Life Renovations

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Into The Game

"Draco took me shopping. For three hours," Tom muttered hours later.

He, Draco, Harry, and Pansy were in the library of Malfoy Manor. The three Hogwarts students being there to work on their homework assignments. Tom was so tired he felt he could sleep for years and he let his head drop down to the table where he sat with everyone. Never again would he go shopping with Draco. Never!

"I'll put you under unspeakable tortures if you ever try to drag me shopping with you ever again," he hissed at the blond who sat opposite him, next to Harry. Draco's answer was to smirk. Beside him, Pansy pouted.

"I can't believe you went shopping without me, Draco. I could have helped you pick out the Dark Lord's new clothes. A once in a life time experience!"

"Are you honestly still complaining about that?" Tom asked and turned evil eyes on her. "Did you not just hear me threaten great torture? What is wrong with you all?"

"Hey, don't put me in with their lot, Tom. I hate the whole shopping thing as much as you do," Harry said as he scribbled notes down for his Transfiguration essay and swatted Draco's roaming hand away from his thigh. This movement had been going on for the last ten minutes as Draco was not to be ignored and he would not give up either.

"You will begin to love going shopping with me," Draco demanded lazily but Harry just snorted and pushed his hand away again.

"Not very likely."

"Hey, didn't you say Hermione and Professor Snape are going on a date? I wonder how it's going," Pansy mused, though she was really thinking of something else, or more particularly someone else.

"Do you think she got her Apparition license?" Draco asked

"Don't ask stupid questions. Of course she did." Tom lifted his head. "Probably didn't even have to think about it. Hermione probably broke the record of taking and passing the test in the quickest time possible."

"That's true."

Harry paused in his writing, looked up and then around. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he scanned the library. "Do you guys feel something?"

"Like what?"

"I have this feeling… like someone is watching us."

"Is it a bad feeling?" Pansy asked in worry.

"No."

Tom nodded. "I suspect it is others of your kind." He withdrew his wand and started fingering it. "They had better be friendly."

"When do you think they'll come out from hiding since clearly I can sense you?" Harry ended loudly so that his voice could be heard in every part of the library. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he heard a muffled giggle from somewhere in the back of the library.

"Do you think they're inside?" Pansy questioned, eyes going wide as she looked around. "How would they get passed the wards?"

"Ukatae," Draco drawled, as if that explained everything.

Harry grinned a sharp predatory grin at the witch and returned to his summer homework. Once again he had to swat Draco's hand away from his lap. He wasn't too much worried about it. The Ukatae would appear when they appeared. It was actually a relief to know they were there. To know that others of their kind had come to them.

"Harry, when do you think Charlie has to go back to his dragons? It never came up?" Pansy suddenly asked, unable to keep it in anymore.

Harry looked up and smiled. "I don't know, but Ginny will be here later. She should know."

"Why's little Weaslette coming? Surely she's with Blaise."

"Oh, she'll probably drag him along too just as soon as she gets the owl from Gringotts…"

Draco would have asked what that was about, but then the library doors slammed open and in swept Severus, impatient anger curling around him like a cloud. Everyone seemed to cringe as he came to stop at the table, as his glare could have frozen even the warmest heart.

"What's up, Uncle Sev?" Harry seemed to be the only one who dared to bring that furious glare focused on him, so he was the one to speak. Draco wasn't afraid either, but he just didn't care why Severus was angry; he was more concerned with feeling Harry up under the table. Severus seemed to realize this for in the next moment Draco's head was reeling from being hit upside the head.

"Where is Hermione? We were supposed to leave fifteen minutes ago."

"Haven't seen her since Draco and I dropped her off at the Ministry," Tom replied.

"We thought she was already with you," Harry put in before murmuring soothingly and taking Draco's aching head in his arms, kissing the top of his head. Draco melted into the seat and against his mate's chest, closing his eyes in bliss and wrapping his arms around Harry's middle. "Maybe her parents kept her longer than she expected…" the Gryffindor suggested.

"Go and check."

Harry knew by the twitching of his uncle's eye that Severus was in no mood to be disobeyed. Harry reluctantly released his mate and raised his hands in the air in surrender. "All right, Uncle Sev. Calm down. You're ruining the lightened studying mood." Harry then stood up and Apparated away.

"Could have said goodbye first," Draco mumbled and slammed his book closed. "While we wait I want to show you something, Severus." He snapped his fingers and a house elf popped in. "Please bring my Pensieve."

Tom perked up and grinned at Severus. "You will appreciate this," he promised his former slave.

Harry Apparated into a vacant lot that was surrounded by high thorn bushes. The lot was only a few houses down from Hermione's for which he was grateful. He didn't feel like taking a long walk. He stood still a moment, listening intently and scanned the area before tuning into his magic and dousing his Ukatae appearance. Wouldn't do to let muggles see his ears and fangs the way they really were. And he also transfigured his robes into a pair of loose jeans and a black t-shirt. Draco helped him put a shield charm over the wing sacks that morning so that no matter how tight his top would be, no one would look at his back and be able to see anything out of the ordinary. They would just see his broad shoulders and toned back against the fabric. And the best part was that Harry couldn't feel the wing sacks. He was very happy about that. He knew he'd feel very self conscious if he felt them.

Harry casually walked out of the empty lot with his hands tucked deep down into his pockets. His walking stance was relaxed, but he was anything but. He had the strangest feeling that he was being watched and followed. Again. He only hoped Tom was correct and that it was Ukatae instead of someone from the Order. Someone under Dumbledore's orders. Still, being under surveillance was nerve wracking.

"I should have just Apparated directly into her house." He immediately shook his head after saying that. This wasn't an emergency so there was no need to Apparate directly inside. It would have been rude as well and it was a sure thing that Hermione would have blasted him for doing such a thing.

He quickly arrived at the Granger home and he scanned the street one last time before knocking on the door. The door was answered almost immediately and Mr. Granger welcomed him inside immediately after having recognized him.

Across the street Falde and Talyn watched all this from the shadows. "He really does sense us," Talyn said and Falde nodded. "Brumek said Draco couldn't sense them when they were following him."

"That's probably because Draco wasn't as concerned about his surroundings and was too busy wanting to kill those two young wizards. He has a very violent streak in him," Falde murmured. "Though I suppose as Ukatae we all have violent tendencies…"

Talyn laughed. "Yes. I was about to say that you have no room to speak. I've seen the carnage you've laid out before, Falde." They swiftly crossed the street and followed Harry into the house.

Hermione's parents happily greeted Harry as he had been to the Granger house on several occasions. He smiled shyly when Mr. Granger shook his hand, and Mrs. Granger came in from the living room into the small entrance hall to give him a hug.

"Harry. It's nice to see you again. What brings you here?"

"I'm actually looking for Hermione. Is she here?"

The Grangers shared a concerned look that immediately put Harry on edge, and the feeling that someone was watching him intensified. Only… This doesn't feel like anyone I've met before. I don't think it's the Order.

Falde and Talyn backed into the kitchen to get out of sight. "He knows we're here."

"When you helped with his wings, they must have realized we're watching them…" Falde sighed, his teal eyes flickering with indecision. "We were told not to commune with them yet. That is the Council's wish… not that I much like following the Council's orders."

"So, we'll just stay hidden."

"And if they come to us? This one… he seems to have a very curious nature."

"I think he's a cute young one! Falde, I've never known you to be unsure about anything…" Talyn practically purred. She was happy to be able to see a side of Falde that wasn't the stoic soldier persona.

"The circumstances are different with these two. Usually when a new Ukatae is found they are brought to the Council immediately. But since these two are important to the wizarding community we've only been asked to watch and protect them. The Council doesn't want them in the realm right now."

"But why? That doesn't make any sense, Falde."

Falde didn't answer that and instead went back to listening.

"Wait… So Hermione hasn't been back since last night?"

"She came back from dinner and we thought she would stay the night," Mrs. Granger said. "But someone came to get her. We heard that sound that's made when you appear and disappear. Do you think she was kidnapped?" she asked with wide eyes that greatly resembled her daughter's eyes.

"Oh...ah…no, she wasn't kidnapped last night. Not really." Harry smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. How does one tell parents that their daughter was taken to meet her lover? You just don't! "That was my boyfriend, Draco. We needed Hermione for a meeting. I apologize that it was so late and that we didn't notify you."

"No worries, Harry. As long as she was with you and…. Did you say your boyfriend?" Mr. Granger asked and Harry nodded slowly. "Over the last six years I've heard Hermione complain about a boy named Draco, and about all the things he's done to you… Is this the same person?"

"Yeah, but he's not the same anymore," he hurried to explain. "He only acted like a git because he thought he had to." Harry shifted on his feet; a little surprised that the Grangers took him being gay so lightly… But then he thought of course they weren't surprised. Hermione often told her parents many things and they were just as open minded as their daughter. "Anyway, she went to her appointment at the Ministry of Magic but she never arrived for lunch afterwards, so I was just looking to see if she came here to see you two first."

"Like I said, she hasn't been here since last night," Mr. Granger said.

"Okay. I'll be sure to send her home as soon as I see her. She probably just stopped at a bookstore or something."

After that Harry said goodbye as quickly as possible and stepped out of the Granger house, sending soothing thoughts backed to the Grangers. No point in getting them as panicked as he was becoming. There is no way Hermione would have been late or willingly missed her date with Severus. There is no way. "Something must have happened to her." Harry ran back to the vacant lot and Apparated back to Malfoy Manor.

Severus came out of the Pensieve with a blank expression. He clenched his fists at his sides and tried to avoid all the eyes that were staring at him.

"What's up with that look, Professor Snape?" Pansy asked, being the only one who didn't know what he'd just seen. Draco pushed the Pensieve over to her and invited her to take a look, which she happily did.

Severus managed to get himself under control and sat down. "So… Karkaroff wasn't a problem then. As I expected." He remained quiet and still for all of thirty seconds before slamming his fist down on the table and yelling, "where the hell is that witch!"

This of course drew out snickering from Draco and Tom. A few minutes later Pansy came out of the Pensieve and she had a look of shock on her face.

"Wow, I didn't think she had it in her to do that. And she was enjoying it, too." Pansy sat back down and looked at Draco, who was grinning.

"Yeah. Hermione will pretend otherwise, but you could see it in her eyes."

Severus stood and began to pace the length of the library with a scowl printed firmly on his face. Where the hell was she? She knew he made reservations, and she was never late. Severus paced around for a few more minutes before deciding to go check the Ministry himself. As he headed for the doors, Harry popped in.

"We need to have a meeting." Harry walked over to the table, and Severus followed. "Draco, can you get your father and Sirius? Severus, you summon Amortia. Pansy, can you find Blaise and Ginny and you three look around Diagon Alley for Hermione. And maybe see if Ginny can find Charlie and ask if he's heard anything strange from the Order. Also ask Charlie for Remus as well. Charlie should know where he is."

Pansy nodded and even though she had a thousand questions, she immediately went to carry out Harry's orders, as did everyone else. When only Harry was left with Tom, he allowed the worry to show on his face.

"Tom, I think something has happened to Hermione. Her parents haven't seen her since last night. And she wouldn't have been late meeting Severus, no matter what. What do you think?"

Tom sat perfectly still and his face was blank of all emotion now except for his eyes. They flickered with a dangerous light. Harry knew that look as he'd seen it on Draco many times. "You are right. She would not have missed her date with Severus. She's worked too hard to get that wizard to open up to her."

"I think we should check around the Ministry."

Tom nodded and stood. "We'll go now then."

Draco?

What's going on Harry? What happened to Hermione?

I… I think she's been kidnapped. I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, but I think that's what happened. Tom and I are going to the Ministry now. We'll be back soon.

What are you going to do at the Ministry?

Have a look around. Just inform everyone of my suspicions, and ask those in the Order if they have any news.

All right. Be careful.

Aren't I always?

Do you really want me to answer that?

"Let's go." Harry and Tom Apparated to the Apparition point outside of the Ministry. Harry went inside while Tom Disillusioned himself and walked around the nearby muggle streets.

Tom returned after finding no sign of Hermione and found Harry leaning against the wall dejectedly. "She was in and out of the Ministry and I smell her here, just barely. Her scent is mingled with someone unfamiliar. She could have met someone she knew and maybe…"

"No," Tom said darkly. "You know she would have returned to Malfoy Manor, even if she did meet a friend."

Harry nodded. He just didn't want to think that the worst happened. "We won't be able to track her since it's obvious she Apparated away herself or someone took her."

He and Tom walked away down the muggle road. It seemed like failure to return without any kind of knowledge of Hermione's whereabouts.

"Harry… Harry if this was Dumbledore, we don't have any time. He will kill her," Tom suddenly said. He looked afraid. It was the first time Harry had ever seen fear in Tom's eyes. That look only agitated Harry and reminded him that this whole thing was once again his fault.

"I know that! He'll kill her because of me, I know that!" Harry ran his hands through his hair. "How are we going to find her?"

Behind them, somewhere in the shadows, Falde and Talyn were having an argument over whether they should help out or not, because the Ukatae could use their powers to track Harry's missing friend, and they knew without a doubt that she was in trouble.

"He doesn't know how to track them like we can, Falde. He hasn't learned yet. We could help!"

"No." Falde was firm on this. He would only follow his orders and do nothing more.

"But you allowed me to help with his wings. That wasn't exactly part of your orders!"

Falde blinked in surprise. It was like she had read through his thoughts, which shouldn't have been possible. Still… "No." he repeated.

"Listen, our orders are to follow and protect, correct? To keep them out of danger. This witch is one of his best friends and Harry will put himself into danger by going after her. We would be protecting him by helping, making it easier for him to find her and retrieve her without putting his life at risk. You have to see the intelligence in this, Falde! We can't stand by and watch. He is too important! I know it even if you refuse to tell us why!"

"I know how important he is."

"Then let's help!"

"Yes, please help us," Harry said softly from where he and Tom were standing. He felt the incredible shock coming from the Ukatae and smirked. "Oh, and you can come out of the shadow. I can already see you."

"No. Then I'll have to disguise myself as human. I hate doing that," Talyn complained, once again going back to heavily accented English. She nearly choked on her next words when Falde started cursing long and fluently in their language.

"Whoa! Did we piss him off?" Harry looked wide-eyed at Tom, who continued to stare at the shadows with suspicion. Unlike Harry, he couldn't see the Ukatae. He could only hear them.

"Well, Falde…" Talyn began.

"That is unneeded information, shurnaet!"

Harry knew that word was a curse. He wracked his consciousness and the word dammit popped out at him.

"… is the stealthiest of Ukatae, you see, and it is a huge blow to his warrior ego that a baby Ukatae and a human were able to sneak upon him."

"I am not a baby!" Harry cried out in frustration.

"Let us get back to the important matters. Hermione," Tom finally said. "Will you help us or not."

"No," Falde said immediately. Talyn would have argued but one stony look from her commander and she remained silent. There would be no arguing with the leader in front of strangers. That was a rule not to be broken.

Harry glowered before turning to the friend. "C'mon, Tom." Harry Apparated them both back to Malfoy Manor.

"Falde…" Talyn whined. "If we can save his friend, then we should. Besides I liked her. She seems all right for a human. I would not want her to die."

"You don't know this human…" Falde purposefully kept from looking at Talyn's face as he always had a soft spot for her pout.

"We might as well help him, and…" Talyn smiled a truly evil smile and started to caress her long dark blue braid. "If you don't let us help I promise to inform the Council that you sent me in to help with the wings. And even if they see that as necessary involvement, the Council will be very displeased with you for not consulting with them before sending me in. Don't you think? They'd be such a pain for you."

Talyn knew she won when a low growling started deep within Falde's chest, growing so loud that it began to sound like far away thunder. Talyn flipped her braid back over her shoulder and grinned at her leader before disappearing and leaving Falde to reel in his anger before he joined her.

When Harry and Tom returned to the Library they were both seething, unbelieving that the Ukatae refused to help them even though they could. "If they think for a moment that I'll call myself a Ukatae from now on, they have another thing coming!"

Tom remained silent and only nodded. Harry looked around and noted nearly everyone he called in attendance was there, all except for Moony. Lucius and Amortia were standing close to Severus, trying to calm him down and surprisingly so was Sirius. Draco immediately crossed over to them upon seeing their entrance. Harry was just about to complain to Draco about the Ukatae when a whooshing sound enveloped the room and the female Ukatae appeared and smiled brightly at them all.

"Greetings!" She waved at Harry, who rushed over to her with Draco following close behind. Draco held his hand out and when she did the same he bowed over their hands and she followed. "I convinced the Commander helping you would be for the best."

"Thank you so much!" Harry gushed and surprised the Ukatae by hugging her before she could move. "I would have hated to put you on my enemy list."

Talyn blinked at him a moment before grinning. "You're a cute little youngling!" And she returned his embrace with equal relish before releasing him and ruffling his hair to the point where he started to growl in annoyance.

"I'm not a damn baby!"

"You are to me."

"Well that's good, otherwise I'd have to kill you for touching him."

Talyn waved Draco's threat away. "Come out Ozemir, Brumek! We are going to help them!"

Immediately another Ukatae appeared beside her. He was tall and beautifully feminine. He wore a long white tunic of a shimmering material that fell down just above his knees and tight black pants that looked like leather to Harry. The sides of the tunic were split open and ran up to his slim waist. Unlike the other Ukatae who all had swords, and in Talyn's case also a spear, this male Ukatae had no weapons on him. Everything about him screamed soft, except for the intelligent spark within his pretty eyes. Those eyes told Harry taking his appearance for granted would be a grave mistake.

"Greetings! I am Ozemir." He bowed formally to everyone and received nods and similar greetings in turn.

Falde returned then and found the rest of his team in the library with the humans and the two young Ukatae. His eyes narrowed into deadly slits when he caught sight of Talyn and Ozemir standing for all to see in the middle of the group of humans. Brumek was the only one who seemed to want to stay within his Shadow. Once he caught sight of Falde he left a trail of smoke across the library in which everyone stopped what they were doing to stare as the two shadows, now visible, came together.

"Falde! Please tell me we're not going to show ourselves…"

"It seems Talyn and Ozemir have already done so."

"You said this wasn't part of our mission!"

"Calm yourself, Brumek. We have no choice but to help. We can solve this much quicker than they can, and there is no doubt that their young friend has been taken. According to what I've heard so far, if this witch has been taken by the person they think, then her life will be taken."

"How is this our concern?"

"Our young ones will put themselves into grave danger. We can prevent this." Falde sighed in displeasure.

"The Council is going to be very displeased," Brumek hissed.

Falde nodded and continued to glare at Talyn and Ozemir who looked entirely too happy being surrounded by the humans. Talyn was preening under the very appreciative stares she was getting from the males, and Ozemir looked like he was in a wonderland, his eyes roaming over all the books around him. His fingers were actually twitching, wanting to grab hold on some of the human books.

Harry pulled Draco away from everyone. "Remus couldn't be found?"

"No. No one knows where he is at the moment… no, it's okay." Draco pulled him into a soothing embrace. "Sirius said Remus has gone underground with the werewolves somewhere. I think Dumbledore wanted to make sure the werewolves go over to his side." The blond snorted. "Too bad for him that they've already pledged themselves to Tom. Why are they here?" he pointed to the female Ukatae and the one with the long white hair who was smiling happily at everyone.

"Tom and I discovered the two that were following me and I asked for their help. The leader originally said no, but I guess he changed his mind." Harry shrugged. He didn't really care why Falde changed his mind, just that he did. Suddenly there was a loud bang as Severus threw a very large book across the room and it hit a table. Everyone turned to see him seething.

"This isn't a fucking social gathering! Hermione is in danger and we need to find her now!"

Harry grabbed Draco's hand and they walked over to him. "We'll find her in time, Uncle Sev. I promise." Harry put a hand on the man's arm and was surprised to find Severus was shaking. Probably both from worry and anger.

"We need to decide who is going," Draco said. He looked at Harry and opened his mouth to say something more.

"Don't even think about it. I am not going to stay here. You must have lost your mind if that's what you think." Harry moved away and could feel Draco's glare at the back of his head.

"I'm going," Severus spoke quietly, his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"We're both going," Harry said, pointing to himself and Draco.

"We'll all go," Sirius said. "This is Dumbledore we're talking about. One of the most powerful wizards there is. Everyone will be needed."

"No." Falde stepped forward, his Shadow dissolving from around him. "Too many will only cause more problems."

"Oh my. He's… huge," Amortia whispered and blushed when Sirius turned and gave her a knowing grin. But it was true. This Ukatae was the tallest person in the room, easily a foot taller than Draco who was the tallest out of them all now. And he was a beauty as well with his dark brown hair mixed with golden streaks pulled back in a high ponytail. His teal gaze held no mercy for anyone who went against him. And he was nothing but muscle.

"That guy could crush our heads in with one hand," Sirius said eyeing the stranger up and down. "Would you look at the size of his sword?" he exclaimed.

"Focus, Siri," Lucius hissed.

"I'll go!" The tall white haired Ukatae chirped and smiled just as another Ukatae appeared beside the large one and glared at Ozemir. This elf was just as tall and muscular as Falde.

"No way, Ozemir! You'll stay here where you'll be safe and in no way can cause any problems. You would only be a hindrance," he said harshly. Harry felt sorry for Ozemir. That hadn't really been very nice and Ozemir truly looked crushed for a split moment before he closed the embarrassment and pain away. Ozemir smiled brightly and since Harry was the only one to have seen the pain that had momentarily crossed his face, Harry knew his cheerfulness was false. Someone who could put a mask that good on must have a lot to hide.

"Ozemir will be going. Talyn you will stay here and look after the young ones."

"Understood." This did not upset Talyn, as she understood why Falde wanted Ozemir to go along. The four of them were a team and would be together for a very long time in order to protect the young ones. The team needed complete harmony, but as long as Brumek thought of Ozemir a pest, there would always be discord among the group and that would harm their dynamics as a fighting and protection team. Ozemir needed to prove his worth to Brumek, as the harsh warrior was the only one who didn't think Ozemir belonged. There may be other reasons why Brumek was so harsh with the Scholar but Talyn thought the main reason was because Brumek thought Ozemir couldn't be trusted to fight for or take care of the young ones. Talyn knew this was not so, which was why she didn't mind at all that Ozemir had been placed on their team.

"What?" was Brumek's disbelieving cry after hearing Falde's choice in participants. He stared at Falde, outrage enveloping his entire body.

Falde ignored Brumek for the time being. "I shall go along with Ozemir and Brumek." He pointed to the two as he said their names so everyone would know whom he was talking about. "One more shall go along… Who do you chose to send?" he asked the humans standing around.

"I will be going. You'll have to kill me to stop me from going," Severus replied.

"That can be easily arranged, human," Brumek said, happy enough to take his anger and frustration out on the human.

"Severus can go," Harry said, resigned to the fact that he was leaving Hermione's life in the hands of strangers and he knew that Severus would not stop until he'd brought Hermione home. And arguing about it would take too much time.

"Your choice is accepted. Now, we need something your witch friend handles frequently, and it would be better if it were something magical that has her magical signature on it. We can track her faster that way."

Harry's brow furrowed in thought. "Did Hermione take her school trunk back to her parents' house?"

"I don't know. She said she was moving back to her parents, but I don't think she took her things."

"Simple way of determining that," Lucius spoke and then snapped his fingers inviting a house elf to pop in front of him. "Bring Hermione Granger's school trunk here to me immediately."

Hermione had left her trunk at the manor and when the elf brought it, Harry immediately began digging through it and finally found what he was looking for. He raised it up for everyone to see.

"A Galleon?" Amortia asked. "How does that have her magical signature on it?"

"This is one of the Galleon's Hermione charmed for me to be able to tell the members of DA when we'd be having meetings. She charmed them all so it has her signature on it. Will this work?" Harry handed the fake Galleon to Falde. The Ukatae studied it before finally nodding.

"This will do nicely. It has a strong signature upon it. We will find her in short time." Falde nodded to Brumek, who immediately walked in a circle then clapped his hands, opening a circle of mist. Severus entered the circle with the other Ukatae and they quickly disappeared.

"This sucks!" Harry ranted. "We have to sit here and wait!"

"Don't worry, young one," Talyn soothed and ruffled his hair. "Falde and the others will find your friend in short time and have her back here within the hour. I promise."

A/N: Edited 10/19/2011