Chapter 25 – Spiralling Downwards
Scott Residence, Angel Grove
Today was the day that Harry had been dreading ever since arriving in America. Today he and the other Mystic Squadron were returning back to England. With Bill and Fleur's wedding fast approaching along with his own seventeenth birthday, the time was right to head back home. With Lokar destroyed, Bellatrix and Dolohov hadn't been seen in the area and had clearly returned home to explain their failure to Voldemort.
Now that the pressure was off, it had given everyone time to work on security features for the Mystic Squadron's new base of operations. Harry had offered Grimmauld Place as its natural defences against regular magic would work well with the features that Zordon had designed. Getting the chance to install muggle technology inside the former home of the Black's was an added irony that couldn't be passed up. Due to his familiarity with the technology, Billy would be returning with them to help with the install. Tommy had secured an invite to the wedding with Kim coming along as his plus one.
Inside his bedroom Harry was finishing packing his bag which was close to overflowing. His birthday was tomorrow, allowing him to legally use magic outside school but that didn't help him to close his bag now. The red ranger still wasn't sure how the Ministry couldn't detect his use of Chi Power but truth be told, he wasn't overly concerned. "Stupid bloody thing", Harry cursed as the zip refused to close.
"Need a hand", he heard Ginny call from the doorway. Harry turned around and the sight of his girlfriend nearly took his breath away. She was dressed in a pair of short demin shorts and a black tank top. In keeping with ranger tradition, she had found a white long sleeved cardigan that stretched down to her knees that she wore open.
"By all means", Harry smiled and stepped away from the bag, "your Mum's going to have a fit when she sees you in that outfit".
Ginny snorted, "That's part of my plan, I'm hoping that it'll distract her enough to forget about me sneaking away".
"Sneaky", the red ranger smirked, "turned out for the best though", he added.
When the white ranger didn't respond for a few moments, Harry thought that she hadn't heard him. So it surprised him when she said, "Are you happy with me as a ranger?"
Harry frowned, "Yeah why wouldn't I be?"
"It's just", she hesitated briefly, "I'm not of age so I can't use magic without the Ministry noticing. I don't want to be useless to you".
"Ginny you will never be useless to me", Harry said firmly and grasped her hands, "if these last few weeks have taught us anything it's that we don't always need magic to come out on top".
"Yeah but it helps", the white ranger pouted.
"I'll admit you might find it hard living like a muggle for the foreseeable future but you've survived so far", Harry countered, "don't worry I'll help you as much as I can".
Ginny smiled and gazed into Harry eyes for several moments. She then released his hands and snaked her arm around his neck. She pressed her body close to his and gave him a passionate kiss. Time seemed to stop as the kiss deepened, their tongues battling for control over the other, "You know I could give you your birthday present a little early", the white ranger said with a saucy tone.
Harry was about to answer when Jason's panicked voice rang out through the apartment, "Guys I think you need to see this".
Immediately the couple ran out of the bedroom and into the main living room. The first thing they saw was Jason backing away slowly from something. The pair were ready to morph until they saw a silver Patronus in the shape of a weasel standing in the middle of the front room, "That's my Dad's" Ginny comments, "don't worry Jason it's not going to harm you".
The original red ranger didn't look too convinced but he trusted the judgement of his young friends. Harry approached the weasel and it began to speak, "There's been an attack, Moody and Mundungus are dead. Return to The Burrow as soon as you can, Remus and Tonks are coming to get you".
The Patronus dissolved into mist, leaving the two teens in a confused and mournful state. Jason left them alone with their thoughts until he finally broke the silence, "I'm sorry for your loss".
"Thanks", Harry choked out, "Moody was one of the best we had and Mundungus", he paused to try and find the best words to describe the man, "he wasn't the greatest person but he didn't deserve to die".
The trio stood silently in respect of the deceased men, just another reminder that the Mystic Squadron had to end this war as quickly as they could.
Cranston Residence
The mood was extremely solemn when the two ranger teams met outside Billy's garage. The original plan was for small celebration at the Youth Center before the Mystic Squadron teleported back home. This would give them an excuse for why Billy, Kim and Tommy were with them as they were meant to be getting an airplane, not teleporting. With Remus and Tonks coming to collect them, they would need to come up with something and fast.
Calling the room they were in a garage was probably incorrect, it was more like a laboratory. Billy's parents, keen to bolster their son's interest in science, had invested heavily in equipment and expanding the original garage space. It was so big that both teams comfortably fitted inside with room to spare.
Harry and Ron perched themselves on a couple of workbenches, they knew Moody better than anyone else in the Squadron. The grizzled Auror veteran had given both of them useful advice in the couple of years they knew the man. Ginny, Cho and Dean weren't so familiar with Moody personally but they were aware of his legend. With his death, a lot more weight had been placed on their shoulders.
"Hey where's Hermione?" Kim asked, noticing that the current yellow ranger was missing.
"I'm not sure", Billy replied, "I left her packing her things away but that was about half an hour ago".
"I'll go find her", Trini said and immediately left the others in the garage. Ever since she had met her successor, she felt a sadness rolling off her. She was trying to cover something up and Trini could sense that Hermione wasn't telling them something.
Trini found the teen sitting on the bed in the spare room, her bag packed behind her. She was playing with a simple silver necklace and staring idly into space, "Hey", Trini greeted softly, "everyone's here". Hermione tucked the necklace back inside her yellow top and was about to stand up when Trini pulled her back down, "Sit, I think you need to talk".
"About what", Hermione replied with a slightly croaky voice.
"About whatever's been bothering you ever since you arrived in the States", Trini began, "the first time we met, you had been crying and don't try to deny it".
Hermione fiddled with her hands nervously, trying to find the best words to respond with. Finally she began, "I wanted to keep my parents safe", she said, "so I sent them away from Britain".
"Well that's only natural", Trini began but Hermione stopped her.
"I wiped their memories, of ever having a daughter", she sniffed, "I thought it would be safer for them to forget about me but now I'm sure so sure that was the right thing to do". Trini looked at the younger girl in sympathy and placed an arm around her shoulders, "I even magically changed their identities so I don't even who I'm looking for once this is all over".
The original yellow ranger didn't really know what to do, she had never come across a situation like this before. Hermione sobbed gently on her shoulder and she rubbed small circles on her back. After few minutes Trini sensed that the teens tears were drying up, "We'll help in any way we can", she began, "I'm not sure how but we'll help you find your parents. You just concentrate on beating Voldemort and the rest of the Gormal".
Hermione smiled appreciatively and hugged the woman in thanks, "Hermione, Trini", Harry's voice called out from the garage, "our ride's here". The current yellow ranger wiped her eyes and took a few moments to compose herself. She grabbed her bag and followed Trini out of the bedroom.
After getting a Patronus from Arthur Weasley informing them about Moody's death, The Lupin's were devastated. Moody was a good friend of Remus's and he had been Tonks first mentor at the Auror Academy. They then got a second message from the Weasley Patriarch, asking them to collect the Hogwarts students from a residential address on the outskirts of the city. They found it a little strange but about an hour later, the couple were at the home in question.
Immediately they saw the teens and to their surprise, the same six adults that had fought off the Putties a few days ago. Once again they were wondering what the relationship was between these six and the teenage wizards. Last time they were blown off by Harry but this time, they weren't leaving without answers, "Good morning everyone", Remus greeted and turned to the teens, "I assume you've heard the news".
"Yeah terrible news", Ron sighed, "we're all terribly sad to hear of Moody's death".
"I don't believe we've been introduced", Jason extended his hand to the couple, "I'm Jason Lee Scott, myself and my friends own a business in the area. You've already met Tommy and this is Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, Billy Cranston and Kim Hart".
"Pleasure to meet you", Tonks replied, "Harry never did tell us what you've been doing for the last few weeks".
"Spoken like a true detective Tonks", Harry whispered under his breath, he recognises subtle questioning when he heard it.
"Not much really", Zack began, "we thought it would be a nice break for the kids".
"Yeah we've had them working at the Youth Center", Kim added, "oh and teaching them some martial arts".
"Yes we saw that", Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Well Angel Grove can be dangerous so we thought we'd show them a way to defend themselves", Trini said quickly but then internally winced. She didn't want to draw too much attention to the fight outside the Youth Center.
"They looked pretty advanced for beginners", Tonks frowned.
"Well were quick learners", Cho quickly jumped in, "so are we heading back now?"
Remus noticed the not so subtle attempt to shift the conversation away from their time in Angel Grove, "Yes we managed to get an earlier flight and then we're heading straight to The Burrow". He turned towards the green and pink rangers, "We can make arrangements to get you home once we're there Mr Thomas and Miss Chang".
"Oh don't worry about that, they're going to be staying with us", Ginny quickly injected.
"Really?" Tonks frowned, another question forming in her mind. Why would Ginny offer her home to hers and Harry's ex-partners, "Well it's your home I suppose".
"Me and Kim will still catch our original flight", Tommy again tried to deflect the line of questioning, "assuming we're still invited to the wedding", Remus nodded in confirmation.
"And I'm bringing a plus one", Hermione touched Billy on the arm. She was aware of his sexuality and the original blue ranger agreed to this plan.
"Fantastic", Ron muttered darkly.
"Sounds like you've got this all worked out", Remus began, "we'll wait in the car and let you say your goodbyes". The couple slowly walked away from the garage and found a hiding spot just out of sight, "This mystery just keeps getting deeper", the werewolf sighed.
"We knew they were hiding something but now we know that all of them are involved in it", Tonks replied, "did you hear the way they kept deflecting our questions". The couple also knew that Tommy wasn't really a wizard so it was highly unlikely that the rest of his friends were either, "I don't like the idea of housing three muggles in a home that's already a prime target for Death Eaters".
"Neither do I but The Burrow is as well protected as it can be", he tried to reassure his wife. The teens finished their goodbyes and met up with the adults. Remus pulled out a piece of rope that everyone grabbed hold to. In a flash they were sucked away back to England by a portkey.