Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter world yada yada yada.
A/N: Sorry for the long delay, I've been battling pneumonia for the last few weeks and haven't felt up to writing. But I'm on the road to recovery so updates should start coming more regular again. Thanks for all the amazing reviews you guys are the best. I have reached over 500 hundred story alerts for Watching over Harry and nearly 400 favorites.
Chapter 16
Amelia Bones was awakened by an apologetic house elf. "Mistress Bones I's sorry to be waking Miss but there is an urgent floo call for you Miss." Amelia sat up in her bed and rubbed her face with her hands try to wake herself up. She reached for her wand that was lying on her bedside table and muttered the incantation for the time.
"1:30 a.m.! Whoever is calling at this hour better have a damn good reason or their arse will be mine!" Amelia growled as she threw on her dressing gown and marched herself to the drawing room fire place.
DMLE head Rufus Scrimgeor knew that his boss was not going to be happy with the late night interruption, but he also knew that she would be even angrier if she was not notified of the current events of the night. Death Eater attacks are always an immediate reportable incident, and with four in one night he knew that Amelia would want to know.
"Rufus!" Amelia growled. "The Ministry better be on fire for this late of a call or…" Amelia was cut off by a weary looking Scrimgeor.
"Amelia there has been several Death Eater attacks within the last hour and several deaths." The bushy haired auror stated. Amelia felt that she had just been kicked in the stomach; she fell back into a large wing backed chair and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
"You better come through Rufus, and then you can fill me in." Amelia told the old auror. Rufus stepped through the fireplace and took the chair across from Amelia.
"Mimsy." Amelia called to her house elf.
"What can Mimsy do for Mistress?" The little elf squeaked.
"Bring us tea Mimsy, as strong as you can make it."
"Right away Miss." The elf vanished and returned with a tray with the ordered tea.
Amelia took a long sip of her tea and then looked at Rufus and motioned for him to start his report. Rufus took a deep steadying breath and ordered his thought.
"Tonight Minister, at about twelve p.m., individuals dressed in Death Eater apparel launched a coordinated attack against four locations. These locations are The Weasley home, the Lovegood residence, Longbottom Manor and the home of a muggleborn witch named Hermione Granger."
Amelia gasped; she immediately recognized all these families as belonging to the 'Ministry Six', those students that had accompanied her godson Harry Potter in to the Department of Ministries. Her analytical mind knew this was no coincidence.
With a slight waver to her voice Amelia asked the inevitable question. "Deaths?"
"There were several Minister." Scimgeor sighed. "Many were Death Eaters however."
"Who were the non-Death Eater casualties?" Amelia asked dreading the answers.
Scimgeor sat back in his chair and looked at Amelia with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Arthur Weasly was killed…by the Dark Lord himself. Apparently Dumbledore arrived soon after Arthur was killed and the Dark Lord retreated. The rest of the family had already been evacuated from the house and are safe. Bill Weasley was with Arthur but aside from some cuts and bruises he is fine. We did find three dead Death Eaters as well. We are still looking into their names."
"I assume the rest of the Weasleys have been notified?"
"I believe Bill Weasley has taken care of that." Rufus replied.
"What about the Lovegoods? They live fairly close to the Weasleys."
"We found Xeno Lovegood's body behind his house. It appears he was tortured before he was killed. We are going on the assumption that they tortured him for the whereabouts of his daughter. She was not at the house when the Death Eaters arrived. She had been picking flowers in the woods near her home at the time and arrived back at the house just moments before we arrived. The house was razed and the Dark Mark was floating above the charred remains."
"Where is Miss Lovegood now?" Amelia asked
"She is being debriefed at the Ministry. We will set her up with temporary accommodations until we can figure out what to do with her. Apparently she has no other family and she is not of age. Most likely she will become a ward of the Ministry until she reaches her majority."
"I may know someone that would take her in. I'll contact them and see if it is a possibility." Amelia sighed hoping that Harry wouldn't mind taking in the new orphan.
"The Longbottom attack was a massacre." Rufus stated with a slight smirk on his face.
"A massacre!" Amelia gasped.
"Yep, Longbottom Manor was attacked by no less than ten Death Eaters. Eight of which are dead the other two made a hasty retreat. It seems Old Lady Longbottom still has the stuff." Rufus chuckled. "Five were killed in one of the greenhouses on the property. They mentioned man-eating plants of some kind." Rufus and Amelia both gave a shiver.
"The other three were killed by Lady Longbottom in wand to wand combat. She was always a transfiguration powerhouse." Rufus smiled reminiscing on the many deaths the Death Eaters were handed by the Dowager Lady in the last war.
"So Lady Longbottom and her grandson Neville were unharmed then?" Amelia asked.
"Not a scratch on either of them." Rufus nodded. "The Granger house however did not have such a happy ending." Rufus stated as his voice turned serious.
"We were notified that the killing curse had been used at the Granger residence. As you know muggleborn homes are monitored for magic use." Amelia nodded that she was aware.
"Anyway, we arrived and found both the elder Grangers dead. Mrs. Granger had been killed with the AK, her husband's throat was severed most likely with a cutting curse. With the amount of blood surrounding him we believe he bled out fairly quickly. The daughter, Hermione, was not at the scene when we arrived but there is evidence that she was there and had fought back. We don't know if she was taken by the Death Eaters or if she escaped. There were two deceased Death Eaters, one appears to have been killed by a muggle shotgun, and the other appears to have been killed by a reducto curse. We also found the lower half of a leg that appears to have been blasted off with the muggle shotgun."
"It would seem at least that they didn't go down without a fight. It's important that we try and locate Miss Granger Rufus. If she's out there she will need protecting." Amelia stated firmly.
"We'll do our best Amelia. But if they have her I don't know how we'll get to her." Rufus grimly spoke. Amelia nodded her head in resignation.
"Very well Rufus. I expect a full report on my desk first thing this morning. I also want the names of all the Death Eaters involved and their names made available to the papers as well as photos. I want to shine a light on all those who would work in the shadows. I will not allow incidents like these to be kept from the public anymore." Amelia stated as her temper began to rise.
"We need to go on the offensive Rufus, we can no longer sit back and wait for them to attack us. I want all the old reports from the last war reopened. Every name that was ever mentioned as a possible Death Eater or sympathizer I want investigated. I want financials, allegiances, anything that seems suspicious I want looked at with a fine tooth comb. Do I make myself clear!"
"That will require a lot of extra manpower Amelia. We can't do it with the numbers we have now." Rufus added.
"I will find the funding and will authorize all the overtime you need. This is a priority Rufus." Amelia stated with resolve in her face.
Rufus stood and nodded to his Amelia. "I'll begin right away organizing what I'll need and let you know in the morning." Rufus stated.
"I know this will stretch your resources Rufus, but you have the backing of the Ministry on this and I will do whatever it takes to keep this war from taking the path it did last time." Amelia stated as she stood and shook Rufus' hand.
oooOOOooo
In one of the spare bedrooms at Black Manor, Harry Potter was pacing at the foot of the bed where lay the unconscious form of his best friend Hermione Granger. He and Bella had apparated to Hermione's house and saw the carnage that had befallen his friend's family. Harry raced to Hermione's side as she slipped into shock.
Bella shook her head at Harry when he asked her about the state of the Grangers. Harry let a silent tear fall from his eyes. He knew she had no other family and now what she had was brutally ripped from her. Harry cradled her in his arms and stood up with her gently pressing his lips to her forehead.
Sirens were heard coming down the street and he and Bella new that they had to leave quickly. Harry and Bella along with the limp body of Hermione apparated back to Black Manor. Harry quickly strode up to the second floor and placed Hermione on a bed. Bella had called for Narcissa and the two sisters joined Harry in the spare bedroom where he had taken Hermione.
Narcissa had taken out her wand and began to perform basic medical scans over the bushy haired bookworm. Her scans revealed that she was physically fine; however, the trauma from the night's events had caused the young witch to mentally shut down.
"Is there anything you can do for her Cissy?" Harry asked the pleading thick in his voice.
"I'm sorry Harry. There is no potion that I can give her, no spell I can cast that will ease her pain. She needs to deal with the trauma herself. All we can do is stand by and wait." Narcissa said consolingly.
"Cissy, I have another question. I…somehow knew that Hermione was being attacked. I mean I felt it and saw it in my mind. How is that possible?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure Harry. I know you can sense Bella and feel what she feels but I believe that's because of the core bonding ritual." Narcissa stated.
"Cissy, maybe Harry is connected to Hermione in some other way. You said that Hermes was able to see the bonds that linked Harry and I together, do you think that he might be able to see something between Harry and Hermione?" Bella asked.
"It's possible. Hermes!" Narcissa called out.
In a swirl of of smoke the Black family elf appeared. "Mistress Cissy is needing Hermes?"
"Yes Hermes. We think that there may be some bond or connection between Harry and this young witch on the bed. Can you see any connection between the two?"
"I cans do that mistress yes, I will do so." The elf stated happily.
The ancient looking elf stared and the prone form of Hermione Granger his eyes seemed to cloud over as he studied her closely. He then turned his stare toward Harry and again seemed to study him closely. Several minutes passed before the elf was satisfied with what he saw.
"They's do have a bond and are linked by magic to each other." The wizened elf stated.
"But how?" A confused Harry asked.
"The young witch is owing you a life debt which binds her life to yours, but there is also a wizard's oath of protection that binds you to her." The elf stated matter-of-factly.
"Do you know what he speaks of Harry?" Bella asked.
"I think so. In first year I saved Hermione from a Mountain Troll that nearly killed her. In second year Hermione was petrified by the basilisk that was running loose in the school. I stayed with her every night while she was in the hospital wing. I was so distraught I vowed to her that I would never let anything happen to her again and that I would always protect her even with my life." Harry recollected fondly as he stared at his best friend.
"It is this combination of the life debt and your oath Master Harry that has created the connection. Whenever she feels threatened or scared you will feel it and will be able to sense her and go to her." Hermes replied. "The flow of magic between you and the young miss is strong. Not as strong as your connection with Mistress Bella and not on the same level, but it is nevertheless powerful."
"Well that was unexpected." Harry stated looking at Bella. "This doesn't upset you does it love?" Harry asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Hmm… just remember that you're a one woman man and we'll be fine." Bella teasingly smirked as she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and gave his lips a warm peck. "Although…she is a very pretty witch, maybe we could..." Bella began but never finished as she smiled seductively at Harry and waggled her eyebrows.
"You are such a tease." A flushed Harry coughed out.
"And you love it." Bella smirked as she pressed herself against him.
"If you two are done flirting with each other." Narcissa said interrupting the two lovers. "It is rather late and some of us would like to sleep."
"Sorry Cissy." Harry apologized. "Is there anything else we can do for Hermione?"
"Nothing I can think of. I will have Grisi watch over her. If anything changes she will notify us. But for now I suggest we all get some sleep I suspect there will be much to discuss tomorrow." The blonde witch stated.
Grisi popped into the room and caught everyone's attention. "Excuse Mistress Cissy but there is a floo call for Master Harry from a Bonesy woman." Grisi said. "It is in the parlour."
Harry and Bella hurried down to the parlour where they saw the floating head of Amelia bones within the green flames.
"Godmother! How are you? What has you calling so early in the morning."
"Please Harry call me Amelia or Auntie if you prefer, godmother is such a mouthful to say." Amelia asked her godson.
"Okay Auntie what can I do for you?" Harry smiled.
"I'm afraid I have some rather disturbing news. May I come through where we could talk properly?" Amelia asked.
"Of course Aunt Amelia, come on through you have been added to the wards they will recognize you." Harry said as he and Bella stepped back to allow the head of the wizard government through.
Amelia stepped through the fireplace gracefully and then immediately wrapped her arms around her godson in greeting.
"I apologize for the late visit but I knew you would want to be informed. Harry tonight there were several Death Eater attacks. One of the attacks was at the Granger residence. Both of Hermione's parents were killed and Hermione is…"
"Upstairs." Harry interrupted his godmother.
""Upstairs?" Amelia asked in surprise.
"It's a long story but I felt that Hermione was in danger and Bella and I apparated to her home. We were too late to have been any help to her parents. When we arrived we saw the bodies of two death eaters and her parents. We apparated out with Hermione when we heard police sirens approaching the house. We didn't feel up to explaining ourselves to the police at the moment."
"How is she doing?" Amelia asked with concern.
"At the moment she is unconscious. Physically she's okay but Cissy believes that the trauma from watching her parents killed has caused her to shut down." Harry said rubbing his face with the palms of his hands.
Amelia nodded. "It's called psychosomatic shock Harry. It can happen to people who witness horrific events. It can be just as life threatening as any other form of shock. You'll need to watch her closely. I've seen this many times as an auror." Amelia counseled her godson.
"You mentioned attacks as in more than one." Bella asked Amelia. "Who else was attacked?"
"The families of the 'Ministry Six'. The Longbottoms, the Weasleys, and the Lovegoods were all hit." Amelia stated. Harry, Bella and Narcissa all gasped. "The Longbottoms came out the best. They managed to kill eight Death Eaters and came out untouched themselves."
"Lady Longbottom was quite the dueler in her younger years I've been told." Narcissa added.
"Indeed." Amelia said. "She took on five on her own and managed to kill three. The other two retreated before she dealt with them." Amelia smirked.
"I know that you are feeling some hostility toward the Weasley's right now Harry, and it's understandable considering what Molly is trying to do but Arthur has always been a good man. I've worked with him on several cases on a joint task force involving his department."
"Are you trying to say that Mister Weasley is dead?" Harry asked in shock.
Amelia nodded sadly. "By Voldemort himself it seems." Amelia said mourning the loss of the man.
Harry sat heavily on the leather sofa and put his head in his hands. "Mr. Weasley always treated me kindly. I never blamed him for the mess that is going on. I've always felt that he was a good and honorable man." Harry commented with a remorseful tone.
"Fortunately the rest of the Weasley's were at some safe house at the time, only Bill Weasley was there with Arthur when Voldemort attacked. Dumbledore arrived sometime after Arthur was killed and chased off the Dark Lord."
"What about Luna?" Harry asked concerned about his quirky friend.
Amelia took another deep breath and slowly pushed it out. "Her father was tortured and killed. Luna was not at the house at the time of the attack she had been about a mile or so from her house in some nearby woods. She arrived at the home just moments before the aurors arrived." Amelia stopped here and took a sip of tea that Grisi had brought to parlour.
"Harry…Xeno was Luna's only relative. She has no one else to take her in. She is still a minor and will not be allowed on her own until she reaches her majority. If I can't find someone to take her in and be her guardian she will wind up as a ward of the ministry. Believe me that is not a very pleasant option." Amelia stated rubbing her temples and looking as if the world was on her shoulders.
"I know you are a good friend of Luna's and you are considered an adult now. I was hoping…"
"You were hoping that I would take her in." Harry answered. Amelia nodded her head in affirmation.
"I know it's a lot to ask. And I know that the rest of the Wizarding world still believes you to be dead. But I think it would be best if she is with someone she knows and trusts."
"You don't have to convince me auntie." Harry stated with his lopsided grin. "I would be honored to take her in."
Amelia let out a sigh of relief and felt pride in the young man sitting in front of her. "There are a couple of ways for you to become her guardian Harry. The first would be to adopt her into the House of Potter as a ward. She would still be a Lovegood just under the protection of your house. The Lovegoods are an old pureblood family and she might want to keep her family name alive. The second would be a blood adoption. She would literally become a Potter and would enjoy all the rights and privileges' of an Ancient and Most Noble House."
"Well I think I will leave that decision for Luna to make, and I will do whatever she decides." Harry stated. "Aunt Amelia…Hermione has no other relatives as well. She being a muggleborn and all, what would happen to her?"
"Without any relatives, her magical guardian which in this case is Dumbledore because of her muggleborn status would have complete control over her life. She would not have any protections except those her guardian allows. Unfortunately as a muggleborn she has no real rights in our society. Dumbledore if so inclined could sell her off as a servant or worse and she would have no legal recourse."
Harry's anger started to well up within him at the knowledge that his best friend could be treated in such a manner. There was no way in hell that Harry would allow Dumbledore to have so much control over Hermione's life.
Bella reached over and grabbed Harry's hand which began to immediately have a calming effect on her husband. "What if I adopted her as a ward in my house as well, would that then give her rights and protection." A calmer harry asked.
Amelia grimaced slightly she knew he wasn't going to like the answer. "I'm afraid that her just being a ward of your house would not be enough. Being a muggleborn she would still fall under the guardianship of her magical guardian. And up and until her majority he could take her from you." Amelia said with a sympathetic look.
"Harry, for Hermione to be completely protected she would need to be blood adopted by at least a noble house. I know it sounds terrible, but the current laws are very prejudiced against muggleborns." Amelia added.
"So I would need to blood adopt Hermione into House Potter for her to be protected? And by so doing she will become a Potter and have all the rights and privileges' of a member of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Is that correct?"
"In a nutshell yes Harry." Amelia said
"Bella, what do you think love?" Harry asked his other half.
"I wouldn't object at all Harry. I know how much she means to you. If Hermione is willing, I say we go ahead and blood adopt her at the earliest convenience." Harry gave his wife a grateful smile and kissed her tenderly on the lips.
"Well then if Hermione is agreeable that is what we will do." Harry stated firmly.
"Now, back to Luna. She is currently at the ministry. If you are still willing I can go and get her and bring her here. It would be much more comfortable than anything we could give her at the ministry."
"That would be fine Aunt Amelia. We will have the house elves set up another room." Harry offered.
"Wonderful. Give me about a half hour and I should be back with Miss Lovegood." With that Amelia flooed back to the Ministry to pick up the orphaned blonde.
Preparations were made at Black manor for another guest. The house elves worked wonders on the room that would be Luna's. They had decorated the room with soft pastel colors, silk sheets were placed on the bed along with a goose feather comforter. A few stuffed animals rested against the fluffy pillows on the small canopy bed.
Harry had gone back to check on Hermione to see if there was any change. She appeared to be just sleeping now but looked as if she was having a nightmare. She was tossing violently, her arms were thrashing about and tears were streaming down her face.
Harry was about to call for Narcissa when Hermione's eyes shot open and she began to scream. Harry rushed to her side and grabbed Hermione in a tight hug calling her name and making hushing noise and speaking words of comfort.
Although her eyes were open Harry could tell she was still locked into the nightmare. He yelled for Narcissa who came running in. She viewed the scene and immediately grabbed a calming draught and a dreamless sleep potion.
"Harry, try and get her to drink these before she passes out again. Harry gently but firmly cradled Hermione's head against his chest. "Hermione…Mione it's me Harry. I need you to drink these, can you do that for me.
"H-H-Harry?" She whispered between sobs.
"Yes Mione…please I need you to drink these it will make you feel better." Harry said in a calming voice.
Hermione's eyes were dancing in their sockets she was looking everywhere but seeing nothing. She was still not completely in the waking world, but somewhere deep in her mind she recognized a voice a voice she trusted above all others. The voice wanted her to drink something; she knew the voice meant her no harm.
Hermione subconsciously listened to the voice and opened her mouth slightly. Harry was quickly able to get both potions into Hermione before she fell back into her nightmare. A few moments later the thrashing ceased and Hermione stilled in Harry's arms.
Harry gently laid her back on her pillow and then leant down and kissed her forehead. He stroked her sweat soaked hair and pushed it back. He grabbed a wet flannel and soaked it with cool water. He gently cleaned her face, neck and forehead allowing the cool water to wash away the terror induced sweat.
He looked fondly at the bushy haired girl that had come to mean so much to him over the years. Other than Bella, there was no one else as close to him as Hermione. Harry heard voices from downstairs and knew that Amelia had returned. He squeezed Hermione's hand and stood up and walked to the door. He did not see the warm smile that had appeared on his best friend's face as he exited through the door.
Harry reached the bottom of the stairs and had just walked in to the parlour when he was hit by a blonde missile. Luna threw her arms and legs around the raven haired young man and buried her face into the crook of his neck.
Harry felt a torrent of warm tears falling down his neck. Luna's sobs vibrated through her whole body as she clung to him. All Harry could do was to gently pat the back of the distraught girl and whisper words of comfort as he rocked her back and forth.
After about five minutes the emotionally drained girl eased up on the death grip that she had Harry in but still did not release him completely. She put her feet back on the floor but leaned her head against her friend's strong chest.
"He's g-g-gone Harry. Daddy is gone…they k-k-killed him Harry they k-k-killed him." The young witch sobbed.
"I know sweetie, Amelia told me. Is there anything I can do for you?" Harry asked tenderly.
"M-M-Minister Bones says that you are willing to t-take me in." Luna whispered through the sobs.
"I am Luna that is if you want to stay with me." Harry stated.
"Oh please Harry." Luna clung tighter to Harry. "I would be so grateful to you."
"Then you have a home here Luna. Did Amelia explain to you what we need to do to keep you safe and protected."
"Yes Harry I would like to be a ward of House Potter if that's okay?" The blonde stated becoming a bit calmer looking up into Harry's eyes.
"Then tomorrow will make it official okay." Harry said looking warmly at the petite blonde still in his arms. Luna nodded and buried her head back into Harry's chest.
"Come, we have a room all ready for you. It's late and I'm sure you could use a good nights rest. Cissy will you prepare a dreamless sleep potions for Luna I'm sure she could use one." Harry asked the healer of the family.
Harry and Bella escorted Luna to her bedroom which was adjacent to Hermiones'. The young witch thought the room looked lovely. Bella opened the bureau and took out a baby blue night gown and placed it on the bed. She then pointed out the attached bathroom where she could change and clean up.
"Thank you Harry and Lady Potter for everything your doing for me." Luna meekly whispered.
"It's our pleasure Luna dear." Bella said giving Luna a warm smile and a hug.
Luna threw her arms around Harry's neck again and kissed him on the cheek. She then bid them a goodnight as she grabbed the nightgown and headed for the bathroom. Narcissa had entered the bedroom and told Luna to drink the potion when she was ready to crawl into bed.
Amelia bid Narcissa and the Potters goodnight and told them that she would contact them in the morning and help Harry with the adoption of Luna as his ward. After Amelia's departure Narcissa and the Potters retired to their respective rooms to catch a few hours of sleep.
oooOOOooo
Tom Riddle sat on his throne in the meeting hall of the Riddle estate. He spoke not a word as he glared at those assembled before him. One lone body was suspended in air upside down, slowly revolving in a morbid sans gravity ballet. Blood dripped and oozed from the dozens of paper thin cuts that covered the body.
The Dark Lord slowly stood leaving the gilded chair and began to pace in front of the forty or so Death Eaters that were all prostrated in front of him. None dare speak the smell of fear and anxiety was thick and overwhelming. The Dark Lord had not spoken for ten minutes after he expressed his displeasure with Amycus Carrow who was now suspended some six feet above them.
"I consider myself a fair Lord and a generous Lord." Voldemort began looking up toward the ceiling as he continued to pace. "All I ask in return for my favor is that YOU CARRY OUT MY ORDERS!" The Dark Lord yelled his gaze falling on the now trembling group.
"Pathetic!" He hissed. "I send twenty three of your fellow Death Eaters out with the simple order of capturing five children…CHILDREN! And only eight return. But do I see the children trembling before me…I do not! And why is that I wonder?"
Many of the Death Eaters began to shift nervously. When no one answered the question the Dark Lord sneered at the group. "Cowards!" He spat.
"I will not tolerate any further failure." The Dark Lord hissed in a low and threatening tone. "The next one to fail me will not live long enough to feel any regret. NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" The assembled Death Eaters did not waste any time leaving.
Voldemort looked at the suspended in air body of Amycus Carrow the groans from the tortured man echoing now in the empty hall. "Nagini…dinner time." The Dark Lord said and with a wave of his wand Amycus crashed to the floor with a crunch. The enormous slithering familiar of the Dark Lord quickly wrapped the still alive Amycus Carrow in its coils squeezing the last remaining air out of his lungs. Within a few hours Amycus Carrow would be nothing more than a mass of digesting flesh within the enormous snake.
A/N: Not much action here, mostly just a filler chapter. So it looks that Harry will add two more to his growing family. Next chapter Harry learns of the betrayal of Hermione and Luna by Dumbledore. Thanks for reading! Please be kind and leave a review it really helps to inspire me more.