Merlin Protocol

Chapter 4

AN: Welcome back everybody i apologize about the wait but these past few weeks have been more than i had anticipated but know that I am always working on the story even if it takes a while for me to update. Thanks for reading and as always please review.

Nute

The pounding of feet, the gasps of breath, sweat pouring down his face as Henry ran through the lightly wooded area he found himself in he saw the first signs of dawn creeping over the horizon. Looking to his left he saw Jake keeping pace with him, coming out of the woods Henry looked to the figure of the Burrow off to his left. A week had passed since the raid on Carrow manor and Henry was finally able to train again so Jake had agreed to go on a run with him. During that week the team had settled into a routine at the Burrow, while one was always on watch the other three were usually either training or spending times with the other occupants of the Weasley house. As Henry and Jake came out of the woods on the final stretch of their run they saw the Burrow come into view on their left. As they came closer to the house Henry saw Ginny making her way towards the house from the garden with a basket of vegetables. As they came to closer to her Henry slowed to a walk as Jake did the same and they came to walk beside her. "Morning Ginny, how are you doing?" Henry spoke as the group continued to walk towards the house.

"Oh I'm fine, how about you, you guys were up early this morning."

"Yea well I can finally train again so I wanted to get a good run in this morning, and of course I had to drag Jake along with me."

"I agreed to go for a run, but I don't see why it had to be so bloody early." Jake spoke up from beside Henry.

"Ah quit your whining it's good for you." Henry said with a chuckle as he heard Ginny stifle one of her own. The group came to the bottom of the steps leading to the house when the back door flew open and Connor walked out dressed in his combat gear holding his rifle. Seeing this put Jake and Henry on alert as they hadn't been in that gear since the raid.

"Gear up ASAP men we have a Death Eater attack under way in muggle London," as Connor spoke the men ran up the steps into the house to get their equipment. Coming to the room they shared the two men began putting their armor on as fast as they could. Connor and Frank walked in to the room as the other two were getting ready, "Ok guys here is the situation, we have an unknown number of enemy hostiles causing all sorts of hell at Piccadilly Circus. We will be the first to arrive because the other squads have to travel by floo while we will take a portkey directly to the area. Stay sharp and eliminate all hostiles, we're going to have to try and defend the civilians while we wait for backup. Watch each others' six and we'll be home in time for dinner, now let's move out." The group of four men moved out of the room and down the stairs coming into the kitchen. As they came into the room Henry saw a length of rope lain out on the table and the forms of Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley who watched them come into the kitchen.

"15 seconds boss," Frank spoke to Connor as he loaded a clip into his rifle, the rest of the team doing the same. After performing a final check on their equipment the four men grabbed the rope . "5…4…3…2…1.." as Frank reached zero Henry looked up one last time his eyes making contact with Ginny's where he saw worry evident all over her face, as the group disappeared Henry sent a small smile to her trying to reassure her that they would be okay.

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Feeling his feet make contact with the ground as he was deposited by the portkey Henry dropped to one knee raising his weapon not knowing what to expect. Seeing that they had been taken to an alley away from the main attack the four men got up and began to move towards the end of the alley to engage the enemy.

"Okay guys were going to engage the enemy head on to distract them from the civilians, if we begin to take heavy fire I want Peters to shield as we fall back to a defensive position. Now let's show them why they should never fuck with us." Coming to the end of the alley the team moved out into the chaos that awaited them. Henry could see the forms of running men, women, and children as they tried to escape the explosions and colorful beams of energy that were striking down people left and right. Leaving the relative protection of the alley the men moved towards the main group of hostiles that were shooting spells in all different directions, aiming down his sight Henry began to fire into the group of men as the rest of his team follow his lead. After two of the enemies were down the Death Eaters turned their attention to the new threat sending a barrage of curses at the group. Seeing the incoming threat Henry lowered his weapon letting it rest on the sling around his shoulder before raising his hands again erecting a shield around the team that absorbed all off the spells. "Fall back to that store, Henry keep that shield up. Return fire!" Connor yelled over the sound of spells hitting the shield and his own weapon firing back at the enemy. The team fell back under Henry's shield to a store where they took cover hopeful that reinforcements were going to come soon. Entering the store the team saw a group of civilians taking cover in the store. "Keep down, Peters get on the second floor and tell me what you see."

"Rodger boss," getting up Henry moved to the back of the store where he found a set of stairs leading him to the upper floor. Coming to the front windows of the building they were taking cover in Henry opened one of the windows slightly before aiming through the scope on his weapon. He saw groups of Death Eaters scattered throughout the street most of who were concentrated on him and his team. "1-1 this is 1-4 I count 15 hostiles broken into smaller groups positioned throughout the street, orders?" Henry spoke into the headset that he wore.

"Copy that Kilo 1-4 eliminate any hostiles you can, we need to hold these boys off until backup arrives in approximately 10 mikes." The voice of Connor answered Henry over the radio. Looking through his sight again Henry centered on the nearest group of enemies as he targeted the one he believed to be in charge. Releasing a breath slowly Henry steadily squeezed the trigger on his weapon as the loud rapport of his rifle signaled the projectile headed for his target. Through his scope Henry saw the slight red spray signaling that he hit his target as the man dropped dead from the bullet through his chest. Seeing the other Death Eaters shocked looks Henry targeted his next victim once again steadily squeezing the trigger to see the figure fall. Following the last Death Eater in his scope as the man attempted to flee Henry went to squeeze the trigger again only to see the figure dropped just before he was able to fire. Lowering his weapon Henry looked out over the street seeing a small group of wizards attack the Death Eaters led by none other than Albus Dumbledore. "Kilo 1-1 it appears that Dumbledore and his order have decided to join the party, they are coming from the enemy's right flank."

"Rodger, well we can't allow them to have all of the fun, were pushing forward 1-4 meet us on the street." Connors voice spoke as Henry stood up disappearing with a twist as he reappeared on the street to be met by the rest of his team as they came out of the store. "Move up let's finish this!" Moving forward Henry continued to fire as he took cover behind a bench, his team taking similar positions nearby. Looking around the bench Henry saw the a group of hostiles focused on them and another on the Order, out of the corner of his eye he saw a young girl with a terrified expression on her face begin to wander towards the area between the fighters. Henry's heart leapt as the girl continued to wander closer, jumping over the bench he was taking cover behind.

"Covering fire!" Henry yelled as he cleared the bench hitting the ground running towards the girl. The rest of his team hearing his call and seeing the girl kept up a continuous barrage of bullets which kept the Death Eaters behind their shields. Reaching the girl Henry bent down still moving as he scooped the small body up in his arms as he pivoted around moving as fast as his body would carry him to the closest cover where the girl would be safe. Taking cover behind an abandoned car in the street Henry set the girl down checking her over for injuries, seeing that the girl was only shaken and not injured he said to her, "get in the car and lay down on the floor, I'll come and get you when it's safe to come out." After the girl had climbed into the car Henry looked over the car he was hiding behind raising his rifle to fire upon the enemy that had hurt so many today. With pressure coming from both sides the remaining Death Eaters began to make their way down the open end of the street viciously firing spells to cover their movement. As the remaining hostiles were about to round the corner onto the next street they were met by a hail of gunfire that trimmed their numbers until only seven remained before they could raise shields. Seeing that the battle was lost the surviving Death Eaters grabbed their emergency portkeys disappearing where they stood.

Seeing that the coast was clear Henry lowered his weapon taking a moment to calm his breathing. Regaining his composure he opened to door to the car, looking inside he was met with a pair of bright blue eyes and the barley contained tears that were threatening to spill out. "Its okay, the bad men are gone and you can come out now." The girl acted as if she hadn't heard him as she lowered her eyes clinging to the seat. Reaching out to the girl he lifted her chin with his fingers again making eye contact, "What's your name?"

"Em-ma," she said with a sniffle.

"Well Emma my name is Henry and you have my word that it is safe to come out, and if you do come out I can help you find your parents so you can get home." Henry said as he tried to coax the girl out of her hiding spot.

"You promise?"

"I promise," Henry said fixing the little girl with a reassuring smile. Making her decision the little girl climbed out of the car and Henry once again picked her up. "Now where were you before you got separated from your parents?"

"Me and mommy were over there when the bad men came and I lost mommy." Emma said as she pointed to the sidewalk in front of the store they were taking cover in. Remembering the group of civilians that also took cover in there he decided that it would be the best place to start. Looking back to his team he saw that they had gathered and were talking with the other squads, squeezing his radio button he spoke into his headset, "1-1 this is 1-4, requesting permission to help this girl find her parents." As he spoke he saw Connor turn and look in his direction, seeing the girl in his arms Connor said.

"Granted 1-4 we have things covered here regroup after you finish." With that Henry began to walk towards the store that they had hid in. Coming to the store he saw a large group of people coming out of the store.

"Do you see her," he asked the girl.

"I don't think so."

"Okay well people are still coming out of there so keep looking." As the civilians continued to come out of the store Henry heard a loud call.

"Emma!" A middle age woman screamed as she raced to where Henry and Emma were.

"Mommy!" Seeing that they had found her mother Henry set the girl down and she began to run toward the woman. When they met the mother enveloped her daughter in a hug as she assured herself that her daughter was fine. Picking the girl up to hold her close the mother looked to Henry as he walked up to them.

"Thank you so much, I was so worried when she got separated from me in the madness." The woman said with tears of joy and relief running down her face.

"No problem ma'am I'm just thankful that I was able to get to her before she got hurt. If you'll excuse me I need to get back to my team, it was nice to meet you both bye Emma." Henry said as he turned around and began to walk away hearing a soft voice speak from behind him.

"Bye Henry" Emma said as the man walked away. Hearing the girl's farewell a smile crept onto Henry's face as he made his way to where his team was standing with the members of the Order that had fought the Death Eaters. Coming closer Henry recognized Dumbledore and Remus as well as Alastor Moody from a briefing on who's-who in the wizarding world. However he didn't recognize the fourth figure, a woman with vibrant purple hair who stood next to Remus.

"Boss..." Henry said to Connor as he came to where the group was standing.

"Peters, the other squads are tending to the wounded and Mr. Dumbledore here just informed me that the Ministry will be sending people here to take care of the civilians' memories. We've been ordered back to the Burrow for a debriefing so were waiting on word of transportation."

"Rodger that." Henry said as he turned to look at the assembled Order members who had all directed their gazes towards him.

"That was an incredibly brave thing you did for that girl Henry," Dumbledore spoke in his grandfatherly tone.

"Not to mention crazy as hell!" The purple haired woman exclaimed from her spot beside Remus.

"Well I'm happy that I could entertain but I was just doing my job. Hi I'm Henry and you are…" Henry said as he extended his hand to the woman.

"The names Tonks, it's a pleasure to meet you Henry. I was impressed by you guys out there I've never seen fighting like that." Tonks said as she shook Henry's hand.

"Thanks but you guys really helped turn the tide today, we're grateful you all showed up when you did."

"Peters control has authorized us to apparate back so were moving out." Connor spoke turning his attention back to his radio as he walked away from the group.

"Well that's our cue, it was nice to meet you Tonks, always a pleasure Mr. Dumbledore, Remus." Henry turned away from the group after he finished speaking as he began to move to where the rest of his team was standing.

"Alright guys good job today now let's get back to the Burrow to get cleaned up." Connor spoke looking to each man before turning on the spot disappearing with a slight 'pop'. Following his lead the rest of the team apparated away leaving the London street behind.

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Later that day, long after the sun had set and the inhabitants of the house had gone to sleep, a lone figure walked up the steps to the back porch finishing his patrol of the Weasley property. Henry removed his weapon that hung around his shoulders leaning it against a bench as he went to sit. After some time of taking in the silent and peaceful landscape spread out before him he heard the door to the house open and another person walk out. Assuming it was one of his teammates Henry turned to look at the person approaching him surprised to see Ginny making her way to the bench with two mugs in her hands. "Tea?" she asked extending one of the mugs to him.

"Please, here take a seat." He said making room from her as he took the offered mug. She took a seat next to him as he sipped at the tea. "It's been a while since I've had a cup of tea, I've grown used to coffee." He said breaking the silence.

"Really? Are you sure you're British?" She said with a chuckle not noticing the look that flashed across his face.

"Of course I am, just need something a little bit stronger in my line of work." Henry replied trying to laugh it off. "Not that I don't enjoy the tea and company but what are you doing up so late?"

"Couldn't sleep," she said with a sigh as she directed her eyes anywhere but Henry.

"Nightmares?" all he got was a nod in response. "I understand you know? About nightmares, why do you think I'm pretty much always the one to take night watch? It's because I find it easier to sleep during the day." He said as he lightly grasped her chin directing her eyes towards his own.

"Really? What do you have nightmares about?" She said noticing the shift in his eyes as the memories were forced to the surface. "I'm sorry that was incredibly insensitive of me."

"No it's okay, let's just say that my childhood was less than happy but that was a long time ago," he said with a bittersweet smile. "The thing is you can't let it control you. If there is one thing that I have learned from my service in the army it's that it is okay to be scared, but you have to overcome that fear and learn to live with it."

"Well how do you do that?"

"You live; you keep going and do what you need to do. By doing that you're not letting the fear rule your life but rising above it, it doesn't hurt to have a family that's as loving as yours is." Henry said his emerald eyes staring into Ginny's brown as a small grin crept onto his face. "But if you ever need to talk about anything just know that I am here."

"Thank you Henry but I don't feel like talking right now, I just want to sit here for a while if that's okay with you." Ginny said as she moved closer to Henry until she was slightly leaning against him.

"That sounds great," Henry said. The pair sat on the porch for some time and Henry noticed that Ginny's head had come to rest on his shoulder as she had fallen asleep. As the first lights of dawn were creeping over the horizon Henry decided that it was time to get Ginny to bed. Not wanting to wake her when she had, had trouble sleeping lately he picked her up from her spot next to him and made his way into the house. He made his way up to her room laying her on her bed and raising the covers over her, with one last glance at the sleeping girl Henry made his way out of the room.

"Howya doin?" Henry heard as he was closing Ginny's door gently causing him to jump as he turned to the stairs to see Jake sitting halfway up with a giant grin on his face.

"This isn't what it looks like," Henry said trying to think of an excuse to protect both him and Ginny.

"Sure it isn't," Jake said as he rose from the stairs coming to the level Henry stood on. "Get some sleep lover boy I'm on watch now," with that Jake descended the stairs leaving Henry alone with a confused look on his face. Shaking his head Henry made his way to his room to get some much needed sleep.

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"Henry…Henry...HENRY!"

"Wha..." Henry exclaimed as he was awoken from his sleep later in the day. Looking to the doorway he saw Jake standing there with the same grin from the morning on his face.

"Get your ass up the Majors in the kitchen and he wants to talk to us." Jake said his face taking a serious look before he turned and went down the stairs leaving Henry to get dressed. After throwing a dressing in fatigues Henry made his way to the kitchen saluting the Major as he came into the room.

"Ah good your all here now let's get down to business." Major Taylor spoke as he passed out briefing folders. "That was a good job in London boys, it was just a shit situation but we have found a way to get a little payback. We have Intel that later this week a large group of foreign Death Eaters will be coming to England, and were going to roll out the welcome party for them." The Major said as a fierce grin came across his face.