Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Warnings: Violence , and Mature Themes.

Chapter 21

Perenelle woke up sluggishly as she felt an unfamiliar heat burning on her neck. As she fought off the lingering sleepiness, a comfort, while unnecessary, that she regularly indulged in; she soon realized the reason that she had woken up. The pendant that she wore around her neck was emitting heat. The wards around Hermione's house had detected a visitor, and he/she was not a muggle. She immediately sat up, waking up her mate in the process.

"Nellie, come back to bed." Nicholas Flamel, her husband and a Vampire for all of three years said, his tone almost whining. After being turned, his first year was really difficult for him; she had to help him steadily cope with the fact that he wasn't magical anymore. He was always feeling vulnerable without his magic, and for good reason. The loss of Magic that he had been living with for centuries hit him particularly hard, and yet he came through it. Perenelle admired and adored him for that, she knew that she couldn't imagine herself defending herself without her magic there to help her.

"The wards at Harry's place have been triggered; I'm just going there to make sure everything is alright. I'll be back before you know it." Perenelle replied pleasantly, as she changed her clothes, aware of her husband's staring eyes. She opened the secret closet that she had and took out her outfit that she had commissioned to be made from the Basilisk Hide that she had borrowed from Harry. She had a feeling that she would need it today.

Nicholas, or as he preferred, Nick, didn't bother asking her if she needed help. He was well aware that she was a much more capable fighter than he was, even without her using magic. Besides, he had been a husband in a rather brilliantly successful marriage and he hadn't managed that by being stupid or overprotective. Though it wasn't like it was a traditional marriage, as evident by the sleeping woman on his other side, he still prided himself for the fact that he could honestly say that the two of them loved each other as much or maybe even more than when they had started out their relationship. Vampires were sexual creatures, plain and simple, and sometimes having a single mate just didn't cut it. Nick thanked the gods for his life every day.

(Break)

"You sure this is the right place?" Tonks asked her partner, and teacher, Kingsley Shacklebolt. The muggle neighborhood looked exactly what it would look at night, absolutely boring.

"We are at the right co-ordinates Tonks, keep alert." Kingsley replied stoically, his voice screaming professionalism. This irked Tonks quite a bit; she didn't mesh well with his personality at all. But she didn't voice her thoughts to her superiors, or file for a change as she was well aware that he was among the best Aurors within the DMLE, and she had much to gain if she were to remain with him.

"Why are you so tense, Shacklebolt? This is obviously a muggle neighborhood; it was most likely a Muggleborn thinking they could get away with magic out of school." Tonks said.

"That is not the case here Tonks, such reports are not handled by the DMLE. The Improper Use of Magic Office is responsible for that; our report didn't come from there. It would serve you well to remember that in the future. Now tell me what you see." Kingsley said.

Tonks relaxed, breathing deeply in order to improve her concentration, as she put the training that she had went through to use. It was standard procedure to check the area for any residual magic, and only then would their next step be determined. Tonks was better at this than most, partially due to the long hours that she had put in practicing, but also due to the fact that she was a Metamorphmagus, which meant that, she was adept at harnessing her magic, and using it.

"There are some pretty strong Wards around that house." Tonks said as she opened her eyes, and pointed to a bungalow a little ways away from their position.

"Good analysis. Let's go." Kingsley replied n the same tone as before. Tonks barely controlled her urge to scream at her superior, as she followed him.

(Break)

Harry opened his eyes to a surprising sight. Both Hermione and Daphne were looking at him worriedly. He was surprised by the worry shown in Daphne's eyes. He didn't realize that she cared that much. His head was still reeling from the memory of the talk that he had apparently had on the night that he was turned. He would need to think more about that later, and he would definitely need to have a talk with Perenelle, and the Headmaster for that matter. He didn't blame them, and would make sure that they knew that. Sure, he was a bit angry, he had doubted that any of this would have happened to him if the Headmaster had come clean from the start, and had told his parents as much.

He had initially felt betrayed when his father had told him that Dumbledore hadn't done anything wrong, apart from placing him with the Dursleys, of course. His mother's indignant reaction to that statement had been somewhat comforting though.

He had even wondered if Perenelle would have offered him her Mentorship if he hadn't been involved in the prophecy, and realized that she probably wouldn't. Truth hurt, but harry was determined to not let it bring him down. There was only one positive way that he could look at the prophecy. It was an opportunity. An opportunity, which he fully intended to get maximum benefits out of. Besides, who was to say that he wouldn't end up fighting Voldemort, even if he wasn't mentioned in the prophecy, he had always wanted to become an Auror, and they spent their lives fighting Dark Wizards all the time.

He put such thoughts out of his mind as he realized that the girls were still staring at him in worry.

"What happened to you Harry?" Hermione asked. Daphne also leaned in closer, eager to hear Harry's response.

"Um. . . I was just meditating. You know, visiting my core. Why are the two of you in my room?" Harry asked, adopting a confused expression on his face. He couldn't tell Hermione about his success with Daphne in the same room, he had taken Perenelle's warning to heart, and would limit information about his and by extension Hermione's, true nature, skills, abilities and power, as much as he could manage.

"Well . . ." Daphne started and at receiving Hermione's assent, continued "I felt a liberal amount of power coming from inside the house, and it instantly woke me up, I just came down to investigate, and found Hermione already in your room." 'I just thought that I was going to be attacked', Daphne thought silently to herself.

"Ah. . .sorry to make you worry. But I am just fine . . . please don't lose any more sleep over me." Harry said smoothly, vaguely aware that his statement could be considered as flirting. For her part, Daphne couldn't help the blood that rushed to her cheeks, and quickly turned around to hide her face.

"Don't flatter yourself Potter, your well-being is not something that I am inclined to lose sleep over. Goodnight." Daphne said, her voice sounding a bit breathy to Harry's sensitive ears. He turned excitedly over to Hermione as soon as he heard the bedroom door close.

"Hermione, I did it! Finally can acess my memories now." Harry said, he was quite worried about that little setback that he was suffering through. And now that his fears were proved to be unfounded, he would finally be able to concentrate on the next step in the book.

Hermione, who was scowling inwardly at Harry's earlier statement, forgot all about it and became just as excited as Harry was.

"Harry! That's wonderful. So how did you do it? Did my advice help?" Hermione started firing off questions, her speed of speaking increasing with each word that she spoke.

"Calm down Hermione-" Harry was interrupted from speaking more as they heard a crash and a loud noise coming from the rear end of the house, near the pool. Harry quickly bounded towards the door, shifting himself as to not be visible, but having an un-obstructed view of the narrow passage leading to the pool. Unnoticed by him, his wand which was lying on his bedside dresser jumped up to his hands, and Harry feeling the comfortable weight of his wand in his hands tightened his grip on it. Hermione merely stared at the impossibility occurring in front of her, her mouth imitating a mute goldfish.

Harry spied Daphne who had left earlier, crouching nervously at the foot of the stairs. He caught her attention and motioned for her to go upstairs. She appeared to hesitate for some time, but catching the meaningful look that Harry sent her, understood what he was asking her to do. It made sense to her, now that she thought about it. Hermione's parents were Muggles, and to be quite honest, the three teenagers currently in the household were much more capable of handling whatever had made that noise, whether it be a stray cat or something much more sinister. Daphne could understand herself over-reacting to this situation, considering that she expected her parents to pull something like this off, but she wondered, 'Why was Harry reacting the same as her? Was he expecting something like this occurring? Was there more to their disappearance than simple fitness training? ' Her mind was plagued with such thoughts as she quietly made her way upstairs, ready to intercept Hermione's parents. She was startled, and nearly jumped up n fright as she heard the doorbell ring. Multiple times.

(Break)

Downstairs, Harry had made his way towards the pool, putting his years of experience of sneaking around, both at Hogwarts and before with the Dursleys had only been improved by his recently heightened senses. Straining his ears to catch the barest of sounds, he approached the open area cautiously, darting his eyes all over, looking for the barest of disturbances. He was so startled by the ringing of the bell that he barely stifled the scream of surprise erupting from his mouth, he turned around, his back facing the open area of the pool. He immediately recognized his folly, and just in time too. His eyes widened as he saw a shadowy figure holding out a wand pointing directly at his person. He immediately ducked back into the hallway. His eyes searching for Hermione, making sure that she was not in immediate danger. Taking a few steadying breaths, he waited.

(Break)

Hermione watched Harry approach the pool, her mind still trying to make sure whether what she saw earlier had indeed happened, or she had simply imagined it. Harry had, as she saw it; performed intentional Wandless Magic. It was supposed to be impossible for someone so young to perform it. It too years upon years of practice and familiarizing yourself with the feel of your magic, to perform even the barest of spells. Harry had just started feeling his magic 2 weeks ago! She shook her head to calm her rampaging mind, and concentrated on the matter at hand. She was more relaxed that Harry was, she had lived here for years and such sounds while rare were not that uncommon. It was most probably a street cat that had fumbled its fall. But considering Harry's luck, it wouldn't be such a simple matter. She was jolted out of her thoughts at the insistent ringing of the doorbell.

She turned around; her wand gripped tightly in her hand and made her way to the front door. Looking through the peephole, she saw two figures, a relatively young Witch and a tall, black Wizard. She immediately recognized the robes they were wearing as the standard garb of the Aurors of the DMLE. She recognized it from the various brochures that she had with her about prospective Ministry Jobs; which, she mused were now obsolete. Still gripping her wand, she schooled her expression to one of tiredness, and opened the door warily.

"Good evening, Miss-" Started the Dark skinned wizard, before he was interrupted by his partner.

"Hermione . . . ? Is that you?" the young witch asked excitedly. She seemed to be looking at her intently, as if trying to place where she had seen her before.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Hermione asked, her tone guarded. Events were spiraling out of control here. First Harry's wave of magic, then the disturbance in the pool area, and now Aurors at her house!

"Ah, I was a Ravenclaw until your . . . second year." Tonks said, after calculating the age difference a bit. "I'm a friend of Harry's, he mentioned you quite often. It's a shame we never met. Tonks." She said holding out her hand in greeting. Hermione heard Tonks's partner huff in exasperation.

"A pleasure, how can I help you?" Hermione asked.

"We are here to investigate a Magical anomaly that occurred in this area. Could you please elaborate on this?" Tonks's partner, who still hadn't introduced himself to Hermione asked. Hermione was busy wracking her brains for a plausible excuse, but was spared from trying to explain the situation as a distorted voice spoke up from behind the two Aurors.

"I believe I can explain that . . ."

(Break)

Harry concentrated hard on finding the person that was somewhere in the pool area, suddenly almost as if his magic was clicking much like the mechanisms of a complex watch, shifted into place and he could feel that there was no longer anyone there. How he was sure he couldn't point out, but he could distinctly feel the presence of the other inhabitants of the house. There were three upstairs, and surprisingly four of them at the place where Harry thought the door was. Though he could barely feel the presence of the fourth person.

'What the hell is going on over here?' Harry thought to himself. He was getting used to feeling his magic, and yet his magic was doing things on its own, with barely a thought. What was more frustrating was that it didn't help in his spell casting at all.

Leaving his musings for later consideration, Harry walked towards the pool and examined the area. HE couldn't find the person, as he had expected, and after casting a last sweeping glance, went towards the three extra people in the Granger household.

(Break)

Kingsley Shacklebolt considered himself to be a very cool, collected, and calm guy. There wasn't much that could get a strong reaction out of him. His new Partner, Tonks could sometimes get under his skin with her bubbly personality, but he was a man that respected power, and ability. As such, Nymphadora had his grudging respect. She was a rookie Auror, but had graduated early from the Auror academy, with top grades. He would have never consented to be her partner if it weren't for the fact that she was pretty damn good at what she did. He only resented the fact that she was usually able to get a rise out of him. Some people thought of him as emotionless, he preferred to think that he was merely more observant, enabling him to react calmly to any situation.

"I believe I can explain that . . ."

That calmness went flying out the window as soon as he heard someone speak from directly behind him. He recognized the distorted voice. It was a simple spell really, it masked the voice of the speaker, and anyone who heard the voice would think that it was numerous voices echoing together, but still perfectly audible and surprisingly clear. Everyone knew of the spell, but, none could perform it. It was a closely guarded secret of the Department Of Mysteries, or more specifically The Order. It was a sound that he had only heard once before in his life, during the last War.

He knew that technically, he wasn't supposed to be privy to the existence of the Order, but to those individuals that were part of the resistance against Voldemort, it was the worst kept secret. He mused that this was deliberate. Rumors were a powerful thing, and Voldemort was a particularly skillful manipulator of them. The Order had worked steadily and worked up the same reputation that the Death Eaters of Voldemort had. Just as the sight of Death Eaters induced panic among the general populace, so did the Order among the Death Eaters. 'But, it doesn't make sense, The Order was personally wiped out by Voldemort himself, there were no members left.' Kingsley thought

He turned slowly, nervousness building in his stomach. It would be only his second time encountering them, but it was something that he wasn't going to forget soon. The figure was fairly tall, and fully clad in black. From the boots to the gloves to the cloak, everything was of the same shade of black, giving the impersonation of a shadow. The face was hidden by a swirling darkness that was impossible to penetrate through, hiding the person's face from view. The cloak was plainly adorned with a silver zipper and seemingly pointless silver beaded pull strings for the hood, making a semi-circle in the middle, connected by a relatively thicker links of chain. The zipper was partially opened at the top and bottom, revealing that the person standing in front of his was a female and wore knee high boots, with silver edges and black tights above them. All in all, she imposed a very intimidating figure.

He was so distracted by her appearance that he was too late to warn Tonks to stand down.

Tonks for her part was freaked out by the person's sudden appearance, and she reacted without thinking. She flicked her wrist in a practiced motion and spoke purposefully.

"Stupefy"

She was confident that her spell would hit, there wasn't much of a distance separating them, and she believed that she was quick enough to surprise her. She was too distracted to take note of the faint prickling at the back of her mind.

She thought wrong.

Her spell had barely left her wand, before it smashed harmlessly against a glowing, solid silver shield with blue colored runes splattered throughout it. She stared in disbelief for a fraction of a second, but before she could cast another spell, Kingsley's voice rang out.

"Tonks! Stand down!" he commanded.

"Nice reflexes girl, but underestimating an enemy will not end well for you." The woman spoke, her voice sounding amused, which coupled with the tone sounded downright freaky.

"Hermione, call Harry. It's time for an impromptu lesson."

(Chapter End)

A/N:- I Dunoo if I got the description of the cloaks correct, but if any of you have trouble visualizing it, just Google Organization XII Cloaks. Anyway, the plot will start to pick up pace after the next Chapter.