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.
It was a sign of how desperate Draco Malfoy was that he didn't object when the American asked for a meeting in the middle of London. To be surrounded by this horde of filthy muggles made his skin crawl, but what choice did he have? While the old witch ate her revolting fish and chips, Draco studied the ward schematic of Hogsmeade she had given him. This information would greatly simplify their attack on the village—if it was genuine. But what was her real agenda? He didn't have time for a subtle interrogation, so he asked a straightforward question like a stupid Gryffindor.
"I know that American Aurors are in Hogsmeade helping the Pretenders, so why are you giving me this?" Draco asked.
"To be blunt, we feel that you are less of a threat to us than Harry Potter is. That is why my country would prefer that your little clique emerge victorious. Potter is too unstable to be running a powerful country like the United Kingdom. We feel that we could more easily do business with someone like you in the future."
This explanation appealed to Draco's inner Slytherin. "Potter is mentally disturbed, and I'm glad someone else finally noticed. However I must point out that when we attack Hogsmeade your Aurors will be in great danger. These mercenaries we've been forced to hire are impossible to control."
"I understand that, and their deaths are a... regrettable but necessary loss," the American said. "We won't hold it against you, if that is what you're worried about."
Of course that is what Draco was worried about—as if he cared about the deaths of some foreign Aurors. "I'm glad to hear that, and I hope we can continue this mutually beneficial relationship in the future."
"Mr Malfoy, that depends entirely on you. No one must ever learn of my government's involvement in your civil war. No one."
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in sharing credit. This victory will be mine alone."
As Draco left the muggle restaurant he couldn't have been more happy. William Delacour had managed to usurp the leadership of the Exiles, but with this new information that was going to change. He had already prepared a story about the dangerous solo mission he had undertaken to capture the ward schematic. Those idiots back at the Manor would eat it up with a spoon, especially that stupid Veela whore. That was something else he was looking forward to tonight. There was nothing better than having your way with the wife of a political enemy.
As Secretary Bates watched the inbreed moron walk out the door she crushed a feeling of remorse. The Aurors she had sent to Hogsmeade were troublemakers and incompetents for the most part, but they were still hers and she regretted losing them. Unfortunately those deaths were necessary if the military operation in South America was to be successful. The Spanish had to be kept occupied for a long as possible before they figured out that the United Kingdom just a diversion from the real action. As for betraying Andromeda Tonks and Harry Potter... well, she wasn't going to lose any sleep over that.
All those people who talk about the miracle of childbirth are lying through their teeth, Harry thought as he held his wife's hand. I am never going to have sex again. Ever.
"I must say you are dealing with this better than I did when I had Nymphadora," Andromeda said. She was on the other side of the hospital bed, holding Luna's other hand.
That was true. Luna wasn't crying out in pain, or threatening to castrate her husband for getting her pregnant. Instead she was her usual serene self. Perhaps having a phoenix crooning in her ear was helping. Harry would be forever grateful to Heliopath—he didn't think he could handle a screaming wife at this point.
The delivery took several hours, and it was unbelievably messy. At first Harry had assumed that when a witch gave birth it would be somehow... magical. Maybe Hedwig would perform a spontaneous Apparition when she was ready to leave the womb, or that the Healers would delicately slip her a tiny Portkey. Andromeda thought his theories were hilarious, and once she stopped laughing she informed him that childbirth was the same for witches and muggle women. Magic of any kind was avoided in the delivery room since it might harm the child.
"Congratulations Mr and Mrs Potter, your beautiful daughter is a perfectly healthy witch," the Chief Healer of the hospital told them when it was finally over. It seemed that paying for the construction of the Lily Evans Hospital had certain benefits—like getting the best Healer on the staff to deliver your first child.
"I knew it: green eyes and blond hair," Luna said as little Hedwig—cleaned and wrapped in a blanket—was gently placed on her chest. Those few words seemed to take the last of her strength, and she quickly fell asleep.
"Don't be alarmed, there is nothing wrong with your wife," the Healer assured him.
But Harry wasn't really listening anymore. For him the only thing that existed in the entire world was his tiny daughter. While Luna slept, Hedwig was very much awake. She seemed curious about her new environment, a fact which Harry found endlessly fascinating. Finally her tiny green eyes closed.
"I will do it."
"Do what?" a sleepy Andromeda asked from a conjured chair across the room there she had been taking a catnap.
"I'll go with Cardinal Wiwa to Madrid," Harry said. "You are right. We have to force the Spanish Aurors to retreat, and attacking their capital is the best way to do that. I can see that now."
"I'm sorry, I wish there was another option. I really do."
Harry sighed. "You said you wanted to take Teddy home for the night. On your way out could you please tell everyone the good news, and send Hermione in."
After giving all three of them a kiss Andromeda left, and a few minutes later his best friend entered the hospital room. Of course she was crying. "Harry, I'm so happy for the both of you. Hedwig is an incredibly beautiful little girl."
Unfortunately all her blubbering woke Luna up. After carefully checking on Hedwig, she looked over at Hermione and smiled. "You know, Harry is in an excellent mood. This would be the perfect time to ask him if he would be willing to help you and Lisa."
"What kind of help do you need?" Harry asked. He had never seen Hermione's face so red before, and that was really saying something.
"Both Lisa and I were talking the other day. We want to start a family soon, and if we are both impregnated by the same wizard then all of our children would be brothers and sisters."
Now her blushes made sense. He looked at Luna, and she nodded her head. "I would be glad to help." He would be glad to help. Really glad. Hermione and Lisa were very attractive witches—especially when they were together.
Hermione must have heard something in the tone of his voice. "Harry James Potter! I am not asking you to do that."
Now he was confused. "I thought you said you wanted children?"
Luna decided to take pity on him. "You wouldn't actually have sexual intercourse with them. After all, they are lesbians. No, instead you would masturbate on to an enchanted spoon, and then they would insert it into their..."
"Please stop! I get the picture. If that is what you and Lisa want—and if Andromeda gives her blessing—I will be happy to donate when the time comes... er, bad choice of words." Now they were both laughing at him. "Hermione, could you please stay here with Luna and Hedwig for a few minutes? I really need to get some fresh air."
With that he Apparited to the rooftop garden. Harry had been up here on several occasions, and he had found the view of Hogsmeade to be soothing. But not tonight. A certain ginger witch was also on roof, eating her dinner alone.
"I heard the good news. Congratulations," Ginny offered.
"Thank you. I must say you look like shite."
"Minister Tonks wasn't lying then she said I would be working fourteen hours a day. And the Healers compete among themselves to see who can give me the worst jobs."
"You deserve it," Harry said as he turned to leave, but something made him stop. "I have to know: why did you to it? Of all the wankers in the world why did you agree to marry Draco Malfoy?"
"Because I knew it would piss you off," Ginny answered without a bit of remorse or shame.
"During the Battle of Hogwarts when I was walking out into the Forbidden Forest to die, do you know what I was thinking about? You. You and the children we would never get to have."
That hit Ginny hard. "Luna filled me in on the details—how she told you about my other boyfriends. I wish my stupid cow of a mother was alive just to I would kill her again."
"I can't believe you. Did your mother tell you to screw your other boyfriends while you were stringing me along? Is that your excuse? I needed you, and you played games with me. That is why I chose to marry Luna. She would never even think of treating me that way."
"I'm sorry."
She was crying now. But was it because she was truly sorry, or was it because she had lost out on her chance of becoming Mrs Ginny Potter? He honestly didn't know.
"Words aren't good enough this time. You owe me a Life Debt, and it's about time I collected," Harry snarled as he grabbed her by the arm, and used Side-Along Apparition to take them to Ollivander's new shop on the other side of Hogsmeade. "I know you are in here old man. I need a wand, and it can't wait until tomorrow morning."
The wand-maker emerged from the back room wearing an old evening robe. "Mr Potter. If I'm not mistaken you already have two of the finest wands in the world, so you must be here for Miss Weasley."
Ten minutes and ten galleons later, the two returned to Luna's hospital room at St Lily's. "Harry, what is going on?" his wife asked when she saw them.
"That's what I would like to know," Ginny said as she rubbed the spot on her arm where Harry had grabbed her.
"Hermione, I need your help. Ginny is going to take an Unbreakable Vow to protect Hedwig, Teddy, and Luna. With her life." Harry turned to glare at his old girlfriend. "If anything happens to them, you had better be dead."
"Harry, please don't do this," Luna told him.
"No, it's all right," Ginny said. "As Harry just reminded me, I owe him a Life Debt. He is well within his rights to demand this favor."
"Why are you doing this?" Hermione asked. "Unbreakable Vows can kill, especially ones that are too vague."
"I have to go on a mission," Harry replied. "Where I am going isn't important, but the fact that I wouldn't be here to protect my family is. Before I leave I'm getting you all out of the country. Ginny will be coming along as an extra wand."
"We've discussed this before. Running away won't work."
Hermione was right, they had discussed the idea of evacuating Hogsmeade at length. There were several problems with the idea. First of all they didn't have the galleons it would take to move that many people. And even if they did have the galleons, there wasn't a country in the world which would take in so many magical refugees, especially ones fleeing from a civil war. Finally even if the did have a place to go, most of the wizards and witches were too attached to their homes here in the United Kingdom to leave. A mass evacuation won't solve their problems.
"I have spoken to the Canadians, and they are willing to accept a small group of my friends."
Luna saw the problem at once. "But not you personally."
"No, Andromeda and I are political hot potatoes. They can't afford to grant either one of us asylum. If they did, it would almost certainly cause a diplomatic incident."
"I will go Harry—for the sake of Hedwig and Teddy," Luna said. "But please leave Ginny out of this."
"I'm sorry Luna, but once you reach Canada you'll need people you can trust. That means Ginny. Come on Hermione, let's get this over with."
"The Canadians said a few friends on a single muggle aeroplane," Andromeda remarked dryly.
They were both standing on the runway of the Newcastle International Airport, which was the closest major airport outside of Hadrian's Ward. Harry had just said his farewells to Luna, Hedwig, and Teddy. Now the old-fashioned mobile stairway was slowly moving off the runway as the four massive engines started up.
"It is a single aeroplane—it just happens to be a 747 jumbo jet," he told her while searching the horizon for a possible attack.
Harry was also offering up a silent prayer of thanks to Albus Dumbledore for leaving him all that gold he had created with the Philosopher's Stone. Selling that stockpile had provided them with a large amount of muggle currency—more than enough to charter a jumbo jet for a single trip to Toronto. He was also praying that no one was stupid enough to use any magic once they were in the air. Just to be on the safe side Hermione and Lisa had confiscated everyone's wand before they were allowed on board, but accidents happened.
"Don't you think they are going to be upset when over five hundred witches and wizards arrive in the middle of the night asking for political asylum?"
"It is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I think I read that somewhere. Besides, they are almost all muggleborns. The Canadians won't send them back to here to be slaughtered."
"You hope they won't send them back," Andromeda said ominously. "It's going to be a nightmare when news of this flight breaks in Hogsmeade, and it will despite your control over the Wireless. Our pureblood and half-blood supporters will be furious with us."
"I really don't care about their opinions anymore. Everyone I love—present company excluded—is on that plane. Besides, my mother and I have saved these people from destruction twice already. If it finally happens this time... then so be it."
"If you really mean that, then why are you going to Madrid with Cardinal Wiwa?"
"Because the purebloods are the ones who started this war up again, even after I killed their precious Dark Lord. I just want it all to end so I can raise my family in peace," Harry told her as the jet taxied down the runway. "I can't believe no one has tried to attack us. We are so exposed out here."
"It's too public and too muggle. You sometimes forget how frightened most purebloods are of entering the regular world," Andromeda explained. After the jet finally took off, she turned to face him. "This is where we part ways. You have to join Cardinal Wiwa in Sardinia, while I return to Hogsmeade to oversee our defenses."
Harry pulled her in for a deep kiss. "I still don't know if you love me or not Andromeda Tonks, but never doubt for a second that I do love you. And that I always will."
A part of her wanted to reassure the boy that she did in fact love him, but another part of her didn't want to lie. So the Minister of Magic decided a distraction was in order.
"You know I have always had this fantasy about muggle aeroplanes." That got her the brilliant smile she wanted to see. "And there is one sitting all by itself over in that hanger."
"The Unspeakables are ready," Bill told the war council. "Tomorrow we will bring down Hadrian's Ward."
"But what about the wards around Hogsmeade itself?" asked their pet Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse. Despite his title he was nothing more than a powerless figurehead for the Exiles.
"If—and I stress the word if—the information Malfoy supplied us with is accurate, we can bring those wards down in less than an hour," Bill told Thicknesse.
"Trust me Delacour, the ward schematic is real," Draco said in a reasonable tone. His campaign to win back control of the Exiles was going well, and he could afford to be magnanimous now.
Plus he didn't want anyone to be suspicious when William Delacour disappeared tomorrow. Draco was paying those mercenaries a small fortune to kidnap the Curse Breaker during the upcoming battle. The oath he had taken in the Black Forest prevented him from killing Delacour outright, but that didn't mean he couldn't forcefully return him to his Chateau in France. Once he was there that traitorous Veela had a surprise waiting for him. Fleur hadn't given him any details on what she was planning, so again Draco wasn't technically violating his oath.
"Once the defensive wards around Hogsmeade fall, we will then cast Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards. The Floo system will also be temporally disabled, so our enemies will be trapped inside Hogsmeade," Bill explained. "Given our superior numbers, the war will be over in less than a day."
"I feel I must point out to everyone that a great many purebloods are currently living in Hogsmeade. What are the estimates on the number of casualties?" Thicknesse asked.
"I'm sorry Minister, but if they have sided with Potter and the rest of Pretenders then they are on their own," Draco said. "There is nothing we can do to protect them despite their blood status."
This statement made many of the people in the room nervous. When the Exiles had returned home they expected a majority of the magical population to support them and their agenda. But thanks to a malicious propaganda campaign on the Wireless only a small minority had rallied to their banner. Most wanted nothing to do with the pureblood extremists, and instead had fled north to support Tonks and Potter. Many of the Exiles were now wondering if anyone would be left in the United Kingdom for them to rule once this war was over.
"I see our resident celebrity has finally arrived. I take it you were saying goodbye to Minister Tonks," Father Snape sneered as Harry struggle to regain his footing after his long-distance Portkey trip. You would think that sneering would no longer be proper for a man of God, but apparently that wasn't the case for Snape.
Harry ignored his old professor and instead glanced around the Church's large estate on Sardinia. It was from here that the Order of Saint Lazarus would be launching its attack tomorrow. He was relieved so see the large number of wizards who would be joining them—there were over five hundred present. At the same time Harry found it a bit unnerving to be around this many Catholic priests, especially since he just said goodbye to Andromeda. Three times.
The mission briefing by the Order of Saint Lazarus was very extensive, and Harry couldn't help but compare it to his days back in the Order of the Phoenix. It was very clear he was dealing with professionals who had little in common with Dumbledore's bumbling group of amateurs. Best of all there was no Molly Weasley screeching like a banshee about his age.
Harry also noticed that Cardinal Wiwa wasn't speaking that much. Maybe it was Dumbledore's ego and his need to dominate others that made the Order of the Phoenix such a failure. It was something to think about if he was still alive next week. Technically he was an Auror Commander, so he should probably learn how to act like one.
Cardinal Wiwa's men had been conducting raids all along Spain's eastern coast for some time now. While the main purpose of these raids had been to destroy pureblood property, they had also weakened the magical defenses that surrounded the country. It was now possible to punch through the Spanish wards with specially designed Portkeys, although the trip to Madrid was going to be a hellish ride according to the experts.
Once they arrived at the capital their objective was to destroy the Sendero Luminoso, which would effectively cut Spain off from South America. However to reach that objective they had to engage the Imperial Guard which would be defending the Sendero Luminoso. This was going to be a bit of a problem.
The Spanish had taken a page from the Ottoman Turks and their Janissaries, and as a result their Imperial Guard was made up of slaves. Muggleborn wizards in Spain and in South America were identified at an early age, and then kidnapped. These young children were subjected to multiple Memory Charms and systematic abuse. Those with too much intelligence and independence were often killed. Finally after years of training they became fanatically loyal soldiers who acted as instruments of oppression for their Spanish masters. Facing them wasn't going to be easy.
"Given my great power I will be doing a great deal of independent fighting tomorrow," Cardinal Wiwa explained. On second thought maybe his ego was just as big as Dumbledore's. "Harry Potter will stay by my side at all times, and he will be acting as my shield. We are the only ones who allowed to break ranks."
His men didn't argue, and it was clear to Harry that they both loved and respected the old wizard. But was that going to be enough to win the battle?
"We have been given a difficult mission. Let us bow our heads and pray for the strength we will all need in the coming hours."
Sleeping without Luna and Harry was impossible, so Andromeda was in bed staring up at the ceiling when she felt it. A feeble wave of magic converged on Hogsmeade from all sides. It could only mean one thing: Hadrian's Ward had once again fallen. She wasted no time donning Bellatrix's old suit of dragon skin armor. Andromeda then Apparited directly to the Ministry of Magic. There was nothing but bad news waiting for her.
"We are screwed." This was Chief Auror Savage's professional assessment of their situation. "The second Hadrian's Ward came down we were surrounded by a force of at least five thousand wizards and witches. Now they are hitting the wards around Hogsmeade at their weakest points. Every single one of them. It should have taken their Curse Breakers days to find those weak points, but instead it only took a few minutes."
"Someone sold us out, and gave the Exiles detailed information about all of our defenses," Dawlish reasoned.
"I agree," Savage said. "Look Minster Tonks, we were counting on two things. One was that the Hogsmeade wards would hold for at least a week, and two that the Spanish Aurors would be gone before the battle began. We were wrong on both counts. Our only option now is to fallback to Hogwarts. The castle's wards are a thousand years old, and they should buy us some more time."
"Send out the signal for a general retreat," Andromeda told them.
Even six months ago an attempted evacuation of Hogsmeade would have resulted in total chaos. Luckily for the Ministry of Magic, Harry's bet on the Wireless had paid off. With the WWTV acting as an emergency broadcasting system, every witch and wizard understood the need to proceed to Hogwarts in a calm and orderly manner. They knew what was going to happen next. Torture, rape, and murder were all they could expect from these invading monsters.
Savage set-up a temporary command post at the top of the Astronomy Tower. From there they had a perfect view as the wards surrounding the Highland valley began to falter and then die. It was quite beautiful—in a horrible sort of way.
"What about the rest of our plans?" Andromeda asked. "Will they be of any use now?"
"If the Exiles were smart they would simply bypass Hogsmeade altogether and head straight for us," Savage reasoned. "But I doubt if they can control those mercenaries, so first they will loot the village. Rather than attack us piecemeal, they will wait for the fun to end before turning on us with everything they've got. That will give us some more time, but I doubt if it will be enough."