Title: Code of the Griffin
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: From a war ravaged future, someone is sent back in time to change the course of the war.
A/N: The comment has been made that because Hermione is a Duchess she should be referred to as 'Your Grace' not 'Lady'. She is only a Duchess in the Muggle world, as far as the Wizarding world is concerned she is Ruling Lady of the House of Gryffindor.
A/N 2: Aealket, in regards to your expectation that the SAS would have done better in the last chapter, here are some points to consider. Point 1, the Flash-bangs are also called concussion grenades and they operate by producing a blinding flash of light coupled with a deafening explosion, hence the nick name. Point 2, in normal combat situations, which is what the SAS are trained for, there is always some kind of warning prior to an assault. Door breaching charges, window breaks, the roof exploding inwards, something. In the Order's assault the primed grenades simply appear inside the room through magical means. Considering these points, the SAS did pretty well to wound one of the Order members as they were deaf, blind and the Order member was in a position which was vacant milliseconds earlier. And remember, it took Hermione sixty years to counter it and she developed the assault.
A/N3: Evil4Dummies, Thank you. I also absolutely love Sniper Luna. I found her the single most intriguing character in the series and she looks at things from a different perspective from everyone else, something that I think would come in handy as a sniper. The major reason why the general Wizarding population is not hunting down the Order lynch mob style is that there is the Master's forces out there who also have guns, and many remember that in their first public action, the Order defended them against the Master's troops. Also for the question at the end, no Kathryn Li is not Su Li, nor is she related to her in any way. The surname Li is like Smith or Jones, exceedingly common and most of the older Order members have been recruited from the disenfranchised Half Bloods and Muggleborns.
The market place was filled with hundreds of people, all pushing and milling about the long isles of stalls and shopfronts. A dozen different languages hung in the air, occasionally in the stunted, broken sentences of people haggling in a common language that was not the native tongue of either buyer or seller. All in all a modern, European version of the grand ancient Bazaars of the Middle East.
Winding through this bustling sea of humanity was what looked like an ordinary young couple. Dressed in jeans, polo shirts and jackets, they wandered through with their arms around each others waists, chatting away in French as they browsed. On the other side of the street two men, dressed in factory worker coveralls were having a robust discussion in German about the merits of the beer hall down the street as opposed to the on two streets over. Further down the street two teenaged girls were laughing and chatting in English about finally having ditched their minder for some fun and exclaiming over the clothes on display.
While none of the three teams appeared to pay any attention to the first floor apartment above the toy store, they were all acutely aware of any activity. The two SAS men, neither of them being one of the SAS Wizards, disguised as local factory workers, watched with the eyes of combat veterans, performing thread assessments and gathering information on how to do a military assault. Luna and Michelle, the two rich, English-speaking tourists, surveyed the apartment's activities with the trained eye of snipers, looking for weak spots to exploit and, in Luna's case, aura's to read.
The third team, the young couple, watched the apartment in a completely different manner. Harry and Hermione simply opened their senses and felt the flows of Magic running through the apartment and its occupants. Harry was stronger at sensing raw and over uses of Magic, however Hermione, with her vastly greater experience, was much better at reading the subtler uses and tricks to disguise the true nature of the spells being used.
The SAS, international experts in counter terrorism, had been tracking whispers of a plot that had eventually led them to this apartment. Then several Dark Wizards had shown up and had hopelessly complicated the issue to the point where the Order had been called in.
"Finished getting a read?" Hermione asked quietly, in French to keep up the cover.
"Yes." Harry replied in kind.
"Well, why don't we cross over at the next break and head back down to that lovely little patisserie stall?" Hermione asked a bit louder.
Harry nodded and they set off, blending into the crowd. The next shift would start in fifteen minutes, so Hermione was determined to enjoy reliving the feeling, if only in her mind, of being out on a date with Her Harry. The one she knew better than she knew herself, the one she had married in the other timeline. Plus his arm around her waist felt good, as did hers around his.
Neville sat with the seven SAS Wizards, going over strategies for using Magic in combat situations without overtly breaking the Statute of Secrecy. All of the SAS Wizards had taken turns on surveillance for the five known enemy safe houses. Neville was one of the very few from either the Order or the SAS not to go on these covert operations because, to face facts, there are not a lot of people walking around with full metal, skeletal left arms outside of the Terminator movies. It would have made him extremely memorable.
The Magical strategy sessions had proven quite useful to both sides. Neville had taught all the strategies that the Order had learnt from the Grand Marshall's long combat experience, such as spells to harden air into plates of armour around a combatant's body or to obtain tactile sensations from inanimate objects. The latter spell provided sensory feedback for Neville in the elbow joint, wrist and hand of his artificial limb, but it can also be used so that the focus of the spell can 'feel' a tingle when a targeting laser lights on their uniform or body armour.
Other strategies had come from brainstorming sessions. Such as the density equalisation spell, which would alter the density of all the material of the same type within the target area to within a naturally occurring deviation of the mean density. In layman's terms you could use the spell to erase the compression imprint of footprints in mud or snow by making the receiving medium all appear about the same density. A particularly useful spell on covert operations.
The cannon sounded and Cedric walked out to face his dragon. Inside the tent there were only the two foreign champions and the heads of their Guard. Ron stood in one corner near Fleur while Susan stood in the other with Victor. Ron could see the nervousness in Fleur, despite the reserved expression on her face. A cheer went up from the crowed outside.
About a minute later the cannon sounded again.
"Just keep running." Susan said to Victor with a sly smile.
Victor smiled back, before heading out into the arena, with his wand drawn. Susan gave Ron a nod and then exited the back of the tent to go watch Victor.
"Just relax." Ron whispered.
Fleur let herself relax, releasing the tension that had kept her rigid in front of the others.
"I don't know if I can do this." She whispered.
Ron suppressed the childish impulse to hug the French Champion in the hopes of getting a grope, letting his Order training, and the more mature instincts that made him an effective squad leader, take over.
"Of course you can." He said in his command voice. "Just stick to your plan and play to your strengths. Focus on your goal."
Fleur took a deep breath to calm herself and then gave her body a quick shake to loosen up.
"Thank you, Sergeant Weasley." She said.
"Ron." He said. "My name is Ron."
Another cheer echoed into the room from the arena, indicating the end of Victor's task.
"Thank you, Ron." Fleur reiterated.
"A pleasure and an honour." Ron responded, giving her a salute as a sign on respect.
Fleur knew enough about Muggle military traditions to return the salute, and took pride in the trust inherently displayed by the gesture. The cannon sounded for the third time and Fleur turned to face the task with a new confidence.
Neville's left arm may look like it is made from ordinary stainless steel, but in fact it is made from a light, strong and durable alloy not discovered for another 1200 years and eventually used for, among other things, Spaceship structural supports and the armour plating of ultra high velocity, rapid insertion, space to ground combat 'drop pod' craft. So naturally when the seemingly fragile skeletal hand came in contact with even a steel reinforced door, with hundreds of pounds per square inch from its powerful hydraulic pistons, the door naturally was ripped right off its hinges and was thrown across the room, followed immediately by flash-bang grenades. Team four made a smooth entry, the Order members, wielding pistols and wands, were paired up with SAS troopers, who were using their assault rifles. At site four the team achieved complete surprise. The six gunmen were quickly subdued or killed and the one dark Wizard was hit by four stunners, throwing him off his feet.
The team quickly secured the apartment, checking for hidden compartments, boltholes or escape routes. They found none.
"One-One, this is Four-One. Site secured." Neville reported on the command frequency.
"Rodger Four-One." Hermione responded.
"One-One, Five-One." One of the SAS Lieutenants transmitted, "Site is empty. They were gone when we got here."
"This is Six-Nine. We were ambushed." One of the Order troopers reported urgently. "Six-One, Six-Two and Six-Four were stunned and captured. We have five casualties and numerous injuries. We are in no condition to pursue. What are your orders, One-One?"
Neville's heart stopped for a moment. Six-One was Harry and Six-Two was Sergeant Kate West. Team six had been the backup for teams four and five, both as a rapid response unit if either got in trouble and a pursuit team in case one of the sites tried to make a run for it. Harry, as Hermione's XO, had overall command of teams four through six, despite five's team leader being a Lt, and now he had been captured.
"Four-One. Ready for pursuit." Neville said.
"Five-One. Ready to go too." The Lieutenant added.
"Negative." Hermione responded. "Four-One, secure prisoners and RTB. Five-One, assist team six and take command. Get the wounded ready to move and then follow team four back to base."
"One-One, Hawkeye One. Request permission to begin tracking." Luna's soft voice said.
"Come on Boss, let me get these guys." Kathryn Li's voice was hard.
"Hawkeyes One and Two. Permission granted. Report back in Twenty-Four Hours." Came the order.
Neville looked out the window of the apartment and could just make out a flash of blonde and darker hair, indicating Luna and Michelle moving of to track those who took Harry, Kate and the SAS soldier. He did not even try to look for Larks and Li. Larks was a smooth operator who seemed to glide through the shadows around him, while Li… Li was simply scarily good. She could disappear in the middle of a fully lit, empty room… without magic. With a silent sigh, Neville turned to begin the process of securing the prisoners.
Luna, Michelle, Larks and Li stood at parade rest, their shoulders slightly slumped, in front of Hermione and Captain White.
"We tracked them half way across the city, but then we lost the trail." Larks said, embarrassment was faintly detectable in his controlled voice.
"Very well." Hermione sighed. "Go pack your things, I am ordering the Order back to Hogwarts. Flight leaves at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow."
"We're leaving?" Li asked, frustration evident in her voice.
Hermione, probably the only female Li knew that was tougher than herself, simply stared at Li for a moment.
"We were brought in to deal with the Dark Wizards. All are confirmed dead or captured. The Order's role here is done." Hermione said. "Dismissed."
Everyone, including the Captain turned and left, but Luna stopped short of the door and closed it before turning back to face the Grand Marshall.
"What is it, Sergeant?" Hermione asked.
"I'm staying too." Luna declared.
"And what makes you think any of us are staying." The Grand Marshall responded, trying to keep the command mask in place.
"Because it is Harry. I'm staying too." Luna reiterated before leaving.
Luna was right, of course. Hermione would stay until he was found. She had promised herself that she would save him, even if that meant letting him go, or watching him fall in love with someone else. But this was different. He was missing, perhaps dead. All the sacrifices, all the pain. Ten thousand years of waiting and now she was going to loose him again, but without any of the joy of last time round.
Her military mask broke and she wept. Wept like a girl who lost her friend, like a wife who lost her husband, like a mother who lost her child. Like a woman watching her entire life implode.
TBC…