"Build an army." Hermione said flatly as if she hadn't heard her best friend correctly. Harry was still smiling at them all as if building an army would be the easiest thing in the world. Daphne found the mischevious smirk rather infectious, and began to smile in turn.
"How exactly do you propose we do that? I don't know if you've noticed, but we're more or less isolated here." She asked.
"Voldemort's going to make it difficult to recruit people to our cause." Neville remarked. "People are afraid, and after last night, they'll be to terrified to do anything but run. No one in England's' going to fight with us."
"Then we'll go abroad and recruit help." Harry said flatly, turning back to his friends. "I've been told a more than a few times I should use my fame. I think it's time to do that. We'll contact Viktor and Fleur and see if they can at least point us in the right direction. If we can get the French and Bulgarian Ministries on our side, then we might be able to inspire our own people to stand up."
"A few good strikes against Death Eaters might help that as well." Daphne remarked. "It might not be bad to try and offer some kind of olive branch to the Goblins. If we can show them that not all wizards are prejudiced narrow minded greedy arseholes…"
"Daphne!" Hermione looked affronted, which only made Daphne grin.
"They might be willing to lend us a hand."
"I think we should wait on that until we see how they help us with the horcrux. The goblins prefer to stay out of our affairs. So unless Voldemort tries to subjugate them, they may just rather remain neutral." Neville said as he took a seat and resting his head hands. "We need to find a way to keep abreast of what's going on out there." He nodded towards the window. "It would be really stupid to try and make plans with no information about what he's doing."
Harry nodded.
"And how do we contact these people?" Hermione asked, still unconvinced. She folded her arms over her chest as she eyed each of them. "If you send out Hedwig, she'll be followed, or worse. And it'll be incredibly difficult for us to get out of the country right now."
"We'll use Dobby to send messages. He should be able to apparate…"
"You're going to make Dobby apparate thousands of miles to deliver messages?"
"What do you suggest Hermione?" Harry snapped. "Should we do nothing? Hide out here and hope it all goes away?"
Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, but bit back her retort. Neville came up behind her and rest a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to look into his big brown eyes, and felt her chest tighten as he smiled gently.
"What's wrong, love?" He asked softly. He knew that she wasn't trying to throw a wrench in Harry's plans, but that something else was going on in that big brain of hers.
"I'm…" She started to say, her voice shaking a bit. "I'm afraid of what's going to happen to us. It's all real now. We've trained for it of course, but we never actually had to…" She said, her hand covering her mouth as tears began to fall from her eyes.
"Kill?" Harry asked, all anger vanished from his voice. Hermione nodded and Neville held her to his chest.
"Of the four of us, only Neville and I have actually taken lives. And both times, it was a life or death situation.
"Three times." Neville said softly. Everyone looked at him suddenly and he shrugged.
"Rabastian LeStrange cornered me in the castle last night. He took my wand but didn't check my pockets. I-I kind of stabbed him in the throat."
"Wow.' Daphne sighed, as she sat down again, staring at Neville. "Rudolphus is really going to be out for your blood now. He'll be the last of his line."
"They started this feud by torturing my parents." Neville reminded them.
"This is what I mean." Hermione said, sniffling. "Are we just going to become soulless killers?"
"I don't want to take anyone's life if I have a choice." Harry said quickly.
"I didn't want to do it." Neville said. "But if I hadn't, he would have killed me. It's war, Love. People die in war. We're going to do what we have to do in order to survive and to protect people who can't protect themselves."
"He's right." Daphne said. "If it comes down to protecting the people I love or a bunch of wankers who have no regard for human life… my choice is clear."
"Unless one of you has the gift of sight that you haven't told me about, None of us can see into the future." Harry said, staring at them all in turn. "But I do know that at some point we're going to have to do things we'll regret later on. But so long as we're together, keeping each other sane, we're going to make it through this war. We just have to remember what it is we're fighting for. Our future, and the future of our children."
Daphne stood and hugged Harry while Neville gave Hermione a reassuring squeeze.
"Whatever you think we should do, I'm with you." Hermione said, wiping her eyes. "But we can't forget our priority." Hermione pointed out. "The only way to end this once and for all is to find the remaining horcruxes and get rid of them."
"I think we're all in agreement there." Daphne said.
"So what's first?" Neville asked.
"Well since we're going to be living here, we should get settled and claim bedrooms. It looked as if there's enough for us to have our own."
Hermione blushed a bit and looked at Neville, who was staring at the notebook before him. Harry had a sneaking feeling that there would be one empty bedroom. He completely missed his own girlfriend's questioning look.
"We can worry about that later." Harry smiled. "We should maybe think about lunch. Once Dobby returns we can figure out what we should do next."
Hermione nodded and took Neville by the hand and led him down stairs. Harry was about to follow when Daphne held him back.
"Harry, I don't want to be alone. Would it be alright if we…" Daphne started to ask. She was clearly nervous, and Harry understood, because he felt very nervous all of the sudden.
"Yeah. Of course." He said, answering her unasked question. Daphne's face brightened and she hugged him tightly. Harry didn't really want to be alone either. With Daphne close to him, it might help to keep his mind imagining horrible things that might be happening to the people he cared for.
"I could hardly sleep last night." Daphne sighed against his chest. "I kept dreaming about Tori and Tracey. I don't want to admit to myself that their gone."
"We don't know anything for sure." Harry tried to say but Daphne began shaking her head.
"You weren't there, Harry."
"I know. But I know how strong and resourceful both Tracey and Astoria are. I've seen them both fight. If they were together, I can't help but think that they found another way out. We have to keep up hope for them until we know for sure."
"I never thought that we'd be this cut off from the world."
"We won't be for long." Harry smiled. "Once Dobby gets back, We'll be able to find out exactly what's going on out there."
Lord Voldemort stared at the three lifeless bodies that were lying at his feet. Two males and a female. They had been his hope to resolve the problem with his waning power. It hadn't worked. He had wasted months on resea
He stood in the large silver tub he had conjured to hold the blood of his young victims. He had followed the ritual to the letter. He had drawn the runes upon the floor in dragon's blood. He carved the corresponding runes into the flesh of his intended victims while reciting the incantation. Then he had stripped his robes, opened his own veins to empty himself of the tainted potter blood, while levitating his victims and spilling their blood onto him.
The ritual had worked. He had cleaned himself of what he had felt was tainted blood once and for all and taken in new, young, powerful new blood. But his magic had not regained its former level.
Anger like had never felt ran through him like the new blood in his veins. If it was not the blood that was the problem, then what could it possibly be? What was worse, was that if the blood was not the problem, then he had just relinquished the protections Potter's blood had allotted him. He felt as if he were now more vulnerable than he'd ever been. However, there was no other options left to him. He had felt no further drains on his power, but he could not risk it happening again.
He would have to use subterfuge to keep anyone from learning of his weakened state, though he was sure that he was still far more powerful than any other, he was not what he had been. Fortunately he had spent many years cultivating fear as a weapon. It still thrilled him to see people cower at the sight of him. Even his most faithful and powerful followers could not look him in the eye without a shiver of fear. There was nothing to match the power he wielded with fear.
Not even Dumbledore's belief that love was the most powerful and least understood of all magic. He had never seen anything to show him that love held any power at all. It was a useless and wasted emotion.
Lord Voldemort thought briefly of his weak mother, the witch who had died giving birth to him, and left him to rot in a muggle orphanage. If love was truly as powerful as Dumbledore had believed, why hadn't she lived.
Voldemort pushed those thoughts out of his mind. There was no need to waste his time contemplating his parentage. So far as he was concerned, he was born of magic to lead the wizarding world to it's rightful place as rulers of the world. And now that Dumbledore was dead, there was only one further threat to his glorious vision. Harry Potter.
He had already freed his followers from Azkaban, as well as quite a few more prisoners, all of whom had pledged their loyalty to him. Those new followers were being sent to key places in the country where Harry Potter and his friends might appear. Their orders were clear. Capture Potter by any means necessary, but take him alive. His friends were useless.
The Dark Lord slipped into his rooms, not even bothering to clean the blood from his skin. He had no more time to solve the riddle of his lost power. It would have to wait for now. There was much to do at the moment.
"How are the refugees?" Sirius asked as Amelia joined him on the porch. He hadn't slept at all since they had first heard of the Death Eaters siege. Amelia handed him a cup of tea, which he sipped gratefully.
"Sleeping. Arthur slipped some sleep potion into Molly's tea. She was really upset." Amelia Bones said, leaning against the porch railing so she could look at Sirius' face. He had never regained the handsomeness he had once had, but he was still very attractive, especially when one took into account his twelve years in Azkaban.
"I can't blame her. I imagine she's not alone. I still don't understand why he kept them all."
"It's not for ransom." Amelia sighed. "He's even allowing families to write to their children."
"Then I think that the only other possibility is that he's going to re-educate them." Sirius said, turning to look at Amelia, who was clearly upset by that thought. "He's going to make them into a new army."
"And we don't have the manpower to attempt to fight him. Not to mention what he might do to the children."
"What do you think he'll do to the Muggleborns?" Sirius pondered. "Given his distaste for them…What do you reckon? Practice dummies for the rest to perfect their curses and hexes?"
Amelia shivered as she imagined some poor faceless first year strung up with a line of students waiting to test out their spell work on him. Sirius noticed her shudder, and took her hand.
"Be thankful that Susan wasn't there. She's safe."
"I am. I just… I wish we could save them all. None of them deserve that sort of thing."
Sirius nodded, and turned back towards the forest that hid the seashore. It was as if he were watching for something, or more specifically someone to come through those tress at any minute.
"You know he's alright, don't you?" Amelia asked, looking up into his dark eyes. Sirius smiled softly and nodded ever so gently.
"I do. If he'd been in the castle, we'd have heard about it by now. Voldemort is nothing if not dramatic. He'd want the whole world to know how he managed to kill a sixteen year old boy. He'd probably have Harry's corpse tied to the gates of Hogwarts."
"That's pretty grim, even for you." Amelia made a face.
"But it's true. We both know it is. We should have waited to cast the new fidelius. Harry might have been trying to get here. Now we have no idea where he might be."
"I told you already. We'll wait a few days and if no one's tried to get Grimmauld place, we'll have Bill Weasley cast a new fidelius charm. We've also got plenty of people out there keeping their eyes open. He'll turn up at some point."
Sirius nodded once again, and Amelia gave him a tight hug.
"People are looking up to you. I can't have my right hand falling to pieces on me."
"Your right hand?" Sirius quipped.
Amelia pulled away, a look of determination on her face as she began to speak. "There's a reason I always have you backing me up when we go out. You're a strong fighter, and I know that no matter what, you'll do what needs to be done to protect me. Spending time with you over the past few months has been good for me. It's opened my eyes to a lot of things, including things I've missed because of my work. You've become more than a friend to me."
Sirius's smiled faded a bit as Amelia opened her heart to him.
"I never believed you were the one to betray the Potters. Even when I arrived at that street and saw what had happened. None of it made any sense to me. You were one of the best Aurors in the Corp. You were on track to break Mad-Eye's arrest record. You were a lot of things, Sirius Black, but a killer was not one of them."
"Thank you." Sirius smiled again.
"Thank you." Amelia replied. With a smile, she pulled him closer and place a gentle but firm kiss on the old dog's lips. Sirius was stunned for a moment at the gesture, but as Amelia lengthen the kiss, he began to relax into her arms, and allowed the kiss to deepen. It had been a very long time since he had felt a woman's lips upon his own, and it was just as amazing as he had remembered it to be.
Amelia reveled in his taste. She didn't care that there was nine years difference in age between them, or that she had been his superior at one time. He had always stood out to her as being a man of integrity, despite his knack for causing chaos. Over the past few months, he had proven beyond a doubt what kind of man he truly was. She knew he would do anything for his godson, and anyone else he cared for.
Along with that, he could make her smile, and had awakened something she had thought lost years ago. Her sense of fun. Despite all that was going wrong in their world, he could still make her smile.
It was war, and their lives could end the very next day. Amelia Bones was going to be damned if she allowed herself to ignore her growing feelings anymore. She owed it to herself to try and find some piece of joy. Sirius gave her that joy.
If they managed to survive this war, then they could figure things out. But for now, she just wanted to live in the moment, with no regrets, and no remorse.
Sirius broke the kiss and smiled at her. She stared into his eyes and saw his conflicting emotions.
"I promise you, Sirius. We'll find him."
Sirius touched his forehead to hers and sighed. "I know."
"Come on. We could both use a bit of a rest." She said, leading him back into the house.
It was late in Dumbledore's house, and the four tens were all beginning to yawn. They had been pouring over Dumbledore's extensive notes, trying to discern some clue about which of the items on his list were the actual horcruxes and where they might be hidden. All they knew for sure was that R.A.B. had made off with the original locket. They couldn't know for sure if it had been destroyed. All that was left was Nagini, Voldemort's serpent, and one other item.
They all agreed that it must have once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff or Godric Gryffindor, as they knew the locket belonged to Slytherin, and they had destroyed Ravenclaw's tiara.
"We have the sword, so we know that can't be it, That only leaves his gauntlet." Hermione reasoned. She had a biography about Gryffindor opened in front of her where she had found a picture of the gauntlet.
They learned that both the gauntlet and the sword had been a gift from the leader of the Goblin nation for Godric's assistance in a battle against a very vicious dragon. The sword was impervious to anything that might weaken it, and actually would take in anything that might strengthen it.
The gauntlet, it turned out, allowed the wearer to fly without the assistance of a broom, and would act as a long distance portkey. One simply had to say their destination and the rather large ruby with their wand.
"That'd be really handy in a pinch." Neville said, admiring the picture of the gauntlet.
"Unlike the sword, the Gauntlet disappeared. It was thought to be buried with Godric in Godric's Hollow, but no one knows for sure." Hermione finished reading the passage.
"Well, we're in Godric's Hollow, and we could go look for his grave, but how would we know if the Gauntlet is there or not?" Harry asked.
Silence reigned them for a few moments before Daphne cleared her throat.
"Surely Dumbledore checked that for himself." She said, flipping through one of the notebooks again. "If it were there, I doubt it would have been on his list."
"That makes sense." Neville said. "Why bother putting It on the list if it were still buried with Gryffindor. If Voldemort had managed to get it, it wouldn't be there when Dumbledore looked."
Harry was about to speak when there was a small pop, and a very tired and upset elf stood before them.
"Dobby, are you alright?" Harry asked, going quickly to the little elf's side.
"Dobby is so very sorry, Harry potter sir. Dobby could not find Harry Potter's godfather. Dobby tried and tried, but could not feel his presence. Dobby remembered Harry Potter say he was on an island, but could not find the island.
"I told you he was at the…" Harry's mind blanked and he looked to his friends, who all looked similarly puzzled.
"Why can't I remember where Sirius is at?"
"The fidelius." Hermione said, her eyes widening. "They must have recast it. We can't remember where Sirius is."
Harry's shoulders sagged at the news, but patted Dobby's little shoulder.
"You did fine Dobby. Thank you for trying. We'll have to think of something else."
"Dobby also tried to get Harry Potter's belongings from Hogwarts."
"We told you not to worry about that stuff." Harry said. Dobby's looked pitiful as he began wringing his hands, and shuffling his feet.
"Dobby thought that Harry Potter and his friends would like to be able to change clothes, and have their things. But Dobby was unable to retrieve them. The Death Eaters had destroyed all the belongings of students who had escaped. Dobby is terribly sorry for disobeying."
"You have nothing to apologize for Dobby. It was very kind of you to be thinking of us and trying to take care of us." Harry smiled at his little friend.
"You should rest up Dobby." Neville suggested. "You're going to have plenty of work over the next few days."
Dobby actually looked energized by that, and after Harry told him to get some sleep, the little elf scurried off to rest up.
"Well that puts a kink in our plans." Daphne said as Harry rose to his feet. "We can send Dobby with a letter to my family tomorrow. At least then well get some kind of information."
"That's a good idea." Hermione agreed.
"We can also send a letter to my Gran. She might have some information we could use. She's pretty well connected in the Wizengamot and the Ministry." Neville offered, forgetting that Daphne's father was on the Ministry as well.
"Dobby was right. I would like to have something else to wear." Hermione said. They all agreed on that point.
"We won't be able to do anything until we figure out where these damned things are." Harry said bitterly. "Ok, tomorrow, we send messages to Neville and Daphne's families. We'll also get messages to Viktor and Fleur and see about getting some kind of network built. We can also see about getting into Muggle London for clothes and supplies."
"It's getting late, and we're all a bit knackered." Hermione said, taking Neville's hand. "We should get some sleep. Goodnight."
Neville couldn't help but give a small grin as his girlfriend led him away.
"Ten galleons says it's a few hours before they actually do any sleeping." Daphne said. Harry turned to look at her with a disgusted face which caused her to giggle.
"I'm so glad we took the room on the other side of the house."
"I'm glad she's so good at silencing charms." Daphne countered. "So how about it? Are you ready to turn in?"
Harry saw her look away nervously as she asked the question. He was suddenly nervous as well. He couldn't say why. They'd been together a few times now, and each time they had pushed their boundaries a bit further each time.
In truth, he desperately wanted to be with her, but he was unsure if this was the proper time. She looked up at him when he didn't answer her question.
"Harry?"
"I-I-I love you, you know that right?"
Daphne nodded, her face looking puzzled.
"I want it to be perfect, when we, you know…"
"Harry." Daphne said, rushing to him and placing her hand over his mouth. "I don't want to push you into anything. I don't want to push myself. But we don't have all the time in the world anymore. The world has changed, and people are dying. We could be next, and I don't want to face death not having given myself to you. The man I love. I am asking you to make love to me, not because I'm afraid that we may not ever get the chance, or that we may die, but because I love you and I want you to know just how deeply I love you."
She took his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his. When she broke the kiss, she could see his love for her shining in his emerald green eyes. He smiled softly to her and without a word, led her to the bedroom they had claimed as their own.
Daphne locked the door behind them, and Harry swished his wand over her head, casting silencing charms.
Daphne turned back to Harry and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself up to kiss him. He held her waist in his arms, lifting her off the floor. She slinked her legs around his waist as he turned and took her to their bed, where he carefully laid her down.
"I love you, Harry Potter." Daphne said when their lips parted. He kissed her quickly before staring into her eyes.
"I love you Daphne Greengrass." He said.
She pulled him back to her for another kiss as her hand slipped down his chest to the hem of his shirt and tugging it up. Harry tore his lips away from hers as she pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it behind him. His mouth found the soft supple flesh of her neck and he began to gently trace his lips along her collarbone, eliciting soft moans of pleasure from his lover.
Harry began to unbutton Daphne's blouse, his fingers gliding across her soft creamy skin as her fingernails traced along his back.
Daphne gasped as Harry's hands ran up her stomach and across her breasts. His fingers curled around the straps of her bra, and pulled them down her shoulders. She felt a charge as Harry's lips sucked softly on her scar.
Daphne pushed Harry away, and sat up so she could undo the hooks of her bra before allowing it to slip away from her chest. She then reached out for her boyfriend, and turned him so he fell back on the bed with her straddling him. She bent forward and captured his left earlobe between her teeth, and gently pulled on it, before trailing small kisses down his neck.
Harry's hands cupped her breasts, his rough palms doing wonders on her nipples. She hissed in pleasure as he gently tugged on her left nipple as he rose up to nibble at her collar bone. It was one of her most sensitive spots, and Harry loved the noises she made when he kissed her there.
While he was occupied with her neck and breasts, Daphne began tugging at his belt, determined to get him out of his jeans. She could feel his excitement and wanted to remove all the barriers between them. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she swore she heard Tracey cheering her on.
She had finally gotten his jeans opened when Harry grabbed her waist and flipped her over. Apparently he wanted to have a bit of control for a while, and Daphne was not really willing to give up on her mission. That was until she felt his hands at the waistband of her jeans. It looked as if he wanted the same thing she did.
It wasn't long before they were both quite bare. Daphne was once again on top of Harry and was sliding herself along Harry's length. It was truly intoxicating, the pleasure she was getting just from that act, but she wanted more. She bent to kiss him, while grasping her boyfriend and positioning him. Slowly, as she continued kissing Harry, she began to lower herself onto him.
She took a deep breath as he pressed into her maidenhead. With a gasp, she had lowered herself, forcing him to break the very last barrier between them. She sank onto him, burying Harry inside of her. She saw him looking terrified and shook her head before he could protest. Tracey and Hermione had both told her about this part. She had expected it. The stinging pain of it. She also knew it was temporary and knew that once she began to move the pain would go away. Still, she felt she had to take a moment.
Harry watched Daphne as she lowered herself onto him, and nearly leapt out of bed when she had hissed in pain. It was clear by her expression that she was hurting, but she shook her head before he could do anything. She pressed her palms into his chest to keep him right where he was.
At the same time, he couldn't help take stock of what he was feeling. She was so warm, and velvety soft. She was tight around him, but not uncomfortably so. He watched her face as she opened her eyes and stared into his. Slowly, she began to move on him. It was indescribable, the sensations she was giving him.
Harry reached up to cup her breasts again as she moved up and then slowly back down on him. She began to almost purr with the waves of pleasure that she was now feeling. Daphne let out a low growl of pleasure as Harry sat up and took her nipple into his mouth and began sliding his tongue across it. She held his head tightly to her chest as she ground against him.
Harry tore his mouth away from Daphne's chest and captured her lips, swallowing a long moan of pleasure from Daphne, who was now beginning to speed up her rhythm.
"She had started to feel something building in her stomach. It was growing as the pleasure intensified. She knew exactly what it was, thanks to listening to her friends talk, and wanted very much to experience it for herself. She could tell that Harry was also approaching his own climax, as he was gripping her waist more and more tightly.
Harry suddenly gave out a groan and his hips rose up off the bed driving his manhood deeper inside of her. She could feel his climax inside of her, and on his third deep thrust, her own orgasm crashed down on her. She threw her head back and her eyes rolled back as she cried out. Her thighs spasmed and she clutched at Harry's chest trying to keep from falling backward.
She fell forward onto his chest, gasping for breath, as he snaked his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him, kissing her face breathing just as heavily as she was. Her whole body was tingling with sensation and she could still feel him inside of her, though he was beginning to slip out of her as his excitement ebbed away.
"That was…" She tried to speak, even though she could still hardly breath. "Why did we wait so long again?"
Harry began to laugh as he fully understood what Daphne was talking about. His laugh proved infectious, and Daphne joined in his little giggle fest, kissing him softly.
"I was trying to be noble and not go further than we were ready to go." He smiled. Daphne kissed him deeply.
"Thank you, Harry. Thank you for always thinking of me first, and caring about how I feel. I love you."
"I love you, too." Harry smiled at her, kissing her again. Daphne lay her head on his shoulder, finally catching her breath, and running a hand through Harry's hair.
"Do you think this is why Voldemort's such an arse?" Daphne asked, smiling softly.
"What?" Harry asked, turning to look at her smiling face. Daphne began to laugh again.
"Maybe if he felt what I just felt, he wouldn't be such a wanker. Maybe if he just made love to someone, he'd loosen up and the war would be over." Daphne was now laughing hard, which caused Harry to laugh all the harder.
"Maybe, but now that Bellatrix is dead, I think you'll be hard pressed to any witch willing to make love to that snake faced bastard." Harry said between fits of laughing.
"Oh, now I have really disgusting images of the two of them." Daphne's laughter died away as her face soured. Harry was still laughing and kissed her passionately.
"Maybe I can try and get those out of your head for something more favorable. He said, rolling her onto her back.
"How are you going to do that?" She asked, running her hands up his chest and around his neck. She then felt his manhood pressing into her pelvis, and she grinned.
"I think I might have a way." He smiled before capturing her lips with his own again.
