Author's Note: I posted this story a few years ago under my old pen name, but later deleted it. Now I'm posting it again.
"She has a wonderful arse," Andromeda said, glancing over towards Ginny Weasley.
The young witch was bent over a Pensieve along with Director Dawlish, Chief Auror Savage, and her brother Ron. It seemed that Draco Malfoy had taken his fiancée out to inspect the Auror encampments in France, and they were reviewing the memory in an attempt to estimate the numbers they would be facing during the invasion. It didn't look good.
"Her arse is no better than Luna's, and not in the same league as yours," Harry told the Minister of Magic with complete honesty.
"I hope your wife never hears you say that."
"Trust me, Luna feels the same way."
Andromeda gave up, and turned to a less pleasant subject. "What are we going to do with her? Throw her in prison? Arthur Weasley said he won't blame me if I did."
"I don't think I could take Ginny to the Cave. We spent too much time snogging for me to let her face a live basilisk again."
Despite what they might have told Rita Skeeter, the Ministry of Magic hadn't built a new prison after abandoning Azkaban. Instead Harry expanded the nearby cave Sirius Black had used during the Triwizard Tournament, and lined it with plain wooden shelves. He then bought a small basilisk from Nigeria and a large mirror. Any prisoners Minister Tonks wanted out of the way were petrified, and left on the shelves under a Fidelius Charm. Harry figured that it was safe enough since being petrified for a few months hadn't caused any negative side effects for Hermione or the other muggleborns. It was also cost-effective since the prisoners didn't need any guards or water or food.
"According to Ron, Ginny now realizes that agreeing to marry your nephew Draco was a mistake—something she did just to spite me," Harry said. "Let's snap her wand, and have her work as a volunteer at the St Lily's. They can always use an extra set of hands over at the hospital."
The four finally emerged from the Pensieve, and they all looked grim.
"Auror Weasley, give me your sister's wand," Andromeda said. "Miss Weasley, as much as I might like to order your execution, Auror Potter has convinced me to spare your life. Instead you will work fourteen hours a day at the Lily Evans Hospital doing whatever menial tasks the Healers assign you. You will also live here in Hogsmeade with your brothers; they should be able to keep you from accepting any more dangerous marriage proposals. If you attempt to leave Hogsmeade the enchanted necklace you have on will kill you by strangling you to death. I would also warn you against trying to remove it."
"Let me guess: death by strangulation," Ginny said as she fingered the thick silver chain around her pale neck.
"That is correct. As for your wand..." Andromeda casually snapped it in half. "I hope you understand how precarious your position is. Auror Weasley, take your sister back to your apartment so that she can settled in before reporting to work tomorrow."
After Ginny and Ron left, Harry turned to the Chief Auror Savage. "Well, what is your take on those memories?"
"They match up with the numbers we have heard about from our spies in France," Savage replied. "Even with the foreign reinforcements we are still outnumbered three-to-one, and that's counting kids like Ron Weasley who have a minimal amount of training."
"The Exiles and their European allies want this war over as quickly as possible before anyone realizes that they are using French and Spanish Aurors to conquer the United Kingdom," Andromeda reasoned. "That is why the have assembled such overwhelming numbers. They know that a foreign invasion combined with the ICW massacre could trigger the formation of an international coalition against them, so they want to defeat us before the rest of the world can respond."
"So my plan is still our best option," Dawlish said. "We have reinforced the wards around this valley, so all we have to is hold out until that international coalition arrives."
With the destruction of the Ministry of Magic in London all the wards which had protected the United Kingdom had collapsed along with it. Now the only large-scale wards they had were the ones recently erected around Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. The rest of the country was completely defenseless.
"We can't be certain will that anyone will be coming to our rescue," Savage countered. "Plus if there is a siege we would have to bring our so-called allies into Hogsmeade, and I believe that's something we should avoid if possible. Potter is the only one who can exert any control over those rowdy foreigners—especially the Australians."
Harry had spent the most time training with the foreign Aurors, so he tried to defend them. "They aren't going to turn against us. And layoff the Australians, they're brilliant fighters."
But in truth the Aurors who had arrived to support them were a mixed blessing at best. The Indonesians were professionals, but they were all supporters of one of General Iskandar's political rivals. The General had shipped them off to the United Kingdom as part of a power struggle back in Indonesia, and they were not happy about it. The Japanese Aurors were all skilled wizards and witches. At least until they started drinking, which they tended to do every day.
On the other hand the Americans who volunteered all seemed to have a history of insubordination and a tendency to use excessive force. And as much as Harry hated to admit it, the behavior of the Australians made the Americans look like meek schoolgirls in comparison. The rambunctious Aussies had sort of invited themselves over when they heard a magical war was in the offing.
All the foreign Aurors were now based around Dumbledore's cabin, which Harry and his family had abandoned in favor of a penthouse apartment in the new Wireless building. Having them on the other side of the mountain kept their presence a secret, but more importantly it prevented them from demolishing Hogsmeade. Andromeda claimed that all the Aurors cared about were what she called the three F's: fighting, fornicating, and falling down drunk.
So far only two things had kept the situation from spiraling out of control. One was the company of Magical Mounties that the Canadians had loaned them. They were acting as a kind of military police, and breaking up the fights that occurred on an hourly basis. The second was the fact that Harry had yet to lose a duel during training. Many of the foreigners were eager to test the Boy-Who-Lived, and thanks to the unique magic of the Elder Wand he was still undefeated.
"We are hopelessly out-numbered, which means we can't face the Exiles in open battle. At the same time a siege would cause too much damage to Hogsmeade. If neither option will work, then what do you suggest we do?" Dawlish demanded.
"Potter, tell them," Savage said.
Harry took a deep breath. "My wife Luna has an idea that might work. She thinks we should recast Hadrian's Ward."
One day when Harry and Chief Auror Savage had been brainstorming for ways to increase security when Luna had informed them that she had figured-out how to recast Hadrian's Ward. It was strange how much respect a phoenix familiar earns a witch. If the idea had come from anyone but Luna, Savage would have just ignored it.
Hadrian's Ward and its muggle counterpart Hadrian's Wall had both been created by the Roman Empire to serve the same purpose. They weren't built to cut-off the barbarians in the north, but rather to control any traffic and tax any commerce between them and the rest of the island. The forty-nine Roman war-wizards who had created the Ward around what is now Scotland had blocked all forms of magical travel expect at one Gate which was always left open to travel through. If Hadrian's Ward was active again, the Exiles would still be able to enter Scotland, but they would have to do so at one specific spot.
"If Mrs Potter's plan works it would allow us to fight them in Northern England rather than here in Hogsmeade," Savage explained. "Plus the bottleneck would neutralize their advantage in numbers."
"No offense to your wife, but her idea is insane," Dawlish said. "Hadrian's Ward was destroyed by the great Merlin himself. How can we hope to recreate it without getting ourselves killed in the process?"
This was a valid point. Merlin was the most powerful wizard who ever lived, and he had an ego to match. He had seen Hadrian's Ward as a personal insult—something which seemed to suggest that Roman magic was more powerful than his own. So being a typical barbarian he wanted to destroy it, and despite the difficulties he had done just that. He was Merlin after all. Since then there had been a least a dozen known attempts to repair what the great wizard had destroyed, but all of them had failed. Failures which tended to kill the wizards and witches involved.
"I will do it myself," Harry said told them. "Luna believes she has figured out the mechanics of the Ward, and that's good enough for me."
After hearing this Andromeda let out a moan, and buried her face in her hands.
I feel like I am in a room with one hundred clones of Cedric Diggory, Father Severus Snape thought to himself. I don't belong here.
It wasn't that any of priests in attendance actually looked like the handsome Hufflepuff. In fact they represented every age and ethnic group Snape could imagine, but there were similarities nonetheless. These men were open and kind and full of compassion. Yet at the same time they were powerful and intelligent wizards—just like the dead Triwizard Champion he had once taught.
Cardinal Wiwa—who was tending to matters back at the Vatican—had given him a Portkey which brought to this estate on the island of Sardinia. This was the first meeting of the Order of Saint Lazarus that Snape had been permitted to attend. The Order itself was nearly a thousand years old, and had first been formed to treat lepers. This had provided the Church's wizards with a perfect cover story for their extreme secrecy. Few people wanted anything to do with lepers, and they gladly kept their distance to avoid catching the horrible illness.
These priests were powerful wizards, but they were also men of god and their military tactics reflected that dichotomy. The Order of Saint Lazarus sought to avoid bloody battles. Instead they planed on using their superb sources of intelligence to raid the magical districts of Southern France and Eastern Spain. These raids would destroy as much infrastructure and property as possible. The idea was to bleed the purebloods of their wealth, and force them to make concessions at the negotiating table. It was a sensible approach, but not the one Snape wanted.
"If I might make a suggestion."
"No, you may not Severus Snape," one of the older priests told him. "We all know of your story, and we are genuinely sorry for your loss. But at the same time we believe you have no right to wear that collar, and that you are only here because of Cardinal Wiwa's remorse. Remorse which you have skillfully exploited for your own ends."
"That is true, I am here because I want revenge. Revenge for my wife and unborn child that your Church allowed the purebloods to slaughter. But I can give you a way to hasten the end of this war. Will you reject it out of spite?" Snape asked them.
Most in the room were unhappy with his words, but none of them could find any fault with his logic. "What course of action do you propose?"
"Our enemy is not the European purebloods themselves, but rather the apathy of the rest of the magical world. We must rouse the world from that apathy. We must expose the purebloods for what they truly are: monsters. I know what kind of sick games they like to play while no one is watching. Get me into France with ten good wizards, and I will bring back all the evidence we need."
For the first time since Harry Potter had gone to Hogwarts looking for a babysitter, he woke up in bed without Luna. Last night she had given the boy a kiss and left with Heliopath to sleep in Teddy's room. It was an intense and even violent night for Harry and Andromeda, especially in comparison to the more gentle lovemaking that had been the norm since Luna's pregnancy had started to show. As a result it was a very confused young wizard who looked down at her in the morning.
"I'm not complaining, but what the hell happened lasted night?"
Andromeda reluctantly stopped what she was doing to answer his question. "Harry, I think there is an excellent chance you could die today. Luna doesn't share with my assessment, and she felt she would only be in the way last night."
"So what you were doing? Saying goodbye to me in case I die?"
"In a way," Andromeda told him as she crawled up the bed, and moved their bodies into position. They didn't have any more time for foreplay.
Harry thought about that for a moment as he began thrusting away like the horny teenager he was. "Do you love me?"
"I don't know."
"It's a simple question."
"No, it's not. I am grateful for our political partnership. It will allow me to avenge Ted and Nymphadora. And now that I have you properly trained, the sex is enjoyable. But am I in love with you? I don't know."
That actually caused the boy to stop mid-thrust, which was something of a minor miracle. "So you're just using me?"
"You weren't complaining last night." Andromeda knew at once she had gone too far, and quickly backpedaled by squeezing his arse. "Listen to me Harry, I have never seen one person love another as much as Luna loves you. You have Teddy and soon Hedwig will be born. Plus there is Hermione—she is more of a sister to you than mine ever were to me. You know that she loves you, and that she would do anything for you. You're not alone anymore."
That seemed to placate him, and their morning quickie resumed. Less than twenty minutes later they were dressed and eating breakfast. It was a riotous affair. Hermione's hair was completely out of control, which according to Harry was always a bad sign.
"Harry, you can't go through with this today! We need more time to check Luna's calculations."
"Hermione, we have been going over those calculations for the past two weeks. They are perfect," Lisa said. This earned her a murderous glare from her girlfriend.
Luna plan centered around the fact that Merlin hadn't simply destroyed the Ward, he had also set a deadly snare for anyone who tried to recast it. While the forty-nine Aurors who had volunteered were busy recreating the original work of the Romans war-wizards, Harry would find and then suppress Merlin's snare. Luna was positive that her equations had pinpointed the great wizard's errors, so Harry wasn't nervous about his job today. Well, not that nervous.
The preparations had taken all night. Not only did they have to position the Aurors and the ward stones in precise locations around the perimeter of Scotland, they also had to hide them from the muggles. The coordination necessary was a logistical nightmare, and they were at a loss to explain how the Romans had done the job eighteen-hundred years ago. They only managed it by using the new portable Floos that George had designed.
It seemed several of the muggleborns who worked in Hermione's lab introduced the depressed Weasley to the joys of cannabis, and he had become obsessed with Zippo lighters. (And muggle junk food.) George reasoned that if you could use a fireplace to send and receive messages, why not use the tiny flame of a lighter to do the same? It had taken several months of research, but even in the cold and damp Scottish winter the new portable Floos worked perfectly.
Harry himself was positioned along Hadrian's Wall at the spot there the Ward gate would be located. "Whenever you're ready." Hermione then passed the signal along to the group of messengers they had assembled.
As the Ward slowly came into existence, Harry was grateful that he had such a brilliant wife and that he had kept the Elder Wand. If Luna hadn't told him precisely what to do in advance he would have been dead after the first ten seconds. Even after all these centuries Merlin's snare continued to work with deadly efficiency. The power needed to counter it required all of Harry's strength and the extra edge the Elder Wand provided its rightful owner.
But it did work, and by noon Hadrian's Ward was back in place.
Harry felt like he had been repeatedly hit by a lorry, and he dropped to the ground the second it was all over. Luna came over and placed his head in her lap. "You were wonderful," she whispered over and over as the Healers checked him for any injuries. Hermione and Lisa were both thrilled. They believed that using this as a case study they could opened up a whole new era in ward design.
Ron—who had been one of the Aurors watching over Harry while he worked—simply remarked: "I have never see anything like that before in my life. I guess Merlin didn't get to be Merlin by collecting Chocolate Frog Cards."
Now that the danger had passed Minister Tonks and Chief Auror Savage arrived from Hogsmeade for an inspection tour. The massive Ward worked just as described in the history books. You could just walk through the ten meter-wide Gate, but it was impossible for a witch or wizard to enter or leave Scotland anywhere else. One of the Aurors even tried a broom. He disappeared in midair and reappeared at the base of the Ward. Savage was already preparing the defensive works around the Gate, since they only had three days until the Winter Solstice.
"Well done," Andromeda said when she came over to see Luna and Harry. He was still lying helplessly on the ground.
"I'm afraid that is not good enough this time," Luna replied. A shocked Harry turned to look at his wife. This was the first time Luna had ever stood up to the older witch.
"You were right, and I was wrong."
"Yes, I was right," Luna said with a huge smile. "Thank you."
Harry wasn't sure what was going on between the two witches in his life, but even he realized something important had just happened.
"This is a mistake Malfoy," Bill said. "We should move directly against Hogsmeade. Sending our forces to your Manor in Wiltshire is a waste of time and Portkeys."
"Nonsense Delacour. We need a base of operations inside of the United Kingdom from which to launch our final attack. My Manor is the ideal place thanks to its size and the defensive wards."
Malfoy no longer spoke of returning to London. None of the purebloods would admit it, but the threats from the muggle government had forced them to give up on the capital city as a new home for the True Ministry of Magic.
"Those wards have could have been tampered with by our enemies while we have been here in France," Bill countered. "It's an unacceptable risk."
"Are you not a trained Curse Breaker my husband? Can't you determine if the wards have been tampered with by the Pretenders?" Fleur asked. She was standing too close to Malfoy, but he had gotten use to ignoring that over the past few weeks.
"A full scan of the Manor would take time. Time which we obviously do not have."
Malfoy was unimpressed with his argument. "I am telling you that the wards of Malfoy Manor are perfectly secure. I think we should move tomorrow on the Winter Solstice as we originally planned. That do you think Nott?"
"I agree—we need a secure base of operations."
Now Bill knew it was time to cut his losses. Since the ritual which bonded them together the triumvirate of Malfoy, Nott, and Delacour had moved against several of their political rivals among the Exiles. Over a dozen wealthy wizards had mysteriously disappeared, and their galleons were seized to fund the upcoming invasion. In the beginning the young leaders had been considered something of a joke, but now they were firmly in control of all the Exiles. And Malfoy and Nott had two votes to his one.
"Fine," Bill muttered. "We move tomorrow."