greater good."

She glared at him sharply. "Really? So it's like that, is it?"

The headmaster apparently took this to mean he'd achieved the

upper hand. "Yes. Now, Amelia, I really must insist…"

"Albus, I will tell you this. The purpose of his visit was to get out from
under your thumb. Why? Because you have horrendously
mismanaged that young man's life. I have confirmed many of his
claims already and I am looking into others as we speak. Now, I want
you to leave me and my family alone, Headmaster. I do not know
where Harry is, or what his future plans are."

Dumbledore peered at her, his eyes accessing her shrewdly. "Very

well, Amelia, thank you for telling me," he surrendered in disgust,
before whirling and heading for the door.

She waited until he was nearly there before calling to him. "Have you
called the session of the Wizengamot?"

He paused. "Yes, Amelia, I have."

She nodded, and shuffled some papers on her desk. "Good, I'm
posting my most trusted Aurors to watch the Carrows until the trial.
Please try and ensure it happens in the near future would you?"

He nodded soberly. "It is scheduled for the day after tomorrow."

"Good, I'll see you then. Good day, Headmaster."

The Cabbie peered at the town's small hotel on doubtfully. "You sure
this is the place you want to stay?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"If you say so," the older man said shaking his head. The hotel was
pretty much the only place of the sort in town, but Harry didn't know
the address for the Potter house off the top of his head, and with
Hermione asleep, he decided to just grab a room at the local hotel.

It took a few minutes for Harry to haul the luggage and cages up the
steps, and then purchase a room, allowing Hermione to continue to
sleep in the back of the cab a bit longer. The cabbie was kind
enough to stick around for a bit. Apparently, demand wasn't exactly
high in this little town so late at night….Or ever really…

The problem, if such it could be called, came when he tried to rouse

her after he'd paid the cabbie. She just rocked slightly breathing
softly, dead to the world. In the end, he decided on scooping her into
his arms and carrying her up to the room.

He was struck by a thought which made him chuckle. Funny, when I

imagined one day carrying a girl across a threshold I imagined her
being awake…

Author's Note: As ever, thank you to my pseudo co-author/beta

thingy extraordinaires Temporal Knight and Bearmauls. They do
fantastic work.

Recommendation(s) of the week: "What we are fighting for" by

James Spookie. An interesting tale about what would happen if
Dumbledore's plan had instead been to prepare Harry from birth for
the task ahead of him. And just to keep things interesting, my other
recommendation is "Reunions are a Deleted" by Bob regent, sadly
forever unfinished, and likely never to be finished due to a feud
between the authors as I understand it. This story is a Stargate/BSG
crossover dealing with a religious fundamentalist 12 colonies who
believe Earth needs to forcibly be integrated into their society. Pretty
intriguing just-as I said-woefully unfinished.
Chapter 8
Author's Note: A guest reviewer a while back, noted that "it's not
that freaking cold in Canada in the middle of July! Even in Churchill!"
This is true. To an extent. Generally it is not that cold in the middle of
July. But two things of note in response to that. A) We do
occasionally have freak summer snow storms here in Canada, not
often, but they happen, and B) These are two people who are used
to the weather the UK is favoured with during that season, they're
not going to be happy campers that far north during a freak snow
storm. Just figured I'd note that, seeing as it is a fair comment, and
I'd explain my reasoning a little.

ALSO: I'm still doing the edit dance. No major changes. And if you
want to know what the edit dance looks like it involves a lot of
Russian polka on my keyboard.

Hermione awoke slowly, her rise to consciousness hampered

somewhat by the feeling of something warm draped across her body.
At first she assumed Crookshanks had once again taken to sleeping
on top of her, as he was want to do when it was a bit cold. But as
she shifted she found that the feeling was actually coming from the
copious number of quilts and comforters covering her.

It was enough, that when she went to sit up and look around, in the
hopes of figuring out just where she was, that the extra weight
required her to fall back and try again before sitting upright.

It took a minute for her eyes to properly adjust to the dim light,
however once they did it soon became clear from the spartan decor
and layout of her surroundings that she was once again sleeping in a
hotel room. Which was confusing to the still sleep befuddled
teenager as for the life of her she could not recall actually arriving at
a hotel.
The room around her lay in a quiet hush, empty and cold. The bed
across from her own showed signs of having been slept in but she
couldn't see hide nor hair of Harry. Nor could she hear the sounds of
anyone puttering about in the bathroom.

She struggled to sit up a little further and the blankets which had
thus far clung stubbornly to her fell to lay about her waist. She
blinked down at herself for a moment, she was still wearing what she
had yesterday, despite being in bed. This was not something which
Hermione usually allowed to happen, so she was able to
hypothesize that she must have been truly exhausted before
clambering into bed last night.

She grimaced at the pile of blankets on her lap before shoving it

about trying to extricate herself, only to be surprised when a ginger
streak of fur launched itself out of them and rocketed across the
room with a startled yowl. She winced and apologized in a hush as
Crookshanks gave her a particularly filthy look before settling on one
of the cabinets.

Sliding out of bed now and placing her feet on the cold hardwood
floor of the room she examined her surroundings again. The room,
such as it was, was cramped, even with only two beds and a
bathroom. She shivered slightly and rubbed idly at her shoulders,
she hadn't realized it before, covered as she had been, but it was
really cold here, even indoors it seemed.

She gave a start at a scrabbling noise followed by some clicking

from the door, she turned just in time to see Harry push the door
open and step inside. He noted her presence absently before laying
the things he was carrying down on his bed, turning briefly to hold
open the door allowing Hedwig to swoop through.

She took in his rosy cheeks and slightly laboured breath as he undid
an unfamiliar coat he had donned. He glanced at her for a moment
before hanging the coat on a hook by the door. "Sorry for leaving you
alone like that, I didn't expect you up quite yet."
"What time is it?" she asked curiously, looking about for a clock and
coming up empty.

Harry checked his watch, she vaguely recalled him changing the
time on his watch when they arrived at the airport last night. "Nearly
ten, but you were up pretty late last night…" He trailed off uncertainly
taking in her still somewhat ruffled appearance. "I brought you some
things."

She looked over at the pile of goods he had deposited on the bed. A
jacket just like the one he had been wearing, and a tray with several
dishes under plastic covers.

Hermione nodded, smiling thinly and waving a hand at his notably

lightly covered bed. "Thanks for lending me your blankets."

He smiled a touch roguishly. "Well, when I woke up this morning you

were shivering, I could hear your teeth chattering. I tried turning the
heater up, but the thing doesn't seem to like me." He scowled
pointedly at the small machine affixed to the wall beneath the
window.

"Thank you, but you know Harry, you could have just used a
warming charm," she pointed out.

He slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Right, I keep forgetting,

we're free and clear out here. Silly of me really…"

She just smiled fondly pacing towards the food on the bed, waving to
indicate it. "Anything good this morning?"

He shrugged slightly setting himself down on the edge of the bed.

"It's not bad, just breakfast food really. Though the cook tried to sell
me on going over to his brother's butcher shop and buying some
seal meat."

"Seal?" she asked surprised.

He nodded steadily, untying his shoes. "Apparently… it's some kind
of staple around here according to him." He paused to uncover the
plates and pushed the lot over to her. Without a table in the room
she had to settle for setting the tray on her lap before tucking in.
Harry was right, it was just breakfast food of the sort she'd find easily
enough back home. There was a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and
a plate laden with bacon, eggs and fried potatoes.

She picked at her food for a while before catching his eye again and
waving to the room around them. "So, I take it you didn't know the
address to your family's place?"

He shook his head. "No, sorry. Luckily the room wasn't too
expensive, things are dead cheap around here."

She snorted in amusement. "I bet, the Canadian Dollar is worth a

fraction of what the Pound is." She shrugged philosophically. "It may
be just as well actually, I don't know if the taxi would have service
reaching out that far beyond town." At his quizzical look she
continued. "From what I saw on that map back in England it's located
a few kilometres out of town as I recall."

Harry hummed softly in acknowledgement as she returned to her

food. A few minutes later she spoke again. "So, what do you want to
do first? Go to your place, get a start on tracking down that car's
maker, or maybe see the sights?"

Her friend couldn't help but chuckle. "Already seen the sights, what
few there are in this town anyways. Place is smaller than most
neighbourhoods are back home." She nodded agreement, the map
had indeed indicated the place was fairly small. Harry shrugged
settling back on his hands. "Besides. I don't think this is somewhere
we want to stay too long."

She looked up to him sharply, concerned. "Oh, why's that?"

Harry's chuckle alleviated much of her concern right then. "Well,

besides the bitter cold, and the lack of anything to do, the place is
apparently close to infested with polar bears. While I was waiting on
your food I watched some police chasing one off of a dumpster it
was trying to turn over."

She blinked in surprise, then leaned forward eagerly. "You saw a

polar bear?" she asked enviously. Such animals were unheard of in
the British Isles, and were pretty spectacular creatures from what
she'd seen on the teli.

He nodded, amused by her enthusiasm. "Yes, big sucker too. Never

seen regular animals that big before."

She considered that. Despite her admiration for the animals in

general, she understood just how dangerous they were; a good
reason not to stick around indeed. "Alright, what about the locals
though, are they friendly?"

Harry nodded. "Sure, very actually."

She huffed a sigh. "Well that's something right? Why do you think
your parents had a property all the way out here?"

"Haven't the faintest," Harry said with a snort. "Not sure why anyone
has a place out here to be honest. All I know for sure is that it's left
over from my dad's parents…"

She nodded, remaining silent until she'd swallowed the last bite of
her meal. She then turned her attention to finishing her drink. "Do
you know what the vehicle we're looking for looks like then? Perhaps
we could ask around and see if anyone saw it?"

He nodded, a slight smirk twisting his lips. "I don't have a picture or
anything, but apparently it was a bit of an eyesore. Big black
escalade with a pink dragon painted on the side."

Hermione had to stifle a snort of amusement. Such vehicles were not

terribly common in England anyways, but add the paint job? "Some
people have no taste I suppose. Though I guess that'll make it a bit
easier to find, I can't imagine there are many of those around here."

She finished off her hot chocolate. Harry stood and indicated the
bathroom. "If you're wanting a shower, the water is actually hot,
though it's still a bit of a rude shock when you get out again."

She considered that, if it had been anyone but Harry talking she
would assume they were giving a subtle hint that she was in bad
need of a wash. Still, it had been a while longer between showers
than she normally went, and if they really had some proper hot
water? "Yeah I'd better, you don't mind waiting around?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and then flopped onto his back on the bed.
"Not at all, take as long as you want."

A few minutes later, and true to Harry's assertion, it was indeed a

very rude shock getting out from under the water. The cold just
seemed to permeate everything right now…

She received another shock, though of a different sort while she was
getting dressed, the small window in the bathroom looked down over
the vacant lot out back. It was then that she spotted a distinctive, and
very large, white bear sneaking-in as much a hulking beast like that
could sneak- towards an unsuspecting dumpster.

She shook her head as she pulled her sweater on over top.
"Welcome to the great white north…" she muttered.

Halfway around the world, Tonks was enjoying her day off. The first
she'd had in a long while, honestly. What with the usually busy
schedule of Aurors, and the fallout from the battle at the Department
of Mysteries, she'd done without for far too long. Madam Bones had
been kind enough to offer her today off as a reward for her work on
the Umbridge/Carrow case.
She'd actually been enjoying it, reading and resting for the most part,
and likely would have continued to do so had it not been for the
hesitant knock at the door.

She got up slowly, grumbling slightly under her breath. It just figured,
hardly ever did anyone bother coming round her place, so of course
they had to roll on by the one day she had to herself.

She padded to the front door and peered through the hole, before
murmuring a heartfelt curse, and pulling the door open. There
standing on the landing outside her apartment door was Remus
John Lupin, perhaps the third to last man on the planet she wished
to see, eking out a position just behind Snape and Voldemort.

Tonks stared at him, admittedly a touch more frostily than perhaps

he deserved, "Please tell me you're not here looking to bring me
back to the Order?"

He looked a touch chagrined, his eyes casting downwards. "No…"

"Then why are you here Mr Lupin?" she requested stiffly.

He sighed, rubbing nervously at the back of his head. "We were just
wondering if you had perhaps heard anything about Harry's
whereabouts-"

She had to restrain the urge to snarl. "And just how do you think I
would have heard anything?" she snapped irritably.

He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, I just hoped that maybe you
had heard something we hadn't."

She snorted derisively, shaking her head in disbelief at the man's

gall. "You know damn well the only way I might come by a clue about
Harry's whereabouts is via Madam Bones." She pointed out angrily
and he looked embarrassed. "So, let me see if I've got this straight.
You aren't here looking to get me to come back to the Order. Instead
you are here in the hopes I'd spy on my boss for you instead?"
Remus actually looked startled at that, and fervently shook his head.
"No, Tonks I swear it's not like that…"

She cocked her head at him, analyzing his expression and tone,
before nodding sagely. He seemed sincere enough which led to a
more likely conclusion. "Mr Lupin… Remus," she sighed tiredly
rubbing at her eyes with her fingers. "Did you even want to come
here in the first place?" She took in his expression and nodded at the
answer shown there. "So, this would be Dumbledore's idea then
eh?"

"He's just worried about Harry, Tonks-" Remus defended a touch

reproachfully, and she had to fight down the urge to visibly display
her disdain for the old codger in question, Remus practically
worshipped the ground Dumbledore walked on, it would do no good
to fight over the matter.

"Just-get out of here, Remus. If you're seen here I might very well
get fired," she pointed out coldly.

"There's no reason to believe…" Remus protested.

She cut him off with a gesture. "It doesn't matter if I'm being watched
or not, as it is I'll have to report this just in case."

"Aren't you worried about Harry?" the werewolf asked sounding a bit
upset.

She nodded easily. "Yes, however that doesn't mean I'll be reporting
anything to Dumbledore."

Remus sighed settling back on his heels. "Look-Tonks, I didn't mean

to…"

"Mean to what?" She asked tiredly, her mind running through the
possible answers. Didn't mean to hurt you, to push you away?
"Put you in a difficult position," he finished to the disappointment of
the woman across from him.

She shook her head grabbing the door, preparing to close it. "Far too
late for that Mr Lupin," she said wearily before closing the door in his
face. She waited until she heard the footsteps departing before
turning away.

It was too bad, it hadn't been that bad a day up until then.

Hermione leaned slightly on the counter of the gas station looking

intently at the attendant. "So, you've actually seen a vehicle
matching this description?"

The man behind the till, Donny according to his name tag, nodded
sagely. "Yup, came through town on its way somewhere last spring,
hard to forget a butt ugly monstrosity like that honestly," he said
scratching at his beard idly, before shrugging. "Appeared again a
week later and got loaded onto one of the cargo ships that come
through occasionally as I recall."

He shot her an apologetic look. "Don't know much more really, Jeff
Heinz'd probably be able to tell you more."

She cocked her head at him expectantly, oblivious to Harry

wandering the store behind her. "And he'd be who exactly?"

Donny nodded understandingly, "He runs one of the local tourist

traps, you know one of them lot that run those big armoured buses
for the polar bear tours?" She nodded agreement, there had been
advertisements everywhere for the things, and they'd even seen one
trundling it's way along the edge of town on the way to the little gas
station. He continued, "The place is right on the edge of town, you
can't miss it. You know, I vaguely recall he was telling me something
about the thing a while back… Can't remember that part too well,
something about knowing the mechanic who worked on it?"
He chuckled in amusement, "Though who knows what kinda loon
would ship someone a ride like that all the way up here just for a
mechanic. Rich folks are nuts I tell you."

Harry, who had wandered back over to listen privately reflected that
it was likely because whoever this "mechanic" was, they were likely
magical and could make modifications others couldn't. The kind a
friend of his family might have been able to make?

Hermione nodded, paying for the hot chocolates they'd purchased in

addition to the information. "Thank you, you've been very helpful."

Donny just nodded amiably. "No problem, have a nice day you two."

They stepped outside a minute later and Harry spoke up after taking
a sip. "So… I realize this place is pretty darn small, but I think we're
going to want transportation, unless you fancy walking everywhere in
this?" he asked indicating the snow around their feet.

She grimaced. "Yeah, I know what you mean. How about we see
about that once we talk to this Jeff Heinz he was talking about?"

They looked back and forth up the road at the slightly snowy
landscape about them. They'd placed warming charms on
themselves in addition to donning the winter jackets Harry had
purchased, but it did surprisingly little to help. "Blimey it's cold," Harry
muttered as they started off down the road. His grandparents had to
have been insane to purchase a place out here.

Tonks grumbled incoherently to herself as she stepped off the

elevator into the headquarters of the DMLE. Mostly what she was
doing was alternately cursing both Remus Lupin and the Order of the
Phoenix as a whole. She had been hoping to just relax this evening
but she'd meant it when she'd told Remus that she'd be reporting
their meeting.
So, like a good little copper she'd trotted into the office on her day off
to make a report in person. Once getting permission from the
Director's secretary she knocked hesitantly at the door. There was a
muffled murmur beyond the door before a voice called out to her.
"Come in?"

She entered cautiously peeking around the door, there sitting at the
Director's desk eating dinner were both Amelia and Susan Bones. It
did not however escape her notice that it was not a utensil in Madam
bones hand, but a wand. Thankfully when her boss saw who it was
she lowered the wand to the desk again.

"Ah, Auror Tonks, care to join us?" the woman asked indicating an
open chair across from her.

Tonks cringed slightly at having interrupted her boss' evening meal.

"No thank you ma'am. I've already eaten." She shot the woman an
apologetic glance.

Her boss didn't seem particularly perturbed. "Alright, so what brings

you in on your day off Auror?"

"Uh, I had a bit of an incident earlier this evening ma'am and I

thought you'd want to hear about it." The pink haired woman
explained, at the Directors gesture to proceeded she hurried onward.
"The uh-the Order showed up at my apartment. Well, one of them at
least."

Madam Bones nodded understandingly. "Ah, I assume they wanted

you back then?"

Tonks shot a look at Susan before clearing her throat uncomfortably.

"Uh… no offence intended to your niece Director, but are you sure
you want me talking about this in front of her?"

"Susan is aware of the Order in general terms Tonks, after all her
parents and uncle were in it. As for anything else… perhaps refrain
from actually naming any others you know to have been associated
with the group in question?" the older woman suggested, picking at
her food.

"Ah, okay then. Um-One of the Order members showed up and was
asking questions. They claimed they weren't looking to bring me
back, but they were asking if I knew anything about Harry's
whereabouts…"

The reactions were subtle but interesting to observe, Susan's eyes

flicked to her aunt's, before she returned pointedly to her meal, and
Tonks' boss set down her utensils again, her movements a bit stiff.

Tonks carried on as if she hadn't noticed. "I told them I didn't know
anything, then told them to get lost. They must have known that the
only way I'd know anything would be through you ma'am-"

Amelia smiled thinly and shook her head. "Ah, so it's spying they
want then?"

The younger adult nodded quickly. "That's the way I read it too
ma'am. I told them to beat it and mentioned I'd be reporting it, so
here I am…"

The Director considered her for a time, her hands clasped before
her, eventually she nodded, her smile becoming a touch warmer.
"Thank you Tonks, I appreciate your honesty. Truly I do, I know
nothing about this situation could have been easy. Leaving the Order
then coming to me?

"The Order, if it's anything like it was back in the day, is likely made
up of good people. People who were and are probably your friends.
I'm sorry they've put you in a tough situation," the Director said
sympathetically.

Tonks smiled a bit wanly. "I've made my choice ma'am. Being an

Auror and serving the people is what I always wanted. I thought I
was helping when I was with them…"
Amelia surprised her by waving that off with a mild smile. "You were
doing what no one else dared to in a time when it was badly needed,
but things changed." She paused, contemplating the younger
woman. "You've been doing good work Tonks, especially since you
left the Order. And I want you to know something, something which
I'll deny should anyone ask-" She paused here to grin knowingly at
Tonks. "But I'm telling you now, you are one of my best agents. You
are thoughtful and idealistic, something which is in very short supply
these days. Keep on like you have been, and one day I could see
you sitting behind this desk."

Tonks couldn't help but feel a bit happier in response to the praise. It
wasn't often Tonks got to feel proud of herself. "Thank you ma'am,
that means a lot coming from you."

The answering smile was soft and understanding. "I'm just telling the
truth Auror." The Director leaned back in her chair looking her over
before nodding her head in satisfaction. "You know Harry too don't
you?"

Tonks wobbled her head noncommittally. "I-little bit ma'am. We've

met a few times now. Nice enough kid from what I've seen, smart
enough as well."

Amelia nodded agreement, "Yes, he is. I imagine you are also

among those concerned for his wellbeing?"

Tonks nodded, but held up a hand in her defence. "Of course ma'am,
but I understand that you-"

The Director cut across her. "I'll tell you this then, if nothing else.
Harry is currently beyond the reach of the Order and the Death
Eaters both. Even I am unaware of their current location. He is, last I
spoke with him at least, happy, healthy and has a reasonable plan
for his life. Nor is he alone. He is fine."

Tonks' smile widened somewhat at that. "Thank you ma'am, it is a

weight off my mind." She paused, sobering slightly. "Ma'am I hate to
ask, as it might come across sounding a little… bitter, but was Harry
the one who told you about me and the Order?"

Amelia considered her seriously for a time, Susan giving her aunt a
questioning look. Finally the Director nodded stoically. "Yes, and I
imagine you are wondering why he would tell me such a thing?"

Tonks shifted uncomfortably, brushing her hand through her hair,

failing to notice it had shifted in tone slightly. "Yes ma'am I do."

Madam Bones smiled thinly. "I can only tell you what I observed. Not
what was actually in his mind at the time. I will tell you that Harry
didn't come here intending to tell me. I noticed he got exceedingly
uncomfortable when I noted many Aurors would likely be in the
Order." She shrugged. "I pressured him, I admit. I explained my
concerns on the issue, and he compromised with me. He told me,
yes, but it was on a couple conditions. First he only agreed to tell me
the names of the Aurors in the Order, no one else. Second, he
ensured that only me and Susan would know who these people are
and that there would be no lists or records. Just whatever was
floating around our heads."

She looked at Tonks intently. "And finally, he made one request. That
we use our connections with Gringotts to ward the Granger
residence as he put it, 'Six ways to sunday'. He felt badly telling me
what he did, but I left him little choice and allowed him a chance to
protect someone he worries about."

Tonks nodded sagely, if there was one thing that would sway Harry
Potter it was the question of his friends safety. Hermione would be at
the very top of that list. All in all, considering his conditions and what
reasons he'd supplied to the Director it was hard to fault his logic.
She decided she could accept that. "Thank you ma'am, I had
wondered…" She paused and cocked her head considering. "If I
may ma'am, how are you and Susan holding up?"

Amelia sighed tiredly. "Well enough I suppose. It is undoubtedly a

blow that our home was so badly damaged. We have had to live
here since the attack as the wards on the apartment are shattered
and those on the Ossuary are far out of date. But… neither of us are
injured and that's what is important. We, wouldn't have known or
reacted in time if not for Harry."

Tonks, couldn't help her curiosity. "Can-sorry, can you tell me about it
ma'am? I mean, I swear I won't spread it around."

The Director accepted that. "He came to me for help, he had…

concerns about Dumbledore, concerns which I will not share at this
time. Regardless, he was hopeful that I could help him, it was while
he was with me that the wards reacted to intruders. And-he sensed
You-Know-Who."

Tonks nodded hurriedly understanding what Madam Bones meant,

she explained. "I know that he can sense him. Though Dumbledore
always played the why of it close to the vest."

Amelia nodded comprehension. "He also helped me gain Emmeline

Vance's help, he knew she was outside. He then stayed and fought,
despite my urgings to leave if things got too hot."

Susan spoke up then, surprising both of the adults. "I was captured
by the Death Eaters. It was Harry who got me free and helped me
fight. Then he tried to distract You-Know-Who to buy Aunty time."

The Director nodded. "It's likely that he saved my life at least once, if
not more…"

Tonks sighed slightly chagrined. "He was there wasn't he ma'am,

when I arrived I mean?"

Amelia tilted her head confirming her guess. "Yes, he was, but he
was gone soon after."

Tonks felt guilty. "I'm sorry ma'am, that I ever gave you cause to
doubt me."
The other woman shrugged. "As I said Auror, you were doing what
you believed was right at the time. And, now that things have
changed you are trying to do so again by coming back into the fold.
Now, Tonks, why don't you go home and get some rest? You still
have a shift tomorrow don't you?"

Tonks nodded, shifting back a step. "Yes ma'am. One thing before I
go? If-If I can help in all of this, will you let me know?"

Amelia cocked her head considering. "You mean with Harry? I'll
consider it," she agreed eventually. "But I would not compromise his
situation without his permission, and he'd need to get in contact with
me before I could get that…"

The younger woman nodded. "Of course ma'am. Again sorry for
disturbing your supper. Have a good evening you two." And with that
she turned to leave. There was a bed beckoning back at home, and
it had her name all over it.

The little bell over the door for the Polar Bear Tours office tinkled
merrily as a young couple stepped through the door, causing Kate
Bevans to look up from her computer where she was working on
some paperwork.

Kate smiled slightly at the somewhat shell-shocked look of tourists

who were experiencing real cold for the first time. It was a dead give
away to someone who'd seen it enough. She brushed a lock of black
hair out of her face and smiled more fully as the couple's eyes fell on
her.

"Hello, are you here for a tour?" she asked as was expected, then
frowned slightly. "I'm sorry but you just missed the most recent one,
they set out about twenty minutes ago…"

The boy, who looked to be about her own age smiled ruefully at his
companion who was busily stamping her feet and blowing on her
hands trying to warm up. "Sorry we're not, we're here looking for
someone actually. Besides we've both seen already polar bears
digging through the trash by the hotel. That was more than close
enough for us…"

She laughed in understanding, sometimes you got people like these,

foreigners obviously, considering his accent, coming up here for
work or a school trip, but who weren't so keen to get close to the
world's largest land predator, even if in an armoured vehicle at the
time. "Oh, well can you give me a name, if they work here I'll page
them for you?" She offered.

"Jeff Heinz?" he offered after squinting while he called up the

memory.

She smiled thinking of her slightly tubby, but amiable day shift
manager. "Ah of course. Just a moment!" She turned her head
leaning back to peer down the hall into the offices. "Jeff!" She smiled
when he stuck his head out the door of his office and raised an
inquisitive brow. Something about that expression always struck her
like watching a gopher popping its head up out of a hole. She
motioned him over.

The couple across the counter took Jeff's bulk with relative
equanimity, briefly shooting each other an indecipherable look before
turning back to them as Jeff came to a stop beside her. "Hello, can I
help you?" He asked.

"Um, hi. I'm Harry, and this is Hermione, we uh… We were told you
might be able to help us find someone we're looking for." Harry
explained. Kate thought to herself that the girl's name was
interesting if a little odd, and she wondered why her parents had
chosen it.

"Oh really, who are you lookin' for then?" Jeff asked tilting his head
slightly looking down at them.

Harry appeared sheepish. "We don't know that precisely, just that
they worked on a vehicle you should recognize, a Cadillac escalade
with…"

She had to stifle a snort, what were the chances? Jeff apparently
thought it was amusing too. "An obnoxious pink dragon painted on
the side of it, yes. I remember it. Kate I think you might be the one to
help these two don't you?" Jeff stated looking at her, amusement
sparking in his eyes.

She nodded easily enough, there was after all only one person in
town who had worked on that monstrosity. "So you're looking for
Rose?" She asked the pair across from her as Jeff turned and
trundled off again.

"Rose?" Hermione asked, speaking for the first time.

"Yeah, that'd be my mom, she runs a mechanics shop outside of

town. No idea why in the heck she decided to build it all the way out
there. Get's work now and then from the locals, some industrial stuff
too. But every once in awhile something weird comes in on one of
the ships and she'll fix that up too…" She had to stifle her
amusement at that. Weird would be an understatement for the stuff
her mom had to work on sometimes.

The girl across from her tilted her head looking at her speculatively,
her eyes flicking to her… boyfriend? It was really hard to tell just
what these two's relationship was, their body language was all
jumbled to her eyes. "This mechanic's shop, would it happen to be
about three kilometres north of town? Maybe has a… what did the
bank note call it? A log cabin?" Hermione asked her friend, who just
nodded agreeably.

Kate nodded, even more curious now. "That's the place, bit of a
compound actually the way mom has it set up. She works out of the
warehouses, we mostly live in the office building attached to the
workshop. The lot has a log cabin near the back I believe, which was
there when she built everything…" She snorted. "I'd have told her
she should rent it out, but I don't know anybody who would want a
place way out there except her. You looking to speak with her about
something?" She asked plainly.

Harry nodded. "Er-yeah actually."

She considered, the pair across from her didn't look like a pair of
psychos, and had been pleasant enough all things considered. "Well
then, that might work out fine. I'm actually headed back home with
the groceries as soon as my shift's done. If you want I could give you
a lift?"

Harry sagged in relief. "That'd be really appreciated actually, we

didn't get a car… when does your shift end?"

"Actually in just about half an hour, if you want to wait around…" she
offered.

"Would you mind picking us up from that hotel on main street? We've
got a couple pets with us we should really feed before we head out
there…" Hermione asked sounding apologetic.

"That won't be a problem," she assured them.

"Uh-sorry but I meant to ask, what is your name?" Hermione asked.

She slapped her forehead lightly chastising herself for being rude.
"Oh, right sorry. I'm Kate! Kate Bevans. My mom is Rose Bevans."

Harry smiled and offered his hand. "Well it's very nice to meet you
Kate, we'll see you soon then." Neither of them noticed the worried
expression on Hermione's face as they parted.

Luna, sighed gustily as she lay back on her bed spread, tossing the
letter from Susan to the side before rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.
She had been very busy the last couple days, constantly sending
and receiving messages with Harry's friends and acquaintances.
Unfortunately, most of their responses were dishearteningly short of
details that Luna was as yet unaware of. Ronald had barely noted
his best friend's absence, giving the written equivalent of a shrug.
He'd also referred to her as Loony in his letter. She'd burned that
one, after tearing it into pieces in frustration.

Only her letter to Susan had received any information she had not
already known. Luna had been very, very delicate in her proddings
for information, hiding behind her Loony persona so as not to alarm
her best lead. Especially as she was virtually certain that Susan had
been asked not to divulge any information she may have had about
Harry's whereabouts.

Still, while apologizing for not being able to tell her much, she had as
a result of not wanting Harry's friends to worry overmuch
unintentionally let slip more than she had realized.

She had mentioned that yes Harry had indeed met with them, but
that they were sworn not to speak of it without his permission.
However she had also mentioned that Luna was not alone in
expressing concern for Harry's well-being.

Auror Nymphadora Tonks, not that Susan had gotten so specific as

to actually use the woman's, apparently dreaded, first name. The
Auror was someone Luna had heard mentioned in passing in the
past, she was if she remembered correctly, Sirius' favourite cousin
and was one of Harry's few relatives, albeit very distant on that
scale.

Now, this information wasn't much to someone who wasn't used to

puzzling away with the scantest of evidence in search of clues. One
of the more useful side effects of working for the Quibbler.

However, to her, it was just the information she needed. Why?

Because it told her a number of things. First that Harry in fact had
family beyond the muggles he had grudgingly cohabited with.
Second and more significantly was this person's connection to Sirius
Black, Harry's now late Godfather.
Sirius Black, by all accounts had hated his relatives with a passion,
something she could not really blame him for considering what most
of them were like. As such, any will he was therefore likely to write
would almost certainly go to great lengths to deny them any
inheritance upon his death.

His godson, and his favourite cousin would doubtless receive

something in such proceedings.

Luna for her part, had never had the opportunity to actually meet and
speak with Sirius Black, so she could not predict for certain just what
he was leaving Harry or Tonks. She could however extrapolate a
couple of likely outcomes.

First, was that Sirius Black could name Tonks as his heir, an
uncommon practice considering she was female, but still possible
under current wizarding law. Why? Because the law and its writers
were aware of the infighting which regularly occurred within
pureblood families, and were well acquainted with the notion of
spiting one's relatives out of their inheritance. If Sirius had named
Tonks as such, there was a reasonable chance that she would inherit
the title of Godmother to Harry.

The second possibility was that he would name Harry as his heir,
which was certainly more plausible in terms of inheritance rights. The
likely backwash would be that he would likely see to reinstating
Tonks and her family as members of the Blacks.

Either course would likely put Tonks on a path which would, at some
point in the hopefully near future, lead to Harry. Thus, her best lead
now, was one Nymphadora Tonks.

The question therefore was how to best approach the woman, and
how to ensure that she did indeed try to make contact with Harry?

Voldemort, Dark Lord of Great Britain sat in the chair at Malfoy

Manor which had become his de facto throne. He considered it a
great irony, that even during his greatest and deepest state of denial
that idiot Fudge had actually been in the same building as him on
numerous occasions while courting the favour of the Malfoys, all the
while unaware of who was just upstairs.

Sadly that time had passed with Lucius being incarcerated at

Azkaban, the enchantments guarding this place from the Ministry's
attention had doubled with his imprisonment. It was thanks to that
and a small number of favours called in to the right people that
resulted in Malfoy manor remaining a Death Eater stronghold.
Though that wouldn't last much longer should Amelia Bones be
elected to the Minister's seat.

He tapped his fingers irritably on the armrest of the chair as he

considered this and the man struggling to his feet in front of him. "I
really am most displeased Severus," he stated simply.

"Yes… my lord," The man wheezed slightly, the after effects of

cruciatus.

Voldemort fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You see, a boy of such-
limited talents-as you are so careful to remind me, should not be
able to disappear without a trace as he has. Would you care to
explain this to me?"

Snape blanched as something twinged in his side. "I know only a

little my lord." He waited for the Dark Lord to wave him to continue. "I
know he has vanished, I know not even Dumbledore has been able
to find him. I know that the last person he was seen by aside from
yourself was Madam Bones. We must, on the basis of this assume
that it was she who aided him in disappearing."

Voldemort considered this then conceded the point. "You may very
well be right. However while Amelia Bones hides in the heart of the
Ministry she is mostly beyond our reach… Very well, do we know
why the boy has disappeared?" He paused and Snape opened his
mouth to respond but the Dark Lord cut across him speculating on
his own. "Perhaps he has finally come to understand he is no match
for us?"

Snape was most certainly not inclined to argue in his current

condition. "I am, uncertain my Lord. It was stated by Amelia Bones to
the Headmaster that he had done it to get out from under his
thumb…"

Voldemort leaned forward slightly intrigued. "Indeed? Curious… I

had assumed the boy to be utterly enthralled by the old fool."

"As had I my lord," Snape agreed.

Voldemort paused before waving his hand airily. "Very well, the boy
is of little consequence while he flees or hides. However we shall
remain watchful, and we shall prepare for the next phase of our
plans."

Snape seemed to fight a mental battle with himself before cursing

himself and addressing his Lord once more. "If I may my Lord, just
what are our plans? I merely wonder what part I will be to play in
them…"

Voldemort chuckled, a not at all comforting sound. "Your part is the

same as ever Severus, infiltration and subversion. As for our plans,
you shall see soon enough. Everyone, will see soon enough."

Kate fiddled with the thermostat on her dash as she pulled up in front
of the hotel. Strictly speaking, there were several small "Inns" around
town-mostly bed and breakfast type arrangements-catering to the
town's disproportionate number of tourists and ecological visitors.
But there was really only one on main street. Sure enough as her
battered old Toyota 4runner crunched to a stop in the snow out front
of the building she saw Harry and Hermione standing on the curb
waiting.
What she also saw was the Snowy Owl on the railing above them
watching them all curiously, and she snickered to herself. She
unlocked the door and motioned for them to get in. She watched
both closely as they climbed in, spotting what she was looking for
when Harry helped Hermione up into the back seat.

"So…" she said as they started off down the road again. "I don't
know how else to say this so I'll just come out and say it. I noticed
your wand Harry, you two are Magicals then?" she asked eagerly.
She'd only ever met one or two others like her before these two, not
counting her mom that was. Mostly it was old lady Winter, a slightly
ironic nickname for the elderly Inuit medicine woman whose name
nobody except other Inuit could really pronounce.

Harry and Hermione blinked at her owlishly for a moment. "Come

on," she chided. "As I said I saw the wand sticking out of your pocket
Harry, and besides the Owl on the porch and the cat in the window
watching you kinda gave me a clue too. Add to that the fact that
you're looking for mom and it's a reasonable guess."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, we are, though we'd appreciate it if you don't

mention that to anybody else you meet."

She cocked her head curiously looking at him in the mirror. "Oh?
Running away from something? Don't worry about it, ain't none of my
business," she assured him.

"Er-Not to interrupt but, uh… how old are you Kate?" Hermione
asked.

She glanced at the brunette, "Just turned Fifteen, why?" Returning

her eyes to the road as they exited town, she missed the frown
which crossed the other girl's face.

"You're allowed to drive that young around here?" Hermione asked

skeptically.
"Well… strictly speaking, no," Kate agreed. "But the local police
know me and mom well enough, and actually did some of the testing
for my learners, so… as long as I only drive around town and back
home, they don't seem to mind."

Hermione nodded her understanding. Harry looked to her curiously,

he'd cottoned on to the fact that something was bothering his friend,
she just shook her head. Not now .

They rounded a short bend and the complex came into sight. It
looked basically like any other warehouse complex in any big city
around the world, a pair of large, sloped-roofed buildings with
attached offices surrounded by plenty of open space and a big chain
link fence. What Kate knew, that most others didn't, was that the
fence was enhanced with durability runes and charged with enough
electricity to send a polar bear running should he get any ideas.

She spotted the lights coming from the windows of the nearest
warehouse and chuckled. "Well it looks like you're in luck, mom's
working in the workshop right now. If you don't mind helping me with
bringing in these groceries I can go get her after everything's inside.
She's probably just about finished up with her current project by now
anyway." She paused and considered the two teenagers unable to
shake the feeling that the boy looked extremely familiar. "Hey what
are your last names by the way? I hope you don't mind me asking."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other hesitantly, "You uh… not
a word to anyone else right?" Harry ventured.

She smiled, finding his hesitance was amusing. "Cross my heart,"

she joked miming just that.

He chuckled weakly and gestured to Hermione. "This is Hermione

Granger, and my name's Harry Potter."

Kate blinked at him for a moment, a thousand thoughts screaming

through her head, and settled back on her heels, cocking her head at
him seriously as she memorized his face. "Wow. You know we've
heard about some of your 'adventures' even across the pond over
here. Well I have. Mom was never too interested. She's not a big fan
of Britain. Harry Potter eh? Must be why you look familiar… I guess
I've seen your face in some papers or something," she ventured
timidly.

"Oh, just the papers?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Well unless you've been here before, I can't see when else we'd
have met. You two are like the third and fourth magicals I've talked
to. We don't get out much. So… groceries?" she asked pointing to
the bags in the back. "It's just right through that door, just put them
on the front table…"

Harry nodded easily enough, Hermione stared at her a minute longer

before nodding. "Sure, the sooner we get these inside the sooner
can meet… Rose," Hermione said looking even more worried than
before.

"Great, thanks," Kate nodded plastering a huge smile on her face. "I
can't wait to hear what brought Harry Potter to our door."

Amelia was frustrated, this was often the case after a conversation
with Minister Fudge. The man was an utterly ineffectual leader,
which unfortunately made him highly pliable and easy to manipulate
by those who dealt in such things.

She'd just spent a good half hour being harangued by the man as he
attempted to force her to divulge any information she had on the
whereabouts of Harry Potter. While she was certain he was doing so
for his own ridiculous purposes his efforts had Dumbledore's
wrinkled fingerprints all over them. A pretty blatant attempt to
circumvent her protection of the boy.

She had of course refused, much to the Minister's combined horror

and consternation. She'd then been forced to pull out every law she
could think of protecting confidential informants and such to stop
him.

He'd then changed directions, trying to get her to begin hunts for
"rogue vigilantes" undoubtedly playing for favours from the opposite
side of the field.

When she'd again refused him, he'd thrown the political equivalent of
a temper tantrum, she'd been required to challenge him to find
enough supporters in the Wizengamot to force her compliance.

He, just like she, had known full well he likely couldn't drum up the
kind of support he needed if it was required to save his life if he were
on fire, and the committee needed to decide whether or not to pour
water on his flaming arse.

Despite managing to put off the man in both cases, Amelia Bones
headed to bed with a nasty headache and a burning desire to
castrate a certain nosy old man.

The last of the groceries were deposited onto the counter with an
oomph. Kate smiled at her guests and clapped her hands together.
"Thanks again. Do you two want to wait here while I go and grab my
mom?"

Hermione and Harry nodded and moved to sit on the stools near the
kitchen's island. Kate headed out the service door and into the
primary maintenance bay where her mom did most of her work.
Hurriedly closing it behind her so as not to let out all the warm air
provided by the enormous space heaters affixed to the ceiling.

She was a little nervous, after all not only was one magical celebrity
in her kitchen but he also happened to be someone she really
admired. And he was very clearly British. Even after 15 years, her
mother was still prickly when it came to Brits. Kate knew her father
and baby brother had died there before she was even born, but
sometimes she hated how her mother could get so annoyed with the
entire country for the actions of a few terrorists. Granted the
terrorists seemed to be making a comeback… but it still seemed a
bit out of character for Rose Bevans. Kate hoped she wouldn't be too
hard on their guests.

Her mother was as ever clad in her working outfit. A pair of coveralls
rolled down and tied off at her waist, a dirty T-shirt overtop and a
bandana keeping her hair out of her eyes while she worked in the
guts of some poor schlub's battered 4x4. Currently she was below
that 4x4, standing in the depression in the floor with the vehicle
jacked up on the platform allowing her to reach its underbelly. Music
was pumping from an old boom box that her mother had fixed up
and sitting on the cement a few feet away.

Kate crossed the 'workshop' floor and turned down the music
causing her mother to jump in surprise before extracting herself
somewhat from the machine's guts. Rose took in her daughter's
expression and rolled her eyes. "Alright, what's his name?"

Kate's brow furrowed before smoothing as she figured out what her
mother was saying. She couldn't help but smile a bit. "Very funny,
Mom. Though there is actually a guy, and he's actually what I have to
talk to you about. It's not like that. Er… Definitely not like that. In fact
he already seems a little bit taken."

Rose considered her before completely extracting her arms from

around the axle. "Alright, hit me," she said as she took a seat on the
edge of the depression.

"Right, so here's the deal, I met this guy and a girl from out of town.
And something about them seemed kinda odd," Kate explained. Her
mother hummed understanding and gestured for her to continue.
"Well it turns out that they're looking for whoever worked on that
hideous escalade which came through last spring. Naturally, I knew
that was you and offered to show them to you. But talking with them
and spotting a couple things while I was driving over, I noticed some
more odd stuff. What clinched it for me was seeing the wand the guy
had on him."
Rose's eyebrows rose. "A wizard? Not too many magicals come up
to this area."

Kate shrugged. "Well like I said, they were tracking down whoever
fixed up the escalade. That's not really the important bit anyway…"

"Alright, hun, stop beating around the bush," Rose sighed. "What's
going on?"

Kate cringed a bit. "Well, I kinda recognize the guy… he's um… he's
Harry Potter."

Rose frowned. "Oh." She leaned back against her workbench. "So
you're worried that I'm going to bite a teenager and his friend's head
off just because he had the misfortune of being born in a country I
despise?"

"Pretty much yeah." Kate looked up and clasped her hands in prayer.
"Please be nice, Mom! Both of them are really nice! You totally
wouldn't even realize he was a celebrity! Please be nice!"

"Wow, I must have gotten really bad if you think I'd be mean just
because of that," Rose said shaking her head and grinning ruefully.
"Come on, let's go see these two and find out why they're so
interested in that horrible looking car."

Author's Note: So that happened! As ever, where would I be without

my Betas? Temporal Knight and Bearmauls.

OLD Pseudo AN's: Temporal Knight here. This chapter has

undergone some large changes from the original plan but we think
it's turned out much better overall. The story behind Kate and Rose
Bevans will be revealed as things move along. What could've
possibly happened in her past to make her so despise the UK and
everything related to it? And just what does Hermione suspect?
Granted, people will probably be guessing the answers to these long
before the next chapter is out, but hey, a bit of mystery is fun right!
Recommendation(s): Let's see, we've got… Sympathetic
Properties by Mr Norrell, a take on what would happen if Harry were
a little less of a jerk to Dobby from the get go. And Heart and Soul by
Sillimaure. A take on a Harry/Hermione/Fleur story which is quite
good.
Chapter 9
Author's Note: I'm still doing edits. No MAJOR changes this
chapter. Just imagine me sitting/laying here and banging on my
keyboard while listening to heavy metal while head banging.

Reviews: As ever reviews are greatly appreciated, though flames

are not.

Amelia just about jumped out of her skin at the hard thumping
someone was giving her office door. She cast her eyes down to the
day planner which had been affixed to her desk, mostly in the hopes
of figuring out just who she was scheduled to meet who was
apparently so unhappy with her.

The planner was enchanted such that anything written by her or her
secretary would automatically show up on both copies of the
schedule. Apparently, her secretary was as alarmed by the visitors
as her seeing as big red letters were scrawled across the planner
writing the words THE DWARVES ARE HERE AND THEY ARE NOT
HAPPY!

She couldn't help but pale slightly at that. They had indeed been
expecting a response from the Dwarves for some time; it appeared
that response had finally arrived. She cleared her throat and called
out, "Yes, come in please?" then stood to greet them as the door
swung open a little harder than was strictly speaking necessary.

Three Dwarves, as that was definitely who these beings were,

marched into the room. All three wearing the sort of armour which
was all but ubiquitous to their people, though that of the one in front
was clearly more ceremonial in nature. She didn't let that fool her
though.
Dwarven armour was tough, easily capable of shrugging off all but
the most intense curses entirely due to the extensive enchantments
Dwarves worked into their creations. And she also knew that, despite
its weight, the armour likely wouldn't slow those wearing it a jot.

She offered a slight smile, and bowed slightly at the waist, "Ah
greetings, you must be the representative from Clan Rakhor?"

The lead dwarf, the only one of the three not wearing a helmet was a
surly faced individual with pale, tattooed skin, with deep black hair
and beard. His grey eyes surveyed her sternly before he offered a
somewhat stiff bow in return. "Madam, Amelia Susan Bones,
Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for Great
Britain's Land Above." He greeted formally, his accent suggesting he
didn't speak anything other than Dwarva on regular basis. "I am
given to understand that you have in your custody a member of Clan
Rakhor. It is the demand of my clan chief that she be released
immediately or else efforts shall be made to enact sanctions by the
Dwarven Kingdom."

She managed to avoid blanching at that. Though the Dwarves were

largely isolated from the "Land Above" as they called it, they did
trade in two very critical resources: Gold, in quantities great enough
to rival what the goblins provided, and gems. Specifically the kind of
gems used in a number of enchanting and rune crafting rituals.
Gems which only came from a handful of deep vein lodes far, far
below the surface. The Goblins preferred remaining closer to the
surface for trade reasons and thus only had access to a single
relatively small lode of these gems. Losing even a portion of either
the Gold or the Gems from the Dwarves could easily cripple their
economy and enchanting industry.

"Of course, may I say though that your clanswoman is not in fact
being imprisoned-not by us at least." He raised a brow at her, though
he remained silent allowing her to explain. "We recovered her from a
raid site and brought her here for treatment by our medics."
The Dwarves glare didn't abate much at that, "If she is injured, then
why was she not treated by your healers at Saint Mungos?"

She could understand his concern. "Her injuries seem limited to

malnutrition, however as you likely know there is an unfortunate…
bias, amongst some against non-humans. We brought her here as I
did not wish to take the risk of her being denied or given
unsatisfactory care."

The Dwarf glowered at her unconvinced for a time before nodding

sharply. "If she confirms what you claim, then perhaps we might
approach these matters differently. However I must insist on seeing
her immediately."

She nodded and stepped out from behind her desk. "Of course, if
you will follow me?" She then led the way out of the room and down
through the departments offices to the med-bay on the main floor.

Currently there were only two patients in the room in question. The
first, an Auror who had received minor injuries after a scuffle with a
criminal in Diagon Alley. The second of course was the Dwarven
clanswoman. She turned at the opening of the door and noticeably
brightened when she saw who had accompanied the director.

She hopped down off the examination table and hurried over to the
delegate, where she paused, bowing slightly with a smile before
thumping a fist to her chest. Then came the surprise, when she
closed the distance and hugged him. Amelia was surprised at the
tears in both Dwarves eyes. Their people were typically a very stoic
and reserved race.

The pair eventually parted slightly, the delegate holding the

clanswoman at arms length, and then proceeded to speak with her
for a time in the gravelly language of their people. She spoke back
and they appeared to be comparing notes, though Amelia couldn't
say for certain, she didn't speak Dwarva herself.
Eventually the delegate turned to her and nodded in satisfaction.
"Apologies Madam Bones. It was not an intended deception,
however you should know that the clanswoman you rescued is my
daughter. She went missing some months ago, and we have dearly
missed her."

She nodded amiably, she could just imagine how she'd feel if that
happened to Susan. "I understand."

"May I ask the exact circumstances which led to you finding my

daughter?" he asked curiously.

"Of course. We had been given reliable intel that House Carrow had
orchestrated an attack against myself. Upon raiding their estate, it
was found that they had a fortified room in their basement. We
opened the room and found your daughter among the many held
prisoners there," she explained easily. "It appears that the Carrows
have made a business of the illegal trade in sentient flesh."

His eyes flashed darkly. "And this was what these beasts had
intended for my daughter?"

"It would appear so…"

His expression continued to darken, before he growled something

clearly vitriolic in his native tongue. "I thank you, Madam Bones, for
ensuring that we were made aware of our clanswoman's plight.
However I'm afraid that the situation requires that I must bear ill
tidings in return." He growled, turning to face her more fully. "For
their actions, actual and intended against Clan Rakhor, and by
extension against the Dwarven Kingdom, these… Carrows are now
subject of a Dwarven… well, the word does not translate easily into
your language, but the closest words would be 'honourable grudge
or feud', he admitted. "As such they are declared anathema, and we
are required to demand satisfaction for their crimes against us."

Seeing her alarmed expression he continued. "Should the wizarding

world sufficiently handle the issue, we shall look no further. However,
should they fail to do so, Rakhor and by extension the Dwarven
Kingdom will be forced to extend this… feud, to include the
Wizarding World as a whole. The kidnapping, imprisonment and
trade of a Dwarven noble clanswoman, or indeed any Dwarf is utterly
unacceptable, and shows a distinct disregard by your world for those
who dwell Below." He huffed a sigh, and gestured dismissively to
her. "I have delivered my warning. Do with it what you will… Now, I
must ask that you allow myself and my daughter to depart
unhindered."

Amelia blinked in shock in the aftermath of that ultimatum. "O-of

course, just follow me. I'll make sure your departure goes smoothly."

She led the way out through the building but stopped when they
arrived at the doors. "If I might ask representative, just what might
the Dwarven Kingdom consider a fitting punishment for the
Carrows?" She needed to know so that they did not fail to meet the
requirements of ultimatum.

He stopped briefly to consider her on his way out the door. "Death,
the punishment for such crimes is death."

Amelia sagged as the door closed behind him, it was going to be a

long night. She needed to inform the Minister of this as soon as
possible. It was then that a device hooked to her belt decided to start
beeping and alarm, and she cursed under her breath. A long night
which was looking like it might get even longer.

Hermione laid a hand on Harry's shoulder as he set down the bags

he'd been carrying on the counter. It was actually a somewhat novel
experience. As much as the Dursleys enjoyed making him do the
hard manual labour they neither took him shopping for groceries nor
did they allow him near their food except to cook it. Apparently afraid
he might steal it from them.

"Harry, we have to talk, now, before this goes any further," Hermione
explained urgently.
His attention diverted by her tone his eyes flicked to her in concern.
Something had clearly been worrying his friend for a while. "Alright,
what is it? Do you think we're in danger here?"

She shook her head uncertainly. "I-No, I suspect not, but I feel that
you should be prepared to be surprised. If Rose is who I think she
is…" she ventured unevenly.

He looked at her, concerned by the hitch in her voice. "And who do

you think she is?"

Hermione hesitated, "I'm afraid to say honestly. Will-Will you just

trust me, and not freak when she shows up?"

Her friend looked her over seriously. "Am I going to be happy or

upset upon meeting this person?"

She shrugged helplessly. "If I were to guess… assuming I'm right, a

little of both, with a bit of confusion thrown in too?"

He sighed tiredly, it was not normal for Hermione to be this

circumspect about things which were clearly important. But if there
was one truth in his life it was this. "I trust you, Mione, I just hope you
know what's going on, because, right now? I'm confused as hell," he
muttered.

She offered an uneasy grin. "I know, and I'm sorry Harry. But if I'm
right…"

Whatever she had been planning to say was cut off when the door at
the far end of the room opened, causing them to turn and look. Kate
stepped through talking idly with a woman trailing along in her
shadow.

Harry's eyes widened in recognition and he didn't hear a thing the

Canadian girl said. His breath caught in his throat staring at the
woman who was supposed to be dead.
Rose Bevans finished washing off the grease from working on the
truck, before she followed behind her daughter as they headed back
to the office space and the kitchen within. "So… did your favourite
celebrity explain why he was travelling halfway around the world by
any chance?"

Kate shrugged. "Hadn't gotten that far actually. I only really got his
last name just before coming to grab you. He's super nice, mom. I
think he and his friend are running from something though, because
they asked I keep it all on the down low."

Rose nodded appreciatively. "Smart thing getting out of Britain I say.

That country was going downhill fast back when I was there, and
nothing I've heard since has made it sound like that has changed."

"Mom!" Kate groaned rolling her eyes wearily.

"I know, I know," Rose chuckled in amusement as she ruffled her

daughter's hair. "I harp on about it. It's just really discouraging. Those
arseholes killed your father and brother, and they're still walking
around free to wreck other families too. If these two kids have the
good sense to leave that life of fear behind, I'm all for helping them
run, honey."

Kate nodded and pushed open the door back into the kitchen proper
and led the way over to their guests. "Hey you two, I'm back, and I
got my mom! Mom, this is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
Harry, Hermione, this is Rose Bevans." Kate stepped aside and
swept out her arms to include both the teens and her mother in the
gesture. It took her a moment to realize that Harry had gone
completely still and Hermione was just nodding with an expression
torn somewhere between disbelief, astonishment and satisfaction.

"Mum?" Harry whispered blinking.

"What?" Kate asked, cocking her head in confusion. She looked from
Harry to Rose and her mouth popped open in surprise..
Rose, was staring at Harry one hand stopped, gripping the door jam
tightly and the other clutching her chest over her heart. Her face was
frozen into an expression of complete shock. Her eyes had widened
and her breathing rapidly picked up to the point of hyperventilation.

"Mom?" Kate asked stepping forwards and reaching out tentatively,

worried at the sudden change in her mother "Are you alright?"

Rose's hands started violently shaking, with the jerking shudders

quickly spreading across the elder woman's entire body. Then, much
to the shock and horror of her daughter and the two other teens,
Rose screamed bringing her shaking hands to her head, doubling
over still shuddering violently all over.

"Mom!" Kate cried out in shock rushing to her mother's side.

Behind her, unheard as she focused on her ailing parent, Harry

shouted, "Mum!" hurrying over to Rose and Kate, Hermione following
close behind him clearly startled by the turn of events.

"Mom, what's wrong?! Mom!" Kate yelped frantically, only to give a

start when Rose abruptly stopped screaming and collapsed
bonelessly onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Her mother
gave a few further violent twitches and her eyes continued to move,
darting back and forth unseeing, but she otherwise had fallen
completely still.

"Kate," Hermione said her voice unnervingly calm while still

maintaining a strange urgency about it. "Something is very wrong
here. Is there another adult magical in the area? Or a magical
hospital nearby?"

Kate shook her head trying to fight off tears and panic. "N-no, no
hospital. The closest proper hospital is in Ottawa, but I can't
Apparate yet and we don't even have a Floo!" She sucked in a deep
breath as an idea popped into her head when she considered the
rest of Hermione's question. "Winter! Old Lady Winter is nearby!
She's about a ten minute drive further outside of town… !"
"Then let's get her to Winter." Hermione reached out and clasped
Harry's shoulder, squeezing it gently. Until now he had been
completely silent, kneeling and just staring down at the woman
beneath him with an odd sheen in his eyes. "Harry, I need you to
help me get… Rose to the truck. Okay? Can you levitate her to the
truck-Harry?"

He gave a jerk, "Hm-What?" Harry asked startled, blinked up at her

seeming to focus on Hermione's voice as Kate grabbed her keys and
slipped on her coat.

"The truck, Harry. I need you to levitate Rose to the truck."

"Rose? But she's-"

Hermione shook her head emphatically. "Harry, we don't know with

absolute certainty exactly who she is, Harry. I have a good idea of
what is happening but we need to get her to help first. Okay, come
on Harry I need you focused."

He blinked hurriedly rapidly regaining control of himself. "Right. Um-

Okay. Truck. Got it, right." Harry swept to his feet and pulled out his
wand.

"Kate, grab a jacket for your mother," Hermione said, turning her
attention to the other girl. "Are you okay to drive or do you need me
to?"

"I thought you said you didn't know how," Kate said her hands
shaking slightly.

Hermione nodded agreeably. "I know the principles behind driving

and I have done so before with my parents. Just like you, I don't
have my license and I am used to driving on the other side of the
road, but if you are uncomfortable driving at this time it would likely
be safer for us if I did."
Kate considered that for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I'm
okay. You might freak out if we hit the snow anyway, and we really
need to go fast." She pushed out the front door and held it for the
other two and her mother. Hermione draped the coat Kate held out
over Rose as the woman floated and between the three of them, and
before long her mother was draped across the backseat of the SUV.
Kate climbed into the driver's seat and Harry got in the passenger
side while Hermione climbed in the back with the prone woman; an
uncomfortable fit, but it would do. Hermione pulled out her wand as
she squeezed in and pulled Rose's head onto her lap.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked sharply as she pulled out of the
drive.

"Just some diagnostic charms," Hermione muttered absently. "I don't

know many healing spells true, but I can at least check to see if there
is any sort of damage that shows up on the basic tests."

"Hermione, what is going on?" Harry murmured thickly. He had his

head in his hands. Kate could sympathize with him on that account.
She was really freaking confused right now and more than a touch
scared.

"I'm not entirely certain…" Hermione admitted uneasily.

Harry sighed. "Then guess-please."

"I think… darn it, I'm not getting anything," the brunette scowled and
put away her wand. "Harry, Kate, I think, that Rose is experiencing
an acute reaction to atypical stimuli of some sort."

"Hermione!" Harry growled. "For the love of god, speak English!

Please!"

Hermione grimaced, but seemed to take his tense attitude in stride.

"I think, and I'm not certain here, that Rose may have been subject
to a strong memory charm at some time in the past, and that seeing
you has shaken something loose in her mind. Similar cases have
been reported in the past if I recall correctly."

Kate snarled. "Did you know this was going to happen? Is that why
you two came here? What the hell did you do to my mother?!"

"Kate, please calm down," Hermione said reassuringly. "I swear, we

had no idea this would happen. We simply came here looking for
someone who we had heard worked on a vehicle using similar
magical techniques to those Harry's family used in the past. Harry
also has a property out here which it turns out you've been living on.
We had no idea who was here prior to showing up. Even then I didn't
know that this would happen when I started having some suspicions
on the drive out."

"Then what did you think would happen?" Kate asked with narrowed
eyes. She badly wanted to hit something right then and the girl was
being so damn calm about everything; it was infuriating!

"Honestly," Hermione sighed, then shrugged. "I thought, maybe, we

were going to encounter Lily Potter living under an assumed alias
having retreated from the magical world after a trauma of some sort,
completely lacking nearly all knowledge of recent events."

Harry groaned. "Why didn't you say anything, Mione?"

She shot him a skeptical look. "I didn't want to get your hopes up for
something which was rather exceptionally unlikely, Harry. What was I
supposed to say?" she asked rhetorically.

Kate fell quiet and stayed silent for nearly ten minutes before she
softly spoke again, "You think my mother and his mother are the
same person?"

Hermione nodded. "Lily Marie Evans, Rose Bevans. Similar work

technique. Living on an old Potter property. The two look alike,
enough alike Harry recognizes her. Add to that, that she experienced
a seizure or something immediately upon seeing him," Hermione
said ticking off the facts on her fingers. "And I consider it extremely
likely, yes."

"When you put it like that…" Kate whispered tiredly. She huffed a
sigh then, louder this time, she continued, "But Lily Potter died right.
It's how Harry is supposed to have survived the AK isn't it?"

"That's what we thought…" Hermione sighed nodding agreement. "I

can't say I can explain that part just yet, I'm just trying to make sense
of what we know. Hopefully this Old Lady Winter will be able to help
your mother-maybe she can tell us more herself…"

"You said your mum doesn't like Britain?" Harry said. He had his
eyes closed and was now leaning his head against the window.

She snorted darkly in amusement "More like she hates it but… yeah,
pretty much. She never really told me why exactly. Judging by what
little she has said, I just sorta assumed it was because my dad and
baby brother died there and she left to get away from it all."

Hermione's head jerked up. "She said that? Baby brother?"

"Well, I call him my baby brother," Kate said. "He was about a year
older than me, I think, but those Death Eater terrorist bastards killed
him and my dad while he was a baby back before I was born. Mom
didn't end up having me until she was already settled here."

"Timeline would still fit then," Hermione muttered to herself.

"We're here." Kate shook her head, pulling off the road and edging
into the Inuit village. She stopped in front of a small house towards
the outskirts and turned in her seat to look around at the others.
"Only the chief and his sons know about Old Lady Winter having
magic so don't do anything outside her hut."

Hermione and Harry both nodded. Harry squared his shoulders.

"We'll carry her then."
Climbing out of the SUV, Kate quickly strode to Winter's door and
loudly knocked while Hermione helped Harry get Rose out of the
truck. The two teens reached her just as the door to the hut opened.

"Ah, Kate? What's got you-Rose! Well hurry on then, come in, quick."
The elderly woman moved back and waved the trio inside. "What
happened? Who are these two?"

Kate watched Harry and Hermione put her mother down on the cot
the old weathered woman indicated and spoke, "Old Lady Winter,
this is Harry and Hermione. They're magicals like us." Some of the
tension left the old inuit woman and she heaved a quick sigh of relief
bringing out her wand before beginning to cast diagnostics on Rose.
Kate continued to explain while she worked. "Mom collapsed after
having some sort of seizure or something when she first saw Harry."

Hermione took over, straightening after she finished settling Rose on

the cot. "It may be possible that she is under a-"

"Memory charm, smart one aren't you?" the old woman finished,
nodding sagely. All three teens flinched in surprise and stared at her.
The woman chuckled absently. "Come now, you don't act as the only
medicine woman in several hundred miles for nearly a hundred
years without picking up a thing or two kiddos." Frowning the crone-
like woman cast several more charms and Rose's forehead glowed
blue for an instant before fading back to her normal pale complexion.
"Hmm-well, this is quite powerful, perhaps the strongest I've ever
seen, and expertly cast to boot. I might be wrong but it seems to me
it has entirely suppressed her original personality and supplanted it
with an artificial one nearly identical in every respect to the original
except in the finest details."

Kate sat down in one of the old lady's comfortable recliners with a
whooshing sigh and brought her knees up to hug them tight to her
chest, dropping her head into the crook left between them. Harry
also sat down heavily against the wall nearby. Only Hermione
remained standing. "Why didn't we find out before?" Kate whispered
disbelievingly.
Winter shook her head sadly. "Well dear, I'm not exactly in the habit
of checking everyone for memory charms. Besides, Rose has never
been sick in any way which would warrant a deep scan of her mind
which would've picked it up. Even then this is very subtle, enough so
I still probably would've missed it if she weren't actively fighting
against the charm like she is now. If I had to guess that'd likely be
why she collapsed on you. Her mind shut down non-critical functions
from the strain of trying to break through such a powerful spell."

"What do we do?" Harry asked quietly, speaking to the old woman

for the first time. "How do we help? We have to help her!"

Winter was silent for several minutes as she considered her options.
Finally the old woman sighed shaking her head and turned to the
teens. "I can probably wake her up, and can almost certainly prevent
another attack. But that method would leave her original memories
and personality irrevocably lost I'm afraid. I might be able to break
the charm while she's out, with enough preparation. That would also
effectively prevent another attack, true, however it's risky. There
would be a chance of erasing most of her mind or even just all of the
time after she was spelled."

Hermione sighed. "So either we completely kill Lily Potter, we leave

her like Gilderoy Lockhart, or we kill Rose Bevans and leave Kate
without a mother."

Harry shook his head firmly. "That's no choice. Get rid of the original
memories and wake her up then. I'm not taking someone else's
mother from them, just so I can have mine!"

Kate was trying very hard not to cry when to everyone's surprise the
old woman started laughing. All eyes in the room turned to the old
woman cackling away. "You are her son, boy? Truly? Rose's son?"

Hermione looked annoyed. "Well we're not entirely certain but most
of the evidence is increasingly pointing to that fact being true."
"From before the charm then?" Winter said still laughing and wiping
her eyes.

"Yes. I'm Harry Potter. We think Rose Bevans is Lily Potter. My

mum," Harry said narrowing his eyes at the medicine woman in
confusion and irritation.

"Oh well this is too perfect! But of course it makes sense!" Winter
finally stopped laughing and started smiling while shaking her head.
"She started fighting the spell when she saw you. Let me guess, you
look like your father?" Confused, Harry nodded. He'd been told that
often enough after all.

She nodded in agreement. "Recognition then. Ah, whoever cast this

did too good a job of it then! By changing so few things it allowed her
to link you with her old life and her mind rebelled against the false
memories. Well that makes things far easier!"

Kate weakly lifted a hand. "Would someone please explain what's

going on?"

The old healer walked over and patted the girl on the arm gently.
"This gives us another option, dear. A ritual using a core 'Pillar' of
Rose's new life to anchor the memories from after the charm and
another 'Pillar' from her original life to anchor the memories from
before the charm. I'm looking right at a son from before her problem
and a daughter from after. That ought to work nicely yes?"

Hermione perked up and gasped, before gesturing excitedly. "That

brilliant! If it works that would be excellent, what are the risks?"

The inuit woman shrugged. "Actually they would be rather minimal. If

young Harry isn't related they increase somewhat, but considering
what you've described, I find that very unlikely to be a problem. The
ritual itself is amazingly simple. You just never really get lucky
enough to have an important enough part of both sets of memories.
There's nothing more important than a child though."
Hermione nodded slowly and turned to Harry and Kate. "What do
you two think?"

Kate took a deep breath, glanced at Harry then nodded to Winter. "I
say we do the ritual."

Harry readily agreed, looking relieved. "Yes. If there's a chance it

could work we need to do it."

"Okay then. I'll make the preparations," Winter moved to a corner of

her hut and started pulling out herbs and jars from the wardrobe.

Hermione looked around nervously. "Um, Mrs. Winter, how long will
the ritual take?"

The medicine woman shrugged idly. "Oh only about a half hour I
should think. Then another two or three for her to wake up. You can
take her home right after the ritual though. I can tell you once we're
done whether it worked or not and it would be better for her to wake
up in someplace familiar anyway."

Hermione breathed out in relief and nodded. Harry looked at her

curiously and

said, "Hermione? What are you thinking about?"

"Crookshanks and Hedwig, Harry. That's all. They're back at the

hotel and if we were going to be here overnight I wanted to go and
get them."

Kate shrugged. "We can pick them up on the way back to the house
if you want. You two are staying over. No arguments. If Harry is my
long lost, supposedly dead older baby brother he's staying at my
home and not a hotel." She said that last part with a touch of her old
roguish grin.

Harry chuckled. "Is it weird I like that title better than the Boy-Who-
Lived?"
Hermione had to admit she'd never seen, or even heard of, a ritual
quite like this. Oh it certainly appeared to share some characteristics
with the rituals she'd learned about: semi-formal atmosphere,
candles… or in this case oil lamps, and a ritual circle. But that was
pretty much where the similarities ended.

Admittedly her knowledge of rituals was somewhat limited despite

some concentrated research on her part. It was almost like wizarding
Britain refused to discuss rituals outside of a very limited field of
study. It was mildly distressing that the only rituals she'd been able to
find instructions for in the Hogwarts library were fertility rituals for
witches looking to get pregnant.

This ritual in front of them was a bit different. Rose… or rather Lily as
they were now virtually certain who the woman in fact was, had been
moved on her cot into the middle of the room and a ritual circle had
been drawn around her. A process which would have possessed a
touch more gravitas had the salt used to make the circle had not
been the variety the local muggles used to melt snow and ice on
their driveways.

The house's more traditional lighting had been dimmed or in most

cases shut off entirely, and small, old style oil lamps with herbs
mixed into the flammable fluid had been lit in their place, giving the
room a slightly smokey cast and lending a slightly earthy smell to the
air.

Old Lady Winter had taken to pacing around the inside of the circle a
couple minutes ago, murmuring something in a strange guttural
tongue Hermione suspected was whatever dialect the local Inuit
used. All the while grinding some more herbs in a small mortar like
dish before igniting them with a small flick of her fingers. That had
actually impressed Hermione more than she'd expected; wandless
magic was difficult and that the old healer used it so casually
indicated she possessed more skill than might otherwise be obvious.
She had set the dish with the smouldering herbs on Rose's chest for
a minute allowing the still twitching woman to inhale the fumes for a
time before withdrawing it again.

It was here, as she handed off the now mostly burnt out dish to
Hermione to set aside, that the aged healer paused, straightening,
and muttering to herself before allowing her expression to clear. She
startled them all when she clapped and smiled blandly at them.
"Alright, that's everything, which brings us to the hardest part. Not
that it's that harrowing… well, unless you're afraid of knives." She
allowed casually shrugging. This garnered some worried looks so
she explained. "Kate and Harry will need to stand in the circle for
this, I'll cut both of Rose's palms, and one from each of her children,
this will allow us to mix their blood… It's all about sharing magic and
sacrifice you see. Fulfills the intent of the ritual nicely actually."

She waited until Kate and Harry agreed, albeit reluctantly in Harry's
case, this had produced some raised eyebrows until he'd explained.
"I've had bad experiences with people using my blood for rituals in
the past." Not elaborating further, thankfully this seemed to be more
than sufficient explanation for those who were not familiar with his
history as she was. Harry still had the scar from Wormtail's knife
Hermione knew.

Old Lady Winter nodded to herself considering, "Well I'm afraid the
cut will need to be done without a numbing charm or any sort of
anesthetic, the sacrifice you endure through pain will make the ritual
that much more effective. The good news is I can heal it once the
ritual is complete, and it needn't be very deep." She held out of a
knife indicating one of them should take it.

Harry reached for it first, holding the bone weapon gingerly. "Just
grip the blade in your hand, it should be sharp enough to do the
rest." The Inuit healer encouraged. He did so, only wincing slightly
as a dribble of blood began to creep out between his fingers. He
looked to her and waggled his eyebrows at her, indicating that it
wasn't bad compared to some of the things he'd dealt with before.
Kate's response to gouging her own palm had been far less
reserved, involving shaking her hand and cursing. Hermione found it
funny how this simply seemed to amuse the old medicine woman.
Taking the knife from Kate, Old Lady Winter had then carefully
incised a couple of wounds onto Rose's palms. "Alright, that should
do it, all I need from you two now is to clasp her wounded palm in
your own. I'll do the binding and we'll be ready for the final step."

The woman waited until both teens had grasped their bloody palms
to Rose's own before drawing her wand. Hermione hadn't noticed
earlier, but the wand was clearly something of the woman's own
manufacture, thought that didn't appear to diminish the
craftsmanship. She desperately wanted to ask about its construction,
but figured it'd be better to wait.

The healer drew her wand in a complicated pattern around each

clasped hand, a thin filament of flame twisted out of the end of the
wand and around each hand before fading away not unlike what
Hermione had heard some magical vows appearing like. Here the
Old Woman smiled slightly before drawing a chair from across the
room and setting it at the head of the cot above Rose. She settled
herself easily enough, despite her clearly advanced age and set her
wand down on the edge of the cot beside her patient. Rubbing her
hands a moment before bringing her fingertips to Rose's forehead
and temples and massaging. Then the chanting started, once again
it was in that language Hermione could not decipher. This process
stretched for minutes before finally whatever she'd been saying
came to an end.

Old Lady Winter leaned down and picked up her wand before briefly
bringing it to Rose's forehead and tapping it once and incanting a
single word. The ritual sealed itself causing Rose's sightless staring
eyes to glow blue briefly, as all at once the tension left her body and
her eyes drifted shut. Soon enough the ailing woman's breathing
settled and Hermione was fairly certain she'd fallen into a fitful sleep.

The elderly Inuit woman pondered her work for a moment before
nodding firmly and clapping her hands on her knees and pushing to
her feet. "There, it's done. The rest, is up to her."

A third of the way around the world, in a small dingy basement office
beneath one of a hundred or so government buildings crowding the
British Capital, sat a computer. Admittedly this computer was
somewhat more impressive than the dingy little office which it filled
with its copious bulk.

This machine was tasked with a very specific purpose, which was
not to be officially acknowledged by the British governing apparatus.
Specifically this rather large and unwieldy machine was tasked with
listening carefully to every phone call it could get it's grubby
mechanical mitts on. Now for the most part this machine, with it's
very specific task, didn't particularly care about what it was listening
to, most of which was the equivalent of sophomoric gossip or the
agonizingly boring day to day natterings of hundreds of thousands of
people. What it was interested in was words, very particular and
specific words which might have hinted that the conversation it was
listening to might be something the local law enforcement or military
would be interested in hearing.

Now on any given day the machine would hear a few of these
keywords sprinkled throughout various people's conversations, but
never in significant enough numbers or clusters to trigger its security
protocols. However, every once in awhile it would hear something
which would trip the preprogrammed threshold and it would then
quite blithely forward the call to someone more well equipped to
judge whether or not the people were talking about a horrible
catastrophe in the local news or if they were planning on causing
such a catastrophe in the future.

Now, there were actually a few computers like this spread about the
country, each tasked with listening for different things, and it just so
happened this particular computer sitting in this particular basement
office was listening for a rather odd and eccentric collection of
phrases. It had been a very long time since this computer had heard
more than one or two of the words, and even then it was a rare thing.
However today was it's proverbial lucky day, because this vastly
under-utilized, but nevertheless horrendously expensive, piece of
hardware hit the jackpot. Dozens of words it was programmed to
listen for cropped up all at once, all in one location, thus tripping the
ever loving crap out of its programming thresholds and causing it to
send a high priority message to the person tasked with monitoring
such things. Had this computer been in anyway intelligent or self
aware it would have been very pleased with itself. Well, up to the
point ten minutes later when a bug crawled into its innards and
shorted out a critical circuit utterly ruining its motherboard and giving
it the computational equivalent of a fatal brain fart.

Still, not a bad day for a computer, especially one which had been
tasked with the terminally boring task which this one had, and so it
was that a particular Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan
police force got a rather odd email with a rather extensive list of
keywords which had been overheard.

The chief inspector in question got these types of emails relatively

regularly and always enjoyed trying to figure out just what the
message overheard might have been before actually opening the
recording in question.

If the good inspector had not already been in the know about what
these words actually meant they might have given it up as a bad job
as most of the words appeared to be gibberish. Still, given that the
inspector did know what these seemingly nonsensical words meant
they found themselves rather concerned that a message featured
the following words and phrases: Blood, Muggle, Ministry of Magic,
Aurors, Director Bones, Magic, Unholy and Voldemort.

On the basis of this rather odd collection the Inspector decided that it
was time she made a rather important call.

"So… What shall we talk about?" Kate asked, once the silence which
reigned supreme in the confined cabin of her truck had become too
uncomfortable for the usually verbose teenage girl.
Harry, who was seated next to her in the passenger seat shot her a
skeptical look and she sighed theatrically, bouncing a bit in her seat.
"Come on, this silence is killing me, and if the success of the ritual is
anything to go by, my mom is also your mom, so… dish?" When he
remained uncertainly silent she sighed again. "Look, something
simple okay, it doesn't need to be anything important, I'm just trying
to get to know you a little better here, and the quiet really is starting
to get to me. Like, why don't you tell me what your favourite sport
is?"

Harry considered that then nodded, she had a point after all.
"Quidditch, you?"

She glanced sideways at him as they continued to make their way

across the sparse landscape towards town. "Hockey, not much call
for Quidditch around here. You play it or just like to watch?"

"Play, I'm a-or rather I was a seeker for my House team back at
Hogwarts." He admitted eventually.

"Yeah? Mom always used to talk about Hogwarts and Quidditch…

You any good?" She asked, curious.

He shrugged noncommittally, earning a skeptical sound of

amusement from the back drawing her eyes to the mirror to see
Hermione smiling. "He's the youngest seeker in a century… and
many claim the best. Scares the life out of me when he flies.
Especially the year before last."

Kate noted the slight blush on her brother's face and smiled. "Oh,
why's that?"

"That's the year we had the Triwizard tournament. Did you hear
anything about that?" Hermione asked the younger girl.

Kate shrugged. "I heard they were holding it, sounded like insanity to
me, but hey, what do I know? Didn't get any more details than that.
News is pretty sparse up here."
Hermione nodded sagely. "Well it turns out your brother has just the
sort of bad luck required to ensure he managed to get entered
against his will in a tournament intended for adults."

Kate whistled wincing slightly in sympathy, glancing at the boy next

to her who merely grimaced nodding. Hermione went on to explain.
"One of the tasks was to sneak a golden egg away from a roosting
mother Dragon-"

"What?" Kate barked, startled. "Are they insane?"

"That's what I asked…" Harry grumbled under his breath.

Hermione smiled grimly and nodded. "Quite possibly. Harry actually

had an interesting strategy for it. He summoned his broom from the
castle and used it to try and tease the Dragon away from the nest.
Actually it was working quite nicely until the Dragon decided to just
kill him and be done with it."

Kate looked sharply sideways at the boy next to her who groaned. "It
broke its chains. I had to try and outfly it."

"What kind of dragon was this?" Kate asked amazed, and concerned
at the same time.

"Horntail." Harry admitted shortly, as they pulled onto the street upon
which the hotel was situated.

She hissed in sympathy. She'd never had formal classes in such

things but she'd read plenty of books, and it was hard to read
anything about Dragons without hearing about the most vicious
breed of the lot.

"Harry managed to outfly it alright," Hermione noted, sounding a

mixture of exasperated and amused. "He lost the dragon by tricking
it into a maneuver it wasn't prepared for, ploughed it into the side of
a stone bridge. Got the egg, though he was injured pretty mildly by
your brother's standards actually."
"We were talking about sports…" Harry tried to cut in as they pulled
up to the curb again.

"Alright alright," Kate said snickering slightly as she slid out of the
driver's seat. "Hermione, do you mind staying to watch mom?"

The brunette nodded. "I can do that, probably easier than trying to
move her right now."

Kate smiled wanly, she was much better than she had been, but she
still wasn't entirely over the ordeal which had befallen her mother.

"So….why do you like hockey so much?" Harry asked uncertainly as

he climbed out of the vehicle.

Kate laughed. "Because I get to hit people, duh!"

Author's Note: Thank you very much to Temporal Knight who

helped a great deal with the writing of this chapter, and to Bearmauls
who was recommending I rewrite this section to better fit the story.

Recommendation(s): Harry Potter and Futures Past by

Driftwood1965, something which should in theory be restarting any
time now….Unleash the INTERNET HORDES!
Chapter 10
Author's Note: I edited this, nothing major changed, what more do
you want from me?

Rose Bevans, or rather as she was now, Lily Evans Potter, first
became aware of her return to the land of the conscious and aware,
when she began to perceive her own harsh rasping breath. The next
thing she noticed was just how sore she was. Every bit of her body
ached, which considering that she couldn't recall just what had
caused this at that moment, was concerning. Thus, as people were
want to do when they found themselves in such a situation she cast
her mind back in the hopes of figuring out just what multi-ton
monstrosity had run them over.

Now had this been a case of one too many beers fogging her
recollection of the night before, she might have actually struggled to
remember the cause - that was assuming she could remember it at
all. However, instead she found her mind suddenly flooded with
memories and thoughts as the gates crashed open.

She couldn't help it in the face of the torrent of images, many of them
conflicting and contradictory, she felt the panic begin to rise. Now,
many people might have experienced a moment or two where they
find themselves wondering if what they are seeing is real, particularly
if they have recently imbibed too much alcohol or some other
substance. However, very few people had the distinct misfortune to
find themselves with close to sixteen years of memories which were
apparently both true and untrue at the same time. So as her mind
screamed, that it couldn't all be real, it seized upon something, the
moments prior to its recent loss of consciousness.

Lily remembered… her son? No, that couldn't be right, her son was
dead. Wasn't he? She could have sworn that he was, and yet she
could clearly remember him in her kitchen, with a girl she did not
recognize. Just how she knew he was her son she couldn't quite say.
After all her child, at least according to the memories she could
recall, had been lost as an infant. And yet that was who he had to
be, no one else could look so much like James…

She had to know, had to know if he was real! Had to know if she
remembered correctly. Had to know which of all her conflicting
memories were fact.

Her eyes cracked open, the faint light of the room around her
blistering her headache addled brain. Still, she recognized this
place… She was in her room. At least that's what she believed this
place was, and-

She could hear the murmur of voices in the distance. One, a familiar
hum she would know anywhere, the one she could swear belonged
to her daughter. And another, similar in tone and pitch, but not in
cadence, one she did not recognize. She listened to the two voices
murmur for a moment before they were interrupted by a slower
deeper bass, a male voice.

Kate, that was her daughter's name… She was certain of that at
least. Her daughter was real, if nothing else. Surely Kate could tell
her what was real? She groaned and rolled onto her side before
sitting up, swaying precariously. She had to know…

She staggered upright and stumbled forward catching herself on the

doorframe to her bedroom. Her legs were struggling to support her
weight right then, but she managed to badger them into cooperating
inasmuch as they could.

Lily staggered further into the hall and the voices slowly became
clearer as she ventured onward. "So, how'd you get a Snowy Owl in
England anyways? They're not exactly native to the Isles if I
remember correctly…" inquired the voice of her daughter.

"Dunno, first time I saw her Hagrid-er, that's a friend of mine, was
standing outside Ollivander's with her in a cage for me…" Lily could
practically hear the head scratching consternation in the male's voice
as she sagged against a wall to catch her breath. Why was this so
difficult?

There was a pause. "What about Crookshanks, that was the cat's
name wasn't it? A Kneazle mix right, did you get him from a breeder
Hermione?" Kate asked, clearly desperate to strike up some kind of
conversation.

There was a low chuckle from the room down the hall. "Actually no, I
got him from the pet store in Diagon Alley… he walked right up to
me, seemed to know I was meant to take him."

The male snorted in amusement. "You keep saying that, I still think
he just recognized you wouldn't punt him across the room if he got
too close like everyone else he'd met."

There was an offended huff and indrawn breath as Lily finally

staggered into the room and slumped against the doorframe. There,
in her kitchen, were three teenagers. Two female, sitting at the table,
the first who was facing her, she recognized in relief as Kate. The
second, a girl perhaps a year or two at the most older than her
daughter, with somewhat bushy brown hair and serious eyes. And
finally, standing at the stove working over something which was
filling the room with a delicious aroma was a boy, his back to her.

But even as her eyes fell on him she felt a sense of familiarity. A mop
of unruly black hair she'd have known anywhere atop his head…

Whatever the serious brunette had been about to say was halted
when Kate spotted her standing in the doorway and raised a hand to
stop the girl across from her, smiling brightly in relief. "Mom!"

The exclamation drew the attention of the others. The girl, Hermione,
that was the name Kate had used in the conversation she'd
overheard, turned to look at her. Lily hardly noticed, her attention
fixed upon the boy who turned at Kate's voice.
He-looked so much like James, and yet he was different too…
Slightly different features though she doubted anyone who hadn't
been intimately familiar with James would have noticed. But his
eyes, a startling green, the same shade as those she saw in the
mirror every morning.

Lily drew a deep rattling breath and pointed a shaking finger at the
one she knew had to be her son. "Harry?" She breathed, "Is that
really you?"

He stared at her, his eyes inscrutable for a time before he spoke.

"Mum…"'

She felt tears begin to form in her eyes as the reality of it set in. "I-it's
real then? It's really you?"

He turned a moment, dropping the pan on the stove with clatter

before stepping back towards her. Lily for her part staggered part
way across the room, her feet drawing her unconsciously toward her
child.

The weakness growing in her limbs saw her stumbling, she would
have hit the ground had Harry not reached forward in time to catch
her by the shoulders. He held her at arm's length as he looked her
over.

It was a long moment as his eyes searched her, "It's me mum, I-I
can't believe you're here…" he admitted thickly.

"Harry-" She lunged forward grasping him tightly to her chest in a

desperate hug, afraid that he'd vanish before her eyes. At first,
though she failed to notice this, he was uncertain. Still she clung to
him, and after a few moments he began to ease, allowing his arms to
go around her, and she wept. "My boy-My son is alive…."

Voldemort, Dark Lord of the British Isles seethed. He hated to

abandon his stronghold, had hoped to avoid it if possible, one of the
many hoped for benefits of killing Amelia Bones. The other
candidates for Minister were so much more… predictable than she
was. Most were either too corrupt or too wrapped up in notions of
pureblood supremacy to ever find him where he sheltered at Malfoy
Manor.

But Bones wouldn't let such notions as pureblood privilege stop her,
nor could she be bought off with gold as Fudge could.

With the capture and upcoming interrogations of the Carrow twins

she had forced his hand. He and his followers could no longer
remain at Malfoy Manor. Not that those two would remain a threat to
his causes security for long…

Still, the longer they remained here, and the longer the Carrows
remained alive and in custody, the greater the chance of them being
discovered was.

His faithful Death Eaters were scouring the manor house now for
anything that might be of value. After all Narcissa and her whelp
wouldn't be using any of it. No, he had matters arranged. Should the
Aurors raid Malfoy Manor they would be left here to reap what
Lucius' failure had sown. And should the Aurors not find them in
time…

He shrugged mentally, then their deaths would be punishment for

Lucius' failure in their own right.

He cared very little if he alienated his primary financier in all this. The
Malfoy's were not the only wealthy pureblood supremacists in Great
Britain, the others within his ranks would pick up the slack. There
was no shortage of opulent estates and strongholds within which he
and his followers could shelter. It merely… irked him, that his
followers seemed to be so incompetent.

None of the new bloods he had been assured were worthy additions
to the ranks had made it through the raid on the Bones residence.
Those not killed had no knowledge of note of Death Eater
operations, so he had little fear in that regard.

However it certainly seemed that many of Great Britain's

Pureblooded scions were worthless when it came to completing their
apportioned task. It was so hard to find good help these days…

He stifled what amusement he felt at that thought. These fools who

called themselves his followers… all truly believed he cared for their
nonsensical and self destructive traditions and culture, when nothing
could be further from the truth. He only cared for power, and in the
end he would have it. So why had he courted their favour so? It was
simple, in Great Britain, they held the wealth, power, and influence
he needed to secure his own dominance. Nothing more, nothing
less.

That in the end more of these inbred fools would die than even their
mudblood and half-blood counterparts amused him to no end.
Though he was not so blind as to believe such a state of affairs
could last forever. No, when the purebloods had expended
themselves in this conflict he would find new, and hopefully more
capable allies, and his enemies would be powerless to stop him.

He looked around what had at one time been his throne room, barely
sparing the bound and gagged Malfoy wife and scion a glance. It
would do no good to terry over long here. He looked to his
lieutenant. "Dear Bellatrix…" He purred.

She quivered in anticipation from where she knelt expectantly before

him. "Yes, my Lord?"

"I require your mark."

She immediately tore the sleeve from her shirt and proffered her
forearm to him. He wasted no time, drawing his wand and pressing it
to her mark. She didn't even flinch, not blinking as her mark burned
on her forearm, and he immediately felt the flow of magic entering
his veins and smiled.
It wasn't a commonly known capability of the Dark Mark, but on
occasions in which he found himself in need, he could draw upon the
magic of his followers through the black tattoo affixed to their
forearm.

In this case? He was drawing the magic out of the incarcerated

Carrow failures and into himself.

Had they been kept in Azkaban, or even shielded from interrogation,

perhaps he would still have had sufficient use for them in times to
come. However… instead it had come to this.

A magical body, was nothing without it's magic, so accustomed to

that primordial force within itself it could not survive without it should
it flee. Thus, should he draw all the magic out of a captured follower
such as he did now…

He smiled vindictively as he felt the flow of power slacken then halt

altogether as the sources died. Madam Bones would no doubt be
furious when she woke tomorrow, for without those two, what need
of a meeting of the Wizengamot was there?

He stretched slightly enjoying the last gift of his erstwhile comrades

before gesturing for Bellatrix to rise. "Come Bella, it is time to leave I
think. Perhaps our next abode will be more permanent than this
one?"

He swept out of the building, his followers trailing behind him, all the
while Draco and Narcissa struggled against their bonds in vain.

Kate stepped forward uncertainly as her mother embraced her

brother, it was good that she remembered him, that meant the ritual
had worked… at least in part. The questions which now dominated
her thoughts was, did her mother remember her? And what would
she do if she didn't? "Ummmm, mom? I hate to interrupt, but uh-you
remember me too right?" She ventured worriedly.
Lily turned her eyes on her daughter and smiled tearfully at her,
extending an inviting hand out towards her. "Of course, Katie, come
here," she ordered before drawing a relieved Kate into the embrace
alongside Harry.

Perhaps it was the way in which she staggered a little as her

daughter lunged forward to hug her, but Harry seemed to notice then
just how unsteady his mother was. "Come on, let's all take a seat.
Mum's a bit wobbly right now."

Once seated Lily stared disbelievingly at her two children seated

side by side next to her, finally shaking her head muzzily. "I don't
understand. How is this all possible?" It made no sense…

Hermione chuckled ruefully, smiling a bit thinly at them. "That is

something I'm sure we'd all like to know the details of, but the short
version is that you were under some sort of memory charm. Harry
showing up-well it caused a conflict with the charm and you passed
out. We took you to that Inuit healer your daughter recommended
and she managed to sort you out. Umm-I suppose I should introduce
myself? I'm Hermione Granger, I'm Harry's friend…"

Lily murmured a greeting before getting back to the task at hand.

She shook her head, a memory charm… Who, and more importantly,
why? She could think of people capable of the act, but not of a
particular motive for any of them… And it had come into conflict
when she'd seen Harry? Very strange.

She saw the questioning look she was receiving from her son across
the table, and sought to explain what she was feeling. "It's just all so
unbelievable isn't it? You, here now… and the memory charm."

Her daughter, seemed to be handling everything better than her at

least, and was smiling at her long lost sibling. "How did you even find
us out here? You didn't know we were here correct?"
Harry shook his head, in a negative to Kate's question, then looked
questioningly to Hermione. Lily couldn't help but wonder at how often
her son seemed to defer or seek the support of his friend. Just how
close were these two? There was so much about her son's life she
didn't know…

The girl shrugged, and he turned back to face Lily, his green eyes
meeting hers. "That's… a long story. I'm more than willing to tell it,
but it might help a bit if-if you told me your side of things first mum."

She nodded slowly, he undoubtedly didn't know everything that had

happened that night all those years ago. It was a reasonable
request. Besides it might help her figure out what had happened
herself. "I assume that it will all come back to that night with you too,
the memory charm must have been cast around then…" She
queried, then paused thinking, trying to decide where to start.

She thought back. "When…' He ' showed up that night, my

husband… James, went to stall him. The hope was that I could get
to you and we could flee. But James was killed, and I was basically
trapped upstairs with you…" She paused, her eyes going distant as
she struggled to remember. "Looking back now, I wonder if I could
have done things differently. I had been researching a protective
spell which had the potential to block the killing curse if charged
highly enough. It wasn't prepared yet, so I did everything I could in
what little time was available. I did the incantation pouring everything
I had into it… and I carved that rune into your forehead."

Harry's hand was going to his forehead before he stopped it, looking
surprised. Lily couldn't hide her own surprise. "You didn't know?" She
hadn't been able to remember that detail until recently, but it should
have been obvious to anyone competent.

Her son shook his head, "No, I was always told it was from the curse
he fired at me."

Lily's brow furrowed and she considered him. Someone had been
feeding him inaccurate information. That could mean any number of
things. It could be that whomever he had discussed the matter with
was largely ignorant of runecrafting… or had been deliberately
misleading him. "Who told you that? It should have been fairly
obvious to any adult who'd passed their Runes NEWT just what that
symbol was."

"Dumbledore…" Harry muttered, his tone a mixture of a question and

curse which had her worried.

She grimaced uncertainly, Dumbledore… Her old headmaster, the

old man should have known that. He was an alchemist, runes were
used extensively in the preparation of such things… "Yeah, well no…
it's not from a curse, it was me, trying to anchor the protections to
you as best I could in the time I had left." She shook her head
refocusing on her fragmentary memories. "It was just after I'd
finished, I think, you were crying? Who could blame you after I cut
your forehead like that… he found us. He broke into the room and I
begged him not to kill you…"

Here she paused, noticing the way her son blanched, his hand
clenching spasmodically before he shared a look with his friend.
Hermione, such a strange name, unusual even for the wizarding
world.

"I know." Harry admitted seeing her questioning stare.

Her headache was fairly pounding now. "How could you know…"

"I remember it whenever Dementors come near me," her son

admitted looking almost ashamed as he stared at his hands.

That made her blink in surprise. "When have you been near those
monsters?" she demanded. Dementors were not common creatures,
especially outside of Britain. However within that nation which had
once been her home they were supposed to be tightly regulated.
When they weren't being walled up to contain them, like they'd taken
to doing in the last war. It was true you couldn't kill a Dementor by
using force of arms or magic, but you could starve them to death.
Too long without feeding and they faded away just like anything else.
She'd have assumed they were all destroyed after 'his' destruction.

"Later, I promise," Harry said sitting up again running his hand back
through his hair, in a way which was disconcertingly similar to the
way her husband, James, used to.

She nodded her acceptance, she did after all have a story to finish
telling. Memories to finish sorting… "'He' hit me with something. At
the time I thought it was the killing curse, the light was green, but… I
woke up later. You… were gone." She choked out remembering now,
her panic at seeing his empty crib. "James was gone too, but an old
man, someone familiar - Dumbledore? Was there…" She fought to
regain control of herself, and so missed the odd expressions which
briefly flickered across the two British teenagers' faces.

"He told me…" she continued after taking a shuddering breath

thinking back. "That my husband and child were dead. That…
James, would need to be prepared for burial, but that… you were too
badly-well, that there was barely anything left of you. I remember
thinking he looked so sad, the old man, and he told me that he
thought I should leave, that the war was over, The killer-You-Know-
Who I suppose now, was dead thanks to my actions, but that things
had come at a terrible cost for me. He promised to see to burying
you and my husband. I agreed, I felt so… I'd just lost everything, or I
thought I had? You, my husband, my home… I wanted to die, I
wanted to leave. After all what was left for me at the time?" she
asked a touch scornfully as more memories clicked into place. "My
sister who hated me with every fibre of her being? James' old
friends, the Marauders? Remus wasn't so close considering we
thought him a possible traitor… and Peter… Peter betrayed us." She
hissed that last part. "I never cared to know what had happened to
my husband's old friends….I couldn't remember them… why? Sirius-
Remus, they would have stood by me surely? Why didn't I think of
them?"

The other's shared a loaded look. Harry explained a bit. "Whoever

charmed you seemed to want you to leave. If you would have stayed
for Remus and… Sirius, that would have gotten in the way." She
noted the hitch in his voice when he mentioned Sirius, and how he
seemed to sink into a reflective mood.

Harry sighed noisily, as his thoughts strayed and his eyes filled with
pain. "I'm afraid Sirius is not - with us - any longer." His mother
flinched, the roller coaster ride her emotions were on today was
giving her whiplash. Harry sagged and Hermione laid a hand on his
shoulder and he reached up to squeeze it in thanks before looking
back to his mother. "Continue with your story, I'll tell you in a bit." He
murmured.

She nodded sadly, she remembered Sirius now… Though not as

well as Harry obviously had. Clearly the wound was still raw for him,
it must have happened recently. She still felt tears welling in her eyes
and had to wipe them away before continuing. Sirius had been a
good and loyal friend… To hear that he was gone? "I came here not
long after, it was the furthest property from England that I knew
about. I had your sister, almost didn't survive it… For a long time I
could barely get myself up in the morning, but taking care of her
helped me through it."

Harry nodded gratefully to the girl he now knew as his sister,

something which he had not yet had time to truly accept. She merely
shrugged sheepishly back at him, thinking that she hadn't really
done anything.

"I didn't like thinking of Britain, and avoided hearing about it when I
could, something which I now regret. Perhaps if I had seen pictures
of you-maybe that would have jogged me out of it? Maybe… I have
some dealings with a local Inuit Medicine Woman, and I train Kate
myself as best I can when we get time, I could have sent her to
Ilvermony, she didn't want to go… It's not so bad up here, well…
once you get used to the cold and man eating predators."

She and Kate shared a tired chuckle at some old shared joke.
Something familiar. "There's more of course, lots of little things, but
that's about the sum of my end of things. Lots of little stories that
you'll want to hear I hope… I just-I'm so sorry, I don't know why, but I
couldn't stay after that night, that memory charm- I never wanted to
look back. But if I had-"

Her son raised a hand to stall her. "It's okay, I wish it could have
been different too, but we're here now."

"It's also very possible given the memory charm that you couldn't
have done anything except what was suggested…" Hermione noted
sympathetically. Lily couldn't know it but she was remembering the
feeling of being out of control when the imposter put their defence
class under imperius in fourth year.

She nodded her thanks tiredly. "Can you please tell me now… Your
side of things I mean. Maybe then some of this will start to make
sense?"

He nodded easily. "I don't know a lot, and a lot of what I do know
looks to be wrong, just based on what you've told me." He admitted,
before continuing at her confused expression. "I think I'll start by
giving you what I know of the things that led up to events that
evening," he decided.

She nodded and he began to recite what he could recall. "Sometime

in the months previous to that, Dumbledore had been interviewing a
candidate for a job opening at Hogwarts. Specifically for the position
of teaching Divination."

Lily snorted a touch scornfully at that, and received a small smile in

return, he nodded his head to Hermione. "That's about how
Hermione and I think of that subject as well. Anyways, while he was
taking this interview, the applicant - who's quite frankly a fraud
otherwise - slipped into an actual vision, the kind that gets recorded
by the hall of prophecy at the Ministry."

She nodded understanding, she too was aware of that little known
corner of the government. He pressed on. "She made a prediction
about someone who would be able to defeat Voldemort. This
normally would have been good news, except that a Death Eater
had managed to overhear part of the interview, which Dumbledore
had been conducting at the local tavern. The Death Eater got thrown
out, but not before he'd heard a portion of the prophecy, basically all
he got was the part about someone who was going to be born, who
would defeat the Dark Lord, someone who was born as the seventh
month died. Born to those who had defied the Dark Lord three
times."

She grimaced, shutting her eyes in anguish realizing just what he

was saying. "You?"

He nodded once she opened her eyes again. "Yes, or at the time it
could have also meant Neville Longbottom."

Lily sagged as the implications of that hit home. "Ah, and both of our
families were under threat from Voldemort and went into hiding. We
were told by-Dumbledore that an agent he had among the enemy
told him that we were being targeted as an example against those
who would resist him."

Harry nodded slowly, clearly wondering why Dumbledore hadn't

simply told them about the Prophecy. "Yes, but it was the rest of the
Prophecy, the part he didn't hear, which was important. Apparently
the Dark Lord would somehow mark the child as his equal, that he'd
have a power the Dark Lord knew not, and that either he or the Dark
Lord would have to die before the other could live. Dumbledore, he
told me that my scar was his way of marking me, a lie apparently."
He growled, then cut himself off with an irritable gesture. "Either way
when he came to our home, he died. I was told that I was protected
by the love you used to fuel the shield…"

"Love?" Lily blurted confused.

He smiled knowingly. "I'd actually taken some solace from that until
recently, that you'd loved me enough that it could stop even Avada
Kedavra from touching me."
His mother shook her head sorrowfully. "I do love you that much
Harry, I swear, even though I do not truly know you anymore, I'll
always love you with everything I have. But, as far as I know it was
not that which fuelled my spell. I know of no method by which a spell
can be fuelled by love. That was one of the things the Department of
Mysteries studied, not little old me."

Harry nodded, smiling slightly at her calm yet casual assertion that
she loved him. That was perhaps the only time in his memory when
someone had said that. "I suspect now that that too must have been
a lie on Dumbledore's part. He tried to convince me that it was my
capacity for love and giving of myself which is the power the Dark
Lord knows not." He shrugged, ignoring her skeptical expression,
something he knew was more directed at Dumbledore's claims than
at him.

Kate snickered. "What, did he expect you to hug the Dark Lord to
death?"

Harry shrugged. "I hope not. Regardless, I was told you died that
night, along with Dad protecting me from evil. I was later told that
Voldemort had only been disembodied, not killed outright, which I
have to say appears to indeed be true."

"If you don't mind me asking…" she began tenuously, waiting for his
signal before pressing on. "Where were you all these years? Who
took care of you? Was it with Sirius? I don't know who else in our will
was left alive at the end of it all, assuming he couldn't take you."

"Will?" Harry asked, nonplussed.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, if I were reported dead, then the will must
have been carried out surely?"

He considered her, his eyes unreadable, his expression inscrutable.

"Who did you list to take care of me?"
She sighed, thinking back, it felt both like an eternity and an instant
had passed since that previous life thanks to the charm. "Sirius was
the primary, though from your tone I'd say you didn't end up with
him… Then were Alice and Frank Longbottom…."

Harry cringed explaining. "They were captured and tortured by

Bellatrix Lestrange around the time we were attacked. They're… not
in any condition to be raising anyone. Neville has been brought up
by his grandmother."

She couldn't help but grieve for the fate of her friends, so long
forgotten, but pressed on. "Then was Remus… we were fairly sure
by then he wasn't a traitor." Harry just frowned, adding to her
concern so she pressed on. "Then was the Tonks family." Here Harry
blinked in surprise instead, but she pressed on, there was only one
left on the list anyways… "Last was Amelia Bones, my husband's old
coworker… At which point if none of the others had lived she was to
take you out of the country by whatever means which were available
and hidden."

Harry chuckled before sighing wearily. "Remus, is alive and well

though he never received care of me. The Tonkses are alive and
kicking too, Nymphadora, who I recommend you never call by her
first name…"

This time it was her turn to chuckle. That, she remembered. It was
funny the things which came back easily while other fragments
fought her tooth and nail to remain hidden. "Even back then she
hated that name."

Harry smiled genuinely but briefly at the thought. "She's a riot to be

around. Didn't end up with them or Bones though. Which is ironic
seeing as its Madam Bones who helped me get out of Britain
unnoticed."

"Then who?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Your sister."
She gasped, "They put you with Petunia and that bastard whale of a
husband of hers?"

Her ire was momentarily diverted when Kate snorted in amusement.

The girl winced at her mother's glare. Hermione was looking none
too pleased either.

Kate raised her hands placatingly "Sorry, sorry. It's just that
description was kinda funny."

Lily grimaced, thinking of the memories she had of the man. "Yes,
well there's certainly nothing funny about Vernon Dursley."

Harry snorted indelicately. "I'd have to agree with that. However, I'm
told it was because of your relation to her that the, well… the 'Blood
Wards' for lack of a better term would remain active so long as I
made my home with someone of your bloodline." He shrugged.
"Again, a lie. One which I can only speculate as to the reason to."

She snarled, furious and heartbroken at the same time, tears which
were equal parts fury and pain ran down her face. "I cannot imagine
you had an easy life, if you were forced to live with her family all
these years."

"No, I admit I did not. But… I don't want you to worry about what it
was like, we should-" But she cut him off with an angry shake of her
head.

"No, I should know. I want to know what the old man-What, Albus
Bloody Dumbledore subjected you to for all these years! I want to
know what my dear sister did with my son, I deserve to know what
Dumbledore caused you to suffer for another one of his damned
schemes!" She said plainly.

He considered her, likely deciding how to react to taking instructions

from a woman who was basically a stranger. But he just sighed and
slumped back in his chair watching her carefully over the table. "I
don't talk about it. Hermione could vouch for that… So this will be the
first time I've spoke of some of this…" He waited for her nod of
acknowledgement. "Are you familiar with Number 4 Privet Drive?"

She hesitated trying to remember before the memories came, that

little suburb was where her sister had decided to call home. A place
barely a step up from a tenement really but which had all the
pomposity of a walled estate.

He nodded considering her. "I was left on their doorstep with a note
from Dumbledore. I don't know why they agreed to take me in,
seeing as they clearly despised everything about me and who I
am…" He grumbled. "I lived in the closet under the stairs for
years…."

"What!" Hermione shouted, causing them all to start, and Lily felt her
own hands start to shake, it was unclear whether it was from rage or
anguish at this point. Kate appeared to be too shocked for words, a
rare occurrence as anyone who knew her could tell you. He
shrugged, and pressed on despite protesting sounds from his friend.
"I was told that you and dad had died in a car accident, the result of
him being a drunkard."

"They told you what?" Lily hissed. That it was a falsehood was
insulting enough, James had always been careful to remain in
control of his faculties hating the feeling of being out of control. But
that they had said this to the child of people believed deceased… It
was unconscionable.

Again her son ploughed on. "I didn't actually know my name wasn't
freak, boy or 'you little bastard' until I went to primary school. I did
speak to a teacher once you know, but nothing ever came of it… I
honestly don't know why."

As he didn't seem prepared to stop and talk about any of this in

detail his friend reached out and grasped his hand in her own, giving
comfort despite his inability to discuss it all further.
"I never was fed all that much, or treated all that well, but whenever I
suffered a bout of accidental magic I'd be locked in the closet after
my beating without food for a couple days. One day everything
changed. Letters started coming from Hogwarts though the Dursleys
tried to stop me from going. When the letters became unbearable for
them, they took us into hiding at some shack out at sea… Say
Hermione do you know if the school supply letters can reach us
here?"

The girl appeared surprised at the change of direction then shook

her head. "No, the spell that tracks students for those letters only
reaches to the edge of the isles. It took a great deal of power to cast
that spell in the first place and the New World hadn't been
rediscovered yet when it was made."

He nodded, seeming relieved. "Hagrid came for me then, broke into

the shack, scared the crap out of the Dursleys let me tell you…
spelled Dudley with a pig's tail. That really pissed them off…
Explains the next summer I suppose. Either way, he introduced me
to the wizarding world. He even got me my familiar. Hedwig, first
friend I had besides Hagrid himself I suppose. You know, it's funny, I
still think of Hagrid as a friend despite it all. I think he's just too damn
loyal for his own good, and Dumbledore used that to his own
benefit."

Lily nodded absently at that, she too had fond memories of the half-
giant. It was true what Harry said, Hagrid was a simple man who
worshipped the ground Dumbledore walked on.

Harry shrugged that off. "I got my wand, which ironically was in some
ways my first experience with Voldemort." He saw his mother's
querying expression. "My wand bears the brother core to his own."

She hummed, the enchanter in her intrigued by the concept, even as

the mother in her was horrified. "That… could have some interesting
complications."
He chuckled, actually seeming vaguely pleased. "It does, but we can
come back to that later. I returned to the Dursleys after that for a bit,
before I got shipped off to school. They seemed resigned to the fact I
was going at that point." He sighed, an almost happy sound as he
recalled that time. "It really was the start of a whole new life for me.
Hogwarts I mean… Now?" He shook his head. "I can't help but
wonder if Dumbledore set it all up from the beginning…"

Lily frowned, but continued reluctantly. Her memories of the

headmaster did not match his actions. "I'll admit, Dumbledore has
been a part of many things that leave me wondering about his true
motives now…" She thought about just the things they had spoken
of in the last few minutes. She wondered how many of his past
actions were not so benign as they seemed. He was there that
night… why would he tell her Harry was dead if he was not? There
were just too many questions arising. She wanted answers…

Elsewhere, across the world in the British Ministry of Magic's DMLE

holding cells, jailer Doniker was having a bad day. He'd left not ten
minutes before… okay, maybe twenty minutes, if he was being
honest with himself, to grab the food for the prisoners from the
kitchens. He'd stopped off at the canteen for a drink or three along
the way.

Now, he hadn't been expecting excitement and joy at the prospect of

the gruel that passed for food. But usually prisoners would at least
acknowledge your presence when you brought them something to fill
that hole in their bellies. So he became a bit concerned when his
announcement that supper was served met with silence.

A quick check in their cell, and a lot of screaming and throwing up

later, and he managed to report to his superiors that the pair sharing
a cell in the basement were dead. Very Dead, dried out and
mummified with their faces locked in a rictus of horror, dead.

It turned out that this stomach turning change in routine was just the
beginning of his bad day. Apparently, his bosses wanted to know
why he'd decided to leave the cell block unguarded, against protocol.
And apparently they were less than satisfied with his burbled
excuses. Soon enough Jailer Doniker was just Doniker, as he was
unemployed. Why couldn't a bloke catch a break?

Lily smiled, one of the first genuine ones she'd managed for a while.
Her worries about Dumbledore could wait a bit, she could take time
to think on it, for the moment she'd prefer to hear about her son's life,
and he'd given her a good opening. "I know what you mean about
Hogwarts though, it was the same for me too."

Harry chuckled and jerked a thumb at Hermione, "I made my first

friends my own age on the train, I met Hermione there…" he smiled
fondly at his friend. "Though we didn't really become close until that
Halloween. We did both get selected for Gryffindor though."

Lily laughed at that, a surprising, happy sound which shocked even

her. "Of course you were. I can't see anything taking the Gryffindor
out of a child of mine and my-James'."

He smiled, ignoring the slight hitch at his father's name. "Things

were… different at Hogwarts. I had friends, for the first time I could
recall, and for the most part people seemed nice enough. I had a few
enemies naturally."

She hummed agreement. "Death Eater spawn I assume?"

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, and Snape."

Lily blinked surprise at that, her old friends name bringing with it a
myriad of memories, good and bad. "Severus? What's he doing
teaching at Hogwarts? He hates being around children!"

Harry snorted, "Trust me we've noticed. He teaches potions, hates

my guts… apparently I'm arrogant just like my father."

She sighed shaking her head, "Severus and your father had a
highly… unpleasant relationship." She admitted. "Basically your
father tormented Severus until I put a stop to it… He never did
forgive James."

Here Harry interrupted her. "I know, I saw some memories of it.
Apparently he's taking out his grudge on him against me."

Lily shook her head sadly, remembering how her childhood friend
had always had been… touchy. He held onto grudges like they were
his sole link to sanity. She changed subjects, they could address that
further later, along with everything else. "So, what happened that
Halloween that helped you two become friends?"

Hermione spoke up here, "He saved my life."

Whatever answers Lily had been expecting, that had not been
among them. Hermione explained, chattering happily, despite the
topic. "I wasn't terribly popular back then. I'm still not I suppose… I
was-am, a bit of a know-it-all, a bookworm, you can imagine how
well that went over with some of my fellow students."

Lily nodded sadly. Indeed she did know, she remembered times like
that in her own youth, children could be cruel.

"Ronald Weasley, who was hanging around Harry a lot said

something which really hurt my feelings. I hid in the nearest
bathroom and cried for hours, I was considering quitting Hogwarts if
I'm being perfectly honest…"

Harry sighed, shaking his head while giving his friend a one armed
hug before taking back the reins. "That was when Professor Quirrell,
our Defence professor of the year, ran into the great hall and started
screaming about a troll that had made it into the castle."

"A troll?" Lily asked confused. "How'd the bloody thing get past the
wards?"

Her son grimaced. "Quirrell let it in himself, it turns out," Harry noted
dryly. "Anyways, he said the troll was in the dungeons. The teachers
all raced off to face it, and instructed the prefects to take us all back
to our dormitories…"

Lily gave him a questioning look. "That makes no sense, the

Slytherin and Hufflepuff dormitories are in the dungeons."

Harry nodded agreeably. "I know, Dumbledore does that sort of thing
a lot. Whenever there's danger about, he has everyone walk around
with a prefect. As if that's going to do anything against some of the
things which have been around the school lately. Anyways, I
remembered that Hermione didn't know about the troll and went
looking for her." He rolled his eyes. "Except, naturally the troll wasn't
where Quirrell had said it was. And naturally it had found and
cornered Hermione."

She sighed, and leaned forward to rest her head on the table a
moment before sitting up again. Her headache was making a
resurgence. "Please tell me you didn't try to take on a troll by
yourself." She could see the answer in his embarrassed expression
and groaned.

Hermione for her part appeared amused at his discomfort. "Actually,

he jumped on its back and stuck his wand up its nose."

Kate barked a startled laugh, while Lily fought the urge to scream in
frustration. Harry took to carrying on the story. "I'd forced Ron to
come along, which is a good thing because he managed to drop the
thing's club on its head and knocked it out."

"And there you go, friendship formed!" Hermione noted happily.

"Not the only dangerous thing in the castle that year." Harry noted
absently.

His mother shook her head, somehow that didn't comfort her. "Do I
even want to know?
Harry considered her. "If you want to know exactly the six kinds of
hell Dumbledore has allowed me to go through the last few years…
then yeah, kinda."

Lily groaned.

OLD Temporal Knight Psuedo-AN: So this chapter gave us a bit of

trouble but we got there in the end. Trying to get the balance
between Lily remembering things yet still having leftover issues with
a long term, deep memory charm were difficult. Hopefully we've
managed to strike the middle ground well enough to keep it both
realistic and enjoyable!

Recommendation(s) for the week: Death's Pride and Darkened

Paths by Paladeus. RIP Paladeus, who has sadly passed beyond
the veil.
Chapter 11
Author's Note: The Joy of Editing lies in being able to laugh at your
own jokes until you pass out.

Reviews: As ever, Reviews are greatly appreciated, but not

mandatory.

The offices of the Ministry of Magic's muggle liaison office were just
about the worst spaces set aside for administration staff in the whole
Ministry complex. They were dingy, dark, dirty and stuck way down
in the sub-basements alongside the floo transportation offices. A
group of Aurors locking down their neighbours' offices had just about
been the most exciting thing that had ever happened within viewing
distance of this terrible little government backwater.

This office was where your career went to die, along with the metric
crap ton of parchment work associated with every violation of the
statute of secrecy and all the work that went into getting the myriad
of materials the Ministry needed but couldn't come across easily by
other means.

The fact that such an office, which in theory should have been
moderately important was treated as the dumping ground for the
unwanted and unpopular, said something less than complimentary
about the Ministry of Magic's view on Muggles.

Today, in particular, a notably lazy and slothful clerk found his day
utterly ruined when a letter from the Muggle side of the liaisons
equation arrived on his desk. One might ask how the mere arrival of
the letter on one's desk might ruin your day. Simply put it was
because this was one letter the clerk was actually required by law to
actually do something about, as indicated by the specialized seal
and addressing information on the envelope's face.
This particular clerk proceeded to practically tackle the another
employee trying to get to the office's single owl courier and send the
bird on it's way with the letter so that it was out of his hair as soon as
humanly possible, so that he was not required to hike across the
complex to the letters destination himself.

Ironically, the fight which generated from that grew heated enough
that both involved were taken into custody by a very tired and very
grumpy Auror who frog marched the two of them up and over to the
Aurors offices within the DMLE for causing a disturbance.

Harry sat tiredly on the edge of the bed in the first guest room his
mother had provided.

His mother, it was still hard to believe that she was alive, it was an
earth shattering revelation for him all things considered! He'd gone
his whole life believing her dead, and now? And now she was just a
couple rooms away, close enough to touch.

It had been decided, well-demanded actually, in the wake of their

conversation that he and Hermione would stay with them in their
home here. Hermione and Kate had wandered off to collect their
belongings from the hotel while he and his mother became
reacquainted and tried to sort out the mystery of how they had
disappeared from each other's lives.

They had spoken for a while after the girls had left, in this case about
his first through third year at Hogwarts. The problem with this was
that it had left his mother in a rip-roaring temper. Not directed against
him in specific thankfully, but against the world in general.

Harry had no experience with such things, he'd never been in a

position to want to comfort a relative before, and his typical methods
for placating the Dursleys when they got angry didn't really apply in
this situation. It didn't help that he was in some ways half the reason
for her emotional upheaval.
They had agreed to take a break while she calmed herself down and
he'd isolated himself in his room to practice occlumency, for all the
good it did him. He had minimal useful instruction in the topic, thanks
to Snape, and right now his mind was abuzz after being reunited with
his mother. Trying to "clear his mind" was proving a major endeavour
at the moment.

Thankfully he didn't have to struggle fruitlessly for long, as soon

enough the sound of Hermione and Kate's return had him leaving
the bedroom to meet them.

He arrived in the kitchen and common area to find their belongings

stacked near the entrance. Hermione and his sister- another weird
thing to contemplate-were pulling off their jackets.

"This cold snap should be over in a couple hours, tomorrow's

projected to be pretty warm so the snow should be gone soon
enough." Kate explained, continuing some conversation started out
of earshot.

"Just how warm does it get around here?" Hermione asked rubbing
her hands together to warm them up again.

"Canada? Or Churchill specifically?" Kate asked rhetorically.

"Canada varies wildly, I hear Vancouver and the Island out there get
to be similar to what England gets. The plains can get pretty darn
warm in the summer, down right arid around the Alberta badlands,
most other places down south get around twenty to thirty Celsius at
best? Here… well we're generally lucky if we hit twenty in the
summers."

She turned upon spotting him and opened her mouth to say
something when their mother paced back into the room.

"Got everything you need?" She asked, nodding to the pile of

luggage and cages.
"Yes Mrs… Err, do you prefer Mrs Bevans, Potter or Evans?"
Hermione asked uncertainly.

"Lily will do fine. Technically I'm still a Potter, but I remember living
under a different name for a long time now…" His mother explained
with a slight wince.

"So, what did we miss?" Kate asked, as she finished pulling off her
boots.

Lily snorted darkly, "Apparently Hogwarts safety regulations have

really gone downhill since I was there, and that's saying something.
We needed a break after he told me about third year. I am this close
to trying a transatlantic apparation, I want to strangle Dumbledore
with his beard so bad. Even discounting charming me, what he's
been doing with that school - and my son in particular - should be
criminal!"

Hermione winced, she knew how being that angry at someone could
feel, but more so how it looked. She could imagine it hadn't been
pleasant for Harry seeing his mother that upset, especially so soon
after meeting her.

They spent the next couple minutes sorting their belongings into the
guest rooms. Hermione noticed Lily watching her with interest before
turning away. "What?" She asked, concerned she'd done something
which might upset Harry's mother.

Lily sighed, looking chagrined. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I was…

well I was wondering if you two planned on er- bunking together."

Hermione blushed, "Um, no. We're not like that, and besides I kinda
assumed that you wouldn't be okay with that sort of thing
anyways…"

Lily grimaced. "I can't say the thought of my son sleeping with girls at
fifteen makes me happy, no. However I am… well aware that I'm not
exactly in a position to tell him how to live his life. I wasn't many
years older than you when I slept with James the first time, and more
importantly, I haven't been in Harry's life, he had to make his own
way without me."

Hermione tilted her head considering that before nodding

acceptance. "Well, no, me and Harry aren't bunking together."

"Okay, just… mildly surprised I guess, you and he are clearly very
close, I can tell that just by looking at you two. Besides, I've now
heard more than a few stories about your adventures together. I just
thought there was a good chance something might have come out of
that."

Hermione hummed noncommittally. It wasn't a comfortable

conversation, probably because it was so similar to her own desires
on the subject. Kate who had apparently been listening decided to
ride to the rescue. "I'm going to cook up some lunch, how about you
guys keep on with your stories while I do that?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm okay with that if Harry and Lily are…"

Lily nodded and led the way into the kitchen, where Harry was
tending to Hedwig. Soon enough all three of them were sat at the
table while Kate started her work at the stove.

"So….."Lily sighed as she thumped down into her chair. "Fourth

year?"

Amelia Bones wanted to scream, not in fear, horror or terror, but at

the sheer raw levels of frustration she was feeling. The alarm she
had received just after the departure of the Dwarves had informed
her that someone was attempting to bypass the wards at the
Granger residence. Following her discussion with Harry she had
decided to take a personal interest in the protection of the Grangers.
It turned out that concern was justified.
Albus Bloody Arse Monkey Dumbledore had been attempting to
coerce the Grangers into divulging the location of their daughter and
Harry. Apparently Daniel Granger had been smart enough to avoid
letting him cross the threshold, or staring him in the eye, as that was
where the newly installed wards ended. He had also sat himself in a
chair across said threshold from Dumbledore and taunted the man
with references to a muggle fantasy novel while the old man
attempted to threaten and browbeat him. Most notably by referring to
the headmaster as Gandalf.

Naturally she had taken exception to Dumbledore then attempting to

breach the wards and had arrested him. That was where her
frustrations had gotten worse. Dumbledore had chastised her for the
next half-hour while she walked him through the process of being
taken into police custody, only to then have that doddering ninny
Fudge practically wet himself that she was arresting the chief
warlock and give him a ministerial pardon on the spot. The sheer
hypocrisy of this was staggering as Fudge had less than a month
ago been trying to have the man arrested himself.

She'd then spent the next half hour arguing with Fudge about the
Dwarf issue. It had taken all her considerable cajoling, persuading
and brow beating ability to get him to commit to conceding to the
Dwarves ultimatum. He had honestly been convinced that they could
tell the Dwarves to quote "shove their heads up their own arses" until
she had painstakingly pointed out just what would happen should he
do so.

Most migraine inducing had been when, part way through the
conversation, the man had begun lamenting Malfoy's "steadying"
influence. She had cut him off before he could get going on that. The
absolute last thing the wizarding world needed was an undeniably
confirmed Death Eater among the free.

She'd been called twice more to the the Grangers that day before
Dumbledore had apparently give up. Each time she'd arrived to find
Dumbledore fiddling with the wards while Dan or Emma Granger
made Lord of the Rings references while throwing things at the old
man.

Each time she told him to get lost or she would hex him until he
couldn't feel his nuts and he'd left in a strop. She'd only just
managed to get back to her officers a few minutes ago, after
assigning an Auror detail to watch the place. She, unknowingly
mirroring the thoughts of a certain currently-canadian, really wanted
to strangle that old bastard with his beard.

Lily had to fight the urge to bang her head on the table in front of her,
not the least because her daughter had placed a piping hot bowl of
soup in front of her. Instead she settled for running her palm irritably
through her hair. "Who the hell does Dumbledore think he is?" She
snarled suddenly startling the others who were just starting to tuck
into their meals.

"Seriously, because to all appearances he's using my son as cannon

fodder in his little crusade without bothering to even train you
properly!" She exclaimed. Harry had just finished going over the
events of fifth year. "What's more he's using the members of his
damnable flaming turkey club as some sort of…." she cast about for
an appropriate term.

"Private army of meat shields?" Kate suggested acerbically. She'd

been less than impressed with whomever this Dumbledore person
was as well. She'd been heartbroken when Harry had explained just
what had happened to his godfather. Though not as horrified as
when Harry had explained he and a handful of school friends had
been forced to do battle with terrorists because the man and his little
group couldn't get off their butts.

Lily grumbled, but nodded conceding the point. "He's messed with
Harry's life - and my own - from the beginning and as near as I can
tell he's done so based solely on the word of a possibly demented
seer… Even if the prophecy is true, which I wouldn't be willing to
take bets on, he should have at least saw to you getting some proper
training for it!"

Harry nodded soberly. "I'm not certain, but I think he believes he has
a reason for doing things that way." He raised his hands defensively
at his mother's glare. "I'm not saying it's a good reason or that he's
right, just that he thinks he's justified. I think in his mind the prophecy
can only be interpreted one way."

"And that is?" Kate asked blowing on her spoonful of soup.

"I think he believes I need to die so Voldemort can be killed, and that
Voldemort has to be the one to do it." Harry explained simply.

Lily's spoon clattered on the table, and she saw Hermione was
staring at her friend in horror, before she groaned. "So that's the
crazy bastard's plan! It makes sense, he wants you to play martyr to
all this and has arranged matters so you will do it. Isolates you from
the get go. No real family, he saw to that with a memory charm it
seems, and friends who are by nature or design of his own fickle or
capricious. Think about it, if he wanted simply to avoid triggering a
possession, like happened at the Ministry, staying away from you
himself makes sense, but keeping your friends away? Never."

Hermione winced at the comment about fickle friends. And Harry

quickly reached across to squeeze her hand. "It's okay 'Mione, I
know we both wish things could have worked out differently that
summer…"

His friend grimaced and shook her head. "I should have known
better-I should have-"

He cut her off. "Forgiven and forgotten Hermione, I promise, I don't

hold it against you." He turned his attention back to his mother after
Hermione gave him a small grateful smile. "Now what was this about
Dumbledore?"
Lily had their attention again, "I mean, just think about it, he was
setting you on a path where you would believe you had no purpose
beyond that of sacrificing yourself for…"

"The greater good." Harry growled, thinking of his conversation with

the Headmaster following Sirius' death. He could not recall if the old
man had said those words specifically, but that had been the
essence of his message.

Lily nodded, looking sour. "I bloody hate that phrase, he used to say
it all the time back in the old Order. How much you want to bet he
sees himself as being the one to kill Voldemort after you died?"

"Two defeated dark lords under his belt, his influence would be
unmatched, at least in England…" Harry noted, Hermione nodding
vigorously. "He could mould England whatever way he wanted with
almost no opposition. Perhaps we should wonder just what his vision
of the future is?"

His mother sighed. "I'm sorry for ranting like that, but I'm just furious
that I ever trusted the whiskery old wanker." Harry made a
sympathetic sound. "I suppose all that brings us up to the start of this
summer?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "I spent a long time thinking on all of this, and really
when it came down to it I couldn't see a good reason to allow it to
continue. I originally thought about just running for it, but I couldn't
help but think that I'd be leaving everything and everyone I cared
about behind…"

"Then how are you here?" Kate asked, she didn't sound accusatory,
merely curious.

"I decided that if, on the off chance the prophecy is accurate, I was
required to fight Voldemort I would need training, and allies. I
decided I'd leave Britain for a while, maybe see some of the world
while I searched for those things. I tried to talk Hermione into taking
care of Hedwig for me…"
Hermione smirked in amusement. "But I told him he was being an
idiot and that I was coming with him, we argued about it for a while
but he gave in."

Harry smiled thinly in return. "Yes I did, we went to her house to

prepare to leave, her parents weren't happy but she was set on
following me… I decided to take care of some business while she
spent some time with them."

Hermione sighed wearily. "And nearly got yourself killed… again."

Harry shot her a look, "I consider Madam Bones' life a good trade off
considering."

"Amelia?" Lily asked.

He nodded agreement, grunting slightly. "I went there hoping that

she could help me get rid of the trace-"

"Sensible." Lily allowed grudgingly.

"Just a couple problems with that. First Voldemort decided to try for
her that night. Madam Bones, her niece Susan, Emmeline Vance, an
Auror and myself fought them long enough that back up arrived and
forced him to retreat… Amelia covered for me so Dumbledore and
some of his agents in the Aurors didn't figure out I was there. The
second problem was that apparently things have gone down hill in
the office which monitors underage sorcery. Apparently they only
watch muggleborns or muggle raised students within fixed locations
these days. I needn't have gone there in the first place. Though I
don't regret it overall."

"So she couldn't help you?" Lily asked.

"Not precisely, not with that at least, she helped cover for me, and
warded Hermione's house, and offered to help us find people to train
me should I need it." He explained patiently.
She nodded, understanding. "So how did you end up here?"

"I mentioned a story Arthur Weasley told me about a certain

obnoxiously painted magical car the Ministry had confiscated to
Hermione. We noted that the car's source was in the same area as
one of the family properties. Mr Weasley had mentioned that our
family modified vehicles magically in the past, and I was wondering if
you might have had a friend in this area who had taken up the torch."
Harry admitted shrugging.

"Once we got here it was merely a question of tracking down the

person who worked on such a hideous vehicle." Hermione noted.

Kate was amused though her mother appeared less so. "Didn't think
about that. Thanks to the memory charm I suppose I couldn't, but…
that was still a huge risk that I overlooked…"

"In this case I'm not inclined to complain, it allowed me to find you
after all." Harry pointed out.

Lily tilted her head smiling slightly "For which I will forever be
grateful, that doesn't change the fact though that if you could find us,
someone else could too."

Kate grimaced, "What is the likelihood of someone following you

here?"

Her brother shrugged. "As far as I know only myself and Hermione
know about the connection between this particular property and the
confiscated vehicle."

Lily sagged slightly in relief, before looking critically at her son. "How
long do you intend to stay, you've made it pretty clear you're on a
mission. As much as I dislike it."

Harry nodded his thanks to his mother. It must have been difficult for
her to allow him his choice in the matter considering she'd just gotten
him back. Merlin knew he wasn't as eager to leave now that he knew
it was her up here, as when he'd been back at the hotel. "I don't
know honestly. I can theoretically take as long as I feel necessary,
but like I said people back home might need me, if the prophecy is
right. Delaying too long could see people suffering when I might
have been able to stop it."

She nodded however it was Kate who spoke first. "Where else were
you intending to go?" She asked curiously.

Harry shrugged. "I have no real plans. I wanted to hit what properties
we had around the world and see if there was anybody you might
have known in the area. Otherwise the only tentative plan we had for
certain was getting in contact with Gringotts via their branch in the
International market place in Hawaii. They offered to look for
teachers for me as well, and wanted to arrange remote access to
Sirius' will reading since I'd be in the area."

Lily's brows went up. "I thought you had no planned destinations,
what are you going to be doing all the way out there?"

It was Harry's turn to do eyebrow gymnastics in the resulting

confusion. "What do you mean, I mentioned I was hitting up all our
properties, I would be stopping through the one on Oahu."

Lily gaped at him then, after blinking stupidly at him for a moment
threw her head back and laughed, running her hands over her eyes.
It was perhaps the first time Harry had heard her make such a happy
sound. "Oh James, you damned scamp, that's what you did!" She
noted his questioning glance. "James had been teasing me for
months before that night that he was preparing a special gift for me
that christmas. I never found out what it was, then there's the fact
that he sent our elves into hiding, but I could never find them! He
must have ordered them to seek shelter there and wait until retrieved
personally."

"Elves?" Hermione blurted, clearly alarmed, Harry shot her a quelling

look, clearly asking her to wait, but Lily caught her expression.
"I know what you mean, appalled me at first too." She agreed
nodding. "Had a nasty fight with James over it, thinking they were
slaves right? But he eventually explained some facts I was missing."

Hermione was watching her avidly and Harry felt driven to explain.
"Er-Hermione has kind of taken to championing House Elf rights.
Formed a group and everything. Uh-Do you want to tell them the
name or should I?" He asked weakly.

She glared at him. "Ok, fine I admit the name I chose was
unfortunate! The Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare, and
yes I'm aware that comes out spelling SPEW." Kate had to fight to
stifle a laugh at that.

"Very noble Hermione," Lily assured her. "I think you should know
something before you get too deep in though." Hermione looked
askance at her. "Elves need work, it's what they thrive on. And
nobody in the world generates chores and work like humans. Where
do you think the old legends and tales about Brownies came from?
House Elves love to work, unfortunately some took advantage of
this. Either way House Elves need to be bonded to a family in order
to benefit magically from their labour, unfortunately this became
twisted by many into a master and slave arrangement. I can assure
you House Potter never indulged in such things."

Hermione looked confused so Lily elaborated. "The Potters had

Elves yes, but they always treated them well, and the Elves received
payment in their own way. They need to work, but they are… wired
in such a way that work in and of itself is its own reward. Thus no
further payment required. They got everything they needed by living
with the Potters. Food, shelter, and work."

"But what about Dobby, he didn't want to be with his owners! And he
even gets paid now." Hermione protested.

Harry had been processing what his mother had said. "If I were to
guess, I'd say Dobby wanted to be free because the work didn't
balance out the abuse he was receiving from the Malfoys. As for the
payment, my guess is that it is his way of thumbing his nose at his
old master. 'I am paid therefore I am free of you.' I preferred this to
being in your service?"

Lily was nodding, "That would be my guess as well judging from

what I've heard… Though you'd have to ask the elf himself to be
certain."

Kate had been silent the last minute or so. "You know… You don't
have to go alone when you two leave."

The others looked to her in varying degrees of confusion, and she

sighed in exasperation. "I mean, why don't we come with you? When
you eventually decide it's time to leave that is."

Lily snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I was getting to that honey, you

just need to be a bit more patient." Her daughter shot her a mildly
insolent grin in return.

"Yeah, well you were taking too long, I wanted to know!" Her
daughter shot back.

Harry was shaking his head, "I couldn't ask that of you. Your lives are
here, I can't expect you to just pick up and leave it all behind."

Lily cocked a brow at him skeptically, but it was Kate who actually
spoke up looking to Hermione. "Let me guess, he gave you a similar
line before you followed him on this adventure right?"

Hermione nodded, chuckling. "Yes, he most certainly did, he doesn't

seem to get that being in his company isn't a huge burden."

Lily reached across and patted Harry's hand. "This was never really
home Harry. Just a place I ran away to, to get away from my
troubles…"

Kate nodded briskly. "Churchill Manitoba is hardly the centre of

civilization. Being magicals on top of that keeps us further
marginalized. Oh people know our faces, but we're hardly part of the
community. The only people who come even close to really 'knowing'
us are my coworkers and Old Lady Winter."

"Mom teaches me most everything else. Spend a couple hours

everyday on various things… She's the best at Charms and potions
though. I seem to have Dad's knack for transfiguration though
according to her…"

Lily cocked her head, her eyes turning assessing as she looked to
Harry. "And what are your strengths, what fields are you best at? I
don't suppose you got your OWLs back yet?"

Harry shook his head. "No, we left before that…" He winced and
looked to Hermione. "Sorry about that."

She waved that off irritably. "Had we been back home I'd no doubt be
excited-and worried-to find out what I got on those exams. Here it
doesn't seem nearly as important. I'm sure if I get really curious we
could get one of our friends to find out for us."

Harry nodded, then gave a start as he realized he'd gone off topic. "I
don't really know what I'm good at. I do well enough in several
subjects I suppose…"

Hermione sighed, and looked to Lily. "He routinely scores second

highest in Defence against the Dark Arts, and within the top three in
Charms. He's not too shabby at most of the others save History of
Magic and Divination in which he always sort of bottoms out. He's a
wonderful flyer too, and seems to be fairly powerful, though I don't
know how to definitively measure that." She saw the questioning
looks she was getting, and shrugged a touch sheepishly. "I
memorize things easily, and Harry always lets me see his test
results."

"No interest in Runes?" Lily asked curiously.

Harry shook his head. "I kinda went for easy courses for my
electives. My other friend wanted to go that way…" He looked a
touch frustrated. "In retrospect, I probably should have gone with
something a touch more useful."

Lily nodded understandingly. "Well, as you know, your father and I

made a living in the family business with Runes. If you ever want
teaching in it, both Kate and I are good at it."

Harry nodded, but looked a touch rueful. "I might take you up on
that, but I'm fairly used to working with Hermione and she's very
good at it too."

"Oh?" Lily asked curious, she had gotten the impression Hermione
was a hard worker and fairly intelligent, she wondered just what the
girl who kept her son company was like.

Harry smirked. "She mentioned my scores, what she didn't mention

is that she's basically been top of her class in most every class she's
taken for the last five years. She's apparently burned all previous
records."

Lily whistled in appreciation. "And that would be no mean feat," she

agreed, and looked to her daughter who was looking curious again.
"I would know how much work that takes, I set a couple of those
records back in the day."

Hermione was blushing, "Yes, well, I just try my hardest, I see no

reason to go to school if I'm not going to do my best."

"The thing is her best on a bad day is way better than the best the
rest of us can manage on a good day." Harry laughed in amusement.

Lily eyed the girl, a touch more approvingly. She hadn't had anything
against her prior to this, but she had been uncertain of the girl who
was so attached to Harry. "So, you're good at runes eh?" She
nodded thoughtfully. "Well I'm sure we have some things you'll find
interesting around here if you want a look… but we're getting off
topic. The point is Harry, we can easily leave this place behind."

Kate nodded eagerly. "Yes, please don't think we're attached to this
place. I'd love to see something besides tundra and polar bears
every day. The largest mundane land predator on earth may be
majestic, but the shine kinda wears off after a while." She noted
dryly.

Lily cocked her head at the two of them, eyeing them curiously. "You
know, as happy as I am to see you here… It's a little odd to see two
teenagers traveling alone. I know Harry's home situation is bad, but-I
hope you don't think me rude, but why didn't your parents come on
this journey, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled slightly. "It's okay, you weren't being rude, it's a
perfectly reasonable question. My parents aren't with us for a couple
reasons actually. First and foremost is because even had they been
able to quit their jobs on a moment's notice, and pack the house up
quickly, it would have made us far easier to track. Two teenagers
travelling together by non-magical means is a lot harder to track for
the average wizard than a whole household leaving at the same
time. I had hoped that by splitting us up my parents might be able to
weather the scrutiny which would come at our disappearance until
those who are watching us lose interest and try other avenues to find
us. At which point their affairs should be in order and they could
more easily go into hiding."

"And once they are in hiding too? I assume you plan to meet back up
with them at some point?" Lily asked.

Hermione nodded firmly. "Ideally yes. However it's most important

that me and Harry achieve what we set out to do. At the very least,
this way I'll know they are safe. However I'm hopeful we'll be able to
meet up with them somewhere along the way."

Kate turned to her mom and gave her an appraising look before
looking back to her sibling. "How were you intending to get to your
next destination?"

Harry shrugged. "Was leaning towards flying, we avoided port keys

and the floo network back home because we didn't want to be
noticed. Dumbledore's got to be looking for me by now, and if
Canada's a member of the ICW, they might be looking for me too
eventually."

Lily shrugged. "Canada is technically a protectorate of the ICW, and

relations are… tenuous at best right now with the old country. Add to
that our minimal population of magicals and the likelihood of you
being noticed is slim…"

She paused to consider, cocking her head. "It would be relatively

easy to for us to leave, whenever we're packed really…"

"Yes! Let's get out of here, like-now!" Kate yelped excitedly, and her
mother snorted in amusement.

"Easy, we have to pack, and you will need to quit your job, make
sure you thank your boss for everything." Lily said firmly, smiling at
her Daughter's enthusiasm. "How soon were you wanting to leave
then?"

Harry shook his head, he couldn't believe how quickly this whirlwind
was spinning his life around, still he considered the question. "I'm
good to leave whenever you are. Hermione and I are still packed, so
no problems on that front… I just need to be at Gringotts in Hawaii in
time for the will reading on the fifth I think it was…."

Lily smiled. "Plenty of time then!" She paused, her brow furrowing
slightly. "We can be ready to leave by tomorrow morning if need
be… But I think it'd be best to leave it until the morning after. That
will give Kate time to quit her job and get her pay sorted, and it'll
allow me to finish the latest vehicle I've been working on and go
around the reservation and thank Old Lady Winter for her help."
Kate stilled slightly. "Would you mind if I came along for that, I'd like
to thank her too."

Her mother nodded easily, then looked to Harry, and saw he had no
objections. "It's settled then. Day after tomorrow. Now, let's see
about some desert."

Amelia Bones was this close to throwing curses around. It was

barely halfway through the day, and already just about everything
had come off the rails in a spectacular fashion.

The Carrow Twins, Amycus and Alecto, had been found dead in their
cell early this morning, whatever had been done to them had
resulted in the both of them being sucked dry of everything useful
until they were nothing more than emaciated husks contorted in a
rictus of pain, clawing at their Dark Marks. Apparently the Dark Lord
didn't tolerate failures well.

To make matters that much worse. Cornelius Fudge had heard word
of the deaths early on, likely from one of the more political twits
loitering about the office. He'd stormed into the building early on,
intent upon berating her for "lax security" or some such.

Amelia had then been forced to waste a good half hour

systematically rendering him toothless and sending him on his way.
She'd very pointedly noted that it was thanks to several bills he'd
pushed through that the Auror corps was so critically understaffed.
To add to the problem, the Carrow lawyers at attempted to slow
down the justice process to a stand still demanding a special hearing
instead of an interrogation. Something which had taken time they
couldn't afford to waste.

Once he'd left, apparently unable to come up with a suitable retort,

she was able to turn her attention to her other worries. Both Hestia
and Kingsley had reported being approached by the Order of the
Phoenix. Apparently Albus was getting quite insistent.
The only positive in this entire mess, was that despite the less than
official circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Carrows, the
Dwarves had withdrawn their complaint merely levelling several
official warnings against it happening again in the future. They had
left no doubt as to what the consequences would be should this
happen again.

Amelia wasn't optimistic about that state of affairs lasting with the
kinds of idiots the Carrows owed loyalty to roaming around.

Still, she couldn't seem to catch a break today. She'd finally gotten
herself resettled at her desk a while after Cornelius had left the office
when a knock sounded at the door. Her secretary for the day poked
her head in nervously. "Madam Director?"

She needed to quite carefully rein herself in before looking up and

nodding to the young woman. "Yes?"

"You er-you have a missive from the Muggle Liaisons Office? You
told me to forward any communiques from them that had a red seal
immediately?"

Amelia straightened somewhat at that. Red seals from the Muggle

Liaisons Office, were direct messages from the Muggle Government.
It was an oft forgotten, and much begrudged fact that, technically
speaking, the Ministry of Magic was in fact still a subsection of the
elected Muggle Government, just as any of the other Ministries were.
She nodded, and gestured the girl forward, hand outstretched. "Ah,
let me see it then…"

The secretary hurried forward and laid the envelope in her hand
before hurrying off again to attend to her duties.

Amelia pried the package open and unfolded the letter, printed on
the familiar and yet strange perfectly rectangular paper with
meticulously uniform letters and numbers that muggle computers
turned out.
Amy

I hate to be a bother, but you are going to want to come in to The

Yard today. We'll be expecting you around 3:00 p.m, I'd advise
against being late under the circumstances.

Samantha Grimes

Beside that was stamped the official coat of arms for the Greater
London Metropolitan Police Department. As if that were not enough
to authenticate this message as legitimate, below that was a single
co-signature. Still that seemingly insignificant line of cursive made
her pause and blink in surprise. It wasn't very often that they saw
something directly sanctioned by the current muggle prime minister
of the time. Often they were wary of interfering in any way with the
magical community. Yet there it was, the chief muggle's signature,
making it very clear that this wasn't merely a request.

Sam usually avoided formality whenever they were forced to interact

or correspond, that the Chief Inspector had gone through the trouble
of getting her "invitation" signed by the Prime Minister, said quite
clearly, that whatever this was, it was serious.

She sighed, she'd need to make her rounds so she wouldn't be

missed too badly while attending to whatever this was. Still, she
should be able to draw up a couple of trustworthy Aurors to guard
Susan while she was gone.

Author's Note: Welp that's all I've got for this chapter. And cRaP! I
think I forgot last chapter to thank my Beta and pseudo-coauthor
didn't I? Well… Uh, thanks Temporal Knight!

Recommendation(s): Well… crap, I seem to have trouble thinking

of one this week. How about "Browncoat Green Eyes" a Harry
Potter/Firefly crossover of all things. It's pretty good stuff!
Chapter 12
Author's Notes: They see me editing… they hatin'… -Writing Nerdy

3:00 P.M

Under normal circumstances Amelia would simply have apparated to

her destination. However given the fact that her destination, Scotland
Yard, was in fact located in the middle of London she figured it was a
bad idea. Adding to this problem was the fact the building boasted
more CCTV cameras than the average government structure in the
nation's capital. That it was broad daylight also contributed to her
caution.

Instead she found herself surreptitiously climbing into a muggle taxi

outside the Ministry, using the small fund of muggle money she kept
for emergencies, she proceeded to ride it to her destination. Traffic
being what it was at this time of day she arrived with only a few
minutes to spare, something which grated on her already frayed
nerves considering the content of the message she'd received.

Thankfully as she climbed the front steps into Scotland yard she
found a welcoming committee of sorts already waiting for her. She
tried to ignore all the cameras tracking her progress across the
lobby.

Samantha Grimes. Chief Inspector of the Greater London

Metropolitan Police Department, and her liaison with the city's law
enforcement apparatus. Sam was a tall, dour woman who looked,
quite frankly like she'd seen eight kinds of hell. Like Mad-Eye Moody
without all the missing bits.

"Amy" Samantha greeted simply as she approached, her hands

fiddling idly with a silver cigarette case before slipping it back into a
pocket.
"Sam," Amelia replied, offering a dry smile in return. It was unusual
for members of the muggle and magical government to cultivate any
kind of friendly working relationship, however Amelia and Samantha
had managed it.

Sam grunted in acknowledgement. "If you'll follow me, we've got

something that requires your attention."

Well… as friendly a relationship as it was possible to have with Sam

Grimes. As the Director understood it, the woman had started as a
beat cop and clawed her way, in most cases entirely unwillingly, up
the ladder. The woman had little patience for small talk or politicking
which was just fine with Amelia considering how much crap she had
to deal with from her bosses on a daily basis. Things like that could
wait until later as far as she was concerned.

The Inspector led the way through a security checkpoint, waving off
the peculiar looks Amelia got when the guards found her wand.
Apparently the guards had learned a long time ago, to just roll with
the punches where the boss was concerned and barely reacted
before handing it back to her.

Eventually she was led to a bank of lifts, secluded near the back of
the lobby, where Sam opened one secured with specialized locks,
before stepping inside.

Amelia watched Sam wait for the doors to close behind them, before
beginning to run through the various built in security measures.
Some of these she'd never even heard of, let alone seen before, and
she was reasonably certain even magic might have a hard time
bypassing the lock which required a biometric scan.

Once these measures were complete and the lift began to descend,
Amelia spoke up. "So, what's this all about Sam?"

The other woman grimaced. "Not here, the elevator shaft is fairly
safe, we think, but we won't be fully secure behind the anti-
surveillance screens until we get down where we're going." Sam
replied shortly.

They descended in silence for close to a minute before they came to

a halt and the doors slid open allowing them to step out into a fairly
barren concrete hallway. Finally Samantha spoke up, perhaps
sensing Amelia's growing curiosity. "We… got a bit of an odd call
last… never mind" She cut herself off as they made their way along
the long, dimly lit corridor. "One of our telephone surveillance
systems picked up a number of keywords which immediately had the
call forwarded to me."

She glanced sideways at her magical counterpart, and seeing the

mild confusion explained. "We have a computer system which listens
to people's phone calls for keywords. In this case it picked out a
couple words of note. Muggle, magic, blood, Ministry and Aurors."

Amelia felt her eyebrows go up, but Sam continued before she could
inquire. "The caller was contacting their spouse that they had found
one of their family members in distress, they were debating
contacting the Ministry for help. However something was staying
their hands…"

The finally found themselves at a featureless black steel door and

once again Sam was occupied with passing security checks under
the watch of a pair of very serious looking guardsmen wearing heavy
body armour. They stepped through once the security check was
completed and found themselves in an antechamber of some sort,
here Sam paused.

"Naturally, given the circumstances we investigated. I sent a special

team which has been read in on such things to the residence in
question. It was there they found a woman, girl really, of perhaps
eighteen? Her name is Cassandra Anders."

Amelia stiffened immediately, recognizing the name quite well.

Inspector Grimes just nodded. "Thought that might get your
attention, she told us she was one of yours."
She nodded firmly in response. "She's alive then? She was my
Niece's bodyguard, we had assumed her lost after an attack on my
home a few days ago…"

Sam grunted, a thin, dry smile on her lips. "Yes, heard about that.
Made quite a mess didn't they?" She said pointedly, letting Amelia
know, none too subtly that she was aware of her previous place of
residence. She led the way over to a door set into the far wall and
stepped through, holding the door open for her guest.

The room they now found themselves in was roughly rectangular

from what little Amelia could see, though it was hard to be certain of
the rooms dimensions in the limited lighting. In the centre of the
space lit up by a small bank of dim lights was a large cube of dark
glass like material. She did her best to pretend she hadn't noticed
and was not alarmed by the presence of runes inscribed into the
surface. An odd muffled hush seemed to fill the chamber.

Here the Inspector once again paused, leaning a hand on a raised

panel in front of the cube. "Miss Anders was in a great deal of
distress when we found her, and was covered in blood, her family
were doing their best to tend to her, but largely seemed at a loss. I
admit, knowing what I do about your ministry I can understand the
problem."

Amelia cocked her head curiously at the other women, "What do you
mean?"

Sam glanced over he shoulder at something, but shrugged, dropping

one of her hands to a circular control on the panel beside her, and
turning it slightly with a dull clicking noise. Lights ignited within the
cube and while still fairly dim, the interior was now visible to those
outside.

There, huddled and shivering in the corner was her missing agent.

Cassandra Anders, a new recruit really, barely out of the Auror basic
training program. She'd been scored in the top five of the last
decade of Auror intakes in personal protection and defence, just
below Tonks, and as a result had been assigned as an opening
assignment to Susan Bones' summer protection detail to ease her
into training proper.

A young vibrant woman of only eighteen, Susan had immediately

taken to the young athletic woman quite nicely. A pretty girl all told,
with shoulder length blonde hair and a pleasant complexion.

At least-that was how she had looked the last time Amelia had seen
the girl. The woman in the corner, while undoubtedly the person in
question, was very different as well. Her hair was no longer blonde,
but black and lank hanging well past her shoulders. Her eyes dark
red and staring. She had a blanket draped around her, but Amelia
could tell that underneath she was lightly clothed in a mismatch of ill-
fitting bloodsoaked garments. Her skin, what was visible of it, was
unnaturally pale and was spackled with blood.

"What happened to her?" Amelia hissed.

Sam grimaced. "She told us very little, though what she did tell us
wasn't strictly speaking necessary, upon a basic examination we
determined that she has what we mundanes refer to as HV-virus." At
Amelia's questioning look she sighed before clarifying. "Vampirism?"

Amelia sagged, that explained it all right there. Cassandra, the

young woman who had protected Susan with her life had been
turned into a blood drinker. Now that she looked closer, the signs of
her condition were fairly obvious. The pale complexion, the change
in hair pigmentation, the blood red irises.

"When we found her, she was gorging herself on animal blood her
mother had bought up at a butcher shop on her way home. How she
managed to contain herself long enough for that to work, I have no
idea. As I'm sure you are well aware, newly turned Vampires are
extremely… volatile."
Amelia nodded, she and many other Aurors had experienced the
clean up involved in tracking down and eliminating a rogue newborn
vampire. The families were generally good about policing their own,
but every once in awhile a rogue would turn someone… "Can I
speak with her?"

The inspector nodded and flicked a couple switches, and a dull hum
emanated from the panel, she finally hit another switch and
something, an odd current seemed to run over the glass,
Cassandra's head snapped up focusing on those in front of her
suddenly.

"She can see and hear us now." Sam murmured.

Amelia stepped closer to the glass. Cautious, worried, as much by

the strange tech she'd seen displayed before her, as of the cell's
occupant. "Hey Cass, are you-" She halted and shook her head.
"Sorry, that would have been a silly question wouldn't it?"

Cassandra chuckled weakly, a rough, dry tired sound. "Hey boss…

nice of you to stop by. Didn't know if I'd be seeing you again."

Amelia smiled wanly at the woman across from her. "Likewise."

Cassandra sighed. "Sorry I screwed up Boss, they caught me

unawares… Is Susan okay?"

Amelia nodded quickly to reassure the young… woman across from

her. Yes, yes… Cass was still a young woman. No need to
overcomplicate things. "Susan is alright, a little shaken up, but we
got her through okay."

Cass sighed in relief. "Good… I'm glad." The silence stretched for a
short while. "So… I guess I should probably ask what happens to me
now right?"

Amelia looked sideways at Sam who merely shrugged idly. "Don't

look at me Amy, she's one of yours, which firmly places her in your
court, she hasn't broken any of our laws-yet."

The Director of the DMLE nodded relieved Sam wasn't about to give
her any trouble. "Well, I suppose that would be up to you Cass…"

The bitter laugh she received in response said it all. "What can I do?
I'm a f-" The woman broke off, stifling the impolite response. "A
Vampire now, which means I can't even have a wand anymore… I'll
always be a danger to my family and friends… and there's no way in
hell I'm going to one of the Vampire courts." She spat with loathing.

Amelia nodded, "Why don't you tell me a little about what happened
to you, if you feel up to it that is?"

The woman nodded shrugging, "Not really, but I suppose it needs

doing" She stared in silence at one of the mirrored walls for a
moment before continuing. "We had just returned to the building,
Susan had forgotten something she needed… At the last moment I
noticed the wards were up. They caught us on the step though, I
tried to fight, but they overwhelmed us, there were too many and HE
was there. I don't know what happened after that, I was unconscious
for I don't know how long, and I woke up somewhere I didn't
recognize…" She paused considering.

"He, was furious, I didn't know why at the time, but now that I see
you again, alive, I think I know why." She noted with a bitterly
amused snort. "He wanted my secrets though, anything I knew that
could help him against you or the Aurors. I resisted, but he was too
strong, he smashed through my occlumency barriers. It hurt, him
digging through my head. Went on for a long time too… When he
found out I didn't know anything important he was this close to just
killing me."

She shrugged. "But apparently he got curious, who knows why, and
started picking through my memories for things that would hurt or
scare me. I don't know if I ever mentioned this to you or Susan… But
I'm-I was terrified of Vampires. Started back when I was a kid and I
saw a movie with some of them in it… Then it got worse when I went
to school and learned more about them, and what they- we could
actually do."

Cass grimaced. "He decided it would be… a fitting punishment for

defying him or some such, so he turned me over to one of the
Vampires allied with him."

Amelia, felt nothing but sympathy and horror for the young Auror in
the cell. Voldemort had preyed on her fears just to torment her.
Cassandra continued unaware. "They… I don't know how long I was
with them, how long they tortured, tormented and toyed with me, but
it seemed an eternity." She shrugged. "I don't know what possessed
the one who did this to me. Perhaps he felt it was a mercy, or maybe
he felt pity for me… or maybe he just wanted to screw with me a bit
more before the end. Either way, I was nearly dead by this point. He
made me drink some of his blood and then took me away, telling the
others I was dead. He dumped me in some tunnel somewhere… I
don't know where exactly. Told me to run when I had the chance…"

"I found my way home eventually. I don't know why I went there. I
was terrified of hurting my family when I figured out what I was…"
She sighed. "Perhaps I hoped they would kill me?"

Amelia pondered the story for a time, nodding slowly. She was
reasonably convinced that Cassandra was on the level with her, she
had no reason to lie that she could see. That didn't mean she
shouldn't do her due diligence on the matter. Voldemort had enacted
more elaborate ruses in the past, and had made heavy use of
imperius curse against his enemies before. It was best that she
cover her hoops.

"Alright Cass, I'm inclined to believe you on all this, but before we go
any further I think it best I check you over. I'll uh-need your
permission to do a legilimency examination." She winced at the
crestfallen expression of the girl across from her, but sighed in relief
when she nodded slowly and looked up at her.
Amela had been forced to witness many terrible things in her life.
What she found in Cassandra's blood soaked mind beat out most of
it. The girl had been honest, and though she searched Amelia could
find no evidence of imperius or compulsion upon her thoughts. She
had to admit while she had heard Vampire's minds were different,
she couldn't have imagined just how true this would be. Everything
was viewed through a haze, influenced and enhanced by the
Vampire's superior senses and need for blood and the hunt.

Amelia stood in silence for a time considering the young woman's

tale. Eventually she nodded, Cass had no reason to lie about any of
it, Amelia had checked her mind, and Cass saying what she had
could have been a death sentence had she been handled by
someone other than her. "You did your duty Cass… I'm sorry to hear
what they did to you… But nothing can be decided here and now can
it?"

Madam Bones looked to Sam who was standing off to the side
listening with interest while fiddling with a cigarette holder. "Can you
arrange transport back to our ministry?" She knew from past
conversations with the Inspector that the muggles were in fact aware
of their location.

Sam nodded easily, slipping the case back into her pocket. "It can be
arranged. Give us a few minutes to get her properly cleaned off and
such… Er-there is perhaps one more thing I'd like to cover before
you go though. An inquiry from the Prime Minister actually…"

Amelia indicated she should go ahead. Sam took a breath, "Do you
happen to know anything about that weird tornado out west?"

Albus Dumbledore, paced his office floor slowly. Though he hid it

well, he was in an almighty foul mood. Not that his mood in general
had been anything to write home about in the last few days.

His carefully laid plans and plots, almost all of them, had been
upended in the last few days. Following the death of his damnable,
interfering Godfather, Harry Potter should have never had the kind of
willpower necessary to defy him on such a grand scale and make his
escape. He had specifically taken care to ensure that this was so.

Thus, he was at a loss as to explain how it was that Harry had taken
such a drastic course of action. In none of his predictions had Harry
dared to act so rashly, it was quite… out of character for the lad.

He should know after all, he'd gone to great pains over the last
decade and a half to ensure that Harry Potter was, precisely, who
Albus Dumbledore wanted him to be. He'd carefully moulded and
manipulated events throughout the boy's life so that he'd be exactly
who he needed him to be upon his entry into Hogwarts. And since
that time, had been able to more directly influence the boy's
character.

He'd been fooled however, forgetting in his confidence in his own

machinations that people had the annoying habit of surprising you
when you least expected it. It was infuriating.

Harry was… at least he should have been, meek, mild mannered

and malleable. He'd ensured through subtle manipulations that Harry
should be the sort to take the path of least resistance. Which should
have always been the path he'd set for him.

He might have even caught up with the boy despite his impromptu
rebellion and corrected him. Had it not been for Amelia Bones and
her interference.

The Director of the DMLE had stymied him long enough that when
he eventually found the lead at the Granger's, he was unable to do
anything about it until it was far too late.

That those… muggles, had dared to sit there and mock him from
behind those wards had only irked him more. They undoubtedly
knew something, their attitudes alone had made that plain, but they
now officially operated under the protection of the Ministry's aegis
thanks to Madam Bones. Legally speaking, he was not allowed near
them, and he was certain by now that any leads they might have
provided him were well and truly cold. At the end of last term he had
attempted to facilitate a situation which would have removed the
Granger girl permanently from the equation, no longer allowing her
to interfere in Harry's progression along the path Dumbledore had
set for him. Insisting she be treated at Hogwarts rather than Saint
Mungo's following Dolohov's curse should have ensured that. Sadly
fate, it seemed, had intervened.

He had of course attempted to bypass Amelia, appealing to

Cornelius Fudge. However the woman was nothing if not a deft
operator and master of her craft. She'd verbally handed Fudge his
arse on a platter and sent him away.

Worse still in Albus' reckoning the woman had cut him off from
several key members of the Order of the Phoenix. And others were
wavering in the face of her displeasure. Even Moody had been
making unhappy noises about the Order's activities of late. She was
rapidly becoming a severe nuisance, and what was worse, for the
moment at least, he was quite unable to do anything about it.

With the Ministry in disarray following Voldemort's official return,

many of his allies and their political capital had all but dried up, and
while he wished Amelia out of the way. He would not stoop to the
levels now required to achieve it.

The likes of Voldemort, and Gellert used violence. The former like a
hammer, the latter like a scalpel when possible. While fools like
Fudge traded in favours and gold, and were all the more irrelevant
for it.

He, Albus Dumbledore, was a different beast altogether. He was a

master at this game, and the other players, not more than gifted
novices. If he could not win without resorting to beginners tactics,
then he didn't deserve to win in the first place.

Where others would continue to use force and the trading of wealth,
he used cunning. Manipulation and intrigue were his weapons of
choice, and ultimately he was certain that in this game they were the
winning combination. Now, if only he didn't have so many rogue
elements wandering the board…

He shrugged mentally and physically, destiny, fate? They both

assured that Harry would return in time, this was certain. If he could
not catch the lad's trail at the moment… he would just turn his
attention to other matters until he could. There were many things
which could benefit from his attention in these troubled times he was
sure.

Amelia slumped back into the relatively plush seat of the vehicle the
inspector had provided for transport back to the ministry. A dark SUV
with blacked out windows which would allow them to safely transport
a Vampire in daylight. Not that they hadn't ensured Cass was
slathered with SPF 100 sunscreen before hand just in case.

Strictly speaking the stories about Vampires burning up in the light

were… exaggerated. What Vampires experienced was more akin to
a severe sunburn, if they were not appropriately protected by
sunscreens and such. What would give a human a 1st degree burn
would give a vampire only inches away from 3rd, one which would
give a human 3rd would basically incapacitate a Vampire for the next
month as they were too crispy to actually move. Actually manage to
light one on fire though? Well… it was sort of like watching fireworks.

Cassandra Anders, now done up in a generic pair of jeans and t-shirt

was seated nervously across from her, rubbing idly at her wrists,
looking admittedly a bit… rumpled.

She hadn't been brought into Scotland Yard in her Auror's regalia, as
that had long since been destroyed by her… hosts. Add to that, the
rigours of decontamination and Cass was feeling edgy. Covered in
blood, particularly that belonging to herself, a witch's blood at the
time it was first spilled, and vampiric blood, from her transformation,
made her a walking biohazard. The technicians had been as kind as
they could about the procedure, but….
Amelia sighed, considering the woman across from her. "Cass… I
don't even know where to begin."

Cassandra cringed a bit. "It's okay boss… I know what kind of shape
I'm in right now, and I know the laws regarding Vampires and
employment-"

Amelia waved that off tiredly. "You did you job Cass… I may not be
allowed to actively employ a Vampire as an Auror, a damned shame
by the way, but that doesn't mean I'm about to hang you out to dry
either."

Cass smiled thinly, though Amelia could tell by her pained

expression she was deathly afraid of accidentally baring her new and
impressive set of fangs at her by accident. The Director shrugged.
"Well, either way, you'll be receiving a severance package and a
pension. We look after our own."

The smile was a touch more real this time. "Thank you ma'am."

They sat in silence for a time as the SUV picked its way through
traffic towards the Ministry, Amelia soon noticing just how
uncomfortable Cass was getting. She sat forward as a thought
occurred to her and she began digging about in the pockets of her
trench coat. Finally, finding what she was looking for and huffing a
satisfied sigh. Her emergency kit.

She pulled out a small vial of pink liquid and handed it across to
Cass, who looked at it and her curiously. "Blood replenishment
potion." She explained simply and the girl's eyes lit with
understanding.

Vampires benefited from blood replenishing potions in a way

everyone else didn't. While traditionally they still required an infusion
of "fresh foreign" blood every day or so, it was not enough to kill their
target necessarily. However a blood replenishing potion regimen
could extend the period between feedings to about a week. As an
added bonus if a Vampire was fortunate enough to get a regular
supply of this they could subsist solely on animal blood if needs be.

Cass took it and drank it down quickly, her nerves rapidly fading
allowing her to relax a bit until they reached their destination.

When they did eventually arrive out front the ministry, Amelia led the
way to the phone booth which served as the Ministry's service
entrance. Cass, mainly due to her aversion to the sun, had her
hoodie drawn up to cover her head. Dialling in her special access
code, Madam Bones had them descending with no further hassle
into the ministry.

As they came to a shuddering halt on the floor of the Ministry guests

entrance Cassandra became noticeably nervous, here, she knew
she was likely to run into people she had once known, people who
might not want anything to do with her after what had happened.

Amelia's quelling look was more than enough to prevent the desk
guard from harassing Cassandra as they entered the building,
though he clearly wished to comment. Amelia made a note to extend
his time in that bottom feeding position by a couple weeks. She
didn't need bigots out on a beat.

Though they received a couple odd looks along the way, they made
it to the DMLE without being accosted further.

Still, when they entered the office Cassandra's presence was

immediately met with stares and murmurs. It got bad enough when
they were passing the bullpen Amelia felt the need to stop and
comment. She paused, briefly patting Cass on the shoulder
consolingly before stepping forward and clearing her throat,
immediately catching the attention of those gathered. "As many of
you have no doubt noticed, your former colleague Cassandra Anders
has suffered unfortunate difficulties in the line of duty. While it does
indeed preclude her from working further with us due to current
Ministry Law, she is still one of ours…" She looked pointedly at those
whose glares were a touch more hostile. "And we look after our own,
don't we?"

This seemed to do the trick, the Director had basically thrown down
the gauntlet and made it clear what the official stance on
Cassandra's predicament was to be. Things were clearer now, which
seemed to ease the minds of most of those present. Amelia nodded.
"Good, carry on."

Most of the Aurors seemed properly settled now, and Cass briefly
smiled her thanks to her former boss. Amelia nodded in return and
led the way back through the offices to her little corner of the
building.

The door opened and they stepped into the waiting room for her
office, Tonks and Hestia pushing to their feet to meet whomever was
entering. They had been more than willing to watch Susan while she
was gone. Her reflections on this were immediately interrupted by
the sound of a small ruckus erupting off to the side…

A small ruckus in the form of a red haired comet rocketing into

Cassandra. "Cass!" Yelled Susan's joyful voice and Amelia smiled,
Susan was very fond of Cassandra, and had been very worried
about her. She nodded to the two Aurors she had placed on guard
duty and they smiled in return before filing out.

Cass had stiffened uncertainly, worried about Amelia's reaction to

her ward hugging a Vampire. Susan continued to babble unaware of
her concern. "I'm so glad you're alright, I was so worried."

"Uh-hey Susan…" the Vampire responded patting the girl's back

tentatively, still a small smile threatened at the girl's words.

Amelia chuckled at the display, "Susan you might want to ease up on

Cass bit, she's had a bit of a hard couple days."

Susan jumped back at the gentle reprimand, and smiled up at the

young woman. "Sorry Cass, I didn't mean to, I'm just so relieved-"
Her voice tapered off as she took in Cass' altered appearance. The
young Vampire tensed, clearly bracing for a negative reaction. Susan
did indeed gasp at first bringing a hand to her mouth, then quite to
Cassandra's surprise she flung herself forward again hugging the
woman. "Cass! He didn't! Oh that utterly miserable bastard, he
didn't!"

Cass was clearly relieved at the response this revelation had

received, this time returning the hug from the younger girl more
sincerely. "Yeah, I'm afraid he did Susan…"

Susan was crying now, still holding the other woman tightly. "How
could someone do something like that to you…"

The Vampire sighed then explained. "He dug around in my head until
he found what I was afraid of, apparently he wasn't too happy I
wouldn't help him."

Susan shook her head, still sobbing. "I'm so sorry Cass…"

Amelia watched these proceedings with no small measure of pride,

Susan never had been one for petty bigotry. It was then, as she
watched the girl who meant more to her than life itself hug a
Vampire, that an idea occurred to her. It would no doubt be a bit of a
bumpy road… But then again Susan had always been close with
Cass, so any trouble would be worth it in her mind.

She let the hug-fest continue for a time before chuckling and clearing
her throat. "Why don't you two come into my office, we'll get the
paperwork sorted, and I've been thinking on something. I believe I've
got an idea for something you might both find interesting…"

The Next Morning

Hermione awoke to the nose twitching aroma of breakfast being

prepared somewhere beyond her vision, even swatting absently at
her nose as she clawed her way back to consciousness.
Though she couldn't really remember it just then, she had stayed up
reading late into the night, and had been far too tired to make it to
her room after, instead opting to collapse bonelessly onto the couch,
asleep almost as soon as she landed.

Therefore finding herself in a completely unexpected and somewhat

unfamiliar environment only added to her confusion, and she bolted
upright staring about hurriedly as she attempted to determine her
location.

Thankfully, for her nerves, she spotted Lily asleep in the recliner next
to her and the events of the day before soon came rushing back,
allowing her to slump back in relief. Finally what she was smelling
permeated her brain and she looked about again, this time her gaze
being drawn to the kitchen.

Where, quite to her surprise she found a familiar unruly mop of black
hair working busily at the stove. Curious as to just what her friend
was up to, she pushed to her feet, stretched and then proceeded to
stumble her way over and into the kitchen.

"You made breakfast?" She asked confusedly, yawning slightly

before settling herself in a chair at the table.

Her friend looked around at the sound of her voice and smiled wanly
over his shoulder at her before returning his attention to the task in
front of him. "Yeah, always was the one who cooked while I was
back at the Dursleys. Reckoned I could put all that work to use and
make a good impression this way… Though, at least this time I'll
actually get to enjoy the meal myself." That last part was muttered
but she still caught it.

She blinked as the implications of that statement sunk in. Standing,

she silently made her way up to her friend who was stood quietly
watching and waiting on the meal he was preparing. She wrapped
her arms around him from behind careful not to trap his arms, before
leaning her forehead against his upper back. "I'm so sorry Harry…"
She murmured, feeling her eyes well slightly at the thought of how
his relatives had treated him.

She felt him shrug slightly though a modicum of tension also left his
frame as she held him. "You didn't know, and you most certainly
weren't among those forcing me to stay there." He chuckled slightly,
his tone sad. "It'd be pretty silly to hold it against you now wouldn't
it?"

Hermione gave him a final squeeze before releasing him and

backing off, she wiped at the moisture in her eyes only to look up in
surprise when she caught motion in her peripheral vision. There,
standing in the door, looking relatively lightly disheveled was Harry's
mother.

Eyeing her son first with wary eyes, Lily then turned her attention to
the girl in front of her. "Is something wrong?" She asked, clearly
concerned.

Harry looked around at the sound of his mother's voice, already

smiling. "Nothing worth worrying about mum…"

His mother quirked a slight smile at his positive attitude, but followed
it up by shaking her head. "I hardly think it's nothing if your friend is
in tears over it hon."

Harry blinked in surprise before noting the redness around his

friend's eyes. "Aw, sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have bothered you
with it. It's just… some bad memories-mum." He explained haltingly,
giving Hermione a quick hug before returning to the stove. Clearly he
wasn't yet used to calling someone that.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Lily asked concerned.

He shook his head. "I already did… well, sorta. I was just thinking
back a bit on the time I spent at the Dursleys. I'm really glad to be
away from there."
Hermione turned a pleading look on the red head. "I'm sorry Mrs.
Potter, I didn't understand just how bad it was there. You have to
believe me, I would have-"

Lily smiled kindly at her, waving that off with a small gesture. "You've
helped him far more than anyone else in his life Hermione, and from
what I've seen thus far my son generally isn't one to talk about his
misfortunes." She shrugged philosophically. "I'm willing to bet that
you, and many others, are among those Dumbledore made a point
to spout off about those supposed 'Blood Wards"

Hermione smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, he kinda did."

Lily nodded easily before looking up towards the door opposite Harry
across the kitchen. Kate had stumbled in yawning expansively, and
Hermione felt her eyes widen. Kate, Harry's sister had just staggered
dazedly into the room, buck bloody starkers…

Kate stood there blinking dumbly at them for a moment before

noticing Hermione who waved at her uncertainly. From there her
attention turned to Harry, who's back was still thankfully turned. Kate
released a particularly girlish squeal before ducking back into the
hallway, the sound of rapidly retreating feet filling the room.

Harry, naturally confused by the sudden noise looked up startled,

however all were fortunate in that he managed to just miss his
sister's exit. He raised a questioning brow at Hermione before
shrugging and returning his attention to the work at hand.

Hermione shot the older woman a quizzical look and the Lily
explained. "Me and Kate have lived here, just the two of us, for a
long time Hermione. It's going to take some getting used to that we
have others around the place now."

Hermione supposed she could understand that. Two women, living a

ways away from the next nearest person, without the risk of visitors
or nosey neighbours, clearly they'd grown a little casual in each
other's company.
Harry continued to work for a time, Kate eventually returned, this
time clothed in what could be described as casual sleepwear, being
a pair of shorts and an overlong t-shirt. Finally, Harry finished the
meal and began setting their servings on the table.

Kate kept glancing at her brother nervously, and upon determining

that he had remained oblivious to what had happened, sagged
visibly in relief. The dark haired girl smiled, clearly chagrined at
Hermione before turning her attention to her meal.

"So, what are we doing today?" Kate asked, clearly striking out for
normalcy a few minutes later.

Lily shrugged. "Well, if we're doing this thing, we have a lot of things
that need to be handled before we can leave…" She looked
pointedly at her daughter. "Not the least of which is that you'll need
to resign from your job on grounds of a family emergency." Lily
paused and huffed a sigh. "And it would probably be a good idea for
us to stop by Old Lady Winter's and say goodbye and thank her for
the help she gave us…"

Kate smiled sadly at her mother, the other two teens in the room
weren't aware of it but Lily had become quite fond of the old
medicine woman. "We'll be sure to letter her occasionally, and
maybe we can come back some day and visit."

Harry watched this interaction with interest. "Just out of curiosity,

how much will you two need to pack? I mean, it could be a long time
before we manage to get back here, and all of your stuff is here isn't
it?"

His mother shrugged, "We'll pull everything inside, either into the
offices or into the warehouses. Then we'll lock everything down with
wards and such before we leave. Only thing of note we need to
worry about is ensuring the owner of the truck I need to finish today,
actually comes by to pick up his vehicle. We'll likely only be packing
a little, we can come back later and put anything else into storage
with the help of any elves that might remain."
Hermione looked concerned at this last bit so Lily explained. "A
couple of the Potter elves had been in the family long enough they
had served James' great-grandfather. They were already very old by
the time… well, the point is that some of them may have passed of
old age."

The others' nodded understanding. "We girls may want to head into
town to buy up some feminine supplies…"

The girls nodded easily at this, though none failed to notice the slight
blush Harry got at this. He hadn't had much experience living among
women who spoke so freely about things. Petunia would sooner
chop off her hands then speak of feminine matters in front of Vernon
or Dudley, let alone in front of Harry.

Harry for his part, hurriedly cast about for something else to discuss
and pushed to his feet carrying his dishes over to the washer. "I'll uh-
I'd like to let Hedwig out for a spot of hunting, will she be safe?"

His mother nodded, "She should be, familiar enchantments protect

her, and out here nothing much really bothers snowies. She's a
beautiful bird by the way."

Harry nodded happily as he lifted a very smug looking Hedwig from

her perch. "Yeah, she's great isn't she, first gift I ever got. Hagrid
bought her for me on our first visit to Diagon."

His mother smiled fondly at the bird before shaking her head. "Once
you're done with that, would you be so good as to help Kate out
once she gets back? She'll be moving things about and putting them
into storage.

"Sure, shouldn't be a problem." He agreed before pacing out

murmuring gently to his bird on his way outside.

Once he was out of earshot his mother turned her attention to

Hermione, her expression questioning. Hermione picked up the
implied query easily enough. "I got the impression early on that
Harry has had it fairly carefully burned into him by the Dursleys that
he has to be useful."

Lily scowled before tiredly rubbing her face, "Just-how bad was it, do
you know?"

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "I-I know, I just think…." She huffed

a breath and looked to her apologetically. "I think it'd be better if he
was the one to tell you these things. He's a fairly private person, I
don't think he'd appreciate me talking about it for him."

To Hermione's relief, Lily nodded easily. "Fair enough, I haven't

earned that kind of trust yet, I know… As much as it pains me to
admit it."

The younger girl from Britain smiled encouragingly. "You will soon
enough. He's always been told good things about you by your
friends back home. And thus far you've been really good to him. Just
give him some time." She said gently getting to her feet and padding
off with her dishes.

Lily nodded, though slumped somewhat in her chair shaking her

head. "Tunie, just what have you been doing to my son?"

Kate sighed, hanging her coat back up on the rack inside the
entryway, looking around her at her long time home. It was strange,
she was not usually the sort to fall into melancholy. However today,
as she returned from resigning her position at her job, and found the
living room filled with packed luggage it seemed more real to her.
She'd be leaving here, and she might never return.

Her mother had finished her repairs on the truck she'd been working
on the day before, and the owner had come to pick it up a while ago.
It was strange to think, that when it came down to it, their latest
project of the time was really the only thing tying them to this place.
It made sense considering, and she had accepted this a long time
ago. Even when they'd believe the Dark Lord of Great Britain dead
and gone, when her mother hadn't remembered the truth, they'd
wondered if they were still in danger. His followers would likely bear
a grudge for those who had defied their master.

This place was a bolt hole, a hiding place, as well as a place for her
mother to forget her problems. Not a permanent home, despite the
years they'd spent here. So when Harry had reentered their lives,
everything had changed, but the primary imperative of their lives
stayed the same. Family first.

And in this case that meant following Harry away from this place. Not
that it bothered her as much as it might have. She'd never felt
particularly attached to their home here. It was just… strange, all
things considered.

She paused looking up at a small clatter as Hermione hauled her

trunk out of the guest bedroom and into the living room. Harry as yet
nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Hermione." She greeted, a touch cautiously. For all her feigned
good humour and boisterousness, Kate was well aware this girl was
a significant part of her brother's life and she knew Hermione felt
something for him. Offending her was never going to be something
Kate wished to do considering all that.

Hermione looked up at her and smiled, "Hello Kate, everything go

well?"

Kate nodded, "Yes, how's everything going here, what else is there
that still needs doing?"

Hermione shrugged, dropping her trunk with the rest of the luggage.
"Not much left now I think, we are all packed. I think your mother is
hoping to head out to Old Lady Winter's soon, hopefully she won't be
busy."
Kate nodded. Old Lady Winter's community was very tight knit, and
her place in their community irreplaceable, thus it was not unusual
for her to be called upon at a moment's notice.

Hermione straightened stretching slightly. "Oh, right, and we still

need to head into town with your mum to pick up essentials." Kate
nodded agreement, she would have simply stopped off to buy some
herself while she was out, but they hadn't had time at that point to
figure out everything they needed.

"Okay, we'll go grab mom and let her know we're ready to head out
and do those things. I'll pack the rest of my stuff later, though it looks
like mom's already gone and gotten most of it." She noted pointing at
a pink duffle.

Hermione nodded, clearly considering something, "You know, it just

occurred to me, I don't know if I've seen you carrying a wand."

Kate blinked at the non-sequitur and Hermione explained. "I just-you

were talking about picking up anything already packed and I tried to
think of important things you might leave behind…"

Kate snorted amusement, and pulled up her sleeve by way of

explanation, there secured to her forearm was a holster. At
Hermione's questioning look Kate explained. "Mom taught me a long
time ago to keep it concealed. She was… tense the first few years
while I was growing up. I don't think she'd accepted that we really
are safe here for the longest time."

She smirked shaking off those thoughts and dropped her sleeve
again, clapping Hermione on the shoulder, drawing a surprised look
from the girl. "Come on, enough of that, let's go grab mom and get
this out of the way…" She turned and hurried from the room, after a
brief and confused hesitation on Hermione's part she trailed after the
other girl.
The first thing Harry noticed when the girls returned from their trip
into town was Hermione's blush. It was prominent enough that he felt
the need to inquire, "Hey Mione what's wrong?"

The girls sighed, obviously chagrined that he noticed. "It's nothing

important Harry…"

He just shot her a look at that, "Hermione, if I said it was nothing

important like that, would you believe me?" He asked, a touch of
humour in his voice.

She groaned, "No, I don't suppose I would."

"So, what's bothering you?" He asked smiling.

Hermione hesitated. "Your mother-was worried that with us, and

particularly Kate, going out into the world for the first time, that we
girls might find ourselves in… trouble." Seeing his confused
expression, she cringed and pressed on. "She uh-gave us "That
Talk"

He winced, Harry had never actually gotten subjected to a formal

version of "the talk", but he was well aware of its contents. Thankfully
he had sat through basic sex ed just like every other student back in
primary school. Vernon and Petunia had actually happily signed him
up in the hopes it would prevent or discourage him from "breeding".

He sighed. "Do I want to know?"

Hermione shuddered at the thought. "I've had this talk before, but
never from another witch who wasn't Madam Pomfrey."

"That makes a difference I take it?"

She glanced about nervously. "Er-yes, yes it does. I-I'd rather not
talk about it right now."

He nodded easily, changing the topic. "Okay, so what now? We've

got everything that needed to be pulled inside, and we're all
packed… not that you and I had much extra to do on that front." He
noted, they hadn't after all had much of a chance to unload in the
past day.

Hermione sagged in relief at the change in topic. "We're going to

have supper next I believe, your mum and Kate were discussing it on
the way home. Then us girls are going to head out and check things
over one last time.".

Kate, he noticed, was blushing as well, though he pointedly ignored

it. Unfortunately for all involved, Kate misinterpreted his lack of
reaction. "Uh-you didn't tell him about the uh… thingy did you?"

Hermione groaned theatrically, "Honestly Kate, no! However, if you

keep bringing it up, we're not going to have a choice in the matter."

Kate's blush deepened and she nodded before scurrying for the
kitchen.

Harry just shook his head, mystified by the strangeness of girls,

particularly those with starring roles in his life.

Author's Note: As ever thanks to Temporal Knight for his continued

Beta/Pseudo Co-authory assistance. As ever he's been fantastic!

Recommendation(s) of the week: Hmmm, trying to decide just

what to unleash you lot upon this week…. How about "Dark Lord
Rising" By AndrewsQuill sadly unfinished. It finishes off a bit oddly
too…
Chapter 13
Author's Note: Ahem… I like big edits and I cannot lie, you other
brothers can't deny…

Reviews: Just want to say thanks for the reviews, they help keep me
going.

Old Lady Winter gave Lily Potter, as she was now known, a firm hug
before pulling back to survey her long time friend at arms length.
"Well, Lily, I'll say this much, you certainly look more lively than I've
seen you in a long time. I think all this has actually been good for you
in it's own strange manner."

Harry watched his mother quirk a rueful smile. "Yeah, I'm pretty
happy about it all told. Not that I wouldn't be glad to be free of the
headaches." His mother agreed readily enough.

"Headaches?" The old healer asked concerned, but his mother just
laughed.

"Nothing to do with the ritual or the charm I promise, my son's life

has been an adventure to say the least, the actions of some of the
supposed 'responsible' adults in his life have been… frustrating."

Winter nodded, chuckling knowingly. "Ah, so it's like that is it? Well,
I'm not sure I can be of any help there."

Harry turned his attention away from the conversation as it began to

head back towards generalities. Old Lady Winter had come by the
house early, the morning of their planned departure. Kate and Lily in
particular were happy to see her, though he was careful to voice his
own gratitude for her assistance as well. They each had taken turns
getting washed and fed for their trip this morning, in the hopes of
giving everyone a fair shot at speaking with the old medicine woman.
Hermione was the last to go. For a time Lily, Kate and Winter had
reminisced and spoken of plans to see each other again. Then talk
had turned to the ritual and the healer's part in it.

Harry was stirred from his reflections on the morning's events by

Hermione padding into the room, her arms up behind her head as
she worked to force her hair into a rough ponytail. Harry couldn't
help but stare a little, her hair wet and smooth from the shower, her
face still slightly flushed from the heat of the water. It all managed to
catch him a bit flat footed.

He didn't often think of it intentionally as these things increased in

incidence, but his best friend was not so plain as she seemed to
think herself. He was not unfamiliar with finding members of the
opposite gender attractive, however something about thinking of his
best friend that way always tweaked his conscience. His mind telling
him that it wasn't respectful for him to dwell on her physical attributes
as much as he might sometimes wish.

It wasn't easy however, he spent most days, even before this

venture, in her company. And Hermione possessed many qualities,
not merely physical in nature that appealed to him. She was smart,
kind and generous, and despite the incident the summer previous he
tended to think of her as utterly loyal. The aforementioned… failure
in communication, merely being the consequence of her well
meaning obedience to an elder she should have been able to trust
implicitly.

Harry may not have been sorted into Hufflepuff, but on a personal
level loyalty and honesty were attributes he admired and appreciated
greatly. His best friend had both.

Two days previous when his mother had questioned Hermione on

planned sleeping arrangements he had not been so far out of
earshot as the two women had supposed. He was reluctant to admit
it even to himself, but there was no small appeal to the thought of
being intimate with Hermione.
He shook off the momentary pause his friend's arrival had caused,
doing his best to hide his blush. "Morning, Mione." He greeted
happily. "Have a good lie in?"

She smirked fondly at him. "Well enough. You know me, I prefer to
be up and doing generally but the last few days have been…
stressful."

He frowned slightly, "Sorry about all-"

She waved off his apology. "Honestly Harry, we've been over this, I
won't pretend it's been easy, but I don't mind all things considered.
Now, why don't you quit your worrying, and tell me what's for
breakfast?" She said pointedly diverting them away from any guilty
consciences.

He smiled in gratitude, knowing precisely her intent. "Pancakes,

yours are on the counter, I put a warming charm on them. Mum's got
maple syrup if you want to try some?"

She cocked an eyebrow at that pacing towards the meal in question.

Syrup was not uncommon in the UK, especially at Hogwarts,
however it was seldom the variety so often associated with the
nation they were currently in. She'd never had occasion to have this
particular variety before. After pouring a small portion she took an
exploratory bite and made a small happy sound before digging in.

Harry watched her idly for a time before his attention was once again
diverted by the arrival of Kate at the table the other two had sat
themselves at. "You two ready to go?" She asked.

He nodded, "Our stuff was basically still packed from before, just
waiting on you guys and for Hermione to finish her meal." He
assured her and she bobbed her head in agreement.

They were silent for a moment before Kate smiled broadly. "So,
Hawaii…" She said savouring the word. "I've always wanted to leave
Churchill, but I didn't expect my first trip away from the homestead to
be to paradise."

He chuckled. "I've heard it's nice, but that's about it. My relatives
didn't travel abroad, and even if they had they wouldn't take me with
them."

She nodded, "That's about what I hear too. Surprised to find out we
have a place out there. Sounds like mom was surprised too."

Harry just nodded agreement. "From what I've heard of him, it suited
Dad right down to the ground him wrapping the property up as a
secret like that - a gift and a prank in one package."

"What was he like? Me and mom haven't really had a chance to talk
about him since her memory came back." She noted a touch sadly.

"I don't know as much as I'd like…" he admitted, thinking about it. "A
prankster, and although I hate to admit it, if what I've heard is correct
a bit of a bully back in school, though mum broke him of that." He
paused grimacing slightly as he recalled Snape's memories. "Had a
group of friends called the marauders, pranksters all of them. The
two I've spoken with about him said he was basically in love with
mum from the moment he set eyes on her. You already knew he was
good at transfiguration, so that's not news, but he and two of his
friends became Animagi as well."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise as Hermione rose to carry her dishes

to the washer. "Really, I've heard that's fairly hard, why'd they do
that?"

"Because, your father was nothing if not loyal, and his friend needed
help." Lily said pacing over as Old Lady Winter let herself out.

Harry nodded agreement. "One of his friends, Remus Lupin, was a

werewolf and they wanted to keep him company while he was
changed."
Kate barked a laugh. "Really his name was Remus Lupin?"

Harry quirked an eyebrow at her, "Yeah, why?"

"Remus and Romulus? The wolf raised children who founded

Rome? Lupin, kind of like Lupine? Was he always a werewolf? His
parents basically named him Wolfy Mcwolf Face."

Harry chuckled, as that clicked in his head. "As far as I know, no he

wasn't always a werewolf. Though his name is somewhat ironic now
you point it out."

Lily shook her head in amusement. "I pointed it out to him once me
and your father got involved, apparently it caused him a great deal of
consternation. Now, you guys get your stuff out to the truck, me and
Winter are going to walk the ward line and make sure it's solid before
we go."

Harry and the others gathered their belongings and familiars in

relative silence, their minds largely elsewhere. It was only as they
were preparing to climb into the SUV that Harry couldn't help but
chuckle again, he shot his sister a look. "Wolfy McWolf Face?
Really?"

"Hey, it was off the top of my head, you try coming up with gold
under those conditions!"

Cassandra Anders, ex-auror, and now, full time vampire, stood

uncertainly on the front step of the Bones family manor outside of
Lands End. The Ossuary, as it was known, was the ancestral home
of clan Bones. For a long time it had laid dormant and abandoned,
ever since Amelia's parents had been killed, she and her siblings
splitting up among the remaining Bones properties in the British
Isles. With the destruction of the rest of the Bones family estates in
the last war, and the deaths of their inhabitants, Amelia had taken to
living in her South Kensington apartment until that fateful attack a
few nights ago.
That house was still undergoing repair, the spell damage being far
too extensive to repair quickly, not to mention the costs associated
with so many destroyed keepsakes and heirlooms as well as having
to recast the wards.

The Ossuary however was undamaged, and thanks to some recently

commissioned upgrades, its wards were now back up to date with
the current standard for an abode of its size and standing. Cass
could attest to that, despite being allowed through them by the head
of the family, the wards still detected her new differently alive state,
and has given her a good suntan for her first passage through them.

The strongholds of ancient and noble houses were often protected

far beyond the norm for a wizarding household. Cassandra was glad
that she had permission to pass within.

The previous day, Amelia had taken her and Susan aside at her
office and made an official offer of employment to her. Something
which had surprised the fledgling Vampire greatly. Amelia had
explained her reasoning seriously once Susan had gotten over her
excitement at the prospect. "Look, Cass, you've shown you're not
just another blood drinker. You managed to find your way home in
your newborn state and managed to refrain from feeding on the
people you found there. That was despite the feeding frenzy all
fledgling Vampires experience. In addition, prior to your… change,
you showed a great deal of loyalty to my niece, fighting to protect her
in a hopeless battle. The Ministry might forbid me employing you as
an Auror, but they can't forbid me from employing you as a
bodyguard."

Cass had still possessed her doubts, however it had been Susan
and her sincere pleas to her which had finally made her accept.
Which was why she was here now.

Waiting as the doorbell rang its long chiming tune before the door
cracked open and a bleary eyed elf stared up at her. "You'd be the
Vampire Mistress Bones told us to expect then? Coffin or bed?" He
demanded brusquely and she blinked in surprise.
"Er-what?"

He sighed in a put upon manner. "Coffin or bed, we can provide

either to accommodate your sleeping needs. It's just we need to
know so we can dig-"

"Oscar! How many times have I told you to let someone else answer
the door?" A high pitched female voice exclaimed as another elf,
padded up alongside the wrinkled old elf at the door. "And what a
thing to ask right from the start, honestly! Have you forgotten all the
manners you learned at your mother's knee?"

He itched his head considering. "No, I just don't see the point any
more, 'cept for Mistresses Bones that is."

The second elf shooed him away irately before turning her attention
back to the very confused Vampire standing at the door. "Sorry
Mistress, he's a little set in his ways. Just step inside and we'll get
you situated."

"Er right, thanks… I uh-bed, I think." She offered a little concerned by

the use of the term 'dig' Oscar had used in reference to finding one.

"Very good Mistress, we'll have your room ready in a moment, may I
take your bags? Mistress Amelia is in the kitchen I believe?"

She agreed readily, a little unused to dealing with any sort of

organized personal wait staff. The second elf who identified herself
as Jiffy, soon led her, minus her luggage, through the manor into the
kitchens.

It was there that they found the Director seated at an island

surrounded by hurrying bands of elves offering treats and inquiring
about chores they were involved in. Cass had seen elves prior to
today, it was hard not to having gone to Hogwarts, but she'd never
seen so many in one place before. Then again, she'd never had
occasion to visit the castle's kitchens herself.
Amelia looked up from where she was addressing a particularly
bouncy elf as she approached. "Ah, Cass, there you are. Sorry about
the… excitement," She said smiling ruefully gesturing at the
excitable swarm of elves around her. "It turns out you can't just
return a manor to full working order at a moment's notice. Add to that
Oscar got in an argument with the Goblins when they came to install
the wards and well… things are taking longer than expected."

"It's a very nice place ma'am." The Vampire assured her.

Amelia surprised her with a toothy smile. "I know, I love this house, I
grew up here, haven't seen it in years though. Sorry Susan isn't here
to meet you though, she's still asleep, won't be up for another hour
or so."

Cassandra waved that off. "It's not a problem ma'am."

Amelia nodded considering a small clipboard an Elf held up to her,

bouncing slightly on its heels. "How about I walk you through the
defences, so you know what you'll have to manage while I'm on
duty?"

"I'm game boss, if you are?"

Amelia nodded and pushed to her feet before leading her from the
room. "There's not actually that much to tell really. The defences for
a house of this type are fairly standard, the perimeter wall keeps the
average citizen from wandering the grounds, and it's spelled to be
more durable than it would be normally. The wards are the best
Gringotts offers and include a few of the house's originals to boot.
However, I mostly feel I should mention the more… eccentric
defences my ancestors included."

"Eccentric ma'am?" Cass asked curious at the tone her boss

adopted thinking of them.

Amelia sighed. "Beyond the obvious joke associated with my family

name there is a reason the family estate is known as the Ossuary.
Hector Bones, Lord of this estate some five hundred years ago was
a necromancer and the family estate's defences reflected that. While
we've long since cleared away the worst of the things he left behind
a small number of… defenders linger and can be called upon in
extremis to defend the house." She explained as delicately as she
could.

Cass smiled at her weakly, "Please tell me it's not zombies ma'am,
that might be a little too weird even for me…" Necromancy had a
strongly negative reputation, even in the wizarding world, one which
was well deserved. Even at the height of the last wizarding war
fifteen years ago, You-Know-Who had only skimmed the surface of
what necromancy was capable of. Inferi, were the least of what that
black art could achieve and she strongly wished to avoid having to
interact with anything too foul.

Amelia smiled sympathetically. "Zombies? Oh, you mean inferi right,

animated corpses? No, nothing like that thank the heavens. No, we
have a bone giant which can be raised to guard the grounds if needs
be, though I don't recall matters ever became so severe here that it
was needed. I was actually referring to the watchmen. You see a few
of those sworn into our families service in those days agreed to bind
their souls to this place until either they were released or the family
became extinct so that the Ossuary might always have those who
watched over it." She explained soberly. "We have a total of six
watchmen ghosts who patrol the grounds and the forest outside the
wall. They simply watch for intruders and will inform you should
trouble arise."

That sounded more promising and Cassandra nodded. "I'm also

considering hiring additional staff and guards, however, that comes
with risks all it's own, of course." Amelia grumbled.

Cassandra understood, it was difficult to find those seeking

employment these days who'd be willing to subject themselves to the
level of scrutiny and security which would be required to prevent
infiltrators, or subversion via imperius curse.
Amelia stopped and her smile returned. "You'll be glad to know the
elves have taken your condition into account. The windows of the
estate are enchanted to prevent any sunlight which passes through
them from burning you. We also have the larder stocked with enough
animal blood to keep you going and we bought out Diagon Alley's
current stock of blood replenishment potions as well. I have also
arranged for Susan to practice brewing the potion herself just in
case. Either she or myself should be able to provide it at need."

Cassandra blinked in surprise. "Thank you ma'am, I-I haven't needed

to feed on human blood yet and I'm not eager to start."

"That's what I thought." Amelia agreed before becoming more sober

again, sighing gustily. "I admit, as much effort as we've put into
protecting this place, and as impressive as its defences are, I still
find myself worried Cass."

"Yes Director?" The vampire asked curiously.

Amelia smiled wanly at her. "This estate is far too well known to hide
under fidelius, and no defence is perfect, I have taken precautions to
ensure we do not become trapped here should the worst happened
but…"

"But you still worry." Cassandra finished.

Amelia nodded. "We've struck blows against the enemy's efforts

recently, and he will not let that go unanswered for long. My hope is
that this place will deter him enough to make him go elsewhere
instead. Still I wonder…" She sighed. "Maybe it'd be better to get
Susan away from all this?"

Cassandra considered her employer. "I think ma'am that I don't know
enough to make a recommendation in that matter." She hedged.

Amelia gave a start, refocusing on her. "Of course, sorry, I was

merely considering my options. I know some are already leaving
these shores, just as they did in the last war. It was not something I
had considered for Susan until recently." She shook her head.
"Come on, enough of that, let me familiarize you with the grounds.
By then Susan should be up."

Narcissa and Draco had a less pleasant start to their day, once again
waking up bound together in their own home, as they waited to die.
However, to their great relief this state of affairs soon improved
when, a family elf, originally forbidden on pain of death from
assisting its masters had finally worked up the courage to defy the
Dark Lord.

In times past the elf would have been fortunate to avoid being
berated by the youngest Malfoy for not assisting in a timely fashion,
however matters had changed somewhat. Draco and his mother had
possessed a truly excessive amount of time to reflect on their past
convictions and indeed to simply languish in captivity. And so it was
that, due to a great deal of relief at being freed, Draco Malfoy did
something greatly out of character for himself and patted the elf
affectionately on the back before hurrying off in search of a
bathroom.

Narcissa had been in a similar need to use the facilities after so long
bound up, but she too had stopped long enough to display her
gratitude for the elf's actions before hurrying off. Tipsy, was greatly
confused by this sudden change in character and so stood there
blinking in confusion for a great deal of time before returning to work.

Upon the return of her masters Tipsy waited with a tray of food and
drink, standing patiently as they began to discuss the matter of
import. "Well, that's a bloody relief," Draco grumbled tiredly as he
flopped onto the couch in the living room. "I was starting to get really
sore…"

Narcissa sipped as delicately as her shaking hands would allow at a

cup of water, more powerful beverage being foregone in favour of
the basic, life giving liquid. "I too feel as you do Draco, thank you
again Tipsy for your intervention."
The little elf bobbed a hesitant curtsy, "Tipsy bees glad to serves
Mistress."

Narcissa nodded and took another sip, "All that being said, I must
confess I now find myself at a loss as to what to do next…"

Draco opened his mouth, before closing it again with a grimace,

nodding sour agreement. "We cannot seek father's assistance… as
that would be as good as once again turning ourselves over to-his
mercies. I can't believe he did that to us!"

His mother chuckled darkly, "I do not think the Dark Lord cares over
much for protocol darling. Except when it serves his purposes. The
Dark Lord wished to make an example of your father and used us to
do so."

Her son grimaced again. "I do not know what to do mother… after
what has happened I no longer feel safe within my own home. He
knows this place as well as we do and has tampered extensively
with the wards I am sure-"

Narcissa snorted dark amusement, "Indeed he did, it was among the

first things he did upon setting foot upon the grounds. Right after he
conjured himself a new throne…" She paused considering. "But your
point has merit. Our options are limited. The Dark Lord and his
followers now wish as an object lesson to impress upon your father
when he eventually escapes prison. Any who support that faction
would not be safe harbour for us."

She shook her head. "Our family lines were devastated in the last
war. The only relations with close connection to our family are dead,
abroad or in league with the Dark Lord. The only other options
available to us are… difficult."

Her son cocked his head at her in curiosity. "I don't understand,
surely our funds are more than enough to-"
His mother sighed, cutting him off. "With the Dark Lord's return your
father restricted our access to the family vaults to a mere stipend.
And our remaining options will be only limitedly affected by monetary
wealth anyways. The first option is also the most likely to fail, fleeing
the country would provide a modicum of safety until the Dark Lord
learned of our survival. He has hunted traitors and enemies alike
across the globe, should he prioritize our deaths highly enough no
amount of distance would protect us…" She took another sip. "Until
recently we could have attempted to approach the head of house
Black for protection. However as you know your aunt saw to the end
of that possibility."

Her son grimaced, but nodded his understanding. He did not relish
the idea of approaching Sirius Black or any of the other side on
bended knee, but there was no denying that he would have been a
viable solution to their problems.

"Which really only leave two additional options, neither very good.
The first would be to find and approach Harry Potter as he is most
likely to inherit the position of head of house." Here Draco scowled
again, he knew full well that so long as it had been Sirius Black at
the reins his chances of inheriting that title had been nil.
"Unfortunately as of the last discussion I heard regarding his
whereabouts Potter appears to have gone to ground and none on
either side can find him. Which leaves us with one final option."

Her son considered that before sighing and setting down his own
drink, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "You mean her, your sister, I
assume?"

"Andromeda, yes. I think it is time I see about contacting my sister at

long last. Let us hope she is in a forgiving mood. Title or no,
Andromeda is still a Black by birth, and vengeance always was our
part and parcel."

The first in a series of short stopovers on their journey found the

newly expanded Potter clan at Winnipeg International airport. The
delay in their journey came as a result of their being no scheduled
series of flights from Churchill Manitoba to Honolulu Hawaii. Thus
they found themselves waiting patiently in the airport for the next
connecting flight to their destination which would take them first to
Vancouver then on to Hawaii.

It being around the lunch hour Harry and Hermione had ventured off
in search of food while they waited, the brunette murmuring
something about checking one of the concourse book stores along
the way. Something told Lily they would not be back soon if that look
in the girl's eye was anything to go by.

This was actually a fortunate turn of events as Lily was looking to

speak in relative privacy with her daughter whom she had not had a
proper opportunity to touch base with in some time.

"How are you doing Katie? You holding up okay with all this?" Her
mother asked gently, happy to see her daughter was smiling to
herself.

Kate nodded eagerly. "Yup, it was a bit stressful there for a while I'll
admit." She allowed referring of course to her mother's struggle
against the memory charm. "But all in all I'm great. Long lost baby
brother? Getting away from Churchill? I'm good!" She noted her
mother's amused expression and calmed slightly. "How about you,
how are you doing?"

Lily sighed. "It's complicated, on the one hand I am beyond ecstatic

that your brother is alive. On the other hand our lives just got a whole
lot more complicated. It would be one thing if I could still trust some
of the people back home to help us but…"

"Yeah, it sounds like most of the good guys are following that
Dumbledore guy. Bastard-" Kate hissed under her breath. "Where
does he get off thinking he can mess with people's lives like this?"

Lily nodded. "Not all of them are following Dumbledore, but yes
enough of them are to make the situation complicated. In times past
I would have sought out one of your father's friends… But Sirius is
dead, and Remus seems to be enamoured of Dumbledore's lead
from what I've heard. The only one of the old crowd I feel certain we
can trust is Amelia, but she's got her own concerns right now."

"Well, it could be worse, we could be forced to head back there,

instead we get to go out in search of people to help Harry. Stopping
in Hawaii of all places along the way." Her daughter noted, a
mischievous grin on her face as she poked her mother in the side
with her elbow.

Her mother couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. "Yes it could be
worse, although I do wish we didn't have to fly coach." She said
shifting in her seat with a theatrical wince.

It was her daughter's turn to chuckle. "Yeah, as exciting as all this is

I'm not enjoying sitting cramped in an airplane. There has to be a
better way to travel."

Lily nodded. "Usually we'd portkey, but your brother is rightly

concerned about people monitoring that method, even out here. And
nobody wants to fly that far by broom." She noted casting her eyes
about cautiously for any mundane who might wander by and
overhear. "A few of our creations over the years were able to fly
though none of them were really intended for long distances
except…" She shook that memory off. That pipedream had been
absurd to say the least. Even James had not been able to conjure a
good reason to pursue that dream.

Then again, back then they hadn't been intending to travel the world.

Kate was nodding. "Harry was telling me on the flight about the old
Ford Anglia. Did he mention that to you?"

Lily shook her head and Kate laughed. "Guess it kinda paled in
comparison to the rest of the mess he lives with? Apparently back in
his second year he and one of his friends had to borrow the vehicle
from Mr Weasley in order to get to Hogwarts on time, ended up
crashing the thing. He told me the thing saved his bacon a few
months later though, came riding to the rescue when he was being
chased by an acromantula or some such?"

Her mother sighed in exasperation, there were far too many life
threatening situations in her son's life for her liking. "I'm going to
have a very serious talk with some of the so called adults back in
England. Dumbledore first, then my dear sister and her husband. I
might have a few choice words for the others though."

Kate nodded. "So long as you don't mind me tagging along, I'd like to
ask them why they thought they could get away with doing some of
that crap too."

"Deal," Her mother shook her head. "But enough of that, you are on
your first adventure away from home, we shouldn't be so fixated on
the bad things in our lives. Tell me, what do you want to do when we
get to Hawaii?"

Kate lit up again, "Well, I was thinking we should start with some
surfing and then-"

Cornelius Oswald Fudge, was quite possibly the biggest horse's arse
Amelia Bones had the great misfortune of encountering. No, worse
than that, he was the metaphorical "Bloody Arse Monkey" that had
hauled itself, clawing, kicking, screaming and spitting, out of
Dumbledore's hairy wrinkled old backside.

No man, could possibly be so stupid and yet live could they? In

theory any natural born man-who was not a magical or scientific
abomination-who was so excruciatingly hopeless when not receiving
carefully dispensed directions from on high, should have died early
on through sheer failure to breath due to lack of brain power.

This was what a severely irate Director of the DMLE was thinking as
the man in question tucked tail and ran after yet another verbal
thrashing delivered by herself. He had come in here because
someone in her department had blabbed the details on Cassandra
Anders new state of unlife and had the audacity to complain about
her being even allowed in the building. When she found out just
which idiot had spoken out of turn she was going to hang them by
their intestines.

Apparently whoever the idiot had blabbed to had complained in turn

to Fudge, likely adding a huge incentive in galleons to the bargain
judging by the greedy desperation in his piggy little eyes when he
confronted her.

The verbal spanking she had delivered had basically centred around
her need to be able to bring in and detain whomever she wanted and
that, once again, if he had a problem with the way she ran her
department, he could have her sacked. Assuming he could rustle up
the votes to do so. Naturally both she and he had known, that as
before when they had these confrontations, he was in no position to
have her ousted.

Still it was incredibly frustrating to consider that she was forced to

take any sort of orders from a man who was so utterly without a
modicum of backbone, loyalty or the base level of cunning typically
inherent in a politician. *

She managed to calm herself down a bit, Fudge, was on his way out.
There was no denying it now. With every passing meeting of the
Wizengamot more and more of its sitting members were calling for
an accelerated vote of non-confidence. The question was no longer
would Fudge be ousted, but when he would be forced out.

It was an event she both looked forward to and dreaded at the same
time. She knew, quite well, that despite the efforts of Fudge,
Dumbledore and those Death Eaters on the council, she was on the
short list to succeed him as Minister for Magic.

On the one hand they would, one way or the other, be free of the
bumbling fool, and even the Ministry of Magic would be hard pressed
to find someone as corrupt, incompetent or blatantly stupid to
replace him.

On the other hand, the monumental task of reversing the damage

done by that idiot would be an almost insurmountable task,
particularly during wartime. Many a leader had led ignoble and
under-appreciated careers because they were hobbled by their
predecessors mistakes. She hoped she would not be joining those
ranks any time soon.

She even knew the likely candidate. Steven Rosier was the current
favourite among the Death Eaters who pretended to be civilized
human beings. While Adaras Macnair was the favourite among those
who thought that attempting to maintain the illusion of civilization was
the province of children and charlatans.

Dumbledore's faction favoured Elphias Doge, while much of what

remained favoured her. Though there was a certain, strange
underground faction which supported an entirely unwilling Arthur
Weasley for the position. He had apparently quite loudly experienced
a panic attack upon being nominated by some unknown individual.
Still, even so he'd likely be a step up from most of the others
running, to say nothing of Fudge.

Unfortunately as Fudge's reign of stupidity came to a sudden

cataclysmic, squelching end, she found herself needing to make
several considerations.

First and foremost of which was, who the bloody hell is going to take
my place here? It wasn't that she believed herself irreplaceable, so
much as that not all were even willing to take up the position.

It was true what she'd said to Tonks not long ago, she could easily
see the young Auror one day sitting behind this desk. However, as
fond of the woman as she was, she was practical enough to know it
was not this day. No, that time was a while off. A decade, if Amelia
were to make a bet, considering Tonks' recent performance.
Hestia Jones, wasn't a bad sort, or even a bad copper. Though she
lacked Tonks' particular zing, she still lacked the experience needed
just as much as the metamorph did.

Proudfoot, was similar, not really a standout officer, but not bad at his
job by any means. Still even with his more extensive experience he
wasn't suited for this job.

And if he was out, so too was John Dawlish, not the least of which
because she strongly suspected the buffoon was the idiot who had
blabbed about Cass to the bigots.

Which really left two real options. Rufus Scrimgeour, had seniority it
was true, and the political experience to be able to navigate the
rapids. Unfortunately, he also lacked the moral fibre she wanted in
her successor. Oh, Rufus definitely wasn't corrupt, at least in the
traditional sense. But he was about the most hidebound, uptight,
political old fool she had in the department. With just about as many
years on the force as Alastor Moody, Rufus had survived by riding on
the coattails of others, rather than by sheer guts and grit like Moody
had.

And so she came to Kingsley. Prior to the reveal of Shacklebolt's

involvement in the Order of the Phoenix, Amelia would have had no
qualms about nominating him. Though Kingsley had indeed resigned
from the Order at her request, it still irritated her that an otherwise,
experienced, intelligent and thoughtful officer had erred so. Where
she could forgive Tonks and Hestia for the same sin, it was harder to
do so with Kingsley due to his greater experience and know how.
Still, he wasn't a bad man, and if you could say anything about him
he was honest.

She sighed, sitting back in her chair massaging her head in the
hopes of ridding herself of her headache. There were, quite simply,
too many things going on in her life right then.

And as she sat there, she couldn't help but fantasize about the
notion of somehow physically removing the excess thoughts from
her head and packing them away for later.

Ha! Hadn't Harry mentioned something about destroying a memory

container belonging to Voldemort? She couldn't help but wonder just
how such a thing worked. Did it work like she imagined, removing
thoughts and memories from his mind and storing them somewhere
else?

If so, she could just imagine how useful it would be to get her hands
on some of the enemies own thoughts. Why just imagine the
intelligence she could-

She brought herself up short and blinked in surprise. How in the

name of Merlin's wrinkled buttocks had she forgotten about that?
Harry had taunted the Dark Lord himself with the fact of such a
devices destruction, and the Dark Lord had been furious.

Just what was such a device?

She sighed as she realized yet another bevy of thoughts and

questions had joined the throng within her mind thanks to this and
she made a notation on her parchment. She'd need to ask Croaker
about that…

Around the world, on an aircraft streaking its way across the sky
towards Vancouver British Columbia, Harry and Lily sat in the pair of
seats they had acquired together in the airplane's first class cabin.
Lily had applied a low level privacy rune to their particular portion of
the cabin allowing the four of them to communicate in secret without
the plane being affected by any excess magical energy.

They had enjoyed each other's company for much of the flight thus
far, simply catching up on things, and discussing times gone by. Lily
had shared a story which was equal parts terrifying and hilarious.
Apparently at a young age, whilst on a walk Kate had broken from
her mother's grasp and streaked off towards a large "Teddy Bear"
she had spotted rooting through a dumpster.
The panicked Lily had stunned the unfortunate and curious bear,
who found itself wondering just what the little creature running
towards it was. This had required her to obliviate a watching tourist
of that incident (something she found ironic and distasteful now) and
which had resulted in the police putting out a request that whomever
it was who possessed an unregistered Tranquilizer Gun to please
show up and declare their weapon with the proper authorities.
Apparently that bear had been quite dazed for a good three days
following the overpowered stunner.

It was understandable of course, the bear, once it had regained it'd

composure at being rushed by a small screaming creature would
likely have responded as a bear was want to do. Something which
would have, no doubt, been fatal for young Kate. Old Lady Winter
had laughed quite a bit at that story Harry was told, and Kate
received the longest grounding of her life.

Now it was his turn to share. "Alright, your turn, why don't you tell me
about your friends?" Lily suggested, smiling still from her own story.

"Uh, alright, what would you like to know?" Harry asked uncertainly.
It had been this way every time she'd asked a question of his this
flight. He just wasn't used to speaking of himself with anyone beyond
a select few yet. Hopefully that could change, Lily reflected.

"Well how about their names? A little bit about them?" She asked
grinning slightly at his reticence.

Harry nodded absently as he considered that. "Well you already

know Hermione… so I guess I should tell you about Ron?"

Lily nodded, a touch more seriously. "Ron Weasley correct? You've

mentioned him before. I can't say it was all positive though…" She
remarked a touch warily.

Harry sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I know. He's a good enough bloke

most of the time, and he is probably the one I spend the most time
with aside from Hermione. He just… well he's got a bit of a jealous
streak and… he's not always stuck by me. Still, he tries, and
sometimes that's what counts the most right?" Harry suggested
weakly. He didn't like having to defend Ron to his mother, not the
least of which because sometimes he honestly wondered if he
should be defending the boy at all.

Lily bobbled her head noncommittally but didn't say anything further.
Clearly her son valued Ron's friendship on some level, but he
equally clearly harboured some doubts about him. She'd let him
think on that on his own for the moment. "Okay, who else?"

Harry brightened slightly. "Well there's always Ginny I suppose? She

is Ron's only sister. Nice enough, loyal, had a bit of a crush on me a
few years back, but she seems to have gotten over it… Bit of a
temper, thankfully that's never been directed at me. She's mean with
a hex. I'm told she looks a bit like you actually…" He paused,
considering that then shrugged before continuing.

"Then there's Neville of course, you know about him right? Neville
Longbottom?" He asked, before continuing when she nodded
agreement. "Loyal, just about the nicest guy you could ever meet.
Braver than you'd think looking at him, bit of a self confidence issue."
Harry admitted grudgingly. Then smirked in amusement. "We
sometimes call him the "plant whisperer". He manages things in
herbology that make Professor Sprout jealous."

Lily chuckled at that and motioned him to continue, and he paused

as a small fond smile curved his lips. "Well I suppose that just leaves
Luna really. Luna Lovegood, nicest girl you could ever meet, never
has a bad thing to say about anyone. Has a bit of a hard time making
real friends though. She's a bit… quirky, I guess is the word. Spends
a lot of time reading her father's articles in the Quibbler if that tells
you anything. Still, she's braver than most Gryffindors I know and I
think she'd give Hermione a run for her money in the brains
department."

Lily nodded, happier with these other friends mentioned. She had
her concerns about the Weasley boy, but by all accounts the others
were more certain friends to her son. She hoped to meet them some
day.

They lapsed into silence after a while and she sat pondering what
he'd told her. Eventually her thoughts coming to the friend who had
accompanied her boy on his escape from England.

Hermione, was a bit of an enigma to her she had to be honest.

Clearly the girl was intelligent, loyal and honest, which were always a
bonus in her books. Had she not been told otherwise she would
have assumed that her son and the brunette were together. Now,
she had to admit that sometimes people just didn't see each other
that way. However judging by the glances she'd seen pass between
the two, she'd bet her last galleon that wasn't the problem in this
case. Strange… Then again, perhaps not, considering how reserved
her son was.

Still, it was clear that her son was not entirely lacking for good
friends, something she was glad of. She'd had her own friends at
Hogwarts, some as close as he apparently was with his own.
Others… not so much.

For many years she'd considered James fortunate to have the

marauders. Sirius who always had James' back, since even before
his own family had cast him out. Remus who always watched out for
them and kept them out of too much trouble… She couldn't help but
feel more than a little anger at the last however. Wormtail. Peter
Pettigrew, had you asked her before that night she would have
assumed him as loyal as the others. A little more withdrawn a little
less outgoing or courageous, but still loyal. Tragically that impression
had proved incorrect.

She hoped her son had better luck in friends that James had.

* As we can see by observing our own politicians, this level of

cunning lies just barely above that of that possessed by your
average lemming or house plant…
Author's Note: Once again thank you to beta/pseudo-coauthor
thingamajig Temporal Knight! If not for his efforts things would have
gone off the rails a long time ago.

Recommendation(s): Hmmm good question…. "Escape" By

Singularoddities. And as an added bonus this chapter, for the star
wars fans out there who like cool art, check out Fractal Sponge's
work. Some really good conceptual models I feel are worth talking
about.
Chapter 14
Author's Notes: I don't have a good Editing note for this chapter.
Don't like it, go home…

Reviews: As ever reviews are not required, but are greatly

appreciated as positive ones are half the fuel that keeps me going.

GMT 7:00 P.M

Amelia swayed slightly with the rocking motion of the elevator as it

descended into the depth of the Department of Mysteries. At this
hour, it was quiet, aside from the rattle of the elevator around her.
The workers had long since gone home for the day, and only a few
security personnel and unspeakables remained on duty overnight.

She couldn't help but wonder if the all encompassing silence this
department typically cultivated was intentional or not, it certainly
served to enhance the disquiet one felt when approaching the
unspeakables domain.

She stepped off the elevator to find a single unspeakable waiting for
it so they could make their way home. "Excuse me, can you tell me
where Director Croaker is?"

The unspeakable considered her silently from beneath her

shadowed cowl for a time before pointing deeper within the
department, "main office, last door, keep quiet." the voice murmured
before stepping into the elevator without further consideration.

Amelia shook her head as the elevator rattled back up out of sight.
The unspeakables always had been an odd bunch. Most intellectual
types tended to enjoy speaking about what they had learned in her
experience, but down here it was exactly the opposite. Every secret,
every scrap of knowledge, important or not, was hoarded jealously.
Only occasionally did the department allow a small piece of
information out in the form of an official release. A new potion, a new
spell, some forgotten lore.

She reflect on this as she passed deeper within the department. She
could count on her hand the number of times the unspeakables had
released a new discovery to the public since she'd taken the
director's chair. Though she wasn't fool enough to think that in
anyway gave a true indication of just how much they knew. They
undoubtedly had secrets they hoped never to share with the
wizarding world at large.

True to the Unspeakable's-admittedly brief-word, she found her

quarry in the last door on the left in the main research office
concealed in the deepest reaches of the department. Croaker
appeared tired, then again he had likely been at work for the majority
of the day already, however she had been right in assuming he was
the type to work late into the night.

He glanced up at her, before brightening somewhat at her presence.

"Ah, Amelia. Strange to see you down here so soon! Something I
can help you with today?"

Croaker… was different. Very unlike the others he worked with,

perhaps that was why he'd made it high enough to become Director?
She smiled blandly at him. "Sorry to bother you so late Saul. There's
a matter we need to discuss. Do you mind if we keep this
confidential?"

He nodded easily, fiddling with a couple objects on his desk. "There,

privacy screens are up. So what can I help you with?"

"It falls under our previous conversation, I'd appreciate you

considering it covered by that oath…" She explained, then continued
when he nodded his understanding. "Speaking of, have you had any
success in that matter?"
He shook his head tiredly. "No, in the magical world, same as the
muggle, mind to mind communication is generally considered a
myth, as yet I haven't found anything particularly solid to follow up
on. I'll keep looking though, just as I promised."

Amelia nodded soberly, "Alright, then that brings me to the current

matter I suppose. I was recently reflecting on the battle at my
residence against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. And I
remembered something which I had forgotten in the mess that
kicked up."

He leaned forward in interest so she explained. "While attempting to

draw You-Voldemort's attention away from me, Harry said some
things which seemed to singularly irritate the bastard. Now normally I
wouldn't bother you with something as inconsequential as combat
banter, but Harry mentioned something intriguing when he was
goading him."

"He mentioned that Voldemort shouldn't have entrusted his 'memory

container' or some such to Lucius Malfoy, and that he, Harry that is,
had destroyed it. That it had told him things. When he mentioned this
it temporarily diverted Voldemort's attention, causing him to lash out
in an attempt to kill Mr Potter." She noted with interest the way Saul
seemed to pale somewhat. "I take it from your expression you have
some idea what he was talking about?"

Croaker hesitated, his eyes darting sideways uneasily. "I'm not sure,
it does however remind me of a particularly dark and foul piece of
magic I have heard of in the past…." he hedged uncomfortably.

"Is this something that he would likely take interest in?" She asked,
her tone clearly conveying whom it was she was inquiring about.

"I'm-I am reluctant to say. There are some magics it is better left

forgotten. We have a policy of not discussing this particular branch of
magic with anyone…" He admitted.
Amelia gave him a pointed look. "Saul, if it is relevant to our efforts
against Voldemort… I think I need to know."

He sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Yes, I suppose you do

at that. What you described bears a strong resemblance to what is
colloquially known as "The Darkest Magic" Now, I admit I am
uncertain as to whether or not this is hyperbole or not. It is however
undisputable that it is particularly foul and repugnant. Even the most
depraved individuals seldom descend so low as to attempt it."

"Speak plainly Saul." his counterpart directed tiredly.

He nodded. "I apologize, tell me Amelia, your family has it's share of
dark arts practitioners in its past, but have you ever heard of a
Horcrux?"

She shook her head, and he nodded seriously. "Yes, I suppose you
wouldn't have. Your family's skeletons tended more towards the
literal kind if I recall correctly. Which while similar in some facets
Necromancy is a very distinct branch of magic from that of Soul
magic."

She blinked in surprise. "Soul magic? You mean such as a

phylactery?" She asked. Soul magic she knew was a very esoteric
field of study, it was said, with a very limited amount of practical use.
Phylacteries were the only semi-well known product of this art as far
as she knew.

He hummed noncommittally. "Mmm-yes and no. A phylactery as you

know is a sample of magically imbued blood, bone and muscle
tissue kept in a specialized device or container. It essentially
contains a small sample of the sum total of a person's physical
essence. Blood, muscle, bone " He reiterated, then shrugged. "and a
bit of their aura in the magic within them, in other words, body and
soul. If used in the correct rituals or enchantments a phylactery can
be used to track a specific person's whereabouts over great
distances, or make them subject to magics cast whilst they are
absent. The most clever example I've seen of a benign Phylactery is
that clock Arthur Weasley is so proud of. It tracks and states the
status of each member of the family at any given time." He explained
patiently.

He paused and leant back in his chair. "No, a Horcrux is something a

little different from that. Though it's more a difference of degree, as
opposed to anything else. Where a Phylactery takes a sample of
body and soul byproducts. A Horcrux takes a literal shattered
fragment of the person's soul and mind. Another one of Herpo the
Foul's thrice cursed discoveries, though we believe the 'art' did not
actually originate with him."

"So, the object Harry destroyed…" Amelia asked her sense of

unease deepening.

"Was almost certainly a literal fragment of the Dark Lord's soul fused
into an object." He took in her worried and disgusted expression and
nodded sagely. "Now, if that were the sum total of it, that would be
monstrous enough. The acts necessary to shatter one's soul so that
a piece can be broken off and stored are heinous in the extreme. But
it is much worse than that Amelia, if he has done this thing. If he's
created Horcruxes… then our task has just become a whole lot
harder."

She eyed him warily. "Why, what does a Horcrux do precisely, I'm
getting the impression it may have something to do with why he
didn't die that night all those years ago?"

He sighed, appearing to age before her eyes. "It grants immortality

Amelia, while the Dark Lord possesses and safeguards active
fragments of his soul he cannot be truly destroyed."

The atmosphere of the current meeting of the Order of the Phoenix

was much less exuberant than it usually had been in the past. This
could be because the Order had all but been gutted in recent weeks.
First had of course been the death of Sirius Black, something which
truly had dealt a body blow to most of the Order, and not just
because he'd played host to their little get togethers. Sirius had
been, by and large, an amiable and likeable sort.

Then had come Emmaline Vance's hospitalization, which she had

only recently been released from, and was not yet up to attending
these meetings regularly. Rounding out with the way the Auror
members had been so expertly excised by the actions of Amelia
Bones.

All in all, the Order could be said to be in a sad state. It's remaining
members being, three school teachers, one of which was a Death
Eater, led by an aging headmaster, a somewhat divided family of
red-heads, one depressed werewolf, a thief, two somewhat batty old
codgers, and a grumpy paranoid old coot who had been showing
less and less of late. Apparently preferring to execute his own
operations against the Death Eaters in secrecy.

All in all it left Dumbledore a little melancholy. This was not the Order
of old that was for certain. Gone were the ranks of faithful and
competent followers who would have followed him into hell itself.
Most of the former members of that organization dead, or now
thoroughly disillusioned by it all.

Then again, half of the dour atmosphere currently pervading the

Weasley kitchen could likely be attributed to the presence of Severus
Snape. A man who basically embodied the term dour in every way.

Snape was at this very moment delivering yet another report. "The
Dark Lord continues to plan an operation, though as yet he has not
seen fit to read me in on affairs. As likely as it is that he doesn't trust
me entirely, it is more likely still that this is in actuality a case of
compartmentalization. None in his army can betray what they do not
know. I will still however endeavour to find out more before it is too
late to act." He assured them. His dry tone and disinterested
personna leaving none, save Dumbledore, with any real confidence.
Snape paused considering then seemed to give a small internal sigh
of resignation. "There is one further matter I have to report, though
the Dark Lord has largely abandoned his search for Potter, he has
put out word to all foreign contacts to be on the lookout for him. He is
not convinced that the boy would leave these shores but felt it best
to cover all possibilities as best he could."

Dumbledore snorted internally at that. Let Tom chase wild Snorkacks

in the bushes. The idea was utterly absurd that Harry would venture
abroad. The boy had no experience with lands other than England.
He'd been very pleased to learn of the Dursley's aversion to
foreigners. And there were no loose ends to draw him abroad he
was sure, he'd seen to that himself.

That entirely left aside the fact that the boy's destiny lay here on
these shores. Fate would not allow him to so easily escape, Albus
assured himself. Still, as he took in the already depressed attitude of
the Order, Dumbledore could not help but feel the need to bolster
them somewhat so they could set themselves to their tasks with
purpose.

He pushed to his feet. "Yes, thank you Severus as ever for your
contributions. They shall not be forgotten." Dumbledore agreed
piously. "I just want to take this time to reassure the members here
that all is not lost. We are doing everything in our power to find Harry
and return him home… I am confident that Harry will soon be back
with us." This didn't seem to meet with much beside vague
skepticism from everyone save Molly Weasley who brightened
considerably and resumed knitting humming happily to herself.

"Which brings me to our last order of business today. As our

numbers are somewhat depleted by circumstance I would like to
officially open the Order of the Phoenix to a recruitment drive. I
would like each of you to think hard in the coming days on those who
might be swayed to our cause and to tell me so that I might
approach them. Times have been hard, I assure you this has not
gone unnoticed, but the Order's future is as bright as ever, do not
despair!"
Narcissa Malfoy, could not remember the last time she'd felt so
nervous simply approaching a house.

Oh, she'd been plenty nervous returning home after Lucius' trial to
report how it had gone against them. To say the Dark Lord had not
been pleased they been unable to sway matters in their favour was a
monumental understatement which left Narcissa shivering in
remembrance.

Ironically, that state of affairs was no one's fault but Lucius himself.
He, like so many other Pure Blood lords, refused to trust their wives
with full access to the family funds and accounts.

There were a number of reasons for this, some practical, most

selfish. Lucius desired to keep as much funding as possible available
for their… guest as possible. As that was the only thing keeping
them truly useful to the monster. However he also didn't trust her, for
reasons of inbred and learned distrust of the female gender, to not
run off with everything in the vaults first chance she got. It may also
have had to do with the fact that had Narcissa been able to view
account balances he suspected she'd have murdered him in his
sleep for spending so much money on mistresses and prostitutes.

Which really only served to deepen the irony, as despite his attempts
at subterfuge

Narcissa was unfortunately aware of her husband's less than loyal

tendencies. Had she been raised to be anything other than a dutiful
Pure Blood mother and wife, she might have left him a long time
ago.

Regardless, the fact remained that despite everything she now found
herself in the unenviable position of being the most nervous she
could ever recall being. Which was saying something.

It was not that the house she now approached was particularly
foreboding. In fact it was actually fairly plain, especially when
measured by her rather high and opulent standards of living.
It was simple, small and white. A single level home of muggle
construction, situated in the heart of a small neighbourhood on the
outer edge of the London urban sprawl.

She'd never had occasion to visit this house before. Which was
when one reflected

upon it a fairly sad commentary on just how badly her relationship

with her remaining sane sibling had deteriorated.

So there she stood, wringing her hands nervously as she stood on

the front step outside her sister's home. She'd felt the wards react
rather strongly to her presence and for half a second had expected
to find herself hurled across the street. Instead feeling the slight sting
of the wards testing caress before they allowed her passage. She
couldn't help but wonder just what have happened had she
approached with hostile intent. Nothing good, she was certain. Say
what you would about Andromeda Tonks, she was still one of the
black sisters when one came down to it.

Narcissa shook off those thoughts, she was dawdling she knew,
procrastinating, putting off what was bound to be an unpleasant
conversation. She steeled herself then uncoupled her hands to raise
one and knock at the door.

Despite the sharp staccato she rapped on the doorway the house
remained studiously silent. And after a minute she peered around
confirming that lights were indeed on within the house.

Perhaps… the door lacked a knocker, however it did possess a

small, strange glowing button beside the door, imbedded in the
frame. She pressed it hesitantly and gave a small start when there
was a short ringing chime which sounded clearly through the door.

She was at least comforted that this seemed to have produced

results as she soon
heard muffled footsteps through the wood of the door. She braced
herself as she noticed the small pinprick of light from the door's tiny
aperture wink out.

She sighed when the sound of muffled cursing and thumping came
from the far side of the door. It was odd-a both fond and bitter
memory-that allowed her to imagine quite clearly and accurately
what was going on on the far side of the door. Andromeda had just
experienced one of her 'mostly' silent temper tantrums. An affair
which involved a lot of hopping about and foot stamping, generally
accompanied by half uttered curses and growls while she attempted
quite industriously to strangle the life out of the air in front of her with
her bare hands.

Merlin knew she and Bellatrix had both elicited such a reaction on
more than one occasion from their usually reserved sister.

Finally that came to an end and there was a less muffled, and clearly
heartfelt curse from beyond the door before the locks began to click
and grind, and the door pulled open with a snap.

Narcissa couldn't help it, she took a hurried step back at the
thunderous expression playing across her sister's features.
Andromeda however took no action to move towards her fleeing
sibling, instead opting to observe her coldly while she leaned against
the frame tapping her wand against her leg, eyes narrowed.

The silence stretched a few moments before she spoke to her well
and truly spooked younger sister. "Well then… I admit I certainly
didn't expect to see you darkening my doorstep anytime soon." She
sucked her teeth a moment before jerking her head slightly indicating
the area behind her. "At least not without a few of your buddies along
to help you burn the place down."

Narcissa winced, had it been Bellatrix approaching this house, that

undoubtedly would have been the situation. That Andromeda lumped
her younger sister into the same category as Bella… well that was
less than reassuring. "I am, uh-I am not here on his business." She
admitted, her tone clearly confirming just whom he was.

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Yes the lack of spell fire, hooded and
masked goons and mad cackling made that clear." She sighed
tiredly, closing her eyes momentarily before refocusing on the
woman across from her. "What do you want Narcissa?"

That Andy hadn't referred to her as 'Cissa' also served to underscore

how badly things had gone between them all those years ago. Still,
she had to try, "I um-May I come in please?"

This was met with a scornful sound from her sister. "May I see your
forearm sister?"

In other times, in other places Narcissa would have been insulted

both at the assertion and the bluntness of the demand. Normally she
didn't kowtow to others in such a fashion, but desperate times had
dulled her pride and she was promptly pulling up her sleeves wincing
slightly when one of the buttons there tore loose and pinged away
across the porch.

There shining slightly in the pale moonlight were her forearms, clean
and bare. She couldn't help but be a little hurt at the look of surprise
which crossed her sister's features.

Though she knew she really had no right to be.

It was perhaps her hurt which made her offer the next thing, her tone
a touch more sure and brisk than before. "I don't have my wand with
me either. Feel free to check."

Andromeda considered the woman across from her a moment

before nodding, first flicking her wand at the woman's still
outstretched forearms, causing a wave of horripilation to skitter
across her flesh as the sensory spells searched for glamours finding
none. Then Andromeda directed her wand elsewhere, first at her
clearly searching for a wand or weapon to summon from her person,
however she could tell that it surprised her sister somewhat when it
met no resistance, nor did it produce any results. Finally Andromeda
flicked her wand to the side and the button which she had lost a
minute before flew into her hand.

Andromeda considered the small bauble dispassionately before

holding it out to her to take. "Fine, come inside. We leave shoes at
the door."

She waited just long enough for Narcissa to grab the proffered
button before turning to allow her through the door.

Narcissa stepped inside and waited for her sister to secure the door
again before pulling off her shoes as instructed, placing them on a
mat clearly provided for the purpose. Her sister then silently led her
deeper within the small, tastefully decorated home. "You are lucky,
Ted is out on business right now. Won't be home for a few hours
yet." Andromeda explained.

Narcissa didn't see it but her sister frowned slightly when she
refrained from commenting on her husband one way or the other. It
was unlike almost any of Andromeda's relatives not to offer an
acerbic barb about her choice of spouse.

Which was why she ended up surprised when Andromeda stopped

in the middle of the hallway and turned to eye her speculatively.
"Before we go any further, what was the last thing you said to me
when I left home?"

Narcissa was confused, why bring that up now? Andromeda sighed

before explaining.

"It's a security question, to ensure it's you. Should have done it at the
door…"

The younger sister winced, thinking back to that day. "I-er, I told you
that I had only
one sister and that you were not her." She admitted bleakly.

Andromeda nodded stiffly, before loosening up again and turning

without a further word to lead her into the sitting room down the hall.
She paused only to proffer a chair to her guest before beginning a
slow pace across the room. Narcissa tried not to be intimidated as
she sat in the chair smoothing the skirt of her dress. She knew more
than her fair share of spell and magic in general. And being a Black,
much of that was dark in nature. But that advantage availed her little
here. Andromeda always had been a better student than she, and
had been a mean fighter in any of the practice duels they'd fought in
the day. She was, despite being disowned, a Black sister by birth
too, and knew just as much in the way of horrifyingly painful magic
as she did, if not more.

Narcissa recalled an incident from near the end of the last war.
Andromeda had been present in diagon alley with her husband and
young daughter when Bellatrix had led a raid there. That was the
only time she could remember Bella returning from a fight with
wounds not inflicted by her master. Apparently the two siblings had
duelled when Bellatrix, predictably, had lashed out at her former
sister.

She'd never heard just how Andromeda had fared compared to

Bellatrix, but she had survived where so many others had not, and
had managed to hurt a woman few trained aurors dared to stand
against.

"Now, what is it that you want Narcissa?" Andromeda asked

brusquely.

Though she had anticipated this meeting more than her sister had,
she still needed a moment to consider how to proceed. Eventually
settling on the blunt truth. "Things have gone badly… particularly
since the battle at the Ministry." She admitted. "The Dark Lord
blamed Lucius for the failure there, and with the latest Carrow
fiasco….he decided his use for Draco and myself had ended. He
chose instead to use us as a method to send a message to Lucius.
When he abandoned our residence, which he had been using as a
base prior to that, he left me and my son bound and gagged in our
home. He left us to die. The elves being forbidden from aiding us."

Andromeda paused, a brief glimmer of surprise in her eyes before

she quashed it. "Are you truly surprised that the bastard turned on
you Narcissa, I'd thought you more astute than that."

Normally she would have bristled at the implied insult, however

current events had her pausing and considering that question
seriously. "In retrospect, we indeed should have expected that he
would not keep to his bargain. We had hoped he would hold with the
traditions and protocols he professed to champion. Obviously, as I
am here, he did not."

She grimaced and then shrugged. "It is only because one of our
elves was brave enough to defy him that we escaped at all."

Her sister nodded, before resuming her slow pace back and forth.
"And why come to

Me?"

Narcissa sighed, there was nothing for it but to be honest. She had
nothing to gain by

lying, and her sister was just as well trained as her, she'd
undoubtedly see through any falsehood she spun. "Frankly? It is
because I have no other choice." She saw the mild surprise in her
sister again before forging onward. "Most others I could have even
contemplated approaching prior to this would either be unwilling or
unable to cross the Dark Lord in such a manner. That's assuming
they were not directly in league with him to begin with."

She shrugged and continued. "My only other options of note besides
contacting you, would be to approach Potter, who is unlikely to look
favourably on such a thing, or to go on the run. Something we both
know would be of little use should he decide to hunt us."
Andromeda had ceased pacing and considered her seriously from
behind grey eyes. "Well, at least you're honest," She allowed with a
snort of dark amusement. "So, you want me to help you out is that
correct, to shelter you?"

Narcissa nodded. "Our own home is no longer secure, and we have

next to no funds

we can access with Lucius in Azkaban. Not that he would dare to

cross the Dark Lord were he free regardless."

Her sister nodded, mulling that over, before hesitating. "My-home, is

not so safe right now that you could shelter here long term." She put
up a hand to stall any objections. "However, that could be remedied,
though it will likely come at some cost to yourself…."

Narcissa sighed, "As I said I do not have access to-"

Andromeda cut across her irritably. "Not what I meant Cissa." Her
stoney facade suffering somewhat in her impatience. "The only
people I could reasonably see us approaching right now in order to
make this place safe enough for you are Nymphadora's superiors at
the DMLE."

Her younger sibling scowled at that. "I am not eager to throw myself
at the Ministry's feet-"

Another impatient sound cut her off. "You likely don't have a choice
little sister." Andy noted acerbically. "Though I will ask Dora to
ensure it reaches as few ears as possible, for security's sake if
nothing else… assuming we go forward with this at all."

"There is one other matter however." She said calmly, and noted the
worried look in Narcissa's eyes. "I will not harbour an enemy in my
own home Cissa. If you and Draco shelter here. You will abide by my
rules, and the first time I hear you or your boy slander my husband
because of his blood so help me-"
Narcissa was already nodding hurriedly pleased her sister seemed
to be considering it. "Of course, I will be certain to impress upon
Draco the need for etiquette and tact. I will mind my own manners as
well-"

Andromeda shook her head, sighing wearily. "That may not be

enough Cissa. How am I supposed to trust you with my family's
safety if I know you are merely being polite whilst still harbouring
biases against us?" She asked, "IF I do this, and I'm not saying
saying I will. I will need to know you are willing to change."

Her sister sagged in the face of such a requirement. "It is not so

simple as that Andy-I've lived my whole life this way, as has Draco.
Such things do not simply go away…"

She was then surprised to see her sister's face soften slightly. "I do
not expect miracles overnight Cissa. But I do expect you to try and
make a real effort."

The younger sister nodded cautiously, that at least was something

she could do. "I-Very well, I will try, if it means my son and I will be
safe."

Andromeda nodded, accepting that, before pausing to consider

again. "Alright, tentatively yes, I will shelter you. But I will need to talk
with Ted first. I will not do this without his permission, this is as much
his home as mine." She hedged. "There is one other thing I wonder
about however, and want to know if you have considered it. What do
you plan to do for Draco in terms of schooling? In the current climate
Hogwarts is likely unsafe for him."

Narcissa nodded soberly in agreement, the thought had occurred to

her. Draco had, up until now, very nearly ruled Slytherin house,
though if she were honest with herself that was more due to his
father's efforts than his own. However with his father imprisoned and
subject of the Dark Lord's displeasure, and he himself persona non
grata with the Death Eaters, this situation would be reversed. With
most of his fellow housemates looking to kill him in hopes of earning
the Dark Lord's favour.

"I may need to see about homeschooling him. If situations eventuate

that he must attend that school… I will need to see what might be
done to protect him from the worst of the backlash." She admitted.

Andromeda nodded slow agreement. "Very well, I'll speak with Ted
tonight, if he says yes, I'll owl you tomorrow. Remember what I said
though."

As Narcissa was led once again from the house she couldn't help
but reflect on the irony of her situation, that now it was she who was
the outcast, seeking her sister's favour. And that it was her own
beliefs which were unwelcome, as opposed to the other way around.
She was willing to do anything however if it meant she and her son
would be safe. If she needed to change to ensure that, then so be it.

GMT 9:00 A.M-10:30 A.M

Air travel was equal parts wonderful and awful at the same time
Harry decided. The obvious downsides being cramped in a relatively
small metal tube rocketing across the sky at unholy velocities, for
hours on end. The positive side being that you actually got to see
something of the world while travelling this way, unlike if they had
travelled by portkey or apparition.

Most didn't realize it, especially if they spent their whole lives in the
UK, but Portkeys, apparition, floo? They all had a sort of maximum
effective range. Now when you dwelled in an area as relatively
compact as the British Isles it wasn't that big a consideration, the
entire lot of them falling well within the range of any of those
methods.

International portkey, being the magical option with the longest

range, would require a hop from England to Labrador in order to then
hop the rest of the way across the Atlantic to North America. Add to
that the fact that all international portkey usage was carefully
monitored by the ICW and their little band was obviously not about to
travel using such a method.

The alternative of course, which could be used to circumvent this

oversight was to

portkey within range of the nation's border and then cross it normally
before once again taking portkeys to reach their destination. The
problem with that method in this case was thus. The Magical
Congress of the United States of America guarded its domain just as
carefully if not more so than its non-magical counterpart. And kept
close watch over magical transit signatures near its borders. Often
investigating and duly reporting magic users travelling the muggle
way to the ICW who they were on better terms with compared to
their northern neighbour.

So, they were stuck with air travel as their transportation of choice if
they wished to

move undetected by interested parties to their destination. Still, it

wasn't all bad. Their party had gotten the chance to discuss life in
general with each other and better acquaint themselves with their
new travel companions. Also, arrival at their destination alone, made
up for much of their discomfort all by itself.

Even from the air one could easily tell Hawaii was beautiful. Lush
green set against the

startling blue of the ocean framed by shining white sand beaches.

Landing had been somewhat bumpier than that they'd endured in

Churchill. Though

Hermione explained this was likely due to the warm updrafts coming
off the sun heated ground and water. Immediately on opening the
plane doors, Harry could tell just how different this place was going
to be. A flowery scent he couldn't quite place permeated the plane
as the stale cabin air was replaced with fresh air from outside. *

Once again they made it through the airport with relative ease, a
squib agent once again helping to process them, and the
enchantments on their familiars dispelling any undue interest from
those around them. Soon enough they were piling into a cab and
headed out.

Honolulu… was a big city, even the Hawaiian overtones couldn't truly
dispel that notion. Though it and their journey was lent a bit more
interest by the way Hermione and the cab driver kept a running
dialogue going pointing out things of interest. Soon enough they
passed through a tunnel leading to the island's north shore, and the
driver was careful to put names to the various locations they passed.
Such as a small island off the coast aptly named Chinaman's hat, a
squat conical prominence just off the coast as they worked their way
westward.

They arrived at their destination soon enough, though the Driver

found himself somewhat confused as to why his passengers desired
to be dropped off on a back road at the foot of a well forested foothill.
This could largely be attributed to the enchantments they already
suspected would be in place over this property. Those in their party
with magical blood could see the small path leading up into the trees
and the rooftops further inland poking up out of the thick foliage.

It didn't look like much from here, but then again, they couldn't see
much anyways. They soon had their belongings unpacked and were
making their way towards the entrance to the property.

*Fun fact time: I'm told this flowery scent is Plumeria flowers. I'm also
told that it smells wonderful. I can't smell plumeria it turns out. Just a
quirk of my physiology. It smells like damp plant matter to me.
Nothing more.
Author's Note: As ever thanks to my super-beta/pseudo-coauthor
Temporal Knight! He's been awesome!

Recommendation(s): And… in the star wars universe we've got

"The Dangers of Foresight" by Anne Camp AKA Obi-Quiet.
Chapter 15
Author's Note: The edits are finished. Hallelujah! And there was
much feasting and rejoicing in the lands.

GMT 9:30 pm

Amelia's finger rolled a staccato like beat over and over on the dark
surface of her desk as she pondered the problem which lay before
her, her eyes staring blankly at the reports in front of her.

Horcruxes, if she didn't know what they were, the name for the
abominations would seem almost… benign. She knew better now
though, thanks to what Croaker had told her, and what notes he'd
been able to forward to her for review.

Abominations, that was indeed what Horcruxes were. There was no

other word which sufficiently conveyed the malign nature of those
devices: the shattered fragments of a madman's soul created
through the most vile atrocities known to man and then fused with an
object for safe keeping.

According to the notes, the exact origin of the name was unclear,
possibly being a bastardization of English or French. Not that the
name's origin really mattered in the long run so far as she was
concerned. Not the least because the meaning seemed to be similar
enough in either language anyway.

When it came down to it, these devices meant that Voldemort could
not be killed, at least not so long as they continued to anchor him to
this realm. A troubling notion, to put it mildly. He obviously had more
than one too if he was still around causing chaos after Harry had
seen to destroying one.
The question for her, in her position as head of the DMLE, was how
to go about finding and destroying the things. Especially without
tipping off Voldemort to what they were doing.

It suddenly made a great deal more sense to her now, just why
Voldemort's followers had remained so loyal, even after his apparent
fall at the end of the last war. And why so many of them had
proclaimed the belief that he would return.

An army based on such beliefs would naturally be much harder to

fracture and defeat. Such forces would believe themselves near
invincible even in the face of losses. More would always come to
swell their numbers, a situation that would be made even worse after
each successive time the Dark Lord returned to life.

This war, the one which was slowly but surely grinding into motion
around them had the potential to be even worse than the last one.
The last war had pitted Voldemort, a small elite cadre of fanatics and
a small army of disenfranchised youths among the purebloods
against the whole of wizarding society. It had been horrific, true. But
this time would be worse if they didn't do all they could to stop it
early.

This time those disenfranchised youths held positions of power and

had great wealth at their fingertips. This time, his armies ranks would
be swollen with those who wished to serve someone who had defied
death itself. And this time the Ministry was utterly unprepared for
hostilities to erupt. Due in no small part to corruption his followers
had themselves seeded and encouraged to grow.

Amelia was afraid, she was not ashamed to admit it. Not for herself,
but for Susan, she did not know how she could keep the girl safe in
the face of what was to come. Normally, she would at least be able
to send her to Hogwarts where she'd be relatively safe. Now
however, in the face of recent revelations… she was not certain even
there was secure anymore.
The only lead she had to pursue towards victory, towards ending this
war early, was to hunt down these Horcruxes and eliminate them
before Voldemort realized what she was doing. The problem was
she had no earthly clue where to even begin with that task.

She needed to consult again with Croaker, but more than that she
realized, her hand stilling on the desktop. She needed to talk to
Harry, if he was somehow wrapped up in this, as she now believed
he was, she suspected she would need his help if they were to win.

If that were even possible now… The will reading. She would speak
to him then if the opportunity presented itself. That would give her
time to gather what information she could and consult with Croaker
on the matter. She hoped things held together that long.

Luna watched from the sill of her bedroom window as the slightly
slouched figure of Albus Dumbledore paced away from the house
towards the property line in the fading evening light. She found it
hard to stifle the small feeling of elation and uncharitable satisfaction
she felt seeing the old man so defeated.

Her father had never bought into the legend of Albus Dumbledore to
the degree others had. Not the least which because he tended to
distrust anyone who accumulated so much political power unto
themselves.

And that was before Luna's mother had died and Xeno himself had
retreated into his world of conspiracies and intrigue. Nowadays he
had at least a dozen plots mapped out in his study which were all
centred around Dumbledore.

Most were nonsense even by her reckoning, but some…?

Regardless, her father had sent the old wizard away without allowing
him to bother his daughter, something she was grateful for.

She had her own reasons for distrusting Dumbledore. The way he'd
treated Harry was - as far as she was concerned - unconscionable,
and the way he allowed bullying to grow rampant in the school he
professed to rule had not helped any. She had a more personal
reason for her distaste however.

Luna had no proof, but Dumbledore had definitely been in contact

with her mother extensively in the days before her death. Oh, she
doubted the man had in anyway harmed or arranged for the death of
her mother himself, but she would not have bet against whatever it
was he'd had her mother working on, being the thing which had
killed her.

She still remembered, finding her mother after the explosion which
had damaged their home. Lying alone, seemingly unharmed in the
middle of her shattered workroom, but lifeless, as though struck by
the killing curse.

Luna sighed, turning away from the window. She tried not to dwell
overmuch on her mother's death, of course. It was hard though, she
missed her a great deal. All she had left of the woman was her wand
and a handful of cherished memories. A singing voice, the memory
of a gentle hand running through her hair…

Luna cast about for something, anything less painful than those
memories to focus on and turned her attention to the conundrum of
finding Harry and Hermione.

There were several people she suspected either knew where they
were or at least remained in contact with them. The trouble however
lay with convincing them to help her.

She'd pondered the question long and hard, and come to no easy
solution. It seemed that ultimately, when it came down to it, she
would need to do it the old fashioned way. She just hoped they
would listen.

H-AT 10:30 am
Harry watched until the tail lights of the cab they'd taken from the
airport disappeared around the bend back down the road before
turning around to regard his fellow travellers. It really was just a
precaution on his part, but they couldn't really afford for a muggle to
see something out of the ordinary when they approached property,
even concealed as it was by the forest.

The others used the time to get themselves, their luggage and the
familiars sorted, straightening out their clothes, shouldering packs
and picking up their bags.

The gatehouse to the property was concealed by magic just off the
side of the road, a small simply laid out building supporting a wooden
gate and stone walls which disappeared off into the trees.

Its most notable feature really was the large metal sigil which
dominated the centre of the dark wood of the gate itself. It depicted a
helmet above a broad kite shield which had a gryphon emblazoned
upon it. A phrase etched in latin on the sigil's lower edge. Amor
Enim, Et Honora.

In English? For Love and Honour. Easy enough to figure out for
anyone with a bit of latin in their education.

Apparently he'd spent a little too long staring at the gate because his
mother noticed where his eyes had wandered, and spoke up from
where she was securing a sleeping bag to a suitcase. "It's the family
motto. It meant that the Potters always defended their family and
upheld themselves to a strict code of honour."

He nodded ruefully, "I didn't know that."

She grimaced a bit, no doubt reflecting on just how little he knew of

his own family, thanks to a certain aged busybody. "I'll tell you
anything you want to know Harry, all you have to do is ask, okay?"

The offer and the knowledge that the information he'd so long
desired about his family was finally available to him made him feel a
bit… odd, "Thanks."

His mother smiled somewhat sadly at him before turning her

attention to his sister while Hermione wandered over to stand beside
him. "You okay?" She asked gently, no doubt having spotted his
uncertainty following his mother's offer.

"Yeah sorry, it's just… I guess I'm not used to the feeling of having
family I suppose, having a home?" He explained in a low voice.

She hugged him briefly, before pulling back, simply leaving a hand
on his shoulder. "I'm happy for you Harry."

That earned a grateful smile from him, "Thanks… I couldn't have

found her without you though…"

His friend snorted in amusement, before nudging his shoulder with

her own as they made their way over to the gate trailing after his
mother and sister who had begun to make their way over as well.

Once they had all gathered about it his mum looked about cautiously
before drawing her wand, just in case anyone else had wandered
into the area. Seeing no one in sight however she quickly cast a
series of spells and proceeded to observe the results. The only
notable reaction from the defences was a brief warning flash from
the sigil before it dimmed back to a normal appearance.

"Hm, keyed to blood then. Not surprised really, seems to be Goblin

make with some family wards thrown in for good measure." Lily
muttered absently. "Easy enough to get access though in our case."

She shifted her wand in her hand before making a small incision with
it in her other palm, which she then pressed against the sigil. Once
certain she had gotten enough blood on the metal she stood back
and healed the wound before speaking. "I Lily, wife of House Potter,
request entrance to these lands for myself and those with me…" She
intoned in a clear formal tone.
There was a pause before the blood seemed to be absorbed into the
metal, causing it to glow white for a moment before a bluish cascade
of magic rippled over the gate. Then there was a dull clunk from
within it and the door swung silently inwards, allowing them passage.

They filed through quickly onto a neatly kept road, which wound its
way up through the jungle brush and up out of sight. The door swung
shut behind them without further fanfare. However the locks were
much more impressive to observe from this side. Six large metal
bars rising up out of the ground to hold the gate shut before locks
within the gate sealed it in place.

It seemed his father had put more into defending this place than was
strictly speaking obvious, especially to an outside observer. He noted
that Kate seemed as impressed as he was.

As they got moving again Harry noticed there was an odd…

atmosphere to the place. He could not really pin down why, as all
they had encountered thus far was forest, but this place felt
welcoming. Perhaps family magics recognizing that he belonged
there?

It took a few minutes for them to wind their way further up the path,
even losing sight of the gate in the process before they finally saw
the houses. That there were more than one surprised Harry, he had
not expected there to be five medium sized abodes set about on a
plateaued hilltop based on the limited description he'd retrieved from
Gringotts about the place.

Had he been a student of architecture he might have noted the way

the traditional Hawaiian colonial houses had been enhanced with
Japanese design work, as it was he noted the somewhat exotic
appearance of the place and found himself instantly liking it.

He was about to comment on that when something which had been

niggling at his perception finally made itself known. There was,
around the area they stood within, a sort of strange hush.
Earlier, as they'd made their way up the path there had been birds in
the trees… but now? He furrowed his brow unconsciously as he
turned, before stilling as something moved out of the corner of his
eye.

The next moment, before he could even open his mouth to speak,
there was a blur followed by a chittering cry as something struck him
about the waist and he was bowled over.

He would have no doubt been alarmed by the other cries which

joined it, as well as the sounds of shock and surprise from the
others, had he not found himself suddenly very preoccupied trying to
wrestle off whatever it was that had latched onto his head.

He tried to pry it off but got a rap on his knuckles for his trouble, he
was about to try rolling to use the pavement to perhaps encourage
the thing to get off him when a single word split the air. "Stop!"

His mother's voice rang through the clearing and everything

immediately obeyed, even him! The thing on his head stopped
tugging at his hair and the chittering cries stilled. However, unlike
whatever it was that was accosting him, Harry's pause was only
temporary, using the opportunity to pull the no longer struggling thing
off his head which then itself wrestled free and dropped to the
ground to stare at him.

Short, somewhere between knee and waist height, in a grass skirt,

Hawaiian shirt and tiki mask which went down to its knees. It also
had a rather intimidating looking saw toothed club in one hand.

He stared at it, and it stared back at him, until Harry finally glanced
sideways to see his mum, the only one still standing while Hermione
and Kate also staggered to their feet. Whatever these things were
his mother was staring at them in what he would almost describe as
disbelief.

Glancing back at the figure in front of him he found it was no longer

looking at him but at his mother as well. There was a long pause and
then a low, breathy sound he couldn't quite describe, as a hand
came up pushing back the mask. "Mi-mistress Lily? Is that yous?"

A house elf. It was a house elf, in a hula skirt, an obnoxiously

coloured shirt with a wooden club and a mask!

"Tinker?" His mother asked skeptically, looking shocked.

Apparently this was the turning point for the little elf as she, definitely
a she considering how much she resembled Winky, dropped her club
and threw herself bodily to latch onto his mother's leg and sob.
"Mistress Lily has arrived!" She wailed loudly.

Soon enough his mother had another two elves latched onto her
other leg, wailing loudly. "Tinker is so sorry Mis-Lily! We didn't means
to attack you and your friends!" Tinker sobbed, "It's-it's just… it's
been so long! Wees not being expecting you!"

His mother barked a surprised laugh, "I can see that Tinker," There
was a palpable silence which followed that before his mother
eventually ventured to speak again. "Uhm, Tinker? What's with the
outfit?"

Harry shook his head in amusement as his mother questioned and

comforted the elves shifting to stand beside Hermione. "You know…
Even with attacking me, they're still nicer than Kreacher." He
grumbled good naturedly and Hermione chuckled in rueful
agreement.

"Come on you lot, Tinker and the others want to show us the house."
Lily called over the din of elven voices. "Yes Tinker, I know Harry did
get big!"

To say the last week had been hectic for the Grangers would an
understatement. Which was why Dan and Emma were happy to just
enjoy a quiet evening at home alone, and why they were somewhat
perturbed to hear an obnoxious tapping at the window.
Dan didn't recognize the owl at the window, which wasn't terribly
surprising, aside from Harry's owl Hedwig, Hermione had only ever
received letters via school barn owls or that excitable little ball of
feathers Pigwidgeon. This owl was different, not the least of which
because it had crossed eyes.

Opening the window he took the offered letter from the concussed
looking owl before it took off in a flurry of wings and disappeared
from sight.

The envelope was unremarkable, being simple and white, so he

disregarded it and opened the letter within. Staring at it silently for
over a minute before his wife decided to ask him what it was. He
shook out of his thoughts and smiled at her blandly before reading it
aloud.

Dear Mr and Mrs Granger.

My name is Luna Lovegood, I have had the privilege of considering

your daughter, Hermione Granger and her constant companion
Harry Potter my friends. Therefore I was greatly saddened to hear
that they had disappeared together. Though I certainly understand
their likely reasons for doing so. I will not ask you where they are,
instead only asking that should you have the opportunity to contact
them, please let them know that I care, and that I miss them greatly.
And that I'd like to hear from them if at all possible.

Sincerely grateful for your time.

-Luna Lovegood

The two adult Grangers shared a silent look for a minute before Dan
spoke. "What do you think?" He asked baldly.

"I've heard Hermione speak of Luna," Emma ventured eventually,

"Said she was a nice if sometimes odd girl… I see no harm in
forwarding the message to them when we get the chance, do you?"
Dan shook his head. "No, though I admit to not knowing just how
we'll go about that. Suppose we could try Madam Bones?"

Emma nodded, "We'll likely need to stop by Diagon Alley to rent an

owl though…"

Dan sighed at that, it wasn't that he had a problem with Diagon Alley
per se, it's just that finding the place without the assistance of his
daughter guiding them was always something of an ordeal, still.
Getting word passed along to their daughter and her friend would be
worth the hassle he supposed.

"Okay, we'll do that first thing tomorrow, try and beat the worst of the
rush." He agreed.

And with that, their evening returned to normal, nevertheless it was

an important step for one Luna Lovegood.

Harry's skin was warm under Hermione's fingers as she worked on

switching out the poultice once more. The 'burn' from his battle at
Madam Bones' house in London had significantly reduced,
especially with the help of the potions she'd acquired from Kate and
Lily in Churchill.

"Is Master Harry okay?" Tinker asked tentatively from her perch in
the bedroom Harry had claimed for the duration of their stay here.
Her feet kicking nervously against the side of the dresser she was
seated upon.

Hermione nodded absently as she held the bandage in place with

one hand. "Yes Tinker, the burn's really gone down now." She
assured the little elf. "He'll be right as rain in no time."

Tinker shifted uncomfortably, wringing her hands uncertainly. "Should

I inform Mistress Lily of Master Harry's injury?"
"You can if you want to Tinker, but she's already aware of it." Harry
said as Hermione secured the wrap holding it all in place.

That seemed to ease the little elf's mind a great deal. "Alright, I'll…
I'll tell her just in case, but food should be ready soon. We'll be
eating out on the lanai." She informed them before popping out.

Hermione smiled in amusement at the elf's antics, and she was sure
the lanai would be a good place to eat, being the patio like
arrangement for the house. "They seem happy." She noted, before
sighing a touch ruefully. "I suppose your mum is right, the Potters
have always treated them well, so they're more than content living
like this…"

Harry directed a smile at her as he pulled on a shirt over his head.

"There's plenty more elves out there that do need our help Mione,
we'll figure out just how to help them together." He assured her and
she smiled in thanks. His implicit support for her cause greatly
appreciated.

There was a knock at the doorframe and Lily stepped into the room.
"Tinker mentioned you were tending his wound, how bad is it now?"
She asked, nodding to the small medical kit Hermione was packing
away.

"Not too bad, it was only ever the energy wash from the spell…
mum, I've had worse." Harry reported, stumbling slightly when it
came to referring to her as his mother. Still clearly getting used to
being able to.

Lily nodded, "Still likely to scar I assume and it probably hurt, do you
need any more potions?" She asked, clearly hoping for a way to help
out her son.

Harry just shrugged. "I've already taken some so I'm good, not that it
hurts that bad anyways."
Hermione did her best to hide her grimace at that, but ended up
responding to his assertion anyway. "That's because your views on
pain are skewed Harry; not surprising considering everything you've
been through."

Harry just snorted in amusement, "True enough I suppose. Doesn't

change the fact it doesn't really bother me." He pointed out, before
turning to regard his mother. "Tinker said lunch is going to be ready
soon?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah outside, it should be ready any minute now, why
don't you two go join Kate out there, I'll be along in a minute. I'll
handle the supplies Hermione, thanks for looking out for him."

Hermione smiled at the woman, before bumping Harry with her

shoulder. "Anytime Missus Potter."

It was a minute before Harry and her made their way out onto the
lanai, and Hermione was amazed at the view which greeted her
when they did.

It was… perfect, in a way. The property sat atop a small promontory

on the lower slope of the mountains that formed the core of the
island of Oahu. The island sloped in a vast green sea away from
them to where it finally met the water about a mile or so away. There,
a town or small city sat nestled along the shoreline of an ocean
which was the deepest, most beautiful ultramarine blue she had ever
seen.

The sky above it all, clear except for a few small clouds which gently
drifted this way and that across it, driven by the same warm sea
breeze which played against her face and rustled her hair. "Wow,"
was the almost reverent murmur which came from her lips.

"Yeah, no kidding right? That was my reaction too!" Came Kate's

voice from further along the lanai, where the slightly younger teen
leaned against the railing.
"It's gorgeous here…" Hermione continued nodding her head in
acknowledgement.

She stood there for a time just taking in everything before her, her
eyes fixing for a time on the town, it was near enough that she could
make out individual buildings easily enough and see the small insect
like cars drifting along its streets. She even spotted a river or man
made stream which descended from a white building down towards
the coast, and a park dominated by huge trees…

"What town is that? Just where are we exactly?" She asked, hoping
someone knew the answer.

"That Laie," Reported Tinker padding through the door behind her,
before dutifully reciting the pronunciation. "Lah-ee-ay, we're on the
island's north shore. It's mostly a university and tourist town these
days."

That caused Hermione to blink in surprise. "Really, they put a

university in a town that size?" She asked incredulously, turning to
look at the elf.

Tinker nodded, unoffended, "Laie was partially settled by a church,

they built their temple there, you can see it there, that big white
building." She said pointing away towards the town. "but they also
built the school for their people here, I hear they offer education to
many from all across Polynesia and the pacific now. Especially those
who can't afford it normally."

The elf paused. "I've lived here most of my life. I only briefly knew
the Potters before… everything went wrong." Tinker noted sadly.
"The town's nice though, a fairly quiet place."

Hermione nodded understanding, "Is it always this nice," She asked

indicating the weather and scenery around them.

Tinker shrugged. "Not always, but usually. It is rare for the weather to
be truly awful here. The worst we generally get is a bit of light rain."
"How do paradises like this still exist?" Kate asked shaking her head.

"You'd think people would flock here," Hermione agreed

wholeheartedly.

Tinker grimaced, a strange expression on an elf. "You haven't seen

Honolulu properly misses, big city, like any other. Gobbling up the
other side of the island." She said sounding disapproving.

"You don't like it?" Hermione asked.

The elf sighed, "It's not so bad I suppose, not so green anymore. I
sometimes go there to visit the market."

Hermione thought on the international market place*, where the local

magical community hid its own shopping district. "We have to go to
the market on the early on the Fifth."

Tinker bobbed her head, "Yes, Harry told me. You should visit before
then though. Enjoy the sights properly, when it's not night time."

It clicked in her head just what the elf meant, "Oh yeah, I guess it
would be night here if it's daytime in London."

"2:00 am," Harry noted dryly.

She winced, she didn't enjoy being up that late generally. "Oh joy."

Tinker considered the humans around her, "Go tomorrow," She

instructed firmly. "See it in daylight, also stay for the evening
festivities!"

"Festivities?" Hermione asked perplexed.

Kate snorted in amusement beside her, "It's the fourth of July

tomorrow Hermione, and we're in America now."

Hermione made an oh of understanding, "Ah, Independence Day."

"Yes, and Hawaii has many soldiers compared even to other states
miss." Tinker noted looking amused. "Proud people, very fond of
fireworks."

Hermione could see how that would be true and pondered

everything she'd been told thus far. "Are there any places you like to
visit Tinker?" She asked eventually.

Tinker hesitated looking a bit guilty. "Technically Tinker is supposed

to tend this house and go the market, nothing more…" She admitted
sheepishly. "Tinker sometimes does more though…"

Perhaps sensing the elf's distress, Harry just smiled patting Tinker
gently on the shoulder. "It's okay Tinker, we're not too strict."

Hermione was still concerned though, "Harry's father didn't let you
wander?"

Tinker shook her head, "Oh no, he did… he just wanted us to be

safe here when he and mistress Lily went into hiding."

Hermione could see what had happened there. The instruction had
been intended to be short term and precautionary, but had ended up
being more when James had died.

There was a weary sigh behind them and they all turned to see Lily
standing in the doorway admiring the view. "Again, I am sorry I didn't
know about this place earlier Tinker. You should know, you and the
others are free to go where you please, just try and stay safe okay?"

Tinker looked relieved, "Thank you Mis-Lily,"

"The other two say that food's ready now, why don't you lot help us
bring it all on out," Lily suggested. "Maybe after lunch we can try out
the water?"

That certainly sounded good to Hermione and she was about to say
so when a table popped into existence next to her, causing her to
jump. "Mistress Lily forgets that elves can bring out food easy!
Mistress Lily needs to be reeducated!" Tinker declared firmly,
causing those present to laugh in amusement at her antics.

This… was definitely not how Draco had imagined his summer
going, the boy in question had to admit. Summer for him was a time
of luxuriant idleness. Occasionally flying about his family's land on
his broom, attending extravagant parties and enjoying fine foods.

It was most certainly not… whatever this was. Being threatened and
then tied up to be left for dead by a mad man they had invited into
their own home? Being forced to approach estranged relatives on
bended knee in hopes of finding safe shelter? Him, lying in an…
admittedly comfortable bed, in a tiny bedroom in a tiny house which
could have easily fit in its entirety within the entrance hall of his
family's manor. No, he had to say none of that had been on his
summer to do list.

Despite all that, and definitely because of it at the same time, he

found himself conflicted. He'd expected he would feel scandalized at
being forced to live under such conditions, and to a certain extent he
was. On the other hand however he found his indignation soundly
subsumed by his simple gratitude for simply being alive.

He might not have even managed that much, being alive that was, if
it were not for Tipsy. Oh he was sure he and his mother likely would
have survived a while longer before dying of thirst, but they hadn't
because they'd been freed… By an elf.

An elf who up to that point they had treated… poorly. Not so poorly
as Dobby of course, his mother had encouraged him and his father
to be less hard on the elf they got to replace Dobby in an effort to
discourage such rebellion in the future. That didn't mean they'd been
kind to her either.

And yet, despite that, Tipsy had saved them anyway. Even with
being threatened by the Dark Lord himself! Few wizards could
scrounge up that sort of gumption on a good day. That an elf had,
was frankly astonishing… and admittedly a bit humbling.

He was equally surprised that Andromeda had agreed to take them

in. He knew the stipulations she had placed on doing so. But he
found himself more than happy to fulfill them so long as it meant they
were safe, even if it was only for a while.

Draco wasn't blind, he could tell the Tonks family held their…
reservations about giving his mother and him shelter. It really didn't
surprise him that they did. After all his mother and Andromeda's
parting of ways had been less than cordial as he understood it. He
himself had been… less than welcoming when he'd first met his
cousin.

Tonks, he needed to remember that, she preferred to go by the

name Tonks, she'd made that quite clear when she'd stopped by
earlier to reinforce the wards. He knew better than to test her
patience on that.

And so it was, that as Draco lay in bed staring blankly at the ceiling
above him, listening absently to the sounds drifting up to him from
the moving picture box downstairs, that it occurred to him that Fate
really had a strange sense of humour.

"You, are being silly, Hermione." Kate sighed in exasperation,

leaning tiredly against the dresser in Hermione's room. Tinker, who
had perched herself atop that same dresser was nodding vigorously
in agreement.

Hermione, made a face as she examined herself in the mirror. "I

know, I know, it's just-" She sighed, hanging her head a moment,
before waving to her swimsuit clad form. Against her better
judgement she had been talked into wearing a bikini, a black one,
with a blue beach sarong with white flowers Tinker had provided.
The one Kate had elected to wear was red.
It wasn't the bikini so much which was troubling her, as the flesh it
exposed for all to see. It wasn't a question of modesty really, as
much as the fact it left the curse scar across her chest clearly visible.
Even after months it was still red and angry looking to her eyes.

Kate had thus far refrained from commenting on it, but Hermione still
worried. Her own mother's words had been percolating through her
head again, something they had done numerous times in the days
since they'd had that chat back in their home about Harry.

Simply put she wasn't sure she was ready for someone she
admittedly had a crush on to see her in a bikini, scar or no. She
hadn't voiced this concern aloud to her companions, but they
seemed to have sussed it out all on their own.

"It will be alright, I've not known Harry nearly as long as you have,
but I already know that it won't be a problem. Trust him." Kate
advised.

Tinker nodded in agreement and Hermione pinked realizing just how

transparent she was. She hoped Harry hadn't seen through her so
easily. "Easy for you to say…" She grumbled before sighing and
nodding acceptance before padding towards the door.

Steeling herself with one last nod to the others she pulled the door
open and made her way through the house to the living room.

When she found them Harry and Lily were standing outside on the
lanai looking out over the ocean. Harry, who she noted was wearing
a white T-shirt and what looked to be a pair of Gryffindor board
shorts was the first to note their arrival, turning away from the railing.
Only to stop and stare when he saw her. "Oh wow…." He breathed,
before collecting himself somewhat. "You, look good Hermione."

Now that, was a good reaction! She thought happily as she felt her
face heat. Still, she had to know, had to know that her scar wouldn't
bother him before they went any further. If it did she could try on a
one piece instead. "Thank you. Uh-the scar, it's not…" She started
trailing off when his eyes drifted downward and he winced.

Shouldn't have mentioned it, she cursed to herself. To her surprise

Harry sighed. "I'm so sorry Hermione-" He began before she cut him
off.

"It's not your fault!" She rushed to reassure him, she should have
guessed he'd feel guilty about that, and should have known seeing
her scar would cause this reaction.

Harry shook his head mulishly though, "It is though, you came with
me because I needed you. You wouldn't have even been there if not
for me."

She waved that aside. "And I shouldn't have gotten overconfident,

we've been over this remember?" She stated pointedly.

"Doesn't mean I agree it's not my fault." He argued. "Doesn't mean I

don't regret what happened seeing that scar."

She sighed sadly, knowing what the guilt was likely doing to her
friend. "I could change into something else…" She started only to be
surprised when Harry shook his head strongly in disagreement.

"No, don't." He said firmly. "Really, don't, you look… wonderful. Don't
let this keep you from wearing something nice."

She smiled shyly at him, it seemed Kate and Tinker had been
correct. She'd been afraid, but she should have trusted Harry to be
himself.

Kate apparently decided this was a good time to change directions,

"Is it a hard walk to the beach?"

It was Lily who responded, shaking her head. "Tinker says it's not.
The slope is pretty gradual and the weather's nice too, so if you lot
are up for walking?"
Harry shrugged, replying first. "I'm up for it, but I wasn't aware there
was an alternative."

"Tinker and I could apparate us us down there under an elf

concealment spell." Lily suggested.

Hermione shook her head in time with Harry, "I think a walk would be
nice, we could enjoy the view more that way." Hermione offered,
getting agreement from everyone else a moment later.

As Lily and Kate made for the front door, Harry made a point to stop
her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Hermione…" He started
uncertainly before plowing onward. "In case you were wondering? I
meant it, you look… wonderful, truly."

That earned another smile from her, perhaps it really was alright.

"It really does feel like a different world here doesn't it?" Hermione
mused quietly to Harry as they made their way down the road
towards the coast.

Harry nodded agreement considering the world around him, the sun
seemed warmer here, the forests seemed… greener, somehow. The
ocean definitely seemed a different clearer blue. But more than that,
he decided, it was the peace.

It was a strange feeling, to be somewhere he knew was truly safe.

No one knew he was here except those he knew he could trust
implicitly. And of those only Hermione and his mother really knew
their location all that precisely.

"It really is," he agreed. "I'd almost forgotten what it felt like…"

Hermione gave him a querying glance. "What?"

"Peace," He elaborated, realizing he'd not completed his thought

aloud. "This is a place where our war hasn't yet touched."
Hermione smiled slightly nodding in agreement, "Hopefully it never
will."

"We can hope," He agreed.

Harry couldn't help but steal little glances now and then sidelong at
his best friend. Sometimes it was hard for him to fathom just how
lucky he had gotten when she'd become his friend.

How many people could say they had a friend who would follow
them into danger as she had? Or who would choose to join them in
virtual exile? She really was something else.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't the only reason he kept stealing glances
at her. He had to admit, he greatly enjoyed the sight of Hermione in a
bikini. Hogwarts robes had never been overly flattering, and even her
more casual wear was generally not intended to showcase her
figure. That swimsuit that she wore as she walked beside him
though… Wow .

And in a way, that was what was troubling him. He wasn't new to the
concept of finding Hermione attractive, far from it. No, what bothered
him was how he'd stopped himself from saying what he'd intended to
back at the house.

He had intended to tell her she looked beautiful, but had balked at
the last moment. Beautiful, a loaded word really, filled with a lot more
meaning than the more neutral words friends used. Wonder,
fabulous, spectacular even… But not beautiful.

He sure found himself thinking it though. He'd always known

Hermione was a woman, had ever since he'd met her really. Though
there had been certain times that had really pressed that fact home.
Like the Yule Ball…

But for some reason he'd always pushed such considerations to the
side. Why? He wondered. He was aware he was somewhat oblivious
in some ways, and he certainly had plenty of things to dominate his
attention, but still…

He really should have given the matter more thought he supposed,

after all he basically spent all day everyday for eight or nine months
for the last five years in her company.

Of course, he'd heard various terms used in reference to a woman's

attractiveness. Who hadn't? Hot, well fit, babe, smoking… But the
women described as such had always come across as somewhat…
false, to Harry. Like their attractiveness was only skin deep or it was
an act they somehow put on. Though that was probably just be a
reflection on the particular girls he'd had occasion to meet who were
described that way.

That wasn't even considering the fact such terms always felt a bit
diminishing to Harry. They were labels, not a genuine and heartfelt
reflection of who that person was.

Hermione was beautiful, but it was an honest sort of beauty. Natural

and not presumptuous, not in your face and obtrusive in the way so
many girls worked so hard to achieve. Not that Hermione seemed to
see herself so. But she was, beautiful, inside and out.

Regardless, he mused, it would surely do no harm for him to pay a

bit more attention to his best friend for a change. Of course it was an
exercise in futility over all. As he'd told Dan Granger, whatever his
feelings were on the matter, she didn't feel the same way, and thus it
was irrelevant… wasn't it?

It was becoming harder and harder for him to convince himself of

that fact.

Harry was considering all this as the four of them walked down
towards the beach in companionable silence, just basking in the sun
and enjoying the sights.
That was until something darted across the road chasing a gecko.
"What was that?" Kate called from behind them.

"Mongoose," Was Hermione's quick reply.

"They have those here?"

Hermione chuckled. "Yeah, apparently."

Kate laughed briefly, "Okay, well yeah, I mean obviously so, right? I
guess I'm just a bit surprised is all."

"Way I understand it, they're an introduced species." Hermione

reported easily as the Mongoose and gecko vanished from sight in
the trees. "They brought in cane plants as a crop, and that came with
cane spiders and rats. They brought in the mongoose and a couple
others to try and control them. Not that they had much effect on
either of them."

Harry found himself smiling fondly as his friend continued rattling off
little factoids as they made their way through town. Eventually
crossing a road on the edge of town and crossing over some grass
onto the beach.

The first thing that struck Harry was just how absurdly soft the sand
was. It was incredibly fine, almost powdery, especially in comparison
to the rougher sand and gravel mixes common to any of the beaches
he'd been to or even heard of.

"Want to take a swim?" Harry asked, nudging Hermione as she

stared almost skeptically at the sand beneath her own feet.

This served to break her out of her thoughts as she looked up and
smiled eagerly. Ditching her sarong on the beach with the towels to
follow after him into the water. Though he kept his shirt on, not quite
free of his own self-consciousness.
"It's so warm!" Hermione said in shock as they waded out a ways. It
really was too, perfect for just relaxing in.

And in the end that was exactly what the two of them ended up
doing, swim back and forth through the gentle waves just enjoying
themselves. Lily and Kate occasionally joining them before drifting
away again, seeming to understand this alone time was important to
them.

They didn't even need to chat about anything, enjoying each other's
company proved more than enough for a while, it was close to an
hour in that Harry finally felt the need to speak. "Thanks again for
coming with me Mione… It just wouldn't be the same without you."
He murmured, eyes closed and head tilted back as he enjoyed the
sun.

Had he opened those eyes he'd have seen Hermione's position

mirrored his own, and a small smile now graced her lips. "You're
welcome Harry. I'm glad I'm with you too."

It was close to three hours after they'd arrived before they finally
decided they needed to get out and move on with their day. The
beach had a few more denizens now, a pair of surfers further along,
a few families and couples swimming here and there.

A man was further up on the shore line setting up a flower stand.

Harry waited patiently while Hermione and the others dried off and
secured their sarongs at their hips. Eventually, reluctantly they all
began to make their way back up the shore, pausing only when the
man tending the flower stand greeted them amiably as they went to
pass.

"The water's nice today huh?" The slightly portly polynesian man
said smiling brightly.

Harry chuckled, "Yes, it is. Nice and warm."

That produced a laugh in response. "It's always warm man! But it's
nice and calm today too! That's better for swimming." The man
noted, before eyeing them curiously. "Not from around here huh?"

"No. England and Canada actually." Hermione said, smiling at the

friendly man indicating Harry's sister and mother beside them.

"Ah, and how are you enjoying Hawaii?" He asked, smiling

knowingly at their contented grins.

"It's like paradise," Harry said simply, getting murmurs of agreement

from the girls.

The man nodded agreement, "That it is my friends!"

Harry took a moment to take a look at the man's stall. He supposed

it made sense a man could make a living selling flowers to tourists
around here. "You sell flowers then I take it?"

The man nodded agreeably, "Yes, great place for growing flowers
Hawaii. Lots of exotic blooms you don't see elsewhere." He said
seriously before looking at them. "Any chance you want one for your
pretty lady? Maybe some for the others too?" He probed, any
irritation caused by him asking being softened by his friendly tone
and smile.

Harry nodded immediately, earning a blush from Hermione. "Yes

please."

Hermione placed a hand on his arm, "Harry you don't need to-" She
protested.

"How much for three of the flower necklaces?" Harry asked ignoring
that with a small smile at his friend. The man named a figure, a fairly
reasonable one actually and Harry started doling out some money.
"Sorry it's all in pounds, I haven't had the chance to visit a bank yet
to switch out for dollars."
"Not a problem man, I'm used to it. We get people from all over
here." The man said handing over the flower necklaces. Harry
selecting a nice one with pink and white plumeria flowers before
proffering it to Hermione, who nodded allowing him to slip it over her
head.

"Thank you sir," Harry said to the man as Kate and his mum also
pulled theirs on.

The man waved that off easily. "No problem, you guys have a nice
vacation!" He said happily, bidding them farewell.

It was a few minutes into their walk before Hermione spoke again,
fingering her necklace thoughtfully. "You really didn't need to buy me
flowers Harry." She murmured to him.

He nodded, he knew he didn't have to after all, and considered his

next words carefully. He hesitated before deciding to take the
chance. "It's like the man said, flowers for a pretty lady." He said
firmly shooting her a small smile.

Wow, he felt nervous saying that aloud, but judging by the pinking of
her cheeks and small smile on her lips she was pleased.

Pretty, was so much less neutral than wonderful… but he was glad
he'd said it.

The walk up to the house naturally took longer considering it was an

uphill journey, but it was so nice out it was very hard to complain and
Tinker met them at the door with drinks on a platter.

"Ah, I see you all had fun, come in come in, we have drinks!"

Lily laughed and smiled fondly at the little elf as they trooped inside.
"Yes Tinker, it was lovely."

Tinker bobbed her head, grinning fondly. "You got leis for the girls I
see Harry. Do you want me to put preservation charms on them
tonight?"

Harry nodded, "That'd be nice, thank you Tinker."

"Excellent, now, why don't you four get changed? Me and Tot will
begin supper soon." The elf promised.

"Okay, thank you." Harry said, taking a drink as the elf passed.
"Tinker?" He called just before she could leave, causing her to pause
and look at him expectantly. "We might be practicing some magic
today or tomorrow, do you know somewhere we can work?"

Tinker nodded, "The whole property is nicely enclosed, and has a

powerful set of privacy wards too." She promised him. "Outside
would be better though. Wouldn't want to go blowing up the house!"

Hermione went to her room to change while the other's chatted with
the elves, carefully pulling the beautiful lei Harry had gotten for her
from her shoulders and laying it gently on the bedside table.

Then, noting she was still a touch sandy from her time at the beach
she decided on a quick shower to clean it all off padding into the
bathroom, stripping off quickly along the way. Only to pause when
she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

It wasn't the sight of her scar or even the fact that she was now
naked that made her stop and take note, it was the small but
persistent smile on her lips that just wouldn't go away.

Thinking about how that smile had gotten there, only served to cause
that smile to grow and the giddy feeling in her tummy to reignite.

It had started she supposed with Harry and her scar before they
made their way down to the beach. He hadn't been repulsed, merely
concerned for her sake.
Then had come their trip down to the ocean and their time there.
Despite what she'd pretended she'd noticed Harry's little glances her
way, and it was hard not to smile after enjoying the water here.

But Harry's words after had been what truly marked this day as a
good one that she'd treasure for times to come. "Flowers for a pretty
lady."

Harry thought she was pretty!

Now, Hermione did not consider herself a vain person, but even she
couldn't help but feel her heart swell a little at the praise from a
friend. She seldom thought well of herself, physically speaking at
least. Even before the scar she hadn't thought of herself as 'pretty'.
But hearing Harry say it, smiling so earnestly at her? Well she could
believe it. At least for a bit.

*In real life the International market place no longer exists as it once
did. As of a couple years ago now, it has sadly been replaced by a
mall bearing the same name.

** Point of interest. Most flower leis from Hawaii include Plumeria

blooms. I'm told they smell really nice. I actually can't smell their
scent for whatever reason, so I'll have to take everyone's word for it.

Author's Note: As ever thanks to my betas. In this case, Mordreek

and the ever faithful Temporal Knight. No rec this chapter, need to
sift through and expand my list again I think. Anyways, hope you all
enjoy that.