A/N: Fell in love with the Chapter title. A little longer tan usual, because I couldn't find a nice place to stop it. Bumping the rating up to T as a preemptive measure (mainly because of language, even tho there are no F-bombs -yet-). Review, please!

Disclaimer: I dreamt I owned Harry Potter and was rich. Then I woke up and my wallet was still empty. Not mine!

Chapter 4: The Noble and Most Ancient House of… Moody?

They had been living with Moody for six days, and Hermione already wanted leave. It wasn't Ron, thank Merlin, since Moody kept them all so busy they didn't have to time to argue or feel uncomfortable with each other. They didn't have time for anything, period. At the end of the day they were so exhausted they simply fell to bed and were asleep in minutes if not seconds. Hermione didn't even have the energy to read.

Ron was practicing his defensive spells, which meant being at the receiving end of Moody's wand and even though he was still mostly incapacitated he was a formidable opponent as he had proved to Harry in the Hospital Wing.

Harry, on the other hand, was learning to hone his dueling instincts even better, which meant being ambushed by Moody's House-elf Numa when he least expected it. Hermione had gotten into a snit because of this, lecturing on and on about Elf rights and how they should be freed. It was only when Moody pointed out that House Elf lost control of their Magic if freed for too much time that Hermione relented. That didn't last too long, of course, because then she started ranting about why was it that no one had ever told her that before and why didn't that information appear on any of the books she had consulted. After heartily assuring Hermione that he would not hurt the Elf and would only defend against his attacks, Harry was left alone.

Hermione, for her part, was to be working on her flying skills. She already knew how to fly, and wasn't, as everyone thought, scared of heights. She had helped Harry and Ron practice quidditch along with Ginny on the summer before their sixth year. People just seemed to forget that. No. She really was just very bad at it. Confidence problems, Moody had said after seeing her do a couple of laps on his backyard on his old broom.

Moody absolutely refused to stay in bed for the necessary time. He did know, of course, that he needed rest, so every morning he conjured a very comfortable reclining chair on his backyard and shouted his instructions, and hexes, from there.

By the fourth day, Moody was happy enough with Hermione's progress to cut down her schedule to flying only three hours a day so she could build familiarity with being on a broomstick. He did say, however, that he would bring in someone to help her develop her skills further. She used the extra time for research. Moody's house, though certainly not as big as the Black residence, was still extensive. His library, Hermione was pleased to discover, held gigantic tomes on cursing, hexing and jinxing, so every day she chose a new spell and practiced until she mastered it. She also did research on the Horcruxes. This was done on the solitude of her room, because even though the Order knew that Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, had a mission to do for Dumbledore and that only he could complete it, only the three of them knew the specifics.

She made her way to the library and opened her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and took from it a ragged piece of parchment that had been folded and unfolded so many times it was starting to come apart. On it were written a few lines in Hermione's neat handwriting.

The cup.

The locket.

Something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's

The snake.

Basilisk Venom.

Fiendfyre. (Uncontrollable)

That was it. Without any more leads, they couldn't do anything else. "What we need," Hermione said out loud. "Is to find out who R.A.B. is."

"Has Missus looked here?" A squeaky voice behind her said. Hermione turned so fast, she nearly fell out of her seat. Behind her was Numa, Moody's Elf, floating on midair, pointing to a book on one of the shelves. Curious, Hermione took the book from the shelf and was surprised to see it was a fairly recent copy of Nature's Nobility: A Wizards' Genealogy.

"Why does Moody own this book, Numa? Do you know?"

"Master says he is getting inside the minds, he says, but Numa is not understanding."

Hermione smiled and thanked the Elf. She set herself on one of the couches and opened the book to the 1940's. Anyone born before that was unlikely to be R.A.B. Reading name by name, she made notations any time she came across someone with the initials R.A.B. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be an overly used combination of initials and by the time Hermione reached the end of the 1950's, her list only had 3 names. Of course, there was the possibility that this person was not in the book, but since she knew he or she had been one of Voldemort's followers, and most of those were purebloods, it was unlikely.

She was about to start perusing the 1960's when she was interrupted. "Hermione!" She raised her head to see George smiling at her. "Always with your head in a book!"

"Not so much these days, George."

"What is this? Hermione Granger not reading?" He nudged her to the side so he could sit on the arm of her stuffed chair.

She lightly slapped his arm. "Didn't have the time. Moody's been… a little overenthusiastic."

"Yeah, he can get like that. You should have seen him when he first got hold of Fred and me. Had us training for a week straight! He does that with all new members."

"Well, at least he decided I could carry on by myself. I only need to put in three hours of flying a day and he's happy to let me research the rest of the time."

"So that's why he called." At Hermione's confused expression, he went on. "He said either me or Fred had to swing by today. Since Fred is rather busy at the moment, the duty fell on me this time."

"So you're gonna help me develop my flying skills?"

"Both of us will, but it's really not all that hard. By the way, have you decided if you're going to be part of our team?"

"Well, I was waiting until I saw you both to tell you, but since you asked… I'll do it. I'll work with you guys."

George leaned in to hug her. She thought nothing of the fact that there was no weird tingling like there was when she touched Fred. "Hermione, that's great! Wait until I tell Fred. He's gonna be ecstatic! He was the one who suggested it, in the first place."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Doesn't surprise me, though. He has always had a rather high opinion of you."

"And you haven't?"

"That, dear witch, is for me to know and you to never find out! Come on, we're going flying."

"Now?" she groaned as he pulled her up by her arm.

"Yes, now. So move it!"

"I hate you, George Weasley!"

He put on a hurt expression. "You wound me!" Not being able to hold it in anymore, they exploded into peals of laughter just as they arrived in the backyard, causing Ron to lose concentration and get hit by Moody's Petrificus Totalus.

George left after dinner, promising that he and Fred would swing by in two days to help her a bit more.

That night, an owl arrived just before they went to bed. Ron identified her as Trick, the twin's barn owl and it carried a letter for Hermione. It was only two short sentences but for some reason, it brightened her mood.

I'm glad you decided to work with us.

The better looking twin,

Fred.

Ignoring Ron's angry look and Harry's confused one, she went to sleep with a smile.

It wasn't until after lunch the next day that Hermione could pick up Nature's Nobility once more. She had barely read for 10 minutes when she jumped out of her seat and dashed to the backyard.

"Harry! Harry!" Harry, becoming a little paranoid after the continual attacks on his person by Numa, jumped out of his seat with his wand drawn only to sit back down when he saw Hermione. "I… I think I found him! R.A.B!"

"Wha—what? Where? Who is it?"

She pointed to a page in Nature's Nobility. "Regulus Arcturus Black. Born 1961. Disappeared 1979, presumed dead."

"Sirius' brother?"

"Think about it! Sirius said he was a Death Eater, so he had to have had access to Voldemort. And if he became disenchanted, he would have wanted to bring Voldemort down!"

"We need to get to Grimmauld Place! I'll go get Ron."

"I'll ask Moody what protective enchantments he put on the place."

Hours later, they were back in Moody's place. They had been amazed to learn that Kreacher had held on to the locket all this time, only to have Mundungus steal it the day after the mission to rescue Harry. If only he could have waited! Hermione supposed it was because he would most likely be going underground and needed some quick cash to hide. There was nothing they could do for now—Mundungus had the locket and Kreacher was after him. They could only wait.

The next day, Harry and Ron were taken to meet the third person on their team: Hestia Jones, the witch who had accompanied the Dursleys on their journey from their home in Privet Drive to their safe house. Hermione was left with Fred and George who had swung by to help with her flying. They worked with her for about an hour before taking a break. They were on their way to the kitchen when Kreacher, who had been instructed to find them at Moody's place, appeared in front of Hermione.

"Master Harry! Kreacher needs to see Master Harry!"

Hermione kneeled so she could look at him in the eye. "Kreacher! Harry isn't here right now, maybe I can help?"

He seemed to think about it for a few moments, but she guessed that his attitude towards her must have changed after that episode in number 12, since he addressed her directly. "Kreacher has found the thief! Kreacher has found Mundungus Fletcher!" Behind her, Fred and George exchanged confused glances.

"Where is he, Kreacher?"

"The thief Fletcher is in prison!" Her own quick intake of breath couldn't quite cover the gasps of surprise from the twins behind her.

"Prison? You don't mean Azkaban, do you, Kreacher?" They would have heard if Mundungus had ended up in Azkaban.

"No. Kreacher has seen the thief being taken to the Ministry's holding cells!" Hermione groaned. It was just like Mundungus to get locked up when they needed to talk to him. "Thank you, Kreacher. You did well." With a little jerk of his head, he left. "The Order needs to be informed right away. Harry needs to speak with Mundungus."

"What does he need him for?"

"I'm sorry, I can't discuss the details with anyone." They nodded at her. "When is the next meeting?"

"Not until next Friday." Damn. That was four days from now. By then, Mundungus could have been transferred somewhere else or killed.

"I need to speak with Moody now. He's at the Burrow, right?" She barely waited for their nod before grabbing a fistful of Floo Powder and stepping into the fireplace.

She stumbled out of the fireplace and made her way to the kitchen. There, Moody, Harry and Ron were sitting with a young woman with pink cheeks and black hair, who must have been Hestia Jones. They all looked startled to see her, but it was Moody who broke the silence first.

"Well, what is it, Miss Granger?" he barked.

She looked straight at Harry. "Kreacher came back. He's found him."

"Moody, Ron and I need a minute." They stood up and walked out of the kitchen. There he turned to Hermione. "There's something more, isn't it?"

"We're going to have to tell the Order. He's on the Ministry holding cells."

"What? Bugger all!"

"Why do you reckon—"

"I dunno, Ron, but it's a damn bad time to get himself locked up. Let's tell Moody, he'll know what we'll need to get him out, or at least speak to him." Back in the kitchen they briefly, and without going into details, explained the situation to Moody. To say he wasn't happy was an understatement.

"Getting someone out of the holding cells is easy enough. They have two guards at the entrance and one stationed where the cells are. I've always said security is too lax there."

"Well then, we'll just barge in and get him out!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"Not so fast. You two are not going anywhere. It will be Miss Granger and her team that will rescue him." At this, Hermione's head snapped up. He wasn't serious, was he? Fred and George, on the other hand, pretended to be offended at being called 'her team'.

"Heard that, Hermione? We're your team."

"Yeah, lucky you. You have the two best looking Order members to look out for you," said Fred winking at her.

"Not to mention the most funny."

"And the most—"

"Annoying," finished Moody for them. "This is a good mission for the three of you to get into a comfortable working rhythm. Get in, grab Mundungus, get out and bring him to my house. This house might still be watched." They spent the next half hour going over the layout of the holding cells and what they would have to do once they were there. It was a fairly straight forward smash-it-and-grab-it plan.

"All that's left then—"

"—is to disguise our dashing selves for the mission."

Ron looked confused. "Disguise?"

"Obviously, Ronald. We cannot go about springing people from jail without a disguise! They have to go to work tomorrow, and your father works at the ministry! What if they're recognized?" Hermione rolled her eyes at the ceiling. She really didn't like it when Ron was so dense.

"Oh. Oh, right," was his only response.

"Honestly Ronniekins, one might think you would want us to be caught!" Fred laughed. All three of them stood up and made their way out of the kitchen. No one missed how Fred threw his arm over Hermione's shoulder as he whispered something that made her chuckle.

"So, how are we doing this? Transfiguration, like at the wedding, or do we go all out with Glamour Charms?" Transfiguration was easier to do, but Glamour Charms tended to look better.

"Neither." They answered together. She raised an eyebrow at them.

Fred, who still hadn't let go of her shoulders, steered her into their room. "We'll go Weasley Twin style." She waited for him to elaborate but he failed to do so.

"So? What is this style?"

He grinned at her. George was rummaging in a box near their beds and wasn't paying them any attention. "Ask nicely and maybe I'll tell you."

"I did."

"Did what?" he asked innocently.

She rolled her eyes. "Ask nicely."

"No you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"No. That wasn't nice!"

"Fine." She figured that unless she gave in, they wouldn't make any progress with their disguises. "Oh, wonderful prankster, what is this marvelous method of disguise?" A deaf man wouldn't have missed her sarcastic tone. Fred, however, chose to ignore it and take her at her word.

"That's better. Here, rather than explaining, let me show you. First, you swallow this pill." He showed her a small white pill, not unlike a breath mint. He promptly swallowed it. "And then, you take a drink of this." He received a small flask from George. He took a swig and returned it. She saw George do the same from another flask before putting the stoppers back on. "And now you wait. It will take effect on the next minute or so. Still working on that, we want to make it instantaneous."

They didn't have to wait long. Ten seconds later, Fred was gasping for air while his hair was turning dirty blonde, and he grew a short padlock beard. His eyes went from bright blue to bright green, not unlike Harry's and he grew an inch. She noticed that his freckles were gone too. George, for his part, was now a brunette and had brown eyes. He was an inch or two shorter and had darker skin. His shoulders were broader and he looked part Latino. Also, his ear had grown back.

"Wow! This is awesome! How did you manage this?" Her brain had immediately jumped into the process of making such a wonderful product.

"Ah! We can't go revealing our secrets, can we?" Fred's voice was now much lower. Hermione found she much preferred his usual baritone.

"Really, this is brilliant magic. How long does it last?" She decided to badger them on the process for creating the disguise pill later when time was not an issue.

"About two hours. Depends on how much of the catalyst you have." George raised the flasks. "So, what do you wanna be? A hot Latina? A striking blonde? Maybe try being a fiery redhead for the afternoon?"

"Surprise me." They raised no-longer-identical eyebrows, obviously surprised. They handed her a pill and she swallowed it. She was about to drink when she noticed the distinct scent coming from the flask. "Is this… vodka?"

"Right in one! That's the catalyst: Alcohol! The features you end up with are heavily affected by the type of alcohol you consume. Go on, give it a try." She took a swallow making a face. She didn't really like vodka that much.

"So, what did you guys have?"

"George here had some Cuban rum. I had some German plum liquor. No idea how to pronounce it, though." She chuckled at that. That was so much like him. Suddenly she gasped. Her skin felt as if there were ants running all over her. It didn't hurt but it was rather unpleasant. She felt herself grow several inches and her hair now fell straight down her back. She looked at the mirror and gasped. Her hair was black and her eyes a light blue so pale it was almost silver. Her features were a little more pointed and her skin lighter. "I'm assuming mine was Polish Vodka, then." Her voice was low and seductive. She thought she looked (and sounded) very much like a catalogue bride.

She saw them adjusting their clothes with their wands and did the same. Her jeans turned into skin-tight black leather pants that hugged her legs and her shirt was now black. A long black leather duster and her dark dragon-skin boots completed the ensemble. When she looked up, she noticed Fred and George had donned similar clothes. They looked as if they had fallen out of one of the Matrix movies.

Laughing, they made their way down the stairs where they were greeted by an amazed Harry and Ron. Hestia also praised them for their disguises. Moody didn't say anything, which Hermione figured was a good thing, since at least he hadn't said anything bad. The man was as hard to please as Snape himself.

They apparated into an alley near the holding cells. They were located in Muggle London at an, apparently, abandoned warehouse that had seen better days. After checking that there were no muggles around, the three left the alley and bordered the warehouse until they got to a side door that read 'Authorized Personnel Only'. Fred pushed the door open, and Hermione and George rushed past him quickly stunning the two guards. Taking the keys from one of them while Fred relieved them of their wands, they tied them back to back behind the counter and made their way further down the facility.

Opening the first pair of doors they came face to face with the third guard. Fred threw up a shield that deflected his Stunner back at him, but he jumped out of the way. He was a much more competent duelist than the two at the door, who hadn't been able to raise a shield to stop them, but it was three against one and they quickly subdued him. They took a second set of keys from him, tied him up with the first two guards and advanced down the corridor, looking through the flaps in each door for Mundungus.

They found him in the second to last cell. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. He appeared to be no worse for wear. Despite him not being an exemplary human being, he was part of the Order and at the moment crucial to their mission. She didn't want to see him hurt. George opened the door, and roughly woke him up. He appeared startled and once his eyes focused, he jumped and took two steps back from George.

"Shh! It's me, George Weasley! We've come to get you out! Come on, quick!" She had to admire his, and Fred's, professionalism. She had assumed that going to missions with them would be one prank after the other, but it appeared they took them seriously. Well, seriously enough, she amended when she saw Fred flicking Dungbombs into some of the cells. He gave her a wicked grin when he noticed her looking that seemed to say what did you expect? She just shook her head and continued watching the corridor.

They were halfway back when they heard something that made their hearts stop. There were voices coming from where the three guards were tied up. Two of them they recognized: Dolohov, who had been at the wedding, and Bellatrix Lestrange. They stopped cold and pressed themselves against the wall. Hermione sent a quick nonverbal Muffliato at the doorway.

"What are we going to do?" Even with the spell, she kept her voice down. "We can't fight our way past, that's Bellatrix Lestrange!"

"Doesn't look like we have a choice, they obviously know something's wrong, the guards being tied up and everything."

"They must be here for Mundungus. Snape must have told them he's a member of the Order."

"Ah—well, you be'er cover me then and I'll get out on my own, yeah?"

"You," said Hermione turning to him and fixing him with a cold stare made all the more impressive by her icy eyes. "Are not going anywhere. We have questions for you."

"Wha'? I panicked! Tha' was bleedin' You-Know-Who, anyone woulda done it!"

"None of the rest of us Disapparated, but that's not the point. We'll talk later." He seemed subdued for the moment, but she exchanged a glance with Fred and he nodded. He would keep an eye on him too. "Best chance we've got is distracting them with something and then hightailing it the hell out of here."

"Follow my lead." George put his hand in his pocket and then threw what looked like a bit of powder into the air. It hung there suspended for a moment before darkening and expanding, quickly covering half of the corridor and the door. Hermione took down the Muffliato and they could hear Bellatrix and Dolohov's confused shouting before they heard them thundering past them and further down the corridor. She felt Fred take her hand and tug her in the direction of the entrance. She grabbed Mundungus by his robes and pulled him with her. It would do them no good if he escaped.

They ran out and it appeared they had distracted them long enough when the exit sign above their heads exploded. A swift look back revealed Dolohov brandishing his wand, another spell already on their way. Fred's shield stopped it just in time.

"Lestrange! They're here!" Another jet of light collided with Fred's shield as they tumbled out of the door. Hermione kicked it closed and yelled "Colloportus!" at it, locking it magically. They ran hoping to get back into the same alley they had used to apparate in, since it was the closest point out of the anti-apparition wards in place. They were halfway there when they heard an explosion from behind. A jet of blue light soared past Hermione and struck George on his leg, shattering the bone. He fell with a crunch. She pushed Mundungus into Fred and quickly raised a shield between them and their pursuers.

"Help him!" she shouted at Mundungus, all the time sending curse after curse at Dolohov and Bellatrix, who despite her best efforts were rapidly approaching.

Fred took a step towards her. "Hermione, no! You get him out, I'll slow them down!"

"I can't carry him! I can hold my own, get him into that alley!" She quickly raised another shield to replace her failing one. With a swish of her wand, she conjured a strong wind against her opponents. Rather than slowing them it was meant to hinder them with the flying debris and she was pleased to see it worked… until Bellatrix conjured a wall of fire in front of her that was hot enough to burn anything the wind picked up. Hermione's only hope was that the hot air was making it difficult for them to breath.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Mundungus and Fred take George and slowly make their way to the alley, which was no more than 20 paces behind them. The wall of fire fell and she noticed Bella and Dolohov were much closer. 15 paces to the alley. They were closing in on them, curse after curse flying over their heads, some colliding with Hermione's hasty shields. 10 paces.

She pointed her wand at the pavement between her and the Death Eaters. "Congelo!" A blast of white erupted from her wand covering 10 paces in both directions and all the way from her to Bella and Dolohov. The pavement turned to ice and both Death Eaters, who had been running, slipped and fell. She took this opportunity to send the debris around her flying in their direction and then turned and ran into the alley. Fred was holding George up, and Mundungus looked as if he would bolt at the first chance. With a growled "don't even think about it", she took his arm, twisted and they were gone, Fred following not half a second later.

They landed in a heap on Moody's backyard, George screaming in pain as his weight landed on his shattered leg. Mundungus stood up and was about to twist to Disapparate to who knows where when a Stunner sent him sprawling on the floor. Hermione raised her head to see Harry, with his wand still raised, approaching rapidly.

"Ungrateful scum," he spat when he reached them.

"Harry, we need Madam Pomfrey, George's been hurt!" With a nod, he took off into the house running. Fred helped George into Moody's stuffed chair, while Moody bound and awakened Mundungus.

Minutes later, Harry came back alone. "She says she can't make it yet, apparently, you guys weren't the only Order members to get hurt today. She said she'll be around in an hour. She also told me to tell you, Hermione that you should do it and that the information can be found in The Shattering: A Healer's Guide to Broken Bones. She said that if you made any mistakes she'd fix them when she got here but was confident you'd do well." He had barely finished speaking when she took off for the library, knowing she had seen that tome somewhere along its shelves. A quick Summoning Charm brought it to her hands and she started browsing it as she made her way back.

As she read, she started muttering to herself. "Damn! I can't use Skele-Gro with the bone fragments inside! I'll have to either remove them one by one or fix his bone as it is. I don't really think I can do the first, so I guess it'll be the second. Don't worry George, the pain won't last much longer." The last she added out loud when she heard him groan. She was shouting directions to Fred, Ron and Harry, asking for water, towels, and various potions while casting numbing spells at his leg. She made him take a pain relieving potion as soon as Harry brought her one.

"Start from the middle of the bone and reconstruct slowly and at the same pace towards both ends. All right, I can do this." She set a cooling charm on a towel and gently put his leg over it. She pointed her wand at the middle of his shattered bone and started chanting the complicated spell that would reconstruct it. George screamed. Fred was green with worry beside him. Unfortunately, the pain relieving potion took a few minutes to take effect, but she couldn't wait or the bone could cause damage to his muscles, nerves or arteries or an infection might set in. After a minute or so of nearly shattering Fred's hand, the potion kicked in and the pain relented. Hermione's concentration, however, didn't waver.

It was only her, Fred and George on the backyard, now. Harry, Ron and Moody had gone into the house to question Mundungus. Her voice was hoarse from chanting, but she didn't dare switch over to a non-verbal spell, since she had never used this spell before and verbal spells tended to be more powerful. She couldn't risk doing it wrong. She was just about finished when she saw Madame Pomfrey striding out of the house and towards them. She sent an encouraging smile at Hermione, letting her finish.

After chanting the last syllable Hermione fell back with a thud. She was exhausted. Madam Pomfrey sent a quick diagnosis charm at George's leg, and, apparently satisfied with Hermione's work, took a step closer to her. She carefully helped her up. "Easy, now. That will have taken a lot out of you. Mr. Weasley, would you locate Mad-Eye and ask him for some Magic-Replenishing Potion? I'm afraid Miss Granger will faint from magical exhaustion without it." With a nod, he strode into the house. "Hang in there, Miss Granger, you'll feel better in no time." She turned to look at George. His brow was sweaty and he was pale, but he was awake.

"She alright?" he mumbled.

Madam Pomfrey smiled. With all the time the twins had spent in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts due to their experiments she had come to know them better than most students. She knew they were both very caring and that they worried a lot about their brother and his friends. The fact that Hermione was exhausted because she had been healing him must only have added to his worrying. "She's fine, Mr. Weasley. Now let's take a look at your leg. I swear, all this missions for the Order are going to leave me with only white hairs before the end of the year."

A/N: So there it is! I hope you liked it. I see lots of hits and few reviews, so review, please!