Bye-bye Britain

Thick clouds blocked out the stars and the moon. Mist hung around the streetlights, hugging them gently. In the shadows, a dark figure moved along a street of identical houses perfectly cared for by their owners. Grey eyes swept over the lawns and windows of the houses on the opposite side of the street. No one seemed to be awake. Quick steps brought them forward. 'Now where is that guard?' If their information had been correct there should be a witch or wizard around. A smirk spread over full lips. It wasn't Moody. The guard was a young woman. 'Good.' It would make things so much easier without the old paranoid auror around. His ability to see through walls had been a slight concern. The figure snuck in behind the houses. One of the windows leading into the living room of number 4 Privet Drive was opened carefully. Silently, they moved inside and up the stairs. Nimble fingers reached out and touched the locks adorning one of the bedroom doors. Grey eyes narrowed. 'That's just wrong.'

Carefully the door was opened, and the dark figure stepped into the room. In a scabby looking bed lay a young man. Harry James Potter, thought by many to be the saviour of the wizarding world for taking out the Dark Lord, Voldemort, when he was just an infant. His thin chest rose and fell slowly. Messy black hair covered his head and fell down on the lumpy pillow his head rested on.

A black-clad hand reached out to cover his mouth. It would be disastrous if the guard outside heard the boy scream. His eyes flew open, and the person next to him had to hold him down.

Even in the dark, it was easy to see that Harry's eyes were bright green as they scanned the person holding him furiously. They moved down. "The spectral otter has sent me," a soft voice whispered in the young man's ear. He stopped struggling. He sat up slowly as they let go of him. He reached out and grabbed his glasses. "What do we do?" he asked. The password had been set before the summer. It meant things had changed.

"Leave here." The dark-clad figure looked outside. "Pack only the things that are important to you. We can't bring your entire trunk with us." There was a pause. "It isn't like you are going to need it."

Harry nodded slowly. He got up and located his school bag. He made sure he had his father's invisibility cloak, the photo album containing the only pictures he had of his parents, the marauders' map, and an enchanted knife he'd been given by his godfather. Then his eyes landed on his broom. It had also been a gift. He really didn't want to leave it.

"We can bring that," the hidden person said. "She said it meant a lot to you so I figured out a way to bring it along."

Harry smiled, of course, Hermione had figured something out. He shouldn't have doubted her. He grabbed the broom. "I'm done," he said.

"Good, follow me."

Harry moved as quietly as he could as he followed his guide. They moved from backyard to backyard, silently. Harry breathed in slowly. He knew this was the beginning of a new chapter. In the back of his head, he could hear a voice that sounded very much like Dumbledore berating him for leaving his Aunt and Uncle's house. He didn't care. The Ministry had made it clear they wanted to break his wand.

Green eyes widened as he reached his guide. A leather jacket was handed over to him. "You should wear that. Give me your things." He nodded, handed his bag and broom over, and put the jacket on. Then he was given a helmet. He put that on as well. He took a deep breath before he climbed on to the motorcycle. His broom had been mounted to one of the saddlebags. His pack had probably been stowed away in the very same bag. He felt himself get pulled forward by the wrist. "Hold on to me." It was a command, not a request. Once the motorcycle started moving, Harry could understand why he had been told to hold on. They picked up speed fast. He was sure they were driving way faster than the speed limit. He didn't feel like questioning it, though. Truth be told he didn't know what he'd just gotten himself into only that he trusted the person who had started it.

For the past four years, he had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yes, he, Harry James Potter, was a wizard. At Hogwarts, he had made his first true friends. Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. It had been great. Being away from the Dursleys, having friends, learning magic… but not everything had been a piece of cake. Every year since he started Hogwarts something dangerous had happened. His first year it had been Quirrell. The man had let a troll into the school on Halloween and by the end of the year, he had gone after the Philosopher's Stone that the Headmaster, Dumbledore, had hidden in the school as a favour to a friend. Harry and his friends had gone down past a three-headed dog, through some devil's snare, and more to catch up to the man. It had ended with Harry learning that Voldemort, the man who had killed his parents and left him an orphan, was still alive… or as alive as a man could be without a body. He had stood his ground and kept the Dark Lord from the stone almost losing his life in the process.

His second year hadn't been much better with a giant Basilisk moving through the school petrifying children born to non-magical parents. Once again it had been Voldemort responsible, and once again Harry had faced him alone. He'd almost died that time as well. He'd been pretty certain he would die as the Basilisk's venom was moving through his veins. He had once again been saved just at the brink of death. His first year it had been Dumbledore. This time it was the Headmaster's familiar, the phoenix, Fawkes.

His third year wouldn't have been so dangerous if it hadn't been for the Dementors. He shuddered. He did not like Dementors. They made you remember your very worst memories which for him was the death of his parents. That year had been by far the best, though. He had met one of his father's best friends. His godfather Sirius Black. He liked to think that Sirius would agree with what he was doing.

His fourth year was by far the worst. Not only had he been entered, against the original rules, into a competition he didn't want to partake in, but it had also been the year that marked Voldemort's return. Not that the people of magical Britain believed him since the Minister was determined to undermine him. He could easily list the many times he'd been in danger of dying that year. When he had to steal a golden egg from a dragon mother's nest of eggs; As he tried to save Ron and Gabrielle Delacour from the bottom of the Black Lake; While inside the maze that made up the last task, and in the graveyard after Voldemort's return. It still gave him nightmares.

In an attempt to forget, Harry looked at the landscape as they drove by. They weren't moving as fast anymore. He assumed that they were actually keeping to traffic rules now. He wondered who the person driving him away from the Dursley's was. Hermione had never said. At least he couldn't remember her saying anything about who would help them. She had brought it up though. An alternative to Hogwarts…

Hermione, Harry, and Ron had been sitting in the Room of Requirements. Harry had left the Hospital Wing just a few hours earlier. Neither boy knew why they were there. They only knew it had to be important since Hermione had wanted them to go to the one place in the school where no one could overhear them. The girl in question was sitting opposite of them playing with her fingers nervously and biting her lip.

Once she looked up at the other two, her gaze was determined, however. She took a deep breath. "I think it is time we consider leaving Hogwarts," she said. "I have been working on an alternative for a while now."

Both boys had blinked in surprise. They knew how much Hermione wanted to learn new things. To hear from her that they should leave school wasn't something they'd expected.

"Are you sure Hermione?" Harry asked.

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before answering, "No." She looked both the boys in the eyes. "But I think we should have it as an alternative." She looked down at her hands. "We don't know how things are going to proceed from now on. I think we should be ready for anything."

Harry and Ron nodded slowly. "Yeah, that makes sense," Ron said. He scratched his head. "But you know mom will never be okay with it," he said.

Hermione grimaced. "I know," she said. "We might have to run away."

Ron leaned back. "Well, if you have an alternative I say we go for it if we need to," he said.

Hermione nodded slowly. She was glad that they seemed to agree with her. Her head tilted slightly as she met Harry's eyes.

"So leaving is our plan B if something goes haywire?" Harry said. It sounded good to him. He'd been through hell and back enough times already.

Hermione nodded. "It is perfectly safe," she said. "I have it all set up already."

They had trusted her.

Harry returned to the present. He trusted Hermione so when the person who came to pick him up had mentioned Hermione's Patronus he had gone along with it. There were only three people who knew Hermione could cast a Patronus after all. Himself, Ron and Hermione. He had taught the two of them in secret. Just like they had learned many spells that were far more complicated than what the professors were teaching them. The only reason they were hiding what they were learning was to keep the knowledge away from anyone who could possibly tell Voldemort at any point. It had been hard without teachers in some ways. Some things weren't meant to be self-taught. It hadn't stopped them. They had wanted to learn so they had.

Harry yawned. They had always known that Voldemort would return. They had wanted to be as prepared as they could get. His eyes scanned the sky. Somewhere beyond the clouds, the sun was rising slowly. They were driving down a dirt road now. Green fields surrounded them. Then the bike turned on to an even smaller road. They passed through an arch of green leaves, and a house became visible to Harry. He moved off the bike as it stopped and stretched. It had been a long trip. He was handed his broom and bag.

"Let's go inside."

It was a cosy little cottage. A fire burned in the hearth. A fluffy green carpet spread out over the floor. Two comfortable looking chairs faced the flames.

"We won't be staying here for long," Harry's mysterious saviour said. "It is just a middle landing. We'll most likely be leaving the country. You will be safer that way."

Harry's eyes widened as the person unwrapped the face and headcloth that was keeping them hidden. Long curly brown hair fell down along her back. Because now that he could see her it was obvious that it was a woman. She turned around, and he had to hold in a gasp. She looked so much like Hermione it was almost scary.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," the woman said.

Harry swallowed thickly. "No… well," he paused. "You look a lot like a friend of mine," he said finally.

The woman let out a merry laugh. The mirth in her eyes was contagious. "Well there is a simple explanation for that," she said once she had stopped laughing. "I'm Juliet Marie Granger," she introduced herself. "Hermione is my little sister."

Harry blushed embarrassed. Then a question crossed his mind. Why hadn't Hermione told them she had an older sister? It wasn't like they would judge her based on that. He was about to ask Juliet when a phone rang.

Juliet pulled a mobile phone out of a pocket and answered. A smile graced her lips as she said, "Yo lil' sis." she paused for a moment. "Yeah, I have him here. Looks like he's about to fall over from exhaustion, but I'm sure he can pull himself together long enough for you to talk to him." She held the phone out to Harry. He reached out and accepted it. "Hey Hermione," he said.

He could hear a relieved sigh before Hermione started talking. "I'm glad Juliet could get to you without any problems. Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said. "A bit tired but fine."

"Okay, Ron and I are … well, they have a spell so I can't tell you where, but it used to be Sirius' parents' house. He is here too. He hates it…" She paused. "Actually I was considering inviting him along."

Harry blinked surprised. He knew Hermione didn't like Sirius that much herself. Or rather she disliked his carefree nature and his tendency to turn everything into a joke. "I think he would appreciate that," he said. He really would. Especially if Sirius hated being where he was now. He had a feeling it would be much better for the runaway convict to leave the country.

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to have to talk to big sis about that though. My parents are going to demand that I go back home and then they will get me over so sis can pick me up. We've spoken to them already." There was a pause. "They weren't happy when I told them about all the dangerous stuff we've been through. So they support the decision we've made to leave. Ron will be the most difficult one to get out of here. His parents would never agree to let him go. Sis and I think the only way for him to join us is to run away. She won't kidnap him since that's a felony. In your case, they won't know if you ran away or was taken so she didn't mind picking you up. If we can get Sirius in on this then Ron will run away, and he will go looking for him. They will meet one of Juliet's associates, and from there they will make it to us." It was clear that Hermione was going to say something else, but then she stopped. "I'm going to have to hang up. I'll talk to you soon."

Harry lowered the phone.

"Abrupt ending huh?" Juliet said.

Harry nodded.

"Yeah, she has to do that when someone else shows up. She doesn't want anyone else to know," Juliet said.

Green eyes met grey. "Why hasn't she told us she has a sister?" he asked.

Juliet shrugged. "You would have to ask her. I have a hunch, but I could be wrong. All I can tell you is that it isn't because she's embarrassed by me," she said. She looked down at her watch. "You should probably get some shut-eye. We won't be staying here for long."

A yawn stopped Harry from saying anything, and he decided that the older version of Hermione was right. He was really tired. She motioned him into an empty bedroom. Despite everything that had happened that morning he fell asleep almost immediately.

Halfway across the country, Hermione was having breakfast with the Weasleys. She was glad that the first step of their plan had gone off without a hitch. She knew it was a bit early to celebrate, though. So many things could still go wrong. Right now she needed to get Ron alone so they could go over the next part of the plan. It wasn't the easiest thing to manage since Mrs Weasley had decided that they were supposed to help clean the house.

Thankfully, they got a break when Mad-eye Moody showed up. Hermione and Ron made it to an empty room and threw up several spells that would prevent anyone from listening in. A thing only possible because of the heavy wards around the house. The Ministry couldn't detect underage magic through the heavy magic around the building. "So Harry is safe," Hermione said. "It's your turn next."

Ron nodded. "I think I'm gonna go with the same line as last year. You know Harry is getting loads of attention, and I get jealous so I run away. I think that should work. At least as long as I don't get too close to say Dumbledore or Snape," he said. Most people had been convinced the year before when he had pretended to hate Harry. It had all been a dud to see if he could do it in case they ever needed it in the future for any reason. It had all been an elaborate ruse to see just how little people thought of him. It had hurt at times, but he'd also been proud that he could pull it off.

Hermione nodded. "Sounds good enough," she paused. "My parents will pull me out. Probably last minute. I was considering something though…"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he said.

"Well, why don't we invite Sirius along?" Hermione said.

Ron considered the proposition for a moment. "He could travel with me," he said finally. He pulled a hand through his hair. "Harry would like that, and it would probably be better for Sirius too."

"We might be able to clear his name as well," Hermione said. "I'd have to speak to my contacts about that, though."

"That would be a miracle if they could do it," Ron said.

Hermione nodded. She placed a hand on the door next to them. "We should probably get back out there," she said.

Ron took a deep breath. "Okay I'm ready," he said. He had a feeling he was going to have to start acting like a dick pretty soon. They made it back downstairs just in time to hear Mrs Weasley call for them. There were quite a lot of people gathered in the kitchen when they got there.

It was silent for a moment that seemed like forever as everyone's stares settled on the two teens. "Have the two of you heard anything from Harry?"

Hermione turned towards Dumbledore. "No," she said. "Should we have?" she made sure to sound seriously concerned.

Ron just shook his head dumbly. He wasn't quite ready to speak yet. It took a little longer than that for him to prepare.

The Headmaster smiled grandfatherly. "No, no, of course not," he said. "I was just wondering."

The kids were dismissed and sent back to clean. It would take until dinner the next day before they actually got to hear that Harry had disappeared. By then Hermione knew that her sister had taken Harry out of the country. As decided, Ron got really grumpy. He didn't outright say anything about it, but he had taken to imitating Kreacher, Sirius' house elf's behaviour, meaning he was walking around muttering. Mostly he was doing that so only his siblings and Hermione could hear him. He was trying to establish himself as a douchebag there first.

Three days after they had learnt that Harry was missing Hermione finally got a chance to speak to Sirius. He was sitting up in the master bedroom with Buckbeak. Dumbledore had completely forbidden him from going out to look for Harry. It had pissed Sirius off and there had been a screaming match down in the kitchen. The only reason Sirius hadn't run off on his own yet was because of the last thing Dumbledore had told him. "What do you think Harry will do if you go out there and get yourself killed?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow as Hermione cast several charms meant to keep conversations private. "I need to talk to you," she said. She sat down on the edge of the king-size bed. She steadied herself. "I know where Harry is," she said.

Sirius looked up at the girl. Several things passed through his head at once. He finally decided that he would rather have answers than get angry with her and asked, "How?"

"Well, it was sort of my idea," Hermione said. "I have been thinking since we've, and especially Harry has, been in so much danger during our years at Hogwarts we could really use somewhere else to learn. I figured out a way to make that happen without getting into another school. It was supposed to be a plan B in case something happened, but since Harry got the letter from the Ministry saying they were going to break his wand we decided to put the plan in motion. So, Harry is already out of the country. Ron is going to run away soon and be picked up."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sirius asked.

"Because we decided to invite you to come along," Hermione said. "It would give you and Harry a chance to properly get to know each other. And you won't have to live in a house you hate."

A small glimmer of hope appeared in Sirius' eyes.

"If you want to come along you should run after Ron," Hermione said. "Stay as Padfoot and my contacts will get you out with him."

"Me being a convict won't be a problem?" Sirius asked.

Hermione shook her head. "No," she said. "My contacts know you are innocent."

Then Sirius smirked. "So Ronald acting like a moron is actually just to make him running away seem more legit?" he said.

"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "People are really stupid sometimes. They are willing to believe the worst of Ron so easily."

Sirius nodded. "He's not the only one," he said. He looked up at Buckbeak. "What should I do with this one?" he asked.

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm sure Headmaster Dumbledore will figure something out," she said. "Hopefully, they can bring him back to Hogwarts."

Sirius nodded. "I'll run after Ron," he said. "What am I looking for in the contact?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not sure who they will send, but they have a password for Ron. He'll be able to tell, and they should recognise you by Snuffles, not Padfoot."

Sirius nodded slowly. "You guys are the only ones I've used that name with so it should be fine," he said. He was surprised Hermione had planned for the teens to run away, but he didn't mind at all. He knew what they had been through too, and he was just a bit impressed.

"That was the idea," Hermione said. "I should probably get back downstairs. Mrs Weasley has us working on the drawing-room now."

Sirius shook his head. "I don't get why she tries," he said. "This place isn't going to get better."

Hermione shrugged. "It works in Ron's favour so I'm not complaining."

Sirius snorted. At least something good came out of Molly's obsession with cleaning his house.

"What was Harry thinking?" Mrs Weasley said worriedly one evening at dinner. It had become clear that Voldemort hadn't captured Harry. The Dark Lord hadn't even known Harry had been missing before Severus brought it up. Unfortunately, that meant they were not the only ones looking for Harry now.

Ron snorted. "Who cares. He ran off. He obviously doesn't want anything to do with us," he muttered.

"Don't you dare say that Ronald," Mrs Weasley said.

Ron rolled his eyes. "If he wanted to be here then he wouldn't have left," he said grumpily. "Meanwhile we have to slave away in HIS godfather's house. He's probably lying on some beach somewhere."

Hermione had to steel herself whenever Ron went off like that since he was actually right. According to Juliet, they would be pretty near a beach. Harry had left because he wanted to. Both of those statements were true. Thankfully, Hermione was pretty good at acting like she was getting angry at, or irritated with Ron.

"You don't know that," Hermione said shortly.

"Yeah right," Ron scoffed.

"Ronald please what is with you. You have been like this all week," Mrs Weasley said.

"Yeah, and all anyone will talk about is Harry. Harry this, Harry that. It's not like he's anything special."

"If you can't keep your mouth shut about my godson then get out of my house," Sirius growled.

"Maybe I will," Ron said. "It seems like everyone here cares more about a dude that ran away than the people who are here!" He got up and stormed out of the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley rose to follow him but her husband held her back. "Give him a bit of space dear," Arthur said. "He'll come around."

'Yes,' Hermione thought. That was the first step cleared. Now Ron just had to make it out of the house. Of course, he wasn't going to use the front door since that would be stupid.

Ron had gone straight up to his room and grabbed an already packed bag. He headed over to the window and opened it. He was really glad that Hermione had learned that they could use magic around the house without being detected. It made his escape so much easier. He even closed the window after himself. He pulled a hoodie out of the bag and put it on with the hood up so his red hair wouldn't give him away right off the bat. He started walking almost aimlessly since he'd been told that would make him look way less out of place than if he was running.

By the time the residents of number 12 Grimmauld Place figured out he was gone he was pretty deep in London.

Hermione sat in the kitchen with everyone else. They had searched the entire house looking for Ron. His mother was currently blaming Sirius for what had happened. Things were working out.

Finally tired of Molly's behaviour, Sirius growled. "Fine, I'll find your precious Ronnikins for you." He was gone before anyone had a chance to say anything. Hermione watched the mess that was going on in the kitchen for a while before she headed upstairs. She sent off the confirmation letter to her parents. It was just to get them in gear to start getting her out. With any luck, both Sirius and Ron would be on their way out of the country before the day was over. She knew it could be dangerous for Ron to be out there on his own, but they had gone over what he was supposed to do if an Order member did find him. Also, Hermione was pretty sure her sister had made sure he would be followed pretty early on. Hermione had after all managed to tell her sister what street Sirius' house was on in a roundabout way.

Thankfully, it didn't take Sirius that long to find Ron. He had lived as a dog long enough to trust his senses. He had followed Ron's scent. "Hey boy," Ron said. He was sitting by a house wall. He could tell that it was about to start raining. He was glad Sirius had found him before that. "Are you all on your own too?" he asked the big black dog. He grimaced as a drop of water hit his face. "Come on, we should try to find some kind of shelter." He walked with the big black dog next to him. The rain-soaked through his clothes quickly. He was cold and wet. He was also starting to wonder if Hermione's contact was actually going to show up. They had passed several men and women, but all of them seemed too wrapped up in their own business to want to have anything to do with them.

Eventually, Ron sat down next to the wall of another house. The roof reached out far enough that the cobblestones were at least somewhat dry still. The dog sat down next to him. Grey eyes moved over the people that walked passed. No one seemed interested in a lonely boy in shabby clothes and his dog.

It was impossible to tell how long they had been sitting there when a man came wobbling up to them. He was wearing some pretty expensive-looking clothes, and from the look of it, he was drunk out of his mind. "Hey," he said as he reached the teen sitting by the wall. "You wouldn' happ...pen to know where I can find the Stag and Otter would ya? It's suppose' to be aroun'd 'ere somewhere."

Ron looked up slowly. "Yeah, I know where it is," he said. He made sure his excitement didn't show. He stood up slowly.

The drunken rich-boy smiled. "Great," he said then he stumbled and Ron had to catch him.

"Why don't I help you?" Ron said.

"Great idea," the man said. His eyes widened as he saw the dog. "Oh, nice doggy," he slurred. "Just like Snuffles."

"Sure," Ron said. "Come on boy." He told the dog and then he helped the drunk man stumble down the street. They reached a trafficked road. Since Ron had no idea where they needed to go he just kept walking. It seemed like the right thing to do as a car slowed down next to them.

The driver poked her head out. "Oh, for heaven's sake Jonathan can't you stay sober one night in your life," she said. She met Ron's eyes. "Can you stuff him into the back seat please?"

"Sure," Ron said. He helped the drunk guy into the car, and he sobered up instantaneously. "Come on in," he said before he climbed into the front seat. Ron moved into the car and buckled up while Padfoot followed him in and lay down. The car door closed and the car took off.

"Nice job," Jonathan said. If Jonathan now really was his name.

"Sorry it took so long," the woman said. "We had to lead some Order cronies away from you before we could pick you up. They were getting too close for comfort." She studied the young man in the rearview mirror.

"It's okay," Ron said with a shrug. "I was just worried you weren't going to show."

"And have Juliet angry at us," Jonathan said with a visible shudder. "Just a piece of advice don't ever get Juliet angry with you."

"Okay," Ron said. He was confused since he had no idea who the guy was talking about.

"Either way," the woman said. "I'm Sonja and he's Jonathan. "We'll be your escort the entire way. Normally we wouldn't do it that way, but since we're dealing with magical people we might as well. We'll travel non-magically. They normally aren't smart enough to know anything about that at least here in Britain."

"We have a flight waiting for us so we'll take off as soon as we get there," Jonathan said.

A phone rang and Jonathan opened the glove compartment and fished it out. "Yo boss," he said. "Yeah, we have the dogs. We're an hour away from the plane... We're a bit off schedule because of some roosters… No, it wasn't a problem… Yeah, I'm pretty sure they won't be tracking us… Sure… Yeah, see you when we get there… Bye."

Ron reached out and placed a hand on top of Padfoot's head. He was nervous. Sure Hermione had said that these people could be trusted. But Hermione was not the one sitting in a car with two of them. Briefly, he wondered how Hermione knew these people. Her parents were supposed to be dentists after all. He highly doubted that dentists knew people who could get their own private plane and whisk three teens out of the country in a matter of days. He didn't want to ask the people he was sitting with any questions, though, in case they wouldn't like that. He would have to wait until Hermione showed up.

They moved directly from the car to a plane. Ron wasn't sure about the plane. He'd never flown in one before. He wondered how non-magicals could make their huge metal birds fly. Once more he put his faith in Hermione. She had flown before and if she, who hated flying on a broom, could do it then so could he. It felt strange at first, but as the pressure lifted and he looked outside a smile spread over his lips.

"You might as well try to get some sleep," Jonathan said. He moved his seat back so he was almost laying down and promptly fell asleep himself.

Ron wasn't sure he could sleep. He wasn't sure he felt safe enough in the big metal contraption. He did move his seat back though.

Sonja just smiled and shook her head. It seemed like she would be the only one who stayed awake. She ran a hand through her shoulder-long blue hair. She didn't mind. She knew how obnoxious Jonathan could become if he didn't sleep through a trip like this. It was good to see that the young redhead was falling asleep too. He could probably do with some sleep. She had dried his clothes before he sat down on the plane. They would have to make sure he could change clothes at some point. It couldn't be nice to wear clothes that had been dried on your body for an extended period of time. Juliet had probably taken that into account. A change of clothes would have been necessary no matter the weather.

They would have to switch planes twice and then they would be going by boat the last bit. The other planes would be commercial ones so hopefully, they could sneak Mr Black on as himself rather than as a dog. It would just complicate things otherwise.

She knew Juliet had figured it all out and everything would be where they needed it to be.

Just like Sonja had predicted. There was another one of their group present when they landed. He was waiting for them. "I'll drive you to the hotel," he said. "If you'll please follow me." Dogs were allowed thankfully. Of course, it was most likely Juliet in charge so it made sense. She would have made sure they could bring a dog. The travelling party finally had a chance to rest properly. They wouldn't be leaving again until two days later.

Ron looked at the clothes he'd been given. When they had exited the car, the driver had taken two bags out of the trunk and handed them over. Jonathan had easily picked cleaned clothes out for himself, Ron and Sirius. Sirius had to be Padfoot when they left the Hotel again, but he would need to change on the way to the plane since being a dog on commercial flights was a messy business.

It had been a nervous two days. Their guides didn't speak much to them, and neither Ron nor Sirius knew what was going on or where they were going.

They got on board the next plane without any problems thankfully. The flight wasn't as long as the previous one, but they had to switch three times instead of two as they had first hoped. It was late at night by the time they reached the boat that would take them the rest of the way.

...

"Time to wake up," Sonja said as she poked the gangly redhead they were escorting.

"We're there?" Ron asked as his brain caught up with him.

"Yes, we are," Sonja said. She led the young man outside. "We're still just outside the wards," she said. They'll come out and pick us up. See."

Ron's eyes widened as a boat appeared out of nowhere. He, Sonja, Sirius and Jonathan joined the tall muscular man that rowed the boat.

"Didn't know you'd be here, dad," Jonathan said.

The large man shrugged. "We're joining up to make sure we have everything we need," he said. He looked down at the teen sitting next to his son. "So this is another one of the students," he said.

"Yepp," Jonathan said.

"If he's anything like the one Juliet has up in the house already you are going to have your hands full, but it will be worth it." He looked down at Ron. "I am Argo," he said.

"I'm Ron," Ron said. He wasn't sure what else to say to a walking mountain. He wasn't sure the man even needed magic. He could probably deal with irritating wizards anyway. Ron didn't think he had any giant's blood in him though. He was pretty sure the man was just big-boned, unlike Hagrid. He was nowhere as tall as Hagrid. Still, he was pretty intimidating.

As they passed through the wards a sizable mansion appeared. It didn't look overly fancy like you would expect a rich man's mansion to look. Rather it looked like it had been built big because it was needed.

"We'll bring you to your room," Sonja said. "It should be next to your friend's room. Don't worry about how long you sleep. Not yet at least. Juliet will let you know when you need to start getting up at a specific time. I think she's started training your friend already. Not in magic though. We want all of you here before we start that."

The room Ron was taken to was spacious by his standards. "I guess you'll take Sirius to his own room huh," he said as Padfoot brushed up against his leg.

"Yes we will," Sonja said. "Come on you big mutt." She continued down the corridor as Ron walked into his room. He really needed more sleep. All the travelling they had done had really messed him up. He noticed a door that couldn't lead back out into the corridor and walked over to it. It was an on-suite bathroom. He was in heaven. That was just perfect. He decided that he might as well clean up before he fell into bed.

On the other side of the world, Hermione had received a letter from her parents. She walked into the kitchen downstairs. "My parents want me to come back home," she said. "They don't like that kids have gone missing here."

"Oh, don't worry dear we'll speak to your parents," Mrs Weasley said.

"I don't think that will work," Hermione said. She sounded sad. "They seem pretty determined to find me another school."

"Well that's just silly," Mrs Weasley said. Her husband placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from saying something she might regret.

Hermione acted down because of her parents, but it was just that, an act. It was all planned. Her parents had planned a trip for the three of them, and at the end of it, one of Juliet's colleagues would pick her up.

On the day, it didn't matter how much the Weasley parents tried to convince Mr and Mrs Granger that Hermione really should go back to Hogwarts. The Grangers' had made their minds up. Their daughter was not going back to that horrid place. Of course, they had thought that as soon as they actually learned just what Hermione and her friends had been through in school the four years they had already been there.

Back at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, people were meeting up once more. Harry, Ron and Hermione had all disappeared one way or another. Three students of Hogwarts were just gone. Still, no one suspected that the disappearance of Ron and Harry were connected. And they all knew that Hermione wouldn't go back because of her parents so that couldn't possibly be connected. The strange thing was that when Molly had gone home to check their family clock. Ron's hand had been pointing to Traveling for several days until it just recently had moved to school. But he wasn't at Hogwarts. Which made both Mrs and Mr Weasley very confused. Somehow Ron had ended up in another school. They weren't sure what to think about that. So far, however, no letter they had sent had received a response. At least his hand on the clock hadn't said lost.

Arthur truly wished he understood what was going on. Had his son planned to run away? What if Harry and Ron were actually in the same place? He shook his head. If they were lucky, their letters would reach them eventually.


It was a bright and sunny morning. A light breeze moved in from the sea. Juliet was down on the beach with Harry. They were taking their morning run. Two days after they had arrived she had forced him out of bed and told him to run for as long as he could without collapsing. She was of the opinion that wizards were way too lazy for their own good. They didn't care about their bodies, and it was one of their biggest weaknesses. Physical strength was important too. She and the rest of her team knew that. The alpha team knew that. British witches and wizards… not so much. It wasn't necessarily the same in other countries though. She had been to schools in Asia where it was obligatory to train your body. She had seen the way they worked with their magic, and it was just amazing.

They had just settled down for breakfast when a beady-eyed Sirius Black made his way down to join them. "Good morning Mr Black," Juliet said cheerfully.

Sirius grimaced. "Please don't," he said. "Just call me Sirius. I'd preferably never have anyone use my last name ever." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and blinked. And blinked again. "Is it just me or do you look an awful lot like a more grown-up Hermione," he said.

Juliet laughed. "Yes well, she is my little sister," she said as she poured some yoghurt over the fruit chunks she had already filled her bowl with. "I hope your trip went well," she said as she leaned back in her chair.

"Yes, it was a bit confusing, but I can't complain. We had some pretty good guides," Sirius said. "If a little quiet."

"Jonathan and Sonja are very reliable. Not to say the others aren't, but it depends a lot on what needs to be done," Juliet said. "They are two of the teachers that Harry, Hermione and Ron will have." She ate a spoonful of fruit. "They were most likely quiet because it wasn't really safe to speak while you were out there. They won't be so bad now."

"Really," Sirius said somewhat surprised. "They are pretty young to be teaching aren't they?"

Juliet chuckled. "Well that might be true, but all of us are Masters in our own fields," she said.

"So what do you teach then? Did you go to another magical school other than Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.

"I have never attended a magical school. Like several others here I'm capable of elemental magic rather than wizarding magic," Juliet said. "I'm going to teach them martial arts. It is far too overlooked in the western magical world. I have been trained in Asia for many years. Though I am far from being a master my master believes that I'm far enough along to teach for the sake of taking care of one's body. It takes a long time and a lot of training to be considered a master of any martial art. Simply my age shows that I'm too young to be considered a master. Especially since I started much later than the rest of my age group." She placed her bowl down on the table. "Frankly my job is to make sure these three get in shape. And I'm probably going to force you along… for your own good."

"Aww, you wouldn't do that to a poor old man now would you," Sirius said while he tried his best to give her puppy eyes.

Juliet snorted. "You're nowhere near old enough to pull that one," she said. "I mean what can you be… thirty-five?"

"Yeah," Sirius said.

"Then you aren't considered old around here. We are well aware of just how old wizards can get when they have the power to support it," Juliet said. She tilted her head to the side as two more people came out of the house to join them on the terrace. "Good morning," she said.

"Morning."

"Morning," Jonathan said before he hid a yawn.

Sonja sat down next to Juliet. "I take it you've already dragged the poor boy over the beach," she said.

"Yes of course," Juliet said. "He's doing much better." She smiled at Harry. "The first day he was not happy with me."

"Nope," Harry said. He stretched in his seat. "Give it a few days, though, and it feels really good."

"Once I have them all up to an acceptable level, I'll start taking them into the forest. And once they have started learning from the rest of you. We start implementing those skills during the physical training," Juliet said. She stood up. "Just remember that we're not training the next generation. These three are not necessarily the next step in our organisation."

"Yeah we know," Jonathan said. He turned to the other people at the table. "I don't know about you, but I'm planning on staying in the water for most of today."

Sonja chuckled. "You lazy bum," she teased him.

Harry turned to his godfather while the light banter continued between the two long time friends on the other side of the table. "I'm glad you chose to come along," he said.

Sirius shrugged. "Sounded like more fun than being locked up," he said. "I never liked that house, and it wasn't like I was of much help. Maybe here I can help them teach you guys. I could probably learn quite a lot myself as well." He looked over to where Juliet had disappeared between the trees. "Apparently I have already been recruited to partake in the physical training."

"That is probably the most we can teach you, Sirius," Sonja said. "The rest is more likely to be just refreshing your memory."

"Possibly," Sirius said. "Though I'm sure you guys know stuff I don't."

Sonja shrugged. "We've attended Hogwarts too," she said. "It just didn't give us jobs so we had to find other ways to make a living. Thankfully our parents started this group. They are part of the Alpha squad." She looked out over the water. "My parents are both non-magical. Jonathan's are magical but his mother is more like Juliet and his father is a werewolf so people don't like him much either."

"Wait," Sirius said. "Your father was the man last night… Argo," he said and Jonathan nodded in response. "He must make one hell of a werewolf. He didn't seem anywhere near as run down as …" Sirius fell silent.

"You know a werewolf don't you Sirius," Sonja said.

"My only living friend," Sirius said. He ran a hand through his hair. "I really should let him know I'm fine. Dumbledore is probably going to send him back to the werewolf clans."

"I'll let father know. He's going as well," Jonathan said. "Do you have a name I can give him?"

"Remus Lupin," Sirius said. "Tell him Bambi is safe and his dogfather is with him."

Jonathan nodded slowly. "I'll let father know," he said.

"Bambi?" Harry said somewhat put off.

"Yeah, it is an inside joke. Remus would be the only one who would get it these days," Sirius said. "I really hope I haven't done something stupid now."

"I don't think you have. I highly doubt that Argo will hurt Remus," Harry said.

"Oh, definitely not," Sonja said. "With a bit of luck, he'll bring Remus into his pack. Argo is one of the strongest alphas out there. There isn't an alpha that willingly would oppose him."

"He doesn't tell his pack to join Dumbledore though right?" Sirius said.

"No, since Dumbledore did nothing to help them last time," Sonja said. "He does try to keep them from joining Voldemort. He really doesn't see that as a good idea. Voldemort will just harm the werewolves."

Harry nodded. "I can definitely see that," he said. "If they join Voldemort then people will only fear werewolves even more."

"That's what Argo tries to make them realise," Sonja said. She stood up. "If you'll excuse me I have things to do," she said. "I'll see you later." She walked back into the house. She needed to give her briefing. She had been away for quite a while before Juliet had called her in for this mission.

...

It was hours later when Ron finally made it out to join the rest of them. He actually showed up just in time for lunch. Because of the heat, the group living there preferred cold cut food in the middle of the day. It was too warm for hot food to taste good. That, however, didn't mean there wasn't plenty of food. As they ate, conversations flowed around. It gave Harry, Ron and Sirius the opportunity to learn more about their hosts.

They had all just finished eating as a snow-white bird landed on the back of one of the chairs. "Hedwig," Harry exclaimed. "You really are the smartest owl in the world. He sat down on a chair next to her. "I'm betting you'd like something to eat and drink, though." He sounded concerned.

Juliet stood up. "I'll take her to the owlery. She'll find everything she could possibly need there. We don't have many owls, but we take good care of the ones we have. She held out an arm for Hedwig to land on. "Why don't you come with me girl and I'll show you where you can rest," she said. Hedwig flew over to her and the two walked off.

Slowly, most of the house members had gone back to their own business. It left Ron and Harry alone out on the terrace. To begin with, Harry filled Ron in. Then they'd started talking about their actual teachers. There was, of course, Juliet who would teach martial arts and survival if Harry had understood her correctly. There was Jonathan who would teach them Herbology, Potions and Healing. Then there was Sonja who would teach both defensive and offensive magic.

"They just won't call it dark magic," Harry said. "To them, that is stupid since several of the spells can be used for things that are in no way dark."

"I guess I can see their point. Though I wouldn't try to convince some other people I know," Ron said. "Most of my brothers would agree I guess. I mean Fred and George would in a heartbeat, but I think that Bill and Charlie would too. Labelling spells dark just because they could potentially cause harm seems a little dumb. If that's how it works, then there are plenty of other spells that should be considered dark."

"Yeah, I think that's their point too," Harry said. He ran a hand through his hair. "Apart from that, I have met Melonni who is a Curse Breaker. I did ask her about Bill and she knows of him, but they have never worked together."

"Ron has met Nate as well."

Both teens looked up at Hermione's sister. "He was the one who met you after the first flight," she said.

Ron searched through his memory. "Oh, yeah, I remember," he said.

"He will teach you Charms and Transfiguration," Juliet said. "Possibly with some help from Melonni on the Charms. They are good at different parts so they will probably work together. The last one is Pauline. She isn't here since she's the one I sent to pick Hermione up. She'll be teaching Arithmancy with Melonni, Ancient Runes and Warding. "We're not expecting you to become Masters in all subjects, but we'll give you enough ground to stand on in all of them for you to make an educated decision on what you actually want to focus on. We'll also let you know if we feel you can just as well drop a subject to focus on other more beneficial subjects. We won't just give up though. If you feel, despite our recommendations, that you want to keep going then you are fully within your rights to do so. We will not, however, take on any of you as apprentices. If you want masteries then we can recommend you to other Masters, but we won't be handling that. Mostly because we would like to get to know you well enough that we can be allowed to be biased about you. We don't just want to be your teachers. We want to be your friends too."

"What have you done with Sirius by the way?" Harry asked. He hadn't seen his godfather since lunch.

"I think that the Alpha team asked him for as much information as he could give them," Juliet said. "Their mission right now is damage control surrounding Voldemort. They are also supposed to make sure that he doesn't gain followers of any kind. It is, of course, impossible to completely stop that from happening, but they are doing their best."

Harry nodded. He liked the fact that Juliet was willing to share information and told her as much. It made a big difference from back in Britain where he was pretty sure that all he would get to hear was that he was too young.

"Well I know you are fifteen and Hermione is turning sixteen soon which still makes you children in some people's eyes," Juliet said as she sat down by the table. "I don't quite agree with keeping you in the dark just because of that. Hermione has told me what you guys have been through. I know what you have done already. I also know what that could lead to in the future. So, I would rather you are able to make a properly-educated decision rather than be forced to work with only a fraction of the information. We're not going to freely share the information we gather," she stated. "But if you ask us a question we will answer to the best of our ability. There may be times when we can't tell you. If that happens I do hope we can give you a better reason than you being too young."

"Sounds fair to me," Ron said.

Both boys sat there deep in thought for a long while before Ron looked back up at Juliet. "Who do you guys work for?" he asked. "I mean Sonja and Jonathan have both been through Hogwarts, but they couldn't get any jobs in the magical world afterwards. So you don't work for the British Ministry. Nor do you work for the ICW since I don't think Dumbledore knows anything about you guys. He would have tried recruiting you in that case. But you can't be working for another magical government just like that either. Not if you guys are still British citizens."

Juliet smiled. Now she knew what her sister had meant. Ron wasn't daft. He could seem like there was only air between his ears sometimes, but he wasn't dumb. She had spoken to both Jonathan and Sonja, and neither had given the teen shining reviews. Sure they hadn't said he was stupid either. They weren't that quick to judge. "We work for the UN," she said. "The United Nations which is roughly the non-magical equivalent of the ICW. We are a part of their magical division. Our main job is to protect the non-magical world from magical threats."

"A non-magical equivalent of the ICW has a magical branch?" Ron asked, surprised.

Juliet chuckled. "Yes, the non-magical world isn't as unaware of the magical world as British witches and wizards like to think. There is only a selected few that are privy to magical information of course. It isn't something that just everyone knows about," she said. "There are even branches that deal with keeping track of exactly who the Magical government Obliviates. If it becomes necessary for their continued health victims are brought in, the memory charm is lifted, and they are sworn to secrecy. That way they can still remember but can't speak of it. Sometimes that is better for them mentally."

"I wonder what the Ministry would say if they were to learn that," Harry said, smirking.

"Flip," Ron said. "The pure-bloods would go nuts."

"As far as we are concerned they are better off not knowing, for now at least," Juliet said.

"I'd have to agree," Harry said.

"Yeah me too," Ron said.

Two days later was the first day that Juliet dragged Ron along for their morning run. To say he was unhappy by the time they were done for the morning would be an understatement. The morning run wasn't the only training that they had with Juliet. They also had yoga four times a week. Eventually, some of those sessions would turn into martial arts lessons instead.

Hermione arrived a few days later accompanied by a short red-haired woman. She had barely had a chance to sit down before Ron and Harry asked her why she hadn't told them about her older sister.

"Well," Hermione said. She looked down at her hands. "I guess it is because I didn't really want to have to answer questions about her," she said. "You see I tried to look up elemental magic in the Library at Hogwarts, but there wasn't a single book in there about it. I also tried to talk to my Arithmancy teacher about it… the only answer I got was that they didn't exist. It wasn't true I knew that but…" She sighed. "I know that you guys wouldn't have judged her, but I don't know about the rest of Hogwarts. It was bad enough being a know-it-all. I didn't want to be called a liar or crazy or something as well."

Harry placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "It's not like we're angry or anything like that," he said. "We were just a bit surprised that's all. I mean the two of you look pretty similar. A part of me was convinced it was you using an age potion the first time I saw her."

The trio chuckled at that.

It felt good to be back together again. They spent most of the day just hanging out. They hadn't properly had a chance to do that in a long time. It was nice to just be teens on a beach with no worries for a while. Messing around in the sand and dumping buckets of water on each other.

That evening Sonja asked them if they felt ready to be tested the next day. All of the teachers wanted to test them so they would know what they needed to teach them. Harry and Ron allowed Hermione to decide since she had arrived last. They were both rested enough to go right ahead.

"Sure we can start. The sooner the better," Hermione said. "I haven't flown in weeks. We didn't use planes to get down here."

"Good," Sonja said. "We will test you individually. We will most likely teach you that way as well. Juliet will teach you how to work together. We are going to nurture your individual skills, and we are pretty certain that you will all do better if you don't know how well the other two are doing. You can, of course, talk to each other as much as you like. We are not going to forbid you to talk. Teamwork is important."

"What Sonja is trying to tell you is that we will most likely custom tailor each schedule so none of you will do the same things. You are all at different levels. Once we have tested you we will be able to tell where you stand. The first thing we are going to try to do is to make sure you all get just about level… or as level, as we can get you. Without forcing you to work on the same things constantly. After that, we'll make sure you know what you need to clear your OWLs unless we haven't managed with that already. If we have or after we have we'll bring you up to NEWT level. Then it all depends a little on what your plans are. You obviously don't have to decide that yet," Jonathan said. "For now just stay calm. We will not judge you on your performance in the coming days. We just need to know where to start."

Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded. They understood. It was quite an interesting concept. It would also be very different from what they were used to.

"Now don't worry about that for tonight and continue to have fun," Juliet said.

The three friends did just that.