CHAPTER 1

It was unusually quiet around the burrow. A home that had once been filled with boisterous, jovial voices that laughed at, and with each other, was now only occupied by soft, carefully worded whispers. The end of the war, they thought, would be a relief and filled with animated declarations of freedom; freedom from oppression, and freedom from the fear Voldemort had cast over all of them. While all of that was true, they hadn't anticipated the weight of the grief and the overwhelming feelings of guilt that accompanied being the ones left standing. They knew that in time they would heal, but Merlin was time moving slowly.

A month had passed since the Battle at Hogwarts and the school was still undergoing reconstruction. The new Headmistress McGonagall had sent out a missive to all school age children that she anticipated the beginning of this coming school year would be delayed by about a month or more. Their days had been filled with attending the funerals of loved ones who had fallen, and the trials of those who fought against them. In between all this Harry, Hermione, and Ron were trying to help the aurors in tracking down any, and all Death Eaters who had escaped capture after the last battle. They had only been semi-successful considering many well-known death eaters were still at large. Names like Dolohov, Yaxley, and Greyback haunted their waking hours. They found some relief in sleep on the nights when the nightmares did not come, but admittedly, they were few and far between.

Most Death Eaters who had faced trial had received the kiss, or life in Azkaban depending on the severity of their individual crimes. One family, surprisingly had avoided such a conviction. Harry and Hermione had spoken on behalf of the Malfoy family, explaining that while their crimes were abhorrent, many were committed under duress and Narcissa Malfoy and Draco had both made attempts to keep the three of them alive, Narcissa when she lied to Voldemort, and Draco when he hesitated in identifying them after they had been captured and brought to the manor. As a result, Lucius still went to Azkaban but for a reduced amount of time and Draco and Narcissa were given house arrest for the remainder of the summer which would be lifted when Draco attended his mandatory 7th year of school and then attended some Ministry mandated community service and muggle studies courses. This was also in addition to hefty fines and a percentage contributed to the school's restoration.

As heavy as the air around the burrow felt, and as melancholy as the atmosphere was around them, they knew that things would get better. The storm had passed and they were eager to rebuild society, eager to enjoy the comfort found in each other's arms, and eager to move on from the brutal feelings the war had stirred up. They were alive, they were together, and they would heal. The worst was over, or so they thought. That was until they had a very unexpected guest at the burrow, accompanied by a panicked house elf who told a story that would reopen old wounds only just beginning to close. With the arrival of a battered and unconscious Draco Malfoy and his house elf to the burrow, weaving tales of the missing and wanted Death Eaters, they all realized with horror that though Voldemort was dead, his memory and mission was long from gone in the minds, and hearts (if they had them) of his faithful disciples.

When the aurors arrived at Malfoy Manor, all traces of the missing Death Eaters were gone. What was left were the remnants of a vicious duel and the body of the fallen family matriarch. The house elves were trying to clear the debris around the parlor and many wept for their mistress. The aurors scoured the area and came up empty handed as to any leads, but they would continue searching.

Back at the Burrow, Hermione had been using every healing spell she knew to try to save Draco. He had been badly cursed and had been physically attacked, as well, it appeared as many of his wounds were not the result of magic. Harry had been speaking with the head auror, Gawain Robards, over the floo giving, and gathering, details of what had taken place, while Ron paced and huffed.

"I don't know why you're trying so hard to save him. He's one of them! He's a Death Eater! If they want to start killing each other, what does that have to do with us, besides save us the grief?" Ron said.

Hermione spun on him, "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that! Malfoy did a lot of terrible things during the war, I won't pretend he's an angel, but without him and his mother we may very well be dead and Voldemort could be running the ministry! So, if you're quite finished, hand me that bit of cloth there."

"You know what I mean Hermione, but he seems like a lost cause why break your neck over it?" Ron asked her, speaking softer this time knowing he was treading dangerous water where his girlfriend was concerned, especially as she slaved over Draco Malfoy's tattered body.

"Because, he did what was within his power to try to protect us one time when it would have been easier to just hand us over. I won't offer him any less," Hermione said looking tearfully at Ron. Ron nodded his head then and left her to do her work, Malfoy's house elf, who's name they learned was Nalby, was there to assist her. Harry came into the room then to tell them what he had learned from the auror's office.

"Lucius is dead," he said matter of factly.

"What?" Hermione asked, shock evident in her tone and eyes. Draco was now stable though still unconscious. Hermione politely directed Nalby to bring him upstairs to one of the bedrooms. "This was clearly a targeted attack against the Malfoys. Perhaps it's because they got reduced sentences?"

"I agree. Which means that Malfoy is still in danger. He clearly cannot return home, it was breached once and could easily be done again…" Harry stated looking to his friends for ideas.

"What I don't understand is how their wards were breached. The Malfoys have some of the strongest wards I've ever seen on a property," Ron contributed looking instead at the how and why. He had quickly gotten over his refusal to help Malfoy knowing that neither his girlfriend, nor his best friend would let him get away with blowing it off. They were both collectors of the broken and damned, and far be it for him to stand in their way when someone else clearly needed their help.

"Well, when Malfoy and Narcissa were ordered to remain on house arrest they were mandated to lower many of the existing wards on the Manor to allow aurors to come and go for periodic, unscheduled property checks. We were supposed to be keeping them safe," Hermione added with a tinge of guilt filling her throat as she finished. Ron immediately crossed the room to gather her in his arms.

"This isn't anybody's fault 'Mione, nobody's except the creeps that did this. Do we even know which snake-face loving fucks are responsible?" Ron asked while slowly rubbing circles along Hermione's back.

"Nalby said he only recognized Dolohov, and Greyback," Hermione provided while she leaned into Ron's support. She had spent time speaking with the Malfoy house elf while trying to get Draco's bleeding under control.

"Greyback? Do we know if he…?" Ron trailed off the end of the question not wanting to say what he was thinking.

"I don't know, he was so torn up… and there were old and new injuries it's hard to tell anything" Hermione also not wanting to commit to the feeling of foreboding she was feeling left the question unanswered.

"The fact still remains that Malfoy isn't safe at home, and we certainly cannot keep him here. Aside from just trying to keep him and Ron from pulling their wands on each other," to this Ron huffed but didn't deny that it could be a problem, "I won't risk everyone else's safety either. Ginny, your parents, and everyone else have been through enough without bringing the fragments of a dying war to the Burrow's doorstep."

As much as Hermione would love to be the bigger person and say that it was their responsibility to protect him, she couldn't deny the selfish part of her that wanted her one safe place to remain safe. Hogwarts had once been her safe place, but the war had ruined that, and before that it was the arms of her parents who she had yet to find the time to track down to return their memories. With this war lingering the way it was she was starting to think it might be a good idea to put it off just a little while longer. Since the Burrow and Ron were the last safe places she had left she was wont to risk those.

As she was thinking of faraway places, and lands that weren't war ridden and dark, something struck her. "I have an idea!" she said, jumping from Ron's arms to be able to pace as she worked it out in her mind. "It would require approval from a few sources, do you think Gawain would approve the equivalent to a temporary form of a witness protection program?"

"He's not a witness Hermione, he's a criminal. He was on house arrest when he was attacked," Harry said.

"Attacked by the men who we have been trying to track. They probably believe him to be dead based on the wounds I just treated, but he may be able to provide us with information if we give him time to heal. He may even be able to help us track them!" Hermione said starting to get carried away.

"Hermione," Harry hedged, "I like the way you're thinking, but what if he can't give us any information, or he isn't willing to help us?"

"Then he still deserves safety," she said. "He was attacked in his own home; his mother was killed defending him and his father murdered in Azkaban. They were supposed to be safe in the places we told them to stay. The ministry failed them, criminals or not." Ron and Harry both looked at her, unable to disagree. "Get Robards to agree to let me send him to an undisclosed location. The only ones that will know will be the three of us, and his handler."

"And who is going to be his handler?" Ron asked.

"Leave that to me. I just have to get her to agree," Hermione said, walking away from the boys already on her way to write her letter.

"Her?" Ron asked Harry. Looking at each other. "Who in the world is she owling? And where in Merlin is she planning to send Malfoy?"

"Don't look at me. I haven't the faintest idea how I'm going to convince the head auror to allow us to send Malfoy, somewhere on the map without telling him where he's going, who we're sending him to, and that we have no intention of telling him," Harry said trying to figure out how he was going to pull this off. Knowing Hermione though, she'd want everything handled and agreed upon before dinner. So, Harry grabbed Ron by the arm and drug him with him to the fireplace. He was going to need all the help he could get.

She brushed her dusty hands off on the side of her jeans. And made her way inside the main house. She was greeted by the smell of honey and magnolia that was so comforting and familiar. It's what "home" smelled like. This time of day she knew that her Grandmother would be setting up lunch and tea. She washed her hands at the deep, barn style sink before walking into the back sunroom on the first floor of her family's home. The sunroom was painted yellow in color with a screen that enclosed the space overlooking a hundred acres of clear, clean, beautiful fields and farmland. She and her grandmother would often spend evenings here watching the sun sink low over the ridge of the horizon before Nana would stand to go get settled in for the night, and get some rest before the sun would rise again. Raven would usually stay up, she always had a fascination with the stars and the way they had a tendency to make her feel both insignificant and powerful all at once.

Sure, enough her grandmother was there with two plates for lunch, Ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips, and sweet tea with ice. "I had a feeling you might want to talk today," Nana said. She may not be a witch but she always had feelings and very rarely were they wrong. Raven was never sure whether it was some remnants of magic that hadn't manifested in her Nana or if it was just a skill grandmothers developed over time, but regardless she had been right. Again.

"I was hoping I could run something by you and get your input," Raven told her.

"Come take a seat Darlin' and tell me what's caused that troubled look in your eye," her Nana said while gesturing to the seat next to her on the small picnic style table and bench. This filled the larger space on the right side of the room for meals. To the left were their whicker sitting chairs. The ones that they'd sit in to watch the sun set.

Raven took a seat next to her Nana and took a bite of her sandwich and sip of tea before she began. Honestly, she had needed the moment to gather how she would approach her grandmother with the questions she had hoped to ask of her. Nana knew though and never pushed her to speak before she was ready. "Well I got an owl today," Raven started.

"I did see that. It's not often one sees an owl out and around during the day in these parts," Nana said knowingly.

"Well, the owl was from a friend of mine from school, from Hogwarts," Raven continued still trying to figure out how to make her way to the question hanging in the air.

"I had assumed as much being that not many folks here in town have a habit for tying notes to birds that I'm aware of. What's going on Rae?" Nana gently nudged.

"Well I know, that you know, that much more happened at school the past couple years than I told you about and you never pressed me to reveal what took place and I appreciate that but it looks like I'm going to have to tell you quite a bit of it now. I hadn't wanted to worry you, but it seems that I can't really help it any longer," Raven paused looking up at her grandmother, who at this point stopped eating to pay attention. To her credit Nana only nodded for Rae to continue. "Well there was a war going on in wizarding London the past couple of years, one that I was fairly involved in because of my roots. The friend that wrote me the letter was one of the good guys. One of the figure heads of the war, if you will. As it turns out there is a boy who needs protection now, and hiding, and she thought that we may be able to help since we are who we are and live where we do. No one would think to come looking for him here."

At this point Rae was pretty well into her story but stopped to look up again at her grandmother to gage her reaction to what she had said so far. "I take it that you would like to take this young man in and are only seeking my approval then?" Nana guessed at the reason for her granddaughter's long-winded explanation.

"I would, but I feel it would only be a fair agreement if I told you a few things about him," Rae again waited prompting from Nana and continued when she nodded at her to do so, "He fought on the other side of the war. He fought against us and has never been a particularly nice person in general. He was in my year in school. However, there were a few things that he did during the war that don't quite fit with this terrible person he is supposed to be, so I have my own suspicions about his motives," to this Nana only raised an eyebrow and continued to nibble on a potato chip. "From what I'm told he and his family were attacked and while he could be saved, both his mother and father, who was in prison at the time, were killed during the attempt on his family."

Nana gasped at this. She closed her eyes and brought her hand to her heart. A part of her hurt knowing that yet another child walked through this world an orphan. She was barely able to comprehend when Willy and Anabel had been killed in that car accident, what would happen to Rae. For a child to know that his parents were not only gone but killed and for him to have potentially witnessed it; the thought was almost more than she could bare. She felt Rae reach out and touch her arm in a show of comfort.

"Do you want to take him in?" Nana asked her.

"I think it would be the right thing to do, but…" Rae started but was cut off.

"Then you best get to writing that letter back and I'll set up the guest house," Nana said.

"But Nana don't you want to know the rest?" Rae asked shocked at her grandmother's abrupt desire to end the conversation but under no illusion as to where it stemmed from.

"I trust you. I trust your judgement. If you say you have suspicions about his commitment to being bad then I believe you. We just have to take the necessary precautions should your intuition be wrong in any case. Or if whoever wants to hurt him happens to come knocking, though it sounds like we might be obscurely situated enough that that shouldn't come to pass," Nana said all the while keeping her tone clear that she expected all necessary precautions to be met and anticipated before the young man stepped foot on their property.

"Thank you, Nana!" Rae said while squeezing her grandmother in a tight hug. They embraced for a short period before Rae cleared her throat and said, "There is one last thing I think you should be fully aware of before I write my letter back." Nana looked at her cautiously. "What do you know about werewolves?"