A/N Welcome all to Book 2 of the Rangers and Wizards Series. This book is pretty dramatic. Lots happening on both sides of the Stones. Hermione works to unravel a conspiracy and prepare to search for Harry. Harry will meet Cassandra, and Morgarath has some surprises in store. Particularly interested in what you think of Hermione's doings so far. Please review, it helps on many levels, especially if there is feedback about what you like, don't like etc. and will improve the quality of this story. Without further ado, enjoy.

Prologue

Halt and Will had been trailing the Wargals for three days. The four heavy-bodied, brutish creatures, foot soldiers of the rebel warlord Morgarath, had been sighted passing through Redmont Fief, heading north. Once word reached the Ranger, he had set out to intercept them, accompanied by his young apprentice.

"Where could they have come from, Halt?" Will asked during one of their short rest stops. "Surely we've got Three Step Pass well and truly bottled up by now."

Three Step Pass provided the only real access between the Kingdom of Araluen and the Mountains of Rain and Night, where Morgarath had his headquarters. Now that the kingdom was preparing for the coming war with Morgarath, a company of infantry and archers had been sent to reinforce the small permanent garrison at the narrow pass until the main army could assemble.

"That's the only place where they can come in sizable numbers," Halt agreed. "But a small party like this could slip into the kingdom by way of the barrier cliffs."

Morgarath's domain was an inhospitable mountain plateau that towered high above the southern reaches of the kingdom. From Three Step Pass in the east, a line of sheer, precipitous cliffs ran roughly due west, forming the border between the plateau and Araluen. As the cliffs swung southwest, they plunged into another obstacle called the Fissure—a huge split in the earth that ran out to the sea, and separated Morgarath's lands from the kingdom of the Celts.

It was these natural fortifications that had kept Araluen, and neighboring Celtica, safe from Morgarath's armies for the past sixteen years. Conversely, they also provided the rebel warlord with protection from Araluen's forces.

"I thought those cliffs were impassable," Will said.

Halt allowed himself a grim smile. "Nowhere is ever really impassable. Particularly if you have no respect for how many lives you lose trying to prove the fact. My guess is that they used ropes and grapnels and waited for a moonless night and bad weather. That way, they could slip past the border patrols."

He stood, signifying that their rest stop was at an end. Will rose with him and they moved toward their horses. Halt gave a small grunt as he swung into the saddle. The wound he had suffered in the battle with the two Kalkara still troubled him a little.

"My main concern isn't where they came from," he continued. "It's where they're heading, and what they have in mind."

The words were barely spoken when they heard a shout from somewhere ahead of them, followed by a commotion of grunting and, finally, the clash of weapons.

"And we may be about to find out!" Halt finished.

He urged Abelard into a gallop, controlling the horse with his knees as his hands effortlessly selected an arrow and nocked it to the string of his massive longbow. Will scrambled into Tug's saddle and galloped after him. He couldn't match Halt's hands-free riding skill. He needed his right hand for the reins as he held his own bow ready in his left.

They were riding through sparse woodland, leaving it to the surefooted Ranger horses to pick the best route. Suddenly, they burst clear of the trees into a wide meadow. Abelard, under his rider's urging, slid to a stop, Tug following suit beside him. Dropping the reins to Tug's neck, Will instinctively reached for an arrow from his quiver and nocked it ready.

A large fig tree grew in the middle of the cleared ground. At the base of it there was a small camp. A wisp of smoke still curled from the fireplace and a pack and blanket roll lay beside it. The four Wargals they had been tracking surrounded a single man, who had his back to the tree. For the moment his long sword held them at bay, but the Wargals were making small feinting movements toward him, trying to find an advantage. They were armed with short swords and axes and one carried a heavy iron spear.

Will drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the creatures. After following their trail for so long, it was a shock to come upon them so suddenly in plain sight. Bearlike in build, they had long muzzles and massive yellow canine fangs, exposed now as they snarled at their prey. They were covered in shaggy fur and wore black leather armor. The man was dressed similarly and his voice cracked in fear as he repelled their tentative attacks.

"Stand back! I'm on a mission for Lord Morgarath. Stand back, I order you! I order you in Lord Morgarath's name!"

Halt nudged Abelard around, allowing him room to draw the arrow he had ready on the string.

"Drop your weapons! All of you!" he shouted. Five pairs of eyes swung toward him as the four Wargals and their prey turned in surprise. The Wargal with the spear recovered first. Realizing that the swordsman was distracted, he darted forward and ran the spear into his body. A second later, Halt's arrow buried itself in the Wargal's heart and he fell dead beside his stricken prey. As the swordsman sank to his knees, the other Wargals charged at the two Rangers.

Shambling and bearlike as they might be, they covered ground with incredible speed.

Halt's second shot dropped the left-hand Wargal. Will fired at the one on the right and realized instantly that he had misjudged the brute's speed. The arrow hissed through the space where the Wargal had been a second before. His hand flew to his quiver for another arrow and he heard a hoarse grunt of pain as Halt's third shot buried itself in the chest of the middle creature. Then Will loosed his second arrow at the surviving Wargal, now terrifyingly close.

Panicked by those savage eyes and yellow fangs, he snatched as he released the arrow and knew it would fly wide.

As the Wargal snarled in triumph, Tug came to his master's aid. The little horse reared and lashed out with his front hooves at the horrific creature in front of him. Unexpectedly, he also danced forward a few steps, toward the threat, rather than retreating. Will, caught by surprise, clung to the pommel of the saddle.

The Wargal was equally surprised. Like all its kind, it had a deep-seated instinctive fear of horses—a fear born at the Battle of Hackham Heath sixteen years ago, where Morgarath's first Wargal army had been decimated by Araluen cavalry. It hesitated now for a fatal second, stepping back before those flashing hooves.

Halt's fourth arrow took it in the throat. At such short range, the arrow tore clean through. With a final grunting shriek, the Wargal fell dead on the grass.

White-faced, Will slid to the ground, his knees nearly giving way beneath him. He clung to Tug's side to stay upright. Halt swung down quickly and moved to the boy's side. His arm went around him.

"It's all right, Will." His deep voice cut through the fear that filled Will's mind. "It's over now."

But Will shook his head, horrified by the rapid train of events.

"Halt, I missed…twice! I panicked and I missed!" He felt a deep sense of shame that he had let his teacher down so badly. Halt's arm tightened around him and he looked up at the bearded face and the dark, deep-set eyes.

"There's a big difference between shooting at a target and shooting at a charging Wargal. A target isn't usually trying to kill you." Halt added the last few words in a more gentle tone. He could see that Will was in shock. And no wonder, he thought grimly.

"But…I missed…"

"And next time you won't. Now you know it's better to fire one good shot than two hurried ones," Halt said firmly. Then he took Will's arm and turned him toward the campsite under the fig tree. "Let's see what we have here," he said, putting an end to the subject.

The black-clad man and the Wargal lay dead beside one another. Halt knelt beside the man and turned him over, whistling softly in surprise.

"Dirk Reacher," he said, half to himself. "He's the last person I would have expected to see here."

"You know him?" Will asked. His insatiable curiosity was already helping him to put the horror of the previous few minutes to one side, as Halt had known it would.

"I chased him out of the kingdom five or six years ago," the Ranger told him. "He was a coward and a murderer. He deserted from the army and found a place with Morgarath." He paused. "Morgarath seems to specialize in recruiting people like him. But what was he doing here…?"

"He said he was on a mission for Morgarath," Will suggested, but Halt shook his head.

"Unlikely. The Wargals were chasing him and only Morgarath could have ordered them to do that, which he'd hardly do if Reacher really was working for him. My guess is that he was deserting again. He'd run out on Morgarath and the Wargals were sent after him."

"Why?" Will asked. "Why desert?"

Halt shrugged. "There's a war coming. People like Dirk try to avoid that sort of unpleasantness."

He reached for the pack that lay by the campfire and began to rummage through it.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Will asked. Halt frowned as he grew tired of looking through the pack and dumped its contents onto the ground instead.

"Well, it strikes me that if he were deserting Morgarath and coming back to Araluen, he'd have to bring something to bargain for his freedom. So…" His voice died away as he reached for a carefully folded parchment among the spare clothes and eating utensils. He scanned it quickly. One eyebrow rose slightly. After almost a year with the grizzled Ranger, Will knew that was the equivalent of a shout of astonishment. He also knew that if he interrupted Halt before he had finished reading, his mentor would simply ignore him. He waited until Halt folded the parchment, stood slowly and looked at his apprentice, seeing the question in the boy's eyes.

"Is it important?" Will asked.

"Oh, you could say so," Halt told him. "We appear to have stumbled on Morgarath's battle plans for the coming war. I think we'd better get them back to Redmont."

He whistled softly and Abelard and Tug trotted to where their masters waited.

From the trees several hundred meters away, carefully down-wind so that the Ranger horses would catch no scent of an intruder, unfriendly eyes were upon them. Their owner watched as the two Rangers rode away from the scene of the small battle. Then he turned south, toward the cliffs.

It was time to report to Morgarath. His plan had been successful.

-Page Break-

"Harry, where are you?" The phrase repeated itself over and over in Hermione's mind. At first, she thought he was simply taking his time on his expedition, and that the Runes on the stones were fascinating. But day after day slipped past with not even a whisper of the Boy Who Lived.

He would have at least sent word. So where was he? Then came that nightmare. Hermione jolted wide awake, realising the significance of what she had been telling herself. RUNES! They weren't just idle magic, they could be extremely powerful and as far as she could tell, not many people bothered the long trek to examine them.

After that realisation, she couldn't maintain the excuse that Harry was taking his time or had gotten lost or anything. Something bad had happened at those Stones and Hermione was going to have to figure out what, and how to get him back, if indeed it was possible.

A few weeks of researching everything she could about the Stones, their location and all about Runes, she had gone to the Ministry to place his will onto his file. Before Harry had left, he had handed her his latest will and made her promise to file it if he didn't make it back after a decent amount of time.

She made her way to the public entrance of the Ministry and went through the processes she needed to get access to the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. She knew he was a good man. As she entered his office, her heart seemed to drop like a stone however, as her cheeks flared up in rage as she beheld a woman with white curly hair and a poison green robe. "Rita! What in Merlin's name are you doing here in the Ministry?," she demanded, furiously.

Rita smiled a sickening smile and said, "I'm now juggling two positions, Harmony Grange. I am naturally proud of being promoted to Managing Director of the Daily Prophet, but being an Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic is an honour to rival it."

Hermione blanched. What?! How was this even possible? Rita Skeeter as Undersecretary to Kingsley?! Unheard of! Something was fishy here and something was so very wrong! Especially surprising that there was not mountains of outrage at Rita Skeeter taking that role. Something had to be preventing it, but what?

While she struggled to form a complete sentence, Rita smirked at her and said in her sickly, poisonous voice, "I shall go and see if the Minister is prepared to receive you," she said. Hermione calmed herself using all her training in Occlumency and the few other techniques she knew of. The very sight of that woman had sickened her, and her name was NOT Harmony Grange! That Skeeter bug would PAY!

Rita hadn't actually moved yet, surprisingly. She leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "But I could probably help you without needing to impose on our good Minister's time. What is the nature of your business with him?"

Hermione's eyes started becoming damp once more as she ruthlessly suppressed her fury at this strutting green insect. "I'm going to file his will," she said succinctly, stewing with loathing and disgust.

Rita leaned back towards her ear and whispered once more, "Then I will kindly ask you to leave, Miss Hermoy Graindee. You have no business here that deserves your attention. There is a technical issue with adding the documentation into Harry's file," she said. Hermione felt dazed at that news, as though she had taken a blow to the head.

"Impossible!," she whispered. Rita shook her head sadly. "Due to a confidentiality agreement with the Minister, I am prohibited from further informing you about the state of Harry's files, regardless of your dubious interactions with him." Hermione was struggling not to level half the Ministry while taking Rita with her. In her current whirlwind of emotions, she felt like she could easily do such a thing.

Hermione didn't wait to hear any more, but simply turned on her heel and stormed out of the Ministry, venting her feelings in every movement she made. She punched the button on the elevator hard enough to bruise her knuckle. She kicked a few doors open for her to pass through and slammed them as she walked through. Fortunately, by the time she was out of the Ministry, she had some more control.

She stood silently on the side of the road for a number of minutes, regathering herself. She swore to herself that she would get to the bottom of this and would eviscerate the Skeeter snake personally. She could always get apprenticed to a vivisectionist...

Her anger at Rita had been largely in part at the role she learned the sorry excuse for a bug had leaked immense amounts of sensitive information to the Death Eaters during the war. Looking back on their time at school, the only ones that seemed to give her interviews were Death Eaters, and they seemed like they did it often. Later on in the war, she and Harry (after Ron was gone) had learned about a LOT of skeletons in her cupboards and wanted to take her out, but had too many other pressing responsibilities. But she had promised that one day she would finish it.

To see her working as Undersecretary for Kingsley and working two cursed jobs (in her opinion - both the Undersecretary position just like Umbridge, and working with that rag ugh) showed a good deal about her. She seemed to relish how Harry had simply vanished into thin air...

As she had the thought, she at least found something else to do to keep herself occupied. She apparated to Hogwarts and gathered some supplies. "Kreacher," she called. When the loyal old elf arrived, she explained, "This is the Room of Requirement. I want you to collect and update my library with every edition or version of every book that you can possibly get, and any forbidden books are extremely helpful so please start with those. Use your magic to ensure you're not at risk. You can ask the room for those books, it is called the Room of Requirements because, once you tell it your requirements, it will collect them for you.

"Now, Harry and I, before Harry disappeared into thin air, had come across two trunks with a lot of space inside and that we can even expand more if necessary. I would like you to organise it for me and first put away everything you find of the slightest use in the room I will show you, then when it is mostly empty, ask for the books. I want books from other cultures too - African, Celtic, Japanese, all kinds of magic will help me best discover what is going on here and find Harry. Do you understand? And just to be clear, my trunk itself is not to be touched, you may only touch what is inside of it and not remove anything that is there when you start," the instructed the elf.

Kreacher nodded gravely. "Kreacher will do it, Miss Hermione. Kreacher thanks you for looking for Master Black. As Black House Elf, it is my duty to find Master Harry as soon as I am able." And so saying, he looked expectantly at her. Understanding, Hermione paced three times in front of the wall, explaining how to ask the room for what you want, and asked for the Room of Lost Things.

As she got to the Room of Lost Things, she pointed Kreacher to one half of the Vanishing Cabinet. "Kreacher, this Vanishing cabinet is first priority. If you can repair it sufficiently to have people pass through it, please do so or advise me on how I can go about repairing it. Then continue sweeping here for everything of use. Oh, and find the Gryffindor sword and the Resurrection Stone, which is somewhere on the ground of the Forbidden Forest. It's a small stone, that looks like this," she said, showing him a photo they had taken before Harry had left it there so no one else could find and use it for their own ends.

"If you have any problems, Kreacher, come and tell me." Kreacher nodded his understanding then exploded into action, doing exactly as she had requested. Hermione smiled and created a path to the Hogs Head Inn in Hogsmeade from the room directly. Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother, had been a good deal more helpful than Albus had, and met her with a warm smile.

"Do you need a drink to keep you warm in this cold weather?," he asked. Hermione smiled and said, "Thank you but no need, Abe. I am on tight business. Harry is missing, and I need to find out what is going on at the Ministry too," she explained quickly about what she knew of both matters, much to Abe's growing consternation. "I will help with the investigation as best I can. Come by the pub later, and say goodbye before you leave," he said.

Hermione nodded and apparated from inside the tavern to Diagon Alley. The place was still mostly destroyed but many of the wares still remained. Looters and clean up crews had dealt with most of it, but Hermione could still see many products, though many were sadly too damaged to be of use.

However, Diagon Alley was not her focus. Her eyes fixed on the path to Knockturn Alley. She hated to do it but knew it would pay off. She disillusioned herself and cast a series of undetectable spells on herself, a chain she and Harry had learned after Ron's demise. It involved a silencing spell, various confusion spells, and when they were particularly keen not to be seen, even the Fidelius, which they had only recently learned to cast at all.

As totally invisible as she could be, minus the Fidelius this time, Hermione made her way down the alley, very aware of her surroundings. She did not want to run into anyone. When she got to Borgin and Burke's, she waited for an opportunity then slipped into the store which had a few customers. She inched her way around, checking her surroundings first to ensure any of the dark items on sale weren't going to expose her as she passed them.

As she made it to the second Vanishing Cabinet, she cast subtle but very strong notice me not charms one upon another before she prepared to take it in a box she had prepared for the purpose. She couldn't help overhear the two customers though.

The first talking to Borgin was an old lady, might even have been a hag, and the second was a very capable young man with the look of an assassin. He had an ugly leer on his face as if he found murder was a sport to challenge himself with. It sickened her, but she had enough sense to stay quiet and unmoving.

"I thank you for this," the hag said. "It's such a... shame, that the Minister is so compromised in his security. With this final ingredient, dear Borgin, we shall finally have the puppet that can't be detected and Pius can resume his rightful place as Minister of Magic. [A/N in this AU Pius is alive and was merely kicked off his seat as Minister towards the end of the war].

"So much for those who can detect the use of the Imperius curse, this spell is so much better. After all the time we have taken to prepare, we are nearly ready. Much thanks to the Department of Mysteries to show us the way. Make sure you have what the Agent needs. He will not be pleased if you delay him. He wants to take out the Potter brat as soon as possible and the Ressurection Stone, then...," she said, clearly delighted. At that point, though, the Assassin (as Hermione dubbed him) intervened with a furious glare, which shut the hag up at once. "Your mouth is too big for your own good," he said simply, and within a matter of seconds, had killed her.

Hermione's heart was hammering inside her chest. It felt like King Kong was trying to break her ribs to escape prison bars. She smiled to herself - what imagery that was, it was her way of coping with situations where she felt in over her head. Ridiculous imagery made her smile and made the stress manageable.

She couldn't believe how efficiently and easily the hag had been taken down. That man was good at his job, she couldn't deny. The assassin turned towards Borgin and said, "Next time, we want that Vanishing Cabinet. That old hag had too loose a tongue and let loose important information. If you ever repeat even in your mind what you think you heard, I will come back at the earliest opportunity and torture you to an inch short of death. Very... slowly... do I make myself clear?"

Hermione froze as they both looked briefly at the Vanishing cabinet still standing there. She hoped with every fiber of her being that her spells would hold. The Assassin's eyes narrowed. Hermione swore violently in her head, then abruptly cut it off as she realised that would make her mind more noticeable to anyone highly trained in the arts.

Using everything she had to remain calm, she stayed unmoving, barely breathing, for the tense seconds that passed. "Next time, do not hide it from my view, Borgin. I can see through notice me nots somewhat as you are aware. The physics of magic is a handy book to read. Now, the Agent will be here soon. You know what to do. Your days are already numbered, I warn you not to move up the timeline," the Assassin said, threateningly.

Borgin nearly fainted in fright. The Assassin curled his lip and stalked out, not making a sound. Hermione realised that she couldn't leave yet, she had to wait. At least until this Agent made his appearance. Everything she was learning was deeply troubling and boded ill for all of them, even Harry. It was probably the first and only time she was glad he had disappeared completely.

Waiting in the dark (as the sun had now set), Hermione shivered slightly and kept herself focused. Her anticipation was in real danger of releasing accidental magic when she focused on what she knew. She needed to be somewhere very safe before she considered that information properly. She would be calling an emergency council of war at the soonest opportunity, but first to survive and get out of this place to somewhere safe.

Borgin was only now recovering enough from his fright to take interest in his surroundings once more as he looked impatiently out of his windows for the Agent. Hermione remembered a way to expedite matters. She had the fragment of mirror from Abe and kept it with her, in case he needed it. She withdrew it as silently though as quickly as she could do safely. "Abe, urgent council of war. Please call them. Be there soon," she whispered as silently as possible. She repeated it a few times until she saw a thumbs up in the mirror and smiled to herself.

Before she could return her attention to Borgin's waiting at the windows, she realised a man with a very hooked nose and cruel twisting mouth, and unevenly space eyes (overall a very memorable face) silently descending from the ceiling. He silently undid the restraints keeping him secured to the rope. Then he crept up, unnoticed, and fetched the considerable sized box set aside with For the Agent inscribed on it. He returned to his rope and secured both the box and himself before speaking loudly.

"Thank you for your contribution Mister Borgin. You have gone well beyond even illegal with your contributions. I sincerely hope the aurors don't get to you. Bon voyage," and so saying, he left a fainted Borgin on the floor of the shop while he escaped with his prize.

Hermione realised that the loud shouting was to attract attention here. It was high time she was away. She hastily scanned the shelves and found a few useful items, which she quickly checked for curses or traps and then put into her beaded bag to sort through later. As she was about to leave, she saw a book with the letters -ICS visible.

She quickly made her way to it and to her amazement, it was the very book the Assassin had mentioned - the Physics of Magic. She snatched it up as quickly as she could and heard people entering the shop. With no time to get back to the cabinet, she slid her body underneath a raised bench and hastily pulled a crystal ball nearby in front of her face.

It was another patron to the shop but the man was surprised to see Borgin on the floor unconscious. So he 'appropriated' a few things he liked the look of. To Hermione's horror, he approached the bench where Hermione was hiding. She wriggled backwards as best she could and kept her face pressed into the ground. She fingered her wand and mentally prepared herself to fight if the situation made it necessary. There was no way she was going to miss this council of war. She had vital information and needed to get it back there to more people who could help her.

She practically held her breath and after grabbing something on the top of the bench, to her surprise, he bent down. She froze, even staring straight ahead without moving her eyes or blinking. It was as much a fear response as a planned one. With a sudden instinct guiding her, she placed her face flat to the ground, leaving the top of her head facing where the man would look. To her astonishment, he picked up the crystal ball and quickly stood up again. Her heart was hammering and she once again had to tamp down on her occlumency to avoid accidental magic giving away her presence.

Finally, the man left. She wriggled back out and, as she heard another group about the right size for an Auror patrol (6 people), dashed as silently as she could across to the Vanishing Cabinet, placing it in the box hastily, though slowly enough that she didn't make a stupid mistake or place it incorrectly, and apparated away in the blink of an eye.

Despite being invisible, she knew if they were Aurors they would likely follow her trail so she followed a regime Ron had devised for hiding an apparation trail. Dizzy after her fifth apparition, she sat on a rock near the river and tried to get some control over her thoughts.

What on Earth had she just seen?! She couldn't think clearly right now. She decided to use a Pensieve to show the Council she had formed. With that in mind, it was time to attend the meeting. With a final deep breath, she apparated with a quiet crack.