Author's note:

Why exactly "Strangeways"? Thanks again for all the work cleaning up my messes.


Harry Potter and the Heir of Morgaine Le Faye

Chapter 28: The Girls


"Bring them through, Jim," Harry said. Jim's head disappeared from the fire only to have the flames flare a moment later as he Flooed through into Harry's kitchen. He had a firm grip on the arms of two twenty something women. They were both dressed identically in Muggle-style cargo pants; stylish, yet functional boots and form fitting black sweaters. Their hair was long, honey-blonde and tied in a single tight braid that reached the middle of their backs; neither wore any makeup. It was an understated, yet attractive look on them both.

"Harry," Jim said. "This is Jenna and Jamie Young; ladies, Harry Potter, his wife Ginny; Luke and Angie St. James; Heather Mitts; and Hermione Granger-Weasley." Jim pointed to each person in turn.

The only reaction from the two women was a raised eye at the news of Ginny and Harry being married. Rumor confirmed, they both thought and filed the information away. "Nice to meet you," Harry said with a nod of his head. The others echoed his greeting while Hermione moved to shake hands with each of the women.

"Twins?" she asked.

"No," Jenna said. "I'm a year older than Jamie."

"She," Jamie said indicating Jenna, "also happens to be a natural brunette. We just find it useful to be able to switch places and not have anyone know."

Hermione walked in a circle around them. "Amazing," she said. "You're as identical as the twins."

Jamie gave her older sister a quizzical look. "Fred and George Weasley;" Jenna sighed, "identical twin brothers, born April 1, 1978; three years older than Ginny and the founders of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Did you even read your brief?"

"I read it," Jamie grated back.

"Oh, and most people just call us, the girls. It's just easier."

"And it makes people underestimate us," Jamie added.

"These two are supposed to solve the security issues with my wife?" Luke asked skeptically.

Jim grinned. "Your wife and Heather," he said. "Show 'em girls." A second later Jenna and Jamie were gone. In their place were two mongooses. The two creatures bounded across the floor to Angie and Heather and scrambled up their legs to sit on their shoulders. Harry wasn't sure if it was Jamie or Jenna who burrowed into Heather's thick blonde hair and poked her head out to look at her audience. "Ladies, meet your new familiars," Jim said. The two mongooses leapt from their charges' shoulders, transforming in mid air to their human form, landed in a crouch and straightened.

"That will work well," Hermione said, impressed.

"What, an attack-ferret?" Luke demanded. I could drop 'em both with one punch.

"Care to try?" Jenna, or was it Jamie retorted.

"And it's mongoose, pal," the other growled.

Jim held his hand up. "Easy, you two," he said. They subsided and Jim turned to Luke. "Jenna and Jamie are part of the first class to complete our new Ministry training program in personal protection. It's a two year regimen that you only get into after completing the three years of Auror training. We borrowed, and I use that term lightly, our program from the US Muggle military's Navy SEALs and modified it to suit our needs."

"Seals?" Luke asked incredulous; clearly picturing a circus seal with a beach ball balanced on its nose.

"I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong," Jim cut him off. "If you really want to know what and who the SEALs are, I'll get you the book. Suffice it to say, the training is brutally difficult. We suffered better than a sixty percent dropout rate. The girls were top performers in both programs. They're trained in both magical and hand-to-hand combat. I assure you, if the choice was to send your wife into a dark alley with one of the girls or you, I'd pick one of them."

Intrigued, Ginny stood from where she had been sitting with one hip on the kitchen table. "I'll be the judge of that," she said moving to the door to the basement. She opened it, turned to the two women and asked, "Care to dance, girls?"

"Gladly," the two women said at once, and moved to follow her. Their briefing had contained detailed descriptions of Ginny's brief but colorful history with the American Ministry Auror department. Itching for a chance to test the rumors didn't begin to describe their eagerness.

"Oh hell," Jim groaned.

"Gin," Harry said. "Is this really necessary?"

"Oh let them have their fun, Harry," Hermione said.

"Thank you, Hermione," Ginny said.

"Don't thank me, I'm rooting for them," Hermione retorted. Ginny narrowed her eyes at her sister-in-law. "You and Harry are both in need of a lesson in your own mortality."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry demanded.

Hermione ignored him. "I'm in no condition to do it. Maybe one of them will manage it for me." She motioned to the stairway. "Girls, Ginevra," she said.

"If you weren't pregnant," Ginny growled before spinning and disappearing down the steps. Hermione waited for the two personal protection agents to follow Ginny down and then descended the stairs herself.

Jim sighed and followed himself. "It should be entertaining anyway."

Luke looked at Harry. "Let me get this straight, your shelia is gonna fight both of 'em and that's gonna reassure me that my wife is safe with some little ferret girl protectin' her." Harry ignored him and followed the rest down the stairs. Heather shrugged and went with him. "What?" Luke demanded when he took in Angie's crossed arms and scowl.

"You'd best hope your issue isn't that they happen to be women," she said before descending the stairs herself.

"Angie," Luke called, hurrying after her.

"Rules?" Jamie (or was it Jenna) asked.

"No Unforgiveables," Ginny said.

"I don't want anyone getting hurt," Jim interrupted. "There are plenty of spells that will kill you just as dead as the Killing Curse."

"It's a fully functional live-fire room just like at the Ministry, Jim," Ginny said.

"Seriously?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry," Hermione said. "I did all the checks myself. All spells are fully functional but the room will limit them from being lethal or inflicting permanent mental or bodily harm. The worst we can expect is a couple of days in bed."

"Okay," Harry said.

"You were with the Unspeakables before you had kids, right?" Jim asked.

"Yes," Hermione confirmed. "We also have a fully stocked potions locker and I'm qualified healer."

"You are?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

"Since when?"

"Not now," Hermione waved him off.

"All right then," Jim said. "Anything but the Killing Curse or the Cruciatus."

"The Imperius?" Ginny asked with an arched eyebrow.

Jim shrugged. "It's subjugates your will, but isn't necessarily harmful. The bad guys use it against us. It's good to train against it."

Ginny shrugged. "Fine by me," she said and waited for Jenna and Jamie's response.

"Fine by us."

"Ok," Hermione said. "This is nothing but a flat out test of your skills. We'll keep it fairly simple and give you an empty, non-magical warehouse to fight in." Even as she spoke, the training room morphed, providing a warehouse approximately sixty feet long by a hundred feet wide and forty feet tall. Stacks of empty shelving appeared; along with a number of support columns to provide some basic cover. "Feel free to scout the area. But don't start till I give the go-ahead." she said. She waited for confirming nods from the three combatants. "Good luck you two," she said with a last look at Jenna and Jamie before climbing a second set of stairs to the control room and observation deck. "Oh, and Ginny," she called.

"What?" Ginny turned just in time to be struck in the chest by Hermione's spell.

"No cheating," Hermione smirked.

"It's not cheating to use everything at your disposal," Ginny protested.

Hermione turned away. "It is if you use it before we start. I'll give it back soon enough," she said and stepped into the control room.

"I swear, if she wasn't pregnant," Ginny muttered under her breath and turned back to the group.

"How could you cheat?" Heather asked.

"None of your business," Ginny snapped.

"Jesus," Heather muttered. "It's not like I said I was going to get ice cream alone or something." Ginny raised an eye at her. Heather quailed and quite literally fled after Hermione. Angie followed at a more sedate pace.

Luke studied the three women for a moment longer, shrugged and said, "I always enjoyed a good fight," before walking away.

Harry watched Heather go and turned measured eyes on Ginny. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing she didn't need," Ginny answered.

"She's young and naïve, not incapable. Cut her some slack," Harry said.

Ginny's eyes hardened. "She's getting more than Voldemort or his Death Eaters gave me. I won't allow what happened to me to happen to her."

Harry returned Ginny's glare. "We'll talk later."

"Fine," Ginny said. Harry headed slowly for the stairs.

"I don't care how safe the room is," Jim said to Ginny. "We can't afford having one of them in sicbay for a week. Don't do too much damage."

"Aren't you worried about us hurting her?" Jenna asked.

"Not particularly," Jim said and followed Harry up the steps.

"Way to pump up the troops there, boss," Jamie called sarcastically.

XX

Jim moved over to the desk Hermione was leaning over. She punched a few buttons on a keyboard and three large screens popped up on the back wall. A blinking cursor flared into life on each screen. A moment later, the cursors moved down one line and the names, Ginny, Jenna and Jamie blinked into life, one on each screen. "What's all this?" he asked. A fourth screen came up slower, forming a map of the warehouse. Three green dots appeared; each with a name blinking next to it.

"Real time recording and monitoring of events," Hermione said.

"Oh?"

"There are a hundred and twelve magical detectors in the live-fire room. I managed to get them to feed information into this computer. Then I wrote a program that will process the incoming data and display the information on the screens." She pointed. "Each participant's estimated battle effectiveness, the spells they use, ROM level achieved by each participant, along with a map displaying their location in the combat area."

Jim glanced at the computer, the screens on the wall and then settled his gaze on Hermione. "No waiting a week for a bunch of bean counters to sort things out?" he asked.

"No," Hermione said. She turned to a cupboard, pulled out a number of odd looking devices and started handing them out.

"And this?" Jim asked taking one of the offered devices.

"Night vision goggles," Hermione answered.

"Those things the muggle military uses?"

"Yes. They're simple to use. I managed to enchant them to size automatically so you just put it on and flip this switch here. She toggled the switch on her set of goggles. She hit another key on the computer and the lights went out. A moment later, soft red light bathed the control room. "Here try them out now so you know how they work." The group all copied her actions.

"Weird," Luke said. "It's all green-like."

"But you can see," Hermione said.

"Yep."

"Good, now there's a toggle by your right eye that will change it to infrared viewing."

"Infrared?" Angie asked. She flipped the toggle.

"It sees by heat," Hermione said. "The darker something is, the colder it is. Look up at the ceiling light for a second. That bright white spot is the residual heat it's giving off. Now look at the person next to you, they should appear as blobs of red ranging from almost black to near white."

"Damn," Luke whispered slowly.

"Ok, take them off," Hermione said. She waited till everyone had complied. She hit another key on the computer and the wall at the front of the room disappeared into the floor exposing a large half oval window that protruded out over the live-fire room, affording unobstructed views of the entire space. "Don't use the goggles unless the lights go out in the combat area or you'll damage your eyes." She keyed one more button on the computer. "You can start anytime," she said. She released the key and stepped into the viewing area. A soft static filled the room from the speakers in each corner.

"Sound too?" Jim asked, stepping next to her. Hermione nodded.

Harry caught Heather's arm as she moved to the viewing area. "What happened with Ginny?" he whispered.

Heather's mind went fuzzy with the flashback of the previous day.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me I can't pop out and get ice cream without having a goddamned babysitter with me. I'm a grown woman. A fully trained witch who happens to be tough enough to play with the big boys in the first division. I think I can manage myself for ten minutes alone!"

Ginny crossed her arms disdainfully. "Finished?" she asked.

Heather mirrored the pose insolently. "Yes."

"Good, defend yourself."

"What?" Heather asked. In the next instant Ginny had opened the door to the basement and started down the steps. Heather found herself floating along behind her through the door, unable to protest because her mouth wouldn't open. Ginny purposely allowed her to bang into the ceiling, wall, railing or whatever else happened to get in the way on the way down. She set the bruised girl down at the counter of the small ice cream parlor the training room had provided her. There were even tubs of ice cream sitting in the freezers along with glass jars full of candy toppings on the counter.

"What the hell!" Heather shouted once she'd got her balance and Ginny had allowed her to speak again. "You could have just told me there was a Cold Stone in the fucking basement!"

Ginny's spell hit the counter next to the girl and it exploded. Heather was showered with shards of broken glass, splinters and clumps of ice cream. A gummy bear stuck in her hair. Rather gently, considering who was attacking her, Ginny's second spell tossed Heather against what was left of the counter. She smashed into it painfully and fell to the floor in a heap. Ginny waited for nearly ten seconds but Heather just laid on the floor blinking in shock.

"Pitiful," Ginny hissed. She flicked her wrist and trussed Heather up in magical bindings. Ginny crossed the room, crouched down next to Heather and flipped her roughly to her back. She coldly studied the fear stricken face of her captive before reaching out to grip her chin between her fingers.

The Animal tipped Heather's head from side to side. "Such a pretty face," she purred. She let her fingers trail across Heather's cheek and along the gentle curve of her throat drawing a whimper of fear from the girl. The Animal's eyes brightened and she licked her lips hungrily. "I am far more dangerous than the big boys of the first division," she taunted in the same purring tone. Her hand slid up the side of Heather's face and fisted a handful of her hair.

"Nighty, night my pet," she hissed sinuously before jerking Heather's head up and then slamming it back against the floor, knocking her unconscious.

When Heather woke again, she found herself lying on cold, wet stone. It was dark and the only sound she could hear was the slow drip of water falling in a puddle. She sat up slowly trying to make sense of what was going on. The only source of light was a thin shaft that fell through a small window in a heavy wood door set into the wall in front of her. A cursory glance revealed nothing but growing darkness behind her and she instinctively inched towards the source of light.

"Hello?" she said cautiously. The only answer was her own voice echoing in the cell. She shivered, suddenly aware of the deep cold and the fact that her clothing was soaked with icy water from lying on the stone floor of the cell. She went to stand, and cried out in terror when a whip of magic lashed from the wall and tightened around her neck dragging her back to the ground. She struggled against it till she nearly passed out before it released her. The strand of yellow magic slinked back to the wall and disappeared. Heather stared at the spot it vanished, curled into a ball and shook with fear.

Every sound was amplified and the slow drip of water wore on her frayed nerves while she waited. Each drop became the stabbing jolt of a newly imagined terror. Time dragged to a standstill and she held her breath, daring to hope the dripping had stopped. She bit down on her tongue, stifling the cry that came with the inevitable drip.

She closed her eyes tightly. "Wake up," she whispered. It became a chant; "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up…" Drip! "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up…" Drip! Over and over till she felt she would go insane.

Light flared all around her and she bolted upright. She blinked painfully, shielding her eyes against the sudden brightness. A shadow moved in front of her and she scooted backwards until her back pressed against the wall, a shriek of fear tearing from her lips accompanied her flight. She cowered against the wall, eyes riveted on the figure before her.

The Animal had been standing in the corner in a deep shadow, and Heather had missed her entirely when her eyes first swept the cell. She stared right through Heather, eyes awash with buried memories. "This is the cell I was held in when Voldemort's Death Eaters captured me," she paused and her eyes focused, boring down on Heather. She let out a squeak and pressed into the wall trying in vain to retreat further. "I was fifteen."

The Animal pushed forward and slowly stalked her prey. For the second time, Heather found herself tightly bound in magical restraintss, unable to back away from her captor. "You have been here for twenty minutes," the Animal hissed. She crouched down in front of the other woman and forced her to look up when she tried to turn away. "I was beaten, tortured by both magic and muggle devices." A glamour spell dissolved from over her right eye. Heather gasped in horror.

"It matches Harry's near perfectly," the Animal said. "A gift from Lucius Malfoy… There are others," she added lifting her shirt to reveal a thin white scar that traced from her collar bone down over the swell of her left breast. The scar disappeared into her bra and continued on past the bottom elastic to the bottom of her rib cage.

"I was raped," she hissed, lunging towards Heather. Her cry went unheeded as the Animal forced her to her back, pinning her down with her arms held over her head. Heather's legs were forced apart and the Animal pressed her leg up between them. "I was their guest for nearly a month," she went on. She lowered her mouth near Heather's ear. "I wonder how many days you will survive?" she whispered, her voice laced with lust.

"Please, don't," Heather choked. She closed her eyes tightly. Terrified of what might come, her mind went blank, removing her from the horror of the events to unfold. When she came back to herself, her cell and bindings had vanished. The bone chilling cold was gone. Her clothes were dry and warm and she was in her bed in her apartment. She blinked away what could only have been a nightmare; swore she would never eat sushi again, sat up and promptly screamed. Ginny was leaning against the far wall of her bedroom; watching her. Her eyes darted wildly around the room that was most definitely not her bedroom.

"I won't hurt you," Ginny said.

Heather stared at her. "That was real, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Very," Ginny answered.

With the thought that Ginny might try to make things comfortable tearing through her, Heather scrambled from the bed. "What if I said I don't believe you?" she demanded. She backed away, looking for an exit, but found none. She was still clearly a captive.

"That it wasn't real, or that I won't hurt you?"

"That you won't hurt me."

"I'd say that it was your first intelligent thought of the day," Ginny said. She tossed a wand across the room. Heather's hand shot out, snatched it from the air and trained it on Ginny. "Late, but better," Ginny said.

Heather stared at her blankly. She couldn't understand why she'd been given her wand back. "What's going on? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"It's no joke," Ginny said.

"Let me go."

"The stairs and door are right behind you," Ginny said

Heather chanced a glance over her shoulder. There had not been a door or stairs there a second ago. She edged towards them. "That's it? I can just go?"

"If you choose." Ginny absently brushed a bit of lint from her sweater. "You're still here?" she asked when she looked up again.

"I don't understand," Heather said. She shifted uncomfortably under Ginny's gaze

Ginny lunged and Heather flinched, nearly fumbling her wand. Ginny batted away the weak shower of sparks that flew out of it. "Pitiful," she sneered. "What good is a weapon if you don't know how to use it?"

Heather gripped her wand tighter, leveling it on Ginny again. "I know how to use it," she retorted.

"Not by any measure I'm aware of," Ginny mocked. She held her hand out, made a simple beckoning motion with her finger and Heather's wand was ripped from her grasp. It flew into Ginny's outstretched hand. She caught it and tossed it back to Heather again. It fell on the floor at the stunned girl's feet. "Pitiful," Ginny said again.

"You didn't use a wand," Heather whispered.

"An intelligent observation," Ginny said. "Pick it up."

Heather blindly obeyed the order. She stood up contemplating the wand in her hand for a few moments before looking up at Ginny. "Is that what this is about; scaring me into doing whatever you or Harry say?"

"No," Ginny said. "I showed you exactly what will happen to you if a Death Eater comes after you. I suppose you might get lucky and they'll just kill you. But I doubt it. They'll want you alive to taunt Harry with. And the more they hurt you, the happier they'll be."

Heather considered Ginny for a second, her mind racing to catch up. "This was all an act then?" she asked. Ginny nodded. "And the month you spent as a captive?"

"No," Ginny said. "That was real."

"And if I said I didn't believe that?"

"Would you like to see more of the scars?" Ginny asked. "Or perhaps I can put it all in a Pensive for you. I could even enhance it. Instead of just watching, you'll get to live it. Just as it happened to me, it will happen to you. Your mind will experience every pain, terror,.. rape as if it were your own. Though you'll escape the actual physical scars I was left with. Or is the little trauma you suffered enough to make you see?"

Heather was about to protest the word little when the image of Ginny forcing her to submit and the fear it had created played in her mind. Only this time it didn't stop. It went forward. She shuddered. The terror of Ginny's abject lesson had lasted twenty minutes. She'd suffered no physical harm that hadn't already been healed and her mental trauma would fade in a few days. Ginny's had lasted a month. It had been real. The scars were real. The rapes had been real. The trauma, would last a lifetime.

"How did you survive?"she whispered weakly.

Ginny didn't look at her as she spoke, but her voice was cold and harsh and spared none of Heather's innocence. "I didn't. I fought the beatings like a banshee. Lashing back any chance I had till they knocked me unconscious. Voldemort liked that I fought. You see he had a specific reason for taking me. He wanted a queen. I was his choice. I was brought before him and he asked me to join him. Not them, but him. I knew what would happen if I didn't accept. I'd be taken back to my cell to be beaten again till it was felt I would answer differently. It would have happened over and over. I broke with that realization. I tried to give him my soul, my heart, to force myself to take his hand.

"But Voldemort had created something within me with all the beatings. It is at once part of me and separate. It holds both the brightest and the darkest part of me and even if I didn't know, It did. Our heart and soul already belonged to another; it was no longer ours to give. It mattered not that it had yet to be accepted or rejected. We had already given our heart and soul away. It knew, to take it back and give it to Voldemort instead would have killed us.

"You have seen It. It is little more than an animal. And It will do anything to survive.

"Anything.

"It spit in Voldemort's face. We were taken back to our cell and beaten within an inch of our life only to be healed and have the process repeated. The rapes began. Relentless. Raped. Beaten. Healed. Over and over. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times.

"But the Animal had seen an exit. All It needed was half a chance. It's cunning, deceitful, vicious…

"Unbreakable.

"I became that Animal. I led them to believe they were succeeding in breaking me. I stopped fighting back; behaving like nothing more than a mindless slave. I allowed them to do any depraved thing that came to their mind to me. If they wanted me to scream, I screamed. If they wanted silence, I suffered their depravities with no more than a blank look on my face.

They grew secure in their belief that I had been broken. One of them had developed a bit of a taste for me. I preyed on him; led him to believe I enjoyed what he did to me. My chance came when he came to me alone; with no one to see that I behaved properly while he satisfied himself…"

"You let him rape you so you could escape," Heather gasped.

"I ripped his throat out with my bare hands," the Animal snarled, "just before he could reach his climax," It added, pleased with itself. It turned hate filled eyes on Heather.

"Please," she squeaked backing away. "I won't hurt you."

The Animal laughed hideously. "Pain is nothing. Irrefutable proof that you are still alive… Pain is good." It lunged at her. Heather shrieked, shielding her face with her arm. The Animal waited, an inch away, for Heather to lower her arm and look at her.

When she finally did, the Animal had subsided and Ginny was backing away from her. "If you dare ask me that again, I swear I'll put you in the Pensive and you will live it for yourself."

Heather nodded quickly. "Never, I swear."

Ginny eyed her for a moment, finally deciding she was satisfied with the answer. "Do you understand now?"

Heather relaxed at the friendly tone. "Yes," she said. She thought for a moment before adding, "But you have to admit it was hardly a fair fight to just jump me like that."

Before Heather could blink the Animal had pinned her to the wall with her forearm across her throat. The Animal's other hand wrapped around her wrist in an iron grip and twisted. Heather cried out painfully as her wand fell to the floor.

"It's never a fair fight you stupid girl," she snarled. "Was it fair for a remnant of Voldemort's black soul to possess an eleven year old girl? Was it fair for a fifteen year old girl to go on a date with her boyfriend and see him murdered when Voldemort sent his Death Eaters to collect his chosen queen?" The Animal began to subside again; slowly releasing the pressure of her arm against Heather's neck.

"Was it fair when they attacked Harry and Hermione on Christmas day?" Ginny asked. "Ninety against two; and it is common knowledge that Hermione is pregnant. That was certainly fair… Bloody hell you insolent little brat, do you think a Death Eater's going to tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Excuse me, but I'm about to try and kill you. You might wish to defend yourself.' I was never warned. Harry and Hermione didn't get a warning. YOU DID!"

"You never warned me," Heather managed to protest.

Ginny pressed her arm harder against Heather's throat again. "I told you to defend yourself!" she screamed.

"But—"

Ginny suddenly released Heather and backed away again. "No. No buts," she snapped.

Heather sagged and rubbed her neck painfully, keeping a watchful eye on Ginny.

"You want a fair fight?" Ginny asked. "Fine, I'll give you one. One way or another, I will teach you there is no such thing as a fair fight. There is only the one who survives."

Heather's eyes blinked rapidly while she tried to catch up with Ginny.

"Be warned, Heather Mitts your self-defense training is about to start… Is that enough warning for you?" Ginny taunted.

Heather didn't move.

"You have five seconds… One," Ginny started the countdown.

Heather jumped as Ginny's spell impacted the wall two feet to her right.

"Two," Ginny continued. Heather bolted for the nearest shelter she could find. Ginny had to give her a small bit of credit as she ducked the wildly cast tickling charm Heather sent her way before the countdown had finished. Two hours later, Heather picked her bruised, bloody and battered body up from the floor once again.

"That's enough," Ginny said. Heather collapsed to her back and laid there panting huge gulps of air. Ginny moved to stand over her. "The only reason you are not truly injured is but for the fact that you have a match in two days. Mr. Devlin would not appreciate it very much if I were to have made you unavailable to play in it." Heather lay flat on her back, looking up at Ginny standing over her and nodded.

"I have considered the situation. Harry and I have been toying with the idea of a bodyguard for some time. I will speak to him about finding one for you specifically. It isn't complete freedom. But it's better than having to depend on one of us being available to escort you around."

"I can't afford a bodyguard," Heather said. She hadn't moved from the floor yet. It was just too nice after having Ginny spend the last two hours treating her like a sparring dummy. She hadn't even managed to hit her once.

For the first time since the 'lesson' had begun. Ginny smiled pleasantly at Heather. "Heather, you are Harry's sister. As far as he's concerned your last name may as well be Potter. If there is something you need that you can't afford, he will see to it that you get it anyway." Heather started to sit up and opened her mouth to protest. Ginny put her toe on Heather's chest and pushed her back down. "Haven't you learned not to argue with me yet?"

Really, it was intended as a playful moment and Ginny's voice carried that in her tone. But something in Heather snapped. She grabbed Ginny's leg and wrenched it around. Ginny was spun in a circle and crashed to the floor. Heather whipped her wand at Ginny, firing a stunning spell as she sat up. Ginny continued the roll the attack had brought on, coming to one knee while her arm slashed through the air, deflecting Heather's spell. Her nostrils flared and the Animal flashed across Ginny's face while she meet Heather's wand with her own outstretched hand.

Heather's eyes widened with what she'd just done. "Shit," she squeaked and waited for the worst.

"Better," Ginny growled before standing. "If you wish for me to continue to train you, come find me. If your bruises need healing, ask Hermione." She turned and vanished up the stairs.

Heather watched the spot Ginny disappeared for a minute before she collapsed back on the floor. "Thank God," she breathed.

Heather came back to herself with a shake of her head. "Nothing I didn't need, Harry," she answered quietly.

Harry slipped an arm around her shoulder. "I know a lot has been thrown at you in the last few days. Try not to let it affect you too much. If she's training you to defend yourself, then she thinks you're capable of doing it. Talk to Hermione, she'll help you figure out some things so you can turn the tables or your instructor once in a while."

Heather straightened a bit under his arm. "Ok," she said and allowed him to pull her into the viewing area.

"Jenna and Jamie should be able to give you a pointer or two also."

"Let's hope so," Hermione said. She leaned into Harry's other side.

"Here we go," Jim said, leaning forward.

XX

Ginny let the first two pinpoint pricks of red light slam against her shield before Sliding away in an odorless puff of smoke.

"Did you hit her?" Jenna hissed.

"I put everything into that," Jamie hissed back.

"Me too," Jenna said.

"You've cracked layered shields with your tuned bludgeoning spell before."

"You too," Jenna said.

"We're fucked," Jamie muttered.

XX

"What the hell was that?" Harry exclaimed, pressing against the glass.

Jim glanced over his shoulder at the boards. "Tuned Bludgeoning Spells," he answered, reading off the information scrolling up the screens. "From Jenna and Jamie, registering ROM levels of 8.22 and 8.41 respectively. Ginny's showing a shield that's been breached and possible trauma to her ribs. Estimated twenty percent decreased efficiency from her."

"Tuned?" Hermione queried.

"It's new. The force of a normal bludgeoning spell is spread over an area about the size of your fist. Tuning it compresses that force into an area about as big as the tip of your little finger."

"This just might get interesting," Hermione said. "I assume they aren't capable of ROM levels like that all of the time?"

"No, Jenna has a true reading of 6.32; Jamie's got a bit more at 6.54."

Harry whistled. "That puts them in the upper ninety-ninth percentile," he said, impressed.

But still a long ways off the stratospheric 9.031 Ginny registered when she crashed the wards at the Ministry," Jim said. "And Ginny's true reading is consistently hitting 8.804"

"Would someone mind clarifying all this ROM stuff for us ignorant Keepers?" Luke asked. "It's all a bit fuzzy to me."

"Rule Of Merlin," Hermione said. "Merlin created the scale and set himself as the standard of 10; theoretically the top."

"Theoretically?" Angie asked.

"Yes, he was a brilliant wizard. But also a bit vain. He considered himself to be the most powerful sorcerer to have ever lived. And that his level of power was the greatest that would ever be achieved. We know this isn't true anymore and the scale's been reset."

"Someone was more powerful?"

"Voldemort, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Harry, and Ginny, to name a few. Anyways, Merlin is estimated to be a 7.7 on the current scale. The average is 2.4. Not even one in five-hundred sorcerers hits a 3. Less than one in a thousand is a 4, someone like Harry, Ginny or Dumbledore, less than one in a million. And the scale isn't linear, but logarithmic."

"logarithmic, meaning?"

"Let's assume you're a ROM level 1 for a second."

Angie shot her a look. "For the record, I'm a 2.47, but for the sake of argument, fine, I'm a 1."

"Right, you're a 1. And a ROM level 2 is ten times as powerful as you are. A level 3 would be ten times more powerful than a 2 and a hundred times more powerful than a 1."

"So a level 4 would be…" Luke pondered

"A thousand times more powerful than a 1."

"So Ginny's true reading is better than the Girls' tuned readings and she's more than a hundred times as powerful as Jenna and Jamie's true readings.

"They don't stand a chance," Heather concluded.

"One would think so," Jim agreed. "But the problem comes in bringing that power to bear."

"And there's something to be said for skill," Hermione said. "Ginny's an accomplished sorceress. But she tends to favor brute force. And why shouldn't she? She has it in spades. Her power allows her to absorb a pounding. She can stand there and let you fire stunning spells at her all day and you won't breach her shields; often times that's what she does. But it's also her greatest weakness. She took those first two spells from Jenna and Jamie just to see what they had. But she wasn't counting on her shield failing and getting what are likely broken ribs out of the deal."

"She made a mistake," Jim said.

"One you can bet she won't make again," Hermione said.

XX

"MOVE!" Jenna cried. She shoved her sister to the ground, landing on top of her. Ginny's crushing curse blasted into the steel support column of the warehouse shelving, twisting it grotesquely. The shelving teetered precariously, threatening to fall on top of them. Jenna rolled off her sister, sent a Blasting Curse blindly in the direction Ginny's spell had come from before transforming to her Animagus form and skittering away.

Ginny clutched painfully at her side. The second of the Bludgeoning Spells had penetrated her shield. She was certain she had at least one broken rib. The Animal welled within her, forcing the pain aside. She sent a Crushing Curse in the general direction of the spell she'd been hit with, Slid to a new location and conjured an ace bandage to wrap her ribs with.

Jamie Slid away in a puff of smoke looking for a place to hide. She reappeared on the far side of the warehouse, crouching behind one of the heavy steel I-beams supporting the roof, breathing heavily with her heart racing. It had been a long time since she had been outclassed for power in a training exercise.

True to her word, Hermione's Inhibiting Spell faded at the start of the fight. Ginny's ability to sense sources of magic washed back in and she let it flow outward, searching for her prey. Puzzled at only getting a firm fix on one of her opponents, she hesitated, thinking. Her lip slowly curled in an evil smile.

Jenna was skittering along the edge of the warehouse when she suddenly found her claws scraping uselessly against the cement floor. She picked up speed until she was slammed stomach first into a steel pipe running from the floor to the ceiling of the warehouse. Her tiny mongoose body bent in half around it, halting the effects of the Summoning Charm in abrupt and painful fashion. She transformed back to her human form and slid away before she could be hit with the slicing curse that cut through the steel pipe. Water poured out of the pipe that was left dangling from the ceiling and bubbled up from the short section sticking out of the floor. It quickly began to spread, making footing treacherous.

XX

Jim glanced at the map of the combat room on the wall. He could only see Ginny and one of the girls. He wasn't sure if it was Jamie or Jenna. The little green dot with Jenna's name next to it suddenly shot across the warehouse towards Ginny's location, only stopping when the dot impacted against a support column of some sort.

"Ouch," Luke cringed. He'd managed to keep track of Jenna through her transformation and flight through the warehouse and had seen firsthand the force with which she'd smashed into the pipe.

Jim turned back to the viewing window just in time to see Jenna slide away before Ginny's cutting curse could strike her. "That'a girl," he encouraged under his breath.

XX

A flash of purple light raced from further out in the warehouse towards Ginny's location. Ginny turned, swished her hand in a circle and sent the purple jet of light back at its source before Sliding away again.

"Fuck!" Jenna yelped and dove to the side. The spell ricocheted off the mirror-like surface of the sheet metal leaning against the wall and slammed into an electrical box. A burst of sparks and smoke exploded from it and the lights went out, plunging the warehouse into darkness. A moment later, the red emergency lights flickered on, bathing the warehouse in an eerie glow. The electrical box continued to shower sparks into room. Up in the control room five people donned night vision goggles.

Jamie crawled along the floor, cautiously searching for both her sister and Ginny. A flash of red sent her bolting to her feet, running blindly across the warehouse as spells crashed into the shelving all around her. She blindly returned the fire as she ran and slid into a well protected corner. Not wanting to stay there, she took advantage of the cover to crawl through the shelves to a new location. She slowly lowered herself to the floor again and slipped down into a crouch. She nearly blasted the shadow of movement to her right before determining it was her sister. She set her wand on the floor and a tiny strand of silver, no thicker than a spider's thread raced across the floor to Jenna.

Startled, by the touch on her hand, Jenna nearly fell back on her bottom from her crouched position behind a steel column. "How's she finding us?" Jamie's voice came into her mind. "She knows where we are before we do."

Jenna managed to catch herself without making any noise to give away her location. "She must be able to sense our auras," she sent back along the connection.

Jamie considered a moment before asking, "Do you want to mask or just have this out?"

"Already doing it, but I'm for having it out."

"Do you see what her spells are doing to things in here? If she catches one of us, we'll be done."

"Yes, I've noticed."

"And you still think having it out's the way to go?"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"I knew I loved you. Any idea where she is?"

"Close your eyes and run straight to me when I tell you to." Jenna said. She fumbled in one of the pockets of her cargo pants and pulled a small metallic ball from it.

"Shit." Jamie said. "She's up in the shelves, isn't she?"

"RUN!"

Jamie closed her eyes and bolted in Jenna's direction.

XX

Jim watched as Jamie fumbled with her pocket for a minute and pressed closer to the window trying to see the oddly green glowing ball she pulled out. A sudden thought hit him and he flicked the switch on his goggles to infrared. The little ball flared a painful white against his eyes.

"Shut your eyes!" he bellowed. He yanked the night vision goggles from his head and batted at the others in the observation deck trying to remove them. He'd just managed to knock Angie's away when a blinding flash, brighter than a dozen suns, lit up the warehouse.

XX

Ginny leapt from above Jamie, intending to land behind her. She was taken completely by surprise when Jamie bolted at her sister's command to run, and her Stunning Spell impacted the floor harmlessly where Jamie had just been. Even as she fell the rest of the way to the ground her hand was tracking the fleeing woman.

The white light exploded against Ginny's retinas, a burning rush of agony. She landed in a heap, twisting her leg grotesquely under her body. She screamed and flopped to her side. Such was the pain in her eyes that her mind barely processed the pain coming from her leg. Tears flooded down her face and she pressed her palms against her eyes trying to bring some relief to the searing pain.

Jamie crashed into her sister, blinking away the spots in her vision. Jenna swayed unsteadily on her knees. Even with her eyes closed, she'd gotten it worse than Jamie, who also had her back to the explosion of light. "What did you do?" Jamie cried.

"Sun grenade," Jenna answered.

Jamie grabbed Jenna by the sides of her face and kissed her full on the mouth. "You're brilliant! Insane, but brilliant… Jen?" she asked when she registered the blank look on her sister's face. She waved her hand in front of Jenna. "Finite!" she hissed. Jenna's only response was a slow blinking of her eyes. A primal screech, mixed of pain and rage, brought Jamie's attention away from her unresponsive sister. "Not good," she muttered and slowly turned around.

XX

"Not good," Harry said.

"Here it comes," Jim said with anticipation. He caught Harry's arm as he moved to the door. "Easy, Harry let's see how it plays out."

He jerked his arm away from Jim. "You don't understand what's living in her… In me."

Hermione caught his other arm. "I do, Harry."

"Yes I do, Harry," Jim said.

"She could kill them," Harry said.

"It's kind of like that Muggle picture show we saw a while back," Angie whispered in awe, ignoring the byplay between Harry, Hermione and Jim.

"She won't… Trust her, Harry. Trust yourself," Hermione said.

"I've seen her like this in her sessions at the Ministry, Harry," Jim said.

Harry ignored Jim, only Hermione's opinion mattered to him at the moment. "You do?" he asked, his attention focused on her.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Harry. With my children."

"You're insane," Harry whispered.

"Which movie?" Luke asked, his eyes riveted on the fight occurring in the warehouse.

"No, Harry," Hermione said. She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. "I know you. Both of you."

Heather cautiously touched Harry's arm. "I've seen it too," she said when he looked at her. "It will be ok," she said.

"The only way she could kill them in there is with the Killing Curse, Harry," Hermione said. "The protections in the room warp anything else into non-lethal injuries."

"She's not capable of that, Harry," Heather said. "Not against someone who's innocent."

"Neither are you," Hermione said.

Harry looked back and forth between the two women, his eyes burning. "Ok," he agreed quietly.

"That one where the guy turns green and grows muscles on his muscles' muscles'," Angie said.

"The Hulk," Luke said.

"Yeah," Jim said turning from Harry, Hermione and Heather back to the fight, "'cept she don't turn green and grow ten feet… And she's a whole lot meaner."

XX

With ever-widening eyes, Jamie watched Ginny slowly straighten her leg from the ugly position her fall had bent it into. Ginny's hand slid over her leg, vanishing the lower portion of her pant leg, exposing the jagged edge of bone sticking through her flesh.

Sensing eyes on her, the Animal raised her head and turned unseeing eyes on Jamie. Her lip curled tauntingly.

"She should be blind," Jamie muttered.

The Animal raised one arm to her mouth while the other hovered over her leg. She bit down on her arm, stifling the scream that accompanied the sickening, squelching sound of the broken bone being forced back into place through the torn skin and muscle of her calf. Slowly, the torn flesh began to knit itself together. Her body tensed one last time before she pulled her arm from her mouth. She spit out a mouthful of blood and waved her hand over the bleeding bite mark, healing it.

Jamie's mind raced over the briefing she had read on Ginny. "I think we've managed to make her mad, Jen," she hissed fearfully.

"Foolish child," the Animal snarled, "sight is not needed to see."

Before Ginny could stand, Jamie scrambled to her feet and sent the most tightly tuned Severing Hex she could at her.

The Animal reached out with her hand and caught the streak of purple light. It coalesced into a ball that she held in her open palm. She watched the dancing purple ball for a moment before she casually blew on it like it was a birthday candle. The spell flamed out in a puff of smoke. She looked back up at Jamie's stunned face.

"Ouch," she said.

XX

"What the fuck was that?!" Jim cried. He whipped around to look at the screens that Hermione was already examining.

She studied them for a moment, replaying the event in her mind. "A trick," she said. She pointed at Jamie's screen. "Here's where Jamie cast the severing hex. ROM 8.6 by the way." Her arm moved to point at Ginny's screen. "This shows Ginny casting the counter curse, her own Severing Hex and then the counter curse again."

"But there weren't any spells coming from her," Angie said.

"And none of them are more than a ROM 2," Heather said.

"Wouldn't matter if it had been a ROM 10," Harry said. "The correct counter spell can be as little as a ROM 0.1. She's saving her strength."

"And not being able to see the spells Ginny used is the trick," Hermione continued. "I'm sure she doesn't even know what it was yet but I told you she wouldn't make the same mistake of letting one of them hit her with a tuned spell again. But Ginny can be deviously creative when she wants, and she loves waging psychological warfare. If someone thinks you're invincible, they've already lost. The monitors show Ginny's seriously injured. She's got a compound fracture of her leg, broken ribs and I'm absolutely positive she's blind right now.

"Don't look like it to me," Luke interrupted. He hadn't bothered to turn away from watching the fight.

"She's faking; trying to rattle Jamie," Hermione said. "It's working too. You can hear it in Jamie's voice."

"But how the hell did she catch the spell?" Jim asked.

"She only made you think she did. "She called up the magic of the counter spell for a Severing Hex, but instead of casting it, she held it in her hand. When Jamie's severing hex hit Ginny's hand, it hit the counter curse she was holding. Ginny made it look like she had caught the spell by conjuring her own Severing Hex and holding it in her hand. When it looked like she was simply blowing Jamie's Severing Hex out like it was a birthday candle, she was actually casting the counter spell to the spell she had cast in the first place."

"That's a bloody dangerous trick," Jim muttered

"But exactly something Ginny would try. And from the look on Jamie's face right now, I'd say it was effective."

XX

Jamie's jaw hung slack while she watched Ginny climb to her feet. "Not possible," she whispered. She rubbed her eyes, trying to erase what she'd just seen. It was impossible to remove. Her mind snapped back to the present when Ginny took a first step towards her. The relentless training of the last two years kicked in. It didn't matter how tired, beat up or scared you were; and right now, to be honest, Ginny Potter scared her shitless, you didn't quit.

Ever.

Her wand came up and she unleashed a steady barrage of spells on the advancing woman. They all appeared to hit their target, but deflected away in every direction, leaving Ginny unharmed and drawing closer.

"A little help here, Jen," Jamie said. She caught that Ginny was heavily favoring her injured leg and focused her spells on the injury. Cutting, bludgeoning, crushing, severing, blasting, anything violent she could think of flew from her wand. She randomly tuned the spells within the barrage. But tuned spells took a lot more energy to cast than a normal spell and she was wearing down. Still, it brought a hiss of pain from Ginny and a halt to her advance. Jamie stopped the barrage with Ginny's halt, gasping. She knew something was coming and if she didn't catch her breath to deal with it, she'd be done for. She and Ginny stared at each other across the fifteen or so feet separating them, waiting to see what the other would do. She kicked her sister with her heel. "Come on, you big baby," she growled without taking her eyes from Ginny.

Her face devoid of emotion, the Animal stopped and considered her prey for a moment. She raised her arm and the red glow of a stunning spell built around her hand. "You or your sister," she said without emotion

Jamie weighed the choice. She could try and protect Jenna or run and let Ginny take her out.

XX

"What's wrong with Jenna, or Jamie, or whoever it is?" Heather asked.

Hermione glanced at the board with the scrolling display of spells used so far. "It looks like Ginny may have flooded the warehouse with a Stasis Spell."

"Is that possible?" Angie asked.

"Apparently," Jim said dryly.

"How come it only affected one of them?" Luke asked.

"Ginny was down to about thirty percent estimated effectiveness when she cast it," Hermione said. "My guess is she was only hoping to confuse them so she'd have time to try and heal her leg, so she didn't put a ton into the spell. Somehow I think most of the spell funneled into Jenna; maybe because she was showing estimated effectiveness of a sixty percent to Jamie's ninety-five at the time because of trauma to her ribs and vision problems from her sun-grenade."

"Ginny's hovering about fifty percent now, while Jamie's down in the sixties range," Harry observed. "She put a ton into that barrage of spells. Jenna's climbing into the eighties."

"I'm not sure I get how that works," Luke said.

"It's pretty imprecise," Hermione conceded. "One, it's an estimate only. Two, it's not an estimate of magical ability or power available, but of the persons physical state, and their ability to bring their magic to bear."

"So it'll go up and down throughout the fight," Jim said. "And Ginny in the thirties is still bad news for Jenna and Jamie in the eighties and nineties."

"Take spell," Jenna's broken thoughts slowly trickled into Jamie's mind.

"Jen? Jamie asked." She hadn't realized the connection was still intact. "You there?"

"Got plan, take spell."

"That's your plan?" Jamie demanded with incredulity. "Let that hit me?"

"Shield," Jenna said.

"Oh, right." Jamie drew her magic up into her wand and held it. She knew a full body shield wouldn't take the spell that was coming. She was going to have to try and meet Ginny's spell dead on. The Stunning Spell flashed and Jamie's wand flicked to meet it. The spells impacted and Jamie was thrown back into her sister. She tumbled over Jenna and rolled to a stop on her stomach ten feet from where Jenna lay on the floor.

Jamie groaned and rolled to her back. "Okay," she gasped, "that hurt."

XX

Hermione glanced at the monitor. "Forty-three percent on Jamie," she said and turned back to the window.

XX

Ignoring her entirely, the Animal stalked past Jenna to Jamie. "The baby sister first, I think," she taunted standing over her.

Jamie had lost her wand when she'd taken Ginny's Stunning Spell and when Ginny loomed over her, she froze, waiting. The Stunning Spell began forming in Ginny's palm, and Jamie suddenly realized she hadn't ever seen a wand in the woman's hand. Fine, let's see how you manage hand to hand combat, she thought. She rolled into Ginny, grabbed her just healed leg and twisted.

XX

"Down to twenty-five percent on Ginny," Heather said.

XX

The Animal shrieked and her spell flew wildly into one of the dead overhead lights. It exploded in a shower of broken glass that rained down all around them. She managed to catch her fall so she didn't hit her head but her opponent was on her, wrapping her in a choke hold from behind. Jamie drew up on her knees and then her feet, forcing Ginny with her, arching her back. The Animal ignored both the spots forming in her vision and the instinct to clutch feebly at the arm around her throat. She reached down with both hands, placed them on Jamie's thighs and sent a Crushing Spell into them.

XX

"Oh," Angie cried and buried her head against Luke's shoulder. "Can't they stop now?"

Jim shook his head, not quite trusting what his eyes had just witnessed. He glanced at the monitors. "Four percent," he whispered. No one needed him to confirm who he was referring to.

XX

Jamie screamed and went down on her face in a heap, the femurs in both her legs broken. The Animal pitched forward to her hands and knees, her lower leg broken again. Jamie held her head in her hands and shrieked her agony into warehouse. It seemed to somehow lessen the pain, or perhaps her mind just stopped accepting the signals her nerves were sending. She blinked slowly once, and spotted a wand lying on the floor. Hers, Ginny's, Jamie's, it didn't matter. Death or unconscious and unconscious didn't count; you didn't quit.

Ever.

She began dragging herself across the floor to the wand. She was nearly there when Ginny limped into view, her broken leg held with a Splinting Charm, and stepped on the wand.

XX

"Sweet mother of God," Luke whispered when Jamie began dragging herself across the floor. Angie chanced a glance, stifled a cry and buried her face in his chest again. No one truly wanted to watch any longer. But they couldn't seem to turn away either.

XX

"There is no quit in you, is there?" the Animal asked, though it was no question and there was a level of respect in her voice.

Jamie managed to lift her head and meet Ginny's eyes. She tensed, growled, "Not by a long shot," and lunged for the wand.

"Imperio," Jenna hissed.

Jamie rolled as she grabbed her wand. White hot needles of pain shot up and down her legs, darkening her vision. Instinct alone knew Ginny was looming over her. It didn't wonder why Ginny had failed to finally remove her from the fight; nor did It care. From flat on her back, Instinct brought Jamie's violently shaking arms over her head, training the wand on her opponent.

Ginny froze, her hand trembling against the control Jenna was exerting. "Back away from her," Jenna growled, furiously. Ginny hesitated. "NOW!" Ginny took a halting step back. "Uuurrrgggh!" Jenna grunted. Her arm bucked against Ginny fighting the curse and she steadied it with her other hand. "GET. AWAY," she bit out. Ginny took another half step back from Jamie.

Jamie's eyes focused for a moment; the scene of her sister and Ginny locked in a battle of wills freezing in her mind "Jen?" she croaked.

"Any time would be good, Jams," Jenna ground out through gritted teeth.

An instant of rage brought a last rush of adrenaline and Jamie hit Ginny with everything she had left. The tuned Stunning Spell struck Ginny in the stomach just as she managed to break Jenna's curse. There was a sickening crack and Jenna screamed as she was spun around, her shoulder dislocated. Her wand flew up, end over end in a high arc. Jamie's wand fell from her hand as her arms dropped, too weak to hold them up anymore. Jenna dove on the rolling wand, coming up on one knee with it in her off hand, her preferred arm hanging uselessly at her side. Ginny dropped heavily to her knees and teetered precariously, placing one hand on the floor to keep from falling over.

"Stupify!" Jenna barked. Ginny crumpled. An eerie silence settled in the warehouse. Broken only by the sound of water bubbling up from the broken pipe and the hiss of sparks from the destroyed electrical box splaying into the water pooled on the floor.

XX

Harry and Hermione blinked when Ginny went down. Luke and Heather looked on the scene of broken bodies with ashen faces while Angie refused to lift her face from Luke's chest.

"Son of a bitch," Jim slowly said.

"She hasn't lost a fight . . ." Harry began but trailed off, unable to complete his thought.

"Since she was taken," Hermione finished in a whisper.

Harry whirled, dragging Hermione to the potions cabinet, his temper flaring. "Should have stopped it when I wanted to," he fumed. Hermione stumbled into action pulling phials out and stuffing them in to Harry's hands. He stood there blindly letting her load him down. "Bloody insane," he growled to no one in particular. "Other guys get nice normal girls in their lives. But not me. Nooo, I get the crazy ones. Every bloody damn one of them."

Hermione grabbed his ear and pulled him to the door. "Shut up, Harry."

"See! See what I'm talking about?"

XX

"Is she out?" Jamie gasped.

Jenna nudged Ginny with her toe. "Yes."

Jamie sagged into the floor, the tension flowing out of her. "That is one tough bitch," she said.

Jenna knelt down and placed Jamie's head in her lap. "Not as tough as you, Jams," she said. She gently stroked Jamie's hair back off her face.

"You think?" Jamie asked

Jenna nodded, and she smiled tremulously at her sister. "Yeah,"

Jamie smiled and closed her eyes sighing softly. "Your plan sucked by the way," she cracked."

"Bad?"

"No, it fuckin' tickles," she retorted. She cracked one eye open to look at her sister and identical grins began to slowly grow on their faces.

"We beat her," Jenna said.

Jamie wove her fingers into her sister's. "We're badass," she agreed.

The lights blinked back to life and the warehouse faded away, leaving nothing but the bare walls of the training room. "Jen," Jamie said, squeezing her sister's hand tightly.

"What sweets?"

"I think I'm gonna pass out now." Jamie's eyes rolled back in her head and her body went limp.

Hermione knelt down at Jamie's side. "I've got her," she said and began a wand scan. "Just the broken legs." She coaxed a phial of potion down Jamie's throat. "She'll be up and around tomorrow. And good as new in three days. How's your arm?"

"It can wait," Jenna said, the relief evident on her face. "You better check Mrs. Potter. She got a lot worse than me.

Jim nodded at Hermione's glance. "All I'm reading is a dislocated shoulder and badly bruised ribs."

"Ok." Hermione patted Jenna on the leg and turned. "Get those two on stretchers so we can move them," she ordered Heather, Luke and Angie, catching them as they looked on nervously from the side. They jumped into action and Hermione focused on Ginny. "Well?" she asked Harry.

"Four broken ribs," Harry reported, "and temporary blindness from the sun-grenade. The worst is the leg though. The knee is tore up bad."

Hermione ran her own scan. "She's gonna be in bed for a week if she wants full function back," she muttered. She conjured a stretcher and levitated Ginny onto it.

"She's not going to like that," Harry said.

"Serves her right," Hermione snapped. "You could take a lesson too. Neither one of you is invincible."

"Hey, I tried to talk her out of it," Harry retorted. "I even tried to stop it before it went this far. You're the one who told me to let them go."

Hermione scowled. "Yes, well none of them had to take it this far. They could have stopped almost from the moment it started. Jenna and Jamie had sound tactics and their spells were effective from the first moment. Ginny knew that the second her ribs were broken. She could have passed them off as acceptable then and there but she didn't."

"But then we wouldn't have had any fun," Ginny said. Harry looked down and Ginny found his hand with hers. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied.

Hermione tipped a potion bottle to Ginny's lips. "Nighty, night," she mocked. Ginny went limp a second later.

"A Sleeping Potion," Harry demanded.

"Laced with painkillers; I don't fancy having her curse bloody murder at me while I set these bones," Hermione said. Harry glared at her. Jim chuckled. Hermione shrugged. "I'm the healer, now get out of the way."

Harry grabbed her arm when she went for another potion phial. "Admit it, Hermione," he growled. "You made a mistake." Hermione glared at him, screwing her face up. "Admit it," he demanded.

"Fine, I should have let you stop it… Happy?"

"No," Harry said but he let go of her arm and moved aside.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said.

He continued to glare at her. "I swear, there are times I don't know you anymore."

Hermione's eyes glistened and she swallowed with difficulty before meekly turning from him to continue treating Ginny's ribs. A short while later she stood up. "Ok, Harry, put Ginny in your room. I want to get her in the bed before I deal with her leg. We'll put Jenna and Jamie in with Heather for now." She levitated Jamie's stretcher and floated her up the stairs with the others following behind.

XX

Harry moved Ginny from the stretcher to the bed and tucked the covers around her, leaving her leg exposed. He kissed her forehead and though she was out cold, he whispered. "I'll be right back." He stepped into the hall, closing the bedroom door behind him. Jim, Luke, Angie, and Heather were waiting for him.

"So I reckon we'll put Jenna in the safe house with Luke and Angie tomorrow," Jim said. "She needs the night to be back to one hundred percent."

Harry nodded. "Bill isn't getting here till tomorrow, so Luke and Angie can stay in his room tonight."

"That's fine with us," Angie said.

"Jamie will need two, maybe three days before she's good again. It just makes sense for me to assign her to Heather. Can she just stay here while she recuperates?"

"She'll be staying here anyway, so that makes sense," Harry said. He looked at Heather. "I'm sorry, but she'll have to room with you till Bill and I get done updating wards for the Fronds, and Luke and Angie."

"It's okay, Harry," Heather said.

"Security shouldn't be too much of an issue for the match tomorrow," Jim said. "Jenna will be good in the morning and will accompany Angie. You three will be together all the time, Hermione, has to stay here to take care of the twins and Ginny. The kids are staying home too, so they shouldn't be any concern."

Harry nodded. "Fine then. See you tomorrow?"

"It's my day off. But I'll stop by to check on Jamie."

"Ok, then. You can see your own way out?"

"Yep, see you," Jim said and headed for the stairs.

"If you need anything just ask Dobby and Trilly," Harry said to his three guests. "I'm gonna help Hermione with her patients."

"Sure thing, mate," Luke said.

"Don't worry about us, Harry," Angie said. "You're doing more than anyone could ask already." She pulled Luke to the stairs and the kitchen.

"You okay?" Harry asked Heather. She was still carrying a pallid complexion.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I will be. Can I help you?"

"Sure, come on," Harry said giving her a tug.