บท 405: hpml381-390
Chapter 381
Tonks' hair was still deep red and she was having a hard time preventing herself from
shuffling in place while waiting for the go signal. The team was finally assembled outside
of Bellatrix's manor and Tonks was still riled up.
Shack was dead. Even before working with him on the Horcrux hunt she'd worked with
him several times on cases. He was a good guy; he had been one of the few Aurors who'd
actually taken her seriously. He was funny and kind and intelligent. And now he was dead
because he'd been helping them.
Every Auror – and ex-Auror – knew that someday their number might come up. It was the
nature of the job after all: hunt Dark Wizards, find the evil bad-guys, take them down,
possibly die in service. The job wasn't pretty and it was far more dangerous than it was for
Muggle coppers. Cops had to deal with guns and bombs. Aurors had to deal with mind
control/wipe spells, explosion curses, evisceration spells, invisible attackers…a large part of
initial Auror training dealt with confirming that the trainee actually fully understood the
risks of what they were volunteering for.
None of that made losing a friend and old partner any easier.
"You must keep your head, mon amour," Fleur murmured from beside her lightly stroking
her arm.
Tonks took a deep breath and nodded. "Not that easy, Flower. It doesn't help that I think
this is useless. Bella's insane, but she's not stupid. It's not going to be in the house. We'll
be lucky to find any Death Eaters inside to take out."
Fleur sighed. "I worry when you get bloodzirsty. Finding ze Deaz Eaters in zis house would
not be a good zing, Nym."
"Would be good therapy though," Tonks muttered refusing to acknowledge – at least
verbally – that Fleur was probably right.
"All personnel standby," the Auror Comm Stone clipped their belt chirped softly. Sirius was
the secondary leader for this raid while the Hit Wizard was primary. She didn't know the
guy's name. It wasn't like he was going to be around long anyway. Why Hit Wizards
weren't being dispatched regularly to fight Voldemort's forces escaped Tonks. Amelia had
said something about the few qualified ones keeping other wannabe-Overlords from
taking advantage of the chaotic situation, but it had all sounded like justification to her.
Maybe she'd was just too disillusioned now.
This guy had supposedly owed Amelia a favor which was the only reason he was tagging
along. Tonks was torn between being grateful that her old boss had called it in for a raid on
Bellatrix Lestrange's manor and frustration that Amelia had wasted it on a raid that was
unlikely to mean much in the long run.
No sense worrying about it now. Maybe they would get lucky…
"Commence Retribution in five, four, three, two, one…breach breach breach!"
The small group surged forward. Tonks caught a glimpse of Remus and Sirius blasting out a
window on the side and jumping in before she leapt through her own following right
behind Fleur's fireball. The Veela landed just behind her and they went back-to-back
covering both ends of the hallway. "West wing clear," Tonks reported tapping her rune
stone.
"Copy, east wing clear."
"North wing clear."
Shouts rang out through the halls and the Auror comm stone chirped, "Hostiles south wing!
Four targets! Priority target 3 spotted!"
"Dolohov," Tonks muttered her eyes narrowing. "We need to – "
"Nymphadora," Fleur said insistently, "we must search ze premises as per our mission.
Voldemort comes first."
Tonks growled but nodded her assent. Fleur and Tonks moved apart to begin quickly
investigating their wing. Fleur used Sirius' – suspect – spell while Tonks focused on
carefully eyeing the artifacts on display throughout the house. It would be just like
Bellatrix to hide something exceptionally valuable in plain sight. She'd think it was being
exceptionally clever, and what's worse was she'd be mostly right. Many casual observers
would overlook things on display as being simple ornamentation or ostentation and
nothing worthy of more than idle appreciation.
This was something Bella had been given by Voldemort though so…Tonks' scowl deepened.
Bellatrix would never have left it in her home. She'd have thrown it into the safest, most
secure location she could think of. A Pureblood's home may be secure, but it would never
be safe. Not while the Death Eaters were still considered terrorists.
After twenty minutes of searching Tonks and Fleur had completed their assigned wing.
Tonks' mood had darkened more and more as they finally cleared the last room.
"Changeling to Beta," she said into her rune stone. "West wing swept. Twelve prescribed
Dark artifacts, seven Cursed artifacts, three 'trophies', negative prime target."
"Beta copies," Sirius replied sounding just as frustrated as she felt. "All other wings are
close to completion as well. Regroup in Entrance Hall."
"En route." Tonks nodded to Fleur and they moved back towards the front entrance in the
north, the confiscated items floating behind them. Tonks was levitating the three corpses
they had found in a hidden room. One of them was far too small.
One day soon, Tonks was going to find her aunt and…'remove' her from the family.
"Changeling, Harpy, well done," the Hit Wizard said nodded towards them as they stepped
into the hall. "The others just reported in as well. Good call with this raid. Target 3 escaped,
but we got one of the others with him. Unfortunately the man wasn't in the Inner Circle
though he seems to have information on the vampire covens joining up. Teams 2 and 4 are
bringing him back to base for interrogation. Thirty Class D artifacts recovered and twelve
Class C. Pass off the victims to Hermit."
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Chapter 382
"Any casualties?" Fleur asked.
The Hit Wizard shook his head. "Minor injuries only. We got lucky. This was a win, girls.
Take it for what it is."
Tonks scowled and moved over to confer quietly with Sirius and Remus while Fleur moved
Bellatrix's prior victims. As she pulled up next to them, Tonks whispered, "Nothing from
you two either?"
"Unfortunately no," Remus replied his eyes narrowed and nostrils flared as he eyed the
cloth draped bodies. "We knew it was a long shot anyway. I still say we should try to detect
something in the surrounding waters. If she's insane enough to keep posed corpses, she's
certainly insane enough to drop it into a trench."
"Not when he might have asked for it back," Sirius responded with a heavy sigh. "We'll
have to go back to the drawing board. Hell, maybe we should talk with Charlie Weasley. No
better place to safeguard things than in a dragon's hoard…"
Tonks chuckled darkly and her hair color deepened until the red turned almost black. "Well
maybe we'll get lucky and capture her. Cut out the middleman."
"We can hope to be so lucky, mon amour," Fleur commented walking over with weary look.
"Ze ozers will finish cleanup. It is time for us to leave." Sirius and Remus nodded. Tonks
moved to follow after them with one final look around the horrible manor around her.
"One day, Aunty. One day."
"Lily you can't avoid answering this forever," Shiva complained glaring at Lily.
"Sure I can. Sirius does it all the time. I learned from the best," her girlfriend replied with
an infuriating grin.
"Lils, I'm serious."
Harry groaned from his seat on the couch next to her and rubbed his forehead. "I came
here to relax. If you two are going to argue the whole time I'll go hang out with Tracey."
Shiva cocked her head at the boy momentarily caught off guard. "Tracey? Why her?"
"Because," Harry said rolling his eyes, "Luna is always distracting even when she doesn't
play it up. Hermione and Daphne would both pester me over what I'm working on. Susan
and Hannah would try to keep working out the general concept. Neville would try to
convince me to work on his Evil Walking Plant rune again…Tracey's the only one who'd just
let me work."
Shiva could only stare at him for a few moments. "Evil Walking Plant rune?" she finally
managed to choke out.
"Yeah. He wanted me to adjust one of the Fertile Ground stones I made for him last
summer. 'Evil Dead' apparently gave him some ideas and now he's obsessed with making a
walking tree that uses its roots and branches like arms to attack the Death Eaters." Harry
grimaced and shook his head. "The original name he wanted for it was 'Evil Death Eater
Molesting Tree Soldier'. Evil Walking Plant was the compromise. I keep telling him that's
outside my skill set, but he keeps trying. He'd have far better luck figuring it out than me. I
just work with runes, not plants."
"Why in heaven's name…" Lily asked gaping.
"He wants to get at Bellatrix and Crouch even more than Tonks does," Harry said shrugging.
"I'm not really one to comment on his choice of revenge considering what I've thought
about doing to Voldemort."
Shiva groaned and rubbed her head. "Kid…you know what, nevermind. Just please don't
unleash the Triffids on the world yeah? And Lily, you heard the kid, stop arguing."
Lily glared at Shiva before dissolving into chuckles and rolling her eyes at the woman.
"Honestly, love, I'm sorry for earlier. All I meant was I want more children someday.
Someday far into the future, not right now. It's not something that needs to be discussed
at the moment. We've barely been dating for a month and a half and I warned you I fully
intend to move slower than I did with James. I'm not looking to speak about children right
now."
"Ah. Well that's good," Shiva said looking somewhat relieved.
"Can we not talk about sex at all please?" Harry asked his voice strained. "Just because I'm
okay with you both dating doesn't mean I'm okay hearing this kind of thing."
"Hey, kid, some of the fun of being a mum is getting to tease your child. Deal with it,"
Shiva commented winking at him. Harry just groaned again and leaned back over his
papers. "So what is you're working on anyway? I haven't seen this design yet."
He pointed to a cluster on a schematic off to the side. "It's either going to be called the Live
Wire or the Ley Beam. It's the Chain Reactor Beam and the Yamato Cannon on steroids.
Sorta like a siege cannon. I'd tap into the local ley line, draw it to the surface a bit and
channel the energy through the rune cluster directing it out at the target."
Shiva looked over the drawings and bit her lip in thought. "Good idea but I don't see any
way to miniaturize this…It would make a good static defense but as a portable battle
option? I don't see it."
Harry nodded. "No you're right. I was thinking of putting this around the manor in case
they try to attack us there like they did with Kingsley. I think I need a cluster about a meter
in width of strong stone in order to safely charge this. Even then it probably won't last for
long and the caster's hand will be a little burnt."
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Chapter 383
"Um, wouldn't you need to be near a ley line for this to work?" Lily asked laying her hand
on Shiva's back as she glancing over the two.
"Yeah, so it's not exactly super useful everywhere, but it's a nice powerful option for the
places it can be used."
"Cool," Lily said. "Well let me know if you two need any help. I'm going to work on this
potion recipe."
"Will do hon," Shiva said erasing one segment from Harry's design and adding in a
different cluster.
Ten minutes later her comm stone earring chirped. Tonks' voice came over the line shortly
after. "Hey, Shiva, wanted to call you before Harry, Mione or Daphne. We just finished up."
Shiva leaned back and grunted. "I'm with Harry and Lily right now so I can brief them after
we're done. You don't sound happy, Tonks. That bad?"
"No casualties," Tonks sighed. Shiva quickly repeated that to the others. They visibly
relaxed with Harry falling bonelessly back into the couch. "Bella's manor is even more
disgusting than I had expected which is saying something. We found a few bodies she kept
posed and dozens of cursed items. Dolohov was there, but he got away. We captured
another guy who knows something about vampire clans joining up; he's with Amelia. No
luck on the scavenger hunt."
"Damn. Well we figured it was unlikely…still though, that sucks."
"Agreed," Tonks said sounding tired. "Look, I feel like I have her filth infecting me. I'm
going to make a quick call to Mione and Daph then hop in the shower. Give Harry my love,
yeah?"
"Will do. Let us know if you need anything."
Tonks chuckled morosely. "An end to this would be nice. Bye, Shiva. Sirius should be back
in a few minutes if you want more details."
She ended the call and Shiva looked to the other two occupants. "Harry, Tonks sends her
love. Sirius is on his way back. No luck on the scavenger hunt. Bellatrix is apparently even
more sick than we had realized. No one on our side was hurt and we managed to capture
someone with information on vampires that are being recruited."
Harry nodded and leaned back down over his schematics. "They're okay. Good. That's
good."
Shiva raised her eyebrows at him then turned to Lily. They both wore identical worried
gazes. Shiva reached and took Lily's hand. Hopefully this would be over soon and Harry
could go back to worrying about the usual teenager things instead of war.
"You know, I think I'm going to go and find Mione now. Thanks for keeping me company
while we waited for word back," Harry said sweeping his papers into a pile and dropping
them in his bag.
"Anytime, honey. Our doors are always open," Lily said smiling gently at him. Harry
nodded and heading out.
Shiva closed and locked the door as soon as he was gone. Turning to regard Lily she cocked
her head to the side. "So...you want another kid in the future?"
Lily groaned and Shiva added a point onto her invisible tally. She was back ahead. "I did
just say we don't have to talk about this, hon."
"Who's talking about it? I'm just genuinely curious. You gave birth to one, I'm just raising
one. Doesn't that hurt? How can you want another after going through that once!?" she
grinned and waggled her eyebrows waiting to see how long it would take for Lily to realize
she was teasing.
"Well to be honest I don't quite remember how much it hurt. You can't use spells that near
to a birth and potions aren't recommended for the same reason. I remember screaming at
James that I was going to kill him for doing this to me and then..." Lily stopped and finally
looked up to see the expression on Shiva's face. Lily stopped and threw a pillow towards
her face.
START MATURE SCENE
Laughing Shiva caught it and plopped down into the seat next to Lily. "Sorry, really couldn't
resist."
Lily glared for a moment before her lips twisted up into a scary smile. "Oh that's fine. You
know I may just have to punish you for that though..."
Shiva's eyebrows rose and she had to fight to push down her own hungry grin. "Really?
Well I should probably punish you then for starting the whole thing off you know."
"Hmm...true." Lily licked her lips seductively and eyed Shiva. "Perhaps we should move
this 'argument' into the bedroom then."
Shiva stood and pulled Lily to her feet. "I'm thinking that's a requirement." She playfully
pushed Lily towards the inner door and as soon as they were through she paused and
grimaced before grabbing a sock and hanging it onto the doorknob. At Lily's raised
eyebrows Shiva just shrugged. "He knows the password for the inner door too. Do you
really want to risk him walking in again?"
Lily shuddered and hurriedly shook her head. "Good call. Wait Harry knows the password
to your actual bedroom?"
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Chapter 384
"I was 19! I had no idea what I was doing and now it would be weird to change them
without telling him. Now can we please stop talking about Harry? I believe we were in the
middle of something." The days around Halloween might be cursed for the Potter family,
but if Shiva could succeed in taking at least one of their minds off the sadness of the recent
day her mission would be complete.
Lily laughed and moved to take off her shirt. "Well if you insist."
Shiva grabbed Lily's arms and held them behind her back with one hand while leaning in to
capture her lips in a deep kiss. "Not so fast, love," she whispered pulling back a few
moments later. "I believe this was intended to be punishment."
Lily groaned into Shiva's neck. "You are so mean."
"You'll get your turn in a few minutes." Grinning like a cat, Shiva flicked her wand and had
Lily's arms frozen in their current position before ever so slowly moving to pull the
woman's trousers off. "Oh, orange and black huh? Festive."
Lily blushed. "Well, it fulfills both the Halloween spirit and the mourning requirement
right." She shifted uncomfortably, wincing. "And would you mind switching my arms
around? This position might get a tad uncomfortable shortly," she admitted a touch
ruefully.
Shiva laughed and finished pulling Lily's bottoms down her long silky white legs, standing
back up and lightly pecking her lover on the lips. "Sure, hon. Bed?"
"Bed," she agreed fervently.
Shiva cast a quick spell to unlink Lily's arms and gently pushed her back onto the bed
pulling off her shirt in the process. Shiva smiled, her Lily's nipples had already started to
harden. This was going to be fun! Lily raised her arms spreading them out to either side
and soon enough fuzzy orange satin flew out of Shiva's wand to tie around both posts and
her lover's wrists. Lily smirked approvingly, raising a quizzical eyebrow. "When did you
learn to color them?"
Shiva shrugged lithely. "Tonks showed me the spell a few days ago," Shiva said. "I couldn't
decide whether it was awkward getting sex advice from my son's girlfriend so I just
decided to treat her like a friend with a few kinks and ignore the rest of the implications."
"Good idea. Now get busy. I want my turn!" Lily replied spreading her legs suggestively.
Shiva shook her head laughing and stepped off the bed. "You're in such a hurry! One would
think you didn't deserve to be teased a bit first," she said, the last few words almost a purr.
She set her wand down on the bed and started to sway her hips hypnotically side to side in
a slow dance shedding her clothes as she moved. "Fleur happened to know a bit of dance. I
highly recommend talking to her about it."
Lily's answer was a low growl of approval, followed by an almost whimper as she bit her
lips and pressed her thighs together, shifting slightly. Finally Shiva rid herself of the last
stitch of her clothing and, climbing slowly onto the bed between Lily's legs, smiled saucily.
"Finally," Lily murmured hopefully.
Shiva just shook her head and raised her eyebrows. "Still so impatient." She slowly held up
a hand and lowered it to her own breasts, plucking lightly at the nubs there. "One must
learn to be patient grasshopper," she remonstrated silkily.
Lily bit her lip as she watched Shiva hovering over her massaging herself. Periodically
pinching and rubbing at turns. "Not fair," she said, sounding a touch weak even to herself.
"You brought up kids, darling. This is totally fair," Shiva argued, then smirked drifting her
hand down lower across her belly finally settling just barely low enough she was brushing
her more private reaches. Lily groaned in response, rubbing her thighs back and forth a bit,
hoping the mild friction would ease some of her tension. Shiva just smiled wider and
leaned down to lightly nip at Lily's breast before pulling back almost immediately.
Shiva's breathing increased and she started panting lightly as she pressed her hand lower
finally finding the cleft between her legs. "I believe you were the one who wanted to take
this slow after all Lily," she teased happily, as her fingers slowly parted her lower lips and
pressed inward, causing her to sigh.
Lily growled again watching that and unconsciously bucked her hips upwards, revealing the
small damp patch she'd left on the sheets to her lover's pleased eyes. Shiva, paused
reaching out and used one hand to press down, cupping Lily's cleft just enough to hold her
in place without providing any true stimulation. Lily bit her lip again and moaned softly.
"Please, Shiva, stop teasing me," she begged.
Shiva considered for a second, her fingers working away even as she thought about it,
before heaving a theatrical sigh and withdrawing her hand from her Lily's crotch. Slightly
damper for being there. "Well I guess we can end this punishment session a little early this
time. You're being so good after all." Shiva whispered as she shifted back and lowered
herself so that she could lightly kiss Lily's legs moving up from the inner thighs ever so
slowly. Lily gasped slightly as Shiva nearly reached her core before pressing upwards.
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Chapter 385
She almost moaned in disappointment as Shiva straightened and stared into her eyes. That
was before she leaned in, kissing Lily briefly before settling back and grabbing her wand to
release the bindings.
Again Shiva pressed her advantage, capturing Lily's lips with her own and caressing her
breasts. Lily just returned it for a time, before tentatively moving her own hands to Shiva
own breasts. This time it was her turn to moan.
Shiva's hands abandoned their work on her lover's chest and slid to Lily's flanks. Before
slowly drifting lower, as they dropped so too did she, her lips parting from Lily's as she
lowered herself to rest between the woman's knees. There she felt her lover's hands rest
on top of her head, the request clear, she just turned her eyes upwards to wink at the
other woman before her hands settled on Lily's knees and pushed them a little farther
apart.
Shiva shimmied slightly so her own bottom was slightly elevated into the air as she rested
on her knees, unaware of what the sight of her wiggling backside did to Lily. She worked
one hand down between her own knees to her favorite spot and started working as she
lowered her lips to her lover's crotch.
Sucking, teasing and gentle nipping that was the game, nothing that would hurt. Her lips
and teeth gently worrying Lily's lips, the thumb from her free hand rubbing gently at her
button. Her tongue occasionally darting out to probe deeper.
It didn't take long, Lily's breaths came faster, her body started to twitch, and she started to
groan. Finally, she let go, her body sinking into trembling gasps as she achieved release,
and a small gush of warm liquid gushing across Shiva's tongue.
Lily continued to tremble and jerk for a few seconds before sagging back bonelessly onto
her pillow, then barking out a short laugh. "Knew there was a reason I started dating you,"
Lily teased.
Chuckling lightly, Shiva lay there on her stomach peering up at Lily. She poked her lover
gently on the thigh not far from her still quivering core. "Better now, love?"
"Oh, yes. I think we can safely say that!" Lily laughed, then a small spark lit in her eye, an
almost hungry look as she noted that Shiva's hand was still working lower down on her
own release. "Now I believe it was my turn to do a bit of punishing, yes?"
Shiva shivered in anticipation, and rolled over swinging around so her lower end was
closest to her lover. Lily chuckled, clapping her hands on Shiva's hips and drug them closer
to her. "Now then. What will it be tonight I wonder? Fingers...tongue and lips?" she teased,
before reaching forward to cup her lover's cleft. "Or maybe you'd like to try that position
we found in the book," she suggested, wagging her eyebrows.
Shiva thought about that, all the options were tempting but she was sooo close, she could
practically scream. "Ugh," she groaned, "I so want to try that out. But later okay? I need to
finish, or things are going to get ugly!" she teased. "Fingers."
Lily nodded gamely. She backed up before settling down on her chest, resting on her
elbows, feet kicked up and ankles crossed. She trailed her fingernail down the pale skin of
Shiva's inner thigh. "Oh really?" she asked huskily.
"Really," Shiva breathed as Lily's finger skipped across her button and shivered.
Lily wasn't a delicate kind of girl, and that suited Shiva just fine in times like these. Lily just
laughed before drawing two fingers together and pushing them gently but firmly inside her,
quickly finding her 'spot' and massaging it for a moment before withdrawing to begin
slowly rocking in and out, pressing her at that delightful little bundle of nerves each time
her fingers bottomed out.
Soon, it was Shiva who was quaking and trembling, and she was pleased when Lily's hand
snaked out to grab her wand before directing silencing charms at the walls, ceiling and
door. Lily worked at her only a few moments more after that, before she came apart with a
cry.
Shiva lay there for a time, quivering deliciously, before shifting up onto her elbows. Lily
smiling at her expectantly, whilst playing with herself. "So, my turn again?" Lily asked
playfully.
Shiva smiled – mission accomplished. This was going to be a long night. And she was going
to love every minute of it!
END MATURE SCENE
Luna sat behind Tracey in the Slytherin dorms idly braiding the older girl's hair while Coco
sat on Tracey's lap and nipped playfully at Tracey's fingers. Luna smiled at the two and
finished one braid moving onto the next. "Tracey, have you considered that we're focusing
a bit too hard on the box?"
Tracey blinked looking up from the snorkack and trying to eye the little bit of Luna that she
could see. "You're going to have to explain that one a bit, hon."
Luna shrugged. "I mean with the scavenger hunt. We've hit a wall with only two left to
actively locate. We even know where one is and the general specifics of the other. I think
everyone has been so focused on the box we've constructed for the locations that no one
has stopped to consider how they were hidden."
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Chapter 386
Tracey made noncommittal noise and turned back to Coco. "I'm not sure I follow. Isn't that
what we're doing?"
"Not really. We're looking for where it's hiding. We're not looking for why they chose that
specific spot. If we reverse it we might be able to guess the spot."
"Still sounds like what we're doing, Luna," Tracey said grimacing. Coco headbutted her
palm and stared up at the Slytherin causing Luna to giggle.
"It's certainly similar, but it's not quite the same. I just think we need to expand our box
slightly. I'll think on it and see what I come up with. The Grey Lady has agreed to speak
with me soon as well so hopefully I can work out something from that meeting."
Tracey nodded. "Well let me know how that works out, hon. And if you need me for
anything just let me know."
Luna smiled brightly. She may have had friends for two years now, but it was still nice to be
reminded of that fact at times. "Of course. You and Harry will be the first ones to know!
Now, I was thinking that we could dye your hair green. It would go very nicely with your
robes!"
"Oh hell no!" Tracey said trying to squirm away. Luna wrapped her arms around her
girlfriend refusing to let go.
"Awww, maybe just half?"
"Not happening!"
"Awww…"
Dumbledore opened the Quibbler copy he'd received earlier. The Flamels had seen fit to
send it via Muggle post this time rather than stopping in for a visit. He was grateful for that
bit of relief. Whenever Perenelle came by he wound up with less hair than he started off
with. He had thought the woman infuriating when he'd first started working with Nicolas.
He had been naïve.
Harry Potter Announces First Official Betrothal
Dumbledore felt his blood freeze. This was dated from September. The boy had been
building his power base and cementing his alliances for over a month. This was worse than
he feared.
Hurriedly Dumbledore read the entire article. By the time he finished it and read Daphne
Greengrass' threat, he'd started crying. The fools were welcoming a new Dark Lord with
open arms. He wasn't even trying to be subtle anymore! Harry James Potter had cemented
his female chattel, he had cemented his primary supporters, he had cemented his political
allies…he was perfectly placed to assume complete control as soon as Voldemort was
negated.
Dumbledore could wait no longer. Fawkes was still ignoring his pleas for assistance. Why
the phoenix still refused to find and assist him he couldn't fathom. He knew their bond
was broken months ago, but this was starting to reach beyond simple petulance and into
malevolence.
Had Harry somehow managed to corrupt Fawkes as well? If he could make a phoenix fall…
"I must escape these confines!" Dumbledore stood and walked to the nurses' station. He'd
learned a little bit about how to fool these Healers since his last attempt. Johnson was
nearby already being distracting by waving his cane around, but Dumbledore ignored him
as best he could. "Hello, I believe that Marcus was discussing a train to something called
Elysium with his doll in the rec room. Perhaps someone should investigate?"
"Thank you for letting us know, Al," the woman said smiling up at him. She stood up and
shuffled around the desk heading down to corridor, gently moving Johnson away from the
aquarium as she went. Dumbledore waited until she had disappeared into the rec room
then he quickly strode through the large double doors and out into freedom. He was out.
He could finally return to Hogwarts and save them all from Harry Potter's evil!
That was when he noticed the large wrought iron fence towering around the garden
entrance. And the pointed tips on each shaft. And the giant gates locked closed at the end
of the driveway. And the two bored looking guards at the bottom of the stairs raising their
eyebrows at him.
"Hello, Mr. Brian. You wander out again? Let's get you back to your bed," one of them said
reaching out to take his elbow and gently turn him around.
"No! No, I was so close!" Dumbledore shouted. "I need to return to Hogwarts! He's built a
harem and he controls the nobility! He must be stopped before it is too late! Help me and
you will be hailed as saviors of Britain! I will make certain you get to participate in the
award ceremony and receive the Order of Merlin prior to the memory adjustment! Please,
help me! Together we can stop him!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Brian. We'll inform the appropriate authorities that 'he' is making his
move."
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Chapter 387
Draco Malfoy huddled up against the little garbage can fire and clutched the threadbare
jacket tighter around him. This was so demeaning. It had been weeks since that bitch had
dropped him off in the middle of nowhere casually pointing in a seemingly random
direction and saying, "City's about twenty miles that way. Get walking."
He'd made it to the city – somehow. But no one had been willing to take him back to
England. No one had even cared when he said his father was rich and would gladly pay for
his safe return. No one had given him the food he'd demanded or the information he'd
required. He didn't even know the name of this stupid city! How was he supposed to
survive with these peons refusing to help him?!
It had taken awhile, but he'd finally found a decent spot to sleep in and managed to steal
some food from one of the weaker idiots nearby. He had managed to save up nearly thirty
pounds – whatever that was – and was going to be able to buy his ticket tomorrow to
reach London. This nightmare hell would end soon enough.
The little man that he'd taken food and money from earlier in the evening walked up to
Draco's can with a large grin on his face. Draco just sneered. "What do you want, Muggle?
If you think you're getting your stuff back think again."
"Told you he was a feckin' idiot, Marty," the man said smiling even wider and gesturing
behind Draco. The blond barely had enough time to turn around and gape before a
mountain of a man grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. "You get half,
Marty." A grunt from the large man was the only response.
Draco whimpered as his captor slammed a fist into his stomach and let go of his hold on
Draco's neck. A whoosh of air and a pained cry were all he could muster. A flurry of kicks
followed and when the pain finally let up, Draco found himself alone by the still burning
can with just the jacket on his back and the trousers around his waist. They'd even taken
his shoes.
Draco curled up and muttered another curse at Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass.
"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing. It's good that they left your face alone," a soft voice
said from above. Draco twisted to look at the man standing and peering down at him.
"Heard you wanted to go somewhere. I can't get you to London, but I might be able to get
you to Thailand for bit. Give me a few months of work in the bar and I can guarantee you
passage to anywhere you want after that."
Draco blinked up and pushed down the pain in his side enough to think. He could be a
bouncer in a bar for a few months. He'd watched Crabbe and Goyle guard him well enough
to know the general principles. Anything was better than staying in this hellhole! Plus he'd
be able to get back to London in time for the summer in order to take his revenge on
Potter and Greengrass. They would rue the day they left Draco Malfoy alive!
Draco didn't even bother to pay attention to the man as he stood. If he had, he'd have
heard something that might have given him pause. "You won't even need a wig. Wonder if
you can dance already…"
XXX
Luna skipped along the corridor towards the inner courtyard; the Grey Lady loved to float
around in that part of the castle. Hermione walked along beside Luna, murmuring softly
about potential avenues to pursue. Luna had to struggle to stop from chuckling. The Grey
Lady had been around for centuries, she'd certainly experienced almost everything that
Hermione could come up with to encourage her to talk about her past.
Luna was planning on taking a far different approach. The Ravenclaw ghost most assuredly
loved the castle. Getting the woman to speak about her home would undoubtedly be
simple enough. They didn't need a whole history lesson after all, simply a direction of
available secrets to pursue. Sometimes Hermione and the others aimed for the Sun when
the Moon would do just as nicely.
"Hello, Luna, it's a pleasure to see you as always," the Grey Lady said with a smile as the
two students walked up. "It was a shame to lose you from my House, but you certainly
seem to be flourishing. And Ms. Granger, I don't believe we've spoken often. What can I do
for you today?"
Hermione stepped forward smiling. "Hello. Luna and I were wondering if you'd be willing
to answer a bit of a debate we've been having. It's about the castle actually. Luna had
mentioned that you've resided on the grounds for quite some time so we thought it would
be best to seek out one with the knowledge to settle our discussion."
Luna could only smile and nod. She loved being friends with Hermione. The brunette never
ceased to amaze her. Without any prompting at all, her friend had immediately chosen the
one path that might just convince the Grey Lady to break her habitual silence on anything
approaching the past. Hermione really was brilliant!
"Oh? What would the debate happen to concern?" the ghost asked intrigued.
"Layout mostly," Luna commented spreading her arms wide to encompass the entirety of
the castle. "Hermione thought that most of the best hidden areas would have been found
already, but I've been trying to convince her that there are still superb spaces that have
survived through the centuries without being disturbed!"
Hermione sighed theatrically and shook her head. "She's oversimplifying things. The core
of our debate focuses specifically on additional rooms that even the House Elves wouldn't
be aware of."
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Chapter 388
"Like the Chamber of Secrets!" Luna chirped happily.
The Grey Lady frowned and crossed her arms. "Salazar really should have told the others
about that cave system. My mother could have warded it appropriately had he bothered to
tell her there was a basilisk sleeping in it."
Luna saw Hermione's mouth start to open and she pounced before her friend complete
wrecked everything. The Grey Lady's identity as Rowena's daughter was not widely known
– and Luna was not about to let Hermione to potentially damage their rapport with a
question Luna could easily answer afterward. "I thought there might be a secret corner
that each of the other Founders formed somewhere that were similarly hidden away.
Hermione says that it's highly unlikely."
Hermione sighed though she took the hint to drop her attempted query. "Yes. You see, I've
been trying to improve a map of the castle and we thought you might have some insights
into whether there were any locations that we missed. The House Elves have been quite
helpful, but Luna has made her case well enough that I'm worried and would like to be
certain."
"May I see the map?" the Grey Lady asked. Hermione nodded and handed over her Aide.
"Hmm, well it seems you've catalogued nearly all of the passages and locations I am aware
of…I assume you've asked the Baron as well?"
Hermione sighed. "Two of our friends in Slytherin tried, but he wasn't able to assist. He
apparently hasn't paid much attention to his wanderings."
"Well I can tell you for certain that Ravenclaw did not have any hidden locations. She
assisted in the creation of this area with the others," the ghost said pointing towards the
Room of Requirement. "While I can't speak for certain, I was told that all four considered it
their prime achievement, Ravenclaw in particular. The spells and runic components that
went into that room were some of the most complicated ever designed that did not end in
complete devastation. Were you aware that it can become whatever you wish?"
Luna nodded. "Yes! We've been using it quite extensively actually! It is amazingly
accommodating."
The Grey Lady smiled and nodded. "It is indeed. That room can even form new passages to
areas adjacent to the grounds if needed in addition to expanding its own dimensions to an
impressive degree. I imagine the storage configuration alone has likely grown quite
extensive since initial construction."
"Storage configuration…" Hermione muttered. Luna cocked her head as her friend's eyes
widened and Hermione gasped. "Ma'am, would the House Elves use the storage
configuration?"
The Grey Lady shrugged. "I don't know. Many students and staff have utilized it in the past,
but I've never seen one of the elves using that version. Generally they ask for cleaning
supplies or something smaller than the original catchall. As far as I know, only two people
have regularly used it in the last few decades. Sybill generally hides bottles from her
private winery there when Minerva decides it's time for an inspection. The other…" her
face took on a look of pure hatred and scorn. "The other perverted my mother's legacy. I
was murdered for that hated thing and he tainted it!"
Luna's froze and blinked repeatedly trying to determine if they could really have gotten
that lucky. Hermione had apparently reached that conclusion earlier as she grinned
triumphantly. "Thank you, Ma'am. I do believe you've settled our debate. We might just be
able to give you a bit of closure in a few hours. Come on, Luna, we have a scavenger hunt
to progress!"
Waving goodbye to the Ravenclaw ghost, Luna skipped after Hermione. Her friend was just
as impressive as always! It was only too bad that Coco wasn't with her to watch the fun
about to be had.
Hermione nodded in approval as her troops spread out throughout the aisles. How they
had managed to overlook a room that could hide anything you wanted nearly had her
beating her head against the nearby armoire. This was Sirius 'Snuffles' Black all over again.
They had been too close to the problem. Far too close apparently.
No matter. The Room of Hidden Things was not quite so 'hidden' anymore. It was now
filled with over a dozen people all looking through the masses of junk for an elusive
Horcrux. Luna was convinced that it was Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem and Hermione was
tempted to a agree. After seeing Helena Ravenclaw's reaction – Helena Ravenclaw, the
treasure trove of knowledge the Grey Lady must have had had all along – she was certain
that, at minimum, this was where Riddle had hidden his Horcrux.
Hermione had wasted no time, in assembling their allies and organizing a search party as
soon as she and Luna had inspected the room. The sheer staggering size of the amount of
detritus that had been deposited in here was frightening. She was willing to put good
money on the House Elves crying when they saw this place. Whether they'd be crying out
of joy or sadness she couldn't guess. Even after speaking with Dobby and Winky for so long
she still didn't fully understand the thought process those beings went through.
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Chapter 389
"Hey, Lav, does this match my pink shoes?" Parvati's voice floated from the next row over.
Hermione rolled her eyes at her roommates. She couldn't really fault them – she'd grabbed
four intriguing novels and one priceless First Edition herself. This room was a goldmine!
"It does, Parv, but try to focus. We find the evil soul thing first then we go shopping."
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle at that. Walking beside her Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Lavender really is far more impressive than I initially gave her credit for that's all,"
Hermione said in reply to his unasked question.
Harry nodded knowingly. "Agreed; it can be rather funny sometimes. Hey what's this…a
flute? We've been sitting on this place for years and had no clue…I can't believe some of
this stuff that people have thrown away. Mione, look at this broom – it's brand new! It's
ancient, but this is in perfect condition!"
"So take it," Hermione said shrugging. "I worry that we're going to be searching in here for
hours or days…The search party seemed like a great idea when I rounded us all up, but
there's just so much here…"
"Hey you found the room, Mione," Harry said smiling and kissing her cheek. "We're finally
making progress. We'll find it. If we have to go item by item we will find it. So calm down!
We're doing good!"
Hermione shook her head and smiled. "You're in a good mood today."
"I just love it when a plan comes together," Harry said laughing. He looked at her and
squeezed her hand. "Also, you are exceptionally attractive when you're being all smart and
stuff."
Hermione blushed and stammered for something endearing to say. Thankfully she was
saved by a shout from Millicent further into the depths. "I got a hit! Guys, I got a hit! It's
over here! Well…a Horcrux is over here!" Hermione gasped and started to run towards the
Slytherin's assigned lane pulling Harry along behind.
"So apparently this spell works, Professor Black. Nice find," Millicent said to Sirius as
everyone started rounding the nearest corners and the two came into view.
"I told you people it would work!" Sirius crowed puffing up his chest. "My family may be
mostly insane bigots, but they keep darn good notes!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes they do, Sirius. We are sorry for doubting you. Now let's all
concentrate and actually tracking down the location shall we? Miss Bulstrode where was
the positive response from?"
Millicent turned and pointed down one of the major throughways of the junk towards a
large chest with a bust of a rather unattractive warlock. "Somewhere over there."
"Nice job, Millie!" Angelina said clapped the younger girl on the back as the Weasley twins
grabbed both her hands and started vigorously shaking them up and down.
Tonks chuckled and stepped to the front of the group saying over her shoulder, "Gotta find
it before celebrating guys. Let's see, let's see…worn panties…"
"Hey, I wondered where those got too! These were my favorite pair, how'd they wind up
here?" Lavender mumbled snatching the underwear from Tonks' hand and drawing
entertaining glances from everyone else.
"Moving on," Tonks muttered snorting in amusement, "ugly statue thing, faded tiara, old
dresser…I don't see anything that might be a Horcrux."
Hermione frowned and took a piece of paper out of her bag. "Can you say that list again
please, Tonks?"
"Sure. Lavender's panties, ugly statue head, faded tiara, an old dresser. Why?" Tonks said
frowning.
"A diadem looks like a tiara," Hermione murmured. "That's odd."
Sirius smirked and chuckled. "Yeah like that old thing is a Horcrux. Good one, Hermione.
Pull the other one, it has bells."
Harry frowned and narrowed his eyes towards the chest with the tiara on it. With an
annoyed growl he ramped his Occlumency up to maximum and suddenly the ratty old tiara
was far more interesting. "Arse. Guys, we found it. It's just under some sort of misdirection
spell or something. If you push your Occlumency you can see through it."
Shiva cursed. "Bloody brilliant. You can't trap something in this school. If someone got
lucky and found it then an investigation would be launched."
"Not under Dumbledore," Hermione muttered.
"By having everyone dismiss it though," Shiva said choosing not to comment on
Hermione's remark. "Nobody would think twice about a dusty old tiara. Hidden in plain
sight indeed."
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Chapter 390
Harry nodded. "Alright, everyone stand back. Horcrux Number Four coming up." Hermione
watched him pull out his Soul Cage and walk towards the tia-priceless Founder artifact.
The diadem started to shake as he stopped next to it and a dark stain started to spread
across the metal. Harry didn't pause at all, he just pressed the rune against the diadem.
A loud screaming filled the room and Harry smiled as black ichor sprayed across the floor.
The screaming stopped and he cast a cleaning charm on the diadem removing the rest of
the ichor. "One more down, three to go." A series of whoops and shouts of encouragement
resounded throughout the room as Harry turned to hold up the diadem. His grin turned a
bit sneaky and he walked back to them. Holding out his hand and getting on one knee
Harry said, "My lady, I present to you the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw."
Hermione could only gape at the treasure held in his hand inches from her. "What?" she
asked dumbfounded.
"Well you and Luna found it. We can't give it back to the school yet so you might as well
try it on for a few minutes," Harry said.
"Go ahead, mon amour, try it," Fleur said chuckling and gently pushing her forward to
close the remaining distance.
Hermione blushed again and nodded. "Well…okay, maybe just for a moment." With
trembling hands she reached out and plucked the diadem from her partner's hands. Gently
she moved it to her head and sat it down amidst her hair. Blinking in surprise she turned to
the others.
"Well how does it work? Solved any riddles of the universe yet, Mistress of the Tower?"
Fred asked smirking.
"Well…" Hermione said slowly trying to think about something, anything complicated.
Bernok's Arithmantic Formula for Entwined Empathic Response came to mind. She could
remember reading the very page it had been on. Actually…she could practically reread that
page right now… "Well, I seem to have a photographic memory now!"
Luna smiled and nodded. "Yes, that was one aspect of the diadem's powers. A shame its
primary function of increasing cognition and cognitive speed doesn't appear to work for
you, Hermione."
Hermione gaped at the younger girl and tried to come up with a suitable rebuttal, but after
nearly a minute of trying to find something she had to give it up as useless. "I feel
cheated…Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem and all it does is let me reread my books without going
to go and physically get one…"
Tonks laughed and leaned down to kiss Hermione's nose and gently take the diadem off
her head. "Only you Hermione could be completely unaffected by improved thinking and
be disappointed that you get a photographic memory instead. You, love, are apparently
too smart for Rowena Ravenclaw to have any effect." The group started laughing good
naturedly as Hermione simply blushed further, completely at a loss for words.
Several days after the destruction of Voldemort's Horcrux, Remus was sitting in his
armchair at home looking through an old photo album. Flipping the page he raised his
glass and silently toasted. "You'd be so proud of your son, James. We all certainly are. He's
gathered a group of friends that seem set to tumble the entire society we live in and build
it back up stronger than it ever was before. We thought we were impressive with our
adolescent explorations…none of our exploits hold a candle to theirs!"
Smiling fondly at an old photo Remus shook his head at the direction his life had turned in.
Things were progressing and changing. Fudge's vote of No Confidence had finally passed
earlier today and the portly man was no longer a thorn in their side. The truly amazing
thing was that Amelia seemed to be the favorite for the newly vacated Minister for Magic
position! If she received the job…Harry might just succeed in his threats about dragging the
Wizarding World into the 20th Century kicking and screaming.
And it would make Sirius Black the boyfriend of the Minister for Magic. Wasn't that a scary
thought!
A crash sounded from the front of his property followed immediately by the wards around
his home screaming alarms. Remus jumped to his feet all traces of inebriation flung from
his system by the adrenaline. His front door flew off its hinges under a rain of
bombardment spells and a shout rang through the opening. "Anyone who kills the
werewolf gets to play with the Mudblood and the bitch for the whole night! We want to
finish this before the Dark Lord is forced to come in personally. No repeats of last time
boys!"
----------------------
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