Edited by the mighty pazed!

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Chapter 17

Harry held the small blond's fragile looking body close to his as he shifted in his seat on board the Quinjet. "Luna, hold on. We'll have you to someone that can help you soon," he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

"Can you help Daddy Harry?" she said softly. "He's been alone such a long time."

"Where would he be Luna?" he asked.

"At home, The Rookery, our house…" she replied. "I heard them talking a few weeks ago… they destroyed his press, for the Quibbler, and kidnapped me to make him help set a trap for you. Our house is near the Weasley's, just down the road."

Harry nodded. "We'll try…" That was the best they could do, it was possible he was already dead, and they had little time remaining before they needed to begin the second phase.

Voldemort looked down at the still quivering form of Narcissa Malfoy, as the lasting effects of his 'Crucio' made her muscles twitch. "Wormtail! Take some of the others. I want to know what happened!" His red eyes blazed with anger. "And find out where Greyback is! He was supposed to be at the manor as well!"

"Yes, Master," The lumpy smaller man said bowing deeply, then scurrying toward the door.

Harry looked down at his hands as they approached the Burrow from the orchard. "Do you think we are still keyed to the wards?" he whispered.

Hermione nodded. "Most likely. Clint, Nat, can the two of you stay here till we come get you? And keep an eye out for us."

Clint smiled and slipped his goggles back on. "Not a problem kid, I'll let you know if anything is going on. Go get you friends."

The teens smiled at the pair of spies. "Harry give me your cloak… at least till we can explain."

Harry's hand slipped behind him and pulled out the silvery liquid looking piece of cloth. Taking it quickly Hermione wrapped it around her shoulders disappearing from sight as she flipped the hood over her head.

Clint whistled softly. "She's completely invisible! Even to the advanced optics…" he said fiddling with the display knobs. "That's amazing!"

"Family heirloom," Harry said, as he began to walk forward. "If you're both good, I'll see if I can find you something like it after this is all over."

The Widow watched the spot that Hermione had been standing in moments before, and saw the grass move as the girl turned to follow Harry. "It is not perfect," she commented gesturing toward the trail left in the grass. "But it would be very helpful."

Harry tiptoed toward the impossible home in the distance, a ramshackle of odd shapes that could only be held together by magic. It was, if he was honest, more of a home to himself than any other, including Hogwarts. A place filled with laughter and love, something he had only known very little of.

As he stepped through the garden gate a voice called from inside. "Stop where you are! Identify yourself!" it said.

"It's me Mr. Weasley, Harry," Harry called back.

"What did I pull you to the side and talk to you about just before your third year?" the voice asked.

"Sirius Black…" Harry said. "What is your favorite thing to collect?" he challenged back.

"Muggle plugs!" said the voice as the door opened and Mr. Weasley stepped outside, but keeping his wand trained on the younger man.

"Who else is with you Harry?" Arthur asked, as Harry walked slowly forward.

"A friend," said a whispering voice, as the wand was plucked from the older wizard's fingers.

"Hermione?" he asked quietly.

"Hi, Mr. Weasley. Can we go inside?" she asked, "We need to be quick, we don't have much time."

"Yes, right, come in you lot!" he said.

Harry found himself engulfed in a hug from the Weasley matriarch. "Oh, Harry we've been so worried! You've grown so much! And these clothes! Wherever did you find them? How are Hermione and Ron? Why aren't they with you?" she asked at a frantic pace.

"It's good to see you too…" he said, and for the first time not gasping for air after one of the woman's hugs. "As for Hermione… she's here too… But you need to know, before you see her, there was an accident… she looks different."

Both of the older magicals' eyes widened. "Oh! The poor dear!" Molly said gasping, her hand over her mouth.

Hermione removed the cloak, and stood to her full seven foot height. "It's good to see you both," she said with a sad smile, rubbing her arms nervously and all the while praying inside that they wouldn't reject her.

Molly's and Arthur's eyes widened as they took in the jade green giantess their daughter in all but blood had become. "Merlin!" they both gasped.

Arthur approached her slowly. "W-what happened?" he asked taking her hand in his, noting that his was now the smaller of the two.

"It's a long story," she said softly. "One we don't have time for at the moment… We need to get you out of here."

Molly stepped forward and hugged the nervous girl. "It's okay, I'm sure we'll be able to figure out how to help you… Was it some form of potion? Or possibly a spell?" she asked.

Hermione stepped out of the hug. "Madam Pomfrey is willing to look into it, but that will be later. At the moment we need to get you away from here, and to safety. Now."

Arthur shook his head. "We can't leave… to do so would put Ginny in even worse danger than she is in at Hogwarts, they've been keeping watch."

Harry smiled. "She'll be fine sir, we've already got her and the others out of Hogwarts, it's empty now. They're all safe."

"So that's where Ron is? With Ginny?" Molly asked. She glanced at her family clock, where all of the hands had said 'Mortal Peril' before she had gone to bed the night before. However now one hand was different, Ginny's hand pointed toward 'away'.

"Arthur! Look!" she exclaimed. "She's safe! The clock's still working!"

Arthur's face broke into a wide grin. "Thank Merlin!" His face sank for a moment, "If Ron is with her… why isn't his hand reacting the same way?"

Harry stiffened, and moved next to Hermione taking her hand in his. "We -" he began, only to falter. "We don't know where Ron is…"

They both turned towards them, the question plain on their faces. "He- He left us," Hermione squeezed his hand as he continued, "Just before Christmas… We tried to stop him, but he was so angry and frustrated… He was beyond our wards and gone before we could talk some sense into him…"

Tears fell down Molly's face, as she clutched at her husband's chest. "Shhhh… Molly, think, he's still alive. His hand is still on the clock… So we know that much…"

Harry nodded and placed a hand on Molly's shoulder. "They would have already been here if they knew about the ghoul taking his place instead of the illness, Spattergroit, keeping him out of school this year."

"I do hope you're right Harry but where could he have gone?" she cried. "Why didn't he come home?"

"I don't know Mollywobbles…" Arthur said, pulling her in tighter. "He probably thought that he couldn't keep up the ruse of being sick. While they don't hurt the ghoul those boils and pustules could be painful to him…"

Molly nodded. "Could he have gone to Muriel's?" she asked.

Arthur looked up at Harry, who shook his head. There is no way he would have gone there, it was the one place he disliked more then the Hogwarts library!

Arthur sagged a little. "No… I don't think so… Maybe Bill's… He wouldn't go to the twins, they are living at the Alley over their shop… and Bill's is under Fidelius… he must have gone there…" he said.

Harry nodded, that made some sense, "We'll look into it but for now, we need to get you out of here, time is getting short. Leave everything you can, we need to go."

The older couple nodded slowly and broke their hug. "Alright Harry. Where are you taking us?" he asked.

"Someplace you'll be safe," Harry said. "I promise. We'll talk more tomorrow, but we still have work to do tonight."

Five minutes later they were on their way out of the Burrow, each carrying a box and Molly's clock tucked safely under Hermione's arm.

Harry stood next to Natasha, looking at one of the oddest homes he had ever seen. "Luna called it the Rookery, who knew it would look like a Rook from a chess set," he said.

Natasha shrugged. "After seeing Hogwarts, Malfoy Manor, the Burrow, and now this place, I think it is safe to say wizards have a weird idea of normal."

Harry chuckled and handed her the cloak. "Luna said the wards were minimal here, as they spent most of their time at the Quibbler office. Are you sure about this? I could just try to-"

Natasha shook her head, as she slipped her goggles over her eyes and swept the cloak around her shoulders. "If this is a trap I'm the best choice to go in. Besides I have you and Clint here to watch my back. Stay with him, and do what he says, understand?"

Harry nodded. "Alright, just be careful."

She smiled at him. "I'll be back quick as a wink. Just make sure the Quinjet is fired up."

They watched as the woman disappeared, and then the small depressions left by her feet as she made her way toward the Rookery.

"Wand out Harry." Clint said, as he pulled an arrow from his quiver.

Harry watched the man for a moment, how his entire demeanor changed. No longer was the laughing jokester there, in his place was a professional. A man there to do a dangerous job.

It didn't take long for a figure to appear out the darkness, carrying another figure over her shoulder, crossing the ground in between at a loping run.

"Your turn," Natasha said passing the grey headed man over. "No magic, carry him. I found him unconscious, in front of a dying fire, he's drunk. Let's get out of here."

"Right. Widow, take the lead with Harry," he said. "I'll cover you both."

Harry stowed his cloak and picked up the unconscious Mr. Lovegood. "Right. Let's go."

They hadn't made it more than a few steps when several pops heralded the arrival of a number of wizards.

"Harry! Go!" Natasha growled. "Get him out of here! We'll take care of this!"

The 'thwip' of an arrow punctuated the order, then a buzzing filled the air along with a scream.

Natasha sprinted forward, drawing her handgun and firing two quick shots then watched as the wizard's body jerked and fell where it had stood.

"Last two, don't let them get away!" Clint said firing again.

Dropping to her knee, she fired again. "Mine's down!"

"Mine too!" Clint said stringing another arrow. "Your show, let's check them then get them to make sure, then I want to gather up 'Sparky' over there," Clint said, pointing to the man still twitching on the ground with smoke rising in wisps from his hair.

He chuckled as he retrieved the arrow from next to the body. "Had the boys up the charge after the battle in New York, I was looking for a chance to try it out."

Natasha walked back from checking the final body. "Let's finish up and go. We told them we'd be back in time to start the next phase before dawn."