Chapter 2: Changes.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I was out of town on a college trip. Also, my updates will be few and far between since college has re-opened. Best check up every Wednesday or Saturday. I can update mostly on these two days.

Also, still looking for Beta readers.

I have also started a new story called 'Shadow Warrior'. Please do read it.

Harry Potter does not belong to me in any manner etc,etc.


He was panting hard from the exertion. The adrenaline from the chase was slowly fading away and with it, the fear and despair too. However he had to be cautious. Too much had taken place in the short period of time. Things were getting out of control. He had to find a place to hide till he could contact Gray. Only he would be able to save him.

He heard a twig snap in the distance and knew that they were close by. The adrenaline started pumping once again. However there was a distinct lack of fear this time. He knew what had to be done. And he would do it or die trying.

And with that he pulled his hood up to cover his distinctive blond hair and the chase was on again.


It had been six months since that fateful night that Neville had lost someone very close to him. He and Luna had spent a lot of time with each other during his sixth and seventh years in Hogwarts. Two misfits, who found a strange kinship with each other. One who was constantly teased by her own house, the other who felt like he did not belong in his house.

Both had been brought together by the one person who looked beyond houses. He had accepted them for who they were, and never expected much from them. It was he who had seen beneath Luna's false mask that hid her insecurities and he was also the one that had instilled confidence in Neville. And that is why, they had the utmost respect for Harry. Respect no adult had received from them.

And that is why, even when Harry had warned them of the perils of fighting on his side, both Neville and Luna had joined the Gray Order under the code names of Leo and Owl respectively. Although the Order consisted of barely twenty members, and each member knew the other, all official Order work was carried out using the code names. In fact, Neville got a secret thrill everytime someone used his codename.

Being in the Order had changed them both. No longer was he the fat, chubby boy who had problems with his spell-work. By the time he had finished his training, he had become a well-built adult, with loads of confidence, and a dash of humbleness. Even Luna had changed. The mask of 'Loony Lovegood' was now used only amongst strangers. When she was with the Order, everyone could see the intelligence that had made the hat place her in Ravenclaw. Another thing that changed was her speed. She was the fastest duelist in the Order, except for Harry and Shadow. In fact, when she wasn't researching or hanging out with Neville, Luna spent her time dueling Shadow. And most often, they ended in a draw.

His thoughts went back to the fateful night, when the Order completed its final mission. Along with Luna, his mission was to protect the unicorn foals of the forest while the adult unicorns were helping Harry in his battle. The centaurs had also helped in protecting the herd. While they refused to participate in the battle, Harry had convinced them to help protect the young foals. This had the added advantage of freeing other members for other missions.

Suddenly a group of death-eaters surrounded them with a large number of dementors. Using the advanced patronus that Harry had taught all the Order members, the young couple destroyed each and every dementor that the death-eaters had brought along with them. At the same time, the centaurs were systematically killing or maiming the DEs with their arrows and their own brand of magic.

You see, centaur magic, unlike wizard magic, was tied intimately with nature. The centaurs did not have a magical core of their own. However, they had a connection with nature that surpassed the connection any other creature had. They could pray to Mother Earth to bend vines in any way they pleased, sprout trees from mere seeds, or even create arrows by mere thought. And they used this power to a full extent that day. More than half of the DEs had been killed by arrows that arrived out of nowhere. Many had been captured in strong vines. Most of their wands had been integrated into the forest, giving back power to Mother Earth. Some were hanging high on the trees, a strong whack on their head effectively stunning them.

By this time, all the dementors had been destroyed. The young couple were just congratulating each other when Luna's eyes widened in horror. Before Neville could realize what was happening she had thrown herself in front of a mass cutting spell aimed for the unicorns. The spell worked like shotgun bullets. As the distance between the shooter and the target increased, the area covered by the spell increased. However, Luna combated it by jumping right in front of the spell, making sure that no projectiles flew past her. The next second the Death Eater's head had been sliced clean by a Centaur. But the damage had been done.

The cutting curse by itself would have been hard to heal, especially since Luna was the healer of the team. However, at point blank range, not even Phoenix tears could have healed Luna. Even magic had its limits.

Now, many months later, Neville figured the small amount of seer talent Luna possessed must have shown her that the unicorns needed her that night. And how much ever he wished that it was not the case, he realized that the path taken by Luna was the only path available at that time. He just hoped that Luna was finally happy with her parents in their next adventure, as Dumbeldore put it.

He was shaken out of his morbid thoughts by a hoarse voice in his head, saying "Operation capture complete. Ready for stage 2."

With a huge grin, Neville hurried out of his house and apparated to the headquarters.


"Did you really think you could escape us Potter?"

Blinking away the effects of the forced apparition, Harry focused his eyes on two grinning red heads, although he could see the concern for him in their eyes.

"Hello Gred and Forge. How might you be this fine evening?" Harry playfully bantered.

"Quite well your highness. And Fred dear, Neville owes us a galleon."

"What for George?" Harry asked, not surprised that Neville had placed a bet with the twins.

Ever since Neville had joined the Order, the twins and he had gotten along like oil and fire. Placing bets had become somewhat of a ritual for the three, and it was not surprising to hear that every meeting involved passing of moneybags between them.

"That's because I was stupid enough to think that you would be upset if they kidnapped you." Neville's voice came from the entrance of the room.

"Well normally I would have been. However I find myself too happy to care."

"And would this be why we could kidnap you so easily?" Fred queried

"Uh-huh"

"Do tell us more Harry. Have you finally found some-one for a late night romp?" came George's response.

"Oh I certainly found someone. But its not for a late night romp. Is there anyone else in the headquarters?"

"No, its just us four."

Placing the strongest privacy charm, that caused the other boys to raise their eyebrows, Harry bade them to sit down.

"Well, it all happened like this.."

"Wow, Harry, a daughter huh. That's…that's.."

"Amazing"

"Astounding"

"Astonishing"

"Awesome"

"I'm out of 'A's Fred"

"Me too George."

"So when can I meet her."

"You Neville, can meet her any time. However you two poets, I'll make you suffer for kidnapping me."

"Come on Harry."

"Please"

"Pretty please"

"With sugar on top"

"Don't forget the cherry."

"Alright you two horrible chefs, stop quibbling. First tell me why I was kidnapped and then we can go visit my daughter."

That caused the smiles to fade slightly from the twins' face. The two looked at each other trying to decide who would tell Harry. However, it was Neville who answered the question.

"We've found Shadow, Gray."

This stunned Harry into silence. He had finally received the news he had been waiting for more than seven months. However before he could rejoice, the next few words turned his blood cold.

"He's in a bad state Harry. Broken bones, fractures, cracked ribs. His left hand had to be amputated. He had been tortured extensively using both muggle and magical means. He is currently on life support in Germany. That's where we found him, being held by DEs."

"Will he be okay?"

"Yes, the worst has passed." This came from Fred. "However, we still can't transport him for at least two weeks. So I have sent Runner and Sight to assist the healers. Also, Rage is with them so I wouldn't worry too much."

"And the DEs?"

"All eliminated except their leader Lucius Malfoy. How he could do that to is own son, I'll never know. However the rest of the crew, Pop, Darts and Poker are escorting him to the holding. They should be here by tomorrow."

Harry heaved a sigh. He wasn't afraid for the three. He knew they could handle Lucius easily. However, he needed to see Shadow with his own eyes. Realizing that he would have to wait he forced himself to brighter thoughts.

"So who wants to meet Alina?"

With that four men left the building and popped back to Harry's house, with an unspoken agreement that they would enjoy the day with Harry's daughter, and their troubles would be pushed to the next day.


The four people entered Harry's house to find Alina laughing and playing with Dobby and Winky. From what could be seen, Winky had been turned completely pink (including her dress) while Dobby's ears were now twice their original length, making him completely unsteady. And though the two elves could have easily solved their problems with elf-magic, they simply chose to ignore it in favour of playing with their mistress.

Standing to the side and laughing his ass off was a man with jet black hair and trendy glasses. He wore a brown muggle trench coat over his white shirt and black pants. His hair had been tied into a pony, while a necklace, with a wolf pendant hung around his neck. He had a handsome, chiseled face with slight facial hair. His firm jaws were shaking with mirth at the innocent sight in front of him.

"Professor Rogan!"

Artemis Rogan was a man respected by all the Order. After all, a man who could work with the various different personalities of the order members and who had trained them to the men and women they became. He had a cheerful personality that contradicted his ruthlessness in battle. Even the goblins respected his dueling, and would contract him for their toughest jobs. He had been recommended to the Order by Quick-claw himself, first as an instructor, and then as a member.

"Hey Leo, Bookends. Gray, your daughter sure is following in the Marauder's footsteps."

"Well, she is my daughter. What more did you expect?"

"Well considering your face…" Fred.

"..which is quite handsome, by the way.." George.

"..and your description.."

"..we thought she would be some angelic looking, goody-two shoes."

"Riiight. And like Harry is an angel. Do I need to remind you two idiots about the time he stuck you both to the roof and covered you with feathers? Or the time.." Neville now

"Ok. Ok. We get it. Marauders are the kings. We are just their humble minions."

During the conversation, Harry had gently removed Alina from the elves. Seeing the guests, the two elves popped to the kitchen after removing the charms used by the young girl. The girl in question was now snuggling happily in Harry's arms, the craving for the touch of her father satisfied. She looked curiously at the men her father had brought along with him.

"Alina, I'd like you to meet Professor Rogan. The lanky, brown-haired guy is your uncle Neville, while the two ugly clones are uncle Fred and uncle George."

Turning to look at them, Harry saw tears in the eyes of his closest friends. Except for Rogan. Harry had seen him cry just once, and he was not the only one who cried that day. Rogan was smiling so hard, Harry swore he could see all thirty-two teeth the man possessed.

"Uncle?" squeaked Neville.

"Of course. You are my brothers aren't you? Then logically that makes you her uncles."

The twins, in typical fashion, showed their appreciation by eating Parrot Pops and changing into two large parakeets. They flew over the now laughing girl, parroting 'Polly wants a cracker' over and over again. Once they were back to normal (or as normal as they could be), Dobby interrupted them by announcing that their dinner was ready.

"Professor, will you be joining us?"

"Yes I will, if you don't mind. I would like to spend some time with your daughter. And I would like to hear the complete story from your mouth, Harry."


Dinner was a fun and messy affair. They started off on a somber tone with Harry explaining his mission, while the others listened with morbid curiosity. The mood was broken by a small bag of terror, who felt that she had had enough food. Alina then had fun popping her food on others with her spoon. This led to one of the best food fights in Harry's life, which finally ended with Winky scolding everyone for acting like children and Dobby, who had pudding on his head, cleaning Alina. As they were lounging in the guest room, Rogan asked a question that was present in the back of Harry's mind.

"So Harry, have you read these letters yet?"

"No not yet. How about this. We'll read them after Alina has gone to sleep. Till then I want to play with my daughter."

And with acknowledgements all around, little Alina found herself playing with her many uncles until she finally fell asleep.

A/N : Wow, my longest chapter till date.

Next time, letters from a mother.

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