Standard disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Once Upon a Time. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am just a simple writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Chapter Three - The Plot Thickens

The order of the phoenix was gathered together in the great hall of Hogwarts pretending to enjoy cold meals as they awaited the arrival of the headmaster. Normally they would be attending this meeting at Grimmauld Place, but Sirius had left the house to Harry in his will, and without the boy's explicit permission none of them could even see the place anymore.

That was far from the worst of their problems however. Voldemort and his followers were dead, which should have been the best thing to ever happen to the country. Those propagating the pureblood agenda were finally gone. Except the minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge, and the aurors had arrived before anything could be done about the bodies. Instead of focusing on the important things like a bunch of dead death eaters in full regalia, and Voldemort's very real decapitated head, the man had latched onto the realization that all of his financial/political backers and the majority of the pureblood block in the wizengamont had been violently murdered. All fine and upstanding citizens in his opinion.

He had spun the event in the Daily Prophet as a horrible mass killing of prominent members of society, and had branded Dumbledore and Amelia Bones idiots for not stopping it and set the aurors the singular task of hunting down everyone that had been involved in the slaughter.

What was worse, the disappearance of the boy who lived had become public knowledge. Fudge may have discounted Voldemort's severed head, but the reporters had not, and the fact that Harry had been telling the truth was making the rounds. A lot of pressure was being put on the headmaster to bring him forward to tell his side of the events once more, but obviously he was unable to do so. As the boy's magical guardian, this was a very, very, bad situation to be in. Especially when the Wizengamont (not including Fudge) itself wanted him brought before them. Something about slaying a dark lord twice, and his followers, and wanting to offer him a medal and a big ass reward. What went unsaid was the number of marriage offers that were sure to be accompanying said rewards.

Dumbledore had shook his head with depression at how happy the remaining sitters seemed at the blatant death and destruction. To his mind those unfortunate souls could have still been saved and brought back to the light if given the chance. It hurt him greatly that no one else, including his Order seemed to believe the same. Indeed most of them were happily drinking shots to the early end of another war.

So to sum things up, The aurors were actively hunting the Order, Fudge was backed into a corner which made him more dangerous than ever, Dumbledore's national and international reputation was in the crapper, and charges of neglect and ineptitude were about to be placed on the headmaster by the wizengamont if Harry was not produced soon. It was not lost on the sitters that the old man had not taught the boy anything of his future place on the council and they were getting pissed.

As the house elves refilled everyone's coffee and absconded with the used plates, Albus Dumbledore finally made his entrance, taking a seat at the head of the table. Since the events at the ministry, their numbers had grown to include several members of the DA, like Hermione, Ron, and Luna Lovegood.

He let them sit in suspense for several moments before he placed a ratty glove on the hardwood of the table.

"What is that, sir?" Hermione Granger asked warily.

"That, Ms. Granger, is a portkey to Augusta Maine." He replied.

On the other side of the table Minerva frowned. "Why on earth would we want to go to Maine of all places? The continent is utterly uncivilized." She sniffed at the end with no real heat. She had a great many friends in America, but they were quite… trigger happy people.

Her question seemed to be shared by everyone else at the table as fresh whispers arose at the comment. It took the headmaster several moments to quiet them down. "The answer is quite simple. The tracking items I had tied to young Harry's magic placed him in America before they were destroyed. Having that information allowed me to contact some of my former friends in the battlemage department. The american version of our aurors. They were not a great deal of help. Minister Fudge has made a habit of insulting their country at every ICW meeting after all, but they did let me know about certain areas of magical mystery that might be of interest to me."

"Areas of magical mystery?" Luna inquired. "Such as the fairy tail town in Storybrooke?"

Dumbledore blinked. "However did you know about that, dear girl?"

"The nargles told me."

"Y-Yes, of course they did." In spite of over a hundred years of life, this girl still managed to surprise the old man with her insight. "Anyway, areas of magical mystery, or AOMM, are magical domains and kingdoms that exist in the world yet remain away from muggle sight, often by way of magical mists or shielding. They exist unto themselves and govern themselves. The only problems seem to come from themselves toward themselves so the battlemages leave them alone as long as they cause no trouble for the greater country as a whole. Often these places are populated by wondrous creatures and ancient beings of power. Underhill, the Fairy realm is one such AOMM."

"What does this have to do with Harry?" It was Ron that spoke up this time.

"This particular town seems to be made up of literal storybook characters. When the battlemages went to investigate the place they were very rudely and effectively repelled by wards created by a woman calling herself the 'Evil Queen'. Since then the wards have lessoned enough to let new agents in, but only one ever made it back out. The stories he told have been enough to keep anyone else from trying to get in there. The last time I saw Harry he mentioned wanting to get his 'Happy ending' as if he were in a storybook of his own. This seems a safe bet as to his current location." He left unsaid that America was probably a far better place to be at that time than England. Their situation was tenuous at best here.

"Well, I for one am willing to do anything to get my best friend back." Hermione stood up and placed one hand on the glove. "Let's go."

One by one the others agreed and added their hands to the pile until only the headmaster remained. He took one last look at his beloved castle and touched one finger to the remaining space on the old garment and said the activation phrase, "Sugar plums."

The Enchanted Forest

Corra stared across the ruined expanse of a once great kingdom. She'd given everything, sacrificed everything, for just the chance to have its rule controlled by her family, and she had been successful. Then her daughter just had to lose it all and teleport it away in a fit of rage. Though she couldn't really place all of the blame on her. Who could have imaged that idiot princess Snow White had enough cunning to plot a coup and full scale rebellion.

Ah well, dust in the wind as it were. The past was the past and all she could do was focus on the future. Speaking of the future…

"Well your majesty," a snark filled voice spoke up behind her, "is your plan ready to go?"

She turned and beheld a suave looking man in the guise of a rapscallion pirate. Hook for a hand and all. It was a strange partnership they shared to be sure, but beggars could not be choosers, and he had at least proven himself skilled enough in the bedroom to keep her entertained at night.

"Yes, Hook, my plan is ready." As she spoke she removed a lock of coal black hair from the confines of her coat and enveloped the other hand in emerald fire.

"What is that?" He asked, eyeing the strange object.

"A lock of my daughter's hair. I've kept it on my person since the day she was born." A fond look entered her eyes as she rubbed it between her fingers. She hated using her precious treasure in such a way, but needs must. "It will tie the beast to her so that the portal can be opened and she can be brought to us. Once here, we can use her as a tether to her new world, and leave this shit-show behind."

"But I thought you said we can't go there ourselves without a tether. How is your monster going to arrive?"

"The monster is already there, Hook. Rumple never could leave anything behind. And just because we cannot go to it, does not mean we cannot send items to it." Taking a deep breath she dropped the bundle of hair into the green flames and only barely avoided flinching as they burned. Her plan was simple. Giving the wraith a scent would send it after her daughter, and as smart as she was the girl would know the only way to get rid of it would be to send it to another world. She'd open a portal, and the wraith would drag her into it with it, bringing her right to her mother. From there she could be used to tie a new portal to her realm. A bit convoluted perhaps, but she was still sure it would work. She knew her daughter better than she did herself.

Storybrooke

Hadrian was having a fantastic morning. It had started at the crack of dawn with a morning 'wakeup' from Maleficent that had involved her rather adventurous mouth, and progressed into a mind blowing bout of morning sex. She'd been all over him for the last few weeks, as if she were making up for the time lost in the cave. After he'd performed his morning exercises, trained in the yard with his sword, showered, and joined his mother and brother for breakfast.

It was a bit awkward for them as Maleficent insisted on sitting on his lap the entire time and smirking at her best friend. Henry eventually took it in stride but he did ask once if someone was being murdered in his big brother's room from all the screaming he heard at night. Hadrian had just said he'd explain when he was a bit older.

Once everyone had finished and the dishes were done, Regina and Maleficent took off to work at City Hall, the first in her role as the mayor and the second as her new assistant and record keeper.

Hadrian took Henry to the door to await Emma and smiled as her police cruiser pulled up only a couple minutes later. Together the two crossed the street and as Henry threw his backpack in the back seat and went to sit in the front, the black prince pulled the sheriff tight to his chest and kissed her.

"Well, Sheriff Swan, it is good see you looking so bright eyed and bushy tailed this early."

The so called sheriff glared up at her boyfriend and lightly punched his chest She was far from a morning person and had already downed her second cup of coffee to stay awake. The two had been going out for four weeks by then and had long since had that tenuous conversation about, 'what they were doing' and 'if they were having fun or going steady'. Needless to say they'd decided to go steady. They liked each other, had great chemistry, and for added fun their relationship pissed off both of their parents. It was a win-win.

After finishing another make-out session against the side of the car Emma asked, "How is Maleficent this morning?" That was another thing that worked well in their building romance. Emma knew about his love for Maleficent and not only approved of it but asked if she could join in. Apparently Ms. Swan liked to play for both teams, and had turned out to be quite the sexually liberated person. She'd made it clear that she was okay with sharing as long as both of them knew about it. Also, if he could sleep with other people then so could she. Considering he'd never seen her look twice at other men he wasn't too worried. The first night he'd shared with both Emma and Maleficent, they'd made sure to clear the house, and it was a good thing they had. Those two had made him cum so hard he'd temporarily lost control of his magic and nearly burned the house down!

"She's good. Awfully frisky this morning."

"I can't possibly imagine why." She leaned in close, "Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course, darling. I wouldn't cancel on you for the world."

"Good." Grabbing his beard to pull his eyes down to her own Emma said, "I'll see you soon."

Then without another word she got in the driver's seat of her car and started off, leaving an incredibly turned on prince in her wake.

On they way to the school Henry voiced a question that had been bugging him for a while by then. "Uh, mom?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Is-Is our family weird?"

Emma raised a brow at the boy in the seat opposite her. "How do you mean? Your grandparents and mother are fairy tale characters so you should be specific."

"Well, I've been reading some more out of my storybook and writing some things down to be sure, but… My adoptive mom is Regina, but she's Snow White's step mom which makes her your step-grandmother, and she's also my step-great grandmother. Snow White is your mom, my grandmother, and my step-sister. Hadrian is my brother, but he's also my great uncle because he's Snow White's brother too, and if he ever marries you he'd be my stepdad. He's also your uncle by marriage.

Emma cringed a bit, she'd never really thought about how 'close' her family was, but in the end it wasn't really that much different from how interwoven noble houses in Earth's history were. So she decided to go with that.

"Henry, yeah our situation is a bit unique by today's standards, but if you look back at Earth's nobility over the the last few hundred years it's not that crazy. I guess the best we can do is just take these things as they come. Trust me, it can't get any stranger than it already is."

"Yeah, mom, I guess you're right. After all, what are the odds of another unknown family member coming out of nowhere?"

"Certainly zero. Now, Hadrian said you've been having some problems with studying for your vocabulary test today. Why don't we do a mini quiz on the drive?"

So saying the two carried on their way.

A short time later found Hadrian rearing his motorcycle to a stop outside a recently renovated building of classic red brick. The entire thing had been a welcome home gift from his father and now held a grand sign hanging on a chain proclaiming it the office of "Hadrian Gold - Attorney At Law". To be sure it had been a while since he had practiced the law, but the general concepts were the same, and he'd read up on enough of the new stuff to become proficient. Hell, if that quack Jiminy Cricket could be a licensed therapist in this world then there was no reason he couldn't be an accredited lawyer.

As with all things in this town, new events and structures became normal in record time and within a few days of operation he was getting clients. Apparently fear of the 'evil dark prince' wasn't enough to deter people when disputes over inheritance and unlawful job terminations came up. He was working his way through his latest case notes when Emma burst in, gun drawn, and Regina tucked under her arm. She quickly ducked inside and slammed the door closed before leaning heavily against it.

Hadrian was all set to make some sort of snarky comment, but then he saw how terribly pale his mother was and rushed to her side. "Mother? Mother, what is wrong?"

"A wraith." She whispered. It came for me at city hall while I was having a meeting with the sheriff."

Suddenly panicked he asked, "Maleficent?"

"Bruised but alive. She drove it off and gave us time to escape." Regina shuddered, "It was after me. No matter where we ran, who was in the way, it came straight for me." As they spoke Emma was checking the latches on all of the windows.

"But that makes no sense? The only people here with the ability to summon a wraith are you, me, and papa, and none of us would have any reason to do so."

"Your father-"

"Has no reason to send one after you."

Regina guiltily looked away for a moment before saying, "He has one reason."

"What?"

"Belle. I was keeping her in a mental ward."

"Why!"

"The curse didn't stick with her and she remembered everything! I couldn't let her weaken everyone else's delusion!"

"We will be talking about this more later." the black prince growled, "But even after doing that, I can't see him sending a wraith after you. He wouldn't hurt me that way. No, he'd be more likely to organize your fall from grace as the mayor and forced exile."

By then Emma had finished her check and was back by their sides. "That doesn't matter right now." She declared. "Nice security by the way. What matters here is how we get rid of the damned thing. It's running loose and could attack anyone if it thinks it could draw your mom out there. Can we kill it?"

"No." Hadrian shook his head. "A wraith is already dead. The only options are to seal it or banish it to a new world where it can't physically get to its target. At that point it will disappear into the ether until summoned once more."

"So sealing?"

"Impossible." Regina started pacing, "We don't have a vessel strong enough nor enough magic users to form a circle. We need to send it packing."

"How?" Hadrian was racking his brain for an answer, "We don't have any magic beans… The hatter?"

Regina nodded, once more proud of her child's swift mind. "I have his hat hidden in my office. It was dead before but now that magic is active here again it should still function as intended."

"Good, then you two go grab it. I'll gather some others for a defensive line and we'll all meet at the library. Once this thing gets wind of what's going on it'll be coming with a vengeance."

"Right!"

Thirty minutes later and the whole crew was standing at the entry to the library's main chamber. Regina and Hadrian were working on the hat while the Charmings, Emma, and Ruby were all armed and ready.

Just as the hat began to spin a ghostly wail erupted in the air and suddenly the outer doors began to boom as if from a great impact.

"It's here!" Snow shouted in warning.

"We need more time!" Regina yelled back just as the door finally gave, revealing the skeletal form of a hooded being floating in the air.

In the back of Hadrian's mind, the voice that had once belonged to Harry Potter started fearfully muttering about dementors. He was quick to shut that down right quick as he drew his great-sword and willed it to erupt in flames. With a thought he did the same with David's weapon and together the two engaged the monster in deadly combat. Slicing, ducking, weaving, and dodging as best they could. Neither expecting to do any real damage but hoping to keep its attention for as long as possible.

If he didn't dislike the prince so much, Hadrian might have actually been impressed by the skill being put on display with the one handed weapon. Say what he would about idiotic policies and lack of experience ruling, Charming knew how to fight. It didn't save him from a ghostly backhand that sent him through a wall though.

Nor did it save the black prince from a surprise head-but that sent him to his knees. Emma and Ruby took that chance to open fire with their pistols, Emma having given the wolf-girl a six shot revolver in advance. It might have tickled the beast for all they knew, but it served its purpose. The wraith looked over at them just long enough for the hat to reach its full rotation, forming a whirlpool-like mist in the center of the floor. With Regina standing at its head the target was clear and it flew right toward her.

At the last second she dived out of the way and ran for all she was worth, causing her foe to turn in place and try to rush after her… except it couldn't. By that point having gone on long enough without a passenger the portal had begun to emit a vortex like suction on the room, pulling everything it could toward itself.

The wraith bellowed, it writhed, it screamed and clawed at the ground but finally the pull became too great and it fell into the abyss, closing the border between the realms with it. By the end all that remained in that space was a slowly spinning top hat falling onto its side.

In the quiet that followed Hadrian could be heard saying, "After all of this I think I need a quiet weekend in the woods with Emma, Maleficent, a bottle of scotch, and no clothes."

As the Charmings began to steam with rage at those words and their implication for their daughter, Ruby sidled up to him and asked, "Is there room in that plan for a fourth person?"

"You cheeky little minx."

"You know it."

Emma, who had made her way over to them raised an eyebrow. "Another one?"

"Not just for him," Ruby stood up and sashayed over to the savior before planting a very firm kiss on her lips. "I've been watching you two come into Grannies for weeks now and watching you fall all over each other has made me too hot and bothered to hold back anymore. I want you both, and if the looks I've seen you giving me over the bar are any indication you want me just as much."

"Emma?" Snow and David were watching all of this from the side and hardly able to believe what they were seeing and hearing.

Emma sighed, she'd never gotten around to telling her parents she was bisexual or in an open relationship with Hadrian. It wasn't exactly something she went around advertising. She was in for a long talk that night, she just knew it.

Kissing Ruby again she said, "I definitely do." Looking to her boyfriend, and ignoring her parents incredulous looks, she said, "I'm pretty sure you were joking earlier but that cabin sounds awesome. Make the plans, invite the girls, and I'll be there with you this weekend."

Hadrian smirked and bowed, "Your wish is my command, my dear."

As Snow's red face seemed primed to explode the black prince couldn't help but laugh. Though it sometimes got messy he did indeed love his life.

The Enchanted Forest

Hook and Corra stood before the dissolving remains of the wraith.

"What now?" Hook groused.

In contrast, Corra was rather pleased as she removed a small jar from her cloak and held it under one of the beast's jagged nails. A thick red substance ran down into it and she held it delicately before her eyes. "Now, we go grab a magic bean."

Hook blinked. "Just like that?"

"Of course not." Corra waved off his silly remark. "But it will be a lot easier now. Blood, living blood, will show us the way once the portal is opened."