Chapter 37: Old Friends

Harry walked towards' Lily's room trying to decide exactly how he felt about waking her up to go talk to Snape. On the one hand, supposedly they were friends when they were kids. On the other hand…she'd seemed pretty ready to go beat the snot out of him when the man's name came up by chance yesterday. That and the fire in her eyes at the time had been what convinced him to let Snape in the house – he really wanted to watch her tear into his most hated professor. Maybe Daphne and Tracey were rubbing off on him…

Harry knocked softly and pushed her door open only to frown in confusion. It looked like the bed hadn't even been touched. "If she didn't sleep here then where did she sleep?"

"Master Harry, Sir?" Dobby said popping in behind him. "Your mother is being in James Potter's old room."

Harry blinked and turned to look at the elf. "Thanks, Dobby. You didn't have to get up. It's still super early."

Dobby rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "It's Dobby's job to get up to help Master. Dobby would've opened the door and told Greasy to leave but Master Harry didn't let Dobby make him wait long enough."

Harry suppressed a chuckle. "Great minds think alike, Dobby. I've got it from here, mate. You can go back to sleep."

Dobby huffed and turned to walk down the hall muttering. "Dobby just has coffee and Master says to go to sleep. Dobby get pictures of Greasy beating first then sleep."

Harry rubbed his eyes at his friend's antics and moved to the other wing to find his mother. He shouldn't have been surprised that she slept there. He just hoped that she hadn't had too many problems last night being here. If things were weird for him…he could barely even imagine how overwhelming everything was being for her. Coming up on the door, he set his shoulders and schooled his features before softly knocking again and entering. Once the door was open though he could only blink in surprise as he looked at the bed.

Lily and Shiva were both on top of the mattress covers fully clothed. Shiva was sprawled out on the far side while Lily was curled up with a small stuffed bear clutched to her chest and one leg hanging off the bed. "Damn. Guess that answers whether she had a good night," Harry sighed. It was great that Lily and Shiva were apparently getting along but that things had apparently been bad enough that both fell asleep before even pulling back the covers wasn't exactly comforting.

He walked closer and gently laid a hand on Lily's shoulder. "Lily," he said softly. "Lily, someone's here to see you."

Blearily Lily reached an arm up and swatted in front of her. "Five minutes," she mumbled.

"Lily, wake up. You need to at least be conscious enough to tell me whether to send him packing or not."

Shiva groaned and turned her head into the pillow. "Tell them to go 'way," she said not quite awake. "Sleeping here."

"It's, Snape," Harry said.

Lily went to bat his hand away again but her movement froze mid-gesture. Her eyes fluttered open and after a moment focused on Harry. "What? Harry? What were you saying?"

He shrugged and moved back a bit to give her room to sit up. "Snape just showed up demanding to see you. I left him in the entrance hall. Do you want me to tell him to take a hike or do you want to talk to him?"

Her eyes narrowed and she growled. "Severus is here? That miserable git…give me a second to wake up and – " she cut off as a glass of tea appeared on the table next to her. "You seriously have the best friends, son. That elf of yours is amazing." She took a quick gulp of the tea and shifted to kick her legs over the side and stretch. Shiva just clutched her pillow tighter. "Let's let Shiva sleep. We had a bit of a long night."

Harry grimaced. "Sorry."

"Not your fault, Harry, so don't apologize," Lily said softly smiling up at him. "Like I said, you have good friends. Shiva kicked me out of a self-induced guilt trip. We talked and cried a lot later than I had intended."

She stood and followed Harry out of the door. He glanced down and smiled at the bear still in her hand. "That's an adorable bear. Was it yours or my dad's beforehand? I would've thought he'd have a dog or a dragon or something."

Lily's smile grew and she held the stuffed animal out to him. "It was supposed to be for you actually…You really think it's cute?"

Harry nodded and took the offering grinning down at it. "Yeah, I do. Look, it has a tuft of hair right here that doesn't stay straight just like mine," he said pointing to a section just behind the right ear. He continued softly, "Thanks, Mum."

Lily caught Harry's murmured thanks and her smile grew so wide she felt like it would split her face. This may not have been the way she thought things would be with having a child, but it was certainly something she could work with. Her mood darkened slightly as they got closer to the entrance hall and she remembered why they were awake. "So…Severus is here?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'm a little curious if he realized yet that his coat was only half on or that he was missing most of one shoe…"

Lily's eyebrows rose at that. "Too bad you didn't get pictures…I certainly don't condone cruel pranks, but private viewing later on is a bit different. And after what I've been told of how he's treated you I certainly wouldn't blame you, Harry."

He snorted. "10 galleons says Dobby got some. Actually, Dobby? Could you take this back to my room please?" Harry asked holding up the bear. A short pop later, Dobby appeared with a camera around his neck and calmly took the bear.

"Dobby takes it back. Also, Master Harry is correct. Dobby has evidence of Greasy being in too large a hurry. If Greasy didn't want evidence he should have dressed prior to leaving his house." Dobby popped away with a grin of such superiority that Lily couldn't help but laugh.

She paused before stepping into the entrance hall to call up sufficient amounts of annoyance and frustration. Walking out and laying eyes on Snape her eyes narrowed, the edge of her mouth twitched and her nostrils flared. Her attempt at working up a head of steam was utterly pointless. All she could think about while looking at the man who used to be her friend were the things he'd done – everything from telling Voldemort about the prophecy to abusing students to mentally torturing her son. The voice that issued out of her lips was cold and laced with disgust. "Severus. You have a lot of nerve showing up here like this. Just what do you want?"

Snape rocked back on his one and a half shoes blinking like she'd just slapped him. Good. Her lips curled and she had to resist the impulse to stalk forward and actually slap him. What kind of role model would she be for Harry if she didn't at least try to maintain some restraint in front of him?

"Lily?" Snape asked looked utterly confused. He reached out halfway towards her before his hand fell though he took a step forward. "You really are alive…I thought…I held you…after…"

"After what, Severus? After your master slaughtered my family?" Lily snarled. "After Voldemort himself broke down my door looking to kill my son?"

Snape gulped. "I never meant for that to happen…Lily I asked – no I begged – him to leave you alone! To save you! I begged for him to not hurt you!"

Lily clenched her hands tight enough for her nails to dig into her skin while she heard a snort of derision from the wall near where she knew Harry was. "I heard all about that, Severus. The people interrogating Dumbledore have been sharing some rather interesting facts with us. I heard about how you were perfectly willing to let my husband and son be murdered like dogs as long as I was left alive. What did you think, old friend? That I would just leap into your arms after that? That I would hail you as my savior? That you'd become my entire world after I learned you let my family be killed? How did you think I'd react, Severus?!" she yelled. Her hand drifted down to her wand and she clutched it like a lifeline sparks shooting out and singing the floor.

Snape shook his head back and forth and took another few steps forward. "I'm sorry. That's…I wasn't thinking back then. I just panicked. I never should have…I went to Dumbledore! I told him everything! I begged him to help as well!"

Lily snorted and her stare drilled holes into him. "You went to him only because Voldemort couldn't be trusted to keep his promise. What would you have done if I wasn't the family being targeted, Severus?" she asked. Cocking her head to the side she drilled the point home. "You never bothered to ask about the Longbottoms. Alice and Frank were only ever nice to you. If I remember correctly both even kept talking with you long after I broke off contact with the 'Mudblood' incident. Did you even bother to stop and think about them? What if it had been some random Muggleborn family? Did anything matter to you besides me?"

"The only thing I've ever cared about was you, Lily," Snape said softly. He took another step though his head was down. He had covered almost half the distance between them now.

Lily's scowl deepened and she barked a harsh laugh. "You know, most Muggles would term that an obsession, Severus. Generally that's considered rather unhealthy. But you know this isn't even the worst of it. Tell me the truth, Severus, for old times' sake: did you honestly believe that Voldemort would come back before Harry ran into his shade his first year?"

"No," Snape's voice was barely audible but the excellent acoustics in the entrance hall carried the word to her ears with little difficulty.

"That's what I thought. So," she said tapping her wand against her leg, "you proceeded to torment, belittle, ignore, unjustly punish and hate children for over a decade! Why? It couldn't have been because you were maintaining a 'character' in case he came back. Why then?" It was a rhetorical question and Snape just shuffled his feet, cringing. "That's what I thought. You did it because you are a miserable, hateful human being who failed to protect the object of his obsession and you took out your self-hatred on preteens! What in god's name were you thinking?! Is that supposed to endear me to you? Am I just supposed to ignore that you've single handedly been responsible for a massive drop in jobs ranging from Healer to Auror to Apothecary? Britain used to be the second leading nation in Potions O.W.L.s, N.E.W.T.s and Masteries under Slughorn. In the time that you've taken over, we've dropped to 36!" She scowled. "I looked it up. I didn't want to believe you could be quite as petty and vindictive as I was told, but no, if anything they didn't embellish it enough."

Snape shook his head in denial and scowled over her shoulder. She knew he was looking at Harry and her opinion of him dropped even lower. Before she could continue berating him Snape spoke. "I can't help that the quality of students have gone down while you were gone. The dunderheads have no idea how to behave in a classroom and they have no concept of the art required to make a proper potion."

"Maybe if you bothered to actually teach," Harry muttered.

Lily snapped her fingers to draw Snape's attention back to her. "Severus," she said lowly in a danger laced tone. "Did you know that I've asked Harry to brew some potions over the past few days? He's rather good at it actually. Not excellent, but he's still above average. Apparently, he and Neville have learned more from tutoring themselves and with their classmates' assistance during study hours than they have in four years under your tutelage. Do not make the mistake of blaming a child for the adult's failure."

His eyes narrowed and she stalked forward breathing hard pointing at him with her wand which started sparking again. "Even if I disregarded everything else there remains one rather large fact." Her eyes narrowed to slits and her voice dropped several decibels. "You've been essentially mentally and emotionally abusing my son for four years."

He looked chagrined momentarily before rallying. "I saved the boy's life during his first Quidditch match. Did he bother to tell you that, Lily?" he scoffed.

She chuckled darkly. "One good deed does not make up for years worth of hatred, Severus. Points and detentions for no reason. Debasing his efforts in class. Knowingly allowing for sabotage of his work and punishing him for it. Humiliating him both in and out of class. Refusing to curb or punish your House members for acts against Harry or his House. Insulting his friends. Denigrating the name of people he is close to as well as his father. Should I go on?"

Snape looked at the floor and sighed in defeat. "You seem to have already made up your mind. You've gotten a very one-sided view of me and it's colored you. I admit I'm slightly biased against him, but he is just like – " Snape cut off abruptly as Lily's hand lashed out and slapped him so hard that his head snapped to the side and a handprint was left outlined in bright red on his face.

"Just like who? Like James, Severus?" she snarled lowering her hand. "The only thing of James in him that I've seen is his looks and his tendency to attract trouble. You bigoted arse! You see my son's face and that's it! His temper is like me. His focus and obsessions are like me. His love of magic is like me. He has friends in each House like me. You see his face and ignore everything else! How dare you try to preach to me that I've gotten the biased explanations! How you heard anything I've said?! Have you, Severus?!"

His mouth stayed shut though she saw a wet sheen cover his eyes as he brought a hand to his face. Her wand sparked again she had to fight to avoid cursing him. "Get out," she said so quietly that the sound barely carried even in this room.

"Lily, I…I'm sorry…I just…"

"Get. Out. Now!" Lily snarled. Her wand leaped up and spat a small gout of flame at him causing the man to jump back to avoid it. "Get out of my house!" She launched another spell at him that had his jacket twist and start tightening around him. "Get out!" Snape hurriedly nodded as her wand glowed again and he stumbled towards the door fighting to get the jacket off. She watched him cast a cutting curse at one sleeve before he stumbled outside and the door slammed shut behind him.

Breathing heavily Lily turned to see Harry only a few paced behind her with wide eyes. Her face reddened and she hurriedly holstered her wand. "Harry. I – um – I uh, forgot you were here for a minute. I uh, that was…um…"

"That," he said a smile spreading across his face, "was awesome."

Julian Woodman was having a thoroughly typical evening. Normally, drawing the late shift with watching prisoners wasn't such a bad deal. Drunks and shoplifters didn't really tend to make a fuss so it was relatively easy to sit back and just read or play a card game. Unfortunately, ever since that arse Barty Crouch Junior was tossed in his holding cells his nights had been exceedingly annoying. Waiting for the bastard's trial was taking so bloody long. Even a blind man could see that money had to be exchanging hands to have delayed for this long with such a clear cut case! Crouch certainly wasn't making things easy on them either; the man loved to chatter on and on and he always interrupted the good bits of whatever form of entertainment Julian brought.

Tonight was no different. The monotony and frustration of the evening was finally broken when one of the newbies walked into his hall looking lost beyond belief. "Hey, Rook!" Julian called out. "Yeah, you trainee. You're not supposed to be down here until you pass Basic."

"Where is here? I got turned around…is the cafeteria nearby? I was looking for a snack," the guy said looking around.

Julian shook his head. The kid couldn't be more than 17. They sure were recruiting young these days. "This is the detention hall, rook. You're in the completely opposite direction. Come on, I'll show you how to get there." He walked past and started to raise his hand to point out the correct section to go down when a warm blissful feeling invaded his mind. Julian felt like he should be remembering something, but the calm and happiness quickly washed it away.

"Wow that was easier than I thought!" the voice of his master said. "I knew those Muggle whores were easy but I figured it would take some actual effort for a wizard. You're pathetic! Get your keys and open the cell."

Julian turned to obey his master and quickly opened Crouch's bars. A quick twinge felt some satisfaction that finally the annoying bastard would be gone for good. "Nice job, kid," Crouch said nodding to his master. "Don't suppose you smuggled my wand out of the evidence room too by any chance?"

"Yes. Here."

Crouch caught the piece of wood and grinned wider. "Excellent. What's your name, kid?"

"Flint. Marcus Flint. My father's joined up too. He's with the others at Azkaban. The Dark Lord wanted to make sure that you were freed at the same time too," his master said beaming with pride.

"Well you've done pretty good. Azkaban eh? Well then this place is going to be damn near empty while they rush about…let's take care of a little side mission while we're here. Guaranteed to bump you up in favor if it works."

His master smiled and laughed. "Do we get to kill anyone? I've only got a Mudblood so far. Love to get a few Blood Traitors while we're here…I could even have some fun with this idiot and watch him kill his friends…"

Crouch shook his head. "Like the enthusiasm but nah. Not yet. You got to be smart and pick your battles. Stealth, Flint. Stealth. Department of Mysteries for us. Shame Rookwood's not here. He'd be able to hit the right door first bat. We're just going to have to try a few first off."

"What's in the Department of Mysteries?" his master asked as Julian let them out of the detention block and down the hall towards the round room. A small section of his mind started saying that this was a bad idea and that that room was totally off limits but again the bliss just washed that voice away.

"Tons of crazy shit. Time room is massively booby trapped though so unfortunately we can't go for the Time Turners. Rookwood never had clearance for that one. You'd have to have the luck of a Felix Felicis potion to get into that section without setting off any traps or blaring every alarm in the building. No, we're just going for the Prophecy room. They don't even bother to alarm that one because you'd have to be crazy to steal a prophecy."

His master narrowed his gaze at Crouch as the doors spun around them. "Oh, why?"

"Cause, Flint, unless you're the subject of the prophecy you can't pick it up off the shelf without going insane," Crouch said offhandedly as he walked to one of the doors and threw it open. "Oh wow, that was lucky! Death Room. Come on, the Hall of Prophecy is just a few doors down from here."

Julian followed behind his master as the young man glared at Crouch's back. "So just how are we supposed to steal this thing for the Dark Lord then?"

Crouch barked out a laugh. "I take back my praise of your intelligence. You're toting a Blood Traitor. Take a wild guess how we're getting it."

Julian's inner voice started gibbering before quieting down again and his master just cocked his head to the side. They had just stepped through into a room filled with glowing balls of mist as Flint's face widened into a grin again and he chuckled. "Ah. I get it. What if he can't get it off the shelf though?"

Crouch shrugged. "Then we go to Plan B and cut the section of the shelf and drop the prophecy into a bag. I have a Plan C if that doesn't work."

"What's Plan C? And how are we supposed to find this prophecy? There's got to be thousands in here!"

"Tens of thousands," Crouch said completely unconcerned. "They're arranged by date. The one we want is probably somewhere between rows 95 and 102. Depends on how many Seers got their 'Inner Eye' working right back in '80. You check 95, have the Blood Traitor check 96 and I'll go for 97. Look for the initials for Dumbledore. He's the one who heard it."

"How am I supposed to know Dumbledore's initials?" his master asked annoyed.

Crouch groaned and slapped a hand to his face. "How the hell did they let you come to get me out?" Julian could hear him mutter. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Seriously, Flint, pick up a book sometime. Or a chocolate frog card. Merlin, each generation gets stupider and stupider. The Dark Lord really needs to fix what causes this pattern after he takes over…"

Julian started looking at the little plaques on each glowing ball for the next several minutes before hearing a triumphant croon from Crouch and running over to meet up with him along with his master. Crouch pointed to a ball labeled:

'S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D

Dark Lord

and (?) Harry Potter'

"Pick it up," his master said grinning widely. For a moment Julian hovered there with his hands in the air halfway outstretched, his mind gibbering in fear. Flint aimed his wand at Julian scowling. "I said…Pick. It. Up!"

Julian's mind quieted its protests under another wave of bliss and he finished reaching for the ball. As soon as he grabbed it and tried to take it off of the little pedestal though the bliss washed out his mind. It was replaced by a screaming sound inside his head and Julian actually felt his mind shatter. He collapsed to the ground drooling and blinking while a scream and random images kept looping over and over inside him. Bits and pieces of Julian were aware that something was horribly, horribly wrong but he could barely even remember that the sounds the people in front of him were making were words let alone how to stand up and do something to quiet the screams.

"Damn. Well that sucks," the older man said. "Alright, try cutting the section around it, Flint."

"Why do I have to do it?" the other man said holding a hand to his head and glaring. "That bloody hurt!"

"You'll do it because I told you to," Crouch growled.

The other one scowled and held out his wand. Julian watched a pretty pink light come out of the end of a stick in his hands though the light fizzled out as it touched the wood by the scary balls. "Damn. Oh well, Plan C it is. Flint, I've have to silence you."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

The older man just smiled. "Well I could kill you instead. You did free me though so I figure I owe you one. You're not remotely high enough yet to hear this." Julian watched the trainee scowl and stalk back down the aisle with a silencing spell shooting after him and another flaring to life around Crouch. A moment later, Crouch lifted his stick and shot a spell at the scary glowing ball. The man leaned in and listened to the tiny figure that had lived inside the ball and after a minute or so smiled and stood up straight with the figure apparating away into the air.

"Got it! Come on, Flint. Let's get out of here before they cotton on."

The trainee came back down the aisle and jerked his head towards Julian. "What about the Blood Traitor?"

The older man shrugged. "Leave him. They'll find the prophecy destroyed soon enough. My jailer here can be a bit of a lesson with what happens to those who defy the Dark Lord. It's always so much more fun when they're broken instead of dead after all!"

Julian heard the two laughing as they walked away leaving him curled up on the floor in a growing puddle of his own spit and urine. Some tiny part of Julian screamed out obscenities at the men. The rest of him went back to staring at the pretty glowing lights around him.

Voldemort stared down at the little fortress of obsidian and steel with a scowl. He had intended for only his followers to attack the prison yet it was looking like he would personally have to take the field. It was…problematic. While the Ministry as a whole was still denying his return he'd have an advantage. It was not an overly large advantage considering how many departments, groups and individuals saw through Fudge's excuses, but it was an advantage.

Now, with the utter failure he was watching from on high, he'd have to reveal himself far sooner than he'd hoped. To publically announce himself in such a pathetic little backwater like Azkaban though…Voldemort scowled, this was Lucius' fault for not being able to control his pathetic bitch of a wife. Not only letting Narcissa leave, but letting her leave with information was unacceptable. He'd have to come up with a suitable punishment for the silver tongued fool if the man survived this night.

Sighing Voldemort took stock of the situation. The Dementors were beginning to scatter. All had turned on the Ministry as soon as he'd arrived. They remembered the bounty of harvests he'd given them during the last war and they required little persuasion – merely opportunity. Unfortunately, it seemed that the rumors Potter had managed to create something that could kill the beasts were true. Even worse, the boy had managed to sell his idea to the Aurors who had obviously had a rare moment of sanity and outfitted their small group on the island with the creations. There were only two Aurors present on Azkaban initially. Voldemort had intended to have the Dementors suck the life from those without any real threat to his followers.

It hadn't worked.

By the time he'd realized that the Aurors were able to kill Dementors, four of the creatures had died and the rest had fallen back. The guards had been able to call for reinforcements and his easy operation had suddenly become a pitched battle.

It still wasn't much of a battle. The Aurors only had about ten personnel here so far and after he'd destroyed the Floo connection any remaining reinforcements were forced to travel to the island via their tiny boat. Such a shame.

Voldemort's followers were not nearly so limited. With their portkey link, he'd be able to recall them all through the outer wards at the same time. It was not so dissimilar to how Potter had managed to escape him. It was simply one of the hazards of facing off against a genius. Voldemort allowed himself a minor note of satisfaction before returning to his scowl.

The reinforcements for the Aurors were annoying. They'd arrived with more of the damnable creations to keep the Dementors at bay. A quick push by his followers had killed three of the defenders though enough remained that the Dementors had decided discretion was the better part of valor and took to the skies. Voldemort was frustrated, but he couldn't call the creatures back. The Ministry was at least slightly prepared for this. It would be better to save the survivors and use them in the future. Scare tactics or Muggle raids would certainly be a better use for them. Not everyone could have one of those infuriating rune clusters after all.

The end result was going to be the same and the longer he delayed the more annoying it would be to rebuild afterwards. He touched the ring on his finger for a brief moment of comfort and safety. Retrieving his Horcrux had been a necessary precaution. With Potter powerful, Bones taking security measures and allies of the Light gathering…he hadn't felt safe without at least one anchor close by. That Nagini was almost always nearby was a large comfort – but the familiar was alive after all. Killing her would be difficult, but not impossible for any attacking group. She would definitely be a target as she'd likely be killing multiple personnel herself.

His ring though…well that was perfectly safe. Enough people believed – or at least were interested in – the legend of the Deathly Hallows that someone would take note of the ring if by some impossible circumstance he was slain. It would survive long enough for him to regain a body again and take it back. Perhaps the fools would think he simply wished to acquire the Hallows even! Ha! Ludicrous legends from yesteryear held no interest for him – the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw aside – the Hallows did not exist. Even if they had the Stone and the Cloak would be useless. The Wand would be…intoxicating, but it was not necessary. True, Potter had managed to do something unusual in the graveyards several weeks back, but Voldemort had no doubt his wand would still destroy the boy. There was no need to waste time on tracking such a notoriously easily lost wand down through the ages. The Deathstick never stayed with a master long.

His mouth lifted into a brief smile until another explosion below drew his attention. Voldemort scowled and narrowed his eyes. The Auror reinforcements were only a few minutes out by boat. It was time to end this and remove his followers from the field.

Streaking down to the ground, Voldemort landed amidst a torrent of spellfire. He brought up a brief shield to batter the initial wave back and then strode forward. His wand flowed and his magic roared. His every movement was death incarnate and his every spell struck his targets. Within less than thirty seconds, 6 of the remaining defenders had fallen. The final two ran. Voldemort picked off one of the runners though the second managed to peel around a corner to safety before he could hit the large black man. Voldemort scowled though he hid it before any of his followers could see. Let them think he'd allowed the Auror to escape to carry the story of horror he'd seen.

"My Lord," one of the sycophants said scurrying forward. "Thank you, My Lord."

"You fools have forced my hand. Do not expect me to save you next time," Voldemort said softly turning a stony gaze on the man who dared speak to him. The Death Eater quailed and hurried bowed back. Voldemort turned back to the prison. "Where are my loyal subjects?"

The man lifted a hand and pointed down one of the partially destroyed halls. "This way, My Lord. Just around the bend. We were almost upon them when we were waylaid by the squad."

Voldemort didn't waste any time on thanks or reassurances. Instead he simply stalked forwards into the corridor. He had barely turned the bend when his face lifted into a smile. "Ah…finally…" Voldemort said gleefully. "My most loyal…Bella, Rookwood, Travers…"

Bellatrix Lestrange lifted her head from the bars of her cells with a radiant expression. "I knew you were alive, Master. I knew I would be able to serve at your feet again one day. I have waited so long for this day!"

With nary a glance, Voldemort waved his wand and the doors to the cells popped open with a resounding clang. "Any who wish to serve the Dark Lord Voldemort…to me!"

A flood of bodies flew from the cells. Many were his former Death Eater servants but there were some simple criminals and murderers who had not been with him before but were willing to do anything to escape. Voldemort would sort out their status later and see if it was worth keeping them or simply turning them loose in a Muggle neighborhood. Smiling, he handed a portkey out to his new group of followers and turned.

The Aurors had arrived. At the head of the group was Sirius Black and Amelia Bones, both looked absolutely livid. Voldemort simply smiled at them and raised his wand. He let off one final overpowered blasting hex before activating his master portkey. He and his followers vanished into the ether leaving behind death and destruction.

The world would shake at his return. The foundations of Magical Britain would crumble then…the world.

He would remake this horrible little planet into his own image. One way or another, the world was going to change.

"They hit Azkaban last night," Shiva said sitting down at the breakfast table. Harry froze for a brief moment before flipping the eggs and scowling. He turned off the heat and shifted the bacon onto the serving plate and finally turned to the main table. As he set the food down he took quick stock. Shiva looked like she had aged a decade overnight while Lily looked tired but otherwise unsurprised. Hermione was pale as a sheet while Tonks had reached the other extreme with flame-red hair and a thunderous expression. Fleur's eyes were narrowed and a light smattering of down was appearing and disappearing on her arms.

"We knew it was going to happen soon," Harry said sitting down and offering a slice of bacon to his owl. Hedwig nipped his fingers in approval and took her treat without further comment simply choosing to sit on his shoulder. Crookshanks leaned his head up from the seat near Hermione and started to lap at his own breakfast. Harry still found it mildly amusing that Hermione had begged for a seat specifically for her cat. That mangy orange moggy had his partner wrapped around his little finger.

Shiva sighed. "That we knew it was coming doesn't make it much better."

"How bad was it?" Hermione asked.

"According to Amelia Crabbe Senior is dead as well as a few other Death Eaters. It doesn't look like many more were from his inner circle unfortunately. And they got the maximum security prisoners." Shiva paused while everyone frowned. "To make matters worse we lost 8 people ourselves. Tonks, your old partner, Shacklebolt, he made it out relatively unscathed. Hestia Jones should be okay in a day or two. She got hit with a nasty curse, but the Healers got to her fast enough so she'll pull through."

Tonk visibly relaxed at that and it was a testament to how tense she was that she didn't even try to make a joke. Fleur reached over a hand and squeezed the older woman's own. Tonks flashed a quick smile in return though it lacked her typical joviality.

Lily turned to Shiva and frowned. "That's not all is there? What else happened?"

Shiva scowled pushed the food around on her plate. "Crouch."

Fleur's lips curled and a tearing sound rang out as her clothes ripped where her wings sprung out. A brief look of embarrassment and chagrin passed Fleur's features and hurried she scrunched up her face. Wings vanishing, Fleur mumbled, "Sorry. I zought he was dead already…"

"No," Tonks snarled. "Fudge apparently wanted him to confess that Pettigrew was behind everything so he held the trial up. My cousin was convinced it was the most convenient excuse whoever was lining his pockets provided for the idiot. He actually seemed to believe it too."

Lily raised a calming hand and turned to Shiva. "What happened?"

"One of the new trainees apparently bribed whoever did the background checks. Marcus Flint made it into the group." Shiva's words had Lily, Tonks and Fleur just looking mildly confused. Harry and Hermione however darkened considerably. They both reached for their wands before consciously taking a mental step back and letting their hands drop to the tabletop. Shiva scowled. "Yeah, that was my reaction to when Amelia told me. She was livid and when Susan heard it the girl apparently was ready to march into the Ministry and curse whatever idiot had taken that bribe to a bloody pulp."

"Who is zis Flint?" Fleur asked looking between the three.

"Wait…I remember that name…" Lily said frowning in concentration. "Flint…that was third year? Something about that freezing water rune…Luna!" she shouted in triumph. Looking to Harry and getting a brief nod she continued. "Fleur, Tonks, Flint was the reason that the group was able to get Luna out of Ravenclaw. He…he chased her right?"

"Tried to molest her, but yeah," Harry said grinding his teeth. "I thought we'd taken care of that bastard."

Hermione's stormy look wasn't any more calm. "Generally being expelled tends to make one's prospects diminish. Apparently we didn't go far enough. We won't make that mistake again…" This time it was Fleur who laid a calming hand on Hermione. Though she did take a deep breath, the brunette didn't end up truly relaxing. "So he released Crouch?"

"Worse, he released Crouch, they basically permanently incapacitated the guard and probably heard the prophecy surrounding Harry."

Lily blinked. Shortly after she growled. "What? What kind of incompetence let that happen?"

"Welcome to my world, where anything that can go wrong does," Harry muttered darkly.

Shiva snorted in an annoyed agreement. "Apparently between the mass reinforcements being sent to Azkaban and the late hour there were few guards near the Department of Mysteries. Amelia said that the only evidence of destruction was the single orb that contained the prophecy meaning that Crouch probably heard it as he destroyed it."

Hermione groaned. "Seriously? A prophecy that plays upon destruction of the recording device? What kind of safety measure is that?"

"A typical Wizarding one," Tonks said with a sigh her hair flipping to a dark blue. "The things we think are common sense are woefully lacking in any actual 'sense' generally."

"No one else was hurt?" Harry asked.

Shiva shook her head. "No. Just the one guard at the Ministry and the 8 at Azkaban thankfully. Unfortunately in addition to Crouch and the prophecy he also managed to free most of his followers strung up there."

"My aunt," Tonks snarled quietly.

"Travers," Lily said her expression darkening just as much as Tonks'. Harry briefly wondered just what the man had done to her but decided it was a question better left for another day.

"Yeah," Shiva said. "A few others also. The really important one was probably Rookwood after those two. Rookwood used to be an Unspeakable. I suppose we should be thankful he wasn't there to help when Crouch raided the DoM, but he probably knows all sorts of obscure juicy bits of odd magic for Voldemort to use."

Harry gave a heavy sigh and stabbed his food. "Well that's just great."

Shiva let out a dark chuckle. "On the bright side, Bill should be coming over soon with the rune cluster you asked about, Harry."

He looked up at his guardian with suddenly wide eyes. "Seriously? Thank god. My head has been killing me. The sooner I can get this damn thing out the better." Everyone turned narrowed eyes on Harry. He blinked, realized he'd probably just said a bit too much and dug into his eggs. "How's everyone like their breakfast?"

"Oh no you don't," Lily said keeping her intense gaze on him. "I finally got this whole story with the…soul shard. Harry, don't try to keep this from us."

He shrugged and refused to look up. "It's fine. It's like I said earlier, it hurts and it's annoying and I'm irritable but I have the stupid thing locked up tight. It can't get out. It's just frustrating because I have to keep at least partly focused on it every now and then to shore the walls back up."

Hermione sighed and got up to move over to him. She gently took his face in her hands and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "You noble idiot. Harry, swear that you will tell us if this becomes a true problem. Before it actually gets that bad."

"I promise, Mione," Harry said rolling his eyes. "I've learned my lesson. I'm not hiding things from you guys. I just don't want you to worry. It's not like we can do anything about it anyway." The group collectively sighed, but nodded and leaned back in their chairs while Hermione sat back down. "So, when is Bill coming over?"

A chime sounded throughout the house in answer to Harry's question and Lily cast an amused look towards the door into the kitchen. "Apparently now. Dobby, would you please go tell Bill that we're in here?"

"Dobby retrieves Mr. Cursey!" a perky voice shouted back quickly move down the hall outside the kitchen.

Tonks started laughing. "Mr. Cursey? Oh god I can't wait to tease Bill with that one. He's never going to live it down!"

Harry chuckled and pointed at Tonks. "Hey don't forget he likes to call you Tonksie and Mistress Colorful."

Tonks blushed and immediately shut up while the rest laughed. Bill walked into the room shaking his head in amusement a minute later. "Morning all. That is certainly an…interesting elf you have, Harry. Love the basilisk skeleton by the way. Goblin animated I assume? They do love their creepy guardians."

Harry smiled and nodded. "Morning, Bill. And yes to all accounts. I know you know Shiva and Tonks but have you met the others?"

Bill shook his head. "Not personally, but I know of you guys. Miss Delacour, a pleasure. I was very impressed with how you made it through most of those Tasks last year. Hermione, from what the twins say, if you ever want a job just let me know. You'd be brilliant with the Curse Breakers! Mrs. Potter, hello. I'm sorry for your loss, but I have to say, it's a bit of an honor and if you ever get the chance to explain the actual reason why you're alive and Harry survived I'd love to hear it. I'm willing to swear any sort of oath you'd want."

Lily blinked and turned an amused eye to Harry. "It seems you're not the only one with fanboys, Harry."

Bill blushed and shrugged as he sat down. "Hazard of the job," he murmured. "Harry, you asked about the Egyptian Soul Render? Don't know why it's called that considering the thing is supposed to absorb not rend but what do I know. I just 'break the curses I don't name them'. Bloody pompous git."

Harry chuckled in amusement as Bill passed the paper over. "Thanks."

"No problem," the redhead said. "It really is useless though. I have no idea how they planned to get that thing working. You can't absorb souls. Whatever the Dementors and the AK do, it doesn't absorb the soul."

"I'll figure something out," Harry said waving away Bill's remark, his attention already completely focused on the scheme in front of him. "I wonder if I can shift this one out of the alignment and add a focusing segment…no maybe if I…"

"Annnnnddd, we've lost him," Tonks said smiling. "So, Bill, what else is new with you?"

Amelia sat behind her desk trying to organize her notes. Ostensibly trying to organize her notes at least. She was mostly just attempting to do something, anything really, to keep her mind off of what she was about to ask her friends to do. Sometimes being the boss wasn't all it was cut out to be.

A knock sounded on her door and several people walked into her office. Amelia nodded hello and cast several privacy and locking spells to ensure that their conversation remained secret. Finally, satisfied that her room was secure Amelia leaned back and sighed. "Hello everyone. Thank you for coming. I feel like this conversation might end up being one of the key discussions for this coming war. First off, let's ensure that everyone is on the same page. Remus, Tonks, Fleur, Sirius, I know you were all present during Dumbledore's…breakdown several weeks ago. Shacklebolt, you're here because I trust you and you are one of the best Aurors I've seen in over a decade. There are few people I trust with this and if I don't start working on it soon not only would the war effort be pointless but…well going from prior experience I imagine Harry Potter would start going off on his own trying to take care of it."

Shacklebolt's eyebrows rose in question while Tonks and Fleur started chuckling. "Yeah, that is definitely something Harry would do if he felt you guys weren't doing enough," Tonks said. "So I'm betting this is about phylacty thing?"

Fleur rolled her eyes and patted Tonks' knee. "Phylacteries, dear."

"Right. Phylacteries."

Amelia nodded. "Yes, that's right, Tonks. We are going to be discussing Voldemort's Horcruxes."

Shacklebolt sat up straighter and stared at her. "A Horcrux! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Merlin be damned! No wonder the man is still alive!"

Sirius turned to Shack in surprise. "Wow. I know about them because of my family. The others know about them because Dumbledore's an arse. How do you know about them?"

The large man simply looked at Sirius incredulously. "I have been an Auror for years and I actually take my job seriously unlike some."

"I take…" Sirius started saying before Amelia glared at him and he switched midstream, "some things seriously."

Amelia groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Siri, stop. Shack, don't antagonize him – you'll lose. All of you, let's focus. Shack, we know the Dark Lord has multiple Horcruxes, we simply don't know how many for certain. The Fulcanellis have sent word that Dumbledore suspected six in total. However he has never been able to find conclusive proof for that theory and it is quite possible that Voldemort chose to stop with other powerful magical numbers such as 3 or 5."

"Wait, six is not a magically powerful number. I studied arizmancy, Madame," Fleur said.

"Sorry, that wasn't what I meant. I meant that he would have six Horcruxes and one piece remaining inside his own body. The others would then be two and four Horcruxes respectively."

Remus sat back nodding. "Yes, I suppose that would make sense. We already know that one is destroyed with the diary gone. We are still assuming that the…other we know of was accidental in placement if not intention yes?"

"That's correct," Amelia said. "I've consulted with the Unspeakables and they concurred that seven total soul pieces would be the likely number. A soul would only be unstable enough to unintentionally split off with a ritual performed repeatedly like that." She paused and looked vaguely ill. "Croaker still said that such an event would have been highly unlikely to begin with and that his first thought would have been a minimum of 11 pieces. I…would like to think that even Voldemort is not quite insane enough to try for that."

"And if he is? Hate to play Devil's Advocate here, but you know once we reckon we've taken all of them out if we're wrong we tip our hand pretty hard," Tonks said, all of the playfulness gone from her voice.

Amelia frowned and shook her head. "Croaker went on to say that if someone tried for eleven separate soul pieces they'd be so amazingly insane that they likely wouldn't be able to breathe let alone string together a sentence; and they would probably start sprinkling soul shards around every time they bumped into a wall. So let's assume that he stuck with six intentional and one unintentional shall we?"

Fleur shuddered. "Yes, zat mental picture is not preferable at all. Six is enough."

"Okay then," Amelia nodded and grabbed one of her notes. "Here is what the Fulcanellis sent along. Dumbledore believes that Voldemort has a particular interest in relics from the Hogwarts' Founders. It is very likely that he made a Horcrux out of Hufflepuff's Cup, Slytherin's Locket and something from Rowena Ravenclaw. Another of the remaining Horcruxes is probably a family heirloom from Voldemort's mother's family, the Gaunts – a ring was Dumbledore's guess. This one in particular should be our target as we have a potential location for it."

Sirius leaned forward. "You should have told me that last night, Amy. Where did he hide it?"

Amelia sighed again. "Buried somewhere underneath the Gaunt household."

Tonks eyes narrowed. "Well that's just stupid. That's the first place anyone would look. Unless…if it's not a dummy then it's probably the most heavily guarded piece and is a trap. If it really is there we have to assume it's bait. Voldemort might have left it there just to kill whoever goes for it and also to hopefully convince someone who stumbled across it that it was his only one."

"That is quite possible," Shacklebolt said nodding. "It would be the only logical reason to hide something in such plain view."

Fleur snorted. "If zere is one zing zat being around Harry has taught me it is zat most wizards do not use logic."

Amelia laughed as well. "I have to agree. In this case though, I agree with the others. It's real and it's bait."

Shacklebolt leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers. "What about the last one?"

"That would be the one that Voldemort was intending to create the night he tried to kill Harry Potter. Since he never finished that before dying the first time, we believe that he rushed to complete it upon his re-embodiment. It is possible he chose his familiar as his final Horcrux. The snake would have been close and it is reasonably able to defend itself," Amelia said.

Remus shrugged. "It makes as much sense as anything else. It's not like he'd have made a Horcrux out of Wormtail's new hand. While it's well below suspicion, Wormtail is not nearly trustworthy enough to risk something like that."

"So what exactly are you asking us, Amy?" Sirius asked.

"Well," Amelia said. "It's really quite simple, I want you all to find and destroy these Horcruxes. Actually, everyone except you, Siri. I need you to work on searching your library in order to find anything that might be useful. The Black's may just have a method to detect these things from long range. Once one is found you can participate on the actual raid but for the meantime I need you on research."

Tonks raised her hand. "About that, Ma'am. Harry has said that if we can get him an intact Horcrux he might be able to reverse engineer a tracking system to home in on the others. He…can't do anything with the one we know about since its 'signal' for lack of a better word is tied up with another."

Amelia nodded. "Very well."

Sirius looked frustrated but understanding. "I'll do what I can. Amy, should I tell Minerva that I can't take that position?"

"No, Siri, keep the job," Amelia said shaking her head. "It's a good cover and when we have legitimate leads I can send a substitute for you so that you can participate on the raids."

Sirius nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Fleur spoke up next. "Should we involve any ozers in zis?"

Amelia shook her head. "You may tell Harry and his mothers about this as it directly impacts them. While I'd like to ask you to keep it from Hermione Granger I'm going to be realistic so I know she'll be involved. Please try to minimize any further interested parties though. Obviously the more people who know about this the more danger that our activities get back to Voldemort and everything is for naught. At the very least anyone else involved absolutely must have well developed Occlumency skills."

All heads nodded. Amelia leaned back and smiled at them. "Okay, everyone let's be careful and deliberate on this. Voldemort may think he outsmarted us, but the problem we have here is simply in need of some good old fashioned detective work. This is one Dark Lord who is going down."