Disclaimer: Please see previous nineteen disclaimers, if they're not clear I can't help you.

A/N: I'm posting Chapter 21 right after I post this one. When I started writing I just kind of kept going and ended up with a 10,000 word chapter so I split it in two.

Chapter 20

The past day and a half had been tiring for Rebecca but she hadn't been doing anything different from any other day.

She had watched Harry get up early both mornings and study for a couple of hours before fixing them breakfast and leaving for work. He worked a full day yesterday and was doing the same today to make up for the one he had off when Cath came back to England and for the one he was going to take off for Tonks birthday.

He was also working on completing all of the assignments that Mrs. Wright had given him for the next two weeks. It was his way of trying to keep her happy when he was going to be missing so many tutor sessions because of the days off and the full days at work.

Watching him study until midnight both the night that Cath and Sirius had come over and last night left her more tired than if she was the one doing it herself.

She was just finishing her session with Ginny who had changed a lot during this summer's holiday.

When Rebecca had first met her she had been trying to appear strong and confident even though she had been scared of everything that was happening at the time.

Over the past month she had watched as this girl had slowly begun changing into the young lady she had tried to make everyone believe she was.

Going through the ritual had showed her that she had strength she didn't know was there. It had proven to the girl that she didn't need to act strong because she was strong.

Her training with the goblins had done something else for her, it showed her that she could take whatever was thrown at her and not break. The goblins trained the way they fought; it was always life and death. They had safety measures in place so that no one died during training but the injuries were expected to be dealt with by force of will only. You took your licks and kept fighting or you went home disgraced.

Ginny was not going to go home in disgrace and the fact that no wizard had completed goblin combat training since Godric Gryffindor himself and that no witch had ever even started it before just made her even more determined.

The girl that Rebecca had first met was now a strong and confident young woman, and she said she had never been happier.

"You're still coming over for Tonks party tomorrow night right?" Rebecca asked her as they were leaving the office.

"Yeah, and so is Gabrielle. It's her last night here; her parents are coming to pick her up the day after so she can get her things for school."

Rebecca noticed some sadness in her voice "You're going to miss her aren't you?"

Ginny nodded "It's been nice having someone close to my age around to talk to. I have another friend who lives close by but we don't seem to have anything in common any more. It's been like having a sister."

She smiled really wide "But I get to go to her place in France next year for the whole summer."

Rebecca groaned "Two beautiful young ladies loose in France, no boy will be safe."

Ginny giggled "That's the idea."

They got to the lobby and said their goodbyes along with Fleur before Rebecca went back to her office.

She had just sat down at her desk when Fleur burst through the door.

"Ginny just saw someone named Malfoy and his friends enter the café. She said that we need the Aurors right now."

Rebecca paled and pulled her wand sending off two messenger spells as she ran from the office and out into the street. She barely registered that her patronus had changed into a bird and wasn't her normal colt that it had been for years.

As Fleur and she came up to the café she noticed that Ginny was now wearing her mail shirt and was strapping her sword onto her back.

"There are seven of them, I recognized Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and Parkinson before they were all inside" Ginny said as they came together a few feet to the side of the windows.

"I sent messages to Amelia and Tonks to get some Aurors here. We can't stand around and wait though."

Ginny nodded "Don't plan to. I'll take the center with Fleur on my right and you on my left. Stay back at least four feet from me; I don't want to hit you by accident."

Rebecca shook her head "I'll go in first…"

"This is goblin mail and a goblin made sword, they absorb most spells except for really powerful ones and it still helps protect me from those some. I go first to draw their fire or you won't make it three feet."

"She is right; Bill says that it will protect her so we should use her plan." Fleur said.

Rebecca nodded knowing they didn't have time to argue about it. "All right, let's go then."

As they moved past the windows to the door time slowed down for Rebecca. Each step seemed to take several minutes to complete.

She looked through the window as they went by and everything in there seemed to be moving in fast forward. She saw a sickly shade of red shoot out of a blonde boy's wand towards Harry.

She knew that spell somewhere in the back of her mind but couldn't make the name come forward. Ginny went through the door followed by Rebecca who immediately went to the left and started firing stunners at the boy with pale blonde hair.

Fleur came through the door after Rebecca and moved to the right but couldn't find anyone that she could get a shot on. She saw Ginny move like no one she had ever seen before but it prevented her from getting a target.

Ginny moved with a grace and beauty that seemed out of place with what she was doing with those movements.

With one step her right arm moved upwards and to the left followed by another step away to the right and her arm moving down in that direction. Next she crouched down slightly and spun with the sword extended before jumping into the air swinging the sword upwards in one direction followed by it coming down in another.

Each of her swings leaving a red line of blood across each target in various places.

Fleur saw movement towards Ginny's right and fired a stunner hitting a boy and dropping him. She then scanned for anyone else outside of Ginny's range and found all seven were down and Rebecca was already kneeling next to another person on the ground.

Ginny pulled her wand and stunned the three she had wounded and checked the other two to make sure that she had killed them then also turned towards Rebecca and lost all of her color.

Around the eighth person on the ground was Rebecca, Lisa and another woman that Ginny had never seen before and Rebecca was trying to stop the person from quickly bleeding to death.

Rebecca desperately tried every spell she knew to stop the flow of blood coming from Harry then looked at Lisa and Mary, the newest waitress.

"What did the blonde say when this happened?" She asked.

"He said a lot of things about…" Mary was interrupted.

"The spell, Lisa, did he say a spell?"

"Yeah, secti something."

Rebecca went even paler "Sectumsempra?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, I think that was…" she watched as Rebecca had Harry in a hug before she finished the word yeah and disappeared with a loud pop before she got to that.

Ginny stood looking at the pool of blood where Harry had been laying before spinning and drawing her sword as she heard a groan. Seeing Malfoy starting to wake up she walked over to him with her sword hanging from her right hand.

"What is Sectumsempra?" Her voice was beyond ice.

Malfoy gave a sneer "He's dead and when I get free so are you bitch."

Ginny got closer to him as there were multiple pops outside the café. She flicked her arm up the left side of Draco and down the right.

She leaned in closer to him as his arms fell from his body.

"Kill me now, bitch." Then she turned to the opening door and was ready to face whoever it was.

More than a dozen Aurors came bursting through with Tonks in the lead and Madam Bones bringing up the rear.

"Ginny what happened?" Tonks said as she surveyed the bodies on the ground.

"I don't know, I saw them come in the café from the clinic and had Fleur get Rebecca. We came in and did this but they had already gotten Harry." unshed tears were in her eyes.

Tonks turned to Lisa who was crying "What happened Lisa?"

"They came in and that one" she pointed at Malfoy "started yelling for Harry. When Harry heard him he came out and tried to get them all to go outside." She started crying harder "He…he said it was so that more people could watch them kill him."

Ginny spoke again "They said it was Sectumsempra…"

"Shite" came from Madam Bones "Where is he?"

"Rebecca disappeared with him when she heard what it was" Ginny said while still holding in her tears.

"Tonks take Ginny, Fleur take Lisa, they're at St. Mungo's. We'll take care of everything here and I'll join you."

A peregrine falcon appeared in front of Ginny "We're at St. Mungo's, hurry."

Ginny sheathed her sword and grabbed Tonks as Fleur grabbed Lisa and they all disappeared.

Mary looked around "What the bloody hell just happened?"

Conner stepped forward "New memories?"

Madam Bones nodded "Take your wife to your office until I come get you."

He just nodded and turned back to the kitchen as Amelia said to her Aurors "It was a knife fight and Harry tried to stop it, he got cut really bad in the process. He's been taken away by ambulance already. You six take these back to the ministry and get them into holding cells or the infirmary if they need it I want three guards on each of the ones in the infirmary. You, take these two to the morgue, everyone else obliviate. Now go."

XXXXXXXX

The four ladies burst through the doors of St Mungo's and rushed to the head of the line at the desk with Tonks waiving her I.D.

"A woman came in a moment ago with a teen boy who was bleeding badly. Where did they go?"

The lady behind the desk pointed "Room six."

Tonks took off with the other three right behind her.

As they came into the hallway they saw Rebecca pacing in front of a door and ran to her.

"What's going on, where's Harry?" Tonks asked.

Rebecca looked at her for a moment with tears flowing down her cheeks. "He's in there, I don't know if I got him here in time"

Tonks paled "What do you mean; you were able to stop the bleeding weren't you?"

Rebecca shook her head "I can't heal…I never learned how to heal…it was Sectumsempra. I never got that far in my healer training. I never thought I would need that training anymore. I don't know if he's going to… to…"

Tonks grabbed her into a tight hug "He's going to be all right. He has to be all right."

Ginny sat hard into a chair and put her face into her hands still trying to hold back the tears.

Lisa didn't even try, she wept openly as she sat next to her.

Fleur had her arms wrapped around herself looking like she was in shock. She was the first to speak.

"I need to tell Bill." She said quietly as she turned towards the lobby.

Rebecca recovered slightly "Wait Fleur, I can do it. Who else besides Sirius and Cath?" She asked as she sent messengers to the first three.

They quickly put together a list and sent messages to all of them except two.

Fleur said "I will get Gabrielle and let the rest know what has happened."

"I'll get Hermione," Tonks said as she went to leave "I don't think she knows where this place is."

"You know where she lives?" Rebecca asked.

She nodded "I was one of the ones to go to her house and take her to headquarters."

Lisa sniffled "Will someone bring Aunt and Uncle?"

Rebecca put her hand on the girls shoulder "If Amelia doesn't then someone will go get them, I think she'll bring them with her though."

Lisa just nodded and when Rebecca looked up again Tonks and Fleur were gone.

XXXXXXXX

Sirius sat in his new sitting room with Cath while drinking his new favorite drink, Root Beer.

One afternoon he had been really craving firewhiskey and went to his cousin for some help. When she saw his shaking hands they went to the refrigerator and she started pulling out drinks and handing them to him to taste.

When she handed him the one that had beer on the label he raised an eyebrow "I'm trying to stay away from alcohol Andi."

She smiled "There isn't any in there. It's American I think and Ted loves the nasty stuff."

He shrugged and tried it. His eyes had gotten wide the moment the liquid had touched his tongue. "Wow, that's pretty good. Are you sure there's no booze in it?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Would you like me to get you some?"

He just nodded before taking another drink causing her to shake her head.

"I don't see how the two of you can drink it but if it helps I guess I'll hold my opinion."

He always had a large supply of it in his house now.

Cath and he were talking about the type of furniture that he wanted for the room they were currently in. He had gotten Harry's help with the kitchen and Andi's help with all of the other rooms but had left only the two borrowed chairs in the sitting room.

A bird appeared in front of each of them "Harry's hurt, we're at St. Mungo's." they both said at the same time.

Sirius paled and dropped his drink while jumping up and starting for the door.

"Siri!" Cath yelled. When he stopped and looked at her as she continued "Take a breath, you don't need to splinch yourself to get there."

He took several deep breaths as she took his arm and led him out the back door. When they got there she took his face in her hands and looked into his eyes and only saw a vacant expression.

"Siri, you need to snap out of it, it's probably nothing really bad."

He shook his head "Rebecca's a healer, if Harry's at St. Mungo's its bad."

Cath stared at him a moment and almost whispered "I need you to be all here Siri, I can't go to that place without you being there to help me."

His eyes started to focus "Shite, I'm sorry Cath. I didn't even think about that, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, you're worried about Harry, but he needs you all here too ok?"

He nodded and took her arm in his "Ready?" she took her own deep breath and nodded before they disappeared.

XXXXXXXX

Bill was listening to Defthand as the goblin told him about another aspect of the Horcrux spell while he was taking notes when a large bird patronus appeared in front of him and Rebecca's voice spoke to him "Harry's in St. Mungo's, Ginny and Fleur are here with us."

He stood and looked at Defthand who nodded. "Go." was all the goblin said and Bill was running through the halls of Gringotts to get to a spot to apparate.

XXXXXXXX

Hermione was studying one of the new text books that she had picked up after Diagon Alley had reopened.

She had talked with a few of the tutors that Professor McGonagall had recommended and found that she really didn't take to any of them. Then about three days after she had resigned herself to having to go back to Hogwarts for the year Professor McGonagall had shown up at her door.

"I've heard that you're having trouble finding a suitable tutor." She said once she and Hermione were seated.

Hermione nodded "I just didn't feel any of them were right for me Professor."

Professor McGonagall smiled "I may be able to help you with that. I'll be having some free time in a couple of months and was wondering if you would consider me for your tutor."

Hermione stared at her open mouthed "How can you have free time? You just became the Headmistress."

Minerva's smile became a sad one. "It was pointed out to me recently that Albus wasn't the only failure as a teacher at Hogwarts. All of us are to some extent or another so I went to the board and asked them if they would help me look for a replacement Headmaster or mistress from outside the country."

She sighed "I think it's the only way to fix things without firing everyone and starting over."

Hermione's mouth worked but she just couldn't make anything come out.

"Calm down Miss Granger, it's not the end of the world."

Hermione took a breath "What do you mean someone pointed out that you were a failure, you're my favorite teacher?"

"He didn't really say I was a failure as a teacher, just as a caregiver to the children at Hogwarts. We've all failed you Miss Granger by not making Hogwarts a safe place free of prejudices. We've turned a blind eye to the things going on there and it's time all of it stopped."

Hermione bit her bottom lip for a few seconds and her eyes went wide again "Harry."

Minerva smiled and Hermione continued "How could he say those things? You couldn't have stopped Dumbledore."

"It wasn't Albus that myself and all the other teachers should have stopped. How many times have you been insulted by a student or Professor Snape?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment then nodded. "I see his reasoning, none of that should have been allowed."

"No it shouldn't have, and you shouldn't have had to put up with ridicule just because you're intelligent. Harry didn't tell me to resign, he just told me what he had seen happening in our school and how he felt about it."

Minerva sighed "It's time that Hogwarts became a premier school again and I'm afraid that for that to happen I have to leave her. The most likely candidate for the Headmaster's position is from Canada and he's been teaching for forty years at one of the most progressive magical schools in the world.

"It will take time for him to change things but I feel he can bring a positive impact to that castle and hopefully restore her to her glory as she deserves."

They had talked about how things might change at school and what sort of subjects Hermione would need to continue while being tutored. Hermione had invited her to stay and speak with her parents to work out the details of the fee but that she was sure they would accept it.

Now Hermione just had to study on her own until the new Headmaster got his feet under him and Professor McGonagall had gotten him sufficiently knowledgeable about the castle. She wasn't opposed to this and was finding that she was moving through the course work that Minerva had suggested quiet quickly.

As she turned the page the doorbell rang and she went to answer it finding a tear streaked Tonks standing there.

"What happened, is it Harry?"

Tonks nodded "He's at St. Mungo's; I came to take you there if you want to go."

Hermione ran to the phone and dialed her parent's dental clinic and after a moment of explaining things to her father she ran back to Tonks.

"I'm ready to go; my parents will meet me there." Tonks took her hand and they apparated.

XXXXXXXX

Rebecca was pacing in front of the door waiting for the healers to come out and tell her something, anything, when Sirius and Cath came into the hallway.

"Rebecca, how is he?" Sirius asked.

"We don't know yet, the healers are still in there."

A pale Catherine asked "What happened?"

She shook her head a little "He was at work, he was just trying to make up for the days he was missing to try to help out. They didn't have to do this, why would they do it?"

Sirius grabbed her in a hug "Shh, it's going to be all right. Tell us what you know."

He didn't release the hug even as she started talking again "Some kids, one of them was Malfoy, went into the café and Malfoy hit Harry with Sectumsempra."

Sirius paled "How…how long was it before you got him here?"

"Only a couple of minutes, I swear it couldn't have been more than that, but they've been in there for a long time now."

"What happened to Malfoy and the others?" Sirius' breathing was becoming a little more pronounced.

"I don't know, I left with Harry, I had to get him here."

Sirius finally released her and handed her to Cath before looking at the other two people sitting there.

"Can either of you tell me what happened to Malfoy and the others?" He was practically growling.

Ginny and Lisa both nodded and Lisa spoke "Rebecca, Fleur and Ginny got them. Ginny had a sword and was cutting all of them with it." She looked at the other girl for a moment and received a nod from her.

"Ginny cut both of the blonde boy's arms off."

Sirius looked at the Weasley girl "Malfoy?"

She nodded "He was happy about what he did to Harry."

Sirius had an evil grin "Good girl, what happened to them after that?"

"Madam Bones and Tonks showed up with a bunch of Aurors and told us to come here because that was where Harry was brought by his Mum."

He drew his wand and looked at the hall entrance when he heard running feet headed their way. He released a breath when Bill came through the door and spotted Ginny sitting there.

Sirius backed up to allow him to hug her and for her and Lisa to start the explanation over again and he went back and sat on the other side of Rebecca as Cath.

Over the next several minutes Andromeda, Ted, Hermione, and Tonks showed up all receiving the same explanation from Ginny and Lisa before Tonks came over to them and Sirius got up and gave her his seat next to Rebecca. It wasn't until Gabrielle showed up that Sirius tensed again and had his hand on his wand.

Catherine noticed and whispered "What's the problem?"

"I won't put up with her crap, not today and not here. If she opens her mouth I'll have her in one of these rooms with her own healers."

Cath looked around and saw a several redheads walking into the hallway behind Gabrielle and Fleur.

Arthur looked at his daughter then whispered something to Molly who just nodded and took a seat before he came up to Rebecca and the other two.

"How is he?"

It was Sirius who answered "We don't know yet."

Arthur nodded and looked at Rebecca "If you need anything just ask."

Rebecca looked up and said thank you.

He gave her a small smile "We thought of Harry as one of our own, so it's us who should be thanking you. You've helped two of ours."

She just nodded and he went over to his daughter and oldest son and received the explanation about what had happened.

It was another ten minutes before the healer came out bringing everyone to their feet.

"Who are his parents?"

Sirius pointed at Rebecca "She's his mother."

The healer stepped closer to her "We've gotten the wounds to close but I don't know yet if they'll stay that way. The Sectumsempra will sometimes reopen for up to twenty six hours after they've been closed the first time.

"He's lost a lot of blood and our restoratives don't seem to have much effect on him which means that the spell had a lot of power and hatred behind it. We've already given him half of the maximum safe dosage for a twenty four hour time frame. We don't want to give him all of it incase the wounds do reopen; we'll have some way to hopefully help him with any further blood loss.

He took a breath "We weren't able to get the dittany to work fast enough; he'll have some bad scaring the rest of his life. I'm sorry, I wish I could tell you more right now but for the time being we can only watch and see what happens."

Tonks sat back down hard with a blank stare on her face. Sirius looked at Rebecca who was just standing there looking at the healer with the same expression as Tonks. He took her by the arms and helped her sit back down.

He then turned to the healer "Thank you. When will we be able to see him?"

"I could let some of you in at a time; maybe four if you're all quiet and don't try to wake him."

Sirius nodded "Can we set up two chairs? I'd like it if these two could stay with him and the rest of us will come in by twos."

The healer nodded "I don't see a problem with that; it would help having people he loves with him."

Sirius thanked him again before looking back at the two ladies "We'll get you some comfortable chairs set up so you can be there when he wakes up. He'll need to see your faces when he does. If you need anything just ask whoever is there with you at the time, all of us will be happy to get you anything you need all right?"

Rebecca looked at him for a second "Thank you Sirius."

He just smiled at her then he and Cath helped the two ladies up and into the room where a very pale Harry lay with bandages wrapped around most of his torso. He conjured a cushiony chair on each side of the bed near Harry's head and he led Tonks to the one on the far side while Cath led Rebecca to the closest one.

Once they were seated Sirius spoke again "We'll give you two a half hour with him before anyone else comes in. I should be able to hold them back until then."

They both said thank you and he took Catherine's hand as they walked back out into the hallway. Once he was there he found that people were already sitting in pairs and they all looked at him expectantly.

He sighed and received a squeeze of he hand "I know all of you want to see him but we'd like to give them some time with him first. We'd like a half an hour before everyone starts going in. We'll go in for fifteen minutes before giving someone else a chance. I'd like Ginny and Lisa to be the first to go followed by Hermione and Gabrielle then Andi and Ted and Bill with Fleur. After that we'll just play it by ear with Cath and me going in and out as we can. Is that all right with everyone?"

Molly spoke first "That's fine Sirius; if you need anything please let us know."

He smiled at her "Thank you Molly, and we will. I've also told Harry's Mum and Tonks that if they need anything to just ask whoever's in there at the time. If they need something during your time just poke your head out and let us know. We'll get it so you can have your time with him uninterrupted."

Catherine whispered to him and he got wide eyed "Oh hell, I'm sorry." He looked at every one "I forgot that not everyone knows each other. So…" he went through introductions and had almost completed them when he looked up and saw Madam Bones come through the doors with Conner and Amanda.

He sighed and looked at Cath "I knew there was a reason I had forgotten, now I have to start over."

She smiled at him and gave his hand another squeeze "It's a good thing you like to talk." She leaned in and whispered "Take your time with them, it will give everyone something else to think about and also allow Rebecca and Tonks more time alone with Harry."

He smiled back "I always knew there was a prank worthy side to you."

Madam Bones took up a position in front of Ginny "Please, I beg you, tell me that you took Malfoy's arms during the fight."

Ginny just stared at her with her back straight, not giving an inch but not saying a word.

"Damn it Ginny, I need to know what happened."

It was Lisa who spoke "She'd be in a lot of trouble if he had lost his arms somehow when the fight was over, wouldn't she?"

Amelia sighed but didn't break eye contact with Ginny "Yes, she would be. The problem is that we have a bunch of muggle witnesses who say that he was on the ground without a weapon when she did it."

"They've been oblivited haven't they?" Lisa asked.

"It's obliviated and yes they have."

"All of them?" she asked again.

Amelia let out another sigh "Yes all of them, why?"

"Well then you can't find out if they were in shock or not. I know I was the first time all of you showed it to me. I was the only one in the room for the whole thing that had ever seen magic before so I was probably the only one who wasn't in shock seeing it."

Amelia started to grin "Could you tell me what happened in the café?"

Lisa smiled a little "I saw Ginny come into the café with Rebecca and Fleur and they started trying to protect everyone who was there from this Malfoy and the others. Some time during the fight Ginny's sword took off one of the blonde's arms, he turned wrong and his other arm was caught by the sword. Ginny was looking at someone else at the time and didn't even see it happen."

Madam Bones stared at her for a moment "I have to ask you if that's really what you saw."

"Yes it is, I don't know what everyone else saw but that's what happened."

Amelia looked at Ginny "Is this what happened to the best of your recollection, bearing in mind that while a person is involved with a fight their minds sometimes don't process every detail of it?"

Ginny gave Lisa a smile before nodding "I can't really remember the fight very well, it all happened kind of fast and it seemed to be a blur to me."

"Now, why did you use a sword instead of your wand?"

Ginny gave a humorless laugh "No offence because I know it wasn't you who did it, but the ministry has already prosecuted one person who was only defending themselves this summer. I don't plan on being the second. I might not be allowed to use magic outside of school but there are no laws against swords."

Amelia nodded "A good reason. They can't seem to get Mr. Malfoy's arms reattached; can you tell me what they need to do?"

Ginny's grin could be mistaken for nothing less than pure satisfaction "There's nothing you can do, it's a goblin made sword. You can heal the wounds but they will always have scars just like what they did to Harry."

Madam Bones sighed "Thank you both for your statements." She turned to Sirius "How is he?"

A/N: My reasoning behind picking the peregrine falcon as Rebecca's new patronus is because of the ones that live in Siberia. They work to protect their not only their young but also the young of a small species of goose from the artic fox, by protecting the young of the goose they protect their own. I thought this was fitting for her since she's not only protecting her son but Lily and James' son also.