Chapter Fifteen

"This is the hearing of Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. Accused of murder, torture and terrorism of wizarding Britain." Madam Bones said clearly as a rather worn looking Kingsley was lead into the room and chained down to the chair in the centre. "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty." The Order members in the crowd frowned along with everyone else in the room.

"Why's he pleading not guilty? He was arrested at the scene." Tonks whispered to Moody sitting next to her.

"He has nothing else to lose by pleading not guilty. Even if he pleaded guilty, his crimes are too large to be given some leeway." Moody whispered back watching as Madam Bones collected herself and began the questioning once Kingsley had been dosed with Veritaserum.

"What is your full name?"

"Kingsley Shacklbolt."

"Where were you on the night of February Fourteenth, nineteen-ninety-eight?"

"Hogsmeade."

"You have been accused of being a Death Eater. How do you plead?"

"Guilty." Even though many of those present for the hearing were well aware of where Kingsley was found, there were still scattered mutterings throughout the courtroom.

"Why?" Tonks shouted out, being heard over the crowd and getting a frown from Madam Bones.

"What are your reasons for joining Voldemort?" Amelia asked, ignoring the flinch Voldemort's name brought from most people.

"He has my family."

"Pardon?"

"He has my family. They will be dead now. I failed him." Kingsley told them monotonously.

"How did he get your family?"

"He infiltrated my house whilst I was at work one day. He used them as leverage."

"Why did you not tell anyone?"

"He told me they would be dead before I even thought of telling anyone. There was nothing I could do."

"Kingsley. In light of what we heard today, I sentence you to life in Azkaban." Amelia said sadly, banging her hammer down. Kingsley was fed the Veritaserum antidote and then led out of the room.

"Why did she sentence him? He was innocent." Tonks hissed, looking forlorn.

"He admitted to murder Tonks. He is still guilty of killing innocent people. He had to be sentenced. She could have given him the kiss but she didn't. He was let off easy, though it may not seem that way."

"Damn right it doesn't! He had his family!"

"There is nothing we can do for them now. They will likely have been killed as soon as Voldemort got word of Kingsley's capture."

--

"Have you contacted the elves?"

"Yes. They are ready whenever we need them."

"How is Sebastian faring?"

"He enjoys being back with his own kind I think. It is novel to see old friends again."

"How long has it been?"

"Since we mated or since he last saw them?"

"The latter."

"Oh, only a couple of hundred years, but I think he enjoys rubbing his status in their faces."

"Will he be leading them in this upcoming battle?"

"He will be leading a group. He is more into subterfuge than full on battle. As most elves are these days. I remember when everyone knew they existed."

"Yes but that was a time when most knew we existed."

"True."

"So the battle is nearly upon us."

"Do you think we are ready?"

"We are more than ready."

"Is everyone in place?"

"Deneb left yesterday. Soon everyone will be where they are needed."

"I heard Arcas has a son already."

"Tell me about it. I'm far to young to be considered a grandmother."

"What's it called?"

"It is a young male Wereleopard called Nebi, Alrisha. He's not an It."

"Sorry. You never said the gender though."

"Well now I did."

"I hate battle. Everyone gets antsy."

"The mates all know where they need to be if not in the sky?"

"Yes. Sebastian decided to become leader and organiser of the mates as well the elves. I think he likes the attention."

"He's mated to you, it wouldn't surprise me."

"Now now."

"I always thought you would mate with a merman if I was completely honest."

"Most did. You didn't mate with a werebear, why should I mate with a merman. Just because my form is a fish."

"Calm down Alrisha, I was only saying."

"Well don't." Alrisha said snappily. Callista sighed and went back to checking through the missives she had been sent. Alrisha was far too tetchy sometimes.

--

"Chaaarliiiiiiie!" Was the battle cry that woke part of the castle on the first Sunday morning of March. Those in the vicinity of the Great Hall were witness to their, normally withdrawn, professor of war throw themselves at a shocked red head, covering his face in kisses.

"Er.... Arcas?"

"Hmm?"

"People are watching."

"Oh. Sorry." Arcas let go of his mate, flushing slightly when he saw the gossiping people, but not letting go of his hand.

"I came here to meet my new son." Charlie said quietly, looking at the now bored and scattering crowd, as they made their way into the Great Hall.

"His name is Nebi and he's just so cute. He's in our rooms at the moment being watched by Bill."

"Bill's still here?" Charlie asked, surprised.

"Yes, I told you so in my last letter."

"Yeah but that was sent over a month ago. I thought he may have had to have left for his job by now."

"Oh. Well he took leave for a while to stay with me a guess. Would you like to grab something to eat before you meet Nebi?"

"Sure. Why didn't you bring him down with you?"

"He doesn't like the staring students so I pretty much stays in my rooms. I've been given new rooms by the way. I moved into them last week."

"That's good. How come?"

"Remus wanted some space I think. Personally I think he is finally going to do something about his relationship with Sirius. They're clearly in love with each other. Plus some Stars arrived so they are staying in rooms off mine."

"Sounds fun. How are things with you anyway?"

"I'm good. I missed you though. What are we going to do Charlie?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, being away from you is horrible. I only made it with my sanity this long because of Nebi and your brothers. Without them, I don't know what I would have done." Arcas admitted, looking down at the table, playing with the food on his plate.

"I'll be honest and say I didn't really like being away from you, but I love being with my Dragons. I don't want to have to give them up but I don't suppose I can have the best of both worlds, can I?"

"We'll discuss this more in my rooms I think." Arcas said suddenly, glancing briefly at Dumbledore. Charlie looked at him in confusion then nodded slowly.

"Okay. I want to meet Nebi anyway. I want to catch up with Bill as well of course. I want to meet these Stars as well. You're the only Star I've actually met."

"Oh! You'll love them. My best friends are here, though Deneb only arrived last night. He's currently swimming on the lake."

"On the lake?"

"Deneb is the swan. You know, Cygnus?"

"Oh. You can turn into your animals?"

"Yeah. Maybe we should spend some time getting to know each other a bit better as well." Arcas admitted, blushing slightly.

"I think that's a good idea."

--

"I call this meeting to order." McGonagall shouted, banging on the table and nodding in satisfaction when the members around the table quietened.

"Where's Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, why isn't he heading this meeting."

"He is the reason we are having this meeting." Sirius said, looking at the members around the table. "If anyone has a problem with that, then now might be the best time to leave."

Silence fell on the table, and though many shifted uncomfortably and cleared their throats, none left the room and Sirius stared in satisfaction.

"Right, as you've pointed out Dumbledore is not here. We called this meeting to discuss what we are going to do. Due to Dumbledore's pigheadedness with regards to this war we are stuck fighting, we lost five of our members in the battle of Hogsmeade. We now need to admit defeat."

"What?!"

"Outrageous!"

"How can you!?"

"Quiet! Not to Voldemort. Never. Voldemort cannot win. However, he is stronger than us. We have twenty members compared to Voldemort's hundreds. We have to admit that we are not going to win this war going the way we have been." McGonagall said, looking at the members around the table.

"How come Moody is not here?" Arthur asked, looking around the table.

"He is too close to Dumbledore to trust currently." Sirius told them, getting an understanding nod from Arthur even whilst Molly huffed.

"So now, I called you all here to discuss what we can do."

"What do you suggest?" Bill Weasley asked, ignoring his mother's attempts at shutting him up.

"I suggest contacting the Stars."

"How?"

"Does anyone know any we can contact?"

"We know Arcas. He can contact his mother." Remus said, finally speaking up from Sirius' side.

"Will he though?"

"If we ask him? I think so. He has no reason to refuse." McGonagall told them sternly.

"He could refuse because of the treatment he received from Dumbledore." Percy pointed out quietly.

"He may, but Arcas isn't like that. I don't think he will mind. In fact he may welcome it."

"Well, now that that has been sorted out, we need to discuss what we are going to do about Dumbledore." McGonagall stated grimly.

--

Whilst the Order was discussing what to do with their former leader, many of the wizarding world were stunned. Due to the many now living in Hogwarts, it was decided that, regardless of the risk of Voldemort, to start to rebuild Diagon Alley.

What stunned many of the wizards there was who they were receiving the help from. Many elves, stars and weres had turned up to offer their help and, perhaps surprisingly, they were well received. There didn't appear to be any prejudice between the odd group of builders.

"Do you think it's working?" Callista asked, looking at the groups of mixed races helping each other to build the different shops and flats.

"Is what working?" Alrisha asked, looking at the groups, and perhaps secretly ogling her mate's backside.

"Stop ogling." Maybe not so secret then. "And getting the groups to mesh. Getting rid of the prejudices of the wizarding world."

"It seems to be. Where are the vampires and elementals?"

"The vampires refused to help, saying they would only come to aid us and not the naïve and stupid wizards. The elementals were of the same opinion. We also received a missive from the Dryads, which shocked me."

"Why? Betelgeuse is mated to one. Have you heard from the other nymphs?"

"No. I don't think we will either. They don't like war. It hurts the elements, which is why I was shocked to hear form the Dryads. Anyway, Praeci and Dede are trying to convince the vampires to change their mind."

"Is it working?"

"Not really."

"Does it matter?"

"Not really."

"So why care?"

"Don't know."

"Have Castor and Pollux met the Weasley twins yet?" Alrisha asked after a couple of moments silence and not so secret ogling of the brunet elf.

"No thank gods. Why do you ask?" Callista said, rolling her eyes when she saw what truly had her fellow Stars attention.

"Just dreading when they do meet. Hopefully it'll be in the middle of a battle and they'll all be too busy."

"Elouise and Jacob won't let Gemini do anything."

"You hope."

"Well Elouise won't anyway."

"Shouldn't we be helping?" Alrisha asked after another moments silence, glancing around her at the hustle and bustle of the builders.

"Perhaps."

--

"Wormtail!" Pettigrew whimpered as he ran into the throne room, hoping that Voldemort hadn't inadvertently found out where those spare screws were supposed to have gone.

"Yes Milord?"

"Come here." Pettigrew nervously approached his lord and master and then, after a pointed look, held out his arm with the dark mark burned into it. He flinched from the burning pain as Voldemort called the other Death Eaters to him, and limped away clutching his arm to him, to join the appearing Death Eaters.

"My followers! I have called you here today to impart my plan. We need to get to the Stars. In order to do that we need leverage against them."

"M-my lord, how are we to do this?" One brave Death Eater asked, making the other Death Eaters to swiftly yet discreetly move away from the stupid and probably new Death Eater.

"Crucio!" Voldemort held the curse for a few minutes before the scream began to bother him and he stopped, turning to the brighter, or at least quicker and more weathered Death Eaters, ignoring the pathetic whimpers form the bundle on the floor. "Now, to answer your question. Not that you deserve to know. We will be kidnapping the Star, Harry Potter's, newly acquired child! Wormtail! You will go to Hogwarts in your other form to spy and gather information about the youngest, soon-to-be, Star."

--

"Mother! What are you doing here?" Arcas asked, stunned as he saw his mother walking towards him in the entrance hall. Whispers from the students grew when they noticed just who and what Arcas called his mother. Those who hadn't realised they were being taught by a Star now knew.

"I came with news of another missive. Another side has taken notice and joined the war with us." Callista told him walking up to him and kissing his cheek. "And of course to meet my new grandson."

"Who?"

"Let us talk in your rooms. I also wish to meet your mate. Where is he?"

"Staying in my rooms with Nebi, Altair and Vega. Come on, I'll show you my rooms." Arcas said, leading his mother up the stairs and through the hallways to his rooms.

"How are you getting on with Charlie? Have you finally learned what mating is all about?" Callista asked, delighting in the blush that rose on her son's face.

"We are getting on quite well. We decided we needed to get to know each other a bit better than we already do and so he took some time away from his Dragons. He'll be going back at the end of April. And yes. I know what mating is now." Arcas added, blushing furiously as they walked down the hallway to Arcas' room.

"I'm happy fro you Arcy. You're my baby boy and you're all grown up!" Callista gushed, hugging a shocked Arcas.

"Come on. Let's introduce you to Charlie and Nebi. Ursa Major."

"Oh you used me as your password." Callista gushed as they walked in and were met with the sight of Nebi watching Vega and Altair bicker with one another around an exasperated Charlie.

"What's going on here?"

"They're arguing whose form is better."

"Er... Vega doesn't have a form."

"What?"

"She's the Lyre. As in the harp. She has no animal form." Arcas said softly, a smile twitching at his lips when Charlie groaned and fell back on his chair, much to Nebi's amusement.

"This is my mother." Arcas said after a couple minutes of silence where Charlie glared at the two grinning Stars.

"What!" Charlie yelped, jumping up and walking over to the two amused Stars.

"I said, this is my mother, Callista. Mum, this is Charlie, my mate." Arcas said, putting his hand in Charlie's and squeezing it comfortingly.

"Hello Callista."

"And this is Nebi. Nebi, say hello to Granny!" Arcas said, picking up Nebi and holding him on his hip.

"Hi." Nebi smiled at Callista and then hid his face once again in his father's neck.

"He's adorable! And so not calling me Granny. I'm too young to be a granny."

"You're over three thousand. You're not exactly a spring chicken." Altair pointed out from behind the couple.

"Shush you. It's lovely to meet you Charlie, but I need to tell you some news. It involves you as well Charlie."

"What? Has this got something to do with the missive you received?"

"Yes."

"What is it about then?" Arcas asked, walking over to the other sofa and sitting down with Charlie and with Nebi on his lap.

"I received a missive from one of our oldest allies early yesterday morning."

"Really! You mean-" Vega interrupted, before blushing at having interrupted Callista.

"Yes Vega. I mean the Dragons have contacted me. They are standing by their handler."

"Huh?" Altair said intelligently, the others looked almost as confused.

"They will stand by you, Charlie."

--

A/N – So hopefully I have answered the question I have been asked a lot. Have Charlie and Arcas mated? Yes they have. And the Dragons are following Charlie. Whoda thunk it.

So anyway, things are slowly coming to a head and I'll admit this is as far as I actually have planned. Heh. I do have a plan of how Voldie will meet his end but as for what is gonna happen to Dumbles... Not a clue. He's not that bad by the way, he's just a little misguided. That might come out in a later chapter. Bless him. Poor deluded old man.

So anyway, tell me what you think and what you want to happen to Dumbledore, it might give me some idea. I think I have a vague one of what I want to do to him. But, shockingly enough, I actually kinda like the guy.... I kind of don't want to kill his off.

Oh the woes of me and this shockingly long author's note. I'm sorry for that. And I'll stop now.