The Chosen Six

by Tribun

Fate is a funny thing; it doesn't have to be set in stone. When Sirius Black makes a different choice at that fateful night, the ripples from that decision affect Harry Potter and his friends. Yet, they didn't know that years earlier something else was also set in motion, which will also affect their lives and the magical world as a whole.

79. Lost Homes

I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.

Please note that due to the constant technical troubles of the site, the story is now also being published at AO3. New chapters will be published every second Saturday, unless said otherwise.

I'll try to answer all my reviews, since I do like the feedback for improvement. So please tell me your thoughts on the story in reviews. I would appreciate it. The more feedback I get, the more I can improve the story even further.

Look who is BACK. Open the curtain and let the final year of the story begin.

This story does have a TvTropes page. You can find the link in my bio. Feel free to visit and contribute to it.

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Chapter 79: Lost Homes

Sitting at a long table were two dozen Death Eaters - the high-ranking ones - with Voldemort of course sitting at the head of the table on a seat that was bigger than that of everyone else. The seating arrangements showed very clearly the order of importance, thus the closer someone sat to the Dark Lord, the more important they were in his eyes. The whole meeting was taking place in one of the houses that one of the rich Death Eater families owned.

It would look like a normal strategy meeting if not for the fact that a woman in a silent stage of agony was hovering two meters above the table. None of those present put any attention to the terrible sight, as if this was an everyday occurrence they no longer paid any mind to. Well, apart from two teenagers standing in the background, who looked in horror at the floating woman.

"I see that, now that Severus has joined us, we are all present," Voldemort said, seemingly giving them no attention while tending to Nagini, who seemed to really enjoy this - and the silent looks of jealously Bellatrix was throwing her way.

Voldemort then looked up. "However, I can see that you have a question first, Yaxley?"

"Yes, my Lord. Why are those two half-pints present? After all, it's not that they can contribute significantly to our cause," said man wondered, looking to the teenagers who flinched at the attention.

"Don't be so hasty about that, Yaxley," Voldemort said with barely hidden amusement. "Those two are on an internship to learn how things are done effectively. Narcissa and the Parkinsons have readily agreed that it is a good course of action."

Narcissa sat in a chair several places away from the head of the table, showing she was not as important as Lucius had been, while Fabius Parkinson sat at almost the opposite end, hinting he was just important enough to be included. Mr. Parkinson looked like he was lapping up every of Voldemort's words, while Narcissa seemed to try hard to hide how concerned she was for her son.

"They show learning difficulties, but that's only a matter of time," Bellatrix added, looking pleased when seeing the teenagers flinch. "Still, we are not here to talk about those two brats, are we?"

"Indeed. Yaxley, how are things in the Ministry?" Voldemort finally asked.

"It looks excellent. The whole thing is barely functional by now and our moles have almost prepared the whole thing for our takeover. I estimate before the end of the year, it will be yours. We could have done so by the end of summer, if not for Amelia Bones," Yaxley reported.

"Ah yes, she indeed is quite a thorn in our side. For all the delays she caused us, I will enjoy killing her personally," Voldemort thought aloud. "Hmm, I see you have a question about that, Amycus?"

Amycus Carrow knew that thanks to being in the inner circle, he did have greater leeway with Voldemort, as long as it was for a good reason. "Master, there is something I don't understand. Why are we making the Ministry impotent, if you intend to use it for yourself?"

Voldemort chuckled. "Not a stupid question at all, Amycus. You see, once the Ministry is under new management, many things will change radically in it. The Ministry will become way more efficient than it ever was and concentrate on what truly is important. If you want to renovate a house, you first have to gut the insides before you can replace them with something more to your liking."

Amycus nodded. "Ah, I now understand."

"Good. While it is annoying that our timetable has been set back by that Bones woman, it merely is an inconvenience." Voldemort stopped when hearing a whimper. "Bellatrix, I thought you managed to silence her?"

Bellatrix, who was not sitting at the table but instead stood right next to Voldemort's seat - thus showing her position - gave her lord a look of apology. "I apologize, my Lord. In my eagerness, I didn't apply the spell strongly enough."

"You admit to your error, good. We'll come to that later." Voldemort then turned his attention to other matters. "Now for other matters; the capture of Harry Potter. Research has proven that the protection keeping us from entering his hometown will vanish. Errors have been made in dealing with him, and I admit some of those have been mine. I do not want this to fail again. What are the news?"

"The Ministry is completely in the dark about it," Yaxley reported. "The Order of the Phoenix doesn't trust the Ministry, and rightfully so considering how close we are to taking it over. Whatever they are planning, there is no involvement from the Ministry."

"I thought so..." Voldemort looked over to Snape. "Severus, what can you report on that matter?"

Snape's face was unreadable, hiding his true thoughts from Voldemort. "The Order of the Phoenix is still in turmoil over the recent revelation of my part in events sixteen years ago. However, I'm by now too far entrenched to be cut out and Dumbledore is still blindly trusting me - which has cost him a number of sympathies."

"Him being doubted by his own troops can only be good for us. After all, weakness in the leadership of our enemies is to our advantage," Barty mused aloud, his tactical mind working on that new information.

"Yes, that's something to be exploited," Voldemort said slowly.

Snape didn't show it, but he was feeling the fallout from that revelation. While he was still fulfilling his role of acting like he was loyal to Voldemort while he in reality wasn't - giving Voldemort the idea that he was a double-agent against Dumbledore while in reality he was one against Voldemort - his life had become much more difficult due to many people in the faculty and the Order now seeing him in a different light.

He knew it was bound to happen and that it was entirely the fallout of his own actions from over seventeen years ago. Of course that did make the reminder of how horrible his past actions had been even more harsh for him, since he now was confronted with it often. He knew he would give his life to aid the defeat of Voldemort and indirectly protect Potter - he was bound to that promise by the magic involved - but that didn't mean he was enjoying the suffering he was going through.

Snape then continued "The secrecy Dumbledore is maintaining over the moving of Potter is intense. Nonetheless, I managed to gleam interesting information. They intend to do so at the 30th after dark, the last possible moment. Many members of the Order are to be his escort while he and his guardians are being brought to safety. They do not intend to use any magical means of transportation in an attempt to slip by us."

That was what Snape knew. However, he of course knew nothing about the existence of MI-X, and therefore another player who would interfere. As much as Dumbledore trusted him, he would not tell Snape of MI-X, since that would have been a grave breach of trust towards that agency. That, and he already was on thin enough ice.

"Amusing... Though of course their efforts are being in vain," Voldemort mused. "Lord Voldemort won't accept any more failures. A close eye is to be kept from outside the boundaries at all times. Potter can not be allowed to escape."

"My Lord, shall I already start the planning for Potter's capture?" Barty asked.

"Yes. Make sure to point out that I don't care how injured Potter gets, as long as he's alive for me to finish off." The way Voldemort said said this as lightly as if talking about the weather was downright chilling. "We will talk about the details at a later point."

While it was not said, Snape knew he wouldn't be part of this, since Voldemort wouldn't want things to point at him, and thus lose what he imagined being his best inside source.

Voldemort then stood up. "However, I think it now is time for all of you to witness how the future generations are to be educated."

Draco and Pansy both knew that they were meant and stepped forward, even though they honestly didn't want to. However, no one denied the Dark Lord. They both looked to Bellatrix in fear - having learned to be very afraid of the woman's moods - and then to the woman that was hovering above the table, already having an idea what this could be about.

Voldemort then addressed them. "I know both of you feel honored, since it is not often that such attention is out upon someone your age, especially from such an exclusive circle." It was a bit unclear if Voldemort was earnest about this, or just sarcastic.

"We... don't know how we can repay such generosity, my Lord," Pansy said, though she felt quite unwell. She knew she couldn't expect any help from her father, since her parents were massive suck-ups and would do anything to please Voldemort.

"No repayment needed. After all, the youth are the future and we have to ensure that you are well-prepared." Voldemort then looked to everyone else. "Teaching by example, that is how the youth has to be taught in order to get the best results. Bellatrix has been very busy with them."

"Indeed, Master," Bellatrix confirmed. "It's been a slow-going process, but we will get there."

Draco meanwhile again looked at the hovering woman, recognizing her from his time at Hogwarts. "My Lord... is this one of those lessons?"

"Ahhh, now we finally come to our guest." Voldemort looked to the woman. "Most of you should be familiar with Madam Rosmerta, who used to run the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, until it was destroyed. You may wonder, why is she our guest?"

"Despite what you may think, it is not due to her business, since she always only had magicals as her customers. No, the true reason is, that she took position against us. After the destruction of her business, she was very outspoken about her views and dared us to do something about it. And then... she added personal attacks on Lord Voldemort, which are not to be repeated." Voldemort then looked Rosmerta into the eyes. "You should not have done so."

While Rosmerta looked afraid, knowing she would die very soon, she tried to stand her ground. "I... will not take any of it... back."

"A pity. Not that it would have made a difference." He then looked to Draco and Pansy. "Now you will witness an object lesson on how justice is done." Voldemort then pulled out his wand and looked to Rosmerta. "You have committed the crime of showing yourself to be an enemy of the upcoming new order. Worse yet, you compounded on that with personal attacks on Lord Voldemort. The punishment for that is death and the sentence will be carried out immediately. Avada Kedavra!"

The green light hit Rosmerta and she died instantly. Then, like a rope was cut, her body fell onto the table. Voldemort looked to the teenagers "And now we teach you about proper disposal of bodies." He then looked to Bellatrix. "Bella, Nagini doesn't like it when her dinner is hard to eat."

Draco and Pansy both looked in horror how Bellatrix vanished the clothes from the body and then Nagini started to eat Madam Rosmerta's naked corpse. What was making this nightmare worse for them was the fact that none of the adults present seemed fazed in the slightest by the horrible display.

It's like they don't care at all about this horrible display, both teenagers thought, horrified at the idea they were expected to become like that as well.

They both knew by now without a doubt that they had willingly entered a nightmare.

Snape for his part was trying hard to hide his true feelings. He was greatly disturbed by all of this and how completely indifferent everyone at the table was to it. Even Narcissa only looked slightly disturbed. Judging by the looks of horror from Draco and Pansy, those two, unlike everyone else, had the reaction natural to witnessing such depravity. Worst was, Snape himself had almost become like everyone else at the table. If not for the mess with the prophecy...

He hid the thoughts, but the sick feeling was way more difficult to banish.

---

...12 Grimmauld Place, July 25th...

"Honestly, Kreacher, what is so important that you came to me and said I have to come to the house right away?" Sirius asked the house-elf while locking the door of 12 Grimmauld Place behind himself after having let himself in.

"Kreacher can't say, Master Sirius. Kreacher is way too disturbed by the implications, so Master has to see for himself," Kreacher answered while leading Sirius towards the drawing room.

Sirius honestly wondered what could have happened that would cause Kreacher to appear in the safe house, looking like someone had cut off his head and nailed it to the wall, and babble about something which Sirius had to see right away at Grimmauld Place. Sirius honestly didn't want to order Kreacher to spit it out - after all he had come to respect him too much by now - so the only way to find out was to follow him.

The did enter the drawing room and Kreacher was making a beeline for the big tapestry of the Black family tree. "The family tree? What could be that important. Explain it to me, please."

"Kreacher was cleaning the drawing room, when he remembered the recent addition to the greater House of Black," Kreacher started to explain.

"If you mean Edward's birth, I don't see why that would rile you up so much," Sirius remarked.

"Oh no, the birth of young Edward is a great relief to Kreacher that the House of Black is growing again," Kreacher explained. "Kreacher was looking at the entry, when suddenly he noticed a second new entry and Kreacher's blood froze when reading it."

Sirius looked to where Kreacher was pointing at the tapestry. His eyebrows rose when he saw that additions to Bellatrix' entry had appeared in the way that indicated a bastard child. This very tapestry was the reason no Blacks had bastard children, since it would be on the tapestry right away and also show the other guilty party. The tapestry showed that Bellatrix had been unfaithful to Rodolphus and then Sirius gulped when seeing with who.

Shit, no. I don't want to imagine her doing that with HIM, Sirius thought in disgust. But who am I kidding, Bellatrix of course would lower herself like that and become his breeding horse.

Sirius then looked at the entry of the bastard child and saw to his surprise that the birth of Delphini Riddle had happened on the same day as that of Teddy. Why didn't we notice? Shouldn't it appear in the book? ... Shit, the poor girl...

"Master?" Kreacher asked, seeing the storm of emotions Sirius was going through.

"Sorry, Kreacher, but this is a shock..." Sirius was honestly tempted to get some strong alcohol. "I'm trying to process that Bellatrix... with HIM of all people."

Kreacher himself also grimaced. "Kreacher experienced the Dark Lord personally and understands why the idea is revolting."

"It's not like I blame the child in any way. No one is born evil and she right now is an innocent little girl." Sirius finally managed to get his emotions under control. "Kreacher, you did the right thing to show this to me."

"What does Master Sirius intend to do about this?" Kreacher asked.

Sirius knew this was something that needed to be discussed fast. "I'm going to call an emergency meeting of the Order. This changes things quite a bit."

o

It ws impressive how fast the Order could gather when Sirius Black said a new and important development had happened. Sure, it of course was not the entire Order, just those with more authority, but the feat still was impressive. Sirius was even not minding the fact that Snape was present - which considering recent events and him now hating his guts was quite a feat in itself - since the matter at hand was too important.

"Sirius, what has happened that you are calling an emergency meeting. And especially one where you insisted that both of us have to be present?" asked Andromeda, exchanging confused looks with Ted on the matter.

"Because it is matter of the House of Black that impacts the Order and war war situation The only reason I asked Dora to stay at home is the fact she's busy with her son right now. Though Remus can tell her once we are done, since she needs to know as well," Sirius explained the unusual request.

"Padfoot, you look like you've seen a dementor. What happened?" Remus wondered.

Sirius for his part wondered how to breach the topic, then remembered something. "Snape, over the past year, was there anything unusual about Bellatrix? I don't care how minor it appears to be."

If he was wondering what this could be about, Snape wasn't showing it. The fact alone that Sirius was addressing him without any anger showed that whatever had happened had upset him enough to override his disgust. "Now that I think about it, there were several months where Bellatrix had been strangely reclusive. It was downright puzzling. When she finally re-appeared, she also looked a bit out of shape and heavier than she used to be."

"Sirius, why would you ask such a question?" Dumbledore looked like he had aged a decade. It was the stress from the aftermath of the Snape fiasco, no doubt. He also was careful not to anger Sirius after realizing how much damage had been done by the revelation.

Dumbledore was not blind to facts, and one such fact was, that the Order had started to re-organize itself to depend less on him. While it was a painful truth, it was a reminder to him that he no longer was the youngest man and recent events had brought his judgement into question. While he knew it was bound to happen, it still unpleasant to experience.

Sirius knew it was better to rip off the band-aid. "Today, Kreacher came to me and had to show me something. I saw what he meant on the family tapestry. Bellatrix and Voldemort did the deed and she has given brith on the same day as Dora. The end result is a little girl named Delphini."

For a moment there was shocked silence at the table, before Andromeda voiced what everyone was thinking. "Bellatrix... has a child with Voldemort?"

"I know, hard to believe, but it looks like he's still capable of doing that despite his looks." Sirius grimaced at the mere idea.

"Shouldn't that have been recorded in the book?" Remus wondered, also disturbed by those news.

McGonagall did remember that day. "Your son's entry was the first on a new page. I had no reason to flip the page to look at previous entries."

"Oh, that's wonderful..." Moody was not thrilled with that turn of events. "I can only imagine he wants to start his own dynasty or something like that." He then looked to Snape. "And you truly had no idea of this?"

For once Snape just look as surprised as everyone else. "They employed insane secrecy, since I honestly had no clue about this. I doubt many of the Dark Lord's own troops know as well. He's very careful with his own secrets."

"I honestly don't care what they are planning, we can't leave her there!" Andromeda looked fiercely determined, showing she was a Black woman. "She's just an innocent baby girl, incapable of good or evil. And you better not imply someone could be born evil."

It was at that point that Dumbledore spoke up. "I agree with Andromeda. Even Voldemort himself had the chance to become a good and just person. Sadly, his harsh and cold environment influenced him in the way, that he decided the only person he could ever trust is himself."

"So you agree because we don't want to risk a second Voldemort?" Andromeda was phrasing that less as a question and more as a fact.

"That is a reason, yes. But as you passionately stated, the girl's future would look grim, should she stay in that environment." Dumbledore then however sighed. "However, question is, what can we do about that?"

"I wouldn't know. She most likely is staying close to the Dark Lord and Bellatrix, but that place is under a Fidelius and even I have no idea where it is located. I don't know the secret, after all, and the secret-keeper most likely is the Dark Lord himself." It was unusual to see Snape having no plan at all.

"So you would have to be told the secret..." Sirius understood the crux of the problem.

This all left them with the dilemma that they wanted to save that girl Delphini from a horrible future, but in order to do so, Voldemort would need to have reason to let Snape into the secret. To accomplish that, Snape would have to do a really massive service to Voldemort and that probably was nothing short of murder - which Snape of course could not do.

They felt terrible that they had no way to save the girl at the moment.

---

...Little Whinging, July 30th...

"The house looks really strange this way. So empty," Harry thought aloud while looking around.

"Well, it's not only your house. Ours is next to empty as well. Considering how nasty those people are, we can't put it above them to set the houses on fire in their frustration. No need to get our stuff destroyed," Dudley reminded his cousin.

It was the eve of Harry's seventeenth birthday. Strike midnight the protection surrounding Little Whinging would disappear with him being considered an adult as far as the magic involved was concerned. Considering that it was dead sure that the Death Eaters would storm the place the moment the protection was gone, retreating from the place seemed wise. Knowing in advance, all three homes were now basically empty and the enemy never had even thought to bother with removal lorries.

After all, it was not only Harry and his family who were in danger. Sirius' family of course was in grave danger as well, and knowing how petty Voldemort was, Dudley and his mother also would be targeted. All of them were in serious danger and all of them needed to be brought to safety. Harry didn't know the exact details of the plan, but enough to have a rough idea what would happen soon.

The emptiness of the houses was driving home how this was a turning point in their lives. They were being forced out of the homes they had lived in for their entire lives.

Harry looked over to the other room where the adults were talking. "Your mother looks surprisingly calm considering..."

"Why don't you say it's not only due to having to leave her home, but also after learning of a secret government agency?" Mark piped up, having been silent up until now. "You after all took the news without freaking out."

Dudley for his part gave the twelve-year old boy an interesting look. "After all what happened, a secret government agency is downright tame. I honestly expected Her Majesty's government to be more active about magical matters in some way. Mum... Well, perhaps having been told weeks in advance helped for her to be calm about it now."

Considering the fact that MI-X would be involved with ferrying them out of Little Whinging, Dudley and Petunia very much had needed to know. Now, while the agency normally would not have been very happy with that fact, it was argued that considering how much things were going down the drain, them knowing meant little when looking at the bigger picture. Harry had not witnessed Petunia being told, but Dudley had taken it rather well all things considered.

"Well, I'm more angry than anything." Mark then looked rather helpless. "However, there is nothing I can do about it..."

"I know it's unfair," Harry told Mark, understanding very well how he was feeling. "I honestly understand how you feel, since me and my friends, we feel we are being stopped from helping in the war. Like you we are feeling angry at something we have no control over."

Mark blinked before he remembered. "Uh, now I remember. You and your friends want to fight as well, but since you said Ginny and Luna are still too young..."

"We made a pact that it's either all of us or none. Sadly, the whole trace still sticking on both girls means we are stuck right now. Doesn't mean we have to like it," Harry admitted.

"That sucks, "Dudley agreed. He himself had no plans to actively seek a confrontation, but by now he felt at a loss what to do should the school truly close if it came to the worst. Millicent for her part also had found herself unsure how to proceed.

"Boy, I knew the six of you are close, but that's something else..." Mark said with a whistle. "Still sucks for the girls..."

Harry knew Ginny had one time cursed the trace as being a dog leash, so he knew the girls were very unhappy with the situation. "I just hope we won't give you any stupid ideas."

"I'm not insane! I'm only a twelve-year old kid. That, and Mum would twist my ears like there's no tomorrow for the mere idea." Clearly, Mark was not entertaining any such ideas.

Wow, the more I hear, the more I'm impressed with Harry wanting to not stay passive, Dudley thought, having found a healthy respect of that side of his cousin in the past weeks.

Their conversation was interrupted when Steve and Kathleen ran into the room, the eight-year old children looking quite a bit upset.

"Harry, Harry! This is unfair!" Kathleen whined.

"Yes, why do we have to leave?" Steve added, also looking upset.

He knew the children had known for some time, but it probably only had hit them in recent days what all of this would entail. Their young minds now understood it meant leaving behind the neighborhood they had known for their entire life and the friends they had made at school. For children their age that of course sounded very unfair.

"I know it's not fair, but there is a good reason for it," Harry began to explain.

"Mum and Dad always say that!" Kathleen didn't look very convinced of that.

"Yes, but when we ask why, they say we are not old enough!" Steve clearly was agreeing with his sister on being annoyed.

Harry sighed, knowing that while Sirius and Diane were meaning well, they should have explained it better. "I know it looks unfair to you, but there are good reasons. You remember what happened when you visited your grandfather?"

The grimace both children gave him was answer enough that they remembered all too well. He himself had not been present for it, but Sirius of course had told him.

"Now, that attacker was working for someone really, really evil. And that evil man has many more like him who are following any of his orders without question," Harry began to explain.

Kathleen thought about it. "That bad man was scary, and there are many more like him?"

"Oh yes, and the evil boss man, let's call him Evil Tom, has a huge hatred against me, thus why I have to leave. But he also hates my cousin Dudley, who has to leave as well, and he especially hates your father. But your father is very good at defending himself, so he reasons hurting both of you or your mother will also hurt your father."

"He would hurt us to hurt Dad?" Steve looked scared at the idea.

"Oh yes, he would. He is very cruel and evil and that is why we have to get you to safety until the adults have finally dealt with Evil Tom," Harry ended his explanation.

The twins looked at each other, before coming to a silent agreement to apologize to their parents for complaining.

Mark gave Harry an interesting look. "You explained it really well to them. Strange that the adults didn't manage to do so."

"I think learning the truth when I was not much older than them did help me understand how to explain it to them." Harry knew it was not something to be proud of. "It soon is time, but I first have to do something else. Hedwig!"

Hearing her name, his white owl flew to him and settled down to listen what her owner had to say to her. "Hedwig, I'm sure you know what is going on and where we will be going. I want you to fly ahead."

The owl gave him a look of refusal, not wanting to abandon him, so Harry knew he had to explain. "It will be a tight fit once the ride arrives and I don't think you would like staying in your cage. I know you hate staying in it in the car. Also, the attention of the enemy will be on me, and you staying close to me would make this very dangerous for you."

Harry saw that he was getting through to her. "You already know where I will be, so I want you to fly there. But don't take any risks, take routes where you stay unseen. After all, you are very distinctive and I don't want to lose you."

Hedwig for her part looked honestly moved how concerned her owner was for her safety. Giving up any resistance, she made a sound of agreement. "Good, now take care." Harry then opened the window and allowed the owl to fly off into the sunset.

"She's really loyal to you and you care for her a lot," Dudley said, having watched the whole thing. "That reminds me of how Millie talks with her cat, Archimedes, who also is very attached to her."

Harry was still looking to where Hedwig had flown off to. "I trust her that she doesn't needlessly endanger herself. In a way she's way better than me at that." Harry then looked around. "You know, it really feels like part of our lives is ending, it's just being made much more prominent."

"Talk for yourself..." Mark said to remind Harry that to him this had a different meaning.

It was that moment that the adults walked into the empty room.

"Mum, are you alright?" Dudley asked when seeing the expression on his mother's face.

"Not exactly." Petunia knew that she was doing a bad job at hiding her true feelings on the matter. "It's only in the past several days that it truly hit me what all of this would entail. Seeing the house empty and us being about to be moved by government agents..."

"I think you are taking it better than expected," Thomas commented, making no secret of the fact that his opinion of Petunia had improved, though he would not forget the years of hurt. "I know you are not eager to go through stuff you normally only see in films."

"And for good reason, since in films that often ends badly for those involved," Petunia explained why the comparison was not exactly filling her with confidence.

Sirius meanwhile had walked to the door and was observing the street.

The sun had almost set by this point, meaning their rides had to arrive shortly. He was watching the entrance of the street carefully, until he finally spotted something; it were six none-desciptive cars entering the street. All six cars looked perfectly ordinary and nothing was setting them apart from regular cars. All six cars looked utterly alike, which was by design.

The cars stopped on the street in front of the house and someone Sirius knew exited the lead car.

"Ah, Agent Morden, you are still set on helping us that directly?" Sirius asked the man.

"Despite some calling it stupidity, I feel that leading by example keeps morale high," Morden confirmed. "Also, we are not alone with this after all."

When he said that, several more agents left the cars, then opened the car trunks to pull out brooms. However, it was not only agents, but also all of the Weasley brothers: Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Fred and Ron. Besides them, Sirius also spotted Remus, Hermione and Fleur. Fleur's presence was a recent addition, due to Bill having requested her being made part of the circle that knew. That not only was due to Bill hating keeping things from her, but also seeing how guilty Percy felt for keeping this from Penelope.

"Together with the two of us, this makes twenty fliers. More than enough to cause confusion. Not to speak of our little ace in the hole," Sirius said after being finished with the count.

"Eighteen more cars are waiting for our signal when things start. We had no problem getting in, like they didn't pay us any mind. Perhaps it's due to them keeping an eye on outgoing traffic," Morden thought aloud while everyone walked into the house.

"Oh, it's getting a bit crowded now," Veronica said, observing how their house honestly was not built to hold that many people.

"Oh, hello. I honestly didn't expect so many of you work together on this," Dudley greeted them when they entered.

Harry's eyebrows rose when seeing two of his friends among the group. "How come both of you are here? Last time I heard, you wouldn't be part of this. After all, they don't want us to be part of the whole war effort."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then Ron spoke. "Well, there was a lot of arguing going on, but in the end we pulled the card that as far as Magical Britain is concerned, we are adults now. Also, we argued there is a limited number of us being in the know about MI-X."

Hermione then sighed. "Don't get us wrong, we hated arguing with our parents. But once they accepted we would do this anyway, the arguments died down. Not that they aren't still scared for our well-being."

"Mum is scared out of her mind that all of her sons are going to help in this. I for my part am doing this because it's the right thing to do. You know, being an adult and taking responsibility. That, and there's no way I won't help my best mate," Ron explained his reasoning.

"As for me, you know flying is not my favorite way of travel, but this is important enough that my sensibilities have to take a backseat. Though, no way I can actually fight a lot while flying." Hermione grimaced at the idea of a longer journey on a broom.

"Come on, I've seen you fly. You are a perfectly capable flyer and you are just underselling yourself," Charlie commented with a shake of his head.

"There is a difference between being capable of something and liking it," Hermione insisted.

"Oui, I understand since I am not a fan of it, either," Fleur agreed. "However, like Hermione, my sensibilities are not as important as what needs to be done."

Fleur would not admit it, but doing such a stunt so close to her wedding with Bill felt a bit unreal. What she had learned about MI-X also felt unreal, with her still being a bit scared that a government agency had managed to sty so utterly undetected and essentially make a fool of Magical Britain. The mere mention that something similar was going on in France had caused her to wonder what had been done in her home country.

Dudley then whistled when looking at the gathered Weasley brothers, before looking to Percy. "To be honest, I always only saw you as the guy behind a desk. However, you must have quite some courage to volunteer for this."

"I know my skills are less suited for a direct confrontation. However, I won't hide myself away from the responsibility," Percy told him, knowing that Dudley did have a point with his obervation.

Meanwhile, George and Fred had approached Sirius.

"Ah, there is our patron!" George said with excitement.

"The man whose help allowed us to build a thriving business," Fred added.

"I only gave the money and helped with the legal side. The rest was all you," Sirius reminded the twins. "However, as thriving as it may be, even your business can't escape the greater economy, you know."

That dimmed the mood of the twins somewhat. "Wouldn't we know it? We have followed your example and the general path everyone on our side is going."

"Yes, we've been very busy with making sure to only have the absolute minimum of Galleons needed for running the shop," Fred added.

This conversation was the result of a development which had started almost half a year ago.

Considering the trajectory the war was going and the economy of Magical Britain already having entered a vicious cycle of shrinkage and collapsing demand, Sirius, as well as several others on their side had come to the realization, that the collapse of the government would also essentially make the currency worthless - apart from the material worth - as well. For those still holding on lots of cash that would be a disaster.

Thus word was spread to either convert as much cash as possible into Pound Sterling, and/or use the money while it still had worth to invest it into material goods which held their wealth even if the currency crashed. And it was pretty sure it would crash. Of course that couldn't be done at once, since it would become obvious, but over the months the conversion away from the doomed currency was now pretty much done.

Fred and George had done so as well, either having invested the money in items for the future of their business, or move it to an account at a non-magical bank, converting it into Pounds. Hell, even Sirius himself had gotten rid of his large reserves of magical cash gradually and either converted or invested it. Not to speak of spreading the word of getting important items out of the vaults, since they were dead sure the goblins would become hostile over this situation.

Thomas and Veronica meanwhile were talking with Remus.

"So, this means the preschool is empty as well?" Veronica asked, having followed the discussion about that.

"Yes. The building is entirely empty, so should they set it on fire, the loss wouldn't be too great. Still, I helped build it, and it hurts seeing all the work I invested in it go away..." Remus had put a lot of love into the preschool, so its loss after a decade of being open was bitter for him.

"No, you haven't lost anything," Thomas told him. "All those children that you and the other teachers helped to understand magic before they go to Hogwarts? The children who weren't thrust into a whirlwind of utter confusion? They are your legacy."

"That, and you have given an example. You did it first, so others will follow once all of this is over," Veronica added.

"Maybe..." Remus tried to imagine it and his thoughts landed on a statue to his honor being unveiled.

I better never tell Dora about that thought. She wouldn't stop laughing, he added silently, knowing exactly how his wife would react, should she hear of that.

"Attention!" Agent Morden called. "Things will start once the sun has fully set. I will now explain the finer details..."

o

The sun had finally set and darkness had settled over Little Whinging. Under the illumination of the streetlights however, there was lots of activity around the parked cars. Thankfully, there were no curious neighbors who could make things more complicated.

"Man, I hope that goes well. There is so much stuff that can go wrong," Dudley said while entering the assigned car.

"Dudley, please. My nerves already are tense enough, so no need to make me worry more," Petunia reminded her son.

Diane meanwhile gave some final words to her husband. "Sirius, for the sake of our children don't do anything reckless. Having you return to us in good health is more important than feats of valor."

"I can't promise it, but I'll do my best," Sirius told her honestly.

Diane sighed. "I know. After all, no plan survives contact with the enemy."

The plan itself was, when looked at it, rather simple. Besides the one group of cars with the actual passengers, three more groups of six cars each would act as decoys, leaving Little Whinging at different places in order to confuse the enemy. It honestly would be difficult for them to find out which target to attack. To add to it, the fliers would split in two groups of ten each in order to make the enemy think an escape on brooms was the true goal.

However, despite all the false leads, they were still expecting that somehow the real target would be discovered and then things would get nasty. Voldemort after all most certainly would not kid around this time, so preparations had been made that all forces could quickly converge if the ruse did fail.

Meanwhile, everyone who would take off on brooms was walking to the garden at the back of the house.

"All right, everyone knows what their roles are?" Mr. Morden asked one final time while they mounted their brooms.

"We know them. We are mainly meant to be a distraction and keep their attention away from the correct cars. However, if things should go sideways, it will come to fighting," Remus repeated when had been talked about. "Though I'm still concerned..."

Ron and Hermione saw that he was looking to them when saying that. "I think you worry more about me than Ron. He feels at home on a broom while I don't. However, I will take more of a supportive role than anything else. I'm not as arrogant to believe I can fight on a broom like most here."

"Too bad that Kingsley is not part of those in the know. He's a beast on a broom and would have been great support here," Sirius bemoaned a little.

"Sadly, Mr. Shacklebolt is too involved with the Ministry to add him to the circle. This is no slight against him, just the fact that something could slip by accident in his position," Morden explained, then looked around. "Everyone got their headset on?" Morden asked while checking his own one.

That was also something different, since all of them were connected by radio, and thus could constantly exchange information. That would make things way less confusing in the heat of things and also was a sign of how things were changing that they were accepting this technology with any complaint or confusion.

"Good, then everyone ascend," Morden said, before speaking into the radio that the mission was starting.

They did lift off and the cars started their way towards the edge of Little Whinging. Soon enough they saw that their prediction had been spot-on as a big number of broom riders did appear to intercept them.

On the side of the Death Eaters there was some confusion, since they had expected Potter and his relatives try to sneak out by non-magical means. "What the hell?!" Armycus Carrow cursed when seeing that. "Snape told us they would try to escape on the ground!"

Pettigrew's eyes narrowed. "Hmmm..." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pair of omnioculars he had 'organized' and looked through them. "I see Sirius Black and at least three Weasleys. But how... Crap!"

"What is it?" Amycus had not expected that reaction.

"It has to be a diversion and Potter is still leaving on the ground. Order to everyone, ignore the people on the brooms and instead look out for ground vehicles!"

"They are ignoring us..." Charlie cursed. "They must have caught on quite fast..." He then heard a message over the radio. "Attention! They enemy saw through the ruse. Make sure they don't reach the cars."

Things quickly became rather chaotic outside.

In the car meanwhile, Harry was watching what was happening in the distance, feeling guilty that others were doing the fighting while he was doing nothing.. "I should be out there..."

"I know you feel you are not pulling your weight, but the whole reason for this is to get you out safely because you can't use yor magic freely until tomorrow," Thomas reminded Harry.

"Doesn't mean I have to like..." Harry stopped when suddenly a Death Eater pulled up directly beside then car and despite the inside of the car being mostly dark, did spot Harry. Harry for his part saw him press a finger to his Dark Mark. "Shit, he must have called Voldemort!"

"To all units, we are discovered! Aggressive defense around the target!" the man sitting next to the driver warned everyone, pulling out a wand while opening the sunroof. He knew the same thing was happening in the other cars.

The Death Eater in question meanwhile was jubilant while drawing his wand. I've found Potter! That means the Dark Lord is sure to reward me greatly! I will... -BANG!- His thoughts ended abruptly when something blasted through his head, turning a quarter of it into a mess of blood, bone fragments and brain matter. Unable to continue living like that, the corpse fell off the broom.

Confusion arose from the other Death Eaters what that had been.

What no one had known was, that there was another car in play, only that that one was flying and invisible. Specifically, it was the old Ford Anglia owned by Arthur Weasley, which he - much to his wife's annoyance - had extensively modified over the years. The car could fly and - in light of the current time - he had worked hard to make the invisibility option in it work perfectly.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Arthur felt a deep satisfaction that all of the work, which others had waved off as pointless tinkering, was now paying off. Their family car had turned into a secret weapon, especially with the man sitting in the back, who was holding a sniper rifle out of the open window in order to pick off enemies that were coming too close to the cars. The idea was simple and yet very effective and thankfully both of them were wearing ear protection.

Let's hope this can tip the scales, he thought while steering the car around.

Things meanwhile had become rather chaotic. The experienced fliers were openly engaging the Death Eaters in aerial combat while the less experienced ones stuck close to the cars to ward off any sudden attacks. They were helped by the MI-X wizards who were halfway out of the sunroofs of the cars, wands ready.

"This has gone sideways really fast!" Sirius cursed, evading a curse by mere inches, before counter-attacking

The other group reached them at this point... but sadly some new trouble also was at the horizon.

"There's more of them!" Bill warned when spotting what was approaching.

"Oui, but one of them..." Fleur looked closer. "Mon dieu! Look! It's him, and he's flying without a broom!"

Indeed, Voldemort was approaching, and he was not riding on a broom. Instead, it looked like the only thing that was enabling his flight was some kind of black smoke surrounding him. The sight made him look downright demonic. "I want Potter, so stop those vehicles," Voldemort ordered, knowing that a direct attack against Harry was unwise.

"Damn it, right into the thick of it!" Ron cursed, knowing that Hermione was not good at casting while flying on a broom.

"I protect Harry, you get them!" Hermione called, her unease about flying taking a backseat to the situation at hand.

"OK!" Ron of course worried for Hermione, but right now other things were more pressing. He didn't waste time to put all the training to good use to keep the enemy away from the cars.

The beginning night was being illuminated by the light from spells being thrown around, all kind of colors turning this battle into a strangely beautiful display. Well, beautiful if not for the fact that it was a fight with lethal means. The attackers outnumbered the defenders, but that meant little when the defenders had the better position.

Hermione for her part tried not to react when a spell from her blasted a Death Eater, who had come too close, clean off the broom, and then impact with a sickening sound on the pavement, being dead for sure. She then saw one of the MI-X wizards being hit by a spell and almost had to hurl when seeing the lower half of one of his arms being ripped off. This all was underscoring nicely that this was no game.

This will give me nightmares, she thought darkly, but pressed on.

"This is way worse than any Quidditch game we've ever played!" Fred gasped, feeling like they perhaps had bitten off more than they could chew.

George could only agree with his twin. "Yes, guess the joke is now on us! Man, Angelina will pull my ears off once she hears of this..."

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" They both froze when hearing loud and evil feminine laughter. Evading a spell aimed at them, they saw the source of the laughter, as she hadn't even bothered with a mask (special privilege after all). Bellatrix looked at them greedily. "What do we have here? Two little piggies ready for slaughter. I've heard that young meat is especially good."

They both honestly had no witty remark for that, since Bellatrix was an utter psychopath who scared even them. "No thanks!" Fred finally shouted with disgust.

"We don't associate with psychos who have a fondness for men with deformed faces," George added, this being the best that came to his mind.

Bellatrix lost her sadistic smirk, now looking utterly furious. "For that I'll make your death especially painful and skin you alive..."

George quickly realized he'd made a serious mistake by making Bellatrix mad. She was shooting spells at him like crazy, forcing him to evade constantly, while Fred had little luck with hitting her in return. What came next was bound to happen. George felt something barely miss his head. Then... the left side of his head erupted in PAIN! Unable to hold on, he fell off his broom.

"My son... NO!" Arthur was horrified when seeing George fall to the ground - though thankfully he already had been close the ground and thus it wouldn't cause additional damage. "We have to get to him!"

The agent with him of course couldn't hear him due to the ear protection, but he understood anyway. They needed a big distraction now. Not only so they could pick up the injured Weasley but also to allow the cars to escape before things would get worse. It took him only a few seconds before he realized what he could do to make a truly big distraction.

They say trying to kill him won't work, though the other side didn't say, why. However, doesn't mean it will be pointless... He then quickly aimed at the one target that was sure to cause chaos in the enemy ranks.

-BANG!- The next shot hit its mark perfectly. Voldemort had been about to swoop in on the cars to destroy Harry's defenders, when suddenly his chest exploded in a shower of blood and flesh. Something ripped through his insides before exiting on the back in another spray of blood.

"Aaaarrgghhlll...!" Losing his concentration, Voldemort fell and impacted hard onto the road.

"MASTER!" Bellatrix cried in utter terror, forgetting about her prey. The other Death Eaters were also following their first instinct to come to their Master's aid.

Now or never! Arthur thought, the car descending quickly to where George had fallen, the sight of his son lying on the ground with blood all over his face making him think the worst.

They landed for only a short moment and the agent quickly pulled George in, before Arthur sped off. The agent was wasting no time to use first aid to do something about the bloody mess while talking into his radio. "We've picked up the fallen flier. Severely bleeding wound. We are returning to base W."

"Acknowledged! To all units in the air, we are nearing the M3 motorway. Disengage and fly to the departure points." both men heard in the radios built into their ear protection.

Hearing that, Arthur pushed the accelerator down to the floor, the car flying at speeds he had never intended it to fly. He honestly didn't care however, as long as they reached home in time for George to get treatment for his wound.

The same moment the cars reached the M3 motorway and in the sea of cars, it would be practically impossible for the enemy to find them. The broom-riders departed, flying towards the appartition points from where they would go to their destinations.

"For a moment I was almost pissing myself..." Mark admitted after he knew the danger was over.

"Not that I blame you," Harry admitted. "Shit, one of the Weasleys got hurt badly..." He knew that this would be on his mind until his arrival at the Burrow - the designated safe house for the Six.

The Death Eaters meanwhile were approaching the fallen Voldemort. However, the Dark Lord reacted poorly.

"Stay back!" he commanded, his voice due to the damaged lungs sounding terrifying.

Voldemort was struggling to get up, feeling that his body was currently not working but that the magic which had kept him on this planet was already hard at work to fix this. His shredded insides were putting themselves back together in the proper way and after another minute, he felt his heartbeat again, meaning he now was properly alive again. Looking down, he saw the gaping hole in his robes and all the blood smeared over them.

"That was a direct attack on Lord Voldemort..."Voldemort was incensed at the sheer impertinence to attack him. "I was not hit by any kind of spell. Search for the projectile that hit me! I want it to be found!"

No one dared to question his order; not when he was this angry.

o

It took them almost twenty minutes to reach the departure point. From there they would take portkeys to their final destinations. While the creation of portkeys without Ministry oversight technically was illegal, considering how the Ministry was about to fail anyway no one cared about that rule anymore.

"Man, that was nasty..." Dudley said while helping his mother walk along. Petunia still feeling the fear over the attack. "I honestly hope Mum won't get into more of that."

"I think we all hope that, Big D," Harry agreed, having been more scared for his family than for himself. There was one question he needed an answer for as well.

"What has my life turned into...?" Petunia honestly could have lived without all of this. She hoped there wasn't more of this in store for her.

"Harry!"

"Neville?" Harry asked when seeing said teenager waiting for him. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting to use the same portkey as you do." Neville then looked to his left. "The same task as hers."

"Dudley!" Before he could react a strong and tall teenage girl ran up to him and then hugged him. "Damn, I knew trouble would find you! Please tell me you are unharmed!"

"Millie..." Dudley understood why she reacted like that. A quick look to Harry and seeing him shake his head was answer enough that she had no idea about MI-X and just thought this was a secret operation from their side. "How come you are here?"

"That's the weirdest thing. Someone approached my family today, said that a portkey is being set up and that perhaps I should be here to prepare both of you for the journey to our house," Millicent explained, then looked over to Petunia. "Oh no, Ms. Evans. How bad was it for you...?"

While Millicent talked, Harry looked to his family and the Blacks. "All of you will be OK?"

"Don't worry, Harry. We are going to houses that Sirius owns and that are not registered at all in the magical world. Good luck to the enemy to then find us," Diane explained, not looking forward to the portkey travel. "I just wish, Sirius could be here, but after what happened..."

Harry knew she was talking about one Weasley being hit and falling off his broom. "Let's hope the injury is not too serious..."

---

...at the Burrow...

The prepared portkeys had worked as intended. While the three families were being safely transported to their own safe houses, Harry and Neville did appear right at the front step of the Burrow. The parked Ford Anglia - complete with blood on the back seat - as well as several discarded brooms were already telling the story.

An upset-looking Remus was already expecting them. "I'm sorry, but first I have to make sure..." Both of them already knew what this was about and quickly conjured their Patroni, which was something that couldn't be faked. "Sorry, all of us are on the edge after what happened to George."

"So it was George... Is he...?" Harry had seen how George had fallen off his broom after Bellatrix seemed to have hit him with a spell.

"Thankfully, no direct hit, but his left ear is pretty much gone." Hearing the gasps, Remus knew that the teenagers were thinking of how disfigured Moody was. "Come in, but be warned that Molly is horribly upset about this."

He opened the front door and right away the hectic activity inside was revealed.

"Oh no, no, no! I feared something like this would happen!" Molly cried in fear when seeing how bloody George was. It felt like one of her worst nightmares coming true when seeing his condition.

"Don't you fall into hysterics, Molly!" Andromeda told the woman sternly while working hard to treat what was left of George's left ear to stop the bleeding permanently and prevent an infection. "Of course, a cursed wound. Bill, I need your help here!"

George for his part was lying on an improvised field bed in the middle of the living room, being pretty much out of it, while Bill was working against the dark magic in the wound so that Andromeda could treat it properly. Fred meanwhile was watching all of this from the sidelines, looking horrified at what had happened to his twin.

Andromeda finally put her foot down considering all the bystanders surrounding her. "Everyone not helping me, OUT!"

No one wanting to cross her, the room emptied fast.

The Six had managed to retreat into the kitchen, and there were several others with them. Fleur looked pale, since she had witnessed what happened to George first hand. Percy looked equally disturbed by the event, touching the scars on his face that Greyback had given him. And then there was Fred, who looked more helpless than anything.

When seeing Crookshanks hop onto Hermione's lap, Harry looked around and then noticed Hedwig on one of the owl perches. She quickly flew over and Harry checked if she was all right. Looks like at least she got here without trouble...

"Where are the others?" Ginny wondered. She for her part had been at the Burrow together with Luna right from the start, since it already was designated as a safe place due to the absurd amount of warding surrounding it.

"They are outside the house... Mon dieu, this became horrible fast." Fleur looked shaken at how vicious things had become in such a short time.

Hermione for her part was pushing her own feelings aside for the moment and gave Percy a concerned look. "Eh, Percy...?"

"I know, I know." Percy finally stopped touching the old scars. "I'm still trying to understand what happened to George and... part of me is full of rage over what was done to him. I know it's due to the scars... I never before felt such a deep rage."

He was talking about the side effect of the scars. While his scars had not infected him with lycanthrophy, he had been told there would be some personality shifts coming from that. He had noticed becoming more assertive and more eager to take action. However, he had not thought himself possible of such a rage. It reminded him to never take his control for granted.

"You think we should try to talk to Fred?" Neville whispered to Harry, being unnerved with Fred's behavior, which was so unlike his normal self.

"I don't think he will listen to anything we do say." Harry honestly didn't know what to say to him that could make him feel better.

The minutes slowly went by and no one really knew what to say. Harry was done checking on Hedwig, but still gave the owl lots of attention, even if only to distract himself. Hermione basically was doing the same with Crookshanks, something the cat was not complaining about.

Finally, Andromeda walked in. "He no longer is in any danger. However, the magic damage makes it impossible to regrow it. What's left of his ear is not exactly a nice sight to look at. He's deep asleep and Bill is bringing him upstairs to rest."

Fred then left without saying a word, only wanting to be with his twin.

The living room had went back to looking like normal, though the people in it were making no effort to hide how they felt. Harry for his part looked around. The Six of course were being present. Arthur was being busy with calming down Molly after what had happened - her trauma from the last war re-emerging - while Bill had just returned and doing the same for Fleur. Charlie and Percy looked really stressed out as well.

"Where are Sirius and Remus?" Ginny wondered, looking around but not seeing both men.

"They've already left. Sirius and Remus want to check on their own families, something I can't blame them for," Andromeda said while packing up her things. "We had already expected this would end with injury, though of course we had no idea who would get hit by it."

Andromeda soon took her leave and slowly the tension started to leave them.

"Honestly, today could have gone way worse than it did," Ron finally said, thinking about the mess he had been part of.

"Tell that to George..." Ginny said, but there was no venom in it, since she knew her brother was right. "I only heard bits and pieces. Was it that chaotic?"

"Chaotic would be an understatement. At first the plan worked, but then one Death Eater got a lucky break, discovered Harry and must have told Voldemort and then all hell broke lose," Hermione admitted. "I was forced to blast someone off their broom and the fall was deadly."

Ron held Hermione closer, knowing that Hermione was still trying to process she had actually killed someone. "I normally don't say that, knowing it drives you up the wall, but in this case I'm relieved you were not present for that, Ginny."

Ginny knew why Ron was saying that and honestly couldn't find it in herself to protest.

At one point Luna looked up to the clock - not the family clock that revealed that status of family members but one that actually told the time - and noticed something. "In a few minutes, Harry and Neville will become adults."

It indeed was very close to midnight and Harry wondered something. "Does anything special happen when the trace goes away?"

Those who went through it in recent years looked at each other. Charlie then chose to answer the question. "Eh, if you think there is some kind of light show or a feeling of freedom while the angels are rejoicing, I have to disappoint you. I actually stayed awake to see what happens with me and got disappointed, since there is nothing obvious. You don't notice the difference."

"Oh, too bad..." Neville seemed a bit sad that such an important thing for them wouldn't be more obvious.

The minutes slipped by until it finally was midnight.

"Well, hooray, Neville and me are now offically adults as far as magic is concerned," Harry said, knowing the current mood was not conductive for much celebration.

However, two feminine gasps suddenly broke the silence. Ginny and Luna had jumped up, eyes wide and both of them trembling. Then both girls suddenly let out groans of pain and doubled over in said pain. The sight of something like that happening out of the blue caused everyone to go on high alert.

"Girls? Girls?!" As disturbed as Molly was about what happened to George, she was on high alert when seeing both girls being in pain.

"Ahhh! It feels like..." Ginny was trying to say, but suddenly her eyes went even wider when it felt like a white-hot pole was being pushed up her ass while coutless needles were being rammed into her butt. "AAAAIIIIIE!" the sharp spike of pain made Ginny cry out. Though, she was not alone in this, since Luna was going through the exact same thing, complete with her crying out in pain.

The pain ended suddenly when both girls felt as if something snapped, and then... a feeling of freedom. Though both girls couldn't buy anything from that, barely managing to not fall over, while... -Boooooarp!- ...both of them belched loudly, barely managing not to vomit.

"Girls, please talk to us." Arthur was close to a panic, especially since that had happened out of nowhere.

"This really hurt and I..." Luna couldn't say more, because she became much paler than she already was when feeling a strong rumbling in her belly, warning her what was about to happen.

She made a run for it, but Ginny, who was in exactly the same predicament, knew the house better and made a dash to the downstairs bathroom first. Not wasting time, Luna ran up the stairs to the upstairs bathroom. For several minutes the faint groans of two girls in intense discomfort reached the ears of everyone else and it took more time before both of them returned, looking really pale and worn out.

"Oooh, damn that was disgusting," Ginny groaned while letting herself fall into a seat, now literally feeling empty. After all, drawn-out explosive diarrhea was no fun.

"You need to air out the bathrooms..." Luna added, feeling utterly spent.

"What happened?" Hermione wondered, only to get annoyed looks from both girls. "I mean, apart from the obvious. This doesn't happen out of nowhere."

Bill for his part looked back to the clock and then had an idea. "I have to know something. Apart from the pain and you now feeling lousy, was there anything else?"

"I don't know..." Luna tried to remember. "It was all so unpleasant. Though... I felt like something got released."

"Hmm." Bill scratched his chin. "I need to check something. The timing of the whole thing gives me the idea that it was your bond that did something." Bill then took out his wand to check something on both girls.

"Strange that we didn't feel anything. I thought we would notice something through the bond," Ron wondered. "Bill, what are you looking for?"

"What I'm looking for is no longer there. Only someone working in my field would know what to look for. The trace has been cut from both of them." Bill then saw the looks everyone was giving him. "Look, I can only speculate, since the magical pact the six of you made without intending to do so is something unknown. My guess is, that after Harry and Neville became adults, the bond saw the trace only being on Ginny and Luna as something bad for them."

"You mean after the majority no longer had it, the bond saw the trace as a dangerous outside influence?" Hermione was trying to understand how that worked. "The trace must have resisted hard against its removal."

"Wouldn't we know it?" Ginny whispered, though despite this having been an ordeal for her and Luna, hope was growing in her.

The trace had been a huge obstacle for any plans they had, since it always would have meant leaving Luna and her behind. But, now that it actually was gone... Ginny started to understand the freedom this meant, and clearly so did Luna when seeing her eyes widen in realization behind her glasses. The rest of their group also understood the implications.

There no longer was an obstacle to their plans - something the adults in the room were unaware of, not knowing what the teenagers were planning.

o

The wound has healed entirely. Everything I've read speaks of much lower regeneration. Could it be that wearing the ring was a very wise decision? Voldemort thought, before closing his robes.

He of course had known that his Horcruxes would heal injuries he had sustained as part of their function and keep him alive until life functions were working again. It was only his body being entirely vaporized in just a second all those years ago which had reduced him to a shade until his re-emergence.

However, his current rate of healing he had already noticed after Lucius' wand had burned his hands. The burns had healed unusually fast. Him now being revived and healed so fast proved a theory to him: actually wearing the ring had enhanced his healing significantly. He had not known about that before, but now wearing the ring proved to be the correct decision.

His thoughts then returned to matter at hand.

After the return to the Riddle House, Voldemort had retreated to wait for the results of his order to search the area where he had fallen for anything unusual, regardless how small. After all, the whole thing was utterly confusing him to him. What had hit him was no spell, but it had ripped a hole through him and under normal circumstances would have been perfectly deadly. What had the Order cooked up?

"So the mystery remains?" Nagini asked, having listened to Voldemort's explanation.

"Yes, for now. Regardless what hit me, without my insurance I would have been dead. I won't tolerate such attacks on my person, and whoever did it will pay dearly." Voldemort left no doubt how serious he was about this.

"Perhaps we should wait outside for answers? Apart from Bellatrix, everyone else is too afraid to disturb you while you are in here," Nagini reminded him.

Realizing that Nagini did have a point Voldemort left, Nagini following, until he had sat down in his throne and waited. He didn't have to wait for long when the door opened and Barty walked in, looking unsure about something.

"Barty, what do you have to report?" Voldemort asked impatiently.

"My Lord, we do have found what hit you, but it does create more questions." Barty then showed a deformed something that was made of metal. "We found traces of your blood on this projectile, which had embedded itself into a tree."

Voldemort took the deformed projectile and took a closer look. "A Muggle weapon? Are they now resorting to that? Or...? Hm, could it be that they are desperate enough that they are now recruiting Muggles to do their dirty work?"

"It certainly would explain a few incidents, Master," Barty added. "Though, considering their stance of having the moral high ground, such a tactic would be a strange change of policy."

Voldemort still looked at the projectile. "Yes, it would be strange, but if one is desperate then morals are the first thing to be done away with."

Despite his huge arrogance, Voldemort was a bit concerned about this development, silently vowing that they had to make sure to get the Ministry under control before the year was over.

---

...the next morning in the Burrow...

When the morning arrived at the Burrow, its inhabitants only slowly managed to rise from their sleep, since the events of the night had utterly exhausted them. Ginny and Luna especially had quickly crawled into bed and fallen asleep, utterly exhausted from what they had went through when the trace got cut.

Shortly before everyone had went to bed, Bill, Fleur and Charlie had left, saying that with the addition of Harry, Neville, Hermione and Luna, while Fred and George also were staying due to obvious reasons, space was a premium in the Burrow. Percy however had been too tired to leave, though he had sent a message to Penelope why he wouldn't return until after the morning.

Now finally however, everyone was sitting at the breakfast table, though reminders of the night were omnipresent.

"George, don't touch that! Andromeda gave strict instructions to leave it alone until she returns," Molly reminded her adult son, giving him a strict look.

"I know, Mum, but it's itching like hell..." George knew he shouldn't dare to touch the bandages covering what was left of his left ear.

George being already back on his feet after his injury was little wonder, since the man hated sitting still, but the bandages covering the remnants of his left ear were a nasty reminder of the events of the night and how close he had been to actually dying. For once he could not laugh it off and actually felt no joke could be fitting.

"A few centimeters, and it would have been your head." Fred also had recovered when seeing his twin being back on his feet, though the scare had hit him deeply. "Better worry what Angelina will say about this. You promised her to be careful, remember?"

"Oh, that will be fun to explain to her." George laughed, but there was no humor behind it. He didn't even want to imagine Angelina's reaction. "At least others can now keep us apart..."

"George!" Molly was horrified at that example of dark humor.

George saw the horrified expression his mother was giving him. "Sorry, Mum."

Ginny and Luna meanwhile looked more annoyed than anything.

"Honestly, we are not feeling unwell at all No pain or anything." It seemed Luna was getting sick of others still worrying over the trace having been cut violently by the bond.

Ginny could only agree, though both girls vividly remembered the intense pain, it had caused no actual injury - only something highly unpleasant and they had recovered from that. "Dad, while it feels flattering how much everyone cares for us, Bill did tell you that what happened was due to the trace fighting back. We're in good health."

"You can't blame me for being concerned anyway. Seeing both of you in intense pain was terrible to watch," Arthur told his only daughter.

Molly meanwhile had put her attention on them. "Also, just because the trace is gone does not mean you are now free to do magic as you please. It takes only one set of unfriendly eyes to report you anyway."

Ginny rolled her eyes while Luna gave Molly an... interesting look.

Breakfast then continued as normal, until two guests arrived in the form of Sirius and Frank. Both men were each holding a small parcel.

"Both of us wish both of you a happy birthday and becoming adults, though we could have lived without Bill telling us in the morning what happened after I left," Sirius greeted them.

"It's not like we did that intentionally..." Ginny said under her breath. While she felt her freedom was worth it, she could have lived without the intense pain and then getting the runs.

Luna meanwhile looked around before asking "I would have thought that Mum and Dad would come, once hearing of this." She did sound a bit hurt.

"Oh, they wanted to do so very much. However, something came up that made them run late. Don't think that they don't care," Frank told Luna. "Before we turn our attention to the two birthday boys..."

"We are in good health, if that is what you want to ask. I won't lie however that the pain was intense. As for the trace, we haven't tested anything yet, since first a closer look is needed to make sure," Luna explained patiently.

Seeing that there would be no further discussion about that, both men turned their attention to Harry and Neville.

"Despite the circumstances, still congratulations on becoming adults." Sirius made no secret of the fact, that he wished the circumstances were better. "As per the custom, since you are now men, both of you do get a pocket watch. I know, looks a bit like an anachronism in these times, but it's the symbolic value that counts."

Harry and Neville both accepted their parcels, and indeed, they each found an elegant pocket watch. Despite pocket watches having gone out of fashion decades ago outside of the magical world - and Harry actually never having come into contact with one before - they both were careful when attaching the chain and storing the watches in the - up to now unused - watch pocket of their trousers.

"I remember when getting my watch. I was so proud and I try to have it on my person as often as possible," Percy admitted. "It indeed is less used to keep the time and more being a symbol."

"I got mine three months ago for my 17th birthday," Ron said, pulling it out of his pocket. "Not the fanciest watch imaginable, but it's the thought that's really important. That, and Dad tweaked a bit for me."

Hermione tried hard not to blush, since one of her hairs had been used in adding said extra to Ron's pocket watch over the summer. It was a function emulating the family clock, showing to Ron if she was in good health or not, or if she was in danger. Too bad girls in the magical world didn't get pocket watches, or she would have done the same with Ron.

"Uncle Sirius, I can see in your face that something else happend," Harry then said.

Sirius knew it would come out anyway. "Voldemort being a petty wanker is what happened. Our houses in Little Whinging and the preschool were set on fire. There is significant damage and it will take time to undo that."

"Tommy-boy that damn sore loser..." Harry's face darkened at the news of his home being damaged like that.

That moment, someone else arrived.

"Oh, Professor McGonagall. You are personally delivering the letters?" Neville asked, knowing that this was rather unusual. He also felt that was a good way to distract from the bad news they'd just received.

"It was deemed necessary not only for security reasons, but also as a measure of trust. A significant number of students have been withdrawn from the school, thus we need to work harder for those that remain. I have heard of the events of last night..." She first looked to the injured George, then to Ginny and Luna, before pulling out envelopes. "But first let's get business out of the way."

The letters were as expected, no big changes there. That was, until they heard a gasp from Hermione, and saw her hold a badge in her hand. "I... was made Headgirl?"

"You are well-suited for the position. You are a diligent student, humble, helpful towards others and determined to improve society. The faculty voted for you overwhelmingly," McGonagall reassured the girl that that the position was well-earned.

"I... This is such a great honor." Hermione however also felt somewhat guilty that the selection would be in vain due to the plans the six of them were making, which now were much more close to becoming real after Ginny and Luna were free of the trace.

The Six actually had talked about it before going to bed, despite how tired Ginny and Luna had been, and came to an agreement to give their decision together and hope that things wouldn't get too heated. After all, despite the trace being gone, Ginny and Luna technically were still minors. However, their decision stood, which was underscored by the fact that Hermione of all people was in full agreement. That was due to her knowing that for people like her the most was at stake.

It's almost like they did that on purpose to guilt me into staying, Hermione thought, her gaining the title now of all times feeling bittersweet.

"That reminds me... Mr. Potter, I visited your cousin earlier and he gave me this for you..." McGonagall then handed a letter to Harry.

Harry read it and his eyes widened. "Dudley actually was made Headboy?"

Sirius whistled when hearing that. "A Headboy from Slytherin? That hadn't happened in a long time for obvious reasons. Looks like the faculty really wants to show that Slytherin has changed."

"It most certainly didn't happen during our time at school, which shows how long that House had been in the choke hold of those that perverted its original meaning," Arthur said after some thinking.

Harry then read the letter further. "Well, he most certainly was surprised by his selection and also feels a bit weird since he essentially is the only remaining male seventh-year Slytherin. He's also wondering what made him the best choice, since he would have expected someone like me or Justin to become Headboy."

"You actually were in the running, but the case was made that due to your special situation it is better to not put those responsibilities onto your shoulders as well," McGonagall explained, then saw Harry looking bewildered. "Sometimes, Mr. Potter, you simply don't see how much you influence the lives of the people around you. I need to go now however, and wish you a good morning."

After he was gone, George couldn't help it - also to lift his mood from his injury. "Must be a record. Now our family not only has two Headboys, but also a Headgirl."

"But I'm not..." Hermione tried to protest.

"Oh, I think that is only a matter of time now," George said suggestively, causing Hermione to give some way too specific denials. That did help to relax the atmosphere a bit.

to be continued...

Next Episode:

"The Fires Grow Hotter"

---

Notes:

Here the notes.

First off, I AM BACK. This is the final year of this story, and at the publishing of this chapter, Seven of the twelve chapters that make up this final year have been written and I currently am busy with writing the eighth. Everyone who has been with this story can know it, unlike others out there, will be concluded.

While of course the Death Eater meeting plays upon the canon scene, I honestly hope I subverted what reader were expecting from it. It did however give me the opportunity to sprinkle in important information for readers. Also shows how life sucks for Draco and Pansy now more than ever.

It had to happen, the Order finally knows of Delphini. I really wanted to make the point that even Voldemort had a chance, but his circumstances quickly made him nasty. Right now they can't save her, but it will happen, have patience.

Now, the main part of the chapter is quite different from canon in so many ways, it's entirely new. I also bet that none of you even expected the Ford Anglia to actually make an appearence after it played only little role in the story so far. Too bad for George however, that sometime fate won't be denied.

I honestly needed the trace off Ginny and Luna, and realized early on that the bond seeing it is becoming dangerous is the best solution. Though I never said it would be pleasant for the girls.

This all should show how different this year will be from the source material. So expect the unexpected.