CHAPTER 8

ONE DAY

"And this is where you will begin your six months training,'' The tall wizard said as he looked down at Ginny, he wasn't an old man as Ginny had suspected, he must've only been in his late twenties, and he had sandy blonde hair and warm brown eyes.

"Great." Ginny said enthusiastically, she had been looking forward to her first day at St Mungo's for weeks and now upon completion of her guided tour of the hospital she would finally meet the witches and wizards that she would be working with over the course of the next six months.

"Now you will only be working days in these coming six months of your training, but once you have completed your training you will be asked to work nights as well as days.''

"That's no problem.'' Ginny said she had known what the job entailed when she had started her training upon leaving Hogwarts. "So will I be working with the same people all the time?"

"Yes and No. Most of the people you will be working with day in and day out. I will be one of those people. If you have any problems I am the person to talk to about them, I guess I'm your mentor.'' He said cracking a smile, Ginny smiled back glad that there would be at least one familiar face. "But there will be healers from different countries working alongside us as well, but you'll get to know the regulars in no time."

Ginny nodded, this was a daunting experience but one she relished, it had always been her dream and now in six months time she would be a fully qualified healer.

"Now then if you don't have any more questions Miss Weasley..."

"Call me Ginny, you may as well use my name now that you're my mentor and all.'' Ginny said flashing him a grin, he smiled back, she noticed that he looked quite handsome when he smiled.

"Ok then Ginny. If you don't have any more questions I'd better introduce you to the team.'' He said, laughing slightly at her nervous expression. "Don't worry they don't bite. Oh and since I'm your mentor now I can't have you calling me Mr Hall all the time now can I? The names Andrew."

"Ok Andrew.'' Ginny said gulping as he led her into the staff room where the team were waiting ready to start their shift.

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Harry walked through the door to his godfather's office. It had been a nightmare to get through security, he smiled despite himself, he was proud of Sirius, he had accomplished so much in the relatively short time that he had been pardoned by the Ministry. He was head of the whole auror division and responsible in ensuring that all Suspected Death Eaters were tried and sentenced appropriately. He was also solely responsible for the newest top-secret threat on the Wizarding world, which was the reason that Harry had come to be in his office.

"Sirius." Harry said nodding his head to his godfather as he entered the room, taking a seat beside a tall thickset man that Harry knew only as Blade.

"Now that we are all here we can begin." Sirius said motioning for the last two remaining entrants to the room to sit down, nodding at them both. The room was hardly what could be considered full, out of all the aurors that Harry knew only a fraction were present at this meeting. "I'm sure you all know why you are here. We are here to discuss the newest threat on our world. Ebony."

Harry looked around at the men in the room and noticed that they were all middle aged, he scanned the rooms few occupants and saw that he was the youngest there, out of the ten faces in the room, he only knew one of them personally. Tonks, although he had to keep reminding himself that he couldn't call her that, as no one else knew her true identity and he must call her Wolf as everyone else knew her. She smiled over to Harry before fixing her attention back on Sirius, who cut a lean form as he paced before them all. His posture and tone of voice left no one in any doubt that he had earned the respect and authority to be placed in such a position. His piercing eyes penetrated them all as he spoke.

"As of yet Ebony has not struck a wizarding family but we have been on the lookout for anything serious. This new threat is nothing compared to what Voldemort had been." Sirius said searching Harry's eyes in particular for any show of emotion, as usual there was none. In every single meeting they had Harry had always looked remote and cut off, it was the same in every mission. Sirius could see that Harry was unhappy in his job. He had told him time and time again to pack it all in and leave, he had dealt with enough in his short life than anyone should have to deal with at all, but Harry insisted that he was needed and that he wanted to be there. He wanted to make sure that every last Death eater had been imprisoned in Azkaban.

"Even so.'' Sirius continued pushing all his god fatherly worries for Harry to the back of his mind, for the moment at least. "This doesn't mean that we can relax, we have to act now before any word of this gets out. I have called this emergency meeting to a few new leads that have come to my attention.'' Sirius said, still pacing before them.

"Who were these leads from?'' A tall man asked from the back of the room, he had preferred to stand-alone rather than sit with the others. Harry knew of him as Dragon, he was well known to everyone in the room, extremely suspicious but fiercely loyal to those he knew. Harry felt privileged to be one of the few people he trusted.

"One of the younger aurors that I have assigned to keep a lookout on the areas that have been most frequently attacked." Sirius answered. "It seems that the same group of people go out every time, the same group of people are behind every attack, this leads me to believe that as of yet Ebony has not gained many followers." Sirius said starting to pace faster, thinking out loud.

"Also it's been confirmed that all of the villages that have been targeted have been in pretty close proximity to Malfoy Manor."

"That settles it then, it has to be Draco doesn't it. His fathers dead, it has to be him." Harry burst out passionately, very rarely had anyone in the room heard him speak so loudly, heard him burst out with anything. He was the silent type, the type who was reserved and kept himself to himself.

"That is what I have suspected for a while.'' Sirius admitted.

"Well do something about it. Lock him up, put and end to this now." Harry shouted.

"I can't act on my suspicions Harry I need hard evidence. I don't want to lock anyone up without evidence.'' Sirius said, his voice was subdued and Harry saw the haunted look flicker back in his eyes, but he shut it off before it became evident. "That is why I need Malfoy Manor to be raided completely, I want this sorted out quickly."

"When's the raid?'' Dragon questioned from the back of the room; Harry turned and saw the man's hand tightly gripped around his wand and a fire in his eyes.

"Tonight.'' Sirius said shortly. "I don't want a word of this to get out and get to the manor. I want them taken totally by surprise. Just get in there as quickly and quietly as possible and let all hell break lose.'' Sirius said grinning. He knew that there was nothing like the thrill of a night time raid, and hopefully by the end of the night they would have obtained enough evidence to send Malfoy to Azkaban and put a stop to the attacks. "And remember not a word of this to anyone, I only just managed to get the Minister's approval. We're lucky Arthur Weasley is in power now and not Fudge."

"Where do we convene?'' Dragon asked in his deep, thickset Scottish accent.

"We will meet back here at seven thirty tonight.'' Sirius replied, the thrill of anticipation burning in his chest.

"We?'' Dragon asked curiously. "Are you coming?''

"Of course." Sirius replied. "You don't think I'd pass up on a mission like this one."

Harry smiled to himself, Sirius held one of the most important titles in the ministry and yet at times Harry found himself wondering if they had the right person. Sure Sirius was good at his job but he was so reckless and impulsive that it made Harry wonder what on earth possessed Arthur Weasley to give him such an important job. But the Harry reflected it was Sirius's recklessness and blatant disregard for rules that had helped them win the war.

"So I'll see you all back here in four hours." Sirius said looking at his watch. "Don't be late." He said in a tone that told them all it was time to leave and one by one they filed out of his large office.

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Remus winced as he drained his goblet of the thick viscous fluid that it had contained only seconds before. He hated the taste, the smell, and every thing about the wolfsbane potion made him gag. He looked unnecessarily at the Lunar Calendar stuck on the wall of his study, he knew that the full moon was only two nights away and though he knew that he was harmless the thought still filled him with fear. Each transformation did nothing to prepare him for the next; it sickened him when he could feel the wolf's brain clawing at his own. He hated feeling every single hair push through his skin like needles, and he hated the fact that he craved for human flesh. The potion just made him lethargic and useless, but the cravings were still there, he still hungered for flesh but he couldn't make himself seek it out.

He placed the goblet back down upon his desk top, he felt agitated and restless as he did around this time of every month, the blood that coursed through his veins felt as though it was boiling, getting faster and faster, the palm of his hands grew sweaty. But the oncoming change could be noticed more evidently in his eyes, his soft amber eyes had started to turn yellow. Only a few streaks here and there but enough to remind him that this was inevitable, it was a part of his life now and it always would be.

"Remus.'' Tonks called as she burst through the front door of their house. She had moved in almost two years after the fall of Voldemort, and although they had their ups and down's Remus wouldn't have changed a thing about their relationship, she was perfect for him. She kept him young.

"Yes Nymphadora" He called out, he could hear her crashing around in the kitchen. How one small person could make so much noise he'd never know.

"Shut up!" She called back to him, grinning when she looked up and saw that he was standing in the doorway of the kitchen with his arms folded across his chest smiling widely at her.

"Yes Nymphadora." He repeated, it was an old trick but it worked every time.

"Remus stop that now, you know I don't like it.'' She said to him taking a sip of water from the glass in her hand. She walked up to him slowly and kissed him softly on the lips. "Urgh you taste horrible." She said backing away from him and wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her robe. "What have you eaten?''

"Wolfsbane potion." Remus said smiling, laughing at the horrified look on her face.

"You don't usually taste like that."

"Usually I don't get interrupted just as I'm about to clean my teeth," he countered back.

"Well go and clean them you taste awful.'' She said taking a large gulp of her water.

"Yes Nymphadora." He said turning away quickly before she could retort. He marvelled on how good she could make him feel even at a time when he knew he shouldn't be feeling very good at all. She was what made his transformations more bearable, he knew that when it was all over he would see her face and it would be another month until it started all over again.

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Ginny was exhausted, she'd met most of her work colleagues that day and they had been very friendly and helpful towards her. She smiled inwardly as she thought of what working there properly would be like. She'd learnt so much in just one day and couldn't wait to go back there tomorrow.

She apparated straight into the kitchen of her house and set about making a nice cup of tea when the doorbell rang. Ginny smiled to herself she knew exactly who would be standing on the other side of the door. Colin had promised to come and see her as soon as she got home from her shift, he wanted to hear everything about her first day just as she had wanted details on every last bit of his first day as a photographer for the Daily Prophet.

"Come in Col.'' She called out loudly, placing an extra cup on the work surface. She heard a second knock and her brows furrowed, he must not have heard her. She turned and left the kitchen and walked to the front door, she unfastened the clasp and pulled the door open.

"Andrew?'' Ginny said questioningly. "What are you? How did you? Why? Come in." She said finally letting her mouth issue something that any normal person could make sense of. He smiled widely and Ginny noticed, not for the first time that day either that he was actually very handsome. She felt herself blushing under his gaze and moved aside to let him in.

"Sorry, I don't mean to intrude, you and your boyfriend are probably just settling down for a cup of tea." He said awkwardly spotting the two cups waiting in the kitchen.

"Oh no those are for me and my friend, he's coming over now. I thought that you were him actually." Ginny said smiling brightly at him. "So what brings you here?''

"Oh yes right. I forgot to give you these and by the time I remembered you had already left.'' Andrew said handing over a thick booklet of papers. You'll need to read over these, they are the training guidelines, assessment dates and so on." Andrew said, casting his eyes over her, watching as she took the heavy booklet from his hands.

"Oh thanks for taking the trouble. How did you know where I lived anyway?'' Ginny asked curiously, she couldn't remember telling anyone at the Hospital.

"It's all in your records.'' Andrew answered simply, averting his gaze to the floor. "Well anyway I'd better be off then, I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

"Yeah definitely." Ginny said smiling, holding the door open as he walked out and up the pathway, meeting Colin halfway up the path, earning himself an appreciative glance.

"Bye." Andrew called, before waving to them both and apparating.

"Well well, who was that handsome devil and what prey tell was he doing in your house missy?'' Colin asked grinning mischievously at Ginny as she ushered him inside.

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Sirius fingered the small box in his pocket; he had carried it with him ever since he had first bought it, waiting for the right moment to ask her, waiting for the right moment to make her his own. He pulled the small black box out of his pocket and opened it up, inside was a delicate gold, with sparkling diamond set in the centre. It was classy and elegant, just like her.

He sighed as he placed the ring back in his pocket, tonight wouldn't be the night. He looked around his office he waited patiently for his team to arrive; tonight was the night that they were going to raid Malfoy Manor. He nodded his head as Dragon apparated into his office, he'd taken down the wards specifically for this purpose, so that his aurors could apparate in without attracting to much attention, awkward questions would be asked and Sirius wasn't in the mood to answer them.

Soon the office was full once again with the same faces that filled it earlier that morning, only this time the faces had been blacked out with boot polish and they all wore dark black combat trousers with a tight black, long sleeved jumpers and heavy boots.

Harry stood in amongst his colleagues, he wore contact lenses on the missions, so that he wouldn't be disadvantaged if his glasses smashed or got taken from him. He felt strange without his glasses and he found that when he wasn't wearing them he actually missed them. But he'd rather put up with the contact lenses, even though they made his eyes ache rather than be made vulnerable by having his glasses taken.

"Right then is everyone here?'' Sirius asked, already knowing that everyone was present. After a murmur of assent from around the room he continued. "Right then you all know why we're here. You all know what we need to do and what we are looking for. Now Dragon will be in charge of initiating the raid." Sirius said nodding at the tall well-built man. "We need to get in as quickly and as quietly as we can." Sirius said addressing the group.

"Are we taking prisoners?" Dragon asked in a throaty voice. His wand was out of the holster strapped to his leg and in his thick hands.

"Only if you see reason too.'' Sirius answered darkly. "Find any hint of dark magic being practiced there and you take prisoners. If not then we obviously can't touch them."

"Everyone get your wands ready.'' Dragon instructed firmly, taking charge of the group. Sirius obeyed along with all of the other aurors, Dragon was in charge now and Sirius had to listen to him. Dragon was the most experienced in conducting raids, and Sirius trusted him completely. "Only attack when provoked, never initiate a duel, only use your wands in self defence.''

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Harry had heard this speech every time that they went out on a raid. But he listened with full attention every time.

"Everyone Ready? Right go!'' Dragon commanded watching as every person in the room disappeared before he disapperated, meeting up with all the familiar faces on the outskirts of Malfoy Manor.

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Harry apparated into a quiet village, there were only a few houses here and there, it was peaceful the sky had a reddish tinge as the sun started to rise. He had been at Malfoy Manor all night, and the first place he had come upon being dismissed was here. He knew why he was here, he knew that he shouldn't be, he knew that she wouldn't want to see him, wouldn't even want him to be around but he couldn't resist. He looked up at the small house before him, the curtains were drawn in all the windows, he could see a light on behind one of the windows and his brows furrowed, what was she doing up this early in the morning.

He looked down at himself he still had the black outfit that was compulsory for every raid on. His face was still black and his hands were filthy, there was a tear across the chest of his jumper and his face was scratched. But he was elated; the raid had been a success. They had burst into Malfoy Manor lead by Dragon and on the off chance they had busted in on some sort of meeting, all the Death Eaters that had managed to evade captured or pleaded innocent were sitting around a long wooden table discussing plans. Dragon had instructed them to listen and magically record all of the conversation for evidence to use against them all before they burst in and stunned most of them before they had even had a chance to retaliate. There had been a few curses thrown, one Death Eater who had been disarmed tackled Harry to the floor and tried to fight him using his bare hands.

Harry had stunned him successfully only to be met with a sharp knife as he picked himself up of the floor, the thin man that was wielding the blade plunged forward aiming for Harry's chest leaving Harry only seconds to move before being speared on the end of his knife. Harry jumped back and managed to escape with a minor cut across his chest. Blood pouring from him, Harry took the man out with a single flash of red light, and performed a quick healing charm on himself.

He stood out in the fresh air, memories of the night flashing through his head. He looked at his chest the cut had healed completely but there was a thin line spanning across his chest that would be there forever, another scar, and another reminder.

The battle carried on for a while, but finally the Death Eaters were all stunned, and bound ready to be taken to Azkaban were they would await a trial, but with the evidence stacked against them, the only place that they would be heading after their trial would be back to Azkaban.

Sirius paced around the room looking down at the men and women at his feet, Harry knew what he was looking for, and even in the heat of the fight Harry had noticed that Draco Malfoy was no-where to be seen.

"Bastard, probably apparated out as soon as we arrived." Sirius growled throatily.

"Sirius look at this.'' Harry called, there was a huge tapestry hung on the wall, very similar to the one that hung on the wall in Grimauld Place.

"What is it?" Sirius called from the other side of the room, as he started picking his way carelessly over the bodies that lay stunned on the floor, not caring if he tripped or stepped on them, feeling nothing but disgust for them.

"It's a family tree, like the one in Grimauld place.'' Harry said as Sirius stepped up beside him. "Can you see Draco on this?''

Sirius scanned his quick eyes over the huge tapestry. "No he's not here, but why?" Sirius asked confused.

Harry pointed to a scorch mark on the tapestry. "This is where he should be. This was where he was until recently I'd say."

"So they scorched him off did they?'' Sirius asked, smiling wryly. "Upset the family did he.''

"I'd put money on the fact that he refused to be a part of this dark magic anymore. He's not stupid, he knows that there's nothing in it for him anymore. He wouldn't risk his neck, if there was little to be gained." Harry said.

"So who is Ebony then?'' Sirius growled in frustration.

"Here's you Ebony.'' Dragon said in his thick Scottish accent, pointing down to a crumpled figure at his feet. "It really only could be here couldn't it, there's no other Malfoy's left.''

"You mean it's Narcissa.'' Sirius asked incredulously. "Oh she'll be in Azkaban for a very long time after this."

Harry smiled with relief, the newest threat to their world had been eradicated, and it was over again for now. He reached in his pocket and felt the familiar smooth glassy surface. He pulled the soul stone out of his pocket and smiled sadly, he still hoped that one day his soul would be reunited with hers, hoped that they would be together again. He sighed as he remembered her words, she hated him, but he couldn't get her out of his head, one day they'd be together they just had to be.

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(A.N Hey guys, sorry it took me a bit longer to update this time, but it's done now. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I can assure you that it's going to get very interesting from here. Please read and review. Thanks.)