A.N.: I saw this poem in ' Before the dawn', an HP fic.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Foolish games

"(...) If only night can hold you where I can see you, my love

Then let me never ever wake again

And maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away

We'll be lost before the dawn

Somehow I know we can't wake again from this dream

It's not real, but it's ours

Maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away

We'll be lost before the dawn."

September 1998.

The evening of that September 1st was cool and pleasant, a perfect evening of end of summer. The sky was clear and star-dotted, and Arien thought numbly that she had seen a night like that. The graduating students stood in the front of the oak doors, brave detached faces hiding the twisted emotions of finally leaving the haven Hogwarts was and entering the war in its worst. A great deal of the younger students went with them, enjoying the bittersweet relief of being allowed outside because of the dozens of Aurors that had been called to ensure their safety on the travel.

Arien ran forth and hugged Ginny tightly, letting the tears out. The elf was a nervous wreck, and lacked the strength to hold her emotions buried within. Some other students said their good-byes in quieter ways.

"Promise you'll keep yourself in one piece?"

"Try my best, Arien" Ginny replied in a strangled voice. She wouldn't hold on for much longer. Odds were that Ginny would lock herself in the train's restroom and cry her heart out.

"Would you deliver the guys some letters?"

"Of course, Enn. Give them to me." Arien obliged, and Ginny pocketed a handful of letters. For a couple of minutes they stood there, staring at each other; lots of things to say and no nerve to say them. In the end, it was Ginny who broke the silence.

"When you're out, come see us. I'll be waiting for you outside, with all the gang."

"You better. Or else I'll hunt you down so fast you won't even know what hit you."

"Yes, sir." Ginny chuckled.

"I'll find you guys. Promise."

"Mom will be thrilled. She always asks for you."

"She has that strange habit of adopting lost children, doesn't she?

"That's mom. But you know, it was nice to have a girl to talk to."

They hugged one another again, as they didn't know what else to say.

"I'll miss you."

"Miss you too."

(9consider cutting off))

"Oh, Gin..." said Arien, the shadow of her old mischief in her eyes, "please send my regards to that gorgeous dragon of yours."

"Hey, how do you..."

"Oh, seriously, Gin. I'm a Ravenclaw! Okay, sometimes I screw it up royally, but eventually I have a brilliant inspiration."

"How modest..."

"Aren't I? Oh- oh, Ginny, take care."

((end of cutting section))

And so the last Weasley left Hogwarts, entering the train with her friend Colin, who turned back to give his younger brother a final bone-crushing hug. And a couple of minutes later the Hogwarts Express left Hogsmeade, to arrive at King's Cross Station at morning.

Arien was alone. Again.

Turning miserably to return to the castle, she saw the figures of her friends waiting for her in the Entrance Hall. Carl and Sarah were holding hands, and talking to the rest of the gang- they called themselves the Eagles, silly as that might be, it was their nickname and gave them the feeling of belonging to a group ; they were waiting for that one hurt bird to go back to the nest.

She was wrong. She was not alone. Embracing Selena and Gabriel, she made her way back to The Nest. They had classes the other day.

''

The first thing Ginny saw when she stepped out of the train wasn't her mother or any of her relatives. The first thing she saw was a strikingly handsome dark-haired man, with dark eyes and ivory pale skin. She needn't anyone to tell her who the man was.

He had come. He had waited.

She run like a berserk to embrace him, taking in his scent- musk and pinewood, and then she knew she was home again.

Only a few minutes later she looked around and searched for her family.

"They couldn't come. Arthur is trapped at the ministry now, and the others were strongly recommended not to show up, in the case there was a trap. So, I'll be the one to take you home." He said with a dazzling smile, while tracing little circles on the small of her back.

"I'm home now." She replied simply. "But I really want to see them. Have you told daddy? Why have you been appointed to ... ? what happened in this last year?"

"Why don't we talk in the way out? The change of time and date can only confuse the Death Eaters so much... we must leave quickly."

"All right then. Let's move."

''

Hogwarts, November 5th of 2000.

Arien sat trembling at the corner of her bed.

Ever since that blasted evening three years and a half ago, Dumbledore had kept her under constant vigilance. It was for her own good, he said. Lots of baddies and all that. It figured that the professors of Hogwarts had diminished the perimeter of the protective wards in order to increase their effectiveness. Every once in a while a bunch of Death Eaters would be found dead, a corpse magically trapped to the powerful wards of the school. But that also meant that even going to the lake needed official permission of the headmaster and the presence of a couple of teachers.

Arien was convinced falling in the baddies ( lack of ) mercy couldn't be so bad after all.

She had been led to the hospital wing more times than she cared to admit. The elf slept longer than she needed, trying to block the reality away. Her friends would wake up with her screaming from time to time- thought it wasn't so out of the ordinary those days. Arien had panic attacks, stopping dead in the middle of the halls while going to a class, suddenly needing to pay great attention to the simple act of breathing. More than once she'd begged the headmaster to let her out of the school with her weapons and her wand, and may Eru be with her. Anything to leave the stonewalls. Anything for a couple of hours in the wild. She would even take that Voldie-guy on her own just to get the hell out of there.

Before she went mad for good.

Thank goodness, Dumbledore finally acknowledged that she wasn't merely acting folly but actually feeling sick. Sixth and seventh years, with all the professors , would take a tour in the forbidden forest. A tour with a hundred students wasn't exactly her first option, but then again Arien was desperate by now.

With shaky fingers she put on her winter robes - the house elves got them all new clothes, for they were all growing up, god only knows how. Maybe McGonagall had transfigured them. Arien looked up when her fellow girls entered the room looking for her- Deborah, Selena, and Sarah were chatting about something, thought she couldn't distinguish it for her dear life.

Oh, yes. Some in-depth discussion about DADA. And speaking of which ...

"Come on, sleeping beauty! Time to go out!" cried Debbie. Even that human was feeling relieved about leaving the halls for a change.

"It couldn't be too soon." She muttered. But her legs weren't obeying her. Oh, no, she would not stay behind in the one possibility go to the woods because of a trembling leg. No way. With a final effort she stood up and left the dorm with the other Eagles.

"Are you feeling ok?" Sarah held her arm, helping her to stand up. "You look gray!"

"I ... I better eat something. Must be sugar-low."

"Arien, you should take care of yourself. Someday, those nine lives you seem to have will fail you, you know?"

''

She started feeling better the second she left the castle behind. Striding forth with the professors, Arien controlled herself not to run. She wanted to cry so badly- but of course, if she did so, she'd never be allowed out again. They wouldn't release one with so little self-restraint.

Entering the woods, she stopped to relish the scents and sounds of the Forbidden Forest.

There was something running about file miles to the east. Centaurs, or unicorns. A couple of miles to the north, two or three, faeries were dancing and laughing. Some kind of reptiles were crawling not far from them. Chameleons? Salamanders ? no, salamanders live in the flames, she corrected herself

With a deep intake of breath, she went on with her fellows. If anyone found it weird that she kept touching the trees, nobody spoke a word. She went on her task alone, not willing to let any trifle talk distract her from the worshiping Nature deserved and needed.

They found some Acromantulas, and the teachers showed them how to handle the foul creatures – thought Hagrid seemed at the verge of tears. They found many other dark beasts on the way, and Hagrid got more and more distressed. The professors were severe, thought, telling him in no uncertain terms that the children ability's to survive were far more important than the well fare of those beings. But as it was almost winter, and night fell early, they returned to the castle before twilight.

That the Arien who went to the forest was completely different of the Arien who went out of it.

''

London, June of 2002.

Arien's second train ride was even weirder than her first. The departure had been downright depressing. Now all ten Eagles were stuffed into a cabin, talking about their immediate future plans, trying hard not to think this may be the last time they are all together- and alive.

"Why don't you go to the Department of Mysteries with us?" asked Sarah, who was seated on Carl's lap, under the excuse that there wasn't enough room.

"They don't need more Unspeakables, Sarah. They need Aurors."

"Aurors die, Arien."

"So they do, but I won't." she replied with the same stubbornness. The landscape was doing a marvellous job at calming her nerves.

"Thailand or Caribbean ?" Carl spoke after a short nervous silence. They'd been talking about that trip for a year- and so far they couldn't decide a destination.

"Anywhere goes, for me." Arien said. Nobody paid attention because an old competition had arisen again, and both sides were duelling ferociously. In the end, it was the very-adventurous Debbie who came up with a solution.

"I tell you what," she said, her eyes shining with excitement "we'll all get huge rewards for bravery at war-"

"Yeah, right;" cut Gabe "we all know the Ministry is broke. They don't have money to give us huge rewards."

"As I was saying", Debbie rose her voice a little, waving her hand to dismissed the uncalled for opinion "We'll get the money and then we'll buy a nice racing brooms and some great camping tents, and just take a grand tour all over the world, go wherever we want. What do you say?"

The Ravenclaws thought about it for a while.

'Explore a new world with friends who were like family. What else could a half-elven want from life?' after seven years indoors, the perils of her first journey seemed rather romantic. She was still young, a child at heart- even if she was now a teenager. She wanted to see the world. To live great adventures. To make great things. "I think that's the best idea you have had yet, Deborah."

"Our brooms and a camping tent." One by one the eagles fulfilled that muggle ritual of placing your hand above your friend's.

''

((consider cutting this section?))

When the train was almost at the station, Arien went looking for Dumbledore. She was almost going to check it in the back cabins, when she heard him entering the corridor. "oh, Arien dear." He said, his eyes glimmering with affection, "haven't I told you that you wouldn't need to worry with accommodations for some time?"

"Yes, you have. Dumbledore, I ..."

"There is no need to say it, child."

Child, for seven years he took care of her as if she was his child- even when she blatantly didn't want to be taken care of. And now she was leaving, no guarantees they would ever meet again. This world was exotic and exciting, but also very, very hard.

"May I ... may I hug you?' she asked with a barely audible voice. Her answer was a real grandparents-style hug.

"Arien... when you are out there, and for as long as it takes for you to go back to you world, when and if you decide it... I want you to promise me you won't take that Potion again."

Arien had been taking the Ageing Potion every week from her mid-second year to her mid-sixth year. Then Dumbledore told her she had achieved a maturing stage expected for her supposed age and could stop taking the doses.

"All right. I can handle that."

"Good." And then, releasing her; "You may stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a couple of days, while you settle your business with Gringotts. But I advise you not to linger. I wish you good luck with your Auror training and the path you choose for yourself. Take care, and be happy, Arien."

"I will. Thank you, Albus. For everything."

He laughed then, but quietly. "Oh, no, child. This is not a good-bye. We'll see each other again yet."

"See you then."

"See you. Now go, go."

''

The station was pretty much what Arien recalled of her first visit – with much less people. With a final shrug of her shoulders she gathered her trunk and followed Carl, as his family would give her a ride to Diagon Alley. She had a whole week ahead of her to visit to her vault and go through her family's things. Buy books- loads of books. And clothes, both muggle clothing and wizarding robes. And herbs for potions, her supplies were almost non-existent... quills and parchment, and an owl. Or maybe she could buy the owl when she got in the Auror training centre.

((end of cutting section))

''

Curitiba, Paraná- Brazil. December of 2002.

Auror training was tough, but nothing she couldn't survive. In this part of globe, summer was at its peak – and it was really weird to jump from fall to summer. She breathed deeply, feeling the scents of several woods and gardens throughout the lovely city, the very reason why she had picked that one among the many available options for Auror training.

The trainees were living in a rather lovely building at Rua Barão do Rio Branco- the façade showed only old building- as ancient as it could be for such an young city-, colonial style. Once inside, there were five floors counting the dungeons(but only three of them appeared outside for the muggles), fighting training rooms, potions labs, theoretical classes, curses and logical investigation. As they lived in the very heart of the city, she could be in several woods in a twenty-minutes walk. People were warm and welcoming, and the elf felt at home after four months only. Arien had already made some friends, most of them muggles- she was going to meet some of them at five p.m., in front of the movies of the Estação Plaza Shopping Mall – conveniently close from the Training Centre. The mall was all decorated like a children's park – it had once been a train station, and that was the theme of the decoration. Trail roads on the floor, fake subway stations lead to restrooms, and there was even some miniature trains inside the building. That was her favourite mall of the city- childlike, joyful and full of life, like she was feeling herself being once again.

"Arien!" some of her friends called out. They were the most heterogeneous group possible- some descended of Orientals, other of German immigrants, other of Italians, or Polish, or Portuguese. There was Eduardo, who studied advertisement and was working in the local television agency, dirty blonde and the greatest smile you could think of. Madalena (also known as Ma ) was the short girl with honey-coloured hair who was trying to get into the law school. Joanna reminded Arien of Keptah, with bronze coloured skin and warm eyes who were ever understanding – she was doing vet school, Zeca was the clown, au concour (god protects them all if he ever meet the twins). Dark hair and amber eyes, always telling jokes – or playing practical jokes. Arien told herself to keep an eye on him at all times.

"Hi guys!" she greeted, Brazilian way- and oh, she loved it – one kiss on each cheek, with a big hug. "Where are Angela and Miguel?"

"He called us fifteen minutes ago, they went to Santa Felicidade to get Paulo, and will be here in half an hour," enlightened Joanna. "Let's pick a table in the meantime."

They walked to a square in the mall, asking for beverages and drinks from the nearby bars. It was called nourishment park, or something like it. An institution, of course – you sit and talk, eat and drink. An alternative option of happy hours.

"So Arien, how was you exams?" asked Ma, always the most serious when it came to study – even thought she lost her seriousness quite thoroughly after some caipirinhas, and had to be kept still or would embarrass herself by singing in public. Or rather trying to. She couldn't sing for the life of her.

'Oh, exams. The Auror tests, of course."

"Well, it went quite smooth. But you know, I really think they should re-think the graduating procedure. It's so outdated."

Big mistake, Arien thought as Madalena took a deep breath to reply. Ma went on talking about the pros and cons of the educational methods till twenty-five minutes later when Angela arrived with Miguel and Paulo.

"Hey, people! Fancy meeting here." Cried Paulo. Angela couldn't say anything as she was laughing from something Miguel told in her ear.

"As if," Joanna cut him "we all know how you practically forced Miguel to bring you here."

"He threatened me!" cried Miguel. "Waiter! Bring us three beers."

"I hate beer." Protested Angela. "You know that."

"What would you like then, heart?"

"Cooler." Arien and Angela said . the half-elven raised her own glass to the waiter, and told him Angela would have the same – strawberry cooler. Both had very low alcoholic endurance. Which was a constant source of amusement to their friends.

When he brought the drinks, Arien noticed a handsome dark-haired man, sitting alone in a nearby table. He couldn't be there for long, though, or else she would have sensed him before. Wouldn't she? She hadn't even finished her first glass, and that was a very light drink... could it affect her senses so?

"If you excuse me" she said, and to her utter surprise and embarrassment felt her cheeks burning "I'll be right back." She stood up as her friends teased her to no end.

"Oh, dear, for god's sake don't come back soon!" cried Ma.

"Yes, go for it, girl." grinned Miguel, delighted.

"You are terrible, have I told you that?"

"Yes!" they said in chorus. She carried her drink and walked leisurely to the dark man's table. He was looking great, grey trousers and a black shirt. She didn't waste time asking if she could seat with him, and he didn't seem to mind her presence there either.

"Anything wrong, Sirius?"

"Not really."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Have anything against it?" he asked, piercing her eyes with his own. Sirius's eyes were as volatile and unpredictable as the man, always changing with the light of the environment and his moods. Now, it was a dark shade of grey, almost black.

"No, I have not. I just got worried. What are you drinking?"

"Whisky."

"Hope you're not outraged if I don't follow." She made another sign for the waiter and asked another glass.

"No, I'm not." He chuckled.

"Could you give me any news from the gang?" His face hardened and closed. "You don't have to tell me where they are. Sirius, I know the rules, okay? I'm just asking to know if they are all right."

The drink arrived and she distracted herself by taking a sip. The senior Auror stood there, blatantly reckoning her. Evaluating, probing, weighing.

"Harry got married."

"I expected so. He always wanted to have a family."

"So did Ginny. Mione and Ron are still together. And I have two young Unspeakables that ask about you all the time." He said, in his cool, detached tone.

She laughed. "they are such a dears."

He finished his drink without deigning to answer.

"But that doesn't explain why you are here," she pointed again. Arien was truly curious as to what would have brought one of Dumbledore's most trusted agents all the way to Latin America. Would it be possible that Dumbledore was keeping a closer eye on her than she thought? The hypothesis wasn't completely absurd...

"Why are you so sure there's a reason?"

"I'm counting on that. After all, it's too much to believe you apparated from old Scotland just to have a drink. I mean, you left Scotland to drink Whiskey in Brazil? No bloody way."

"Language, language, Miss Bernard."

"Call me Arien. Everybody does."

"All right – Arien. I'm here to check on your progress. Dumbledore has kept an eye on his pupils and it seems some of them have shown extraordinary results."

"Am I one of them?" she tilted his chin with her index finger. Such an intimate gesture- but she was, after all, taught to show physically her affection since she could remember. And that's not something you forget easily, no matter how many centuries pass. It was plainly innocent, but he didn't seem to think so.

"Yes." He replied simply. Then, turning his head back so he lost contact with her hand, "Your grades are remarkable. Your tutors are euphoric. 'amazing reflexes. True empathy. Natural talent.' And so on"

"This is the part in which I blush?" she said in a half-hearted self-mockery.

"No." he was still serious. Sirius, serious. It was oddly hilarious to think of.

"So you came here to pray my skills.?"

"No, I came here because I might want you in my team."

In his team? Was she having to leave again? So soon? But she hasn't even finished her training yet- she still had at least another four months to go.

He apparently read her doubts. "I'll make sure you'll give your blood in this training. I'll be here every month or so, to test you. And when you're ready, I'll get you with me."

"Do we start now?"

He laughed. It was a good laugh, limpid and clear, he rose to his feet and said "it might be. What do you say?"

She immediately reached for her wand in her slacks- the only kind of clothe with a pocket so large it would hold a wand. Without breaking eye contact, she made a mental map of the muggles at the mall- not too many, as it was a Thursday, but far too many for her taste. About two hundred souls or so. The sounds around her were irregular, hence harder to design a patter. Buses on the street, the cars, people walking up and down, laughter, conversation, the muffled sounds of the ten movie rooms on her right. Low music was playing, local music, voice and guitar, they called that style Brazilian Popular Music- but it had nothing to do with what the international community called pop. It was actually stylised.

Now she had a pattern.

Carefully walking back, keeping her mental shields down like a radio equipment, she said she told her friends she had to go.

"My dear, that was fast." Angela pointed. "You really have to tell me how you make it someday."

"Animal magnetism, sweetie."

The group laughed harder. Arien promised to make it up to them before the weekend, and Paulo mentioned a country property of a cousin where they could spend a weekend. It was hard to pass it up, but Arien made up an exam by Monday she had to study for. And with a wave she was going off the mall and into the hot outside weather.

Hunting a person in a public way was no fun. Of that Arien was certain. The fume of the cars and the scents of hundreds of passer-bys made the trail impossibly hard to find. she had barely had a glimpse of him crossing the Eufrasio Coimbra square, across the Mall's entrance, to follow. He was amazingly fast for a human- but then again, he was no mere mortal. He was a powerful wizard, an Auror, and one who had been in the run from all other Aurors in Great Britain for years.

A couple of streets forward, he had lost the visual contact. He simply disappeared. But he couldn't apparate in the middle of the street, so Arien concluded there must be another thing he might have tried. She leaned at the walls of a bakery and waited. Dozens of muggles crossed the streets before her, lost in thoughts of his little simple lives, where the greatest worry is to make your salary last the whole month and whether you should or not call Carla out tonight.

'I have to call mother tonight, Felipe said she wasn't feeling well yesterday...'

'Remember to go to Ana's and get those books she borrowed...'

"I'm far more tired than I thought. Am I mad? Oh, god, please don't let me be mad..." she straightened herself and went after the middle-aged man, who was trying to decide if he was mad or not . 'maybe I should really appoint a psychiatric for myself... they cure basically everything these days... imagine, to see a man turning into a dog! If this isn't crazy, I don't know what crazy is-' That had been enough. An animagus. Black, bear-sized dog. Unfortunately the architecture of the city was against her- too many squares, buildings cutting her sight field, too much noise.

Increasing her speed she walked the whole length of the street, looking both sides in every crossing street, trying to catch a sight of either mage or animagus Arien finally had a glimpse of him, almost turning away- less than a second, in fact- when he entered the Rua XV de Novembro. That was pretty much a commercial street, and also one of the hearts of the bohemia in the city. Crowded. Damn him.

He apparated as soon as he got into the Santos Andrade Square. She went to the same spot in which he was last seen and scanned the square – no sign of him, as expected.

This was not what she had in mind- she had planned to have a few drinks in very nice company, forget about the world's complications and the whole bloody war for a night, maybe watch a nice movie, dance a little. With a little luck she could even end the night kissing Eduardo - he was funny, charming, smart, and handsome in his own way. Not to mention she knew he fancied her.

Instead she was hunting some wizard just because he thought it would be a nice pastime. Oh, bugger. Opening her mind again- she would have a monumental migraine in the morning and be absolutely useless till the next evening- and spread her webs around, in perfect circles, increasing the perimeter slowly. If he thought she'd go any further than the state of Paraná, he was so sorely mistaken. No good grace of any tutor was worth the fabulous headache she would suffer in the morning for abusing her gift so much- she was still, pretty much, a beginner and a child.

People on the streets were eyeing her funny, and she couldn't blame them. Arien was clutching her hands tightly inside her pockets, gazing at nothing and even in her trance-like state she could feel a slight sweat on her forehead. He hadn't left too far, thought, only the Tingui park- a huge forestall area, a memorial to the Indian nations who once lived there. He was near the river. She could see the wooden bridges and gazebos built all over the park, and he leaning on one of the bridges, gazing leisurely at the ducks swimming.

She walked quickly to the Passeio Público, a huge park and open zoo nearby, where she would have peace and quiet enough to apparate. A few seconds after, she was standing before him.

"I hope you're not up for a little wizard's duel. We'd call far too much attention." She said, unable to hide the faintest edge of triumph of her voice.

"Don't be so full of yourself, lass. And we would not call that much attention – this is quite much a desert place, and even more so this late at night." True, night had fallen already. They had only the light of a few lamps, the moon and the stars.

Not that she minded the moon and the stars. Not at all.

"So?"

"So what?"

"We'll start fighting one another?"

"Not tonight."

"May I go back then?"

"Yes, you are dismissed." He didn't even turn to face her. If her head didn't ache so much, she could venture spying his mind. Oh, all right, Arien knew it wasn't exactly the most moral thing to do. But sometimes... just sometimes... she just had to know. It was not evil, but rather her damned curiosity who got in the way between her abilities and her scruples. And besides, if she was going to use it to keep herself alive, she better know what she is doing, right? That takes practice. But she was tired enough as it was. With a plop, the elf disapparated. Arien would need a very strong potion for headaches, plus absolute dark and silence in her slumber for at least twelve hours. Who did they think she was, superwoman?

Sirius watched the red-haired vanish with a renewed wonder. When Albus called him to speak of her, he didn't believe. It sounded too good to be true. But then the sly wizard told him to test the girl, and he couldn't deny Albus that, could he? Even when he knew she would fail miserably. Another smart witch, good grades, maybe a bit of duelling skills- but those kind died loads at every single attack.

When he entered the mall where Mr. Salles – the Auror responsible for that institute- told him she'd be at, his doubts increased alarmingly. So, instead of being drowned in books, of using every spare time to practice and perfect her abilities, the girl went out with muggles.

Nothing against them, he had lived among muggles in the years he was running from the Aurors himself and he found them quite agreeable- in fact, they only lacked magic. All else was there. And then he saw her, wearing tank top and slacks, something the muggles called street wear (and reminded him strongly of Bill Weasley. He almost expected her to have a fang earring), her hair pulled up in a ponytail, chatting platitudes and drinking with her friends- a muggle among other muggles. She didn't even had an accent, which was rather curious- she was meant to have one, after living seven years in Scotland. But she sounded- genuinely sounded –like one of them. The 'R' was harsh, the 'S' was lazy, and the cadence of the words had a music of their own. As had her voice, come to think of it.

He had given her up when she turned back to say goodbye to her friends. You're not supposed to look back when you're hunting a wizard. He saw her following him across the streets, saw her confusion when he turned into an animagus- that was low and he knew it, but he had no intention of training a witch who put the task in risk because she wanted to say goodbye to muggles- obliviate them later, for pity sake!

Then she leaned in the wall, thinking. For a second, he felt like she was going to follow him, tell him she had gotten the key to his charade- her records showed a remarkable ability to solve puzzles- but she didn't. After some time, he went to the nearest deserted square and apparated. He needed some time to think of what he'd do.

He was one of the main men of the Resistance, the link between the Unspeakables and the Aurors. The separation, though necessary at the beginning, was now folly. They needed people of brains in the field and people of experience in the G.Q. and as he was thinking of what he would do with the information his spies had gathered him, she apparated behind him.

Bloody hell. How, by Lilith's black and twisted heart, had she found him?

Maybe the reports were right anyway. He had been travelling around the world, looking for decent warriors for months – too many losses to fight with some resemblance of a chance. They had Harry and his wife, Susan, Ron and Hermione, and Cho Chang, for the younger lot. The older was pretty much devastated by years of constant fighting, and they couldn't have more than ten percent of their senior Light Knights. True, the dark side was losing people either, and the ferocity of their attacks had the violence of an agonising beast. But they were still unpredictable, vicious, and deadly.

He hoped only his voice hadn't shown too much awe. That wouldn't do her ego any good.

He didn't want to think what having an attractive young woman would do to his other pupils.