CHAPTER 14: A WEIRD MEETING.

(Isa's voice)

I couldn't believe it was something real; anyway, I was now flying over my broom towards where I was needed for help. I just got the feather at the burrow so I waked Hermione up.

She was at first worried and soon Ginny was up too. She also worried about me having to leave so late in the night or early in the morning but I left just the same after having asked them to cover my absence and explain I had to go on helping mission in case I couldn't return before sunrise.

Now I was flying over the vasque country looking for the place I must get. It was not a difficult place to find as the fight was being held at the very beach side on Saint Sebastian and the lights of the spells could have been seen from far.

I then began flying my best to avoid lost charms and land smoothly to run and help the rest.

(Harry's voice)

I was still sleeping when Hermione got in my room and woke me up.

"Harry, Shhhh… there's a little problem." Hermione said.

I then looked at my watch and realised it was seven in the morning so the sun was still beginning to rise.

"Oh, Hermione… it's still not day!" I whispered as she waked up Ron. "What kind of little problem can you have this early in the morning?"

"Shhhh…" She repeated. "Come and you'll find out."

Then Ron and I went with her to the girls' room where Fred and George were already there.

"So, what's the problem?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, you woke us up hours before breakfast telling us there's a problem." George added.

Then Ginny uncovered Isa's head to show a pillow where she must have been.

"Hey! Where's she gone?" I asked.

"That's the problem." Hermione said. "We don't know. She just woke us up to say she was leaving for a helping mission but didn't say how long or where."

"It's about three hours now." Ginny said. "She just said she needed us to cover her up and tell the adults she was out on a helping mission if they found out she was missing."

"So you need help." George said.

"She must have been crazy." Ron said then. "How could she think she could help without the adults?"

"I don't think it's an order matter." Hermione said. "Otherwise the request of help would have been sent to your parents."

"Yeah, that's true." Fred said. "Nobody count on you to give a hand."

"And the sun is rising." I said looking out of the window.

"OK, I hate to be party spoiler but we must tell them." Ron said.

"No way!" Ginny said. "Do you know the told off she will get for not having called them?"

"Yeah!" Fred said. "Our told offs for joke playing will be nothing compared to that!"

Suddenly a bird arrived the window and knocked on it with the beck so Ginny flew to open it and it came in to drop a paper.

"Horus." I said. "It's Isa's hawk!"

"Let's see what the paper says." Ron said to be bitten by it that outstretched his leg towards the girls.

"Ok… She said she will be here on three minutes and that she is escorting somebody with two mates."

Soon she was arriving with five more people making a rhomboidal formation.

Mark

Isa Raoul-Victim Ivan

Mitch

(Isa's voice)

"Ok, safe place for landing." I said.

"Cool!" The black long haired guy said. "It's going to be our first mission out of Spain."

However, when we landed I saw how people came out of the building.

"Wands off." I told them. "They are friends of me. Hi guys!"

"Questions later." Ginny said. "This way before anyone wakes up."

"Er… may I ask why is everyone here?" I asked her.

"We were worried about you." Hermione told me. "So we wake up them to speak and decide what we do." She added while the twins opened a tool cabin for all to get there.

"And who do you say they are?" Harry asked me.

"They are mates of me." I answered. "Ivan, the twins Mark and Mitch and Raoul. Mark is an auror, while Mitch is Magical creatures' slayer. Then Ivan is…waiter on a wizard bar and Raoul is still looking for work."

"Isa, we should leave." Mark said. "Someone has to explain what went on in the beach and about..."

Sure, what happened on the beach would bring lot of troubles. As it was magic involved in all then the Spanish ministry would have lot of things to fix up for it passing as vandalism. But about the murders…

"Yeah, ok." I said. "I suppose now you can just teleport there."

"Are you sure you will be just fine?" Mitch said then. "I could stay here longer and…"

"Hey, we kept on being here." Ginny said.

"It's ok guys." I said then. "Really, this dudes are something similar to the chicks. We will take care of this from now on."

"I'll stay here to get sure we have not been followed." Ivan said.

"Yeah, me too." Raoul added.

"No, you will be needed back home." I said. "Really, we can take care of this. How many times have I failed you?"

"Ok, we are leaving." They said. "But if you need any help just give us a tip."

"Hey, babe." Ivan said. "Are you sure you need no help with this all?" He added holding my chin to be hit by the twins.

"Yes, c'mon, leave." I said.

"Anyway, can you explain us what is all this about?" Fred asked.

"Yeah." George said. "Cause all we know is we have been woken up because she left for who-knows-where and now she comes back escorted by you guys."

"Well, it's a long story." I said. "Mark, leave, you have to explain things up for the ministry. And you Mitch, I'd rather you went back too now because your brother is going to need help. Same goes for you Raoul, you guys get sure there's no clue left of our presence there, please."

"Ok." They said disappearing in less than a second.

"If you don't mind, I'm staying for helping you explaining and then I leave for give those dudes a hand." Ivan added.

"So, what gone on." Harry asked.

(Harry's voice)

"And so, when I arrived I had to fight the deatheaters shoulder by shoulder with them." Isa told us sitting while Hermione helped her healing the cuts. "There were already death muggles and one of us was badly wounded. Edu, another member that works at the magical hospital took him and some badly wounded muggles to the hospital to try and heal them with our means."

"And you say you found someone?" Ginny said.

"Oh, yeah." Ivan said. "That fat guy that was on holidays there."

"He just called a name when he heard I was speaking English." Isa said. "Harry, Potter, Harry, Harry, Harry. It's all he was telling me before fainting. I thought he could know you Harry."

"A foreign guy knowing me?" I said. "How can it be? Who is him?"

"Don't know." She said looking at the long white haired guy.

"Nor do us." He said. "He was carrying not identification left after the torturing hexes. The deatheaters seemed to get fun by torturing him; he was more or less lucky of just getting several minor wounds we took care before."

"Ah, yes." Isa said. "He just keeps several minor cuts that will heal naturally soon."

"So, you just got that guy?" Fred said. "What a waste of time."

"Well, I think his dad was murdered and his mother was badly wounded." Isa said.

"And he just cried calling them and Harry." The guy said.

"And you don't know who he was?!" Ron asked.

"Well, we hoped Harry could tell us." Isa said looking at me as she pointed her wand to the cloth her black haired normal mate had dropped over a table where the other mate was sitting by.

Then the cloth fell down and we saw a little thin boy with blond hair.

"Ivan, take the disguise charm out of him. Turn him back into himself, please." Isa asked the guy.

"Sure." He said taking his wand out.

Slowly the kid began growing up and the appearance changed a lot, as it changed back into himself I began recognising parts of him and prayed for being mistaken.

When he was back normal Ron opened his mouth and the twins fell silent from the jokes they were telling before.

"So, do you recognise him?" The man said.

"Sure." I said. "It's Dudley, he is… my cousin."

I then remembered the last time I saw him, when he told me he didn't thought I was just a space-taker as they had considered me for years. Even when I still felt not much love for him or my uncle and aunt, I couldn't help to feel bad.

Specially when the door opened and Mrs. Weasley came in shouting angry something about getting up and finding bedrooms deserted and us not having consideration for leaving a note about where we were; she fell silent when she saw my cousin's body so immobile it looked as a corpse. Then she began shouting in fright.

(Isa's voice)

I don't know how many times I have had to explain how that guy, Dudley, arrived England and how his father seems to be now death and her mother in mortal peril. I hate to do this but I'm now working on my form for waking fainted people up at the kitchen; anyway, all the family members of the English Phoenix Order are asking me how it could be I flew all the way to Spain and back here carrying a fainted guy with just one guy guarding us.

"It was not just him." I said for thousand time. "It was five of us while the rest took care of the matters at Spain… And sorry to have flew away but I was needed. I got an official call from my mates." I added chopping some vegetables and putting them into the pot to stir the mix that turned from pale pink to bright magenta and then into blue giving off a big mushroom like cloud with cabbage smell. "And excuse me but I've been woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning to fly all the way back to my country, fight against a bunch of silly and mad dangerous men, saw how they had killed some people before I arrived, see how a mate was badly wounded and lot of muggles being tortured and badly wounded while we tried to protect them; so I would thank you didn't made me to tell again, please. It's a bit painful now."

(Harry's voice)

Amazingly, when I went to have some water from the kitchen I saw how most of the adults had left the kitchen and were at the living-room.

"Hey, they finally left you… yuck!" I said as an awful smell reached my nose. "What is that?"

"Sorry, they were beginning to make me feel like killing them." Isa told me as she stirred a pot. "So I had to put some safe ingredients to make the kitchen smell as if there were rotten eggs, cabbage and meat together and rotten here."

"What for?" I asked opening a window.

"Well, I had to end this potion for your cousin." She answered me. "It will make him awaken and then cheer a bit to speak with us. Maybe then we could make him a forgetting potion for him to forget about that past hurting incidents."

"I don't like the last idea, but a wakening up filter sounds cool." I said.

(Ron's words)

It was midday and lunch was ready, anyway when we were sitting at the table ready for meal we saw there was an empty chair.

"Hey, who's missing?" I asked.

"Isa's just got up to try and wake up my cousin." Harry said.

"Oh, she's been waked up since last night." Ginny said bothered. "When does she think to rest?"

"I think she is not precisely thinking on that now." Hermione said worried and bothered. "I think she also has the same heroically feeling than a certain friend of us." She added looking at me.

"Bah, don't worry." Tonks said. "She will rest later. After all, none of us slept much when we were on missions."

"That's silly Tonks!" Mum said. "She is still a kid!! We were all adults and able to fight a dangerous person!"

"Well, she is over-aged and she seems to be a genius." Tonks added taking another forkful of food. "I mean… You have heard speak her aunt when she came, and Lupin is her teacher too at Howarts. And then tonight, she has taken part on a fight against deatheaters and she has come on one piece."

"Oh!" Mr. Weasley said. "And you have not seen how she limped or that big burn at her back robes, have you?"

"She's returned wounded?" I asked.

"You should know that when you fight against Deatheaters you usually end wounded." Charly said to us to then add on loud voice. "Anyway, she has trained Dragons so that must mean something."

"That means she is still a kid." Mum added. "That means. Just a kid would dare to face a dragon."

"Mum, I have seen her throw a good sleeping charm on a dragon." Charlie said. "That is something not much wizards still on school years can do. And she really knew how to treat dragons. She is in fact one of our best helpers out of the camp."

"I must agree with your mother that a kid should not deal with dragons." Moody said. "But Tonks and the young Charly are right. Those things are high-level magic and an average witch of her age will just scratch the very surface, but she can perform them."

"And she also cooks great potions." Hermione said giving a hand. "And has made up charms and…"

"That's really dangerous thing to do!" Mum said.

"I don't also like her that much." Ginny said. "But you must agree that she is a really good witch. She is really capable of taking her of herself."

"Mrs. Weasley." Harry then said. "I don't approve either what she's done, but… Despite of her not acting well concerning to risks and dangers she puts herself into; she knows what she is doing. She has a great ability for magic and any of us can testify on her high marks. That must prove something."

Then mum fell silent, clearly defeated by all. It was true, she could be a bit crazy head sometimes, and she sometimes acted without thinking… but she really kept an ace up the sleeve in all time and place, she certainly knew what she was doing all the time, even when she didn't knew it she just did the best, just as Harry.

"Mum, can you give me some meal?" Charlie asked her when we all ended and we were taking the dirty dishes. "If you don't mind I would take Isa some meal."

"Yeah, me too." Harry said.

"And…" I began.

"No." Mum said. "With just two people taking some meal up is more than enough. Harry and Charly." She said handing them a pair of dishes well covered for them taking Isa the meal.

(Harry's voice)

"Hello, may we come in?" I asked after knocking on Dudley's room's door.

"It's open." A voice said from inside.

"Hey, Isa. We thought you would be hungry because you didn't go down for meal." Charly said. "So… we have brought you some meal."

She was sitting on the window with her legs at her chest while she guarded Dudley that had now a wet cloth at his forehead.

"Thanks." She said. "I will try to eat a bit later."

"Pity, cause the meal is hot now." Charly said.

"Yeah, and Mrs. Weasley is a great cook." I added.

"I'm afraid I would not be able to eat anything now." She said softly. "My stomach seems to have a knob at it and thousand leprechauns dancing there."

"But…" I began saying till Charlie covered my mouth.

"Ok, we leave the meal here, right?" He said. "I suppose you will not mind if we stay here to way by the guy."

"Sure, the space is free." She said. "As long as this is not full of people… he will need all the fresh air he can get."

"So, he has not got any answer since the filter, isn't it?" I asked.

"No." She said. "He is now conscious but sleeping. Anyway, we have to guard his slept till we can see if he is ok. Ah, and I got news about his mother." She said pointing to a paper at the table.

We then looked at it.

"Dear Isa;

Good news, three of the five people we brought here are now stable and it seems that with a bit of time and effort they will end up by being just as always. About that woman you asked me to keep an eye I must tell you she seems better now. We have managed to wake her up again and she has asked about his son. He is Dudley and she is Petunia. Ah, she also asked about her husband and we had to tell her the truth. She's been crying for long till she fell slept again. Anyway, she will have to stay here a bit longer. How is the kid? Was the guy he called your friend or he was another Harry?

I hope to get news from you, till then I'll keep on doing my work. I hope Ivan managed to explain all to the adults you are with and you don't get into troubles.

I was happy to see you once again and see you answered so fast to our help request.

By the way, if I were you, I would put that herbal mixture you used to put us while we were out on missions. Anyway, post me back telling me how do the burns and the rest of wounds go, please.

My best wishes, take care.

XXX

Edu."

So, she had really a healer at her side; and I could make out by the letter, that he was also more than a team mate.

"Oh, so you really were wounded." I said.

"Yep." She said. "I thought you more than anyone else would know that when you have to fight deatheaters you never go away safe and sound."

"Where?" Charly asked.

"My leg, my arms…" She said on the same soft voice. "It's itching, really itching."

"But that's not the worse, is it?" I asked realising of it.

"No." She said making a parchment roll to raise and fall at our lap while she changed the cloth at Dudley's forehead.

Charly and I red it while Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins came.

"Hey Isa, we brought you what you asked us." Fred said.

"Thanks." She said jumping down the window and holding the pot they were handing her. "I hope this works." Then she took something from her pocket and then she put some drops at the mix they had gave her making the mix turn from orange to blood like colour.

"Hey, what does this guy mean with all this?" Charlie said pointing to a sentence.

"…I'll always be in debt with you, my dear friend for what you did for me…" was what Charly was referring to.

"What did you do for him?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing important, I mean… nothing he would not have done for me." She said softly as she put out another pot.

"Isa, please." I said.

She looked to us, one by one; all of us were a bit worried as we saw how she was limping and how silent she was.

"Please." Hermione said holding her hand.

Then she sighed.

"We were fighting." She said then. "They were lot of them against us, at least three to one. The aurors were on the way on muggle ways cause the deatheaters seemed to have put a charm to avoid appearing."

"And?" Ron said.

"Ron!" Hermione told him off.

"Ron and his big mouth." Fred said.

"So, you were fighting more deatheaters than what you could face." Charlie said. "What else?"

"It was hard to face them, they were not the best but they were certainly well trained." She kept on. "There was not much hopes among any of us, not them nor us. Even when we were defeating some of them they kept on being more than us. Then… Marquez…" She fell silent for some seconds. "Never mind, this is not important."

"No, Isa." Hermione said holding her hand softly. "This is important. Please, can you keep on?"

Now all of us were sitting there as we could.

"Marquez threw a spell to Sephiro and I acted as human shield when I jumped over my friend to avoid him being hit, then Marcus hit the death eater with another charm and we kept on fighting." She said as if she was doing a verbal race.

"Wait a moment, you acted as human shield?" Fred said. "How is you are still on one piece?"

"Where did you got the hit?" I asked.

She then smiled opening some shirt buttons to then lower her shirt to show her back. Hermione and Ginny covered their mouths while Fred and George gasped, Ron gave out an unidentifiable noise as he looked away and I closed my eyes to re-open them.

"It itches a bit." She said softly.

She had half of her back as if she had been burned by fire but purple and red on a spot.

"If you want I could…" I began saying trying to hold the arcades.

"That will surely leave scars." Charly said while she buttoned again the shirt. "What a pity."

"Ah, it doesn't matter." She said. "I know how to heal them with no visible scars left. And all I need is those mixes."

We knew she was obviously lying, that certainly hurt more than itching, and that would obviously leave some scars. Those were not just cuts or scratches; those were burns and magical caused.

"Isa, you should go and have a bath." Hermione said. "There are more than enough of us to take care of him."

"I'd rather to stay here." She said. "I want to hear what happened before I arrived."

"C'mon, he is Dudley." I said. "He will retell you when you have ended resting a bit."

"I think he is really in need." She told us. "He's seen his dad die, how could you feel if your dad were killed in front of you now and you could do nothing. Furthermore he's been put under cruciatus course for a while so when he wakes up again he will be a bit… out of place. Luckily he seemed to calm up a bit when he saw me here before."

There was no way of moving her from there, not even when Mrs. Weasley came up after everyone else left but for us.

She just stayed there by Dudley's side.

"Isa." I finally told her. "Please, go and have a shower. I'm staying here, he is my cousin so don't worry, if he wakes up he will see me and will calm up."

"Ok, but I come back when I'm done." She said.

At least! It was not I wanted her to leave, but she was really bad looking.

(Isa's voice)

I was in the old bath tube at Harry's bathroom, thinking on how the night went and trying not to lay against the tube walls so as to prevent the pain at the back burn when someone knocked on the door.

"If it's any guy please, I don't need soap at my back, thanks." I said.

"It's me, Tonks." She said. "I need to pee."

"Oh, sorry." I said unlocking the door with a charm. "Get in."

Then I head as a blast while that woman got in the bathroom, lifted the toilet lid and then the noise of her pee hitting the water.

"So, how are you?" She asked. "More relaxed?"

"Yeah, kind of." I answered. "Ah, sorry for not having went down for meal."

"Doesn't mind." She said. "Yet you lost the argument. It was about age and sensibility and if over-aged wizards should fight evil."

"Don't need to hide it." I said. "You have not taken well that I ran away last night to take along my duties as Hawk Order Member."

"Nah, I understand you. It was what you ought to do. But try to understand it." She told me. "We can't help to care about all of you, even if you are not our own children. You could have been killed."

"Yeah." I said serious and sadly. "I know the risk I'm taking each time I go out to do that. But… I can't lose more than what I have already lost but for my mates, I couldn't leave them down."

Tonks was silent now. Maybe I was being a bit too sincere, but I meant that.

"Ah, Tonks." I said remembering something. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I wish I cold tell you yes but…" She said. "Anyway, if you need to talk to anyone then try Lupin."

"No, no." I said. "I need someone to help me with something."

"I'll see what I can do." She said.

When I ended having the long bath which made me felt tons better, I went out and dried myself holding the tears when I had to dry my back. Luckily I was healed the worse wounds at Spain, otherwise the flight back London, heading the whole group with so many wounds would have not been a pleasant task.

When I went out of the bathroom I saw Bill there, sitting at a chair next to the door.

"Hey, Tonks said you needed help." He said.

"Sure." I said. "But… I expected she would tell a woman."

"Sorry then, but I was the only one free now." He said. "So, if you don't mind…"

"No, no." I said. "But try to keep the secret, please."

"I'll be silent as a grave." He said.

(Bill's voice)

"And how are you feeling after that bath?" I asked the red haired while we walked to a living-room. "Better?"

"Yes." She said. "At least I have had some relax."

"That's good." I said smiling while we reached an empty living-room. "So, what was the help you needed?"

"I got some wounds at the back." She told me sitting at a table. "And I need to be put certain mixes at it so as I don't reach there…"

"Ok, ok." I said realising why she wanted a woman to do it. "If you prefer I can call Fleur and I stir the pots."

"Oh, no." She said. "Don't bother her for such a little thing. Just… promise me you are not going to tell anyone, please." She added taking the t-shirt off but covering her breast.

"I've promise." I said raising an eyebrow.

I wondered what was need of keeping in secret. We were somehow friends, we were on the same side of the war… despite of the age difference we got along pretty well and I thought she was an interesting girl. Likely to a sister as Ginny or Ron's girlfriend: Hermione.

When she removed the shirt and I saw her back I realised on what she wanted to hide. It was swollen, completely covered with what looked as if it had been burned for a time and with some purple burns there.

"Ok… then… I lay down and you put the mixes at the back." She said making me out of the astonishing.

"And… how did you got those?" I asked trying to sound normal while I pooled a strap of cloth with one of the mixes as she told me.

"Working for the Order." She said. "I acted as human shield for a mate."

"Well, then he owes you a lot." I told her.

It was really… how to say it? She had sheltered a mate, even putting her life into risk; brave action and really honourable.

"He would have done the same for me." She said. "Really, it was… I was really terrified on what was going on. It's third time I fight against deatheaters. Obviously it's the time I'm more hurt. I've lost my parents and brothers and sister due to Deatheaters, elder Order mates due to them too… and some of my younger mates too. I was afraid on it happening again."

Then I went serious and I ended up smiling mildly. Fear to lose friends and beloved ones, that was the same we all felt when we faced those times.

"So I must suppose you are also a spy." I said.

"Nah, I just give a hand." She said. "I just give a hand on fights; after all, I'm still studying." She said giving out a sound of pain.

"You don't need to wear that hard face all the time." I said. "This must hurt."

"It just itches." She said. "Ok, ok. It hurts a bit." She said when I placed my finger at her back. "Stop touching it, please; I'm not wearing the protection."

"Ok, this is done." I said. "You can put your shirt on again."

"Thanks." She said sitting back up and beginning to put on the shirt. "Hey, I feel better now I have told someone about it."

"See?" I said. "You have to speak more instead of hiding what you feel."

"Speaking about hiding…" She said. "Now you seem to have heated up as healer…"

"Hey, I can heal minor wounds." I said smiling. "I used to do it from time to time."

"Mind having a look at the rest, please." She said.

"What rest?" I asked as I could see nothing else.

Then she began changing slowly her skin till I saw she was being hiding some little cuts and bruises.

"This rest." She said. "I look as a panda and I have had not much time to put the medicine on them."

I then laughed while I put the yellow paste from a little metal box at the bruise on her jaw.

"I bet you did it when a flying thing hit you." I told her. "Close the eye, please."

"No, the truth is I have had to learn how to fight on muggle way when I was at the school." She said with her eyes closed. "I managed to make a death eater lose his wand and so mine was also made to flow from my hands. Then I began fighting without it that is what I prefer." She said smiling.

She was certainly a funny girl that made me smile wide.

"Ok, end with the bruises." I said putting the lid back on. "What about the wounds?"

"Let me see…" She said thinking. "I think Eloy used the last of the pink one so… yes, the red one." She said handing me the box with her eyes closed. "The black metallic box with a red 'w' on the lid."

"W… W…" I said looking at the big amount of boxes she had there. "Aha, found it. I think it's amazing how much things you carry with you. It seems you have spent lot of money and time thinking on it."

"Ah, I make most of the mixtures myself." She answered smiling. "Like the potions. You save lot of money if you don't mind spending some time and effort on it. And obviously I need to carry the medical box with me in all time because, as you have checked, I can be called on any time to give a hand."

"Even when I can understand and agree with you when you have to go on missions for protecting your friends and people, I have to disagree on you fighting deatheaters being so young and untrained."

"As you said, I was untrained." She said. "Next time I'll not be that handicapped. I can improve and I'll do it."

"I'm not family to forbid you to do what you want." I told her. "But as friend I can just tell you, next time you can ask me for give a hand if you think you will need it. And just because I can make out you are not going to drop the fight just cause we told you."

"Thanks." She said smiling and then curling her lip when I put some plastic stitches at her lip after putting some cold mix in it. "Ok, that itched a bit." She said smiling. "Maybe next time I could tell someone else. If I'm allowed then I'll tell you guys."

She was really a bit wounded now, and I could understand she changed her appearance to try and hide it from all and nobody telling her off for having risked her neck so much.

"Maybe you should tell the rest how you really are now." I said as I put the lid back on the box and she began changing appearance into back herself with just the back burns that were so serious it seemed she could not changed them.

"Nah, I don't want to worry anyone." She said. "The wounds will be probably healed on two days and that only leaves us with the back part. And depending on tomorrow's appearance of it I could tell you for how long I will have those too."

"If you don't want to worry the rest then I will not say a word." He said. "But I think they ought to know."

"Maybe you are right." She said smiling. "But this is not important. If they ask then I will tell about the back thing, but, just if they find out."

"Ok, ok." I said smiling. "I catch the idea. I don't open the mouth either."

"Fine, thanks." She said smiling back at me.