My thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, I always like to know what people think of my stories so please feel free to share your thoughts.

CHAPTER SIX: Taking Stock

James drummed his fingers irritably on the table in the library. Martin, Emily, Rose and Scorpius, who were all sitting with him, kept shooting him annoyed glares which he either didn't notice or chose to ignore. "What's keeping him so long?"he complained.

The others were relieved when Albus walked through the door a few seconds later. James, on the other hand, wasn't especially pleased: Albus had Lily and Hugo with him.

"What are they doing here?"he demanded.

"They're involved in this too,"Albus answered nonchalantly.

"You keep leaving us out,"Lily complained. "You were the same last year."

"What, you're jealous you didn't get captured and beaten by Voldemort's old people?"James retorted. His use of the Dark Lord's name was enough to silence most of the group but Lily continued to stubbornly stand her ground and Hugo didn't seem keen on leaving without her.

"We're just talking,"Albus pointed out. "It's not like we're planning to stake out the Forbidden Forest again."

"They might think of some things that we don't,"Rose agreed.

James looked beseechingly at his best friend. "Martin, help me out here."

Martin shrugged. "You invited my sister. Might as well have yours here too."

James looked at Emily, who blushed slightly at the comment, and gave up. "Okay, sit down, all of you."

The three of them took their seats at the table. "So what's all this about?"Albus asked.

"Well, for one thing,"James began,"one of the girls in Slytherin warned Rose not to be friends with Scorpius."

It was hard not to make the declaration sound like an anti-climax. "Is that all?"Lily complained.

"No, it's not all,"Rose answered. "We confronted her about it later and she denied it."

Lily didn't seem convinced. "So she was lying. Big surprise."

"I don't think she was lying,"Scorpius put in. "I've known her lie before and she's not very good at it. This time, it seemed like she really didn't know what we were talking about."

"And then there was the woman I saw on the Hogwarts Express,"James continued. "She was taking some sort of potion. I got the bottle but someone stole it from my dorm room. And then there's what happened to Aunt Hermione a few weeks ago."

"To Mum?"Hugo asked in shock. "What happened to her?"

Rose had done her best to hide the incident, which had received a few inches in the Daily Prophet, from her brother. She shot James a look of annoyance at his tactlessness. "Someone attacked her at the Ministry,"she explained gently. "But she fought them off, she wasn't badly hurt. She… she thought it was Parvati."

"Parvati?"Hugo repeated, his eyes widening. "But she wouldn't do that, would she?"

"Dad doesn't think so,"Rose answered. She'd exchanged owls with Ron as soon as she'd heard of the incident.

"Neither does my dad,"James added. The comment caught Rose by surprise. It hadn't occurred to her that James might have been in touch with Harry and she wondered if he'd spoken to Hermione as well. She felt a slight pang of guilt as she realised she hadn't thought to check in with her mother and see that she was all right. James carried on. "But that just proves my point. People aren't who they appear to be. I think… I think maybe there's a group of people disguising themselves, moving among us."

"There are certain potions and transfiguration spells that can alter someone's appearance,"Emily confirmed. "They could be using them."

"But why go to all that trouble just to stop a couple of school kids from being friends?"Martin asked.

"They could be into blood purity,"Scorpius suggested quietly. "My grandad was always talking about that, how I had to make the proper marriage when the time comes, carry on the Malfoy line. Maybe they were worried about me and Rose being close." Rose gripped his hand, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the table.

"That might be why they went after Hermione too,"Emily suggested. "She's one of the most famous Muggleborns around. She'd be bound to be a target."

"But if this is true,"Albus pointed out,"then at least one of them must be here. In Hogwarts."

James nodded slowly. "And in the Ministry."

Hermione looked around a hallway that seemed to be bigger than the entire ground floor of Grimmauld Place, gaping at how many rooms seemed to be leading off it. She looked at Harry and smiled. "It's beautiful."

Harry glanced at the wizard estate agent. "I think we're interested."

He gave a curt nod. "Let me know when you're done." He pointed his wand at a set of keys and one of them floated off the key chain into Harry's hand. "That should open everything,"he told them, before shuffling off down the corridor.

Harry put his arms round Hermione and gently kissed the side of her head. "What do you think?"

"Can we really afford this?"she asked.

"Well, if we can, what do you think? Six bedrooms, so there's one for all the kids. Miles away from any Muggle homes so we don't have to worry about privacy spells. We could put a Quidditch pitch in the back garden."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "That's why you want to buy it? So we can have a Quidditch pitch?"

"Well, I think James and Albus would like to practise and Lily seems to be getting into the game as well. And I seem to remember Hugo kept asking me and Ron to throw a ball about with him."

"That's true,"Hermione agreed. "Thank goodness Rose prefers to keep her feet on the ground or I'd really feel left out."

"So…are we interested?"

Hermione paused and took a deep breath. "I think it'd be nice to have something that's ours. Yours and mine. Might make me feel like a bit less of an interloper."

Harry turned her to face him. "Do you really feel like that?"

Hermione smiled gently. "You've never made me feel like I'm not welcome but Grimmauld Place was yours and Ginny's home. I could never put my own stamp on it and I wouldn't want to. This place…" She took out her wand and tapped it experimentally against a wall, which suddenly changed to a deep shade of purple. "It's got prospects."

Harry smiled back. "And you're all right about everything else? I mean… Parvati."

Parvati had been reinstated at the Ministry the previous week. The investigation had found no evidence linking her to the attack other than Hermione's witness statement, which, given the number of ways there were for a witch or wizard to change their appearance, had been ruled circumstantial.

"I was so sure it was her,"Hermione mused. "But now… now I'm not sure. I hope it isn't her, I shared a dorm with her for six years, Ron and the children seem to like her… I just don't know."

Harry looked at her steadily. "Whoever it was… we'll find them."