Chapter 5 Aftermath

A.n, After some complaints, and thanks to a new app I got, I revised this story, and I'm now looking for a beta reader. If anyone is willing to volunteer to become one, put it in the reviews or P.M. me thank you.


Ministry of Magic: Department of Defense

"When the Order sent me to scout out Diagon Alley," Tonks thought moodily. "I didn't expect to find Potter, or his lot of friends, sitting in the Leaky Cauldron as if nothing happened. And yet, right as I get them to trust me, some bloody idiot decides to start hexing. Now I have the same idiot pleading 'imperious curse'." Tonks snorted. "Right. But now the kids are gone and I'm empty-handed. Moody is never going to let me live this down." Tonk's inner monologue was broken by Kingsley.

"All right there, Tonks?" The man asked from his desk.

"Do you know when the next meeting is?" Tonks asked in reply. She needed to give her report to the others as soon as possible.

"Tonight. Why do you ask?"

"I found Potter."

#

Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Tonks entered the headquarters of the Phoenix. She tripped over that bloody umbrella holder again, making that infuriating portrait start to scream before she managed to silence it. Moody, Remus, Sirius, and the Weasleys, plus Hermione, were sitting at the dining room table when she walked in.

"So Tonks, Kingsley says you found Potter?" Mad-Eye didn't even let the female Auror sit down before starting his questioning.

"Potter, plus the other kids."

"Well, where are they?" Remus asked. Everyone in the room stared at Tonks with anticipation.

"Does it look like I have them with me?" Tonks snapped. "I don't have them because a Dark Lord sympathizer started throwing around the unforgivable. The kids got spooked and ran away before I could bring them here."

Moody grunted in annoyance before leaving the room and returning with a modified Pensieve. As Moody prepared the Pensieve with Tonks, Sirius and Remus tried to make the chairs comfier as Molly ushered the kids out of the room. "This place is supposed to be a resistance headquarters, not a daycare." Moody thought grumpily.

"Harry is our friend!" Ron insisted as his mother pushed him out the door. "We have to know what happened!"

But the matron wouldn't budge. "We will tell you what you need to know. Now go up to your rooms!"

"You know, more eyes might be useful for something like this," Tonks suggested.

"Nymphadora," Tonks bristled at her real name. "the children have no place here."

"Then why did you bring them here at all?" Moody snapped. He went on before Mrs. Weasley could argue. "Listen up Weasley! We're in the middle of a bloody war and they have eyes we could children are already targets because of two things. One, given that your husband works to protect Muggles, he's a target. If the Death Eaters took over, the best-case scenario for him is death." All the Weasleys winced. "Two, most of you children are friendly with Mr. Potter. Whether you like it or not, Potter is enemy number one to the Death Eaters and their master. Do you think they'll leave your lot alone just because of your bloodline? I don't even need to explain the danger to Ms. Granger here, who, at best, will be killed on sight." Moody turned to the kids, all stunned at his little speech. "Now, are you kids going to help us? Or are you going to disturb us with your whining?" The kids silently took their seats. Moody placed the memory in the Pensieve, then spelled it so they would all be able to see the memories.

Before they could start, Mrs. Weasley nervously asked, "Shouldn't we wait for the Headmaster?"

"He will have to be updated at a later time," Moody said as the memory played.

They watched Tonks entering Diagon Alley when she spotted a girl with a red hooded cape and two others entering the inn.

"Is that them?" Sirius asked. Tonks nodded.

"How old are the children?" Molly asked.

"My best guess? No younger than seventeen.'' Molly gave a strange look before Arthur placed his hand on her shoulder.

As Tonks followed them inside the pub, they met three others of similar age at the table.

"Finally!" Moody thought. "Our first real look at these kids." He began to hum when he noticed a strange glow around them.

Sirius noticed. "Mad-Eye? You see something we're not?" Privately, he thought, "My godson is so lucky to be around so many ladies! Takes after his godfather."

"Don't you see them glowing? It's hard to miss." Everyone else shook their heads. "It seems like they have some type of energy field around them."

"I've never heard of anything like it before." Hermione was fascinated by this new information. "What else do you see?"

"I'm focusing on the girls, mainly." He responded. "First, the girl in red; the one that allegedly killed those demons. Good riddance in my opinion." The black and red-haired girl seemed to be glaring at the boy with blonde hair. "A possible friend who unknowingly has done something to upset her." The blonde-haired boy looked up at the girl in red before burying his nose back on the menu. "Maybe not." The girl on red's left had long blonde hair and a prosthetic right arm. The girl herself was talking with her neighbor; a black-haired girl. "What the?" Moody questioned before rubbing his eye to make sure he was not seeing things.

"What is it?"

"Not sure. Either something is up with this thing," Moody pointed to the prosthetic eye. "or, the girl that is next to the blonde has bloody cat ears."

"That might explain why I smelled a cat at the bus stop," Sirius said. Remus gave him a questionable look.

Moody went back to observing the group. "The white-headed girl who has the body posture of someone rich. Or, nobility at least. It's unlikely she's not a Pureblood. I'm not sure what it is, but the last girl...I have this feeling that she's trouble."

They watched memory Tonks sit at a table, but when she turned to watch the group she noticed Potter wasn't among them. Instead, a boy with black hair, tan, and with freckles and hazel eyes had taken his place.

"Hold on Tonks. That isn't my godson."

"It's an illusion," Moody explained. "That girl with the bowler hat is doing it." He watched pink crystals twirling around Potter coming from the girl. "Now I know why my gut told me to keep an eye on that one."

Memory-Tonks tossed a listening charm on the pillar behind Potter.

"Smart thinking Tonks," Moody murmured. The woman smiled with satisfaction. The group's expression turned to dread as Harry read the Daily Prophet.

What the girl in the black hat said to Potter caught the Order off guard. They were not sure how to comment on it, but most of them saw her point. Many of them had been personally involved with Harry's life. They saw the damage the Wizarding World had caused the poor young boy.

The conversation went on. They came to the point where the white-haired girl was asking about Wizarding laws. "It's not as simple as you think," Tonks explained to an outraged Hermione. "Amelia Bones has been trying to, but with Fudge, on his warpath, she's lucky if she can even get a word in about Potter before he shuts her down. If he even smells us trying to defend Potter, he will take it as an attack on him. That won't be good for any of us."

"So, you're saying that girl who looks like Malfoy is correct?" Ron said, ignoring his mother who scolded him.

The cat girl explained her theory on why. Again, the younger audience looked over at the others for an explanation. "So is the girl telling the truth? Purebloods get priority in law cases?" The adults went quiet at Hermione's question.

"We will talk about this later." Molly firmly told them.

"Is it me, or is that girl talking about the experience?" Lupin asked Black who nodded.

The blonde scoffed. "I bet if a "pureblood," said he-who-has-mold-on-his-mold had returned, everyone would be on a man-hunt!"

The room was silent before the less mature audience fell out of their chairs, laughing their butts off. Even the adults had a hard time keeping grins off their faces. "Merlin's beard." Moody thought approvingly. 'The guts on this girl.'

"Moony," Sirius chuckled with the younger ones. "remind me to call him that when I see him next time." The group took a while to calm down. Sirius turned to Moody with a grin. "So, Mad-eye. Still think they're Death Eaters?"

Moody simply said, "Not likely if that attitude of theirs is real."

"Blondie, for your sake, I hope you're not all bark with no bite." Moody thought. He was starting to like these kids' spirits.

They saw the girl with the black hat turn to face the crowd before asking, "Where was the corpse?"

"She right!" Sirius exclaimed. He waved his hands excitedly. "There wasn't a body to be found. The only thing that was found at the Potter's was a black robe." The Order all wondered if could they use that to prove Voldemort was back.

"Pretty good rules to live by." Moody thought. "Never count anyone dead unless you see the body yourself, huh? Still, that sounds like something a criminal would say." Moody watched the girl speak before noticing her mouth wasn't moving. So how did everyone hear her speak? "Either she has telepathy or my eye needs fixing."

"Dora, what was the crowd's reaction to that?" Remus asked.

"It got them thinking." She pointed to a man becoming more and more agitated. "One of Fudge's lackeys tried to point out they were foreigners and children. I didn't see that change too many people's minds."

The calling Voldemort part roach made everyone in the room, even Moody, chuckle heartily.

As all the fuss died down, memory-Tonks went over to the table where the kids were. The girl who commented on Voldemort's death bristled. She didn't trust strangers. Memory-Tonks was now trying to befriend them by talking normally and showing off her abilities, even if it was obvious they were still weary of her. As she shook herself into a new look the blonde hair boy introduced himself as Jaune Arc before the others introduced themselves as well.

"Why didn't you mention you already knew their names," Moody grumbled as he took in the children's profiles.

"Where's the fun in that? They were going to reveal their names anyway." Tonks stuck her tongue out at her boss before turning to watch the rest of the memory.

"Looks like their names seem to be centered around the color of energy that is around them." Moody thought. He looked over at Neo, who was the only one that was still weary of Tonks. She kept a tight grip on her strange umbrella. He noticed the umbrella had a sword inside it before bashing himself for not noticing it earlier. It must have had a notice-me-not charm on it. He turned his gaze to the bag. Through his special eye, she saw that inside were some clothes that didn't look muggle or wizard-like, two swords, a gauntlet, and some type of pistol with a blade on top.

"Tonks, you're one very lucky witch. They have some serious weapons in that bag. If it wasn't for that Rose girl, you might have been attacked." Moody murmured. So far, the answers they'd found just seem to lead to more questions "We need to know who they are, where they come from, and who they're working for."

They introduced the plan boy as Ozzy Pine; a local who was showing them around. "This has to be Harry," Sirius commented. "Though why they picked that ridiculous name, I have no idea."

Remus snorted. "Sirius Black?"

The other man pouted. They watched memory-Tonks saying her goodbyes before mentioning meeting up with a Padfoot. It seemed to get Harry's attention.

"Aww! You used me to get his attention?" Sirius batted his eyes at a disgusted Tonks. "How sweet you are, dear cousin!"

Moody, however, was focused on something else. "So it looks like Neo's little trick doesn't work with sound. We'll have to keep an eye on that."

"By the look of things, you had them." Kingsley couldn't help but comment. "How did they get away?"

"Keep watching."

The Order watched with fascination as a yellow glow surrounded memory-Tonks.

"So that's how it's done. One command to be honest and they're singing like a canary." Moody said. "Watch out for that one. If we turn out to be on the same side, she could be useful as an interrogator."

Kingsley disagreed with his mentor. "I don't think certain people will allow that."

"Better to have her with us than with the Death Eaters."

"You aren't seriously considering recruiting these children, are you?" Molly asked with horror in her voice.

"Technically it's up to them. Besides Miss Rose, the others seem to be of age."

And right as it looked like memory-Tonks got them to trust her, one of the customers sprang up and started firing curses at them. Yang quickly grabbed the table and used it as a shield.

"Impressive. but too fast for a civilian, so she must be trained." Moody thought.

"Did you see that they ducked before the hexes?" Kingsley said. "Did they know that was going to happen?"

"No, they hit the deck right as it happened."

"I think it has something to do with that energy around them," Moody announced. Everyone turned and looked at him. "Just a gut feeling, is all."

Memory-Tonks rolled the table that shielded the group toward the Diagon Alley exit. "Stay low and stick with me. We need to get out of here!"

"You know there was a door closer to you, right?" Moody pointed out the other door. Tonks facepalmed. "Constant vigilance!" Her mentor snapped. "You're asking for extra training later!"

As the Order looked back up at the memory, Moody took note of two pairs of kids, one at the door he pointed to earlier and the other seeming to be made out of crystals. The crystals made a run for the alley door much to the shock of the others.

As the assailant noticed the children leaving, he lifted his wand towards them before casting the most dreaded spell known to Wizard kind. "Avada Kedavra!" The green ball of death headed for the children. People screamed when it collided with the crystals, making them break like glass.

"What the bloody hell was that!?" Sirius and Ron yelled together.

"Magic. Whatever kind of magic those kids possess." Moody said, snickering at their lack of awareness before explaining. "While we were focusing on Neo's illusion, they were leaving the door."

"You could have told us this earlier!" Sirius cursed the old wizard for almost giving him a heart attack.

Moody seemed unaffected by Sirius's anger. "It's not my fault you people don't pay attention to your surroundings. Constant vigilance! It's going to save your life one of these days."

The viewing ended with memory-Tonks stunning the slime ball. The man bumped his head on the table on his way down. "Serves you right. Hopefully, Azkaban will give him enough time to think twice about being a fool."

Tonks gave him a look that told him he wasn't going to like what she had to say. "He's not going to Azkaban. They're putting him on probation."

"Don't tell me..." She nodded. "Bloody Fudge!" Sirius shouted as he rose from his chair. "He threw a killing curse at a minor and gets away with it?!"

"Where are you going?" Molly asked.

"I'm going to look for my Godson." Sirius ignored the protests from the others as he headed towards the door.

Meanwhile, Moody was trying to review Tonks's memory in case he missed something. "I miss the good ol' days when my comrades had intelligence." Moody thought. "And had less perchance for drama." He was still watching the children escaping when he noticed Blake slip something into Tonks's pocket before they took off. "Nymphadora!" Tonks growled at her name. "Did you check your cloak before you came here?" She answered yes while subtly checking herself. She grimaced as she pulled out a small device. One swish and a flick of his hand and the device moved out of hers and into Moody's open hand. "Tonks, you're going to take a cloak and go on patrol." He grinned at her fallen face. "And I want two blocks covered for an hour," Moody said chuckling when she pouted and walked off. Moody examined the device. It was a small, rectangle-like, object with a yellow diamond shape on one end and some type of screen in the middle.

"What is that?" Even Sirius stared at the contraption with curiosity.

"Does it look like I know?" Moody answered. His thumb brushed against the yellow diamond causing the screen to expand with a blue glow. "What the!?" Moody almost tossed the device in the air before catching it quickly and examining it. On the screen was the girl who gave Tonks the device herself. Her name was Blake Belladonna along with a set of numbers and Class C. "Looks like it's some type of ID."

As the others looked over Moody's shoulder to gaze at the device, Moody saw a few symbols on the bottom of the device.

"What does this one do?" Before Mad-Eye could stop him, Arthur reached over his shoulder and pressed one of the symbols. The screen closed and the other side of the device shot a beam of white light right into Kingsley's face.

"Ahh!" The Auror yelled. He stumbled to the floor. Arthur pressed the symbol again and the light disappeared.

"Bloody hell, Arthur!" Moody thundered. He snatched the device away from the flustered man. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to keep your sticky fingers to yourself and never mess with anything you don't understand?!"

"Hey, Mad-eye!" Sirius exclaimed. "Do be careful with that now! It's our only clue to my godson." Moody glared at him. He looked back at the device, noticing the third symbol on the right side flashing. Cautiously, he tapped the symbol to reveal a bunch of messages before noticing the top one, which was called Ruby. He pressed it as well and words came out. "Sirius? Are you there?"

#

after the Remnants disappeared from Diagon Alley

Two blocks from the Leaky Cauldron, bunches of rose petals came to a stop before revealing a group of children. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this." Harry thought as he came out of the pile. He heard a crash and looked over to see Ruby sliding down on a wall with exhaustion.

Jaune went to try and help her up, but Ruby slapped his hand away. "I don't need your help." She hissed. Instead, she grabbed Harry's arm to lift herself. Her legs almost gave out, but her sister caught her before Ruby could fall to the ground.

"Did anyone else feel off about that green spell?" Neo asked. She, too, was dusting rose petals off her clothes.

Weiss nodded. "Indeed. That spell had an...unnatural feel to it." Some of the group shivered. Yeah, unnatural was the perfect word for that spell.

"I believe was the Killing Curse," Blake said. "One of the three Unforgivable spells. I can see why they got that name. From what I've read, I don't think even our Auras can stop it."

"What do you mean, Blake?" Ruby asked.

"The books I've read so far weren't too clear, but I've got some theories on how the spell works. One theory is that the spell acts like a lightning bolt that attacks the brain and the heart at the same time. Or, it's that spell attacks the soul."

"So, you're saying that if any of us get hit with that spell, it's going to tear right through our auras?" Jaune could barely get the words out. The Catgirl nodded.

"If it's just a graze, it probably won't affect us. But a direct hit? Jaune, you might be the only one of us to come out okay."

Ruby swallowed. "Is there any way to stop it? There's got to be a way, right?"

"The only known way is to find something to put between yourself and the spell." Blake frowned. "As I said, I didn't have enough time to read more. Once we find a place to lay low, I'll see what else I can find."

"So find something to put in its path or pray that the ones that are shooting at you are lousy shots." Neo nodded. "Good to know."

Harry poked Jaune's arm. "So this...Aura. It's a type of shield?"

"Yeah. An Aura can project a force field around oneself; lessening the damage from most attacks. It also allows us to use other abilities like creating shockwaves, a mild healing factor, speed, durability, and climate protection. It can even allow us to sense danger."

"That sounds impressive and useful." Harry thought. "It almost sounds more useful than magic."

Ruby tugged on Harry's sleeve (partially to get him away from Jaune and partially to get his attention). "Do you want an Aura of your own? I know a way to give you the abilities we have."

Blake grabbed Ruby's wrist before she could do anything. "Hold on Ruby! What if you hurt him? You can't be sure it will work on Harry because we are in a different world!" Ruby pouted but relented. She didn't want to put the cute boy in danger. "Still, we need to get out of here. The people that attacked us may come looking for us."

"Oh, Merlin!" Harry exclaimed. "Tonks! We left her behind! We have to go back." Harry tried to make his way back, but Blake stopped him.

"If Aurors are anything like Huntresses, she's fine. Plus, I give her my scroll."

"Your what?" Harry ask.

Ruby pulled out a small handheld device. It seemed to be an advanced cell phone though smaller than the ones Harry had ever seen. "Have you seen one of these before?" Weiss asked.

"I have but they were a lot bigger." Ruby directed Harry on how to use it. He decided to be optimistic and hoped Tonks had already met up with Sirius. 'Sirius? Are you there?' Harry typed.

"Let's go find somewhere safe while we wait for an answer." The group left the alleyway, wandering up and down the area before finding a deserted building on the outskirts of Charing Cross Road. While some checked the place out, Neo and Blake went to look for food. They checked out the local muggle food joints before returning with bags of burgers and water. From what they heard from Blake, Neo tried to get some milkshakes but the machine was broken. Blake had to stop Neo from introducing the clerk to the business end of her umbrella. As they ate their food Ruby, asked Harry about Sirius.

"He's my godfather. He is a friend of my father's and the only family I have left."

"If he's the only family you have, why were you with those horrid people then?" Neo asked.

"When Peter betrayed my parents, Sirius went to track him down. The rat blew up a street and blamed Sirius for it so he ended up in Azkaban. He only recently escaped, but he can't go out in public as we can."

"That prison with the soul-eating guards?" Blake asked with a shiver. 'Not sure why anyone would keep something like that. Then again, no one besides Ruby had ever found a way to kill them.'

Neo suddenly asked, "What about your father's other friend? What happened to him?"

"Remus?" Harry tapped his chin. "He was my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in my third year and the best one we had. He, Sirius, my dad, and the rat were all in the same year at Hogwarts."

"Why was he there for one year if he was that good?" Weiss asked curiously.

"It's his being a werewolf. Not many people wanted to have their children that close to him. They were worried that their kids would be in danger."

He's a werewolf?!" Blake gasped. "I can see why people wouldn't want him to be near their children." She flinched at her friend's harsh gazes. Especially Harry's. "Hold on! I have nothing against them. As long as they take the proper precautions they are just like everyone else. I just think we should think about the parent's perspective. Most of them send their children to Hogwarts because that school is like a fortress. Between a werewolf and their child, they would choose their child. They just want their kids to be safe, is all."

"I take it the werewolves we're talking about are like the ones in the movies?" Jaune asked wearily.

"Right idea, but there are some differences. There are potions a werewolf can take to help keep their minds in control while transformed. The downside is that the potion is not easy to get; especially with the current laws around." Blake scowled.

"What do you mean? If they can get the medicine for it, shouldn't people be trying to help them?" Ruby asked.

"You can thank Fenrir Greyback, who is hurting their images by actively attacking children. And if you reword those laws, it would make it illegal for someone like me to have an Aura." Yang swung an arm around Blake in comfort.

"You said you had other teachers Harry." Ruby needed to distract the others from the unfair laws of this world. "What were they like?"

"Only the Defense professors changed. Two were psychopaths and one was a fraud that used memory charms to get fame. Not that he wasn't a nutjob himself."

"Someone using magic to mess with someone's memories was in a school filled with hormonal teenagers?!" Yang screeched. Her hair blazed. "Am I the only one that sees something wrong here? How were these people hired?"

"Are there any other professors you have?" Jaune asked curiously.

So Harry told him about his professors. From Flitwick, the Charms teacher, to Snape, the unlikeable Potions Master. The Remnants hung onto his every word. It was so different from their school experience, and yet, so much more similar than they expected.

"Seems like you have some interesting professors. By the sound of it, yours sound way more interesting than ours." Ruby said as her scroll 'ping' opened it to see what it was. " 'In Harry's Third year, what creature did his Defense professor show him in his office?' What is this?"

"Any idea what that means, Harry?" Yang asked.

"It's one of these security questions some people use in case of imposters," Neo said. "So go on, Potter, answer it. Make sure and ask them a question in return."

"It was a Grindylow. What did Snuffles say to me after we first caught the rat?" Harry typed.

#

Number 12 Grimmauld Place

"What's taking so long?" Sirius thought. He had sequestered Hermione's help since she was one of the only Muggle-born among them and Remus didn't have the technological adaptability she had. Hermione had just sent a message after some hesitation from the others (but mostly Moody) and then slowly taught Sirius the basics of typing while they were waiting.

"Will you calm down, Padfoot?" Remus rolled his eyes. "These things take time. It surprises me that these...things even work here." The others waited on edge as well. Moody mumbled more than once that the device should still be thoroughly examined before they started using it.

Sirius snapped again, "This thing is the only lead we have on Harry so keep your grubby paws off it." Moody was about to argue back when the device went off with a 'ping'. Sirius grabbed the device from Hermione before anyone else could and read the message. As he read the message, he sighed in relief. "Looks like you were wrong, Mad-Eye. Harry's got everything under control."

"I asked you to come to live with me." Sirius typed. "It's nice to finally hear from you, Harry. I heard you made some new friends."

"What did you send to Harry?" Molly demanded.

"I asked if he's all right." Sirius calmly answered the overbearing mother.

"All I know so far is that they are some of the most interesting people around." Harry typed back. "Is Tonks all right?"

"She's fine. She wants to meet them again. Tell me where you are and I'll have her come get you."

#

Harry showed the text to the others. "Do you trust your Godfather?" Blake asked.

Harry nodded. "With my life. He would never do anything to hurt me."

Blake took the scroll back from Harry and typed their location and a little message about wanting her scroll back.

The Remnants were resting from their food high. Harry found himself being used as a pillow by Ruby, who decided to sit next to him. Too tired to be flustered, Harry decided to just roll with it this time. He felt himself drifting off into dreamland with no nightmares of Dark Lords.

Just dreams of red-hooded girls with silver eyes.

Later that night.

"Take five Weiss. I'll take it from here." As Weiss left to get some rest, Yang crawled over to Blake.

"Hey. How's it hanging?" Blake rolled her eyes, but Yang's eyes were serious. "I mean it, Blake. How are you doing with all this?" Yang slid a hand into her girlfriend's.

Blake felt herself relax at the contact. "Everything is fine Yang. You know, having psycho wizards that want you dead because you don't share their blood type is just the norm now. Plus, the only downside of my new powers is that I can't be surprised by my stories anymore." Blake said, sarcastically. She noticed Yang was looking behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Ruby and Harry had fallen asleep next to each other.

"You have to admit it; those two are cute together," Yang said. Though Blake agreed, she privately thought, 'I just hope Ruby doesn't get her heart broken when we leave.'

A popping sound appeared nearby. Blake, thinking it might be this Sirius and pals, stood up with Yang to greet them.

Then they heard what the voices were saying.

"Are you sure they're here?" One of them asked timidly.

"Yes!" A raspy voice snapped. "The tracking charm I put on their bags led us here."

"Oh, I can't wait to teach those Mudbloods some lessons!" Yet another voice said excitedly. "It's going to be so much fun."

"You know, one of them looked like Potter." A fourth voice chimed in. "What if it ends up being him? If we bring them to the Dark Lord, he will probably be so grateful that he'll give us a seat at his table." They all erupted into creepy laughter.

"This can't be good at all!" Blake thought.