Chapter Five: The Return of the Prodigals

August, 1995. Grimmauld Place, London.

Six weeks ago Lord Voldemort had returned and since then, Cornelius Fudge had shown what an idiot and a coward he was. He had pointedly refused to see reason and tell the wizarding community of Voldemort's return. However useless Fudge might be, Dumbledore was not messing around. He had immediately recalled the Order of the Phoenix, a resistance group that had fought against Voldemort the last time he was powerful. Unfortunately, there were not many members around from the last time. However, James and Lily Potter were still members, as were Remus and Sirius. Then there was Frank and Alice Longbottom, but no Fabian and Gideon Prewett, no Marlene McKinnon, or Dorcas Meadowes, or Benjy Fenwick, but there were new members; Arthur, Molly, Bill and Charlie Weasley, two Aurors; Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Sirius' cousin, Nymphadora Tonks, who only liked being called by her last name.

Also in the Order were old campaigners like Alastor Moody and Elphias Doge, but more were needed. As much as Sirius hated to admit it, Severus Snape had been a real asset. The greasy haired Potions Master who enjoyed treating Douglas like something he had stepped in and bullying Gryffindors was an excellent spy.

Sirius, meanwhile, had been tasked with trying to recruit new members and when it was his turn to speak he declared that he had four brilliant young people who were ready to change the direction of the war. Sirius was not the only one who vouched for them, his cousin, Tonks, did as well. When asked for their names, Sirius merely told Dumbledore that their names did not matter and that Nicolas Flamel would also vouch for them.

Today was the day, today would be the day when the shit would hit the fan.

It was mid-August and Albus Dumbledore was about to bring the meeting to a close when Sirius began to speak.

'The four people I have recruited are very special, and are waiting outside, excuse me for a moment.'

Sirius got up and left the kitchen, then he walked outside and gave a wave from the doorway before watching the four emerge from their cars and then follow him into the house.

Sirius re-entered the kitchen with them just behind him before closing the door behind him and redoing the Imperturbable Charm around the room and saying, 'Allow me to introduce you to our newest members; Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger!'

The Lost Quartet used their Metamorphosing abilities to return to their normal looks and used their wandless magic to remove the dull clothing they were wearing to reveal their more comfortable ensembles.

The room was stunned into silence as James, Lily, Arthur and Molly looked at their lost children.

However, they did not look like children at all. They each looked about eighteen years old and both of the young men were over six feet tall, Harry at six foot two, Ron at six foot six. Not only were they tall, they were well built, Ron's chest was almost wide enough to show a movie upon it. Harry and Ron were wearing sharp, tailored Armani suits without ties and expensive looking leather jackets. Their suits were black with white shirts of which the top two buttons were unbuttoned, and were each holding hands with the girl to their left. The girl to Harry's left had red hair, freckles and brown eyes. She was wearing an ensemble comprising of a tight black top that exposed her pierced navel and accentuated her ample bust, a very short black leather mini-skirt and black high-heeled shoes. She was, in short, gorgeous.

The girl to Ron's left was dressed in the exact same way as Ginny; she had brown wavy hair with red highlights and had brown eyes. She too had had her navel pierced. The tight top made her bust, which was bigger than Ginny's, look amazing and her skirt was a little shorter than Ginny's which showed off her fit legs perfectly, she was also wearing black high-heeled shoes. Both girls were also wearing long leather jackets the hems of which reached the back of their knees. The girls were also wearing earrings, necklaces and bracelets with each of their birthstones on them. Hermione was slightly taller than Ginny. All four of them were well tanned having just come from a holiday somewhere hot and exotic.

The silence was broken by the sound of Ginny bursting the bubble she had made with the gum she was chewing.

This effectively awoke the sleeping dragon of Lily Potter's temper as she made to strangle Sirius while screeching at him.

'ALL THIS TIME!' she screamed, 'ALL THIS TIME YOU KNEW THEY WERE ALIVE! YOU TOOK MY SON!'

But before Lily could get near Sirius, Harry spoke.

'NO HE DID NOT! I ASKED HIM TO HELP ME RUN AWAY AND HE DID! SO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!'

'DON'T YOU SPEAK TO YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT!' shouted James.

'YOU CAN SHUT YOUR TRAP AS WELL OR DO YOU NOT WANT TO HEAR WHAT WE'VE GOT TO SAY?' bellowed Harry.

James then turned to Sirius and said, 'We'll be having words later on.'

'Over my dead body,' said Harry.

'Ginny, is that really you?' said Molly as she stood up to move towards her daughter, however, Ginny raised her left hand and snapped her fingers before a wall of fire appeared between the Lost Quartet and Molly's advancing footsteps.

Dumbledore was sitting there and could not help being astonished at Ginny's raw power.

However, the girl next to Ron raised her left hand and snapped her fingers to make the firewall vanish before saying, 'You just couldn't wait to show off, could you?'

'Hark who's talking!' she replied, smiling at her best friend.

Hermione smiled back before turning back to Molly and saying, 'Aren't you going to say anything to Ron? Oh, that's right; Ron doesn't matter, does he?'

'Who are you to speak to me in that manner, you Scarlet Woman?' screeched Molly.

'DON'T YOU FUCKING TALK TO HER LIKE THAT, YOU OLD COW! SHE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO CALL YOU OUT ON YOUR IGNORANCE OF MY PRESENCE! HELLO, STANDING RIGHT FUCKING HERE! AND MY HERMIONE IS NOT A SCARLET WOMAN, SHE'S A FUCKING GODDESS AND YOU'LL DO WELL TO REMEMBER IT!' bellowed Ron.

'Watch your mouth, young man!' said Arthur. 'Apologise, now!'

'Get stuffed!' said Ron, angrily. 'Nobody talks to my Hermione like that!'

Before anyone else could start shouting, Severus Snape had several questions and began asking them.

'To the best of my recollection, Harry and Douglas are twins, how come you look so much older than him? And, why is Miss Weasley wearing three rings on her left ring finger and Miss Granger, was it, wearing five on her left ring finger? Where have you all been?'

'I look older than dear old Dougie because I am,' said Harry, 'the four of us have been with Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel, training in a time chamber. We aged because time passed quicker while we were inside the chamber, unfortunately, our training was cut in half when Nic's Stone was in danger. He gave his Stone to the Headmaster for safe keeping, while we, only half way through our training were sent to Hogwarts to stop that little shit, Quirrell, stealing it.

'We used a special charm that made us invisible to other people and Doug's map, but not each other. We're the ones who stopped Quirrell from stealing the Stone for Voldemort; it was my touch that made Quirrell fall apart like a cheap Japanese toy and crumble, not Douglas'. We then left a fake in place of the real Stone and practically placed it in Doug's hand before scarpering.'

'Nicolas told you how to get the Stone from the mirror?' asked Dumbledore.

'Told us everything we needed to know, and the whole thing was a piece of piss,' said Ron. 'The giant chess game was fun though.'

'The destroyed diary left on my desk?' asked Dumbledore.

'With a Basilisk fang, the Basilisk was killed with a rooster and when it was dead, we took the fangs and its skin, not to mention we imbibed the Sword of Gryffindor with Basilisk venom,' said Ron.

'Padfoot then forced Lucius Malfoy to free Dobby, too!' said Hermione.

'Who is Dobby?' asked Dumbledore.

'That house-elf that belonged to Malfoy?' said James, 'he paid Doug a visit and then he sealed the barrier for platform nine and three quarters!'

'The last two years, at least from your perspective, have been spent finishing our training,' said Ginny.

'What sort of training?' asked Bill.

'Masteries in all the Magical Arts, not to mention the highest training in muggle Martial Arts, including weapons and tactics,' said Ron.

'Are all four of you really powerful?' asked Bill, 'and how?'

'Yes, and because we are,' said Ginny.

Lily asked, 'What about the rings on the girls' fingers?'

Harry then took Ginny's left hand so everyone could see her rings and said, 'The black band is a friendship ring that each of us wears, this one in the middle is an engagement ring, and this one is a wedding ring. Ginny and I are married.'

'WHAT?'

The shout by most of the room was ignored as Ron reached for Hermione's left hand and showed everyone the five rings on her finger and began to point them out just as Harry had done.

'Again, the black band is the friendship ring, next is the promise ring, then the engagement ring, then the wedding ring, and finally, an eternity ring,' said Ron.

'Ruddy show off, just because I haven't had time to buy one for Ginny yet …' grumbled Harry.

Ron chuckled and said, 'The reason why we are so powerful is because Harry and Ginny are Soul-Bonded, and so are Hermione and me.'

'Soul-Bonded, I thought that sort of thing was just something someone came up with in romance novels!' said Lily.

'No, it's quite real, I can assure you,' said Dumbledore, 'they are very rare, in fact the only other Soul-Bonded couple I know of are Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel.'

Sirius then spoke up, 'Albus is quite right. Now, Ron and Hermione initiated and completed their Soul-Bond on the twenty-fourth of September, nineteen ninety-two, five days after their joint thirteenth birthdays, meanwhile, Harry and Ginny initiated and completed theirs eleven months later, when they were both thirteen.'

There was silence in the room until it was broken by Dumbledore.

'Harry, may I ask you a personal question?'

'You may, but I reserve the right to answer it,' he replied.

'Does your scar hurt anymore?'

'No, Sir, not since I completed the Soul-Bond with Ginny.'

Dumbledore was beaming at Harry until Molly spoke again.

'This Soul-Bonding, how does it begin and end?'

'It starts with a loving kiss, and is completed with a consummation,' said Hermione, coolly.

'ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOU ALL LOST YOUR VIRGINITY AT THIRTEEN?' screeched Lily and Molly.

'Yes, but it was a fuck or die situation, so keep your hair on!' said Ron.

'Besides, my virginity wasn't so much as lost as given freely to the only person I'll ever love,' said Hermione.

'Likewise,' echoed the other three before Ron and Hermione started kissing each other lovingly and passionately while Harry and Ginny shared a loving kiss.

'Uh-oh, this could take a while. Once they start kissing, they can go on for ages,' said Harry.

'Yeah, I think their personal best is twenty-two minutes,' said Ginny.

'Fifty-two minutes,' murmured Sirius.

'What are your intentions?' asked Dumbledore.

'To come to Hogwarts as fifth years to watch over Douglas,' said Ginny.

'Where is my no good twin anyway?' asked Harry, 'is he too young to be involved in all this?'

'He's upstairs with his friends, Neville and Hannah,' said Lily, 'and of course he's too young!'

'Voldemort doesn't seem to give a fuck how old he is, nor did he when tried to kill me all those years ago, do you really think Voldemort is going to play nicely and wait until Douglas is seventeen?' said Harry, scathingly, 'never mind, just tell us where he is.'

'Second floor, first room on the right,' said Moody, speaking at last.

'Cheers, Mad-Eye,' said Harry, before turning to pull Ron and Hermione apart from their long snog with a groan. 'Stop bloody groaning, I'm going to introduce you to my brother.'

Ron and Hermione grinned evilly with Ginny. Ever since they had known Harry and heard and seen what Douglas was/is like, they had been looking forward to seeing his face upon seeing Harry again.