Two snow-white dragons glided silently through the air, their scales shimmering in the moonlight. Both were about as big as a two story house. Their wing span was around thirty or forty feet. The slightly larger female dragon with light blue eyes was flying below and just behind the smaller male with startling green eyes. Keeping a close watch on him and the ground below.

After several minutes they came to land, shrinking as they went. When they were standing on the grass in what appeared to be the center of the town, they were human (well…human-like) once again.

"So this is Godric's Hollow?"

"Yes. This is where all the shit started."

"Language." The rebuke was a tad weak, as if it had been said and ignored several times before.

"Yes mother."

A pale hand ruffled messy black hair. "Brat."

"Well, might as well go in. Just remember, there will be rushing people and a lot of hugs. No one is attacking me. I'm fine, I'm healthy, and you're not allowed to freeze off body parts, or kill anyone."

"You're taking all the fun out of this."

"I know, but you'll survive."

The Queen looked around the square, spotting the memorial of Harry and his parents almost instantly. She went to it, taking in every detail carefully. It was a statue of James and Lily Potter, holding a baby Harry; a touching (if highly insufficient) tribute to their sacrifice. She stretched out an arm, sliding a finger down the sculpted cheek of Harry's dead mother.

"Thank you, dear lady. I will care for him, protect him as you did. I promise."

She bowed and walked back to Harry. He had his eyes closed so he could concentrate better on the wards and was mumbling under his breath. Her enhanced hearing easily picking up his words, "Magic is magic. The truth is us." Interesting password choice... When he finished a house appeared five or so feet in front of where they were standing. He glanced at her curiously.

"What were you doing?"

"Paying my respects. Now come. Let's get this over with."

And together, they walked into the headquarters of Unicorn Chocolates Incorporated, known to a select few as the home of the Marauders.

"Why do you call it that again?"

"To avoid suspicion." Harry said simply. "Not many people would be suspicious of a box of chocolates."

"Intelligent. And odd."

"Exactly."

"And your password? Where does that come from?"

"'The Last Unicorn,' it's a muggle movie. Though the book it was made from was written by a wizard."

"May I ask why you chose that?"

Harry shrugged, "It reminds me of the Dumbledore situation. Basically what the quote is saying is that magic is a lie; looks real and can fool most anybody, but in the end its still nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Dumbledore's lies are the same. It's just like a muggle magician's magic trick; it's not real but is very believable unless you know how it's done. The problem is that no one wants to know the truth. People would rather be tricked. It's more attractive, impressive, and less painful. Plus, it fits in with the unicorn theme."

"Nice."

"Indeed."

They walked past the entryway and into a large room that might have once been a living room but had been turned into a makeshift hospital. There were a few crashing noises and exclamations of "Harry!" Within moments they were surrounded.

Kerri stiffened and moved away from the crowd, but made no move to get in between them and Harry. These were his friends after all, and that meant no biting. There were a lot of questions about his changed appearance. Plenty of fawning from the girls and a few of the guys, but Harry did a good job of deflecting their curiosity and changing the topic. After a good deal of hugging and back slapping and threats to never be gone for so long again, everyone went back to what they had been doing. Harry made his way to a back room. Kerri followed behind, not wanting to let him out of her sight in this unfamiliar territory.

They entered a room filled with books and a young, rather handsome man with white-blond hair sitting at a desk. "Hello Draco." Harry said softly.

The young man's head turned with a loud snap. "Harry!" He jumped up and hugged the smaller man fiercely. "It's so good to see you." He saw Kerri over his shoulder, a rather angry snarl on her face due to his abrupt lunge toward her son, and pulled back slightly. "This is your new mother, I take it?"

"Yes, Draco, allow me to introduce the vampire queen. Mother, this is Draco, my second in command."

Kerri nodded, not moving from her place just inside the doorway. Draco gave a sort of half-bow. He returned to his seat, Harry taking the chair at the other side of the desk. "So, report. How are you and Bill? Is he good in bed?"

Draco smirked, "We're doing fine. He's doing even better. Never thought a Weasley would be that good in the sack, I should've tried it out much sooner."

Harry chuckled, "Alright, let's be serious now. Where is Remus? And the twins, why aren't they here?"

Draco sighed. "Remus is out attempting to recruit more werewolves. One of the reasons I asked you to return was because at first it looked like he'd need a rescue, but he contacted me just ten minutes ago. He's on his way back. No major clans have joined, most are still following Fenrir, but he got a few rouges to help. Fred and George said they were going to meet an informant. They'll probably be back later tonight too."

"Sounds good. Was there another reason you wanted me to return?"

"Mostly just for moral. We haven't suffered any major hits, but Blaise's loss hit everyone pretty hard and there have been a slew of injuries lately. Instead of attacking us as a group, they've started going after individual members and their families. For the most part we've managed to stop the attacks before they happen but the damage has already been done. They're starting to get scared. You being here will help."

Harry nodded. Most of the soldiers seemed to see him as some kind of beacon of hope. He didn't like it and had tried to discourage the belief that they needed him to win, but his efforts hadn't been very successful. He was the Chosen One after all, and the fact that the prophecy had been faked by a desperate drunkard in need of a job, hadn't changed anything.

"Any more news on the possible alliance between Dumbledore and Voldemort?"

"Not much. McGonagall said that Dumbledore is denying any plans to make Voldemort an ally and Snape reported that Voldemort has been casting more cruciartus curses than usual. So I'm assuming it isn't going well. Oh and Flitwick said he thinks he's finally found a way around the wards on the Headmaster's Office."

"Good, we can go through with the plan then. Christmas break would probably be the best time. He'll keep as many soldiers there as possible, but there will still be quite a few going home. It's probably the weakest it'll be."

"Why not summer? It would give us longer to prepare. Won't more be going home during that time?"

"No," Kerri interrupted. "One of my spies informed me that Dumbledore is putting in some kind of summer training camp focusing on Defense Against the Dark Arts. It'll probably be even more crowded than usual. Even those not on the old fool's side will attend, hoping to learn how to defend themselves."

"Interesting." Draco said softly, rubbing at his temples. "Alright, winter attack it is then."

"Did Flitwick say how the castle would react?"

Draco nodded. "Said he'd asked Hogwarts personally, apparently it's sentient. The castle is disgusted by the way Dumbledore is using her students. She wants him removed but can only act during an actual attack on the school."

"That will be helpful. Mother," Harry began, turning toward Kerri. "Would any of your people be able to enter the castle's wards?"

"Yes. I'm a close relation of a founder after all. I and anyone who travels with me won't be affected by any wards."

"A founder?" Draco asked curiously. "If you don't mind my asking, which one?"

"Salazar Syltherin." Kerri said shortly.

"Wow. An heir versus an heir, that'll be interesting."

"Not so much interesting as a pain in the ass." She snapped. "It is not my job to be reigning in wayward relatives. If he wasn't a threat to my Harry I wouldn't bother interfering."

"Well, no matter your motives we're grateful for the help." Draco said, waving a hand at her dismissively. Kerri's eyes narrowed but she chose to let the insult pass. This time, anyway. Harry would get mad if she killed him. Maybe a broken bone or two would be okay though...

"Mother," Harry said quickly, seeing the look on her face and hoping to distract her. "Do you think maybe you could send someone into the Forbidden Forest and maybe find us a few allies?"

She thought for a moment and nodded. "It would be better for me to go personally. I've made treaties with several creature clans in the past; a few of them should be remembered. I'll leave tomorrow evening."

Harry nodded. "Alright that gives us two weeks to finalize our plans. That should be plenty of time. Anything more on the horcrux's?"

"There's only you, Nagini, and the Diadem of Ravenclaw left."

"I've been taken care of. You have to die to become a vampire, so it no longer-"

CRASH!!

Harry and Draco both turned to see Kerri pressed tightly against the wall, thrashing a bit, and dragging in deep breaths. "Mother!" Harry shouted, jumping out of his chair. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

Her mouth stretched open, her fangs sliding down. She drug in several more deep breaths, releasing a few sharp moans. "Blood...Scent." She took another deep breath, releasing it in a happy sigh. "My mate. At last."