Author's Note: We are slowly making our way through this story. I'm writing as I have time, which is increasing. Enjoy. MNF

Chapter 13:

At the first sound of the alarm, Anwen was out of bed, her hand moving across her body to change from her flimsy nightdress into what Sirius called her battle gear. He'd given her a set of dragon hide pants and a jacket that was impervious to many spells. Over it she wore a trench coat made of wyvern leather, and it had been nicknamed her coat of many pockets. There were potions, lotions, bandages, and poisons, diversions and already spelled items that could help her heal or harm. With a click of her fingers Sirius was in his battle armour, wand in his hand.

What would happen when the alarm was triggered was a well-choreographed dance for the families. Wilken went to the Longbottom home and brought Neville to the room within the Keep where two weeks of supplies for the whole family was kept. The Keep had been converted by the four men to now have six bedrooms – including a nursery – a living space with a full kitchen and dining area, and rooms for the elves. They were prepared to live out a siege and allow the enchantments on the property to keep them safe.

For the three youngsters living in Linfred Hall, each was taken by a house elf and popped into their cots in the rooms, the elves then went to get Eva, Lily and the elder Potters, Dorea and Charlus. Aurora, Claire, and Jeffery would Disapparate into the space and then the door was shut and sealed once all had arrived. Anwen, Sirius, James, Remus, Alice, and Frank all went to fight or in Anwen's case, do field medicine if needed. Wilken remained at his master's side, even if the enemy couldn't see him.

The six adults, all in battle gear converged on the lawn, and were surprised to find no one on their property. A flare overhead startled them; but it was only the firing from a particularly nasty projectile protection on the property.

"What is going on?" Frank asked.

"Not sure, but there must be someone not keyed into the enchantments, because that was one of the Poison Arrow Hexes and I wouldn't want that anywhere near me," Sirius said.

"Sirius, come with me," James said. "Everyone else, hold back for now." The two gents walked toward the front gate, wands at the ready. Lord Potter slowly slid the small opening in the iron gates to the side so they could look out, and they saw their friend Peter hunched over and cowering close to the ground. "What are you doing here?" James bellowed. Peter stood at his friend's voice.

"I was worried about you," he said. "I hadn't seen anyone in days."

"Whose fault is that, Pete?" Sirius asked. "And why would you drop by for a friendly chat at," he paused and looked at his watch, "two thirty-seven in the morning? We have babies, we need to sleep at night."

"Oh, well, I was out drinking with Benjy Fenwick. I thought I'd come see you." Peter answered. "Must have lost track of the time."

"Pete, come back in the daylight," James said. "Just…" James took a deep breath, so he didn't scream at his former roommate. "Come back when we're awake." He shut the iron viewing door and the pair walked away, Sirius cursing their small friend. Another flare went off and a startled exclamation was heard. "GO HOME PETE!"

"What was it?" Remus asked as the pair came closer. "A Muggle?"

"Peter," Sirius answered angrily. "It was Peter, coming back from being with Benjy Fenwick at a bar and wanting to visit."

"It's the middle of the night!" Anwen hastily stated for anyone who might not be aware they were awoken from a sound sleep.

"I know," James said to his sister, putting an arm over her shoulders. "He lost track of time."

"How lost do you have to be to know that we roll up the carpets at eleven? That's when Remus usually escorts him to the door!" Anwen stated, her irritation growing. "We have four small children here."

"We all know, sis, but Peter –"

"Is inconsiderate," Alice finished the sentence for James. "Come on, we need to see if we can get Neville back to sleep."

"Wilken," James called, and the elf materialized before him. "Can you please unlock the safe room and then pop young Neville back to his room if he is asleep. If he's awake, please bring him to his mother."

"Of course, sir," he said with a bow and was gone. The adults filed back into the house and when their child did not immediately arrive, Alice and Frank quickly left for home. Soon Anwen and Sirius had their hands filled with their children, Alfie awake and Violet fussy and upset. Remus and Eva went upstairs when they knew the babies were with their parents again.

"Take him up, I'm going to feed her down here and then hopefully get her back to bed," Anwen said, looking at her husband. Sirius nodded and carried his son to the nursery. Wilken came back and explained Elba had popped Harry back to his cot and Lily was in their room. James nodded, thanked the elves and told them to go back to their rooms. He decided to sit with his sister a bit longer.

Anwen had Violet latched on and was feeding her when James sat down on the sofa in the rear lounge with her. "You're a really good mum, sis."

"We had a really good mum. I just do what I think she would have."

"No, you're intuitive with the kids. Lily sometimes gets jealous."

"Tell her not to be," Anwen said with a sigh. "We're all doing the best we can. I think we're lucky to have had our children at the same time, we're not all repeating the same mistakes. Once one of us makes one, the rest learn." The pair were quiet for a few moments.

"What do you make of what happened tonight?" James asked Anwen. She blew out a long breath before answering.

"I don't know, but Peter is well aware of us going to bed at a reasonable hour," she answered. "I'm not sure what to think of it. I am proud, however, of how well we enacted our plan, and at how well the added enchantments worked."

"We were all gathered within a few minutes," James said. "Plus, that arrow of yours is rather shocking."

"It's meant to be," she said with a tight smile. "Peter only encountered the mild ones. If he had been actually firing hexes or curses at the door he would have felt the full force, which will burn through cloth. Dragon hide will protect you for a little while."

"Who knew you had this in you," James remarked.

"Aren't you glad you didn't make me too upset at a teen?"

"I think my best mate might have chosen poorly in a partner!" James teased her, and she swatted him with her free hand.

"You're lucky I'm feeding my daughter, or I might hex you." The pair laughed and then Anwen laid her head on her brother's shoulder. "We are safe, aren't we, Jimmy?"

"Winnie, you're always safe if I'm near you, I promise."

The cold of January faded into the wet of February and Linfred Hall and its inhabitants found a steady pace for their lives. The four in the DMLE worked too many hours per day, every week, but there were so few of them and so much destruction. It seemed the Death Eaters multiplied exponentially, and James and Sirius began to wonder if being in Great Britain was putting their children at risk.

Amelia had James, Sirius and Frank going out of the country, attempting to get help from those on the continent in dealing with Voldemort and his cronies. France, remembering how helpful the British were in dealing with Grindelwald, immediately sent help. Other countries, however, were slower in their response. Germany had flat out said no, as they thought the U.K. were backward in their laws. The gents were still working on Italy and many of the Slavic counties. The Icelandic nations were taking a wait-and-see approach.

One afternoon in early March, James and Sirius were home early from a trip to the Netherlands, which surprised their wives. They both looked grim.

"What happened?" Lily asked. "Trip go poorly?"

"Remember when the McKinnon family was all killed off when we were in our fifth year?" James asked and Lily, Anwen, and Eva; all nodded in response.

"It's a period of time I try to forget," Anwen said softly.

"I know, but while we were away, we found Marlene. She's been in a basement of a safe house the Death Eaters were using in Amsterdam. She was emaciated and," James stopped and had to choke down some tears. "They had been abusing her."

"Oh, James," Lily said rising. James and Marlene were cousins of some sort, although that was true with half the wizarding population. Lily put her arms around her husband and held him.

"Where is she now?" Eva asked.

"We weren't sure St Mungo's was safe, so we took her to the French Wizarding Hospital," Sirius explained. "They aren't particularly hopeful about her recovery. At least she won't die in filth and decay this way." Sirius too was overcome, and Anwen rose to comfort him. She'd never liked her former roommate, but this wasn't something she'd ever wish on another person. The sextet were quiet for the rest of the day, finding solace in the infants in their care.

Three days later, the body of Benjy Fenwick was found outside of his house, the Dark Mark floating overhead. Frank and the rest of the DMLE team arrived just in time to see Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband Disapparating from the scene. They'd done something to the signature of their jump and were unable to follow.

Benjy's house had been covered in enchantments set by Dumbledore and were believed to be unbroachable. There were only a handful of people who even knew where Benjy lived, as his home was nestled in a glen that was difficult to reach, due to the river on one side and lake on another. The forest that covered the other two sides and made it appear as if the house disappeared if you walked too far away. Exact coordinates would have to be known to Apparate there initially. It made everyone in the Order a bit nervous. Worry and frustration came to a head at the next Order meeting.

"Who sold Benjy out?" Alastor Moody bellowed. As if anyone would have owned up to being the leak with him looking as if he wanted to hex anything that moved.

"We don't know who Mr Fenwick might have told his location to," Dumbledore tried to argue.

"Albus, he didn't tell people where he was," Remus argued. "He moved out of London and to that cottage because it was near nothing and no one. He had more sheep as neighbours than humans."

"You knew," Albus said back.

"I wouldn't go throwing accusations without evidence, sir," Sirius said sharply. "The night Benjy died, Remus was with Eva at our house. We were playing chess until nearly eleven. The Aurors on site said that Benjy activated his emergency talisman at nine-twenty. Remus was home with Anwen, Eva, Alice, Lily, four infants, three elves and me." Remus looked at his friend thoughtfully. This wasn't the first time Albus had made subtle moves to break up the solidarity of the four families.

The meeting ended quickly thereafter, but Albus held James and Lily and Alice and Frank back. James held his sister in place, wanting her to hear whatever the old man was going to say.

"This only concerns you and Lily or Alice and Frank," their former headmaster said.

"Well, if it concerns Lily and me, then it concerns Anwen and Sirius," James said firmly, and Frank agreed with his wife's cousin.

"It's regarding your sons," Albus made further attempts to remove the Blacks. "As they were both born at the end of July." Anwen and Sirius looked at each other.

"If that's the case, then I need to let you in on a little secret," Anwen said. "Our daughter was born just BEFORE midnight on July thirty-first, not after. What's going on?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lily questioned.

"I wanted each of the children to have their own birthdays," Anwen said. "It was a matter of three minutes. There are times at the hospital when we didn't notice the exact minute and fudged it. Most of the time it doesn't matter. The fact that it was just before midnight is the only reason anyone cares. Violet was born at eleven fifty-eight; we chose twelve oh-three so that each child could have their own day."

"That was sweet of you, sis," James said. "Okay, so this involves us all. Probably involves Remus and Eva, her mum and Auntie Claire and Uncle Jeff too. What's so important, Albus?"

"There was a prophecy," he began. "It turns out that Voldemort has learned of it, and I believe he is going to act on it." He went on to explain the prophecy, and the three families looked at each other, resolute in their protection of the children.