Chapter Eleven

Anton sat pouring over heavy tomb with the small writing and dwindling light making it hard for him to read the Latin inscriptions, voices from outside his room had him listening.

'No Dung's watching Harry tonight,' Mrs Weasley said to someone 'he just left.'

Anton lurched up in horror as he realised what the date was.

'Stupid, Stupid!' he muttered jumping off his bed and grabbing his sword 'how could I have been so Damn Stupid!'

He ran from his room and barrelled down the stairs, at the bottom the five teenagers were a starting to come up the steps and between them they blocked Anton's path. They noticed Anton and began to move but to slowly, Anton jumped onto the banister and slid down the wooden rail with a screech as his dragon hide boots connected, when he hit the bottom he jumped off and hit the ground running, never noticing the appreciative looks he received.

He ran to the front door and slammed it open running out he disperated with a crack but not before shouting 'tell your Mum that Dung left early!'

-=-=-=-=-=-

Anton thudded into the lit street of Privet Drive and searched for number four, the garden was empty Harry had already left, Anton ran down the street and towards Wysteria Walk, he ran flat out trying to remember the layout of Little Whinging he desperately put on a burst of speed and sprinted to the alley that connected it with Magnolia Crescent, the air was cold and clammy and he could make out Dementor's at the mouth of the alley.

Anton pulled his wand out and yelled as loudly as possible.

'Expecto Patronum!'

A silver animal burst from Anton's wand and crashed into the dementor's with such force they were repelled backwards instantly, and seconds later they vanished into the night. Anton jogged towards the alley and came face to face with his teenage persona.

Harry had raised his wand in anticipation and his mouth was open as if seconds from shouting his own repelling curse, Anton stood their looking positively murderous with his hands on his hips as Mrs Figg ran up behind him.

'Lower your wand,' she said panting at Harry 'he's not about to curse you.'

'What's going on?' Harry asked.

'I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!' she yelled 'it was a damn good job you were here Anton.'

She continued with her tirade word perfect to how Anton recalled it, he had been an idiot, he had allowed for events to continue nearly exactly how they had the first time, Anton felt like thumping himself, if he carried on being this careless then nothing would change and the world of good was in grave peril.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as Mrs Figg bent down and picked up one of Dudley's huge arms.

'Get up, you useless lump, get up!'

Anton stepped forward and grabbed one of Dudley's arms while Harry grabbed the other, together they heaved him up.

'We need to let Dumbledore know so he can act immediately,' Anton said ignoring Harry's nervous expression 'I left a message with Molly so he might know something's wrong by now.'

'MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!' she screamed.

With a crack the man appeared and Mrs Figg shrieked blue murder at him before sending him to Dumbledore.

The three of them continued to Privet Drive with the neighbour giving Harry the spiel about Dumbledore wanting him to avoid using magic at all costs, when they reached the house Mrs Figg turned to Anton.

'I'm going straight home,' she said 'to await any further instructions.'

She trotted off across the street with her slippers flapping.

'We'd better get this lummox back to his parents,' Anton said irritably tightening his grip on the boy.

'What's going on?' Harry asked his face a mix of annoyance and worry 'what's been going on this last month?'

'Not out here,' Anton replied as they neared the door, he rang the doorbell and turned to Harry 'I have to go,' he said, 'everything will be ok.'

'But what am I supposed to do?' Harry said indignantly.

'Don't leave the house,' Anton warned passing the whole of Dudley's weight to Harry 'Dumbledore's working it out this very minute, I know you feel deceived but trust me it was for the best.'

'See you soon,' he said troubled, stepping of the step he disapparated as the front door opened, he felt bad lying, it hadn't been for the best.

He got back to headquarters to find it teeming with every member of the Order possible, they ran from room to room calling to each other. Mrs Weasley was standing in the centre of the kitchen yelling at Mundungus with such ferocity that everyone else was making sure they avoided getting in the way.

'ALBUS SAID WE WERE TO MAKE SURE HE DIDN'T DO ANY MAGIC UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!' she shouted 'SO YOU GO AND BUY STOLEN CAULDRONS AND DEMENTORS ATTACK! HARRY WAS SECONDS AWAY FROM DOING MAGIC!'

'Molly be reasonable,' Dung tried to say 'he didn't do any magic did he?'

'BE REASONABLE!' she roared 'WE'LL JUST SEE ABOUT REASONABLE.'

'Is Dumbledore at the ministry?' Anton asked Lupin quietly.

'He left seconds before you got back,' Lupin replied as they walked towards the basement 'Mad-Eye's giving people instructions as we speak.'

They hurried down the steps and saw the basement in a hive of activity

'Anton!' Moody barked 'I need you to go under and see if you can spot any Death Eaters that look as if they know something, there are people already out.'

'Got it,' Anton said turning round and running back up the stairs.

He grabbed his cloak this time before he left and when he dispparated he had a location in mind.

-=-=-=--=-=-=-

It was pitch black when Anton arrived back in the Albanian Forests, he crept through the rough undergrowth heading for the sounds of voices, skirting around a clearing he peered in-between the trees to try and see what was happening.

At least a hundred Death Eaters were standing in their infamous circle shuffling nervously, Voldemort stood in the centre with Nagini wrapped around his feet, Ofelia was next to him her features cold and stoic rivulets of water ran around her feet pooling underneath her blue robes.

'Well?' Voldemort hissed menacingly 'what went wrong tonight?'

'He was protected My Lord,' one said hesitantly.

'Crucio!' Voldemort said flicking his wand 'I would say it's obvious he was protected, the question remains…I was assured he was not being guarded, so why did a wizard protect the brat.'

No one spoke a word which only angered Voldemort further.

'Answer ME!' he screamed.

'My Lord we were assured three would be enough,' a familiar blonde offered.

Voldemort inflicted the crucio on him without a second of afterthought. Anton pulled back from his hiding place and as quickly and as quietly as possible he stole away.

'Fire boy,' a mirthless voice taunted him when he'd reached about a five minute walk away.

'Felly,' Anton said cheerfully turning to see her 'and I had hoped not to see you again so soon.'

'I'm going to let you live today,' she said decisively 'my life would be so much less interesting if I didn't have you to fight with.'

'I'm flattered,' Anton snapped his hand safely on his wand 'but if I have the chance I will kill you outright.'

'You wound me,' she smiled coldly 'I knew you couldn't resist protecting baby Harry' she mocked 'it's almost poetic.'

'Why didn't you tell Voldemort his plan would fail?' Anton asked perplexed.

'Why bother when I win anyway,' Ofelia smirked 'unless you make a dramatic difference I don't see you as a threat, after all you've already failed once before.'

'It's your turn to lose this time,' Anton snapped.

She smiled coldly before asking 'want to dance?'

'Dance,' Anton said cautiously 'won't your master miss you?'

'Muggle fighting,' she continued ignoring Anton's comment 'no magic or elemental powers.'

'How do I know I can trust you to play fair?' Anton asked raising his eyebrows speculatively.

'You don't,' she said dropping her sword on the ground followed by her wand 'why are you frightened of me beating you?' Ofelia/Hermione asked dropping into a fighting stance.

Anton took his hand off his wand and raised his hands into a block, his sword was safely stowed against his back.

'Me first,' Ofelia said punching out.

Anton blocked the fist and for a short while they traded blows in some light sparing before they got into the serious fighting. Anton threw a round house kick at the traitor which smashed into her side.

Ofelia gritted her teeth and slammed Anton with a side kick. They pounded each other mercilessly hitting hard and painfully. A fist landed in Anton's eye and then the other split his lip, a bruise was already darkening on Ofelia's pale face.

They withdrew panting, Anton raised his guard once more but before he could strike again Voldemort's voice rang out.

'Ofelia, where are you?'

Anton jerked his head to the direction the voice came from, noticing he was distracted Ofelia jumped at slammed both of her feet onto Anton's chest. He fell backwards into the undergrowth and when he leaped back up she was gone. Cursing to himself he dissaparated with an angry crack.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Anton walked tiredly through the door, the house was quiet but the vanishing figures from by the basement door told Anton there was a meeting going on. He stretched onto his tiptoes and then shook his arms to wake himself up, suitably loosened Anton pushed the door open and thudded down the steps.

The Order looked like they were finishing up, Dumbledore was just sitting down when Anton entered, he looked as tired as Anton felt and he looked wearily at the Order.

'This shows that Voldemort is waiting for every opportunity to take the upper hand,' he finished.

As Anton walked closer, more people noticed him.

'The Dementors were definitely ordered by Voldemort,' he said 'but he didn't order them to do it, and he was a pissed as hell that they screwed up.'

'You saw Voldemort?' Dumbledore said suddenly alert 'where?'

'Forests in Albania' Anton supplied touching his bleeding lip gingerly 'him and all his worthless followers.'

'What happened?' Hestia Jones asked 'did they spot you? Is that why you're injured?'

'No, they didn't spot me,' Anton said 'this was done by the wicked witch of the ocean, man she's a bitch, I'd forgotten about her double kick.'

'Are you hurt?' Molly Weasley said worriedly.

'It's superficial,' Anton said shrugging her concerns off 'she looks worse, she'll have a hard time explaining to Voldemort why I escaped and why she didn't call for back-up.'

'She didn't call for back-up,' Dumbledore said perturbed 'why not?'

'She wanted the satisfaction of pummelling me herself,' Anton said ruefully 'in fact her exact words were 'my life would be so much less interesting if I didn't have you to fight with', she's a real piece of work.'

Dumbledore nodded in acceptance before saying 'we need to move Harry here to make sure he's kept safe, we were just discussing how we'll move him, we can't risk another mistake.'

'How are you going to do that?' Anton asked pretending to look interested.

'We're flying,' Mad-Eye said gruffly 'good thing you've got a broom.'

'I'm going?' Anton said slightly surprised.

'Course you are,' Mad-Eye replied 'we're going on the twelfth.'

'The twelfth,' Anton repeated, he dredged through his memories trying to remember the date he had been picked on, for the life of him he couldn't recall if Hermione had known about it… 'Wait a minute' he thought, she was waiting with Ron upstairs, and he couldn't remember a point where he had ever told her about them flying- he was safe.

'Problem?' Sturgis Podmore said.

'No,' Anton shook his head relieved 'no problem at all.'

=-==-=-=-=-=-=-

It was pitch black, they were all standing in the garden of the house with their broom clasped next to them.

'You know the plan!' Mad-Eye shouted his eye glowing 'first group surround second group wait to provide support if needed! You got that?'

'Yes!' came the loud reply.

'Right then,' he barked 'let's get moving!'

'Anton mounted his broom and rose quickly into the air rejoicing in the sensation of freedom it gave him, the wind whistled through his hair and the next second they were off.

They hurtled over rooftops each person travelling high to prevent anybody muggle or otherwise from spotting them. Anton noticed Sirius with a subtle smile on his face and Anton suspected he wasn't the only one enjoying the occasion, he had also noticed that Sirius was definitely smiling more lately which could or could not be connected to the drink he'd had with Mylee, that coupled with his proven innocence and his Godson coming to stay he was positively cheerful.

The cold was biting so Anton took the choice of calling the flames to dance under his skin, where they usually dried residual water they also warmed him in cases such as these. He watched the other members freezing on their brooms and felt a sliver of guilt run across his mind.

'Bearing North,' Mad-Eye called breaking through Anton's thoughts 'Coming up to Little Whinging.'

They swooped through the air with a couple of flyers looking less than pleased at their method of transport.

'Heading down,' Mad-Eye continued 'First group descend!'

Anton turned his Firebolt down and followed Emmaline Vance as she dropped down in front of him. They hit the ground and dismounted, with Tonks and Sirius reaching the backdoor first.

Anton and a few others waited outside with their wands drawn while the second group remained on their brooms in the air. The smashing off china fractured the night and Anton couldn't help but smile as he thought of Tonks breaking it, he saw the wand lights flicker on out of the corner of his eye. It was happening exactly as it had done all those years before when Anton had felt it firsthand.

The kitchen light clicked on and the sounds of the Order members talking fell on Anton's ears, Anton continued to keep watch as he waited for the time they could leave. Something felt off, something he couldn't quite place as if there was something gnawing at the edge of his mind. He instinctively made sure his mind was clouded from entrance, then again he was never the most proficient Occlumens, he and Rhoan had just learnt a step up from basic.

Before Dumbledore had died he had however sealed Anton's younger memories so that no one except Anton could access his life before his changes, he had been killed before he was able to seal Anton's later memories, everything from the time of seventeen (when they'd altered their features and names) until the age he was now. All five years of information protected only by Anton's own shields.

Anton was distracted from his shielding as the sound of a trunk came thudding down the stairs and more voices in the kitchen. And still the grating sensation continued, ten minutes later the backdoor opened and Lupin stepped out first followed by the other members. When Harry stepped out he had the look of someone who was slightly stunned and was waiting to be woken up, Sirius was standing close to him as if scared he would disappear. Harry looked at Anton with recognition as he clutched at his own broom in his disillusioned state.

'Clear night,' grunted Moody his eye scanning the heavens 'could've done with some cloud cover. Right you boy' he barked at Harry 'we're going to be flying in close formation, I'll be behind, Tonks is in front and Lupin's beneath, the rest are going to be circling us, we don't break ranks for anything, got me? If one of us is killed-'

'Is that likely?' Harry asked but was ignored.

'We don't break ranks, if we're all killed keep flying east and the rear guard will take over.'

'Stop being so cheerful Mad-Eye,' Tonks interrupted 'he'll think we're not taking this seriously.'

'I'm just telling the boy the plan,' growled Moody 'our job is to deliver him safely to Headquarters and if we die in the attempt-.'

'No one's going to die,' Kingsley intervened.

'Mount your brooms that was the first signal,' Lupin said sharply.

Anton rose quickly into the air followed by the others, Harry was surrounded with flyers all circling him continuously. Anton listened for Moody's instruction as he tried to concentrate but his focus was elsewhere, namely on what was nagging at him.

'Muggle looking up everybody get higher!' Moody shouted.

They swung their brooms upwards and climbed further into the sky with any sound lost in the flapping of cloaks.

'We should double back and make sure we're not being followed,' Mad-Eye called at least half an hour later.

'Don't be stupid!' shouted a shivering Tonks 'we're already frozen, lets just get Harry back to Headquarters.'

They descended quickly and once they had dismounted Anton watched as Harry was whisked away to the front door and handed a scrap of paper, Anton hung to the back of the group and waited for the door to be opened, a roll of thunder echoed through the night and a second later the heavens opened.

Anton dashed for the door as quickly as he could make it, repelling the water as best as he could wandlessly. He next to barrelled through the door and stood shivering in the passage heating his skin to stave off the freezing rain water that almost definitely containing raw elemental water .Ofelia was watching.

Anton brushed past Mrs Weasley as she rushed to Harry and jogged up the stairs

'Anton,' called Kingsley 'aren't you coming to the meeting?'

'Need to get changed,' Anton shivered continuing up the stairs 'I hate being wet.'

-=-=-=-=-

Anton yanked off his clothes and dropped them hastily on the floor of his bedroom, calling fire he engulfed his body heating it internally to over 100°C, when he was no longer damp he opened his cupboard and pulled clean dry clothes out and yanked them on. Anton walked to the door an pulled it open, on the next landing he could hear the angry shouting of Harry as he laid into Ron and Hermione, smiling to himself at the oddness of the situation he hurried down the stairs and swiftly entered the basement.

'It is imperative Harry is kept away from the open,' Sturgis announced 'if we limit where he goes we will make it harder for the slimy bastards to attack again.'

'What about Hogwarts?' Tonks asked 'will there be enough protection there for him?'

'I assure you Nymphadora,' Dumbledore said calmly 'Hogwarts is safe, the ministry's involvement has been prevented so far, but I believe they will try again to place a spy within the walls in time.'

'At least it's not Umbridge,' McGonagall agreed 'she was intending to make sure not one student in her class used a wand.'

'Fudge is afraid the students will turn on him,' Mad-Eye barked in laughter 'at least we've got someone competent teaching them this time, so far there's been Quirrel who had Voldemort possessing him. Lockhart who didn't know a hex from a curse and Barty Crouch who also turned out to be a follower of the good Dark Lord.'

'Yeh,' Sirius smiled 'the only person's who's been any good's been Moony.'

'There wasn't much competition,' Lupin said wryly 'I'm expecting Anton will be a popular teacher for the subject.'

Anton grinned to himself at the thought of some of the things he would love to be able to show a class full of eager students, despite the fact that many would be severely frowned upon.

'Another issue,' Dumbledore paused 'is that of the continued guarding of the Department of Mysteries, we know it is still a risk so we cannot stop anytime soon.'

'We've managed it for a while already,' Kingsley voiced 'it may be tough but if it's worthwhile I know I for one will be willing to continue helping and unless someone says otherwise that's what were all agreeing on.'

'Well we obviously can't do it,' Snape said frostily 'I would assume the more intelligent students would figure something out.'

'Well if you're to scared…' Sirius let it hang.

'I'm spying on the Dark Lord,' Snape spat back angrily 'you wouldn't have the guts to do it and it's because of me we you got that report tonight.'

'Gentlemen that is enough,' intervened Dumbledore 'this meeting is over so I suggest you all go and put your feet up.'

Chairs scraped back and people headed quickly to the door.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Anton went down to the kitchen half an hour later with the hopes that the questions had already been answered and the food was now available. He actually managed to arrive just as they finished telling Harry as much as they were able too.

Anton walked in and dropped into a chair knocking back a foul potion as he did so, just as Mrs Weasley was about to send them all to bed the tapping of mail came at the window, confused Sirius yanked it open. A black raven flew in with a message in its beak, it landed in front of Anton and dropped the blue letter before flying back off.

Anton hesitantly picked it up and turned it over, on the back was the seal of water in wax, Anton ran his eyes over the letter checking for any increased levels of magic present in the paper, when no obvious strands showed up he cautiously pried it open and pulled the letter out and read it.

Anton, darling,

Wow completely unexpected that Harry would be moved (Anton grimaced at the sarcastic content) Saw you back on a broom, which makes it quite a while since you last flew though I remember it quite clearly as do the followers you killed.

I'm writing to: one, send you a message which is…Death will not be pleasant. And the second is to send you a present, it's in the envelope.

Love

A friend from another lifetime x

Anton tentatively picked the envelope back up and shook the contents on to his hand, and felt the breath leave his body.