"BEHOLD THEN, THE WISDOM OF THE GODDESS ASHERA!" I shouted.

I pulled the tomes of Love, Death and Nature from my robe and suspended them into the air to glow in the full moon's light. My levitation spell was so flawless that Scor merely deposited his royal blue tome of Time into the mix of books to float alongside its brethren.

"Are those what I think they are?" Vivienne barked. Again her face betrayed intense emotion. It was uncharacteristic to see her shock on display. I had never in my life witnessed uncertainty, let alone fear seep into her.

"ARE THOSE WHAT I THINK THEY ARE?" She repeated, half terrified.

The dark elf creature wasted no time kneeling before me in the fanatic way Augustin Valois showed his reverence to the old ways, muttering prayers from the old religion under her breath. These objects were rarer than the deathly hallows or my nightfyre crystal.

"Rise Vivienne please. You are among friends. There is no reason for that."

"Majesty. I knew it. I knew you were the one. There was a reason the Cheshires chose you two." Vivienne croaked, examining Scor and I in tearful ecstasy.

"Can someone fill me in on what the bloody hell is going on?" Markus asked irritably.

"You have three others besides our family's… How on earth did you two accomplish this?" The Lysanders asked, also recognizing the tomes for what they were. It was their grandfather who had given me one after all.

"Well… Friends… In our possession are four of the seven Tomes of Magic. Pieces of the Goddess's Riddle. These books have existed since the age of Dawn. The legend goes that only wizards of immense power and who descend from their respective seven royal families can actually read them. It is said that if one had all seven and the ability to decipher them… one could reshape the world."

"You would be a god." Scor explained more simply to Markus.

Lily and Alex and Louis merely gawked at the sparkling objects, understanding how I had been so confident in my ambitions.

"Which ones are they?" Alex inquired softly, approaching me in a stupor.

"Scor possesses the Grimoire of Time, as a Descendant of the Avalon family. The only other contender for this treasure would be her. Ariana Dumbledore, who has not yet elected to join this august order."

"The green one is ours." The Lysander's spoke as one. "The Hecate family bears the rightful claim to the Grimoire of Nature, which we have not yet given you the keys to by the way." The boys added sharply, reminding me that even as their leader I had yet to prove myself as a worthy Hecate.

"Death for our Peverell family." Lily offered as she noticed the black Grimoire. "And Love which i'm guessing you discovered yesterday in the forest. Hence why we are all here." She added, pointing to the pink tome.

"Rhoyne." Louis whispered as though in a trance. Mizuki smirked, nodding her head with excitement.

"These are fairy tales! How can you expect us to believe this farcery?"

This time it was the swedish warlock who objected.

"Because the Cheshire's chose them, because we saw them duel. We saw them bring back a Tork and we saw their dance. They continue to demonstrate to everyone who and what they are." Vivienne explained. We had done remarkable things… but I was skeptical we were some great prophecied heroes as she thought. The tomes were what were special, not us. We would use them to protect ourselves and our loved ones. That was all… Even as I reassured myself a worm of doubt ate away at me.

"Hang on. You're telling me those books govern each one of the facets of magic?" Markus asked, a bit perplexed. He was being given crash courses by private tutors but had yet to even have a first year of formal wizarding schooling. That would start in two weeks when he joined us at Hogwarts.

Scor nodded to his cousin as he opened the blue book. Al took a bite of a peach he'd brought with him and handed the object to Scorpius. "Tempus Retrorsus" Scor shot, rewinding the peach to before the bite was taken. "Tempus Neox" Scor cast fast forwarding the peach until it rotted and turned to dust. After a minute the peach restored itself. Scor was still incapable of making his temporal changes permanent. That or it was not part of the magic. I couldn't wait to see what other spells he learned from the blue book.

"Thats insane." Markus blinked as he watched the peach change states. "I'm guessing normal magic cannot do that?" He asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Wow… so this isn't just some little club is it?"

I shook my head this time.

"If we all had magic, humans that is, then there would be no need for prejudice. The entire world would flourish under the grace of Ashera's gift." Izanagi whispered, understanding my idea.

"As Sorenson has said, these are fairytales. How can you have them? Let alone hope to use them?" Victoire murmured, glaring from the tomes to her baby brother who looked equally surprised. She looked like she was about to grab him by the ear and spank him.

Lorcan nodded to his twin, just before he flung a key at my face. I caught it and nodded back to him decisively. 'One down' I thought, looking towards Lysander. I guessed that one of the boys prerequisites was to wait until I'd gathered at least half the books before releasing a key to me. I'd been right. What herculean task would i need to accomplish to secure the second one?

"Fairytales? This is MADNESS!" Sorenson roared, bringing my attention back to the group. "You're cracked in the head! All of you. This cannot stand!"

"Madness is the only kind of fun left to us fontlings and princes. We're in." the Muramasa twins shot excitedly at the sight of the tomes. "Besides we might know where our family's grimoire resides."

"If Scorpius let's me have a peak at the Avalon family text I will agree to serve and join the order." Ariana Dumbledore bargained, stepping forward next to the twins. "Besides I'm already involved in Arcanis's little game, as is Mizuki-chan. I have supported your cause from the start!" She and Mizuki nodded to Vivienne and to my surprise Sorenson's head shot whiplike towards Ariana at the mention of his boss's meddling. The Hecate Prince was playing a bigger game than any of us realized. It brought me great joy to know I was stealing some of his knights and bishops from off the chess board.

That left Sorensen, Vexler and Victoire.

"Brother? Are you sure you know what you are doing? I realize that Al saved papa… but are you quite certain about this?"

"I would die for our cousin. He is the most noble wizard I know. He's the future of the Potter and Weasley family. There is no doubt. Lily and I are here to counsel him. As are you all welcome to give counsel. The order is a family not an army, and we not only encourage but demand you voice your opinions and objections whenever you have them."

"D'accord! D'accord! I'm in too!" Cousin Vicky resigned, stepping forward.

"I am a Warlock! I cannot pledge allegiance to the will of a raving child! There are rules in this world! There are reasons we don't allow this kind of power brokering! I refuse to allow you to tamper with the fate of the world!"

At the sound of the powerful war mage's heated denial, my uncle Charlie and Aurora's brother both emerged maskless in their ruby robes. Their wands were trained at the warlocks head and chest even as the swede drew a back up wand he had hidden in his robes.

I was touched to see even the members who had yet to swear allegiance turn with palms outstretched on the two who had not. Only Victoire was incapable of wandless magic and so stepped out of the way. Ariana and The Muramasa twins were fontlings and powerful enough to cast without their magical conductors. I watched as their hands moved offensively towards the couple.

"Gideon, Charlie wait! Make no move to apprehend them until Vexler has spoken his mind."

Auroras face contorted awkwardly at the sight of her brother. She had not seen him in years, nor had she known he now served as one of my red guards.

"Hey Rory. Long time no see." Gideon tossed lightly at his baby sister. She remained silent, not wanting to interrupt the delicate moment between Vex and Soren.

'She's smarter than I give her credit for sometimes.'

"We stand at the crossroads of history Love, we were meant to be here. Can't you see that? At least I was" Vexler Avery squeaked quietly, moving away from his boyfriend to decry his allegiance to me. My real target was acquired the moment the Avery heir stepped my way.

His powerful warlock partner was mine. I had to stifle a slytherin smirk as a dark emotion bubbled up from somewhere deep in my heart. 'MINE' it cackled ALL 'MINE'.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~

'Gathering an army to you? Are you sure you're not just like me?' Voldemort's cold voice echoed deeply from within in my heart.

'This is a rare intrusion, monster. I thought you knew better than to ever wake up.'

'What a pretty body you have today. I find it a little easier to stay awake when you look like this' the voice continued in my head. 'Are your thoughts perhaps distracted by something?'

My attention did indeed wander to the ache in my abdomen from the pounding it had taken earlier.

'Ancalagon? Are you close?' I asked desperately. A nervous edge seeped into my tone and the great titan sensed my disquiet immediately.

'I will be there in five minutes as you requested. I see your blue beacon already. I've brought two of my companions as agreed. Is there something else you require little prince?'

'Yes… i'm in great pain…can you silence this serpent… please?' I inquired desperately, showing the shadow of my soul prisoner to the dragon who's mind stone lay now in my breast pocket.

An image of the dragons hulking shape came into view from out of the shadows in my heart. He approached the caged figure and without hesitation, roared a fury that seemed to shake the entire temple of my inner world. Relief, finally, to realize the venomous snake had been silenced. Voldemort had stolen only a few seconds of consciousness… still it was too much.

'That can never happen again' i thought to myself shivering. He can never wake up again! Not since my altercation with James at our family home had that monster woken up…

~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"Ok so everyone's agreed to join. Congrats on your victory tonight brother. That does not I think answer Markus's original question. What are we doing way out here in the middle of the night?" Lily inquired impatiently. "Surely we didn't need to come all this way to induct your recruits?"

"We're waiting for our transportation actually. We have a mission tonight."

"Transportation? Where are we going?"

"Well Alex… you remember Ancalagon and Niime right?" I asked sheepishly of my raven haired tactician.

"Al… don't tell me that dragon is coming back for us… You don't mean to bring me back to that Yaga sorceress do you?" The panic in his face made me truly feel guilty about what had to happen tonight.

The twins looked at each other in fury. "The dragon that nearly killed our mother!"

I sensed the fragile new bonds we'd forged wavering as their trust in me shook. I had to do something fast.

"The one who's fury I faced blindly to save your mothers life!" I barked at them, annoyed for the first time in my life at the two handsome blonds. "Ancalagon had been provoked to anger by the death eaters ambush! He had no intention of harming anyone until he thought he was under attack himself. I dove into his fire to rescue Luna and I dove under the collapsing mountain to save the dragon too. He's as much a part of the order now as you."

"Just as you dove in front of Lilith's blast for me yesterday." Scor joined in. "Albus would not be issuing this mission if it wasn't important. We need to trust him ok? All he does is dive in the way of danger for us. We can at least offer him our trust in return." My twit finished, banding us all together just as we had almost fractured.

"Sorry Albus. Sorry Albus." They whispered finally.

"Alex… you know I would not endanger you. Vivienne here is Niime's granddaughter and we are all under the dragon's protection. I will not let her touch you this time ok? I promise." I pulled Alex into a quick hug and released him when I was sure he believed me.

"Louis, look after your new friend tonight. Make sure he feels safe." I ordered to my cousin, who blushed at being singled out.

"Why the books brother? Why the Dragon? Why the witch?" Lily asked, firmly to the point as always. I flew up into the air at her question, suspended on a silvery cloud of mist just as the first faint sounds of wing beats pounded through the night sky.

"Because Niime has magic to teach us. She's asked to meet my Jade Rabbits and I'm not in a position to refuse her, given what she's taught me." I explained from the air as they all marveled at the sight of the flight. I landed quickly as the terrifying sound of gigantic wings grew somewhat closer.

"Again, Ancalagon is a friend ok. Show him respect because we're going to be a heavy enough burden. That he and his companions have offered to cart us to and from Romania is a great honor."

"This is so fucking cool Al. Beats breakfast in the gardens for sure." Lily squeaked excitedly, anticipating the long night ahead. "Just think of it as an adventure Markus!" She shouted as the wind of the great dragon's wings buffeted the air. Still we could not even see him.

"Alright then. Can we get to the swearing in already? Before I change my mind…"

I smiled at the Swede, then gathered the third wave of members to my side to administered the oath. I couldn't help but watch in astonishment as the blood vials formed to admit all ten of the initiates I sought to induct this night. 'A total win' I thought, until the sore pang echoed beneath my waist and the memory of Scors touch flooded back to me. I wasn't sure if tonight was entirely a success or not… not after the idiot had slept with me.

I motioned to Raven and he stepped forward to take over the explanation as my head swam with fatigue. The blood oath had taken its toll as ten vials had been created from the power of my magic alone.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE: Our ride will apparently be here in a moment. So I'd like to get some housekeeping items in order before then!" Raven barked at the group.

"Albus is the titular head of the order! When he isn't present, or if he becomes incapacitated, we are under the direct command of Scorpius Malfoy. Lily Potter and I are co executors. Should both of the boys be rendered critically out of commission, it is us you will look to for leadership. I am Alexander Raven Drake Greengrass and I will be the orders chief operations officer and military strategist. I will oversee the rest of you in your various departments. Sorenson and Vex will head the intelligence division and Lily will train with them."

"A Ninjia spy assassin! FUCK YES!" My sister shot. 'just what you always wanted to be' i chuckled to myself.

"All intelligence logged by Al or Scor or the Muramasas-or any of you really with access to your government's information-will run through them. They will track and construct a strategic overview of the various factions and their key players as well as where danger to the order is likely to emerge from. They will also be tasked with tracking down the locations of the remaining Tomes of the Goddess or any relics that might come in handy to bolster the strength of the order. This means you are to relay any rumors, gossip, social scheming, political scheming-what have you that you overhear in your respective spheres-to the intelligence division.

You'll also find this piece of news quite relevant to the briefing. In the event of war you each will cary at least the equivalent rank of Brigadier. This is important since Draco Malfoy has in his employment the Golden Dragoon mercenary force. Three thousand battle trained german guards serve the Malfoy family at this point in time. Since Draco has technically been convicted of war crimes he holds titular control over the Malfoy fortune and its forces only until Scorpius turns seventeen. At which time the order, through him, will control both."

More shock as the implication of that set in. Again the Muramasa's smiled. They controlled their own forces and massive fortune in Japan, with us as allies they could shore up their families power and then add theirs to their distant cousin's. They were childhood friends of Scor's and I knew there was old loyalty between their clans. Markus did not know this but his family held the loyalty of countless soldiers as well. Italy was his already.

"Eventually we will have a military division to train us in combat and tactics only in case a war erupts. Rose Weasley will be record keeper and my implementation officer. All paperwork from the various bodies will flow to me through her and she will liaise with the business division, military division, intelligence division and research division to keep us all informed of what we're up to and who's doing what.

Victoire, Max and Scorpius are in charge of the financial apparatus. Victoire, who has been the secret brain behind the club Lux, will oversee the development of a massive nightclub we wish to build ourselves, as well as musical management of the ASP Label. Al thinks he can turn his solo act into a band and he knows several of you posses musical talent that might help with that. Scorpius and Max will handle real estate and potions investments as well as assist Victoire."

Nobody moved as Alex's commanding tone had locked them in place. Even Sorrenson, the most well trained and battle tested among us, taking in the boys words with calm precision.

"Albus has informed me we will have clarity on our Military division after our mission finishes tonight. So until then stay tuned. That leaves the Research & Development team which Ariana, Vivienne and Al will lead. We will be establishing our own small Founders wall for the order. A small piece of our magic will sustain large scale spellwork for the collective. We will need these two renowned inventors to work with Al and the R&D team to come up with the moon fortress pocket dimension, the security system for the fortress and nightclub, refine the loyalty and blood oath spells, develop new potions etc…

Those of you without specific roles now will get designated positions later on. We'll all be training and working interchangeably to some degree anyway. Any questions?"

Vivienne to my renewed surprise, nodded to herself, impressed at the level of thought and planning that was going into this endeavor.

"What happens if one of us ultimately wants out of the order?" Melody inquired. "Its a lot of work Al. I'm happy to support you but I didn't think we'd be running a small government composed of royals and purebloods. What about a normal life?"

"Well… There's no OUT… per se. You can choose to live your life without participating in the order's business, if you wish. You cannot however leave it. As we cannot risk the betrayal of our secrets to our enemies, we did not build in an exit switch." Alex explained. Most of those who recognized the significance of a blood oath had guessed as much already. Still many were relieved to know they didn't have to participate if they did not want to.

I smiled at everyone, putting my hands up to assuage any fears about the finality of their pledges. "Many of you are friends or family. This organization is your home, not your jail. Should all you wish for out of this endeavor to be a band of friends who will listen to your gripes and have your back throughout your everyday lives, you have that now. If you wish to simply go to school or college and disregard official duties you may do so. However… everyone I picked for this order are either prodigies, nobles, or royals. Your lives have not ever been normal. Nor were they ever likely to be."

Wind clattered against the trees as the monstrous dragons neared the clearing where we stood. I looked to the sky then, ignoring my jade rabbits in their fear, surprise and wonderment. All I could think about was reuniting with mercury and Ancalagon. I had not anticipated seeing the titan again so soon.