AUTHOR'S NOTE Can you ever forgive me for such a long break without updates?? I'm sorry! But now this story should pretty much be back on track. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Remember, this is AU from what happened in Deathly Hallows. It follows the events of Half-Blood Prince, but not DH.

Thanks as always to my great beta Lauren!

DISCLAIMER Don't own anyone.

"Wait," Clark said. "I'm not sure I understand. You're Lana's long-lost, thought-to-be-dead older sister," he sad to Cho. She and Lana both nodded. "And you're all magic?" Harry and his friends also nodded.

Lana suddenly paled. "Wait. Liza, if you're a witch, then does that mean…?"

"You aren't a witch," Harry said. "But your sister was the first magical heir of Countess Theroux to be born since the Countess herself."

"That's why you were kidnapped, Cho," Ron added. "Crazy Death Eaters wanted to raise you to face Harry one day."

Cho whistled. "Wow. So I really was there." Her eyes opened wide. "Harry! Bellatrix Lestrange is alive!"

Clark and Lex looked at each other. "Who?" Clark asked.

Hermione gasped. "Dark hair and crazy eyes. She's the one who attacked Lex!"

Cho nodded grimly. Lex chuckled. "Bellatrix. Ouch. No wonder she's so angry."

"This isn't funny, Lex," Hermione said. "Bellatrix Lestrange is very, very dangerous."

Lex just looked at her wryly. "Already figured that one out actually." Hermione blushed.

Clark stepped up and shook his head. "How is it that none of us have ever heard of wizards before?" he asked suspiciously.

"You have actually," Bill replied.

Lana looked confused. "I don't understand."

"Ever heard of Merlin?" Cho asked. "Or Rasputin? Or the Oracle at Delphi?"

"Yeah," Lana said slowly.

"All wizards," Cho told her. "Muggles make up those wild stories about them to explain the things they see."

"What's a muggle?" Lex asked.

Harry nodded to them all. "Non-magic people. You all are muggles." He gazed intently at Clark for a minute. "Actually…"

Flustered, Clark asked, "So what's the big deal about this Bellatrix? How dangerous are we talking?"

Harry continued to look at him strangely and answered, "She was the Dark Lord's most trusted servant. We thought she was dead."

With a snort, Lex said, "Good call."

"Look," Harry said, just a little impatiently. "Bellatrix Lestrange is very dangerous. Staying away from her is the first priority."

"Plus she's looking for you," Clark told Cho.

"What?" Hermione, Harry, and Lana demanded.

Lex nodded. "She came after me looking for you. She knew somehow that I was the first person you saw."

Cho's blood chilled. "She's following me. She must have let me escape. Oh no, I've led her straight here!" Lana hugged her protectively.

Harry sighed. "Cho, we have to get out of here. Bellatrix could find us at any minute."

Lana threw herself in front of her sister. "No! You cannot take Liza away from me!"

"Her name is Cho," Ron said.

"Not to me," Lana snapped back.

"Hey!" Lex shouted. "We have bigger things to worry about than what her name is!"

They all stood in embarrassed silence for a minute before Bill suggested, "Hiding?"

Gabrielle snorted. "I have such a brave brother-in-law."

"Now is not the time for bravery, Gabrielle," Bill retorted hotly. "What would you like to do instead?"

Gabrielle glared at him, but Harry squeezed her hand and shook his head. "Hiding is okay for now. Just enough time to regroup, maybe contact Remus."

"Who's Remus?" Clark asked suspiciously.

"Remus Lupin, the leader of the Order of the Phoenix," Harry explained to three blank faces. "Think of us as sort of the Rebel Alliance."

Comprehension dawned on Lex and Clark. Lana smiled and nodded. Hermion giggled. Ron frowned. "What are you talking about, mate?" he asked. "What rebels?" Harry just laughed and waved him off.

"Alright fine," Lex said. "So we hide. Where exactly do you propose we go?"

He was met with silence. "I suppose we could go to the farm," Clark said reluctantly.

Cho shook her head. "She tracked me to Lex's mansion. Lana's house…" She paused. "Our house was my next stop."

"And your farm is right next door," Lana pointed out. Suddenly her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God, what about Nell?"

Panic swept over Cho and she wrung her hands. "We have to get her out of here, now. Bellatrix will torture her!"

Lex already had his cell phone out. "I'll call for a safe house for her. It'll only take a minute."

But Clark put a hand on Lex's arm. "Lex, I don't think we have time," he said, looking at the grave faces of the witches and wizards.

"I'll tell Nell to stay with her new boyfriend," Lana suggested. "You think she'll be safe there?"

Cho nodded. "Bellatrix is following me, not my extended family." Her face suddenly screwed up in disgust. "Aunt Nell has a boyfriend?" Despite the gravity of the situation, Lana giggled. Ron and Bill shared a brotherly moment of eye rolling.

Lana turned from the group and ran the short distance to her house. Harry turned to his friends. "So how do you propose we hide from Bellatrix?" he asked. "The woman's insane, but she'll find us if she wants to."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Don't you feel it, Harry? There's some kind of weird energy all around us. It's definitely disturbing my magic, at least."

Lex murmured, "The meteor rocks." Clark glanced sidelong at him.

"But she tracked me to the mansion," Cho reminded them. "What's to stop her from just continuing to follow me?"

Bill looked thoughtful. "Did you Apparate anywhere near Lex's mansion? Into it? Away from it?"

"Yeah," Cho said slowly. "When I left, I Apparated. Why?"

"What's Apparating?" Lex broke in.

The others ignored him. "She's tracking your Apparation patterns," Bill told Cho.

Cho looked at him blankly. "When you Apparate, the air that replaces you has a different feeling," Hermione explained. "The magic is thinner, kind of like a magical black hole."

Cho froze. "She's follow my Apparating," she repeated.

Hermione nodded. "So if you Apparated here next, Bellatrix won't be far behind."

"But I didn't," Cho said, shaking her head. "Lex sent me to see some friends of his first."

Clark's blood ran cold. "Mom and Dad!" He turned to run, remembering at the last second just how many pairs of eyes were watching him. "I have to warn them!"

"We don't have time, Clark," Lex said just as Lana returned. "We've got to get out of here."

"Go then," Clark said. "I'll find you."

The group shared a glance and nodded. As they turned to leave, Lana returned and threw her arms around Clark. "Be careful."

He smiled just a little. "I will. I promise."

Then they took off toward the cornfields. Once they were safely out of sight, Clark raced for home.

…

"Mom! Dad!" Clark cried as he reached his house. "Where are you?"

'Oh God,' he thought desperately. 'It's too late.'

Unconsciously he let his eyesight shift into its X-ray mode and was relieved to see the physical forms of both of his parents working in the barn. He ran for the large red building and threw open the doors.

Jonathan and Martha were alarmed to say the least when they saw their son's face. "Clark?" Jonathan asked, confused.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Martha touched Clark's arm, concerned.

"Mom, Dad, you have to get out of here," Clark answered urgently. "Right now. As soon as possible!"

His parents shared a troubled look. "Son, what's going on?" Jonathan asked.

"No time to explain!" Clark said. His parents grew frightened at the panic that seeped into his voice. "We have to leave now!"

Honestly, Clark had no idea where his parents should go. If they took too long figuring it out, this Bellatrix would catch them all. But something the girl, Hermione, had said about the meteor rocks affecting her magic gave him an idea. "Follow me," he said. Jonathan and Martha didn't hesitate to drop what they were doing and comply.

Clark led them across the backyard and threw open the doors to the storm cellar. If he was right, the residual force of his spaceship would cause the same disturbance as the meteor rocks and hide his parents. He momentarily wished for the hundredth time that the ship was safe and sound in the storm cellar as it had been before the tornado. "Get in!" he said.

His mother hesitantly started down the stairs, but his father was not so easily convinced. "Clark, tell me what's going on," Jonathan demanded.

"Dad, please!" Clark begged, choked up. "Please just lock yourself in the storm cellar. I'll be back for you!"

Jonathan looked into his son's pleading eyes and finally nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you!" The rusty slide of the bolt lock eased Clark's mind just enough and he took off at top sped in the direction he had last seen Lana and the others go.

…
Bellatrix, Draco Malfoy, and the handful of other Death Eaters in Smallville appeared with a pop on the Kents' porch. "Hello?" she called as she burst through the front door. "Come out and play, Kal-El!"

They scoured the house, but Bellatrix pouted when they found no one. "We must have waited too long," Pansy Parkinson said. She immediately paid for her remark with a Crucio from her Lady. No one dared comment further.

"We should be able to find Liza Lang and Kal-El," Draco offered hesitantly. "I think that maybe something's wrong."

Bellatrix turned her scalding glare on her right hand man, but said nothing. Draco let out a small sigh of relief when she turned to stare at the barn. Finally she headed for the door. "We will go to the Lang house."

…

A tall uniformed man dropped an olive green duffel bag on the Lang front porch and knocked on the door. "Hello?" he called. "Lana?" He was about to check inside, as he got no answer, when he heard a silky voice behind him.

"Lana isn't home," the dark-haired woman said. Her voice sounded scarily like a cat. "But who are you?"

"Whitney Fordman," he replied suspiciously. "I'm Lana's boyfriend. Who are you?"

She shrugged. Whitney was suddenly aware of a handful of others behind the strange lady. "I'm a friend of your girlfriend's sister, Liza."

Whitney narrowed his eyes. "Liza's dead."

"Not as dead as you think. In fact, Liza and Lana are together right now."

"Oh yeah?" Whitney countered. "Then where are they?"

Bellatrix grinned inwardly and sighed outwardly. "I don't know," she said. "Liza asked me to meet her here, saying that Lana was upset and she wasn't sure what to do. When I got here, I found them both gone."

Whitney paled. "Lana's upset?"

Bellatrix nodded miserably. Behind her, Draco had to restrain himself. He never knew that his Lady was such a talented actress.

"I have to find her," Whitney said.

"But I don't know where they went!" Bellatrix replied.

Whitney had already jumped off the porch, his duffel bag forgotten. "I know where Lana would go. Come on!"

Bellatrix grinned and followed. 'Brilliant,' Draco thought as they went. 'Simply brilliant.'