A/N- Hello all, I'm glad that I can let you know that I am not dead. I've had many PMs and comments asking how I was and making sure that I was ok. Truth is, I was not ok. I work in healthcare and healthcare workers in general are not ok. We're overworked, underpaid, and we are TIRED. It's been just shy of a year since I updated. I haven't even opened my computer for over six months. I apologize for putting this story on the backburner but something had to give. For those that have stuck with the story and messaged me and so forth, I appreciate it.

I can't say that I'm going to be jumping back into two or three chapters a week but I think I can mentally handle picking this story back up. Now that the vaccines for Covid have hit the market, the guidelines are changing some and they're becoming a little more lenient. My job has hired more staff so hopefully I won't be working so many hours. Hopefully, I'll have more time to devote to this story.

This chapter is for all of those readers that stuck with me despite my hiatus. Shout out to my friend Rebecca for convincing me that I needed to do this. Hope she's surprised to see the chapter post and it makes her smile (:

Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters or the original plot line. I still haven't made any money from this story or any other.

Chapter 130

June 30, 1997

Hermione was nervous. They were retrieving Harry from the Dursleys today and Moody had come up with one stinker of a plan.

In the time that Harry had spent at his relatives, Moody had reported that the Ministry had been infiltrated by Death Eaters. They were still claiming to be upstanding citizens, and weren't killing anyone outright, but they were certainly doing the Dark Lord's bidding. The Wizengamot was being shown bills that members had brought forth that he wanted passed; it was clear they served the pureblood supremacy ideology. It had already been passed that a muggleborn who married a higher blood status would have no rights in the marriage. Those that were already married were affected as well. No matter how much her father, uncle, and Bill tried to turn it down, the other members that weren't Death Eaters still passed it. Her family had stood alone with only Augusta Longbottom and Amelia Bones.

Moody had informed them that he had learned that the Ministry had put monitoring charms on the Dursley's home. They tracked apparatition, port keys, and the floo so they would know the second Harry left. Hermione had contacted Harry immediately and told him that under no circumstances was he to leave the wards until they retrieved him. The situation was turning dire and her family was struggling to stay on top.

Not to mention, Hermione hadn't heard from Uncle Sev. She had figured that he would send a patronus at the very least but there had been nothing. Draco told her every day that it wasn't because he was dead, it was likely that he was constantly around other Death Eaters or the Dark Lord. She could do nothing but hope that he was right.

The Master Auror had worked on this plan for days, arguing with her father and uncle constantly because it put all the children in danger. After a week of hearing the same arguments over and over, Hermione had finally told her father and uncle that they were doing Moody's plan unless they could come up with something better. They had come up with nothing.

Hermione was nervous about the plan as well. It was going to be quite confusing not only for the Death Eaters but for themselves as well. Her father and Uncle Luci had decided to pair with the Order on rescuing Harry because they were just a few people short of pulling the plan off. While Helena had offered to help, she wasn't too confident of her skills. In the midst of battle, that could mean someone's death.

Therefore, Professor Cat had volunteered herself and a man named Mundungus Fletcher had agreed to help them. Her father speculated that it was because he thought he might have a chance to steal something from their home. He had known the man during the first war and he didn't have the best reputation. Hermione made sure to warn Kreacher to keep an eye on the man while he was in their home.

They, those selected, would be arriving at Privet Drive and taking polyjuice potion to look like Harry. There would be seven Harry's total and each one would be paired with a protector. Everyone would manually fly from Privet Drive and then take a port key once they were safe. The plan was going to be complete chaos and the only ones really excited for it was the twins. Not that Hermione was surprised. Chaos was their middle name. Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by Moody yelling loudly as he entered the library.

"Alright, it's time to go! Not everyone is keyed into the wards so we'll have to walk past the ward line!" Moody yelled. Hermione stood and made sure that the bag of clothes was still shrunk and safe in her pocket. She wasn't too excited about wearing men's clothes but it was important to the plan so she hadn't complained.

Everyone rose and started for the front door of the manor. It wasn't often that it was used, Hermione had probably only used it ten times in her entire life. She would use a side door to take her to the stables and she always flooed or apparated. The walk across the lawn of her family home was perfectly manicured and she tried to distract herself from her nervousness by wondering how many hours the elves spent on it. Just before crossing the ward line, Moody stopped them all.

"The most important part of this plan is that we all escape. Don't stick around and fight if you don't have to. Getting Potter home is the point of this mission, not killing Death Eaters. This being said, if they engage you, fight back. Not only are you going to die, the person with you likely will as well. Everyone ready to fly?" Hermione took a deep breath and steeled herself against facing her fear.

It was going to be a mixture of brooms and thestrals. Hermione had begged for a thestral, quoting that at least the animal wouldn't try to kill itself by falling from the sky. Everyone had chuckled good naturedly and agreed that she could pair up with someone on a thestral. Charlie had instantly agreed to pair with her since he loved animals.

It had been decided that Harry, being the most important person going on the mission, would be paired with Uncle Luci. He was superb on a broom and knew how the Death Eaters fought. If they were engaged in battle, he was also capable of sending spells while flying. Moody was taking Mundungus so he could keep an eye on him while Bill was paired with Fleur. Minerva agreed to protect Draco while Arthur took George and Sirius took Fred. It was agreed that Charlie, Bill, and Minerva would take the three thestrals that they had available. Everyone else would be on brooms.

Charlie helped Hermione onto their thestral and wound her arms around his waist when he mounted. She held onto him tightly as they lifted into the air, everyone doing the same around them. Charlie could be heard chuckling softly since there wasn't much in the way of wind that evening. She turned her head from Charlie's back to see that Draco was holding a conversation with Professor McGonagall, completely at ease. It irritated her that she was the only one with a fear of flying.

Eventually, she relaxed against Charlie as the journey started to edge towards being an hour long. There was a yell from ahead of them and Hermione was sure that it was Moody telling them to begin their descent. She wasn't sure if he had come and found Harry's home beforehand or not. She wasn't entirely sure that Moody had ever been in the muggle world. Hermione, for one, knew that she would have been lost if she were the one in charge.

The descent was just as terrifying as the ascent and she tried not to squeeze the life out of Charlie as they headed for the ground. Hermione watched through slitted eyes as they touched down in the backyard of his relatives home. She jumped from the thestral as quickly as she could and everyone laughed nervously at her. Brooms were pocketed and thestrals were tied to the railing of the back porch.

Moody started for the house, everyone following behind. Moody didn't bother knocking, just waved his wand at the door and went straight inside. Hermione hurried after him, knowing that Harry's relatives weren't going to be pleased at seeing so many magical people in their home. They were found in the living room watching television; Harry had explained what one was to her the summer prior. When the man who resembled a walrus noticed them, he jumped up and started yelling.

"What are you doing here? This is my house and I don't want freaks just barging in whenever they damn well please! All of you, get out!" Hermione stepped forward and smiled at him.

"How's Harry?" she asked him sweetly. The man clearly remembered her and backed away.

"The freak is fine, I haven't hardly seen him since he's been here. Take him with you, he's not welcome here!" Dursley sputtered. Hermione remained silent and let Moody answer him.

"That's what we're here to do, you fecking idiot. Shut up your blustering or I'll silence you," Moody ordered. He turned to Hermione and nodded.

Hermione took her cue and left to find the stairs. She took them two at a time until she had reached Harry's room. She knocked once and then went in, finding Harry moving around the room, throwing the last of his things in his trunk.

"I heard the screaming, I figured that you were here. Just finishing up," he told her. Hermione walked over to him and hugged him tightly, breathing in the familiar scent that she had missed the last few weeks. He pulled her back so he could kiss her, Hermione melting into him as he reacquainted himself with the taste of her. Hermione whimpered in his mouth and he pulled back, chuckling softly.

"At least I know you've missed me," he said laughingly. She shoved him softly and gestured with her eyes to finish his task.

"Better get busy and then send Hedwig along. There have been issues to come up and we're leaving quite unconventionally. You also have quite a few witches and wizards in your home right now," she informed him. He raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing else, just focused on getting the last of his things in the trunk. Hermione walked over and opened the window so Hedwig could fly out.

"Go home to Blackmoor, girl. Don't get caught up in anything if a fight breaks out," she told the owl. Hedwig hooted and disappeared into the night. The sunlight was almost completely gone and it was going to be harder to make sure that if things did go awry that there wasn't any friendly fire going on.

Harry shrunk his things and stuffed them in his pocket and turned to guide her out of the room. They made their way back downstairs and Harry was clearly surprised to see everyone there waiting for him. There were grins all around but Moody kept them on track before the hugging started.

"We need to get out of here now. Brief run through of the plan, Potter. You're going to be with Lucius on a broom. Six of us will be polyjuiced to look just like you and are paired with the other six of us. We're hoping that we can get out of here with no problems but that's not usually how your luck runs. If we get stopped, we fight until we can lose 'em. Then we're port keying home. Black, get the vials," he ordered. Harry started to sputter his response but Hermione reached up and yanked out the hairs that she needed. He shot her a disbelieving look and turned back to the crowd.

"You aren't doing this plan! That psycho wants to kill me, taking a potion to look like me is suicide!" Harry nearly yelled. Hermione laid a hand on his arm after handing her father the hair to put in the potion.

"None of us really like the plan but it's what we have. We can't floo, port key, or apparate, they're being monitored by the Ministry. Death Eater propaganda is spreading through the Ministry and it won't be long before the Dark Lord is openly controlling them. If there are several Harrys, they won't know which one the real one is. We have to do it like this," she explained. He turned his gaze her way and she could see fear reflecting back at her.

"Tell me you're a protector," he demanded. Hermione kept eye contact but remained silent. Harry shoved a hand through his hair and swore.

"Goddamnit, Hermione, you aren't going to potion yourself to look like me. I'm not letting you do this," he told her. She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I understand that you want me to be safe but you don't let me do anything. I do as I please. I can't be a protector because I'm shite at flying. The riders are the Harrys. I'm on a thestral with Charlie. I'm going to be your clone and there is nothing that you can do about it," she informed him. His eyes were blazing with anger but he finally gave her a grudging nod. She knew that he was angry with her and that she would likely hear all about it later that night. If they didn't die.

"Pass out the vials, Black. Hermione, we need clothes," Moody stated. Hermione reached in her pocket and enlarged the bag that she pulled out. Her father handed her the vial of potion and gave her a shake of his head. He didn't want her to do this either but he wasn't going to try to stop her either. Hermione handed out an outfit to everyone and Harry gave her a confused look.

"Put them on, we're all going to be identical. Everyone, take your potion," she told them. Hermione chugged hers back and did her best not to gag. She could feel herself changing, growing taller and broader until she looked down at her hands and saw a perfect match for Harrys. She acted quickly since she knew she would blush if she lingered on the thought that she was changing in front of a room full of people.

Hermione had chosen a long-sleeved grey jumper and matched it with a simple pair of black trousers. She pulled her shirt off first, just leaving her bra in place. Fleur did much the same. She moved behind the couch so shove her pants down, not wanting to show the room her knickers. They were extremely tight so she shot a spell at them to enlarge them. Fleur moved to follow her lead, slipping her pants on afterwards. The boys were already through changing and Moody looked to the real Harry.

"Want to say anything to your relatives before you leave?" he asked. Harry looked to his aunt and uncle but focused mostly on his aunt.

"I know that my mother would be disappointed in you. I know you don't care. That's fine. I get to leave knowing that I'm a better person than you are, though. I warned you more than once that you needed to leave this place before me. Dudley was smart and got the fuck out. He'll probably live. I can't say the same for you. Voldemort is coming for me and he won't care about killing a pair of muggles to get to me. Maybe I'll see you around, if you survive," he told them. Hermione slipped her hand in his when they were silent in return.

Moody turned and led them back out into the backyard. Hermione wasn't going to let him kiss her like this but she did allow him to reach out and hug her. She hugged him back tightly and whispered in his ear.

"We're going to get through this. Just keep your head in the game and don't worry about me. Hopefully, we're lucky and have an uneventful flight and port key home." Harry scoffed at her words but nodded.

Hermione pulled away and headed to where Charlie was waiting for her. He struggled a little more to pick her up and put her astride the thestral but managed in the end. He hopped up and settled in, turning back to her with a grin.

"You can't be holding onto me like you did before. Now it looks like two men are hugging. Not to mention, you're going to have to use your wand if things go south. Just trust that I know how to fly and trust that the thestral isn't going to let you fall off," he told her. Hermione gave him a silent nod and Moody mounted his broom, kicking off. Charlie followed suit, as did everyone else.

Hopefully, this was going to be quick and simple.

-O-

Harry was fuming on the inside that they had even come up with this ridiculous plan to extract him from Privet Drive. It was insane to put six other people at risk; the Death Eaters or even Riddle himself wouldn't care about killing the wrong Harry.

He was pulled from his dark thoughts by Uncle Lucius kicking off the ground. They were riding the newest Firebolt, probably bought specifically to get them out of there as fast as possible. He was only loosely holding onto his uncle, already very comfortable on a broom. They rose in the air to where they were at the tree tops and had just started to fly away when there was an enormous explosion from beneath them. Harry cast his gaze downward to see what happened.

4 Privet Drive was on fire, the flames shooting up in the night air to lick at their feet.

Uncle Lucius didn't wait for Moody's call, he sped off in the direction of Harry's muggle school. He just barely caught sight of the other scattering directions as well. Moments later, spellfire lit up the sky, the colors reminding Harry of a sci-fi movie he had watched once where they had sticks that lit up.

Uncle Lucius was hunched over the broom, trying to milk every bit of speed he could out of it. A bright green spell whizzed by his ear and Harry knew that he was going to have to fight. However, he couldn't see so he did one of the riskiest things he had ever attempted.

He turned around on the broom stick and clenched his thighs around the twigs of the broom. There were six people behind them, all shooting spells their way. The sunlight was gone so Harry did the best he could aiming and started shooting off his own spells. He couldn't tell if his spells were hitting their targets until there would be a scream in pain.

Expulso. Confringo. Bombarda. One right after the other, throwing in a few extras as he went. He didn't throw anything considered dark; he wanted to save his greyer spells for actual battle. There were only two Death Eaters trailing them now and Harry was surprised to see that they both fell back when a third approached from behind.

The approaching Death Eater was moving much faster than his counterparts. As the man drew closer, Harry realized that he wasn't on a broom at all. In fact, he appeared to be shooting through the air on a mass of black smoke. He instantly knew who this was.

Riddle.

Harry tried to yell at Uncle Lucius to just portkey now but he knew that he didn't hear him. When a bright orange spell shot through the air from Riddle, Harry knew that it was going to hit him. If he ducked, it would hit Uncle Lucuis. His brash nature sprung forth and he did the only thing he could think of doing in the few seconds he had.

Harry threw his weight sideways with all his might, forcing the broom to roll.

Uncle Lucius hadn't been expecting the sudden barrel roll and tried to over-correct, throwing the broom off course and sending it spiraling downward. Riddle changed directions and Harry reached backwards and grabbed hold of Uncle Lucius' shoulder as hard as he could and apparated.

However, something about the apparition didn't feel right.

The pair of them landed in a tangled heap on the library floor of Blackmoor, startling everyone around them. Harry pulled his hand back to find it bloody and hurriedly jumped up to see what the source was. Uncle Lucius had been splinched, a deep gash on his left forearm that cut right through the Dark Mark that marred his skin. The blond was trying to sit up so Harry reached out and put pressure on the wound.

Fred, Sirius, Arthur, and George all came forward to help the man off the ground. Uncle Lucius was groaning softly and Harry heard footfalls approaching. Moody came through the door alone and grimaced at the sight of them. Uncle Lucius had been helped to the sofa and was starting to become more lucid. His gaze landed on Harry and the fury was noticeable. Harry held up a finger at him, gesturing for him to wait for his explanation. He only wanted to tell the story once and he was worried about Hermione.

Draco and Professor McGonagall were the next to arrive, both suffering from several cuts and bruises. Tonks had finally returned from her mission for the Ministry and was helping to patch up the injuries. Harry wondered briefly where Remus was but remembered that it was the night of the full moon. Bill and Fleur stumbled in next, neither harmed but both clearly exhausted. Harry watched Sipsy serve everyone tea while he waited. Finally, after another ten minutes of waiting, Hermione and Charlie came through the door, leaning heavily on each other, Charlie with blood running down his cheek. Hermione looked as though her shoulder may have been out of socket but he couldn't tell. He rushed her and she held up a hand to stop him.

"I can't hug you right now, my shoulder is out of socket. Got hit by a spell that felt like a huge stone," she explained. Harry nodded and cupped her cheeks with both hands so he could press a kiss to her forehead.

"I knew you were going to get hurt, why didn't you listen to me?" he demanded. Hermione just shook her head and kept moving inside. Her eyes roved over the crowd and when it fell silent, she looked to Moody.

"Where's Fletcher?" she inquired. Moody met her gaze and didn't react when he answered.

"He's dead. He got blasted off the broom because he wasn't paying attention, he was too busy telling me that we needed to apparate," he explained. "I also think he's the one who gave us away." Harry sighed deeply and let that information settle. Somebody had died because they were coming to retrieve him. Hermione nudged him with her good shoulder and shook her head at him when he met her eyes.

"That wasn't your fault. You heard Moody, he's the one that gave us away. He should have been paying attention," she told him. Harry just nodded and let it go. He really didn't want to fight right now. Uncle Lucius was still glaring at him from across the room.

"Why in the hell did you almost kill us?" he demanded. Harry threw himself into an armchair.

"Riddle was behind us. We started with six behind us and when Riddle showed up, the last two just fell back. I yelled for us to activate the port key but you didn't hear me. He shot a bright orange spell at me and it was going to hit me. I had two seconds to make a decision. Forcing a roll was the only thing I could come up with that didn't end in either of us getting hit with an unknown spell. As we were falling, I reached back and apparated us here," he revealed. The fury was much less in Uncle Lucius' eyes now that he understood. He gave a curt nod to Harry and allowed Tonks to continue healing him.

Harry pulled Hermione into his lap, resting her good side against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, careful not to jostle her arm. Her clothes were enormous on her but he decided that he could get used to seeing her wear his shirts. Sipsy appeared next to them with tea, which they both took happily. A wave of exhaustion settled over them and Harry could feel himself starting to drift off. Hermione was already heavy with sleep against him.

"It's time to get that shoulder back in socket, Hermione," Tonks said from his side. Harry jolted awake and shook Hermione softly to wake her. She opened her eyes with a grimace and Tonks just grimaced right back.

"You know this is going to hurt. Somebody is going to have to hold you," she told her. Harry shook his head.

"I can't hold you down for something like that," he told her. Neither Sirius or Uncle Lucius looked too thrilled with the thought either. Bill sighed and headed their way, wrapping his arms around Hermione to hold her in place. Tonks took her wrist and elbow in hand and didn't give her a count. She simply wrenched it back in place, causing Hermione to groan loudly.

"Merlin, Dory, some warning would have been nice!" she gasped. Tonks shook her head.

"Best if you don't expect it, you don't tense up," she explained. Hermione grumbled to herself but took her seat in Harry's lap again. Harry, however, wasn't in the mood to sit up and socialize. He patted Hermione as she tried to get comfortable on him again.

"It's been a long night. Let's go to bed," he told her. She nodded against him and stood once more. He watched as she made the rounds through the room, hugging everyone goodnight, telling them she loved them. He supposed that they had all put their lives on the line tonight, it was only to be expected that she would be more affectionate.

After one last wave to the family, Harry and Hermione left the library and headed for their room. Harry didn't even bother unpacking his things, just stripped out of his clothes and crawled into the bed, watching Hermione as she did the same. Once she was settled next to him, he pulled her close and kissed her head.

"I want to fuck you so badly but I just don't think I can muster the energy," he confessed. Hermione laughed sleepily.

"I was just going to say the same thing," she told him. He kissed her again.

"Love you, Mia." She snuggled closer.

"Love you too," she replied.

Harry closed his eyes and tried not to picture the seedy-looking man falling off his broom.

The entire night had been bad enough.

-O-

Severus cursed to himself as he listened to the Dark Lord wax on about how he had almost gotten Potter and was sure that Hermione had been there. Severus had no doubts. If Harry was involved, Hermione had been there.

The time since killing Dumbledore had mostly been spent in celebration. The Dark Lord was thrilled that the old man was dead, even though he wasn't the happiest about losing out on snatching Hermione. There had been several revels since then with muggle and muggleborn girls for entertainment. As the one to do the deed, Severus was given first choice at each event. He had tried to beg off the first time but was told firmly that he was being rewarded.

Therefore, he had chosen the girl closest to him and done what needed to be done. He had wandlessly cast a pain relief spell on the girl before he brutalized her to the laughter and jeers of his peers. He always ended it as quickly as he could, never dragging out her death. He had graced each of his girls with an avada to the chest, all his fellow brothers groaning in disappointment.

With every kill, every rape, Severus felt like he was losing himself a little more. He wanted to be home with his godchildren, he wanted to be drinking firewhiskey in front of the fire in the library at Malfoy Manor. He wanted Sipsy's special lemon tea. He wanted to be going over potions with Hermione, debating over whatever issue she was having in her Mastery training. More than anything, he wanted someone to hold him at night and tell him that everything was going to be alright.

However, he was a spy. He had no choice but to be right where he was, mostly thanks to Dumbledore. He would follow through and do what needed to be done, if only for Hermone and Draco. Maybe even a little bit for Harry. He no longer saw James when he looked at him so it was easier to like the boy.

Severus only hoped that by the end of the war, he wouldn't end up in Azkaban. He hoped that he wouldn't lose himself to the dark like he had before. He hoped that he would still be someone that his family loved. He hoped against hope that Hermione would still hug him close and call him Uncle Sev.

Severus was pulled from his despair as the Dark Lord called for him to tell his part in the battle. He had been following Arthur and his Harry. He had sent spells their way but they had never connected. He knew that he should have tried to make it look like he was actually aiming for them but he didn't think that Crabbe or Goyle were smart enough to notice. Like their sons, they weren't known for being overly intelligent. Severus sighed and joined the conversation.

He could always despair later.

A/N- I know, a short chapter. However, there's not much else that I could put in here but smut and I imagine that the characters would be exhausted. This being said, I hope you enjoyed it. This chapter brings Part Two to a close, something I never thought would happen. I can't believe I've made it this far to be honest. I want to thank you all for continuing to read and review, I appreciate it more than I can say. Leave me a message after the beep and tell me what you thought.

Next chapter, a birthday party gets crashed.

Love,

Alicia