A/N: Not my sandbox, meaning, I do not own Harry Potter

A/N: In urgent need of a beta, interested parties, please contact me

FIFTEEN

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Scotland

Harry could tell that Albus Dumbledore was confused as to what he had just told the Headmaster, but whatever question that headmaster had for Harry was postponed as the attention of everyone in the Great Hall was suddenly diverted towards a rather unusual owl that had just entered the Great Hall heading straight for Professor McGonagall.

For a few moments, no attention was being directed towards the direction of Dolores Umbridge, though that may be because the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister was currently too small, it would take a magnifying glass to see her.

The effect of the spell cast by the Charms Professor, however, would not last forever, and with a loud pop, Dolores Umbridge was once again standing in front of the staff table, though this Umbridge was different from the one that had been shrunk, for one thing, this Umbridge looked as if she had lost her dinner, lunch and breakfast thanks to the humiliation that was handed to him by the diminutive Charms Professor that he called a 'half-breed'.

Even if she did reappear with a loud pop, however, the attention was now towards Professor McGonagall. It was rare enough for post owls to appear during the middle of dinner, but when you take into consideration the fact that the post owl in question appeared to be the color of gold, you are sure to have every pair of eyes in the Hogwarts Great Hall directed at it.

The owl landed beside Professor McGonagall, and for a split seconds, almost everyone in the room wondered if it had something personal to do with the Transfiguration mistress.

A look at the face of the Deputy Headmistress, however, erased that notion, as Professor McGonagall was looking at the owl with the same surprised expression that the rest of the student population had.

Professor McGonagall carefully removed the letter that the post owl had carried to her, and then the post owl flew away without so much as a nibble of her beak. No one watched the golden owl as it flew away; attention was now on the letter that the Deputy Headmistress had removed from the leg of the owl.

For a few seconds, the castle held its breath as Professor McGonagall read the letter. Observing from their seat, both Harry and Hermione cannot help but think on the absurdity of the situation, after all, the entire student population was stunned because Professor McGonagall received a letter that might or might not be personal.

Their looks of incredulity, however, quickly disappeared when the transfiguration professor stood up and, in a clear voice, said, "Lord and Lady Gryffindor, if you could please join me and the headmaster in the antechamber"

From the look on the face of Professor McGonagall, she had no idea whom she was calling. She did shot a quick glance at the table meant for her house, she already knew that whoever this Lord and Lady Gryffindor are, they came from the House of the Lion.

From the look on the face of Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster also had no idea whom his deputy was referring to. He just stood there with the same dumbfounded expression on his face that first appeared when he heard Professor McGonagall call for 'Lord and Lady Gryffindor'.

For Harry, it was like Fourth Year once again, when his name was spat by the Goblet of Fire, but unlike last year, this time, he had Hermione with him.

For Hermione, she was worried that someone already knew her new relationship with Harry, but after she thought about it, she realized that nothing had changed. They had told the press that she and Harry are now in a serious relationship, but they never did exactly tell them what that relationship is. Also, there was no mention, in any of the planning sessions that they had with Al, Remus, Sirius and her parents, that they are going to keep their marriage a secret. They just do not want to announce it.

Hermione glanced at Professor McGonagall and the letter that she was holding, and gave a quick sigh as she told herself that the professor referring to them by that title was the same as announcing it in the middle of Diagon Alley.

Hermione gently nudged her husband, gently hitting his ribs with her elbow, so that he would awaken from the stupor that he had found himself in as a result of the request of their Head of House. Harry looked at Hermione, just in time to see her nod once. With a sigh, Harry returned the nod.

Harry and Hermione held hands and then as one, they stood up and walked towards the antechamber. For a few moments, no one noted that the two of them had stood up and are now making their way towards where the transfiguration professor had said she would meet with Lord and Lady Gryffindor, but it was inevitable that someone does.

Unfortunately, that someone was Ronald Weasley.

The Gryffindor fifth year prefect had suspected that Harry would know who the person that their Head of House was referring to is, but never did he imagine that Harry would be that person. Seeing his supposed best mate with Hermione snapped the red head.

Ron's hand flew to his wand and he brought it up. He was about to send a dark curse towards his two best friends when his wand suddenly exploded with such a force that his wand hand was badly mangled. The force of the explosion was so strong that even the occupants of the Slytherin Table, at the opposite side of the hall, found themselves in the middle of a light shower made of the parts of Ronald Weasley's utterly shattered wand.

Soon after that, everyone started pointing at the two of them. Fortunately, by that time, Harry and Hermione had already crossed the threshold into the antechamber.

Professor McGonagall quickly followed her two favorite students, although she would never admit it to their face until they graduated. Professor Dumbledore was a few moments late in following them, but that was because he was still stunned by the announcement of her deputy. The Headmaster entered the antechamber some two minutes after the first three, leaving behind Professor Snape to coordinate the transfer of Ron from the Great Hall to the Hospital Wing.

Inside the antechamber, Harry and Hermione were shown the letter that was delivered to Professor McGonagall. Harry instantly recognized the handwriting in the letter, it was the handwriting of Al, and in the letter, the Battle Wizard had informed Minerva McGonagall that Lord and Lady Gryffindor is now within the castle, and that they would require married quarters for themselves and a separate apartment for their friends and a few of their personal security guards. The note did not, however, specify who Lord and Lady Gryffindor were.

"I would like to offer my congratulations to you, Lord and Lady Gryffindor" McGonagall said as soon as it became apparent that the two had finished reading the note. She attempted, and failed, to look stern as she looked at the two fifth year and asked, "When were you married?"

At that moment, Albus Dumbledore entered the antechamber and caught the last words that his deputy had said. Needless to say, Dumbledore's face was as red as the Weasley hair, "I would not allow this!" the headmaster bellowed, he looked at Harry and Hermione and said, "You cannot be married!" he complained, "I never allowed it, and as your guardian, Harry, you have to ask for my permission"

"Stuff it where the sun doesn't shine Old Man" Harry replied, the undisguised contempt and anger in the voice of the Potter Heir shocked both Hermione and McGonagall, but neither had any time to voice their outrage, because Harry continued, "I've had enough of your manipulations, and enough of your lies" Harry looked intently at Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling madly, "Tell me, where did you spend the money that you have illegally removed from my parent's vaults? Tell me where you have placed those books and tomes that had been in my family vaults for generations" Dumbledore attempted to look as if he had no idea what Harry was talking about, so Harry added, "Remember, those books that you had illegally removed from the vaults"

McGonagall spun around at Dumbledore, "Albus!" she shouted in fury.

"I've no idea what you are talking about Harry" Albus Dumbledore replied. Furiously, he attempted another mind attack at Harry, but found himself being blocked by mind shields that like of which he had never encountered before. Dumbledore attempted to end the passive legillimancy spell, and discovered, to his horror, that he cannot break the mind connection.

Dumbledore then felt something that he had never felt in more than twenty five years, he felt his power being drained from him. He attempted to stop this drain, and to his horror, found that the more he tried to stop the drain, the more powerful the drain becomes. Within a minute after he tried to mind attack Harry, the Old Man fell on the floor unconscious.

"Mr. Potter, what did you do to the Headmaster?" McGonagall demanded.

"He did it to himself Professor" Hermione answered, McGonagall turned towards Hermione just in time to hear her say, "The Headmaster tried a legillimancy attack on my husband, he found out the hard way that Harry's mind shields are stronger than the walls of Hogwarts"

McGonagall was stunned, she looked at the unconscious form of the Headmaster, and then she nodded, she had no choice but to accept the explanation of Hermione. There was no other available explanation after all.

"Very well, I would have the Headmaster transferred to the Hospital Wing as soon as we are done here" the transfiguration professor said, "In regards to the married quarters and your bodyguards"

Harry smiled at his favorite professor, "Hermione and I would take the Gryffindor married quarters, if you don't mind Professor?" he asked, although the question was obviously rhetorical, because even before McGonagall can say anything, Harry continued, "We can also take the Ravenclaw quarters, seeing that Hermione and I are also Duke and Duchess Ravenclaw, but my wife and I decided to stay at our tower"

McGonagall nodded, she made a mental note to check on their claims later. "And the bodyguards?" she asked.

Harry and Hermione looked at one another for a few moments before Harry turned back to Professor McGonagall, "We'll have to talk to the head of our security for that?" he admitted, "What kind of quarters can be provided for them Professor?"

"Well, Hogwarts is a castle, Lord Gryffindor" McGonagall said, "And we have an armory located near Gryffindor tower, I think that that would prove more than enough for the task"

"Please call me Harry when we are alone Professor" Harry said with a shy smile, and then he nodded, "Having their own quarters would prove a boon, but the question is" at this, she turned towards Hermione, "Do we have enough?"

Hermione shrugged, "I imagine that we do" she replied, "After all, Al would not have sent the note without thinking about it"

Harry nodded, he turned back towards Professor McGonagall and said, "Professor, can we have this discussion again tomorrow?" he asked, "I'll have to contact our head of security and ask for the numbers before I can give you the details"

Professor McGonagall nodded, "Very well Harry" she replied. She smiled at the two young students again and offered her congratulations on the two of them being married once again.

London

England

Draco Malfoy had seen better days.

The young Malfoy had been informed several days ago that his father had been sent by the Dark Lord on a mission, but he was not informed on what that mission would be. Draco had fully expected his father to have accomplished the mission, and when his father failed to show, Draco just assumed that the mission would take several days. After all, if his father failed, then the Dark Lord would be showing his displeasure.

Draco scowled as he entered the room where he was assured his father would be. He and his mother had been forced to wait for nearly an hour before the muggle attendants can attend to them.

Draco had been fighting his urge to start killing the muggles, but his mother had warned him about the Statute of Secrecy.

The man lying on the bed at the far corner of the room bore little resemblance to the Lucius Malfoy that Draco knew. His father was currently missing both arms and it appeared as if he was down on his last leg, a leg that was covered in white bandages, just like the rest of the stumps that were once two arms and a leg.

Draco approached his father, but at that moment, the door bust open and four men entered the room. Two of the men were wearing dark suits, while the other two were wearing the uniform of the London Metropolitan Police.

"What is this?" Narcissa asked.

One of the men wearing a dark suit turned towards her and whipped out a badge which he showed to Narcissa, and then he introduced himself, "We are from the CID ma'am" he said, and then he motioned towards Lucius, "Is he your family ma'am?"

Draco nodded, "When my father…." He began, starting his usual threat, but this time, the two men wearing the dark suits actually smiled when he said that.

"Good to hear, young sir" the other man said, he nodded to one of the men wearing the uniform of the Metropolitan Police, and then turned towards Narcissa and said, "Your father is wanted on several charges, including but not limited to murder, homicide, rape, rape with homicide, destruction of property, and kidnapping," he began, "we suspect that he is also a member of a terrorist organization, and Scotland Yard is not the only one who wants a piece of his ass, MI5 and INTERPOL have alert warnings in regards to him, and I was told that even NSA wants to talk with him"

"What proof do you have?" Narcissa managed to ask.

For some reason, the first man wearing a dark suit seemed to have been waiting for her to ask that question, because at that moment, he smirked and replied, "We have the suspect committing murder in broad daylight in front of a CCTV, we have DNA of the suspect recovered from several crime scenes, and" he lowered his voice as he added, "The suspect might cast a good memory modification spell, but the Obliviators of INTERPOL are much more better, they are also pretty good at recovering memories"

At that moment, both Draco and Narcissa knew that they were screwed, and the worst part of it is, they knew that they are screwed because of their instincts only. The two purebloods have no idea what a CCTV is, what DNA stands for, and what INTERPOL, MI5, and NSA means.

The two men, however, were not yet done, "We also have the same story for the two other men that were brought along with them" the second dark-suited man said in his normal voice, he glanced at Lucius Malfoy and noted the protuberances that were once a leg and an arm, before he turned his steely gaze back at the Malfoy heir, "Your father was one lucky bastard, as are his two companions, they get the chance to regret having done what they had already done, that might lessen their punishment in the other life, there are eight other men who would not have that chance"

Leaky Cauldron

London, England

Walden MacNair was a Death Eater. He was also an executioner for the Ministry of Magic, though most of the victims of his beheadings are dangerous creatures when he is working for the ministry. Death Eaters have no qualms about killing people though.

This particular night, after sending his son to his last year at Hogwarts, he decided to drop by the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. He also intended to count himself lucky tonight at having avoided whatever mission it was that the Dark Lord had sent Lucius and his team to, because not a single one of those men had returned.

MacNair stayed at the bar all day and well into the night. He was so intoxicated by five in the afternoon that he never noticed a strange couple entering. If he did, he would have at least tried to get away early, but unfortunately for him, his attention was on the clear oblivion in his hand rather than on the man and woman who entered the bar holding hands, despite the fact that the man appeared to be at least the father of the woman.

Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks have entered the Leaky Cauldron that afternoon with the express intent of taking Walden MacNair out of the picture. The mission given to them was to observe the target and then to determine when the best time to pick him up would be, preferably, while said target was outside the pub and where no magical beings would interfere.

Fortunately for Remus and Tonks, that time decided to pop at a little after ten when the Ministry executioner decided that he had enough. Both Remus and Tonks watched silently as MacNair reached into his pocket and dropped several galleons into the bar before he walked out of the pub, occasionally stopping as a result of nearly stumbling down.

Neither Remus nor Tonks have any idea how MacNair wished to travel, they just know that it would not be apparition, floo, or portkey. The latter is illegal without permission from the ministry while the first two would require for the traveler to be sober, which MacNair clearly was not. Both Remus and Tonks knew, however, that they should act fast.

Remus and Tonks stood up and paid for their own bill before they followed after MacNair, as they did so, Remus's left hand casually found its way into his pocket. Once there, he pressed a button on the radio that he had secreted away on his pocket, letting the waiting team outside know that their target is on the move and that they can expect action momentarily.

Remus and Tonks spotted their target the moment that they stepped out of the pub, they also spotted their backup at the same moment, it was hard not to notice them since they are inside a large blue container van.

With a subtle nod towards the driver of the van, the van started to move parallel to the sidewalk where MacNair and the two former Order members were. At the same time, Remus and Tonks approached MacNair.

Although both Remus and Tonks were careful and although MacNair was already drunk, the ministry executioner was still a force to be reckoned with, and MacNair easily noted that he was being followed.

The Ministry executioner decided to act casually, but he fully intend to turn the ambush back on the ambushers, and he told himself that once he found an area without many people, he would do so.

Unfortunately for him, neither Remus nor Tonks have any plan of letting their quarry get the upper hand, and neither Remus nor Tonks have to worry about the Statute of Secrecy today, because, simply put, they would not be using magic to take down their target.

In short order, Tonks found herself within a few feet of MacNair, who was still acting drunk. It was more than enough distance, and Tonks casually drew a stun gun from her hidden holster.

Once the former auror was ready, she suddenly shouted, "London Metropolitan Police, stop where you are!" before she brought the stun gun up and then pulled the trigger.

Two cables shot out from the stun gun that Tonks was holding and directly hit MacNair. Within a few heartbeats, MacNair was out cold.

Civilians started to stop at whatever they were doing to look at what happened, but at that moment, the van containing the backup of Remus and Tonks arrived at station and armed men jumped out. Each person was wearing standard London Police SWAT gear so no question was asked. There were also no questions asked when Remus and Tonks helped load the stunned MacNair into the waiting van. The people just assumed that this was a police operation.

Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Scotland

Albus Dumbledore regained consciousness just a few minutes after midnight and the first thing that he did was to summon his potions master. Needless to say, Potions Master Snape was less than happy at having been awoken in the middle of the night.

"Severus" Dumbledore said, "I need to know what potions that you have placed in Harry's drink"

Snape sighed, "Love potion keyed to Ginevra Weasley" he replied, "Loyalty potion keyed to you, aggressiveness potion keyed to Dolores Umbridge and Ms. Granger
Dumbledore nodded, "Good" the old man replied, his mind was still playing back the humiliation that he had suffered at the hands of his weapon earlier this evening, "And Ms. Granger?"

"Love potion keyed to Ronald Weasley" Snape reported, "Loyalty potion keyed to you, aggressiveness potion keyed to Dolores Umbridge" he looked at the Headmaster and said, "Are you sure you know what you are doing Headmaster?"

Dumbledore nodded, "For the Greater Good," he began "Harry must be separated from Ms. Granger and he must fall in love with Ms. Weasley" he sighed again and then said, "We also need to weaken the boy's mental shields"

"I thought we agreed on occulumencary lessons?" a confused Snape asked.

Dumbledore shook his head, "Harry already has mental shields, the like of which, you cannot believe" he replied, he sighed, "I fear that Ms. Granger has the same shields and I can only hope that the potions work"

Snape smirked, "by this time tomorrow, Headmaster, those two would be fighting so much that even if they are married, they would be demanding a divorce from one another" he said, "that would give the two young Weasley's the opening that they need to enter their lives again"

Dumbledore nodded, "Let us hope"

Unnoticed by either of the two men, a dragonfly had entered the hospital wing through the use of an open window and had perched itself comfortably at a window sill. If it was an ordinary dragonfly, there would have been no need for the two men to notice it, far less to be alarmed by it, but if they knew what that dragonfly was, they probably would have taken measures to make sure that their conversation would not be spied upon.

Unfortunately for them, they did not notice the dragonfly that was now observing the two of them with its many faceted eyes and hearing their conversation with several tiny listening charms imbedded on its three inch long body.

It was fairly common knowledge that nothing with technology works on Hogwarts grounds, there was far too much magic in the air, and the magic would interfere with the technology. Since most of British Magical society tend to believe what they read, no one thought to challenge these claims.

The Potter family, however, while British, was far more traveled, and more, they have a corps of men and women loyal to them that came from the four corners of the world, men and women who brought the Potter family the chance to mingle both magical and muggle technology. The dragonfly was the brainwork of one of the Japanese technomancers under the employ of the Potter family.

It was nothing more but a drone with miniscule magic canceling runes etched into its very body that prevents the magic in the air from interfering with it.

As Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape continued their conversation and their plans on how to deal with Harry Potter and his wife, they had no idea that every movement that they made and that every word that they said, was being noted by a dedicated crew aboard a Combat Information Center aboard a galleon that was under the surface of the waters of the Black Lake.