I'm very happy with the number of reviews I am getting and how many people have this story on their alerts and favorites. Anyway I've been thinking… I was wondering if I should squeeze Teddy Lupin in somehow… but… this takes place like 22 years after Deathly Hallows so that means he's like 22…. I don't know, do you think I should put him in? Also, I think something very bad may happen to Dolores Umbridge in this fic, I specifically brought her in because I wanted to work something bad happening to her somewhere…. Also let's just say, for the sake of it that Rose and Hugo are twins, maybe not identical, I don't know. Rowling wasn't very specific, I like the idea of them being twins though, I think they'd both be Albus's friends in school, even if they are related. Also I don't think the book specifically mentioned Antonin Dolohov as being killed, only that he was defeated by Flitwick, or am I wrong? Was he killed?

Chapter 8: The Disappearance

"I can't believe this!" Rose cried unexpectedly from behind her copy of the Daily Prophet causing Albus to drop his toast and Hugo to spill pumpkin juice all down his front.

"Damn it! What the bloody hell is up with you?!" Hugo snapped a little too loudly, Hermione happened to be walking by at the time. She stopped directly behind her son looking extremely cross, Albus, who was sitting across from Hugo and next to Rose tried to hold back his laughter at the look on Hermione's face, and how Hugo was just about to spill more pumpkin juice on himself.

"Hugo Arthur Bilius Weasley!" Hermione cried, causing Hugo to indeed spill even more pumpkin juice down his front, several Gryffindor's sniggered, and the Slytherin table burst into laughter. Hermione's voice had carried all throughout the Great Hall, Hugo's ears were now a scarlet color.

"Mum," Hugo half gulped as he said it and turned to face Hermione, the look on his face was a mixture of embarrassment, nervousness, and anger.

"I will not have you using the word damn!" Hermione shrieked hysterically, nearly everyone in the hall, including the staff was staring at her and Hugo.

"Mum…" Hugo muttered in embarrassment.

"No excuses Hugo Weasley! Ten points from Gryffindor—" Hermione was cut off by the Slytherin's raucous laughter. She spun on her heel to face their table and shouted all the way across the hall. "— continue laughing and I will dock thirty points from Slytherin!"

Slughorn groaned slightly, but then the hall became considerably quieter with only Hermione's piercing shrieks filling the air.

"But mum!"

"HUGO WEASLEY! YOU KNOW THAT I DO NOT PERMIT CURSING AT IN MY CLASSES NOR DO I WISH TO HEAR IT FROM MY OWN SON AT BREAKFAST! IF I HEAR ANOTHER SWEAR WORD COME FROM YOUR MOUTH I'LL GIVE YOU DETENTION WITH MR. FILCH FOR A WEEK, DON'T GIVE ME—"

"No!" Rose cried, having been reading her copy of the Daily Prophet the entire time.

"What—" Hermione trailed off, glanced at Rose, Albus followed her gaze and saw the article she was reading. He found himself staring at a small picture of his father, smiling lightly at him from above an article following one about the mass breakout at Azkaban, he barely read the headline before Hermione snatched it from Rose's hand.

Her eyes seemed to shoot from side to side in their sockets as she read the article, and with each line her face grew more stony and angry.

"Ugh! I can't believe this, she's done it again!" Hermione snapped, mostly to herself.

"Did what?!" Albus asked curiously, and with frustration. What was going on? All he knew was that it had to do with his father, and for that reason he deserved to know.

"She's insulted Harry again!" Hermione snapped angrily. "I cannot believe she is still writing for the Prophet! Her rubbish biographies about Dumbledore, Snape, and Harry must've given her credit! Oh, I've just got to show Ron this."

And with that Hermione trotted off angrily to the staff table and sat down next to her husband, leaving Albus utterly confused, Hugo embarrassed, Phil indifferent to anything but his pile of hotcakes, and Rose reeling with shock from the article she'd read.

"Whazzgoinon?" Ron asked his mouth full from an assortment of breakfast food. He could see clearly that his wife was irritated when she stormed up to him with a copy of the Daily Prophet. However, asking her this with his mouth nearly overflowing with chewed chunks of toast, eggs, and bacon just seemed to throw her further into her bad mood.

"Honestly Ronald, you're a professor, you cannot eat like that in front of the students, it'll set a bad example."

"Yursezzing dastudentsaba exmple oralleast Ugo! Yucursse likalunatica home!"

"What?"

"I said," Ron snapped gulping down his food. "that you are setting Hugo a bad example, you curse a bloody hell of a lot at home."

"Oh… just shut up and look at this." Hermione snapped, shoving the paper in front of him.

"Whaizzit?" Ron asked, his mouth once more full of food.

"Will you just read it?!" Hermione hissed.

"Fine!"

Ron's eyes trailed down to the front page article of the Daily Prophet, a large picture of Harry smiled lightly up at him, the article, by Rita Skeeter so read:

HARRY POTTER, CAPABLE AUROR HEAD?

As anyone who read the front page article in the Prophet yesterday will know there has been a mass breakout from the nigh impregnable Azkaban Fortress. Many known Death Eaters escaped, confirmed reports suggest the list includes Fenrir Greyback, Rudolphus and Rabastian Lestrange, Walden Macnair, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood, this list includes several others (whose pictures and descriptions can be seen on page D-3). Suspected for releasing these Death Eaters is Bellatrix Lestrange, currently this news paper is doing most everything it can to keep the citizens of the Wizarding World informed about this matter. However, Head Auror Harry Potter is not making it any easier for us.

I attempted to question Mr. Potter late last night, he refused to comment, rudely turning me down, and uttering a number of quite insulting things to me. This makes me question, as the public should. Is the ministry trying to cover this up in any way? Or the more likely scenario, is Mr. Potter refusing to allow the Wizarding Public information on this matter? Information that we ought to know? This reporter believes so, and it is open for debate. However we must examine the facts. Mr. Potter had refused to give information to two people who so courteously asked him for it so as to inform the public, these two individuals being myself and Ms. Dolores Umbridge. Mr. Potter has not held any sort of press conference to answer questions that the Wizarding world has a right to ask, nor has he provided any information about the escapees or their whereabouts, information we have a right to know.

So this brings up the ultimate question? Is Mr. Potter fit to run the Auror office? Let's delve back into his past a bit.

Ron could read no more. He had not taken a bite of food within the last few seconds which was highly unusual. His ears and cheeks were scarlet with rage. No wonder Hermione looked irritated; he didn't understand how she could remain so calm though, she must be as furious as him.

"People cant… actually believe this rubbish." he practically hissed.

"No, I doubt anyone would be so deluded as to believe that. Harry was the best thing to ever happen to the Auror Office, there's hardly been any crime in years, if anything he's not answering questions because he's so busy looking in to it. Or because Rita Skeeter and Umbridge are both foul old gargoyles!"

"Ginny's on the Prophet, why isn't Rita Skeeter fired?!"

"Honestly Ronald Weasley! Don't you know your own sister's job? She's Quidditch Correspondent! She doesn't have the power to fire—"

"I mean why hasn't she given us a reason Skeeter hasn't been fired? Even if she doesn't run the stupid paper? Percy gave us the reason Umbridge wasn't sacked, it's because she's loyal to the Ministry and useful, that's rubbish by the way, Ginny never gave us a reason, she should know!"

"Oh do shut up! We shouldn't be arguing about this we need to support Harry."

XxX

It was a week later from the time Rita Skeeter had published her cock and bull story about him in the Prophet, most everyone in the Ministry sided with Harry and didn't believe a word, but there were still not anti Dumbledore people out there who were quite keen to side with Rita Skeeter, and some, Umbridge was the most pronounced, believed him unfit to run the Auror Office. Harry was used to this type of treatment, all the stares he received… but these were much less worse, he'd been through that issue with the Chamber of Secrets first, then when Cedric Diggory died and he announced Voldemort's return… that might have been the worst of it, not to mention when people believed him about Voldemort coming into power once more. Yes, these stares he received at the Ministry were barely a bother, except for Umbridge who insisted on making his life terrible whenever she got the chance, whether it be striking up conversations with him that were clearly an attempt to make him lash out in anger, or whether she provided snide hints to him that he ought to be working harder on the investigation of the deaths of Alexey Dashkov and Thorfin Rowle.

He was trying his very best, and he suspected Bellatrix Lestrange just like everyone else… and even so, an unconscious part of him began to nag that the Malfoys had something to do with it, he suspected it so much sometimes that he almost half considered obtaining a warrant to search their property, after all Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy were sisters, along with Andromeda Tonks, but she'd never harbor Bellatrix. Tonks… he still felt terribly for Lupin occasionally, whenever Teddy came over for dinner. Teddy worked at the Ministry as well, though Harry rarely saw him.

Harry Potter sat now in the kitchen of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place reading the morning paper and scowling at the small articles about exploding teacups being set on the porches of Muggles, probably practical jokes by young wizards, event though it was nigh impossible for Rita to squeeze in derogatory, stupidly critical, or snide remarks about him in these articles he found that he hated them still.

"Would master Harry Potter like coffee this morning?" croaked the voice of Kreacher below him. Harry looked down, distracted from his reading.

"Oh, sure Kreacher, I suppose." said Harry, caught off guard, despite the fact he had coffee every morning.

"Right away master, Kreacher knows the trouble his master is facing, oh yes, Kreacher knows," the house elf muttered as he poured the coffee. "Oh yes, dirty Skeeter woman writing trash about master, Kreacher would like to strangle that sneaky little reporter, oh yes. What would poor Master Regulus have done if he was an Auror like Master Harry? What would he say to Kreacher if he was…"

Harry never found out what exactly Kreacher said next, the word Auror rang a bell in his head. He'd been planning for the last two days to meet with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Avery Smith about these murders, he wanted to enforce extra security at Hogwarts, nothing was more important to him, plus it would shut Skeeter up for a while which was good as well. He pointed his wand at the ground and thought of Rita Skeeter and Dolores Umbridge getting sacked.

"Expecto Patronum!" he said loudly whilst relaying the message he wanted to send in his head, two silver stags burst from the tip of his wand and glided off in separate directions to carry his words to Kingsley and Smith.

"Here you are Master Harry." said Kreacher whilst handing Harry a steaming goblet of coffee. "Kreacher knows coffee makes people wakey wakey, yes, Master Harry needs his coffee to deal with fat toad lady and nosy beetle reporter, Kreacher knows!"

Kreacher then launched into a mumbling, babbling volley of insults directed towards Umbridge, and Skeeter as Harry gulped his hot coffee. And then, quite suddenly, a brown barn owl dropped out of the chimney and into the fire place, it righted itself, flew out, and landed near Harry's plate, spilling copious amounts of ash onto the kitchen floor. Kreacher immediately forgot about Umbridge and Rita and began to send insults at the owl.

"You dirty owl! Dirtying up Master Harry's floor, Kreacher ought to strangle you and feed little bitsy pieces of plucked owl to mousies in the basement, see how owls like being fed to mice! Oh yes, dirty owl, ash everywhere… what would poor mistress Ginny say if she could see the floor now?!"

"Kreacher, will you please be quiet." said Harry not unkindly as he untied and ashy letter from the owl's leg.

"Oh yes Master Harry, Kreacher will clean the kitchen floor right away." Kreacher said, falling into a deep bow. He shot the owl a murderous look as it flew back out of the chimney. Harry smiled and opened the letter, it was from Albus.

Dad,

I got the seeker position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as you know, our first match is this Saturday. We're playing Slytherin, hopefully you can come.

Albus

Harry had nearly forgotten, fall was just now approaching, and the Quidditch season had begun. He decided he would indeed make it a point to watch the match this Saturday.

XxX

Harry sat before Kingsley Shacklebolt and Avery Smith in his office, they were right on time, not late at all. He decided to begin quickly and get pleasantries out of the way.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Harry asked. "Firewhisky?"

"No thank you." Kinsley's low, deep voice replied.

"I don't drink before noon." Smith said.

"Very well," said Harry. "Let me skip right to the point, I called you here because I want security at Hogwarts heightened."

"Do you believe the Death Eaters are a credible threat?" Smith asked.

"They killed one of their own, and whoever it was that let them out murdered an Azkaban employee, not to mentioned brutally killed several of our Aurors and even tortured at least one, yes, I believe they are a very credible threat."

"Your son'd sure show 'em." Smith said proudly. "He does cast a mean Stunning Spell."

"That's good," said Harry a bit more happily. "Well I have your words on it? You'll do whatever you can? Raise up the night watches, monitor the secret passageways… whatever you can to make Hogwarts a little more safe?"

"Yes, you have my word as headmaster Harry, I will not let you down. I'll die first." Kingsley said.

"Alright, that's all I wanted to say, I'm sure you have business to attend to."

XxX

Over the next week Albus's anticipation grew. He suspected James was feeling the pressure as he had insisted on practicing every night. Albus didn't know why, to say the Gryffindor Qudditch team was good was an understatement, in his opinion they were great. Even Professor McGonagall seemed to think so, she had a glow about her that Friday night, sitting next to Hagrid and the empty chair of Kingsley Shacklebolt, Albus had been wondering where he might have gone. He had not seen him since the start of the week. He pushed that out of his mind as he hungrily ate his dinner, filling himself up as much as possible, his nerves were so great now that he wasn't sure he'd be able to eat even tomorrow. Dinner ended and Albus walked off t bed early. The last thoughts he had before falling asleep were of Qudditch and of the location of Kingsley Shacklebolt… where was he?

XxX

Kingsley Shackbolt's screams echoed through the mansion of the Malfoy's, even from the cellar it his cried of pain were not muffled. A wave of a yew wand and his pain instantly vanished. He spat on the shoes of the man before him and looked into the scarlet eyes of Lord Voldemort, resting in the sockets of Lucius Malfoy.

"Allow me my Lord!" Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked behind him. "Perhaps I can coax it out of him."

"Silence Bella, you'll have your time soon enough." Voldemort hissed. "I shall ask you again Kingsley Shacklebolt, what do you know of the Chamber of Secrets?!"

"Nothing! I've told you already, just kill me now!"

"Oh but you will die, though you are unworthy to be killed by Lord Voldemort, you will die Shacklebolt, oh yes, once I am satisfied. I ask again, had anything been recovered from the Chamber of Secrets? A sword… I seek a sword from the lair of the basilisk, has it been found, has it been desecrated by the touch of one unworthy of Salazar Slytherin?! HAS IT BEEN FOUND?!"

"I don't know anything about a sword! I've never seen the damn Chamber! Kill me now Voldemort, you bastard!"

"YOU—YOU—FILTHY HALF-BLOOD! YOU DARE SPEAK THE NAME OF MY LORD!" Bellatrix shrieked hysterically. "YOU MUST PAY! THIS GREAT—INSOLENCE! MY LORD SHALL NOT HAVE IT! I SHALL NOT LET HIS NAME BE INSULTED!"

The mad looking witch aimed her wand directly at Kingsley's sweat drenched face.

"AVA--"

"NO BELLA!" Voldemort cried. Lucius black sleeved arm pushed her wrist down, so that her wand was aimed at the floor. "I'm not yet satisfied."

"My Lord! Please forgive me, I cannot let your name be spoken by the lips of the unworthy!"

"It is of no consequence… Lord Voldemort's name has been insulted by filth before, when the famous Boy Who Lived defeated me… a baby with no extraordinary magical talent, protected by old magic…. And then… at Hogwarts, he won because my mistake. The Elder Wand was commanded only by him… I will not so easily overlook details in the future." Voldemort hissed to himself. Lucius's sallow face swung back to look upon Kingsley.

"The Chamber… has it been opened?"

"Kill me!"

"Legilimens!"

Kingsley's head felt as though it was exploded, as though some invisible force was tearing it open, searching through his inner thoughts for a glimpse of what it so feared to see. The pain was unbearable, worse than the Cruciatus Curse, he must fight it, he must defeat it, or he must die trying! And then it stopped, his mind was his own again.

"It is intact… as I knew it would be, Lord Voldemort always knows…. Do with him what you will…" Lucius's hand waved airily, and with a swish of a cloak Lord Voldemort directed it up the stairway. Bellatrix shrieked raucously and aimed the tip of her wand right between Kingsley's eyes.

"You've disgraced the Dark Lord's name Shacklebolt! You will pay!"

"You'll pay one day too Bellatrix, for following him, mark my words…."

"He is my life! I live only for him! I live only to serve the greatest of sorcerers! And it is not I that is about to die… no, it isn't, is it Shacklebolt? It's a defenseless, old Auror, follower of Harry Potter, and he doesn't even know you're here. He doesn't even know you're about to die."

"Finish it then! Kill me you b—"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Kingsley's last word was etched upon his lips and a confident, and fierce growl, but it never left as he fell to the floor, dead instantly.