DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: It is by JKR's writing alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the grace of coffee that thoughts acquire speed, the back acquires strains, the strains become a warning. The warning is that I make no money from this. It is by JKR's writing alone I set my mind in motion.

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged." – Samuel Johnson – Englishwriter and moralist – 1709-1784

LAST UPDATED: 01-08-2014

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CHAPTER NINE – GRIM TIDINGS

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HOLLAND PARK, LONDON, SEPTEMBER 27th 1996 – EVENING

Marcus Flint was excited but nervous at the same time. Tonight was probably one of the most important night of his young life. It wasn't enough that he had stalked a Squib, raped her, killed her and displayed the defaced corpse to spread terror and thus earned his Dark Mark. Now he had to prove worthy of being considered a true Death Eater in battle.

Isaac Avery had been very clear in his orders before sending them out. This could be an easy mission to bushwhack members of the Order of the Phoenix as they apparated in or it could go south quickly if Dumbledore showed up. Mr. Avery had stressed the very real possibility both possibilities could happen.

Mr. Avery had also been blunt about the fact that while the Dark Lord had high hopes about the mission's success he wasn't about to send his best people. So the team would be headed by the arch-traitor Pettigrew along with those Death Eaters new to the Mark with enough older Death Eaters to keep an eye on them. Before they had left Avery told them they needed to succeed and to prove themselves worthy but also not to be stupid and over-confident. After the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries, the Death Eaters could not afford to spend the lives of their members carelessly.

Flint grunted softly to himself at how surprised the new recruits had been when Pettigrew of all people gave a decent pep talk prior to them apparating close to where they knew Grimmauld Place was. As a one-time captain of the Slytherin House Quidditch team, Flint had made many such speeches so he knew a good one when he heard it.

Of course he wondered how his old beaters would feel given that both Crabbe and Goyle Sr. was part of the strike team. Flint couldn't help but think that their inclusion meant they were expendable even if both came from old families long associated with the Dark.

Pettigrew had told them how they should not lose heart that Mr. Avery had practically called them all disposable. He told them how the Dark Lord rewarded loyalty and results. Had he not been one of the lowest of the Death Eaters, one looked down upon by the others? Yet had it not been he who gave the Dark Lord the Potters? Had he not been the one loyal enough to seek him out and give up his own hand to give the Dark Lord his new body? Pettigrew had fired them up by telling them that when their mask went on, their titles, wealth and bloodlines all meant nothing. Only the results were what matter to the Dark Lord.

This had hit Marcus Flint especially hard since results were something he had failed at again and again. He had been the Quidditch captain who allowed Gryffindor to take away the Cup for the first time in over a decade. Then he had flunked his NEWTs thinking that he could bribe his way into passing and so had to repeat his Seventh Year. His family was furious with him and had told him that any more failures by him would get him thrown out of the family. Unlike many Pureblood families, Marcus had a younger brother who was more than willing to become the Flint heir.

Successfully gaining the Dark Mark was only the first part of regaining his honor in the eyes of his family. He had to shine and now was the time with Draco being beaten twice now by Potter and Lucius in Azkaban after his failure own failure against the Boy-Who-Lived. So the time was ripe for House Flint to rise up and take what should rightfully be theirs!

Flint's grandiose dreams were interrupted when a teenage girl came around the corner. She was happily skipping and laughing, calling back for her companions to keep up with her. Flint squinted; it was hard to see with so much of the street either in the light of the streetlamps or in what seemed to be utter darkness. One of his companions had earlier remarked how the Black House seemed to suck out the light around the neighborhood even under the Fidelius charm.

Earlier, when they had apparated in, they found no trace of Grimmauld Place. Pettigrew had merely shrugged and said the Dark Lord had felt it was probable a new Fidelius charm would be cast before they got there. It was enough they knew it was in the area and so he moved them into concealed positions to cover the likely places wizards would use to apparate in unnoticed. Pettigrew had obviously guessed right as Flint got a closer look at the teenager.

Flint recognized the girl even before he saw Potter and the pink-haired auror they had been briefed about trailing behind her. She was a mudblood from Hufflepuff in the same year as Potter. From the looks on her face and that of Potter it looked like they had just finished up a date. This was too perfect! Suddenly all the careful briefings and plans that Pettigrew had drilled into them were forgotten as Flint was consumed with the desire to finally get revenge on Potter for making him look like a fool before Slytherin House.

Flint was moving without conscious thought; he broke cover and he raised his wand. The killing curse needed to be driven by hate and his hatred of Potter would be enough. Potter would suffer before he died as he watched his date fall in the first move towards greatness by House Flint!

"Avada Kedavra!"

OoOoO

What a fucking moron to lead with a spell which took so much power and took awhile to say! Harry thought as he pulled Lilith towards him with his wandless magic. She fell into a heap at his feet with a startled shout as he started casting spells. His first one was a mere stunner but it was a quick spell and one he had practiced tirelessly and taught so often with the D.A. that it easily leapt from his wand with barely a murmur. The stunner nailed the Death Eater who had cast the killing curse dead center in the chest which caused him to spin into some trash bins.

Beside him Tonks swore as a nasty spell barely missed her as she moved to back Harry up. Spells started to rain down from the darkness of the small walk-about park across the street. Harry could hear pops of apparition coming from the darkness. Harry realized that the Death Eaters must have been widely covering the area since with the new Fidelis charm they couldn't quite know where exactly Grimmuald Place was. Now the Death Eaters were congregating their numbers which was very bad news.

Harry knew he needed a distraction so he could create some cover so he cast an Aquamenti spell and really pushed his magic behind it to create a vast stream of water like that from a fireman's hose. He heard a few surprised cries as he quickly hosed down the area before he unleashed his real attack. He knelt and with a quick stab touched his wand to the trail of water he had created that led to his attackers, "Fulmen Spinis!"

Blue-white lighting crackled and electricity spread through the water. The earlier surprised cries turned to shouts of pain. Harry had known he wouldn't be able to do much damage with this spell under these conditions but he was sure it bought him some precious seconds.

Sprawled at his feet, Lilith gasped as she saw Harry's eyes roll back as he cast a powerful Protego charm to protect himself while making a gesture with his left hand and a Mini across the street shuddered and suddenly flipped onto its side. It skidded across the pavement to stop in front of Harry.

"Bloody Hell!" Tonks yelled. She was obviously as gobsmacked as Lilith was. Lilith held her wand tightly and rolled into a crouch. She wanted to help!

"Stop!" Lilith was shocked to see Harry looking at her with a cold look with blood oozing out from his nose. "Stay here and stay hidden! Let Tonks and I deal with this! Do this for me!"

Harry then seemed to be a blur of motion as he sprinted up the street to take cover behind another car which was rapidly hit with various curses. The car's lights began to blink and the car alarm triggered by the impact of the spells began to go off.

Harry paused behind the car as its horn blared. The noise reminded him that he was either up against some stupid Death Eaters or very green ones…or both. Even with the car alarm, Harry could hear the incantations being cast against him. Harry hadn't learned silent casting of spells since he hadn't been to any classes this term and he hadn't had a wand earlier to practice what he now had from Voldemort's mind.

Last year he had stressed to the D.A. that it was often best to use spells you could say or cast quickly rather than use stronger spells that took more time to cast. There wasn't a shield spell that could defeat the killing curse but it couldn't be cast silently and it took a bit of time to say as the first Death Eater had found out to his sorrow. Harry's wandless magic had been starting to pull Lilith out of the way before who ever had cast the curse had even gotten to the second word.

That he could hear, even over the car horn blaring, spoken spells coming from the darkness of the park made him wonder if he was being attacked by a bunch of fifth years! Considering how bad the DADA teachers had been over the years it just made sense that even the bad guys had poor skills. That or they lacked the power and discipline for silent cast.

Harry started to fire a quick succession of spells into the darkness. While he knew some right evil ones from Voldemort's memories, he needed time to figure out how many opponents he was facing. Plus he wanted to keep them oriented on him and away from Tonks and Lilith.

A spell powerful enough to break all the safety glass in the vehicle he was hiding behind reminded Harry that this wasn't some D.A. lesson back in the Room of Requirements but real life. It was time to use some Voldemort specials after all. Harry made a not to himself that he would have to thank Voldemort for him inadvertently giving him an 'upgrade' as it were. Harry kept his head down till the glass stopped falling and then rolled around to the front of the car and cried, "Angor Iugulum!" towards where he thought he heard a spell came from

Harry thought he heard a rattling gasp but it was hard to tell with the car alarm going off. It was, the least of his worries as he saw Tonks get clipped by some spell and go down behind the Mini he had thrown up as an impromptu shield. He saw Lilith quickly move to help the pink-haired witch who seemed to be having convulsions.

Thinking some truly vile oaths, Harry ran through his options and didn't like what he had to work with. Taking a deep breath he centered himself and with a great shout his magic took hold of the car in front of him.

Harry felt as if his head would burst as he threw the car towards the darkness. Even by channeling the magic through his wand made Harry's head ring like a clarion bell. He couldn't let up though and as the car crashed into the bushes it flipped over exposing the bottom. Harry fought through the pain. He pointed his wand at what he hoped was the fuel tank, "Fulmen Igneos!"

A fiery bolt of energy shot toward the car, piercing what was indeed the fuel tank. Sadly, unlike in Hollywood, the car didn't explode but the ruptured tank did scatter the burning fuel around. A shriek which abruptly cut off seemed to show that at least one of Harry's opponents might have been crushed under the car as it flipped one more time before sliding to a halt against a tree. There were quite a few angry curses which told Harry quite a few had been splashed by the burning petrol.

Harry stumbled across the street towards his attackers, blood starting to seep from his ears due to the strain. While his magical core still sang with plenty of energy his body just wasn't able to channel it. Harry knew it had to ramp back the spells or he'd kill himself before any of the Death Eaters could manage it.

Thinking of how Sirius had told him of how James said a messy battlefield made for opportunities Harry realized that water from his earlier spell was still there. With a series of spiky movements he cast, "Conus Gelum!"

Harry gave a wry grin as he panted while leaning against the fence surrounding the park. Hopefully some of his opponents would slip and bust arse on the ice he just created. Harry noticed his first opponent was a few feet away so he sent another stunner at him. He figured Narcissa might enjoy interrogating the Death Eater for him. His grin was wiped away as a cutting curse sliced through his upper left arm. Harry swore and ducked behind some trash bins.

His attention was brought back to the street as he heard Lilith scream. He saw that someone had conjured a pair of wolves along with a flock of vampire bats which where converging around the car. With a sigh Harry wondered with all the magic being used that no one from the Ministry had shown up yet. It was the Department of Mysteries all over again! He cast a quick charm he learned from Madam Pomfrey to stem the flow of blood from his arm before centering his wand on the center of the bat swarm.

"Sagita Cataegis!" A quiver-full of arrows shot from Harry's wand which took care of the bats. For once luck seemed to be on Harry's side because the wolves were distracted by the appearance of a much easier meal then the Hufflepuff shooting stunners at them.

Harry's good luck quickly ended as the cast iron fence railing suddenly came alive and wrapped around him and quickly begun to crush him. Harry quickly countered with a wandless pulse that seemed to emanate from within him, pushing away in all directions. He quickly dropped and rolled away as the spell he knew would follow cast a shower of sparks as it hit the railing.

Screw this, Harry thought and he leapt to his feat and covered his eyes with his left arm. He pointed his wand skyward and shouted, "Lumen Dei!" A brilliant flash of light erupted about 10 meters over the park. It was as if an artillery flare had gone off and night became as day.

Harry dodged to the right and then to the right again. He hoped his opponents would be blinded but the fact was he knew he now easily seen under the bright light. He cast a quick cone of silence spell on himself before following up with, "Fragor Tonitrus!" A thunderous explosion of sound rocked the area causing windows for two blocks to shatter. Harry's silence spell flared and then failed; car alarms of all sorts could be heard from nearby blocks.

Harry was happy with his magical equivalent of a 'flash-bang' grenade. Whoever said that watching the telly rots your brain never had to fight in a magical duel! For just a second Harry had the silly thought of imagining what the Obliviation squad was going to come up with to explain all of this!

This funny thought was quickly dashed as Harry could see that he was up against about four or five Death Eaters in the park. While most seemed affected by one or the other of his spells, almost all of them seem to be looking right at him.

Yet it was an orange utility sign beside one of the Death Eater's that caught Harry's attention. His idle thought about the Oblivators fresh in his mind made him realize what he had to do. He sprinted back towards the over-turned Mini. His luck held as the blinded or addled Death Eater's curses failed to hit their mark as his flare spell dimmed causing darkness to fall again as he ran.

Harry leaped over one of the wolves which seemed to be stunned and steadied himself against the Mini. He quickly glanced down at the two 'Puffs to find that Lilith had taken out the other wolf. Lilith was still blinking the spots out of her eyes and holding her ears. Tonks still looked in a bad way. She was still convulsing and was bleeding out from a nasty gash in her right side.

"Get down!" Harry commanded and then pushed Lilith down when he realized she might not have heard him. He turned back towards the park and cautiously leaned out from behind the Mini. The brilliant green ray of the death curse barely missed his face as he knelt and took aim at the ground by the sign, "Bombarda!"

Harry threw himself back behind the Mini and rolled reached out to grab Lilith and hold her down against him. Harry thought he heard something that sounded like a cry to flee when the air was again rent with a huge explosion and a flash of light and flame. Harry almost passed out in pain as he threw everything he had to keep the Mini upright as the blast erupted out of the park and hit it full on.

His magic held but it was a near thing since the pavement around them buckled and the Mini sagged as a tree cut down by the explosion fell down onto it. One of the branches missed impaling Tonks by mere half meter. Feeling like his lungs were filled with broken glass and his skin was being eaten by fire ants; Harry heaved himself out from under the tree. He drunkenly staggered around the mangled Mini but his wand was steady in his hand as he covered what was left of the park.

Just as he had planned, his spell had ruptured a natural gas line. The "Mind Before You Dig!" sign that had caught his attention was probably embedded in one of the surrounding flats Harry thought. That and all the pieces of the Death Eaters that weren't with the few torn corpses he could see. The gas line continued to spew a column of fiery gas into the air like a blow torch but there didn't seem to be any danger of another explosion. Harry's breath seemed to catch in his throat as he realized he had once again escaped what most would consider a certain death situation.

Harry groggily lurched over to where he had stunned the first Death Eater. He thought the retaining wall should have protected the fallen wizard from the blast. He hoped so because he needed information.

OoOoO

Peter Pettigrew hated Harry Potter. He hated him with every fiber of his being. It was bad enough he looked so much like James Potter but why did he have to check Peter at every turn? Why was it the one person he had to kill was the one he owed a life debt to?

It didn't matter because Peter could not fail. He didn't know how many of his team apparated out before the blast. He himself barely had enough time to transform into a rat and drop to safety behind the retaining wall. While the blast did not kill him, Peter knew that if he didn't at least kill Potter, his life would be forfeit for the failure.

The Dark Lord might excuse a good showing against Dumbledore and the Order but to lose most of his team to a rookie auror, a mudblood and just Potter himself? It wouldn't matter that it was that idiot boy Flint who jumped the gun and ruined his carefully planned trap! No, if Pettigrew wanted to continue living then Harry Potter had to die.

Pettigrew transformed back to his human form which still felt alien to him after all those years he spent as a rat. He could not strike at Harry directly for the life debt would act in a similar way to someone attacking the Head of their House. He tried to remember the spell which would create a toxic gas.

It was a charm that Sirius had gotten out of some of the nastier Black magical tomes. He had modified it to make the gas merely stink instead of causing an agonizing death not unlike Muggle mustard gas. Slytherin House was often in need of a good airing out when the Marauders were at Hogwarts! However Peter had never been good with charms so he struggled to remember the original spell. As he did, Peter suddenly realized Harry had come around the corner and was staring at him.

OoOoO

Harry looked at the man who betrayed his parents with something which could only be described as ambivalence. The strain of pushing so much magic through a body not ready for the flow had left him magically charged but physically drained. He almost felt as if his skin was simply a set of Dudley's too-big cast offs. For some reason the fact that Pettigrew's wand was pointed directly at him didn't seem to reach him.

Yet as the two stared at each other, sounds began to fill Harry up. There were the cries of Lilith for Tonks to wake up. There were the screams of people who had been rudely shaken out of their evening in front of the telly or game of Resident Evil on their Playstation. How many had just been enjoying the night with a favorite book? Now their peace was shattered by an evil from a world they knew nothing about. An evil that would kill them all if left unchecked.

This thought seemed cut through the fog of fatigue that gripped Harry and ignited a reservoir of rage. It was Pettigrew who had betrayed his parents. It was because of Pettigrew's betrayal that Sirius had went after the Rat which got him sent to Azkaban instead of raising Harry as his own. It was Pettigrew who had brought Voldemort back from just being a dangerous shade.

Peter's face went slack with fear at how Harry's face had gone from an expressionless mask to one of pure hatred and murderous intent. It was a look the likes Pettigrew had only seen on the face of the Dark Lord himself. The danger of attacking Harry forgotten, Peter started to stutter out a curse.

Harry's wand didn't budge as his opponent tried to get a spell out through his fearful stuttering. Where before Harry skin had felt loose on him, now it seem stretched taut over his bones and on fire. Harry's vision seemed to fail as the color shifted into an odd spectrum as he saw Peter first spell fail. With a desperate oath Pettigrew tried to curse him again. All Harry felt was an all consuming hatred and desire to kill the traitor well up in him.

Harry heard an odd noise, like a howl before he fell into darkness.

OoOoO

As Lilith struggled to try and figure a way to help Auror Tonks she had only one thought which was she was fucking tired of life's twists! She cursed Fate as she finally managed to stem the blood flow to the wound on Tonks' side. Her ears had finally stopped ringing which was a blessing. She had worried she was going to be blind and deaf for life after those two spells had gone off! Of course with everything going on, she almost wished still couldn't hear because Tonks' desperate and painful moans made her sick.

Suddenly over all the alarms and screams Lilith heard an unearthly howl followed by the most terrifying shriek of terror she had ever heard. The shocked screams when people had seen the manifestations of their friends worst fears when Professor Lupin had them go against a boggart were like slight murmurs of surprise in comparison! The primal fear in it seemed to touch something deep in Lilith's brain and for a moment she was struck fast as if remaining motionless would keep her from being seen by a nearby predator. Every instinct screamed at her to avoid being noticed!

The shriek quickly turned to screams of pain and a sound that she couldn't identify but it sounded primal and vicious. Very quickly the screams of terror and pain cut off in a sickening rattle that Lilith could not help but know involved lots and lots of blood, and mangled flesh.

Ignoring the fear in her heart she got to her feet and quickly jumped around the Mini and dodged once or twice just in case there were still Death Eaters about. No matter how evil and horrible the sounds were, Harry was out there and she had to see if she could help him. A movement caught her eye and she turned towards it and came face to face with Death.

It came around the ruins of the retaining wall with its iron fencing bent by the earlier explosion and stood silhouetted in the fountain of flames coming from the gas line Harry had ruptured earlier. Lilith, while a Muggleborn, still felt the blood in her veins turn to ice as she stared at something Professor Trelawney had often warned of. It looked at her with eyes which confirmed the primal fear awoken by the earlier screams.

It was a Grim. It was larger than any dog she had ever seen and its muzzle was covered with blood. Its fur was the color of obsidian and it seemed to radiate magic and menace. Like its muzzle, the front paws were sticky with blood and Lilith knew in a flash what had caused the shriek of terror and screams of pain that had so terrified her. Death had come personally to collect from one of the Death Eaters. Looking into the Grim's brilliant green eyes it was as if she was staring down the death curse again with Death's inevitability coming at her.

Then it struck her. The Grim's eyes were the color of the death curse…just like Harry's eyes. She gasped at this thought. Could it be? She lowered her wand and called out, "Harry?"

The Grim blinked at her and suddenly its whole demeanor seemed to change. Where once had been an omen of certain death now seemed to be just one really big dog. However a shout from behind caused the dog to bristle and turn with a growl.

Lilith could see Narcissa Black hurrying towards her with her wand out. She skidded to a shocked stop with a look on her face which Lilith was sure had just been on her own upon seeing the Grim. "Miss Black wait! It's not a Grim! I think…I think it's Harry!"

The dog seemed to falter again at hearing Harry's name. Lilith took a chance and carefully walked closer, "Harry! It's me, Lilith.; I want to help you. It is you in there, right? Harry you need to come back because the aurors will be here soon! Plus Tonks needs you."

The dog sat down on its haunches, still looking between Narcissa and Lilith. She steeled herself and then reached down to take the dogs bloody head between her hands and looked deep into the emerald green eyes. "Come back Harry, it's over and you need to come back."

With a shudder the dog's form rippled and then it was Harry again. He sagged against Lilith who cradled his head in her arms. Narcissa gave a shocked gasp and came running up. Lilith waved her off, 'Miss Black hold up! Tonks is hurt really badly and I couldn't do much for her. I don't think Harry is hurt that badly, just tired!"

Narcissa looked down at Harry and then over at Tonks before looking around. Lilith realized that Narcissa was just now really seeing all the destruction around them. Between the fires, destroyed cars, mangled corpses as well as the crowd of neighbors beginning to spill out of their homes looking for answers it made for quite a scene. Lilith could already hear the wail of approaching sirens.

Lilith looked back down at the bloody wizard who had seemingly walked into her life like Prince Charming to her Cinderella. How long ago that already seemed now! She rocked Harry and crooned soothing words.

With a cough Harry seemed to come back to himself. Lilith let him sit up and couldn't help but give a cry of disgust when he proceeded to vomit up flesh and blood.

Harry turned to her and with a perfectly calm voice said, "I solemnly swear that rat does not taste like chicken." His eyes rolled back as he fainted back into Lilith's arms.

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Amelia Bones took off her monocle and cleaned it with a quick charm before carefully replacing it. She wondered for the hundredth time whether she should try Muggle laser eye surgery. Of course she would have to try and explain why she only needed it in one eye. For another hundredth time she cursed herself for being too slow and getting hit with the curse which had messed up her vision in her left eye in the first place.

When the call had come in, Director Bones decided to come personally observe the scene even though she normally didn't do so. Beyond the security concerns she didn't want to have her field leaders feel like she was looking over their shoulders. However this had been the biggest Death Eater attack since the fight at the Ministry and she wanted to check it out.

Even with some of their top members in Azkaban, her analysts had been surprised at how quiet the Death Eaters had been. Sure there were still Muggle sport killings and the occasional murder of someone who had obviously refused to support the Death Eater cause but that was about it. Prior to the Ministry fight, her people had been predicting direct attacks on Ministry officials and maybe even a direct assault targeting her led by Voldemort personally. None of that had happened and Amelia found it a bit disquieting even if the peace was nice.

The DMLE director looked around and gave a grateful sigh. As much as the scene was a mess, she had to admit it was nice that a magical battle came with a ready-made excuse to help cover it up. Potter's rupturing of the gas line was effective as it was beneficial to the later cover-up. Her contacts in the London Metropolitan Police were happy about it as well. Even with obliviations and other spells there always seemed to be things that were missed which kept cropping up later making life miserable for cop and auror alike.

The DMLE director knew as security cameras were proliferating and more and more Muggles had video cameras, it was practically impossible to sanitize a magical scene like this on the first go around. She had a good feeling that this scene wouldn't end up on the Internet or shows talking about the 'shadowy world that exists next to our own' one found on BBC Two late at night.

Amelia sighed. When she was a rookie auror it had been enough that even if a witness said they had seen magic, no one believed them. Now when something weird happened the Muggles started investigating to find out what 'really' was going on. She cursed the Yank show The X-Files for now it seemed there were hordes of Britons who were convinced the 'truth was out there' and that Her Majesty's Government was hiding something.

While these Muggles thought they were looking for evidence that M-5 had aliens under wraps or some such twaddle the real truth would freeze their souls. Sometimes over a pint (or four) she wondered if the Magical world simply could not stay hidden anymore. There was talk of integrating cameras into cell phones which could be ready as early as next year. As if those damn spy satellites weren't enough of a problem without every Tom, Dick and Jane having a camera on them!

Shaking off her thoughts she made her way over to where Potter was sitting on the steps of a flat with a blanket around him. Auror Tonks had already been transferred to St. Mungo's. The medi-witch had assured the Director that she'd be fine. Narcissa Black had been a surprise. She was running interference for Potter and kept everyone away from him except the Muggleborn girl who was sitting behind Potter, hugging him to her.

Amelia shook her head. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad but Potter had some firepower at his command now with Narcissa Black. The Director had always suspected that 90% of what came out of Lucius Malfoy's mouth had been either scripted or planned by the one-time Black. While Malfoy's could be charming and ingratiating when they wanted to be, their House were never the plotters that House Black was.

It was said House Black served intrigue for breakfast, misdirection for dinner and blackmail for supper. When it came to power politics, the Black family always came at you with their A game on. It was probably why there were so few left considering how dangerous they were. That sort of danger bred enemies willing to cooperate if only to take down the threat.

Amelia was also glad the intelligence on Narcissa had her hating Voldemort and had been more interested in the normal power games of the magical elite which she had played through her husband. This meant she could be a real asset if the DMLE could keep Voldemort's people from assassinating her.

Amelia walked over to where Potter sat. A curt jerk of her head and narrowing of her good eye told Narcissa Black that she was not going to be denied. She stopped a few feet from where Potter sat with his head back and eyes closed against the pretty girl holding him. He had a look of used food as Amelia's departed husband would say.

"Ms. Moon, I need to talk to Mr. Potter privately for a moment. I suspect he will be along shortly." Amelia said not unkindly.

Harry opened his eyes. He looked deep into the Director's eyes and seemed to search them for a moment. Harry visibly relaxed and turned to the teenage girl. "Go on Lilith, just knock and have Dobby set you up for the night if you want. I'm thinking it might be best to stay with me tonight for safety's sake. I should be along in a bit."

Amelia couldn't help but smile at the look of tenderness on the young woman's face. "Okay Harry but I'll be waiting for you. I'll be looking out the window to keep track of you. I'm not letting you out of your promise. Besides, I've never seen a crime scene being worked before."

Lilith said. With a quick kiss to Harry's cheek she stood.

Before the young witch could leave Amelia caught her eye. "Ms. Moon, my aurors will be taking your statements tomorrow along with Lord Potter's so I agree it is best that you stay here tonight. Unlike Muggle police who generally like to interrogate you right away, we aurors find it better for you to have a good night's sleep before doing a pensieve reading. It helps make the memories clearer and more readable. I took the liberty of having one of the aurors contact your brother. We assured him you are fine and that you won't be coming home till later tomorrow."

The young girl visibly brightened, "Why thank you Madam Director! That was incredibly thoughtful. Susan has always bragged at how wonderful you are!"

Director Bones shrugged with a slight smile, "We 'Puffs stick together."

"Badger Pride!" Lilith replied with a happy laugh and then walked up the street and seemingly vanished.

"I see that you have applied a Fidelius charm on the Black House, Lord Potter," Amelia said dryly. "I do hope you realize, given what happen to your parents, that the Fidelius charm is not full-proof. It possible, I would suggest having the Black secrecy charm reestablished as soon as possible.

OoOoO

"I would prefer Lord Black if you can't just call me Harry," the teen said tiredly. He was amazed how he much he already missed having Lilith's arms around him.

"Indeed? Well then Lord Black, you gave quite a show tonight, quite a show indeed," the Director said.

To Harry's surprise she sat down next to him. The familiarity of this shook him a bit. He was expecting the stern head of the DMLE to grill him and perhaps be critical of all the damage the fight had done.

"I shall cut directly to the chase then, Lord Black. You did very well tonight. You kept your head and kept your party alive in a well planned kill zone. While many would call you fool hardy, you did the right thing by taking the fight to them. It is really the only way to escape a planned ambush of this sort. Like you did at the Ministry, you again showed the ability to think under fire as well as being proactive and taking the fight to the enemy. Auror Tonks suffered treatable injuries and you managed to not only kill or drive off a band of Death Eaters but do it in such a way as to make covering it up easier. For that, you have my thanks." Amelia said with approval in her voice.

Harry wasn't not so sure that her compliments was what she wanted to say, "I sense a 'but' coming up."

The Director gave a predatory smile, "Most perceptive, Lord Black. For now, just between you and me, I want some answers from you and I'd rather have you tell me the truth. I will get the truth if I have to but that would leave a paper trail and for now I'm not sure that is in the best interests of Britain."

"What do you want to know?" Harry asked warily.

"I want to know how Peter Pettigrew died," Amelia said simply.

Harry blanched at this. Lilith has cleaned him up prior to the aurors coming up to question them as they arrived at the scene. Harry had hoped that they would assume that he had transfigured an animal, like the wolves the Death Eaters had conjured, to kill Pettigrew. From comments he had overheard this was exactly what they thought. The Director, on the other hand, obviously saw much clearer even with only one good eye.

Seeing him hesitate, Amelia went on, "You see Lord Black I think I know what happened and I think it would be best that the how remains a secret for now. Why were you and the Dark Lord in the Department of Mysteries in June if not to retrieve a prophecy only you could retrieve? Why does the Headmaster become even more vague and opaque than usual when I talk to him about the topic? I may not have walked a beat since your parents where in Hogwarts, Lord Black, but I can still smell when something isn't right when it comes to you."

Harry just stared at the Director as she started ticking items off on her fingers. "So I thinking one, there is a prophecy relating to you and the Dark Lord. Two, the Headmaster has taken an interest in your life since the Dark Lord was supposedly defeated the first time makes me think you have an important role yet to play. Three, with a prophecy involved it means the Headmaster probably knows something that he isn't telling. Four, his Divinations teacher hasn't left Hogwarts more than a few times since the Dark Lord fell. Dumbledore even intervened when Umbridge wanted her thrown out of Hogwarts. When taken together it leaves me smelling something is afoot and I don't like not knowing what it is."

Harry blinked at all this but then chided himself. This was the director of the DMLE after all. The highest ranking witch in the Ministry didn't get there by being stupid. "Okay, I grant you all of that. How does it relate to tonight? Voldemort has been after me since I was a baby. Nothing has changed."

Amelia leaned in closer and lowered her voice, "Oh but you've changed, Lord Black. I can tell that your magic has recently been unbound and that in itself raises a host of questions and legal issues. Then there is the fact that you've been acting atypically since your godfather's death. Not unusual given the circumstances but I know what trauma does to a person, by God I do! You aren't acting like a distraught teen. I would bet you haven't even given yourself time to grieve the loss of Sirius Black, have you?"

Harry shook his head glumly. Even with all the time over the summer and then up in his tower, Harry still didn't feel like he had grieved enough for Sirius. His godfather had suffered so much to simply get over his death after a month or too. Here had been a man who had eaten rats (something Harry could now sort of relate to) to help look after him and Harry still felt like he should still be thinking more about Sirius. Yet so much else needed to be done!

Amelia nodded, "I thought so. As bad as I'm sure it makes you feel, Lord Black, it is rather natural. You have a lot going on and you probably feel that giving into grief will weaken you. You need to grieve because it will come and the longer you wait the worse it will get."

Harry saw how the Director's face fell as she turned away to seemingly look at the scene in front of them. Harry doubted the woman saw any of the aurors working to clean the battle scene of magical traces. "When my husband was killed I had recently been made Deputy Director and so I felt I couldn't afford the time to grieve. I almost got a team of aurors killed because the grief was coloring my decision making process. I made some bad calls and others almost paid the ultimate price for my mistakes. I doubt you want any of your friends to die considering your testimony about how you fought to keep the others of the so called 'Ministry Six' from coming with you back in June."

Harry nodded. Maybe going back to Hogwarts was the smart thing regardless of all the things which needing doing there. It would allow him a safe place to grieve before doing what had to be done. Harry realized he had to stop thinking he could go it alone and stop thinking he could somehow just stop feeling. Paladin of Nemesis or not, he was still human. Luna had been right again when she said it would be his own heart which needed to guide him. He had to be sure his heart wasn't filled with loss and regret.

While Draco had an eventual fatal date with destiny coming to him, Harry knew the whole incident on the train had really been about Sirius. Harry's rage at Draco was probably more rage at himself. Draco had simply reminded Harry that he had allowed himself three months to go by without stopping to truly come to terms with the death of the man who died helping to protect him. Instead he had spent the time feeling sorry for himself or acting like a kid in a candy store in regards to Voldemort's memories.

Amelia waited and watched as various emotions played over Harry's face. She was heartened that her words seemed to have led him into making the connections he needed to make if he wanted to work through his loss properly. When he finally looked back up at her she went on, "So that brings us back to changes. Tell me Lord Black did you see a beautician while you were gallivanting around Diagon Alley today?"

"What? Uh…no, why would you even think that?" Harry asked. It certainly wasn't the question he was expecting!

"No? Then perhaps Narcissa decided you needed to look more like a Lord perhaps?" Amelia asked with a sly smile.

"Well yeah…I wanted to get rid of my cousin's old cast-off clothes and Narcissa said I need clothes that fit my new status as a Lord. Of course I am pretty sure this set is ruined." Harry replied.

"So your hair just happened to grow a meter since June by itself then, Lord Black?" Amelia asked innocently.

Crap! Harry thought as he hung his head to cover up the guilty look he knew he probably had. He had forgotten his hair! Before they had left Grimmauld Place for the dinner date, Harry had taken a shower since he knew he smelled like sex. Afterwards Narcissa had Harry change into some of his new clothes so he'd look his best for his date. The Hufflepuff girl had been delighted in the change when she had come down from her own freshening up.

Lilith told Harry he really looked like the Prince Charming she'd always dreamed off. Narcissa, however, had said he needed to grow out his hair in the style of wizard Lords to complete the picture and Lilith had agreed. While Harry hadn't been sure if he would like it, he had decided to humor the girls and grew his hair out to a length similar to Lucius Malfoy.

Narcissa had quickly given his hair a going through. He had to admit it did seem to make his hair much more manageable. While grooming him she told him he carried off the long hair look better than Lucius did. She had joked about how vain her ex-husband was over his long locks; he apparently spent longer doing his hair than Narcissa did her own. Considering how much time Draco supposedly spent in front of the mirror each morning from the rumors Harry had heard, the apple had indeed not fallen far from the tree.

Harry had forgotten all about it and maybe even had just thought his hair had reverted back to normal after his surprising animagus transformation. After he had come out of his faint, he really hadn't been up to noticing much.

Harry looked back up to see the Director watching him intently, the sly smile still on her lips. He couldn't help but feel like a kid caught with his hand in the biscuit tin. "Busted, I guess." Harry admitted.

"Busted indeed! Don't take it so hard, Lord Black. My husband was a limited metamorphmagus like you obviously are so I know better than most at what I'm seeing. I'm sure anyone else would just assume you used a lengthening charm. I know, however, all the magic you were tossing around would cancel that charm right out." The Director said.

"My Darrell was quite adept at using his skills. You probably don't think much about your abilities considering you know Auror Tonks. Let me assure you with a bit of practice you can do a lot with a change in eye color, messing with your hair and rearranging bits of your face. Darrell always said just making himself have more prominent cheek-bones seemed to throw off even people who knew him." Amelia explained.

"But this isn't about me being able to change my hair, is it?" Harry asked. He had a feeling Director Bones knew exactly how Pettigrew had died and was just confirming it.

"No, but it explains how you turned into some animagus form tonight which is what I am almost certain you did. Tell me Lord Black, did your father or Sirius Black leave you any notes about how they became illegal animagi back at Hogwarts?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, but while I read them I wasn't about to experiment. From what I read it was bloody dangerous even with three others there to help if something went wrong. Not something I was going to try alone and without a wand. Plus Professor McGonagall always goes on and on about the dangers of human transfigurations." Harry confirmed.

"Good answer because I didn't really expect you had. Professor McGonagall is quite right about the dangers. I've seen the results of people experimenting and it isn't pretty. However there have been a few cases of where a limited metamorphmagus had spontaneously achieved an animagus form under times of incredible stress. All of these cases involved witches or wizards with powerful magical cores. In your case, I can feel your magical core being recently unbound has left you in a state of serious magical flux which makes you even more susceptible to this type of accidental magic. With you being made official head of three houses, two of them being some of the oldest in our nation, I would wager you found that you had more magic than your body could process during the fight, correct?" Amelia asked.

Harry nodded, "Right as I tossed the car, I thought my magic might burst my body like a balloon popping."

"A very apt analogy and one I'm afraid is rather gruesomely true if you are not careful." Amelia said with utter seriousness. "So your case has all the hallmarks that you transformed without meaning to. What was your form, if I might ask?"

"A Grim," Harry said quietly. Again the sadness over not grieving properly over Sirius rose up in him.

"Ah…very appropriate, Lord Black. Considering what I know of your Patronus form, it seems like you carry the spirit of the Marauders inside of you."

"Not anymore…I spit out what I got from Pettigrew," Harry said disgustedly.

Amelia couldn't help but laugh at this. "Good! I'm glad you can still joke about this. I'm not going to tell you that you won't have nightmares about tonight. You've already gone through more at Hogwarts than most aurors do in a decade. I will say, however, that I will be sending Madam Pomfrey the contact information for my personal trauma therapist Leticia Radford.

Seeing the sudden look of disgust on Harry's face, the older witch held up a hand, "It is not weakness to talk about things that bother you Lord Black. Sharing the burden may not solve things but I've always found that just venting is often the best way to work through things so the healing process can move on. I give you my solemn word anything you say will be confidential between you and her. Due to my own secrets that need to be protected, Leticia has ways of walling off what she hears so she cannot reveal it. She'll die or go insane before she'll reveal those secrets."

Harry stroked his chin, not realizing he was unconsciously imitating Dumbledore's habit of stroking his beard. "I think I may take you up on that offer Director. But why do you want to keep me being an animagus a secret? I'm all for it since I've enough weirdness in my life. It is bad enough that I'm a known Parselmouth."

"Lord Black if I'm right in my suspicions about a prophecy regarding you and the Dark Lord, then it seems you are the key to defeating him. Any advantage you have is thus important to the safety of all Britain. Having a secret animagus form could be crucial in escaping if things go bad or even defeating the Dark Lord. Similarly I would advise against letting any more people in on your metamorphmagus skills. If you like the look, and as a woman I must say you wear it well, I would occasionally shrink your hair back and say you forgot to charm it. Eventually your hair will grow out and you won't have to worry about it." Amelia advised

"Sneaky!" Harry said impressed by the simple ploy.

"I told you, my late husband Darrell found that he didn't need the full abilities like Auror Tonks has to fool people. Remember that Lord Black, people see what they expect to see. Sometimes the art of hiding and deception is simply projecting what they expect to see and anything that doesn't fit will be ignored." Amelia's eyes bored into his, "I'm sure you've noticed no matter what you do, people expect to see the Boy-Who-Lived and that's what they see, yes?"

Harry nodded grimly, "On target, Director! That or they see what ever version of me the Daily Prophet is currently selling."

The Director gave an approving nod and stood. "Then I see we understand each other. There are Dark forces marshaled against you Lord Black, many of which I fear are supposedly on your side. I'm glad to see that not only can you take care of yourself but you are aware of your situation. As much as I am loathed to admit it, Narcissa Black will be a great asset to you. You may not have to trust her but she can be an important source for information for you to mine."

Harry's face went dark and he stood as well. The Director had reminded of something he felt he needed to warn her of. "Director Bones, I would like to ask you something. Do you know who broke House Potter?"

Director Bones sighed, "I wish I did Lord Black, I wish I did. I had some suspicions but when I had one of my fraud teams look into it they ended up chasing their tails. I can only say that I don't believe it was Death Eaters or their cronies. Again, I fear many of your enemies may be masquerading as your friends and allies."

Harry gave a slight bow, "Thank you Director, I appreciate your candor. Now I wish to do the same. My ancestral House has been gutted. I have been stolen from and almost from the minute I first stepped onto Diagon Alley I have had my name blown one way to the other in the avenue of public opinion. Others manipulate my 'legend' for their own ends. I've seen things, heard things; believe things which tell me a storm is coming. I am giving you fair warning, Director; I am going to be part of that storm. I will say to you what I told the Headmaster. I refuse to play by other people's rules anymore."

The Director gave Harry an appraising look. "What do you intend," she ask noncommittally.

"I intend to show people what vengeance looks like. I want to remind my enemies that no amount of gold or influence will protect them. As you said, Director, Narcissa Black is a trove of information. Just today she was pointing out some of the finer points of the old dueling customs as a way to right wrongs. While frowned upon, the rules and laws governing it have never been repealed. I just wanted to give you fair warning that the honor of my House has been sullied for the last time. An attack upon me or my friends will be met with like force."

The Director met Harry's determined gaze for a moment. "Very well Lord Black, but understand one thing. I uphold the law. While I have been stymied from time to time by politics, to the law I am true. Step over that line and I will treat you like any other criminal. Do you understand this, Lord Black?"

Harry nodded, "Perfectly Director." I will make sure that you won't catch me, Harry thought to himself. He didn't really expect the Director to fully understand the depths he was about to go to back up his threats. What the Director had said earlier also applied to her. She expected to see one thing and which wasn't what he was anymore. He would, however, need to revert a bit back to "Harry Potter" if only to help cover up his tracks.

A commotion at the border of the park which was roped off with police tape caught both their attention. Harry could immediately tell from the amount of red hair in the party that the Hogwarts/Order of the Phoenix guilt party had finally arrived. Suddenly Harry felt the fatigue settle upon him again like a robe made of lead. He politely excused himself to which the Director responded with an understanding nod.

As Harry made his way over to where Narcissa was talking with an auror, he noticed Lilith staring down at him from the upstairs window of Grimmauld Place. Seeing his look she smiled and waved. Harry gave a small wave back before quietly coming up next to Narcissa. She apparently was helping to identify some of the bodies of the Death Eaters. Seeing the look on Harry's face as he came up she immediately excused herself.

Harry looked over again at the party being stopped from entering the scene…at least for the moment. He thought he could see McGonagall's pointed hat as well as a familiar head of bushy brown hair. He could easily hear Molly Weasley's voice cut through the hubbub around him. He doubted the aurors could keep them at bay for long.

He turned to Narcissa, "Cissy, I just can't deal with that lot right now. I am knackered, I still can feel and taste Pettigrew in my mouth and I'm really not up for this sort of confrontation. Can you handle it for me…tactfully?" He asked.

Narcissa gave a warm smile, "Of course I will, my lord." She looked over at the party and then back to Harry. "It is amazing to think of all that has happened in the last twelve hours. I am not surprised it is finally catching up to you."

Harry gave a short barking laugh which with a pang of sudden remorse reminded him of Sirius, "Yeah I feel like screaming 'stop the train I want to get off!' before anything else happens."

Narcissa laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered into his ear. "Harry, go upstairs, take a shower. Maybe make love to that pretty girl. She's been watching you the whole time…or not. You can always save it for tomorrow when you are better rested. I've been told morning sex is rather nice. I'm thinking just resting in her arms tonight will do you a world of good. Go to her now and I'll deal with McGonagall and Molly Weasley."

Harry hesitated, "Could you make sure Hermione knows this is nothing personal? Luna and I aren't sure about her yet but she really has been my best friend all this time even though I was too stupid to see it. If she is merely a pawn in all this, I don't want to ruin the friendship by having her think I'm blowing her off. I need more enemies like I need a hole in my head."

Narcissa took Harry by the shoulders and turned him around towards Grimmauld Place. "I'll take care of Ms. Granger. If anything I'll blame Director Bones. I'll tell them you can't speak to anyone till you've been fully debriefed which won't be till tomorrow. From what Draco has said about the girl in the past, I gather she will accept that sort of explanation."

Harry gave a snort but didn't resist when Narcissa gave him a bit of a shove. Looking up at Lilith, he realized that right now a shower and falling asleep in her arms sounded exactly what he needed right now.

OoOoO

Hermione Granger was thoroughly British. She drank tea, she queued up patiently for the Tube, watched Dr. Who reruns and she loved the Royalty while at the same time having serious doubts whether they were still relevant in the modern age. Yet right now Hermione might as well be a Yank Indian with a feathered bonnet and tomahawk. After weeks of frustration, Hermione was on the warpath and would not be denied!

Ever since the start of term she had been trying to reach Harry's side and talk to him. She had to talk to him! As much as it had shocked her to see it on the train, Hermione felt she knew where Harry's rage was coming from and what to do about it. Everyone, even Ron, never really saw Harry except as The-Boy-Who-Lived.

They might get to know Harry, laugh with him, play Quidditch with him, but deep down they all misread the real Harry Potter. Sometimes Hermione felt that the Wizarding world in general seemed to think Harry was like Athena; he had sprung fully grown at the age twelve from out of Dumbledore's forehead to save them from the Dark Lord. He was their hero who would selflessly push back against the Dark as a White Knight for their age.

Harry, she knew, was nothing like that. He was a private person and while personable, he kept his feelings close. So much so it wasn't till her Third Year that she belatedly realized that Harry's relatives abused him. Harry exhibited many of the classical symptoms; so much so she questioned why Madam Pomfrey had done nothing about it.

Surely she had to have seen the scars on his back? Hermione had only noticed them when Harry had taken off his towel after they all got back to the Gryffindor Common Room after the Second Task. Since then she had taken the time to notice he had others on his arms and legs that couldn't be accounted for by their adventures. Was it that people saw the famous lightning bolt scar and ignored everything else?

Harry's attack on Draco had surely been triggered by something the white-haired ponce had said about Sirius' death. Growing up with nothing and then losing the only thing resembling family had to have triggered it. Hermione was desperate to talk to Harry about this because she was deathly afraid her attempts to stop him made Harry hate her now.

So for weeks she had tried to get past the detection charms and traps guarding the way up to where Harry was supposedly being treated for the affects of being possessed by Voldemort. She had almost made it a few times but every time she was thwarted and had to endure being chided by either Professor McGonagall or even Headmaster Dumbledore himself. It bothered her a great deal how they had managed as First Years to get to the Philosopher's Stone and now as a much more competent witch she couldn't seem to get to Harry.

It didn't help her mood for all that she was supposedly 'the smartest witch of her age' she had missed the most blindingly simple method to get to Harry…all because her fear of flying. To have Luna, Loony Lovegood of all people, casually mention to her during lunch that Harry seemed to be in good health and was actually keeping up on his studies even if his bed was dreadfully lumpy was almost more than Hermione could bear.

It was made worse to find out Luna had simply asked Professor Flitwick where Umbridge had stashed Harry's Firebolt under the pretense of giving it to Ron for safekeeping. With Firebolt in hand, Luna had simply flown up to Harry's window! Hours and hours of studying, plotting and planning only to fail again and again and Luna managed it on her first try!

Yet her method brought up more questions. How had she defeated the charms keeping students away from the tower? She herself had managed to get close enough to the tower by using the tree line which seemed to hinder the charms a bit. Hermione thought it was because while she could see the tower, Harry couldn't see her. Even then the windows had a form of notice-me-not charm since she could catch glimpses of them out of the corner of her eye but could never actually see them. When asked about it, Luna had simply smiled demurely and changed the subject.

While it heartened her to hear Harry seemed to have calmed down and was actually using his time wisely to keep up with the class work he was missing, Hermione had a funny feeling after talking with the willowy Ravenclaw. She seemed different. At first Hermione put it down as an after-effects of the fight at the Department of Mysteries but the longer she talked to her she found herself questioning that assumption. There was something new in those mostly unblinking blue eyes. Plus, how did she find out that Harry's bed was lumpy?

Hermione shook her head to clear it. She needed to focus on the now. The scene in front of her was a disaster. The magical fight had clearly destroyed the little park she remembered walking through a few times last summer when they had been staying at…at wherever it had been she had stayed with Ron and Harry before start of term. The whole neighborhood was damaged; most of the windows were broken and there was debris everywhere. She overheard a pair of aurors talking about a gas main rupturing.

Hermione listened intently as Professor McGonagall calmly tried to talk her way past the auror who had stopped them after they had apparated in. Mrs. Weasley was also talking but she was anything but calm. Hermione felt they made an excellent good witch/bad witch pair. However the auror didn't seem to be buying it.

Hermione was pretty sure she knew why; she could see Director Bones of the DMLE talking with Harry so she didn't think the auror was going to crack with her around. If he didn't crack, Hermione was going to have to get ignorant. She was going to see Harry and that was final!

Hermione ground her teeth in frustration. She was almost close enough to give a shout to Harry and yet he might as well be on the Continent. She cursed Mrs. Weasley's slowness! She had to admit she had been a bit…peevish when Professor McGonagall had come into the Gryffindor common room to collect her, Ginny and Ron to go to Harry.

Ginny had certainly been surprised when Hermione had made some pointed and rather snarky remarks to Professor McGonagall about how the Order of the Phoenix needed her to talk to Harry when they had been keeping her from him for weeks. However in the end Hermione knew it was just her pride talking; she would agree to take Divinations and drop Arithmancy to talk to Harry.

Yet when they went to the Burrow to get Mrs. Weasley, the elder witch had gone on and on about the need to grab the Twins. It had delayed them for quite a while before Mrs. Weasley had given up trying to find them. Hermione had asked what "Busy" meant on the family clock but Ron had merely grunted and shrugged. Grunting was something Ron had been doing a lot of lately. Hermione didn't feel he should be at school after being attacked by those cognivores. His school work, never very stellar, was off. It was even worse than his normal abysmal work and he seemed twitchy and moody.

The only thing that he seemed to excel at was Quidditch. Ginny had told her how Ron usually played great with friends but up against people he didn't know he had anxiety issues. After watching the first game of the season, Hermione hadn't seen any problems with that. If anything, when it came to Quidditch Ron seemed to be channeling Draco Malfoy since he would be arrogant and boastful. He could also be a right git.

Katie Bell, the team captain, had called Hermione aside as a prefect and friend of Ron's to warn her about trouble brewing in regards to Ron. Apparently he was having trouble with the whole concept of 'what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room' due to his sister. Ginny was apparently quite passionate in coming down from games and it drove Ron spare. Hermione had tried to help but there were times she felt Ron was actually going to hit her so she told Katie she had done her best.

Even now Ron seemed to radiate discontent and boredom. Considering the chaos around him, Hermione couldn't help but be worried about him. He was, however, also getting on her nerves. Ron had actually seemed to resist wanting to come with them but McGonagall had put her foot down. Hermione wasn't sure what was up with Ron but his comments regarding Harry had gone downhill and now were much worse than they had been when Harry and he were estranged during their Fourth Year. It was just another thing which grated on Hermione of late.

So right now Hermione was very unhappy with certain members of the Weasley family. If they had left when they should have, they might have caught up with Harry. Hermione looked around at all the damage and realized the possibility that they could have also ended up dead. Hermione shook her head in annoyance at that thought. She was sure if they had left on time they'd have been waiting patiently in…wherever and could have been there to help Harry when he needed them.

At an indignant squawk from Mrs. Weasley she realized, in her woolgathering, she had missed Harry finish up talking with the Director. He was now talking with a statuesque woman which Hermione shockingly realized was Narcissa Malfoy! Harry seemed to look right at her before Mrs. Malfoy took Harry by the shoulders, turned him around and practically pushed him away.

As she did so, Hermione gave a slight gasp. It was one thing that Harry was wearing clothes which put his dress robes he wore to the Yule Ball to shame, even if they were soiled now, but somehow his hair had grown down past his shoulders!

In all the years Hermione had known Harry she had never seen his hair any longer or shorter than it was the first day they met on the train to Hogwarts. It was if his hair was locked into a permanent tribute to his father James. Now Harry had locks which Draco Malfoy would envy! This seemingly minor thing among all the chaos around them disturbed Hermione for reasons she couldn't put her finger on.

She watched him as he walked away, his whole frame a picture of fatigue. Her heart turned over. Life never seemed to let up on her best friend and here she was unable to comfort him! She was about to shout out to him but then he simply vanished. Hermione blinked at this before she realized Harry had obviously crossed the Fidelis boundary.

Hermione felt her heart sink; she was denied again! However she noticed Mrs. Malfoy coming towards them so perhaps there was still hope. Hermione wondered why she was even here. She had overheard Professor McGonagall saying something about the Malfoys to Mrs. Weasley earlier but she didn't pay it any mind as she was quizzing Ginny about Luna at the time.

Hermione noticed that Draco's mother had changed; her hair was now all the same luscious raven-black of the Black family like Sirius had. Strange how Harry's hair was the same color considering he was a Potter. She had never really made that connection before but now that she thought about it, Harry might have well had the same hair his godfather did even if it did tend to stick up in the back at times.

As Mrs. Malfoy drew near it was not surprisingly the first salvo came from Mrs. Weasley, Hermione thought wryly. "What have you done with Harry you…you…"

She was interrupted by Professor McGonagall laying a hand on her arm. "Molly please, there is no need for that. Well, Narcissa, what is it?" she said in a rather arch tone.

Hermione was surprised at the seemingly warm smile that Mrs. Malfoy got on her face. She seemed to be enjoying the anger radiating off Mrs. Weasley. "I am merely here to convey a message from my Lord Black. He wishes me to tell you all that after the traumatic events of tonight he is very sorry but he cannot receive you now."

Hermione couldn't help but blurt out, "Mrs. Malfoy why can't we go up and just talk with him for a minute?"

Narcissa gave what seemed to be a sad sigh, "I'm sorry Ms. Granger, but I am afraid Director Bones needs him to get some sleep before tomorrow. The aurors need him rested so they can get a good pensieve reading tomorrow morning. So please don't feel like this is personal slight against you on Lord Black's part."

Ron spoke up for the first time in about an hour, "What's all this Lord Black rubbish? He's Harry bloody Potter if it slipped your Death Eater brain!'

"Language, Ron!" Hermione and Mrs. Weasley said in unison.

Narcissa didn't seem ruffled by the outburst. "I call him Lord Black for that is what he is and what he wishes to be called. Ms. Granger, you might not be aware of it but James Potter's grandmother was Dorea Black. Today we learned Lily Potter was a descendent of Isla Black. Of course by right of blood he is formally Lord Potter-Peverell-Black after the events of today considering he is also the rightful heir to House Peverell through both his parents. Just as I find myself magically divorced from Lord Malfoy and am Narcissa Black once again."

"Just what do you think you are doing here with Harry? The last thing he needs right now is someone as evil as you hanging on him! He needs the bosom of his family right now! So let us through so we can cut through all this Black rubbish!" Mrs. Weasley raged.

Narcissa seemed to draw up into herself. Hermione noted how while she wasn't that much taller than Professor McGonagall, she seemed to be able to project a sense that she was towering over them. She also, Hermione saw, had a death glare to die for.

"What I am doing is what the Head of Ancient and Noble House Black wishes me to do. At Lord Black's request I am acting as his personal aide. As for his reasoning why he wishes to be known as Lord Black I can only guess."

Narcissa's eyes narrowed and they seemed to lock with those of Professor McGonagall. "However considering how the once proud House Potter has been reduced to a penniless shell with only a few hastily saved heirlooms and a title in Parliament, perhaps my Lord Black simply chooses to use a title that hasn't been sullied by unworthy hands."

Mrs. Weasley seemed to swell up like she was going to explode. Again Professor McGonagall cut her off. "Be that as it may, I insist we see Mr. Potter. As a representative of his magical guardian, I have the right."

Narcissa gave a dismissive gesture, "Please, you are well aware that my Lord Black is now fully emancipated, has his OWLs and now is the head of three Noble House, two of which are Ancient and one Most Noble. The so called guardianship of Albus Dumbledore was negated the moment Director Ragnok declared him the head of House Black. If you wish to play games, Minerva, go back to Hogwarts. I'm sure you are still quite handy at gobstones."

Ginny piped up, "Mrs. Mal…er Ms. Black, are you sure we can't talk to Harry? We haven't seen him since the start of term. We miss him and he hasn't had anyone to talk to for over a month!" Ginny gave Professor McGonagall a poisonous look, "Hermione tried to see him but was prevented from doing so."

"I'm sorry Ms. Weasley but I cannot overrule the wishes of the Director of the DMLE. He did want me to be sure to tell you he wishes he could talk to you but between fatigue and Director Bone's orders he cannot. However, my Lord Black had intended to return to Hogwarts tomorrow to continue his education. In light of tonight's events I feel he will be delayed at least a day or more. I'm sure he will be happy to see you then."

Turning to Professor McGonagall, Narcissa continued in a seemingly sweet voice, "In fact, Deputy Headmistress, I shall need to meet with you regarding this. My Lord Black has expressed some affection to the room he spent his first night of term in. It was so much better than his later accommodations. As an emancipated Lord I'm sure you are well aware of his right to a private room, yes?"

Professor McGonagall looked like she had a mouthful of Dumbledore's sourest lemon drops. "I'm sure we can accommodate Lord Black's request."

Narcissa beamed in triumph. She turned to Ginny and Hermione with an odd gleam in her eye, "As for Lord Black being alone, I assure you he had a good evening prior to the attack. He and Ms. Moon, along with Auror Tonks, had a delightful time at a Muggle restaurant before all this unpleasantness. I dare say Ms. Moon is probably giving my Lord Black some much needed comfort even as we speak."

Both Hermione and Ginny mouth's dropped open in shock. Hermione barely heard Ron's muttered, "Him with a bird? Not likely the ruddy poof!"

Narcissa cut off any further questions, "I'm sorry, but today has been a very long day and I myself have been through great much. Let me assure you once again that Lord Black is sorry he cannot receive you but I'm sure he will be in much better spirits in a day or two. Till then, I ask that you be patient." With that she turned and walked away, ignoring the wrathful comments from Mrs. Weasley before she too disappeared into the Fidelis boundary.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged a bemused look as they ignored Professor McGonagall and Ginny's mother arguing. Ms. Moon could only mean Lilith Moon, Hermione's old roommate's Hufflepuff friend. She hadn't the funding to return to Hogwarts this year after her scholarship ran out. When and how did Harry meet her?

More importantly how did she end up on a bloody date with him? Moreover how is it that she of all people was up in his house while his best friends where stuck outside? Harry could barely kiss Cho last year and now he was taking a witch on a dinner date? Plus who knew what was going on in the hidden house right now? Hermione gave a wrathful snort, 'giving my Lord Black some much needed comfort' indeed!

Hermione didn't know the answers to these questions but she was going to find out!

XxXxX

Chapter Nine Preview: Harry and Lilith get to know each other and Narcissa works to ingratiate herself to her new lord.

XxXxX

A/N: I find that there is a big difference in wanting to write exciting magical duels and actually writing them. My hat is off to JBern for making those duels/fights in fics like Bungle In The Jungle and The Lies I've Lived seem to come alive. I find my own attempts to be a bit lacking in comparison although the reviews are positive.

Marcus Flint, repent offender: According to the HP Lexicon, later editions (US? UK?) of the series corrected the problem inherent in the fact that Flint was supposed to graduate in Harry's second year but showed up in Book 3. I don't think it is a stretch to have some people flunk out of Hogwarts considering how poor the teaching is compared to what is tested.

Americanism: Yes I freely admit the "Call Before You Dig" sign is something I see all the time around town. I was told the English version which I've updated to be used here although I highly doubt their sign has a beaver wearing a safety vest and a hard hat.

Spells: With the advent of Google Translate, my ability to create spells has gotten better. Thus many of the spells have changed from my original version.

Fulmen Spinis = Lightning Thorns At low-power, this spell is sort of a static shock similar to a joy buzzer. More power creates a painful current and even death by electrocution.

Angor Iugulum = Throat collapse – long-range Darth Vader "I find your lack of faith displeasing" attack

Fulmen Igneos = Fiery Bolt – magical blaster bolt

Conus Gelum = Cone of Frost, a spell mentioned in The Lies I've Lived by Jbern

Sagita Cataegis = Hurricane of Arrows

Lumen Dei = Light of God, more properly Dei Lumen but this sounds better

Fragor Tonitrus = Thunder clap or burst

26

Camera Phones: First camera phone picture was taken on June 11 1997.