Christmas started with a dullness to it that Harry hadn't experienced before. His employees were all gone for the holidays, and his friends were all busy participating in their own celebrations or just living life. So he was left alone in his manor, with only a handful of people left in the offices to the east. This suddenly change at around noon, when he received a pleasant surprise from his Quickware. Someone was exiting the hyperloop station using one of the special codes belonging to his closest friends. When he tapped into the video footage, Harry was met by a woman he recognized instantly. Charlotte.

In the years since they'd met, she had grown quite a lot. Now twenty-two, she was a woman of science and adventure. She'd grown significantly. She was taller, her hair longer, and she seemed in very good shape. Her hair - which she had thinned out significantly - was loose, reaching her lower back. Her hazel eyes were covered by a pair of thin glasses. She was wearing a black, long-sleeved top with a low neckline matched with a pair of dark blue jeans. She had become quite beautiful in her adulthood.

Getting to his feet, Harry stepped onto his close. His clothes morphed from his bedwear to a simple black t-shirt along with a pair of jeans. With the turn of his heel, he was at the front doors of the Hyperloop Station. Almost as soon as he arrived, the doors to the station opened to reveal Charlotte herself, in the flesh. Her gaze fell on him and her mouth broke into a smile. She dropped her bags, sprinting forward until she slammed into Harry, who caught her in a spin as the two embraced for the first time in nearly eight months.

Laughing aloud, Harry set Charlotte down, taking a moment to appreciate the smell of raspberry and vanilla coming from her hair. The two reluctantly separated, both wearing matching grins at the sudden reunion. Harry took a moment to take in her appearance once again, before speaking. "What are you doing here? I thought you would have gone back home,"

"I did. I stayed at the Manor for a couple of weeks and decided to spend Christmas here. With you," Charlotte replied. The two moved away from the station, taking a stroll down the left path that would lead them around the north side of the Black Lake as well as take them near the Forbidden Forest. Charlotte looped her arm around his, drawing Harry closer. "So what have you been up to recently? I haven't seen you in what feels like forever,"

"Nearly eight months," Harry recalled. "I've been busier than usual. Project E is taking more time than usual. The new Headquarters. The parks. And now we have the schools being built. It's a lot,"

"It sounds like it," said Charlotte. "I've been busy with school, but guess what?" Reaching into her bag, Charlotte removed a small, framed piece of paper. It was a certificate. No. A PhD. She'd done it. Harry pulled her into another hug, feeling the weight of this in his chest. She was done with college. And he knew what this meant. They continued their walk. "I graduated earlier than normal, I admit. But the extra work was worth it,"

"This is amazing! You did it in what...five years? Five and a half?"

"Five and a half. Three semesters early,"

"That's fantastic," Harry replied. They neared the curve leading around the lake. "So. Now that you've got it. I suppose you're looking for a job," Charlotte turned to look at him, her eyes fixed on his features as he continued. "Vickers has had his hands full recently with the medical side of things. Mostly something called Project Beta, so not much work has been done on the genetic side of things. So if you're interested, there's a -"

"Yes,"

Harry stopped. "Wait...what?"

"I said yes,"

"Really? Are you sure? Cause it's a big ask. You would be the head of your own department. You'd have people working under you. Lots of responsibilities," Harry explained.

"Do you want me to say no?"

"No, I just want you to be certain. It's a huge decision,"

"And I've made it. Yes," Charlotte answered once more. "It's a chance to put this thing to the test, and it's a chance to spend more time with you. My first alien friend," Harry let out a chuckle at that. Technically he was an alien. He wasn't of this universe and he had landed on the planet in an unidentified object. "Besides. I've got nothing waiting for me at home. Sure, Dad's there, but he'll always be there. Iris too. My friends have all moved away and, honestly, California is kind of boring right now,"

"Well, you're more than happy to stay here. There's more than enough room,"

"I appreciate that," Charlotte replied as the two stepped up to the Forbidden Forest. Harry led her past the treeline, stepping over roots and vines until they reached a clearing. There, they were met by several magical creatures mingling together in the sunlight. A Thunderbird was seated up on a nearby tree, watching them from above. A group of Centaurs were talking in one of the corners while a family of Hippogriffs sat in another. Charlotte removed her arm from his, stepping forward as she was faced with her first meeting with these creatures in almost five years. "They're as beautiful as I remember,"

"They've grown too. They've spread beyond the estate. Centaurs are now outside of London. Acromantula sightings were reported in Ireland. Some Thunderbirds have migrated to America. Soon they'll be all over the world," Harry explained. "Do you want to ride a Hippogriff?"

"Hell yes,"

The Hippogriff ride was just as amazing as Harry remembered from his first ride during his third year. Both Harry and Charlotte stepped into the castle, moving through the structure before passing into the covered bridge that Harry remembered well. They eventually reached the offices, entering to find it completely deserted. Katherine must have been in her office. Alyssa was most likely doing inventory in the warehouses downstairs. And Wilks was probably off brooding somewhere, trying his best to come up with new international defense strategies. He led Charlotte into the main laboratory, where he stood next to the large holotable at the center.

"As the Head of the Genetic Sciences division, you'll be in charge of all genomic research done within this facility. You'll be working alongside Aaron Vickers, the head of the Medical Sciences division. Together, you'll continue his work in genetic engineering to discover secrets beyond anyone's belief," Harry pulled up the names of a few projects they were working on. "Designer babies. Supersoldiers. Surgical androids. Truth serum. Genomic cloning. Artificial limb. Natural camouflage. That sort of thing,"

Charlotte took a step forward, taking a moment to examine the names hovering over the display. "You're working on some pretty advanced stuff here. My professors doubted we would crack the code to cloning within the next two hundred years,"

"More like five years. Aaron is very close. With your help, these projects could be completed before the next century is up," Harry replied. "You'll mostly be helping Aaron with his current genetics projects, but once you're done with those or you've found time for more stuff, you can add more to your agenda. You're just going to have to speak with Kat first to make sure it's within our range, budget, and interest,"

"You have a budget?"

"Well, we can't let people think we have just an unlimited source of income now, can we? Our research budget a year stands at four billion. And with the number of products we've been selling, everyone believes it,"

"I suppose that makes sense," Charlotte whispered, taking over the holotable as she began to flick through projects in development as well as projects still in the planning phases. You have entire starships in development? I thought they were lying about that on the news,"

"Nope. It's all true. We have massive construction outposts in orbit that will be operational within the next year. We'll have the entire solar system colonized hopefully by 2010. That's the goal anyway,"

"And you're really doing it," she whispered, opening up the volunteer sheet for anyone wishing to become a colonizer. There were already seventy million signatures recorded, with over two million embryos waiting to be implanted for children to be born specifically for colonizing far-out solar systems. The seventy million volunteers were good enough for colonizing Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, but it would leave Ceres uninhabited until they could get more volunteers, which was one of the main reasons why they were pursuing designer babies. If they couldn't get the volunteers they needed, then they could just create them. "Is Dr. Graves here?" Charlotte asked, pulling Harry's focus away from the display.

"She is, yes. She decided not to go home this Christmas. Her family still isn't happy with her dropping her studies to come work with me here,"

"She dropped out of school?"

"Her fourth year. 1988. While she eventually finished it last year, her parents weren't too fond of the idea of her dropping everything to go to some isolated research facility in the middle of Scotland. But she was determined to do something good for the world, and so she came to work for me," Harry explained, taking Charlotte's hand before leading her out of the main laboratory. They moved through the facility, entering an elevator that took them down to sub-level 10. There, they were met with the restricted Headquarters. There, the Heads of each division could come together in private to discuss anything that might need to be discussed. Their offices were also there, being easily accessible to the rest of the staff.

They arrived at Katherine's office near the elevators, stopping at the door. Before they could even knock, a voice echoed through the door. "Come in!" Harry smiled. The sensors were working wonders. Opening the door, they were met with a very spacious office. Her desk was situated in the center of the room, sitting in front of a massive window overlooking the warehouses below. A door to the left led to Katherine's private quarters along with her own bathroom. A door to the right led into another room holding Katherine's physical book collection. Katherine herself was in the corner of the room, cycling on a fitness bike as she took a drink of water.

Her red hair was loose now, hanging over her shoulders as sweat continued to build on her brow. She was wearing a blue sports bra and black workout leggings. The outfit was the complete opposite of what Harry was used to seeing her in. While normally she wore more baggy clothing alongside her lab coat, her current attire showed off her entire body, which Harry could admit he found very appealing. Shaking himself at that realization, Harry locked eyes with Katherine, who slowed her cycling down to the point that she could safely jump off. "Katherine. This is Charlotte Lockwood. Charlotte. Katherine Graves,"

"I've heard so much about you," said Charlotte as she extended a hand.

Katherine exchanged an amused look with Harry, who chuckled lightly as the two shook hands. "That's funny. I can say the same about you. Though I hope you've only heard good things,"

"Only the best. Harry thinks very highly of you,"

Katherine's wicked smile grew wider, turning to Harry once more as he rolled his eyes. "Oh?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're both great. Now, for the main reason why we're here. Charlotte is officially joining the team," At this, Katherine's bright smile disappeared, replaced by a disbelieving look. "We've already talked it through. She'll be leading the Genetics Division, taking over anything related to genetics that she can from Aaron. She's ready,"

Katherine cleared her throat, clearly surprised by the news. She reached forward to shake hands with Charlotte once more, who was smiling from ear to ear. "Well then, I'll make sure to let everyone know. Welcome to the team,"

The rest of the Potter Estate team welcomed Charlotte with mixed reactions. Most of the staff were excited by the addition, but some were worried. Many saw the connection between Harry and Charlotte and were worried that their quick progress would slow to a stop the more time they spent together. In the two weeks, since she was hired, Charlotte spent most of her time getting up to speed on everything InGen had been doing in the past five years. She took on a quarter of Dr. Vicker's team while hiring the rest of her staff, doing her best to construct her team with people she trusted and could rely on.

Harry himself was quite happy with Charlotte joining the team. Not only did it take a substantial amount of weight off of Vickers' shoulders, but Harry was just as happy to have her so close. He had only seen her a handful of times since the retreat that had taken place in the late months of '87. The two spent a lot of time reconnecting, with Charlotte going over her time at college in San Francisco. She'd had a boyfriend for half her time in college, but the two had broken up after two years. Her friends were all majoring in art and engineering, though Charlotte confessed that she hadn't spoken to them much in the past year.

But despite everyone's worries, Harry's progress in terms of creativity and ideas was not in any way hindered by Charlotte's presence. If anything, Harry found himself excelling more when she was around than when she wasn't. He - like any individual with several ideas - needed someone with a similar mindset to bounce ideas off of to achieve something great. And while he had previously had that connection with Katherine, she was too focused on the technical aspects of things and whether or not it was possible, that Harry found it difficult to explain things the way he envisioned them.

With Charlotte though, Harry was free to explain to his heart's content, intent on the fact that Charlotte understood what he was saying and what he was planning. She had known him in his most vulnerable moments and knew for a fact that he could do anything he set his mind to. So when the two discussed a project, there was no questioning if it could be done, but how. They spent hours going over plans, scrapping some while improving on others. But the most important change was the location of the new InGen Headquarters.

Silicon Valley was a nice idea in perspective, but Harry soon realized that the most important change of them all was the relocation of the new InGen Headquarters from Silicon Valley to New York City. The decision stemmed from the fact that New York City served as a major hub between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres, and was one of the most famous cities in the world. So what was currently constructed in California would be packed up and moved to New York City where construction would continue for the next few years. It wasn't until the New Years party that things changed drastically.

Harry sat in the corner of the main recreation room, watching the events of the party unfold with a smile. His focus was mainly on the center stage, or more particularly Charlotte Lockwood. She was wearing a dark blue, tight, long dress that matched well with her eyes. Her hair which had once been tied back into a bun was now loose, flying wildly as she jumped to the music. In front of her was Charlotte, whose bright red dress contrasted Charlotte's perfectly. They were dancing alongside the rest of the employees, who were celebrating the start of the new year.

Everyone was present except for Vickers, who was still busy working on his Project Beta. Harry, who wasn't in the mood to dance or mingle with the others, decided to take a walk and see just what Vickers was up to. He hadn't seen much information regarding Project Beta besides the idea that it would be used as a genomic medicine designed to cure any disease on the planet. Harry, ever the skeptic, was hesitant to greenlight the project but was otherwise convinced thanks to Vickers' plans for the project.

Harry reached Vickers' office and was met with the sound of a loud crash. The door slid open to reveal Aaron Vickers leaning against his office's central holotable, a pile of broken glass and papers covering the floor to his right. Harry focused on the holotable, which was displaying multiple images alongside several paragraphs of information Harry couldn't quite make out. The images consisted of a vial of green liquid, a male volunteer, and a turned-over bus with a timestamp indicating the accident had just happened. "What happened?"

Vicker's spun around, his eyes wet with tears as his body shook from head to toe. He fell to his knees, raising his hands towards Harry in sorrow. "I'm so sorry. I-I-I...I never meant for this to happen. It was meant to be secure. It was meant to be safe. But they got out. They got out, Harry. They're out," Harry took in his words and turned back to the hologram in alarm. He stepped closer, examining the words in detail.

Project Beta: Created by InGen under the supervision of Dr. Aaron Vickers, Project Beta will utilize genetic engineering to create a microscopic organism named Verfaim. The Verfaim will 'scan' the patient's DNA and RNA and create the perfect DNA sequence, killing all illnesses or imperfections present within the patient. While this kind of genetic engineering is still in its infancy, Dr. Vickers is confident in its success.

Lab Report #19: Project Beta has successfully been injected into Test Subjects #1-#9. While the subjects appeared otherwise unaffected in the first two hours, they soon began to experience symptoms otherwise unseen in our non-human test subjects. Subjects #1 and #3 suffered from nausea and vomiting before passing away from symptoms after five hours. Subjects #2, #4, and #8 suffered from severe cirrhosis, passing away from symptoms in just forty-five minutes. Subjects #5-#7 and #9 have survived the trial, but have entered a comatose state. Transfer to the nearest local medical facility has been approved.

Lab Report #24: Project Beta test number two took place on December 11th, 1992. Subjects #10-#29 were all injected with similar samples of Project Beta at 10:22 am. Subjects #11, #15, #17, #21, and #27 all suffered from symptoms similar to cirrhosis. However, unlike the subjects that previously suffered from cirrhosis, these subjects suffered from added symptoms. Their fingernails and gums turned necrotic just one hour after injection and began to bleed after an hour and thirty-six minutes. After two hours, the subjects became jaundiced, their skin turning grey after six hours. The subjects were forced into a comatose state before being transferred to a secure facility.

Lab Report #31: Project Beta test number three took place on December 29th, 1992. Subjects #30-#49 were all injected with similar samples of Project Beta at 4:14 pm. Unlike the previous variations of Project Beta, this sample held the same effect on each test subject. All twenty test subjects suffered from jaundice, necrotic fingernails and gums, bleeding fingernails and gums, and protruding, bloodshot eyes after just one hour. The subjects became aggressive, attacking the medical staff as well as security. All twenty subjects were sedated and will be moved into a secure facility when the transport arrives.

Notes from Doctor Morgan Michaels: After three tests involving fifty volunteers, it is my professional opinion that Project Beta be shut down as soon as possible. Subjects #30-#49 all suffered from 'zombie-like' symptoms that horrified every employee present during the tests, including myself. Three of my employees were severely injured during the testing, with each gaining similar symptoms to those injected. Seventeen of my finest doctors and security detail resigned just hours after the incident, with six others handing in their notices. My team is stretched thin as it is, but zombies are at a whole new level that we're not ready to handle. What if they were to get loose? How would the world be affected if just a single one of these volunteers got onto the street? Let alone all twenty.

Harry's hands curled into fists as he took in what he was reading. The bus he had seen before had been the transport taking the third set of test subjects to a secure warehouse where they would be held and examined. The bus had crashed by unknown means, and all twenty subjects as well as the three injured employees accompanying them had escaped. Zombies. That was what Dr. Michaels had compared them to. Zombies are capable of transferring Project Beta with a single scratch or bite.

Luckily for Harry and the world, the testing had occurred on an island to the west of Africa, but anything could happen. One of the volunteers could stumble onto a plane, contaminate the water supply, bite into a fish, or even find a way to swim sixty miles back to the mainland. If any of those things happened, Africa would be ground zero in a worldwide apocalypse. Harry had to think fast. With the support of the United Nations, he had a selection of soldiers from each military in the UN to draw from in desperate situations. With enough speed, he could get a small army down to the island to investigate and ensure the volunteers be returned to InGen custody.

"This wasn't supposed to happen, Harry. I swear it. It was supposed to save lives," Vickers explained.

Harry took a deep breath, resisting the urge to send the man into the wall in anger. "Aaron. Just...not now. Call everyone. Tell them to cancel the project and destroy any samples of the virus still viable. I'll contact the UN and send enough troops to round up the volunteers and ensure the virus doesn't spread back to the mainland. Once that's done, we're going to have a serious talk about your dishonesty regarding this project,"

"I-" Vickers lowered his head in defeat. "Yes, sir," He got to his feet, still shaking, and stepped out of the office. He nearly tripped over Katherine and Charlotte, who were both attempting to enter the office.

Katherine spoke first, her eyes flicking between "What's going on?"

Harry sighed. "We've got a situation," He led them out of the room, walking alongside them down to his private office. Harry quickly logged onto his holo terminal and opened up a file with the name 'Project Babel'. "Vickers got himself into a dangerous practice, and now there are zombies loose in La Palma west of Africa. I've just sent a message to my contacts with the UN to put together a task force to detain them. Until then, I'm putting Project Babel into effect,"

"Already?"

"The virus can spread through a bite or scratch and takes hold in just an hour. If this gets loose into civilization, then we could be looking at a global pandemic. We need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Harry explained as he opened the file. Inside were several contingency plans designed to prevent a global catastrophe. Despite InGen's power in the world, there wasn't any way to execute most of the plans inside the file without breaking hundreds of laws. So he needed to find a way to make his plans come to fruition without screwing himself and the company. "We've got enough room in our operational stations in orbit to fit over sixty million people, but even then we won't have the food and supplies to help them all,"

"So we need to alert everyone. Make sure everyone's prepared," said Charlotte.

Katherine shook her head. "We can't. If we release something like this to governments, then they'll just cover it up. They don't want a public outcry. So we need to keep to the background here. Do what we can to prepare for when shit hits the fan,"

"So we sit back and let millions of people die just to save everyone later?"

"Unfortunately. Governments don't have a good policy of creating change before disastrous events," Harry replied. "So if the containment unit fails, we won't be able to gain enough power to make a move until after the governments of the world have all failed in stopping the outbreak. Hundreds of millions will die. If not billions," Silence permeated through the room as they took that fact in. Here Harry was planning the colonization of the inner solar system, and in the midst of that, a zombie apocalypse could be on the horizon. Fear began to settle in his bones as he thought of the possible outcome. Harry weighed his options.

One; go to the United Nations and request emergency powers in the face of an imminent threat. One-A; If the UN agreed, Harry could gather a large enough force to wipe out a zombie invasion before it spread too far, as well as develop and release a vaccine. One-B; If the UN disagreed, then Harry would be forced to gather his own much smaller militia to fight against the apocalypse, having much fewer resources to fight against the potential outbreak.

Two; strike a deal with dozens of nations worldwide to separate from the United Nations, ensuring that every nation could rely on each other despite borders or alliances. Two-A; if the nations all agreed, then Harry could pull resources from each nation to complete a vaccine and ensure the outbreak is stopped. Two-B; if the nations disagreed, then Harry would be forced to handle the outbreak through the resources available at InGen.

Three; use his power to conquer the entire planet, ensuring he could successfully stop the apocalypse without the intervention of the United Nations or any underlying nations.

Harry decided to immediately strike option three off the table, instead placing option one at the top of his list. He would go to the United Nations and call for an emergency meeting. They already knew of his magical abilities and could be swayed by his reputation to allow him emergency power. After all, Harry didn't trust the governments of the world to make the right choices in the face of an apocalypse. He had seen that for himself with the Ministry of Magic. He would go to the United Nations tomorrow. With an outbreak imminent, time could not be wasted.

A/N: Don't worry, this story won't immediately become a zombie story. It will eventually, but not for a little while. The development of Jurassic Park will continue and the universe will not feel the effects of Project Beta for some time.