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For disclaimer see first chapter’s notes.

‘’ Equals thoughts and mind speak.

“” Equals speech and quotations.

Thanks to Tumshie my proof Reader




Chapter Six





Sunlight filtered into the small bedroom through the tatty curtain bathing the room in a soft morning light. A male slept in the small room his belongings lying on the old wooden kitchen chair. His robes were grimy and his moneybag empty, his wand lay in pieces on top of his clothing. The wind howled around the ill-fitting frost encased windowpane. Draco slowly awoke to find that he was lying in a bed with rough sheets irritating his skin, with a start he realised that he was just in his underwear consisting of a pair of briefs and a vest. He looked around the room in shock as he realised that it wasn't his bedroom. The events in Diagon Alley returned to him in a rush, he wondered how he got out of the wardrobe. After examining the room he was relived to find his belongings but was dismayed to find that his wand was broken into three pieces and all his money was gone. He tried the bedroom door and found it opened into another room with a large fire warming a mud-covered floor. A large black pot was warming on the fire, from this distance he did not know what was contained within but he could hear it bubbling and the room was filled with a strange aroma. He noticed a window and looked out on to a white landscape as everything was covered in snow and ice. After getting dressed he left the small stone hut and went exploring. After half an hours trudge through the snow being careful of the cliff edge he tripped on a black metal bar protruding from the snow.


He wiped the snow out of his face and gasped in shock when he saw a frozen woman's face through a cracked pane of glass. He backed up in shock, his movement exposing a flat red metal surface; he heard a metallic groan from under him. He scrambled away towards safety, as the noise got louder. With a squeak and groan of metal and scraping rock the snow began to fall over the cliff exposing a Muggle vehicle. He saw that the black bar was attached to the front of the vehicle, and the frozen woman was behind a wheel. The vehicle lurched and teetered on the edge. Draco heard a loud roar that reverberated down the mountain. It sent chills down his spine. He rushed back the way he came as the vehicle toppled off of the cliff and rolled twice down the mountain before exploding into a fireball. In shock, Draco started to run back the way he came when he heard the roar again and the air above him burnt as another fireball appeared almost above his head. In his haste he did not see the ice before he slipped and banged his head on the compacted snow, as the ground reverberated from the footsteps of something very big.


Frank washed his hands in the hand basin and returned to the bedroom after relieving himself. He noticed that the slumbering couple were spooned together on the small camp bed with Harry lying behind his daughter. Fortunately for his sake they were both still dressed and seemed content in sleep. He left Remus' bedroom door open as he checked up on the sleeping Lycan. It appeared that the werewolf genes were working overtime to heal and repair all the damage done to the poor man. In the process Remus seemed to be getting thinner and was going through the drips at an astonishing rate. He gently roused the slumbering man so that he could eat some food that Hermione had left under a preservation charm from yesterday.


The confused man wildly looked around the room before regarding Frank and asked. “Who are you?”


“Hello, Remus, I'm Frank. Hermione's father.”


“Oh,” Replied Remus as he inhaled deeply with a thoughtful look on his face. “I understand now, you have a similar scent to Hermione.”


“Come on, eat up now, you need to rebuild your strength and you need food to do it.”


“What's going on?”


“I'll explain as you eat, okay?”


Remus nodded and started to eat as Frank explained as best he could what was going on, as he understood it. About a quarter to five the two men heard movement from the other room and a sleepy Harry appeared on the doorstep yawning.


“‘Ello.”


“Sleep well, no nightmares?” Asked a concerned Frank.


While Remus looked on confused, wondering why Harry looked different, as Frank had not relayed the story about the night that Harry had contemplated suicide. Harry did not answer and did not look either man in the eye. After a long pause Harry looked up and grudgingly told Frank that they had fallen asleep after they realised that they had finished the first phase of Remus' healing process.


Remus asked in confusion “What process?”


So Harry explained: “Well the potions you were taking to control the wolf were killing you. So the first step was to repair the damage and heal your body, it wasn't easy and took a while but it looks like it worked. The next step his to help you master the wolf. Hermione has an idea on how that might work, but for all intents your no longer sick from Wolfsbane poisoning. Now if you don't mind I'm going to borrow your bathroom and have a shower, and Mr.. Granger please don't wake Hermione as she is exhausted. She was the one that maintained the connection last night and just needs a few more hours asleep.”


With that Harry turned around and stumbled to the bathroom, shortly afterwards the sound of running water was heard. Frank sighed, as he did not want to think about the kind of dreams the couple share while asleep, but he was pleased that they had not suffered a repeat of that awful nightmare. Frank left Remus to his thoughts as he went to look in on his slumbering daughter. After checking on his daughter, he went to the kitchen to prepare some food for tea.


Deep within the bowels of the Ministry, an Unspeakable was tidying up his desk as his two-week shift had ended. He was looking forward to seeing his grandmother and son again and the chance to catch up on the last two weeks. He was aware that Keith was seeing a young witch named Susan. He had been on assignment in Bulgaria and had only returned to the chaos in the Ministry after the attack on the Alley’s of Knockturn and Diagon, and the fire in the Ministry above his head. He was only allowed a few hours off instead of his usual two weeks down time due to the massive staff shortages. He made his way up to the Apparation point planning out what he was going to do with his meagre time off. He arrived home to be bombarded by the shriek of an alarm and the stench of death. With a slash of his wand Jack stopped the alarm, followed his nose, and was dismayed to find his dead grandmother. In an effort to determine the cause of death he went to the family clock and was shocked to discover that Keith was dead. He was dismayed to discover that Keith had a fiancé as he never knew that the relationship with Susan had progressed that far. He vowed to find Keith and Susan’s murderer as the clock indicated the cause of death for both.


Jack left the hall, went up to his bedroom, opened his battle trunk, and mechanically got changed into his old Auror robes from before he joined the Unspeakables. He stared at his reflection in the surprisingly quite magical mirror. He disregarded his blood shot blue eyes and the four-day stubble on his chin he was more concerned with the old camouflage robes he had donned. It appeared from his glance that they still worked. He removed various Auror devices from the battered old trunk and put them in their various places on his person. He then went to the trunk he was issued with as an Unspeakable and added more equipment to his person. He went to the wardrobe and removed a travel cloak and paused before putting it on over his battle robes, it was a birthday present from Keith. Steeling himself, he left for Keith’s apartment. In the now silent house the mirror sighed in relief that the master had not destroyed him in grief.


Jack Apparated into Keith’s living room and removed a forensic device that the Unspeakables had developed and used it to scan the room. Ghostly images of his son and a girl appeared sitting down to a meal. He watched in silence as they finished their meal and stood up to dance to a slow song, gently swaying to the music that Jack could not hear as the device only provided pictures and no sound. He recognised the girl as Amelia’s niece, Susan Bones. He watched silently as the ghostly images started to kiss and fondle each other. The images sped up as Jack manipulated one of the controls out of the corner of his eye he spotted something not right. He manipulated the device and the two ghostly images froze in an embrace as they moved to the bedroom. Jack moved around the room to the strange sight of a floating shimmering bag. He let the images play out as the shimmering bag floated across the room about waist height. The bag was phasing between solid and transparency giving off a shimmering effect.


As the ghostly couple made love, Jack concentrated on the bag as it settled on the floor at the foot of the bed. After a period of time while the couple was in the throws of passion the bag popped open and a clear potions vial floated up and around the bed on a journey to the bedside locker. Once it reached the locker the vial tipped and emptied its contents in to a glass of water on the bedside locker. The vial then floated back to the open bag. Jack paused the replay and tried to determine the bags contents but was unsuccessful. He continued the replay and watched in dismay as his son downed the glass of spiked water after finishing making love on the bed with Susan.


A red spell flashed from the foot of the bed from a poorly concealed wand. The spell shouldn’t have been effective in stunning the young witch but in her current state it worked. She lay on the bed staring at the ceiling while an invisible person tossed the room. That took about five minutes; Jack watched the macabre scene wondering what happened next, as he knew from the clock that Susan was also dead. Another ten minutes passed with nothing happening just a naked Susan shivering on the bed, with his dead son lying beside her. Suddenly another vial floated out of the bag to hover beside Susan.


The vial was put to her lips and unseen fingers massaged her throat forcing her to swallow the unknown liquid. Jack observed another vial was removed from the bag and its contents were dumped onto Keith’s body. The body dissolved into nothingness, Jack looked on with tears trickling down his cheeks. He observed that as the bed began to dissolve where Keith’s body used to lie, the stunned witch sat bolt upright. After a pause three large potions flasks floated in front of her and she drank them in a daze. Nothing happened for an hour, except the witch seemed to relieve herself on the bed. Jack removed another device as he scanned the remaining bed clothes for the witch’s urine and was dismayed to discover traces of two banned potions, the first confirmed his suspicions that she was dosed with liquid imperious and the second potion appeared to be an old obscure potion that was banned over sixty years ago. After what seemed like hours, three more vials appeared and were swiftly ingested, after a pause a fourth vial appeared and Susan reached out and took it before gently laying it on the bedside locker.


After this action she swiftly got dressed. After getting dressed she put the vial into her pocket. Then she took a small locket and vanished into a blur of what Jack recognised as portkey travel. Once Susan left, the bag floated out the door into the living room and then proceeded to leave the residence with Jack following behind. Then with a pop it was gone. Jack massaged his forehead at his oncoming headache as he was unsure of what to do next as it appeared someone had murdered his son and used Susan Bones for something nefarious. A thought nagged him he had recognized the locket as his Mothers, Keith must of gifted the locket to Susan. As Susan was under seventeen it would explain the use of portkey travel. That meant that she most likely went home. He would have to check there as well as getting further analysis on the recovered urine sample. He Apparated back to the Ministry hoping to locate Amelia Bones as he had realised that this quest involved her as well.


In the quiet neighbourhood where the Grangers lived, life was slowly returning to normal after the crazy weather and the mysterious blast in London. Workmen from the electricity company were repairing the power lines and sub stations. Communications companies such as British Telecom and Sky Television were repairing their services. The normally quiet road outside the Granger residence was a hive of activity as the road was crammed with work vans hailing from as far north as Newcastle and Edinburgh as most of the vehicles from south England were destined for the scrap heap. Men from the council were still tidying up after the storms as their work was delayed due to their equipment not working after the blast and strange electromagnetic pulse. Regular services such as post and the milkman were slowly restarting their services. Among it all a stately mature lady made her way through the bustle towards the Granger residence marvelling at how busy it was compared to her last visit five years ago.


She approached the front door and knocked sharply awaiting for someone to answer the door. After a pause she heard noise of someone from within before the door swung in revelling Mrs. Granger stood on the threshold.


“Good morning Mrs. Granger is Hermione home? I am one of her Professors from Hogwarts you may remember me as I was the one whom delivered your daughter's letter.”


Minerva began wondering how she was going to broach the reason for her visit. Mrs. Granger stood silently with thin pinched lips on the doorstop and inclined her head for Minerva to enter. As Minerva crossed the threshold she felt a blunt metal object pushed into the small of her back as Mrs. Granger hissed threateningly.


“Slowly draw your wand an put it on the table beside the phone please.”


Assuming it was a dire threat Minerva slowly drew her wand and gently placed it on to the table. She was then nudged forward and was startled to come face to face with a Wizard brandishing a wand stood in a doorway.


“Problem, Mrs. Granger?” The male inquired.


“No, just one of Hermione’s Professors sticking her nose where it’s not wanted after keeping my husband and I in the dark about the events that took place at that school.”


“Oh okay, call if you need anything as I have to get back to work on all those ledgers.”


The man gave Minerva a look that seemed to imply that she was in a poor position and he was glad to not be on the receiving end of the upcoming tongue-lashing.


Jane was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee for herself and Hugh as they were sifting through the files Harry and Hermione had acquired. She missed work but due to all that was going on she had decided to offer her help to her daughter after Hermione had shared her adventures with her. She had just handed over the cup of coffee when she heard the knock on the front door. She used the spy hole to see who was knocking. She remembered that it was one of Hermione’s Professors.


After Hermione had shared the story of her life spent in the other reality, Hermione then proceeded to share some of her training. Specifically the training involving firearms and how they were useful against wizards. Hermione explained that most wizards needed to point a wand to perform magic, and for someone with out magic the best course of action was to retaliate first as there might not be a second chance. At first Jane was appalled at this line of thought but after Hermione had shared her encounter with a twisted wizard preying on people in the other reality, and her life at Hogwarts it was becoming clear that the Wizarding world was not as safe as she was lead to believe. She reluctantly learnt the basics of handling the charmed Glock her daughter had provided for her safety.


Before opening the front door Jane drew the weapon and held it down by her leg as she opened the door. The door and her body shielded the weapon from view as the witch crossed the threshold. Feeling a false sense of confidence she put the gun against the small of the witch’s back, instructed the witch to leave her wand on the table, and directed her to the kitchen. She was relieved to see Hugh appear to investigate the newcomer. After a brief chat she directed the witch in to the kitchen where she intended to get to the bottom of this visit.


Minerva was taken aback by the frosty reception she had received and sat at the kitchen table warily all the while conscious that her wand was out in the hall with another wizard in the house. Her eyes widened when Mrs. Granger laid a black pistol on to the table with in easy reach but far enough away that it would be difficult for Minerva to reach it. With trepidation Minerva opened the conversation with a question.


“Where is Hermione, and can I see her please?”


“None of your business and no, you can’t see her. First you have to answer a few questions of mine. Hugh, could you come and sit in on this please?”


After a pause the wizard, Hugh, appeared and nodded to Mrs. Granger before sitting on a chair between the two women studiously ignoring the pistol on the kitchen table.


“First, why did you never inform my husband and I about all the dangerous scrapes my daughter was involved in?”


“They were school matters, no big problem, if there was, Hermione would have informed you.”


“Hermione explained her reasons for keeping quiet. But what’s the school’s excuse? Oh maybe because I’m Muggle and wouldn’t understand. And another thing, my daughter came home from that damned school severely injured and should have been in hospital due to her injuries. I feared that due to the nature of the injury, that if she had children she would not bond properly with them. Where was the school explaining the reason my daughter almost died? Or the Ministry’s assurances that they would catch the perpetrators. Oh I know it doesn’t matter because I’m a Muggle and my daughter is only a Mudblood, no one important.”


Hugh’s eyes widened, as it appeared that Jane had a lot to get off of her chest. Minerva's eyes widened in shock as Hermione’s mother asked some difficult questions.


Trying to calm the woman down Minerva entered the conversation. “Hermione would not of been released from the hospital wing if she was still injured.”


“Well that explains it all and clearly shows what you know. Hermione explained to me how she had to beg to be let home and how she did not want to cause anyone to worry, especially Harry, my husband or I about her terrible injuries.”


“I am terribly sorry about that, how is she now?”


“She is better now, she got treatment outside of the magical world.”


“Oh. How?”


“Sorry, can’t say.”


Hugh looked on in interest staying silent.


“I had come to discuses an issue that arose with her and Mr. Potter.”


“What about them?”


“This may be hard to believe but they are married.”


Minerva had debated on the best way to break the news with Mrs. Granger but after the verbal attack she decided to cut to the chase and blurt it out. She expected shock and outrage at being told that Hermione was married at the age of sixteen to a fifteen year old but Mrs. Granger simply nodded.


“We know.” As Jane gestured to include the wizard Hugh.


“How?”


“Hermione told my husband and I all about it.”


“Oh, what was your reaction?”


“None of your business. But how did you know?”


Minerva sat in annoyance but relented. “There is a record kept in Hogwarts that indicated to me that Harry and Hermione have bonded their magic, minds and souls.”


“What?” Interjected an astonished Hugh. “That is impossible to achieve between couples. My office recorded the marriage as a class one love bonding.”


“Why is it impossible?” Asked a concerned Jane.


“Because of the ritual involved in the bonding does have a lot of very specific requirements.” Responded Hugh.


“Such as?” Asked Jane as Minerva looked on silently.


“Well for one, the ritual is between virgins. It requires oaths to be exchanged during mutual orgasm. Devotion to each other and an affinity between the couple. Most well suited couples can manage some, but not all of the requirements. And it is virtually unheard of for virgins to achieve mutual orgasms on their first attempt. And the last requirement is a blood sacrifice usually on the woman’s side. So after all that, I don’t know how they managed it.”


“How do you know about that?” Asked a curious Minerva.


“Oh sorry, Hugh Wallace, Wizarding Solicitor, and I need to know about marriage law in the course of my work, and my thesis was on old marriage customs and how they affected magical law.” Hugh said as he offered his hand in greeting to Minerva.


Minerva sat wondering why a Wizarding Solicitor was residing in the Granger home.


Jane nodded and simply said. “That explains it.”


“What?” Asked a confused Hugh.


“Well, after catching up with my daughter, she explained from her point of view what had happened to result in their wedding bands.”


“Are you implying it was accidental?”


Asked a shocked Hugh as he read the implied statement in what Jane had said. Jane simply nodded. Hugh’s eyes widened in shock but said nothing, as he did not want to anger his clients mother and mother-in-law. Minerva asked the question.


“How did they marry accidentally, I understand that some Muggles consume an obscene amount of alcohol and hitch in a place called Las Vegas. Surely your daughter didn’t do that, although a bonding that strong would not of developed out of such a shameful way to wed.”


“Well, where to start? Hugh, you're familiar with some of the details, yes?”


Hugh nodded and turned to Minerva and said. “The book of records that indicated that Harry and Hermione had wed also indicated that they were also of age. Specifically over eighteen and nineteen respectively. From discussions with my clients: Harry and Hermione, I learnt that they had gone through a form of travel that was similar to time travel. I was led to believe that they had wed during that time and returned here as a married couple. I offered to explain why I understood it to be legal as it has been recorded in the Ministry as a love bond with virginal sacrifice, fairly typical between young couples in days gone by as wizards are a few years behind current Muggle practices.”


“They did some sort of time travel?” Asked a shocked Minerva.


“Not quite, I don’t know exactly what to call it but where they went they had no wands and no magic. Over time, they developed feelings for each other and acquired new skills. One of which allowed each other to share minds. After one of their dates they got quite far in Hermione’s words, but Harry behaved like a gentleman and bid her goodnight.”


Hugh rolled his eyes as Minerva thought that Hermione was painting Harry in a good light for her mother.


“Seemingly they picked up where they left off in their minds and awoke to the aftermath of a shared wet dream and wedding bands on both of their hands.”


Hugh sat stunned as it made sense. In your dreams nothing is as it seems in real life and it was possible that the couple had unknowingly shared a bonding ritual. Before this conversation he was wary of the immense power of his clients. And he had glimpses at their potent magical shields as they appeared to have no magic at all, but now after getting an indication of their immense power he suddenly believed that they might have a chance against ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’.


Minerva was shocked at what she heard and it indicated that a lot more has happened than she had suspected. At first she was dismayed to think that her two students were so quick to rush into married life. But now she was not so sure after Mrs. Granger’s tale.


“Now that we have discussed your reason for your visit, I have some questions for you.” Stated a stony faced Jane. Minerva pressed her lips tightly fearing that the tongue-lashing would continue.


“First, why weren’t we informed of the many times Hermione visited the hospital wing, for example, this past year which we already went through, but I now understand that she was petrified by a Basilisk in her second year. Third year you let dangerous soul sucking monsters near to school kids. It is a miracle that Hermione returned from her trip healed.”


Jane paused for breath and to allow the Professor a chance to response. However it seemed that Minerva was at a loss for words as she was on the defensive since she had called.


“I have also questions concerning my son-in-law, Harry. Why when he was left to stay with his Aunt and Uncle, there was never any follow up? Hermione told me she learnt all about his life on her trip and shared some of it with me. Was there no one looking out for his interests in that damn school of yours? In Hermione’s fourth year I understand that there was some sort of competition between people of age, so why was a reluctant minor forced to compete and had to turn to my daughter for assistance? Why during the last year when he turned to you about his problems with another Professor did you basically tell him to suck it up?”


“I understand that Hermione and Harry plan to complete their education at Hogwarts, kindly see to it that they have the faculty's support. When Hermione shared her adventures in school with me. I was aghast, but when I learnt of the suffering that Harry endured, your Headmaster is lucky he is not here and I don’t posses magic, because I now consider Harry to be part of my family and I will do anything to make sure he doesn’t suffer in his last two years in Hogwarts due to ineffective instructors, or bigoted bullies. I honestly don’t see how the staff let the rampant bullying to go on unchecked, in Hermione’s old school they had policies to work against it, I know she had no friends in primary school, but she did not have to deal with bullying, because the school swiftly dealt with it. What exactly are you teaching your pupils, how to be fine upstanding people or just drift along in life along allowing bullying to go unchecked, well?”


Minerva sat stunned as Mrs. Ganger proceeded to go over the last five years of Hermione and Harry’s education, pointing out when they should have been notified of a change in Hermione’s health. Mrs. Granger also pointed out the biased way some subjects were taught, such as Potions. Minerva had hoped to talk to the couple but it was unlikely to happen now. Hugh had kept the mugs of tea coming as Minerva received a dressing down from the irate mother. After providing the fifth round of tea Hugh felt the pocket mirror vibrate and play the “four seasons.” He slipped the mirror out and flipped it open revealing the sleepy visage of Hermione. She was just calling to say that Frank was ready to be taken back home. Hugh relayed the day’s events and said he thought it was a bad idea to leave the two women all alone.


Hermione nodded as she had a clear idea of her mother's temper with the wizarding world in general right now and almost felt sympathy for her strict Professor. She then said that it seemed that Remus might be well enough to travel and to expect them with in the next half hour, as she and Harry had to check on Remus’ condition first. Hugh smiled and nodded at the mirror’s image of Hermione and closed the mirror ending the call as it were and slipped it into his pocket. Hugh turned to Jane and relayed the information that Hermione, Frank, Harry and Remus would be popping over in about a half an hour. Jane nodded and checked the time. She took another look when she realised it was almost half six in the evening, she then instructed Hugh to tell Hermione that their would be food ready in thirty five minutes. Jane turned to Minerva and invited her to stay for the meal as Hugh made the call on the Mirror provided to him for swift, secure communication. Minerva sat stunned that the woman was offering food after the gruelling talk she had endured. She accepted, as she knew she would be meeting Harry and Hermione shortly and hopefully some answers as well.


The Dark Lord was pleased, his familiar had survived the battle and he had decided to watch the two underlings tend to his injured but alive familiar. He stood contemplating the battle he had just survived his forces were severely depleted. He was forced to accept more werewolves into his forces than was acceptable to his beliefs. He was forced to move to Malfoy's Manor a whole year earlier than the plan dictated. He did not know how those damned Muggles had divined his location. And once battle was joined how they managed to kill so many of his followers. The Ministry must have been involved how else could those inferior Muggles find and kill so many.


Immediately after the battle once they had moved to Malfoy's residence he had rifled through the minds of his followers trying to determine if there were any traitors who revealed the safe house. He was about to vent his frustration at finding a bunch of loyal Neanderthals and no clue how the attack happened when a follower floated Nagini into the room dripping blood. He barked for animal healers and then ordered the rest to leave and spread mayhem. The throng of followers scattered leaving just two followers and the silent Dark Lord along with the injured Nagini dripping blood onto the mud encrusted floor.


The large snake lay unmoving as the two nervous wizards tended to the bullet damaged skin. The snake’s length was pockmarked with bullet holes from the large calibre rounds; the smaller rounds had bounced off the tough skin. Blood oozed out of magically sealed wounds and mixed with the dirt to create muddy red paste underfoot. A third wizard stood silently as the two nervous ones tended to his familiar, his red eyes lighting up the gloom in an eerie red glow.


After a while he barked for one of his followers to attend him. The one near the snake’s head stopped his ministrations on the injured reptile and cautiously approached his master. Voldemort jabbed his wand into the dark mark and muttered a spell in Parseltongue. A sickly green wispy form floated above the mark. The form was a head covered by a cloak. Voldemort spoke in to the silence.


“Dolohov, meet me in Malfoy's dining room in five minutes, understood?”


“Yes, M'Lord.”


Voldemort released the follower and swiftly left the room. The follower spasmed in agony on the floor, the magic used to fuel the communication spell drained magic painfully, knocking about twenty years off of the follower's life.


“Dolohov?” Said Voldemort as he entered the room to find his follower waiting.


“M'Lord.”


“It would appear that my resident potions master is no longer fulfilling his primary duties. Find me another, you have a month. Understood.”


“Yes, M'Lord.”


“Good, dismissed.”


Dolohov, bowed and hurried to the door.


“Dolohov!”


“M'Lord” Enquired Dolohov as he turned to regard the Dark Lord.


“You pleased me with the attack on the Muggle loving Weasley.”


“Thank you, M'Lord.”


Dolohov swiftly left; pleased that he did not receive a Crucio for his troubles this time all the while wondering how he was going to acquire a competent potions master with potions failing everywhere.


Neville Longbottom sat in his bathtub pondering the past month after a long day tending to his plants in the garden. His body ached from all the hard manual labour; he found he could agree with Harry that it was more satisfying to complete a job the Muggle way. It has been an exciting month, he was shaking with terror when he realised that Harry had his heart set on breaking into the Ministry. Looking back he was glad he hadn’t had a chance to stop and think, otherwise he may never have gone along at all. He came away from the experience with an inkling of what his father and mother must off gone through during their last fight as Aurors againist ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.’


He was with his mother and father when the explosion occurred and the resulting magical fire. He like every able bodied person at the hospital had helped out in the effort to stop the fire. The scenes of burning bodies still haunted his dreams at night. His broken nose was bandaged by Madam Pomfrey after the battle, but after the fire he needed to get it bandaged again this time at an overrun Muggle hospital. He found the experience of getting an X-ray in a muddy green Muggle wagon a strange experience. He was amazed at the black and white image the Healer showed him of his head. He had overheard one of the men manning the device grumble that after it was used on him it had broken down. The Muggle Healer promised him that his nose would heal okay, maybe slightly crooked like a boxer.


He got out of the bath and grabbed a towel. As he was drying himself his grandmother called for him. After he got dressed he found his grandmother weeping in the lounge. His grandmother looked up when he arrived. Neville enquired:


“What’s wrong, Gran?”


“I have received terrible news, Jack has sent an owl. His son, Keith, is dead.”


“How? What happened?”


“Jack said he was murdered. Poisoned if you could believe that.”


Neville digested the information; a friend of the family was dead. Keith was like an older brother; they had met when Neville was nine. Gran said the Bauers were friends of his parents straight out of school. Jack was on assignment in Australia tracking a wizard smuggling illegal lust and control potions to England via Australia during the last reign of Voldemort. Jack had returned home with an Australian wife and a young son. The case was very involved meaning Jack spent almost ten years down under.


Neville had bumped into Keith about ten days ago with a friend of his in Diagon Alley. Neville was with his Grandmother buying supplies for his garden. Neville had gone into a bookshop looking for a horticultural book when he bumped into Keith and a friend. Keith introduced the mate as Arthur Appleton. Neville's first impression of Appleton was poor; his clothes were grubby with potion's stains on his robes. His hair was incredibly worse than Professor Snape's, his limp brown hair hung down his back. He smelt of potions and manure, an almost vomit inducing smell. Later on Neville bumped into a school mate, Susan Bones. She was in the alley buying a present for her aunt. Neville would never forget her facial expression when she met Arthur. She almost vomited on top of the man. She beamed at Keith when he sent his friend Arthur on ahead to the Apothecary to buy some pepper up potions. Neville watched the couple connect with dismay as he had a schoolboy crush on Susan. He wondered now how Susan would take the news of Keith's death.


Frank bustled about the small kitchen trying to prepare something edible for tea. He had started about twenty minutes ago and was so far unsuccessful it would appear that the pantry was bare. He was pulled from his search when his daughters voice called out saying they would all be going home for food. In confusion he wandered in to the small living room to clarify his daughter's statement. The conjured bed lay unmade on the floor, Hermione sat upon it in a lotus position still holding the folding communication mirror.


“I called mum, she is preparing tea, and I think Remus is well enough to come with us, besides there is nothing left in the presses.”


Frank huffed in annoyance after his futile attempt at cooking tea. Frank was pleased to see that Remus was up and about, although he seemed to be moving slowly. Hermione’s damp hair was wrapped up in a towel on her head. She was dressed in a large comfortable jumper and tracksuit bottoms. Harry was with Remus making sure the first phase in his treatment had been successful.


“As soon as Harry is finished with Remus we will go home, okay?”


Frank nodded; a response was cut off as Harry and Remus appeared at the door. Hermione embraced her husband enthusiastically, the two elder men felt uncomfortable at such a display. The room dissolved to be replaced by the Granger study. Frank marvelled at the magical travel Hermione and Harry used he thought it better than the other methods, hands down.


The civil servant sighed as he glanced at the wall clock indicating it was quitting time. He rolled up the parchment he was working on and stuffed it into his satchel. He rubbed his forehead in frustration, the Ministry, his life used to be nicely ordered. He knew how it worked. Life was easy he did his job, kept his head down. Passed information back or forward for the right fee. But now he wasn’t sure it wasn't the same anymore. Ever since December rolled into January it appeared that someone up ended the world and changed the game. First it was failing potions. Then the weather went crazy. Which was followed by the freak explosion that wiped out the financial heart of magical Britain. And now there was the fire in the building that resulted in the death of Arthur Weasley. What next? He didn’t know but he had to meet a buyer of knowledge in half an hour. Sighing he left the desk and headed for the Apparation points upstairs.


He joined the orderly queue at the security point. He silently fumed because the new extra security meant that he got out of work a half hour later than normal after even though he had to arrive in to work an hour earlier. The witch in front grumbled as she removed her outer robes and placed them on the table. She handed over her wand for weighing and a Priori Incantatum. The security wizard checked the supplied ID and asked the witch to pull up her sleeves on her crisp white blouse. The witch complied with a glare. Once the security wizard was happy she wasn’t a Death Eater, he thanked her and bid her good evening. And then called the civil servant forward.


Taking his turn the civil servant stepped forward and supplied his ID, revelling that he was one Peter John Prendergast. Peter pulled back his sleeves revealing one arm bare and his left contained a roaring yellow dragon consuming a white unicorn. Frowning the security wizard checked the tattoo against the list of watched ones and sighed in relief when it was identified as clean. The Priori Incantatum revealed that the last few spells cast were those typically used by a paper pusher. The wizard returned his wand and said he was free to go. Nodding Peter swiftly made his way to the apparition point and his meeting away from the Ministry grumbling as he now realised that he was very late.


A pensive Minerva McGonagall sat at the kitchen table staring at the ugly black pistol. She was contemplating Mrs. Granger’s opinion of the magical world as Hermione’s mother bustled about the kitchen. She did not attempt to reach for the weapon as she noticed that the Wizard Solicitor was sat at the table reading a ledger of some kind. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard voices from another part of the house. Her eyes widened as a young woman with bushy brown hair entered the kitchen from another room. She wore a Muggle style exercise pants in light grey with pink piping trim and a light blue baggy sweater with a small logo over her left breast. Minerva realised the woman was Hermione and as she got closer Minerva realised the logo was the name Frank in a navy script. The most striking thing about her pupil was her eyes they were positively glowing with happiness something Minerva never noticed in her best pupil.


Hot on Hermione’s heels a tall man followed. He was just under six feet, with an athletic figure and slightly malnourished looking. His black hair was of medium length and untidy, a faint scar was noticeable on his forehead and marks on the bridge of his nose indicated he used to wear spectacles. As realisation dawned, Minerva she realised it was the happiest she had ever seen Harry. He wore a long sleeve Muggle style black T-shirt with a yellow smiley print and faded blue jeans. Behind Harry was Mr. Granger, carrying a black leather bag, Mr. Granger went to greet his wife. The fourth person was Remus Lupin looking in the best health Minerva had ever seen him, even though to some one that did not know him he looked like he had just recovered from a long illness. Minerva was pulled from her observations as Hermione spoke to her mother.


“What’s with the gun on the table?”


“Sorry I forgot to holster it after my talk with your Professor.”


Hermione sighed she had explained the reason she wanted both her parents safe and why she had provided both with magically modified handguns. She did not want to be forced to do what the Hermione in the last book had done by changing her parents’ memories and shipping them off to Australia. Logistically it was an almost impossible feat and it just felt wrong to do that to her parents. So she had decided on a lesser evil and provided training in the use of a magically modified Glock 19. It would appear that she would have to go over the training again. She held her tongue as she had observed the wand in the hall and had noticed her Head of house sitting at the kitchen table.


Her mother's face was ashen as she had realised she had left the weapon on the table. Jane was not used to the thought that she was involved in a war fought in the shadows by her daughter and son-in-law.


Harry entered the kitchen and started to dish out the food and diplomatically said: “Lets eat.”


There were murmurs of agreement as Hermione, Frank, Hugh, Remus and Jane joined Harry and Minerva at the table for the meal. Talk was light during the meal as if they were ignoring the earlier incident. Minerva marvelled at the food it was almost as good as the food served in Hogwarts. After the meal she decide to broach the reason for her visit and ask Hermione how she had managed to age almost three years and end up married to Harry.


Hermione excused herself from the table and looked at her mother indicating that she wanted to talk to her in private before answering the Professor’s question. The two women swiftly left the kitchen. Harry meanwhile answered the question by relaying the story of his fortnight spent on Privet Drive before the freak storms deposited him elsewhere. Just as he got to describe the incident where he looked on in shock at the tornado, Hermione and Jane returned. Jane looked like a chastised schoolgirl; it was as if the roles had reversed between the two women. Harry continued with his descriptions of how he woke up and expected the Order to rescue him from the Muggles and how it never came. Of how a friendly doctor informed him he was not alone and that there was a badly injured girl also staying at the hospital. He went on to say that he learnt that the injured girl was Hermione and that it took them three years to return home. Minerva listened enthralled by the story and was coming to the conclusion that there was more to the story than she was being told. Harry’s question at first stumped her before she realised she was at a cross roads with her life that would decide who she would put her support behind.


“Professor, do you know Occlumency? What I mean is, can you protect your mind like Snape claims?”


Minerva ignored the disrespect shown to her colleague and pondered the answer she was going to give. After she learnt of Severus' involvement in the war and come across him in the library studying a book on the finer points of mind magic almost fifteen years ago. She decided it was prudent to study it, she felt that she had rudimentary knowledge and basic shields, nowhere near the skill that Severus possessed. She wondered why the couple wanted to know whether she possessed the skill or not.


“I possess the skills, why?”


Harry nodded and then asked another question.


“Who do you follow in this war, Dumbledore or me?”


“What does it matter who I support?” Replied Minerva as her temper began to simmer.


She noticed that Remus remained silent through the exchange, and the Solicitor was reviewing a ledger while keeping his ear on the conversation. Harry took his time before responding.


“Before I give you a reason why it matters, do you know the contents of the prophecy that the Order was protecting? Am I the only one being kept in the dark about information I should know?”


Minerva knew the prophecy involved Harry and Voldemort and knew that there was more to it than she was informed. She was also aware that Albus had shared the full prophecy wirh Harry as she had witnessed the aftermath of Albus’ office after it was trashed. She was concerned with what it might contain after witnessing the result of Harry’s reaction to being told its contents.


“Yes, I know about the prophecy but I think I don’t have the full prophecy as I saw Professor Dumbledore’s office after his meeting with you. I only know it involves you and Voldemort.”


“Dumbledore is of the opinion that the prophecy must remain secret but I disagree, Hermione already knows it’s content in full. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I feel you should know why your daughter and I are targets. Remus, you should know what Sirius died to protect. Hugh, you know some of our plans already so what is one more secret, eh?”


Hermione waved a hand and the floor, walls and ceiling glowed blue then green before reverting to their original colour. Minerva almost gasped at the display of a wandless privacy ward, but she had no time to think as Harry gestured and a ghostly three-dimensional image appeared showing Dumbledore’s office. It replayed the scene where Dumbledore revealed the full prophecy.


“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.”


Minerva’s eyes widened at the implications of the scene as the pieces in the puzzle started to fall into place. It all made sense now, Severus must have overheard the first part of the prophecy and relayed it to his Master resulting in the deaths of Harry’s parents. After watching the scene play out she could see the reason why Harry’s anger resulted in the trashed office. She looked around the room and observed that Hermione’s mother was incredibly angry looking and ready to commit murder. Remus looked incensed. His face paled as hair started to sprout on his skin. He screamed in agony as his nose elongated in to a wolf’s snout. Meanwhile the Grangers backed up from the table. Minerva cursed as she realised she was in the room with a transforming werewolf without her wand. She did not know how it was possible that Remus was undergoing a transformation, as the full moon was at least two weeks away. Remus’ battered clothes were fraying and ripping, as his frame grew larger.


“He is not fully healed yet, I can’t risk stunning him.” Said Hermione in dismay at Remus’ condition.


“I know.” Responded a resigned Harry as a Humanoid Lion leapt the table and tackled Remus to the floor.


‘Harry will be pissed, he liked that shirt it was a present from John.’ Sighed Hermione as she watched Harry in frayed pants wrestle with a struggling Remus as the ripped shirt hung off him.


“Oh my.” Gasped Minerva in shock as she observed the partial transformation of Harry Potter into a Lion-man.


“STOP!” Ordered Hermione when she saw Hugh brandishing his wand.


The startled wizard dropped his wand at the order. He realised that Harry had almost subdued Remus and was being careful to not hurt the Lycan with retracted claws. Remus' wolf form was flaying uselessly on the ground under Harry's control. Hermione cautiously approached, urging Remus to calm down as she felt he was still to weak magically to be stunned. After about five minutes Remus slowly reverted back to his human form exhausted from the change. After seeing Remus revert back Harry swiftly followed suit.


“What happened?” Demanded a shaken Frank after what he witnessed.


“Well we only managed to treat the poisoning caused by the failing Wolfsbane. It must have somehow mutated his cellular structure allowing him to change while angry.” Proposed a pondering Hermione.


“What like that old television show ‘Hulk’ with Bill Bixby?” Asked Jane.


Hermione nodded absentmindedly as she pondered why Remus would get angry over hearing the full prophecy.


“Does that mean I could change at any moment?” Asked a weak Remus as Harry handed him a mug of sweet tea.


“Maybe, but we will help you to master the wolf like Harry mastered the Lion. Okay.” Offered Hermione.


“But Harry did not fully transform, I don’t see how he has mastered the skills needed to be an Animagus.” Butted in a surprised Minerva.


Hermione huffed in annoyance at the fact that Minerva was running down her husband’s skills. Harry sighed as he took in his destroyed clothes and the pants that were barely keeping him decent. With a shrug he assumed the form of a Lion with a distinctive black mane and dark honey brown fur. The Lion shook the clothes off his body like a dog shakes water off after getting wet. Hermione gathered up the wrecked t-shirt and pants and magically repaired them. Minerva brought her hand up to her mouth in shock at the complete transformation. Harry went over to Hermione and nudged her with his head. Hermione massaged his head before carefully laying his repaired clothes on his back. Once that was complete Harry trotted out of the room, via a magically opened door. Minerva quirked an eyebrow in question.


“You may have noticed that Harry’s clothes did not follow him in his transformation.” Stated Hermione.


Minerva nodded wondering where this was going. As an Animagus herself she wondered why Harry had not been able to do the transformation properly.


“Well, we discovered that there is more than one class of Animagus. Three to be exact. You Professor are an Active Animagus, and have mastered the skill using transfiguration. The second class is Dormant, which are most if not all of the population of Witches and Wizards. With me so far?” Asked Hermione as a dressed Harry returned.


He smiled in thanks at Hermione at his repaired clothes.


Minerva nodded to indicate she was following what Hermione was saying.


“The third class is the Natural Animagus, for example, Harry.”


“But what is the difference between them?” Interjected a puzzled Hugh.


“The difference is an Active Animagus forcibly takes an animal form usually from the species in their native country. Where as a Natural Animagus embraces their animal side and becomes one with themselves. In Harry’s case it could only happen after his time in the other . . . place. It takes a great deal of meditation and familiarity with mind magic, as such I would suspect that Professor Snape might possess the skill. In your case Professor your form is a domestic cat as you are an Active. Where as if you had learnt the skill as a natural you would have been . . .” Hermione trailed off and concentrated, Jane and Frank felt the static electricity in the air. “ . . .Either a Tiger or a Falcon.”


“But how? How did you determine that?” Asked Minerva.


“Harry did not explain how he healed me, did he?”


Minerva shook her head.


“The place where we were had no magic at all. Harry’s magic was affecting the equipment in the hospital we were staying in. A doctor thought that meditation might help Harry control his magic and stop all the equipment failures. Harry managed to master his magic with his wand still here, which meant he had no wand, okay?” Everyone nodded. “The same doctor did not know how to treat my injuries and felt that my only chance of survival was Harry and his control of his magic. Harry managed to heal my damaged internal organs, but being a gentleman was reluctant to heal my chest so instead he showed me how to do it.”


Minerva wondered why this was relevant but was enthralled at the information that Hermione was supplying that expanded on what Harry had said.


After a pause Hermione continued speaking. “At the time I was in a coma and the only way for Harry to show me how to heal myself was for him to make contact with my mind. After that we share a connection of minds. We learnt that Riddle split his soul in to fragments and created objects called Horcruxes the worst type of Dark Magic possible. One of these soul fragments resided in Harry’s blasted lightning-bolt shaped scar linking their minds. After Harry healed me I returned the favour, removed, and banished the soul fragment. The reason that we asked whether you would support us or Dumbledore is that Dumbledore is aware of the Horcruxes and has kept Harry in the dark and insisted that Snape teach Occlumency. But due to their poor relationship Harry did not learn it until we shared our minds and I helped him to master a form of Occlumency. We have spent almost three years refining our skill and control of our magic with out the aid of a wand. Since we were the only two with magic near us we developed a keen magical sense. When we returned home that sense almost overwhelmed us. I just concentrated my sense of magic on you and determined what your animal forms could have been. I discovered I had a form of a Lioness and so since Harry is my mate he has a form of a lion. The drawback is we have not yet mastered bringing objects such as clothing with us as we transform. I did not realise it was possible to do a partial transformation until Harry did it to restrain Remus.”


“It hurt like hell too!” Put in Harry.


Minerva sat back in shock at what Hermione had shared and she believed her story as, Harry’s scar was not the angry fresh looking scar he had sported before the holidays but it looked like a scar that was several years old and almost unnoticeable. The story about Harry carrying around a piece of Voldemort made her shiver she did not know how he had managed to bear it. One thought troubled her.


“Did you read my mind?” She asked.


Hermione shook her head and explained in detail how her enhanced senses worked and how her and Harry’s version of Occlumency differed from what she knew. Minerva was only appeased when she learnt that the couple took a dim view of mind reading and only used the skill if it was absolutely necessary after Snape introduced him to the skill.


Harry turned and looked at Hugh and said.


“The main reason I have invoked the fealty rights over the vaults is I need access to the Lestrange vault to retrieve another Horcrux stored there and we don’t want to attempt the robbery needed to recover it from the Goblin vaults. The second reason to invoke the rights is to remove Riddle’s funding, as there is more than one way to fight this war. The reason you are going through those ledgers is that there must be some innocent vaults involved and I don’t want to take that away from the innocent.”


Hugh nodded and proceeded to show the couple the names involved that had no ties with the Death Eaters or Voldemort.


“Good work. Tomorrow go to the bank and get the Goblins to reinstate all of the vaults on that list. Make sure they understand that I don’t want the Vault holders to suffer from our actions and have them calculate the balance that they would have been, had we not interfered. Have them charge the Black account for reinstating the affected vaults and afterwards furnish us with a new account statement.”


Hugh nodded but felt that he had to mention the fact that the Goblins would charge five percent and grumble over the whole thing. And afterwards the Black account would roughly be worth half what it was after Harry had invoked the fealty rights. The result would mean the bank could be closed for almost a month as it is all sorted out.


Remus had calmed considerably after his episode and wondered why Harry and Hermione had shared so much information, so asked the question. “If Dumbledore considers the prophecy and the Horcruxes to be top secret why did you tell us?”


Harry looked each of them in turn before speaking. “In hindsight that damn Tornado was the best thing to ever happen to me. It gave me a chance to take a break and think, enjoy life and look at my options. We learnt some difficult truths in that other place. One of them was how Riddle created Horcruxes so that he would be immortal; as a result the first one to go was the one in my scar. I learnt that during second year I had already destroyed Riddle’s diary, which contained another Horcrux. Since returning home I have taken care of two more, and know that there is one in the Lestrange vault.”


“Hugh gets to know as he is my Solicitor and is covered under the client confidentiality clause, and the fact he already knew I was married. Bedsides for what we have planed we need a legal professional to fight Riddle’s funding. Because Jane and Frank are now my in-laws I feel they deserve to know the truth as I have learnt what happens when secrets are kept. Finally we come to you Professor, frankly I have lost trust in Dumbledore and need an ally as my wife wants to finish her education at Hogwarts and there is the fact you searched us out after learning of our marriage which we hopped to keep quite as I don’t want a bigger target painted on Hermione’s back. Hermione and I feel that we can’t win on our own and we need people we can trust to help us.”


Jane turned and looked at her Husband, Frank inclined his head, and Jane nodded before turning to Harry and Hermione. “We’re in, we will do anything to help out.”


“Thanks, mum.” Replied Hermione as she hugged Jane.


Harry smiled tentatively at Frank.


Hugh sighed and said. “I’m in as well, but can I ask that you help me find somewhere safe for my family to stay.”


The couple nodded.


Remus had sat silently listening to all that was discussed and decided it was time for him to lay his cards on the table. “For the last year I have been travelling on envoys to the werewolves and various other species on behalf of the Order. I briefly talked with Sirius about becoming your Godfather if anything happened to him. I am in as well and would like to be your new Godfather if you will have me.”


Harry was silent during Remus’ short speech. He shook his head and said. “Thanks for offering your support to our goal of stopping Riddle and his band of thugs. Remus, I’m sorry but Sirius was my Godfather and I don’t need another, you can be my Uncle if you like though.”


“Sure, Harry, whatever you want.” Replied Remus dejectedly as he had hoped to be someone important to Harry as he grew in to adulthood.


On reflection he could see that he had missed almost four years with Harry. The past year he was away on Order business and the almost three years Harry spent in that other place.


Hugh got up and explained to the couple his plan to go visit and spend the rest of the night with his Wife and newborn daughter. He promised to visit Gringotts in the morning and relay the new orders to the Goblins.


He said in passing before leaving: “It is a good job I warned them that you might be making changes.”


“Oh, why?” Asked an inquisitive Hermione.


“Because, of the action we are taking now, I expected it. And warned the Goblins that I would need to contact them again when they informed me they were closing the bank. They only agreed to allow me the option of contacting them when the bank is closed because they realised that they would make a huge amount of profit from the handling fees alone in any changes we make.”


Everyone nodded to show that they understood and bid him good night as he Apparated with a soft pop. Minerva got up to leave as well, but was asked to stay the night as Hermione wanted to talk to her in the morning, and also the fact that the couple wanted a recognized adult Witch or Wizard in the house in case the Ministry contacted them about underage magic. Before Minerva could protest Hermione guided her out to the hall to retrieve her wand and explained that they wanted her assistance in the endeavour of healing Remus. Jane and Frank retired for the night as Remus stared into space as he brooded over what had happened to him over the last couple of years. Harry pulled him out of his brooding by directing him to one of the guest bedrooms that was being used by Hugh. Harry cast a monitoring charm on the headboard, to monitor Remus’ health and mental well being as the household did not want a repeat of earlier. Hermione joined Harry in her bedroom and relayed that Minerva agreed to stay the night, as it was too dangerous to be alone with the new information she had learnt. The house settled in to a quiet slumber.


The office was constructed of pine panelling; a light cream suspended ceiling hung overhead. The floor had a rich navy carpet. A magical window showed a scene from a Hawaiian beach, with topless women sunbathing. Behind the mahogany desk sat a wizard, he was of medium build, with slate black hair, in a military officer cut. His normally vibrant blue eyes were bloodshot. Agent Paul Johnson sat at his desk reviewing the file on Jane Munroe. She had revealed herself as a witch to an unfortunate normal in Jersey. The case was pretty clear-cut; Munroe would be fined five hundred magical dollars for performing a spell even though the act saved the young man's life. Johnson was interrupted by a knock at his door.


“Johnson, the Director wants to see you.”


“Thanks, Lee, I'll go see what the Director wants.”


“Catch ya later.” Johnson nodded.


Johnson closed the manila folder on Munroe and put it in to his filing cabinet. And headed to the directors office. The director’s office was larger than Johnson’s with oak panelling instead of the cheaper pine. And a large oak desk with a marble inlay. The director was a portly man with wispy yellowing hair, a beak like nose and piercing grey eyes. His teeth were yellowing from the Cuban cigar resting on the ashtray.


“Hello, Boss, you wanted to see me?”


“Yes, Johnson, pull up a chair and close the door.”


Johnson slowly pulled up a chair and regarded the Director. The Director looked worried and in the worst state Johnson had ever seen him in, in all his seventy years working for the Bureau.


“You hear about London?”


“Yeah, Boss, massive magical explosion the, normals think it was a nuke. What’s it got to do with us?”


“The United Nations of Magic held a meeting two hours ago. At the meeting it was decided that the British Ministry of Magic were not doing their job.”


“What do you mean?”


“The British Secret Service hacked the Air Force computer system and used Blue Bird One to scan the British Isles for warded locations. The Air Force was late in discovering the breach in security. Due to the breech the normals ordered an attack on a warded location. Almost two hundred S.A.S operatives were killed and an unknown number of Wizards. The normals are at present reviewing their options. To make matters worse the Air Force were forced to destroy Blue Bird One and at best it will take six months to get a replacement in orbit.”


Johnson looked concerned as the director explained the situation.


“The man that initiated the hack on the Air Force computers turned up dead aboard a flight to Sydney. The explosion almost crashed the world economy; we are lucky that the London stock exchange is backed up at New York, Tokyo, etc. The British government is reeling from the attack and a small group of normals from within the government, in the know are about to brief the Prime Minister on the situation and expose magic and the magical community.”


“What!” Exclaimed Johnson in shock as he slowly realised that the US was going to get involved in the domestic situation of another sovereign nation.


“It gets worse, the United Nations of Magic asked our Ministry to assist in the assessment of the situation and make a recommendation in a few weeks time. To that end the Magical President Becket has ordered me to send my best Agent over to England as part of a five man international team from the United Nations of Magic. The team will comprise of Agent's one each from South Africa, Australia, China, Mexico and of course you round out the team.”


“What do the International Confederation of Wizards have to say about the situation.”


“As usual they're blinkered and don't see any problem as they're stuck about two hundred years behind the rest of us. was set up as the Brits would say, by Muggleborns as a means of promoting equal rights internationally and as a means of modernising the International Confederation of Wizards and making sure the Purists don't start an international incident now that Muggles have access to information technology.”


“What do you mean, Boss?”


“Now that normals have computers and electronic storage systems and all databases are moved to computers, simply Obliviating people won't work any more. It needs a more careful approach to protect all of us from the normals discovering our existence”


“Okay, but what about the Munroe case?”


“Agent Goldberg, will take over as this is much more important. You will take an international portkey to Paris. There you will meet the head of Interpol's magical division and get a situation report. Then you will meet the others that make up the team, before making your way into England. ”


“What situation, I understood the Brits were supposed to be dealing with there little terrorist problem.”


“I know they seem to have the same problem every twenty five years or so.”


“So Interpol’s magical division will furnish me with the latest sit rep.”


“Correct, Good luck Johnson, and remember stay safe. The portkey leaves at five this evening.”


The Director then passed over a thick file with the minutes of the meeting at the United Nations of Magic. Johnson left the office and headed home to pack


As dusk gave way to the darkness of night a lone wizard silently observed the house across the street. The house had only one occupant, a Witch whom headed the Auror Department in the Ministry. The observing wizard shivered, but not from the cold as the night was balmy. He was suffering from after effects of his meeting with the Dark Lord. He was summoned from the safe house stationed near Newcastle to Malfoy Manor. The Dark Lord sat in a throne room nursing his familiar back to health. The frightened wizard had appeared with fourteen others before the Dark Lord. One died on behalf of the group for taking ten minutes to respond to the summons. The second died for the group because the Newcastle group did not responded quickly enough to the surprise attack. The third died for urinating in fear in the throne room.


The Dark Lord then ordered the surviving group to attack and kill the head of the Aurors, which led to his task of standing sentry as the others attacked the house. He observed silently as the windows glowed from spell fire. The notice me not charms made sure that no help came from the neighbours. His head turned as he heard leaves rustle in the windless night. His scream died in his throat as the knife pierced his lung before skewering his heart. The body fell to the ground; the victim’s only glimpse of his assailant was the slight shimmer as the rain hit the invisibility glamour.


Jack Bauer arrived into the Ministry after visiting his son’s apartment; he made his way to Amelia Bone’s office and was dismayed to find out that Amelia was at home recovering from Wizarding flue. He left in disgust and went to his office. Once there, he looked up his address book for Amelia’s listing, as Amelia’s assistant would not reveal it. He Apparated to a quiet park about half a kilometre from the house and cautiously made his way there. He detected the weak notice me not charm cast on the street. It took him less than two minutes to break it. He crept up behind the loitering wizard and plunged the army knife into the wizard's back between two ribs. Slicing through the lung and finally the heart. He cast a charm on the knife causing it to dissolve into nothingness. He then cast a disillusionment charm on himself. He slowly approached the house, warily watching the windows as the rain fell.


The front door was ajar. Jack could see four wizards pinned down in the hall by spell fire coming from the sitting room. In the ten seconds before he acted he noted their poor positioning and Death Eater robes. He drew his second wand. Wielding two wands he hurled four spells, two from each into the hall. The four Death Eaters head’s exploded as modified blasting charms connected. Jack then shouted the phrase. “Four over, new batsman.” This was code between Aurors. The message signified that four hostiles had been just taken out by a friendly combatant. And that the cavalry had arrived. An answering call came from with in the sitting room.


“Bowler pleased! I am behind by two.” This was the correct response with the qualifier that the person in the room got two as well.


Jack cautiously entered the house and closed the front door. He heard footsteps above him through the wooden floor. He slowly entered the sitting room to discover that their was two bodies lying between an overturned couch. A bookshelf was pulled from the wall spilling the books on to the floor in a heap. A dark red spell came whizzing in from the French doors leading to the back of the house. A wand appeared from behind a conjured rock lying in the corner of the sitting room and returned fire with a flash of yellow. Jack retaliated with his own two spells. The flash of yellow destroyed the French doors, exposing a Death Eater, who was struck by both of Jack's spells. The body exploded showering the dining room in gore and blood. The flying blood revealed an invisible wizard who realised it to late as the wand in the sitting room sent another yellow spell. The invisible wizard exploded like the doors. The sound of running feet could be heard as three wizards rushed down the stairs. Jack swivelled his body to point his wands in the direction of the stairs and started to rapidly cast the tunnelling spell. The spells fired in short bursts has a similar effect to a Muggle shotgun. The spells blasted holes in the wall. The friendly wand sent a cutting curse through one of the holes and cut the leg of one of the wizards on the stairs causing him to fall against the other two.


Jack cautiously approached the foot of the stairs and the three incapacitated wizards. He turned around at the sound of movement and sighed in relief when he saw Amelia, alive and well. In his distracted state he missed one of the wizards brandishing a wand behind his back. However Amelia didn't and she slashed her wand down. The wizard was cut diagonally from an invisible force, from his left shoulder to his right thigh. The maimed wizard clipped by the yellow curse crawled away from his attackers. But he died after four feet due to severe blood loss as the major artery in his leg was severed. Jack cast a diagnostic spell on the remaining wizard and discovered he was already dead from a broken newel post jutting through his back.


“Fuck it! They're all dead.” Growled Jack in frustration.


“There could be more you know, Jack.”


“Unlikely as it seemed to be a twelve man assassination team, similar to what He did in the last War when he wanted some one dead and didn't do it himself.”


“I suppose you're right, thanks for the assist . . .by the way how come you were in the neighbourhood?”


Jack looked pained before he responded. “Keith's dead.”


Amelia sucked in a breath through her teeth.


“It gets worse. He died with his betrothed, Susan.”


Amelia starred at Jack in growing horror.


“Yeah, your niece, Susan.” He pulled Amelia into an embrace for which of them he wasn't sure as the stoic woman silently wept at the news.


After a while they moved into the kitchen. Jack made two cups of fortified tea and explained his reasons for visiting. He went through everything from getting up this morning to coming to Amelia's aid this evening. Afterwards Amelia decided that it was prudent to not inform her Aurors as the news of the failed attack might get back quicker than when the Death Eaters failed to report to their master.


As the attack took place at Amelia’s residence a meeting took place involving Prendergast. The sun hung low in the sky casting long shadows as Peter slowly approached number twenty-three. The street was flanked by two long rows of terraced houses. The buildings were of brick construction and stood at three storeys atop a basement. The entrance to each was up a half flight of stone steps. Number twenty-three was in a derelict condition the locals ignored it muttering at its state. No one knew who the owners were and were never successful at determining that information. As such the house stood empty and unused for the past forty years.


Peter Prendergast hustled along the car-lined terrace ignoring the Muggles on the street. A large Transit van pulled up opposite number twenty-seven and two deliverymen got out blocking the street. The car behind blared his horn in frustration as the men delivered a baby grand piano. The signage on the van read “Morrison Music, Manchester.” Peter sighed in frustration at the noisy street as he made his way up the stone steps of number twenty-three. He was startled to realise that he had got used to the silence in London as most of the Muggle toys did not work after the blast. He sighed in relief when he slammed close the heavy front door, shutting out the noisy street.


He slowly made his way into the front reception room, and observed the darkly clad wizard with greasy hair.


“Hello you overgrown bat. Severus, how’s it going.” Opened Peter in greeting.


Severus glared at the greeting and replied. “I don’t care for such pleasantries, what have you got for me.”


“Oh! I’m fine, thanks for asking. I do you a favour and this is the thanks I get.”


“Get on with it, Prendergast, I haven’t got all evening.” Snape growled.


“Fine, you made the right decision in regards to the Ministry, security has gotten very tight. They are screening everyone for the dark mark. The reason you were summoned was because all of your students have failed the practical part of their potions exam at both levels. It looks bad for you, Snape. The Ministry wants answers, all potions across the country are failing. Any natively brewed potions are failing immediately, and the imports are spoiling after about three days. They want to talk to you, as you are a Master in the art. Maybe they need a scapegoat to pin it on. Maybe that sacrificial lamb is you.”


Snape stood pensively as he digested this information. “Anything else?” He inquired.


Prendergast replied: “Yeah, there was a quiet break in at the same time as the blast in Diagon Alley. Whoever it was raided archives for files on Potter, Black, various Death Eaters, someone called Riddle and someone called Granger. Another strange thing was the mention of the marriage of The-Boy-Who-Lived. Strange as he isn’t of age yet. Their was also an attack on the Ministry resulting in the death of Arthur Weasley, his son Percy is in a critical condition in a high security room at St. Mungo's. The hospital has called for a Healer Greene from the states. I understand he is a charms specialist. The attack also resulted in extensive damage caused by Fi . . . ”


Prendergast's speech was cut short as his head rolled off his shoulders and thumped to the floor, blood flowed out of the severed head staining the mouldy carpet crimson. A man dressed in a navy suit stood behind brandishing a claymore. The sword dripped blood onto the filthy floor as two more men entered wielding large ugly black guns that gave off no reflections. The two men brandishing guns stood slightly behind the smartly dressed man.


The man wielding the claymore spoke. “What are you doing using my property for? Look at that, all that rich blood spilled, for what? Nothing.”


With a gesture of his hand the man on the left raised his gun and smoothly pulled the trigger. The gun barked once and the bullet ripped into the plasterwork a heartbeat after the wizard left with a loud crack.


“Foolish wand wielder thinks he can escape.” The suit one muttered before turning to the man on his left. “Dispose of that.” As the pair got to work he muttered. “Such a waste of quality blood.”


“Sir?”


“What!”


“His arm, look at the brand.”


The man cleaned his claymore and sheathed the sword on his hip before examining the tattoo. He studied the design of the dragon ingesting the unicorn. He had vague recollections of an Order using the brand. He believed that they had died out about two hundred and fifty years ago. But because he did not keep up to date with the magicals he wasn't sure. He dismissed the concern as they had never worried his clan before and they were forgotten to the mists of time.


“Destroy the body, make sure that it is unidentifiable. Understood.”


Both men nodded in understanding and set to work cleaning the room.


The man removed a mobile phone and dialled a number from memory.


“Hello.” Came from the headset


“The safe house in Manchester is compromised. Used by wand wielders for a meeting point. Clear out the basement.”


“Understood. I will send a clean up crew. Thanks for the heads up.”


The man hung up and crushed the phone, and threw the plastic device onto the body for disposal. He sighed in annoyance, as another safe house was lost, resulting in four houses lost in less than a month. The man dissolved into dust. The dusty form blew away in an unseen wind.


The pair left behind diligently went about their assigned task. As a large removal van pulled up outside. A crew of eight got out and entered number twenty-three. The leader nodded to the two men and started to give out instructions to his crew. After an hour the house was emptied of its contents from the basement. Two hours later the fire brigade arrived to extinguish a raging inferno. The resulting investigation never determined the cause of the fire confined to number twenty-three. Numbers twenty-one and twenty five survived with no fire damage at all. Over time the residences forgot all about number twenty-three and it's strange legacy.


In another part of the country a grieving family tried to cope with the loss of their father. Ron Weasley was out in his father's shed sorting through his father’s collection of Muggle knick knacks. He picked up a three-prong plug and put it in to a wooden box. The Ford Anglia sat in the corner up on axle stands. The car bore the scars from its journey to Hogwarts and it’s tussle with the Whomping Willow. The car sat silently its charms removed; it would probably never fly again. Ron moved over to the bench and started to throw the various fuses into the wooden box, all the while fighting back the tears. He grumbled under his breath over the fact that bloody witch Fleur was consoling his brother Bill. Charlie had arrived home with a lady friend called Melissa Murdock. She was a witch from America who was working on the same dragon reserve as Charley. Why had his two brothers got girlfriends to help them grieve and he had no one. Harry was missing and he had no contact with Hermione. He wondered why even though Dumbledore forbade communication over the summer, surly the headmaster informed Hermione about the death of his dad. Or surley she read about the attack in the Daily Prophet.


The setting sun bathed the shed in a golden light as sun streamed in through the dirty window. Ron paused in his cleaning when he saw something glint on the shelf. He put down the wooden box and reached out to grasp the object under a layer of dust. It turned out to be a silver picture frame, almost black from all the gathered dust. Ron grasped an old rag and polished off the dust as best he could. He gasped when he saw a wizard photo of himself and a young woman with luminous pink hair. The woman sort of resembled Nymphadora Tonks, the eyes just looked wrong. Ron studied the photo and was startled to discover that it wasn’t him in the photo but his dad at fifteen. He wondered why his mother was not in the photo. The photo showed his dad hugging the woman that resembled Nymphadora Tonks.


He discovered that there was a small leather book on the shelf, which was hidden under the photographs frame. He reached out with a trembling hand and grasped the small book. Hermione would smile about the fact he was going to read a book that didn’t cover Quidditch. On the first page Ron learnt that it was a diary of sorts belonging to his dad when he was a fifth year student at Hogwarts. It had notes about various Muggle devices. There were pieces of parchment stuck to the pages with labels. Some read as follows: Car, Electricity, Television, etc. Ron thumbed to the section on the car and saw wizard pictures of the Ford Anglia with notes of various charms his father had wanted to put on the car. As Ron perused the book he realised it contained many things he never knew about his dad. That knowledge brought full force the pain of loss that he would never talk to his dad ever again. He slumped to his knees in anguish as tears trickled down his face.


A strange expression came across his face as the tears stopped. A hand came up and robotically wiped his face dry. He looked around the old shed and took in the various objects wondering about the horseless carriage up on strange stands. He smiled when he felt a wand in his hand. As he left the downtrodden shack he caught a glimpse of his reflection and frowned at his appearance. It appeared that he resided in a ginger haired boy. He surveyed the building of obvious magical construction and decided he was in a descendant of the fearsome Weasley clan. He made to Apparate away and growled in frustration when the wards held him fast. He made his way into the darkening forest and away from the house. He sighed in annoyance as he lost control of the boy’s body. Ron’s body fell onto the forest floor.


Ron slowly came around and groaned as he removed a twig from his hair. ‘Oh no not again.’ He thought in dismay. He remembered tiding out his dad’s shed and then nothing. He got up, looked around, and recognized where he was and made his way back to the Burrow. As he rushed home the leather bound book slipped out of his pocket and was covered by falling leaves, kicked up by his rushed passing. Arthur in the photo sighed in dismay as he observed the book being buried as the picture frame fell to the forest floor about ten feet nearer to the Burrow. The picture frame was also buried in a similar fashion.


A dark figure Apparated behind a hedge on the quiet street. The sound of blood rushing loud in his ears. His heart was thumping a fast rhythm in his chest threatening to burst through his ribcage. He looked around the dark garden. Rain clouds were gathering overhead obscuring the starlight. He gathered his wits and Apparated again. A dog barked at the pop of apparition. After a while the dog settled for the night.


After his fifth blind Apparation of the night Severus Snape tried to collect his wits and decide on what to do now. His informant was dead, and he had narrowly escaped with his life. Someone had raided the Ministry archives and made off with Granger’s file, why? He almost hit his head when he realised he never checked with the insufferable know it all to see if she knew where Potter was. Due to his situation he had memorised pertinent information about the players on both sides of this conflict and locked the information behind formidable mental shields. Deciding on a course of action, Severus recalled all the information he knew about one Hermione Jane Granger. Once he recalled the address of the Muggleborn witch he immediately Apparated to the house.


Snape surveyed the Granger's backyard under pale wand light. The house was dark, the occupants clearly asleep. He silently made his way to the back door. After making short work with the Muggle door lock he entered to find a small lobby with two doors leading further into the house. He tried one and found it lead into some sort of storeroom. He shut the door and tried the other, finding a large well-appointed kitchen. He saw the main hall on the other side of the room. From his position in the kitchen he startled when he realised he could see the front door from the open kitchen door. He observed a female move from the stairs and go to the front door.


He realised it was a middle aged woman wearing a cream coloured oversized t-shirt that barely covered her bare arse. Severus wondered what the foolish woman was up to. The woman resembled the know it all in appearance and opened the front door. Severus' heart almost came out of his chest when he recognized the male standing in the doorway as it was the man in the navy suit with the sword. He saw the man grin and bare elongated canines. It would appear the man was waiting for something. The woman murmured something and the man smiled in glee and stared right at Him. Severus backed up in shock. The man yawned theatrically, his eyes shining in glee at Severus' predicament. The sound of skidding tyres could be heard from the street. Followed by the sound of doors slamming.


The man had bared the woman's throat as he gathered her brown mane in his hand. Severus came to his senses and rushed forward to the woman's aid. A heavy ball appeared and slammed into the open mouth of the man. Severus skidded to a halt confused at this new development. A crack was heard as teeth shattered from the impact of the cricket ball. The man growled in frustration and snapped his jaw shut. He then spat out the shattered remains of the ball and his damaged teeth. The woman slumped to the floor as if her strings were cut. The man drew his sword and was blocked by a blade. Severus could not see who was wielding the other blade, so he slowly drew closer to the confrontation. He felt stirrings in his pants when he observed that the unconscious woman's nightshirt had ridden up exposing her nether regions. The pounding of feet could be heard from above him. Severus startled when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned in to the irate visage of Harry Potter as naked as the day he was born, wielding a large Muggle pistol. A caustic remark died on his tongue as the irate man swung, the fist containing the pistol at his head. Stars erupted and then darkness as Severus Snape slumped to the floor unconscious from the blow.


Hermione awoke with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked around her room. There were shelves filled with books to the right of the bed, in front of her. Two large bay windows containing love seats behind her on Harry's side of the bed. She noticed that Crookshanks was nowhere to be seen. After the couples return, her familiar groused about sharing her mistresses bed with the “Shaggy one,” and ended up sleeping at the foot of the bed. She gently touched the slumbering lioness, gaining enhanced sight and hearing. She heard soft footfalls on the landing. Sighing she removed Harry's hand from cradling her breast, and got out of the bed. Harry grunted in annoyance and snuggled up to the pillow Hermione had left behind; during it all he never woke. Hermione padded silently across the room and absent-mindedly summoned her favourite Periwinkle blue fluffy bathrobe and put it on and tied the belt across her hips. Hermione frowned, as the robe must have shrunk in the wash as it barely reached the tops of her thighs.


She arrived on the top of the landing and wondered why her mother was opening the front door at this hour of the night; it was almost three in the morning. She slowly moved down the stairs when she saw the man clothed in a navy suit speak to her mother. Her senses screaming that it was all horribly wrong. She judged the distance and realised she was to far away to do anything worthwhile. Magic flooded her brain as it sped up to work out the solution to the problem at the front door. The experience was like watching the Matrix and it's bullet time gimmick. As she observed the events in slow motion she remembered the bully from next door and his love of that infernal game Cricket. She remembered he had lost a ball in the backyard a few years ago that Hermione had hidden in the garage under the old weight-training machine her father had bought in a failed attempt to get fit.


She summoned the ball via sphere and hurled it with all her might at the man in the doorway all the while hoping to Merlin that it worked. She almost fainted in relief when her mother slumped away from the man, safe. The man drew a large sword and moved to attack. In the length of time it took for Hermione to reach the bottom of the stairs she had sphered her own bastard sword and moved to block the strike.


Peripherally she heard the rest of the house awake as her fight moved into the sitting room. She found that all she could do was defend, as her opponent was good, very good. Remembering John's advice of not fighting fair and what was at stake, Hermione started to fight dirty as they parried blows in the surprisingly small room. For the room was far to small to fight with two large swords. Hermione's magic hurled the large heavy coal bucket sitting on the hearth at the man's head, he ducked at the last moment. The bucket exploded upon impact showering the room with coal dust. The man then got in a lucky strike; the strike resulted in the robe being cut open exposing Hermione to the man's leers.


Hermione felt revulsion and disgust at this turn in the fight. Her left leg lashed out and connected with the man’s groin. It felt like kicking marble, she cursed that she was suffering from a limp from the failed attack. She barely blocked an overhead strike; the deflected blow cut a lamp stand in two. As the fight wore on she grimaced as she observed the room slowly getting ruined. She hastily conjured six circular saw blades and hurled them at the man and gasped in shock as they passed uselessly through the man to thud into the precious books, shelved along the floor to ceiling bookcases. It was as if he morphed into a man consisting of dust or mist. The man grinned at Hermione and her predicament. Hermione's memory of reading the Potter book of magic recalled details about this rare breed of vampire. Hopping it worked as she parried the blows, she summoned the six blades struck fast in the bookcase once the man was moved into position. The man's mouth opened in shock as one blade sliced his head off from behind. Hermione gasped as she realised she was in the firing line and sphered outside into chaos. The headless man swiftly decayed back to a skeleton. The sword clanged to the floor as the bones weathered away to dust. The six saw blades thunked into the wooden panels lining the wall.


Harry startled awake at the sudden surge of magic from his wife. He was puzzled she wasn't in bed. He received a brief snap shot of what was going on from Hermione. He leapt out of bed and hurried to the top of the stairs. He watched Hermione move towards the Man at the front door. He knew he wouldn't be able to directly help Hermione due to the size of the staircase. He heard vehicles pull up outside. He sphered to the kitchen to see if they were flanking the houses occupants. He summoned a charmed Desert Eagle because his magic was heavily depleted from his wrestling match with Remus and his spare energy went to help Hermione.


He stopped when he got a particular odour, one he associated with Potions at Hogwarts. He followed his nose and saw a man in black robes and greasy hair watching the proceedings in the hallway. He became disgusted when he smelled the man's arousal at his mother in-law's predicament and the fact that she was exposed. He walked up and politely tapped the male on the shoulder. He became incensed when her realised the man was none other than Severus Snape, bastard extraordinaire, the man that held a soft spot for his mother after all these years and still made his life hell. With pent up frustration Harry swung and rendered the man unconscious. The sound of Snape’s nose being broken was like listening to music.


Harry using a trick he saw on “Buffy” he awoke the rest of the house as he sphered Jane up to her bedroom to a concerned Frank. He sent the worried man a mental image of what had happened. He requested that Minerva pack up the house. Remus became incensed and leapt out the window in full wolf form. Harry slowly moved to the front door ignoring the sounds of fighting coming from the sitting room. He cautiously checked the street; he saw a glint of green light from a Muggle device.


The door above him rocked from the large calibre bullet impacts. Harry fired and heard a muffled grunt of pain. A form moved to check on his downed comrade, Harry fired again. Another muffled grunt of pain. Silence from the sitting room. Harry was startled to see his wife sphere into the middle of the street, in a tattered filthy blue robe that barely covered her shoulders. He watched in dismay as a male approached from behind her. She swung around to face the attacker at the last moment, the head bounced once.


Harry gasped in shock as Hermione collapsed, exhausted. Another man in a black suit slowly approached the unconscious form of Hermione. His canines glinted in the dark as he bent to bite her on the thigh. Harry raced out on to the front lawn, firing as he ran. The bullets passed through the man as if he were a ghost. The dull roar of a wild animal was heard mingled with the anguished screams of a dieing man. Harry dropped the empty gun and summoned Hermione's sword. The vampire in the suit looked up, and licked his lips as he observed Harry's rushed approach. Out of the dark a flying form crashed into the Vampire. The vampire screamed in rage as the rabid wolf ripped his throat open with a clawed blow.


“Remus?” Questioned Harry as he regarded the bloodied Wolf.


The wolf turned to look at Harry as he stood over the mauled vampire. The wolf limped over and dropped at Harry's feet unconscious. Harry approached the downed vampire, and swung the sword, lodging it into the tarmacadam. The body wasted away to a skeleton, then to nothing. Harry looked around at the dead bodies littering the street.


A cautious Minerva slowly approached and said: “The house is packed, Harry.”


Harry nodded and bent down and scooped Hermione off the ground, hoping she was okay. He turned to Minerva who was careful to keep her eyes looking at his face.


“Will you levitate Remus into the house? Please.”


Minerva nodded and brandished her wand and carefully levitated the unconscious Lycan. The sound of squealing tyres was heard as two large Volkswagen Transporter vans came hurtling around the head of the street.


“Fuck” Hissed Harry as he reached the front door.


Inside the front door Frank stood dressed in a jeans and sweater, supporting a startled looking Jane wearing a pair of sweat pants and a woollen jumper over her nightshirt.


Remus awoke to Harry’s shout in his head, about the attack on the house. The wolf in him smelt the scent of the walking corpse. He leapt through the window shattering the windowpane, and landed as a rabid wolf. In three bounds he was upon a man brandishing a gun. He lunged for the man’s throat and ripped. The man’s scream gurgled out through the mauled opening in his neck as blood flowed freely. His keen hearing picked up the men’s murmurs as he tore into another.


“Fuck, no one said there was going be weres’.”


“Has anybody got silver shells?”


His nostrils flared as he inhaled Hermione’s scent, as he ripped through another man. His head turned and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw the Vampire approach the downed woman as Harry fruitlessly shot at it. The wolf bounded towards the confrontation and leapt at the Vampire. The part of the wolf known as Remus Lupin retreated from the carnage caused by the raging wolf. The wolf looked up as Harry called for Remus cautiously, Remus surged to the fore and limped over, his rear left leg clipped from a riffle round causing the limp. Remus looked up at Harry, the wolf recognized an Alpha, and was content to submit. Remus fought to stay conscious but lost the battle.


Frank Granger was startled awake when he heard Harry’s voice in his head. He wondered where Jane was, the bed was empty. He looked around in panic no Jane. A sphere snapped into existence and dissolved depositing his wife on the bed. Harry’s frantic call to pack echoed in his head, so Frank hastily got dressed. Jane stirred on the bed and looked around in fear.


“Get dressed, love, please.” Urged Frank, as Minerva stuck her head in the door and swished her wand while murmuring.


The wardrobes started to empty and pack themselves into conjured trunks. Minerva offered an apology as she left the room with shrunken trunks with the contents of the room. Frank hugged Jane and the pair hurried to follow.


Minerva startled awake as Harry’s urgent instructions filtered through her consciousness. She gasped as she looked out the window after hearing the bedroom next doors window explode outwards depositing a wolf on the lawn. Minerva gasped as she witnessed the bloody battle taking place. After getting dressed she swiftly and systematically packed all the rooms contents into conjured trunks. She went in to the main bedroom and packed the room as Frank dressed an unresponsive Jane. She hurried down stairs, went to the study as per instructions, and gasped at the amount of files contained within.


Once finished she returned to the hall and observed the end of the fight with the Vampire. Cautiously she went out to see if there was any way she could help. In greeting she told Harry that she had packed the house. Her eyes widened as Harry bent down to pick up an unconscious Hermione, as she realised that both were practically nude. What Hermione wore barely covered her shoulders and upper arms. She stole a glance at Harry and wished she were young again and in Hermione’s position. She was aghast at her self to be ogling one of her students, and what a fine specimen Harry was too. She was pulled from her thoughts by Harry’s request; gladly she complied, as it would give her something to concentrate on.

A/N Please review