St. Mungo's

When Sirius Black arrived with Emmeline at St. Mungo's, the healers took her away immediately, asking him to wait outside. He had spent an hour in grim anticipation, with no word from the healers before Remus showed up.

As soon as Remus arrived, Sirius lunged for his friend, engulfed him in a hug and broke down crying. Remus let him cry for a good 5 minutes before he asked, "What happened, Sirius? Is she alright?"

Sirius wailed, "I don't know. As soon as I arrived here, they took her inside and asked me to wait here. It's been an hour, yet I have no news. I'm scared Moony."

Remus attempted to comfort him, "Don't worry. She'll be fine, Sirius."

Sirius was still inconsolable but reined in his breath and asked him, "What happened over there?"

Despite the gravity of the moment, Remus snorted, "Mr. Creevey proved to be more than a handful for them. He's a combat hardened veteran and had a firearm at hand. The death eaters knew nothing about firearms or how devastating they can be. They walked in boldly when the first one was shot down. The second one was taken down when you had just apparated in and distracted them."

Sirius couldn't help but smile, "Good for him. May be with a lesson like that, they won't be so quick to attack muggles."

Remus shook his head, "No. Won't make any difference. None of them escaped to tell the tale. We handed the only survivor over to Moody."

Sirius's eyes widened just thinking about what that prisoner had in store. He asked, "What did our people tell The Daily Prophet?"

Remus said, "Dora would have given them a different story than what happened. No need to tell the death eaters what really happened, right? Doing so would take away the advantage Mr. Creevey has however the General has been briefed about the situation."

Sirius nodded, "Did you inform anyone else?"

Remus shook his head, "Not yet. I was going to wait for the morning and see what the healers have to say about Emmeline's condition. What curse was she hit with?"

Sirius grimaced, "I really don't know. It looked like it could be a modified form of the Bone liquefier curse. Mercifully she reached here in time. I suppose that the healers are trying to perform the counter curse on her but they have had no success so far."

Remus's eyes went amber for a moment, "They have kept you waiting long enough. Let's find out what's going on in there." Putting action to words, he took Sirius by the arm and they walked through to the treatment room.

When the witch at the reception desk started to try and stop them, she got one look at Remus's face and sat back down.

When they arrived in the treatment room, the healer was chanting in a low voice, his face sheened with sweat. He looked exhausted and worried. The sound of their entrance caused him to look up. He made another incantation and with a final wave of his wand, renewed the Stasis charm. He was pale and buckling at the knees. Sirius and Remus each caught one of his arms and carried him to a chair before he collapsed.

When he was able to speak, he said, "I don't think I can save her."

Remus asked, "It looks like a bone liquefier curse. Surely you can dispel that?"

The healer with a certain streak of pride answered, "Sure. I could do that before I left Hogwarts. But this?", he gestured to the woman laying on the bed, "I don't know what this is. The stasis charm can't stop death forever and I don't know what to do."

Sirius took in the very young appearance of the healer. He asked, "You look like you didn't leave Hogwarts all that long ago. Did you get a consult from anyone about this case?"

He looked up, "Sure I did. I consulted with our on-call curse breaker. I even put in a call to Gringotts but they don't know what this is either. It's the middle of the night and most of them won't even return my calls. If we can't get her some help, I fear that she won't last until morning."

Sirius had the healer by his robes and growled, "What do you mean? You are a healer, damn it! You are supposed to know this stuff."

Remus extricated the healer from his grasp, "Padfoot! Release him. He is not at fault here."

Sirius felt helpless and vented his frustration on the wall pounding his fists in frustration, "Damn it! Damn It! Damn It!"

Remus was also frustrated. If something happened to Emmeline, the death eater who had been captured at the Creevey farm would be in for lot of pain. He was also feeling helpless that he could do nothing to help Emmeline in this condition. Helpless, that is what his whole life had been. He was helpless when he was a child and would transform at every full moon. He was helpless when James and Lily were killed, Peter was allegedly murdered and Sirius was carted off to Azkaban. He was helpless when he had to watch Harry from a distance when he was teaching at Hogwarts. He had been helpless all his life but the lad had alleviated his troubles. Since he had come back from the mystics... The mystics! Yes they could help. They certainly knew enough to be able to cure this. They would have to ask Harry though.

Remus caught hold of Sirius's shoulder, "Padfoot, don't lose hope. Let's ask Harry if he knows someone who can help us. I am sure he had mentioned that he has some friends like that."

Sirius understood what he was alluding to. He pulled out his mirror and said loudly on it, "Harry Potter."

The mirror buzzed and a minute later, Harry's face came into view. By the looks of it, he was not in his dorm where he should have been but somewhere out in the open. Harry grinned at him, "Are you keeping an eye on me, father?"

Sirius frowned, "Where are you?"

Sirius heard someone giggle in the background. Harry, who was still grinning, said, "I'm at the top of the Astronomy Tower watching the stars. What's the matter?"

Sirius asked, "Who's there with you?"

Susan Bones came into view, ensconced in Harry's arms, "Any problem, Sirius?"

Remus snatched the mirror from Sirius, "Cub, Emmeline was attacked. We're in St. Mungo's. The healers are unable to cure her. Do you think you can help us?"

Harry's expression went serious instantly, "I'll be there in 10 minutes. Wait for me."

They ended the connection. Harry, who had been having an impromptu star-gazing date with Susan Bones on the top of the Astronomy Tower stood abruptly, "Sue, I need to go. Emmeline is in danger. You can take my cloak and return to your dorm. I'll fill you in as soon as I get back."

She took the cloak from him and donned it, "Good luck Harry. She will be fine."

Harry took a moment to consult the Marauder's Map. Vikram and Dumbledore were both in their offices. Good, that meant he didn't have to look everywhere for them. He vanished from the top of the Astronomy tower to re-appear outside of Vikram's office. He wrapped smartly on the professor's door. A moment later, the mystic who masqueraded as the DADA professor answered the door, not a hint of dishevelment or fatigue about him.

Vikram looked Harry up and down before saying, "Harry, what is the matter?"

Harry hurriedly told him everything. The moment he understood the situation, the Defense Professor sent his patronus to Dumbledore telling him, "Lift the enchantments on the castle for 10 minutes. I am accompanying Harry Potter on an urgent errand to London."

With the patronus away, Harry said, "Start heading for the main gates. I'm grabbing my potions and I'll meet you there."

Vikram nodded and started toward the grand staircase at a speed that would put men a quarter of his age to shame. Harry ran around the nearest corner then disappeared to re-appear in the bathroom on his dorm floor. A few seconds of rifling his trunk and he had what he needed. It didn't take long and he was quiet about it. Seconds later, he was back in the bathroom. A few seconds after that, he emerged from the shadow of a tree near the gate where Vikram was waiting.

When they neared the gates, Hagrid was standing there, having already opened the gates for them to leave. When they came pelting through the gate, he bellowed, "Harry, where yeh going?"

Harry waved to him, "We're in a hurry Hagrid. I'll tell you about it later."

As they stepped past the gates, Vikram grabbed his hand and they were gone.

Since it was past midnight, there was not a soul on the roads. They apparated to the front entrance of the hospital. As soon as they landed, Harry entered the hospital with Vikram right on his heels. His appearance in the hospital caused murmuring and excitement but he did not care. He asked the receptionist where Emmeline was. They ran to the treatment room where the most urgent cases went.

When Sirius saw him, Sirius hugged him fiercely. Harry had to push him off saying, "If we are to save Emmeline, I'll have to act fast. Where is she?"

Sirius pointed to the ward and Harry entered followed by Vikram. The healer tried to stop them, "Please stay out. You would cause more problems for her. We are trying to heal her."

Vikram barked, "We? All I see is you. I can see how good you are at it. Stand aside and let me have a look."

The healer looked at him skeptically, "Are you a healer?"

Vikram growled, "I have seen more dark curses than you have learnt about, boy. Now step aside or I would have to push you out of the way."

The healer was scared of Vikram's imposing presence. He started to leave. Vikram snapped, "Stay. You may learn something." Vikram had his wand out and was casting detection spells on her. After a minute, he turned to Harry, "Potter, this is a simple case. I would like you to tell me what you think."

Harry recalled his basic diagnosis skills from his time with Charak. He cast three detection spells, based on what he could already see he had narrowed the curse down that much before he needed to confirm what he suspected. He turned to Vikram, "This looks like bone liquefying combined with blood boiling and just a bit of a nasty twist. How did I do Professor?"

Vikram smiled broadly, "That would get you an O in my class. How would you treat it?"

Harry responded with, "I would use the counter curse for blood boiling, followed with the counter curse for bone liquifying and finally an invigoration draught."

Vikram nodded, "Please proceed Mr. Peverell."

Without thinking, Harry popped out the Acacia wand he and performed the counter curses. It took him about ten minutes, but when he was done, Emmeline's condition improved immediately. With the spell-work done, Harry lifted the stasis charm then administered the invigoration draught from his personal stores. The work wasn't very complicated but it did take a considerable amount of power. Perhaps a healer who was new and hadn't seen curses combined like that before didn't know what he was dealing with and had exhausted himself before figuring it out.

It had been less than 20 minutes since Remus had called Harry for help. The colour had returned to Emmeline's face. She coughed a few times and her eyes fluttered open.

She saw Harry standing near her. She grinned, "Harry! How delightful to see you." Almost instantly her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out again.

Vikram turned to the healer, "Now you can tend to her. After making sure that all her vital signs are normal give her a sleep potion. She will need to rest at least for 2 days before she can be up and about."

Harry asked him, "What happened to the other healers? I mean I get it that you are on night duty and you are new but you could have called on other healers to help you. Where is healer Lynn? I thought she would be here."

The healer shook his head, "The other healers are on different cases tonight. I got a consult with our curse breaker, but she doesn't have much more experience than me with this stuff. The curse breaker from Gringotts hasn't returned my call yet. I was doing what I could until someone was available to back me up or help me figure out what to do. Would you tell me what counter curses you performed on her?"

Harry exchanged a glance with Vikram who nodded, "I did a counter curse for a bone liquefier and a blood boiling curse. Some vermin has made a new curse by combining these two so it would have taken some time for you to find a counter curse and it could have proved fatal. Besides, you don't look too good yourself. You had better get some rest and hope that no new cases arrive before your back up gets here."

When Harry came out of the ward, Sirius was slumped on the bench and Remus was sitting beside him, whispering words in his ear and telling him not to lose hope. Sirius at that moment looked as frail as he had looked when Harry had met him for the first time in the Shrieking Shack. His eyes had the same haunted look about him and he looked scared. Amelia and Alice had arrived by then. They were sitting beside Sirius. When he saw Harry, he asked frantically, "Harry how is she? Is she going to be alright?"

Vikram took the lead, "Mr. Black, she is fine. She will need to recuperate for 2 days before she will be up and about. It was lucky that we were at hand or the healers would have taken a long time before they could find the counter curse."

Sirius folded his hands in respectful manner, "I am indebted to you for having helped her. If something would have happened to her, I do not know how I would have survived."

Harry was talking to Alice, "Godmother, what you are doing here?"

She replied, "Do-not-call-me-Nymphadora Tonks reported to the ministry that Emmeline was injured and was taken to St. Mungo's. Amelia and I were just ending our shift for the day. I thought we should come over and see how she was doing."

Sirius who was now feeling relieved asked him, "Pup, what were you doing atop the astronomy tower with Susan?"

Amelia arched an eyebrow, "Did you two break curfew again?"

Vikram supplied, "It is a daily happening for them, Lady Bones. They sneak up to the tower for star gazing almost every night."

Alice gave such a look to Harry that it made him blush, "I can see you have inherited James's charms son. Good for you. Just don't do anything that might be embarrassing to you or her."

Amelia put her two knuts in, "Agreed. And if I hear that you two have broken curfew again then…"

Harry hastily said, "No, I won't let you hear about it again." He turned to Sirius, "How did she get injured Padfoot?"

Sirius started telling him about everything from the attack on the Grangers to the attack on the Creeveys and how Emmeline had been hit. After he was done telling, Harry asked him, "How did the death eaters get their slimy meat-hooks on the addresses of muggle-born students? I mean someone from the ministry must have told them because they didn't get this information from Hogwarts."

Comprehension dawned on Amelia and she cursed loudly, "Of course! Someone has accessed Mafalda's department because that's the only place where the record is kept. I will have Alastor look into the matter and find out what's there to find."

Vikram addressed him, "Mr. Peverell, it is very late in the night and I am sure you have classes tomorrow. I would rather that we leave for the castle now."

Taking their leave, the duo left for Hogwarts. This time they did not apparate. They took a floo from the hospital to the school in Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster was sitting in his seat looking agitated.

As Harry stepped out of the fireplace, the headmaster asked him, "Harry what happened? Where did you go?"

Vikram addressed him, "Emmeline Vance was fatally injured. The healers were not able to cure her. We were called to help. Suffice to say that she is out of danger and will be up and about in 2 days."

The ministry

"How did you miss such a crucial thing, Alastor? You're supposed to be the paranoid one. I expected better of you", Frank Longbottom was shaking his head, trying to deny the report his Master Auror had just made about the attacks on the families of muggle-born students.

Soon after the attack, Alastor had called a meeting of his confidantes. One of them had pointed him towards the obvious flaw, something that they had over-looked when they were covering their bases. Mafalda Hopkirk's office had a list of the muggle born students along with their addresses. No one had thought to secure the sensitive information which had been just sitting around. During the previous war, the death eaters had not thought to do such strategic attacks. Therefore no one had thought that they would do so this time around either.

"What 's done is done. What have you done towards securing the information now?", asked Frank.

"This morning Alice told me that perhaps Mafalda Hopkirk's office had been breached. When I went to investigate her personally, she tried to kill me. She tried to banish a knife at me but I escaped by a hair's breadth. Grudgingly, I had to stun her. She is obviously under the Imperious curse. She is being kept under observation in St. Mungo's at the moment. If the healers are successful, we can hope for her to return to us within a few months. As for securing the homes of the muggle born students, we have placed observers to watch for death eater activity. They aren't fully qualified Aurors. Their orders are to disapparate and report in if they spot any trouble. We hope to be able to respond quickly enough to prevent any deaths and take down any would be assassins. The muggle fellytone idea has already saved lives. Throughout the night, we have been receiving calls from distressed muggles. We were able to dispatch teams to help them. I figure we would have to think of a permanent solution to this problem before our resources are exhausted protecting muggle-born students and their families."

Frank nodded, "Do you have any ideas?"

Moody shook his head, "Not at present. I would rather that you call a meeting of everyone. Ask them. When there are more people giving suggestions, there is bound to be a solution which can be of use to us."

Frank nodded, "Keep one thing in mind, Alastor. We cannot let them harm the muggle-born or their families. If we fail to stop any such attacks, it would look like we are either weak or that we don't care. Either one of those would be bad."

Moody nodded, "Aye sir."

Frank asked further, "How many did we lose yesterday?"

Moody took some time to reply, "We lost 1 in Yorkshire, 1 in Wimbledon and 1 in Hampstead. Emmeline Vance was hit with a dark curse. She was taken to St. Mungo's. She is expected to make a full recovery in about two days. Sirius Black is there with her."

Frank nodded, "I will visit her later. For now try to find a way to secure the muggle-borns."

Moody clicked his heels and walked out of the room.


The death eater Mulciber Jr. was the only death eater who survived the attack at the Creevey Farm last night. He was tied to a chair with magic restraining shackles and whimpering. He knew he was in the clutches of the ministry. The ministry's choicest investigators would be dealing with him. From what he could guess, he was in a 10 by 10 room which was really small for a holding cell and he was tied to a chair in the middle of it. The room was dark without a trace of any light.

He could hear heavy foot-steps coming towards the room he was in. In addition to the footsteps, he fancied that he could hear another sound like a cane or something making the sound *tap* *tap* like the sound of wood on hard floor. Taking together, he understood Mad-eye Moody, the horror of Death Eaters was personally coming to investigate him.

When the door to the room opened, his worst fears were confirmed. Moody walked in. Moody's reputation made the death eater shiver in fright seeing him in the flesh. He however decided that he would not say anything to him. No blood traitor would be able to force him to speak. With a flick of his wand, the room was lighted and Mulciber winced. The floor around him was splattered with blood and some of it was on the walls too. In fact blood was encrusted on the handles of the chair where his hands were tied. Perhaps someone had tried to free his hands and the chains had dug into his skin. He could only imagine the horrors which had been perpetrated upon his fellow death eaters.

"Charming, isn't it?", growled Moody. "You scum love blood and gore so I thought I should show you some. Now, will you show me your face by yourself or will I have the pleasure of removing it for you?"

Mulciber sneered, "You can't take it off, fool. Only the Dark Lord or I can."

Moody hunched over and Put his battle-scarred visage right in his prisoner's face, growling maliciously, "Is that what you're thinking? You're sadly mistaken, laddie. If pain's what you're wanting, I'm glad to oblige."

Saying so, Moody whipped out a dagger from his robes. The blade was goblin silver. The razor-sharp edge glinted evilly in the dim light. From his own experience, Mulciber knew that goblin silver hardly ever dented or needed to be sharpened. It could cut through stone like parchment. Moody deliberately sliced into the man's face where the mask was attached. With a flap loose, he tore the mask away leaving a wound down the side of his face from forehead to chin. The prisoner howled with the burning pain as his ruined face bled copiously. The mask was bent and crumpled but it did not come off.

Moody was a bit disappointed that he had not got it off in one go. He grumbled, "Looks like I should have cut deeper. Not to worry, this time I will make it count."

With another swipe, this time with a deeper incision at the other side of his face, the mask finally came off his face. Now his face was covered in his blood.

Moody barked a laugh, "See, I told you it would come off."

The death eater was howling in pain. Moody seemed to be getting pleasure from his cries, "Cry as much as you want. No one is going to interfere. This room is surrounded by some very high quality silencing wards."

After about 5 minutes, Moody stopped the bleeding with a wave of his wand. He asked him, "Now are you going to answer my questions?"

The death eater still had some defiance left in him. He shook his head in reply. Moody sighed, "You've brought this on yourself. Don't complain later that I didn't give you a chance."

With that Moody vanished the robes on the upper part of his body. He started pealing away parts of the man's skin, applying heat here, cold there, always careful to not allow too much bleeding, always making sure that every fiber of nerve felt every sensation. It was painful, but nothing like the cruciactus curse. But then, when Voldemort was finished making his point, it left no mark upon the skin, no lasting damage. When it was over, it was over. This just went on and on. Moody didn't even ask any questions. He just went on about his work while the death eater howled in pain.

What the unfortunate prisoner did not know was that Moody was not only a paranoid sadist but he was also a skilled and experienced torturer. He knew that every man had a breaking point. He was willing to do whatever it took to make his prisoner talk. He wouldn't waste much breath asking questions until his guest was ready to tell him everything.

After he was satisfied with his handiwork, Alastor turned to him, "Are you ready to talk or would you rather that I entertain myself some more?"

The death eater spat at him, "You can kill me but you can't make me speak."

Alastor chuckled, then growled, "You sad sack of dragon dung. You don't get to die until I say you die. I can keep you alive as long as I want until I get bored or you tell me everything I want to know."

With that Moody took some salt and rubbed it into his wounds making him howl in pain. Alastor conjured a chair and sat down before the death eater to watch him writhe in pain. After 5 minutes, he asked him again, "So, ready to talk? I can go on for days, weeks, months, whatever it takes. Really, I hope that you don't talk. This is so entertaining. Next time, I think that I'll drill a hole in your body and fill it with salt. Imagine how much pleasure I would get hearing your guttural cry? I do not need to kill you to show you hell. I will keep giving this treatment to you twice a day until you decide to speak. One day eventually your mind will break. The choice is yours."

Mulciber realized he had no option other than to talk. If Moody were to kill him, that would have been more merciful than being tortured by him. But Moody meant to torture him, play with him and not let him die. The amount of injuries he was inflicting upon him should have killed him already, but somehow Moody was not letting him die.

"You think I would let you die?", Moody was growling as if he understood what Mulciber had been thinking, "This is my territory and you can't die here unless I wish it. You'd better speak and save what little is left of your pathetic life."

With great difficulty he croaked, "I. I'm ready..." He could not however complete his statement before his right arm was trying to tear itself out of the shackles and strangle him to death. Moody had broken death eaters before. He had been anticipating something like that. With a single swift blow of the knife, his hand was severed from his body. Almost lazily Moody cast a cauterizing charm at the stump of his hand and staunched the bleeding immediately. Releasing the shackle, he let the severed limb fall to the floor and destroyed it with incendio.

Moody turned to him, "Now start singing or it would not take me a moment to reduce you into a piece of charbroiled meat."

The death eater started speaking, "I was sent on a mission to kill the mud-bloods (Moody sent a bludgeoner at him for his poor choice of words). Rookwood was supposed to be leading us. Dolohov pointed out that he was a ward master and not a fighter therefore he would be useless if the Aurors turned up therefore he was kept back."

Moody barked, "What is Voldemort doing?"

The death eater flinched hearing the name of his master, "The Dark Lord is out of wizarding Britain for now. He has left Bellatrix in-charge and she has placed Rabbastan, Rodolphus and Dolohov in-charge of training his troops while She is busy in the meetings of the inner circle. She is giving them orders about supposed missions of the Dark Lord."

Moody asked him, "Where are they hiding?"

The death eater simply said, "That is a thing I cannot say."

Moody sighed, "Is it under a Fidelius?"

The death eater nodded and Moody let it drop. He asked him further, "Tell me all about his forces."

The death eater started telling, "There are about 30 giants, 300 wizards and 300 werewolves in the castle at all times. It is a five story structure and perhaps dates back to at least 5 centuries ago. There are 13 members in his inner circle- Bellatrix, Travers, Rookwood, Lestrange Brothers, Dolohov, my father Mulciber Sr, Goyle, Parkinson, Nott, Yaxley, Macnair and Malfoy. Malfoy was accepted back into the inner circle after the Dark Lord openly punished him before the entire castle with a variety of dark curses."

Moody had something more left to ask of him, "What are his next targets apart from the muggle born?"

The death eater told him, "Bellatrix is trying to find ways to attack the Ministry Officials. The Dark Lord had ordered her to make efforts to eliminate General Longbottom, Harold Peverell, Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore."

Moody barked, "If you are not in the inner circle how do you know so much?"

The death eater replied, "My father told me. He is in the inner circle and has been given the duty."

Moody was making notes on everything that he was being told. When he was done, he clapped his hands and Gawain Robards entered. Moody turned to him, "I'm done with him, Gawain. You can ask him what you want but don't present him before the Wizengamot yet. I presume that Sirius will want to have a chat with him."

Robards grinned evilly, "Sure. I will send him a message."

Hogwarts

The first thing Harry did was to collect Susan outside the Badger's hole for breakfast. They had not been going on their daily runs since the winter term started. The corridors were too cold and the students were reluctant to get themselves up and get to their work outs. He had decided not to bother them for now, but once February arrived, he would be having them run four laps around the castle before they did anything else.

She was there outside the Badger's hole, dressed and ready to go for breakfast. As soon as she saw him, she pulled him into an embrace and squeezed him tightly. Harry asked her with a tone of surprise in his voice, "What's the matter, Sue?"

Before he could answer, the door to the badger's hole opened and Hannah stepped out, "Get a room you two. I daresay the castle has enough of them. You don't need to make every one jealous with your snogging in the corridors."

Susan threw a dirty glare at her and said, "Just because Longbottom is daft doesn't mean that you have to rain on my parade, Abbott."

Hannah raised her hands in surrender, "Don't get angry, Susie. I was just yanking your wand." She turned to Harry, "Where's Neville anyway?"

"Right here", said Neville who had come up while they were talking.

Harry offered his arm to Susan. They linked arms and walked off towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

This morning, they chose to sit at the Hufflepuff table at the far end where nobody would disturb them. Hermione was sitting close to him. Colin was sitting with Ginny at the Gryffindor Table. Harry hollered for him, "Oi Colin. Come join us over here."

Colin was surprised that Harry invited him to join him at his table. He walked over and sat beside Harry as Neville scooted over a spot to make room for him. After he was seated, Harry inaudibly raised a silencing ward around them. He turned to them, "Hermione and Colin, I have some news for you both. Please don't shout before I'm done speaking."

Hermione was apprehensive but encouraged him, "What is it? What has happened?"

Harry took a deep breath before he started speaking, "Yesterday, three death eaters led by Lucius Malfoy went to Hampstead to attack your house. Your father called in the ministry for help. The ministry dispatched Aurors to help. One of the Aurors was killed but your family is safe. They have been relocated to Plymouth for the time being to a safe house of the Order. They will be kept there and looked after until the war is over."

Colin was frantic, "What happened with my family? Are they safe? Was anyone hurt?"

Harry shook his head, "I was getting to that. 5 death eaters went to your house to attack. Your father gave a good account of himself with the rifle that he carries. He shot two of them. Sirius took out two more of them. Emmeline Vance was severely injured while trying to defend your house."

Susan gasped, "Is she going to be alright? Is that where you went to in the middle of the night?"

Harry nodded, "Yes. I had to do some counter curses that the healer couldn't figure out. She's going to be fine. I'm going to see her tomorrow when it's a Hogsmeade weekend."

Colin interrupted, "You didn't finish telling me about my family."

Harry turned to him, "Your family didn't suffer any loss except for your father's favorite cow. He's not going to be in any trouble for killing death eaters. There are laws about defending your home against terrorists. Details of the attacks against muggles are not being published because we are at war and we don't want the other side to learn why they are suffering such devastating losses. As far as anyone else is concerned, the Aurors are responsible for 100% of the death eater losses. Your family has been moved to a safe house of the Order of the Phoenix with the exception of your father. He's staying at the farm."

At that moment Luna drifted over to their table. She shoved Justin aside and sat in his place. She said to Harry, "The Byangoma told me that the goblins are making an offer which you should not refuse. It will be useful to you in the long run."

Harry said confusedly, "What offer?"

Luna did not answer. She just looked at him with her half-smile, then turned and went back to the Ravenclaw table.

When the owl post started to come in, Susan attracted his attention to Hedwig, "Harry, isn't that Hedwig?"

Harry looked a little scared, "Oh Merlin! I have been ignoring her and I don't know what she's going to do to me."

As it turned out, Hedwig was in no mood to trifle with him. She landed before him, glared hard at him while barking a hoot. Harry hastily relieved her of her burden. She pecked him on his finger while he was untying his letter. Then without waiting for him to retort, she turned tail and took off to the Owlery.

The letter was sealed with the personal seal of the Goblin King of Gringotts. He wondered if this was what Luna had been talking about. He wondered what Ragnok would want from him. He cautiously opened the letter:

"Lord Peverell

Recently I received a letter from the Chief Warlock. He wanted to know if we could conduct the inheritance tests for the students at the castle. This is an opportunity which would reopen a lot of vaults which have been shut due to inactivity and reinstate several old families again. This is also an opportunity to increase the number of vassals of your house and increase your power manifold. I thought I would offer this to you before I told anyone else about it.

This is an opportunity which is beneficial for Gringotts as well as you. Being an ally, I am hoping you would honour the commitment made between us and honour your side of the agreement when we have been nothing but helpful to you.

Wishing to see you in person soon.

Ragnok

King of Goblin Nation, Gringotts"

Harry read the letter and slipped it into his bag. Hermione asked him, "Who wrote the letter, Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "Just some business concerns.". He turned to Susan, "Would you come on a date with me to a very fine restaurant in Muggle London tomorrow?"

She instantly agreed, "Of course I will."

Since the next day was Hogsmeade Weekend and the day after was a Saturday, they had two days off classes. Harry took leave of the castle telling Dumbledore he had some family business. Susan had agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him the next day and return while Harry stayed to deal with some business which had come up.

Germany

When Voldemort left wizarding Britain, the first place he wanted to go was Romania where most of the Vampire Covens were. The Vampires were essential for his quest and he needed them but the distance between Wizarding Britain and Romania was about a thousand odd miles. He had to go through Germany and Austria to get there. Since he was on a quest to win allies, he decided to win and conquer whoever happened to stand in his path to domination. The first country to be in the way was Germany which was where the campaign of Grindelwald had started and where Voldemort landed in an effort to boost his campaign against Wizarding Britain.

There were still many families in Germany that dabbled in the Dark Arts. There however was no reigning dark lord. They made a united front under the aegis of Gilde Der dunklen Kunste i.e. The Guild of Dark Arts which was a collective name for their organization. Since the Grindelwald wars, the ICW had given such a blow to the Dark Faction that no dark lord had dared to raise his head. Add to that the fact that Nurmengard was in Germany and it made a strong deterrent for them.

For some time, Voldemort had the audacity to consider raiding Nurmengard. That would have gained him some very strong followers. This prison contained some of the most powerful, notorious and dangerous dark wizards in history. However one look at the Prison's security layout and he had changed his mind. The prison was supposed to be guarded by legions of Dragons, Wyverns and, it was rumored, Lethifolds. The guards of Nurmengard were members of the war wizard contingent of ICW and adept in magics. He had heard that Nurmengard did not employ any one as a guard unless they were at least as powerful as a Sorcerer which meant that Voldemort would be heavily outnumbered. Additionally, most of the prisoners had magic suppressing runes burnt into their bodies which would stop them from doing any magic meaning they would be useless unless those runes were negated. There was no guarantee that the ward breakers in his ranks would have the ability to negate those runes or be able to do it without killing or maiming their hosts. He also knew that the guards were under orders to kill, without hesitation, anyone attempting to break out or anyone assisting with such an attempt. They couldn't really kill him, but it would be highly inconvenient if they destroyed his body or managed to capture him. Although being a guest of the ICW interrogation chambers might be interesting for a time, he had to get on with his plans. On the balance, the possible gains from the adventure did not justify the risks.

He decided to negotiate with the guild of dark wizards instead. Making some inquiries, he came to know that the guild was currently headed by Waldhem Meyer who had been one of the disciples of Abaddon when Voldemort was learning dark arts from him. He was also told that the guild headquarters were situated within a fort. It was manned by 40 wizards on the walls with another 40 on each floor at all times i.e. a total of 160 guards around the clock. From what he was told, they had been ordered to kill without asking questions if someone showed up without an invitation. They were very secretive. The address of their head quarters was not generally known, except for its members.

He arranged for a message to be sent to the Guild asking assistance from them in his revolution. He was sent an address with a note that he was to prove that he was worthy before they would offer him any help. If he failed, dead people can't ask for favors. He knew he could not die but was amused at the idea of showing his prowess. It would give him a chance to exert all his strength and try to match his might with them. It would show how much of his edge he still retained. He also decided to be ruthless and show no mercy. Perhaps this tour would give him the edge he needed when he was fighting his nemesis.

Hogsmeade

The day of Hogsmeade weekend had been the best so far. It was still winter but the snow had stopped falling and they could go out. Harry met Susan in the entry hall where they joined the line of students waiting to go out. He had already asked for permission to stay out of the castle for the rest of the weekend and Dumbledore had agreed.

Susan was dressed in a badger yellow skirt, a tank top with a woolen robe that provided some much needed warmth for her and a scarf around her neck. She also wore a belt made of silver links interconnected with each other with the buckle fashioned into head of a dragon with emerald eyes and flat heels that went well with her gown. To Harry's amazement she was talking and giggling with Daphne Greengrass of all people.

"What are we talking about?", Harry asked Susan and Daphne.

Susan said, "Daphne here was just giving me a bit of interesting information."

Harry arched an eyebrow, "If it would not be too inconvenient to you, would you mind sharing with me?"

Daphne grinned, "Well, Malfoy was being consoled by Millicent Bulstrode yesterday."

Harry almost choked in surprise, "What? Did I hear that right? Do you mean to say that Draco Malfoy and Millicent Bulstrode are now an item?"

She nodded, "Why is it such a surprise? Millie is actually a very sensible girl. She does not really involve herself in these blood purity matters. Her father may be a death eater but she has stayed out of it. Her mother has been a good influence on her."

Harry asked her, "Her mother? Wasn't she one of them?"

Daphne shook her head, "Before Bulstrode joined Voldemort he was in love with Millie's mother who was a half-blood. A few years after the first war, she died in some potion brewing accident. Millie's father never cared much for his daughter. He left her to her own devices. She had no friends except Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy so she did what they expected of her. However when this year started, she has been staying away from them. Her father rejoined Voldemort and she decided to stay above all the pureblood tripe that they spew. She noticed Malfoy being all alone and started sitting with him in the common room trying to talk to him. Well Malfoy has been very comfortable with her. Pansy being out of the castle certainly helped matters along because otherwise Millie would not have been so bold."

Harry snorted, "Well that's good on him then. Perhaps his ego won't be so inflated now."

Susan poked him in the ribs, "Are we ready to go?"

Harry presented his arm to her, "Sure my lady. Let's go to Hogsmeade."

When they joined the line going out of the castle Daphne was just behind them. It was a long line and very slow moving at that.

As the line grew, Daphne pointed back at the end of the line. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. There was Malfoy joining the line at a leisurely pace accompanied by Millicent Bulstrode. Millicent looked like she had made some extra effort to pretty herself up. She wore robes made of finest silk; she had her hair tied in a braid falling down her back. She would have looked like any other ordinary student except that Malfoy only came up to her shoulder but there was nothing to it. She was not walking too close to Malfoy but they were conversing in whispers. Harry could see that Millicent's cheeks were tinted pink with all the incredulous eyes upon her.

Susan snapped her fingers in front of his face, "My hero, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing Sue, I just feel like they are a match made in heaven."

Susan snorted, "It seems to be doing some good for Bulstrode at least. I have never seen her looking so pleased about anything."

"How soon do you reckon it will be before they are going at it like rabbits?", asked Fred as he cut into the line with Tracy.

Harry asked him, "You just finished your own sentence! Where is your other half?"

Tracy huffed, "Right here, Potter. I'm going to be his other half for the day. I had to fight tooth and nail to get this one to myself today."

Harry smirked, "Since you didn't finish is sentence for him, I find it doubtful."

Tracy mock glared at him, "Care to explain that?"

In an attempt to evade answering, Harry asked her, "Has he asked you out formally?"

Fred interrupted, "We can talk about myself later. Answer my question first."

Daphne answered his question, "Well Millie is not one who would just give it up. She knows her limits. She will not let him take liberties with her unless they are getting married. So, for now we can safely say that they are not going to be at it like rabbits any time soon."

Fred grinned, "Excellent. I'll get the betting pool started immediately. Harrykins, what do you think should be the odds?"

Harry glanced at Susan. With his best lop-sided grin he said, "Sorry Fred, You're going to have to count me out on this pool. It's in questionable taste at best."

Susan cooed, "Good answer, Harry. Now let's move along before Filch gets mad waiting for us."

Filch had been probing every one with the probity probes. He sniffed George in particular. He probed him extra hard.

When they were at a safe distance, he asked, "Mate, why was Filch sniffing you?"

George grinned, "Fred left dung bombs in all his robes."

The Ministry had provided extra security for the weekend. There were at least five teams of five Aurors each posted in the village led by some of the Senior Aurors. Many of them saw Harry and hailed him. He returned their greetings. He had decided long ago that he could not live a private life when he was out in public so he would answer their greetings, or nod in their direction or smile for someone who needed it.

When they reached the Three Broom Sticks, Daphne was still with them. Harry couldn't figure out what was the deal between Daphne and Susan because Susan was beaming in Daphne's presence while Daphne was utterly comfortable with her as opposed to earlier when both witches barely tolerated each other.

When they entered The Three Broomsticks, Harry asked Susan, "Ready to go to this famous place we talked about?"

Susan shook her head, "It's still too early, Harry. We're going to get a Butterbeer first."

Harry expected at that moment that Daphne would find Tracy and sit with her or may be Astoria but Daphne joined them at their table. He could see that there was certain camaraderie between the two witches. He was kind of scared. When they were not talking to each other, he kind of understood it. But this? This was incomprehensible. He sighed mentally again, wondering why the mystics hadn't taught him about witches.

He ordered three butterbeers for them. They were chatting idly when Astoria turned up at their table. Without so much as a greeting, she sat herself at their table and commandeered Harry's butterbeer and started drinking it.

They looked at her quizzically but she wasn't bothered by it at all.

When it became apparent that she was not going to speak, Daphne asked her, "What are you doing here midget?"

Astoria protested, "I'm not a midget. I'm sitting here sipping butterbeer with you all. Is there a problem with that?"

Harry decided not to interfere with sibling rivalry. He quietly ordered another for himself. By then, Astoria had finished off Harry's first butterbeer.

She asked him, "Harry, how did you manage a truce between them?"

Harry spluttered, "Huh?"

Astoria snorted, "Truce. You know peace, ceasefire."

Harry protested, "I know what truce means. I have no idea why they're getting along so well now. They seem to have worked it out for themselves."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Fine then. Don't tell me anything. I'm not going to be the third…", She looked at her sister and Susan, "Fourth wheel!"

She stood up and walked away. Harry turned to Daphne, "Is Astoria always so…"

"Strange?" Daphne quipped. "No, she's in a good mood today. For her, that was downright polite."

Susan snorted, "I'd love to see the strange then."

Harry turned to Susan, "Sue, I have a lot to get done today. I would rather that we leave now for the lunch that we decided upon."

She nodded, "Alright Harry, but before we stop for lunch, I would love to go see Emmeline."

He nodded and turned to Daphne, "It was nice sharing a butterbeer with you, Daphne but we have some other errands to run before the day is over. Hopefully I'll see you in the castle later."

Susan chimed in, "Daphne do you have anything to do today?"

Daphne shook her head in the negative. Susan rubbed her hands in anticipation, "Excellent. Why don't you join us? I would love it if you can come along."

Harry thought perhaps Susan had drunk some weird potion which brought this change in her. She always tried to make some time just for the two of them. And here she was inviting Daphne along when he wanted to spend time with her. Well there was nothing to it but to agree to her wishes.

He turned to Daphne, "We would be delighted if you could join us."

St. Mungo's

Emmeline slowly opened her eyes. She found herself in a room she could not remember. The walls were white and bare, the only window was on the far side of the room and it was curtained. She was wearing what appeared to be a hospital gown and in a hospital bed.

Memories of the duel came flooding back into her mind. Their appearance at the Creevey farm, their duel with the death eaters, her taking a curse which was meant for Sirius, Sirius crying for her and her waking up once to find Harry before her. She thought she had dreamt it but it was real. She was really hit and had been hospitalized. Sirius was dozing in a chair at her side, her hand in his. She found it kind of cute. It warmed her heart to find him here.

She shook him lightly. He woke up at once. Seeing her conscious, he said brightly, "Emm, I'm so glad to see you awake again. I was so scared for you."

She croaked, "What happened?"

Sirius told her everything about the last night and what had happened. How the healers could not cure her. How Remus thought to call on Harry for help. How Harry had come in the middle of the night to help her. As he was finishing his account, he heard a commotion outside the ward. Within a second, he was out of his seat, heading for the door with his wand out. He told her, "I'll go see what that's about."

Before they flooed to St. Mungo's Harry had Dobby bring him a basket of fresh fruit from the cold storage at the Potter Manor. The manor had many fruit trees. They were laden with fruit during the season. With no one to eat them, the elves used all the fruit to make jams and things like that.

After he had dismissed Dobby to return to his duties they flooed to St. Mungo's. They walked directly to the third floor where an Auror had been posted on duty outside Emmeline's ward. Harry tried to enter the room directly when the Auror stopped him, "You cannot go inside."

Harry glared at him, "Do you know who I am?"

The Auror did not budge, "Mr. Black has ordered me not to allow anyone to enter and that includes you."

Harry was amused and it reflected in his tone, "My dear fellow, do you know who I am?"

The Auror calmly replied, "Yes, Lord Peverell I do but I have my orders. It's more than my job's worth if I let you in there."

Just then Sirius opened the door to the ward growling, "What is this commotion about?"

Harry beamed at him, "You couldn't have chosen a better moment to show up. I commend him for doing his duty so effectively."

Sirius dismissed the guard for the day before ushering the trio into the room. By then, Emmeline had cranked up the top of her bed so that she was sitting up when her visitors saw her.

She pulled Harry into an embrace and whispered, "Thank you for curing me, Harry."

Then Sirius remarked about his companions, "Well pup, I must say you are more charming than I have been. I was never in company of two very beautiful witches at once."

Emmeline glared at him, "What do you mean by that?"

He cringed, "Not to slant you, my love but I was just complimenting him."

Harry was blushing. He had no idea what to say. Emmeline came to his rescue, "hush you. He's a better wizard, plain and simple."

They visited for about an hour before Harry's tummy growled, reminding everyone in the room that he hadn't been to lunch yet. The trio took their leave of them.

When they left, Sirius said to her, "Emmeline, I wanted to do this in very grand style with all pomp and grandeur but last night made me realize that we should not waste another moment waiting for the perfect one."

She raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Care to explain that?"

Sirius dropped to one knee, "Since I don't have a ring at this moment, we'll have to do without. Emmeline Vance you have made my life happy. You have given me reason to stay alive again. Will you marry me?"

Emmeline could not believe her luck. She had been waiting for it and never expected it to be so abrupt. She could not speak for what seemed to her like years but were only minutes. When she did open her mouth, she was tearing up, "Of course I will marry you."

Sirius's happiness was unparalleled in that moment. He was cradling her in his embrace. She was crying on his shoulder, out of happiness. The door to the ward opened at that moment. Remus poked his head in.

He immediately tried to excuse himself, "Did I come at the wrong time?"

Sirius beckoned him in, "No, no. You have come at the right moment."

Remus was confused, "What do you mean? Why is she crying?"

Emmeline supplied, "Because he just proposed to me."

Remus was gob-smacked. He could not speak for a few minutes. When he found his voice, he asked, "Padfoot, what happened to pomp and grandeur? I waited for you to propose so that I could do it at the same time."

They chuckled.

"Well, this is indeed happy news. Now I get to plan weddings!", said Andromeda who had just come in.

Hestia's Hearth

Remus had told him that any patron had to make a reservation at least a week in advance to dine at Hestia's hearth generally and the wait could be as long as two weeks. He had sent Dobby with a letter to enquire if on the off chance, there was any place available with only 3 days notice. The restaurant owner saw the seal and the signature and he was not going to refuse. He kept a private parlour for just such customers. He sent a reply with Dobby that he could arrange a private parlour for him.

Since the restaurant was situated in Muggle London, It did not have any provision for portkey arrival or an apparition point. There was a floo address which changed every day. It was only told to those who had confirmed reservations. Others who could not come in through the floo had to walk in through the door like Remus and Tonks did the other day.

When Harry exited the floo in the floo chamber with Susan and Daphne in tow, the owner of the Restaurant Mr. O'Neill was waiting for them.

He warmly shook hands with Harry and said quite enthusiastically, "Welcome to my establishment, Mr. Peverell. It is indeed a good day for me."

He gave curt little bows to Susan and Daphne. He gave them a tour of the restaurant before he showed them to their parlor. The kitchen was not as big as the one at Hogwarts but it was big enough to accommodate at least 10 chefs who were busy cooking. The aroma of all the food being cooked was mouth watering. They wanted to get at it immediately but decided that it would have been considered bad manners. They let their host finish the little tour while he showed them the restaurant, the dining rooms and then finally led them to a private parlor situated away from others. The walls were cream colored with murals, paintings and portraits on the walls around them.

He led them to a table. Then he left them to their lunch, giving them the menu and serving them enough appetizers to feed a small army. They munched their way through the appetizers while they browsed through the menu. After deliberating for 10 minutes, they placed their order which not surprisingly was taken by Mr. O'Neill himself.

After he had retreated, Daphne asked him, "Do you get this sort of treatment everywhere you go?"

Susan chimed in, "Oh yes, pretty much everywhere."

Daphne looked at him, "How do you feel with all this attention on you?"

Harry took a deep breath before he started speaking, "Well Daphne…"

Daphne interrupted him, "Call me Daph. Everyone who is dear to me calls me Daph." He looked at Susan in apprehension but Susan looked like she was not bothered by it at all.

Harry sighed, "Well Daph, I've always been very uncomfortable with all the attention focused on me. Last summer I had some experiences that taught me better. I realized that since I can't stop people from gawking at me, I may as well use it for the good of the wizarding world. I can't run away from it so why try?"

Lunch was a two hour long affair. It passed very slowly. They talked with each other very comfortably until Harry realized it was getting late.

He turned to Susan, "Sue, I still have to go to the Bank. Why don't you two return to The Three Broomsticks and to the castle from there?"

Susan said to him with a straight face, "I need to visit Gringotts for some house business too. I'm sure Daphne can manage some more time with us."

Daphne readily agreed. When Harry tried to settle the bill, Mr O'Neill refused. Harry asked him, "Mr. O'Neill, this is what you do for a living. You can't do this."

O'Neill smirked, "Mr. Peverell, I sure can do this. If you insist on paying, I will simple donate the money you are trying to give me."

Harry paid him nonetheless. From there they flooed to The Leaky Cauldron. Exiting the inn, they quickly marched to the bank. In the entrance hall, he informed Ironjaw, "I am here to see King Ragnok."

The teller almost jumped off his stool and said, "Follow me Lord Peverell. King Ragnok is eager to meet with you."

Harry followed the goblin to Ragnok's chamber. Susan and Daphne walked to the office of her account manager.