hpml321-330

Chapter 321

"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."

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Chapter 322

"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."

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Chapter 323

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.

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Chapter 324

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."

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Chapter 325

Lily poured the mix into the bowl and started opening cabinets with a slight frown on her

face. "I could've sworn we had a beater in here somewhere…"

Shiva raised an eyebrow as she tapped Lily's wand on the table. "Uh, hon, we are witches

you know. We can just flick our wands and mix the batter without going full Muggle here."

"Cakes always taste better when made without magic," Lily said distractedly. "You agreed

that we could do this my way this year and my way is the Muggle way. The Muggle way

needs a beater…Aha! Found it!" She pulled back from the cabinet triumphantly raising her

hand high with a mixer clutched in it. "I knew I saw this the other day! Now we can finish

it."

Shiva just rolled her eyes good-naturedly and moved to the second bowl. "Well while you

finish the batter I'll get the icing done. How long does this thing cook for again?"

"Well the box always says 30 minutes, but I find if you 'turn up' the heat a bit you can get it

done in 20."

"Turn up the heat? I thought you said no magic," Shiva said laughing.

Lily shrugged. "No magic in the cake. Magic to speed up the baking a bit…well, I can be a

bit impatient at times."

Shiva laughed harder. "Hypocrite." She teased lightly, shaking her head as she finished up

with the icing. "I'm surprised the girls didn't want to help out honestly."

"I'm not. I asked Hermione yesterday and she was saying that they got to monopolize

Harry in the evening so we should get to monopolize at least part of his day," Lily said.

"What I'm amazed at is that we managed to get Dobby to let us help out."

"I bribed him," Shiva stated. "Promised the little guy he could make the next two weeks

worth of meals – well lunch and dinner. Nobody steals breakfast prep from Harry if he's

up."

"Why is that? I haven't gotten around to asking him yet," Lily asked as she slotted the cake

into the oven and leaned back against the counter.

Shiva grimaced and hopped up on corner next to Lily. "It's partly because he enjoys it,

partly because he feels it's one of the first things he was ever good at, but…largely it's

because of habit."

Lily frowned. "My sister?" she guessed.

"Yeah. Sorry. Harry had to make them breakfast since he like five or something. Young

enough that he needed a stool to reach the stovetop." Shiva's lips curled into a scowl and

her fists clenched. "Don't ask him about it, okay? I only found out because I made him tell

me about one of the scars on his arm. Apparently he spilled boiling water when the pot

was too heavy to carry because of his age. Vernon hit him afterwards for 'getting the floor

wet'." Shiva shuddered and continued in a quiet voice, "God I hate those people."

Lily's mouth had narrowed into a line. "Don't worry, we'll make them pay. My darling sister

and her family aren't going to get off scot-free for treating my son like that. Dumbledore

too for leaving Harry with them." Lily heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Enough of that.

How are you doing, Shiva?"

Shiva's eyebrows rose. She chuckled and leaned over slightly to bump Lily's shoulder. "How

am I doing? I'm not the one who came back from the dead here. How are you doing?

Seriously, Lily, you've barely even mentioned your husband for weeks now. Are you doing

alright?"

Lily grimaced, but nodded. "I'm okay. Really, Shiva, I'm okay. With James, I…I just…" she

picked up her wand a cast a privacy charm around the room. "Look, don't tell Harry what

I'm about to say please. I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"I promise," Shiva said cocking her head at the other woman.

"Thanks." Lily shook her head and crossed her arms. "James and I probably shouldn't have

gotten married." Shiva's eyes widened at that, but she remained silent. "I did love him. I

really did. The man was just a bit too…immature and impulsive. I can be fiery and

impulsive myself and I…well I always thought I'd wind up with someone a bit more

methodical than me. Someone who could balance things out. James never did that. I was

always the grownup in the relationship. He mellowed out a lot during his last two years

when he actively pursued me and we started dating, but…he was a prankster at heart and

that never fully went away." She laughed and gave a little smirk to the air. "He was a lot

like Sirius is now actually."

Shiva nodded knowing. "Fun loving but can go a bit too far with the jokes sometimes?"

"Basically yeah. We were good together and I firmly believe we could have been great if

we had had more time and he had grown up a bit. As it stood though…" Lily shrugged and

sighed heavily. "Without the war going on I probably would've ended up dating him for a

lot longer rather than jump straight into marriage and motherhood. Harry was an accident,

a happy accident to be sure! But well…we had just survived a large battle and we well

forgot our wands in the other room when we fell into the bedroom. I'm not sure if I'm

explaining this well. I just…"

Shiva leaned over and pulled Lily into a one-armed, short hug. "I get it, Lils. You loved him,

but you're not sure if he would've been 'the one'."

"Yes, that," Lily said smiling up at Shiva. "James was a good man. I really did love him – I'm

just not sure if he would've been my man had things gone differently. Especially with how

things were going towards the end," she finished with a scowl.

"You've mentioned a few times that things got frustrating."

"It just felt like we were fighting almost constantly. Between the stress of hiding, being

confined to the house, not knowing who was betraying us, my research, everything all

piled on top of a toddler…It strained things so much." Lily paused and let out an annoyed

sigh. "Anyway, my point is that I'm okay. I miss James and I probably always will, but I'm

not going to let his death destroy me. I will not become like Alastor."

Shiva reared back goggling. "Mad-Eye was married?"

"You didn't know? The poor man's wife was murdered at some point by one of his targets.

I don't know the whole story, but I can tell you for certain that it shattered him. Mad-Eye

was never the same afterwards; it was when he became the paranoid old arse that he is

today." Lily shook her head. "I will not become like him. I'm adapting and I'm moving on. I

have others to think about, others that I have to worry about."

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Chapter 326

Shiva lightly punched her shoulder. "Good. If you feel any paranoid urges let me know and

I'll knock it out of you." She paused and rubbed her chin in thought. "Actually…maybe I'm

not the best woman to promise that. I don't have a great track record of deterring paranoia.

Harry's a prime example of my failing in that respect."

Both women started laughing and were still going as Harry walked into the kitchen

yawning and rubbing his forehead. "Something smells good. What are you guys laughing

about? And why is there a privacy screen up?"

"Well, kid," Shiva said hopping down from the counter and giving him a hug, "we were

laughing about your growing paranoia and my horrible failure of curing you of that

problem."

"Oh, thanks for that, mum," Harry said rolling his eyes as he squirmed away from her. "I

appreciate the vote of confidence there. All my stuff turned out to have great uses."

Shiva had been reduced to a blinking, gaping mess while Harry obliviously hugged Lily. Lily

raised an eyebrow at Shiva and steered Harry towards the fridge to keep him distracted

until she had a chance to pull herself back together. "We were just talking about women

issues, Harry. No need for your delicate male ears to hear about it."

Harry grimaced and pulled out a carton of milk. "Yeah, agreed. Thanks. Tonks is bad

enough with talking about that stuff. Anyone seen her by the way? She was gone when I

woke up in the middle of the night. Fleur too actually now that I think about it…"

Shiva sat down with him at the table with a wide smile. "I wouldn't worry, kid. They're big

girls; they can take care of themselves wherever they went."

"Why were you up in the middle of the night?" Lily asked sitting down as well.

Harry shrugged. "Nightmares, headache, nothing major. That's why I'm up so late in the

morning now though." He gave them a rueful grin. "Guess for once I get to sleep in on my

birthday though huh?"

The two women chuckled at that for a few moments. Eventually Shiva saluted the rest of

the little family and stood up. "Well folks, now that the cake is in the oven, I'm going to

take a short shower. Harry, if I'm not back before it's done, kindly vacate the kitchen to

keep the decorations a secret, yeah?"

Harry waved off her comments and opened the paper. His attention diverted, the boy

missed seeing Lily's eyes lingering appreciatively on Shiva's bottom as she sashayed from

the room.

Voldemort reclined on his throne idly stroking Nagini with one hand and rolling his wand in

the other. The frustrating Azkaban assault still grated yet it was not at the primary point of

his ponderings. Only one Inner Circle member had fallen during that and Crabbe was…no

great loss. The man had been a fantastic brute and an excellent attack sponge, but he'd

had no intelligence to comment on. Like father, like son in that respect as the spawn was

just as dimwitted. The loss of the six additional new recruits at this early stage had been

costly, but with so many of his original followers saved it had been a decent exchange.

No, what Voldemort was deep in thought about concerned the prophecy. That Barty

Crouch had managed to return with the addition of the prophecy in 'hand' was beyond

gratifying. Voldemort had rewarded the man greatly for that bit of forward thinking. Flint

had received a slight compensation. Voldemort was wary of gifted the lad too much as the

boy was unstable and foolishly impulsive. Even Crabbe and Goyle had been able to curtail

their urges when appropriate though Flint did not seem to contain that capacity. He didn't

need another Macnair getting a large head.

Ah well, the prophecy was what was important at the moment. " 'Power the Dark Lord

knows not,' " Voldemort murmured. "Perhaps I should have studied the runic arts more

deeply. Yet, it does only state, 'the power to vanquish' not 'the one who will vanquish'."

Voldemort grinned. "Harry Potter is indeed strong as well as resourceful; yet to think that a

mere boy of 15 could defeat me in a proper battle…ludicrous! I have half a century of

experience and power at my fingertips. He has a simple 4 years. Dumbledore was such a

fool to pin his hopes to the child."

Voldemort leaned back and nodded. Yes, Potter's runes would be dangerous, but they

were not a trump card. Not against someone with such esoteric and ancient knowledge as

Voldemort himself. Instead he turned his mind to the more confusing line of the prophecy.

" 'Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.'

Nagini, this is intriguing. I wonder if perhaps we are both immortal until slain by the other?

It could certainly help to explain just how Potter has managed to survive so many

situations that should have killed him." He paused to consider and laughed. "How ironic

that would be! To have pursued my own version of immortality with all the risks it had

entailed only to have already been immortal through Fate's design! Well, I shouldn't worry

about such a thing. I never was one to trust my destination to chance."

Nagini hissed her amusement and Voldemort frowned as he thought of a remote option.

"Still…it is not wise to simply dismiss such a potentiality. Perhaps…perhaps I should

approach Potter with an offer. If he leaves me Britain to do with as I please I will leave him

– and his chosen companions – alone. Both of us could be assured an immortal life until

the end…He would likely refuse, but if he took it…My pet we could have centuries of time

to work before we had to turn our eye to whatever corner of the world he holed up in. It

could be perfect. It could…no," Voldemort said abruptly. "No. I cannot risk it. Potter would

never be content to allow me to reshape the world. It is better to simply kill him now while

he is still weak and trust in my Horcruxes to carry me through the ages."

Voldemort's attention shifted and his eyes narrowed as the Gaunt ring heated up in a

distinctive pattern. "Bellatrix!" he called. Immediately the doors to his chamber were

thrown open and Bellatrix Lestrange ran into the room throwing herself to her knees at his

feet.

"You called, my Lord?"

Voldemort allowed himself a smile at the woman's eagerness. Just like the Bella he

remembered. She was too thin from her time in Azkaban but she had managed to retain at

least some of her original looks in addition to…a modicum of her sanity. Not much of the

latter granted, but it was enough that she was still a valuable member of his retinue.

Insanity did have its own perks too. "Bella, someone has invaded the Gaunt shack. Take

your team and…send them a message," he said softly as he reached out to stroke her

cheek. Bellatrix reacted just as he'd expected, a shiver of appreciation, adoration, and

desire crossing her body.

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Chapter 327

"It will be done, my Lord. My Lord, some of the key members are…still recovering. Might I

take others in their place?" she asked.

Voldemort considered that request. On the one hand he could potentially eliminate any

who were investigating his immortality – or were simply too curious. On the other he'd

have even more who knew details that Voldemort had long kept buried. Details known

only to a handful of his most trusted. "No. Take who is available and combat ready. Learn

what you can of the invaders, but do not lose any of our own. If you can kill the interlopers

do so. If there are too many for your group then send your message and leave."

"It will be done, my Lord!" Bella said nodding. She stood and ran back out of the room

shouting for her chosen Death Eaters. Voldemort smiled and went back to stroking Nagini.

He lifted his ring and eyed it chuckling darkly.

"Will you two get a room already?" Sirius groused good-naturedly at Fleur and Tonks with

his arms crossed.

Tonks pulled back from her deep, long kiss with Fleur and smirked at Sirius. "We have a

room dear Cousin. We would be curled up in bed naked if we weren't here."

Sirius snorted. "Well don't let me stand in your way. Feel free to disrobe here." He stopped

to consider who he was talking to and paled. "Actually never mind. Forget that teasing.

You'd actually do it and I don't need to see my cousin naked."

Fleur raised an eyebrow and turned to Remus. "Does he actually zink zat we would disrobe

prior to going into a dangerous situation?"

Remus shrugged. "I stopped trying to figure out how Sirius' mind worked ages ago after I

caught him with Brian Friarbush in McGonagall's chambers."

Sirius shook his head. "I still maintain that boy came onto me!"

"Please, you were like a lost puppy for that month. And I wasn't questioning your choice of

partners. I was questioning your choice of locations."

"McGonagall's room eh?" Tonks said appraisingly. "That's ballsy. I might have chosen

Flitwick's myself. He'd be less likely to go on a hexing spree."

Fleur sighed heavily. "I am working wiz children. May we please get started? I want to get

back early enough to shower before ze party for Harry."

Shacklebolt nodded. "Yes, Fleur is right. Enough jibes. Everyone ready? Good, let's move."

The group started up the overgrown path towards the small Gaunt shack.

"This is where Voldemort's mother grew up? Seriously? No wonder the man turned

insane," Sirius grimaced looking at the tiny, rundown hut.

"I doubt he ever saw zis place until after he was a teenager. By zat time he was likely close

to ze edge already," Fleur said shrugging.

Tonks snorted. "Close? Hon, he was as insane as a psych patient by then. Getting all

chummy with a basilisk and killing Myrtle should probably count as leaping over the line."

The group split up with Remus and Shacklebolt moving around the corner to the back

checking for wards the entire way. Fleur took one side of the hut while Sirius moved to the

front door. Tonks was about to head to the other side when she heard an odd noise that

sounded somewhere between hissing and scales sliding against each other. Frowning she

turned to Sirius and tried to remember where she had heard that noise before. Sirius

reached out his wand towards the door and Tonks gasped as she finally placed the sound.

Lunging forward she yelled out, "Sirius, get back!" She dove and tackled him to the side of

the door just as a giant spectral snake flew from the doorframe. It flailed about in midair

for a few moments before dissipating as the others charged around the corner. Tonks

breathed a sigh of relief as Sirius shakily got out from under her.

"Thanks, Tonks," he said. "What the hell was that and how did I miss it?"

"Some sort of parselmouth magic," Tonks said getting her breath under control. "I

remember that noise from when Harry was reading from Slytherin's book we found in the

Chamber of Secrets."

Shacklebolt stared at her. "You found more than just the diaries in that Chamber?"

Tonks nodded. "Yeah, Shack. There was a parseltongue book that described a lot of the

different snakes Slytherin knew about. Completely harmless beyond a few minor spells but

no publisher wanted to touch the thing even translated." She shivered. "Harry tried the

few spells in the book, but said they made his skin crawl so he left them alone. Everyone

nearby felt the same thing. It was just like whatever sprang from that door."

"Damn sneaky arse," Sirius said scowling. "Didn't even show up on the diagnostics or

detection spells. We need to be more careful."

"I can take care of ze door. Stand back everyone," Fleur said moving forward. The group

dutifully moved further away and Fleur cocked back her arm. A feral grin crossed her

features and a fireball formed in her hand. "Let's see how your magic reacts to ze Veela

shall we?" Tossing the fireball in a perfect overhand pitch, Fleur's passionfyre spread over

the Gaunt shack's door in moments and soon only charred cinders remained. "Zere. Much

better."

"I love you babe," Tonks said giving Fleur a light pat on her arse as she walked past her and

headed inside. She let out a low whistle upon seeing the manky interior. "Bloody hell, the

outside looked better than this."

Once everyone else had filed in Remus started casting a multilayered detection charm. It

quickly brought up a positive response on a section of flooring just under a collapsed bed.

Pushing the bed to the side Remus sighed in frustration at seeing the paneling already

ripped up and the exposed hole empty. "It looks like we're too late. Either Voldemort

himself or someone else has already retrieved it."

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Chapter 328

"You sure?" Sirius asked.

"Relatively certain yes. All of the dust and grime in this area is gone and these planks were

removed in a hurry," Remus said. "Whoever came here wasn't particularly interested in a

good job; they were rushing and used little stealth."

Shacklebolt frowned. "We should assume it was He-Who – Voldemort. The parselmouth

magic on the door was reapplied after all and besides Harry Potter we don't know of any

other parselmouths."

Sirius swore. "Back to square one then. Merlin's balls, I was hoping we could get at least

the one."

A cackling sounded outside and all eyes turned towards the portal back into the space

beyond the shack. Sirius paled and Tonks' blood ran cold. She remembered the horrible

laugh. It resounded through her nightmares enough that she'd never quite forget it.

"Come on out of there and let's plaaaay!" Bellatrix Lestrange sang.

"Hey, Cousin!" Sirius shouted in reply. "Seems you're just as crazy as the last time I saw

you!"

"Why Siri is that you?" Bella said. Shacklebolt quickly motioned for everyone to take up

defensive positions along the walls. "Well I bet that your mangy dog is with you then too!

And who else would have been recruited for this hmm? Let's see, let's see…Oh I know!

Nymphadora are you there too?"

Tonks growled at her insane aunt's use of her full name. No one got to use that name

beyond her partners and parents. "Well good deduction, Auntie! If you'd rather live longer

though I suggest you run back to your master!" Tonks yelled. She ignored Fleur's narrowed

eyes. Sure she shouldn't let Bellatrix antagonize her, but still…

"Ah my adorable little niece. You are on the wrong side sweetie," Bella crooned in her

sing-song voice. Tonks felt shivers of fear running down her back. "Come with me and join

the winning team. The Dark Lord would find such…amazing uses for your talents!"

"I'd rather not be a fuck toy for Voldy's groupies thanks," Tonks replied.

From near where Bellatrix seemed to be a deep laugh rang out. "Shame," the unknown

man called, "from what we hear you seem to love being Potter's little bitch. We thought

you might appreciate some real men for once!"

Tonks lips curled. "Can we please kill these arseholes already?"

"I'll take Bella," Sirius said with narrowed eyes. "Remus, Shack, you guys get Dolohov. I'd

recognize that voice anywhere. Tonks, Fleur, backup where needed." All heads nodded and

Sirius held up three fingers counting down. When he clenched his fist, the group sprung

up.

Sirius leaned around the edge of the door and fired off several quick shots before ducking

back behind cover. Tonks jumped up to the window next to Remus, both of them blasting it

out of the way and firing out into the yard. Shacklebolt used a blasting hex on a section of

wall near him and used the resulting hole to fire from cover. Fleur shifted to the side and

started lobbing fireballs out the door from one hand and tossing spells from her other.

Quite a lot reflected back at them though a cry of pain resounded through the early

morning air signified that at least some of their attack got through. Bellatrix and Dolohov

didn't stay idle however. They sent bone-breakers, blood-boilers and exploding curses

screaming into the shack. Tonks danced to the side and just barely managed to avoid a

killing curse sent by Bellatrix though the witch's follow-up cutting curse dug into her back

eliciting a grunt of pain.

Abruptly the spell barrage ceased. "Well, it's been fun sweets! Tata! I can't wait to play

more with you another day! If you live at least!" Bellatrix cackled. Tonks' eyes widened as

she saw a jet of Fiendfyre streaking towards the Gaunt shack.

"Everyone out!" Sirius yelled. Tonks ignored the pain in her back and ran for the back wall

with the others. Shacklebolt sent another blasting hex at the wall even as the front of the

building was consumed in leaping figures of flame. One of the chimera flame beasts

jumped for them but was met in midair by a ball of Fleur's passionfyre, both fizzling out.

Sweat ran down Fleur's face as she said, "Everyone out now please. Zis zing does not like

me." She holstered her wand and used both hands to let fly fireball after fireball at each

lunging flame figure as the others charged outside. Fleur flew through the open wall after

them and the five ran down the hill. Once they passed beyond the tingle of the

anti-apparition ward, they all twisted and apparated away from the inferno.

Harry checked his watch again with a frown. "Where are they?"

"Harry, you need to calm down," Hermione said laying a hand on his leg. "You never used

to be this protective and worried."

"Voldemort never used to be around gathering followers either," Harry muttered. Louder

he continued, "Sorry. I just don't like not knowing, Mione. Our unusual relationship isn't

exactly hidden. You, Nym and Fleur are one of the easiest ways to get to me."

Tracey chuckled slightly and gestured to her friend. "He's right, Hermione. Honestly, all

anyone has to do to nab Harry is to grab one of you girls and send him a place to meet.

Granted they'd probably all end up as paste on the floor afterwards but the point stands."

"Paste on the floor?" Luna asked cocking her head to the side. "I don't think that Harry

would be that messy. He'd use something that would be far more efficient." Luna frowned

and raised a finger to her lips in thought while Coco snorted in laughter from the cushion

nearby. "Actually, I suppose they could end up as streaks across the floor. Midnight does

have quite sharp claws after all. And the Spiker is a bit messy. Though if he used the

Freezer to completely encase his foes then I imagine there would be minimal cleanup

required. Transporting a block of ice is rather simple."

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Chapter 329

Hermione visibly resisted the urge to plant her face in her palm while Shiva and Lily looked

at Luna with a mix of amazement and fear. "Luna," Hermione forced out, "can we please

stop talking about how Harry would go about removing the threat to our partners."

"You know, he could always just use his Lava Bomb. It would leave burns, but little blood

and has almost no cleanup required," Neville added helpfully eliciting a series of spreading

laughs.

Lily leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Are all your friends as insane as you?"

"Pretty much," Harry whispered back with a smile on his lips. Mother and son laughed

while Hermione glared daggers at Neville.

"You really do need to stop worrying so much, Harry," Daphne said as she stepped into the

room and sat down next to Tracey. "They still have their Comm Stones so if either were in

true danger they could easily call for help."

"Oh. Yeah." Harry blushed and Hermione squeezed his hand in sympathy. "I forgot about

that…"

Shiva shook her head in amusement. "Well that's why you have us, kid. Anyone interested

in a movie while we wait? I think we had decided on The Mummy for the next one right?"

Augusta Longbottom and Amelia both stared wide eyed at Lily completely aghast at Shiva's

callous suggestion. Harry smirked. He wondered how long it would be before his mother

mentioned that it had been her pick and she chose it specifically for the irony. He

steadfastly refused to think about Lily's idle comment about Rachel Weisz and Brendan

Fraser both being hot.

A crash from the study rang through the house as the chime that signified arriving visitors

rang out. Harry's head jerked up but Dobby had already appeared in front of him with his

hands held out. "Harry Potter is asked to stay seated. Mistress Colorful and Mistress

Flower not being presentable and Dogfather and Wolfy both being tired. All four said theys

would be joining the party in a moment."

Harry narrowed his eyes at Dobby but huffed out an annoyed agreement.

"I told you they were fine," Hermione said smiling at Harry and giving him a quick peck on

the cheek.

"Yeah, I know." Harry rolled his eyes and leaned back into the couch. "At least it's not

Halloween."

Lily narrowed her eyes and moved to sit next to Shiva leaning in. "What's wrong with

Halloween? Besides the obvious I mean. It's not the first time Harry has mentioned it being

bad luck," she murmured.

Shiva shrugged. "That's basically it. Something horrible always seems to happen to him on

Halloween. At Hogwarts it was the troll, the first basilisk attack, the thing with the boggart

and the First Task. Back with the Dursleys it was less major but always something.

Halloween just sets the kid on edge and he's becoming convinced that it's cursed." Shiva

let out a small chuckle. "Honestly I'm starting to agree with him. It may be superstitious,

but the coincidences on October 31st are becoming rather hard to ignore."

Lily groaned and laid her head on Shiva's shoulder. "How the bloody hell am I supposed to

break over a decade of bad luck in a few months? I'm a mother not a miracle worker."

Shiva lightly punched her shoulder. "Don't worry so much."

The door to the living room pushed open and Remus and Sirius walked in collapsing onto

the couch. Harry's nose crinkled as an acrid smell wafted from the two. "What is that?"

Sirius sniffed his sleeves and grimaced. "Nothing much to worry about, we just got a bit

singed." Amelia sat down next to him and frowned at him. Harry didn't miss the

questioning look in her eyes though he knew Sirius wouldn't have kept something

important from him so he didn't push. There would be time for that later.

Harry had started to get up to go and find Tonks and Fleur, but the door opened again and

both walked in. Harry breathed an internal sigh of relief and sat back down. Fleur smiled at

him and quickly moved onto his lap eliciting an amused look from Hermione. Harry's eyes

though were glued to Tonks as she moved far more stiffly than normal. As she sat down

beside him a wince flashed across her features so quickly that Harry almost thought he had

imagined it.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Fleur nibbled on his ear wrapped an arm around his neck. "We're fine it's nothing."

"It's not nothing," Harry responded. "Please?"

Tonks shook her head. "Later, Harry. I'll be fine, I promise."

Harry bit back on his retort that she wasn't fine now. The others were right – both Tonks

and Fleur were adults and could make their own decisions. They didn't have to report to

him everything they did. He sighed at himself. He really was starting to become like Moody.

Well…the real Moody. Probably. He'd barely spoken five words to the man since Crouch

had been unmasked. "Okay."

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Chapter 330

The party went on without any more interruptions for almost an hour. It wasn't until Tonks

got up to get some popcorn that things deteriorated again. As she stood, Harry noticed

that the back of her shirt was wet and darker than normal. His indrawn breath drew

Hermione's attention as well. Hermione immediately sprang up and pushed Tonks out the

door. Harry was only a few steps behind and made it outside quickly enough to see

Hermione pull Tonks' shirt up exposing the older girl's back.

"Bloody hell, I thought I healed Fleur healed that thing," Tonks hissed in pain.

Hermione reached out and hovered her fingers over a large gash down Tonks' back barely a

few centimeters from her spine. "This looks bad, Tonks," Hermione murmured. "You

should have said something. I'll get Lily. She's supposed to be good at healing."

Tonks sighed and nodded. Harry stepped closer and leaned his head against her shoulder.

"Voldemort?"

"Bellatrix," Tonks said quietly. "It was a lucky hit. I'm a little embarrassed about being the

only one to get tagged but I was also the only one to have to dodge AKs too so I consider

myself lucky."

Harry's breath hitched. "Killing curses? She was sending killing curses?"

Tonks nodded. "Only a few, Harry. The Fiendfyre at the end was worse honestly. Fleur was

amazing. Did you know her passionfyre works against Fiendfyre? I sure didn't. Actually I

don't think she did either…we should write a paper on it or something."

Harry scowled though Lily walking into the hall with Hermione just behind stopped him

from commenting. "Let me see," his mother said in a commanding tone. Tonks shifted

slightly and Lily started casting diagnostic charms. "No wonder your healing spell didn't

hold. This was a dark cutting curse not the usual one. Severus invented it while we were in

school. Hang on a moment, I remember the counter-curse. This will sting a bit." Tonks

hissed again and clamped a hand in her mouth as Lily cast something on her back.

Hermione moved to hold her other hand while Harry just helped hold her still. "Done. It's

going to be a bit tender for a few days and you might have a slight scar. You're lucky this

wasn't on your spine, Tonks."

"I know," she said with a groan. "Thanks, Lily." Harry's mother nodded and moved back

inside after a quick glance at him.

Harry guided Tonks to a seat against the wall and pulled her into a hug. "Don't scare me

like that," he whispered into her hair which had grown long enough to cover his head. He

dimly felt Hermione place a hand on his shoulder and Tonks' arm shift so that the girl could

slot into the embrace.

"This is not remotely the worst shape any of us have been in, Harry. Don't let Voldemort

being back freak you out like this. You're just giving him what he wants," Tonks said.

"While I agree with that sentiment, Nym," Hermione commented, "please do endeavor to

tell us if you've been injured. We aren't children and we deserve to know if you – or any of

our friends – have been hurt. I assume you and Fleur were searching for a Horcrux when

this happened?"

Tonks sighed. "I'm sorry for not saying something right off. I thought we healed it and I

didn't want to spoil your birthday, Wonder Boy. Yeah, we were hunting for a Horcrux. It

was already gone though so we have to start the search over again. We're pretty sure he

moved it. My aunt showing up so quickly after we got there just goes adds more proof to

that."

Harry pulled back and affixed her with a hard stare. "Nym, I love you. I love you just as

much as I love Hermione and Fleur and Shiva and Lily. If you're going to go after a potential

Horcrux in the middle of the night wake me up and tell me! Please!"

Sighing again Tonks pulled him back down into her arms. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again;

I promise."

After Harry and his partners moved to the bedroom Lily and Shiva relaxed on the couch.

"You were right," Shiva admitted. "The cake did taste better without magic."

"I thought the Snitch on the top was a good touch," Lily commented. "How did you get it

to flutter like that without any spells?"

"I put a layer of cake on the bottom of the icing in a rune shape. I'm amazed it lasted long

enough for people to see it move honestly. Who knew cake could conduct magic?!" Lily

eyed her causing Shiva to hold up her hands and laugh. "Hey it skirts the line of acceptable

but if you can use magic to bake the thing then I can use magic to animate the icing a bit."

Lily laughed. "We are both such hypocrites."

"And proud of it!"

The light, distant chime interrupted the two's amusement and Dobby popped into place in

front of them. "Mistresses Destruction and Fire, there be Ms. Strict and Mr. Halfsies at the

door. Should Dobby let them in?"

"Ms. Strict and Mr. Halfsies?" Lily asked blinking in confusion.

Shiva quirked her mouth to the side for a few moments before raising a hand in triumph.

"Minerva and Filius! Right?"

Dobby gave a theatrical sigh and hung his head. "Mistress Destruction wins again. Dobby

go lets the Professors in."

As Dobby popped away Lily turned to Shiva and arched an eyebrow. "You've made a game

out of guessing Dobby's nicknames?"

"Yup," Shiva replied looking far too smug. "So far I'm ahead by about four though I never

did figure out who Grouchy was…" Shiva huffed. "Little guy was smart with that one. Far

too many people fit 'Mr. Grouchy' to make that easy."

"What do you get if you win?"

"Mostly just the right to cook a few meals without fuss if I want to. Though once I did ask

him to take off a few gloves when doing work," Shiva said shrugging. "I know he loves

those things, but really, six pairs and being forced to use magic to hold up the tray because

he couldn't grip the thing? Too much."