Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all recognizable characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
AN: I went back and made some changes in the last scene of chapter seven. Mostly I just cut Snape out of that private order meeting.
AN: As for the KFC scene in the last chapter, I am just going cut my losses. I doubt Harry and Tonks will visit that restaurant anymore in this story. Just pretend they were eating chips and beans as sides I guess.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 2/24/1996, 08:29
Harry took his seat at the Gryffindor table noticing that quite a few teachers were missing from the head table this morning.
Harry began fixing himself breakfast as he glanced over at the Ravenclaw table, noticing the chatter going over there. He wondered how long it would take for someone to realize that the six Ravenclaw girls were stranded on that island in the lake. It had snowed all night last night and Harry suspected that they had a miserable time of it.
"Potter, I haven't seen you much lately," Ginny said as she took a seat across from him.
"Been a bit busy lately," Harry shrugged.
That wasn't exactly a lie, since he and Tonks had shared their first kiss things had changed a lot between them. They still went about their normal routine for training but neither one of them had slept in their own dormitory since that night. They hadn't pushed things very much physically, though they did share quite a few kisses and were starting to get comfortable with this new dynamic in their relationship. Harry was already trying to plan out another date when they went home for Easter and was hoping to surprise her.
"The gossip around the tower is that you've started hosting orgies," Ginny said, sounding highly amused.
"I swear the rumour mill needs to be shut down," Harry snorted.
"Well if you have an opening let me know, me and Michael just broke things off," Ginny said casually.
"What happened?" Harry asked curiously.
"He couldn't stand that I'm better than him at quidditch," Ginny shrugged.
"Well you are decent," Harry conceded.
"I am world-class," Ginny corrected.
"Maybe as a chaser but I could still spank you as a seeker anytime," Harry said confidently.
"I like to see you spank, me," Ginny snorted.
"Who are you spanking, Potter?" A familiar voice asked from right behind him.
"Me, he says he would easily spank me as seeker," Ginny said, shooting Wendy a curious look.
"Oh, that's alright then," Wendy said before she wandered over to the Hufflepuff table without another word.
"What was that about?" Ginny asked in confusion.
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Hermione sniffed as she took a seat beside Ginny.
"You know one of these days you're going to wait until someone actually asks you for your opinion," Harry said, shooting Hermione an exasperated look.
"Maybe but until that day you will get my opinion whether you want it or not," Hermione shot back.
"I encourage your opinion, Hermione," Ginny said happily.
"I don't," Harry grumbled.
"Tough," Hermione shrugged.
"So what was that about?" Ginny demanded.
"She and Harry have something going on and she was making sure nothing untoward was happening between you and Harry," Hermione said as if it were obvious.
"Well damn," Ginny muttered, shooting Harry a look of annoyance.
"Huh?" Harry asked in confusion.
"I was going to ask you out for this weekend," Ginny said matter-of-factly.
"Oh," Harry said uncomfortably.
"But he can't go with you because he's seeing Wendy McDonald," Hermione said, her eyes focused on Harry as if daring him to contradict her.
Harry stared at Hermione, her smug smile infuriating him to no end. She had him in a trap and she knew it. Harry couldn't very well deny he was seeing Wendy as it would just encourage Ginny and he didn't want to upset Tonks by denying it anyway. On the other hand, if he had admitted to dating Wendy, the whole school would know about it by lunch due to the infernal busybodies of the rumour mill.
"I am seeing Wendy, happy?" Harry said, feeling his annoyance spike as Hermione's grin widened.
"I'm not unhappy," Hermione said as she sipped her morning coffee.
"So how long has that been going on, then?" Ginny asked, looking slightly put out.
"Since the weekend after Valentine's Day," Harry sighed.
"They snuck away to London together," Hermione added helpfully.
"Don't you have someone else to annoy?" Harry sighed.
"No, my schedule is clear until after lunch," Hermione assured him.
"I really don't like you sometimes," Harry muttered.
"That hurts, Harry," Hermione said in faux sadness.
"You two are worse than me and Ron," Ginny snorted.
"She's a pest," Harry shrugged, shooting a smirking Hermione another look of annoyance.
"What did you two do in London," Ginny demanded.
"We saw a movie and then had dinner at a fast-food restaurant," Harry shrugged.
"Oh, that sounds like... fun," Ginny said looking upset for some reason.
"What happened to them?" Hermione exclaimed as she looked towards the entrance of the hall.
Harry turned in his seat and couldn't fight a grin as he looked towards the door. There were six soaking-wet Ravenclaw girls entering the hall, they were shivering violently and dressed in simple white nightgowns, and none of them had shoes on.
"It looks like they went swimming," Harry said trying not to laugh as the teachers converged on the group of girls.
"Why do I have a feeling this has something to do with you?" Hermione asked as she watched Madam Pomfrey herding the girls out of the hall.
"They kept locking Luna out of her common room so I may have decided to give them a taste of their own medicine," Harry beamed.
"What did you do?" Ginny asked in interest.
"I arranged for them to spend a night out on that island in the middle of the black lake," Harry smirked.
"Good, Luna's had a hard enough life, she doesn't need to be bullied by her own housemates," Ginny said, giving him an approving smile.
"She kind of grows on you... like a fungus," Harry said as he glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and saw Luna eating by herself.
"I noticed," Hermione smirked, causing Harry to blush.
"You're in some kind of mood today, Granger," Harry scowled.
"She snogged Terry Boot last night on her prefect patrol," Ginny said in a casual tone, causing Hermione to sputter into her coffee.
"Ginny!" Hermione hissed in embarrassment, her cheeks now a bright pink colour.
"What, he's a good-looking bloke," Ginny shrugged.
"I wonder if he gave her... the boot?" Harry said thoughtfully.
"Now Harry, don't put the boot in, she's flustered enough," Ginny giggled.
"Alright enough of the boot puns," Hermione growled.
"Turnabout is fair play, Hermione so how long has this been going on?" Harry asked, quite pleased to have Hermione under the microscope.
"Since Valentines Day," Hermione admitted, shooting Ginny a betrayed look.
"Morning you lot," Ron beamed, looking to be in an exceptionally good mood this morning.
"Morning mate," Harry said.
"So what's new?" Ron asked as he began serving himself a plate of bacon and eggs.
"Harry's dating McDonald and Hermione snogged Terry Boot last night," Ginny said shooting them both a teasing grin.
"And your sister got dumped," Harry added, wiping the grin off of her face.
"I'll have you know that I dumped him," Ginny huffed.
"This day just gets better and better, my sister is single and hopefully Boot dislodged that stick up Hermione'-
"Ronald," Hermione said warningly.
"So what's up with you?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh at what Ron was going to say.
"I just saw half a dozen girls walking around in transparent nightgowns," Ron beamed.
"Figures," Hermione snorted.
"They were sopping wet, it looked like they had just gone swimming," Ron continued.
"They did, where is Lavender at?" Ginny asked, rolling her eyes at her brother's one-track mind.
"Her and Parvati are borrowing that room to have a spa day before lunch," Ron shrugged.
"Oh I am definitely going to go join them," Hermione said sounding more girly than Harry had ever heard her.
"What's a spa?" Ginny asked blankly.
"Come on, I'll show you," Hermione said as she got up and pulled Ginny to her feet.
Harry watched the two girls leave and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank god, I hope Lavender doesn't get too mad about those two crashing their spa time," Harry said as he refilled his tea.
"Lavender and I split up, I have no idea where she's at. I just said that to get rid of those two," Ron smirked.
"Well I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work out," Harry said sympathetically.
"Don't be, it wasn't a messy breakup or anything. She was actually pretty cool about it," Ron shrugged.
"Well thanks for getting rid of Hermione, she's been a real pain this morning," Harry said.
"Yeah, sometimes it's nice to just hang out with blokes," Ron agreed.
"So are you lot ready for the game next week?" Harry asked.
As Ron began listing off his thoughts on the upcoming match, Harry glanced over at the Hufflepuff table and made eye contact with Tonks. She gave him a soft smile before going back to her breakfast. Harry would have to give her a heads-up that he had told Hermione about their relationship or more accurately, he had told Hermione that he was dating Wendy McDonald.
"Just make sure somebody gives Smith hell," Harry said when Ron finished talking.
"Fred and George already have plans for that," Ron assured him.
"Good, as annoying as he was in the D.A, he's due for a good thrashing," Harry beamed.
"Want to go set up a snowball fight before lunch?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Alright but don't tucker yourself out we are doing an important lesson n the D.A," Harry said as the two of them got up.
"The werewolf spell?" Ron asked.
"Yep, Hermione wants me to give you lot the basics of the spell," Harry shrugged as they headed towards the dorms.
"A fat lot of good it'll do. I've heard of that spell and dad says it is dreadfully difficult to pull off," Ron snorted.
"It's better than nothing, now put the word out about the snowball fight.
"I will, grab my coat while you're in the dorm," Ron asked as they made it to the Fat Lady's portrait
"Alright but we had better hurry before Hermione and Ginny track us down," Harry warned as they stepped into the common room.
"Gotcha," Ron nodded as he started wandering through the common room inviting others to join the snowball fight while Harry ran up to the dorm.
Harry was looking forward to cutting loose a bit, he quickly grabbed his and Ron's coat and gloves and hurried downstairs hoping Ron was ready to go before the girls caught up with them.
Room of Requirements, Hogwarts, 2/28/1996, 18:38
Harry stepped into the room to hear a series of deafening bangs and had to shake his head to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Tonks was off to ne side of the room and she was firing a gun at a series of target dummies that would pop out of holes in the floor.
Tonight she was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a tight-fitting tee that showed off hints of her toned stomach where it rode up at the bottom. She had on a set of clear safety glasses and a big fluffy pink pair of earmuffs lime sprout worn when they were doing mandrakes in his second year.
Harry just watched her for a minute, everytime she pulled the trigger there was a loud bang as a flash of fire would come out of the barrel before. A small hole would appear on the chest of one of the dummies.
Harry snorted when he got a good look at the dummies, tbe all resembled old movie-style werewolves, looking almost human-like with hair on their faces, long fangs, and exaggerated pointed ears.
Harry dropped his school bag and shucked off his outer robes as she continued to fire at the werewolf dummies, keeping his distance so as not to distract her.
Harry waited until Tonks stopped firing before he stepped up beside her, noticing the odd firework smell that lingered in the air.
"Wotcher," Tonks beamed as she took off her earmuffs.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he studied the gun in her hand curiously.
"The auror corp is issuing all aurors a sidearm loaded with silver hollowpoints, I got this from Shack last night at the order meeting," Tonks said as she offered him the pistol.
"What is it?" Harry asked as he accepted the pistol noticing that most of the lower half of the gun was made of black plastic.
"A Glock nine millimetre, want to try it out?" Tonks asked with a grin.
"Okay," Harry said as he read the number nineteen stamped into the side of the metal part of the gun that had a decidely square shap to it.
"Shack gave me a few hundred rounds of ball ammo to practice with, I haven't shot one of these since that workshop at the academy," Tonks explained as she grabbed a fresh magazine off of the table in front of her and offered it to him.
"You know I have no idea how this thing works," Harry snorted.
"I guess I was getting a bit ahead of myself. Alright, I'll step you through this," Tonks grinned as she took the pistol back from him.
Harry paid close attention as she showed him how the gun functioned. After he had that down, she had him put on a pair of earmuffs and a set of goggles, then gave him the thumbs up.
Harry slid a loaded magazine into the butt of the pistol until it locked into place before he pulled the slide, racking a round into the chamber.
As soon as there was a round in the chamber, a dummy appeared about fifty feet in front of him. Harry did a double take as he stared at the target dummy in horror. The dummy vaguely resembled a cartoonish version of Voldemort wearing a frilly pink dress at batted its luminous red eyes at him, making him visibly shudder.
Harry hastily fired his first shot but it was way right, the room had created a sort of transparent backstop to catch stray bullets. The backdrop was similar in appearance to a protego shield and it rippled when a bullet struck it before the bullet fell to the floor.
Harry's next shot grazed the dummy's shoulder and the dummy flinched before it moved a bit closer and reached its arms out as if it wanted a hug.
Harry started firing faster, not wanting that creepy dummy anywhere near him. He soon got the hang of aiming but still missed more than he hit. After the last round was fired the dummy mercifully disappeared.
Harry turned to look over at Tonks who was also wearing earmuffs, she looked like she found the situation hilarious if the mischievous grin on her lips was anything to go by.
"You definitely aren't a marksman, how did you like the target?" Tonks asked after he took off they had both taken off their earmuffs.
"That was bloody horrifying! If I ever saw Voldemort dressed like that, I'd be more likely to turn the gun on myself," Harry exclaimed.
"Well not to worry, these are only for werewolves though I imagine they would work pretty well on death eaters," Tonks said thoughtfully.
Harry looked at the table and saw the mag that was loaded with silver bullets. The bullet he could see seemed to shimmer in the candlelight, its surface having a mirror-like sheen to it.
"I only have fifteen of those, the bullets are quite pricey," Tonks said when she saw where he was looking.
"Oh, so what are we doing today?" Harry asked curiously.
"We're going to finish shooting the rest of my practice ammo and then we're going to snog on the couch," Tonks said before leaning in and capturing his lips in a soft kiss.
"Can we skip to that last part?" Harry asked breathly when Tonks broke the kiss.
"No, I need to be in good form in case of a werewolf invasion," Tonks smirked as she began reloading the magazine.
"Alright, I want another crack at Voldy in a tutu," Harry sighed, hoping he could do better than last time.
An hour later they had exhausted her supply of practice ammo and Harry was certain that he would be much more effective with a wand. Tonks was actually pretty good and had hit more times than she missed while shooting at the wolfman target.
"Well that's that, I hope I never have to try and use this on a real werewolf," Tonks said as she slipped the pistol that was now loaded with silver bullets into her school bag.
"I hope you never run into a werewolf period," Harry countered.
"Me either, so how did your class take to that silver arrow spell?" Tonks asked as the room reformed into the usual common room configuration.
"Well they got the mechanics of the spell down easily enough but not many of them could cast it accurately," Harry admitted as they both got comfortable on the couch.
"I'm not surprised, few people have cast that spell at a werewolf and lived to talk about it. That's why the ministry issued pistols with silver bullets in the first place," Tonks said as she snuggled into his side.
"So what happened at the order meeting last night?" Harry asked.
"Nothing, nobody had anything useful to report. They just set up a guard rotation in Disgon Alley for the full moon," Tonks shrugged.
"Why Diagon Alley?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore has a hunch that the alley will be attacked soon," Tonks said.
"I hope he's wrong, those bastards already destroyed Hogsmeade," Harry scowled.
"Same here," Tonk agreed
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know what's up with Hagrid would you?" Harry asked remembering something he had been meaning to ask her about for a while.
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked.
"Hagrid came back from his mission a few weeks ago, his face was beat to hell and he's not healing. Every so often he shows up to class with new injuries and he won't tell us anything," Harry explained.
"I can't say," Tonks said regretfully.
"But you know," Harry pressed.
"I do but it's not my secret to tell," Tonks shrugged.
"Fair enough," Harry sighed.
"So what's the deal with Ginny Weasley?" Tonks asked a bit too casually.
"Nothing, we're just friends," Harry assured her.
"It looked like you two were awful close the other day," Tonks pointed out.
"We were just talking trash," Harry said a bit surprised at the look she was giving him.
"That's it?" Tonks asked suspiciously.
"Well she knows that we're seeing each other but that's mostly due to Hermione being nosy," Harry admitted.
"Well as long as she knows you're mine," Tonks muttered.
"She knows I'm dating Wendy McDonald," Harry corrected.
"Close enough," Tonks said sounding a lot calmer.
"Hermione is still bugging me about training with us in the evening," Harry said, hoping for a change of topic.
"Tough, if she's here in the evening I can't snog you silly," Tonks pointed out.
"We could work with her after our morning PT," Harry suggested.
"Yeah, that's an idea, we can do your hand-to-hand in the evenings again," Tonks agreed before she pulled his head down and kissed him.
"Sounds good," Harry agreed when she broke the kiss.
"I thought we could practice a few of those pins again," Tonks whispered into his ear as she moved so that she was straddling his lap.
"Oh?" Harry gasped as she began placing soft kisses on the side of his neck.
"Yes, it can't hurt to do a bit of review," Tonks said as she sat up so she was looking down at him.
"You are the professor," Harry groaned as she moved her hips against him.
"I am, and I may just have to give you a detention," Tonks purred as she leaned down and captured his lips in a much more forceful kiss.
Harry eagerly returned the kiss, his hands running up her back as they both got lost in each other.
Harry had never experienced anything like this and he barely noticed Tonks' hair shifting to a mousy brown colour as her concentration on her morph slipped.
It wasn't until Tonks broke the kiss that Harry noticed the change in her hair colour but he decided not to comment. Instead, Harry pulled her closer to him so that he could place soft kisses on her neck, causing Tonks to gasp in surprise.
"Oooh," Tonk mumbled as he placed a kiss on her exposed collarbone.
Harry felt his own heart speed up at the exclamation and placed another kiss on the side of her neck, causing her to grind her hips against him.
"H-Harry," Tonks groaned as he slid his hands down her back and gripped her hips, pulling her tighter against him.
"Yeah," Harry asked as he looked up at her.
"Let's go to bed," Tonks whispered as the couch underneath them transformed into their usual four-poster.
Harry fell backwards as the back of the couch disappeared, his back sinking into the soft mattress.
"We're in bed," Harry grunted as she shifted her hips.
"I'll be right back," Tonks said as she slid off of him.
Harry groaned as Tonks got up and just lay there for a second with his legs hanging off of the side of the bed.
After Harry heard the bathroom door shut he sat up, deciding to get ready for bed before she came back.
Harry couldn't believe how fast things were going with Tonks now that they had finally come out and admitted they had feelings for each other.
Harry had barely pulled on his pajama bottoms when Tonks stepped out of the bathroom dressed for bed in a long white tee shirt with a KFC logo on it.
"My morph slipped earlier," Tonks said thoughtfully.
"Your morph?" Harry asked in confusion.
"My natural hair colour isn't pink," Tonks admitted.
"Oh, so your hair really is brown like Wendy's?" Harry asked as they climbed under the covers.
"Yeah, Wendy is what I looked like as a teenager," Tonks grinned.
"Well Wendy is hot," Harry said reasonably.
"Thanks but I never let my morph slip unless I'm angry," Tonks mumbled.
"Or embarrassed," Harry added.
"Huh?" Tonks asked blankly.
"Your hair turns kind of orange when you're embarrassed," Harry elaborated.
"Oh, I thought I got a handle on that a while ago," Tonks shrugged as she snuggled up to him, her soft hand coming to rest on his stomach.
"I first noticed it the day I walked in on you in the shower," Harry chuckled.
"Well you should count yourself lucky, besides Charlie you're the only guy to ever see me naked," Tonks giggled.
"You got arrested for running starkers through Diagon Alley," Harry pointed out.
"I was wearing underwear, mum was exaggerating," Tonks sighed
"I guess that explains why you threw me out so forcefully," Harry muttered.
"You looked like you were going to faint," Tonks smirked.
"It was a close thing, luckily getting thrown into a wall pulled me out of the trance," Harry said before leaning down and kissing her.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Tonks said breathily.
"Don't be, it was worth it," Harry said as Tonks draped her over his leg and shifted her body so she was on top of him.
"Whoa, Harry muttered as he felt the heat of her core pressing against his groin.
" I told you we were going to review some of those pins," Tonks whispered into his ear.
After that, the night devolved into them reviewing some of the more intimate pins while their kisses steadily became more heated. Harry's mind was entirely focused on the pink-haired auror who was doing her best to drive him mad.
It didn't seem that long before they were forced to stop, they had both gotten really worked up from their activities and neither of them was quite ready to push things further just yet.
As they snuggled up and drifted to sleep, both were feeling more content than they ever had before. Harry knew that whatever was going on between them was much more than a fling.
"Good night, Harry," Tonks mumbled sleepily, her head resting on his chest.
"Good night, Nymphadora," Harry whispered back and got a contented sigh in return.
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, 3/3/1996, 21:39
Voldemort sat at the end of the long dining room table in the grand dining room of Riddle Manor, watching as his servants took their seats.
He had spent the last few weeks making his family's manor house more comfortable for staying long term. Fortunately, the lodgings here were reasonably comfortable, to begin with. The home had just needed some cleaning and that's what he had servants for.
The muggle side of his family was very well off and the house's accommodations were the finest money could buy in the nineteen forties. Truthfully, many of the creature comforts of the muggle home were better than at Malfoy Manor though the home wasn't as extravagantly decorated.
Malfoy Manor, the very thought of the place sent a vein in his temple throbbing. He would admit that he had underestimated the ministry and it had cost him his base of operations. He had been tempted to stay and fight but he knew he would have lost many death eaters in the battle.
His army was growing but it was still no match for the ministry in a head-on confrontation. He was lucky they had conscripted quite a few recruits from the Azkaban attack. Sadly most of them were useless, petty sneak thieves and rapists but no one with any real talent.
Finally, the last death eater entered the room, Severus took his seat a few places away from the dark lord and looked around the room with an emotionless expression.
The large fireplace behind him was the only source of light but once the eye adjusted to the low light it was more than adequate and he could make out everyone quite clearly.
Deciding he had waited long enough, Voldemort cleared his throat getting the undivided attention of everyone at the table.
"So good of you all to join me tonight," Voldemort said in a soft tone that carried in the quiet room.
"The attack on Malfoy manor was a bold move on the ministry's part. They must be punished for attacking our headquarters. They must learn what happens when they challenge us in such a way. We must send them a message!" Voldemort hissed, anger creeping into his voice.
"So the first of business tonight is to discuss our response. Corban, are the werewolves in place?" Voldemort asked, turning to look at the servant in question.
"Yes, Greyback and the members of his pack that will make entry are already camped out not far from the target, my lord," Yaxley assured him.
"He is going with the smaller group?" Voldemort asked with a note of surprise in his tone.
"Yes, his beta will be leading the larger attack but he insisted on being part of the smaller team, my lord," Corban answered.
"So be it. What has Dumbledore been doing of late, Severus?" Voldemort asked as he looked over at Snape.
"He is preparing for your retaliation. Albus was very upset about the attack on the manor, he fears there will be an attack on Diagon Alley, my lord," Severus answered.
"Well he got that part right, didn' he," Amycus guffawed.
"Albus was always very astute. What measures is he taking to prepare for such an eventuality?" Voldemort asked sounding almost amused.
"The usual, he is setting some of his people to watch over the alley so they can sound the alarm," Severus answered with a shake of his head.
"Excellent, they can have a front-row seat to our retaliation," Voldemort said with a malicious smile.
"It would be nice to know what measures if any, the ministry was taking since the attack," Voldemort said as he narrowed his eyes at Yaxley.
"I believe I m-may have found us a new source into the ministry, my lord," Corban spoke up, sounding nervous.
"Do tell, Mr Yaxley," Voldemort said in a mocking tone.
"I believe John Dawlish can be convinced to spy for us with the right incentive," Yaxley answered.
"Gold?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes, I've had my eye on him for years, Dawlish was never one to turn down easy gold," Yaxley answered at once.
"Approach him, we need to know what the ministry is planning otherwise it will be difficult for us to move forward," Voldemort ordered.
"It will be done, my lord," Yaxley answered.
"Very well. Bellatrix, I want you to have your people ready to assist the wolves in getting to their prey," Voldemort said as he glanced over to the two Black sisters seated towards the other end of the table.
"Yes master, I will not fail you," Bellatrix promised.
"No, you will not. Has Warrington sent his report from the castle yet?" Voldemort pressed.
"Yes, he has been keeping tabs on the children of the light families. They have all been meeting on Saturdays after lunch but he has not been able to discover the groups' purpose as of yet," Bellatrix answered dutifully.
"Severus, perhaps you can shine some light on the subject?" Voldemort questioned.
"Potter formed a group to teach the other students defence when the ministry began interfering at Hogwarts, though I am surprised the group is still carrying on," Severus admitted.
"The Abbott girl killed two of my people by herself. This could explain how she knew to use such a brutal spell, my lord," Bellatrix said thoughtfully.
"Indeed, I had hoped that Madam Umbridge sabotaging the curriculum would have prevented our youth from taking up arms against us but I suppose that was too much to hope for," Voldemort sighed.
"Then we shall kill them all, my lord," Bellatrix said with a bloodthirsty smile playing on her lips.
"No. As I have said before, we cannot kill all of our opposition. I made a mistake last time and we have already wiped out too many old pureblood families. Kill as many mudbloods as you wish but we must preserve the purebloods if we wish to create a pureblood society," Voldemort corrected
"But what if they oppose us?" Bellatrix questioned.
"Then we acquire the proper leverage and use it to make them fall into line or lose everything they hold dear. Everyone has a weakness, Bellatrix," Voldemort explained.
"Yes my lord," Bellatrix said, sounding a bit put out.
"Now Bella cheer up, there is plenty of mudbloods for you to play with," Voldemort soothed, sounding almost amused by her expression.
"Of course, master," Bellatrix said sounding somewhat mollified.
"Lastly, how soon until the giants cross the channel, Amycus?" Voldemort asked.
"DuPont says they will be making the swim within the next week. They are just waiting for the right weather conditions, my lord," Amycus answered.
"Good, I have just the job for them when they arrive," Voldemort said.
"I will inform you as soon as I have word, of their arrival," Amycus replied.
"See that you do. Now, I believe it is time for you all to return to your posts. It is getting late and I need my beauty sleep," Voldemort said in dismissal.
Voldemort watched his death eaters leave, noticing with some amusement that Lucius was trailing almost timidly behind his wife and sister-in-law. The Malfoy boys' death turned out to be a tremendous boon as it had finally lured Narcissa into the fold.
Narcissa was not a fighter like her sister but she had other uses. Her network of contacts on both sides of the Wizengamot was quite extensive and she had insight into a side of politics that most did not. She had already proven her worth by acquiring them another spy inside the Slytherin common and Voldemort had plans to put her to good use inside the halls of the Wizengamot in the coming months.
Tonight's meeting had been very productive and he felt confident the attack planned for a few nights would be successful.
'Let's see how the ministry handles my dogs of war,' Voldemort thought as Nagini slithered towards him.
Gaunt Shack, Little Hangleton, 3/2/1996, 22:39
Albus and Sirius stepped through the doorway into the rotting shack. Albus had been looking into the horcruxes since they had found the locket at Grimmauld Place.
It had taken him months of searching but he had finally found the Gaunt shack. It wasn't far from Riddle Manor and was hidden away under powerful concealment wards.
"Are you sure there is anything here, Albus?" Sirius asked as he took in the state of the shack.
The shack looked like a light gust of wind would topple it, and a strong smell of rotting wood filled their nostrils when they stepped into the building.
Dumbledore cast a spell that sent an orb of white light hovering near the ceiling illuminating the main room of the house. Parts of the roof had caved in completely covering the floor in roofing tiles and rotting wood. There was a large stone fireplace set into one wall, and the roof over this part of the house looked to be in much better shape.
"Oh I am positive there is one here, can't you feel it?" Dumbledore asked, pulling Sirius from his observations.
"I can feel something but staying at Grimmauld all the time has desensitised me to dark magic," Sirius snorted.
"Ah, I had not considered that. There is definitely dark magic in this dwelling," Dumbledore said as he took out his wand and began casting a detection charm over the room.
"It would be nice to find one here, the goblins are still dragging their feet with Trixie's vault," Sirius said as he watched Dumbledore search the room.
"We just have to be patient, I believe there may be one in her vault as well," Dumbledore confided.
Sirius watched as the headmaster zeroed in on a spot near the fireplace and knelt on the floor, running his wand over a single loose floorboard.
"You've found something?" Sirius exclaimed as he hurried over to Dumbledore's side.
"Yes, I believe so," Dumbledore said as he levitated the floorboard out of the way with a careless flick of his wand.
"I definitely felt that," Sirius muttered as a wave of dark magic washed over him and something niggled in the back of his mind as soon as the floorboard was pulled free.
"Oh my, there is a very nasty curse on whatever is inside this box," Dumbledore said as a golden box that was about the size of a ring box floated out of the hole in the floor.
"There is something else there too," Sirius said as he eyes the box warily.
"Yes, I believe it is a compulsion charm of some sort," Dumbledore said as he ran his wand over the box before plucking it out of the air and slipping it into his robe pocket.
"I'll send Moody a patronus and tell him to meet us in your office," Sirius said as he drew his wand.
"It would be best if you waited until we are outside Tom's wards, I would rather not alert him of our presence here," Albus said as he shakily got to his feet.
"You got it, now can we get out of here?" Sirus asked nervously.
"Yes, our task here is complete," Albus said as he led Sirius to the door.
The two men quickly made their way to the main road, walking down the narrow overgrown path through the hedgerows. The orb of light Dumbledore had created in the house floated just ahead of them, casting the path in bright white light.
It had taken far too long to find another horcrux but Albus was almost certain they had found one.
As soon as they crossed the shack's wards, Sirius sent off his dog patronis to Mad-Eye.
"Let's get to the castle, Sirius," Dumbledore said after they watched Sirius' patronus fly off into the night.
"You don't have to tell me twice, this place gives me the creeps," Sirius said before he turned on the spot and disappeared with a soft 'pop.'
Albus chuckled to himself before he followed his former student's example, disappearing from this desolate stretch of country road.