Thank you for continuing. The Canons are moving into the spotlight.

I tried to keep Eliza's reactions authentic and believable, or at least the way I would imagine myself behaving if thrown into her position. If you can give feedback on whether you feel it's a hit or miss, or ways in which you feel it could have been improved, I take all constructive criticism in stride and am constantly working to improve things.

Please enjoy.

(Re-beta'ed by Dances with Vampires)

Chapter 3: Home Invasion

"Lucius is up to something."

"He's always up to something," Sirius mocked. "Can you be more specific?"

"No." Severus ignored his tone as he answered. "Lucius has been working on this plan for months. The only reason anyone knows about its existence is because he needed someone to kill a Muggle."

"A Muggle?" Molly asked distractedly, whilst busying herself cooking dinner. "What Muggle is there that requires that sort of attention?"

"From what I've been able to gather, it wasn't anyone outwardly important. One of those Muggle. . .lawyers. I would suggest that you speak to Miss Granger and see if there has been anything mentioned in their papers. I can't think of any reason he would be a target, and the Ministry has protection for important individuals of their kind. . ."

"Try to find out more about it," Kingsley told Severus. "I'll send Tonks to follow him for the next few days, maybe she can discover something."

-.-.-

Eliza didn't hear Troy and Maddie leave, suggesting that there was no major morning drama. The sun was high in the sky on a clear summer day, and everything felt peaceful as she stared at the ceiling, wondering if yesterday was just a messed-up dream. No - one glance at the gun on her bedside table was enough to tell her it wasn't. She opened the drawer and put it away; she didn't want to be reminded that all of this may have been connected to her.

As she pulled on her bathrobe, she glanced at the personal alarm left for her by the security detail not-so-discreetly parked out in front of her house. Nothing was going to happen between the bedroom and kitchen, so she left it.

Downstairs, someone had left the radio on. The morning talk show was interrupted by the morning news report. Water in the kettle rumbled to a steady boil. Eliza put down the knife she was using to cut the bread, half-dreading what she would hear, half-desperate to hear something - that it wasn't her brother, or once again that she had dreamed the whole thing.

"And now on to Jackie for the news of this morning."

"Thank you, Ron. The body of a male victim found yesterday by two young boys playing at Stoke Park, Guildford has been identified as Civil Attorney Corey Raveien. In a cruel twist of fate, his sister was the first coroner called out to the scene, clearly unaware at the time of who the victim was. Upon identifying the body, she was escorted home by police. The P.M. has issued a statement about the increasing number of murders in the past year."

'We have the finest investigators working day and night on these cases. It will only be a matter of time before these killers are brought to justice.'

Eliza turned the radio off and stared at the kitchen bench, silent tears slipping down her cheeks. At least they had the courtesy not to name her. Not that it would make much difference. After all, how many Raveiens could there be out there? She poured her coffee and picked up her plate of toast, not remembering preparing it. Strange how the body just does without thinking. Settling in the lounge, the silence was deafening. Without thinking, she turned on the TV.

"Police are yet to comment-"

"Even the district medical examiner was caught losing her stom-"

"And in this BBC news break, Stoke Park, Guildford is the latest-"

It was nothing but news, and apparently her brother's death was the biggest thing to report on. She just wanted everything to disappear. With both the TV and radio out of commission, she settled for a CD whilst she finished her breakfast alone.

-.-.-

As steam filled the room and water pounded on her back she surrendered to the tears that she had been holding on to since the day before. Somewhere a car backfired, but she ignored it. She stayed in there until the water ran cold enough for her to compose herself. She would go to the Police today. She may not be allowed to work on his case but she needed to do something, the house felt tiny, as though it was shrinking around her. Work was something she could lose herself in, something she had control on. If she looked like a train wreck they'd never let her set foot in the building. She had to stay focused. There would be time for mourning, but mourning alone with the prospect that his death had something to do with her was more than she could handle right now She needed people. Lots and lots of people who would let her pretend that, just for today, nothing was wrong.

Back in her room, she rummaged through her cupboard for a clean pair of pants. She took her time getting dressed, allowing the puffiness to die own, wishing she was allowed to wear makeup to hide the redness of her eyes, but makeup was a potential contaminant, off-limits. She found a long-sleeved shirt and moved to the mirror as she buttoned it, wanting to see if she looked as awful as she felt.

Her reflection wasn't alone, and for less than a moment she thought Troy was home, but it wasn't his face. She spun around to face the intruder standing in her doorway, heart pounding as her mind tried to decide to fight or fly. There was no getting past him, which only left Fight. She lunged for her bedside table, yanking the drawer open, thrusting her hand in and grabbing. . .nothing. Panicked, she looked up at the man and quickly recognized the gun he was emptying of bullets as the one given to her. Fear froze her as she stared.

He was a tall man with long blond hair, wearing black leather gloves, and what looked like a black robe or long jacket, leaning against the frame of her bedroom door, looking amused. He threw the unloaded gun back at her, where it landed lightly on the pillow in front of her. She backed away as far as she could. How long had he been there?

"Wha-, who-, h-how did you get in here?" she asked, her heart pounding in her throat as she forced the questions out, breathing heavily. "Are you part of the security detail?" she asked foolishly trying to grasp the hope he wasn't there to harm her, but the rest of her knew better.

"Goodness no, they didn't even see me coming." He smiled.

Eliza gave an involuntary whimper. "You killed them," she whispered weakly, positively terrified, and subconsciously amazed she was still upright and supporting her own weight. She had always liked to believe that she would be a fighter if there was an intruder in her home, that she would stand up to them and tell them to get the fuck out. But even then, she knew. She was a coward through and through; she had seen too much in her work not to have a healthy sense of fear, and she certainly couldn't hold her own against anyone.

"Not as yet. This is. . .what shall we say, just a preliminary meeting. But I will kill them if they interrupt," he warned, as though reading her mind as she prepared to scream.

"Please don't. . ." she whispered, holding a hand to her throat as though it would protect it, her voice trailing off. She envisioned the powerful rib crackers removing her rib cage on a cold metal table. . .her greatest fear was being on the autopsy table herself. She wanted to die old, with no suspicion about the circumstances.

"Kill you?" He gave a small sinister chuckle. "Not at this time. Killing you now would only arouse more suspicion - suspicion which, right now, can't be afforded." He looked at her darkly, taking another step into the room.

Eliza forced herself to breathe. She wasn't going to die here. At least that was assuming he was telling her the truth. Did murderers tell their victims they would live? Did they give them hope, or remove any scrap of it? But the assurance that she would live through this encounter didn't replace the fear of other things he could do to her. She wrung her hands together anxiously as she looked around for some hope. The alarm. Where did she leave the alarm the detail had given her? She glanced at the bedside table - it was still there, on the far side. She slowly moved so the bed was between her and the intruder, edging back toward the table.

"What do you want?" She forced the words out.

The man smiled again, somewhat how a cat might look at a mouse before it killed it. A very sadistic cat. "I had a feeling you would be less feisty than your brother described. Are all lawyers prone to such exaggerations?" he asked sincerely. "No matter; he served his purpose, however short-lived it was. You, on the other hand. . ."

"You killed him?" she gasped as her voice failed. Oh, God, his death was to do with her. Or was his death somehow pulling her into whatever mess he started?

"Please, don't interrupt. It's very rude, and we are pressed for time." His accent was refined, had all the tell-tale signs of breeding. His posture was proud and confident, and he moved with a grace that made it clear no movement was accidental or unplanned, executed with perfection. "Tell me, what is it you think I want?" he asked, not paying her any attention, focused on removing his gloves neatly.

"I wouldn't have a clue," she replied, reaching out to the alarm.

"I wouldn't," he warned gently, pointing the glove casually at her hand so there was no denying what she was doing. Her hand was frozen by his stare, leaving her with the distinct feeling of being a deer caught in headlights. "As I said, I don't have a problem killing anyone who interrupts us, and whilst your uses are greater alive, you have them dead too."

His voice was calm and incredibly sincere. Eliza pulled her hand back, leaving the alarm in place, and took another step away from the bedside table so that it was out of reach. She couldn't help but feel that this was a man who never bluffed.

"You've been working very hard lately, haven't you?" he commented, glancing at the pile of case files covering her desk.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I give every case the same attention," she half-lied. She had an idea, but she didn't want to voice it. If she said it, it would be true.

"Please, don't insult yourself; you and I both know exactly why I'm here." He tutted. "I doubt you bring all your cases home with you, so let's try again."

"I've never seen you before, don't even know who you are. How should I know why you're here?" She fought to keep her voice steady. She touched the fabric of her clothes, feeling completely naked under his unwavering and unforgiving stare, but the touch didn't make her feel any less so.

"Well, that at least is half-true. Noticing and seeing are two completely different things."

Had he been stalking her? Following her? Her mind raced, trying to think of where she may have seen him, but she came up blank. How long? Days?

"I've had my eye on you for quite some time now," he answered the questions she was thinking.

"So you know who I am."

"Your brother told me a great deal about you, and the rest of your siblings," he added.

Eliza's breath was let out in a ragged sob as she covered her mouth with her hand. "You did that to him," she gasped, feeling ill.

"I didn't, one of my associates did. His demands were becoming a little outrageous and it was clear that his loyalties were overpriced for what it was. He was like a greedy little child wanting more and more, and it didn't take long before it was clear he would be useless."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. More small whimpering sobs broke through as she fought to stay in control, to not collapse in a hysterical heap. She leaned against the wall for support.

"Come now, don't be like that. You and I have much to discuss, and I want to certain there is no mistaking my words. You are wading into very treacherous waters. You don't want to accidentally drown." It was a threat. Not even a disguised or sugar-coated one. "There is far more at work here than you can possibly understand."

Eliza didn't see him move, but all of the sudden he was very close. She took a step back, wanting to be as far away from him as possible; he was so much taller than her. But she was already as close to the wall as she could get, caught between it and him. She tried to slide past him, but a firm hand closed around her wrist, stopping her. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes, but a finger under her chin forced her to look up.

"It would be in your best interest to stop now before it's too late," he said very quietly.

Eliza closed her eyes, trying to swallow her heart back into her ribcage, her palms pressed against the wall as if it would save her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her breath was quavering again.

"I think you do." Eliza pulled her head away. "You have another brother and sister. . .for now."

She didn't realise the lamp was in her hand, didn't remember making a conscious decision to grab it, but it was there and she swung it at his head. The blow stunned him for a moment, long enough for her to spring across the bed and out of the room. She ran down the stairs, almost tripping over her own feet. She looked back to see if he was following her - the door handle was within reach -

She crashed into something solid and rebounded into a table, jarring her lower back and knocking over a glass vase which shattered all over the floor, cutting her bare feet and hands. She ignored the pain, scrambled to her feet, and ran for the door again, but something. . .something invisible blocked her way, and she crashed into it again. She looked to the stairs and saw him at the landing. Panicked, she beat against the barrier between herself and the door.

"Help me!" she screamed as loud as she could, pounding with every ounce of her strength.

"Carpe Retractum!"

Eliza screamed as something wrapped around her waist, dragging her backwards and up the stairs headfirst. She struggled, snatching at the railing and grabbing at anything she could hold onto. She felt his hand curl around the back of her neck, lifting her to her feet, and he flung her into the wall with more force than she would have believed possible. Her shoulder and the length of her arm punched through the wall, cutting her arm and smashing her head hard against it.

The man grabbed her free arm and wrenched it up to him. He leaned in close. "You really don't want to play this game with me," he growled viciously.

Eliza closed her eyes - it was coming. She was going to die.

-.-.-

Loud cracks sounded in every direction, like fireworks exploding. The man's grip vanished and she slumped to the floor. Even though her eyes pressed shut, she could see lights flashing all around. Something hit her like a rogue tennis ball, and she felt her body go completely limp; she was unable to move her arms or legs. She started to panic - she couldn't speak, couldn't scream, and due to the way she'd landed she could make out very little beyond blurred figures in the corner of her eye.

"Damn it!" someone cursed. A man, a very gruff voice.

"Settle down, Moody - you know it's harder to track down someone when they aren't using," another voice said, this one female.

"Barrier's still up," a third voice commented, another man with a thick accent. "Must be aural too, otherwise the Muggles outside would be in here by now."

Eliza felt more than a little frantic with so many strangers in her house who, for all intents and purposes, must have literally appeared from nowhere.

"Leave it for now, don't want those Muggles storming the place," the gruff voice sighed. "Hello, what have we here?"

From the corner of her eye, Eliza could see someone coming up the stairs, and he looked positively frightening. One of his eyes seemed to have a mind completely its own as it examined her. Unable to speak, she made a small desperate and terrified whimper.

"Looks like we weren't too late after all." The way his face was scarred made the smile more sinister than it might have been.

A woman with bright blue hair appeared above Eliza's face. Eliza screamed as best she could and continued to try to struggle. "It's all right - we aren't here to hurt you," she said very clearly. "Now if I let you go, do you promise not to get hysterical? Blink once for 'yes'." Eliza just stared, wide-eyed. "We will explain everything, but you need to be calm," the woman tried again.

"Don't bother, she's a Muggle. Just Obliviate her and have done with it, we have inventory to sort," said the heavily accented voice. Eliza gave something of a squeal.

"That doesn't tell us what Malfoy wanted with her. When have you known him to leave a Muggle alive?" the gruff one replied.

"When he is interrupted?" the accented man answered.

"When they are working for him?" The voice sounded the same, but came from a different direction.

"I don't think this one was - otherwise, why did he put the barrier up?" the blue-haired woman asked, looking away from Eliza. Eliza saw the woman reach back, and again started to panic. Then she saw a stick and stared at it. She was going to stab her with a stick?

"And how many times have I warned you-?" the gruff one started.

"-About buttocks protection? Wands don't come with a warning label - Ollivander's, Makers of Fine Wands since. . .a very long time. Warning: Could ignite one's arse." The others coughed to hide the urge to laugh. "You know, I'd worry about it if you'd just tell me one wizard who's actually lost their right butt cheek. Together, you and I could market a whole new brand of underwear. How does this sound? 'Spell-proof arse, the new innovative back pocket, never have a flaming arse again. Warning: May cause spotted dick.'"

"Tonks."

"Okay, okay."

Eliza all the sudden could move, and she wasted no time. She was up and backed away as far as she could from them, shaking in terror. "Who the fuck are you?" she managed to say, her whole body shaking so hard she could barely see straight.

"Ooo, she's a polite one." It was the one with the thick accent, or as she discovered, one of the two, both of whom had very red hair and a forest of freckles.

"I said, who the fuck are you?" She was hysterical now. The blue-haired woman made to move closer. "Stay back," she ordered. Not that there was anything she could do about it.

The woman respected her wishes all the same. "What's your name?" she asked gently, looking at the others a little uneasily.

"Nahh-no-no, y-yo-ou tell me who you are," Eliza demanded, so stricken with fear she couldn't remember what she was doing or why they were here.

"Okay." The woman made very slow movements. "I'm putting the wand away, okay? I'm Tonks, this is Alastor." She indicated the old man. "Don't mind his eye." Eliza yelped as it rolled to the back of his head.

He muttered and turned away, appearing to investigate something, but she still felt like he was staring directly at her.

"Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-" she muttered over and over, rocking slightly, closing her eyes as tight as she could.

"It's okay, you're okay," the woman reassured her, as though she was talking to a very skittish horse. "Those two are Fred and George." She pointed at the red-haired boys examining the clock on the sound system with great interest. They waved at her. "Can you tell me your name now?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"El-liza-ha," she replied, fighting to control her breathing as she began to feel lightheaded from a lack of oxygen. God only knew what would happen to her if she lost consciousness now. "What. . .how. . .?" She couldn't think of what question to ask first.

Tonks and Alastor shared a glance. "We appreciate this is difficult," Tonks said, "but we need you to calm down and tell us what happened before we got here."

"I-I. . ." she stammered uselessly. "I. . .I don't really know. . .he. . .he was talking about something with my work, and. . .oh, God, Corey." She put her head between her knees.

"What work?" either Fred or George asked.

"I…I think it was something to do with the deaths… the families that have been dying all- all around the country; I'm trying to find a cause of death…" she trailed off.

"Do you think she might be the Con-norra?" One of the twins piqued.

"If she was, I'm quite sure she would be dead," the other stated flatly.

"Not necessarily. . .he could use her for. . ." One of them struggled for words.

"Guess you're right. . .But didn't Hermione say that the Con-norra says how a person dies?"

"Maybe she's a Dec-tive? She mentioned those too."

Eliza's head was hurting, and as she rubbed her forehead she discovered why. She stared at the blood on her fingers, as it would make everything around her make sense. A concussion? Was she even awake? How hard did she hit her head? Were these people even here? She must have tripped down the stairs… everything was so… fuzzy…

"I ne - I need to get a - a hospital," she said faintly, stumbling to get to her feet. But a firm hand pushed her back down.

"Not a good idea right now, lass."

"I…" Everything went black.

-.-.-

The thudding sensation in Eliza's temples didn't lessen, but she felt more comfortable. As far as she could tell she must have fallen asleep on the couch. She kept her eyes closed as though it would somehow dull the pain. Why was there pain?

"I think she's coming to."

"Drink it or wear it." A cup was forced between her lips. Without thinking, she took a few gulps before she was conscious enough to realize how foolish that was. She spat what she hadn't swallowed back into the cup.

Reluctantly, she forced her eyes open. "Oh, you're. . .still here. . ." She closed her eyes again.

"So, are you a. . ." Tonks glanced at the twins. "Can-no-ra? The one who found the NAD? Or a dec-tive?"

"Coroner, DNA," she corrected, her eyes still closed. She flung an arm into the air in drunk victory, pointing at nothing in particular. She felt so relaxed and. . .a little giddy. "What of it?"
"How many people know about it?" someone's voice sounded very serious.
"Everyone involved across the country, it's the first break we've had in these cases," she gave a small giggle, with no idea why she seemed to think it was funny. She giggled more as she tried to make sense of everything. Maybe she was drunk…

"Shit… you can bet the Death Eaters are going to get involved now…"

"They already are, what other business would they have with a Muggle?"

"A wha?" Eliza interjected, fascinated by the way light was reflecting on the ceiling. They ignored her.

"There's no way we can cover this up." The comment was far away, not meant for her.

The words were magic to her ears. "You want to cover up my case?" Eliza accused, snapping bolt upright and suddenly very sober. "Ow. . ." She was rewarded by a thudding pain in her forehead.

Tonks sighed. "It's too late for that now. The Scrubbers aren't going to be able to cover this one up like the other times."

"The other what?" Eliza exclaimed, absolutely furious. The lightbulb above them exploded. The four of them shared a glance.

"You compromised my cases!" Another lightbulb further along the ceiling followed suit. If she wasn't so angry at this new discovery, she would call the manufacturer; she had only changed them just over a week ago.

"Muggles aren't supposed to know about it - it's not your blood war," Tonks replied.

Eliza jumped to her feet, planning on confronting them about the seriousness of what they had done, but her head and stomach had different plans.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said, running to the bathroom and locking the door before they could stop her. This was all too much, what the hell was going on? She heaved violently into the toilet bowl and heard another three cracks whilst hiding. She closed her eyes, this wasn't happening, couldn't be happening. She felt weak, in pain, and completely overwhelmed.

She could hear a bit of chatter outside, but wasn't really able to make anything out of the babble they were saying, except one phrase: "Why haven't you Obliviated her yet?"

That was enough to reinstate her healthy sense of fear. She had made a mistake in thinking that they were safer than the man. Clearly they were no better. He had at least told her she would live, where they were openly and casually, no less, talking about wiping her off the face of the planet.

Once things were settled outside, there was a knock on the door. "Eliza? Hello? Hello? My name is Arthur," a man said very loudly on the other side. "May I come in?" He tired of knocking on the door. "Eliza? Can you hear me?"

Eliza didn't reply, sitting up against the bathtub with her eyes firmly closed. It was all a bad dream - it would all go away. Any minute she would wake up and discover it was the middle of the night, it was just a dream. . .

"Maybe she can't hear you?"

"Maybe she sneaked out?"

"Maybe she died?"

"No, she's right in a crook next to the bath and the basin." Eliza's eyes snapped open, and she gave an involuntary squeal. "And she can hear us. I think she's overwhelmed, maybe we should just Obliviate her, it would be kinder."

"That won't protect her from Lucius."

"Well, what do you suggest then? That we go up to You-Know-Who's front door and politely ask him to stop his men from terrorising Muggles?"

"You saw what happened before, there has to be more going on here than we realise. She's clearly never dealt with our kind before today, and I don't think she would be foolish enough to think anyone would believe her, even if she was game to tell someone."

"When have you ever known Lucius to leave someone like her alive?"

"My point exactly, he wouldn't have talked to her, he would have killed her and gotten back home as quickly as possible. So, why is he giving her a chance?"

"I would like to remind you all that when we arrived, it didn't exactly look like they were sitting down for a cup of tea."

"Well, she's not talking to any of us now!"

"Maybe because she's scared out of her wits?"

"I'm going to interject here - none of us are qualified to deal with this problem. We were all born into it. I think Hermione would have better luck with her. After all, she went through the same thing once. . .kind of. . .well, not really, but she would know better than us."

"Yes, I agree, she would know exactly what a Muggle would want to hear."

"I'll go get her."

Eliza started to cry. Where the bloody hell was the security detail? Couldn't everyone just go and leave her alone? She stood on the edge of the bath, looking out the frosted window. It was small, but maybe she could squeeze through and get away from these people. As she made to open the latch, she cried more, discovering that whatever barrier had stopped her from getting out the front door seemed to also be protecting the window. She sobbed and slipped down into the empty bath.

Another crack sounded. "Oh my goodness, are you trying to give her a heart attack!" It sounded like a young woman or teenager. "Go back into the lounge room, go on - get," she ordered. "And don't break anything - better yet, don't touch anything." She tapped lightly on the door. "Miss?"

"Go away," Eliza sobbed. Were they going to get this girl to kill her instead?

"I'm afraid that's not really an option at this point in time," the girl replied, sounding genuinely sympathetic. "Please let me in. The others are in the lounge, they won't bother you, and it will be just you and me."

"I don't want-" Eliza stared at the door as the girl tried the handle. There was some whispered discussion outside. The lock slid back of its own accord, and her panic levels began to rise again.

"Miss." The girl opened the door slowly and stuck her head through. "Please, don't panic." She stepped in, and Eliza saw Tonks walk back toward the lounge. The girl was actually dressed normally, jeans and a t-shirt; that was only slightly more reassuring. "My name is Hermione Granger, I'm not going to hurt you."

She closed the door behind her and slid down it to the ground so she was eye contact-level with Eliza, but she gave her the respect of not forcing her to make eye contact by looking at the ceiling.

"I remember my first experience with this." Hermione gave a small laugh at a memory long since passed. "I thought I had completely lost my mind. The others, however, they were born into it, so they don't know much about handling these situations. But they mean well," she assured. "What's your name?" she asked, sliding a box of tissues over the tiles to her.

"Eliza," she replied. The girl couldn't be older than Maddie. There was something very wrong with this picture as far as Eliza was concerned.

Hermione smiled. "That's good." She took a deep breath. "Now, I need you to relax because what I'm going to tell you is a lot to take in."

Eliza nodded in response.

"When I was ten, I was informed that I had been accepted into a special school for a secret community. There's no easy way to say this, but it will explain a lot: witches and wizards exist." She paused for Eliza's reaction.

"I don't know if that's terrifying or comforting." Eliza made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry.

"I know, right?" Hermione smiled. "Believe me, I know. I thought I would grow up to be a doctor or something. Turned out I'm a witch, and that everything I'd learned couldn't prepare me for that. You're taking this well."

"No. No, I'm not."

"It will take time. Tonks told me they came here when they were tracking another wizard, Lucius Malfoy." Hermione's face twitched when she said the same, a micro expression of disgust. Apparently she wasn't the only one with dealings with him. "He doesn't voluntarily deal with non-wizards, and if he does, only for a very important reason. He certainly doesn't leave them alive."

"He was threatening me."

Hermione nodded, a slightly pained look on her face. "That sounds like him. What was he threatening you for?"

"He wants me to stop my investigation, I think. I'm a Medical Examiner for the Surrey county Police," she explained- this girl seemed to have more an idea of anything which she considered normal. "Are they really going to kill me?" Eliza asked, gesturing at the door.

"Kill you? The others?" She gave a small laugh, "Merlin no, Lucius… quiet capable and would likely try to, but you don't need to worry about us."

"But before they were saying-"

"Obliviate? Yeah, it's a bad name for a spell. Obliviating someone doesn't kill them," she reassured. "It just removes part of or an event from the memory. It's relatively harmless unless Ron is casting it."

"Who?"

"Never mind. My point is, normally when it comes to deal with people such as yourself who we don't want knowing about us, we cast the spell and poof, it never happened, our secret's safe."

"I actually like the sound of that," Eliza half-laughed. "Could you just cover it since I woke up this morning?" she pleaded.

"No. You see, the others have decided not to. Lucius is, as you have gathered, one of the bad guys, and the fact that he holds an interest in you is of some worry. No offense, but he detests. . .actually, he detests most people, but people like you, he would hold ants in higher regard."

Eliza thought about this for a moment. "So why am I not allowed to forget?"

They were interrupted and startled by loud music blasting in the lounge. Hermione grimaced. "Sorry, they aren't used to. . .well, Muggle stuff, give me a minute." She quickly ducked out of the room and ran down the hall, yelling at Arthur. Eliza stood and made her way out to the hall. She felt a little more together.

Hermione was slapping a new wizard out of the way. Judging by hair, he must have been the twins' father.

"She's emerged!" one of the twins exclaimed excitedly.

"Do they really need to be here?" Hermione asked, slightly annoyed, and coincidentally voicing Eliza's question as it formed in her head. "Don't you have an experiment or something to blow up?"

"You still sore about that toilet incident, aren't you? We told you - we didn't think anyone used that one!"

"It was the only one in the house," Hermione replied through gritted teeth.

"Well. We know that now." The other one smiled. They waved and disappeared in another crack.

Eliza closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could deal. She would deal. Wizards had invaded her life. It could be worse, it could be a serial killer – wait, no, they had confirmed that one of them was.

"Deep breaths," Hermione coached. "Where's Professor Moody?" she asked Tonks.

"He wanted to check something at the Ministry. . .had a bit of an incident earlier," Tonks replied, staring at Eliza the whole time.

"Mr. Weasley, would you please go help him?" The man's face fell. "I'll make it up to you, I'll ask Mum and Dad to invite you over to do all the exploring you like."

Apparently that sold him, as he gave Hermione a warm hug and also vanished.

"That's better. Eliza, come and sit," Hermione invited, she and Tonks taking the couch, leaving her with one of the solitary armchairs. Eliza reluctantly made herself join them. Hermione didn't worry her so much, but Tonks. . .she was still so unsure of things. "Eliza was just asking why she has to remember this," Hermione told Tonks.

"You are the con. . .corna. . .the person who worked at Mrs. Figg's crime scene?"

"How do you know about her?"

Tonks sighed. "That one went down too fast, made a shocking mess - you must have been the one who sewed McGonagall." There was a strange look.

"Who?"

"The cat. She's also a witch, she got hit badly with a spell. It wasn't until we received a letter telling us what had happened that we realised she was in trouble."

"Cats can be witches?" She felt dizzy again.

"No, McGonagall is one of the few with an Animagus form, she can turn into a cat if she wants to. From what she has told us she faked leaving and hid under the couch as a cat, but a rogue spell hit her anyway. She didn't come to until someone pulled her tail…"

Eliza couldn't help but bite her lip. "I thought it. . .she. . .was dead like the other cats."

"In our community, it's common knowledge she can turn into a cat. No doubt why they killed all the cats they could find, hoping to kill her."

This was turning into an overload of information again. The throbbing sensation returned to Eliza's head.

"Muggle healing, despite being barbaric, helped save her," Tonks replied. "But Lucius is an incredibly dangerous wizard. In your case it's more dangerous to forget him. I won't lie - if he wanted you dead you wouldn't have even seen him coming. It's the fact that you're not dead that scares us."

"He said something about knowing my brother Corey, and about him not being useful anymore. . ."

"This is bad. . ." Tonks sighed. "Are both your parents still alive? Any obscure memories as a child. . .family members who vanished?"

"All my memories are obscure, I lost most of them in the car accident that killed my dad, but Troy never mentioned anything that seems important."

"Are you sure he died in a car accident?" Hermione stressed.

"Yeah, I was there. Some drunk ran a red light and hit the driver's side door. There wasn't anything mysterious about it if that's what you're thinking, and as for my mum, she's remarried with three kids, probably two or three years younger than you."

"They're over eleven?"

"Yes, what does any of this have to do with what happened to me?" Eliza's frustration and stress were rising again. There was nothing, nothing that she could think of beyond her job as to why they were interested in her.

"I'm not sure…"

"What do I need to do to get all of this out of my life? If I quit my job so that I'm no longer on the cases – what? Just tell me what I need to do to make things normal again," she pleaded.
"I wish we knew, I really do. . .but I think it's best that you and your siblings come with us. I can stay and pretend to be you until we find out what Lucius-"

Eliza interrupted. "What? No, Troy and Maddie are not getting involved in this."

"They aren't safe, you aren't safe here. We can better protect you if-"

"We aren't going," Eliza declared defiantly. "I said I wanted my life back to normal, not be dragged further into this! If this has something to do with my cases. . .I'll figure something out. You said yourself, if he wanted me dead, I already would be."

"Lucius is not above killing them to get to you. They already killed one of your brothers. Trust me, these people are not above modifying their plans. And saying you would rather die - that's just a challenge to them, it can very easily be arranged," Tonks said, getting more and more frustrated.

"No," Eliza said. She would fight tooth and nail to make sure they stayed out of it. "No, this is because of Corey, not me. If they were using us against each other, we would have known about it before now. As long as I'm alive, they will be safe."

"Think about what you're saying," Tonks argued. "If we hadn't arrived when we did, you would have been tortured, and another of your siblings or even yourself killed - which may still happen. You're not thinking straight."

Eliza shook her head. They were safe as long as they were kept out of it. They had to be safer not knowing. If they knew. . .if they knew, there was no turning back for them. She was what they wanted, she would find a way.

"Stop, Tonks," Hermione interjected. "You can't force her to come with us."

"You know what Malfoy will do to them."

"Just give her some time to come to grips with all of it. Malfoy knows that the Order is involved now, he's not going to risk himself by doing anything stupid."

Tonks took a deep breath. She pointed her wand at her hand, muttering something inaudible, and a ring with what looked like a small black pearl in it appeared. She handed it to Eliza. "If you get in trouble, smash the pearl. We will find you. I'm still going to check on your brother and sister; I won't say anything to them, I'll just. . .keep an eye on them to make sure they're safe," she added quickly before Eliza could protest. "We will check in on you in a few days if we haven't heard anything. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes."

"Fine. But remember, we've only told you this to try and keep you safe, and we are trusting you with it. Not that anyone would believe you, but you can't tell anyone about us."

-.-.-

"We should have taken her; I should have just made her come. Lucius has to know that we're involved now, he'll kill her before he lets her be useful to us."

"Tonks, I'm surprised at you. Is she only a tool to you?"

"She's only a tool to them. That's all she is. And they are going to treat her like one; tools can be replaced."

"If you had forced her to come, it would have destroyed any trust she has in us and pushed her closer to them!"

"They killed her brother, Remus!"

"You know as well as any of us how easy it is for them to sway people's minds. If we kidnap her, then we're no better than they are."

"At least the other two will be safe soon."

"What are you talking about? Tonks, I know that look, what have you done?"

-.-.-

Thank you for reading. Please give a short message telling what you think, and if you have any suggestions for improvement or plots that you would like to see.