The snow leopard led the way out into the moonlit night with the Black Panther close upon his heels. When the sound of battle and smell of blood were close enough, the Black Panther took to the trees disappearing into the shadows. Meanwhile, the great snow leopard bounded into the clearing and roared his challenge.

Although Padfoot was as large as even the biggest wolf, five to one odds were not good. The wolf-pack kept trying to distract him while one of them circled around, making attacks at his hind legs, trying to hamstring him. Moony had his back, but even with his skill and power in his werewolf form, some attacks had managed to get through. While one werewolf lay on the ground, its throat torn open, the remaining nine took great care to stay clear of the black dog's jaws. Moony was in a sorry state, bleeding from wounds around his muzzle and back. Padfoot was hobbled with a large bite to one of his hind legs and another wound to his side.

The werewolves were obviously wild, the bloodlust upon them or they never would have taken on such dangerous prey as the massive black dog or one of their own kind. It was clear that they hadn't taken Harry up on his offers of improved Wolfsbane, employment or protection. It was a good bet that they were part of Voldemort's crew. Another thing that was clear was that they were well organized and had a definite Alpha leading them. They all slavered and growled with their hackles raised as they circled, taking turns to rush in at an unprotected flank then dart away. Using these tactics, they could wear down and kill even the largest prey.

As the roar of the snow leopard echoed, six of them, including the alpha, turned to rush the new threat, leaving only three of them to harass Padfoot and Moony. That was when several things happened at once. A black shadow separated itself from the trees, bowling over one of the werewolves and tearing out its throat. One of the snow leopard's mighty paws flashed out and slapped the alpha upside the head, knocking him clean off of his feet and into one of his pack-mates. Padfoot lunged at his nearest tormentor and clamped down on the back of its neck. And Moony twisted around on his feet to grapple the werewolf that was rushing him.

The alpha tumbled several times before he came to rest in a senseless heap. His pack-mate that had been bowled over took a few seconds to get back to his feet. Padfoot shook his head until the werewolf caught in his mighty jaws stopped moving. Moony continued to grapple with his foe, proving that speed and skill were more valuable than raw savagery when it comes to one-on-one fights. The panther pounced on and shredded another werewolf. Blizz, holding his ground, slapped the next werewolf with his other forepaw, knocking it into another one of its packmates. Even with his claws retracted, one of them left a trail of ruin where an eye had been just a moment ago. The impact sent the werewolf spinning through the air until it fell to the ground senseless. Blizz roared his challenge again. The remaining three werewolves, with the exception of the one that was still grappling with Moony, leaderless and outnumbered attempted to scatter and flee.

Moony was still engaged, slowly gaining the upper hand, but he was bleeding and it wasn't clear which way that fight would go. Padfoot galloped off in pursuit of the last werewolf that had been harassing him and Moony, but was hampered by the wound to one of his rear legs. The Black Panther leapt upon the back of one of the fleeing werewolves. She bit down on its neck and raked it with her rear claws. The result of her attentions didn't live very long. Harry pounced, landing on the last fleeing werewolf with such force that he crushed its spine with the impact.

The panther bounded past the limping great black dog and put an end to the last uninjured werewolf at the edge of the clearing. Bliz extended his claws and pounced on the werewolf that was still resisting Moony's efforts. He disemboweled it with a single swipe of his paw.

Of the ten attacking wild werewolves, seven now lay certainly dead. One more might be alive, but with a broken spine. Another, seriously concussed and missing one eye. And the final one, the alpha, perhaps stunned, perhaps with a broken neck. In any case, he lay there in a heap, not moving.

Blizz trotted off after the panther to make sure that she had come to no harm. He found her standing next to the last werewolf. Picking the body up in his jaws, he carried it back to the scene of the main battle as the panther followed him.

Once they were all assembled in the middle of the clearing, Padfoot changed to his human form and immediately stunned Moony. The next moment, Harry and Susan stood next to him.

Harry asked, "What did you do that for? He took his potion, didn't he?"

Sirius shook his head sadly, "yes, he did, Harry. But even if he retains his human mind, he's still a werewolf and it's the full-moon and that makes him contagious. If he so much as accidentally scratches one of us while we are in our human form, he risks turning us. He could never forgive himself if that happened. This was his idea."

Harry nodded in agreement then surveying the carnage around them asked, "so, what next?"

Sirius said, "We secure the prisoners, of course." Then looking at the places where he had blood oozing through his robes, he added, "Would you happen to have some Essence of Dittany about you?"

Harry called out, "Dobby!"

With his customary loud crack, the house elf appeared instantly. Seeing that Harry was unharmed, he threw himself around Harry's knees, "Master is unharmed. The Great Harry Potter!"

Without any preamble, Harry greeted his friend with a quick pat on the back, "Dobby, please bring my potion belt."

Dobby separated himself long enough to give a quick bow then disappeared with another loud crack. Harry drew his wand and before the elf returned, Sirius and Harry had any werewolf that looked like it might ever get up again, trussed up like Yule turkeys.

With another loud crack, Dobby appeared, holding Harry's belt loaded with potions out to him, "Here is Master's potions."

Harry accepted the belt from his elf, "Thank-you Dobby."

Harry started with Sirius's injured leg. The werewolf that had bitten him there had done quite enough damage. It was the work of the first few minutes to properly diagnose and repair the wound. A few drops of essence of Dittany took care of the more superficial wounds. While Sirius cleaned up his robes, Harry got to work on Moony. The werewolf had sustained a lot of bites. Being a werewolf, however, just about all of them had already closed and were well on their way to healing. A few more hours under the full-moon and there would be no trace left. The wound on his back, however, was another matter. It had stopped bleeding already, but if that bite had been just a bit closer to his neck… Harry just didn't want to think about it. He did the best he could to repair the damaged muscles and tendons there, but he was not a fully qualified healer by any stretch. After he had done all he could do, he poured a few drops of the healing elixir over the wound and watched it close up.

Harry stood up from his work, "That's the best I can do. At least, it's clean and I'm pretty sure it won't get infected."

As Harry walked over and started working on the prisoners, Sirius asked, "What are you doing, Harry? These are wild werewolves. They would have killed us."

Harry looked up from his work, "Prisoners are information, Sirius."

Anyhow there were only three left alive. One would never walk on two legs again, that is if she were not a werewolf, but with these creatures, who could say for sure. The next one, a male, was severely concussed and he was missing an eye. Other than that, he was more or less intact. Harry made a mental note to send that one as a gift to Mad-eye. The last one, the alpha-male, had some fractures on one side of his face. He was also severely concussed, but his neck was not broken. Harry could have healed the fractures but couldn't be bothered to waste his energy. He decided to let it be a reminder of who they had attacked when they woke up. He did heal the crushed vertebrae of the female. He couldn't do anything about the spinal cord damage, but maybe that would heal on its own in a werewolf. But even after everything he could do, the werewolf shuddered and died. He stood up from his work shaking his head.

Gesturing to the one with the missing eye he said, "We'll hand that one over to the Master Auror. I think he'll appreciate the gift." Sirius chuckled in amusement at the thought.

He gestured to the alpha, "I'm going to interrogate that one myself. I want to know what they were doing here."

Sirius asked about the third prisoner, "And what about that one?"

Harry said, "The damage was too much. She didn't make it."

Then Sirius addressed Susan, "That was some good hunting, Susie. Do you remember that I told you that you would need to concentrate more to control the beast's more savage tendencies? You really made a mess of them."

Harry's jaw dropped, "What? You! Do you mean...!"

Sirius chuckled, "Close your mouth, son. We are not a cod-fish. We will talk about it later when Moony is more himself."

Harry pouted, "And Moony was in on it too. Figures." He shrugged, "That's all water under the bridge, I guess. For now, we'll bury the dead and take the prisoners back to the cottage."

As Sirius surveyed the carnage around them, he asked, "Harry, you wouldn't happen to have your sword about you, would you?"

Harry nodded, "As a matter of fact, I do. Why do you ask?"

Sirius pointed about the clearing, "There are legends about the werewolf's ability to regenerate. I just want to make sure that none of these ever get up again."

Harry drew the Goblin silver sword from where he kept it hidden and restored it to its natural size. Sirius's eyes popped when he saw Harry wielding the instrument of death as if it were a natural extension of his arm. He said wistfully, "I still wonder at how you just found it lying around in that old vault of yours."

Harry shrugged, "I guess that with most of the Potters gone, there was no other use for it than to send it to the vaults. What do you want me to do with it?"

Sirius said, "While I prepare the graves, I want you to go about and carefully decapitate every single one of them with that letter-opener you're carrying. And do try not to cut yourself while you're at it."

Harry snorted. It was just like Sirius to joke about such a grim task. By the time Harry severed the last neck, Sirius had two widely separated deep holes dug with the Earth mounded up to one side.

Harry asked him, "You're the Auror here. Shouldn't we try to identify the bodies before we bury them?"

Sirius shook his head, "We have a couple of prisoners. They'll give us the names alright. You go and secure them in the root cellar while I clean up here."

Before Harry put his blade away, he went to clean it. But as he watched, there was a silver glow that was like the moonlight only more intense as the blade absorbed all traces of the werewolf blood. He wondered if the Black library might contain any information about the properties of the blood of werewolves at the full-moon. Filing that research for later, he sheathed the sword, shrank it and returned it to the hidden pocket in his robes.

Sirius started levitating the severed heads, one at a time into one of the holes. Harry conjured a couple stretchers with silver chain and manacle restraints for the prisoners. He then animated the chains so that any struggle would cause them to pull tighter. He left Moony where he was, hoping that the light of the full-moon would help his wounds to heal. By the time the prisoners were secured, Sirius had started to levitate the bodies into the second hole.

Seeing that Harry and Susan were ready to go back to the cottage, Sirius said, "I'll be a while here yet, Pup. I'll see you in the morning."

Using his wand like a conductor's baton, Harry levitated the stretchers in front of him as Susan followed him back to the cottage. When they arrived, Susan opened the cellar doors and Harry deposited the prisoners inside. There was just a hint of the smell of burnt flesh from the contact of the silver with the werewolves. Harry closed, barred and chained the cellar doors. When they were done, Harry double checked the wards on the cottage before retiring for what was left of the night.

Germany

The men of the guild had assembled at Meyer's request. That's right, this was a men only guild because someone had the absurd idea that women were too soft to become true masters of dark magic. Obviously, none of them had ever met Bella. Normally, Meyer was completely unflappable. Even today, he showed very little in the way of outward signs, but those who knew him well might have observed a few more lines around his mouth, a bit more stiffness in his gate and that his voice was just a bit thinner. That same observer would know that for Meyer, this was tantamount to a screaming fit.

He paced in front of his men as he addressed them, "It is regrettable that I must be the bearer of ill tidings. As you are all aware, the self-styled Lord Voldemort has engaged an hundred of our members for his purposes. I, myself was against this, but I was overruled. Wagner has reported that at least 20 of our guild brothers have already perished serving that maniac." He paused before his men to let that sink in and to observe their reactions, especially those who had overruled him to send those men to their deaths.

"If that were all, we could easily dismiss it saying, 'Are we not mercenaries? They knew what they signed up for.' Or some other such platitude. But, this is not all. No, this imbecile has also called upon all dark wizards in Europe, in Abbadon's name, to cause as much mayhem as they can. As any moron would expect, the entire ICW, including a bunch of hit-wizards who were long since thought to be retired or dead, combined with every national magical law enforcement agency, are on the move, wiping out entire guilds. No known or suspected dark wizard is safe, including this guild."

As he paused to collect his next thought, one of the wizards spoke into the silence, "What does Lord Abbadon have to say about this? Surely he would never approve of such recklessness."

Meyer glared at his questioner. When the answer came, it was barely more than a whisper, "Lord Abbadon is dead."

A gasp of disbelief worked its way through the assembled men. To them, this was completely unthinkable. Lord Abbadon had been as eternal and unchanging as the sea. Even in the entire lifetime of the oldest one there, the hard old mage had not aged or changed in any perceivable way.

Meyer continued, "When I visited his lair, it was abandoned. That, of course, could mean anything, but I was also able to determine that he had transferred all of his power and authority to Voldemort before he died. There is the proof. Abadan would never give up power while he still drew breath."

It only took a few more moments for the wizards to decide that the unthinkable must be true. With that done, another wizard spoke up, "With the Old Master gone and our guild in danger, what are we to do?"

Meyer nodded in acknowledgement, "That is why I have called you here. It is time for each of you to find your own way. Scatter far and wide. Leave Europe, blend in with the muggles if you can, find a hole so dark and deep that the hit wizards can't find you. Protect your own lives and keep your heads down. When this all blows over, those of us who survive will gather here to resume our work."

Another leader in the guild spoke up, "No, we should stay here. We can put the guild under a Fidelius Charm. We can fight." His statement got some murmurs of approval from some of the other wizards.

Meyer shook his head firmly, "We will, of course, place the guild castle under a Fidelius Charm and a stasis charm. If we don't, the ICW will raze it to the ground. But, there is no way to know how long we will have to remain hidden. Anyone who stays here will be besieged. However, I've heard tell that Grandmaster Nicholas Flammel has started marshalling the war-wizard contingent to find us and put us down. The elite squad has been put on ready status while they are looking for us everywhere. A couple of guild members have been taken as prisoners. Any one of them could rat us out to save their own skin. This meeting is called to tell you all that from this moment, this guild stands dismissed. You are free to go wherever you would."

One of them asked him, "Where will you go, Waldhem?"

Meyer shrugged, "The world is very large and there is always a demand for a wand for hire. However remember my friends that we only go to return here someday. When that time comes, we will meet again in this place."

With one voice, the guild members shouted, "Hear! Hear!"

Moved, Meyer made them a promise, "And when we do, by blood we swear to tear down the ICW brick by brick. We will destroy the side of the light with whatever means available to us."

What is this?

As the morning sun peaked up over the trees, Remus returned to his human form and woke up. He rolled over and found that he was lying on a bear-skin rug. When he sat up and stretched, he could still feel the wound between his shoulders. Kitty came scampering from the cottage and handed Remus a massive mug of hot chocolate that almost looked like a bucket in her small hands. As the aroma of the rich hot liquid hit his nostrils he gratefully accepted the offering. He found himself just outside the cottage, next to the cellar doors. His keen sense of smell told him that there were werewolves down there. Before he opened the doors, he carefully listened to see if the prisoners were making any attempt to escape. Hearing nothing, but detecting the faint odour of scorched flesh, he drew his wand to remove the bars and open the locks. With one more gesture, he opened the doors to see the pathetic state of the two prisoners inside. It looked like they were trying to break free, quite naturally struggling against the burning restraints. He stunned them both. Unconscious, they relaxed and so did the chains. The smell of burning subsided. As he locked down the cellar doors again Remus thought, "That arrangement is worthy of Mad-Eye." His work done, he put his wand away again. As he looked around, he noticed that the bear-skin rug that he had slept on was gone and so was the house-elf.

Remus walked around to the front door of the cottage, sipping at the mug of hot-chocolate in his hand. Before he could turn the doorknob, Kitty opened the door from the inside. She put a finger to her lips, urging him to silence. As Remus took in the front room with the morning sunlight streaming in through the windows, he could see Sirius laying sprawled out, face down on one of the sofas. As it turned out, that was the only position he could find so that he wasn't putting any pressure on the wounds to his side or the back of his leg. Harry had done a good job of patching him up, but even with magic, it would still be a day or two before he was completely recovered.

Speaking of Harry, he had fallen asleep, leaning up against one end of another sofa with Susan's head on his lap. Susan was laying on her side, her legs tucked up and her hair mostly covering her face. When Remus moved, Harry cracked one eye open and seeing Remus up, opened the other. Smiling broadly, he started to get up, but Remus waved him down, pointing at Susan who appeared to still be asleep. Remus quietly closed the door behind him, walked over to the dining table and retrieved a chair. Without spilling a single drop of that precious sweet fluid in his mug, he brought the chair over to sit beside Harry.

When Remus was settled in, Harry asked in a near whisper, "How are you doing this morning, Moony?"

Remus started to shrug but ended up wincing as his bandages pulled at his injury. He answered in the same low voice, "I'll mend, thanks to you. If you and Susan hadn't come along when you did, it would have been a different story."

Looking at his friend, Harry realized that the two prisoners must also be restored to their human forms. He asked Remus, "After the fight was over, only two of them survived. They're trussed up in the root cellar. Would you please see to their bonds and make sure that they're not going anywhere?"

Remus shook his head, "No need, Cub. I've already seen to them. They won't be going anywhere for a while." He upended the mug while tipping his head back to get the last drop, "As soon as I woke up, Kitty brought me this excellent mug of hot chocolate."

Susan pulled her hair back to reveal her face as she said, "I'm glad you liked it. I asked her to bring it to you as soon as you were awake." Looking over at the other sofa she said, "I asked her to do the same for Sirius, but he doesn't seem to be awake yet."

As she pivoted to sit up, Harry asked her, "I'm sorry if we woke you up." She carefully rubbed the sleeping dust from her eyes as she said, "No, no. I woke up some time ago, but you looked so sweet and peaceful, I didn't want to disturb you."

With Sirius being the only one still apparently asleep, Harry spoke in a more conversational tone, "What I want to know, Remus, is how that pack managed to get past the wards?"

Sirius spoke from the other sofa, turning his head just enough so that he wasn't speaking into the seat, "I think I can answer that one, Pup." He took a couple of minutes to move his limbs, one at a time, until he was sitting up. That was when Kitty came trotting from the kitchen with another mug of hot chocolate for him.

Bemused, he accepted the mug and sipped at its contents before he continued, "The Rosiers who owned this place were the most evil and twisted of the lot, with the possible exception of your grandfather Vincent. They took vicious pleasure in the sport of hunting. This place was built especially for that purpose long ago. The wards weren't designed to keep such creatures out but to keep them in, particularly dark creatures. I have even heard that they would often release their enemies on the grounds of the lodge and then hunt them down like animals. Besides, a lot of activities which involved dark magic and the urge to satiate their dark fantasies couldn't be done with the kind of wards that would keep werewolves away. In general this was meant as some kind of twisted playground and even the most minimal of wards were considered to be sufficient security for this kind of place. Besides, the place that is important here is the cottage in which you are now sitting. It was protected by the nastiest wards that you could arrange."

Harry's eyes went wide, "Do you mean to say that the wards might have actually trapped them here?"

Remus shook his head firmly, "I know where you're going with that, Cub but I've run into this lot before. I'm absolutely certain that they were up to no good, wards or not."

Sirius continued, "The stuff the Rosiers were up to would have made werewolf repelling wards inconvenient. But, the job you did on the cottage proper? They would have kept any werewolves out for sure. I had to leave Remus outside because I didn't dare try to bring him in."

Harry nodded, "You got that last part right. But if everything else you're saying is true, these grounds should concentrate dark creatures rather than repel them. Maybe we should…"

Susan asked Sirius, "What happens now?"

Sirius said seriously (no pun), "I am afraid we will have to call the Aurors in. I'll have them search the area to make sure that there aren't any more werewolves or dark wizards lurking about. If the clash hadn't happened, I would have been happy to leave you both in peace here but I am not ready to take any chances. Before I send a message to Alastor though, Susan would do well to return to Bones Manor. Amelia is a mess without her doll around."

Harry sighed, "We would have returned this evening anyhow. I guess this is it."

He took Susan's hands in his and said to her fondly, "I will see you tomorrow, Sue. Remember that we are all meeting at Longbottom's tomorrow before we go to the Puddlemere Stadium."

She grinned, "I wouldn't miss it for anything.". She turned to Sirius, "Will you be joining us?"

Sirius grinned, "Well the boy-who-lived does need some Sirius security around him when he is out in public, doesn't he?"

She grinned in response, "That sounds like fun." With that, Kitty took her Mistress by the hand and the pair vanished with a soft pop.

Their good-byes said for now, Harry turned to Sirius, "So what do we tell Moody? And remember that I want one of the werewolves as my prisoner."

Sirius grinned, "Well you can have him sent to wherever you find it convenient. I mean you have the Chamber of Secrets where you practice in the castle. Surely there must be some space for a prisoner there?"

Harry shook his head firmly, "The place is not set up for keeping prisoners. Besides, since the Room of Requirement has been out of commission, I've had to use it for practice space. The other students might not understand what I'm doing with a prisoner."

"Alright, son. For now, let's have him sent to the townhouse where Kreacher can keep a watch over him. I'll try to find some safe-house where you can interrogate him as you wish."

When Harry assented to it, the marauder had Kreacher take the Alpha werewolf to the Townhouse where one of the cellars was conveniently set up to use as a prison. It was reinforced with thick iron doors. The entire room was covered in magic suppressing runes. But, Harry had means to get information from a prisoner that were quite effective without having to use any magic at all. That left the one with the missing eye for Moody to get some useful intel from him. Sirius couldn't resist the opportunity to needle the old Auror. He thought the werewolves' missing eye would be a bad joke on Mad-eye.

After having sent the message, Mad-eye arrived at the head of a force of 10 Aurors, most of them were the senior Aurors like Proudfoot, Savage, Emmeline, Hestia, Higgins and a few others Harry didn't know. Moody marched up to Harry and said gruffly, "You were told, by me, that you were to keep the General informed of your whereabouts at all times whenever you leave the castle. He has already chewed me out twice over your disappearance and He is not a happy Commander-In-Chief. He wants a word with you as soon as we are done here."

It's not easy to intimidate a guy that has gone toe-to-toe with Voldemort twice and come out on top, but Mad-Eye managed it. Harry swallowed hard and said meekly, "Yes sir, Master Auror."

The Auror continued, "We give you a lot of leeway, lad. We treat you as an adult so we expect you to behave like an adult. You were with Susan Bones. That makes you responsible for her safety. What if something had happened and we didn't find out about it until it was too late?"

Harry could understand what the Auror was trying to say, "I promise that it won't happen again, Master Auror. That is at least not until we have killed the snake faced monster."

Moody grumbled, "You better. Now what happened here?"

Sirius took up the narrative, "Remus and I got into a fight with some werewolves last night…"

Moody cut in, "Do you mean you, Lupin and the lad?"

Sirius asked, "What do you mean?"

Moody grinned, "Well I made inquiries before I came today. This place belongs to the Rosier family and the lad is the only one of them left. Him being here with you says a lot when I know that you have been actively looking for your son."

Harry was scowling, "I am the last one because you killed my grand-father's elder brother."

Moody scowled in return, "That's right. He took this missing chunk of my nose and almost killed me before I put him down. He was one tough customer, that Rosier."

Harry grinned, "Well they don't call you the most decorated Auror for nothing."

Sirius confessed, "It's true. We found Harry here yesterday. Then moony chose the grounds to stay away during his transformation. When the full moon rose, we quickly realized that there were other werewolves here. Since Moony is already a werewolf and I can't be turned while in my dog form, we decided to track them down and kill them. WE were outnumbered until help arrived."

Moody turned to Harry, "What was your role lad? No matter how proficient you are at casting, you can't be sure to escape without a scratch from a fully turned werewolf on a full moon."

Sirius answered for him, "That is a secret, Moody. The General will be told of it when we see him and you can know about it then. For now finish your work here."

The Master Auror nodded and got to work. His men had already spread out in pairs to search the grounds for anyone or anything dangerous that was trying to hide there. The search took the Aurors over two hours. While they were working, Emmeline and Hestia joined Harry and the Marauders for a breakfast feast.

Ministry of Magic

This time, Moody had them apparate to the littered alley where the guest entrance to the Ministry was, Harry asked, "Why didn't we just floo into the ministry?"

Alastor shook his head grimly, "That's for employees and honoured guests. You, lad, are in the dog-house."

The Master Auror picked up the receiver in the old phone booth and a voice spoke all around them, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

With a hideous grin, he answered, "Master Auror Alastor Moody, Auror Sirius Black and Lord Harold James Peverell. Disciplinary hearing with General Frank Longbottom."

The voice spoke again as a badge fell into the coin return slot. As he handed the badge over to Harry he saw that it read, "Harold James Peverell, Disciplinary hearing." With a grimace, Harry pinned it onto his robe.

The three crowded into the phone booth. As soon as the door slid shut, the inside of the booth dropped them both at a dizzying speed. A few seconds later, the descent slowed down again as the glowing golden light of the atrium filled the windows from the bottom up. As the lift came to a gentle stop and the door slid open, Harry could see that the statue in the fountain had been replaced. The expressions on the centaur and the goblin were much more convincing. The witch and the wizard were more simply dressed and standing on either side of the house elf. And strangest of all, a werewolf, caught in mid transformation was added to the tableau. The caption had been changed too. Now it read, "United we stand" in plain English.

Alastor and Sirius pinned their Ministry IDs to their robes while they walked over to the guest services desk. The wizard on duty looked up and immediately went from bored and half asleep, slouching in his chair to standing at attention. He said, "Master Auror! How may I help you?"

Alastor pushed Harry forward and the man's jaw dropped, "Lord Peverell! Welcome to the Ministry of Magic."

Alastor barked, "Quit fawning over the lad, Eric, and weigh his wand."

Harry handed him the wand he last bought at Olivanders, the least impressive of the two he regularly carried. The Elder wand was safely stashed away under a Fidelius Charm in his travelling trunk and the sandalwood wand remained concealed.

When the man weighed the wand, he didn't even try to read out the results. He just shook his head and placed the parchment on the spike. That was when he read what was on Harry's badge, "I won't hold you up anymore, Lord Peverell. The General is expecting you."

With that, the grizzled veteran hustled Harry to the last lift in line. The door slid open as they approached. Facing the front of the lift, but observing Harry with his bright-blue eye, he remarked, "Well, look at that! He had the express lift waiting for you. I expect he's in quite a state."

Sirius remained silent as Harry blew a breath out between his lips, then said, "I am sure I can survive this one encounter."

Moody tried not to let his disappointment show, but tried one more time, "Have I ever told you about how I lost the eye?" He left his question hanging in the air as the door to the lift slid open.

It was an express lift indeed. As the door slid open, Harry could see guards on either side of the door, directly across from the lift. Beyond the door was the General's outer office. The office of the Minister for Magic and the General of Wizarding Britain's forces beyond that. Of course, there was no apparating here (that is, unless one knew how the Mystics did it). And, unless one had the highly restricted floo access, this lift was the fastest way anyone could access the General's office. And even that was a courtesy extended to a very few. No, most people had to come up by the regular lifts, make their way through reception, then wait until their appointment time to meet with the General. Today was a holiday so most of the desks in the outer office were vacant. But the General was in and his door secure. There were two more guards posted at the General's door. As the trio approached, one of the guards said, "Wait here. I'll announce you."

The other guard stood by while his counterpart went in and closed the door behind him. Alastor noted with some pride that absolutely no sound from the inner office found its way through the door. After a minute, the guard came back out and said, "He has been expecting you, Lord Peverell. Please go on in."

Without another word, Harry entered the office followed by Sirius and Moody. Sirius closed the door behind them.

They found the General seated behind his desk, looking as calm as ever. Harry, being proficient at Occlumency himself, was able to see that the General was seething inside. Even though he was many generations removed from the Viking raiders of old, the General was still a passionate man. But unlike his ancestors, he had learned to bridle his passions until it was time to fight. That was the thing with the few people like him, they showed their anger by their actions rather than their words. As Harry entered the room, the man simply pointed at a chair on Harry's side of the desk. Harry made haste to sit himself down. Once he was settled, the General said, "Speak."

This wasn't and an invitation, it was an order. And the fact that it was said without greeting or preamble made it pretty clear that Harry's original perception that the General was angry was correct. Harry ventured, "General, I apologize."

Frank sat up and said, "Very well. Go on."

Harry swallowed hard before he continued, "Sir, taking off like that was impulsive and selfish. I really didn't stop to think about how much worry it would cause. I give my word, as a gentleman, to never do such a thing again."

Frank made a note. Then asked, "So, why did you do such a thing?"

Harry grimaced, "As we both know, the final battle will be soon. I've done nothing but study, lead and train for nearly two years now. I'm really tired of it. I'm supposed to be married to Susan as soon as I turn 18 and I hardly even know her. That's just over two years away. Every day brings more bad news, more grief. I'm under constant pressure. I haven't had a peaceful day in over a year and still there's no end in sight. So, I decided to take a couple days off. What's wrong with that?"

Frank looked around his office, at the ancient wood panelling, the heavy leather furniture, at the glow globes in the sconces that once held torches, at the fireplace large enough to stand up in, at the Axminster carpet on the floor and finally at the situation map that took up most of one wall where his gaze lingered. Harry followed his gaze to the map where red pins marked the deaths of every individual that had died in the last ten months. Finally he took a deep breath and said, "Harry. About 16 years ago, Alice was expecting our first child. We were Aurors and members of The Order of the Phoenix. The war had been going on for some time and it wasn't going well." He shook his head, "bluntly, we were losing. Then Albus told us that we would have to go into hiding. I suppose that you already know that part?"

Harry nodded, "Yes. Neville could have been the chosen one."

Frank said, "That's what Dumbledore believed anyway. Well, along came Neville and the next thing we knew, we heard that Tom had been defeated, except we didn't call him that in those days. When we poked our heads up to find out what was going on, Bellatrix Nameless and her crew found us and tortured us into insanity. We were betrayed, tortured. I don't remember anything until you and your friend, Harsh I think? Well, you woke us up. From that time until now, I've been recovering from my long catatonic state, then no sooner am I back on my feet than you arrange for me to become Minister of Magic. And I've been leading the effort against a foe that was supposed to be dead ever since."

Harry grew up just a bit more in that moment. He said, "Never once, have I ever heard you complain. I've been very selfish."

Frank smiled gently, "No, Harry. Not selfish, just very young. What I really mean is that I do understand how the burden of leadership feels. I don't have a problem with you taking a break, but doing that without letting anyone know, that's a problem. If any of us knew where you could be reached, we would not have said another word about it."

He leaned back in his chair and rested his eyes for a moment before he continued, "It's not that we're trying to keep you under our thumb. It's just that, like it or not, you are a symbol of hope to our people. We can't risk losing you to a careless accident. Besides, even though we weren't around to help raise you, I still care for you as I do for my own son. Also when your father was your age... Let's just say that I could tell you some stories that would curl your hair. But I won't do that because I don't want to give you any ideas."

Harry chuckled, "It's OK. I've seen the detention records."

Frank shook his head, "That's just the times they got caught. It seems that James and Sirius had some kind of a bet going on."

Harry said, "I'm sure that Sirius hasn't told me everything about those days."

Frank agreed, "You're likely right about that. Anyway, back to your chewing out, young man. I do understand the stress you must be under. None of us mind if you take a break, but, when you do, tell us where you are, how we can reach you. You have my word that we will never disturb you unless we really have to. I hope that you'll take this fatherly advice from me."

Now that Frank put it that way, Harry really had nothing to say against it. The man wasn't even really scolding him, but rather giving him fatherly advice. It also dawned on him that Frank was the same age as Sirius and Remus. But somehow, Frank seemed so much more mature and thoughtful. He was careful of people's feelings and weighed his words before he spoke them. Sirius, on the other hand, was more like the mischievous older brother that would much rather lead him into more trouble than steering him away from it. Remus was more intellectual, nobody's idea of a hero, but still infinitely patient and with a bit of mischief himself. Harry considered, Frank and Alice too, were much better off for his involvement with their lives.

Frank sat upright again, "So with that out of the way, tell me about the werewolf attack."

Sirius took up the narrative, "as it was full moon, Lupin was transformed and I was there to keep him company. The place actually belongs to Harry. I'm pretty sure that it has never been used as a refuge for werewolves yet there were about 10 werewolves there. We understood that they were not on our side because they were wild. We decided to engage them, feeling that they were a clear and present danger. At first, there only seemed to be 4 of them and we felt certain that we could take them. Lupin took down the first one that rushed us. The next thing we knew, six more of them joined the fight. They had us both surrounded and wounded. I'm pretty sure that we would not have survived the attack. That was when Harry and Susan showed up and started fighting them…"

Frank stopped the narrative here and asked Harry, "How did you fight with them?"

Harry looked around the office. The door was shut and the one portrait was empty. That left only Moody, Sirius and Frank to hear what he would say next. Moody gestured to the door and nodded to indicate that they would not be overheard. Harry continued, "This is a secret, General and I want it to remain that way. I am an animagus. I registered with the ICW to avoid that fact getting back to Tom while technically complying with the law. I am a giant snow leopard when I change form. I weigh about 200 kgs when I am fully transformed. Even without using claws, I can swat a werewolf hard enough to knock it senseless. As I only learned last night, Susan is also an animagus. She transforms into a black panther."

Frank's eyes went wide before he slowly nodded, "well then I guess the werewolves didn't stand a chance. Two apex predators with a big dog and a werewolf would have been more than a match against the werewolves. So what happened next?"

Sirius continued, "Once the two great cats showed up, the werewolves didn't last very long. After the battle was over, Harry tended to the wounded. I had Harry decapitate the dead. I buried the heads and the bodies in separate holes. Once everything was dealt with, we passed the rest of the night peacefully in the cottage. I didn't think there was any point in waking up the Aurors until a respectable hour of the morning."

Frank nodded and turned to Alastor, "Did we get any of them alive?"

The old Auror growled, "They were kind enough to hand over 'damaged goods', Sir"

Sirius snorted, "Are you miffed because you'll have to be careful not to kill him before you get anything useful out of him?"

Harry said in an undertone, "Or is it the missing eye?"

Frank addressed Harry again, "There are still two more days until classes start at Hogwarts again. I won't impose any restrictions on your movements, but make sure that at least one of your guardians knows where you are at all times. We need to be able to reach you if a situation develops where you can help out."

Harry nodded, "I will keep that in mind, General."

As Harry stood up to leave, Frank said, "Alice expects you at dinner tonight. She said something about her and Andromeda drawing lots, though I am not sure what she meant."

Harry nodded, "Please inform Lady Longbottom that I shall be delighted." Harry gave the formal response that the invitation required. He just hoped that Frank heard his wife correctly and they weren't talking about drawing and quartering him instead of drawing lots.

Of course, accepting that invitation also meant putting off going to see the Weasleys until tomorrow evening. He had been thinking about paying a visit to the Weasleys this evening but that would have to wait. Perhaps Mrs. Weasley would have something to say about him taking off the way he did, but he could always count on her to make him feel as welcome and at home as she possibly could. He couldn't help but draw comparisons between Molly and Alice.

Alice, on the other hand, knew how to assert her authority. Harry supposed that it must be, in part, due to her Auror training. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that she loved him, but there was going to be a reckoning before they got to that part. Although he had no memory of his own mother, he thought that perhaps the way Alice treated him was more like that. She had no problem with correcting him if he was being thick-headed or just plain wrong. Lilly had made an excellent choice when she made Alice his godmother.

The Black Townhouse

Harry passed the afternoon writing out and sending invitations to his friends for the Quidditch game the next day. He called Bones Manor on the floo to ask if Susan would like to accompany him to dinner with the Longbottoms this evening. Amelia answered the call, "Harry? What do you want?"

Harry knew that she must be angry, but he asked anyway, "May I have the pleasure of Susan's company to dinner at the Longbottoms this evening?"

Alice scowled back at him, "Susan is grounded until she turns 30, young man." And with that, she abruptly ended the call. Harry quite literally had his head snapped back.

Sirius looked on sympathetically, "Don't worry, Pup, She'll likely get over it in a week or so."

Harry got up from the hearth rug, still rubbing his neck, "I invited her to the game tomorrow. She'll be really disappointed if she misses it. Now what is the plan about the evening?"

Sirius said, "Hmm. Dinner with the Minister of Magic. That's a pretty formal occasion. I didn't pay much attention when my mother was trying to drill pure-blood manners into me, but I think you really should take a plus one with you."

Harry shrugged, "I don't think it matters that much. I mean, really, its just dinner with my god-mother, you know."

Sirius shook his head, "Harry, Harry, Harry. Remember, you are a lord now, and a pretty influential one at that. You were behind getting this minister into office. I don't want you insulting them by ignoring propriety."

Harry huffed, "Ok then. I could use an ally if things get ugly. Can you come with?"

Sirius chuckled, "Sorry, no can do, Pup. I'm having dinner with my intended tonight. You're going to have to find someone else to walk through that mine-field with you."

Harry asked, "What about Remus?"

Sirius shook his head firmly, "Bad idea. It's too close to the full moon. You don't want to take that chance."

Harry did a face palm, "Of course. What was I thinking?" Then it hit him, "I know! I'll ask her."

Green Hues

As they appeared on the ward line of the manor, Harry said to his companion, "This is supposed to be a friendly social visit, Tonks. But be on the look-out. I'm not entirely convinced that Godmother is all that forgiving. She's capable of anything."

Just for fun, Nymphadora had used her metamorph abilities to craft her appearance to look as much like Susan as she could manage. The effect was a taller, mid-twenties version of his fiancé. It didn't actually fool anyone, but the effect on Harry was unsettling nonetheless. The look was a little more conventional than Tonks usual style, but this was dinner with the Minister for Magic after all. Outwardly, she seemed to be calm, but she was on the alert for signs of danger. Alice hadn't earned a reputation among the Aurors for nothing.

Neville met them as they crossed the ward-line of the manor. He had a big, silly grin plastered on his face as he greeted his friend and god-brother, "Oh boy! You are in so much trouble, mate."

Then he turned to Tonks, blinked, shook his head and looked again, "Susan? No. But, who?"

Tonks guffawed then gave Neville a very un-Susan-like conspiratorial wink and whispered, "Don't blow my cover, Neville. It's Tonks."

Neville surveyed Tonks carefully, "Ok, you got the freckles and the hairstyle right. You even picked the right clothes, I mean, Susan has a dress just like that and it looks great on you too but…"

Tonks urged him on, "But what?"

Neville observed, "You're about 3 inches too tall and you're never going to get her walk down."

Harry cautiously asked him, "Uh. How are things inside?"

"Mother has been waiting for you with all her arsenal ready. She is pretty miffed that you had the audacity to pull another one on us. She even chewed me out for not ratting on you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she asked me if I didn't already know that you were going to disappear like that. I might have lied if it were someone else but when she glares at you with those eyes and you can see the storm brewing behind those pupils, you know what is better for your well being. I dare you to lie to her when she gets like that."

Harry very nervous now, "Alright mate, I get the picture. So what happened then?"

"Well I told her that I knew you were going to pull one on everyone. She then asked me where you were and I couldn't tell her because I just didn't know. She barraged me with stingers for ten minutes straight before she believed me."

He rubbed where it still hurt, saying, "I'll be feeling that for a while."

Tonks was nervous. She said, "Well, Harry, I'm sure you can figure it all out from here. I'll be going now."

Harry caught her hand, "Don't abandon me now, Tonks or I will tell Moony that you ran when it mattered the most."

She grumbled, "Alright already. We will go and face the music together. Just don't dare say anything like that to Remus." With that, the trio made their way toward the manor house.

As they walked, Neville said, "I'd feel bad if I didn't warn you that not all is forgiven."

As they reached the main door, Neville said, "Dodge!"

Harry neatly side-stepped to avoid the stinger coming his way. Tonks jumped in front of him with her shield raised. Alice stood there with her wand drawn. Although her lips were turned up at the corners, this was the expression of a predator baring her teeth before a battle. It went perfectly with the maniacal glint in her eye. She said authoritatively, "Step aside Auror Tonks. That's an order."

Tonks seemed to be feeling braver than she was earlier. She stood her ground defiantly, saying, "Lady Longbottom, please put away your wand. I am here to defend this young man and that is what I will do."

Harry was glad that someone else was taking the brunt of the attack for now, but his chances of escaping unscathed were dashed when Andromeda nonchalantly walked out of a nearby room with the exact same expression as Alice, "I told you Alice that we will take this one on together. This daughter of mine is a really feisty one. You take her on now while I have a chat with my favourite nephew."

Harry was pretty clear that the only thing doing the "chatting" would be Aunt Andromeda's wand. Oh well, he could use some dodging practice anyway. It was time to face the music. He said, "It's OK, Tonks. You can stand down."

Tonks protested, "But Harry, you don't know what my Mom is like…"

Harry said solemnly, I'm sure she won't kill me. And besides, it'll really hurt my reputation if it gets around that I had a girl fight my battles for me."

With that, Tonks huffed, "Well, if that's all the thanks I get…" She stalked off muttering.

Harry stood with his hands at his sides, not drawing a wand and said, "OK. I'll take my medicine like a man."

With gleeful enthusiasm, Alice and Andromeda started peppering him with stingers. Harry carefully side-stepped each one, letting them hit his robes while making it look like he was flinching with pain instead of dodging. Tears ran from his eyes and his face turned red as he tried to keep from laughing out loud. Just when he thought he couldn't stand it any longer, Andromeda said to Alice, "Do you think he's had enough?"

Alice answered, "I'm his Godmother. I'll decide when he's had enough.". She zapped him a couple more times then said, "OK. That's enough."

By this time, Neville was really feeling sorry for Harry being subjected to all that punishment. The welts left over from the stingers his own mother had given him throbbed in sympathy. As he approached to give Harry his support, he realized that Harry was almost helpless with suppressed laughter. He pounded his Godbrother's shoulder and accused, "You beggar! You never let them land a single stinger! Did you?"

Harry pulled a handkerchief and dabbing at his eyes snickered, "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. It was just too perfect."

Alice, realizing that she had been duped, gave Harry an over-powered stinger to his rump that made him jump for real. He rubbed where it hurt saying, "Oww... I'm sorry. I guess I had that coming."

In chorus, Alice, Andromeda, Tonks and Neville all said, "You sure did!"

This time, Harry abandoned himself and just doubled over with laughter.

When he was able to stand up again, he gathered the two women in a hug and said, "I'm sorry I took off like that. And I'm truly sorry that I got Neville into trouble over it."

That was when the Dowager Longbottom, Augusta, stuffed vulture hat and all strode into the hall from the direction of the dining-room. Addressing Alice and Andromeda she said, "I hope you two girls have gotten all that nonsense out of your systems?"

Turning to Harry, she pulled him into a hug and said, "Harry, dear. I did try to talk them out of it, but you know how girls can be."

Letting go of the hug, Harry took a moment to lift Augusta's hand and pretend to kiss it. He said, "It's good to see you, Gran. I see that you are well."

Noting his manners, she said, "See what I told you, girls? A perfect gentleman. That's Our Neville's best friend."

Miffed, Alice said, "Well, he's never shown me such courtesy."

Her face firmly set, the Dowager said, "Hmmm. Perhaps if you acted like a proper lady, he would treat you as one."

Having said that, she took Harry's arm and steered him toward the dining-room.

Neville, following his Grandmother's lead, offered Tonks his arm and likewise escorted her to the dining-room.

Making a gesture toward the Dowager, Andromeda mimed licking her finger and making a mark on an imaginary scoreboard. In answer, Alice mouthed, "There's always a next time."

Frank stood from his chair as everyone filed into the dining-room. He made his way around to pull out chairs for Lady Longbottom then Andromeda as Harry helped Augusta be seated and Neville made Tonks comfortable.

Once they were all seated, Frank began, "Harry, glad you could come. I've already told Lady Longbottom about our talk, but she would like to have her own say. Alice?"

Turning to Harry, Alice said, "Of course, you know, Harry, that we were all very concerned when you vanished without a word. Neville did eventually come clean that you had planned it, but we still had no way of knowing if you were safe or how to reach you."

Harry answered, "It was rash and impulsive of me. I admit that I was only thinking of myself. How much concern I might have cost was something that I had not even considered. I am very sorry. If I ever need a break again, I will Make my plans known to Lord Longbottom at the very least."

Andromeda chimed in, "None of us would mind if you take a break, Harry. We wouldn't even think of disturbing you unless lives were at stake. Just promise me that you will never take off like that again."

Harry nodded firmly, "Yes. I promise."

Alice and Andromeda nodded their satisfaction to each other. That settled, Frank invoked the traditional, "Good, that's settled then? Everyone, tuck-in."

After a three-course-dinner in the formal dining-room, Alice asked him, "Harry, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

Dabbing the remains of his third treacle tart from his mouth, Harry answered, "Tomorrow, we have been cordially invited to the Home opener match of Puddlemere United against the Appleby Arrows. Our friend, Viktor Krum, insisted that we come and I could hardly refuse."

She nodded, "Ah yes. Frank has assigned Sirius, Nymphadora and three other Aurors to the security detail for you and your friends. They'll be staying in your box during the game. How many will be attending?"

Harry listed them, "I guess Hermione, Ron, Neville, Hannah, Daphne, Conrad, Ernie, Justin, Isobel, Terry and Mandy. That's eleven. Susan will come if she isn't grounded, me of course, and I expect that Sirius will bring Emmeline and that Remus will come too. That's 15 altogether. Would you like to join us?"

Alice shook her head, "Sorry, Harry. I'm as big a Quidditch fan as anyone else, but things are too busy at the Ministry to take another day off. And, yes. Emmeline will be there. She's one of the Aurors assigned to you. There will be other Aurors in the crowd, but they will be in plain clothes."

Well he is Viktor Krum

The next morning, the people that Harry had invited assembled at the Longbottom Manor. Some apparated just outside the ward-line. A select few arrived by floo and those who could not apparate yet were brought in by Dobby or their own house elves. When Susan arrived, it was Kitty who brought her. Harry asked her, "I hope that you didn't sneak out. I'm in the dog-house with your Auntie as it is already."

Susan shook her head, "No, I did not sneak out. After I had a talk with Auntie, she didn't stay angry very long. I can go to the game with you, but I have to go home right afterwards."

"In that case." Harry gave her a most sincere hug. Then he said, "I'm so happy you came. Join the others in the ball-room. There are just a few more coming in."

Minutes later, when they were all together in the Longbottom Manor ball-room, Harry took a headcount. There were 16 of them all together. Frank had the floo reconnected for the sake of the students who could not apparate. With the war going on, most people had disconnected from the floo network and mostly travelled by apparition. As soon as they all left, the connection would be broken again. In the meantime, anyone attempting to invade the manor by floo would find themselves in a room with Neville, Harry, no less than twelve members of The Order of the Snow Leopard and one very protective werewolf. The only unexpected guests were Astoria Greengrass and Ginevra Weasley.

Astoria had come with Daphne immediately went on to hang on Ernie's arm. When Harry asked Daphne about it, she just shrugged and said, "I really don't want to know what the midget is up to."

Harry was Glad that Ginevra decided to come. Although things could not ever be the same between them as they once had been, she was still a star Quidditch player and she would always be family. When Dobby had shown up to pick up Ron, she was ready to go and insisted on coming along. Harry had invited the twins, but they declined, saying that they had other plans. For the two of them to turn down a Quidditch game, Harry knew it must be important.

Remus had completely recovered from the events on the night of the full moon and he had volunteered to go out to Plymouth and bring Hermione. Justin who had come with Ernie had suggested taking the Night Bus, but Ernie declined saying that was one experience he could live without. The Macmillan house elf had brought them. The Greengrass house elf had brought Daphne and Astoria to the ward line where Harry met them and directed them toward the house.

This being Neville's home, it was decided that Remus would go through first, followed by Harry and the rest with Neville last. As they went through the floo one-by-one, they were received in the Puddlemere United Clubhouse by the Aurors. Once they were all through the floo, Sirius, Nymphadora, Emmeline, Kingsley and Hestia divided their charges up between them. Neville was the first to go with Hannah. Remus took them straightaway. He led them through a rarely used path which allowed them to go into the box without anyone seeing them. The box was situated at the top of the tier. It offered a superb view of the game. Since most of the action always happened in the air, this was the best view possible for them. Justin and Isobel went next with Hestia who led them through the same path and straight to the box. Ernie and Astoria came next and they were escorted by Kingsley to the box without a hitch. The next pair were Daphne and Conrad who went with Emmeline. Ron, Hermione and Ginny went next with Tonks cheerfully escorting them to the box where their designated seats were. Finally Sirius was left. He took Terry and Mandy to their seats. That left only Harry and Susan, but there were no guards left to escort them. Harry turned to Susan, "It seems that we've run out of Aurors. I wonder if we're just supposed to wait here until someone comes back for us?"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, my boy", said Albus Dumbledore as he ended his disillusionment charm and separated himself from the background. He looked to be in a cheerful mood with the corners of his beard twitching upward and his eyes sparkling like twin stars.

Harry beamed at him, "Headmaster! What a pleasant surprise. But, what are you doing here?"

Dumbledore jovially said, "As it happens, I am an ardent supporter of Puddlemere United myself. I have been to most of their important games for the last few decades. Jeremiah wrote to me last week asking me to come and see this match. I must say I was most eager to accept."

Dumbledore led them through the secret path with practiced ease. Harry asked him, "Do you use this path very often, Professor?"

He chuckled "yes indeed. This is very convenient to me."

Sirius didn't even bat an eye when he saw the old headmaster but motioned with his head for them to enter. When Harry did enter, he didn't see Dumbledore anywhere. He turned to Sirius with a questioning look in his eye. Sirius motioned for him to take his seat again. Harry understood that Dumbledore was there but he just chose not to be seen by anyone.

As soon as everyone was in the box, Sirius shot a spell at the door which created some sort of translucent membrane across the entrance. Harry asked him, "What is that?"

Sirius gave him a marauder worthy grin, "Don't tell Moody that you saw me using that. This is something that the unspeakables came up with very recently. It's highly classified. No one except me and Moody has access to it outside of the unspeakables. The General knows about it but he doesn't know how to work it. This membrane is the first defense in case there is an attack. No one can enter this place without our leave now. Anyone in this box can come and go anytime they want but others won't be able to enter unless permitted. Apparently you cannot destroy it by any means other than a killing curse so we are quite safe with it."

Harry was still curious, "If it's so useful, why don't we use it all the time?"

"There are a couple of reasons for that. First, it's brand-new. I've offered to test it out for the boys downstairs. There might still be some bugs to work out. Second, it's desperately tricky to work. Not just anyone can do it. Third, if I leave anyone out from the permissions when I cast it, they just might be in for an unpleasant surprise if they attempt to enter or leave. And fourth, well, it's still classified."

By the time they were all in their seats, there was still a half hour to go before the game started. Today would mark a new era in club Quidditch. Although hiring foreign players was not unprecedented, it had been quite rare in the past. This would be the first time that both teams had a foreign player working for them. For that matter, most of the teams in Wizarding Britain had announced the acquisition of foreign players this year. It seemed that Harry had started a trend by hiring Viktor Krum.

The VIP box where they were seated was a wonder in itself. It was equipped with a camouflage charm so that it appeared to be a section of the stadium wall when viewed from outside. Inside there was a snack table full of many of the same things one could buy from the trolley on the Hogwarts express. There were also flagons of butterbeer, oak-matured mead and fire-whiskey. As one platter or flagon was depleted, they seemed to renew themselves. Harry guessed that it must be a similar arrangement to the way dishes were renewed at the Hogwarts tables. Sirius let them know that if anyone needed to leave the box to use the facilities, a guard would go with them. There was a reason that three of each gender were on this assignment.

Susan and Harry sat at one end of the box. Ron was at the other end, sitting as far forward as his knees would allow, with Hermione sitting back, casual and relaxed, watching the clouds go by. For some reason, Daphne and Conrad were not sitting together. Astoria was with Ernie, trying to engage him in conversation, but he wasn't responding. Harry made a mental note to ask Ernie about it later. Terry and Mandy were next to Harry with their hands entwined. Harry knew that propriety was the reason they weren't doing anything more at the moment. Hannah was trying to talk to Neville, but he seemed distracted. He kept looking around. Harry thought that perhaps he felt the presence of his master being so near. Ginny and Sirius were also sitting as far forward as they could, ready to cheer on their favourite team. It looked like it might be a contest between Ron, Ginny and Sirius for who was going to make the most noise.

They had been taking in the stadium for about 10 minutes when the announcer's voice boomed out from the other side of the stadium. This announcer had been the resident commentator at the Puddlemere stadium for many years. His well practiced baritone could even make reading the ingredients on a cereal box interesting. In spite of that, the crowd did their best to ignore him while he read the ad copy provided by the team's various sponsors. Harry listened enough to recognize that a number of the sponsors were businesses that he owned or had a large interest in. After the ad copy, the announcer welcomed the audience listening by Wizarding Wireless today. He mentioned that the expected listening audience was between an hundred thousand to two-hundred thousand today. After that, he prattled on about the stadium, its history and the number of people attending today's game in person. Then there was the weather report. When he finally started to talk about the record of the visiting team, the crowd settled down and listened. When he started talking about the home team, the crowd gave him some polite applause.

Finally, he started to talk about today's game, "Welcome to the first match of the season. Our visiting team today is The Appleby Arrows. Even our most devoted fans will have to admit that this team had a good season last year. Their winning line-up took them all the way to the finals. But, Quidditch fans, that is not the team we'll be seeing today. For one thing, they have a new Seeker. This will be his first league game. The scouting reports say that he knows his stuff, but we'll see how that translates into today's game. The second change to their team is the addition of the international super-star, the Chaser DeSilva. We've heard great things about this player. If any of it's true, our Keeper is in for a real challenge today."

Harry said, "We'll see about that. Wood's going to hand him his butt on a platter."

Susan answered, "I don't know about that, Harry. Last season, he sent all three of the other team's chasers to the hospital after they tried Parkin's Pincer on him. He flies as easily as most of us walk. And, his fake-outs are so fast that they leave the Keepers counting to make sure they still have all their fingers after he scores."

Harry nodded, "In that case, let's just hope that Wood is on his game today."

The voice of the Puddlemere stadium continued, "We have two new additions to the home team today. Oliver Wood will be our new starting Keeper. This young man was an acquisition straight out of Hogwarts. He's been on the roster as a back-up keeper and has shown great promise in practice. He has his work cut out for him today. And finally, starting as our new Seeker today, the internationally renowned Viktor Krum!"

The crowd went wild for a while. When they all calmed down a bit, the announcer resumed, "For those of you who have lived with your head in the sand the last couple of years, this young man was the Seeker for the Bulgarian team in the most recent World Cup of Quidditch while still a student at Durmstrang. He also participated in the Tri-Wizard tournament just last year. And yes, brought to you by Puddlemere United, we will see him in action today."

As the announcer finished up, the referee flew out to centre field with the familiar ball crate. He was a tall, barrel-chested man with salt and pepper hair and a short beard. He was dressed in a black cloak that would be slimming on most men, but just made this one look bigger. Harry didn't recognize him but he guessed that the man must have been a league Beater in his younger days. He certainly had the build for it.

The commentary picked up again, "Our referee today is Mr. D. Prowse. Now that he has taken the field, here comes the visiting team. Please welcome The Appleby Arrows!"

There was a bit more than polite applause as the visiting team took to the field. Harry guessed that there must be some Arrows fans in the mix. The team flew out in arrow formation, taking their time to let the fans cheer as they flew out to join the referee. Each one raised his hand to wave at the crowd as the announcer called out their names, "I give you Lynch, McLeod, Finniston, Bryne, Walsh, Adley and DeSilva."

The moment that the last one touched down, there was a roar from the crowd as seven brooms erupted from the other end of the field. They flew side-by-side following a trajectory and landed in a line with a single thump next to the referee. The announcer spoke over the roar of the crowd, "They sure know how to make an entrance! Give it up for Puddlemere United! Cromwell, Stuart, Fawley, Shafiq, Arlington, Wood and VIKTOR KRUM!"

The noise the crowd made when Viktor was introduced was deafening. They were cheering, many of the witches were screaming. There was applause, whistling, stomping. But Viktor seemed unmoved by all of it. Down on the field, unheard by any of the crowd, Victor asked Wood, "Why are they whistling. Am I so hated by them?"

Oliver shook his head firmly, "That's not it. In this country, that means they like you."

Harry was, of course, watching Viktor through his onmiocculars and saw the exchange. Even though he had no idea of what was said, he saw Viktor's expression relax just a bit. He could also see that the young man was standing up straighter. He guessed that the team healer had been able to do something about his posture.

The referee waited for the noise to settle down to a dull roar before he gave his instructions in his Basso Profundo voice, "You boys are all professionals here. I expect you know the rules by now. We will have a clean game or you shall answer to me. And I'm not too fussy about handing out game misconducts. Now, PLAY QUIDDITCH!"

15 brooms took to the air as the referee released the balls. A moment later, there was a mighty blast from the referee's whistle as he threw the Quaffle into play.

Harry had to resist his natural urge to track the Snitch as he followed the play-by-play. Today, he would have loved to trade places with Krum.

The announcer picked up the action, "They're off! It's Cromwell flying straight to Adley. DeSilva's playing chicken. Cromwell drops the Quaffle. And it's Lynch. Pass to McLeod. He's in the clear folks. It's up to Wood now. And there's a Bludger from Arlington! McLeod takes it in the back and smacks his face on his broom handle. Wood picks up the Quaffle and passes to Stuart. Pass to Fawley. No! Picked off by DeSilva."

The European star Chaser had intercepted the pass close to the Puddlemere goal. McLeod was still shaking off the smack to the face from the Bludger hitting him.

"No beaters around this time. DeSilva Fires the Quaffle at the right hoop and.! Did you see that folks! Wood makes a fingertip save with a side-slip! You don't see that every day. DeSilva was robbed."

While the announcer was praising Harry's old team captain, Harry was taking in the power and speed of that shot. If DeSilva had been so much as a yard closer to the goal when he took his throw, Oliver could not have saved it.

The play-by-play continued, "Pass back out to Cromwell. He's flying into the Arrows end. There's a Bludger from Finniston. Stopped by Arlington. Back at Lynch. It's a barrel roll for the dodge. Cromwell dodges another Bludger and two chasers. He's in the end zone by himself with Adley between him and the hoops. Cromwell feints to the centre and shoots right and it's a goal! That's 10-0 for Puddlemere."

The crowd went wild, cheering for the goal while the referee retrieved the Quaffle and carried it back to centre field. Of course, there were some Arrows fans in the crowd who booed with equal fervour. When Harry looked around, he was surprised to see Sirius booing the home team.

The moment that everyone on the pitch was in position, there was a mighty blast on the whistle as the Quaffle arched it's way through the air.

The commentary picked up again, "There's the whistle and it's DeSilva with the Quaffle. He's in the Puddlemere end. Dodges two Bludgers. There's Parkin's Pincer. I can't believe it! DeSilva does a corkscrew, scattering United's Chasers! Pass to Lynch. Shot aaand! It's through the left hoop! That ties it up, folks, ten all."

Harry took the time to review the play while the referee set up for the next tip off. He could see that Wood had made the mistake of getting dazzled by DeSilva's flying. Lynch had made an easy goal when he caught Wood napping. Of course, Sirius was cheering for the Arrows, while most everyone in the box was following Harry's example and holding their peace. Harry wasn't a chaser, but he sure was going to tell Angelina about this play.

This whole time, Viktor had been making slow, deliberate circuits of the pitch, methodically scanning for the elusive silver-winged golden ball. While the referee was waiting for everyone to take their positions, he spotted it, hovering near the ground at the Arrow's goal posts. The moment the whistle sounded, he flew like a bolt shot from a cross-bow. With his face against his broom-handle, he pushed his Firebolt for all it was worth.

The commentary continued, "It's DeSilva with the Quaffle… There goes Krum! He's spotted the Snitch for sure!"

The chasers continued to make their play toward the Puddlemere goal posts, but nobody was paying any attention to that.

"Krum takes a Bludger in the ribs that was meant for DeSilva but it doesn't seem to even slow him down! There goes Walsh, He's spotted it too. That Snitch is really close to the ground, folks. Krum and Walsh aren't letting up!"

With a visible grimace, Viktor wrenched his broom out of the dive, his toes scraping the grass surface as he leveled out at the last possible split second. Walsh wasn't quite so fortunate. But with the Snitch spotted, there were no time-outs. Sirius groaned as the Arrows Seeker made a rather large divot in the pitch.

"Walsh gets plowed! Too bad Arrows. There goes the Snitch. It's climbing and so is Krum! And it's all over fans! Viktor Krum has the Snitch! 160 to 10 for Puddlemere United!"

The time from the whistle to Viktor catching the Snitch had been less than five seconds. Medics were already flying out to the pitch to look after Walsh. Viktor's ribs were throbbing where that friendly-fire Bludger had struck him, but there was no feeling like catching the Snitch.

With the game over, Harry asked Ron if he could invite himself over to dinner. Ron said, "You don't even need to ask, mate. There's always a place at Mom's table for you."

Harry said, "I know she means it, Ron, but give her the heads-up for me, will you?"

Dumbledore escorted Susan and Harry back to the clubhouse fireplace. Once he said his good-byes, he took the floo back to his office at Hogwarts. Harry, finding himself alone with Susan for the moment said, "How about I get you back to your Auntie the fast way?"

Susan answered, "What? Are you in such a hurry to be rid of me?"

Harry kissed her firmly and said, "Not at all, my love. But, you are grounded and I don't want to give your Auntie any more excuses to be angry with either one of us. So, home you go."

She sulked briefly then said, "OK. Let's get out of here."

Taking her by the arm, he took her straight to the ward-line at Bones Manor.

A reprimand

That afternoon, Harry got the reprimand that he had coming. He had dinner with the Weasleys scheduled for that evening and the students were to return to Hogwarts the next day.

This time, it was Amelia's turn to have a talk with him. She strode out of the emerald flames in the fireplace of the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. Harry could see by the look on her face that this was not going to be a pleasant visit. In hopes of disarming her, he bowed and pretended to kiss her hand then invited her to sit in the parlor where he had Dobby bring them drinks.

Once Amelia was comfortable, she wasted no time getting down to business, "Harry, I know a lot of people have already told you so. I don't approve of your little adventure. I realize and agree that you both deserved sometime with each other but you are not supposed to just vanish without saying anything to anyone. We were all worried out of our wits. You may be the fiercest wizard alive at this moment but you are not entirely infallible. The Battle of Hogsmead showed us that all it takes to bring down someone is one lucky shot. We could have lost Susie that day because of one lucky shot. You can save one, two or ten at once but you are bound to miss one at some point and that one shot is all it takes."

Harry remembered that day well. He was too fully occupied to see that shot for himself, but when he learned that in spite of everything he had taught his fellow students that Susan had used her own body to block a spell that was meant for Daphne, he was livid. Ever since then, he had spent a half hour of every practice session drilling them on blocking spells for others without doing something that stupid ever again. Yes, Susan had nearly died that day and although she was trying to hide it, he knew that she hadn't been herself since that day. He was pretty clear that the healing had not gone as well as could be hoped. Harry came back from his wool gathering. He was never going to be the one to tell Amelia how Susan really got hurt.

Instead he earnestly said, "You deserve an apology from me for this little stunt, Auntie. We wanted to spend two days in peace away from everyone. We believed that if anyone knew our location, they would be intruding on our privacy. We didn't stop to imagine how it would affect those who love us. I promise that it won't happen again."

She couldn't stay mad at him when he apologized so sincerely to her about it. She smiled, "I am not angry Harry but only concerned. I know you are very able and you would defend her with your life if it came down to that."

As Amelia left, Harry sent a patronus to Moody to come and meet him. Moody walked out of the emerald flames of the kitchen fireplace about 10 minutes later. Walking brusquely up to him, he said, "What is the matter, lad? I was in the middle of a briefing."

"Master Auror, we need to sort out our strategies. I mean if the Order of the Snow Leopard has to fight alongside the Aurors then we need to know what our roles would be, who would be commanding them and where we will be assigned. It can't be done unless we know what you are planning at your end."

Moody muttered, "Children fighting wars. I don't suppose that there's any way to talk you out of that?"

Harry shook his head, "I'm not the one you have to convince. You know what they did at the Battle of Hogsmead."

Moody said, "I've read all the reports. And it's because of situations like that, where student's lives are in danger and we have no Aurors to defend them that we agreed to train your friends to fight. Now, you're talking about planning to put them in the line of fire? That's not what I signed up for."

Harry pointed out, "Those weren't just death eaters at Hogsmead. They were some kind of trained mercenaries, much more disciplined and battle hardened than your regular petty terrorists. And still, The Order of the Snow Leopard got the better of them. Besides, I know you don't have all the wands you need for the final battle and what's more, they are even more stubborn than I am."

Moody nodded, "You make a good salesman Harry. How about I come and see what they can do for myself. Then we can talk it over."

Harry smiled, "You can't say fairer than that, Master Auror. I'll set things up with my team for tomorrow evening. I'll send Dobby to bring you there about 7 if that works for you?"

The Auror nodded quickly, "That'll work."

Harry continued, "There is another issue of evacuation. Just as there are students who will insist on fighting, there are others who will not wish to fight or are simply too young to master the skills required to survive. And then, sadly, there are those who might try to undermine our efforts. They all have to be evacuated and moved to safe-houses or holding facilities until the battle is over. I have asked Sirius to find me at least 30 Safe houses where we can keep students. I will need about 60 competent wizards at those locations. I have already asked Mrs. Weasley, Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted to help us with that. Do you have any more ideas?"

Moody's forehead creased in concentration for a minute before he said, "You can ask Mr. O'Neil if people from his network would agree to help you. I will also assign 10 Aurors for those safe houses where trouble can be expected. For those who are intent on serving Tom's interests, we will portkey them to a secret location being used as a temporary prison. Is that satisfactory?"

Harry nodded, "Yes. That will do. Please take this plan back to the ministry for me."

Alastor continued to hold Harry's attention with his squinty natural eye while his bright-blue eye was looking down through the floor. He asked, "Is discussing all these details the only reason you called me here, Lad?"

Harry confessed, "Now that you mention it, Master Auror, I was just about to interrogate a certain werewolf I have kept imprisoned in the dungeon. Would you like to lend a hand?"

The Auror grinned in response.

Back to the castle

The next morning, Susan couldn't find her trunk anywhere in Bones Manor. When she asked her Aunt Amelia about it, she said that Harry had already sent Dobby to get it and took it to Hogwarts. She added that if Susan did not want to take the train, that Harry would be happy to receive her in the cottage on the hill in Hogsmead. Happy at her betrothed's thoughtfulness, she flooed to the cottage.

Amelia had agreed to keep the floo at Bones Manor on the network for the two days that Susan was there because she could not yet apparate. As soon as Amelia had seen her girl vanish through the emerald flames, she took the floo off the network. As it was, she was leaving the manor today. She had already prepared a quaint little cottage in the middle of nowhere to stay in until the war was over. In fact, Moody, the General with Alice and a few others from the ministry were staying in the same neighbourhood. It was sort of a community which was kept away from muggles and was unplottable which meant that the death eaters couldn't find them. This measure was taken to keep the leaders safe and close to each other. Sirius Black had also been offered a place but rejected it saying that living in Hogsmead put him close to his son, exactly where he needed to be.

A room with massive extension spells in the General's cottage had been turned into a command center where they could talk freely as opposed to the ministry where anyone could be listening in. Besides some decisions that they had to make could not be known to too many people. No one was saying anything but recently two Aurors had been taken captive. Severus had brought the info to them that they were with the death eaters and being tortured for information. Luckily for the ministry, they didn't break under the worst torture that the death eaters could mete out to them. It was another thing altogether that they didn't know any secrets at all. They were just new recruits who were sent to do their work in the field and not made part of any of the high powered or sensitive missions. This however had put them on alert and they had decided to advertise the fact that no one except a few of them knew any secrets worth knowing. That would afford the lower ranked Aurors and junior Ministry functionaries some protection against things like abduction or kidnapping. To avoid any sort of run-ins with death eaters or being taken hostage they were living in this secluded community. Outside of the ministry only Dumbledore and Vikram knew of its location. Vikram knew because the mystics had followed the ministry officials and knew exactly where they were living. Dumbledore knew because he was told about it. Harry was not yet told about it but the decision was made to tell him about this development as soon as it could be done.

Susan stepped out of the emerald flames at the cottage and found her boyfriend still sleeping. She thought that she could surprise him, but as she approached the bedroom door, there was a flash and the world suddenly turned upside-down. Her first thought was to draw her wand and get herself out of this bind, but instead of the sleeve of her robe where her wand was holstered, all she encountered was a continuous covering of bright-yellow feathers. She tried calling out to Harry next, but all that came out was incoherent squawking.

Harry woke up when his trap went off, but not fast enough to see who had set it off. Looking at Susan in her predicament, he nearly fell out of bed laughing. He said, "Wow, Sirius! You look really silly hanging upside-down like that. You look like some kind of cartoon bird from a kid's show."

Hanging upside-down or not, giant bird or not, Susan folded her wings and glared at Harry. That was when he realized his mistake, "Susan? Oh no! That trap was meant for Sirius. Hang on. I'll get you down."

A minute later, Susan was restored to her former self. Through the entire operation, she didn't say one word or alter her posture in the slightest degree, but continued to glare at Harry the entire time. With her mouth restored, she had her lips pressed together in a very McGonagall-like thin line and her face coloured more with every passing second. Harry apologized profusely the entire time and she was still unmoved.

Just when Harry thought he could stand it no longer, she doubled over in laughter. When she was able to speak again, she said, "Do you and Sirius do that sort of thing all the time?"

Harry shrugged, "Lately it has been more of a hobby than a full-time pursuit."

She broke down and laughed again, "I must have looked ridiculous. I can just picture it."

Harry said sincerely, "I like the way you look now much better." He pulled her in and greeted her properly.

She pulled away, feigning panic and said, "Harry, we don't have time for this. The morning is nearly gone. If we don't hurry, we'll miss the train."

Harry pulled her close to him and kissed her fully on the lips, "My love, I am not going to suffer through 4 hours of train ride just to come back here. We will walk back to the castle about an hour before the train rolls into the station. Later today, we are going to have a big meeting in the headquarters of the Order."

They spent the rest of the day going through the village, visiting the inn and having a fun time in general until it was about an hour before the train was due to arrive. They could hear the distant train whistle as they approached the great gates of the castle, hand-in-hand and carefree.

As Filch spotted them approaching the gates, he came shuffling forward wielding a secrecy sensor in one hand and a darkness probe in the other. The intense grimace on his face clearly indicated that he was looking forward to jabbing the hapless students mercilessly with the probes.

With a single glance, Harry managed to communicate what was going to happen if Filch tried it, "Hello, Mr. Filch. How were your holidays?"

As Filch carefully ran the probes over the couple, he muttered, "What holidays. I spent the entire time cleaning up after you brats."

Pretending that the old caretaker had just told Harry about taking a few days with the librarian on the beach in Cornwall, Harry said, "That's nice. I'll be sure to tell the Headmaster what a good job you're doing on security the next time I talk to him."

It wasn't lost on Filch that this fifth-year boy had a better relationship with the Headmaster than he did after a lifetime of service. Scowling he waved them on saying, "Go on in. I have better things to do than stand around jawing with you all day."

Harry dropped Susan off at the barrels before he headed up to his own dormitory.