A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 15; The Order

Two weeks later; San Francisco Social Service

James stood behind his desk at work with an open report on his desk, an abuse case. He was due to meet the child for the first time in the morning. The girl, Annette, had already been removed from her older cousins care and he convicted for rape and bodily harm. She was coming in this afternoon so he could get a scope of the mental damage done and give his own opinion on her treatment.

He looked up as Kevin walked in with three more card enclosed folders. James turned down the music playing from a small hi-fi system on a nearby shelf that had been playing some rather loud music, a common sound from his office throughout the day. "What's up Kevin?" James asked seeing that there was something other than the normal discussion of files on the tip of his assistants tongue.

"Chris called," Kevin told him, "He said he cant meet you for lunch, a family emergency. Paige left work too."

"Oh right, doesn't matter." James sighed as he pulled out his seat and sat down rubbing at his head slightly.

"How can you say that?" Kevin blurted out, "It's the third time he done this in two weeks. By anyone else's that's twice too many."

"I'm not going to come between him and his family, Kevin." James told him without looking up from rubbing his temples. He'd been getting headaches ever since the Dementors had come into the city, he knew it was only a lingering effect and that it would fade in a few more days since they had left, along with the Alcatraz Dementors, three days ago after having swept the city.

"Do you actually think it is his family?" Kevin asked slightly more gently this time.

"I trust him, Kev." James said with a sigh. "He has a big family and they are always getting into trouble." James grinned up at Kevin to show that he was being serious.

"How about we go out for lunch then?" Kevin asked.

"I didn't think you were into that sort of thing, Kev." James said with a smirk.

"I'm not thank you. I'm just taking pity on you." Kevin told him with an identical smirk.

Half an hour later they were saying goodbye to Courtney and leaving a message with her for Paige about where they were if they were needed. James drove them in his Toyota to a small café near the centre of the city and parked nearby. It was where they would have been in any rate and since James had made a reservation in his name he might as well use it. They sat down in the outside section in the sun before they started chatting about their own lives.

They avoided anything to do with work since they both had time to talk about that within working hours, instead Kevin told him about what his girlfriend had been doing. She was an accountant with the city, they had met during a meeting that Kevin had sat through about the centres budget discussions. If James was honest with himself he didn't really like her, he had met her once and had found her rather controlling but Kevin seemed to like her and that was good enough for James.

They had just had their food brought to them when James heard an unnervingly familiar voice. A voice that he hated beyond many others. The sarcastic tone that just oozed contempt cut straight through the dozens of conversations there. James flicked his eyes to his right and not ten feet from his sat Severus Snape. Professor of potions at Hogwarts and spy for the Order of the Phoenix.

James could just see his expression as Snape's eyes met his own and a smug smirk spread across his features. The dark coldness of the courtroom sent shivers down James' back. He shut his eyes and turned his head away to avoid that loathing look.

"James!" Kevin snapped at him, bringing him from his courtroom memories before continuing in a gentler tone. "Are you ok? You've gone really pale."

"Far be it from me to tell you how to do your job, though if you cant even subdue a fourteen year old girl for questioning." The familiar voice drawled and James felt the blood drain from his face. With every Café in San Francisco how had they ended up at the same way. He ignored Kevin's questions again and turned his head so that the Potions Master couldn't see his face.

"I'm a Curse Breaker, Snape!" This was said in a quiet whisper but James' Animagus enhanced hearing picked it up anywayHe felt a warm bubbling in his chest as he recognised the voice as Bill Weasley. "Dumbledore didn't send me as fighter. I'm here to make sure you don't bugger up and set any wards off."

James risked a glance and saw Bill's back as well as the familiar faces of Charlie and Hermione. There was also two there that James didn't know. James knew he should be getting out of there but he needed to know what they were doing here.

"We're also not supposed to be attacking them at all, Professor Snape." Hermione told her old professor with a controlled expression.

"If they know where Potter is then we should do everything we need to find the Bastard, even if it means capturing a little girl and forcing it out of her." One of the unknowns said. James felt his blood run cold, they were looking for him. "If you knew how to fight properly we'd have her by now and know where that Potter brat is."

"How was I supposed to know we were fighting a faked image?" Bill snapped.

"We're also not here to find Harry." Charlie pointed out with a cold tone of voice. "We're here to find out why the Death Eaters are here and to find help against the Demons."

James had pushed his luck and this time it wasn't in a good way. Charlie looked up as a waiter walked passed and his eyes widened slightly as he saw James. James tore his head away in panic and saw Kevin looking at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, Kevin, we need to go. James pulled his wallet and placed a twenty dollar bill on the table to cover the food before he stood. With Kevin beside him he left the courtyard and got out of sight of the group of Wizards. He didn't even look back to check whether Charlie had told them he was there. He hoped that the man who had personally brought the news of Remus' death to him inside Azkaban would overlook his presence.

God he hoped so, he didn't want to have to give up the life that he had here. He was subdued as he drove back to work with Kevin in the passenger seat and even all the way back to his office. "I'm sorry about that, Kev."

"What was that all about?" He sounded irritated but not overly annoyed. Everyone at the centre was used to James' slight eccentricities and James also knew that most wondered about his past. The most popular theory was that he had once been the perfect candidate for the treatments he gave out.

"My headaches got worse." James lied using something that Kevin had been worried about for the last two weeks. "I felt really sick."

"It's ok. Just warn me next time." Kevin sighed. "Have you seen a Doctor yet?"

"I told you, Wyatt took me in, they'll fade in time." James laughed before he pulled out two cans of coke from a draw in his desk and chucked one at his assistant. They sat for a little while in silence for the rest of their hour lunch break and luckily having eaten enough at the Café before they were interrupted they didn't need more food.

"Annette should be arriving soon." Kevin said as he glanced up at the clock.

"Did you want to sit in?" James asked. "I'll log it as experience for your course."

Kevin smiled widely and nodded.

XOXOXOXOXOX

James switched on his flat's light and summoned the tome from his bedroom and into his hand. He flipped it open as he mulled over the information he had heard from the Wizards at the Café. They had tried to capture a fourteen year old girl who had produced a fake version of herself. Chris and Paige had both bailed for a family emergency. That could only mean that Anna, Chris' Astral Projecting little sister, had been attacked by them.

James wanted to know why they had targeted her, especially if it wasn't to capture him. Why was the Order of the Phoenix targeting the Halliwells? James knew the perfect way to find out. Charlie already knew he was here after all. He flipped open the centre if the book, placed his hands on it and concentrated on Rune sequences that would summon somebody to him.

He had been slowly learning from the book, he spent all of his spare time pouring through the lessens that the book gave him. He was either at work, with Chris or reading the book, and even some of the evenings he spent with Chris he read the book. It had slowly taught him Runes for different spells, using the spells to steadily build his knowledge of different Runes and how to draw them reliably. It was the perfect way for him to learn.

He opened his eyes and skimmed the intro to the Rune sequence. Not only was it far beyond his capability but it also needed James to know Charlie's personal Rune. It was useless to him.

James shut the book with a snap. "Gemma!" He called out. He didn't have to wait long before orbs filled the middle of the room and he was looking at his Whitelighter. He hadn't called for her before because he was still rather peeved at her for lying to him and was also slightly unnerved that somebody had known all along who and what he was and never admitted it.

She wore casual jeans and a blouse. "What's the matter, James?"

"There is a group of Wizards in the city." James told her. "Can you find them?"

"We know where they are, the Elders are watching them." Gemma admitted. "I don't know where they are personally and the Elders have forbidden us from exposing ourselves to them."

"So you wont take me to them?" James surmised.

"I'm really sorry, James." Gemma looked contrite enough that James took pity on her.

"It's not your fault." James told her.

"I might suggest you using your Wicca powers though. They can do much if you use the right wording." Gemma told him.

"You mean the spell that Chris taught me?" James asked.

"I didn't tell you that, officially we're not allowed to let our charges involved themselves with these Wizards." Gemma told him with a self satisfied smirk before she exploded into orbs and vanished into the ceiling.

James smirked before he banished the Tome of Runes back into his room and turned to the centre of the room. He braced himself for the action that would end his self imposed exile. His once chance at a new life.

He did what Chris told him he pictured everything he could remember about Charlie Weasley and focused his magic on him.

"Power of the Witches Rise,

Course unseen across the sky,

Come to us, we call you near,

Come to us and settle here."

For a few seconds he thought it had failed until a group of dull lights began to form in the middle of his room before becoming denser and forming that of the second eldest son of Molly and Arthur Weasley.

Charlie looked up from Hermione's trembling body as she sobbed and met James' eye as he was yanked backwards by the two Auror's and led to his doom.

"Harry!?" Charlie croaked in shock and James pulled himself back together shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the bad memory. What was he becoming? He'd had two of these waking memories in one day and whilst not as bad after the Dementor episode two weeks ago they were still irritating him, not to mention rather upsetting. "Dear Merlin, it was you I saw!"

James met Charlie's eyes before looking him over. He was wearing simple mortal clothing which actually fitted with current mortal fashions, jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt that was obviously to hide his wand in. Said wand however was in his hand and even if it was only loosely in front of him it was still in a position that he could attack with.

James called up his Wicca magic and willing it into action he tore the wand from Charlie's fingers and summoned it towards him, he side stepped to dodge the oncoming wand since any contact with a focus like that would trigger the searching spells the Order, Ministry and Death Eaters were using on him. He heard it clatter against the wall behind him and fall to the ground as his magic receded.

"Charlie." James finally greeted, his voice soft but formal. Even if Charlie had held a sobbing Hermione at the trial and come to tell him of Remus' death it didn't mean he should be trusted, especially since he had information on his whereabouts and could end his nice life here in a few seconds.

Charlie's bright eyes dimmed ever so slightly as he realised James wasn't the same person as he used to be. "You've changed Harry."

James barked out a laugh but relaxed slightly seeing the concern in Charlie's face. "So I have Charlie, though what did you expect." James smiled slightly. "What are you doing in San Francisco?"

"Dumbledore sent us." Charlie admitted. "Snape heard from some Death Eaters that this was where You-Know-Who found his Demon allies. You know about them right?"

"I've had a few run-ins with them." James shrugged.

"Dumbledore wants us to find allies against the Demons." Charlie told him.

"And that's why you attacked a fourteen year old girl at school?" James asked with contempt though it wasn't directed at Charlie and Charlie knew it.

"How do you know about that?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

"Why else do you think I hung about at that Café after I heard Snape's cursed voice?" James snarled at the memory of his voice. "You think I wanted to be caught by that git!?"

"Oh right. I didn't tell him by the way." Charlie sighed, running his hands through his red hair. "I didn't tell 'Mione either."

"'Mione?" James raised an eyebrow before he remembered the way Charlie had held her at the trial. "You two? How long?" His voice took on a cold edge.

"Since the summer you were framed." Charlie told him. "Hermione was staying with us for the summer and we got really close. I asked he out three days before you were arrested, we never got the chance to tell you. I'm really sorry."

"Are you happy together?" James asked.

Charlie raised his hand to show a wedding band. "We got married just over a year ago. On your birthday actually. 'Mione's idea."

James smiled at him. "As long as you are both happy." James told him. "Are you going to be able to keep my presence here a secret from her?"

"I don't know, it was hard enough today." Charlie admitted. "She really misses you. Bill, George, Fred and I had to convince her not to plea for your freedom in the first place. It hurt us all to stop her trying to please your innocence."

"You did the right thing, nobody would have listened to her or any of you." James shook his head. "Ron, himself, tried to arrest me not a month ago even when I was being attacked by Voldemort."

"We heard about that from him. He said you were helping Voldemort to kill a building full of Muggles." Charlie told him.

"It figures he wouldn't notice that I was bleeding with a massive head injury." James sighed.

"How did you get away?" Charlie asked.

"I have a few friends here that helped me." James said in a tone that stopped any further questions on them. "When will you leave here?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked in confusion.

"You attacked a witch here. If I've learnt anything about this place since I moved here it's that if you do that you might as well sign your own death warrant." James told him. "You're dealing with magic you cant understand. Potent magic."

"Cant you help us then?" Charlie asked. "You've fought demons before and won haven't you?"

"I would no sooner help those that betrayed me then I would cut off my own foot." James snapped. "If you tell Hermione I'm here at least tell her that she wont be able to find me and that I wish above anything that she is happy. Look after her."

"Of course." Charlie told him knowing that the argument was lost. If he was in 'Harry's' shoes he would do the same thing.

"And Charlie, know that if any of you keep attacking Witches here like this morning I'll put a stop to it and you don't want that." James told him sternly before raising his hand and sending his guest's wand flying back towards him, showing what in all appearances was Wandless magic. "Also, don't ever believe that Remus killed himself. Draco Malfoy killed him during his initiation. I heard that from the bastard himself."

"I'll let Hermione know if I can." Charlie sighed.

"Thanks Charlie, for everything." James said before he hugged the man in a brief show of emotion before stepping away to let him apparate.

Charlie concentrated for a second before shaking his head in irritation. "I cant apparate. I don't know where I am." Charlie shook his head to shake off the effect of aborted apparition. "How did you bring me here?"

"Let's just say that I've learnt a few things in my time here." James smirked. "Do you know where Golden Gate Recreation Park is?"

Charlie nodded so James gripped his arm and apparated them both across the City and to a large park on the seaward side of the City centre. They appeared in a crop of trees and Charlie hugged James quickly before getting his bearings with a glance at the city rising above them and he disappeared with a crack. James shook his head and apparated out.

Time to chew out his boyfriend.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Halliwell Manor

James appeared in the attic of his boyfriend's family manor with a small pop and heard a yelp. He frowned, the family was used to his appearances by now and weren't shocked anymore. It had only taken four vases exploding thanks to Wyatt or Piper's trigger happy hands to learn that particular lesson.

He glanced around. There was Piper and Leo behind the Book of Shadows with Phoebe sitting on the window seat behind them with Anna who looked rather pale. Wyatt and Chris were sat on a sofa with their sixteen year old sister, Prue, between them. They wall looked at him in irritation though Chris looked rather pleased to see him. He saw Chris' eyes flicker behind him briefly and turned to see a rather confused looking mortal standing next to Paige and Phoebe's husband, Coup.

James spread out his Wicca magic and watched as the shocked looking mortal's eyes drooped and he collapsed gracefully to the ground sound asleep.

"What did you do!?" Paige gasped as she caught him.

"I put him to sleep." James pointed out calmly.

"You cant just apparate in here whenever you feel like, James!" Wyatt grumbled.

"Like it matters!" James said as he realised the obvious. "You're showing him the Book of Shadows."

"So why did you put him to sleep?" Piper asked with a raised eyebrow.

James shrugged. "Habit?"

"Could you wake him up?" Paige asked from behind him.

"Probably." James told her and heard Chris snort and saw Paige give him a stern look. James lifted a finger and traced a simple Rune he'd learnt from the Tome. It glowed with white fire for a second before darting across the room and settling in the mortals chest. He jerked up as soon as the Energy Rune sunk through his clothes and his hand went to his waist.

"Don't worry, Darrel." Paige assured him. "He's a friend."

"Ok then." The mortal, Darrell, drew the words out in disbelief.

"James, this is Darrell." Chris stood to introduce them. "He's helped us out a lot, especially before Wyatt and I were born. Darrell this is James, he's a Wizard."

"You mean like an evil Wizard?" The obvious police officer asked.

"Evil!" James scoffed. "You think they'd let me in here if I was? Speaking of which." He rounded on his boyfriend. "Care to explain why you ditched me for lunch?"

"We had an emergency." Chris said defensively.

"Oh right!" James laughed. "Like Anna being attacked by six Wizards whilst at school?"

"How did you know about that?" Piper asked with a frown dreading it being public knowledge.

"I wouldn't if you had thought to warn me that some of the people that betrayed me and locked me up in prison were in the city. That way I wouldn't have almost been caught by them!" James snapped.

"You're a felon?" Darrell murmured. James ignored him.

"As it is one of them saw me. Luckily he believes I'm innocent so my life here isn't completely over." James lost his snappish expression and deflated somewhat. "You should have come to me the instant you realised that they were Wizards. Not left me high and dry on my own."

"I'm sorry, James. We didn't think." Chris tried to close the gap but James just took a step backwards to warn him off. Chris frowned.

"I'm not a weakling that has to be protected."

"We're only trying to protect you." Chris pointed out.

"Then you should tell me this stuff, not keep me in the dark!" James glared.

"Ease up, James." Wyatt joined in with a glare. "Chris wanted to tell you."

James returned his glare whole heartedly but allowed Chris to come up beside his and draw him into a hug. James turned to the mortal. "Yes, I'm an escaped convict but I was framed."

"Right…?" Darrell drew the word out again.

"He's telling the truth, Darrell." Chris told him sternly tightening his arm around James' waist ever so slightly.

"Ok, ok." Darrell laughed as he raised his arms in surrender. "I wont tell anyone."

"So what do you know about these Wizards?" Piper asked to draw the topic back on track.

James pushed down the sarcastic reply that came to mind. "There are only six of them here. Members of the Order of the Phoenix who fight against Voldemort. They are here to look for allies against the Demon threat."

"They're going about it the wrong way then." Wyatt snorted.

"That's Snape for you." James scoffed. "I know four of them personally. The three younger ones believe in my innocence, one was my best friend at school. They're the two red heads and the woman. The tall, greasy haired git is an old professor of mine called Snape. He's hated everything about me since before I ever met him. The other two I don't know though they seem to side with Snape in attacking Anna."

Piper stared. "Why do you think they are here?"

"They want allies against the Demons, like I said." James sighed. "By the way, Anna, good work." James smiled at the girl for her Astral Projecting skills.

She grinned back weakly and James felt his blood boil ever so slightly, they'd really scared her. A girl that had grown up around Demons had been frightened. "How do you know that?" Leo asked.

"I summoned one of them to chat." James shrugged.

"You what!?" Chris yelped, "You shouldn't have done that without us."

"Don't start." James sighed. "I trust Charlie. He's going to try to end their little trip without drawing attention to me but I've got a suggestion."

"What's that?" Piper asked sceptically.

"I warned him that there was a powerful group of witches here that protected the witches in San Francisco." James smirked. "And that if they attacked witches here then they would be driven out."

"You want us to attack them?" Phoebe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it sounds selfish but the longer they are the higher the chance of them picking up my magical signature." James sighed. "And there's also the point that if they find you you'll be exposed to my world and you don't want that."

"Didn't your Whitelighter say that we're going to end up involved no matter what?" Paige pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'd rather you were ready when that time comes." James sighed again. He was getting another headache.

"In any case, we'd run them out anyway. We've already scryed them in a cabin just to the south of the City." Piper told him. "We were going to go soon. Are you going to come with us?"

"I haven't got the hang of changing my appearance yet, but if you can change it for me then I'll introduce the Wizards to a Rune Master." James said with a smirk that made them smile at him with glints in their eyes.

"It'll help make a point that their own magic is protecting us." Leo pointed out.

"If you don't mind me staying here tonight then I will put up the wards that I've been working on. Or at least start them." James told them. "Like I said before they'll be obvious to anyone that is trained but the Wizards will know who you are eventually and the Demons would have already told Voldemort who you are and where you live."

"Anything you can do will be appreciated." Piper nodded. "Chris, why don't you take James downstairs and give him a new look while we make some potions?"

"Sure, mom." Chris smirked down at James with a devilish look on his face.

"Remember you're only scaring them." James narrowed his eyes playfully at Piper. "Though as long as the red heads and the girl don't get hurt you can do what you like."

Chris led James down the attic stairs and into the shared room that Wyatt and Chris used when they stayed there. James stopped in the middle of the room rather self consciously as Chris studied him carefully.

"What?" James snapped as Chris frowned.

"I don't want to change you." Chris went rather red and James laughed. "I like you this way."

"Just do it already, Chris." James smiled at him before pecking him on the lips.

"Can I keep your eyes the way they are?" Chris asked.

"Sure, I like them this way." James nodded. Chris concentrated briefly before muttering a spell under his breath. James felt a tingle as magic ran over his body before it settled. Chris glanced him over before grinning.

"I changed your hair colour and hid your scar but I kept everything the same." Chris admitted blushing slightly at the insinuation.

"Maybe we can check on that later?" James stepped forwards into Chris' personal space and placed a lingering kiss on his neck. He felt Chris' arms come up and wrap around his waist. James pulled back slightly before placing a long kiss on Chris' lips. He smiled up at his boyfriend as they pulled apart and then spun his Chris' arms to face the full length mirror.

He wore simple black jeans and a red long-sleeved t-shirt to hide the scars on his arm, a useful choice in this situation since Snape might recognise the knife and fang scar on his arm. His hair had been lengthened slightly and straightened so that it hung about his ears and had become a dark brown colour that complimented his green eyes. James fingered the fringe and was satisfied that Chris' magic could hide the scar on his forehead. He smiled gratefully up at Chris in the mirror. It wasn't much of a change but it had been three years since he had seen any of them and such a subtle change was all that would be needed to throw anyone off.

"Let's go find out if your brother's blown up the attic yet." James laughed. It was common knowledge that Chris was much better at Potions than his brother who was constantly blowing up anything he tried to make. So much so that he was banned from making any without supervision. James commented on it briefly to pamper Chris' sense of confidence.

James led his taller boyfriend out by his hand and back up to the attic just as the potion they were making puffed happily to show it was finished. A trait that James had had to get used to. He had given Chris all of the potions that he could remember and had even managed to make a few but the ingredients were very rare without the magical creatures about.

The mortal police inspector had left already and Prue and Anna were gone, probably to join their cousins. "That look suits you, James." Paige told him with a smile.

"Is that going to be enough to trick them?" Piper asked sceptically.

"It should be, they haven't seen me since I was sixteen and I've changed a lot since then. Charlie might recognised me since he saw me earlier and Hermione might work it out if she gets a close enough look but neither will point it out." James assured them.

"Do you want a potion?" Phoebe asked from near the table. Chris held up a hand and took three and passed one to James who shrugged in acceptance.

"What does it do?" James asked as he eyed the purple liquid carefully.

"Temporarily binds magic." Chris told him after studying it himself for a second. He really was good at potions.

"Are you sure it'll work against Wizards?" James asked them all.

Phoebe shrugged. "Only way we'd know that for sure would be to test it on you." She told him with a grin. "But I doubt you'd want that."

"Are we ready then?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, do you want someone to orb you, James, or do you want to apparate?" Piper asked as she stepped up to a forming group readying themselves to leave.

"I think I'll apparate over first. Make the point I'm a Rune Master." James thought for a second. "How about you follow in about two minutes? I want to threaten them a but first."

"You want to threaten them?" Wyatt gave him a confused look.

James smirked evilly. "Think of it as payback." James looked at the map laid out on the table and Piper pointed to the site they'd found the Wizards.

James accepted the quick peck on the cheek from Chris and the warning to stay safe before he traced a protective Rune in the air in front of him. It blazed briefly before fading from sight. He apparated with a small pop.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Small cabin near San Francisco

James appeared with a loud crack that made the six occupants of the room jump into action. He instantly noticed their locations. Hermione, Bill and Charlie were standing by the window whilst Snape and the two unknown Order members were sitting at a table. To Snape's credit the first thing he did was vanish the table and chairs to prevent them getting in the way of a fight before he levelled his wand at him.

"Expelliarmus!" One of the unknown men snapped out. James didn't even flinch as the spell hit him and faded from existence. James held his hands out to the side. The disarming curse didn't do anything to somebody without a weapon.

"Incarcerous!" Snape spoke firmly and ropes shot from his wand. James fed power into his recently drawn Rune and it took form in front of him, flaring outwards it destroyed the incoming ropes and knocked all six off balance.

James glared at Snape before he saw a rather nervous Charlie draw his wand. He sketched a quick Rune in front of him and a blast of light lit the room. When it faded Hermione and one of the unknown Wizards were disarmed. James couldn't help but be impressed. The spell was a simple one that distracted the enemy as it tried to disarm them.

"A Rune Master!?" Snape cried in shock.

"Yes, A Rune Master." James snarled. "You attacked a girl in this City. I have fought against Evil my whole life yet they have never decided on such an action. Leave San Francisco and return to England now or I will show you out."

"We're here to offer an alliance." One of the unknowns spoke up confidently stepping forwards.

"I have neither need or want for an alliance with you. I am allied with the Charmed Ones, Wicca Witches, of who's family you attacked this morning." James snarled as he etched another Rune into the air, it lingered for a few seconds, as it burnt first white and then a sickly blood red colour.

"Stupefy!" Snape snapped sending the stunning curse at him, obviously deciding that he could capture him and then force an alliance out of him. James called up his Wicca magic to form a shield like the one he had used at the motel. The spell bounced back and Snape just managed to dodge it.

"Fool!" James snapped just as orbs filled the air behind him. James activated the Rune just as Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt and Chris appeared. The Rune coalesced into a beam of black light and streaked across the room. Snape tried to raise a shield but the Rune magic shattered it with little effort. James was presented with a shocked look just as the slashing Rune cut through his shoulder, sending blood into the wall behind him.

A telekinetic wave blasted his three friends backwards into the wall though James knew that Chris was holding back as not to harm James' old friends. A spell hit Piper in the side as she dodged and a cut appeared through her shirt. Wyatt responded by sending an explosion at the Wizard. Blood sprayed from the mans hand as his wand exploded.

The last Wizard standing, the one that had tried to disarm him first of all, stared in shock. James focused on him and smelt the air using his Panther senses. "We fight evil here, if people attack us we show them their mistakes. You stink of dark magic!" James growled. A Rune formed at the tip of his fingers and blasted the man backwards into the wall and into unconsciousness. A couple of extra Runes drafted into the air and Snape and the last unknown Wizard followed him.

James stared around the room as Wyatt helped his mother. Paige and Phoebe kept an eye on the three crouched by the window.

"Who are you?" Bill spoke up.

"They are the ones you were sent to befriend. I am someone you offended. Or at least they offended." James said as he gestured at Snape. Charlie gave him a knowing look and James knew he had realised who he was. "We wont condone actions like your within this City, tell whoever commands you that if we see any of you again we'll take more drastic measures to protect ourselves."

"We'll leave." Hermione stuttered looking rather scared. James softened his expression slightly.

"As long as you know you are a force of good you will be happy." James muttered cryptically. He knew the words didn't make much sense, it was something he had told himself whilst in Azkaban and something he had spoken to Hermione in their second year when people had believed him to be evil. He knew she wouldn't get the reference at the moment but eventually she would put the clues together.

James allowed Chris to orb him from the room and the attic of the Halliwell Manor came into focus around him. He sagged against Chris with a sigh before he grinned up at him. "That was fun!"

"Fun!?" Piper gasped.

"Yeah, I needed that. Snape was so smug when they carted me off, it felt good to wipe that look off of his face." James laughed and Chris pressed his chin into his newly brown hair.

"I'm going to get a start on dinner, I take it you're eating here, James?" Piper put in.

"If that's ok with you?" James said, suddenly rather sheepish having never actually been to dinner with them since he had Chris had officially become a couple just under two weeks ago.

"Of course, you are staying the night after all." Piper pointed out just as Paige and Phoebe vanished to their homes and Wyatt went to pick up his two younger sisters and Leo walked in.

"I'll get started in those wards, it'll take some time, at least tonight to put up the basic parts, but it'll give you at least a little defence and a warning." James said.

"Did everything go ok then?" Leo asked.

"I think we scared them enough." Chris smirked. "I think James here got a bit over zealous."

"He deserved it." James mumbled a deep growl emitting from his chest courtesy of his panther Animagus form. "Oh, once Wyatt gets back, absolutely no magic transport or magic of any kind whilst I'm working on the wards."

"Why not?" Chris asked more out of curiosity then complaint since unlike his brother he barely used magic in his everyday life.

"It'll muck with my Rune magic and destabilize everything." James informed them. "Where's the most central place in the house?"

"Probably the smaller bathroom connected to the hall and the boys' room." Leo said after a moment. "Do you need it more accurately than that?"

"No, that's close enough." James said as he followed Piper out of the room with Chris and Leo behind him. "I'm going to need a knife though, preferably sharp."

Piper span on him when they were in the hallway with a suspicious look. "Why?"

"I need to anchor the outer boundaries of the ward and I can only do that with my blood." James told her rather stubbornly.

She thought about this for a time. "As long as you let Chris watch and heal you if needed."

"It wont take that much blood." James protested but seeing how she wasn't going to budge on the subject he nodded.

"I'll get you a knife from the kitchen." Piper sighed. "Chris, you watch him."

"Yes, mom." Chris stammered with an apologetic look at James who just smirked at him playfully. They made a quick detour to the kitchen where James took the offered knife from Piper before he walked into the back garden.

"What I'm going to do is walk the perimeter of the house placing drops of my blood at no more than metre intervals. This method of grounding wards is the most potent but also rather illegal." James explained as he pulled up his sleeve and readied himself.

"Illegal?" Chris sounds rather shocked.

"According to my Tome the ministry outlawed all magic involving blood, even willingly given, because of its potency." James explained before jerking the knife across his palm making Chris wince. James clenched his fist tightly to control the flow before he set out around the fence explaining as he went. "When I set up the wards it takes a lot of concentration to control the span of the wards. You have to constantly pull them in or push them out to the desired size. If I did that they would be weaker because of the variation and I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the overall perfection of it."

"What will they do?" Chris asked to pull his own attention away from the dripping blood.

"The first set will be a control and detection set. They'll activate if somebody tries to travel through them magically. Or if someone with malicious intent tries to walk through them." James explained patiently. "They wont stop somebody powerful but it might slow them down. Once I add more of the sequences they'll become more powerful. I can then add personal attributes. Traps, warnings, and loopholes."

"Loopholes?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"The wards will prevent any magical attack on the house and any magical intrusion, including our own. If somebody managed to gain entry somehow it would also protect you from magic." James told him.

"I don't see how you'd need a loophole in that?" Chris pointed out.

James smirked at him. "How often does Wyatt orb here rather than drive? Imagine what he'd say if I forced him to drive or even walk?" James laughed helping Chris' inferiority complex slightly.

"So it would prevent us from orbing in?" Chris asked slowly coming to his way of thinking.

"Not only that, it would prevent you from orbing out or from minor magic from effecting you within." James pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to use magic on each other for example. The wards would react against it. You could heal your mom for example or cast spells on one another. Change your appearance. And so on."

"So…?" Chris prompted.

"You remember when I was teaching you to find your magical core and use it to power your mental defences?" James asked. "Something that I hope you, Matt and Jason are still working on?"

"Yeah, I remember and we are." Chris defended himself and his cousins.

James smiled at him placatingly even as he finished the rectangle of his blood. "I used Rune magic the Tome taught me to learn you personal Rune. With it I can cast specific spells on you, search for you or in this case allow your magic to pass unaffected through the wards."

"So you do that with the others and let us have free reign?" Chris asked as he placed a hand in James and healed him before tugging him slowly back into the house.

"I've already learnt Matt and Jason's and as I teach the others I'll be able to do the same with theirs. I can enter the Runes into the ward and they'll allow the loopholes." James told him. "I'll also teach Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt and you how to temporarily add somebody to that in case of emergencies where I'm not around."

"What about you? Will you need to add your own Rune?" Chris asked out of curiosity.

"The wards will be full of my own magic and signature, they wont have any effect on me." James told him with a small smile as they accepted drinks from Piper in the kitchen. "They wont do that kind of thing for about a week yet. It'll take me most of the week to build them up to that point and another week or so after that to get them to full power but after that, they'll be impregnable. Even more so than my old school."

"That's always reassuring." Piper joined the conversation. "Wyatt, Prue and Anna are back by the way and I've told them, no magic at all until you say so."

"Bet Wyatt was pleased with that." Chris scoffed. James slapped his arm playfully.

"Speaking of protection." James changed the subject. "I was wondering Piper, with Charlie knowing I'm here and word of a Rune Master going to reach my old Headmaster soon, could I leave the Tome of Runes up with the Book of Shadows?"

"That's fine, dear." Piper smiled at him. "Anything else you need before you start work?"

"Chris can sit in if he's silent and doesn't move but nobody can interrupt." James told them in way of an answer.

"Why not?" Chris asked, again only out of curiosity.

"Some parts of the Runes will disintegrate if I lose concentration and they'll tear it all down and give not only me a headache but all of you as well as well as probably mucking up anything magical in the house." James explained. "I'd suggested you give us a bottle of water and a snack to take up with us. I'll able to take breaks but I wont want to leave the sequences until their complete."

"How long are you expecting this to take?" Piper asked.

"I don't honestly know, I've never done something like this and I'll be reading it in sections straight from the Tome if I get stuck." James admitted. "Maybe early morning, two, three at the latest."

"I don't have an early lecture tomorrow so I'm fine." Chris smiled, "But don't you have work in the morning?"

"I wont be able to sleep after accessing that amount of magic and focusing it no matter when I finished." James informed him before turning to leave the room and head upstairs.

Chris grabbed a couple of cushions from the bedroom before they made their way into the smaller bathroom. James told Chris to leave the door open since the room was too claustrophobic for James after Azkaban and Chris accepted it without question. They had only slept in the same bed once and they had only slept but James had refused to let the covers sit any higher than his waist since he felt uncomfortable overwise. Strangely the dark didn't bother him though Chris knew it was because James' Animagus form gave him better night vision even in his human form.

James settled down and summoned the Tome of Runes to him. He set it out on his lap and opened it to a scribbled list near the back. Chris couldn't read it but he had seen James writing it the other day. It was in a strange language that James called Parseltongue, the language of snakes. To Chris is just looked like scratches except for a few small etchings that looked like the Runes that he had seen James use.

"Anything you need to say and get out of your system before we start?" James asked.

"Not really." Chris laughed.

"Ok then, don't say anything unless I speak first." James nodded to himself before he pulled up his Wizarding magic to the fore and started on the first sequence that would throw his magic out into the air and allow it to be manipulated.

Over the next hour and a half a small globe of Runes filled the air in front of James. He would use glowing hands to spin it into different positions to look at different sides and draw short rows of Runes in the air before shrinking them and guiding them carefully into place in the larger sphere before they blazed and settled in to a gentle throbbing. James glanced down with a frown before nodding his head. The sphere faded from sight as James pulled his hands back and focused on Chris.

"Done."

"Done?" Chris croaked slightly into the silent room.

"Well at least that part. We're now surrounded in a web of magic." James told him. Chris raised an eyebrow. "It's more complicated then you can imagine. You could see the sphere."

"What was that?"

"It's called a Rune Matrix. I can summon it anywhere within the house to check on the state of the wards but its easier to build up in the very centre because that's where it wants to be." James told him.

"Wants to be?" Chris scoffed.

"Don't offend it, Chris. It might bite you." James teased as he stood and stretched his legs. "Seriously though, with enough time and concentration magic can become semi sentient. My old school had a mind of its own. I could almost feel it at times."

"So what now?" Chris asked gesturing at the book.

"I'm about a fifth of the way through what I want to do tonight. The next stage is getting the web of magic to recognise magic." James told him. "Now though, I'm really hungry, want to go find food?"

"Definitely!" Chris grinned.

They wandered downstairs, James kept the Tome of Runes tucked under his arm tightly and smiled at Piper as they walked into the living room where she was sitting with Leo, Anna and Prue. "Did Wyatt leave then?" Chris asked.

"He left about half an hour ago? That didn't mess with anything right?" Piper directed at James who had already known Wyatt had left. He'd never admit it to Chris but he was glad Wyatt was out of the house, his magic was too distracting when he was trying to set up wards around the house. James shook his head to placate Piper. "How is it going?" She asked.

"I'm getting there, we were getting hungry so we took a break." James told her.

"Well I'm afraid it's cold pizza if you want something. I burnt the chicken." Piper admitted looking rather red.

"You burnt food!?" Chris sounded rather shocked and James couldn't blame him, she was an excellent cook.

"I don't know what happened really, it burnt half an hour before it should've been done." Piper protested in her defence.

"Your cooker wouldn't be regulated by electricity would it?" James muttered sheepishly. Piper nodded and James looked at his feet in embarrassment. "That'd be my fault then. The magic of raising the web must have interfered with the regulator and turned up the heat."

"So that's why the lights were flickering?" Leo asked though he didn't sound accusatory.

"Probably, it'll only happen when I'm doing something with them." James assured them.

"How much did you get done?" Prue asked suddenly from the sofa.

"There's a nice bubble of my magic surrounding the house." James told them proudly but only got stares in response. "Hey! It's a highly concentrated and finely tuned bubble."

Chris chuckled. "What he was doing looked rather confusing to me."

James smiled at him with a nod. "I have to do everything in the right order overwise it will be easy to pick apart if a ward breaker attacks it."

"Can you show them the Matrix?" Chris asked. James nodded and held up his right hand palm up.

"Matrix?" Anna asked.

"Think of it as a computer hub that control everything from your heating to what you eat, what lights are on and so on." James explained before he summoned the Rune Sphere to float above his hand. They stared at the gold Runes as they spun around trying to understand the strains as they weaved together.

James noticed something off with the front edge of the web and pulled up the string of Runes that were pulsing slightly by tapping them with his left fore finger. "You've got a guest." He told Piper.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It cant tell that yet, only that somebody just disturbed the web of magic. I cant even tell if they are magical or not." James admitted before banishing the Matrix just as somebody knocked on the door.

Leo stood to answer it and a few seconds later he came back in and told Prue that her friend Annette wanted to know if she could help her study. Piper glanced as James and he shrugged. "If she's here she might feel something as I change the wards even if she isn't magical. Normally I'd need a mortal around to 'teach' the wards the difference but Leo is here and whereas he's not properly non magic the difference is there."

"Why don't you go out then, Prue?" Piper told her daughter and glanced at the clock that showed it was eight. "Make sure you're home by ten though, you have school tomorrow."

Prue ran from the room just as Chris and James tucked in to the cold pizza left on the table. Ten minutes later James left with Chris in tow to continue the work. Over the rest of the evening he 'taught' the web of magic to first recognise the difference between mortals and magic users, then different emotions so it could detect malicious intent. Finally he gave it a visual alarm in the form of red orbs that would appear before and of the family members, to do this he used Chris' magical signature as a basis so that it would recognise his family. Finally he gave it an outer edge that would prevent anyone with malicious intent from easily gaining access whether by trying to walk through it or transport through it magically. It would also stop mortals with malicious intent from entering which was also in violation of Ministry regulations since it would expose magic but James didn't care.

He sighed as he sat back, his body humming with energy. The wards would have normally exhausted most casters and indeed his Wizarding magic was rather low but his Wicca magic was bubbling with energy that kept him wide awake. "Want to crash out?" Chris asked him tiredly.

"I told you I wont be able to sleep." James told him with a smile.

"Well, I want to sleep." Chris told him grumpily. "You can either sit up or lie down with me."

"I'll join you." James told him as he stood and stretched him legs.

James followed Chris into the room that he or Wyatt used whenever they stayed there and after quickly stripping to their boxers that settled into the bed. James curled up against Chris' side with his head on his chest. They didn't speak as Chris rubbed circles into James' back as he drifted off to sleep.

James lay there for about an hour listening to Chris' heartbeat near his ear and his breath on the top of his head. James didn't even realise he was getting tired until his eyes were closed and he was asleep against everything he expected.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Hogwarts

Charlie, Bill and Hermione stood in the Hospital Wing as Poppy Pomfrey worked on the three other members of their team. All three had serious concussions, Ralf McVare, had a torn up hand and no longer had a wand whilst Snape had some serious damage to his shoulder and upper arm. The worst thing was that the shoulder wasn't responding well to healing magic. The first spell that Poppy used had only worsened it. Obviously a problem with the Rune Magic that had created it.

"How did the three of you get away with no injury when this was done to Severus, Ralf and Michael?" Albus Dumbledore asked them as he watched Poppy slowly heal Snape's shoulder after finally finding a way to counter the magic.

"I believe it's because we didn't attack them. Professor Snape attacked unprovoked after being asked politely to leave." Charlie explained silencing Hermione quickly before she could say anything.

"Do you really think that Snape was the best personal to send on a mission like this, Albus?" Bill asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because of his place in the Death Eaters he knew the most about the Wicca magic that you were to face." The Headmaster told them.

"That's the problem though, we weren't going to 'face' it but ask for help. I doubt we have any chance of an allegiance now, Sir." Charlie protested. He'd easily worked out who the Rune Master was and knew that sending Snape definitely hadn't helped the Headmaster's plan any.

"This Rune Master you met." Albus Dumbledore started. "How old do you think he was?"

"I don't know for sure, Sir. Maybe in his early twenties." Bill said after a pause in which Charlie kept quiet and Hermione looked thoughtful.

"So, he's probably not fully trained yet." Albus pondered.

"Not fully trained?" Bill asked flabbergasted. "He threw those three around like rag dolls. And that Wicca witch threw us out of the fight with a wave of his hand and I think he pulled his punch!"

"If he really was a Rune Master then he could have done far more damage to them." Albus told them quietly before he turned to leave.

"What are you going to do, Sir?" Charlie asked. If he could find out he'd let Harry know.

"I plan on writing them a letter of apology now that we know who they are and ask for a formal meeting." Albus told them honestly.

"Maybe you should wait a while. We did attack their daughter after all." Charlie suggested. He wanted to give Harry as much warning as possible.

"Maybe I will do. Thank you Charlie my boy." Albus smiled at them before leaving the room.

"We better go visit mum, don't you think love." Charlie said to distract his wife from her thoughts about the Rune Master and more importantly from Harry. "Are you coming, Bill?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Somewhere near London

He stared down across his faithful chillingly gazing on each one in turn relishing in the shudders he received as each looked up at him from their knees. This was how it should be. But this was enough for him, he wanted all the Wizards on Earth to follow him, to do that he needed the Underworld on his side. Together, they could rule over all magic. No longer would Good fight against them, there would only be those that fought for him.

But something stood in his way. The Wicca witches that had kept the Underworld in check all these years. They had managed to stop his Death Eaters from getting at the Potter brat and now there was mention of them allying with Dumbledore. What was worse was that Abaddon, the current leader of most of the Underworld refused to fight against them, especially now that word of a Rune Master helping them had reached their ears.

He looked up as said Demon strolled across the room sending Death Eaters scuttling to the side. He came alone as was usual and wasn't cowed by him as he rose from the chair.

"What do you mean by sending a minion to tell me that I must attack the Charmed Ones?" Abaddon growled, his yellow eyes flashing.

"I must have them out of the way before we can ally our forces against the Wizards." He told the man calmly.

"I wont attack them, they are too powerful, send your own men!" The Demon snapped, unafraid of him.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"We attack them when they were weakest." Abaddon grinned maliciously. "Before the second generation came into their powers and before this Rune Master intervened. I have recently come across information that will enable us to travel back twenty years and strike then."

"Did they not kill any Demon that fought against them back then also?" He asked.

"They would not be able to defend against your Wizards. They would be unable to fight them." Abaddon told him.

He pondered the idea for a while before he looked sideways at a trio of Death Eaters. "Lucius, Bellatrix, Draco, gather ten more men of your choosing, you leave in twenty minutes."

Abaddon nodded slightly as he spun from the room to prepare the spell.

Halliwell Manor

James' eyes opened and he looked up at Chris' peacefully sleeping face, he groaned as he realised what had just happened. He'd received a dream, one sent from Voldemort, of a Death Eater meeting. He remember everything about it from the feeling of pleasure that Voldemort felt at instilling fear in his troops all the way to the pleased look on the Elder Malfoy's face at being given the mission. James felt his eyes drop again but this time it wasn't a pleasant warm feeling of sleep. It was violent and irritating.

The room was dark except for a bright portal that lit up one wall within an inverted pentogram. As he watched two figures in black cloaks vanished into it. Two more were waved through. Ten in total went through before the final three glanced at each other and one by one stepped into the swirling vortex. It shut off behind them and a yellow eyed Demon stepped from the shadows with a smirk on his face. Even as he watched he vanished from sight, it wasn't apparition or even shimmering, it was more like the Demon faded from existence. Taken somewhere else.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter