June 28, 2007 London, England
He had to keep going. Stopping at this point meant only death. As soon as he had come home from school his father had told him it was time to enter the family business so to speak. Draco at first had been excited
about the prospect after everything he had heard as a child. However
when his father brought him on a raid, the younger Malfoy was horrified
and disgusted by what took face. His father raping and torturing
children younger than he, newborns even. During the night Draco used
every ounce of determination to not throw up, when they had gotten home
he refused to take the Dark Mark. Thinking back now he should never
have said anything to his father just left. The multiple crucio's as well as
a few other well placed curses and hexes had left Draco weak and unable
to travel for long periods.
The first stop the young Malfoy made was Gringotts to clean out his
trust vault and transfer it to a new vault that only he could access. Now he had no where to go, he needed to rest and check his wounds. He had done the best he could before leaving the manor. Knowing his father
and the Dark Lord they had people looking for him, he couldn't let them
catch up. Suddenly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on
end, before he could turn around he heard a voice he never wanted to
hear again.
"Well, well, well. Who have we here? If it isn't the young
Malfoy." Jeered the voice of his former Quidditch captain Marcus Flint. "The Dark Lord and your father are looking for you boy."
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Leave at once!" Came the stuttering response. Flint laughed and the next thing Draco knew was he was disarmed and being beaten and kicked until he felt the blissful peace of unconsciousness. Before the dark claimed him he saw a bright white light and felt Flint cease his punishments.
#12 Grimmauld Place
In a dreary house in London a group of people were meeting, these people were none other than the Order of the Phoenix. The meeting had started off to a shaky start. Some of the more senior members were arguing the addition of three Hogwarts students: Ron Weasely, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasely. The leader of the Order Albus Dumbledore explained his reasoning by explaining the mission he had them on for the last few years.
"Mission? What mission could they have been on if Voldemort wasn't even back?" demanded the werewolf ignoring the winces and shrieks at the name.
"Keeping tabs on Potter, what else? We had to make sure he went to the Headmaster if he had trouble." Ron answered with a smug expression on his face.
"What?" thundered Remus, his face positively purple. "How dare you? What kind of friends are you?"
"Remus!" Molly Weasely stormed. "How dare you yell at my children! They've done nothing wrong."
"Nothing wrong Molly?" interjected Auror Nymphadora Tonks, "they just admitted to spying on their best mate and you don't thinks there's
anything wrong with that?"
"No I don't. They were doing as they were told." Molly returned coldly, her cheeks flushed with anger.
"And paid, I have no doubt" muttered one of the twins, both wearing disgusted looks as they looked at their younger brother and sister.
"Be quiet you two, no one asked for your opinion" Molly raged at them.
"Paid? You paid Harry's friends to spy on him? Dumbledore now you've gone too far" Remus whirled on the Headmaster who was watching the growing argument warily.
"Now Remus," began the old man in a sickeningly patronizing voice. "I am only doing what's best for Harry-"
"Save it Dumbledore." Cut off the werewolf. "None of what you've done for Harry has been for the best, I just can't believe its taken me this
long to see it."
"You're wrong Professor, Harry is way too impulsive. Professor
Dumbledore feels that he needs this time alone to think of how he acted." Hermione flushed red as all eyes in the room turned to her. Dumbledore's were twinkling, Molly's were pleased, but the looks she was getting from
Remus and the three Aurors in the room were less than friendly.
"How I ever thought you were the smartest witch of your age. It must be the same insanity that led me to believe that Dumbledore is the Leader of the Light." Hermione gasped as though she had been struck. The room was filled with arguments and tension before Dumbledore tried to gain control.
"SILENCE!" he bellowed. As the room went silent he gazed
disappointingly around the room lingering on Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Mad-Eye Moody. "Enough of this, we must continue on with the meeting."
"I don't think so Dumbledore" Remus cut in. "I quit the Order and since this is my house you and your Order no longer have permission to use this building. I want you all out in 15 minutes or I'll have the house
toss you all out."
Without waiting for a response Remus walked out of the kitchen. The kitchen erupted in chaos yet again with Dumbledore trying to call Remus back. Shaking his head sadly he informed everyone that they would meet at Hogwarts from now on. The Weasely's were the most furious as they had taken to living here since the war began. Tonks, Kingsley, and Moody trooped upstairs after making sure the others left. The four ex-Order members talked late into the night of plans. The first being that they needed to get Harry to a safe place due to the possibility of demons fighting with Voldemort.
June 29th - Unplottable Location, England
Draco Malfoy moaned and he tossed and turned in bed. Suddenly his eyes flew open. He was in a bed! Had he been captured? The last thing he remembered was running into McNair then blacking out. Shaking his head he looked around. The room he was in was large and airy. In the middle of the room was the canopy bed flanked on both sides by a night table. At the foot of the bed was his Hogwarts trunk. There were other pieces of furniture including two wardrobes, a desk, and a small seating area in front of the fireplace. Knowing he hadn't been capture simply by the plush surroundings, Draco slipped out of bed gritting his teeth as his head swam. Hearing the door open behind him had him whirling around and almost falling due to the sudden movement.
"Easy there" said a melodious voice. Draco shook his head to clear it and had to repeat the gesture. Standing in front of him was the most
beautiful girl he had ever seen. Tall and willowy with raven black hair
and violet-blue eyes. To complete the vision of perfection she carried
a tray of food. "You had some pretty serious injuries, you'll want to take
it easy for a few days."
"Wh-Who are you?" he asked not making a move toward the tray.
"Oh I'm sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Rena" she held out her hand to shake. Draco surprised himself by shaking it back. As soon as they made contact Rena gasped and shut her eyes, the color draining
from her face.
"What? What's wrong?" he cried out ready to catch her if she fell. A few minutes later she opened her eyes.
"I must apologize again," she started slowly. "You were thinking about someone." It wasn't quite a question but shook Draco nevertheless. He had been thinking about Potter and the threat he had overheard.
"Maybe" he answered warily. He was thrown off by her quick smile.
"He's in trouble, I need to go get him. Follow me" and without waiting for a response she walked out leaving Draco to jog to catch up. Growing up in Malfoy Manor Draco was no stranger to rich and expensive
surroundings. The place he was in now made his childhood home seem like a hovel. Tensing at the shouts and shrieks growing louder, he shot a
quick glance at his benefactor.
Entering a large room he felt his jaw drop at the sight that met them. Hearing a quiet sigh he looked again at Rena and saw her shake her head ruefully before clearing her throat. Amazingly enough the small cough managed to quiet all 8 children, it was then that Draco saw the two men in the middle of the group looking haggard and relieved.
"Draco, I would like you to meet my family, unfortunately I don't have the time to introduce you." she turned back to the motley crew. "Cole,
you're with me. Sam and Wyatt are in charge I want all of you to behave
yourselves."
"Are you bringing anyone back this time Rena?" asked a blonde haired teenage boy.
"Probably Wyatt, I'm betting on 5. Behave" she said again before she and a tall dark haired man left the room. Draco turned back to the others and seeing all the kids looking at him with sickly sweet smiles swallowed nervously.
Privet Drive, Surrey
Privet Drive was a war zone. Lupin, Tonks, Moody, and Kingsley wasted no time in going to get Harry. They had spent the night reinforcing the wards around Grimmauld Place only to arrive to see Harry fighting for
his life against 5 Death Eaters and 5 other men. Jumping into the fight
they made their way to Harry and came to the horrifying conclusion that
the 5 "other" men were demons. Every time one died two more took there
place. It was then discovered an anti-portkey and anti-apparition ward
had been erected. They were trapped. Before anyone could say or do
anything else a bright white light appeared in between Harry and his
protectors and the enemy.
Harry squinted against the light and had to blink again as two people appeared as it faded. A tall man with dark handsome features and a young woman of breathtaking beauty. As soon as the demons saw the girl they began panicking and hurling fire balls. The Death Eaters got over their shock and added their spells to the mix. Harry noticed the girl barely
batted an eye as she brought up her hand and made a fist. The others,
except Cole, shouted in shock as all the spells and fireballs rebounded
on an invisible wall and hurled back to their senders. The demons
exploded and to the relief of a few did not return. When the Death
Eaters saw their backup was gone they brought down their ward and
apparated out. All but one. The one lone Death Eater seemed frozen in
time.
Cole turned to the group of wizards and witch who were huddled
protectively around a teenage boy.
"We mean you no harm. I'm Cole Turner" he held out his hand. The others looked at each other before Harry pushed his way to the front to take Cole's hand.
"Hello sir. I'm Harry Potter. Thank you for helping us." Cole smiled at him.
"Your welcome, but don't look at me I just tagged along for the ride." He looked inquisitively at the others who introduced themselves in turn before shaking hands.
Rena meanwhile was wrapping the Death Eater in special ropes she had made herself. They prevented any and all forms of escape including apparition, portkey, floo, and turning into an animagus. Once she was sure they were secured she waved her hand sending him to the dungeons of Camelot. Walking to the others she either missed the shocked looks on their faces or ignored them.
"Hello, I'm Rena. Are you ready to leave?" she looked around the
neighborhood looking for any threat.
"Leave?" Barked Moody. "Why would we leave with you?" He was thrown off by her smile.
"Why indeed Mr. Moody. Here's a reason and I feel a good one:
survival."
Harry studied the girl carefully as he listened to the adults speak in
a hushed conversation.
"Harry?" he turned to see his former Defense teacher looking at him. "You're in this group too. What do you think?" They were rewarded with a lightening grin. Finally! He thought, they ask my opinion.
"I think we should go with them." He said it so simply that Lupin
blinked to be sure he heard right. "All right. Why?"
"Well for one, they appeared in the cross fire which is brave no matter how you look at it. A bit stupid too, but that's besides the point."
Tonks and Kingsley grinned at the gobsmacked expression on Mad-Eye's
face. "Second those regenerating creatures didn't regenerate when that
shield returned their fire balls and she captured a death eater without
civilian casualties. And third...did you see that shield. It was
brilliant."
Tonks had to cover her mouth at this point to stifle her laughter. The expression on Mad-Eye's face was absolutely priceless. Harry had a
point and had several valid reasons supporting them surprising all of them as their reports from school were that Harry wasn't a very dedicated student. Moody broke out of his stupor and grinned at the kid (a horrifying sight indeed).
"Very good Potter. Excellent observations." Moody grumbled causing Harry to blush slightly under the praise. "I happen to agree with you, go get your gear." Nodding Harry ran into the house. Turning back to the pair Moody decided to act as spokesperson.
"Where are we going?" Both smiled.
"Constant Vigilance Mr. Moody" Rena said with a bit of a smirk. "As
secret keeper I cannot reveal the location of my home in such a public
place." He grinned at her.
"That's a good lass. You've a good head on your shoulders." He barked causing Cole to smother a snicker. With a glare for Cole and a smile and thanks for Moody she explained the mode of transportation they were about to take. Lupin, being the scholarly fellow, was fascinated with
the process of orbing. By the time Harry came back out with trunk and
owl cage in hand he was quite eager to try it.
Unplottable - England
Draco was in hell, a very comfortable cozy hell with screaming balls of energy masquerading as children. There was the oldest of the group 14
year old Wyatt. He was a quiet even tempered boy. How he could read
with all this noise baffled Draco. Next was 12 year olds Pruedence, and
twins Michael and Mitchell. That was all he needed, more trouble making
twins. 10 year olds Christopher and Lauren were sitting quietly in the corner discussing something in whispers while shooting the occasional look his way. The youngest two of the lot were 7 year olds Ryan and Margo. Draco was not too comfortable around children, never really being exposed to them except at Hogwarts, but for the life of him the little girl Margo was his constant shadow and he could not get rid of her (Awww).
Suddenly their was a commotion as a group of six people appeared out of nowhere. Draco was never so happy to see someone as he was to see Rena back. There were shouts of "Rena!" as a stampede as all but the four oldest made a mad dash to the young woman. Draco stiffened his spine at the people she brought with her. Not only Potter, but that mad Auror Moody, the werewolf Lupin, as well as two more Aurors judging by their robes.
"Where's Sam?" Rena asked her brother.
"He went to lay down about 5 minutes after you left. Told us he was in charge." Wyatt jerked his thumb in Draco's direction drawing unwanted
attention to the unnerved and frazzled teen. Jaws dropped and Rena
looked a bit horrified.
"Oh Draco, I'm so sorry. You must be scarred for life." Rena herself was trying hard not to laugh at the frazzled expression on the blonde's
face.
"I doubt he wants kids of his own after an hour with this bunch" Wyatt remarked with an evil grin for Draco.
"Too right" Draco returned with a half smile further shocking the other wizards and witch who knew him.
"M-Malfoy?" Harry finally managed to say.
"What's he doing here?" Moody demanded.
"Draco is seeking shelter here just as you are, just as more will."
Rena told him firmly.
"Where are we exactly?" Harry looked around interestedly. Rena smiled serenely.
"Welcome to Camelot."