Emma huffed as she listened to the wireless, shaking her head and reaching out for her toast. She bit into it aggressively, furrowing her eyebrows as she listened to the incredibly over the top account of a break in at Gringotts. She could believe that Potter and his friends would be reckless enough to try a stunt like that, but she couldn't quite get her head around the fact that they had escaped without any sort of misfortune befalling them.

Glancing up at the sound of her name from outside the door, she nodded and chewed the rest of her toast quickly, turning the wireless off and joining Andromeda in the hallway. There had been no word from Regina for a long time and the blonde was starting to worry. She assumed that, if there had been bad news, it would have reached her by now in some form or another, but the silence was just as concerning. Andromeda was worried about her younger sister, as well, but she had her daughter and newborn grandson to occupy her thoughts, too.

"Are you coming with me today?" The older witch asked, glancing curiously at her companion. Sometimes Emma liked the chance to leave the farmhouse and meet Tonks on her visits to her mother's home. Other times, the blonde preferred her own company. "Nymphadora is bringing baby Teddy."

"I'm not sure, I…"

"If Regina sends a message we'll know." Andromeda assured her gently. "Come on… you're going to get cabin fever cooped up in here all the time. A change of scenery will do you the world of good."

Nodding reluctantly, Emma shifted from foot to foot while Andromeda ran over the arrangements for the smooth running of the house while they were gone. Finally, she returned to the entrance hall and smiled warmly at the younger witch, reaching out to squeeze her forearm reassuringly.

Together they walked out into the yard, crossing the uneven slabs quickly and heading away from the compound. It had been expanded significantly since Regina had started it up, growing to ensure that the large community that lived on the farm were completely self-sufficient. They even had chickens and couple of goats wandering around the yard in front of the building.

Andromeda linked her arm through Emma's as they approached the invisible boundary and, with well-practised ease, the two women Disapparated as soon as they crossed the line. Not even blinking, the older witch continued across her back garden and unlocked the kitchen door, letting them into the house and flicking her wand at the kettle that was sitting on the hob.

No sooner than the kettle had started whistling, they heard a soft knock at the back door. Standing up, Emma went to unlock it, after listening for the password, smiling broadly at the young woman standing outside with her son cradled against her chest. Tonks pulled her into a tight, one-armed hug, grinning brightly and carefully manoeuvred Teddy into her friend's arms. She waltzed through into the kitchen, dropping into a chair at the table as Emma carefully locked the door behind them, casting the usual protective enchantments.

"They're trying to hush up this business at Gringotts." Tonks told them seriously, sipping on her tea. "They must be fuming that Harry, Hermione and Ron got in and out without being caught. Rumour is that Bellatrix hasn't been seen in public for a while, so that should have been enough of a clue that something wasn't right."

Andromeda looked at her sharply. "Bellatrix? Why?"

"Mum…"

"I know, I know." The older witch sighed. "But she is still my sister. If she's ill or…"

"I'm sure she's just plotting with your mother and You-Know-Who." Emma muttered, glancing up from the baby in her arms. "I'm sorry, but it's true, Drom. We've been worried they're planning something big for a while and your mother and Bellatrix have been conspicuous by their absence for the last couple of months. They haven't been seen since Christmas."

"You're probably right." Andromeda agreed with another deep sigh. "What else is new, dear?"

"Not much… I don't think Remus is telling me what's really going on out there because of Teddy. It's only been two weeks since he was born and Remus thinks my full attention should be on the baby. I've tried explain to him that it's not easy when we're living through such dangerous times, but he won't listen."

"He's trying to protect you." Emma pointed out softly, smiling as Teddy let out a little sigh and waved his tiny fist around. "It's sweet."

"It's frustrating." Tonks huffed. Leaning forward, she leant her elbows on the table and looked between them seriously. "There is a plan, though."

"What plan?" The blonde asked sharply, looking up and meeting her eyes.

"We're taking back Hogwarts."

"What?" Andromeda breathed. "But… how? Regina?"

Her daughter shook her head. "No. I haven't heard anything from Regina for a while. I was hoping you would have?"

Emma shook her head. "No, nothing. We're hoping no news is good news…"

All three women remembered the last time they'd clung onto that hope. No news had turned out to be the opposite of good news in the case of Andromeda's husband and that memory haunted all of them.

Shaking her head, Andromeda went to refill the teapot in order to distract herself. "So? What's this plan?"

"We go in and take it back from the inside." Tonks told them, grinning from ear-to-ear. Seeing the bemusement on their faces, she laughed. "Aberforth Dumbledore says he can help us."

"Aberforth? Really?" Andromeda looked unsure. Emma transferred Teddy into her arms, guessing that holding her grandson would go some way to calming her.

"I don't know the ins and outs of it, because Remus is keeping me away from the meetings, but I've heard Neville mentioned, along with Aberforth, Killian and Neal." The Metamorphmagus chewed her lip, as though wondering whether to tell them something or not. "Neal and Killian think Aunt Gina is up to something. She's been to visit Aberforth several times and, each time, she's left in a bad mood. They're under the impression that she's trying to force information out of Aberforth and it's not going her way. Neal… Neal threatened her and–"

"He did what?" Emma growled, almost leaping out of her seat and starting to pace across the tiled floor. "When I get my hands on him…"

"He doesn't know Regina's a double agent, Em." Tonks reminded her. "For all he knows that's a totally plausible reason for her to be visiting Aberforth."

"Yeah, but I…"

"I know." Andromeda reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "It's hard to hear, but for Regina's safety they have to believe she's working against us."

Emma huffed again, folding her arms across her chest. "What else did Neal say?"

"Minerva's been to visit Aberforth too… what we don't know is if it was for the same reason. If it was, does that mean Regina and Minerva are working together? Or are they just both on the same track? Or were they visiting him for completely different reasons?"

"I think they're working together." Emma told them quickly. "Gina's been mentioning Minerva more and more often recently; never anything specific – she never mentioned Aberforth Dumbledore – but just odd snippets of information here and there."

"That's good; she's got someone to talk to about this… someone she can trust."

Andromeda nodded in agreement at her daughter's words. "There's no one better to have on your side."

Without them realising, it had gone dark outside and, glancing towards the garden Emma realised that it was raining. Large droplets were running down the panes of glass in rivulets, joining up and creating rivers, almost like patterns, on the windows. She shivered, despite the fact that it was beautifully warm and cosy in the kitchen, wrapping her thick, knitted cardigan more tightly around herself as she sat back down at the table.

She was just about to suggest they had something to eat when a loud hammering on the back door made all three women jump. Exchanging a look with the others, Emma signalled for Tonks to take her mother and her son into the other room. She waited until the door had been pulled almost shut before approaching the door cautiously, her wand raised and poised to defend them.

"Password." She barked out.

"Edward George Malcolm Tonks. His favourite colour was orange and his favourite song was Stick With Me Baby by the Everly Brothers."

Relief had flooded through Emma when she recognised Remus' voice, but his ability to give her the information about Andromeda's husband satisfied the witch that it really was him. Removing the protection enchantments, she unlocked the door and let him in, smiling warmly as he turned to secure the door once more. As he shrugged his sopping wet cloak off, Emma threw a towel across the room to him, before opening the door and calling to the other women.

"What are you doing here?" Tonks asked, greeting her husband with a quick kiss and a curious expression.

"Harry, Hermione and Ron are at Hogwarts." He informed them hurriedly. "Aberforth has sent word. This is it… this is our chance to take back the castle."

At once they leapt into action. A furious argument broke out between Remus and Tonks. He was adamant that she should go back to the farm with Andromeda and Teddy and stay out of harm's way. She, on the other hand, refused to hide away from the action. Finally, Remus threw up his hands and shook his head, knowing that his wife wouldn't give in.

Emma accompanied Andromeda back to Black Rock Farm, assembling the inhabitants and telling them what was going on. She laid out the situation honestly, telling them of the significant risks that were involved with accompanying her to the castle. To Andromeda's immense infuriation Emma agreed to let the older students who were of age and wanted to join the fight accompany her and they set off at once, leaving the farm and Apparating directly into the bar of The Hog's Head.

Aberforth Dumbledore was almost hopping from foot to foot in irritation at the number of people who were passing through his bar on their way up to Hogwarts. He angrily informed Emma that the Weasley twins had accidentally let off a dung bomb on their way through and that over a dozen of his glasses had been smashed in the commotion. Doing her best to placate him, Emma ushered the students ahead of her and assured him that she was sure he would be compensated for the inconvenience at some point.

Clambering up into the tunnel behind the painting, the witch followed the crowd of teenagers towards the castle. The commotion that hit her as she walked through the doorway and into the Room of Requirement was completely unexpected. It was crowded with witches and wizards, all talking excitedly and greeting one another enthusiastically. Around the walls Emma saw numerous banners emblazoned with the emblems of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Her eyes were drawn to a row of hammocks hanging from the ceiling, when she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug. "Em! Where have you been? We've been so worried!"

"I've been in hiding." Emma told Neal, briefly released before being embraced by Killian. "Regina hid me. She kept me safe."

"R-Regina? But…?"

"She was working for us the whole time!" The blonde snapped, scowling at them and turning away.

"Emma! Emma, dear! Over here!"

Relieved to be pulled away from the conversation with the two men that was filling her with so much anger, the blonde searched the crowd until she found herself looking into the warm, brown eyes of Molly Weasley. Her face split into a genuine smile and she pulled the shorter woman into a tight hug.

"Molly! How are you? Gina told me that you'd left The Burrow and gone into hiding."

The older witch shot her a strange look. "Regina?"

"She tipped you off, didn't she?" Emma asked, frowning lightly.

"You know?"

Emma nodded quickly, squeezing the redhead's hands and smiling broadly at her. "Regina hid me. She was concerned that the Registration Committee were coming for me and took me to the safe house she and Andromeda set up. I've been there all this time."

"She… I had no idea." Molly shook her head. "None at all."

"That was kinda the point." The blonde laughed.

"I knew it!" Molly smiled triumphantly. "I told Arthur that we could trust Regina and that she probably knew where you were. I love being right."

"Don't we all." Tonks' voice greeted them and Emma turned, shaking her head.

"I still think you should have stayed with Teddy and your mother."

"I couldn't… I couldn't sit there knowing this was happening without me." The younger woman said quietly.

Emma reached out and squeezed her bicep, before glancing towards the doorway that led out into the castle. "I guess it's time."