Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.
A/N: I'm back baby! Back for the third in the Midnight Fur Series, Destined Fate; I'm excited too. Originally, I wanted to make the epilogue longer for Escaping the Fire, but I didn't have any more to say. But for this, I have loads. There's just so much to write! So, let's begin, shall we?
"The Ides of March quickly approach, like a lamb,
The Dark Lord and his followers will return on the night of the final Task,
An unknown traitor will cause the emerald and ruby to help raise his Master,
The emerald and ruby will regain their spots as King and Queen,
And June will succumb to the outbreak.
August will go out like a lion,
Letting the chess pieces to come alive once more,
With the final stamp of fate; the old prophecy will start to take place."
XXX
Books littered the floor in one particular room in Grimmauld Place. Along with the books lay pieces of parchment, feathers, and quills. It was just another day in Grimmauld Place, Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It was just another normal day for Harry and Ginny Potter, ages almost fifteen and almost fourteen. The two teenagers were currently scribbling like mad on pieces of parchment, and some people might actually think they were drawing or writing a book of the sorts. But they weren't. No, Harry and Ginny were currently writing out very detailed letters to the Ministry of Magic. Why? Because there was something dead wrong about something in the news, and the latest edition of the Daily Prophet was currently laying on the floor. The magic newspaper, which had a moving picture of a screaming woman with dark frizzy hair read:
MASS BREAK-OUT OF AZKABAN PRISONERS!
On June 20th, 1995, hit-wizards and aurors identified that the Dementors that were supposed to be guarding the cells of Death Eaters, murders, and rapists, were not in their usual positions. The Dementors were instead, attacking the hit-wizards and aurors. Seventeen aurors died, as well as twenty hit-wizards, the Ministry of Magic reports. The cause for all of this, well, that however remains a mystery. Ten Death Eaters escaped, as well as seven wizards and witches put in for life because of murdering and raping muggles, the MoM reports. Seventeen convicts out on the loose at this very moment. The ten Death Eaters were known for their killings and use of the Dark Arts, officials say, their leader, You-Know-Who, started the Wizarding World against muggleborns and what they called 'blood-traitors'. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is offering a reward of 10,000 galleons to anybody who can bring in any of the escapees, and 1,000 galleons for information on where the prisoners are. They are, as listed below:
Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange: Known for their Cruciatus Curse on former-aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom, causing the two to be tortured to insanity. They were grouped with Bartemius Crouch Jr., who was kissed just this year. Also known for murdering muggles, squibs, and muggleborns; the DMLE is offering a 15,000 galleon reward for each of them, instead of the 10,000 galleon one. Wanted alive, not dead, for questioning; we will not reward anything if either of these two are brought in dead.
Atonin Dolohov: Known for murdering muggles, wizards and witches who were not followers of You-Know-Who. Also known for murdering Gideon and Fabian Prewett; wanted dead or alive, but an 11,000 galleon reward is offered for those who bring in this convict alive.
Mulciber: Known for Imperius Curse.
Augustus Rookwood: A former Unspeakable and spy for You-Know-Who.
Travers: Known for murdering Marlene McKinnon and her entire family.
Several more names were listed, before the article ended. Harry and Ginny Potter, nee Weasley, had thrown the article on the ground in outrage when they had seen it. Truthfully, neither of them had actually gone down to get breakfast since they saw the newspaper. But both of them were purely enraged. And why would two teenagers be enraged, even if they were wizards? Well, neither of them was even considered normal in the wizarding world. Because, one of the many things about the two of them, they were Soul-Bonded. They shared thoughts, pain, and the scar that had come from Harry's dealings with Tom Marvolo Riddle, now known as Voldemort, when the almost fifteen year old boy was only a year old. But, that wasn't the only thing odd about them. One might think they were normal two normal magical humans, but they weren't. One of them was an animagus, a person who could change into a certain animal at will, and the other was similar to her; he could change into a wolf with midnight fur at will since he was born. He even had the tail from his wolf form when he was in his human one, although you wouldn't ever find him willing to admit it. The two of them even practically radiated magic, and one might say that they could actually taste the magic in the air when these two were nearby. But, Harry and Ginny were just your normal wizard and witch teenagers, once you got all that down. Although, they were truly and madly in love with each other, thanks to the Soul-Bond.
"Damn it," Harry muttered, "Damn it! The Ministry has gone mad. In no way, shape, or form, could we send these letters! Damn it!"
"Harry, language," Rosemary Lilith Black, nee Lovegood, smiled when she walked into their room, holding a tray with their lunch, "Thought you might want something to eat. You really must be starving at this rate. Honestly, skipping breakfast?"
Rosemary, or Mary for short, looked like a typical seventeen year old in the muggle world. She always wore jeans that were ripped and t-shirts, but in reality, she wasn't seventeen. No, the woman was actually bonded to Sirius Black, and she herself was going to turn 36 on October 1st that year. She was one of the most skilled aurors, although she wasn't really known by anyone outside of the DMLE or the MoM. That was because she rejected her name, and used to hiss at the sound of her maiden surname. But now, she still worked as an auror, but she was called only for Undesirables and the escaped prisoners. Although, since they really had no information on where those prisoners were, she was off duty for quite a while.
"Thanks, Mary," Ginny replied, before sighing, "The British Ministry has gotten itself into this mess, and they're not going to be able to get out of it. It looks as if it's going to be a much worse impact on them in this War then the last one. I'm not even sure if Fudge hasn't betrayed us yet or not, but I'm thinking he has. Denial is the key to a person being either bribed not to tell or is trying to sugar-coat something. I think it's both."
"Very Auror-like of you," Mary nodded, before she took out three cups and filled them with butterbeer, handing two of them to Harry and Ginny, "And very good for a person allowed in the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix."
It was true that Harry and Ginny were allowed inside the Order meetings now. Although, many of the Order's members visited weekly; it was slightly strange to see their Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor, Minerva McGonagall, in muggle clothes, rather than her emerald green robes. But, it seemed only fit now that they were out of school, although other Order members like Remus, Nymphadora Tonks, and Bill Weasley, one of Ginny's six brothers, who transferred to a 'desk job' since he originally worked in Egypt. Molly and Arthur Weasley, Ginny's parents, were also part of the Order, although they couldn't attend meetings until they came on July 1st with the three youngest Weasley boys; Ron, George, and Fred. Although, George still attended the meetings.
Luna Lovegood was currently a guest at Grimmauld Place, although the reason why is because she needed a guardian, and she didn't have one, because both of her parents were dead. Klara Lovegood, Luna's mother, died when the girl was only nine years old, and the woman's death was right in front of Luna. And then, Luna's father died in the summer of 1993 from a yeti attack, and Xenophilius Lovegood's death was never properly looked into. But, Luna was actually okay, thanks to George, because they too were soul-bonded; just like Luna's grandparents, Harry and Ginny, and Sirius and Mary. Through the bond's given telepathy, George was actually able to attend the meetings since Luna was allowed to. She spoke for both of them, and frankly, it was rather interesting to hear her speak in two different opinions.
It seemed, to Harry, that after Cedric's death in the Triwizard Tournament, that the Order was working harder to prevent any deaths from happening again. Of course, even one day after the mass break-out, there was still two deaths, one muggle and one who was a muggleborn. The whole world was now falling into havoc; the Aussies and Americans were actually willing to help, as well as the French and Greek. Bulgaria practically supported all of what Voldemort thought, heck; they pretty much supported the man himself. And all of the other countries were still unsure of themselves, since they had problems of their own.
But after Cedric died, everything had been in a blur. One moment, Dumbledore was asking them to not formally join the Order, the next they were attending Cedric Diggory's funeral. And then they had to go pack, and they ran into Fleur Delacour, who also joined the Order, since she was a valuable asset with her talent to mimic accents. Then Harry and Ginny were on the train, and neither of them was actually in too much emotion to do anything but joke slightly and be in grief, since they had witnessed Cedric's death firsthand. Both of them grew a deep, deep hate against Voldemort, and they were determined to bring the man to his death.
"We've found that the Dementors were actually known to side with Voldemort in the First Wizarding War," Harry added, "Until he was 'killed'."
Nodding, Mary looked at them, "You know, all of this makes sense. Voldemort wasn't very. . . . Well able to produce a Patronus. One of his followers actually died when they tried to do so. If he had the Dementors on his side, then he wouldn't have to worry about needed to produce one. It all makes sense now! Bloody hell, you two just solved something!"
Sirius appeared moments later, yawning and actually in jeans and a t-shirt. "So, the two of you actually got a part solved?" he yawned.
"Not exactly. . . ."
". . . . More like we got a piece solved . . . ."
". . . . Voldemort and his followers can't produce a Patronus."
That caught his attention. Sirius' eyes widened, and he looked at them. "They can't produce a Patronus!" the man laughed, "The Order is going to be surprised at this. But then again, they have the Dementors siding with them."
"KREACHER, DON'T DO THAT!"
"Ah yes, the metamorphmagus is here. She tells me to stop, filthy blood traitor you and your mother are!"
"BLOOD TRAITORS IN MY HOME, KREACHER, YOU STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!" Sirius shouted.
"Thanks cousin! Why don't you get rid of the little brat?" Tonks asked, her hair sporting her favorite color, bubblegum pink, as she walked into Harry and Ginny's room.
"He knows too much, Dumbledore says," Sirius scowled, before saying, "Hello Tonks."
"Hi Dora," Mary smiled.
"Hello Tonks," Harry and Ginny said.
"Hello. Ginny, Harry, Mary, Sirius," Tonks acknowledged them, "Why don't you just ask the little bastard to remain quiet for the rest of his miserable life?"
"Haven't actually tried that one yet," Sirius grinned.
"Another Order meeting tonight, ya know."
"Yep, and we got some new information that we all could use."
Tonks grinned, "Excellent."
"Yes, well, we better move this discussion. Order members are going to start to come in, yes?" Mary sighed, and the five of them walked over to the living room, where they had somehow gotten a phone in there to work, which was pretty amazing.
I can't believe it.
Can't believe what?
We've actually been able to do this, all of it.
I know Gin, I know.
XXX
Hundreds of miles away, a fifteen year old boy lay on his king-sized dark green bed, staring up at his ceiling, which ironically was also green. He let out a sigh, hearing the shouting voices downstairs. Slytherin posters hung around his bedroom, and the entire fashion of everything was green and silver with the occasional color black. The shouting was coming from his mother and father, their voices echoing against the walls of their Manor. The house-elves were currently trying their best to prepare dinner for their 'guests'. The boy sighed even louder, missing the quietness of his room beforehand. The voices got even louder, although they were muffled, so he couldn't hear what his parents were talking about. Then, suddenly, the voices stopped, and he heard a loud scoff, and his father's voice changed dramatically, it sounded like he was pleading, which was unusual and sounded foreign to his ears.
Footsteps sounded like they were running up the stairs, and a boom told him a door had just been slammed shut. What on earth was going on? Sitting up, he turned to look at his closed door for a fleeting moment, his thoughts running wild, before he heard his mother wailing. He had known what his father was asking her: to take the Dark Mark. Before, his mother was a trophy wife, but now, she was needed to join the damned Death Eaters. He stared, in shock, as his door opened to reveal his mother in near tears. Her pale blonde hair was in a mess, and her blue eyes obviously showed fear. "Draco," she began, her voice cracking, "Grab your trunk and fill it only with clothes and your Hogwarts things. We're leaving."
Leaving?
They were leaving Malfoy Manor? Why? How? What was going on? Gulping, Draco nodded and opened up his Hogwarts trunk, filling it with the items his mother, Narcissa Malfoy had asked him to take. He filled it to the brim, before closing it. His door stood ajar, and many of their house-elves looked in shock, as Narcissa looked at him before she whispered, "Is that everything? We won't be coming back."
Draco nodded, not trusting his own voice as she grabbed his hand and levitated his trunk, before he turned, and grabbed his wand. He would need it later on, and Narcissa tugged, and they walked out of his bedroom, and he took his last glance at it before the door closed. He brushed his hair out of his eyes as they continued on, and he saw his aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. The woman stared at them before she asked in a shocked voice, "Cissy?"
His mother did not reply, she just continued on, walking with her head held high. In truth, if Draco hadn't heard their conversation, it was more likely that Bellatrix didn't either. They made their way out of Malfoy Manor, before they stopped at the Apparation Point. Narcissa turned, however, and she growled, "I don't ever want to see you again, you damn fool."
And then, with a 'pop' Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were gone from Malfoy Manor, for possibly forever.
They appeared just a few feet away from the Leaky Cauldron's entrance, and they walked inside. Narcissa turned to the pub and inn owner, and asked in a calm and cool voice, "Can we use your Floo?"
"Of course madam," Tom replied, and they walked over to the fireplace.
"Draco," Narcissa whispered, "You go first. You're not going to recognize any of the people in there, so remain calm and wait until I come to do anything."
Nodding once more, Draco grabbed a handful of the grey powder and threw it into the fireplace before his mother told him what to say. Confused, he said in a clear voice, "Grimmauld Place."
XXX
Harry sat right next to Ginny, right after they had said what information they had. The rest of the Order, save for Molly and Arthur, were pleased to hear this, since they couldn't get as many recruits nowadays. The younger people who had just gotten out of Hogwarts didn't want to risk their lives, even if it meant saving their friends in the process. That was when they heard somebody come in through the Floo.
"Who could that be?" Luna asked, two voices overlaying each other at once.
Getting up, Harry casted the charm on his clothes, and he and Ginny transformed into their wolf forms before continuing to walk into the living room. Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't Draco Malfoy looking around, and then at them, in interest. "Guard dogs, I suppose?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity and not the usual venom, although Harry snarled in reply. They were not guard dogs; they were currently wolves at the moment!
Narcissa Malfoy came moments later, and two trunks and a 2001 broom appeared moments later, and this time, Ginny growled, before she stood on her hind legs and turned back. The two Malfoys looked at them in shock as she called out, "Its Draco Malfoy and his mum!"
Harry looked at them angrily, and he saw Draco visibly shrank back. What were they doing here? Clatters came in response, and Mary and Sirius came rushing into the room. "Who are you?" Narcissa asked, her eyes going slightly wide.
"I could ask the same for you, but I already know who you are, cousin," Sirius snarled, "I guess you didn't pay attention to the Daily Prophet, Narcissa."
Harry's hackles rose as Sirius spoke, and he growled. Ginny sighed, "Oh please, not like you could harm him with me here, so drop it."
"Why are you talking to that wolf like that?" Draco asked.
"Shit," she cursed in response, and Mary could be heard muttering 'language'.
Glaring at Ginny, he rose up and transformed. The blonde haired boy looked like he could have fainted when he saw this, and Ginny rolled her eyes, one of them turning a brilliant shade of violet. "Oh please, we won't kill you. . . . Yet, although I can't promise anything here about Sirius and Mary, but I'm trusting they won't either."
Nice job, Gin.
Hey! It's not my fault if they become insane because of us.
Yes it is.
Prat!
I'm not a prat.
"What the heck?" Luna cried, and in the background of her voice you could hear George muttering 'Bloody hell'.
XXX
Hermione Jean Granger sat on her bed, packing up her things. She was going to stay with the Weasleys until July 1st, where they would all go to 'Headquarters'. She didn't know what that exactly meant, but it seemed that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley did, as well as Harry and Ginny, and Sirius and Rosemary. Why on earth did they know something like that? She didn't know herself, but whatever it was, it was important. And Harry and Ginny wouldn't reveal anything to her, so she was stuck with guessing, and she hated that. Guessing wasn't one of her things. She liked the pure, clean, facts. But, Hermione wasn't getting them, and she hated it.
Sighing, she closed her trunk just as her mother came in, saying, "Honey, are you sure you don't want to just stay the summer here?"
Her parents had tried to convince her of this since she had told them of her plans, and she didn't like it. Wasn't it her choice, not theirs? "Yes, Mum, I'll be fine. Don't worry about it; it's just Ron, George, Fred, and Luna."
Well. . . . Not entirely. Luna and George were doing a thing through their bond where they could talk through each other, but it would still be similar to talking to the actual Luna, she just wouldn't be there.
XXX
Harry and Ginny,
How's your summer going? I know there's only about a week left until we see you guys again, but it's honestly boring here at the Burrow, even with 'Mione here. She talks about doing homework, already! Can you believe it? It's like she's all about school-work, although, knowing her for this long, that's the truth. I still can't believe summer passed this fast already, can you?
How are Sirius and Mary doing? Are they doing alright? I hope they aren't actually boring you two to death like 'Mione is with me. Respond to this ASAP.
Ron.
Ginny snorted as she stared at the letter. Errol, her family's owl, was currently getting something to eat from Hedwig's dishes. Was Ron really this bored?
What do you think?
I don't know.
Think we should tell him about Draco?
Nah, he'd freak out. As it is, the information Narcissa and Draco told us is way too important to tell him at the moment because Hedwig could be intercepted.
True.
Keep it short and simple?
Yep.
'Kay.
Harry began writing their letter, and Ginny sighed. Narcissa and Draco were currently in the process of dropping the Malfoy name, surprisingly. But, that didn't mean they would keep Harry and Ginny's secret. Draco himself was stunned into silence whenever they came in as their wolf forms, since it was highly unusual, but the two of them didn't care. It was their choice anyways, well, not really a choice in Harry's case. But, they didn't see the fifteen year old much in the two days that had passed, since the kid was in his room all the time.
Grimmauld Place had been transformed into what Sirius called 'The Black Manor'. All of the walls were scarlet, gold, or blue. And the family tree curtains had been taken down, as well as Walburga Black's screaming portrait. Many of the old rooms were waiting for Molly to come in and clean them, since Mary had been exhausted lately with cooking dinner by herself, and Ginny and Luna, although dinner required to fix a lot more than what either three of them were used to.
Ron,
We're fine. Summer is great so far, although Mary and Sirius are really enjoying the summer. Are Mum and Dad doing well? How about Hermione? Yes, she wants to get homework done this early so she can enjoy the summer more. We've already gotten ours done, so you should be working on yours too. Other than that, we've just been having fun and playing games. Oh yeah, how's Fred and George doing? Luna's doing their whole 'talking' thing, so is George doing the same? He seems to be doing okay, although we're not sure.
We'll see you in a week,
Harry and Ginny (We really will!).
Harry put their letter in the envelope, and as if on cue, Hedwig came over to deliver it. She put out her leg, and he tied the envelope to her, before their snowy owl flew out of the window and off to the Burrow.
I really hate lying to them.
They'll find out soon enough.
Sure they will.
It's the honest truth, Harry!
Laughing, the two of them looked at the mess littering their room.
XXX
Draco heard the laughter coming from their room. Two days. That all it took for them to act normal around him, or as normal as they could supposedly be. Really, the Potters weren't normal at all. Two animagi that were Mary and Sirius and their bear-like dogs was more than enough, but add in the Potters, it was almost insane. Sighing, he walked through the hallways of Grimmauld Place. In reality, he didn't exactly like this house, it seemed too proud, but then again, Malfoy Manor was more unsettling than 'Black Manor'. It was just like the old problems all over again. But this time, his mother had joined the Order, and they were actually fighting against blood purity. It seemed perfect that they were, but he wasn't allowed to be in on the meetings, so he was left to his own devices, while they were in on what the Order was actually doing; well, they were considered of age.
Well, they are the two most powerful people in Britain.
It was true, that part at least. For some reason, the double magic gain that was supposed to happen, before their life-endangering experiences, happened. So now, they were six fold as powerful as what they were at the beginning of the fourth year. It was a scary thing to ponder, living with two people whose magical cores were not only combined, but also more powerful than even Dumbledore himself. What they could do to him or anybody else in the house; Draco gave an involuntary shudder.
"HARRY!"
More giggling and laughter followed. "Too bad I can't put a Silencing Charm on them," he grumbled in reply to the noise.
Walking farther down the long corridors, he found himself passing the six guest rooms, three on each side of the hallway, before he turned around and walked back to his own room, which had silver walls and white carpet on it, which was surprising. There was no green, however, since his cousin, Sirius, had stated that the Black Manor had too much green in it for years, and that he had finally had enough of it. Honestly, what was wrong with green? And then Narcissa told him how Sirius hated the Slytherin House; what was wrong with that? Were all Slytherins evil? Surely not! Look at his mother, Narcissa left his father just so they could stay free from Voldemort!
Harry and Ginny weren't all that bad, well, they were Gryffindors. But he had begun to realize that in mid-September. They were fighting for a cause that just now existed, and they had somehow known that one day You-Know-Who would return. Draco couldn't just say or think the name quite yet, although it seemed that most of the Order members, including his mother, could. The two Potters actually said the name without one small ounce of fear, and Draco wondered how they could actually do that.
Finding their door open, he saw them picking up the pieces of parchment and books on the carpet, all the while also having a fight of throwing the papers around. Mentally sighing, he walked back to his own room, before shutting the door.
XXX
Ron sighed, packing up his stuff in his Hogwarts trunk. Where exactly was this 'Headquarters' anyways? And why would they need to go to that place, he had no idea. It shouldn't really have mattered to him, but Hermione was ecstatic about knowing why, so he supposed he was also curious. Partially because the whole topic was spoken in a hushed whisper between his parents, and partially because George and Luna somehow knew what was going on, although they wouldn't say a single thing on the subject. Soul-Bonds were now a daily thing at the Burrow, because you could hear George and Luna talking at once, although she technically wasn't there. In a way, it was bloody creepy. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to it, because he was, it was just he wasn't used to the whole part where you would see George walking into the room, but Luna was speaking, not George.
"Are you almost done?" his mother, Molly Weasley's, voice came up through the hallway.
"Yes!" he shouted in reply.
Closing his trunk and grabbing his wand, Ron made his way down the stairs.
A/N: And we're off! I'm sorry about all the cursing in here, but it's just the prologue, and Sirius isn't exactly a good figure to have when he's cursing sometimes, as well as Tonks. And I'm only going to say this once, please review!
