Chapter 406: hpml391-400
Chapter 391
Remus growled and his instincts surged. At least some of these Death Eaters were the ones
who had killed Kingsley. He'd be outnumbered for certain. But unlike his friend, Remus had
an emergency escape route immediately on hand. He was momentarily torn between
wanting to stay and fight until the position was untenable or jumping away now. Judging
by how quickly his wards had fallen prior to the alarms tripping it was likely that the
enemy had arrived inside the range of his Tracekey. His house was small and his wards very
close in. The destination would likely lock onto one of the Death Eater's portkeys – had
they used any – vice his own priming one from last week. Should Remus utilize it now he
might well arrive inside the latest Death Eater stronghold. Unexpectedly arrive inside their
stronghold, Remus amended.
With a rueful grin he palmed the rune stone. Tucking the photo album under his coat he
allowed himself to remain behind just long enough to sent a piercing hex through the first
Death Eater's skull then activated the cluster.
A hook grabbed his arm and yanked upwards. Remus almost laughed. Harry had
mentioned adjusting the basic portkey so that it would be slightly more comfortable
though he had sounded quite annoyed at not being able to make the ride smooth like he'd
hoped.
Abruptly the Tracekey dropped him at his destination and crumbled to dust in his hands
with a bright flash of light and smell of ozone. He had just enough time to see a very
surprised Macnair staring at him before Remus was leaping forward. Macnair barely even
started to raise his wand before Remus reached him. A downward slice of his hand broke
the man's arm forcing the wand to fall and a scream of pain to issue forth.
"There are some advantages to being a werewolf you know," Remus said conversationally.
"Very strong bones. Quite a bit of extra muscle." He kneed the executioner in the bollocks
then stepped back as the giant man fell to the floor whimpering. "One chance to make this
easy. Where's the girl?"
"Dungeons…" Macnair wheezed out between gasps for air. "Left door. Second staircase.
You'll never get out. We'll kill you all."
"Well, you won't. I did promise easy though…Goodbye and thank you for the assistance."
Remus nodded ever so slightly and cast a quick bludgeoning hex into the man's head.
Leaving the mess behind, Remus strode towards the indicated door and carefully peered
around both sides before stepping through and hurrying out. He vaguely recognized this
from when Sirius had dragged the Marauders on the political party rounds that the young
Black had been forced into. This setup appeared to be Avery's summer mansion. If he
remembered correctly…there was a section of wall in the dungeons that opened onto a
tunnel into the cliffs beyond the apparation wards. Sirius had used it to let them escape
the party early – and left Walburga spitting mad afterwards.
It would do perfectly.
Hurrying across the empty corridor Remus cast a quick homenum revelio and found two
personnel walking down the corridor towards him. He waited until their outlines were
almost at the corner before he flipped around it and sent two silenced cutting hexes into
their necks. As the two Death Eaters died Remus jumped over them and ran through down
the staircase towards the dungeons. He leapt off the stairs and landed right in front of
Yaxley. Remus had to hand it to him, this man reacted far quicker than the prior three
Death Eaters. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough.
Remus shot off a bludgeoner, a reducto and a severing curse in quick succession batting
aside the man's half formed shield and leaving yet another cooling corpse. "Well, the
home security seems to be somewhat lacking. I wonder if you were similarly lax in other
matters. Accio cell key!" A small iron keyring flew from Yaxley's pocket into his hand and
Remus smiled turning to the prisoners. "Hello, I'm here to rescu-Cissa?!" Remus' polite
greeting degenerated halfway through into a shout of surprise and rage. Narcissa Black,
the woman he had been somewhat dating for several weeks stared back at him in open
mouthed shock from the other side of the bars. Behind her was a young woman, slightly
younger than Remus curled up on the floor.
"Remy? How did you know I was here?" Narcissa asked blinking away tears.
Remus just shook his head and hurried forward to unlock the doors. "I had no idea. They
attacked my home and I hitched a ride back when I heard they had a girl imprisoned. I
didn't realize they meant two or that…how did they get you? I thought you were safe in
Grimmauld?"
"I left to visit Andi," Narcissa said pulling him into a hug and short kiss. "They were waiting
for me as soon as I apparated into the alley. We have to warn her in case they try for her
next!"
"First we need to leave. Ma'am," Remus said gently pulled the other woman's arm and
rousing her to her feet, "we're getting out. Can you walk?"
She blinked at him dazed before nodding slowly. Suddenly gasping a light seemed to switch
on in her eyes. She jumped past Remus and grabbed up Yaxley's wand pointing it up the
stairs. "Which way? I'll go first. I want to get these bastards."
"Actually this way," Remus said pushing on the stone that opened the hidden passage.
Narcissa looked at him with arched eyebrows and he shrugged. "Sirius liked to leave the
mandatory parties as quickly as possible. I know several passages through several different
highborn manors. Quickly, I imagine it won't be long before – " he cut off as a deep hissing
voice cut through the entire mansion.
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Chapter 392
"The werewolf is here. Find him and you shall be rewarded. Don't fail me again,"
Voldemort's proclamation died and the dark haired woman shook.
"He's here," she murmured. "We can't beat that monster, but we can go down fighting."
Narcissa grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the open wall. "Or we can run
and live to fight another day. Lead on Remy, I have Davis."
Remus nodded and took off down the secret passage, two sets of running footsteps close
behind him. They had been running for about two minutes when shouts rang out down the
corridor. He thanked whatever god was watching that there had been enough turns in the
passageway to prevent direct spellfire from reaching them. He felt the telltale tingle of
passing through the wardline when he heard Bellatrix's mad voice scream out,
"Fiendfyre!"
Not stopping to ask permission, Remus turned, grabbed the two women as they stepped
past him and twisted. He apparated all three away just as the edges of flame licked around
the corner.
Landing in a heap on the floor of Potter Manor, Remus groaned. Both Narcissa and Davis
had landed on top of him and he seemed to have left a good deal of his shoe and cloak
back at the secret passage in his haste. Well at least none of his body parts had been
splinched. And he still could feel the photo album digging into his ribs so it wasn't a total
loss.
"My hero," Narcissa murmured shifting enough that she could kiss him. "I'd say this makes
things official then?"
Remus chuckled. "If you'll both let me up, I'll agree to that." The women blushed and
quickly shifted to stand. The Davis woman froze as she caught sight of the basilisk skeleton
which had turned to stare at the three newcomers. Remus' chuckle turned into a full on
laugh. "Don't mind, Skelly, she's only there to intimidate people Harry doesn't like. She
won't – and can't – hurt you."
Davis' mouth dropped open and she twisted immediately to stare at Remus with wide eyes.
"Harry? As in, that's Harry Potter's basilisk skeleton? As in, this is Harry Potter's house?"
"Yes."
Remus had expected several things could happen, but the woman bursting out in side
splitting laughter was not one of them. He looked to Narcissa who just shrugged equally
nonplussed. "I'm sorry, this is just too ironic," Davis said between her giggles. "Let me
guess, you're one of the honorary uncles?" At his nod she giggled harder. "My daughter is
saved by Harry Potter from a giant snake monster and Voldemort possession. Now I'm
saved by Harry Potter's pseudo-uncle from Voldemort and his gang of monsters only to
stare in the face of the snake that almost ate my daughter! You can't make this stuff up if
you tried!"
Remus looked at her for another moment before sighing and turning to Narcissa. "Cissa,
please get Ms. Davis situated; her home is unlikely to be safe. I'll retrieve Andi and…hello
Tonks, Fleur."
"Uh, hi, Remus. Why is Aunt Cissa and…some weird laughing woman in our house?" Tonks
asked her hair switching to a bright yellow as Fleur cocked her head to the side.
Remus groaned and rubbed a hand along his forehead. "It's a long story. Short version is I
was attacked. The long one will have to wait. I don't think our homes are safe anymore and
this is the most secure location I know besides Hogwarts thanks to the goblins and Harry's
paranoia. I'm off to collect your mother Tonks before the Death Eaters try to retaliate by
attacking her. Would one of you be willing to invite Hermione's parents here? I feel it
unwise to leave them in a Muggle neighborhood at this stage."
Tonks paled and nodded. "I got them. Fleur go with Remus. He looks like he's been hit by a
lorry and I'd prefer my parents hold their questions until they're here." She summoned her
leather jacket from the hall closet and slipped her gloves on in the time it took Remus to
extricate himself from Narcissa's arms.
"Well, let's go get our family together. Just in time for Christmas too!" he said smiling.
"You know, mon amour," Fleur said giggling softly, "you are acting rather like 'arry at ze
beginning of ze summer. You can't just hide in here and hope ze parents leave before you
are forced to come out."
Tonks stuck out her tongue at Fleur and crossed her arms. "What I am supposed to say to
them, hon? 'Hi, Richard, Emma, I'm Tonks. I'm shagging your daughter and now we're
going to be living together for at least a few months while I keep almost dying trying to kill
a psychopath evil wizard.' I've never gotten to the 'meeting parents' stage in my past
relationships!"
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Chapter 393
Fleur laughed harder. "Well I would suggest switching 'shagging' for 'dating', but zat is just
me. Perhaps ask zem about zeir work?"
Tonks gasped, her hair switching to pink and she jumped to her feet pulling Fleur into a hug.
"Work! Perfect! Great idea, Fleur! Knew I kept you around for a reason."
"So my sexual proficiency has nozing to do wiz it?" Fleur asked her wink and wide grin
betraying the attempted innocence.
"Nah, Hermione has some kinky ideas from those books she reads. You're definitely just
here for your ideas and that hair."
Fleur laughed and gently took Tonks' arm in her own. "Come on, mon amour. Time to greet
ze parents."
Tonks grimaced, but let herself be led down the corridor. They stepped into the already
crowded library and Tonks' winced seeing everyone. Tracey Davis' mother was sitting in
the corner glaring at her stolen wand while Narcissa stayed in the far corner wrapped
around Remus. Her own parents were working on some of her father's latest cases on one
of the couches. Richard and Emma Granger were busy perusing the shelves with huge
smiles on their faces. "Well at least I can always just direct them to a new book if I screw
this up too bad…" Tonks muttered. Fleur chuckled a final time before squeezing her arm
and shifting away.
"Hello, again, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Tonks said forcing a smile onto her face.
Richard turned to her and shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. "Tonks, we told you to
call us Richard and Emma when you picked us up earlier."
"I know. And I'm working on that, Mr-er-Richard. It's just a little…I don't know, weird?" she
said shrugging and using her powers to avoid blushing.
Emma laughed and patted Tonks on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dear, we won't bring up
you corrupting our daughter's virtue." Tonks' mouth dropped open and her abilities were
nowhere near enough to stop the blush from spreading. She very nearly tossed a stinging
hex at Fleur who was leaning against the bookcase nearby and laughing silently.
Richard sighed heavily and said, "Sweetheart, by not bringing it up you brought it up. And
besides, it was surely Harry who took her virtue first."
"Well Tonks is ze oldest among us," Fleur commented helpfully. Tonks turned a murderous
gaze on her partner.
"True, true," Emma agreed. "And while you seem the most adventurous, Fleur, we know it
had to be one of the others. If only because our girl would likely take the lead the first
time."
"Hey!" Tonks said after finally regaining the power of speech. "I'm right here! Can we
please stop talking about this?!"
Richard laughed and sat down in one of the armchairs grinning like a loon. "Well we were
just told we can't go home for a few months thanks to a war we're technically not
supposed to see. We have to have a bit of fun somewhere along the way and Hermione
isn't around to tease!"
Emma nodded sagely and sat on her husband's lap. "Consider it a sign that you're an
accepted part of the family, Tonks."
"An accepted punching bag of the family is more like," Tonks grumbled. She snorted in
amusement before attempting to smile at the others. "Well this family member is going to
go check on the other guests. Feel free to abuse Fleur while I'm gone. She could do with
being taken down a peg or two."
Tonks left the laughter behind as she walked over to speak with Mrs. Davis. "You alright?"
"I've been better," Davis said curtly. She finally tore her gaze from the wand and looked to
Tonks. "You're the ex-Auror friend right? Tonks something?"
"Just Tonks."
The woman nodded. "Just Tonks, aye. I'm Marian Davis. My daughter is dating your newest
girlfriend."
Tonks grimaced. "Yeah, I know. Small world huh?"
Marian just laughed though there wasn't much humor in the sound. "You can say that
again, Tonks. Thanks for opening up your house to us by the way. I'll have to get a new
wand at some point I suppose and I can't just hide out here forever. Do you mind if I
borrow an owl? I should let my husband know to stay away for a while. He's on a business
trip. They waited until he was gone to kidnap me. Hazards of being a Muggleborn married
to a pureblood in these days I suppose." She paused and eyed Tonks. "Your man is working
to kill all of these bastards right?"
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Chapter 394
"And to hopefully fix the system so that their kind doesn't start cropping up again another
few decades down the road like last time," Tonks said. They were finally starting to make a
real difference and she'd be damned if she watched it all backslide by the time her own
kids were growing up.
"Good. Tear the weeds out at the root. Now," Marian grinned up at Tonks, "I wonder if you
could tell me a bit about my daughter's girlfriend? Tracey is always so guarded about these
things and I don't have nearly enough material to tease her with when I see her again!"
Tonks could only groan and slap her hand to her forehead. "What is it with parents? Do
you all take lessons in how to embarrass your offspring?"
Fenrir Greyback looked down on the town of Hogsmeade and his lips split into a feral grin.
The utter failure at the Avery manor had been rather supremely unpleasant for the Death
Eaters. Greyback couldn't be happier about it! He'd been away at the time and had
received sufficient warning to avoid returning until Voldemort's anger had cooled; so he'd
managed to escape the debacle without any punishment. He'd even come off looking good
from the incident when he'd 'casually' mentioned that he'd warned several of the personal
present of the potential advantages of working with werewolves – which would have
naturally translated to extra protective measures when fighting against one.
Now Greyback was almost assured the honor of going after the wayward wolf himself after
this operation was completed. Normally he preferred his prey to be young enough to avoid
puberty, but he could make exceptions for hunting down fellow werewolves. They always
made entertaining prey and it helped to further cement his position as alpha in the pack.
Greyback licked his lips as he saw the Hogwarts students milling about in the town.
Voldemort hadn't specified a preferred date for the attack so he'd taken some liberties
with it and made certain that the kiddies would be around. If he was going to be causing
mayhem he might as well get some tasty morsels while he was at it. Maybe with some luck
the lycanthropy would carry over despite the lack of a Full Moon; it was always a tossup
without the Moon. If the curse did take though…well then he'd be able to play with his
new converts in the pack afterwards…
"Get ready," Greyback said wiping a bit of drool off his lips and refocusing on the task at
hand. "All forces attack on my mark. Five, four, three, two, one…Now!" He leapt up and
apparated into the first street with his pack close behind. Two additional wolves stayed
with him as an honor guard while others spread out through the town cutting off the exits
and going for the high priority targets like the Three Broomsticks, Zonko's and Honeydukes.
Leering in glee, Greyback snapped off a body-bind spell at a nearby long-haired Chinese
girl while his pack took shots at the residents. The girl fell to the street while the single
spell she had managed to get off took out a chunk of the cobblestones as her arm snapping
to her side. He laughed as he stepped towards her. "Nice reflexes. I hope you change, you'd
make a great addition to the pack! Slightly too old for me really, but you're a bit flat so I
can close my eyes and pretend." He felt himself harden as her eyes spat fire. It was always
so much more fun to break the ones with fight in them! "Oh and you have daggers too! I
wonder if you know how to use those?"
Greyback heard shouts coming from down the street causing him to sigh in
disappointment. He really hated losing the opportunity to play with his food. "Well better
to get this over with." Leaning down, Greyback bared his teeth and bit deeply into the
meat of her arm. Feeling the warm blood flow down his throat he pulled back grinning at
her. "See you on the Full Moon flat one!"
He stood and ran down the street after his pack mates. As he turned the corner, he pulled
up short and gaped in surprise. A third of his pack lay dead or dying on the streets with the
remaining ones taking cover behind a makeshift barrier in the middle of the road. They
were besieged by several townsfolk and – amazingly enough – about twenty students from
various years. Only a few third years were utilizing stunners and body-binds while the rest
of the town's defenders were busy firing dangerous and potentially lethal spells at the
pack.
He snarled as he saw Potter, Granger, Greengrass and Longbottom leading the defenders in
their counterattack. Further down the street near Gladrags he spotted Davis and
Mini-Busty Bones hunting down several scattered members of the pack while
Scrivenshaft's was being covered by the Lovegood bitch and the youngest Weasley. As
Greyback watched, he saw two more of the pack drop as spikes of silver shot through their
chests from Potter's Merlin-be-damned runes.
Greyback briefly contemplated ordering a retreat but a blur of movement dashing from the
shop next to him pushed that concept from his mind. Leaping to the side, he grabbed the
cloak of the small girl running towards the dubious safety of her friends. His lips splitting
into the wolf's smile again, Greyback held up his prize and shouted, "Stop or the
Greengrass bitch dies!"
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Chapter 395
His pronouncement froze several of the defenders and he watched in satisfaction as Potter,
Granger and his prize's sister turned their attention on him. Leering at the students, he
pulled the small blonde closer to his lips. "That's better! Now drop your wands and throw
some of those rune stones over here."
Instead of following his orders the elder Greengrass leveled her wand at him. "Let go of
Astoria and I let you live." Her voice was calm and quiet though it carried across the entire
square. The few remaining spells stopped and all eyes turned towards the stalemate.
"Daphne, don't!" his prize shouted. He opened his fingers just enough that she could get
the rest out without gasping. It wasn't as good if they couldn't scream a little. "Just get the
rest of them! Tell Gabi I would've loved to check out the French guys together!"
Greyback had to suppress chuckles at that. He liked this girl. "I think I may just turn her if
you don't drop those wands in five seconds!" he shouted laughing slightly. She had such a
good scent. Leaning down to sniff her neck he ran his tongue over his lips and bared his
teeth. Shifting his eyes up he spared a final quick glance to see if any of them had complied
and spoilt his fun. He'd probably bite her anyway even if they had. His eyes widened as a
thin blue light sprang from Granger's wand.
Greyback didn't have any time to move before pain blossomed in his head and the world
went dark.
Daphne saw the piercing spell shoot through the space between Fenrir Greyback's eyes
and the blood spurt from the back of his skull. The alpha werewolf's grip opened and
Astoria pulled free. She sprinted away from him and ran to Daphne. The remaining few
werewolves apparated out with pops that Daphne barely heard. She grabbed her sister in a
hug muttering, "It's okay, sis, you're okay. He didn't bite you right?"
"No," Astoria murmured. She pulled back and flashed a shaky smile. "I'm fine. I'm going to
head inside to check on my friends okay, Daph?"
"Go. It's safer in there." Daphne let her run, watching until the door closed. Once it swung
shut, Daphne turned to Hermione and grabbed her head on each side pulling her down
into a deep kiss. Hermione made a noise of surprise, stiffening slightly. Daphne pulled back
smiling and hugged her friend hard enough to bruise. "You saved my sister. Thank you,
Mione."
As Daphne let a blushing and stammering Hermione go, she saw Harry smiling at them
both. "Hey, I'm not the only one to play hero for once! Nice shot by the way, Mione. Let's
go make sure that everyone else is okay and the rest of the attackers are gone."
Daphne hurriedly nodded and shifted to shadow him as he started to walk down the street,
Hermione and Neville following on either side. They had barely even gotten started before
the professors joined in the efforts. Sirius, Shiva and Lily made a beeline towards the
quartet. "Jeez, you kids can't even go for a simple walk around Hogsmeade without getting
into a fight," Sirius said shaking his head. His grin did almost nothing to hide the way his
muscles tensed and the white knuckles clenched around his wand.
Lily and Shiva both paled even further as they looked over the bodies in the streets. "How
many children were hurt?" Lily asked.
Neville gestured to a small group in the Three Broomsticks. "Not many surprisingly.
Daphne's Defense Association rallied a pretty good defense really fast. They weren't
prepared for us to actually fight back. The town helped funnel them all here to keep
casualties on side streets to a minimum."
Shiva nodded. "I'll help fix up those who need it. Lily, watch this lot. Sirius, sweep the
north side. Filius had the east and Minerva was taking the West." She squeezed Harry's
shoulder and hurried to the pub waving Madame Pomfrey over to assist.
"Daph!" Tracey shouted running up and embracing her. Daphne melted into her girlfriend's
arms letting some of her stress bleed away. "I saw him grab Astoria. Thank Merlin she's
okay! First Shacklebolt's killed, then my mother gets kidnapped, now they attack
Hogsmeade?!"
"Look on the bright side, Trace," Daphne murmured smiling. "Voldemort has got to be
running low on lieutenants by now." That comment brought a low chuckle to her
girlfriend's lips.
The group turned back to triage and cleanup. They had been at it for about fifteen minutes
when Sirius returned with a furious Su Li in tow, a large bandage wrapped around her arm.
"Poppy, we need a test here," Sirius called grimly. Daphne felt her blood chill and she
hurried the group forward.
"Su, did they…?" Daphne asked softly trailing off.
"Greyback," the Chinese girl snarled. "And he had the nerve to call me flat! When I find
that pedophile bastard I am going to cut his jewels off and feed them to him before I flay
him into tiny strips of meat! Bite me. We'll see who gets the last laugh, arsehole! If I turn
I'll steal the whole fucking pack from him!"
Hermione grimaced and held up a hand. "Um, Su, he's over there. I already killed him…he
had Astoria and…well I saw an opening and…sorry…"
Su followed Hermione's finger and turned back eyeing them all carefully. "You made a
pinpoint shot around a hostage?"
Harry nodded. "She did. I'm sorry you were hurt, Su."
"Nice aim, Granger. I knew you could be a bit of a badass when push came to shove, but I
admit I didn't think you had it in you to do that," Su said appreciatively. "Just wish I could
resurrect him and kill him slowly. And this isn't your fault, Harry, so don't bother feeling
guilty about it. Hell I wouldn't have even gotten bitten if I hadn't waited long enough to
figure out who popped into the street in front of me. It's my own fault for having sloppy
reflexes. I'll have to train harder. You still want those dagger lessons stay behind after the
next DA meeting."
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Chapter 396
Pomfrey finally made her way over and frowned seeing Su. "Damn, not another one. I'm
sorry, dear. There's no way to know for sure whether the curse takes hold until the first Full
Moon. We have two others who will be waiting for the results. Report to the hospital wing
the morning of and we'll be sure to take precautions…just in case."
Su sighed and nodded. "I will, Madame."
Daphne looked around the damaged street. She felt arms wrap around her from behind
while a hand found one of her own. She didn't even particularly care just who was
comforting her. Everyone around her was a friend and sometimes even the Ice Queen got
tired of hiding behind her façade.
"Any word about Su?" Harry asked his friends as he sat down to breakfast with them the
Saturday after the attack on Hogsmeade.
Neville nodded. "Yeah, she's okay. Mostly at least. The curse didn't fully take hold
thankfully, but apparently there were a few minor side-effects. She was saying that she
prefers her meat pretty rare now and I've noticed she's more aggressive than she used to
be."
Tracey smirked and brandished her spoon at the Gryffindor. "You sure that's not just
because she's still pissed that Hermione stole her kill? That girl was wound tight before this
happened."
Neville chuckled. "She was, but yeah I'm sure. She mentioned it too. It was actually pretty
funny since she joked about the wolf being too scared of her to manifest properly."
"She should teach Professor Lupin that trick," Hannah said smiling.
"Nah, he's earned his 'badass' cred after rescuing my mother from the lair of the enemy
itself," Tracey replied shaking her head. "Thanks again for letting her stay for a while,
Harry."
Harry just shrugged blushing a little. "It's a big house might as well use it. I'm sure that
Fleur and Tonks were getting a bit lonely anyway."
Hermione snorted. "Yes well I for one feel a bit sorry for them. Sharing a house with my
parents?" She shuddered theatrically causing the rest of the table to laugh.
"Hey did anyone hear about Rosmerta?" Susan asked. "I already talked to Ernie and he was
in about the same boat as Su. Rosmerta was the last one bitten right?"
Neville sighed and shook his head. "She's not so lucky unfortunately. Full amplification."
"Damn," Harry cursed softly. "At least she owns the shop herself so she can't be fired…If
we have to, make sure we all spread the word to keep patronizing the Three Broomsticks,
guys."
"Katie was bitten too. Also full amplification," Fred murmured just loud enough for the
rest of the group to hear. Suddenly his reserved status this morning made a lot more sense.
"She wants to keep it quiet though and only let the DA members know. So please make
sure you support her, but don't tell anyone else not in our study group." A series of
understanding nods followed that request.
Conversations after that shifted to mundane items, homework questions and the next set
of lesson plans for the DA. Daphne was just starting on how she was planning for Harry to
introduce spell chains when the morning post arrived. Hedwig swooped down through the
rain of owls to land a small rectangular package in front of Harry. Frowning curiously, he
reaching out and started to unwrap it before being interrupted by the owl nipping at his
fingers. "Ah, sorry, girl, my bad. Here," he said handing her a string of bacon and getting a
bark of approval going along with an evil eye. "Hey! You just got me a package I wasn't
expecting! I'm curious! You can't blame a guy for being curious."
Hedwig barked again and lashed out a wing to slap his head. "Ow! No need to get mean. I
know it's safe otherwise you wouldn't have delivered it, girl." Hedwig puffed up her chest,
but still refused to meet his eyes for longer than a second. "I promise, the next time you
deliver a surprise package I will remember to praise you and give you your reward before
trying to examine it. Deal?" Hedwig cocked her head to the side, considered him for a long
moment before bobbing her head once and hopping up on his shoulder.
Hermione stared at the two of them with raised eyebrows. "I know Crookshanks is smart
and all, but I don't know if even he is quite that impressive." Hedwig puffed her chest up
further and hopped from Harry's shoulder to Hermione's nipping affectionately at the girl's
ear.
Harry held his heart in pain. "Betrayed by my own familiar! The shame!" A round of
laughter and a satisfied bark were his only replies. "Alright, let's see what's in this thing…"
Leaning forward Harry pulled off the brown paper. As his fingers touched the second layer,
a light, filmy coating on the surface luminesced briefly before the paper fully unwrapped
itself.
Daphne blinked in surprise. "That wasn't a spell. That was some sort of…"
"Alchemy," Harry finished most of the prior levity drained away from his voice. The
package contained a single VHS tape with a note on top. The note was simple: Latest antics
of an old goat. Thought you might like to watch. Heard about your shopkeeper and
Quidditch teammate. Included a recipe for a wolfsbane variant. We just finished the first
round of tests. Let us know if it works better than the usual variety. (Yes there are three
sample doses, didn't really think we'd leave out your Hunter buddy did you?)
Finishing up the note Harry smiled as he turned to his friends. "Have I mentioned recently
how much I love being pen pals with those two? Let's head up to the Room and take a look
at this tape. I'll grab the telly from my mum's room."
Barely ten minutes later, the entire group had assembled in the Room of Requirement and
Harry was setting up his telly while Lily pored over the formula that the Flamels had sent.
"This is absolutely brilliant," she muttered. "I never would have thought of adding in
wiggentree bark…It should make the entire mixture unstable, but with the additional
tubers here…"
Harry called out in triumph and his device flared to life. "Got it up. Mum, you need
another minute?"
"I'm good honey, you can play it. Just trying to figure out whether the Flamels are
completely insane or utter geniuses," Lily said waving him off.
Neville smirked and claimed a seat between Hannah and Susan. "Probably both
considering what little we actually know about them."
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Chapter 397
Harry pushed the tape they'd sent him into the machine and sat back with Daphne and
Hermione to watch while Luna curled up on Tracey's lap and Shiva leaned over Lily's chair.
Sirius had actually made popcorn and was happily snacking away as the screen shifted to a
display of the mental ward where Dumbledore was held.
"He's assembled an army!" Dumbledore screamed at the nurse in front of him while an
older gentleman swatted at the ceiling fans with a cane behind him. "They're elite units!
They repelled a full on werewolf invasion! You have to let me out so I can stop him!"
"Mr. Brian, wouldn't fighting off werewolves be considered a good thing?" the nurse asked
innocently.
Dumbledore slammed his hands onto the table and his beard quivered. "Of course pushing
back Dark creatures would be a good thing. But a war between two Dark Lords only hurts
everyone! Harry Potter has his political support and his army! He has toppled the Ministry
and installed a puppet Minister! Now he has shown the might of his forces. We must move
now if we are to save anyone!"
Sirius laughed uproariously and spilled half his popcorn. "Oh Amy is going to scream when
I tell her Dumbledore called her a puppet!"
"Shh!" several voices hissed. Sirius just kept laughing though he managed to lower the
volume slightly.
On the screen they watched two orderlies come down the corridor aiming for Dumbledore.
"No, not this time!" the old wizard yelled. "You won't stop me. I will save England!" He
quickly turned to leap for the back room and ran smack into the man with the cane causing
both to come crashing to the floor as the orderlies finally came up shaking their heads. The
screen went black leaving the group chuckling amongst themselves.
Shiva smiled and shook her head as she shifted to sit with Lily. "You know, when they
originally told us their plan I never thought I'd be satisfied with it, but I have to admit this
is rather poetic justice for the man."
"Agreed. We need to send the Flamels a Christmas card this year," Harry said nodding.
Neville had opened his mouth to reply until he suddenly leaned back into the seat and
lapsed into silence, his face relaxing into a slight frown of concentration. "Harry,
Hermione…you two remember when we first learned about them?"
"Sure, " Harry said. "We looked them up in the book about savants."
Neville shook his head. "Yeah, but that's not what I meant. I was talking about the
Philosopher's Stone."
"What about it?" Hermione asked. She blinked in confusion before gasping and sitting up
straight.
Neville smiled. "Where did they hide that fake Stone originally before Hogwarts?"
"Gringotts," Harry said looking between his two friends. He frowned trying to make
whatever connection the others had.
"And why is it that Gringotts is famous beyond regular banking?" Neville asked looking like
the cat that caught the canary. Hermione started laughing followed shortly after by
Daphne and Tracey.
Finally, Harry felt his mouth drop open. "Hagrid…'Ain't no safer place', indeed…"
The original plan for the Christmas hols had been for most of the group to stay in Hogwarts.
It had been thought that having Harry and the majority of his family home for the New
Year would make too tempting a target for Voldemort to ignore. That the Potter Manor's
wards were second only to Hogwarts made little difference. As the school's motto said, it
wasn't a good idea to tickle a sleeping dragon.
Now though…now that plan had changed. Now they had a potential lead to the final
hidden Horcrux. Now they had to get to Gringotts without seeming suspicious.
What better time to take a trip to the bank then prior to some Christmas shopping?
In the end a compromise was reached. Sirius would join them at Gringotts in his official
capacity as Lord Black and kip by for Christmas Eve/morning though officially he would be
staying at Hogwarts and have to leave for a few hours on an Auror mission. Neville, Susan
and Hannah would go to the Longbottom estate – with improved wards courtesy of Bill,
Fleur, Shiva, Harry and Gringotts of course. Tracey would spend the holiday with Luna at
her home – also with improved wards – before joining her mother and Daphne at Harry's.
The Weasleys were of course going home to the Burrow. Daphne was officially going to the
Greengrass estate, but in reality would be taken to Potter Manor as soon as she was in her
bedroom with Dobby popping her back whenever Marcus went looking for her – if he did
at all that was. Hermione, Shiva and Lily would return straight to Potter Manor with Harry.
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Chapter 398
Katie would also be stopping by the Manor though she'd only be there for the night of the
Full Moon. Remus had offered to help her with the first transformation and the Chaser and
had gratefully accepted.
Despite his friends accusing him – somewhat rightfully he was willing to admit – of being
paranoid, Harry did think they were somewhat overthinking this. In a moment of
temporary insanity he found himself almost hoping that Voldemort tried to attack his
home. As long as the Dark Wanker brought his snake and his ring then Harry could kill four
birds with one stone this holiday and have nothing to worry about for the rest of the year!
Rolling over slightly he readjusted his head on Daphne's lap on the Hogwarts Express and
groaned loudly.
"Something wrong there, oh Great And Mighty Chosen One?" Tracey asked chuckling.
"I was just having a thought that probably signals early insanity. I wonder if whatever
made Dumbledore nutters was infectious?" Harry muttered.
Hermione snorted. "Care to share, Harry? I'm sure it can't have been that bad. You aren't
raving about magical wars to Muggles after all."
Harry groaned again and shook his head. "Don't want to. You'll hit me."
That comment sent a round of laughter through the cabin. "Oh, poor Harry Potter is scared
of a girl," Daphne said smiling at her teasing. Her hand however, never stopped running
through his hair so he was willing to let it slide.
"You've seen Mione angry. She's scary." Harry could tease them too if they wanted to play
it like that.
An exaggerated sigh rang out above him setting on more giggles. "Well, if I must, I must.
Harry, as your right hand I promise to protect you from the danger represented by
Hermione Granger."
Harry could practically hear Hermione's eyebrows rise in amusement. "You might be able
to take me standing up Greengrass, but do you really think you can get away while the boy
wonder is lying sprawled across you?"
"Well his legs are sprawled across you too so I figure we both have even odds," Daphne
said nonchalantly.
Hermione chuckled. "Nope. You forgot, dearest Daphne, that I can toss his legs aside
without worrying about hurting him while you can't do the same to his head."
"She has you there, Daph!" Tracey tossed in.
Daphne's hands kept up their attentions despite her deep sigh. "Shite, you do have a
point…"
"This is all a moot point anyway," Harry said. "My right hand can't defend against my left
hand. That'd just be weird."
"Oh so I'm your left hand now?" Hermione asked doing her best to sound affronted and
failing miserably. "Do I get a say in this?"
Harry paused to consider. After several long moments he stated, very imperiously, "Nope."
Luna laughed along with the others though as the noise died back down she cocked her
head to the side and looked at Harry with a smile. If he didn't know better he'd have called
it devious. "That was a quite decent distraction, Harry. What was the thought you had had
earlier to prompt all this?"
Harry groaned again. Devious. The girl should've been in Slytherin. Coco giving her little
rolling laugh certainly helped make his case for him. "I was just thinking that after we
make our withdrawal it might have been nice for the Dark Wanker to show up at my
heavily fortified house so I could finish our scavenger hunt and kill him all in one night."
Daphne sighed while the others groaned. "You're right, you do deserve to be hit for that. If
he shows up and we kill him that's one thing. But, Harry, don't you know better by now
not to tempt Fate with these things?"
"Agreed, mate," Neville chimed in. "You're already cursed, no need to help it along."
"Thanks for the support, Nev," he muttered.
The fellow Gryffindor saluted him. "No problem!"
Harry groaned again. "No love. I get no love. Besides, it's not Halloween or the end of the
school year. Those are – " He was forced to cut off as Hermione leaned down and put her
hand over his mouth.
"Shush now, love," Hermione said pulling her hand back. "While the sentiment may be
correct and the hypothesis upheld through prior observations, there is no need to
challenge whichever god or goddess you annoyed and break the pattern. Try not to even
finish the thought. Now, I was wondering if anyone had any requests for movies."
A chorus of voices answered the girl and Harry tuned them out, going back to his nap. By
the time he woke back up the train had already arrived in London and he and his friends
exchanged thoroughly rushed goodbyes before being hurriedly apparated along to their
respective abodes.
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Chapter 399
Rather than returning home though, Harry, Shiva and Lily went straight to Gringotts to get
their actual holiday business done first. All play and no work would a Voldemort Britain
make. As they walked into the bank together Harry saw Tonks standing next to Sirius
rolling comically huge eyes at the man while Sirius smiled innocently. It was unexpected to
find his partner here, but he certainly wasn't about to complain about getting to see her
early. Less than five minutes after disembarking the train, Harry was striding forward
towards the metamorph and wrapping his arms around her. "Hey, Nym," Harry greeted his
partner as she let out a surprised huff of air at his embrace. "I didn't think you'd be here
too!"
She twisted in his arms until she was facing him and raised her eyebrows before sticking
out her far too long tongue at him. "Well you can't really expect me to let my Head of
House go to the bank alone can you? Lord only knows what the overgrown child will take
from the vault without some supervision!"
"Hey! Amy has firmly proclaimed me a teenager now! I am no longer a man-child," Sirius
proudly proclaimed. Even the goblin teller groaned at that comment and waved them
along to follow after Griphook. The group was led into Snapfist's office and promptly
greeted by the Account Manager.
"What can Gringotts do for you today Warrior Potter? I assume there is a reason for the
presence of Lord Black, the future Lady Black and your legal guardians?" Snapfist asked
looking thoroughly amused at the extra people invading his space.
Harry nodded. "There is. They are here because we need to look inside Bellatrix
Lestrange's vault." Snapfist's expression hardened and Harry hurried on before the goblin
truly got angry. "With her husband's death and no children, I'm told that Sirius is
recognized as her Head of House again. That should entitle him to inspect her holdings
shouldn't it?"
Snapfist narrowed his eyes at Harry looking between all five humans present. "This is an
unusual situation. The body of Lestrange would need to be recovered for that to be the
case or the Ministry would need to declare him legally deceased. Neither has happened
yet. As such, her holdings remain her own."
Shiva scowled and flopped into her chair. "Dammit, Snapfist this is important. Isn't there a
loophole or something?"
Snapfist glared at her and lifted a clawed finger in warning. "Gringotts takes the
protections of its customers' assets very seriously. The Nation may like you humans, but
that only extends so far. If we compromise once, when do we stop compromising? Our
enforced neutrality and complete trustworthiness is our greatest defense against any who
seek to further undermine our constantly dwindling political capital and rights as a species.
Until a formal declaration of war is made by the Nation, we will continue to safeguard all
clients equally."
Harry sighed and held out his hand to summon the Sword of Gryffindor. As it materialized
he reached over to lay it on his Account Manager's desk. "What if we wished to add an
item to her vault?"
Snapfist stopped to consider that for a long moment before shaking his head. "Had you led
with that…perhaps. Unfortunately, I cannot in good conscience allow it knowing you seek
to inspect the current contents."
Lily placed a hand on her son's shoulder, her lips narrowed into a line. "Perhaps a partial
explanation of just what we are looking for then. It affects Gringotts and you would be just
as angry as us if it is discovered inside." The goblin turned his gaze on her and waved for
her to go on. "Have you heard of a Horcrux?"
Snarling, Snapfist reared back, his lips pulling over his teeth and baring their points to the
group. "The insane bigot has made one of those abominations?"
Lily shuddered. "Let us hope not. We believe she may be holding one though for a certain
individual."
Snapfist looked between all of them finally settling between Harry and his birth mother.
"Warrior Potter, I ask you truthfully on your word of honor: is this all you seek from the
Lestrange Vault?"
"It is," Harry said nodding.
"Lady Potter," Snapfist said turning his full gaze on her. "I ask you truthfully on your word
of honor: is this all you seek from the Lestrange Vault?"
"It is," Lily replied.
Snapfist stood and nodded at them all. "Wait here." With that he walked out the door
leaving the humans to stare at each other.
"Well this isn't going as easy as we'd hoped," Tonks muttered. "Was telling them that
much wise?"
Shiva shrugged. "We know he can't make more. We know he knows we know about them
in general. Half the kid's class knows about them…what harm is there in the goblins
knowing too if it saves us the trouble of trying to stage a break in? They supposedly have
dragons down there. Do you want Harry to face a dragon?"
"A chimera was more than enough thank you," Tonks said as her hair flashed to red.
Sirius sighed and clapped his cousin on the shoulder. "I agree with Lily. The Goblin Nation
could be a powerful ally. Look what they've done for us when they consider us friends. To a
goblin, an ally is even higher up the totem pole."
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Chapter 400
"Very true, Lord Black," an imperious and amused voice rang out as the doors opened
again letting in Ragnok and Snapfist. "The Nation would have to receive quite the request
from people we have shown great respect and admiration to in the past to even consider
an official alliance. It would be the first time in centuries after all. Though I suppose…it has
been the first time that we have named two Warriors not of our blood in centuries as
well," he finished chuckling. Harry didn't fail to catch that hint and resolved to come back
later with Daphne to see about following through on that thread.
The old goblin Director clasped his hands and inclined his head for them to follow as he
headed for another door. "Gringotts will let you inspect the Lestrange Vault for a Horcrux.
If found you will have to remove it. Only it. Anything else will be considered theft and
punished appropriately. In addition, Lord Black, it is my duty to inform you that if there is a
Horcrux inside that vault, fees will be collected from the Lestranges."
Snapfist looked back at them with a cunning smile. "How long do you expect the item was
hidden there for?" he asked as they stepped into a minecart that just barely fit them all.
"Probably about fourteen or fifteen years," Sirius yelled over the wind of their journey.
Ragnok laughed though the sound came awfully close to evil cackling. "Back-fees for
illegally residing without rent in a Gringotts vault for fifteen years will be quite substantial I
am sure. I doubt the Lestrange Vault will have much of any gold left after this!"
"Rent?" Harry exclaimed goggling. The cart started to slow and coasted to a halt. "We
could've led with there being a Horcrux and claimed Voldemort and Bellatrix weren't
paying rent?!"
Snapfist gave an exaggerated shrug and raised an eyebrow. "Vaults for living souls are
separate from vaults for items and documents. To reside in the latter and not the former is
unacceptable! Not least of which because there are no facilities in them." He started
cackling just like his boss and Harry just groaned.
"Oh. My. God," Tonks muttered. Her hair turned to black and she moved to subtly cover
Harry and the rest. "There is an actual dragon here."
Shiva blinked in surprise as the creature turned toward them and huffed out a small flame
from its nostrils. "Well would you look at that. It's not just a story…"
"I love Gringotts," Sirius said practically tearing up.
Lily and Harry just nodded. Harry couldn't help but notice the shackles on the poor thing
and how it appeared to be blind. None of that would stop it from trying to bite his head off
though so his sympathy was somewhat mitigated.
Snapfist pulled out a pair of metal tools, banging them together a few times. The dragon
immediately cringed away towards the other side of the large central space allowing the
group to move towards a newly revealed vault door. "We've trained it well. It is old and
will have to be replaced in a few years, but it used to be much stronger and livelier. No
point in having a dragon guard if your guard looks like it's on the verge of death."
Lily opened her mouth to reply twice before finally getting words out. "Even so, I
recommend not taking additional family members down here. I can't see Hermione
reacting well to this."
"Yeah well Hermione didn't almost get eaten by a basilisk and a chimera," Harry muttered.
"She can have her magical creature rights ideals while I maintain a healthy distance from
all five X beasties."
"Good plan. I vote for this plan," Tonks said nodding enthusiastically.
Ragnok ignored their banter and reached up running a finger down the door in front of him.
A moment later the door melted away. Grinning Sirius stepped forward to cast his spell.
Unfortunately he bumped into a plate near the door and as it fell, he clutched his leg,
yelling out in pain and the plate bounced onto the floor splitting into two identical copies.
Both goblins growled. "Illegal charms and defensive spells," Snapfist snarled. "More fees.
Stand back!" He lifted a hand into the air and swiped it down. Harry felt a wave of magic
wash over him and the double of the plate vanished. "The illegal spells have been removed.
You may try again, Lord Black."
Sirius glared at the plate that had dared to burn him and stepped – carefully – into the
room again. A short muttered spell later and a small goblet near the back of the chamber
glowed. "Ah, Bella, good, but not good enough!"
Sirius walked forward and plucked it off the shelf with two fingers wincing in disgust as he
dropped it in front of Harry. Harry for his part immediately whipped out his Soul Cage
though he hesitated a moment before handing it to Tonks. Tonks just stared at the rune in
her hand blinking up at Harry in confusion. "I got the others," he said shrugging. "I killed
the locket and that probably should've been Sirius' to destroy since his family got it. You're
going to be Lady Black one day and this thing was hidden by your aunt who is hell bent on
killing you. You deserve to get to destroy one of these things, Nym."
Flashing a feral grin to him, Tonks turned back to the locket. For one of the few times he
could remember, Harry saw Tonks drop all her morphs at once as she leaned over the
Horcrux. "Stay the hell away from my family, wanker," she snarled. The cup started to fill
with a black sludge, but her hand lashed out with a fully charged Soul Cage.
A loud scream and shooting black ichor signaled the death of yet another of Tom Marvolo
Riddle's Horcruxes. All the personnel watching wore identical satisfied grins.
"Well," Ragnok commented appearing quite happy. "I do believe that the fees levied on
the Lestrange family will be quite exorbitant."
XXX
Harry heard the chime signaling a visitor and watched his mother get up to collect their
guests. Lily met his eyes as she walked out and they shared a small grin and wink. Sirius
wasn't the only one in the family who could mess with people. Despite having known
about – and actively advocating for – this arrival, Harry couldn't help the way his stomach
flipped or his shoulders tensed.
Of course Hermione, sitting next to him, didn't fail to notice his nervousness. While Tonks
and Fleur continued to eat their popcorn and watch "It's a Wonderful Life", Hermione
twisted in her spot to peer closer at her partner with a curious tilt to her head. Harry gave
her a small smile and nodded that he was okay before watching the entrance to the library
carefully. His vigilance was rewarded when thirty seconds later Lily walked back in with a
couple right behind her. The woman was tall with long wavy black hair and an amused
expression dancing in her eyes while the man was toned with a rough cut to his chin and
short-cropped hair.
"Who was at the door, Lils?" Shiva asked. "I thought Remus and Katie weren't coming for
another hour or so."
"Is that any way greet your parents, Bathsheda?" Mrs. Babbling asked with a huge grin
splitting her features. Harry saw Hermione's jaw drop as she switched her gaze between
the two newcomers, Lily and Harry. Tonks and Fleur froze with their hands halfway to the
popcorn bowl. Shiva's reaction was by far the most pronounced as she literally fell out of
her armchair. The crash of his adoptive mother hitting the floor was followed by silence for
a long moment before Shiva carefully poked her head over the side of the chair and stared
wide-eyed at the couple.
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