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.
Harry awoke cold and naked, his body aching and not in a good way. His eyes slowly opened as he took in the bare, empty stone of the cell around him, lit by a softly glowing light bulb, sheltered by a chain-link cover. Harry was not alone; Kate West was also in the cell as naked as Harry, leaning up against the wall with her legs stretched out in front of her, one arm by her side and the other hand behind her head.
"They took the SAS Trooper half an hour ago." Kate said.
"How long have we been here?" Harry asked, pulling himself up to the wall opposite to West.
"About two hours." She responded. "Look, Sir, I want you to promise me something."
"Promise?" Harry said, both still trying to clear his head and understand what she was asking.
"Yes. I want you to promise that when they come back, you will let the take me. Promise you will not try to protect me."
"What?" Harry exclaimed. "Is this because of the whole Boy-Who…"
"No!" Kate replied, just as emphatically. "Nothing to do with that. This is all about the Order. You have no idea what it is like for the rest of us."
Kate paused, lowering her head slightly to rub the back of her neck, closing her eyes for a moment. She paused so long that Harry was about to say something when she resumed.
"You know I was fifth in my year at Hogwarts. The best offer I got was in the Ministry's Sanitation department. Numbers six, eight and fifteen were all Purebloods I knew at school. One could barely throw a stunner, he's an Auror now. Of the other two, one is Vice President of one major Wizarding Corporation and the other is a Curse Breaker at Gringotts."
"I know the system is biased. But what…?" Harry began.
"We would die for you. For the Grand Marshall, Sergeant Longbottom, Lieutenant Diggory… all of you from the original First Squad. Every other member of the Order, with the exception of Waters, all feel the same. You gave us purpose. I remember vividly the day you and the Grand Marshall came to recruit me. Ten minutes later and you would have wasted your trip. Don't try to protect me. My job here is to protect you."
Silence descended, Kate preparing herself for the ordeal ahead while Harry shocked into silence by her revelation. A few minutes later they heard the sound of boots, then the heavy sound of the door being unlocked. Two guards dragged the naked, bloody, broken and unconscious SAS trooper inside and dumped him on the floor. They looked between Harry and Kate for a minute then walked over to Kate. Naturally Kate struggled but a firm blow to the head with a rifle stock put an end to that and they dragged her out of the room.
Almost two hours passed in silence for Harry, with the SAS Trooper still passed out on the floor before he hear the boots again and Kate was dragged back into the room. Unlike the SAS Trooper she was not unconscious, but she was bloody, bruised and groaning. When they dropped her on the floor the two men looked at Harry but then they shrugged and walked out, locking the door behind them.
Kate groaned as she pulled herself back to her place against the wall next to Harry, shuddering with tears rolling down her cheeks and hissing in pain. Her body was criss-crossed with welts, a series of burns and a long river of semi-dried blood down then inside of her thighs.
"Good." She said, her voice horse and barely audible. "I convinced them."
With a final sigh, she lost consciousness, and slid sideways up against Harry.
Hermione and Luna ghosted through the faintly lit streets. The streetlights were sparse in this part of the city. They were in full combat gear, Luna's sniper riffle replace with a MP10 sub-machine gun, but all their gear was either disillusioned or charmed to look like every day items. Hermione led them through a doorway into the almost pitch black interior of the building's stair well. They cancelled the charms and moved up the stairs, their guns raised and constantly checking the corners. On the fourth level they moved out of the stairwell and down the corridor. They came to the door at the end of the corridor. Luna covered Hermione as the older girl knelt down and picked the lock. Once the lock was open they smoothly moved into the room, simulating in miniature the assaults of the two days prior. The apartment was empty.
"Right. We bunk down here. Let's secure the place." Hermione ordered.
Hermione was under no illusions that they were going to find Harry and the others in one day, but they had made progress. One this was clear to her though, there could only be two outcomes from this hunt. Either she would find Harry alive, or all those responsible would pay… and then she would put her pistol in her own mouth and blow out her own brains. She could not do this again if he was dead. Let the Seraphim have his back up plan.
"Sir, Captain White reporting as Ordered." The Captain said, saluting Major Granger.
"Sit, Captain." Peter Granger said, indicating to the chair across from himself and his wife. "Report."
"Sir, overall the mission was a success, but on the final operation there was a… complication." White said, "Staff Sergeant Potter and Sergeant West of the Order, along with Trooper Bragg, were captured by a retreating group of the enemy, when their entire network was taken down. With the death of the Dark Wizards and the network shut down, our operation was over. Grand Marshall Granger ordered the joint forces home, however the Grand Marshall and Sniper Sergeant Lovegood stayed behind to perform a Search and Rescue for Potter, West and Bragg."
"Very well, Captain. I expect a full report by Friday." Peter Granger said.
White saluted, turned and left the room. After he left the Grangers fell into each other's arms, softly crying. Their little girl, despite being a very capable warrior, was out in the field with very little backup on a very dangerous op. Peter Granger had a bad feeling about it, like he may never see his little girl again.
Sirius groaned and rolled over when he heard the door bell. He was warm and comfortable and did not was to get up.
"Was that the door." The sleepy female voice said from beside him.
"Merlin, I hope not." He replied, getting a little giggle from his bed-mate. "Oh quite you."
The doorbell rang again and he finally had to admit that he had to get up. He sat up on the bed and glanced over at his girlfriend as he quickly got dressed. Long, dark brown hair kept in a ponytail. Soulful eyes that, depending on what she wore, were either Hazel, Blue or an aqua green. A lithe figure with well defined legs, a taught stomach and well formed breasts that were neither small nor large. About a handful, as the old saying goes. Mary Williams was her name and she was as Muggle as they come, the waitress he had taken out the previous year after coffee with Moony. They had been dating ever since and two months ago he had told her everything… magic, his status as Lord of House Black, his Godson Harry, the whole bag, and then he had asked her to move in with him. Of course she had said yes. She still found the little magical idiosyncrasies funny, like saying 'Merlin' instead of 'God'.
He loved Mary, was even considering asking her to marry him. She was the only one for him… now. The only one he had cared for since Lilly Evans. They were so different from each other but he loved them both. But this time he could actually get the girl, rather than watching her fall in love with his best friend.
The doorbell rang again.
"Hold your bloody horses, I'm coming." He yelled.
He stormed out into the living room and yanked open the door.
"This better be bloody important." He growled before noticing who was at his door.
It was the Weasley Twins, Fred and George, for once their expressions grim.
"Can we come in? There's been a… development." George said.
"Siri, baby. Who is it?" Mary said, coming out of the bedroom wearing only one of his shirts.
"Sirius." Fred said. "I think you are going to need to sit down."
Sirius sat on the sofa and Mary, sensing that something bad had happened, rushed to his side for support. Then the twins told their story and Sirius' world fell in, his only anchor was Mary.
Neville was grim as he lead the returning Order forces up the long road from Hogsmeade station to Hogwarts itself. Moral was not good. Fred and George, who had gone to talk to Sirius, had been on the other side of the city when Harry was taken, assisting Hermione in taking down sites one, two and three. They had been in a mess afterwards, which had not helped the other Order members. Michelle had needed to be sedated on the flight back after she realised the Luna was not coming. She had screamed that she was Luna's Spotter and needed to be with her.
Neville himself felt bad that Hermione had not let him go after Harry, but he understood why Hermione and Luna had stayed. Ever since first year, Harry and Hermione had been practically joined at the hip, something that had only grown stronger with the 'new Hermione'. Luna and Harry was a strange and special thing. No one really understood it, not even them, but it was like a bond of suffering and slightly broken people from the tragedies in their childhoods.
He would have stayed too but knew in those circumstances he would have been a liability. They needed to be stealthy, something he was not good at.
As they approached the main entrance they were met by the three Headmasters, the four Hogwarts Head of House, the three Champions and their Security Escorts. Fleur and Victor were only really there because Susan and Ron had given them a choice. Come to the Entrance or stay locked in your dorms.
"Report, Sergeant." Cedric ordered, noticing the missing faces of Hermione, Harry, and four Sergeants.
"Operation successful. Seven KIA, two MIA. The Grand Marshall and Sergeant Lovegood are on S&R." Neville replied.
"Report to the briefing room, I want a full rundown." Cedric replied.
"Yes, Lieutenant." Neville replied.
The Order members all filed in, ignoring the teachers. Fleur and Victor were escorted back inside.
"What does KIA mean?" Dumbledore asked when the teachers were alone.
"It means they are dead." Flitwick replied before turning to re-enter the castle.
Professor McGonagall just hoped none of her house members were dead. She had not seen the faces of Harry or the Weasley Twins.
TBC…