Chapter 10 – The Head of Harry Potter

An: I do not own Harry Potter.

The air felt very cold around Hermione as she walked briskly down a corridor in Hogwarts. Harry and Ron were both with her and it was very tempting to believe it was just like the old times at school but every time she caught sight of her reflection in a suit of armour, the bright red of her's and Harry's robes reminded her that it wasn't a jaunt down memory lane. Primus had called them there and the lives of Ginny and Luna were at stake if they didn't show up. She didn't want them with her but she had never been able to stop them from doing something they were determined to do.

They made their way towards the room of requirement where the door in the wall was clearly visible. Hermione reached forward and slowly opened the door while the other two followed behind her. The room was exactly the way it was when Dumbledore's Army used it for practices. A figure cloaked in a royal purple robe with a hood that covered their face stood to the front where Harry used to stand when he taught them.

"It's about time," the figure sneered.

"What do you want?" Harry demanded.

Hermione knew she knew that voice but she couldn't place where she had heard it before.

Other cloaked figures entered the room and surrounded them. The three of them huddled together in the centre of large circle with their wands drawn.

Primus broke into the circle and laughed. "This is the end Granger, Avada Kadavra!"

The green jet of light shot out of the wand and headed straight at her but before it could impact, Harry pushed her out of the way at the last second. She watched in horror as the light penetrated his chest. Harry's eyes widened but he dropped to the ground. His beautiful green eyes staring up blankly at the ceiling. She rushed to his side.

The figure laughed and other Aurors came rushing into the room but Hermione ignored the commotion going on around her as she cradled Harry's head in her lap.

"Harry no," she said with tears leaking through her eyes. "Don't leave me. You just came back. You can't leave again."

Hermione woke up pouring with sweat and immediately looked around the room. She was in the Manor. She'd been having that nightmare for weeks and she could never remember any other details of the dream other than Harry's death. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was probably eating dinner downstairs but the memories of her sending him to run an errand for Cole popped back into her head. There was a knock at her door before it opened to reveal Luna. From the look on her friend's face she knew something was wrong.

Draco walked around a deserted Daigon alley and cursed his luck. He was having a very bad day, first the bloodhound, then the duel with Victoria and now being given the responsibility of saving Potter's head. He was still recovering from the flu as well and he had no clue what he was supposed to be looking for. Primus could have been a bit more specific in that note.

He passed by Barteby's Bagels and glanced at the menu board and immediately realised that this was where he was supposed to be. He wasn't surprised to find that Barteby was involved with Primus. Didn't all low life know each other these days? He walked inside and headed to the counter.

"One Potter special," Draco sneered at the poor witch behind the counter.

"Yyyyesss ssssiirrr," she stammered as she handed him an envelope from under the counter.

Draco grabbed the envelope from her and ripped it open.

"Midnight," Draco said as he looked at the only word that was written on the parchment.

He flipped it over but found nothing else. A voice that sounded eerily like Hermione's echoed in his head telling him to use a revealing spell. He whipped out his wand and tried everything he could think of but nothing happened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a tall witch with strawberry blonde hair enter the restaurant. Draco knew for sure that today was his day of penance. Priscilla Parkinson, Pansy's younger sister who Draco had had a tryst with a few years ago, had just walked in. This was no coincidence.

"Hello Draco," she cooed, a seductive smile on her face. Her robes were fashioned to emphasise all of her curves.

"Priscilla," Draco said courteously.

"I've been wondering, that new girl of yours doesn't look like she could do much in the bedroom. If you're ever interested in rekindling what we had," she said handing him her business card for Parkinson's Imports and Exports, "I'm always available."

"I'll keep that in mind," Draco replied back with a sexy smirk. Flirting with other witches was part of his image and was expected of him.

He felt a sharp pain on his foot and politely excused himself to sit down at a table that had a very good view of the rest of the shop as well as the alley outside.

"What does it say?" a voice said to him.

"I thought you were to keep out of my way," Draco hissed softly to the air.

"You were flirting with her while the life of my best mate hangs in the balance," Ron argued while under the invisible cloak.

"You better move, here she comes again," Draco said with his head turned away so Priscilla would not see his lips moving. He had been watching her at the counter and noticed that the young witch gave her a similar envelope from under the counter as she had done with him. He would be competing against her in the auction.

"Draco, it seems we're both here for the same business," Priscilla said displaying her note with the same word as she sat down opposite him.

"I don't think that is very surprising. After all, Potter disgraced both of our families," Draco sneered.

"He did. I have quite a few ways I plan to exact my revenge from him," she said. A coy smile planted itself on her face as she added, "If you're a good boy I just might include you in my fun."

Draco smiled at her, "I wouldn't be so confident that you can outbid me."

She laughed, "Draco we both know that after the war, the Ministry confiscated almost every valuable thing your family owned as a punishment for your father being the most trusted of the death eaters. You were lucky you were left with the Manor. You don't have the funds to outbid us."

"I think you might be surprised at just how well the Malfoy businesses are doing. My father made sure that in his absence I would be able to continue his work. I have recovered all of my father's previous assets," Draco boasted. Of course a lot of that had to do with the Order helping him.

She smiled cockily at him, "Surprise me then."

"I would be my pleasure. We just have to wait here until midnight then I can get my satisfaction when you watch me claim the prize," Draco said.

Priscila wrinkled her nose in disgust as she looked at the restaurant around her. "We could find somewhere else to wait that's more suitable to our tastes."

"I heard your sister is in town," Draco said trying to change the topic as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Priscilla's leg had somehow found its way under his robe.

"She was quite excited to come as well but Primus's note was addressed to me so I left her home," she said as she moved her foot higher up his leg. "The note could be a portkey that activates at midnight," Priscilla said as she fiddled with the note in her hand. "Primus did that once before on a business deal we had a while back. We don't have to return here. It'll give us a lot more time to enjoy ourselves," the witch suggested.

Draco ignored her flirtatious advances and latched on to the one piece of information that mattered to him, her business dealing with Primus. "Did you meet him?"

She scoffed at him. "Nobody meets Primus. We both know that."

"I would like to find out his identity. I like to know who I'm doing business with," Draco replied. "I would hate to think that it's some wizard from the Ministry setting us all up."

"He or she," she said emphasising the fact that Primus could be a woman, is someone from Hogwarts," she said.

"I would think that was obvious," Draco replied in a bored tone.

"Primus could been a foreigner," she pointed out.

"It's highly unlikely," Draco said. "After Grindelwald everyone is still hesitant to trust a foreigner."

"I agree. Primus is an English wizard/witch. Pansy and I think Primus is someone from either the year above ours, our year or the year below us," she said sharing her suspicions with him. "We know the Aurors in those year groups and none of them are Primus. We did our homework well before we pursued any business ventures with Primus," she said.

The Order had been after Primus for the last year and a half. Primus had been responsible for some of the most daring criminal enterprises that had happened over the last 2 years. His organization was like a phantom and nobody apprehended, had any clue about other parts of the organization. Draco filed away Priscilla's suspicions about Primus to discuss with Hermione at a later date.

"Looks like Flint is interested in this as well," Draco said as he watched Marcus Flint receive the same envelope from the young witch. Priscilla's leg was now getting dangerously close to his private parts and he reached his hand down to stop her progression.

"It appears that this might be attracting quite a crowd," she commented as she deftly moved her foot around Draco's hand and continued her journey up his leg in search of her goal.

"Priscilla!" Flint said as he came over to greet her. "I've been wondering if there were any pureblood witches left around here?"

"There're quite a few of us, you're just not moving in the right circles," she told him as Draco stopped her foot again.

"And what circle might that be?" Marcus asked.

Priscilla didn't answer as her gaze drifted passed Marcus to Terrence Higgs. Even though Higgs was in Slytherin, his family hadn't been openly associated with Lord Voldemort and as a result when most of the Slytherins had been punished during the war, they were not. In the absence of the business competition their family thrived. He would definitely be the wizard to outbid.

"I believe I have another urgent appointment now. I'll see you at midnight," she blew a kiss at Draco and left. Flint wasted no time following behind her.

"Why the sudden departure?" Ron whispered to Draco.

"She's probably going to make sure she has enough galleons available to outbid Higgs. His pockets are the deepest in England."

"Someone has more money than a Malfoy!" Ron teased.

Draco glared at the space he guessed Ron occupied. "You better hope for Potter's sake we don't have to rely on my ability to outbid Higgs."

"You think she's right?" Ron asked in a soft voice.

"Right about what?" Draco asked confused.

"The note being a portkey," Ron explained.

"Could be," Draco replied thinking about the implications of the note being a portkey. It would be difficult for Ron to hold the portkey and keep the invisibility cloak covering all of him. There would be a huge risk that Ron would be exposed endangering both of them.

"Head back to the Manor. I'll meet you there," Draco said as he stood abruptly and walked out of the shop.

Draco got about thirty feet away from the shop before he was forcibly pulled into a deserted side alley.

"You don't order me around!" Ron said lifting the invisibility cloak so that only Draco could see him.

"Then do what you want," Draco said pushing Ron aside and exiting the alley. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him but everyone appeared to be going about their own business. He did not look back into the alley, instead choosing to continue in the direction he was previously heading before stopping to look around again. When he felt satisfied that no one was watching him he continued on to Gringotts.

As expected, he saw Priscilla Parkinson exiting the bank.

"The things I have to do for Potter," Draco muttered softly to himself before heading towards her.

While Draco and Ron were in Daigon Alley, Hermione was in her office in the Manor. Draco had given her this room so that she could work from the Manor on days that she was too tired to go into the Ministry. Aurors had a ton of paperwork to complete every time they had a raid and somehow even Hermione was always behind on her paperwork. She had the latest computers set up in the Manor and pulled up the tracker programme she had written to keep track of Harry in the muggle world.

Since the group was staying away from magical communities it was difficult to track them with magic. They would disappear from one place and only months later they might turn up half way across the globe. Hermione had decided that if magic wasn't working well they should try muggle technology.

She remembers the day she placed the GPS tracker on Harry well. She wasn't sure what she was going to place it in. She knew it had to be something that Harry took with him wherever he went. A close inspection of pictures that had been sent to her, revealed that Harry always had a necklace with a small pendant on it but she had no idea what the pendant was. She really wished you could zoom in on magical pictures the way you could with muggle ones. She hoped it was big enough that she could embed the tracker in it.

Her other problem was how was she going to get to the pendant if Harry never took it off. She decided that she would follow them to a club and add some sleeping draught to Harry's last beer. Harry wasn't a heavy drinker and usually only had two. By the time he reached back to his apartment, he collapsed face down on the bed sound asleep. Hermione had to roll him over to get to the pendant. She was floored when she discovered that the pendant was a miniature otter carved from wood. Her patronus was an otter and it was no coincidence that Harry had chosen this as his pendant. She must have stared at the little otter for twenty minutes. It was proof that Harry had not forgotten her. She was still sort of with him even though she was thousands of miles away in England. She pulled herself together and used magic to embed the tracker into the heart of the otter. She made sure the transmitter was in the mouth so that it could transmit its location so that there would be no hindrance to the signal.

"Did you find him?" Luna asked when she heard that familiar ping that sounded when Hermione's search results came back.

"The trackers last known location was at King's Cross. It's not online now so he's probably in a place with heavy magic that's affecting the tracker but I think he's there," Hermione said.

"King's Cross?" Luna said with a crinkle in her brow. "Why would they take him to King's Cross? It's crowded with muggles. There's even a group of wizards petitioning for platform nine and three quarters to be moved because of the increased muggle activity at King's Cross."

"Maybe that is exactly why they are there. The Ministry does not monitor areas with heavy muggle traffic. We leave it up to muggle authorities to notify us of any strange occurrences. If this is one of the groups that hid in the muggle world during the war, they would know how to keep their magical activities from attracting the attention of the muggle authorities. We need to check it out," Hermione said.

"What if they've moved him elsewhere?" Luna asked fearfully.

"I have the computer scanning England and the rest of the world. King's Cross is still a good starting point. Why take him there only to apparate away? They would have done that before. If he isn't there, then there will be clues to lead us to his location."

The door to the office opened revealing an angry Victoria Snape followed by Severus Snape with his usual scowl. Luna had sent for them. They were also expecting Tonks to make an appearance as well.

"Ms. Granger this was very irresponsible of you!" Severus Snape stated.

"Professor, I don't need the lecture right now. We have a plan in motion to retrieve Harry," she told him.

Victoria scoffed, "I would hardly call that a plan. You've placed the heir to the Malfoy Estate in very grave danger."

"Draco isn't the heir anymore. He is the owner. His children, whenever he chooses to have any, will be the heirs. Stop treating him like he is still under his father. And I didn't place him in any danger. It was his last name that did that. Primus sent a note addressed to him and it would be more dangerous for Draco to blow off Primus than for him to show interest in the head of Harry Potter. After all, Draco lost a lot because of Harry. If Voldemort had lived and the death eaters won, the Malfoys would be like royalty now. It is only logical from Primus's point of view that Draco would be interested in this."

"If you hadn't sent Harry to do the work of an Auror then Draco wouldn't be in this position now," Victoria countered.

Hermione had no response. It was true. If she had gone instead of Harry then maybe they wouldn't be in this position now. She was so sure of her dream of Harry dying at Hogwarts she didn't think going to the warehouse could be really dangerous to him.

"We need to focus on refining this plan of yours to retrieve Potter. What information have you discovered so far," Severus said.

Hermione chose to focus on the information and relayed everything she knew to her old potions Professor.

Ron returned without Draco which upset Victoria. The Order had established that if you left with a partner, you came back with your partner. Victoria went on to give a detailed lecture to Ron about how Order missions were to be carried out. Hermione and Luna would have interceded on Ron's behalf because he genuinely would not have known the rules but it was probably best that someone was telling him now. Victoria was very thorough and she wouldn't miss a single detail.

An hour later, Draco returned to the Manor. Ron thought the lecture would be over but he was most surprised when Victoria started lecturing Draco about the same rules that she was informing Ron about. She was even harsher with Draco because he knew the rules. Ron had never thought that a Slytherin was capable of fairness but Victoria Snape surprised him.

Draco seemed to be immune to her rants and threw an envelope at her, "I was busy sourcing a second invitation so that the Weasel here could portkey in by himself."

"How did you get that?" Ron asked amazed.

Draco made a face as if he was disgusted with himself, "Don't ask. I need a bathe."

Kingsley arrived shortly afterward informing Hermione that she was needed for an official Auror/Mi5 raid on the warehouse at midnight. The only Auror he could spare to help with retrieving Harry was Tonks since she was banned from any muggle missions. Severus decided that he would go with Ron and Draco to retrieve Harry. Victoria, Ginny and Tonks would investigate King's Cross.

Before Ginny could leave with Victoria, Hermione pulled her aside for a moment. There was a something that had been bugging her for seven years.

"How did you get Harry to let you go with him?" Hermione bluntly asked.

Ginny smiled proud of her achievement, "I borrowed one of your ideas."

"My ideas?" Hermione repeated ignoring the urge to wipe the smile off of Ginny's face.

"With the DA, the jinx on the list," the red head witch elaborated. "I made Harry use a piece of parchment to write a farewell note to my mother. I had jinxed it so that he had to take me with him. Once he signed it, it sealed the jinx. He took me along because he didn't want to walk around looking like a toad," she finished proudly.

"I always wondered, I mean I understood that you two were close but I didn't think he would willingly take you away from your family," Hermione responded.

"I had let him hunt the horcruxes by himself, I wasn't going to sit back again and wait," she told her.

"I don't really think you 'let' him, Ginny. There was no stopping him," Hermione responded trying to erase the delusion Ginny seemed to be under.

Ginny scowled at her, "I could have asked him to stay."

"But he wouldn't have. Both you and I know that. If you were really concerned you would have come with us," the brunette responded hotly.

"I couldn't, my parents wouldn't let me," Ginny responded fiercely.

"That never stopped me!" an irate Hermione pointed out.

"You were of age!" Ginny countered.

"Not in the muggle world!" Hermione said.

"Ladies, while I would be most happy to watch you duel this out. We do not have any time. King's Cross is a large building and scanning for magical signatures without alerting muggles and wizards we are there is going to be very difficult," Victoria said to both of them before turning to Ginny, "I hope your spell detection skills are up to par. You're going to need them."

Hermione looked at Ginny, "Just find Harry and bring him home safe ok."

"Yeah, we will," Ginny said following after Victoria to the floo chamber.

Victoria Snape strolled through King's Cross going out of her way to avoid the muggles. They were quite annoying with their high scented perfumes and loud music. School had already started and platform nine and three quarters was closed off. To verify that, Victoria strolled close to the entrance and used her wand, hidden in her long trench coat, to verify that the barrier was up to prevent both muggles and wizards from entering the platform.

So far she hadn't found anything out of place, well anything magically out of place. She noted some empty water bottles on the ground and pieces of paper flying around. Muggles could be so filthy sometimes. She looked around the mass of people for Ginny and Tonks to see if they were having any luck. She saw a muggle trip over a newspaper and knew right away that was Tonks in disguise. She was so clumsy. She couldn't understand how Tonks became an Auror. They must have severely lowered the standards the year that Tonks passed the exams to become an Auror.

She wished Severus was with her but he was a very recognizable figure in Wizarding England. Only her students would know her and she doubted that anyone she went to school with would recognize her. Severus certainly hadn't when she returned three years ago. His surprise when he finally figured out who she was had made her laugh. Severus was a good wizard, mostly misunderstand but his heart was in the right place. They both had a person that they had been in love with when they were younger, that one person that they thought their world revolved around. For him it was Lilly Evans, for her it was Lucious Malfoy. Because of this, she understood his complicated relationship to Harry. She had the same to Draco. She knew she understood him better than anyone else.

She was roused from her thoughts when a woman ran one of those bags on wheels over her foot.

"Ow," Victoria cried cradling her foot. Muggles packed those bags full and unlike magical crates, those bags carry the full weight of the items in it. The muggle woman didn't even stop to apologise. Victoria grew angry and pointed her wand in the direction of the woman. She knew how to cast spells that the Ministry would never know of. She timed it carefully so that the spell would only impact that woman's bag. She was going to send it flying from her.

She was most pleased with herself when the spell impacted directly on the woman's bag and it flew out of her hand with a force that spun the woman around in confusion. Victoria would have focused on the woman more but the bag had disappeared through what appeared to be a solid wall. Victoria marched towards the wall passing the woman who was shouting "Thief, thief," as she thought someone had stolen her bag from her.

"Stupid rude muggle," Victoria muttered as she walked past the distraught woman.

Victoria walked the length of the wall and confirmed that there was a magical spell at the entrance.

"That was cruel," Ginny said as she appeared next to her.

"Oh you saw that, maybe there is hope for you," Victoria commented dryly.

"What do we do now?" Ginny asked.

"I suppose we could get Tonks to accidentally trip over her feet and fall through that wall," Victoria said sarcastically.

"There is no need to be so mean to her. What if we sent her in there after the suitcase?" Ginny suggested instead.

"The soot what?" Victoria queried.

"The thing you sent through the barrier. She could go in looking for it and let us know if we can enter as well," Ginny said.

"Definitely hope for you," Victoria said with a wicked smile.

Two guards sat crouched on two stools that were too small for their massive frames. In between them was a small table on which they were playing exploding snap.

"If we get caught the boss won't be happy," one thug said to the other.

"Would you rather sit and stare at that blank wall," the other asked.

"No, but…"

THUNK

Both guards jumped up with their wands drawn in the direction of the sound.

"It's just one of those stupid cases muggles seem to lose," one guard said as he put his wand away. "Just throw it on the stack with the others."

The other guard levitated the suitcase into a corner piled with suitcases and they both returned to their game of exploding snap. A few minutes later they were interrupted by the sound of three muggle females.

"You see, I told you I saw the sootcake disappear through the wall!" a tall blonde woman said.

"I can't believe it," a redhead said with an accent as she looked around. "This is like magic."

Both guards looked at each other. This was the third time this month that muggles had accidentally fallen through the barrier. They had once asked their boss about putting up muggle repelling wards but their boss grew angry and the vein in the side of his head started to throb and they never asked again. It was the boss's lady friend that explained to them that they couldn't put up the ward because it would repel all the muggles from the entire station and that would draw Ministry attention and you couldn't attract the Ministry to your secret hide out. They liked her after that. They did jobs here and there for her for free though the last one was kind of dangerous.

"Where is the sookchase?" the brunette asked as she carefully looked around the room.

"I don't know. How about we ask these nice gentlemen here?" The redhead said with a sweet smile.

She bravely walked over to them and pushed her chest out just a bit to emphasize her visible cleavage. "Have you seen our suitcase?" She asked sweetly sticking out her bottom lip just a bit even though their eyes won't looking at her lips.

"Ah," both wizards stammered as they looked at her cleavage. It was the last thing they saw before the world went blank.

"Stupid wizards!" Victoria commented. "Thank Merlyn my Sevy is different."

"Sevy?" Ginny mouthed at Tonks horrified.

"Why are you two standing there staring at each other? We have a wizard to save!" Victoria said as she strode confidently into the open passageway behind the guards.

"Sevy?" Ginny said softly to Tonks.

"Don't ask and don't ever tell Snape you know his pet name," Tonks advised.

Ginny nodded and then had to hold back a laugh as Tonks tripped over her foot.

"Sorry," Tonks said to her.

"What are you two doing back there?" Victoria hissed from further up the corridor.

"Nothing," Ginny called out softly as she quickly helped Tonks up and followed Victoria swiftly down the passageway.

Harry was seated; at least he knew that much because there was a mask over his face and ear muffs on his ears so other than his body position that was all he knew. His hands were bound behind the chair and his legs were tied to it. He had no idea how long it had been since he had been knocked out. He was quite disappointed that he got himself into this position. He could only imagine what Hermione was thinking and how he had successfully proven her right. He was supposed to be better than this. He had let his guard down. He could just picture his DEA trainer yelling at him for his stupidity.

He reflected on everything he did wrong. There was just something familiar about the way the foam looked. The image of Hermione dead on the snow flashed in his mind and he realised that it wasn't snow that Hermione was lying on. It was the foam!

He was not sure how long he sat there working himself into a panic about Hermione before he felt a hand on his head and suddenly he could see and hear again. Ginny was looking down at him.

"Where's Hermione?" he asked immediately.

"Nice to see you too Harry," Ginny said dryly as she used her wand to untie the ropes that bound his hands while Tonks worked on his feet and Victoria stood guard.

"I need to see Hermione. Where is she?" Harry asked desperately.

"She's at the warehouse. They should be raiding it any minute now," Tonks replied.

Harry's face drained of colour, "I have to get there."

"Harry, we have to get you back to the manor," Ginny told him firmly.

"You don't understand," he said standing once they had finished untying him.

"Then explain it to me," she told him.

"Let's go. They might be coming soon to collect him," Victoria commanded.

Harry followed them down a corridor that was littered with unconscious wizards. All the doors in the corridors were opened and Harry saw various crates in each room, one room had a fire place with floo powder but they didn't seem to be exiting that way. Eventually he came to a room piled high with suitcases and two unconscious men. Ginny stepped through the wall first followed by Tonks. Victoria pushed him through. He was surprised when he emerged in King's Cross.

"I need to get out of here," Harry said breaking free from them and heading to the men's room. He could apparate from within a bathroom stall. "I'll meet you back at the Manor."

He pushed the door open and ignored the usual stench of a public restroom. He went to a stall and closed the door behind him. He concentrated on the street with the warehouse. When he next opened his eyes he was standing in front of the coffee shop watching Kingsley and others enter the warehouse.

Hermione, Cole and two other agents were at the back of the warehouse waiting for the signal to begin the raid. The signal soon came and they cut through the chain link fence to enter the property. The foam was piled all around the back and Hermione really didn't want to step in it. No tests had been conducted on it yet to determine if it was poisonous. She was grateful she had chosen to wear her muggle knee high boots.

Hermione sensed the change before the others. The air became chilly and the light slowly disappeared from around them, Dementors. Hermione tried to recall her happiest memories. She waved her wand and said the words Expecto Patronum but nothing happened. This was her worst spell. Harry had always teased her about it. Otters were fun playful creatures but now was not the time for her otter to be playing with her. The Dementors were getting closer and all she could hear in her head was the voice of Arthur Weasley begging her to kill him.

A silvery lynx and two other patronuses were chasing the Dementors from behind. The silvery lynx broke off and circled them to keep the Dementors away from them. They were soon chased away. She sighed in relief, thankful that Kingsley was her back up tonight.

"Still having trouble with that spell?" Cole asked casually.

"You felt them this time?" Hermione asked curiously. Non magical persons don't usually notice Dementors.

"Not really, I recognized your wand movements," he replied. He had seen her attempt that spell quite a few times, always failing.

"Let's just get this over with," Hermione said.

They were nearly to the door, when it flung open and a group of men came out armed with machine guns. Cole and the other agents started firing and Hermione looked for cover. She started transfiguring pieces of metal on the ground into large objects that they could hide behind. She was alone behind her barrier but she could see that Cole and one agent were pinned down behind another barrier. She wasn't sure where the other agent was.

"Drop the wand!" a man who moved around her barrier said to her.

"It's just a stick," Hermione said trying to play dumb.

"I ain't stupid lady, I know what you are," he said to her. "Now drop it."

Hermione dropped it hoping she would be able to use wandless magic to disable him. Even though she had been issued with her own gun, she never used it.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an environmental inspector; I was just using the stick to sample the white stuff on the ground," she said to him calmly.

"If you were an inspector, why do you have armed agents with you?" The guard sneered at her as he cocked his gun.

Hermione tried to concentrate on the expelliarmus spell to remove the gun from the man's hand. She could still hear shooting behind her and knew that Cole was still pinned down. She had no clue what was going on inside the warehouse but she knew she had seconds to get the spell right. Hermione tried to focus her magic on the gun but the man soon slumped to ground in front of her. She glanced around looking for Cole thinking he had shot the man but said agent was still pinned down. Instead Harry was running in a crouch towards her.

"Are you crazy Harry!" Hermione shouted as he came to stop next to her.

"That guy was about to kill you," Harry said pointing at the unconscious man on the floor. "This is the place Hermione. This is the place I saw you die. Whatever you were going to try, it wasn't going to work. That bullet was going to go through your heart."

"That wouldn't have happened!" Hermione replied turning her back to Harry to focus on trying to take out the other men that were shooting at Cole.

"Why are you being so stubborn!" he asked taking up a position next to her and hitting his targets with more accuracy than her.

"Thanks Hermione. Looks like your friend there is actually useful. I thought he was a bit of a flake after he ran off earlier," Cole said as he emerged from behind his barrier with the other agent.

Harry glared at him. He really didn't like that man at all. When they started to approach the door, they discovered the other agent dead, the foam around him bright red. Harry saw the sadness in Hermione's eyes. She was never supposed to see scenes like that after the war again.

"We'll head inside, you two keep out here secure," Cole suggested.

Hermione nodded. When Cole disappeared inside she turned to Harry, "You shouldn't be here. It was wrong of me to send you here in the first place."

Harry disagreed, "No, I'm right where I am supposed to be. I've made up my mind Hermione. I'm going to become an Auror. There is nothing you can say to stop me."

Both of them heard the gun cock. A man had appeared from the side of the building closest to Hermione and was aiming straight at her back. It seemed to move in slow motion for Harry. Hermione spun around to use her wand but the man started firing as she turned. She made a wand movement but two bullets buried itself in her chest, the impact pushing her backwards on to the ground. One other bullet was stationary in mid-air. Harry disarmed the man, quickly checking both sides of the building to make sure they were clear before rushing back to Hermione. She was in the foam exactly how he saw her in his dream.

Harry fell to his knees besides her, "No, no, no. This was not supposed to happen," he said.

Suddenly her eyes opened and she looked directly at him with a brilliant smile.

"Your life really does pass before your eyes," she said lightly.

"Hermione!" Harry said in a panic. He wanted to pull her close to him but he didn't know if it would hurt her.

"Relax Harry, to be forewarned is to be forearmed," she said pulling up her shirt to reveal a bullet proof vest. The bullets were embedded right above her heart.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"You should probably pluck that bullet from the air before someone walks into it," Hermione suggested looking up at the bullet.

"What was that spell?" Harry asked standing to retrieve the offensive object.

"It's a spell designed for wizards to defend against guns but you have to cast it before they fire the gun. It's very difficult to get the timing perfect. Most of the time it's better to duck and cover," she admitted.

Harry's hand slipped into hers and he pulled her up off the ground. Having been shot with a bullet proof vest on, he knew the impact was still quite bruising.

"They really need to come up with a much better way to stop bullets. This hurts but I suppose it is a lot better than dead," Hermione quipped.

Harry agreed, "It is much better than dead."

Kingsley soon appeared in the back, "Everything clear Granger?" he asked.

"All good," she said.

Kingsley turned to Harry, "I see you've been rescued and before midnight too."

"What's at midnight?" Harry asked.

"The auction for your head," Hermione told him. "We sent Draco to bid on it."

"Someone's going to be sorely disappointed. My head is right where it is supposed to be," Harry replied.

Hermione smiled softly at him, "Your head is just perfect where it is." Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed pink when she realised what she said.

"I expect your report on my desk in two days Granger," Kingsley said before walking away.

Hermione groaned, "More paperwork."

It was five minutes to midnight and Ron was twiddling the invitation in his hands as Draco paced non-stop in front of the large fireplace. Ginny and Victoria had returned with news that they had rescued Harry only for him to go running off to rescue Hermione. They would have followed him to the warehouse but they had no idea where it was. Victoria didn't want Draco to go to the meet since Harry was already rescued but Severus had disagreed with her pointing out that Draco would have no way of knowing that unless he arranged for the rescue. It was important that he appeared at the auction ready to bid for Harry. Ron and Severus would still accompany him.

"Would you stop pacing?" Ron asked irritably as he eyed Draco in front of the fireplace. He had just finished taking a nasty tasting potion that would counter the effects of the portkey and Draco's pacing was not helping him feel any better.

"No," Draco replied shortly as he continued to pace

"Do you want to go over the plan again?" Ron asked hoping that giving Draco something to focus on would stop the pacing.

"What's there to go over? We have no idea of what we are walking into," Draco replied as he glanced at the clock on the wall. "We better get ready."

"I can't believe I have to get under the cloak with Snape," Ron groaned to himself.

With a minute left, Snape appeared and pulled the cloak over the both of them while he held on to the other end of the invitation. Soon they felt the familiar tug of the portkey behind their naval. Ron concentrated on lading on his feet and not flat on his back which would draw attention to them. When they landed Ron wobbled but Snape held on to him firmly keeping him under the cloak. Ron nodded his thanks.

They were in a large room which was lavishly decorated room. There were large French doors to the left which lead out to a large balcony. Ron could hear the sounds of waves crashing against the shore line. They were on the coast somewhere. The moon was new so he could not recognise any distinguishing details outside. The right side of the room had to large wooden doors, one near the front of the room and one near the back.

Snape pulled him to a corner in the back of the room. There were many wizards in concealed black robes guarding the entrances and exits to the room. Nine wizards that arrived via portkey. Ron noticed that Priscilla was not among them. Some of the wizards he recognised, other he didn't. He was surprised to find a Gryffindor, Cormac McClaggen, associated with the criminal underworld. Though maybe he shouldn't have been too surprised. Cormac had always had a nasty tempter and he held a grudge against Harry when Ron was chosen to be keeper over him. He's not sure what happened to the wizard after the war but it didn't appear as if he had done anything good if he was here to bid for Harry's head.

The bidders broke into little groups while they awaited Primus. Draco was busy chatting with Higgs and another wizard while another group was demanding to know why they had to wait. Ron knew it was because they didn't have Harry Potter and they were probably scrambling trying to figure out what to do. Ten minutes later, the door on the right near the front of the room swung open and a figure in a royal purple robe walked confidently into the room.

"Welcome everyone. I see most persons accepted my invitation," the person said with a distorted voice.

"Why have you kept us waiting?" a tall wizard with short sandy brown hair demanded.

"We had an unfortunate delay. Mr. Potter was able to escape but I managed to source a wizard that would be of particular interest to the group gathered here."

The door at the back of the room swung open and two guards dragged a person with a hood over his head in. A trail of blood was left behind on the white marble floor. The wizard was tossed on the ground in front of them. The hood was pulled off and the bloody face of Remus Lupin was revealed.

An: I referenced the use of electronics quite a bit in this chapter. It will be explained how Hermione has gotten them to work.