Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: I don't say it often enough, but a big thanks to all the fine folks helping me alpha and beta this fic including Jim, Chuck, Sean, IP, JJ, Rob, and Chris. I'm probably forgetting some but the help is appreciated even if I don't say it every update. I do so enjoy getting reviews. Thanks for all of them and keep them coming.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Harry woke up with the feeling it was going to be a morning like any other.

He cracked an eye open and saw Luna Lovegood sitting up, staring at him with wide unblinking eyes.

Harry lost the little faith he had in his initial feeling.

He then quickly thought back to when he first saw the Luna of this world. She'd waved him over to her table but he had been pulled away. He remembered Sirius called for help and then he remembered… pain.

Ginny Weasley.

No, not Ginny Weasley, Harry mentally corrected, Gin Weasley.

"Ginny is the name of a little girl who plays with dolls. A Ginny wants to be a princess. A Ginny wants to be saved by a knight in shining armor. A Ginny would get her pampered little ass kicked and thrown out of MY bar. There are very few people in this world I allow to call me that and neither of you are them. Can you remember that or do you need another reminder?"

Harry smiled in remembrance that about a half hour later Sirius had in fact received another reminder. Luna had joined them at the bar and they got to hear the story of how Gin beat Aberforth Dumbledore in a drinking contest and won herself a pub. And it had been Aberforth who had personally charmed the bar to make it easier for her to handle rowdy customers. Sirius made the mistake of asking for a demonstration and earned himself that second 'reminder.'

Harry recalled going to the mens' room and nearly making a mess as the pictures hanging above the urinals were apparently also charmed by Aberforth Dumbledore. Charmed to be action portraits of the faces made by the three most recent recipients of kicks from the charmed bar. So Harry had to try and pee straight while pictures of Sirius, Harry, and Sirius again all went pale, shivered, and had eyes that bulged out or rolled back up into their heads.

Just about everyone in the bar had been greeted and served by name. Harry had come to the conclusion that even if he'd wanted to try and play the role of the indignant noble Lord then he'd probably have a whole pub of people with something to say about that.

The most intriguing changes Harry noticed had been in Gin's attitude and character. He'd been extremely amused to see she was filled with strength, confidence, piss, and vinegar. Harry knew better than to mention it to the ghost haunting him, but he'd never been more attracted to any Weasley than when Gin looked at him indifferently. That was when he silently made a personal vow to never touch this Gin either. Primarily because it would make living with her ghost impossible.

He clearly recollected Fred and George coming by and agreeing to a partnership with them. The Black family would finance a significant expansion in exchange for a third ownership stake in the company. Requesting custom creations was planned but not until a little further in the future.

And then he remembered Luna saying something about the wuffwaffles in the air indicating it was the ideal time for enhancing the pleasure of intercourse. That was when Harry bid the three Weasleys and his godfather 'good night' and came back home with Luna.

This was where Harry's memories started to get really fuzzy. He remembered a crazed look in Luna's eye, small and furry purring, his own screams, and… something about friction inducing combustion.

"Harry?"

Harry was drawn out of his short jaunt down memory lane by the voice he'd been replaying in his head. His eyes snapped open and he saw Luna was still sitting there topless just staring at him.

"Do you remember me? I'm Luna," she indicated pointing towards herself. "Luna Lovegood."

Harry smiled at her peculiarity. "Yes, Luna. I definitely remember you."

Luna smiled brilliantly. "I don't have much time here, but I must say it is very good to see you."

"You too," Harry agreed happily humoring her.

"Oh! Oh!" Luna gasped in realization. "Did you find your godfather?"

Harry tensed immediately, knowing that information was supposed to stay private. "What do you mean?"

"Sirius? Your godfather?" Luna explained slowly. "You know, the reason you were working on the Exit?"

Harry's mind froze for a moment unsure what was going on. He squinted to look at her closer. "Luna?"

Luna frowned. "I thought you said you remembered me."

Harry's paranoia quickly downshifted into the 'What Would Mad-Eye Moody Do' gear. "Who did the commentary on my quidditch matches sixth year and who did I take to Slughorn's Christmas party that year?"

"Me and me," Luna answered before smiling back at him. "You don't have to prove it, Harry. If you say you remember me, I believe you."

"What… but…" Harry stopped, smiled, and lunged forward to catch her in a hug. "Luna! Why didn't you say anything before? Wait," Harry leaned back to get a better look at Luna's expressionless expression. "You said you didn't know me."

"When did I say that?" Luna frowned trying to think back.

"Last night," Harry reminded, "at the bar?"

"I didn't go to any bar last night," Luna answered in confusion. "I went to bed and read great-great-great-aunt Thethpa's diary. I've been spending my morning trying out a theory of hers she could never prove. I'm still a bit skeptical though so that may be coloring my perception."

Harry just looked at her trying to locate any identifying marks but got distracted by her bare breasts.

"You might be confusing me with the Luna native to this world," Luna explained before sticking a hand under the sheet testing her soreness. "Did you have sex with her last night? Because my vagina feels extraordinarily tender."

Harry nodded slowly before warily asking, "Luna, what have you done?"

Luna pulled her fingertips away from her nose when she realized she'd been caught smelling. "Since I last saw you? That's a pretty long list and if this is in fact a different dimension, I think you should forgive me for not having brought my photo album."

"I mean how did you get here," Harry clarified. "And why aren't you the Luna I met last night?"

"It's one of Thethpa's theories. Right now, I suppose, I am possessing this world's Luna," Luna answered.

Harry blinked. "You're possessing the Luna of this world? How?"

"As I understand it," Luna tapped her chin. "You know how you sometimes daydream? Or imagine how things could be different in your head?"

Harry nodded.

"Well when you do that, according to crazy aunt Thethpa, you're actually possessing yourself in another world. Her theory is that certain people can control it and stay in those worlds a bit longer than their subconscious minds intend to," Luna explained before pondering aloud. "I'm still not sure if I buy that. But I suppose if I don't then you're just a figment of my imagination. And I suppose I may have sacrificed another of the neighbor's cats unnecessarily."

Harry tried to picture what his life would be like if he were a figment of Luna's imagination. After several seconds where he was unable to come up with a difference, he figured he wasn't going to like the answer. "Okay," Harry paused once more and when nothing came to mind, decided to address Luna's earlier question. "And yes, I found Sirius. He was trapped in between this world and our old one for almost ten years. But he's doing real well now."

"That's wonderful," Luna smiled. "I told Hermione I was sure you were with him, but I was just saying that to get her to stop crying. I'm glad you didn't make a liar out of me."

"Hey," Harry suddenly realized he could get some answers to questions about his former world. "How is she doing? How's everyone doing? Did I get a funeral or are people trying to get me back?"

Luna shook her head. "The Ministry said it was too dangerous an artifact to keep around and that you nearly destroyed the arch when you got sucked in. Hermione thinks the Minister just didn't want you coming back."

Harry was guessing Hermione was probably right. "It was crumbling as I tried to hold on so it might have imploded. But still, I don't think I'd want to come back anyway."

"Good new world?" Luna asked cheerfully.

Harry grinned and nodded back. "No one knows me, well, that's not quite right. No one knows the Boy-Who-Lived. And just the other day I joined the Wizengamot and got to stab a guy. It's a lot more fun to be on the stabber side than the stabbee."

"Really," Luna said filing that information away. "I'll have to try that sometime. It does give me an excuse to track down Cho…" she trailed off deep in thought.

"So come on, how's everyone holding up? Hermione? The Weasleys? Minerva? Remus and Tonks?"

Luna shrugged. "Hermione cried a lot, but I think she was happy for you. The Weasleys felt kinda bad both because you were gone, and also Ginny was really gone now. Ronald was angry though that may be how he grieves. But really? I thought your death was rather… anti-climactic. No new Dark Lords suddenly appeared, no strange magical phenomena, not even an outbreak of green-eyed black-haired babies claiming themselves heirs to the Potter name. Well, yet anyway."

"Excellent," Harry agreed. "Do me a favor and let people know I'm happy and healthy."

"Okay," Luna answered.

"Hang on," Harry asked. "Can you teach them to possess themselves? They could drop in for a visit."

Luna stroked her chin in thought. "I doubt it. Great-great-great-aunt Thethpa could never do it. The only person I can think of that might be capable of managing the theoretical magic would be you. And you don't have a body in our world anymore. You're dead."

"Why just me and not the others?"

"Even if they were willing to pay the… erm, costs involved," Luna carefully worded. "We're still talking about magic across dimensions. And we know Ron, Hermione, and Neville didn't even hear any voices in the Exit. Besides, the more we talk, the more I'm convinced this is all my imagination."

Harry frowned, wanting to argue but trying to avoid any universe-shattering realizations. "So… umm… what else is new in my old world?"

Luna turned to make sure she had Harry's attention. "Listen Harry," she glanced at the clock. "I'm going to wake from this magical coma in about forty more minutes and I don't particularly want to spend the rest of my time with you trying to subtly convince me that you're real."

"I am real, you know."

"I know you think you are."

Harry pouted for a moment before conceding, "Fair enough." Harry sat up to face her. "What would you like to do for the next forty minutes in this world?"

Luna sighed shaking her head. "This is my imagination and I sought you out, Harry. What do you think people use their imagination for?"

"Oh?" Harry said before realizing, "Ohhh. Really? I thought that was just guys."

Luna swung her leg over straddling him and smiled dangerously. "You poor, naïve child."

Shortly thereafter, Harry regained some of his fuzzier memories. And the screams started up again.

Approximately thirty-nine minutes later, Harry and Luna collapsed against each other, entwined like a sweaty flesh pretzel.

"Hmm," Luna mused as her time was running out. "That was… exactly like I expected it to be."

Harry turned his head to look at her.

Luna shrugged. "I'm sorry Harry but Thethpa's theory is clearly just a fool's dream. And you are only a figment of my imagina-"

Harry was about to retort when Luna's head just fell forward and slapped against Harry's chest. It was approximately two seconds later that she began to snore, and Harry felt a drool puddle begin to form.

The Luna of his old world was gone. And the Luna of this world seemed quite tired.

Harry carefully extricated himself from underneath Luna and gave her a large pillow to snuggle. He put on some pajama pants and quietly left the room. He walked down the steps and was going to the kitchen when he heard voices coming from the den. He turned around and caught traces of a heated conversation. He spotted the floating spectral form of Ginny Weasley facing away and wondered why she hadn't come to say hello to Luna.

"It's not so much that I slept with him because he's Lord Black, as it is in spite of the fact that he's Lord Black."

Harry knew the voice was familiar but couldn't quite place it. He reached the den and stuck his head in to see who it was. He blinked. "Fuck."

"There's the lovebird," Ginny greeted with a wide smile.

"Aw fuck," Harry repeated glancing between the ghost and the witch. "Fuck."

"Who… him?" Gin the-very-much-not-a-ghost Weasley said, shaking her head. "That's Harry. He's not the Lord Black I slept with."

Harry heard the words and saw the ghost visibly pale. "Aw fuck."

"You what?" Ginny whispered dangerously, her incorporeal state shivering in air. "But… you… I… oh dear… my heart… Harry… I'm having a heart attack… Harry. Help me!"

"You're a ghost," Gin reminded the overdramatic apparition. "You don't even have a heart."

"Oooo," Ginny steamed, positioning herself behind Harry. "Don't hold me back, sweetie. Let me at her! Come on!"

Harry saw the ghost was pretending to reach forward while being supposedly restrained.

"You're a ghost," Gin repeated incredulously.

Ginny was seething. "I lied! That haircut looks horrible!" She snarled at what she felt to be an abomination to the Ginny Weasley name. "And you're fat."

Harry kept turning his head between the ghost over his shoulder and the proprietor of the Hog's Head on his left.

"My Harry's going to kick your ass," Ginny snapped pointing angrily at Gin. "And he's going to obliviate you. And he's going to give me your body. And together, we're gonna spit on your-"

"Ginny," Harry interrupted knowing he'd let this go on long enough. "Get out of here."

The ghostly Ginny turned towards Harry, looking shocked and heartbroken. "But…"

"Go!" Harry snapped.

There was a small poof and the ghostly form of Ginny popped into dust. Harry sighed and saw Gin Weasley resting comfortably on the couch. He winced. "There's a very good explanation for what just happened."

"I'm sure there is," Gin retorted.

Harry closed his eyes. "Out of curiosity, just how much did she tell you?"

"Not too much," Gin wryly commented. "But apparently we're going to have black and white magical roses in the centerpieces at our wedding reception… as Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

Harry flinched. "Fuck." He sighed knowing what he distastefully had to do.

"Listen, I-" Gin stopped when she saw Harry draw his wand. "Whoa!" She snapped out her own wand and held it steady in front of her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Harry said moving towards her. "But you're better off not knowing some things."

"Stop right there," Gin ordered, quickly casting a shield around herself and turning her body sideways into an alert dueling position.

Harry caught her gaze and encountered immediate resistance to his gentle attempt at Legilimency. A little mental nudge and he discovered the start of her conversation with ghostly Ginny. Knowing now that he had all the mental distraction necessary, he quickly shattered her magical shield, twisted her wand straight from her grasp and used the remaining four magical arms to grab Gin's wrists and ankles, holding her in place in the air.

"Bugger me," Gin swore with wide eyes as she was pinned and held in the air. She hadn't even seen a spell.

"This is for your own good, as much as mine," Harry assured her, preparing to cast a memory charm.

"Wait! Wait!" Gin pleaded. "Hang on. Just hear me out."

Harry allowed his wand arm to relax while he pulled her close to hover right in front of him.

"Merlin," Gin breathed out as she was pulled through the air with just a thought. She looked at Harry and cautiously asked, "You're actually hearing me out?"

Harry nodded. "Contrary to what you might think, I'm not an enemy. And I like you well enough, considering I just met you last night."

"Yeah," Gin answered, feeling especially vulnerable. "I got the impression you're a regular chivalrous hero, though I think she might have been exaggerating a bit."

Harry figured that was an understatement but added, "You know the more we talk, the more I'm going to have to obliviate from you."

"Don't. That's what I'm saying. Don't obliviate me. I was thinking I could give you a conditional oath. Keep me magically unable to spill your secrets, rather than risk a charm I'd probably notice and eventually break."

Harry considered it for a moment, just looking at Gin. "I think perhaps you underestimate my skills at memory charms, but what sort of conditions are you looking for in an oath?"

"Nothing huge, just something like as long as you're not committing any heinous crimes or making me an accomplice to something, as well as maintaining a good business relationship with my brothers, I won't reveal your secrets."

Harry set her down and released her but kept her wand still out of reach. "I'm not sure if you've heard any of my opinions on the current state of affairs in the Ministry, but some things others might officially call heinous crimes, I may be a big proponent of."

"So what conditions are you looking for?" Gin said more than willing to negotiate.

Harry figured she just wanted assurance she wouldn't be in danger. "As long as I don't curse you, you can't talk about me?"

Gin shook her head. "I'm not that naïve. I've heard about your skill, or lack there of, with a sword so we're not limiting it to cursing. And being unable to talk about you at all would be too obvious. What if as long as you never mean harm to me, my family…" She paused for a moment before adding, "Or innocents in general then I can't tell anything about you, that is otherwise unknown?"

"Otherwise unknown is too vague. Change it to anything I don't allow you to and we'll even remove temptation from you," Harry said knowing conditional oaths could be unbreakable unlike those sworn on life or magic. Those could easily be broken at the cost of the oath-bound's life or magic.

Harry smiled slightly when he saw Gin reluctantly nod. He floated her wand right in front of her.

Gin took her wand and for a moment considered making a break for it before catching Harry's amused glance once more. She quickly swore her conditional oath to be unable to share anything about Harry that he didn't allow her to.

Harry relaxed considerably once he saw the tendril of magic form into a bond. It shrank smaller than his eye could see, but he could still feel its presence.

Gin put her wand away and sat back down. "You know my oath didn't say anything about Sirius…"

Harry knew she was demonstrating her trustworthiness by voluntarily offering that information but he still remarked back, "You know I can still obliviate you and not mean you any harm."

"Touché," Gin conceded before falling into an awkward silence. "So… are we cool now? Or…"

"We're good."

"Lovely." Gin boldly demanded, "So what the hell was that?"

"What was what?"

"Taking my wand and holding me up in the air like that. It felt like hands were actually around my wrists."

"That was just magic," Harry answered in an attempt to avoid the question. "You want some breakfast?"

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Harry smiled and jerked his head towards the kitchen. "Come on. Just because you're keeping my secrets doesn't mean I've got to tell you all of them."

Gin had tended bar long enough to know she was more likely to get answers if she didn't press for them. She nodded in understanding and walked with Harry down towards the kitchen.

"So what are you doing up so early?" Harry asked as he began to make enough breakfast for himself, Gin, and Luna. "And in that room too?"

Gin shrugged. "Running the bar means I'm nocturnal. We're still a good hour from my usual bedtime. And I was in that room looking for something to read before a certain ghost tried to possess my body and I quote, merge our pure untainted souls."

Harry winced and chose to skip over the metaphorical elephant in the room. "I doubt there was much worth reading in there. Some of those old books are cursed pretty nasty."

"I avoided the shelf with the tray to catch dripping blood."

"That's a good shelf to avoid."

The pair fell into an easy camaraderie and Harry saw glimpses of the friend he had in Ginny prior to her death. He figured tending bar made her a better than average conversationalist and was beginning to like the idea that he could spill any secrets to a welcoming ear and know magically, they were protected.

Of course, he still planned to kick Sirius' ass for managing to find someone even worse to bring home than the Director of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Oww!" Sirius yelled jumping up. He picked up the pine cone that had made its way onto his recliner in the brief seconds he'd been out of it. "Dammit Harry! I said I was sorry."

Harry just quietly hummed, while looking through the omnioculars at the solid walls surrounding the Malfoy land.

"You keep this up much longer and I'd swear you're jealous," Sirius added with a smirk.

A pine cone came mysteriously flying off the ground and beaned Sirius in the back of the head. "Oww!"

"Fine," Sirius said rubbing his head. "Not jealous, just PMSing."

Harry pulled the omnioculars away from his eyes and looked over at Sirius.

"I've been good," Sirius claimed. "We cleaned out Simmons place, got back all our ward eaters, made over twenty thousand galleons, and haven't spent a knut."

"You left that 'After Dark Mark' of the Death Eater Bandits again."

"It's our signature," Sirius argued. "And besides, if they hadn't printed the picture in the paper, you'd never have known so that doesn't count."

Harry didn't really care but felt he had to needle his godfather about something. He handed Sirius the omnioculars. "It doesn't look too inviting."

Sirius took the omnioculars and gazed through them. "You weren't kidding about locating the right frequency. I count at least a dozen different ward sets all within separate parts of the larger ones extending past the wall."

Harry answered. "Turn the magic knob to max and the overlay completely off."

Sirius pulled the omniculars away and set the two dials as Harry suggested. He looked through them at the Manor again. "What am I looking for?"

"Notice the murky green covering all of the basement and dungeons?"

"Mmm-hmm," Sirius affirmatively replied.

"That's similar to the color of magic the Dark Mark flashes when he issues a summons."

Sirius looked over at Harry. "What's that mean?"

Harry shrugged. "Could mean anything, but it's not a color I've ever seen in wards before. And we're way past my current understanding."

"Worst case scenario, what do you think it is?"

"It detects for the Dark Mark, it alerts everyone with a Dark Mark, or at least, Voldemort, it allows people in but not out, it neutralizes our magic, it kills us instantly. Take your pick."

"So what then?" Sirius asked while looking through the omnioculars again. "We loot everywhere else but those parts?"

"There's also a dark red ward over the entire guest house and several other areas," Harry added. "Another color that's new to me."

"So we avoid those too."

Harry shook his head. "I don't know if you can tell, but there's a large compartment under the drawing room floor. That's one of the places with the really good stuff. I think it might be a blood-warded safe."

"I know you're not saying we should do nothing to that pompous twit."

"I want to steal from him as much as you do," Harry explained. "But I think we'd be better off doing this job later, once we have a bit more experience and hopefully knowledge on our side."

Sirius frowned not wanting to say anything he might regret.

"You may notice the three main bubble wards are all solid and round: no gaps, no corners, no weak spots, and all over a meter apart."

Sirius nodded after resetting the dials and viewing with the mansion once more. "Didn't those new charmed thingies you bought allow us to extend beyond the limit of a meter?"

"Yep," Harry agreed. "But that's not the point. The distance separating them is a clear indication that they're up to date on the tricks ward-breakers use."

"Oh."

"I mean it, Padfoot. I want to rob Malfoy. And I want to trash his place. But we should stick with what works and learn more as we go."

Sirius sighed and tilted his chair back. "We still gotta stay here and do the homework though, don't we?"

"You know the answer to that," Harry said, flipping open his trunk. He reached down into it and grabbed a pair of chilled butterbeers. He handed one to Sirius and popped the top of the other.

Harry took a slow sip, while looking toward the Malfoy grounds. "Do you want to talk ideas on cracking this place? Or something other than work?"

"Other than work," Sirius answered. "My brain's going to be refusing to brainstorm for a bit. Tell me something I don't know."

"You don't know," Harry said. "So many options…"

"You're hilarious."

"I got one for you. Did you know we're just figments of Luna's imagination?"

Sirius glanced at Harry and saw he was smiling. "I must admit, I did not know that."

"Not this world's Luna, but the Luna of our original dimension," Harry clarified. "She told me herself last week."

"Hang on," Sirius interjected.

"Yup," Harry agreed.

"Luna from our old world talked to you last week? Wait, the one who spent the night?"

"Actually it was just for an hour in the morning that she possessed the Luna of this world and took advantage of me. But before our acts of depravity she caught me up on our old world a bit."

"You're kidding."

"Nope," Harry said sipping his butterbeer. "She told me they destroyed the Veil to make sure I couldn't come back, and that everyone seemed to be doing okay. She violated me in a wonderful way and then informed me that I, and by extension this entire dimension, was figment of her imagination."

"And you really think that was her?"

Harry nodded. "Oh yeah. No question in my mind."

Sirius gave an approving nod. "I bet she's a blast at parties."

"For freaking others out without even trying, she's in a class of her own. Now it's your turn," Harry said. "Tell me something I don't know about you."

Sirius took a moment, trying to think of something. "Cankles scare me."

"What?" Harry asked unsure he heard that right.

"Cankles," Sirius repeated. "You know those scary girls whose ankles are so thick they blend right into their calves? All the Holyhead Harpies have some scary cankles. Actually most female Quidditch players have cankles."

"And they scare you?"

Sirius grimaced. "Well, they're a hideous disfiguration, and usually indicative of the sort of girl who could kick a bloke's arse. Gin's aren't quite cankles, but they were close enough to remind me of my fear."

"You're a picky pervert," Harry decided taking another sip of his butterbeer.

"I got one for you," Sirius said after his mind had strayed towards ways to circumvent the Malfoy wards. "Why haven't you become an animagus? You said you'd tried."

"That's a good point," Harry realized. "Maybe I should try again."

"How exactly have you tried and failed?"

Harry shrugged. "I've read a couple of the books. I've done the practice exercises. I've searched inside for my spirit animal."

"Did you try the potion?"

"Three times."

"Black or white mist?"

"Neither," Harry said shaking his head. "Grey mist."

"Erm… my memory is a bit rusty. I thought black mist is for those without the ability."

"Yup."

"And white mist is when your form's undecided?"

"Or when you're too young to accept your animal side, if you favor MacArthur's interpretation."

Sirius frowned and looked at Harry. "So what does grey mist indicate?"

"Grey indicates I'm yet another exception to the rule," Harry retorted. "I've talked it over with Minerva several times, and she had a theory."

"Killing Curse?"

Harry was slightly impressed. "Wow Padfoot. It's good to see you thinking like McGonagall. And yeah, considering my circumstances, she thinks the Avada may have killed my spirit animal."

"I don't think like McGonagall," Sirius pouted. "So no animagus for you?"

Harry shook his head. "Not yet, but I'm going to try again. Because you know how some people can't tame their animals but can be put into enchanted sleeps to try and stay there long enough to mess with them? She dropped me into one for an hour and I was bodiless in the grey mist."

"And you saw something coming through the mist?"

"Sort of," Harry admitted. "I saw what looked like… well, someone. I thought it was me. But the form never fully solidified. I think I might have just left my body and turned around to look at it through the mist."

Sirius looked up, deep in thought. "Maybe you're not human. You could be a flobberworm and your humanimagus form is Harry Potter."

"Humanimagus form?" Harry tried out the word doubtfully.

"You're an octopus!" Sirius realized. "That's why you have the arms!"

"I'm not an octopus," Harry assured him. "I can make dozens of arms, not just eight. And I'm kinda doubting that I've spent my entire life in my humamamagus form or whatever. Though I should thank you for the mental image of my mum giving birth to an octopus. Besides, after those mixed results, Minerva put me in enchanted sleeps a half dozen more times. All I've seen is grey, sometimes it's kinda silvery but I've not seen any form since the first."

"Could you be a demiguise?"

Harry looked over at Sirius in surprise. "I hadn't thought of that."

"I mean you do kinda look ape-like and you could've been invisible all the other times."

Harry harrumphed. "I'll let that one slide because you actually had a decent idea."

"I have some indecent ideas too," Sirius offered.

Harry ignored him. "I think I'm overdue to try an animagus potion again, this time seeking out a demiguise."

"And if that doesn't work," Sirius said. "I could put you in an enchanted sleep."

"Yeah," Harry skeptically replied. "Or maybe Moony could put me in an enchanted sleep."

"A demiguise would be a great form for a thief," Sirius said. "Could turn yourself invisible at will."

Harry smiled hopefully. "Now that you mention it, I am craving a banana."

"You know a banana-"

"Keep your indecent ideas to yourself, Padfoot," Harry interrupted.

Sirius opened and then closed his mouth. After a couple seconds of silence he added, "I think that's all of them."

The two continued chatting amicably for two hours through the twilight and as the sun set. Sirius was trying to make his impatience as clear as possible without giving in and actually asking if they could call it a day.

Harry sat the omnioculars back down. "You about ready to get out of here?"

"Oh thank Merlin," Sirius readily agreed jumping to his feet.

"We can go," Harry smirked. "Just as soon as you tell me how to get into Malfoy Manor, disregarding the wards we can't identify."

"Dammit Harry," Sirius whined trying to come up with something. "I don't have any idea short of simply stretching a hole in every layer."

Harry sighed. "And from the looks of just the outer ones that'd take about a month assuming it didn't get noticed within an hour."

"Which knowing the twit, it would," Sirius insisted. "Honestly, I think our only hope is going to be getting Lucius to add us to his wards."

"I'm not sure how open to that idea he'd be."

"We'd have to ask him real nice," Sirius argued. "And it would take away some of the subtlety and elegance associated with the Death Eater Bandits."

"Feels like cheating too," Harry said. "But for Lucius, I expect I could overlook that."

Sirius nodded before turning on his puppy dog eyes. "Can we go now? Please?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed tossing everything they'd brought with them back into his trunk. He shrunk his recliner and Sirius' too dropping them in. "We've got enough info on these wards to try and figure something out. But tomorrow we should begin the preliminary work on Burke and Darcy."

"Tomorrow," Sirius whined, drawing out the word. "Haven't we earned a day off?"

"I won't make you work if you don't want to," Harry said making sure everything was packed up, before beginning to dismantle the Fidelius. "But I'll probably be doing some shadowing and intel gathering like a good, subtle, and elegant Death Eater bandit."

"I know you want me to feel guilty, but I don't," Sirius stated hoping it'd keep Harry from working tomorrow.

Harry nodded. "Charm is coming down. Apparate to Diagon Alley first in case someone tries to trace us." The anchor stones of Fidelius charm all crumbled inwards and the hidden square of space flashed.

Two soft pops and there was no sign of their former presence.

They walked to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron and apparated back to Grimmauld Place.

Right when they arrived next to the bookcase blocking Mrs. Black's portrait in the foyer, Harry silently held up a hand to stop Sirius.

"What is it?" Sirius whispered drawing his old driftwood wand.

"Someone's here," Harry said testing the wards over their home. "And it's not Tonks or Moony." He pointed Sirius towards the living room while Harry quietly went to check the kitchen.

Sirius stuck his head into the living room and couldn't believe his eyes. She was looking straight at him, so he attracted Harry's attention by loudly spitting out the name, "Bellatrix."

Harry was by Sirius' side immediately and barely recognized the far more attractive Death Eater. Harry doubted she'd spent any significant time in Azkaban. "She's alone," Harry assured Sirius while loosely aiming his own holly wand.

"Lord Bla-" she began right as the first spell was fired her way. A smooth practiced motion and a pink humming shield snapped into place around her. It easily deflected the yellow jet of light and ricocheted into a wall sconce, melting it immediately.

"You've got a lot of nerve," Harry warned her sending two light blue spells towards her left and right sides.

Bellatrix twisted sideways avoiding them both while swatting away the next spell Sirius cast.

Harry sent a large area blast at her, and she was forced to take cover behind a couch.

Sirius and Harry kept up a flurry of spells as they began to circle and close in from separate sides of the room.

It was a testament to her skill that she'd only been grazed by a couple of cutting curses.

Sirius faked a quick lunge towards her, after Harry's signal. Utilizing the distraction, Harry was now close enough that one of his magical arms snuck past her defenses and quickly twisted her wrist and wand behind her own back.

"Ahhh," Bellatrix shrieked as her body arched away from Harry, leaving her wide open and vulnerable.

Sirius had already begun casting the spell he'd dreamed of hitting her with, before Harry had effectively rendered her temporarily harmless and twisted her to expose an unprotected front.

Bellatrix's face locked in surprise when the crimson jet of light collided with her midsection and washed over her. Her legs went limp and her head made a loud crack as it bounced off the hardwood floor.

Harry looked at Bellatrix's prone form on the ground and his godfather's triumphant expression. "Was that spell what I think it was?"

"If you think it was the blood freezing curse," Sirius relished in answering, "then yeah. It was."

Harry had just started to relax when he saw Bellatrix's body convulse and flip over onto her back. He sent a stunner at her for good measure, but she managed to get a weak shield up.

"Lo- Lord Blacks," she slowly stuttered out the words as her body began to shut down and her arms began to shiver. "I'm- I'm- I'm he-here to pledge loyalty… to the family."

Sirius' look of triumph disappeared as he stood up a little straighter. "Did she just-"

"Yup," Harry said, rubbing his temples. He'd been so surprised she wasn't taunting them or using her bloody annoying baby voice, that he completely overlooked the fact that Bellatrix hadn't cast a single spell at them.

Sirius looked like he'd just swallowed a doxy. "Aww… bugger."