AN:/ Hey guys… so it's been awhile—my bad as always—but I did manage to get this installment done before July which is good. There won't be an update until August at the earliest because I will be elsewhere. Thanks for putting up with my slow as a slug pace of updating! I won't keep rambling, so enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter, the characters, locations, spells, etc. Nor will I ever own it.

(With Harry)

Harry frowned. It had only been two days since he destroyed the locket… but now he was back to square one in a way. He may have destroyed the locket and found a way to destroy the rest of the Horcruxes, but Harry had no inkling whatsoever of where to begin looking for the other Horcruxes. Sighing, Harry glanced at the grey sky; the light was just beginning to fade, signalling a day's end.

Before Harry could contemplate anything else though, Dobby popped beside him. Harry jumped—as he always did when Dobby arrived—and drew his wand. Dobby said simply, "A levitation spell on a cake, Harry Potter sir!" Harry nodded and lowered his wand. It wasn't likely that any death eater would even think of trying to potion into Dobby, but the hunt was making Harry paranoid. The whole war was.

Harry smiled wearily at Dobby, "What brings you round, Dobby?" he asked.

Dobby blinked his large, tennis-ball green eyes at Harry and said, "A letter from Missus Amelia, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby announced as he produced a piece of parchment. Harry blinked, Amelia didn't usually write unless she had news on the war of direct importance to him.

Thanking Dobby, Harry opened the parchment and began to read; eyes zipping across the neatly written script he'd become familiar with through working Amelia.

Mr. Thompson,

I hope this correspondence finds you well; it has come to my attention in my enquiries, that what you were inquiring to me about is available at Gringotts. It is not, however, something you can retrieve without the correct key. A certain strange woman has the key. I am uncertain of how you will be able to retrieve the key from her as she is rather difficult to negotiate with, but at the moment that is all I have for you. Also a certain woman of change has been asking after any information on your whereabouts. I do hope you consider assuring her you are okay.

Stay safe,

Madame Bones,

Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Harry re-read the letter once to work out the references to different people Amelia had made. The pair had developed a system of sorts to code who was being discussed.

'Let's see… What I inquired about is a Horcrux, a 'strange' woman means…Bellatrix Lestrange…and a woman of change is…Tonks. So there's a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts and Tonks is asking about me. Bloody brilliant; I'm going to half to break into Gringotts. The goblins will love that.' Harry grumbled.

Turning to Dobby, Harry smiled. "Well, it seems like Amelia found us a Horcrux." He said, this caused the elf to give a startled squeak; Dobby was by no means a fan of the idea of hunting Horcruxes, but the elf was a trooper, remaining with Harry constantly.

Dobby asked, "Where is Missus Amelia wanting you to go to get it?" Harry blew out a slow breath, Dobby wasn't going to like the answer to that question.

"It's… Dobby it's in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts…"he began slowly. Dobby let out a yelp.

"Harry Potter must not be trying to go into the bad woman's vault! Speak not here name, sir, please! Dobby mustn't let Harry Potter try to do such a thing! And the goblins will be giving Harry Potter much trouble if he is trying to take things from them!" Harry cut in by this point.

"Dobby," he began. "Dobby!" he exclaimed louder when Dobby didn't hear him. Dobby, giving a jolt, stopped talking and turned his green orbs to Harry's face.

"Dobby, listen to me. I promise, I'll find a way to get the Horcrux and get out alive, you won't have to worry about Bell—er, her at all." Harry said, catching himself before he said Bellatrix's name. "I don't know how, but somehow the two of us will think of a way to do this, Dobby. Amelia can't do much else for us right now; she has Susan and being head of the DMLE to be worrying about. Emmeline is doing the best she can for us already… I don't know what we are going to do Dobby but we'll think of something, I promise." Harry said voice more sure than he felt.

Dobby looked as uncertain as Harry felt, but the elf nodded nonetheless, "Of course Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby chirped voice higher than usual do to his nerves.

Harry sighed wearily as he tried to figure out what to do. How was he going to get a Horcrux out of Bellatrix's vault without messing up so much so that not only the goblins but Bellatrix herself realized what he'd tried to do? Shaking himself Harry re-read Amelia's letter and tried to figure out the best way to tackle every issue she'd given him one step at a time.

'First things first then…' Harry thought. 'I need to plan to break into Gringotts… but who could possibly help me with that…?' he mused, frustrated beyond belief at just where Mouldy-shorts had opted to have this Horcrux hidden.

Grumbling Harry spoke aloud, "Not like the goblins would just let me into a vault if I claimed a Horcrux was in there." Dobby, whom Harry had momentarily forgotten was present, respond after a moment, causing Harry to jump, and reach for his wand.

"Dobby could be trying to convince the goblins of the bad magiks" the elf said slowly. Harry blinked several times.

"Dobby, I can't ask you to do that!" Harry exclaimed, startled. "The goblins could report you to Volde—Tom!" Harry barely caught himself saying the, as Harry had discovered the hard way, taboo name before using the more Muggle version. 'At least the Muggle version will piss the dark wanker off.' Harry mused before turning back to Dobby.

Dobby puffed up his tiny chest as much as he could, and attempted putting on a brave face. "Fear not oh great and wonderful Harry Potter! Dobby can be doings any dealings with the wrinkly ones that Harry Potter be needings!" the house elf exclaimed proudly.

Harry could not believe his ears. Dobby was terrified of the entire Malfoy family, including Mrs. Malfoy's sister, so for him to volunteer to help go against Bellatrix… and to steal from bloody Gringotts Bank… "Dobby, thank-you, truly, but I can't ask you to do that."

Dobby gazed at Harry; large, tennis-ball green eyes looking sadly into emerald ones, Dobby sniffled a little, wiping his nose on his oversized, neon-orange jumper, before speaking. "Harry Potter sir, you is be being too kind to Dobby! Dobby never knew that a wizard so great as you could be existing! To think of Dobby's safety…" Dobby trailed, off seeming to be holding in tears. Whether they were of joy or sorrow, Harry did not know.

Gingerly, Harry reached out and pulled Dobby gently into his arms. Dobby let out a wail of anguish into Harry's grey jumper as he sobbed. Harry was silent, but held Dobby a little closer. 'Thank Merlin for warding.' Harry thought absently as Dobby's sobs seemed to get louder if shorter as time slowly ticked on.

Harry didn't know when his thoughts started to drift from the current events and the crying house elf in his arms to other people. So many people he had lost, who he wanted to protect still but didn't know how to.

'Mum… Dad…Sirius…' Harry thought as a wave of pain surrounded his heart. 'Fleur… Hermione…Ron… Tonks…Hedwig…Lupin…Neville…Luna…the Twins…' Harry's mind broke away from the world as he saw the smiling faces of his friends pass through his mind, turning into looks of pain and terror. For Harry it was as though the air was leaving his lungs, sticking them together; empty.

Dobby was still sniffling into Harry's jumper as Harry's focus slowly re-centered on his current situation. Harry absently noticed that his left hand had inadvertently started rubbing Dobby's back while the tiny creature had let out his anguish and Harry had gotten lost inside his own.

It was getting dark out now, the light slowly fading from the sky. Harry gazed out at the trees, the shadows stretching out and elongating, like tendrils reaching out to grip he and Dobby in their darkness. Harry shivered a little, although Dobby seemingly took no immediate notice. The way the light touched only the tops of the trees casting coldness onto the forest floor unnerved Harry, it was like slowly being lowered into cold water, and then remaining in it for hours.

Deciding to fix the problem of being chilly before he or Dobby caught any kind of illness, Harry looked down to ask Dobby if he wanted to go inside the tent Harry had managed to get off Emmeline several weeks previous. However, upon gazing down, Harry found that Dobby had cried himself to sleep in Harry's arms. Shaking his head affectionately at the tiny elf that had become one of his closest friends Harry adjusted his grip on Dobby and stood before walking them both into the tent.

(The Burrow)

Arthur Weasley smiled tiredly as he gazed about his home. His wife in the kitchen cooking up a storm as she often did, his eldest son chatting happily with his fiancé, the twins causing a laugh riot of some fashion with Tonks, who was holding Teddy in her arms, as Remus gazed at his wife and child happily. Yes, this was the sort of thing that warmed Arthur's heart during such horrendous times; his family, or at least most of it, gathering together for a meal and spending time together.

Molly hummed some tune to herself as she cooked, and despite the off-pitch tune, Arthur smiled. His wife may not be what many pureblood's would consider ideal, as Molly was not of the same 'caliber' as someone like Narcissa Malfoy, but Arthur couldn't be happier. Arthur loved his wife, and she loved him; that was enough for him.

Just as he gazed around the room, Molly exclaimed loudly, "Alright everyone! Dinner is ready!" and with that declaration, conversation temporarily ceased and everyone made their way to the dinner table.

Molly just setting the food down on the table as they all took their seats. Arthur took his usual seat at the head of the table, Bill on his left, and Remus on his right; each with their respective wife/fiancé on their other side. Fred and George were sitting across from each other at the end of the table, Fred next to Fleur and George beside Tonks. A relatively small crowd for the Burrow, but Arthur couldn't help but be comforted by it.

Molly sat down at the opposite end of the table from Arthur and smiled, "Dig in!" she chirped pleasantly, to which everyone started passing dishes about, filling their plates with food.

"Pass the potatoes George, ole boy?" Fred asked, grinning like an idiot—which left Arthur with the distinct feeling a prank was about to ensue—as George regarded his twin skeptically.

"Of course Fred, ole chap!" George replied jovially before passing the dish of mashed potatoes to his brother. No sooner had George touched the potatoes then several people at the table flinched almost to the point of ducking.

Of course when this occurred both twins grinned at each other, laughing. Arthur shook his head. No doubt they had intended to make everyone jumpy and had no actual prank set with the potatoes. Clever perhaps, but ridiculous to no end.

The rest of the meal passed fairly civilly, the only exception being Teddy upchucking a bit on Molly when she offered to hold him so Tonks could eat with two hands. This of course resulting in the twins, and Tonks herself, laughing as quietly as they could manage.

Following the meal however, Bill spoke before anyone properly got up to leave. "Sorry to keep everyone," he began. "But there's something rather… pressing, Fleur and I felt needed to be addressed." Everyone blinked looking at Bill in surprise. It was not often the eldest son made any kind of formal announcement.

"Well, what is it then?" Molly asked, clearly anxious to find out what her son and his fiancé had been 'hiding' from her.

"It's about Harry actually," Bill began, causing everyone to stiffen. "You see—"

"You two know where he is?!" Molly demanded, cutting Bill off. This caused her eldest son to sigh.

"No mum," Bill spoke tiredly. "What I was going to say is that Fleur and I were talking about Harry's fourth year and some interesting incidents came to light during that conversation." Bill looked each of the people at the table in the eyes at that point.

"What"

"do you"

"mean"

"'incidents'?"

Fred and George asked in their somewhat bizarre 'twin speak' as Bill called it. Bill rolled his eyes at their 'language' it was creepy as hell in so many ways how they always knew what the other one was going to say.

"Wat 'e means eez zat 'Arry waz not treated proper when 'e waz een ze tournament!" Fleur said vehemently, anger flashing through her blue eyes. The twins looked mildly affronted at this, whilst Tonks looked at Remus alarmed, Remus seeming to have known something about this just looked angry.

"Bill," Arthur said slowly. "Would you care to explain what exactly is meant by 'not treated proper'?" the question hung in the air like water on a leaf for a moment before dripping to the floor.

"When he was chosen as champion," Bill began. "Apparently Harry wasn't exactly well supported by the Gryffindors, or any of Hogwarts for that matter." Arthur's eyes widened at this. He had expected Harry to have all kinds of support from his fellow lions and his peers.

"Actually most of the school was quite brutal to Harry when he was chosen; claiming him as trying to steal Diggory's glory." Bill's voice was calm, but there was franticness in his eyes as Fleur stood at his side, radiating indignance. The quarter-Veela was not impressed with being brushed aside in favour of having Bill recount what she had told him.

Arthur frowned deeply at this. "Surely Ron and Hermione told people to back off, Bill." The eldest Weasley said, firmly believing in his son's friendship with Harry.

Bill looked at his father with a slight amount of hesitance in his eyes but finally said, "Dad, Ron was one of the ones that blatantly attacked Harry; Hermione was fine I think…" he trailed off looking at Fleur for conformation.

Molly yelled suddenly, startling everyone. "YOU!" she screeched, pointing at Fleur. "You hussy! How dare you! Trying to claim that my Ronniekins was cruel to Harry during that awful tournament; it was probably YOU that was cruel to him!" The Burrow shook with the force of Molly's screeches.

Fleur stared at Molly aghast for several long moments, during which the plump woman continued her tyrannical screaming. Outraged at Molly's accusations Fleur felt an ancient magik start to flow through her veins. 'Mon Dieu! Maintenant… après tout ce temps?!' Fleur thought, eyes widening as she realized what the magik was.

Terrified, Fleur clutched the edge of the table with her hands hard. Tremors and trembles shook Fleur's body against her will as she tried desperately to calm herself. The room swam around her and yells became a muddled mess of indiscernible noise. Fleur felt her breath coming in fast pants; heart pounding inside her chest. Fleur's legs felt weak as they shook under her, but she could feel a different kind of power seeping into them.

Around her almost no one took note of Fleur's present situation. The Weasleys engrossed in their own arguments, Remus trying to contain his own outrage at the things being shouted. Tonks, however, saw Fleur gripping the table as though her entire being depended on it; panic and concern instantly coursed through Tonks who, still holding Teddy, stood and jumped over the now cleared off table. This of course, caught Remus' immediate attention, as well as the twins, spurring the three of them into action as they rushed to Fleur's side. Bill and Molly facing the other way didn't see any of this, and their own bodies blocked Arthur's vision of anything transpiring further down the table.

Tonks, holding Teddy in one arm, reached out to touch Fleur's trembling shoulder, to which Fleur flinched. Tonks said softly but urgently, "Fleur are you okay?! What's wrong?!" Tonks eyes were flipping rapidly through all the colours of the rainbow and then some with her worry. Red, green, violet, yellow, brown, blue, grey, orange, and so on they went; pattern-less but ever changing.

Fleur tried to shake her head but contracted forward from her abs, eyes squeezing shut as she tried to contain what she knew her anger had sparked. Fleur felt her back muscles seizing up, jerking at random moments. Spasms wound through Fleur's flesh; twisting her body in painful arches and corkscrews that left her breathless.

Remus spoke with panic clear in his voice "Fleur! Have you been bitten by any kind of creature recently?!" Fleur managed to shake her head once negative, but let out a strangled sound as she felt feathers starting to push out from the back of her neck where her hair line ended.

The final three Weasleys having finally noticed Fleur's dilemma, rushed to her. Bill was at her side asking question upon question. Fleur could barely hear them anymore though. Blue eyes flying open as Fleur realized there was no way she was going to be able to stop the magik coursing through her.

Desperate, Fleur bolted to the door, running as fast as she could manage with her flailing limbs. Fleur only made it 20 meters (65.6 feet) outside the Burrow before she fell to her knees and begun shaking with seizure-like spasms.

The others having raced out after her, Tonks instinctively having held Teddy in her arms as they ran after the shuddering blonde, watched horrified as Fleur fell to the ground. Before they could reach her though a blinding flash of magic surrounded her and Fleur let out a urethral scream; her usually beautiful, melodic voice, sharpening and raising pitch to a salient cry.

Feathers, long and silvery-white burst forth from Fleur's skin, her body shape morphing into a more bird-like structure, legs elongating, feet changing shape. A kind of hard beak formed on Fleur's face in place of her mouth and nose, her eyes shifted from ocean blue to cobalt; piercing and penetrating in their gaze. From her back large, angelic wings sprouted, long and graceful. Her usual blonde-white hair replaced by feathers that framed the angles of her new face and beak.

The Weasleys and Lupins stared at Fleur in stunned disbelief as she rose into the air; the males unable to prevent themselves from becoming enraptured by her aura, were rendered useless. Tonks turned to look at Molly, at a loss for what to do.

Molly turned wide, horrified eyes back at Tonks and sputtered, "What…. What IS that?" there was horror in Molly's voice to which Tonks was confused.

"Molly, you know that Fleur's a quarter-Veela, right?" she asked carefully. Molly huffed, "Of course I know that, the hussy!"

Tonks tried to maintain civility as she said, "Then isn't it a little obvious what's happened to Fleur?" Molly blinked once, then twice before replying.

"That-that thing up there is a Veela?!" Molly demanded shock evident in her voice. Tonks nodded.

"And seeing as these blokes," Tonks gestured to the glassy-eyes males around them. "Are sodding useless at the moment, we'll have to help Fleur ourselves." The redhead nodded at Tonks and, to Tonks' horror, promptly raised her wand and aimed it at Fleur.

"NO!" Tonks shouted grabbing Molly's wand just as the woman began an incantation. Molly stared at the metamorph in disbelief.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Molly hissed. Tonks scowled, looking Molly dead in the eye as she replied.

"I mean that if you fire you'll hurt Fleur!" Tonks snapped. Tonks was alarmed at how unfazed Molly seemed by that prospect. "Molly," Tonks said. "We need to figure out how to calm Fleur down enough that she can reverse the transformation."

Molly was about to respond when suddenly Fleur let out a screech that sent chills down both women's spines. Molly and Tonks eyes both went wide as Fleur suddenly had a very large fireball forming in her hand; the flames licking upwards containing hints of blue.

Tonks panicked as Fleur turned herself to face Molly, seemingly to take aim. Unable to think of anything else, Tonks yelled, "Fleur!" This seemed to have no instantaneous effect, causing Tonks to fear they really would have to curse Fleur. The metamorph was saved that action though as Fleur turned her head to look at Tonks, fire still firmly pointed at Molly.

Tonks shuddered inside at the eyes looking back at her. 'So cold…' Tonks thought. The body may have been Fleur's but the light and warmth was gone. Warm blue pools replaced by frigid glacier eyes. Tonks bit her lip and glanced at Remus who stood mesmerized beside her. 'Bullocks! The one time his knowledge on magical creatures was needed here and he's stunned.' Tonks thought irritably.

As Fleur was still gazing at her Tonks spoke the first thing she could think of, "Don't fire on us!" wincing slightly at the pleading tone to her voice, Tonks spoke clearer. "Please, Fleur you don't want to do this. I know you don't." this seemed to have no visible impact on the Veela in the sky, so Tonks opted to try a different tactic.

"Think about Harry!" Tonks called out, ignoring Molly who looked at her as if she were insane. However, that caught the Veela's attention undeniably. The flames dimmed in Fleur's hands as the Veela turned to fully face Tonks.

Sweating nervously, Tonks continued, "Fleur, we both know that Harry would never want this for you… He wouldn't want you feeling rage like this. Please… please Fleur, think about what you're doing. It doesn't have to be like this."

Fleur seemed to be considering this, but while this was happening Molly pointed her wand at Fleur and began another incantation, "Confrin—"

Molly never finished the spell as Tonks dove on top of the redhead. Rolling off, Tonks grabbed Molly's wand and shouted at the woman, "Are you insane?!"

Molly looked thoroughly pissed as she made to stand, but Tonks pointed her own wand at Molly and muttered, "Stupefy" Shaking her head at the now stunned woman, Tonks turned back to Fleur, seeing the Veela once again with fire in her hands, Tonks quickly backpedalled.

"Wotcher Fleur," she said. "Look I know Molly's being… well let's go with a banshee, but think about Harry. I, you know he loves you Fleur. Hell, I know he loves you. Harry wouldn't want this for you Fleur, not that Bill does either. You need to calm down Fleur, I know you didn't mean for this to happen but I need you to relax so you can go back to being your regular self. Please Fleur? Please…" Tonks trailed off. The metamorph wasn't certain, but she thought she might actually be getting through to Fleur.

Fleur started to seize up a little in the air, which Tonks was fairly certain was a sign of the transformation reversal beginning. "Come on Fleur," Tonks murmured. "You're one of my closest friends; I can't have you disappearing on me by transforming into a Veela permanently."

A bright light started to surround Fleur's Veela form causing Fleur to cry out again. The cries were different this time though, feebler. The light seemed to swirl, brightening to a degree that cause Tonks to have to avert her eyes.

When the light started fading Tonks looked up. Fleur was lowering to the ground slowly, all the traces of her transformation shedding away leaving only the quarter-Veela human form Tonks knew and recognized. The light of the magic ran upwards off Fleur like smoke dissolving into the air as Fleur finally reached the ground in a kneeling position, her knees landing softly on the Earth.

As Fleur turned back into her human state the effect of the Veela aura lessened and the males became slowly more aware of their surroundings. Tonks, not paying attention to the boys except for to thrust Teddy into a bewildered Remus' arms, rushed to Fleur and caught the blonde just before she slumped to the ground.

Tonks, panting, gasped out "Fleur! Are you okay?" but Fleur was out cold. Tonks sighed but, noting Fleur's current state of nudity, quickly shed her own jacket and wrapped Fleur's body in it before picking her up bridal style.

Turning, Tonks found the guys had come out of their stupor and, seeing Fleur's state, rushed over to try to help—barring Arthur who rushed to Molly's side. "Fleur!" Bill yelled, but Tonks glowered at him.

"She's unconscious, Bill. There's no need to yell." Tonks said flatly. Remus looked at her in concern, but before he could voice his thoughts Arthur called over to them.

"What happened to Molly?!" Arthur yelled over to them panic evident in his voice.

Tonks sighed, "She's fine Arthur; I stunned her because she was going to curse Fleur." Bill whipped his head to face Tonks and demand the obvious question.

"Why?" Bill demanded. Tonks blinked slowly once.

'Do they really not remember anything?' Tonks wondered bewildered. "Bill… Fleur transformed into her full Veela state… Your mum was going to attack her to try to get rid of that state." Tonks explained slowly.

"But that would mean… Molly would've killed Fleur if she hit her!" Remus said, startled by the revelation. The twins looked at each other alarmed by Remus' declaration.

"Mum was"

"going to kill"

"our lovely"

"French friend?" Fred and George asked in their usual 'twin speak'.

Tonks huffed, "Look, I'll explain later, we need to worry about Fleur at the moment." And with that the metamorph marched into the Burrow just as Arthur was Enervating Molly, who was irate at having been stunned in the first place and even more so that Tonks was still in possession of her wand.

"I don't know what she was thinking! I told you that hussy would never do you any good William! And what is Nymphadora thinking?! Bringing that thing into our house again?! And after she started such ridiculous tales about my Ronniekins!" Molly's shouts rang out echoing in the night air around the Burrow. Tonks, easily hearing them as she carried Fleur towards the stairs, winced.

'Dammit Molly,' the metamorph thought angrily, hair turning black as the midnight of a new moon. 'Why do you have to be this way? Fleur tries so hard for Bill! And she didn't mean for or ask for any of this to happen!' Tonks felt the anger coursing through her veins. It was a sore spot for the young auror when people were discriminatory towards magical beings; especially those who were almost fully human anyways. This being a result of not only her marriage to and love for Remus, but also the bullying and comments she herself had had to and on occasion still had to deal with. Not to mention her friendship with Fleur.

Tonks glowered as she heard Teddy start wailing outside, having been woken up by the rapid action and now upset by Molly's banshee-like shrieks. Sighing Tonks was extremely grateful to reach the room Fleur and Bill usually occupied when they visited the Burrow for any length of time.

Gently laying Fleur on the bed, Tonks flicked her wand muttering, "Accio Fleur's clothes". As the clothes landed on the bed Tonks swiftly dressed Fleur's prone form, being mindful of Fleur's modesty—and her own embarrassment—she looked away as much as possible.

It was only seconds later that Bill burst into the room. Tonks whipped around, drawing her wand and pointing it at the intruder. She lowered her wand slightly seeing who it was but frowned, "You could try to be quiet around your unconscious fiancé, you know." Tonks grumbled, hair still quite dark although more brown than black.

Bill ignored her and demanded, "Tonks what happened?!" Tonks blinked several times, considering the best way to answer that question.

"Bill, I've told you what happened. Fleur transformed into her Veela state; her full Veela state. That's why none of you guys were able to help, her full state's aura is too strong and it mesmerized you lot. Your mum tried to attack Fleur and I stopped her and eventually got Fleur calm enough to reverse the transformation. That's all I know. We'll have to wait until Fleur wakes up to know anything else." Tonks replied.

Bill frowned, "They aren't taking it well." He said as Tonks turned back to Fleur.

"What—?"Tonks began.

"The others downstairs aren't taking Fleur's…change… well. Mum's pretty angry about it, and Remus is getting angry because Mum is angry." Bill said, but something is his tone made Tonks weary.

"And you?" the young auror asked, unsure whether she wanted to know the answer to that question.

Bill sighed tiredly, and sat down heavily on the foot of the bed. "I…I don't know really. To be honest, after seeing her like that… I don't honestly know if I can still marry her. I mean, how can I spend the rest of my life with someone that could turn into a Veela that causes me to lose all sense of self at any moment? How can I even consider that? She's not who I thought she was…Fleur never said anything about turning into one of those creatures, just that she had a minor amount of that type of blood in her heritage."

Tonks stared at Bill, mouth hanging open. "You-you…" Tonks paused and started over. "You absolute arse!" she yelled causing Bill to jerk his head up to stare at her. "How dare you sit there and say that?! How can you consider marrying her my arse, you coward! Are you honestly going to sit there and tell me that you don't want to marry Fleur anymore over this? It's not like she planned this Bill! Fleur didn't have any more warning than you did that this was going to happen! I'm not even sure she believed it could happen! It's not something Fleur can control Bill! It's a personal dilemma that Fleur has had to deal with since birth, not some infectious disease!" Tonks was seething by this point; disgusted with Bill's behaviour.

Bill didn't get a chance to reply though before Remus was at the door with Teddy, finally quieted, lying in his arms. "I'm not interrupting am I?" Remus asked tentatively, seeing the current enraged state of his wife, and the stunned look on Bill's face.

"No," Tonks said softly but firmly. "No, you aren't interrupting sweetheart. Can I take Teddy from you please?" Bill was confused by the sudden mood change, but Remus seemed rather unfazed.

'Not that much seems to actually faze Lupin…' Bill thought to himself as he watched Remus calmly walk over to Tonks and gently deposit Teddy into his wife's waiting arms. Teddy didn't even stir as he changed parents, Bill noted idly.

Looking at Teddy, Tonks spoke. "I hope you make up your mind, and fast. But know this, if you break her heart, I won't be the worst person you'll have to own up to." And with that, Tonks left the room taking Teddy with her.

Bill blinked, 'What did Tonks mean by that?' he wondered. Looking at his fiancé lying on the bed, breath coming in somewhat steady inhalations and exhalations but the occasional gasp in between two breaths signifying the restless state of Fleur's body, Bill frowned deeply. What should he do? He knew his mother's view on Fleur, as well as the rest of his family's—much of which, but not all, aligned with his mother's. However, there was also the rest of the Order's views to consider.

Bill gripped his head with his hands and let out a frustrated sigh. 'I'm sorry Fleur…I don't want to hurt you but… I don't know what to do.' Bill thought as he looked at Fleur's angelic face.

(Hogwarts)

Minerva McGonagall was not a happy woman at the moment. Most of the Hogwarts staff were appalled by the new 'regulations' put in place under Severus Snape's direction. Minerva scowled, 'Those ruddy Carrow twins are doing nothing to help either!' she thought angrily of the two Death Eaters currently torturing students in horrendous ways.

What was really killing Minerva though was her inability to do much in the way of helping the students. Certainly she could, and actively did, aid injured students and prevent as many students as she possibly could from being punished unjustly, but Minerva could not be in the classes taught by the Carrows, nor Severus. Thus, there was nothing she could do to help the students when they were injured or given 'detention'—If you can call it that anymore, Minerva thought darkly—by one of their 'professors'.

'It's a loose use of the title.' The Transfiguration mistress thought tartly, not wanting to compare herself nor the majority of the staff to the Death Eaters in the building.

Minerva was also acutely aware of the efforts of many of the seventh year students in attempting to aid the younger years, and, while she was fiercely proud of her students, Minerva was also shaken to her core with fear of what was happening to them for their dissention from the Death Eater regime.

It was no secret that Hermione Granger now bore the foul slur 'Mudblood' on her upper left bicep. Nor was it a secret that Neville Longbottom had several nasty lacerations criss-crossing across the planes of his back from various cutting curses and hexes; both of which created serious unrest within the house of lions. Many of Minerva's cubs were scared to death by what was happening, poor Dean Thomas, along with a great many other Muggle-born students, hadn't returned to Hogwarts this year out of fear for their lives.

Frankly Minerva was unsure about allowing Hermione to remain at the school given its current state, but when she discretely addressed the idea of leaving with Hermione the young woman was adamantly against departing. Minerva shook her head in exasperation recalling Hermione's impassioned response. '"Professor, it's bad enough that Harry decided to take off on his own and leave Ron and I out of the war effort. I am not about to go hide in fear of a bunch of prejudice, hierarchical bigots and leave the fate of my friends and loved ones up to hope and chance."

Minerva had been stunned at first by the boldness Hermione Granger of all people was displaying, but she also felt a great deal of pride in her cub's bravery surging through her. Hence Minerva had smiled and gently apologized for trying to suggest Hermione leave. However, given the more recent turn of events in the Ravenclaws… Minerva was worrying once more for her brightest student.

Luna Lovegood's abduction from Hogwarts had deeply disturbed the Ravenclaw house. Whilst they might not have been particularly kind or close to the quirky blonde, Minerva knew that having 'one of their own' taken was a traumatic experience no matter whom it was. Particularly for those in Luna's year and for the youngest Ravens who were terrified that they might be taken next.

Of course Minerva was most enraged by the lack of discipline of any kind being given to the Slytherin students. Not that she was expecting any form of equality under their new Headmaster, but honestly Severus openly urged the snakes to attack other houses. He had all but turned Hogwarts into a breeding ground for blood supremacy, political hierarchy and outright bullying among students. However, that did not mean Minerva had to like it.

Professors who weren't Death Eaters were also being restricted in their actions, and any who tried to oppose those restrictions ran the risk of meeting an untimely, and most likely unseemly, death. Minerva's heart clenched as she thought of Charity Burbage who had been killed before the year even started.

Poppy was taking the restrictions especially hard as often the Death Eaters would prevent her from healing clearly injured students, and Minerva knew just how much of a toll it was taking on her old friend. Rolanda hadn't returned to Hogwarts either, having opted to perform Order work full time instead due to her lesser known status as a Muggle-born. Minerva hadn't had a chance to properly correspond with Rolanda in weeks, almost two months now, and it made the already worried Transfiguration professor antsier.

Rolanda, Poppy and Minerva had all been great friends during their years in Hogwarts; a Gryffindor with Ravenclaw brains, and two Ravenclaws with Gryffindor-ish tendencies. Few students had had the gall to challenge the three of them given their not inconsiderable dueling capabilities from as early as 3rd year that had continually developed and become more complex as the years went on.

The three of them hadn't been separated this long since Grindelwald's time, decades before. Even then it had never been this long, it had only been a matter of two or three weeks; the first part of the current war Rolanda had stuck it out hiding with Poppy and Minerva at varying points, but never being separated this long. Minerva yearned to hear from Rolanda just to have confirmation that she was alright.

This of course meant Minerva was keenly aware of how Hermione and Ronald must be feeling at the moment, one of the integral members of their trio was off fighting Voldemort, and they were stuck at Hogwarts trying to fight as best they could from there. Minerva could practically smell the tension that surrounded the topic of Harry's whereabouts if it ever came up near Ron and Hermione. Which thanks to the Slytherins, it often did.

Minerva herself often wondered about Harry. Lily Evans and James Potter had been two of Minerva's favourite students, thus their deaths had struck her quite forcefully; Harry much like his parents, had also wormed his way deep into her heart. Minerva was terrified of whether her cub was okay, but it was almost worse for her because she couldn't outwardly show that around anyone.

Gazing out her office window at the night sky Minerva sighed, "Where are you Harry? I fear we need you now more than ever…" she whispered softly to the empty room. Thousands of kilometers away Harry Potter stirred briefly on his cot beside Dobby before falling back into a restless sleep.

AN:/ And there's the chapter! Was it any good? Was there too much time spent on the Burrow? Reviews, favourites, alerts, etc. are always appreciated even if it takes me forever to do anything update-wise. I do read all of them, even if you just want to flame about the fic being dumb. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions/comments/queries/concerns feel free to PM me or review or what have you.

Next Time: What will Bill do? How will Fleur react when she wakes up? Will Harry manage to get into and back out of Gringotts alive and intact? How will he do it? Who is going to save Luna? Will McGonagall and Poppy manage to hold down fort at Hogwarts? Will Hermione be forced to flee? Would Ron flee with her? Lots of things still need answering for sure!

Regards

~GGUC