Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, ect.
AN: This chapter took longer than I expected but the plot is starting to move forward and we learn a bit about Voldermort's plans.
Hogwarts Head's Office, 4/2/1997, 22:32
The ball had been a success, the students seemed to really enjoy the evening and there had been no major incidents. Albus enjoyed watching the students relax and forget about the horrors going on outside these walls for one evening.
On Easter morning the students who were going home left for Easter break through the Floo network. There weren't enough students going home to warrant using the Hogwarts Express.
There wasn't a full moon during the break so there shouldn't be any werewolf attacks, Albus was hoping his students would have a quiet holiday with their families.
After young Draco had been removed from the school his stress levels had been way down, the only problem of note since had been on the full moon, when two amorous students had snuck into the room of requirement and been confronted with two fully transformed werewolves.
Mr. Potter had relayed the message to him through Sirius, the headmaster had set up wards over each end of that corridor. Hopefully on the next full moon no such incidents would occur.
A werewolf may have his human mind under the effects of the wolfsbane potion but it's a precarious hold at best, any significant stimuli during the full moon and the wolf will reassert it's dominance rendering the potion useless.
Which made the fact that the students weren't attacked very encouraging, Mr. Potter obviously had some modicum of control over the wolf.
Albus was currently waiting for his defense professor to return from dropping Draco off at the Malfoy property in Switzerland, Severus would also be passing along a message. He would instruct them to go somewhere Lucius could not find them.
That was another headache, Voldemort had broken out all the death eaters captured at the ministry last june in the early hours of Easter morning. The ministry was keeping this from the public as it would spread panic.
Albus personally thought the public should be made aware but after last year he had no intention of souring his relationship with the ministry.
So the Malfoy properties were no longer safe for Draco and his mother, Albus was praying they got out before Voldemort ordered Lucius to retrieve them.
Albus felt the wards alert hm that someone was comng up the stairs, closing his eyes he tapped into an ancient signature ward that the Marauders had linked their map to almost two decades ago.
"Come in Severus," Albus called when he heard the surly professor stepping off the staircase.
Albus watched Severus open the door and glide into the office and take a seat on the other side of his desk looking exhausted.
"I was successful, they have already departed for America," Severus said without preamble.
"Good, any news about the prison break?" Albus asked curiously.
"The dark lord is planning a large-scale offensive and he needed his best returned to him," Severus said neutrally.
"That is worrying especially given my current state," Albus said inspecting his blackened hand sadly.
"I might be able to extend your timeline by a year, I recently procured some very potent moonflower from one of the Greengrass potion suppliers," Snape said thoughtfully.
"If you can do that I would be eternally grateful, but do not overextend yourself," Albus said.
"The potion is already brewing, I just have to wait for it to stew for the required thirty days," Snape said with a smirk.
"You know I have a suspicion those moonflowers were the ones Mr. Potter was harvesting last September," Albus said with a chuckle turning Snape's smirk into a scowl.
"Your probably right," Snape said thinking back to an earlier conversation they had about Potter and Greengrass.
"Now I have another mission for you," Albus said in a grave tone.
"What?" Severus asked looking apprehensive.
"I wish for you to engineer the death of Voldemort's snake, just make sure you cannot be connected to it," Dumbledore explained.
"That should be fairly simple," Snape said thoughtfully.
"I am afraid it won't be, the only two ways guaranteed to work are basilisk venom or the killing curse," Albus said regretting having to be the bearer of bad news.
"Leave it to me, I despise that reptile, killing her will be my pleasure," Snape said seemingly unconcerned.
"Very well my boy, get some rest we'll talk some more tomorrow," Albus said in dismissal.
Nodding gratefully Severus swept from the office without a word.
That was good news, if Snape could give him another year he might get to see the end of Voldemort before he died.
'Here's hoping, Dumbledore thought cheerfully.
Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, 4/3/1997, 10:37
Harry made his way down the stairs to the kitchen for his breakfast, they had arrived here early Easter morning. The Weasley's were still staying here but most of them avoided Harry and Lavender with the exception of Ginny Weasley.
She didn't seem to care that Harry and Lavender were werewolves and would often come to chat with Lavender for hours on end.
Bill and Fleur came by for dinner regularly but they were currently staying in Bill's flat somewhere near Leeds.
Lavender didn't seem to like Fleur very much her eyes would always shift to amber when the French girl entered the room. If Fleur noticed she didn't say anything but Harry could sense the tensionbetween them.
"What is young master wanting for breakfast?" Kreacher asked when Harry entered the kitchen.
"A rare steak and eggs over easy, please," Harry told the aged elf with a smile.
Just then Lavender entered the kitchen and Harry turned to Kreacher, "Better make that two," Harry said with a grin.
"At once young master," Kreacher said before getting to work.
"Good morning," Harry said brightly.
"Morning," Lavender said as she took a seat and poured herself a cup of tea looking half asleep.
Lavender sipped on her tea while they sat in comfortable silence, she was sometimes grumpy in the mornings until she had her morning tea and Harry had learned to give her space until she was fully awake.
"So why are you up so early?" Lavender asked a few minutes later sounding much more awake.
"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, I tried not to wake you," Harry said as their plates and a jug of orange juice floated to the table.
"You didn't well not directly, I couldn't feel you behind me and it must have woken me up," Lavender said as she poured them both a glass of juice.
Sirius had no problem with them sharing a room so Lavender stayed in his bedroom much to the stony disapproval of Molly Weasley and the envious glares of the Weasel.
"I'm sorry I have always been an early riser," Harry apologized.
"It's fine, I think it's the house. I usually don't wake up when you go for your runs at school," Lavender said with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm not sure those are really doing me any good," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Why, it's made you pretty fit," Lavender said with a grin.
"Since I was bitten, I don't get tired from the runs," Harry said with a shrug.
"Maybe you should ask Sirius about that or Lupin if he ever comes over," Lavender suggested.
It would be a good idea to ask Remus but Harry hadn't seen him since December, according to Sirius he was on a mission for Dimbles and should be back in the next few days.
"Have you seen anyone else this morning?" Harry asked suddenly realizing what was off this morning.
"No, now that you mention it, Mrs. Weasley is usually making a racket by now," Lavender said thoughtfully.
That was a downside of staying here, Molly Weasley was a kind and well-meaning woman, a terrific cook, and overall very talented with household spells. She was also loud, overbearing, and stuck her nose where it didn't belong. Usually, the entire house was woken by her bellowing up the stairs that it was time breakfast.
"I know and Sirius is always up at first light," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Whiskery man calls the birdy club, there be's wolfies attacking Leeds last night," Kreacher said from his place by the stove.
"Impossible, the full moon isn't for weeks," Lavender said sounding alarmed.
"Well it's not completely impossible," Harry said thinking of their own somewhat successful attempts to transform.
"We've been trying for three weeks and all we can do is make fur grow on our arms," Lavender argued.
"I know, but maybe we're just missing something," Harry said thoughtfully.
Their attempts to transform were slow going and only recently had Harry been able to sprout fur and make his fingernails lengthen. Lavender was just starting to get to the point where she could sprout fur, but the process was exhausting for both of them.
Harry wasn't sure what they were doing wrong but at this pace, it would take over a year to reach a full transformation.
The door to the kitchen opened pulling Harry and Lavender from their conversation, Ginny and to Harry's surprise, Hermione walked into the kitchen looking as though the just rolled out of bed.
"When did you get here?" Harry asked looking at Hermione curiously.
"Dumbledore asked me and Neville to come here yesterday evening," Hermione said as she took a seat on the other side of Lavender and poured herself some coffee.
"They got here after you two had scampered away to your little love nest," Ginny said with a grin taking a seat across from Lavender.
Both girls jumped when plates appeared in front of them, they were not used to house elf delivery when away from Hogwarts.
"Oh, steak and eggs," Ginny said happily only to recoil when she cut into it.
"What's the matter," Hermione asked eyeing her own plate suspiciously.
"It's raw on the inside," Ginny said sourly.
"Ops, that's probably my fault," Harry said taking out his wand and waving it over the girls plates.
Ginny smiled as the steak was now a medium well and dug in with gusto.
Lavender growled low in her throat making the two girls jump and look at her, Lavender's eyes had shifted to amber and she was staring intently at the door. Much to Harry's surprise her eyeteeth had elongated into longfangs and Harry had no idea why he found that look extremely sexy.
A moment later a furious Fleur Delacour burst in the kitchen cursing in french, tears running down her cheeks. Fleur froze when she saw Lavender's state and her own face slowly shifted, her eyes going pitch black and her nose and mouth started forming into a vicious hooked beak.
Jumping from his seat Harry got between the two, while Hermione and Ginny looked on in alarm.
"Alright enough," Harry said lookng Lavender in the eye not knowing that his own eyes had changed to amber tinted green.
Lavender seemed to calm, and her face slowly shifted back though her eyes remained that of her wolf form.
Harry turned to see that Fleur was almost completely transformed looking furious with a blue fireball forming in her hand.
"Calm down Fleur we're all friends here," Harry said soothingly.
Fleur screeched sounding like a massive eagle before her body slowly started shifting to her human form, the fireball fizzled out and her feathers receded into her skin..
'I am sorry," Fleur said when her beak shifted back to her nose and mouth and she broke down crying.
Harry pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder while he gently rubbed her back.
"What happened?" Harry asked softly.
"Beel he was attacked by one of ze wolves," Fleur said sobbing.
"Was he bitten?" Harry asked worried about her answer.
"Non not by ze wolf at least. We spent all night trying to contain ze wolves, At dawn zey shifted back to human, zey 'ad these collars that transformed zem into wolves.
" We saw ze leader Greyback and Beel tried to capture him, he was so fast he dodged all of our spells and attacked my fiance in human form, Beel was mauled," Fleur explained between sobs.
"Where is he now?" Ginny asked frantically.
Fleur pulled away from Harry and looked at Ginny, " At 'ogwarts, the matron is doing her best to heal him," Fleur said worriedly as she allowed Harry to guide her to the table.
"Alright, so not to be insensitive or anything but what was that about when you came in here?" Hermione demanded.
"I smelled her enter the house, and I can't really explain what happened," Lavender admitted quietly.
Harry took his seat next to Lavender then took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it.
"Your other side picked up on my rage, that was your instincts taking over," Fleur said quietly sipping a cup of coffee that appeared in front of her.
"Then how come I didn't react like that?" Harry asked.
"Because you do not have to worry about a veela attempting to take your mate," Fleur pointed out sounding much calmer now.
Harry looked at Lavender who was looking down at her plate and said, "Lavender you know I am not interested in Fleur like that."
"I do, but I guess Snow doesn't," Lavender said barely above a whisper.
Harry reached his hand out and gently raised her chin making Lavender look him in the eye, "I love you and I can promise you that I will not be taking another mate," Harry said sincerely.
Lavender gasped, that was the first time Harry had said he loved her and she didn't know how she knew, but deep down she could tell he meant every word.
"Why are you crying?" Harry asked in concern as Lavender had wrapped herself around him and was sniffling into his chest.
"They're happy tears," Lavender's muffled voice replied.
"So where is everyone else," Hermione asked trying to get back on task.
"Hogwarts, zere were quite a few bitten last night and we're not sure of ze outcome yet," Fleur explained.
"Any students?" Harry asked over Lavender's shoulder.
"Two, a pair of brozers Colin and Dennis Creevey," Fleur said sadly.
"What?!" Ginny exclaimed looking horrified.
"I take it you know zem?" Fleur asked sadly.
"Yes, Colin is dating Luna," Harry said looking stricken.
"Luna will be devastated," Ginny said sadly.
"I need to give her a call on the floo this evening, I really hope he isn't like us," Harry said worriedly.
"I don't think he will be, the virus is only fully active at the full moon and those wolves were not naturally transformed," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"I suppose Colin will be joining us for the full moon again," Lavender said with a smile.
"Again?" Hermione asked alarmed.
Before Harry could explain more Ron and Neville walked in. Ron's eyes glazed over the instant he laid eyes on Fleur and he didn't notice Ginny extend her slipper-covered foot as he walked past her, his eyes were locked on Fleur, that is until he tripped over it falling flat on his face.
"It's rude to stare Ron," Ginny said with a smirk.
Ron looked furious and heaved himself up before stomping over to the other end of the table, his face and ears were bright red, from anger or embarrassment nobody really knew.
Neville took a seat beside Ginny directly across from Harry shaking his head at his best mate.
"Where is everyone, and why is my steak raw on the inside?" Neville asked.
"The easy one first," Harry said waving his wand over Neville's steak and doing the same for Ron before continuing. " I asked Kreacher to fix mine and Lavender's steak rare, I guess he assumed everyone would like it that way," Harry said with a shrug.
"As for where everyone is, there was a werewolf attack on Leeds last night," Hermione answered seriously.
"Oh, how is that even possible?" Neville asked confused.
"Zey 'ad special collars that forced ze transformation, we captured one of ze werewolves so Dumbledore will be able to study ze collar," Fleur answered as she took a bite of the rare steak on her plate and sighed in appreciation.
"How can you eat it like that?" Hermione asked.
"I like rare steak, and I am not quite human," Fleur said with a shrug.
Before Hermione could reply the door opened and Sirius came in along with Lupin and Tonks.
"What a night," Sirius said tiredly.
"You can say that again," Tonks said plopping down on the otherside of Ginny
"Moony, what's up with you?" Sirius asked noticing his friend had frozen in the doorway looking at Harry.
"You're an alpha," Remus said looking like he was fighting to stand up.
"Am I?" Harry asked surprised.
"Yes, you two are definitely a mated pair of alphas, I can smell the power coming off of you both," Remus said in awe.
"Moony take a seat," Sirius said eyeing his friend nervously.
Remus stumbled into his seat looking out of sorts before finally speaking, "You've completed the bond haven't you?"
"I don't know what you mean?" Harry asked confused.
"He's asking if you two have shag-
" That's none of your business!" Harry exclaimed angrily cutting Sirius off.
"Wait you mean you two have only dated for three months and have already shagged and I've been trying to get Remus in the sack since September," Tonks spoke up indignantly making everyone at the table turn and look at a very red Remus.
"I never said we had, I just said whether we have or not is nobody's business but ours," Harry said getting very annoyed.
"Don't worry about that mate we have bigger problems, September Moony?" Sirius asked incredulously dismissing Harry for something more interesting.
"I will not be talking about my sex life at the dinner table," Remus sputtered.
"Well it's a good thing we're having breakfast then, now spill," Sirius demanded.
"How did this become about me?" Remus demanded.
"My godson obviously has his priorities straight, you on the other hand..., Sirius trailed off.
"Sirius if you imply that one more time I will lock you in your animagus form and take you to the vet to have you neutered," Harry warned after seeing his girlfriend hiding her red face in her hands.
"Alright, back to Moony then," Sirius said undeterred.
"Like Harry said it's none of your business," Remus replied flatly.
Before the conversation could go any further Arthur Weasley came through the door with the twins in tow.
"Everything is sorted out, we won't know if the victims are infected until the full moon though," Arthur said sadly taking his seat.
Harry decided that the kitchen was getting a tad crowded and figured it was about time to make make a hasty retreat.
Harry suddenly had another idea and it would hopefully cheer his girlfriend up a lot.
Harry gave his girlfriend a look before he stood up, "Come on let's get out of here," Harry said offering he a hand.
They made their way out of the crowded kitchen as he led them back to their room.
"Get changed were going out for the day," Harry said as he headed for the shower.
Harry had just stepped under the hot wate when the sliding glass door slid open and Lavender climbed in behind him.
"Where are we going?" Lavender asked elbowing her way to get under the hot water.
"The cinema, this place is depressing today," Harry said before lathering shampoo into his hair.
"Oh that sounds lovely," Lavender said switching places to shampoo her own hair.
"Yeah I thought it might cheer us both up," Harry said as he rinsed his hair.
"One question," Lavender asked as she took her place under the shower, soapy water running down her curves.
"What's that?" Harry asked distractedly watching the soap run over her breasts.
"What's the cinema?" Lavender asked curiously.
"Later," Harry said before pressing her back against the wall and capturing her lips.
"Oh Harry," Lavender exclaimed breathily when she realized his intentions.
Thirty minutes later the two snuck down the stairs under Harry's invisibility cloak and slipped out the front door.
Harry had no intention of being stuck in that depressing atmosphere today, he hadn't snuck out like this since he was thirteen and it really took him back.
He did leave a note for Sirius on his bed this time, in case his godfather came looking for him. He didn't want Sirius freaking out when he realized they were gone.
It wasn't that long of a walk until they found a movie theater, but when they arrived they discovered that they had an hour to kill before the next showing.
"Want to get lunch?" Harry asked leading Lavender towards a pizza parlor a block or so down the street.
"Yes, but what is pizza?" Lavender asked curiously looking at the sign of the restaurant Harry was leading her towards.
"It's like a pie made with tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni," Harry explained.
"Okay," Lavender said skeptically.
Fifteen minutes later their pizza arrived, Harry had ordered a large pizza with sausage, bacon, pepperoni, and ham.
Lavender took a slice and brought it up to her mouth and took a tentative bite.
Harry watched with amusement as her eyes widened and she started eating with gusto, clearly Harry hadn't done a very good job of explaining to her the magic of Pizza.
"So I take it that you like this?" Harry asked teasingly when she grabbed another piece and took a bite.
"Yes, this has got to be one of the best things I've ever eaten," Lavender said between bites.
"I thought so too, Sirius took me for my first pizza when I was doing my school shopping before first year," Harry said with a grin.
"I wish they had this at Hogwarts," Lavender said wistfully and grabbed another slice.
"I do know the house-elf to talk to, he's kind of weird but I bet he could get us pizza," Harry said with a grin.
They were able to finish the entire pizza much to the surprise of their waitress, once Harry paid the check and left a tip they took their leave.
They left the restaurant with plenty of time to spare and walked back to the theater at a leisurely pace, both of them taking in the bustling city around them. Lavender seemed thoroughly amazed by all the sights and sounds not to mention the cars driving up and down the roadway.
Harry couldn't help but smile, at his girlfriend, this really was a whole new world for her.
"What's this about anyway?" Lavender asked excitedly as they took their seats in the theater.
"A muggle game called basketball," Harry said popping some popcorn in his mouth.
"Then where do the rabbit, the duck, and the pig come in?" Lavender asked helping herself to some popcorn.
"It's from an American cartoon series, this is a cross between animation and real life," Harry said predicting she would just have to watch it to understand.
Before she could ask anything else the lights dimmed and the previews began running.
The movie was really good, Lavender was completely focused on the film and Harry counted this as a win. Harry knew she was a pureblood and had never seen anything like this before, so watching her reaction to the movie was very entertaining.
After the movie let out it was around three o'clock so Harry decided it was time to head back to Grimmauld, after a small detour to an ice cream shop for a couple of cones on the way home.
"That was wonderful, we have to do that again," Lavender gushed licking her strawberry ice cream happily.
Harry grinned and said, "don't worry, there are new movies coming out every few weeks, we can go again this summer."
"Good, I can't believe How real that all seemed," Lavender said thoughtfully.
"Yeah I thought so too, just wait until you see 'Jurassic Park', that movie was very realistic," Harry said remembering going with Sirius to watch it the summer before his third year.
"What was that about?" Lavender asked curiously.
"Dinosaurs chasing and eating people," Harry said with a grin.
"I thought they were extinct?" Lavender asked.
"They are, the muggles made giant models and made them look real," Harry explained as they turned down the street Grimmauld place was on.
"Thank you for taking me out, I guess this was kind of like our first real date," Lavender said with a grin.
"I hoped you would like it, we're almost back and there is one other part of a date we haven't done yet," Harry said with a grin.
"What's tha-
Harry gently pushed Lavender up against the wall of a house behind her and captured her lips cutting her off mid-sentence.
When Harry pulled back Lavender smiled at him, " Yeah, we definitely can't have a date without that," she said before pulling his lips to hers again.
"Just where in the bloody hell have you been!" Sirius demanded as soon as they stepped through the door.
"The cinema," Harry answered lamely.
"And you didn't even think to invite me?" Sirius exclaimed dramatically.
"Yes, I want a thirty-five year old man child tagging along on my date," Harry said deadpan.
"How dare you," Sirius exclaimed.
"You wouldn't have liked the movie anyway," Harry defended.
"It would have got me away from the Weasley brats, my nymphomaniac cousin, and that detestable werewolf," Sirius exclaimed in faux outrage.
"Detestable, now that's just rude," Remus said entering the entrance hall from the kitchen.
"Yes, and he wonders why I didn't invite him considering we're both werewolves," Harry said shaking his head.
"So how was 'Star Wars'?" Remus asked curiously.
"I don't know we watched 'Space Jam'," Harry said with a grin.
"That cartoon thing, I knew I should have never taken you to see Roger Rabbit", Sirius exclaimed.
" Well the 'Star Wars' movie was the last part of a trilogy, and I didn't want Lavender to see that without watching the other two first" Harry defended.
"Whatever," Sirius pouted.
"Hmm, I guess I should warn you that Molly informed the headmaster you two snuck off," Remus said changing the subject.
"So? He has no control over me when school is out," Harry said with a shrug.
" I know, I told Molly as much," Sirius agreed.
"Alright I'll avoid the kitchen until dinner, see you then," Harry said leading Lavender up the stairs.
"Where are we going?" Lavender asked amused.
"The library," Harry said as he pushed open the door.
The golden trio and Ginny were seated in the Library, Hermione was reading while Ron and Neville played chess and Ginny watched on.
"Where have you two been," Hermione demanded as soon as they walked in.
"We went for pizza and watched a movie," Harry said with a shrug taking a seat on one of the plush sofas.
"Luna will be coming over this evening, her father is going abroad," Hermione said deciding that lecturing him would be pointless.
"Did anyone tell her about Colin?" Harry asked worriedly.
"No, she floo called around noon so I just took a message," Hermione said softly.
"Good, I should be the one to let her know," Harry said sadly.
Harry felt the couch dip as Lavender took a seat beside him and rubbed his back comfortingly.
"I'll be there when you tell her," Lavender said softly.
Harry smiled at her gratefully, sometimes like now, he wondered how he ever got through life without her. He had known he was in love with her for quite a while now but moments like this made him love her even more.
"Thanks," Harry said warmly.
Luna stepped out of the fireplace just before dinner looking to be in a good mood. Harry really hated to ruin that but he knew she wouldn't thank him for keeping something like this from her.
"Luna we need to talk," Harry said softly when Luna had finished talking to Ginny and Hermione.
Harry led her over to the side of the kitchen and took a deep breath, he really hated to see her upset.
"What's up?" Luna asked put off by Harry's serious demeanor.
"There was an attack last night in Leeds, Colin and his brother were both bitten by a werewolf," Hary said gently.
"But the moon wasn't full," Luna said looking close to breaking down tears already running down her cheek.
"The werewolves were using these special collars to force their transformation," Harry explained.
"So will he be like you?" Luna asked.
"We don't think so, but we won't know until the full moon," Harry answered.
"Is he okay, I mean how badly wws he hurt?" Luna asked.
"I don't know, I just heard this morning," Harry admitted.
"Where is he?" Luna demanded.
"Hogwarts infirmary," Lavender answered.
"Okay," Luna said before marching to the fireplace and tossing in powder, and disappearing in a flash of green flame.
"Should we go with her?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"No, she probably wants to do this by herself, I would if it were me" Lavender admitted softly.
"Right", Harry said sounding conflicted.
" Trust me on this, just be there for her when she comes back," Lavender said encouragingly
"Alright, I think I will head back to the library," Harry said not feeling that hungry anymore.
The break seemed to fly by, Luna never did come back, though she sent a letter explaining that she wanted to be with Colin. Harry found out that Colin's arm had been bitten pretty badly but thanks to Poppy he would still have full use of his arm.
Things around Grimmauld fell into a routine, though Harry did sneak Lavender out of the house one more time so she could watch 'Space Jam' again.
Before Harry knew it they were preparing to go back to Hogwarts, Harry was anxious to get back to check on Luna but would miss the freedom he had away from the castle.
"Try and stay out of trouble mate," Sirius said with a serious expression.
"I always do," Harry defended.
"Of course, what was I thinking? It's not like you had detention every day of the fall term or anything," Sirius said with a chuckle.
"Did Dumbles ever figure out how that collar worked?" Harry asked curiously.
"Yes, there is a runic array that forces the werewolves to change as we predicted, there is also an array that forces absolute obedience of the wearer," Sirius explained.
" So he could capture werewolves and force them to serve him?!" Harry exclaimed his face showing the horror he felt.
"Exactly, though that array is not very well constructed and would not work on an alpha," Sirius said trying to calm Harry down.
"That is still terrifying, it would work on Remus," Harry said looking worried.
"We have been under the impression no nose was trying to build an army of werewolves, the collars confirmed our suspicions. Voldemort has no intention of giving werewolves freedom when he takes the country. He plans on using them as the first wave in battle," Sirius explained.
"He's banking most will be killed but not before taking out a lot of the opposition," Harry reasoned out.
"Exactly, that's assuming there will even be a large-scale battle, the ministry is already teetering on collapsing," Sirius said sounding worried.
"No doubt thanks to fudge and Umbridge," Harry said sourly.
"Oh most of it can definitely be laid at the feet of Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy," Sirius agreed.
"So odds are the ministry will fall?" Harry asked understanding how bad that would be.
"Yep, probably by this summer," Sirius answered grimly.
"Great, I guess I won't be returning for my seventh year," Harry said sadly.
"If he's in control it would be beyond foolish," Sirius agreed.
"Thanks for filling me in," Harry said pulling his godfather into a tight hug.
"Harry are you ready to go?" Lavender's voice came from the kitchen.
"See you soon, mate," Sirius said warmly as they pulled back from their embrace.
"Take care and don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, Sirius," Harry said before heading towards the kitchen.
"I'm ready," Harry said when he walked into the kitchen.
"About time," Hermione huffed.
"Forgive from depriving you of endless seconds in the library," Harry said in faux sorrow.
"Keep it up and you will be spending endless seconds in the infirmary," Hermione warned.
"Fine Granger after you," Harry said offering the jar of floo powder.
"Thank you," Hermione said stiffly before throwing a pinch of powder in floo and stepping into the green flame.
"I thought she would never leave," Harry said in an exasperated tone making Lavender giggle.
The youngest Weasleys went next and then Neville. Finally, it was just Harry and Lavender standing alone in the kitchen.
Harry pulled her to him and kissed her passionately, then pulled back and looked in her eyes and whispered, "I love you, Lavender," in her ear.
"I love you too, Harry," Lavender said softly.
They released each other after a minute or so both reluctant to do so but knew they needed to stop delaying.
"You go first," Harry said before offering her the floo powder.
Smiling Lavender took a pinch and disappeared a second later in a flash of green flame.
'Let's get this over with,' Harry thought as he stepped into the floo and called out, "Hogwarts."