\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\ /*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/ A Top Secret Mission

By Marina

A/N: Actually this is pretty.well, weird. It's about this young Auror girl (it starts in Harry's fifth year, and they are forced to get young Aurors), who is sent on her first mission to go back to the 70's, and Lily and James. Disclaimer: It does actually seem a bit like James Bond-ish, with the secret service bit, so I guess that should be added as a disclaimer. I own very little; everything you know from the books belong to, believe it or not, Jo. God bless that woman. Oh, and the stuff that you don't know or recognise belong to moi!

CHAPTER ONE: TOP SECRET MISSION

"Agent 220," the tall, grey-looking man barked out his orders. A young girl of fifteen stepped forward. The Aurors were getting desperate now; Voldemort had risen again, though the rest of the Ministry of Magic refused to acknowledge it, hell, they'd even resorted to getting people as young as fifteen into their services.

"Yes, Hew," she replied, stepping up.

"We've just heard; Voldemort and his Death Eaters wish to re-write history; "bunk off" Lily and James Potter before Harry Potter is born, so that they have no chance of an infant ruining Voldemort. So, as you're a close friend of Harry Potter, we thought that you'd be just the right person to go on this mission. You are to go to the 70's, and- not a word! You will be given a false identity, and Albus Dumbledore of the 70's shall be told of your true identity- no one else!"

"Yes, Hew."

The girl stepped forward, so Hew could see her. She had short cut black hair, and misty grey eyes.

"Agent 220, you shall be called Elaine Potter, a "cousin" of James. His father, Isaac, is an Auror, and we have contacted his past self in the 70's."

The girl bowed her head. Elaine Potter. Well, Elaine was her middle name, so it wouldn't be so hard to remember. Kestrel Elaine Ravenston. And she and Harry were, very, very distantly related. So, she could easily be a "Potter". Actually, that was why they'd become close friends, since they'd found out; they had been "distant" friends before. Harry was just glad and appreciative to have at least one relative who was like him. She was in Ravenclaw, and Harry was in Gryffindor. She was the heir of Ravenclaw.Harry the heir of Gryffindor. It was very complicated. He descended directly from Olivia Potter (A/N: See my fanfic Olivia Potter), and she was a descendent of Gerald and Henrietta Marsh; their eldest daughter, Marigold, had married Thomas Ravenston, her direct ancestor, was a descendent from Rowena Ravenclaw. It was strange how she had both the blood of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor running through her veins. Which just confused things.

"I must tell Harry!" She gasped, and set to rush off, but Hew raised his arm, and she found herself stuck to the spot, like a magnet.

"Wait! If you tell him, he'd want to come too!" Hew barked. Kestrel stared after him, shaking her head.

"But can't I at least say good bye to Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Seamus my boyfriend? Missions are dangerous; I may never see them again, and if I don't, I'll never forgive myself."

"This is your first mission; we would never send a novice out on a dangerous mission. There may be times when it will be tough, but you'll always have a helping hand. First of all; trust your instincts, not what you know; there are some things history doesn't tell us, while we are given false facts and believe them to be true. Secondly; gain trust by everyone, even Slytherins and Death Eaters; they will give you valuable information if they trust you enough. Thirdly; if you so much as change events so that Lily and James don't die, you'll be dramatically changing history. You can only make sure that they aren't killed before their appointed time. Fourth and finally; never trust anyone, let them trust you. There are too many daggers behind smiling faces. Now, good day, and go! Agent 220!"

"Hew?"

"Good luck child," Hew replied.

"Thank you."

"Oh, and take this. Isaac Potter will know you by it. And take these papers, they'll give you your story as to who you are."

Kestrel skimmed through them.

Agent's Real name: Kestrel Elaine Ravenston. Agent's identity number: 220 Agent's code name: Elaine Marie Potter. Cover story: Is the illegitimate "child" of Katherine Potter and some anonymous man. She is shamed, like her mother. When her mother dies (there is no such woman, but there is no one who knows her to prove the story false, especially if Katherine was "disgraced" from the family), Isaac and his wife Jackie take her in. Her mother was too poor to afford school fees, and in the end slit her wrists.

Hew walked up to her, and quickly hugged her, running his fingers through her hair.

"Agent 220," he said, stiffening, when he withdrew from his embrace. "I'm sorry, but you so remind me of my daughter."

"What happened to her?"

"She's why I joined the secret service."

"Oh."

***

Seamus was sitting on a rock, watching the lake. It was their place; where he and Kestrel first went out.first kissed. He threw a pebble across the lake, watching it bounce across the surface, breaking it's smoothness. He wondered why Kestrel wanted him to come. He had footsteps coming. Strange, uneven, hurried footsteps. When he turned around he couldn't see anyone.

"Ouch! Ron! You trod on my toe!" A hiss- it was Hermione, but Seamus couldn't see her. Nor could he see Ron. It wasn't even dark. Though, the sun had begun to dye the sky with many colours, it had barely sunk below the mountains. Suddenly, Harry, Ron and Hermione materialised. He wondered what they were doing here, when he realized Harry was carrying a shiny silvery cloak. He could see that it was an Invisibility Cloak, and he gasped. Harry grinned at him, noticing what Seamus was looking at.

"It was my dad's," he explained. "Are you waiting for Kestrel too? I want to know why she asked us all to come here. Always thought she was a bit of a quack!"

"'Ere! Cheeky!" Kestrel's voice rose up from behind them. She kissed, Harry, Ron and Hermione on the cheeks the European way and gave Seamus a passionate kiss.

Kestrel looked at the group, at her dearest friends, and her boyfriend. She knew she'd miss them, but she had to do what she had to do. None knew about her involvement with the secret service, though she suspected that Harry knew she was an Auror. He knew so much, but never let it on. She suspected that Dumbledore had told him when she had signed up; after all they were all they had by way of family, on the wizarding sides of things. Her father had been a violet, abusive drunk. Her mother; a timid woman, who cared for her darling only child. Kestrel cried when she thought of her quiet, frail mother. Elisabeth Ravenston never stood up to her bullying husband. Even when he had so many other girlfriends (and a great many other illegitimate children).

That is probably what had weakened her. One day, when Graham Ravenston was away, Elisabeth had had enough of the shouting, insulting, screaming, spitting, punching, kicking, pulling of hair, and general abuse which she received daily from her husband, she'd had enough of her husband's affairs, had enough of his mockery, lack of respect, had enough of the way he hated her and her daughter. She managed to gather the strength to run away, walk away, taking her stuff, but too weak to say goodbye to her daughter, though she left a note. When Graham came back, he went ballistic. He abused Kestrel who had tried so hard to look after the house, to care for her father's animals, even to care for her half-sister Abigail, who had been living at the house for a year when her mother had died in childbirth; Graham had abused her when she was pregnant, when she had threatened to tell Elisabeth about their affair, but when she did, Elisabeth was too ill to make much fuss, but she was too afraid of her husband to do anything afterwards, so when Abigail's mother died after giving birth to Abigail (she had been weakened by Graham's abuse), Elisabeth acted as mother to Abigail for she felt sorry for Abigail saying "it's not her fault, my husband chased her mother!", though never to Graham's face, only to Kestrel. Graham blamed Kestrel, then he tracked Elisabeth down. He never told Kestrel what happened but Kestrel knew he'd killed her mother. So, she signed up to be an Auror. He father was sent to Azkaban; she helped to put him in there, and felt a strange, sweet victory.

So, she looked after Abigail, though she found it hard between Hogwarts and the Auror training, which was tough. In the end, she had to give Abigail to an orphanage. It broke her fifteen year old heart to do that; Graham had only been in Azkaban for five months, and already she'd had to give up Abigail. Her mother had died only seven months, and she'd given up on her own half-sister; couldn't take maternal duties that weren't hers, really. She was almost sixteen, and in only seven months since her fifteenth birthday, her mother had ran away, her father had murdered her mother, her father had been sent to Azkaban, and she'd sent her half-sister to an orphanage. It wasn't right that she could just leave Abigail, her only sister she knew. Abigail was only one years old; and Kestrel hadn't even checked to see if she'd be treated properly, like a human being. She's always thought of orphanages as something from a Dickens' novel.

That was another thing Harry and Kestrel had in common, despite their blood ties; their dysfunctional families. Harry lived with his muggle family who treated him as if he was not there, or when they did acknowledge his presence, they acted as if he was something nasty and smelly, that they couldn't quite rid of. Kestrel lodged at the nearest inn and cheapest inn she could find, preferably in Hogsmeade. She often boarded at the Three Broomsticks; Madam Rosmerta had been a friend of Elisabeth, and pitied Kestrel.

"Yeah, Kess, why are we here?" Ron spoke up (A/N: I've just realised I've been going on, so I've got back to the point!)

"Well, I need to tell you something-" Kestrel paused, she had no idea where to begin, and she knew she couldn't tell the truth. "I have to go away tomorrow. My half-sister Abigail-"

"I never knew you had a half-sister Abigail," Seamus interrupted. Only Harry knew the truth about Kestrel's family, being a relative (no matter how distant), though he didn't know, as far as Kestrel knew, that she had helped send her father to Azkaban, not that bit.

"It's a long story. Well, I had to put her away in an orphanage, and it turns out she's really ill, so I have to go and take her home and look after her," Kestrel added. Seamus, Hermione and Ron asked no questions, and accepted her story, though she knew that Harry was slightly suspicious, but had decided not to pursue a real explanation. "So I've gotta go.tomorrow. Bye. I'll be back I promise. You won't see me tomorrow, I have to leave early in the morning."

Seamus kissed her; Harry, Ron and Hermione hugged her goodbye.

***

The next day, Hermione woke up, got dressed and went to the Great Hall, and met up with Harry, Ron and Seamus. Seamus looked around for Kestrel, and then remembered that she had gone, so he continued his breakfast in a subdued silence, already missing her. Dumbledore had told Harry the real reason why Kestrel was gone, but hadn't been told the entire story; all he knew was that she was on a mission.

All this time, Kestrel had found herself in a different time, on her way to Hogwarts.