Hermione Granger and the Quest for the Binding Stones
Interlude 1
Autumn
Part 1
Slap, slap, slap, slap.
The rhythm of her feet hitting the tarmac on the narrow road was now a familiar beat to the music in her head. Sometimes her favorite songs would run through her mind as the path passed under the soles of her running shoes, but today she wasn't so lucky. The Macarena was stuck there, playing in a continuous loop.
Rose beside her and Lavender a few paces in front made the run much more pleasant, and another big plus was the scenery. It was spectacular. The gentle hills of Devon rose around them, quilted with fields and farms, and the morning dew brought the scents of the earth out in force. Hermione could smell the grass beside them and the sea a few miles away, she could smell the smoke from coal and wood fires heating the older houses in Feniton, but the current overpowering smell was from the cattle barn at Sherwood Farm. She chuckled at Lavender's wince, pulled her wand and quickly cast the air freshening charm in a bubble around them.
"Thanks," Lavender said between breaths.
"Welcome," Hermione panted.
This was rout three of their running routine. From their little enclave they ran to the intersection where Larkbeare Services had their equipment yard. Turning to the right they ran the half mile to Colestocks, turned right again, ran the mile and a half to Feniton, then turned for home. This rout, according to her pedometer, was three point two miles. It now typically took them a little more than half an hour.
It was working, and it was working well. Hermione had lost half a stone in two months. More importantly though, she'd had to go knickers shopping, because all of her old ones were now to loose. Ron was not complaining. Rose, as with everything, had taken the challenge head on. The running, paired with the martial arts lessons with Lavender and her brother Roland, were making Rose a ten and a half year old ball of hardened steel. She could now easily pick Hugo up off the ground and walk away with him, as she had demonstrated a few times.
The huge old elm tree at the edge of town was one of their landmarks, it dominated the side of the road. When they had first arrived home from Australia they would stop here and catch their breath. It was unnecessary now. Hermione was thankful for that, as it was starting to rain. Being Muggleborn had its advantages. The cold weather running suits she had acquired for them were light, breathable, and most importantly for coastal England, waterproof.
The tree passed on their left, and soon they were in town and crossing the rail line. "Welcome to Feniton" the rail station sign declared, and Hermione snickered. Her parents had laughed as they had got off the train the first time. Feniton was small even by Devon standards. The 'station' was a modest green shack with an attached automated ticket kiosk and a raised platform. BritRail had only recently finished the new passenger shelter the residents had been requesting for years. The small, well stocked, market that stood next to the Pizza shop, with the hardware shop, the bicycle repair shop, and two pubs completed the bustling commercial core of Feniton
Just across from the rail station they turned for home. Most of the older houses in the town center had been raised in the fifties, and new, more modern brick single floor homes lined the road. There was a small cluster of very old and much larger buildings a mile from town that contained the Potter/Weasley compound.
Hermione had fallen in love with the huge red brick house immediately, and Ginny was just as enamored of the stately, somewhat larger manor next door. The purchases had been smooth and less costly than Ron and Harry had planned, so they had done some additions. An enclosed hallway now connected the two houses, and there was a common garden in the back. Their six neighbors were all magical so there was no problem with errant spells being seen. That also allowed them a communal Quidditch pitch in the field behind the garden.
Rose sprinted ahead and ran up the small set of steps and walkway to their house, while Hermione stopped at the post box cluster just outside the wards to collect their Muggle mail.
"Anything interesting?" Lavender asked.
"The Feniton Council still wants to raise money for the commons," Hermione answered looking at one letter. "And there's a pizza coupon."
"I'll take that," Lavender said, snatching it from Hermione's hand. "It'll come in handy for student bribery."
Hermione chuckled. Lavender used the local Muggle fast food restaurants, especially the pizza shop, as rewards for good behavior and lesson scores. "You're welcome," she said with a laugh.
Lilly, Albus, Hugo, and Ginny were at Hermione's kitchen table when they entered the house. "Morning," Ginny called. "Breakfast when you're showered."
Rose was already in the children's bathroom. Lavender and Hermione mounted the steps to the second floor and went to the master suite. Hermione striped and was in the shower in moments. A few minutes later she traded with Lavender. "You talk with Luna in the last few days?" Lavender asked from the shower.
"Yes, last night in fact." Hermione laughed. "She's actually enjoying morning sickness."
"Certainly wasn't your and Ginny's favorite thing as I recall."
With a wave of her wand the salmon blush and lip gloss Hermione favored lightly colored her face. "It was not," Hermione said, and she giggled. "They conceived in the pool at Kata Juta, did you know?"
Lavender roared with laughter. "No, she hadn't told me that yet." She said as she stepped from the shower.
Hermione took a moment to appraise her friend, and it finally dawned on her what she had been seeing. "You haven't changed at all," she said in wonder.
"I change three times a month," Lavender said snidely as she dried herself.
"Ha, ha," Hermione replied. "What I mean is that you haven't changed physically from when we were in school. You still look eighteen."
Lavender glanced down the scars on her chest, abdomen, and thigh. Then she looked back at Hermione skeptically.
"I'm serious, Lav. All that aside you're still astonishing."
"Thanks," Lavender said with a smile. "I do try."
It was Hermione's turn to look skeptical. "Well it seems to work," she said, and handed Lavender her satchel. "And you deserve it."
Lavender shrugged. "We're doing seashore life today, what's up at the hell hole?" she asked as she pulled her outfit from the bag.
"The Ministry is not a 'hell hole'," Hermione said. "More like a temporary stop at purgatory," she muttered. Her dress smoothed, and Ministry outer robes donned, she appraised herself in the mirror.
Lavender sniggered as Hermione smiled at what she saw. "You're doing very well, too. Go on, I'll meet you downstairs," she said.
~(*)~
"I think we need to go to America next," Rose said from her chair. She unconsciously twirled the key back and forth between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand. Ancient Artifacts of the American West was propped in front of her as she ate her Weetabix. "They have plenty of legends about Merlyn if you look at the closely, but I've not found any mention of elves in what I've read so far."
"America is going to be a bit challenging," Ginny said. "The magical community there is very secretive. A lot more than ours, and… well… they have more bigots."
"I didn't find that," Hermione said.
"You didn't play Quidditch," Ginny said. "They don't have the pure blood thing, but they have a racism problem, badly in some quarters. And they are paranoid about exposure, far more than the Ministry."
"I read about the Scourers," Rose said, and Lilly nodded. "They're gone now, right?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, that was in the seventeenth and very early eighteenth centuries. I think you'll find the Americans very pleasant," she smirked. "If a little rough around the edges."
"I like Aunt Luna's cousin George," Hugo said. "He's American."
Ginny snickered. "Everybody likes George, and apparently Amal likes him rather a lot," she said and laughed.
Lavender chuckled along with her. "You saw that picture in the Daily Mail then?"
"They looked very cozy," Ginny said and grinned.
"Well if you two are through playing yenta, I think it's time for me to be off," Hermione said, and stood from her chair.
"Shay will meet you there," Lavender told her. "He's working with Harry today."
"Good, I'll check in and see if they've found anything new," Hermione said.
Ginny put her hand on her sister in laws shoulder. "Maternity shopping with Luna this weekend, don't forget."
"I won't, and we're taking Rose and Lilly with us?"
"Not certain," Lavender said. "I was thinking last night that this will be the three of you out in public."
Ginny looked at Lavender. "You think they'll try again?" she asked.
Lavender shrugged. "They might," she said, and then looked at them slyly. "But they probably would if we let them know. It could be an opportunity."
Hermione chuckled. "You're thinking of using us as bait?"
Lavender blushed, a very rare occurrence. "It's a stir whenever you show up as a group, I was thinking last night we might as well put it to use." she said. "Shay's talking to Harry about how we might structure an operation today, so they'll catch you up when you get in."
"I want to come," Rose said flatly, Lilly nodding next to her.
"Unlikely," Lavender said with a snort. "I've had enough heart palpitations where you're concerned recently, thank you very much."
Ginny looked at Hermione and nodded. "Rose won't be alone in that. Everyone will want to be there," she said. She looked back at Lavender. "Let us know tonight what your plan is. We'll call a circle for Wednesday night."
~(*)~
Nine women of power stood on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea. An ancient stone circle surrounded them. Three of them stepped to its center, and then as one the nine raised their wands and spoke the ancient incantation.
"We conjure thee, great circle of power!"
"Guard our magic!"
"Protect our rites!"
"Bring us peace that we may share our souls!"
A shimmering translucent white hemisphere formed over the circle, muting the sounds and breeze from the outside world. Hermione, Luna, and Ginny stood in the center of the circle. Their coven mates Angelina, Lavender, Katie, Padma, Parvati and Cho ringed them. The Sisters of the Moon were gathered once again. It happened every full moon, but this time they were a week and half early.
"Thank you for coming, my sisters," Hermione said as she turned to look at each one. "As we discussed last month, one of us, Ginny, Luna, or me, is a target. Whoever they are, they tried very hard to kill us in Australia, and they knew of Lavender." Hermione snickered. "They didn't know enough though." She turned to her friend. "Lavender wants to set a trap for them, and she would like all of you to be a part of her plan. Lavender?"
Lavender stepped forward. "We were all going shopping with Luna this coming weekend at the alley anyway. I propose we let a few people know, let it seep out that Luna, Ginny, and Hermione will be there. But we make it look like it will be just them. Inside the ministry we let it out that the only security is Ron, and Shay."
Cho spoke up. "Our thinking is that I will be in the Apothecary when they arrive in the alley, Katie will follow them out of the Leaky, and Lavender will be under a glamor near the Apothecary. She'll join Katie as Ginny, Hermione, and Luna pass."
Lavender looked to her left. "Parv and Paddy will be in Fortescue's at the table against the window, and Angie, we'd like you in Madam Malkin's."
"No problem," Angelina said, and the others nodded. "We'll be taking the kids to the Burrow for safe keeping?"
"That was my thought," Ginny said. "If we can keep Hermione's oldest from crashing our party we'll be doing well." The other women laughed.
"Blaise and Megan will be in the alley under a glamor like Lavender" Padma said. "They're the only ones besides Shay, Allan, Harry, and Ron that know what we're planning."
Katie looked at her. "You suspect there are spies in the Ministry?"
Padma smirked. "There are always spies in the Ministry, I just hope the right one gets the message."
Hermione chuckled. "And I'm having my lunch with Pansy tomorrow." She said. "I'll let her know we need her to pass the information around too."
"Pan will demand to be there," Lavender said. "She's told me fairly often that she's rather keen on fighting for the right side if she gets the chance."
Cho smiled. "Well, she just might," she said.
"Sounds like we have a plan," Angelina said. "Are we agreed?"
Around the circle the nine women nodded and said, "Yes."
Luna smiled and slowly turned to look at them all. "Is there peace on the circle?" she asked.
"There is peace," They all replied quietly, and joined hands.
Luna closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. "Symbios!"
The Sisters of the Moon had practiced the spell, the joining, for more than fifteen years. When their minds melded a tenth entity arose in the circle, their combined spirit, and they had a name for it, That Which is All. In that comforting and warm presence they let go of their worldly cares and let the Tha work its will.
Sometimes it resulted in visions, sometimes in a connection to the life around them, and once it had led them to a lost child. This time That Which is All focused its attention outward, sensing malice toward its members. In the recent past they felt the echo of the ten that had found them in Australia, in the present they sensed an unfocused anger from the north, near the Scottish border, and then finally a hot point of hate from a hidden place in Western Europe glowed in the distance. Parvati came forward in the blend of thoughts and emotions, and she focused them on looking inward.
Visons unbidden formed, and they studied them. In the distant past and army of knights rode from a castle to face their foe. A single man stood on a hill top. He cast a spell the Sisters could not identify, and the whole of the attacking army simply dropped their weapons and returned to the castle. More recently two women and a man worked frantically on a woman with a huge hole in her chest. A young girl, Rose! Hermione's presence announced, sat at her desk with an array of books propped around it and an array of objects scattered across its top. Lavender, in full wolf, charging across a field dodging spells. The back of a dark haired woman as she castigated a young woman and man before her. Stonehenge. The silhouette of a large, flat toped mountain. Carla Williams. An elderly native Tibetan man. A ruin in the jungle. An Egyptian temple. Lastly they stood on a mountaintop. Two men dressed in extravagant robes from an ancient time were there, one carrying an obviously wounded blonde girl. The taller man put his hand on the shoulder of the other man carrying the girl, and they nodded to each other.
The images faded, and the Sisters let That Which is All ruminate on what they had been shown. The castle must be found they determined. The wounded woman was one of the attackers in Australia came from Ginny. Rose is central they concluded, and Lavender will have to fight at some point. Let them come they felt from Lavender's wolf side. The places and people concern the stones they reasoned. We do not know who the two men were.
Luna let them float in the unity and love for a few more moments, and then she dispelled the Symbios.
"Fascinating," Luna and Hermione said at the same time. The others laughed.
"Did anyone recognize any of the landmarks?" Katie asked. "I think the Egyptian temple might be Karnack, I was there once, and it looked a lot like that."
"The building in the jungle was South America," Luna said. "The plants gave it away."
"I think the group on the continent are our adversaries," Parvati said. "I wonder why they hate us so?"
Angelina laughed. "Well Hermione can ruffle feathers with the best of them, Ginny has her fair share of people she's pissed off, and who knows what Luna might have done to hack off the wrong person." She chuckled again. "Seriously, we step on toes all the time."
"Why Rose," Hermione said with concern colouring her voice.
Ginny laid her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Because she's a Weasley, and we're trouble magnets, or hadn't you noticed?"
"Yes," Hermione said with resignation. "I'm starting to understand your mother a bit more."
"You want to understand her completely let me loan you Fred for a week," Angelina said with a smirk.
Ginny chuckled. "You forget, we did have Fred for a week when you in hospital having Roxie," she said. "Hermione and I set a nice little trap for him that he walked straight into." She smiled at Angelina. "Fred's easy. Rose or Lilly, or worse the two of them, ever put their minds to mischief and we're screwed."
"Well they'll all be at the Burrow Saturday," Lavender said. "I'll arranged with Molly to have a grandkids stay over Friday night. I've talked with Percy already, and he and Audrey will be there to help if we need. It'll be everyone but James, Vicky and Ted."
"That'll keep them occupied," Katie said. "If they're good I'll get passes for the next game for all of you."
Ginny nodded. "We'll tell them that, it'll help."
"We gather at Lovegood tower," Hermione said. "Let's make it eight AM."
The rest nodded their agreement.
"Is there peace on the circle?" Luna asked.
"There is peace," they replied.
"Then the circle is opened," Luna said, and she dispelled it.
"We are the magic! We are the power! We are the Sisters!" the shouted.
"And we're coming for you," Lavender growled.
~(*)~
"Good morning Madam Weasley," Eli, Pansy's elf butler said.
"Good morning, Eli. You're feeling well?" Hermione replied as she stepped into the foyer of Parkinson Place.
"Eli always feels well now thanks to Madam Weasley." He replied as he took her coat.
"Pansy freed you because she wanted to, not because of me." Hermione said with a smile.
"Don't underestimate your influence," Pansy said from the top of the stairwell. "Good morning, Hermione."
"Good morning, Pansy," Hermione said. As she watched her old enemy, now friend, descend the grand stair at Parkinson Place she reflected on status. The Weasleys had been poor until after the war. Now, with the awards that they had all received for their service, the Weasleys were comfortable. Hermione's parents had provided a modest upper middleclass upbringing for her. Lavender's family was fairly well off too, the Malfoys were rich, but the Parkinsons were a dynasty. The display of old wealth that was Pansy's home didn't even enter the dark haired woman's mind, it was simply the home she had grown up in. Priceless works by the masters of Europe lined the halls and walls, but they were just the decorations she had known since her youth, wallpaper. Hermione had been stunned the first time she saw the unknown Da Vinci that was the central focus of the entrance hall.
Hermione smiled and shook her head at Pansy's outfit for the day. The knee length designer gown from Paris hugged her still marvelous figure and displayed her feminine wiles. "Nice dress," Hermione commented.
Pansy laughed as she reached the bottom of the stairwell, then she hugged Hermione and air kissed her cheek. "Dinner with an important donor for the charity, he's male."
"Ah, I see," Hermione said with a smile. United Wizarding Charities, Pansy's obsession, was her method of performing the penance she felt she had to after being rescued from her post war life of drugs, alcohol, and nameless sex by the Sisters.
"Eli has made high tea for us today," Pansy told her as they walked toward the round, windowed room that sat at the base of the north turret. "How are you and your family?"
"We're doing well," Hermione replied with a smile. "Lavender and her running routine have shaped Rose and me up. Hugo, Al and Lilly will be joining us on the shorter runs soon."
Pansy laughed. "It shows. Running is too much for me, I prefer swimming."
"You have an indoor pool," Hermione said with a smirk. "We have the pond at the Burrow, and this time of year it's four degrees."
"It was nice growing up in the water," Pansy said, a reflective look on her face. "Great, great grandfather Alphonse had it installed in the conservatory in eighteen forty two. I spent the first ten years of my life in that pool."
Hermione smiled. "Well, if you can handle the rustic accommodations, we have a little secret in Australia that you'll love."
"Do tell?"
Hermione smiled as they sat at the small table in the little parlor. "When we were searching we found a woman, a remarkable woman. She's the niece of an amazing witch that lived in the last century, and she took us to her Aunt's house in the deep desert. Near there is a place called Kata Juta. Merlyn had built a tunnel complex inside the mountain, and in addition to being a hiding place, it's a wonderful bath. There's an underground lake fed by warm springs."
"You haven't mentioned much about your little mission," Pansy commented slyly while Eli poured their tea. He sat a tray of sandwiches on the small table between them and bowed as he exited.
Hermione nodded. "You know I trust you, Pan, but as I've told you, the fewer people that know anything at all about what I'm up to the better."
"I understand, many of my donors cherish their anonymity," Pansy said astutely. "It's a similar thing."
"Well, you do know more than most, and there's one thing in particular that did happen, and I want to tell you about it," Hermione said, and took a sip of her tea. "We were attacked."
Hermione narrated the story, and the more she talked the quieter Pansy became. The stony expression on her face became a fuming mask of anger by the end, and Hermione smirked. She hadn't intended to incite Pansy to rage, but she had, and it might come in handy.
"They attacked Luna?" Pansy said through gritted teeth.
Hermione chuckled. "And me and Ginny."
"You two I'm not worried about," Pansy said offhandedly. "They touch a hair on Luna's head and I'll rip their fucking testicles out through their throat!"
Hermione chuckled. "You'll have to beat Lavender there."
"Who were they?" Pansy asked in a growl.
"Don't know," Hermione answered. "We might have an opportunity to find out, though. The group was planning on maternity shopping for Luna…"
"LUNA'S PREGNANT!"
Hermione laughed. "Sorry, thought you knew."
"Keep me in the loop, damn it," Pansy said with a smile.
"Ah, well, she just told us two weeks ago," Hermione blushed. "My apologies, it slipped my mind last week."
"'S all right," Pansy said. "So what's this 'opportunity'?"
~(*)~
"Terrance reports nine nine nine is going to be in Diagon Alley Saturday morning. It was corroborated through Falmonth's contact, Parkinson."
"Assemble the team."
"The only security will be Weasley and Finnigan."
"The animal?"
"No, it's mate."
"Do what needs to be done. If there are innocent casualties it's simply part of the cost."
"And her friends?"
"Do what needs to be done."
~(*)~
Lavender sat at the little table outside the Apothecary, a small glamour colouring her hair grey and ageing her face. Pansy, next to her, had chosen to polyjuice herself into a Muggle man they had plucked a hair from on their way into the Leaky. Pansy's feminine voice coming from the six and a half foot burly figure making Lavender smirk.
"Okay, five minutes," Lavender said. "One more time, Pan. They shoot first!"
"Yeah, yeah," Pansy said drolly. "You just remember we need one alive."
"If they take the bait that might be your job," Lavender said.
"I told the right people." She chuckled. "Just how stupid are the Thompson girls?"
"Alice is dating Clem Falmonth," Lavender chortled. "Dumb as rocks from empirical evidence."
Pansy sniggered and they fell into silence and sipped their Muggle coffee drinks. Pansy had acquired the taste during her self-imposed banishment before her fateful meeting with Luna, Lavender, Ginny, and Cho all those years ago.
"Here they come," Pansy said, and Lavender went into Full Auror Mode.
"One meter to my left, two behind," Lavender said as she rose from her chair. Luna?
Yes, Lavender.
Just checking.
"Is that… is that Hermione Weasley?" An awed woman said as Lavender passed. "And Ginny Potter?"
"And Luna Scamander!" another voice said.
The whispers turned into open stares, and at last one young boy approached Ginny. "Mrs. Potter, may I get your autograph?" he asked shyly.
Ginny smiled and obliged the young man. It was happening as it always did, they just couldn't stop themselves. "Thank you, we love you, give Harry a kiss for me, where are the kids?" from murmurs to shouts, the comments poured from the crowd gathering around the three women. Seamus stood in his ten meter position by the cauldron shop, nicely inconspicuous. Katie was exactly opposite him in front of the furniture shop.
"Oh my god, it's Ron Weasley too," a young feminine voice said, and Ron stepped into the middle of the crowd and hugged his wife.
"So, we're here to do a little shopping, okay?" he said loudly. "If you meet us at Fortescue's when were done we'll sign for you, will that be good?"
The crowd murmured their assent. A man brushed past Lavender and she froze. Pansy stopped dead behind her. They're here, Lavender sent at Luna.
Are they? Luna looked around casually and locked eyes with Lavender.
The man in the mac, Lavender sent. He smells very wrong. My sweet hates him.
Luna looked at the man in the yellow rain suit. His head was turned away and she couldn't see his face. Reaching out she found a blank, an empty hole where he should have been. Shield wear, she sent.
Tell everyone, Lavender sent, and she started to shadow the man at three meters. Pansy noticed immediately and tightened to one meter behind Lavender.
It worked, they are here. Lavender has one, and he's dressed in shield wear like they were in Australia. I'm scanning for others.
At the table in Fortescue's Padma stood and threw off her outer robe onto the table, freeing her wand arm. Parvati was already opening the door, her outer robe draped across the back of her chair.
Cho stepped from the Apothecary and fell in behind Katie.
Megan Fallow, Harry's prized assistant, her magical eye whirling in her head, missed nothing. "They're alerting, Zabini," she said to Blaise. "Get ready." She and Blaise stepped from the stationary store into the alley.
As Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Ron approached, Angelina appeared in the doorway of Madam Malkin's.
Lavender reminds us that they are to make the first move.
See if they'll let you get inside Madam Malkin's, Lavender sent to Luna.
We are moving that way, almost there. I feel that there are at least seven more.
Mine isn't tensing yet, so I think you're safe for the moment, Lavender sent.
On the opposite side of the alley Padma and Parvati shadowed three other men in rain gear as they crossed the alley to Madam Malkin's. The men stopped in front of the window display. Luna, these three? Parvati asked.
Luna caught Padma's eye and nodded. Padma and Parvati placed themselves between their approaching friends and the men.
Four more coming from Knockturn.
Hermione brushed past Parvati as Angelina pulled her into Madam Malkin's. She was quickly followed by Luna and Ginny. Ron smiled and waved to their fans, and then he closed the door to the shop behind him.
We're in. Lavender says to set yourselves in secondary position. I'll pick out some outfits, and then we'll see what our friends want.
I don't plan on being all that friendly, Lavender sent, and Luna laughed.
Padma and Parvati continued to examine the window display of the robe shop. Cho stopped in front of Flourish and Blott's to admire the new quills with Katie. Lavender and Pansy stopped in front of the sweet shop next door to Fortescue's.
Megan Fallow saw it all. "Continue down to Gringotts," she whispered to Blaise. "We'll turn and come back."
The four men that had walked out of Knockturn Alley met the man that Lavender was following and they shared a nod. Two more men, dressed as the others were, emerged from Gambol and Japes. Megan immediately noticed that they were wearing the same foul weather gear she had seen on the men that Lavender and the others were alerting on.
"These two in the macs," she whispered to Blaise. "Let them pass and we'll turn and tail them." Megan and Blaise let the two men pass and then casually turned to pace them at twenty feet.
Seamus walked up behind Cho and Katie. "Got your back," he whispered.
Megan's grin became fierce. Everyone was converging on Madam Malkin's.
Hermione looked out of the front window, and she saw the men congregating in two groups, one group of six and another of four. She caught Padma's eyes and nodded, then she went back into the rear of the shop to talk with Luna and Ginny.
"They're gathered in front of the shop," Hermione said as she approached her Sisters. "They're going to make their play as we exit I'm thinking."
"I should leave first then," Luna said. "If they are after you it would be better with me in the alley."
"No, I'll go first," Ginny said. "Have the others ready, and if they go for me you two can back me up."
"We discussed this," Hermione said. "Luna you're last. You're pregnant, and we aren't risking you."
"My condition doesn't hamper my abilities, Hermione," Luna said.
Hermione smiled at her friend. "I know that, but we're going to protect you, so get over it."
Luna looked to Ginny who just nodded. "Alright, we leave together then."
Ginny chuckled and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine," she huffed. "But I'm first, and then Ginny second out the door."
"Shall we buy something or just get this over with?" Luna asked with a smile.
"What does the crew outside want?" Ginny asked.
Are you ready for us?
Yes, came from Lavender. Katie and I are in position, from Cho. Anytime, Pad and I are ready, she heard from Parvati.
Hermione will be first out the door, followed by Ginny, and then me. Angelina will have my back. Here we go.
Megan saw all her allies set, and she drew her wand. Blaise followed a moment later. The two men in front of them never saw it.
The door to Madam Malkin's opened and Ron stepped out. He had his wand palmed so that hilt was in his hand with the rest laying against his arm out of sight. He smiled and surveyed the crowd. Several people noticed him and began to move his direction, but he was most concerned with the ten men in the crowd in new yellow rain gear. Matching outfits? That was fucking stupid, he thought to himself, and then his wife came through the door.
He had the Leviosa ready, but they didn't attack.
Ginny was next, and still the men held off. Then Luna appeared and several things happened at once.
~(*)~
One of the group of six cast a broad stunning spell on everyone between them and the door of Madam Malkin's. The other five sent the Avada Kedavera at Luna. Ron's Auror years were behind him, but he never lost the skills. He had two rain barrels full of water ready under the Leviosa charm. They flew into the path of the spells, and the barrels exploded. Ron then turned his attention to the attackers and fired a round of curses at them. His spells ricocheted off of their coats.
Ginny, Hermione, Angelina, Ron, and Luna seized the moment of panic in the crowd and cover from the spray of wood and water. They hurried down the walkway toward Quality Quidditch to draw the attackers away from the rapidly scattering mob.
~(*)~
Megan and Blaise shot a round of stunners at the men who were now clearly focused on Luna, and one turned to attack them. Their spells splashed against the man's rain gear and shimmered away doing no damage. He shot a blaster at them and Blaise deflected it. A second man turned and fired into the crowd, but Megan was a step ahead and had cast a shield. There was a loud noise and woman's voice saying something, but Megan was concentrating on keeping herself and Blaise alive. The first man shot another round, and one curse caught Blaise on the left foot taking part of it off. Megan shot a blaster at the man, and he was rocked back by the force of the spell, then a clawed fist holding his heart emerged from the man's chest.
~(*)~
Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Angelina were joined by Seamus, Cho, and Katie in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. The three high priestesses of the Sisters of the Moon coven joined hands. A pearlescent white bubble formed around them and the people on the walk with them. A third round of spells from their attackers hammered against the shield but it held firm. Then a roar of fury echoed in the alley, and Pansy's voice boomed.
~(*)~
The group of four began randomly stunning members of the crowd. Lavender and Pansy cast several spells in succession on the four but their curses simply bounced off the rain gear as Ron's had.
Several people in the crowd sussed the situation and fired on the men in the rain gear, but their hexes and curses had no effect. Spells aren't effective. These fucks are going to make me get naked in public, Luna heard from Lavender as she, Hermione, and Ginny joined hands. Ron levitated a piece of the walkway roof into the path of another round of killing curses aimed into the crowd.
"These four are yours, leave one alive," Lavender said to Pansy, and with a howl of pure rage Lavender Finnigan started to change. She tossed her outer robe to the ground as her clothing shredded around her. Being angry made the change easy, and she was livid. Lavender didn't morph into the wolf, she exploded into it. It took less the two seconds.
"Hold your fire, it's Lavender Brown," Pansy's magically amplified voice announced.
A tawny blur streaked into the midst of Luna's attackers, and Lavender became whirling death. She had been trained in every fighting style man had yet devised, and she excelled at all of them. A clawed hand passed completely through one man's neck, his head flying off in a graceful arc. At the same time her other fist passed through one man's back, shoving his heart out the front of his chest. She spun and grabbed a third man by the collar. Still rotating she smashed his head into a fourth man's, killing them both. Luna's attackers were down to two in a single moment.
Pansy was busy herself. In her borrowed and burly form of a Welsh miner she opted for brute force as Lavender had. "Hey, dumb fucks!" she yelled. As they turned her left fist buried halfway into one man's face. He collapsed in a heap. While he fell Pansy transfigured her wand into a rapier and demonstrated yet another of her talents. Pansy Parkinson came from a very long line of swordsmen and women. Every Parkinson since the late fourth century, when their name was Parkine, had studied swordplay. Pansy was outstanding at it.
She ran the second man through, and took the head of the third. The fourth man had just turned, and he raised his wand at her. She lopped his arm off at the elbow.
The two men that were left standing in front of Madam Malkin's attempted to curse Lavender. One of them got out Avada before the piece of iron railing that Seamus had torn from the stairwell leading to the second floor of Flourish and Blott's bashed in his skull. The last man looked down at his still beating heart in Lavender's hand before he collapsed and died.
Pansy had the sole survivor at sword point when Lavender stalked over to him. The man was wailing in pain and horror at the stump that was his right arm. Lavender pulled him upright and Incendioed the bleeding stump, cauterizing the wound. He screamed even louder until she forced his mouth open, rammed the index claw of her right hand through the man's cheek and popped the poison tooth out of his jaw. She winced as the high pitched scream of pain assaulted her ears. "Be quite, fuckwad," she said. He continued screaming while she bent, picked up his arm, and slapped him hard with the palm of his own hand. "I said, shut the fuck up, you cowardly piece of shit," she yelled in his face.
Hoisting her prisoner off the ground by scruff of his raingear, she started back toward Madman Malkin's, toward her friends, and that's when the ovation started. All around her the bystanders where applauding. A small girl, perhaps seven or eight, disentangled herself from her mother and walked up to Lavender. She shoved her prisoner at Seamus and knelt down so that she was face to face with the child. The girl drew a handkerchief from her robes and wiped a smudge of blood from the fur on her cheek.
"Thanks" Lavender said
"I think we can do a bit better, don't you, Alyssa?" said the girl's mother as she walked up behind her daughter. She drew out her wand and began casting the cleansing charm on Lavenders blood soaked fur. "She's always wanted to meet you."
"Well I'm happy to meet you Alyssa." She held out a now cleansed hand and clasped the girls. "But if you'll excuse me I have work to do. I'm going to go have a little chat with that bad man, is that okay?" she asked.
"Okay."
"Thank you," she said to Alyssa, and to her mother she said. "Send a note to me at the Ministry with your address."
"Thank you, Lavender," Alyssa's mother said. "You're an inspiration."
Lavender smiled at them, and then she turned away to do her Auror work. As she strode up to the walk she saw Seamus, Cho, and Megan had cast the crime scene charm while she had talked with Alyssa and her mother. Several yellow bands hung in the air about three feet from the ground. One surrounded the six bodies lying in the street, one the other three, and the last and formed a curving barrier around the area of the walk where Seamus was now preparing to question the surviving attacker.
The man, whose arm Pansy had so deftly removed, was lying in shock on the walk. When Lavender bent over him, her face inches from his, he recoiled in abject terror.
"Ahh, the animal," he said as he recoiled in fear
"This is no animal, this is my very good friend, the Werewolf Lavender Brown." Hermione said in her official voice. "She's the only fully licensed M.L.E. Agent, Auror, and werewolf, and she has special dispensation from the Minister and the Wizengamot to use her abilities however she sees fit in the course of her duties. So, if you don't want her to use those abilities… on you…again, you should answer Auror Finnegan's questions."
"I won't, I can't, the unbreakable vow, we've made sure." He said defiantly. "I'll die if I say anything."
"Aye, well there's a pretty good chance of that happening anyway," Seamus said. "If you don't figure a way around it then I'll have to get a bit brutal. Why were you attacking Mrs. Scamander?"
"No, you don't understand, they're everywhere, they'll do horrible things to my family!"
"WHO!" said Lavender her nose and inch from his face.
"I CAN"T" the man yelled. Fear and shame etched on his face.
"Allow me," said high light voice from behind Hermione.
Lavender straightened up and moved to the side as Luna stepped forward.
"Luna, you don't have to do this," Lavender said.
"Actually I do. Their target, apparently, is me, and that put all of you in danger," she said, and then turned her focus on the prisoner. "So, why don't you tell Auror Finnegan what we want to know before I have to do something unpleasant for both of us?"
Real terror flared on the man's face. "No, oh god, nine nine nine! Not the Legilimens, Don't let her," he was pleading with them.
Lavender grabbed the man's collar, and one handed him into the air his feet dangling a foot off the ground. "How do you know that?" she said in a quiet growl tinged with mortal danger. "Nobody but us knows that."
Panic was showing in his face, and despite her anger at this complete stranger knowing one of their most closely guarded secrets Lavender felt a grim satisfaction. He was about to spill. His eyes were darting from one to another of them, and finally landed on Luna's.
"You will show me," she said in a commanding voice "all that we want to know," and her wand was in her hand. "Now. Legilimens!" she said, and she forced her way into his mind.
They screamed together, a wail of agony and despair. Luna collapsed into Hermione's arms, and the man went limp in Lavenders grasp. The Sisters felt Luna seize a mental connection to them, and she drug herself back from the abys.
"He's dead," Lavender said as she dropped the body to the ground "Luna, are you okay?"
"No, not really," she said shakily as Hermione helped her to stand. "He was under the unbreakable vow …I felt it take him…it wanted to take me, it tried to take me."
"Luna," Hermione pulled her into a fierce hug, "God damn it, don't scare us like that."
"Did you get anything?" Seamus asked as one of the few men who knew the full scope of Luna's abilities.
"Just some images really, some faces I didn't recognize, and… and a word."
"What word?" Hermione asked.
Luna turned to face her. In awe and fear she said, "Rotfang"
A/N Most of this chapter has been written for four years. I've been waiting a long time to present it. So now you know who one group is.
More to come…