A/N: Well, today is my Dad's 85 birthday, folks. So Happy Birthday, Dad! (You should've seen the cake!)

Also, I apologize in advance this is so short. Definitely a contrast to my other chapters as of late. But I had to take a training class at work last week that lasted from 11AM each day to 8:00-8:30PM each night. By the time I got home I was exhausted and went straight to bed.

What you are reading I literally typed up out of my notes just today. Although my stories are complete outline-wise, my chapters are not always so. Like any good work in progress, they get added and deleted as the story progresses and as ideas get added and deleted.

I do regret not beating Mrs. Rowling to publication. That is; mine finishing just as her's came out. But there have been unforeseen delays. But I do wish you all happy reading on Saturday, but, based on the last two books, not counting on it.

That's about all,

And as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Go back and read the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before this one.

CHAPTER SIXTY: RETURN

Orion sat in his superior's office, wanting nothing more than to be anywhere else.

It had been just over a week since they returned, and for Orion it seemed more like years.

Currently Orin Bale sat before him, leaned over his desk as he read over the report compiled from the hours the debriefers had spent with Orion after the group's return. Hours that had seriously contributed to his skewed view of time.

All in all, their escape had been blissfully uncomplicated. Bo had done an admirable job of getting Orion and Heudros out of the castle safely and back to the cave in one piece.

"Harry!" Was the first name out of Orion's mouth as soon as he saw the familiar walls of the cave around them.

The teenager hadn't wasted any time to come running.

"Do you still have that stone Dumbledore gave you? The one for emergencies? Because I think we have a perfect qualifier on our hands."

Harry had produced the stone from his pocket and handed it to his uncle.

Making sure everyone was safely accounted for, Orion began the spell to activated the stone and transport them all out of the cave and back to the castle.

The only reasoning he could give for what happened next was that he was distracted.

Trying to make sure everyone was all right, making sure he didn't ever-extend Bo's limited abilities at the time, keeping track of Heudros, trying to ascertain exactly what he needed to do to make sure the stone worked right, and the growing pain from his injury simply overtaxed his own resources. But as he fought off a new wave of pain shooting through his head, a warning cry attracted his attention just in time for him to see Harry flying across the cave, Arabella running to intercept him, and Heudros with his wand pointed at the cave entrance.

The next occurrence was a blinding flash of light that brought down the ward in front of the cave's entrance. Orion brought his own wand up to cut the man's escape short. But Heudros redirected his wand towards Arabella this time.

Orion barely had time to deflect the spell. But by then Heudros was out the entry way and headed off into the woods, screaming for his followers.

Seeing no point in trying to coral the man again, and knowing they were in no position for another fight, Orion simply focused on getting everyone back to the castle safely instead.

Once there, without waiting for questions and allowing even less time for answers, Orion had brought up all the wards on the castle, and with his last conscious act, left Bo in control of keeping them up and charged.

But to his relief, upon awakening the next morning to an anxious looking Madam Pomfrey, Orion had learned from his boggart that neither Heudros, his followers, nor Becca hadn't made so much as a hint of an appearance during the night.

Now, a week later, he sat before his superior, a large, thick white bandage over his left eye as he watched Orin's expression for any hint of what to expect. But it was the equivalent of reading a stone wall. And so Orion consigned himself to simply sit back and wait.

After several more minutes past in silence, Orin finally closed the file and laid it on his desk as he turned to his agent.

"How's the eye?" He ask amiably, as though Orion had just walked in and taken a seat.

"Horace is less than hopeful, as always." Orion replied, referring to the prognosis of the Unspeakables head medi-wizard, who had taken over Orion's care from the school's head nurse and whose diagnoses always tended to favor the worst case scenario. "But he says we'll have to wait and see...so to speak."

Bale simply nodded at the information. "And the seizures?"

"They're under control."

Again the man simply nodded at the answer.

Orion finally broke the silence. "Did the boy's in research turn up anything?"

Bale's eyes shifted to his agent. Reaching into his desk, Bale pulled another folder out of his drawer and laid it on his desk.

"A bit." He replied.

Orion almost smiled at the gesture. Bale was never one to give you more than you ask for. One question. One answer, containing as little information as possible. That summed the man up.

"Anything useful?" Orion pressed on. "Something that might hint at his next move? The last thing we need is to wake up one morning and find that lunatic on our doorstep with his remaining followers."

Bale shoved the folder across the desk to his agent. "I'm sure based on this that the last place on earth Heudros wants to be is anywhere near the Ministry of Magic."

Orion shot his superior a questioning look as he opened the file and was met with the last thing he expected. Staring at the identity paper laying on top of the other papers in the file, he once more turned a quizzical stare to his superior.

"He worked here?" He ask.

"Heudros Barentor. Class three clerk, working for Andros Larthey, a secretary to the Minister." Orin replied. "Disappeared about thirty years ago. No one had seen or heard from him until this last week."

Orion closed the file and tossed it on his superior's desk. "How in magic's name did a class three clerk end up nearly destroying the whole of the magic community?"

"Good question." Orin stated, getting up and walking around the large oak desk as he headed for the door. "If you find him, let me know what he says." He added, opening his office door.

Orion stood up to face the man. "Me?" He ask. "Orin, the man isn't going to come any nearer to me than he is to the Ministry."

Bale shook his head. "Heudros, from all you've told us, is a man who doesn't like to lose, Orion. And you have dealt his ego one serious, smarting blow. If the man follows his prior MO, he's currently sitting somewhere using all his spare time just thinking up lovely ways to dish up some tremendous payback, all aimed at you."

Orion frowned. "Lovely."

Leaving Bale's office, Orion was nearly accosted by his partner.

Charly had been out on a mission the past two weeks and was only just returning to the department. But within minutes of being back he had heard the rumors of his partner having captured the wizard in the north.

In a matter of a few seconds, Charly watched the rest of his life flash before him, and he didn't much care for the ending. Which he felt was pretty much a guarantee if he didn't get to Orion and explain things.

"Orion, I need to talk to you right..." But Charly stopped dead as he caught sight of the bandaging over his friend's eye. "Orion, what happened?" He ask in a whispered voice.

Orion managed a tired smile for his best friend. "It's a long story, Charly." He said, giving the man a welcoming, affectionate hug. "It's good to see you though."

Charly returned the greeting before turning back to his partner with concern. "What happened to your eye? Have you seen Horace? What's he said?"

"I caught a bit a scrap." Orion replied. "Horace gave me his usual gloom and doom prognosis, and the rest of it, like I said, is a long story."

"Are you going to be OK?" Charly ask, the concern never leaving his face as he looked over his partner's heavily bandaged eye.

Orion stared at the man for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Horace was even less hopeful then usual this time, Charly, if that's actually possible for the man." He said quietly as another agent gave a quick greeting as he pasted them in the hallway. "His initial thought is I'll lose my sight in the left eye."

Charly's face fell. "You'll be blind?"

"In one eye." Orion stipulated. "I can still see, Charly. Don't you start sounding like Bale, that every time I get injured, he starts talking about how nice it is out in the pasturelands."

"I'm not talking putting you out to pasture, Orion. I'm just concerned that my partner is injured."

"I know, mate." Orion replied, wrapping a hand about the back of the man's neck. "And I appreciate the concern. But let's just wait and see. Horace has been wrong before."

Charly stared back at his friend for a minute. "What about Bo?" He ask in a quieter tone. "What does he say?"

Orion shrugged. "He says the eye is 'damaged'."

Charly winced. "Ouch! That's never good coming from Bo. Have you ask him if he can help...'undamage' it?"

Orion shook his head. "Bo isn't really up to par right now, Charly. I'm not sure asking him to do anything like this would be a good idea."

"Up to par?"

Orion turned to the ground for a moment. "Bo was hurt on the mission." He explained finally. "And..."

"Whoa!" Charly stated, holding up both hands. "Bo...injured. Orion, Bo doesn't get injured."

Orion shook his head slowly. "Charly, this is a REALLY long story that I don't have the time to get into right now. But as I said, Bo says he's still having trouble focusing. I don't think it's a good time to have him try anything that involves my personal body, ya' know?"

Charly nodded. "I've seen what happens when your boggart isn't 'focused', mate. Took the magic reversal squad three days, that last one."

"Exactly. So I think I'll just leave things be for now if it's all the same to everybody."

Charly nodded as his thoughts slipped back to his original purpose. "Word round the department is this was a pretty exciting mission. Bale sent you after the wizard in the north? Must have been pretty hush-hush. Even I never heard a word about it."

"It was." Orion agreed. Actually, it was more circumstances than anything that prevented him from cluing Charly in. When they had left on the journey, Charly had been halfway around the world on another mission with another group from the department. There hadn't been time to contact him. But with the nature of the mission, Orion was sure Bale wouldn't have wanted him to discuss it with Charly anyway.

"So how did it go?" Charly was fighting every natural instinct in his body to keep from going into full panic mode. If the wizard in the north was in the hands of the Ministry, he knew his days as a wizard were seriously numbered. And that number was likely in the single digits. But even worse, one dose of Veritaserum, and Orion would have full knowledge what Charly had been doing over the past few years. And regardless of his intentions, he doubted very much it made him look anywhere near good in his partner's eyes.

Orion shook his head, then turned back to his best friend. "How does it look like it went?"

"Like it wasn't a picnic."

"That's for sure."

"Did you find the guy?" Charly ask, trying to sound interested and not like he felt his whole life depended on the answer.

Orion nodded and Charly's face fell. "And even more," Orion added, "Bale found out who the guy is."

"Is?" Charly ask distractedly.

"This great 'wizard in the north', Charly? This man who people have feared and run from? Who even Voldemort was worried about?"

Charly mutely nodded.

"He worked here."

Charly's mouth fell open. "He...he worked here? In our department?"

Orion shook his head. "He was a clerk, third class. Someone named Heudros Barentor."

"Heudros?" Charly echoed. He had never known the man's name. The wizard had always insisted he and Treaks only call him 'master'.

Orion nodded.

Charly swallowed his fear. "The word around the department is that you captured him." He said, trying to make the statement sound like nothing more than idle curiosity.

Orion gave another tired nod.

Charly froze. The Ministry had this Heudros in custody. Surely they had talked to him. Magic! They wouldn't even need Veritaserum to get him to talk. The man loved to talk about himself. That much Charly knew first hand. Loved showing his opponents how much more clever he was than them. And to tell them what fools they were. That he had had a spy in their own department for years. He would relish such information. Feeding it to them in small bits as he milked each morsel for all he could get out of it before giving them a name.

Charly forced down his fear. He would explain things to Orion. Make him understand. Worry about the Ministry and Bale later. First he had to get Orion to listen to him.

"Orion, I need to talk to you." Charly stammered. "It's really important."

Orion turned down the hallway towards his office. All he wanted right now was to stop by the castle, see Katlin, who was still being treated for the poison in her system, then head home. "Can it wait, Charly?" Orion stated, "I really need to get going here."

Charly grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him back around. "No, it can't." He stated firmly. "I need to talk to you and I need to talk to you now!"

Q&A

FAMILY RELATIONS

Skahducky:

I loved the line where Becca said that she had only begun using her mind. I thought that was awesome!
Yeah, it certainly doesn't seem as if Becca wants Heudros to live. I imagine she'll go after him as soon as she destroys the castle. I'm interested to see what she wants to do once she's completely free of Heudros, though. There are many possibilities for her. Anyway, this is a great chapter. Please update soon!

Actually, Becca had a lot of good lines in that chapter, I thought. It just lent itself to her that way. Especially when backed up with the fact that Heudros just wasn't catching on to what was going on at all.

Currently, Becca has a nice shallow pit somewhere waiting for Heudros, so he'd better watch his back very carefully. But like any good cockroach, before you can stomp on 'em, ya' gotta find 'em.

Well, true, she literally has the world at her fingertips. But think about it. Becca has never known freedom. She's never lived a day in her life when someone wasn't telling her what to do, when to do it, and how to get it done. To suddenly have absolute freedom over your own life can be very frightening coming out of those circumstances, and how she deals with it is part of the Family Ties story line, the last part of the Family's story arc, as well as what happens to Voldemort and Sirius.

ilovesiriusblack:

I can't believe you left it there! Well acctually I can that is a cliff hanger and a half! I hope Bo and Orion are ok, I can't petend to care about Heudros because I don't like him very much. I am a bit concerned though about Becca. I'm still not sure what the castle is, besides her prison, is the castle in a way also her host? Beca is not a stable individual I fear for the world as a whole.
Awesome chapter and eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Cliff Hangers...gotta love 'em!

How Orion and Bo fair out of this remains to be seen. Hints to their current states are in this chapter, but still left a bit vague, especially for Bo.

Well, who does like him, Dear? Currently even Becca wants him seriously injured. I mean, the man has Peter up for a 'Man of the Year' award.

And well anyone should be for our newest little 'Power' on the block, now lose in the world without a host (not that she ever truly had one). But her current state and her immediate future will start to show just how important that relationship is and why it's so dangerous for her not to have one.

And on that note, Dear I just loved your reasoning here. A very cute and clever idea to have had the castle be Becca's host. But not plausible.

The castle was not, nor could have ever been, Becca's host. A host, due to its role to the 'Power', has to be a living thing. Therefore the castle would not qualify. But that was an incredibly clever idea on your part. And I'm not saying you are entirely wrong.

The castle was nothing more than Heudros' way of containing Becca because she didn't have a host. A simplified way of explaining it is, that a 'Power's' host is their anchor in this realm. Without a host, a 'Power' is much more unstable than it is with one. And I don't think that's the same 'stable' (or 'un', as the case may be) as you're referring to in the last part of your review. Basically put, if Becca were to go up against Bo right now, he would likely win because he has a firmer foothold in this realm than she does. Also, as I've mentioned before, Bo is simply more comfortable with who he is. As well as is he more adept at yielding the vast power at his command.

Becca, on the other hand, is only just now starting to get a hand on who she is and what she's capable of.

So, was the castle Becca's host? I suppose you could sort of look at it that way, sure. However, based on the story-line, it was not intended that way.

It's one of those, 'Whatever makes you happy' things, Dear.

Still an incredibly cute idea though.

CelticHeiressFiona:

Another awesome chapter. You cease to amaze.

What can I say? Except, man, I really hope we're missing a word in there somewhere. I would hate to think I've become that predictable.

headntheclouds:

amazing series, very interesting and fast enough to keep that interest through out the many chapters. Can't wait to read where the story goes.

Ohhhhhh! What a nice review! Thank you, Dear.

From the look of things, this part of the story arc will wrap up in just a few more chapters. then PAR is taking a break before she finishes this story up with the final story arc, Family Ties.

FEVER

Elena maiden of Gondor:

Wow I was shocked when Snape appeared in the doorway and actually wanted to help Harry. :O Great story, very exciting. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I'm adding this to my C2 collection.

Snape has his moments, Dear. Can't be a total prat all the time.

Cool! Made another C2 list! Go me!

HermioneWatsonFan:

Well, then they should either give Harry poison or something that will make a fever higher. And if the potion will work correctly for a few minutes before having the opposite effect, then give harry a poison that takes a long time to work.

OK, keeping in mind its been years since I posted this story, allow me to simply say this; Wasn't that covered in one of the chapters, why that wouldn't work? I could be utterly wrong here, and I will go back and check, but I think...could have sworn this was covered.

If not, way to go, Dear. Continuity error!

Uh, is that it? Please say there's a sequal! I'm gonna go check for one right now!
Sorry, Dear, no sequel. Fever was a stand alone story. However, parts of it were incorporated into the Family story arc.

THE TIES THAT BIND

Dawns Heart:

What a cute story! It's very well done, I loved Harry...

Thank you, Dear. So glad you enjoyed it.

gothic-hands:

good story

Thank you.

The New Age:
Thats it?
Is there a sequal? hunts

Actually, if I remember my stories right, Tried And Convicted was the sequel to The Ties That Bind.

All reviews are as of 07/15/2007.

And remember;

We are all looking forward to the last book of the series with eager anticipation. However, inevitably, some of us will get our copies long before others.

Be kind and be considerate.

Before discussing the last book with someone, inquire first if they have read it. That person has waited the same long years as you to read this last book. Don't spoil it for them just to please yourself.