AUTHOR NOTE: This chapter sees a mid year attack. A change in staffing and a friend gets hurt. Things are starting to get real as the war begins to heat up.

BTW when writing this the cover persona Sirius used when talking to Harry I wrote with the voice and look of the Gravedigger from the BBC version of Hamlet with David Tennat in my head. Just to give you a clue of my internal vision. Of course your milage may vary. I own nothing.

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Dagda061170032: Indeed. Dobby is free...

DennisUD: Things get interesting this chapter and we are not even up to Yule yet.

Sirius had risked transfiguring himself into a nondescript middle aged man to visit Hogsmeade. He was sitting in front of the Three Broomsticks when the students came down from the school in their small groups. He was watching for Harry. He had heard stories and read the news but he wanted to see for himself. He felt he owed James and Lily that at least. To make a personal visit even if he couldn't hug or talk to the boy directly.

Sirius almost fell off the bench laughing as he saw how tall and healthy Harry looked. Wearing a nice doublet and cloak with a sword strapped to his side like a nobleman. Even James had only done that once and said he felt like such a poncy prat that he never did it again. Not that it looked like Harry would be able to draw his sword with a cute brown haired witch on one arm and a rather tall good looking redhead on the other. The Longbottom boy must have been the other one with the sword. He had a curvy dirty blonde on his arm too. Sirius was a bit happier to see he kept her on his sword side so he could draw quickly. At least one of the two boys was taking wearing the blade seriously. Which meant that Harry must be trained in the quick draw. A threat would look at Neville and focus on him, be ready for him. Remus was teaching them to divide and conquer, to use misdirection, and they were listening. Sirius almost danced for glee.

They had a small gaggle of other students around them chatting and laughing which meant they were socially popular. All of the ones around them third or fourth years it looked like to Sirius but then the older he got the younger they all looked. Sirius downed a mug of beer as they got nearer hearing them talk about seeing if the new issue of teen witch was out yet or if the clothes shop had a particular blouse still. Typical teen age nonsense. Although when he made eye contact with Harry he felt a slight shiver as Harry held his eyes for a split second longer than socially appropriate. Those emerald green eyes of lily's. Filled with curiosity and able to bore straight through to your soul. Flashing with power when angered. Glowing in the light when excited or happy. Lily. Sirius clutched the mug hard enough to whiten his knuckles.

Sirius realized that both boys had divested themselves of their girls who were fanned out behind them in a combat circle. How they had done that so quickly and without any verbal commands impressed Sirius.

"My apologies good sir but you were staring at myself and my companions. Is there a problem?" Longbottom was speaking. They had learned etiquette at some point too. Probably Remus.

"No my good lord sir. I have no problem although is that the boy-who-lived? I had not seen him in the flesh before."
Harry sighed as another one of his fans it seemed like. "I am Harry Potter."

"Oh my goodness then. The son of James and Lily Potter in the flesh now. An honor and pleasure good young sir to meet you.

"Thank you." Harry said with resigned dignity as if he met adoring fans frequently.
"Mighty horrible shame lad what happened to your parents. Mighty horrible shame. Still you seem to have turned out well."

"As well as can be expected I suppose." Harry's voice held an under current of menace Sirius noted. Good he was not without a temper to go with those eyes. Many a time Sirius had felt the ire of Lily on him.

"Oh forgive me I meant no offense sir. No offense at all. Just I went to school with your parents. Not that I knew them much. They being a few years under me and Gryffindors. Me among the house of the badgers and leaving just as they were growing into their own. Them and their little group called the marauders was it?"
Harry chuckled and put his hand on Neville's sword arm. Sirius was pleased to see he relaxed enough to at least not look like he was on guard, while remaining on guard. Remus. Remus was teaching them. That old wolf. He would definitely send him a bone for Christmas.

"Yes that was their name. And you are sir?"
"Oh just a nobody. An itinerant working man who had enough coin to pause for a beer today."
"Oh. Sorry. Well have a good day then sir."

"Tybalt. Tybalt Charleton is my name."

"Well good day to you Mr Charleton then." Harry said without offering to shake his hand but giving him the half bow reserved for polite strangers. Remus had been teaching them the proper etiquette for dealing with strangers you didn't trust indeed.

Having assured himself of Harry's safety and health he wandered to the edge of the village where the shrieking shack was located. Sneaking into it he apparated back to his next target after spending a few moments going down memory lane.

====xxx=xxxx==xx==x

Rowle was not as bloodthirsty or stupid as Macnair. He was a wily one who worked for the ministry in the Public Works department. Valued not exactly for his magical or mental talent but he did have a strong back and way with brute force spells. Subtlety was not his specialty. Usually on raids in the bad old days Rowle was one of the shock troops sent to soften up the aurors. He was an easy and predictable target though.

Rowle would be coming out to prowl tonight as he usually did at least once a month. All Sirius had to do was get to the pub and set his trap. Until then though there was another target. This one was a lot easier to get to. He worked, if one could call it that, as a magical creature breeder on his estate in the Yorkshires. Sirius was going to go see a man about a horse..

==xxx==xx==xx==xxx=xx

Narcissa was getting quite vexed. She had gone back over the people who knew the Grangers trying to find out where they might have gone. Their business associates had no idea. She had been told about vacations in France, or the Swiss Alps. Apparently the Grangers were not poor paupers as he had an inheritance of some kind from a rich relative. She dispatched a few of her minor operatives to go to the resorts they frequented to search for them. She wished Bella was here, not because she was better at getting information from people but because she wanted to hand some of them she had spoken to over to her tender mercies.

Finding out she had been disowned from the Black family was also vexing her. Not only that but to find out her sister Andromeda had been restored and given her dowry almost made her pay the Tonks a visit but that would blow her cover as a respectable member of society. She still was going to pay a visit but she needed to calm down first.

Finding one of their former university friends was a rather attractive male Narcissa decided to spend an afternoon playing with her food. It would help her calm down before paying a social call on her dear sister.

===xxx===xxx===xxx===xx

Dylan Blake had come along a different route but he knew the Grangers were in the mid part of the island. At the top of England but not into Scotland. He wasn't sure why but the area they were in was fuzzy. Not well focused at all. This meant they must have been being magically hidden.

This was where being a private investigator and trained tracker had come into play. A lot of places in the moorlands where two muggles could vanish. However only a few where they could do so safely. He would have to make a spiraling search for them, on the ground. That was going to take some time. Hopefully though the others who might be searching for them would be even more hindered. At least he could move among muggles without drawing attention.

===xxx==xxx==xxx==xxx==xx

Narcissa had enjoyed her stress relief. Getting dressed she cleaned up the scene. He had been helpful in more ways too as she had sifted through his memories while riding him. His mind being drained of memory after memory as she tore through the pages of his mind until she came across a rather interesting one. He and Daniel had shared a girlfriend. A curvy blonde named Tilly. A rather new age crystal wearing hippie girl who believed in free love and openness. He had not seen her in several years but apparently he and Dan had enjoyed the fruits of her company until Emma Granger came along and stole Dan's heart.

"Thanks for the session there stud. Too bad your heart wasn't in it enough for a round two." Cissa said patting the cooling body staring at the ceiling on the cheek as she left. Throwing a casual confringo over her shoulder as she apparated out.

===xxx===xxx===xxx===xx

"You know Dan if anyone had told me three months ago we would be in hiding from a group of magic users who wanted to kill us or use us against our daughter in the house of your ex-university girlfriend I would have laughed in their face."

"Yeah well I admit this is not exactly how I thought things would go either. Although its not all that bad."

Sighing Emma leaned into her husband. "Living with a hippie, doing nude yoga, having threesome sex because I am a horny pushover all while worried about my daughter because there are homicidal maniacs wanting to kill us just for existing.. Yeah its not all bad."

"Okay so I'm worried too but you know what Dumbledore and Xeno said. To hide and not contact her. We'll stay here a while longer while he gets things set up for his safe place."

"I hope its pretty soon. I feel so exposed out here on the moors. And while Tilly is nice she is not entirely stable. I mean Xeno makes more sense than her sometimes and I know he's not right in the head he's told me." Emma sighed again.

"Yeah well Tilly is a good girl. She means well."
"Tell me something how did you know she was even out here."
"Remember me telling you I had an old friend from university I ran into in London last summer. That was Tilly. She had come down for some pagan convention at Stonehenge and was taking the train back up. We talked for like fifteen, twenty, minutes and she told me to drop in if I was ever up in this area."

"ahh so hooking back up with an old girlfriend had nothing to do with this master plan of yours."

"Maybe a little. You have to admit telling everyone we would hide in a huge city and then going to about the most opposite place in the country was not a bad idea. And no the only other person I can think of that might know about a link with Tilly and I, might be Dave Brewster. We kinda shared her back in university."

"Dave the solicitor?"

"Yeah. Him."
"Great. Well she should be back from town soon. You wanna bet she remembered everything?"

"No bet. I'm surprised she remembered her shirt this time."

====xxx===xxx===xx

Sirius looked like the lord of the manor at the moment. He was examining a horse with Thaddeus Crabbe Death Eater. A very expensive pure bred Arabian. Who could trace his lineage back to Safanad. A fine looking horse, not that Sirius actually knew anything about horses other than which end to stand in front of.

Sirius was looking around. Crabbe was so self assured in his abilities that he had no security around, just a few stable hands and the trainer for the horse. Taking a closer look at some of the stable hands though let Sirius see that they did not seem to be really doing anything productive. Sweeping out the same stall, brushing the same horse to the point it was about to lose its hair. So Sirius counted at least 4 security and probably more nearby. Crabbe also stayed just outside of arms reach so he couldn't be grabbed and apparated out.

The only saving grace for his mission Sirius saw was that Crabbe seemed to think he was a muggle so had not raised any wards or other magical protections. He would have a brief window of opportunity so would have to move quick.

As they stood discussing payments and bloodlines Sirius saw some of the security staff had managed to put themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Crabbe probably was so confident of his own abilities he didn't employ the best. Sirius nodded then smiled.

"Oh yes proper breeding and bloodlines always matter. No matter who is involved eh?"

Taken aback Crabbe smiled, "Yeah blood purity is what matters. The purer the blood the better the breed."
"So what color is pure blood?"
"Eh?"

"What color is pure blood?" Sirius asked again coldly with the same smile on his face.

Crabbe looked at him strangely but Sirius wordlessly, wandlessly cast a stinging curse on the rump of the horse causing it to buck and kick. One of the hooves lashed out and struck Crabbe in the chest. Sirius moved forward quickly and slapped his hand on Crabbe's skull. Casting a wordless bone breaker he felt Crabbe's skull collapse like an eggshell. He threw him down under the jumping hooves of the horse watching as 1800 pounds of horse landed right on the soft shattered skull of the Death Eater. That left only one problem. What to do about the four security thugs heading his way and the fact he had a very pissed off and scared 1800 pounds of horse between him and the door.

He turned in place to apparate out only to detect that the anti-apparate wards had flared into existence.

"Well this is a fine kettle. Let's go silver!" He said leaping onto the back of the horse and hanging on as Sirius bombarded the gate and the horse discovered there was an exit available. It took off through the exit at high speed. Sirius ducked under the roof line and was soon bolting across the field. He reached the edge of the wards only did not exactly know how to dismount safely.

Eventually the horse slowed down and started trotting allowing Sirius to slide off and lay in the paddock. "Oh I am getting too old for this crap."

Picking himself up he looked around and apparated back home.

====xxx===xxx===xxx===xx

Narcissa knocked on Andromeda's door. When she opened it Narcissa sighed internally. Andromeda looked so much like her beloved sister Bella that she always felt a pang of regret that Andromeda had never joined their games. Even when she was young.

"Narcissa. This is a surprise."
"Well yes. I was in the area and thought I would visit my only remaining sister."
"You wanted to see what I did to get back in the family and you the one disowned." She said crossing her arms over those magnificent breasts Narcissa thought. She had only seen them as a teen occasionally. She wondered if they felt as good as Bella's had.

"Yes well the thought had crossed my mind. I take it cousin Sirius is doing well?"
"I wouldn't know. I dealt with Thurban the Black accounts manager, I was not certain cousin was involved."
"Well I was hoping for a more hospitable welcome. In the old ways you know."
"Yes I am sure you were. However I would rather we keep the same relationship we have had for the last decade."
"Oh pooh Droma we are siblings. We shouldn't be fighting like this." Narcissa pouted.

Andromeda sighed, "Look you know as well as I do that I do not feel the same as you do, I have no sexual desire for you and if you go for your wand I will launch you into orbit as I was always the best at wandless out of the three of us."
Narcissa narrowed her eyes at her sister. "You always were the black sheep of the family."
"I'm not the one still dressing like a common whore." Andromeda said as she turned and slammed the door.

"There is nothing common about this at all." Narcissa sneered at the closed door.

====xxx====xxx===xxx===xx

Amelia Bones was reading the final autopsy report on Umbridge. She had massive amounts of despair potion in her system. Levels that she was amazed the woman had been able to remain functional with. The contents of her stomach had been some wine, some roast beef and prodigious amounts of cake. The cake must have been the delivery system. This had been a direct assassination plot. She wondered if Fudge would still be willing to have lunch at the Malfoys after this.

====xxx===xxx==xxx==xx

The Gryffindors were in class with the Slytherins that afternoon when Professors Snape and McGonnegal came into the classroom and speaking with professor Flitwick pulled Crabbe out.

"I wonder that was all about." Veronica whispered to Harry.

"I don't know."
"Maybe they finally figured out he's too dumb to be allowed in here."

Harry kept his mouth shut. The way the two professors had looked he wasn't sure but had a bad feeling that Crabbe and he suddenly had a lot more in common.

===xxx===xxx===xxx===xx

Rowle was a tall blonde muscular Death eater. Sirius had come to the pub transfigured into Mandy a tall busty black haired knockout as Remus used to call him. James and Lily had said the two of them enjoyed his pretending to be Mandy a wee bit too much to be healthy. Which of course meant Sirius had to be Mandy all that more. Looking in the mirror maybe Lily was right about that. Oh well a little too late about that now.

Sitting beside Rowle Mandy ordered two shots of Glenfiddich.

"Well you're starting big tonight."
"I'm a big girl. Its been a big week. I wanna celebrate. Hmm you look like a big fellow who might make it a big night for me."
"hehehe. Right on that."

Mandy smiled in a very predatory fashion.

====xxx===xxx===xx==xx

Several hours later Mandy staggered out of the pub with Rowle holding her upright.

"Well looks like you need to go somewhere and lay down for a bit."
"Oh you got any ideas."

"Got plenty of them. Just gotta get in the car."
"ooh a Jaguar XJS, with the V12 and the 5 sped Getrang transmission. Nice. White rich Corinthian leather Ni-ice." Many purred up against him.

"You know your cars."

"I like things that rev high and go fast."

===xx==xx==xx==xx

Rowle took Mandy back to his place. A small detached house in a nice neighborhood. Once inside things began to get fun as Mandy got between his bare legs on her knees she looked up, "OH hey what's with that neat tattoo on your arm?"

"Hunh? You can see that?"

Shifting back to Sirius he said, "Well yeah honey. I've seen plenty of that." He then grabbed Rowle by his personal bits and in a twisting pulling motion yanked hard enough to remove them from his body.

Rowle screamed bloody murder but still tried to kick Sirius in the head.

Sirius rolled backward and called Rowle's own wand to him. "What's a matter big boy, er well I guess not so big now, or a so much a boy eh?" He said tossing the parts out the open window.

"What the hell? Black. You're supposed to be dead. There ain't no comin back from being dead. Not like this. Not like this man."

"Really such a shame Rowle. No imagination. There dead and then there's really dead."
====xxx===xxx===xxx==xx

Madam Bones was standing just outside the bedroom of the late Thorfinn Rowle's house. She had been called when the auror first response team had entered the house after obliviating the muggle police that had come. The neighbors early this morning reported that Rowle's muggle car had left the house and sped off at a high rate of speed blaring rock music at an incredible volume.

She was standing outside the room because every square inch of it seemed to be coated in what had been Rowle. Almost like he had exploded like a giant meat balloon was the way Moody had described it.

The rest of the house had been ransacked. Absolutely ransacked.

"Melia. We just got a call from the obliviators. They found out where Rowle's car went."

"I am certain this is going to be a rather interesting. Where did they find it. Moody."

"In Avery's house. It had been dropped on him nose first while he slept in bed early this morning."

"Do I even want to try and figure out how?"
"I sent a team to go figure that out. They said it had come through the roof at such a high speed it buried itself 4 feet into the floor. Avery happened to be in the way though."

"Someone is going to a lot of trouble to whittle away the dark lord's supporters."

"Ye thinking he's wanting some vengeance after all then."
"Possible. Possible. Right now keep it under a Delta 3 clearance or higher."
"I already have this under a D5." Moody grinned.

===xxx==xxx===xx===xx

Yaxley was called to Malfoy manor. He knew this was not going to be a good thing. Three members of the Death Eaters had been killed in one day.

He walked into the dining hall to find the others in the high command. Lucius, Runcorn, Dolohov and himself. The four team leaders that still walked free. Pettigrew sniveled behind the Dark Lord like a good little lap dog.

Taking a knee before his Lord he waited to be spoken to.

"Yaxley you are late."
"My apologies my lord. I was stopped by Moody before I could leave the ministry. They are increasing security. I had to remove three tracking charms the man had placed on me."
"He is becoming a nuisance. He will have to be removed at some point soon."
"Yes my lord."
"Lucius tells us that his wife is getting closer to the annoying muggles. You will gather your team and be ready to travel with her to execute them."
"We are no longer to capture them?"
"No. They have annoyed me far too long."

"Yes my lord."

"Runcorn your report."
"I have been promoted to replace Madam Umbridge. Bones has been trying to encourage Fudge to be concerned about his closeness to Malfoy sire. Claiming that the cake that killed Umbridge was consumed here."
"Yes I know. It would seem Dumbledore had sent a bug in the flour."
"Sire?"
"None of your concern."

"Malfoy keep your friendship with Fudge. We need next year to be spectacular."

"yes my lord." The four said in synchronicity.

===xxx===xxx==xx

Sirius was relaxing in his bed thinking about last night. He was going to be off his feet for a few days thanks to two broken legs. The biggest shame he had for the night was destroying the car. He had a 68 E-type that he was saving to give to Harry when he got old enough. He wondered what happened to his motorcycle. Last he had seen that was Hagrid riding off into the rising sun.

It was fun though. He had done a quickie enchantment on Rowle's car to make it fly. Going up as high as he could to make it crash through Avery's house just right. Mid air apparation was not recommended. He found out why.

"Kreacher."

"Yes master."

"How goes the plan?"

"The targeted ones have increased their security. All but the Malfoy wife. She has been looking for the muggle parents too."

"Lovely. Great. We need to find them first. But we have to be quiet about it so we can;t look for them until we find them. Dammit!"

Kreacher stood by quietly.

"Okay. Keep on the plan. Take the next envelope to the Goblins they'll know what to do with it."

====xxx===xxx===xxx==xx==xx

A few days after the Remus Lupin was sitting in the library of Grimmould when he saw in the mail that Gringott's had a secured package for him and that he needed to come to the bank to receive it.

It was on official Gringott's letterhead and passed the security exam. So he went to find out what was going on. Soon he was in the office of the Black Family Account's manager Thurban.

"Ahh. Mr Lupin. Hello. I am glad you could come."
"I am a bit confused. I was informed that I had a secured package to receive."

"Yes. Please confirm that you are who you claim to be."
Remus placed the drops of his blood on the parchment as directed. Once it was confirmed he was himself. They took him to a secured room with a table and brought in a box.

"When you are done with viewing this you may knock on the door."

"Whats all this about?"
"The information is in the box."
Thurban departed leaving Remus alone with the box. It had the marauder's emblem on the lid. Specifically oriented to be Sirius Black's personal identification.

He felt his heart skip a few beats. It could be a trap but he doubted it.

He sang the chorus of the Bee Gees I've gotta get a message to you causing the lid to spring open. Chuckling at Sirius' love of disco and how he would be in shock if he heard the music today.

Inside the box was a memory crystal projector and several books. On the cover of each book was a company logo or family crest.

Setting the projector up he tapped its activation rune with his wand causing the 6 inch tall image of Sirius Black to form in the air.

"Hello Old Friend. I'm sorry I haven't been round for tea but there's been a lot of work to get done. Busy busy busy. Hehehe. Anyhow. The books in here are ownership papers to various companies. Some of them in the muggle world and some in the magical. Some of them are also titles to land holdings that were sworn to the Black family for fealty that they have not been tithing to their lord. As I've named you as the Estate Manager for the Black Family Estates you can go after these people. Thurban will be quite happy to go after the wizards. We may not be able to reduce them to paupers but making them either surrender the lands and holdings to you or pay you a shit load of coin will be the greatest prank yet.

Thank you for taking care of Harry and his little group there. He's turned out so well. James and Lils would be so proud of him. You're doing a better job than I did. Keep it up you old wolf. Take care of them. Take care of yourself. Maybe we can get together sometime before the end of the road."

The image faded out and the crystal cracked and melted into sand.

Remus looked through the books. This was going to be fun.

===xxx===xxx===xx==xx

Draco had one task, get Dumbledore sacked. So far it was not going well. Every time he turned around and tried to get something done he failed. He had failed to get Lovegood or Granger with the Despair Potion. He had no desire to kill the low hanging fruit of the Weasley girls. That would just be petty at this point. Besides Ron had definitely had an upgrade in the looks department so there was more fun things to be considered.

The elves that had been placed at his disposal in the castle had been removed, the leader Sooka found killed somehow. Dobby had also gone missing. Which was troubling as the only way he could have gone missing was to have broken his bonds. An almost impossible thing for a house elf to do on their own. So since Hufflepuffs now worked in the kitchens thanks to Professor Sprout and the Headmaster giving them work experience that meant they did not need to hire more house elves. And the stupid cheerful puffs were enjoying it. Some of them even blood traitors, doing manual labor and cooking.

They had the Gryffindor's doing security patrols on the grounds and in the halls. Training to be aurors the official reason. Ravenclaws were now acting like apprentice professors. Slytherins though had been kept on the outside except for their prefects. Unfortunately according to his father none of that was against the school rules and the board right now did not want to upset the apple cart. Diggory was still trying to do damage control over the food poisoning incident. The others still supported Dumbledore, including a couple of the swing votes.

He had two more potions left in his case. They were both incredibly dangerous though as the others were supposed to have done the job. Once released he would have no control over the targets and that made him very uncomfortable.

===xxxx====xxx===xxx===xxx====xx

Draco had carefully coated the six darts in their toxin. Taking the leather protective gloves off he placed them in a special holder so that he could access them quickly without touching the sharp envenomed part when he was ready to use the small hand crossbow. Each dart would inject their toxin then banish themselves leaving no trace. His father had spent a great deal of gold on them so Draco had to make sure he used them on the right targets. The last Quidditch game before Christmas break was today and he would use it then. Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw would be a very memorable game.

Draco had disillusioned himself at a point not far from the stands. That way he could strike without being seen. He had already used four of the darts when he saw the Potter gang coming. Ginny Weasley talking to her friends Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones. Susan Bones the niece of the head of the DMLE and the last of her line of filthy blood traitors. What a delicious target the chubby auburn haired girl would pose. He raised his hand crossbow and targeted her. With a click the dart was on its way. He watch Susan stumble causing the dart to miss her and bury itself in the hip of the Abbot girl. Draco reloaded and was ready to launch at the Lovegood girl in seconds. At least he had hit one of the accursed group. Now all he had to do was hit the second one. This was becoming a personal vendetta.

Dobby was walking invisibly next to Lady Ithil. She did not know he was there but he was ready to serve her. His magic felt a threat building for her. A danger was coming as he turned he saw a crossbow dart coming towards her. He used his magic to burn the dart to ash before it got close enough to harm Lady Ithil. The one who had tried to harm her though was still near. He was torn between following her to protect her or to punish the one who had tried to harm her. His moment of indecision was enough to let her slip into the stadium with her friends causing Dobby to yelp and chase after her.

Draco had seen the dart burst into flames halfway to the small posterior of Lovegood. Causing him to want to scream in rage. Somehow she was protected. He knew Potter had power but how, how did he keep doing that.

====xxx===xxx===xxx===xx

Hannah was rubbing her left back cheek as they walked to their seats. Hermione chuckled, "You okay Hannah?"

"Yeah I just thought I felt something sting me."

"Well I don't see my brothers anywhere. Probably some Ravenclaw playing a prank."

"Sure it wasn't you Potter?"

Potter laughed as he had one arm around Hermione and the other holding Luna's hand. "Nope sides I can think of doing something better to that than stinging it."

"Oh as if you don't have enough already."

"Well this much greatness should be shared with the world you know."
"Keep it up Mister you'll be sleeping alone."

They all laughed as they sat down to watch the game.

Draco stayed by the exit looking at his pocket watch. It should take about 10 minutes for the toxin to enter their blood, another five or so to begin activating. So any time now for the first one.

Harry and his friends were watching the game and following Cho's efforts to avoid getting tagged by a bludger and still find the snitch. Ron and Harry arguing over how much longer it was going to take her when Luna noticed a disturbance in the Ravenclaw side of the stands. Several people were backing away from a student who had begun to change and shift. Even though it was broad daylight they were turning into a werewolf? Luna couldn't believe her eyes.

Screaming begun to be heard over the shouting of the crowds. Another Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff began to turn too. Luna grabbed Harry, "We need to get out of here. NOW!"

Harry looked where she was pointing and nodded. "Okay everyone out of the stands now. Evacuate!"
They began to move out of the stands quickly and orderly until a few feet away another Hufflepuff boy began to froth and tear as his bones made cracking and breaking noises. His hair growing shaggier in front of Harry and his friends.

"Okay that way is out." Harry and his friends began to retreat back down and across to another set of exits only to be caught in a choked throng of panic stricken students trying to all exit at the same time. The one that had shifted began to pursue them. Harry fired his wand straight down blasting a hole in the stands for them to jump through. Neville and Lavender had begun to fire stunning spells at the impossible werewolf but they did not seem to be having an effect.

Once the others had jumped down Harry tapped Neville and Lavender and jumped himself.

Neville and Lavender joined them moments later as Hermione levitated boards up and repaired the stands.

"Okay what the hell is going on. Its daylight. They can't shift in daylight." Neville grumbled as they began to move quickly through the supports for the stands.

"I have no idea. That was Richard Hawke. I know for a fact he wasn't one." Hannah shouted in fear.

Harry was leading the way with Neville behind when Hannah stumbled onto her knees. Hermione was next to her so tried to help her up only to leap back when Hannah's back arched and she began to growl and scream, "Run. ." She managed to gasp out before her face extended into a toothy muzzle. The sound of her bones breaking then reforming as she shifted screaming and gagging in pain. Bursting out of her uniform into the huge shaggy body of a werewolf. Howling a challenge she stared at the Potters who had moved into a circle around her. Her entire body shivered and twitched like she was fighting against herself.

"Hannah! Hannah its us. Your friends." Susan tried calling out. "Keep fighting it. C'mon you can do it."

A low deep growl in the throat of the wolf was the only reply. A howl from behind them told them revealed that there was a second one coming up fast.

Dobby knew that Lady Ithil would never abandon her beloved unless he imprisoned her but he could not do that. His bonds flaring as he turned to the slavering beast charging them. The two males already firing spells at it from their positions to no avail. Dobby phased into vision ran up to the charging creature that had been a student and grabbing it apparated out with them.

Harry though the recognized Dobby but whichever elf it was he said a brief thank you and turned to deal with Hannah she was beginning to froth at the mouth and snap at her friends who had been trying to talk soothingly to her.

"Guys you know what Remus said about the shift. Her mind is not really in charge right now."
"This can't be a real werewolf shift. Not only is it daylight this is the wrong moon phase." Hermione calmly pointed out though with her voice filled with stress.

"Yeah well tell her that." Neville called back as a huge clawed paw swiped at him causing him to duck behind the beam. Luna cast a stinging hex to get Hannah's attention.

They ducked and dived for several minutes twisting around to keep her jumping at one of them then being distracted by another. Every once in a awhile they would try to stun her to no avail.

Ginny cried out as a claw sunk into her hip knocking her down. Luna and veronica both cast stinging hexes at Hannah before she could bite her.

"Nev, Mione, Luna, Ron on three stunners Everybody else keep her busy."

Shouts of agreement rang out.

"One two three."
Five stunners hit Hannah at the same time and caused her to become groggy. The same five fired on her again and a third time before she passed into unconsciousness.

Professor Snape and McGonnegal came into the supports at that moment. "Were any of you injured?"

"Yes Ma'am Ginny got clawed."

"Get her to the hospital." Minerva ordered as lavender was checking her.

"We need to get Hannah to the Hospital Wing. Too." Susan said kneeling by her now furry friend.

"We will once we have secured her."

====xxx===xxx===xxx===xx====xx

Lavender had been pressed into providing first aid and triage on the Quidditch field. The worst injured and those who had changed taken to the Hospital already.

Dobby was found in the field not far from the school torn in half by one of the changed. When he leapt on her he had apparently not been able to get away in time and had been bitten in half. His small body unable to heal quickly enough.

The game itself was forgotten about. The snitch flitting overhead a mute witness to the tragedy.

====xxx===xxx====xx

Dumbledore was sitting his office drafting his resignation letter. He knew there was utterly no way he could remain headmaster after this. A knock on his door broke him from his reveries.

"Enter the chamber of the damned."
Professors Snape, McGonnegal and Flitwick came in and took seats across from their boss.

"We already received word from Augusta the Board is convening an emergency meeting."

"I know I was just drafting my resignation letter. There is no way I can maintain my position after this. Not with 15 students wounded and 5 dead."
"They have to know someone purposely did this. Those students were not infected before they came to this school. Terry Boot was no more a werewolf than I am." Flitwick emphatically stated.

Dumbledore simply sighed, "So what do we know about what happened?"
"The five students who transformed are not infectious. This is not a true werewolf curse fortunately as several other students had been bitten."

Minerva sighed as she said something under her breath.

"Yes thank the gods indeed, as many of them that can hear us." Dumbledore nodded.

"So why did they transform?"
"I have an analysis of the blood underway. I will know more but it seems according to my preliminary tests to be a variation on the poly-juice potion only created using a werewolf's blood as one of the components. So it had a targeted transformation effect."

"Have they returned to their human forms yet?"

"No Albus. They are still in their wolf forms and Poppy is having trouble restoring their forms. I tried to transfigure them back but Mr Boot's heart could not handle the stress."

"Another sad victim. I'm sorry Filius he was one of yours was he not?"

The goblin nodded sadly.

"Why are they not reverting?"
"I believe that the potion that did this was created using dark magics that effectively if not overwrote the pattern of the victims at least corrupted it. It was designed to be as destructive as possible. Only the curse cannot be transferred through any means other than a bite from an infected on the night of the full moon." Snape calmly explained.

"So to restore them you will have to unravel the wolf from the person?"
Snape snorted briefly before nodding, "Yes. In essence discovering a cure for lycanthropy."

The other professors knew that the quest for that had been going on for at least a thousand years.

"So what about the Wolfsbane?" Flitwick asked.
"I would have to get a few rare ingredients which are expensive. Unfortunately it takes at least 2 weeks to properly brew it even when one has the ingredients."
"Try to see if there is anywhere you can acquire any. Talk to Harry or Mr Longbottom if you need assistance. They may have resources available to you."

"Yes sir."

===xxx====xxx===xx===xx

Draco was relaxing in the Slytherin common room as his minions described what happened. He laughed at the carnage and hugged Romilda who was looking at him in awe.

====xxx===xxx==xxx

Ginny was laying on a bed in the hall of the castle just out side the hospital wing due to the sheer number of wounded. A section of stands had collapsed when the crowd panicked and rushed the exit. A great many bones would have to be regrown overnight.

Madam Pomfrey came out looking exhausted. Ginny and her friends were all gathered around.

"Well I have good news. The changed were not infectious. Professor Snape confirmed they did not have the curse or an infection in their blood."
Seven sighs of relief passed through the crowd.

"So when can I see Hannah?"

"She is still in her wolf form unfortunately." Pomfrey said running her wand over Ginny's body to check her health condition. "Your wound though was sealed and you should be fine Ginny."

"Can I still see Hannah. I'm sure she'll not hurt me." Susan was almost begging.

"I'll go back with her." Harry volunteered.

"She is restrained and under as many sedatives as I can put in her without killing her."

"She won't hurt me." Susan reiterated.

"Mr Potter I am putting her safety in your hands."

"I understand. Everyone else can get back to the common room. Take Ginny with you."

====xxx===xxx====xxx===xx

The large golden blonde wolf was muzzled and laying on a bed in the middle of a room. A chain ran from a collar around her neck to the wall. She was groggy and looking at Susan and Harry warily.

"Hey Hannah. I know you're in there. We'll get you back as soon as we can."

The wolf just breathed at her. Huffing softly as Susan walked closer.

Harry put his hand on her shoulder. "Careful Susan. Remus is a cursed and has told me about the change."

"I know I've seen the reports. But Hannah is different she knows me. She loves me."

Harry raised his eyebrow but said " I know. But Remus has told me that he loses his mind without the Wolfsbane potion. Under that condition he would attack even myself."

Susan turned and started crying into Harry's chest. When she did that the wolf began to make a soft whining noise.

Tearing herself away from Harry, Susan threw her arms around the wolf's neck and started crying on her.

====xxx====xxx===xxx===xx

Harry finally stumbled into the Gryffindor common room. The somber mood was unbroken by any games of exploding snap or chess. Everyone sitting quietly waiting to find more information.

Harry sat next to Hermione who pulled him into a hug sitting and holding him quietly.

"How's Susan?"

"Madam Pomfrey had to give her a calming draught. She's sleeping in a bed not far from Hannah. It seems like she got calmed down by Susan's presence."

"We heard from McGonnegal. Dumbledore's gonna step down rather than have the board fire him."

"Oh. I'm not surprised. It seems like this year has been nothing but an attempt to get rid of him."

"I know. Someone inside the castle too. Someone that doesn't care who gets hurt as they've been using broad attacks not targeted."

"Wonderful Ron now how do we counter that?" Neville grumped again.

"That's the problem. These kind of things are hard to deal with. I mean I would put good money on it being Malfoy but without proof." Ron shrugged.

Ginny was trying not to be noticed but asked, "Are the ones who got changed going to be okay?"
Lavender shrugged, "Maybe. We don't know. A normal werewolf change is like having a heart attack while every bone in your body breaks at the same time. This seemed to follow that pattern I guess." Lavender said clinically.

"Hannah seemed to be just like a really big shaggy dog."

"Do you think their minds are still there?"
Lavender shrugged, "I don't know. In some ways I kinda hope not. Having a human mind trapped in a large canine body. That would be harsh."

======xxxxx====xxx====xxx

Snape called on Remus Lupin at Grimmould place.

"Severus. Is everything alright?"

"No there was an attack at the school."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"None of the ones you worry about were. 5 died and 15 where wounded though. And 5 students turned into werewolves."

"What? Its not that time of the month. That's not for another week and half."

"I know. I know." Snape then explained what he knew and what he suspected. He and Remus agreed there would be a lot of work but that the Wolfsbane might reverse this if not it might at least make them tamer. Remus promised to look in the books at the house and see if there was anything that could help.

"I believe this potion was a rather devious invention. I have never encountered anything like it before."

"Well when you find whomever the creator is you can pick their brain before we ship them off to Azkaban."