Lady Saint.

The Break in.

Lara was feeling jumpier than normal. Lady Saint lived a life of constant pressure, constant danger and fear of discovery and imprisonment. Just because you covered your tracks didn't instantaneously mean you were safe all the time. There was always the possibility someone could break in, a kid perhaps, and find evidence that Lara was Lady Saint. Not a nice thing to happen to her.

But Lara knew and understood why she was jumpy. If it was as simple as the cops she wouldn't be so worried, she knew how to handle the police.

The Wizard she'd bumped into. Her aunt's basic description ( plus her own memories her niece had thoughtfully taken from her ) told Lady Saint exactly who the wizard had been.

Severus Snape.

Lady Saint knew the wizard only by reputation. He was a potions master and the teacher of potions at Hogwarts, plus he was the head of Slytherin house, whom he favoured.

He was also a Death eater.

That also beggared the question - if a death eater was working at Hogwarts, why was Dumbledore keeping him when he was a security risk ?

It had been a good 4 weeks since the incident but Lara was sure that wasn't the end of the matter. Her brother Harry was dead, not that Lara particularly cared, but he had been the boy who lived. Now, it turned out she was the one to defeat Lord Voldemort all those years ago.

Lara didn't care what the magical world was going through, but that didn't mean that she going to put up with them intruding on her life. Besides, she would've been dumb if she hadn't been aware of the wizards outside her house right that moment.

Outside the manor, the order was watching as Lara got into a car and drove off, closing the gates behind her and locking them securely.

Dumbledore glanced at Bill, who was concentrating and using his wand to try and break down the wards. The Order had been amazed to discover a number of highly dangerous, but practical wards on the manor.

Bill was concentrating hard for a moment, then he broke away, panting. " I can't…can't do it, the wards are too strong."

Dumbledore came up to him, his face friendly, even though he was masking his impatience. The girl was proving to be a sly one and a dangerous witch to boot. She was expected to be a light witch, but right now….

" What ever is the matter, William ?"

Bill turned to him, beads of sweat running down his face, " I don't know what you expected Dumbledore, but this girl is a genius. I can't identify the wards, they're too powerful. I'd say they were goblin wards, but they can't be because the goblins don't ward like this."

" how are the wards different ?" asked a puzzled Lily Potter. All she wanted was to hug her daughter to death.

Bill sighed, " Normal wizarding wards are basically barriers, held up by the family and the family head. They're easy to break. But this one is like an invisibility cloak. I can't tell where the ward begins or even where it ends. I know one thing, I daren't try and attack it. The ward itself is too powerful."

Dumbledore shook his head. " There is too much at stake. I will help you break the ward down, hopefully between us we can break the ward down completely to a point it'll collapse."

A small distance away, above them in the trees in fact, Lara was watching the group. She'd been watching them for a while, noting their numbers, preparing for a move. She almost laughed out loud at their pathetic attempts to bring her wards down.

Idiots, could they not tell that the ward structure was not the same as those of other witches and wizards ?

Apparently not.

Lara closed her eyes and focused her mind on the wards of the manor. They were not even being scratched let alone poised on the verge of collapse. The wards were holding their own.

Then Lara made a decision.

Let them enter only the living room and the whole of the downstairs floor, do not let them go upstairs, she sent to the wards.

Bill Weasley was a professional curse breaker for Gringotts bank. The number of wards he'd broken down were endless, but even so he knew when the wards were supposed to come down. Ward breaking wasn't like laying siege to a castle's gates it was more complicated than that.

When he felt the wards of this manor break down, he was surprised. The wards themselves were incredibly complex and he applauded the way Lara potter had structured them. Why would they suddenly collapse then ?

Dumbledore's annoyingly cheerful voice broke in on his thoughts, " Congratulations, Mr Weasley. You've broken in."

The old man's eyes were twinkling brightly. So the girl wasn't as problematic as he'd suspected. This was going to be too easy. He didn't notice the suspicious looks Snape and indeed Lily Potter give the manor's walls.

Bill nodded, careful not to reveal his suspicions.

The order moved through the house and Lily and James took the time to learn something about their wayward daughter. She certainly lived well. The manor wasn't as opulent as Potter Manor, that manor was filled with fine furniture and heirlooms and souvenirs the Potter family had gathered over the centuries. This place was simpler, more Spartan. There was only the smallest necessities of life, the colours were darker - purples, blues and green with red.

Lily was looking around the living room looking with Hermione Granger, who was looking carefully through the drawers of a dresser. There were pictures of Lara on the wall along with friends, there was one with her wearing the graduation robes of Salems school. She looked a happy with her friends.

" That could pose a problem," Dumbledore's voice said from behind her.

Lily turned round to face the headmaster, " How could it be a problem ?"

" I was hoping we could persuade her to attend Hogwarts, the Ministry is also thinking of doing that. This picture proves it cannot be done." Dumbledore said, not liking this new information.

He'd hoped that once at Hogwarts he could wear down the girl into accepting him as a mentor, but the way she stood there in that damned photograph, her eyes the same hard and mocking quality Severus had described during the last meeting, those eyes seemed to say, " Gottcha."

James had by this point come in and saw the pictures of his daughter sitting on a beach, riding a horse, swimming with whales and sharks and the one of her in the Salem school's graduation robes, just looking at her in those robes and holding that scroll made him upset. Every Potter had attended Hogwarts, all except Lara. The potters had written her off the school roster and now were regretting that decision. Voldemort revealing the truth had ripped a gaping wound in the two Potters, they had been hoping that they could persuade Lara to go to Hogwarts and live a normal life with them.

That picture was ruining his hopes and prayers.

The rest of the order was looking around, Tonks herself had bumped and knocked down 3 plants in just a small amount of time. Molly Weasley had wandered into the kitchen, Arthur Weasley was literally pissing himself at the muggle appliances, but he couldn't touch them, just like his wife couldn't fiddle with the cooker and microwave.

The order all walked into the living room where the Potters and Dumbledore were sitting, looking like they belonged here.

" We now need to wait, I believe Lara will be coming back soon," Dumbledore said.

" Damn right I'm coming back, in fact I'm already here."

The order jumped at the sound of the voice. They looked around to see a tall, black haired woman wearing a pair of muggle jeans and t shirt. They didn't need to confirm her identity, she looked so much like Lily it was scary, but it was her eyes that were different.

They were icy and fiery at the same time.

They didn't notice her holding something in her hand…

Dumbledore stood up, hand outstretched and a smarmy smile on his face, " Lara, my dear girl…."

He was brutally interrupted by Lara pointing something at him, Hermione, Snape and Lily all recognised the weapon as a gun, but Dumbledore, being a pure blood wizard, ignored the danger. The stupid man kept walking, the fool smile still on his face, until there was a pfft noise.

Dumbledore suddenly let out a yelp as he held on to his hand, a graze on it.

Lara pointed the gun at the order, who had their wands out.

" Don't move and try not to damage my possessions, like the stupid pink haired metamorphamagus did. Yes, I know what you are, your hair kept changing colours as you clumsily walked through my home," she added at the look of shock on the faces of the order.

Lara looked at all of them, contempt on her face, " Did you really think I was going to rely on such a crude method of defending my home ? Are you really that thick ? I told the wards to let you in, so then I could cripple one or two of you. By the way, don't point your wands at me, there is a dampening field around this manor that is keyed to my own magic. You can't perform any magic of any kind." She smiled.

Ron Weasley decided to prove he was a powerful wizard by that point. He aimed his wand at Lara and shouted " Stupefy !"

Nothing happened.

Lara smirked, " idiot. I know you, yeah, you're my late idiot brothers former friend, you and the bushy haired girl. What did you expect, did you expect me to be so vulnerable that I would become your friend ? I don't make friends with morons or bookworms."

The contempt in Lara's voice brought them all up. This was not how they'd expected this to go, they'd assumed Lara would welcome her parents with open arms.

Remus tried to move close to her, only for the gun to be brought to bear on him, " Don't. I don't know why you think breaking into my home is a wise move, but I can tell you this, its one of the last mistakes you'll ever make."

Lara turned round to face Dumbledore, " Why did you come ?"

Dumbledore decided to try and gain some control of the situation and persuade the girl to come with them.

" We need you back in the magical world, your parents are grieving for the loss of their son, your brother -."

" No they're not, your little puppet told me the truth, he told me that stupid moron of a dark lord pointed the wand at me, not my useless brother. My parents cared for only one thing when I last saw them as a child. Fame. They couldn't stand me because I didn't have a cut on my forehead. Did it not occur to you, not ever, to see whether I had a mark on my body ? I did. I had it removed, killing the parasite instantly." Lara said, enjoying the looks of shock on the order and especially, Dumbledore's faces.

Dumbledore tried to bluff, " You must attend Hogwarts for your education Lara. You wouldn't want to go through life without an education in magic now would you ?"

Lara looked at him as if he was a lunatic, " I saw your face as you looked at the picture of me wearing the graduation robes of Salem's school for sorcery. Besides, you and my dear parents didn't seem to care when you wrote me off the school roster for Hogwarts when I was 5 years old. Oh yes, did you not think I didn't know ? Pity your authority only allows you to do something like that at Hogwarts, Magical America would prosecute you if you tried that with them."

Lara sneered at her parents, " idiots. Did you really think I wouldn't have been educated ? Besides, you can't take custody of me. Ever. I'm emancipated now, thanks to the president of magical America. I did the Americans a few favours a few years back. They were more than happy to help, especially after I gave them memories of what you two fools did along with Dumbledore."

Lily burst into tears at that point, self loathing filling every pore in her body, whilst Lara looked on, unaffected by her mother's tears.

She turned to face Dumbledore, " As for you, why did you decide to break into my house ? Is that what you people do in this stupid country, break in to people's homes to persuade them to come to the magical world ?"

Lara didn't wait for a response, she pointed her gun in Lily's face, " Stop crying, you don't deserve that right in front of me."

" Get out of my house." She ordered.

James decided to try and make amends, but deep down he knew it was hopeless. Lara had already shown she was unforgiving and didn't want to have anything to do with the magical world. But he had to try, no matter what Dumbledore wanted.

Dumbledore had a different idea about Lara but all James wanted was to cuddle the girl and try and fill the gaping hole in his heart. Lily was still crying but not as hard as before.

" Lara, please…." he trailed off, only to be interrupted brutally.

" Please. Please daddy, don't shut me in a dark room. I can't see. Please mummy, please don't take my teddy bear. He's the only friend I actually have," Lara mocked in a childlike voice.

Her voice hardened, " Please. Please. That's all I said to you, wasn't it ?"

Lara took a deep breath. She was going to enjoy this, even though it was wrong. " Did poor beautiful sweet Harry die painfully, without his mummy and daddy to cuddle him ?"

Hermione shouted angrily, " how dare you ? Have you no heart ? Your parents are heartbroken enough as it is without you mocking them!"

Lara glared at her, " I do have a heart, thankfully it recovered from the pain and grief it suffered from my dear parents neglect. Heartbroken, I don't think so. For one thing, they don't have hearts that can be broken. They've been feeding off my brother's fame and adulation since the cradle. Now the truth is revealed they want me in the spotlight, so they can feed off me the same way a leech feeds on blood."

Lara faced both her parents, who were trying to hold back their tears. " I don't know what you people hoped to achieve here today, but you didn't achieve it. You've lost everything, you've thrown away your individuality in favour of the word of an old moron with a penchant for not investigating and getting the full facts before making a decision. You are everything I despise, the worst sin of individuality."

Lara decided at that point to reveal who she was. She turned to Hermione, " You're a muggle born yes ?"

Hermione wasn't sure what to make of the Potter girl, other than the fact she despised the Potters, so her question surprised the bushy haired witch.

" Yes," She replied softly, wondering where Lara was going with this.

" Have you ever heard of….Lady Saint ?" Lara asked quietly.

Hermione was even more puzzled, even though the rest of the order was puzzled, " Of course I have, she's a master criminal and thief."

Lara pretended to look like she was complimented. " Why, thank you. I do believe you've made me blush. Have I blushed darling ?"

Hermione stared at her in disbelief, " You are Lady Saint ? You ?"

" Look in the top right hand draw of the dresser."

Hermione walked slowly towards the dresser and opened the draw. She took out a scrapbook and opened it.

Inside was a number of newspaper, magazine and police reports. All of them related to Lady Saint.

Hermione looked up at Lara, her face now fearful. " You…you really are…her…aren't you ? You are Lady Saint ?"

James wanted answers and he wanted them right now, " Excuse me, we don't understand this. Who is Lady Saint ?"

Lara looked over at Hermione, " Tell them, tell them who I am."

Hermione gulped. " Lady Saint is a master criminal. She's an assassin, a cat burglar, a vigilante and crime fighter. She's also stolen priceless works of art. Last I heard it was the Mona Lisa. It was returned after 3 months."

Hermione finished up, " She destroyed an entire crime family, killing the lot, whilst proving their criminal activities. She is also relentless, resourceful and determined."

Lily looked at her daughter, her eyes puffy and red with tears, " You're a thief ?"

Dumbledore also piped in, " You are a killer ?", his voice judgemental.

Lara sneered, her face not showing remorse for her actions. " How else was I to survive in the world ? I was alone, in the cold, with no shelter. I had no support of any kind. Oh, once or twice I would encounter gangs that were kind enough to take me in. I learnt the tricks of the trade from them. I learnt about every criminal, every connection in London and a good number of other cities around the world. Over the years, I had no choice but to kill. Its kill or be killed, Dumbledore. Besides, who are you to judge me ? Name one powerful wizard who hasn't killed. Merlin, the founders, did they too not kill ?"

Lara breathed in, " You have no right to judge me, now get out."

The order vanished as the wards banished them from the property. Lara closed her eyes and reigned in her anger and breathed in and out slowly.

That wasn't a pleasant meeting.

A/n What do you think ?