Chapter 1: The Guardian Angel
Ginny Weasley was a beautiful young woman of fifteen. With her long red hair, brown eyes, and curves developing in all the right places, she was very beautiful. Many boys and men had tried to get her attention, but she had refused them all. Some of them she had to explain this concept to them rather forcefully.
So it was today that she was spending time in Diagon Alley with her best friend Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger just completed her 5th year at Hogwarts and was set to break many of academic records that had stood for hundreds of years. She was considered by far to be the brightest witch Hogwarts had seen since Rowena Ravenclaw herself and had the magical power that was on par with that of Helga Hufflepuff who was well known for her magical power.
Part of her power came from being a natural spell crafter. A spell crafter is a person who makes spells. It normally takes years of study in many advanced fields to become a spell crafter. A natural spell crafter could create spells and work on spells without any training and often was working on up to twenty spells at a time. Hermione already had twelve spells completed and designs for many more in her journal she always kept on her. With the training her boyfriend Ron and his brothers pressed upon her and Ginny, they were a very formative pair.
Diagon Alley, which was the major wizarding enclave in England, was not really an alley. It was a series of small streets, walkways, and alleys that covered an area of almost one square mile of London. This area was covered with many charms and enchantments to make sure that muggles, non magical folks, could not see or enter the wizarding enclave. There were also spells and enchantments that in theory protected those people in Diagon Alley from being attacked by dark witches and wizards. These included anti-portkey and apparition wards.
Many of these protections were created by Albus Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix, a vigilante group whose mission was to stop Lord Voldemort and his followers from taking over the world.
It was for this reason that the two girls were able to walk around Diagon Alley without an armed escort this evening. While both girls had been to Diagon Alley during the day, they had never been at night. Diagon Alley at night had many clubs for younger witches and wizards with loud music, dancing, and a great time by all. Even in the midst of war, this nightly tradition continued to go on, mainly thanks to the work of the Order of the Phoenix who believed that life should be enjoyed even in times of war. As part of the nighttime protections, Order members were stationed throughout the area along with a large number of Aurors from the Ministry of Magic under the command of the Director of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones directly.
The security of the two girls had been the source of much debate within the Order of the Phoenix and with their parents. Hermione was a muggleborn witch, one who was the first magic user in her family was targeted by the pureblood fanatics who were at war with the Ministry of Magic and the Light Side. Add to this that Hermione was a firm supporter of the light side and had begun to date Ginny's brother Ron earlier in the year. The Weasleys, who were pureblood, were considered to be blood traitors by many pureblood fanatics and were very large targets. In fact there had been attempts to kidnap Hermione on a number of occasions because of her gifts, including her eidetic memory.
Ginny, besides being beautiful, was also magically strong and had a temper that would put many dragons to shame according to her brother Charlie who worked with dragons. Like Hermione, there had been many attempts to kidnap Ginny because of her power. Finally the girls said that they were going even if they had to blow a hole in the wall of Headquarters to do it. Albus Dumbledore finally relented, only ask the girls to carry emergency portkeys and their wands. Ron, who understood the needs for freedom the girls were expressing, was forced to remain at Headquarters because he was recovering from a bad cause of Dragon Pox.
But there was another reason why Ginny was such a high level target. During her first year at Hogwarts, Ginny had been possessed by a diary that had been slipped into her books by an unknown person. Though many people believed that Lucius Malfoy, a known supporter of Lord Voldemort during the first war, had done the deed, there was no proof.
How Ginny escaped the possession was still a mystery to everyone. All that was known for sure was that Ginny had appeared in the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts unconscious with a diary and three vials of memories from whoever saved her. Because of her experience with the Dark Object, many people believed, and the Order of the Phoenix's spy in the Death Eaters confirmed it, Lord Voldemort thought that Ginny still had something from the diary within her and he wanted it back.
Besides that, the Weasleys are well known for their large families due to their fertility. This was because the Weasley family an extremely strong family magically. Even over the generations, their power never declined in potency, like many other pureblooded families. Their magic was so strong that contraceptive charms they used often failed because their magic needed an outlet. This also explained why many members of the Weasley family have are Curse Breakers, Aurors, or were in other jobs that demanded large amounts of magic to be used.
In Ginny's case however, there was something else. Until Ginny, a female Weasley had not been born in seven generations. In the wizarding world, seven was the most powerful number there was. Add to the fact that Ginny was the seventh child born in her family and you have a possible combination of her child being very powerful; possibly more powerful than any Weasley in recorded history. This intrigued Lord Voldemort because he could have a very powerful heir if he made Ginny his broodmare. This made her the highest level target for the Death Eaters, behind only the Boy Who Disappeared, Harry James Potter.
"Ron tried so hard to be romantic last night. I mean he made dinner, setup the table out in the garden and had charmed the faerie lights, it was perfect." Hermione said dreamily as the twosome walked down the main street of Diagon Alley to one of the clubs.
"Except that George and Fred decided to ruin it." Ginny said. "How badly did you hex them?" Fred and George were Ginny and Ron's older brothers. They were identical twins in every way and some of the biggest trouble makers known to the world.
"I don't know. I ran away in tears, but when I saw them later, they looked pretty well beaten. I think Ron used his fists on them." Hermione said "As well as a 2x4 or something."
"That's so sweet." Ginny said, gagging only slightly.
"So when are you going to get a boyfriend Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"When I meet Mr. Right; it isn't my fault you met your Mr. Right when you were eleven years old." Ginny snapped. It was a very old argument Ginny had with Hermione and her own mother and she was getting tired of it.
"Alright Ginny, I'm sorry. Come on, let's go get the books and then go back headquarters and eat a bunch of ice cream with Tonks. This night scene isn't any fun without Ron. Nothing personal, but I don't want to dance with you and run my hands all over you." Hermione said as they turned down a quieter street that was almost deserted.
"Thank god for small miracles." Ginny said as they walked towards Flourish & Blots to look at some books.
What neither of them realized was that they were being watched. One person, wearing a dark cloak and staying in the shadows, was a supporter of Lord Voldemort. He knew that if he could deliver the redheaded devil and the spell crafter, he would be honored beyond his wildest dreams. The Dark Lord has already sent his followers to learn how the enchantments of Diagon Alley worked. It was easy to open holes in the wards at night thanks to the cover of darkness and the limited power the moon gave certain people who were in the Dark Lord's Service. They were not werewolves, but people adept at using strange magics.
The other person watching the two girls also wore black, but over it he wore armor made out jet black metal and dragon hide skins and carried a sword on his belt. To top off this outfit, he wore a gray mask that covered his nose and upper face. However what was interesting about this outfit were the wings coming out of the back of the armor.
This figure was also watching the other man, waiting for him to move. The winged man did not have to wait long. As soon as the two girls left the bookstore, the first man made his move. He quickly moved from the shadows and went to stun the two girls. However, the year of hard training they had just undergone in secret paid off.
They quickly stunned the man, and went to activate their portkeys. However, the portkeys did not work. The Death Eaters had added an anti portkey ward to the enchantments of Diagon Alley, making it almost undetectable to anyone. Because of this, the girls did not see the eight other people appear from the shadows all wearing black robes and white masks until they opened fire. As they began to attack the two witches, no one saw the winged man fall from sky until he was on top of them.
Within moments the winged man had subdued four of the individuals, but not before the two girls were hit with stunners. The winged figure began to attack the other four Death Eaters while protecting the fallen girls. Knowing he did not have a lot of time until either more Death Eaters, Aurors or members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived, he quickly launched something from his gauntlet towards the bushy haired girl and mumbled something before she disappeared.
With that done, the winged man grabbed the redhead and disappeared in a flash of flames. The remaining conscious Death Eaters tried to escape but were quickly captured by Aurors who had responded to the attack. They arrived just as the last of the winged man's flames died away.
The winged man appeared in the middle of nowhere. He quickly put the girl down and checked her out using spells and a small device that scanned her body.
'Why in the hell did they go out without any backup? Moody knows better. Even if Merlin cast the spells himself these two are too high of targets!' He mumbled to himself after seeing that there was not much he could do for the redhead. She was still unconscious from the stunner, but she had other issues as well that were well beyond his experience.
"Archangel, this is Grim, do you copy?" A voice said inside the man's ear. He wore a small transceiver that allowed him to talk to other people with the same technology.
"Grim, nine Death Eaters ambushed two high level targets. Seven targets went down to a variety of spells from me and the two targets. The targets tried to use portkeys, but the bastards raised pretty strong portkeys wards. When I took out one of the Death Eaters, the ward dropped. Target one was tagged with a portkey dart and sent to Phoenix HQ stunned by the enemy just as the Portkeys Wards designed by Moody and Shacklebolt snapped into place. Target two is unconscious from the stunner and has other problems. Also target two is my betrothed."
"Bring her home with you Archangel."
The man sighed and with a wave of his hand, Ginny's unconscious body was raised in the air so that he could grab it. Once he was holding her, his wings wrapped around the two of them. He then activated the portkey on his belt buckle and the two of them disappeared.
As if from nowhere, a small creature with bat like eyes and tennis ball eyes appeared and looked around hen nodded in satisfaction. "Winky knows Mistress is taken care of. Mistress is with her Betrothed Guardian Angel finally." With that, the elf stepped into a shadow and disappeared to check on her Miss Hermy.
Ginny moved to open her eyes but decided this was not a great idea. Her head hurt and when she found out whoever drove the lorry thru it was going to get seriously hurt.
"Miss, you should not sleep all day." A soft voice said from next to her. Deciding to try to see who was speaking to her, she opened her eyes.
"This will help you with your headache young one." The voice said.
Ginny took the offered potion and drank it in one gulp. Her headache cleared up and the light seemed to dim around her.
"Besides the headache potion you took, you also took a potion to help counteract the effects of the Maxima Stunners you were hit with as well as a potion also contains the secret for our location." Seeing Ginny's face, the woman answered "Yes young one, we are under a Fidelius Charm. You do not know the secret keeper or the secret itself, but it is within you, allowing you to see the inside."
"I've never heard of a potion like that before. Or for that matter I have never heard of any potions having multiple potions contained within it." Ginny said.
"Of course not, that is because Archangel and Thor invented it." The woman said. Ginny looked over her body and saw that she had what had to be a muggle IV in her hand connected to a drip bag. She knew about them thanks to a decent Muggle Studies teacher in her third year and Hermione.
"You were quite ill child, though you and Poppy Pomfrey did not know it. The effects of the Maxima Stunners had a very bad reaction with what remains from your time with the diary of Tom Riddle. I had to extract the evil essence, which made your body very weak. I am pouring a wide variety of potions into you right now thru the IV tube. Though there is not much more to go as you can see." The woman motioned to the IV bag that almost empty. "I also had to remove the magical blocks on you as well as prepared a message to send to Albus about Miss Granger's condition and that you are safe. I am sure he does not know that she is a pureblood and has various magical blocks."
"What blocks?" Ginny asked.
"In pureblood families, when an infant or toddler produces powerful accidental magic, they bind the child's powers so that they do not hurt themselves. Your powers were bound when you were five days old."
It was now that Ginny took a close look at the woman. She looked to be in late fifties bit was five foot six inches with light brown hair and blue eyes. However the eyes betrayed the woman's age because Ginny could tell that they contained wisdom older than anything she had ever heard of before.
"According to the readings I received from Archangel's scanners, Miss Granger's powers were bound just before her mother left her with her sister when she was just over two years old."
"What about Hermione's mother and what in the bloody hell is a scanner?"
"Miss Weasley, there is very little we do not know. But to answer your first question, Hermione Granger was born Hermione Jane Black. Her father was thrown into Azkaban Prison for a crime he never committed. Shortly before her death, Janice Smith-Black asked her only sister to care for her daughter. Four years later, Hermione's father was released and went to find her daughter. When he did, he asked the Grangers to look after his baby girl because he had to go and avenge those that had taken not only Janice from him, but also the parents of his godson. They agreed and have kept the secret ever since." The woman said.
This startled Ginny. Hermione was a Black, that meant that she was at least a half-blood, if not pureblood. And her father was Sirius Black! What was even more interesting was that he was released from Azkaban, but why? Ginny had more questions than answers.
As if the woman knew what Ginny was thinking she spoke "Sirius Black is innocent and he had a very good reason to disappear, but you shall learn more about this and other things later. For now though, keep this in mind, whenever you have needed help or had something happen to you that you could not explain, one of us was there watching over you."
"Wait a minute, the man with the wings…the one that saved me. He's an archangel isn't he? I read about them in some muggle books when I was younger. But they are myths, even to us. Are you an angel too" Ginny said as she looked at the woman's back for wings.
"No child. I am a witch just like you. I only have many years of knowledge and experience over you."
"You're Perenelle Flamel!" Ginny said as all the pieces fell into place.
"Fifty points to Gryffindor Miss Weasley" Said a male voice from the doorway. "And another fifty points if you can guess who I am."
"You're Nicholas Flamel, the famous alchemist and mentor to Albus Dumbledore." Ginny said "And you also created the Philosopher's Stone!"
"Very good indeed; I see that the rumors are true. You are one of the brightest witches of the age. In fact I would bet it is a close contest between you and your friend Miss Granger. Come child we have much to discuss." Nicholas said. Perenelle quietly checked the IV bag. Seeing it was empty, she removed the IV and made sure Ginny was healed.
"Lord Flamel, where are we?" Ginny asked from her bed.
"I see we still need to work on the Fidelius Potion." Nicholas said. "But that is no matter. Miss Weasley I cannot tell you exactly where we are because I am not the secret keeper. However I will tell you this, we are currently in England in the ancestral castle of one of the ancient and most noble houses of Great Britain." Nicholas said.
"Why was I brought here?"
"Because you were injured in the skirmish between one of our associates and Death Eaters" Said a third unknown voice.
The voice belonged to a young man about the same age of her brother Charlie. He was just over six feet tall with broad shoulders. He had a very nice tan that worked well with his long black hair that was kept in a tight ponytail. In one ear was a piercing in the shape of a phoenix. However, it was the eyes that drew Ginny's attention. They were a shocking gray and held contained a raging power that seemed waiting to get out. He wore impeccable robes open, made of silk with the finest muggle clothing underneath.
"Good evening Miss Weasley, I am James Black, President and Chief Executive Officer of BPG Investments. It is an honor to meet you." James said.
"What is this? Some kind of joke; you're either wearing glamours or are a metamorphmagus." This shocked James and Nicholas, but not Perenelle. "And why is there some kind of bond between us? There looks like a life debt, which would make you the Archangel who saved me at Diagon Alley, but there are other bonds too including I think another life debt. So what in the bloody hell is going on?"
"I take you can see magic, child?" Perenelle said.
"Since I was eleven; it was a parting gift from when Tom's diary possessed me." Ginny said hotly, wanting an explanation.
Seeing that the charade they had used for years was crumbing thanks to this girl, Nicholas knew there was only one option "James, it is time come clean to Miss Weasley. She needs to know any way to prepare."
James looked at Ginny before sighing in defeat. "Fine, come Miss Weasley, this will take a while to explain." James escorted the group out of the infirmary and towards a sitting room where his life's story would be told.
Meanwhile in London, Hermione Granger was still unconscious from the stunners that had hit her. No one knew exactly how she arrived in the kitchen of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix hours ago now except that it was some sort of untraceable portkey. This portkey also caused her to arrive above the table and was magically lowered to the table by some unknown magic to everyone in the house.
After being examined by Albus Dumbledore and Poppy Pomfrey, the Order's mediwitch, she was taken to a room to rest. Her boyfriend Ron Weasley, still sick from Dragon Pox, had refused to leave her side since then almost a day ago now. Ron was no longer contagious, but still breathing fire and was easily irritable, which was why he could not go with the girls to Diagon Alley.
"Any change?" Dumbledore asked as he entered the room.
"No sir." Ron said, trying to control his temper and his guilt. "I don't get it, she was with Ginny. According to Snape, Ginny is not with the Death Eaters, and yet there were various reports that she was taken from Diagon Alley by someone. I should have been there to help them."
"It is Professor Snape firstly, remember that. Also, I received a note from an unknown phoenix minutes ago saying that Miss Granger was hit with multiple Maxima Stunners. These are eight times more powerful than a regular stunner. It also said that Miss Weasley was safe, but could not return to us for some time due to her injuries. The letter writer also sent some potions that are supposed to help Miss Granger. I have Severus looking over them right now to make sure they are what they appear to be." Dumbledore explained.
Seeing that this information was not calming the young man down, Dumbledore tried another tactic. "Ronald, you are still sick. If you would have been there, you might have been killed. Hermione and Ginny are wanted alive, you, like the rest of us, are expendable to the Death Eaters."
"I still should have gone!" Ron shouted leaping to his feet.
"Incarcerous!" Dumbledore whispered as ropes flew out of his wand towards Ron.
Ron dodged the spells and yelled "Stupefy Maximus" at the Headmaster who dodged the spell and fired what looked like a Killing Curse at Ron. Ron froze and let the green light hit him. However, nothing happened to him.
"That is why you did not go Ronald. Dragon Pox not only dulls your reaction time and reasoning skills, but it also makes the person infected behave differently when exposed to different colors. If you would have gone, you would have been killed because the green of the Killing Curse causes someone with Dragon Pox to freeze as if petrified." Dumbledore explained.
"Oh." Ron said to his Headmaster, feeling stupid for attacking the old man and not understanding the effects of his illness.
"Fear not dear boy, I only learned this lesson after I was much older than you are now. It almost cost me my life. If not for the quick reflexes of a certain animagus, I would not be here. However, on that note, you should know that your Maxima Stunner was very impressive. I assume that was the first tim you cast it?"
"Yes sir. It was the first spell I thought of, probably because of what it did to Hermione." Ron said looking at girlfriend.
"Fear not Ronald. She will be fine, I promise." Dumbledore said as he cast a spell on Hermione, checking her vitals. "Your training with your brothers has been paying off very well. If I were a lesser wizard or nowhere as lucky as I am, I would have been taken down by that spell." The Headmaster told Ron absentmindedly. Satisfied with the readings, he turned his attention to Ron again. "Now sit down, take you potion and be here for your girlfriend." Dumbledore turned to leave the room. When he reached the door, he spoke again.
"And Ronald."
"Yes sir."
"Next time you duel in tight spaces remember to use everything in the room to your advantage. Magical power can be a hindrance in small spaces. You must out think your opponent." And with that the Headmaster left the room, watching the tactician he left behind looking at everything he could use in the room.
The Headmaster walked into the sitting room of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. The House had been left to the Order of the Phoenix in trust of Minerva McGonagall for use as their Headquarters by Sirius Black. This had made Albus think about why the betrayer of the Potters would leave a house to their avengers. It was a question that could only be answered by visiting Azkaban and talking to Sirius.
But that would have to wait, the letter that explained Ginny was safe also explained to check Hermione for magical blocks and that she was wearing a very strong glamour that was being powered from her own magical core. When the blocks were removed, her appearance would change and she would remember things from when she was a child.
This left Dumbledore with many more questions than answers, which is something he was not used to. However the letter did say that his questions would be answered within the month.