hpml351-360

Chapter 351

Shiva leaned back and took the offered contract from Lily. The redhead regarded Harry and

asked carefully, "Harry, if Hermione missed something – not that it looks like she did but

humor me – if she missed something…would you be okay with Daphne being your

Consort?" Harry nodded. "This is your decision. If you want this, then I'll sign it," Lily said

closing her eyes. "I agree that I'm not exactly ecstatic over the idea, but I can see why it

appears to be the best choice."

Shiva laid the contract and the table and crossed her arms leaning back in thought.

"Daphne was okay with this?" She asked slowly. Harry nodded again. "Obviously Hermione

doesn't mind. Fleur and Tonks?"

"They were annoyed I didn't ask them first," Harry said blushing red. "I have no problems

admitting I should have and no excuses for why I didn't beyond being worried about

getting it finished before Marcus Greengrass. But yeah, they're accepting of it."

"What about Tracey?" Shiva asked.

Harry nodded. "She was there as we discussed it. She didn't have a problem."

Shiva shook her head and gave a small huff of laughter. "I swear you kids get into the

craziest things at the drop of a hat. Alright, where do I sign this thing?"

Harry smiled and leaned over to tap the appropriate blocks for his mothers to write in.

Tonks led the way into Sirius' quarters forgoing her usual flare and simply opening the door

and beckoning Fleur inside. Sirius sat behind his desk grading papers; he waved hello and

gestured the girls to two chairs in front of him. "One sec, just gotta finish this last

paper...and done!" He leaned back groaning loudly while stretching his arms wide. "Being

a teacher is harder than I had expected!"

Fleur laughed and rolled her eyes. "You have been a teacher for all of two days. I would

even say you are being rather strict giving zem homework already!"

"Have to keep them on their toes," he commented with a smile. "So to what do I owe the

pleasure of your company ladies? Checking on your harem-mate or business?"

"Both," Tonks said rolling her eyes at him. "It's not really a harem you know. Besides, if it's

anyone's harem it's basically Hermione's. That girl somehow managed to rope me into

dating a teenager, got Harry to accept dating a French Veela and apparently managed to

convince three people that getting the Slytherin Ice Queen betrothed to the Gryffindor

Golden Boy was not only a good idea but a great idea. Thank Merlin she's not related to

the Blacks because then she'd be unstoppable!"

Sirius gaped at her. "Wait, wait, wait! When did Harry get betrothed? How did I miss this

happening?"

Fleur chuckled. "It was about two hours ago. I'm sure word will spread quickly."

Sirius wiped away an imaginary tear. "I'm so proud. So should I be looking for rings on your

fingers anytime soon as well now?"

"Hold your hippogriffs there, Cousin," Tonks said her hair flipping through several colors

before settling on a bright red. "It's mostly to screw Marcus Greengrass over and to help

Daphne out. We have to add the git to our growing list of people to go after later."

"Once Daphne has control of the Greengrass companies we can leave him penniless mon

amour," Fleur said patting Tonks' knee in agreement.

"Alright as fun as gossip is, you mentioned business? Find out anything worth pursuing?"

Sirius asked glancing between the two girls.

Tonks nodded. "We think so, yeah. We narrowed down several of the caves near Riddle's

orphanage. It should only take us a few hours to inspect them all. We were hoping that

you'd be willing to beg off classes tomorrow to help us scout and raid. Remus is good for it

and I checked with Shack already too."

Sirius frowned. "I'd hate to get a sub for my third day of classes. Are we absolutely sure

that there's a Horcrux there or is this something that can wait until the weekend?"

"Zere are...extenuating circumstances," Fleur said grimacing. "We want to get one of the

saloperies back to Harry as soon as possible. He needs to test the Soul Cage soon."

Sirius scowled. "I can't wait until we kill this bastard. I'll call Amy and make sure the sub is

here. Meet you at the Manor first thing?"

"Sounds good. Thanks, Padfoot. Have fun with the grading tonight and make sure you get

some sleep old man," Tonks say congenially as she and Fleur got up to hug him and head

off back the way they came.

Harry tossed and turned in his bed. Ostensibly he was asleep yet sleep rarely let someone

remain as aware as the Boy-Who-Lived was at the moment. Harry wasn't aware of his

dorm surroundings however…no, Harry was currently watching a slaughter in the making.

Thousands of miles away, Tom Marvolo Riddle – aka Lord Voldemort – was sitting on a

rooftop and observing his Death Eaters attacking a market. They had arrived a few

moments ago and were currently busy torturing and killing people everywhere Voldemort

turned his eyes. He had needed an outlet to show the new recruits what they were signing

up for and this had been perfect. A gathering of Muggle lovers, Blood Traitors and

half-bloods at a flea market.

The man could have laughed at how easy this was. The foolish puppets danced to his music.

He was a conductor on the stage of life and death. He was maestro of the country. He was

Mozart of the new age. He was –

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Chapter 352

The music changed abruptly. Two spells from the victims shot towards his Death Eaters.

One struck the young man in the face and his mask exploded, the body falling limply to the

ground. The second shot went wide soaring harmlessly through the throng of revelers. It's

follow-up spell unfortunately was not so erratically aimed. It struck true and the unlucky

Death Eater flew through the air striking a brick wall and not getting back up.

More spells were shot at the Death Eaters now as many of the cattle stopped hiding and

started fighting back. The recruits desperately tried to shield themselves and started

sending more and more destructive spells back into the fray. What had just moments

earlier been drunken fun and highborn privilege descended into chaos and destruction.

Voldemort scowled. Some time ago one of his newest followers had returned from a raid

claiming that the sheep had fought back. He'd made a ridiculous statement that the entire

force had been killed by the masses. Voldemort had dismissed the fool as a lying coward

who ran when the Aurors turned up earlier than expected. The Dark Lord had been so

disgusted by the pathetic fool that he hadn't even bothered to read the man's mind before

killing him. Now the proof of that report was laid bare.

The cattle were growing fangs.

A series of pops sounded and red robes suddenly flooded towards the embattled street.

Voldemort roared in frustration, rage and hatred. He raised his wand for a parting gift –

And Harry rolled out of the bed falling to the ground panting, his clothes soaked in sweat

and his scar burning. Harry's landing roused a loud snore from Ron but otherwise the dorm

stayed resolutely quiet. Shaking, Harry curled into a ball for several minutes, waiting for

the pain and terror to pass. When the shuddering stopped, Harry dived into his mindscape

jumping straight to the Horcrux. The stone and metal surrounding the thing was bulging

and corroding. Harry cursed and went to work hammering everything back into place,

adding a few young dragons, xenomorphs and T-1000s to watch over it and act as an alarm

system to hopefully give him some warning the next time he entered Voldemort's mind.

Next time…Harry slammed a fist into the wall of his mindscape. This wasn't working. His

walls weren't going to hold forever. Maybe he could use it though…maybe he could root

around inside the monster and find where the Horcruxes were and…

"NO!" With a roar Harry turned and launched an energy bolt into the Horcrux sending it

mewling back down to whatever hole it hid in. The crazed, suicidal suggestions died down

and Harry felt his mind clearing somewhat. Intentionally opening that connection would

let the door swing both ways. Voldemort did not need direct access to his mind.

Harry surfaced from his mindscape still breathing hard. He grabbed his invisibility cloak

from his trunk and stood up. For a moment he contemplated comming Hermione, but

discarded that. She'd had almost as long a day as he had and it would be selfish to wake

her up just so he could lay down on the couch with her for a few minutes. Tonks and Fleur

were too far away to bother. He considered going down to the Room of Requirement and

asking to sleep next to Daphne and Tracey for several moments before again decided it

wouldn't be fair to the girls. Daphne had her own issues at the moment and didn't need

him to add to them.

So instead going towards any of his partners, Harry found himself walking down the

corridors towards Shiva's room again. This time it wasn't a matter of which mother to

search for. It was practicality. He needed distraction. He needed to work. Shiva was a

better helper with his work than Lily.

Standing outside the door, Harry paused. He knew the password so he could just walk in,

but it was the middle of the night…Sighing, Harry knocked softly. Better to be safe than

sorry. Walking in on Shiva in her nightclothes would be exceedingly embarrassing and he

didn't need that right now.

The door opened and Harry pushed the hood of his Cloak back enough for Shiva to see him.

Blinking in surprise the woman quickly pulled him inside. "Jeez, kid," she muttered looking

him over. "You look like death warmed over. And you're using the Cloak instead of a

Ninja…fuck. Give me a sec. Comm on, contact Lily. Lils, can you come to my room for a few

minutes? Yeah. Thanks. Disconnect."

"Didn't want to waste time looking for where I put the rune belts," Harry murmured sitting

down on the couch and rubbing his forehead. "Hermione's asleep and I didn't want to

bother Daphne. Mind if I stay here for an hour or two? I just need to work on something

for a bit."

"Sure, kid. Here, I have the designs we've been looking at for the Tech Assist. Let's try to

finish those up, yeah?" Shiva said pulling some cluster schematics out of a drawer and

walked over to set them in front of him. A deep frown was still etched across her features.

The door to the chamber opened and Lily rushed in. She pulled up short momentarily,

gaping at Harry who was still half invisible. She recovered fast and quickly shifted targets

to take the Cloak off his shoulders and drape it over a chair. "What happened?"

"Voldemort got annoyed at people actually fighting back," Harry said quietly. He shifted

the papers in front of him and started to mark a few of the clusters and erase some of the

individual runes that seemed to be problematic. "They did a good job too. Took down

several Death Eater recruits and stalled long enough for the Aurors to arrive. He ran away

about that point, but not before sending off one spell of his own towards the crowd. Don't

know what; managed to kick myself out of his head before seeing it."

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Chapter 353

Shiva sent a pointed look at Lily and glanced down at the parchment covering the small

table. "We're about to try to fix one of Harry's inventions if you're interested in helping.

It's supposed to locally suppress magic to allow for Muggle electronics to function in

high-magic areas." She pointed to a few spots that Harry was working on. "These sections

of the cluster are giving us some problems. We've already determined why it can't be

adapted to work on living tissue and unfortunately I doubt we'll be able to fix that in this

lifetime. The idea still works for inanimate items, but we're having some issues with

affixing it to tech without shorting the things out before it activates."

Lily took the hint and pulled up a chair. "Well, you both know while I enjoy this stuff, it's

not my strong suit. I can't promise I'll be much help, but I'd love to assist."

Harry just nodded and crossed out another rune adding a different one to the changed

weave in its place.

The next day at breakfast, the entire group sat with Daphne at the Slytherin table. It was a

calculated move. It showed both that she wasn't afraid of the remaining House members

and also that if one of them tried anything against her they tried it against nearly half of

the Fifth Year students. Daphne kept a careful control of her expression. It wouldn't due to

grin at these fools like a madwoman. Harry's group of friends had grown considerably and

he hadn't even truly realized his influence. How Draco thought that he would have been

able to simply walk away after assaulting her was something that only made sense to the

ferret.

One thing dampening her good mood were the bags under Harry's eyes and the slight

paleness to his expression this morning. She'd caught Hermione's eye and the brunette

shook her head in confusion as well. While the boy was distracted Daphne leaned over to

Neville. "Did Harry get any sleep last night?" she whispered.

Neville let out a low frustrated sound. "He went to bed at the same time as us, but he was

gone when I woke up," Neville responded softly. "His bedding was mostly on the floor and

his trunk was hanging open. I closed it up and tidied things up a bit before the others

noticed."

"Thanks, Nev," Daphne said sighing. She glanced at Harry again. His smile was slightly

strained, but his laughter at Luna's newest comments was genuine. "I'll let you know if we

need to keep watch for anything. I'd hazard it was simply a horrible nightmare that hasn't

quite let him go yet."

Neville raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. "We should all take lessons from you on how

to have two conversations with one dialogue."

Take lessons from you…Daphne cocked her head to the side and a huge grin split her face

stretching from ear to ear. "Actually…that's not such a bad idea, Nev." She cleared her

throat and raised her voice enough to be heard by nearly everyone surrounding her.

"Everyone, how would you all feel about taking some extra Defense lessons?"

XXX

"Good morning everyone!" Lily said with a bright smile on her face. She looked over her

students trying to figure out with a glance just who was taking the course solely to see her

and who was genuinely interested. Her lips twitched briefly into a frown as the number

seemed rather extremely biased towards the former. It wasn't much of a surprise, but it

was still exceptionally frustrating. Well, at least it got them in the door. Now they were

hers.

"Professor, is it true – " The fifth year Ravenclaw boy cut off as Lily held up a hand.

Wide smile firmly planted on her face and a sickeningly sweet tone, Lily answered the kid.

"Before you finish that statement I want to make sure that it's relevant to the topic of this

class. Questions such as 'Is it true that the Muggles can destroy cities with a single push of

a button?' or 'Is it true that Muggles can turn on lights without candles, gas, oil, runes or

magic?' or 'Is it true that Muggles can communicate over long distances instantly?' are

completely appropriate!" Her smile widened taking on a distinctly dangerous appearance

despite her continued feigned cheer. "On the other hand questions such as 'Is it true that

you died?' or 'Is it true that your son is the Chosen One?' will see the questioner in

detention for a month. With Filch."

The Ravenclaw gulped and slowly lowered his hand. Lily swallowed the chuckles that

threatened to boil over and sent a pointed look at Harry who wasn't even trying to hide his

quiet laughter. Lily noted with amusement that Hermione was alternatively rolling her

eyes at Harry and glaring daggers at the Ravenclaw.

Su Li raised her hand and Lily nodded to her. "Professor Potter, could you elaborate on

what you mean by Muggles destroying cities with a button? I've heard about that from

family in China, but details are hard to find in this country and many magicals seem to

regard it as exaggerated rumors."

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Chapter 354

Lily blinked a few times before slapping her hand to her face and groaning. "Exaggerated

rumors? Seriously? Oh dear, please tell me you've heard of World War II at least…All

Muggleborns and Muggle-raised put your hands down." Lily groaned louder as a grand

total of two Purebloods had their hands still in the air. The look of complete confusion on

the Purebloods' faces were only matched by the incredulity of the Muggleborn/raised. "I

knew this course had needed updates but…Merlin this is going to be harder than I had

thought."

"Please," Zacharias Smith scoffed. "We all know that Muggles can't do that. Wizards and

giants can destroy a small town in about an hour, but even we can't wipe out a city that

fast!"

"Professor Potter, perhaps we should jump ahead in the syllabus to the atomic bomb

lecture?" Hermione said wincing. "It might encourage the others to pay more attention to

the rest of the course."

"Unfortunately I think you're right, Ms. Granger. Especially considering current events." Lily

clapped her hands together and turned around to rummage behind her desk. Letting out a

short exclamation of victory she moved to the center of the classroom and plopped an old

projector onto Harry's desk. "This, everyone, is called a 'movie projector'. Think of it like an

advanced version of wizarding photos, but with sound added. The specifics of how it works

will be covered later on."

Harry snorted in amusement and lifted an eyebrow at her. "Guess it's a good thing we got

the Tech Assist working last night, huh?"

Lily just smiled at him and patted him on the head. "Good boy helping your mother out

before she even knew she needed it!" Lily put a roll of film onto the reels and turned down

the lights in the room. "Alright everyone, pay attention. While many sections of the

wizarding world have somewhat stagnated, the Muggles have chugged right along outright

surpassing us in a surprising amount of areas. Watch. Watch and learn why following – or

allowing – Tom Marvolo Riddle to provoke these people into attacking us is a supremely

bad idea."

The movie was a short one. She'd picked a half hour documentary on nuclear weapons

that spliced together footage from the initial tests to the reasons for their deployment to

the actual usage at Japan. She felt…odd showing that film to the students. On one level,

that it was even necessary was supremely disturbing. On another, she felt some small

amount of satisfaction showing sheltered magicals just what the supposed 'inferior'

Muggles could do.

As the movie reel finished playing, Lily noted with a pleased warmth that Smith was as

pale as a sheet. "So, Mr. Smith, still think that the Muggles can't destroy a city with the

push of a button?" The boy just swallowed and shook his head mutely. "Good. Now, that

was a highly destructive use of Muggle technology and is quite shocking indeed. They have

a great deal of other inventions as well that are just as good as magic and not nearly as

dangerous or devastating as bombs. Even with such explosive technology as bombs, these

items can be turned to good or scientific pursuits. Rockets are the only way to get to the

Moon after all!"

Millicent leaned forward grinning widely. "Oh, oh, Professor Potter! I read about that over

the summer! The Muggles have actually walked on the Moon?! Why did they even want to

do that?"

"Wait, what!" someone shouted from the back of the room. "The Moon?!"

Lily smiled and jumped up to sit on her desk with legs crossed as some of the Muggleborns

started to proudly affirm Millicent's declaration.

This. This was what Muggle Studies was supposed to be like.

Fleur shivered wrapping her arms around herself even tighter. It was times like this that

she wished her fireballs could be conjured just hovering in the air beside her and providing

a bit of warmth. The wind was strong enough, but the addition of the icy cold ocean spray

borne by said wind made things so much colder. Fleur couldn't even appreciate the way

that the cold caused Tonks' nipples to stand at attention she was so miserable. Not she had

much chance to glance back and notice that anyway, Fleur noted with a scowl. This stupid

rock path was both slippery and treacherous so she couldn't afford to take her eyes off it

for long at all. Sirius had already nearly fallen into the sea. He'd only managed to avoid

that fate by Kingsley's quick reactions.

Tonks' leather jacket effectively covering her wonderful assets also might have had a slight

hand in preventing Fleur's gaze from wandering.

"Oh thank Merlin! Finally!" Remus exclaimed from just around the next bend. "We made it

folks! Fingers crossed now."

Fleur turned the corner and let out a breath of relief. The cave system ahead of her was

somewhat small. It looked like the entrance would be at least partially underwater with

high tide though they could wade through it with little difficulty at the moment.

Unfortunately, it seemed to reach a dead end rather quickly ruining any accomplishment

Fleur had been feeling. "Yet another location zat is a ruse. Wonderful."

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Chapter 355

Tonks pushed forward frowning at the wall. "Hang on there, babe. Shack, you feel that?"

"I do…" Kingsley leaned forward and peered at the same rock wall that Tonks was

examining. "There is some sort of ward on this section. Could it be a hidden door?"

"If it is, be careful," Remus cautioned. "And Tonks keep your ears open for any more parsel

magic like the Gaunt Shack."

Sirius narrowed his eyes and started to reach out to the wall running a single finger over it.

"This is Black family magic. It needs a sacrifice to open. Bloody hell, we got the right cave

people."

"Sacrifice?" Fleur asked scowling at the wall/door. "Perhaps we should go find a Deaz Eater

and zrow zem at it."

Sirius snorted. "As nice as that suggestion is, it's nothing that dramatic. A sacrifice ward of

that magnitude would be sending out waves of magic felt for at least a mile. Good old Tom

didn't seem to want to advertise this place that well. This just needs a bit of blood." He ran

his hand over a sharper section of the rock and pushed in hard enough to leave a small trail

of red on the stone. Fleur felt the ward touch the blood and the wall seemed to fold

inward.

Frowning Tonks looked between the now open door and Sirius. "That was it? A simple first

level healing spell would fix a cut like that. What was the point? To be an arse?"

Remus lifted his eyebrows and shrugged. "This is Voldemort we're talking about. Brilliant

and powerful he may be, but nobody is going to hand him a sanity award. He might well

have done it just to spite anyone coming along."

"Whatever the reason, we should press forward before any further uninvited visitors show

up," Kingsley commented moving into the new chamber with wand out. Fleur followed

along behind him and gaped slightly at the view. The inner chamber was far more like what

she had been expecting. It was large and circular with a small bank leading down to a lake

of black water. The water was glassy enough to be visibly unnatural. "Don't touch the

water in here." Fleur nodded her agreement with the Auror's statement.

"Should we go back and get brooms?" Tonks asked looking at the water with suspicion. "I

don't think I'm a good enough flyer to get down the cliff on them."

Sirius shook his head. "There's going to be something here to get us across. Voldemort

would have protected the thing, but he's paranoid too so he'd want to be able to check on

it relatively easily I'd imagine."

"Perhaps we should use the chain?" Remus said pointing to a rock outcropping with a

chain wrapped around it that disappeared into the water.

"Worth a shot," Sirius said. He stepped up and started hauling the chain in. After a few

moments a small barely stable boat appeared floating closer to the shore on the end of the

chain. As it bumped into the shore, Fleur stepped up and started running several diagnostic

charms.

"Merde, zis boat is cursed," she said. "Only one of us may go at a time. Unless we wish to

go get 'arry or someone else underage."

Tonks glared at Fleur. "Not funny. I don't like this. There's an anti-apparation ward in this

place as well. I doubt Portkeys would work either. That island is a perfect for an ambush."

Kingsley sighed. "Unfortunately there's not much we can do about it. Unless Fleur is willing

to fly us to the island we have to go one at a time. However, I agree – this is hitting nearly

every alarm bell I have."

Fleur eyed the boat before turning to the lake and gauging the distance to the island. After

a long moment she nodded and turned back to the others. "I can take Tonks to ze island. I

may be able to carry Remus zat far as well wiz a featherlight charm applied, but I would

razer not take ze chance of dropping you in zat lake."

"Yes, let's not drop the werewolf in the middle of the ominous lake please," Remus said

raising his eyebrows. "I think I'd rather be safe than sorry. Tonks, Fleur, if you two fly, we

three could stay and stand guard on this side. Then we wouldn't have to worry quite as

much about being stuck."

"I like it," Sirius nodded. "Any objections? Okay. Fleur, whenever you're ready. Girls if you

need help call immediately and one of us will hop in the boat."

"Will do," Tonks said saluting. She turned and, holding her arms out wide, grinned at Fleur.

"Try not to drop me, babe."

"And lose my little pink minx? I zink not." Fleur shifted enough that her wings grew out

and took off. She'd really have to find the tailor who had designed these Veela specific

clothes and thank them properly one day. Avoiding ripping her shirts or jackets was

definitely an improvement. She gently picked up Tonks and started flying towards the

island.

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Chapter 356

Barely a few seconds into the flight Tonks' hands tightened around Fleur's forearms. "Hey,

uh, Fleur? Any chance you could fly a bit faster?" she asked her voice very strained and

higher than usual.

"My wings are designed for my weight not a passenger. I am going as fast as I can, Nym."

Fleur glanced down in concern and noticed Tonks' hair had shifted to her natural mousy

brown. "Nym, I'm not going to drop you."

"Good. Because that lake is filled with Inferi, love. Please hurry."

Fleur nearly skipped a wingbeat at that. "What?"

"Saw a body float just below the surface. Please hurry. I don't like zombies – magical or

mundane," Tonks said. Her voice was so incredibly calm that Fleur knew her partner was

barely holding it together. Tonks was never that calm.

Fleur increased her speed as much as she was able and after a few more seconds she

squeezed Tonks' arms. "We're there, mon amour." Gently Fleur touched down and hugged

Tonks who shuddered for a few moments before she pulled back.

"Sorry, hon. Really don't like zombies. And there are at least hundreds if not thousands

down beneath the surface." Tonks gave one final shake before turning and walking

towards the cauldron sitting in the center of the small island. "Let's just get this done and

head back."

Fleur frowned, but nodded and followed behind her partner. She cautiously peered over

the edge of the cauldron. Inside was a partially transparent, greenish potion with a glint of

gold at the bottom. "We might have – "

"Shhh!" Tonks exclaimed clamping a hand over Fleur's mouth. "Don't finish that sentence!

Don't even think that sentence! You'll curse us!" Fleur chuckled into the hand over her

mouth and calmly nodded. Tonks sighed and removed her hand. "Okay, let's get this potion

out yeah?"

Five minutes later, Fleur and Tonks were both quite annoyed. The recalcitrant potion was

being very uncooperative and simply refused to vanish. Spells didn't work, spooning it out

didn't work, soaking it up didn't work…they'd even tried to tip the cauldron and the potion

and Horcrux stayed firmly inside.

"Zis is stupid. What type of potion can be spelled to require someone drink it?" Fleur

huffed glaring at the solution.

Tonks threw up her hands. "Screw it. Let's just conjure a donkey or something. Then we

can feed Voldemort's potion to an ass."

Fleur shook her head in exasperation. "Zat pun works better in ze United States, mon

amour. Let us hope zat Voldemort's potion has a sense of humor zough." Fleur raised her

wand and quickly transfigured one of the nearby rocks into a small goat. It seemed real

enough…whether the ephemeral nature of the thing would fool the potion though…

"No donkey?" Tonks asked raising her eyebrows.

Fleur winced. "Donkeys…zey don't like me. A goat will have to do."

"Babe, it's a transfiguration, it does what you want for the most part…"

"But zis way we can make fun of ze Old Goat, no?" Fleur said conjuring a pair of glasses

and plopping them onto the goat's head along with a large purple wizard's hat. "Doesn't

he look like Dumbledore now?"

Tonks snorted in amusement shaking her head at her partner's misdirection though

appreciating the irony inherent in using a Dumbledore Goat to try and retrieve a Horcrux.

She reached down with the provided ladle and with Fleur's assistance fed the first

spoonful to the goat. Nearly immediately, the poor thing dropped to the ground

completely paralyzed. Tonks cringed. "I know it's not technically alive but this still sucks;

despite the fact that the paralyzing thing is somewhat hilarious. Goats are weird. At least

it's not screaming."

Fleur nodded and held the goat's mouth open as Tonks poured a second mouthful into it.

Tonks had gone back for another scoop when the goat stopped playing dead and decided

to start screaming instead. Tonks winced and glared slightly at Fleur. "See, told you we'd be

cursed if we finished fate-tempting thoughts. I never should have said that…Hold the

bloody ass still."

The goat kept trying to flee from the potion and binding charms didn't seem to work on it.

Finally after another ten minutes, the cauldron had been completely emptied. The

transfigured creature was lying on the ground breathing hard and Tonks was holding up a

shiny locket with a triumphant grin. "Got it!"

"Excellent. Let's turn zis zing back and get out of here." Fleur tried to reverse her

transfiguration, but like the earlier attempts at immobilizing the creature, it appeared that

the transfiguration faded just before touching it. "Or we can leave it and let ze magic run

out. Stupid potion."

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Chapter 357

Fleur extended her wings and turned back to Tonks. She froze seeing her partner's white

face. "Trouble," Tonks murmured. "Fuck! Bella is back! Fleur, Sirius just commed, we need

to get back over there now!"

"Hang on!" Fleur jumped, grabbing Tonks under her arms and lifting them into the air.

"Disillusion us, Nym." She flew as close to the ceiling as she felt comfortable doing and

soared back over the lake as Tonks' spell flowed over her. As soon as they had gained some

height, the light of spells could be seen illuminating the area near the door into the room.

Fleur cursed and pushed her wings for more speed.

Tonks dropped to the ground on the bank a split second before Fleur set down next to her.

"Why haven't they dropped the ceiling on us?" Tonks questioned.

"Why does your Aunt do anyzing? She is insane and enjoys causing suffering." Fleur

scowled as she saw Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange peering around the pillar with the

boat's anchor chain. She uttered a silent prayer thanking god that they hadn't landed there.

Rookwood and Dolohov were standing with Bellatrix back near the entrance. Remus,

Kingsley and Sirius were clustered behind a rock outcrop only a short ways away. "We have

to – " Fleur cut off and her eyes widened as the lake behind them visibly rippled. She

squeezed Tonks' hand and both of them whispered, "The goat…"

Panicked screaming tore through the continuing sounds of battle and everything stopped.

Fleur caught a glimpse of the Lestrange brothers peering in confusion around the pillar. A

moment later the entire lake seemed to jump into the air from a massive underwater wave

and then crash back down. A wave of pale, scrawny bodies suddenly poured out from the

water's edge. The Inferi were completely silent as they started to swarm out seeking all

intruders. Fleur stood, pulling Tonks to her feet as well and tried to run towards their

friends. She made it half a step before being jerked to a stop.

Turning around and expecting the worst Fleur was surprised to see Tonks' outline simply

standing rooted to the spot. There were no Inferi clinging to her preventing her from

moving, she was simply frozen. "Nymphadora! Move zat arse! Now!" A shimmer in the air

near where Tonks' head should be shifted and without any more hesitation both girls

started running.

A gurgling scream resounded throughout the chamber. Fleur's mouth twisted into a

predatory smile as she watched the Inferi horde overwhelm Rabastan and Rodolphus. Both

brothers disappeared under the bodies. One bleeding arm was flung free from the pile and

into the mass. She couldn't tell which brother had just died but it didn't particularly matter

as the other one was flung by the Inferi over their masses and into the lake, promptly

vanishing under the surface of the rippling water. Bellatrix let out a scream of range and

started firing spells into the Inferi horde. The remaining Death Eaters quickly followed suit.

Fleur and Tonks jumped behind the rock outcropping with the men and dropped their

disillusionment. "Time to leave!" Tonks yelled.

"Any ideas would be appreciated," Sirius scowled. "They have the exit and knowing Bella

she's going to switch to Fiendfyre any moment."

Kingsley flung a whip of fire towards a group of Inferi heading their way. "Can your elves

get through? Riddle is notorious for marginalizing nonhumans. Their method of travel

works differently than ours; perhaps he missed that!"

"Better than my plan of charging forward, wands blazing!" Sirius muttered. "Kreacher!"

"Winky!" Tonks yelled. Both House Elves popped into the cavern right behind their masters.

Tonks twisted to grin at her elf. "Winky, get us back to Potter Manor, now!"

"Kreacher, same location!" Sirius ordered.

Fleur watched as Winky nodded and grabbed Kingsley's arm to pop him away. Kreacher on

the other hand simply stared around the cavern with an expression of utter hatred and

vitriol on his face. Fleur really couldn't blame him. Inferi were vile, evil creations – some of

the worst possible uses of magic in existence.

"Kreacher, now!" The ancient elf shook his head, nodded and grabbed Remus disappearing

with a pop while Winky blinked back in. She grabbed Tonks and vanished again.

Fleur conjured several fireballs in each hand and launched the passionfyre towards the

closing Inferi. Beside her, Sirius vanished via a returned Kreacher. She was left alone as a

scream of rage came from Bellatrix. The last thing Fleur saw of that horrible cave was the

entrance caving in as Kreacher popped back in and whisked her away to safety at Harry's

home.

The receiving hall resolved itself around Fleur and she let out a relieved breath. "Well, zat

was exciting. Zank you Kreacher."

"Kreacher happy to help Harpy Seductress escape. Kreacher hate Evil Cave. Kreacher would

destroy Evil Cave if he could. Kreacher would burn them all to ash to avenge Master."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I appreciate the surprisingly enthusiastic loyalty, Kreacher, but I'm

not dead yet. You can head back to the house." Kreacher nodded and he vanished.

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Chapter 358

Winky stood off to the side of the room wringing her hands. Tonks moved over and gave

the little elf a large hug. "Thanks for that, Winky. I hate zombies. You saved me!"

"Winky did good?" she asked softly.

"You did very good. Head on back to my Mum okay? Make sure she gets you anything you

ask for…for the rest of the month!"

Winky gave a shy smile, nodded and vanished. Remus collapsed into a chair nearby and

pulled off his damp boots. "Please tell me you two managed to retrieve the Horcrux prior

to the ambush?"

"We got it right here!" Tonks said holding it up. "Looks like it should be Slytherin's Locket.

Funny, I kinda figured a Horcrux would…I don't know, radiate evil or something."

" 'arry doesn't," Fleur stated shrugging.

Tonks shrugged. "Still seems…weird…Morgana's tits…you've got to be shitting me!" she

snarled. The others quickly stood and clustered around Tonks as she held the open locket

in one hand and a note in the other.

Kingsley grimaced. "Another fake?"

"Worse! Someone beat us to it!" Tonks thrust the note at him. " 'I have stolen the real

Horcrux and intend to destroy it' bloody freaking hell! How do we know if he managed to

do it? How do we know if he found any others?"

"R.A.B." Sirius frowned. "Dammit, he could have at least left a real name. Voldemort

would know who this was instantly so stealth isn't really important. Shite. Now we have to

try and track him down too."

Fleur sighed and sat down rubbing her head with her hands. "Perhaps ze locket could be a

clue? Does anyone recognize it?"

Remus, Tonks and Kingsley shook their heads. Sirius shrugged. "It looks vaguely familiar,

but I was dragged to a ton of high brow parties as a kid where everyone was all dolled up

in their finest. I could've seen the bloody thing on anyone's neck back then. It's not like I

paid attention to that stuff beyond breasts and arses at that age."

"Like that's changed much now," Tonks muttered. "I can't believe this bullshite! One

bloody break! I'm going to take a shower. We can try to figure out where to go from here

later."

Sirius sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I need to head back to the school anyway. See you guys

later."

Remus exchanged glances with Kingsley who returned his look with a nod. "We'll both stay

and try to find any pictures that have that necklace while collating a list of any potential

enemies of the Death Eaters with those initials."

Fleur smiled at them and moved to follow Tonks out the room. "Zank you both. I will try to

calm her down."

She found Tonks peeling off the last of her clothing and jumping under the steady stream

of water cascading down from the shower head. Discarding her own clothes, Fleur climbed

in behind her and wrapped Tonks in a hug. "Talk to me?"

Tonks leaned back into the embrace and shifted her height so that she molded better into

Fleur's arms. "I'm sorry, it's just…between the Inferi and Bella and another dead end…it's

just…what are we supposed to tell Harry now?" Tonks murmured. "He's losing it with the

Horcrux and he needs something to test his rune on…What if we have to watch while he

takes Su's death potion?" Her voice was quiet but filled with emotion. Fleur could hear her

partner fighting back tears and the tension in her arms was evident.

"It will not come to zat," Fleur said softly. "We will find ze real Horcrux. We will get it to

our man and we will watch him beat ze odds yet again. It is what 'arry does. We will all get

zrough zis, mon amour. For now, you need to relax. We will tell 'arry later tonight. Just

relax."

Fleur squeezed Tonks tighter and moved around to the front to pull the older woman into a

kiss. After a moment Tonks reciprocated, deepening Fleur's kiss. She pulled back shortly

after. "Thanks, Fleur. I know I don't actually say it often, but I love you too."

"I know. I am Veela and I am brilliant," Fleur said mock preening. "What is zere not to

love?"

Tonks laughed and Fleur joined in. The mission may not have been a resounding success,

but it could have been far worse indeed.

Voldemort glared down at Bellatrix. If it had been anyone else he would have already seen

them shaking on the floor under a Crucio. Or simply killed them for their failure. But this

was Bella, his most trusted, his most competent…his most fanatical. She hadn't had all the

information and it had directly led to the deaths of the Lestrange brothers.

While the loss of Rabastan and Rodolphus was troublesome it was somewhat mitigated by

the fact that neither had ever been subtle or particularly suited for recruitment. If Bellatrix

hadn't already been insane prior to being given to the brothers Voldemort would have

been certain they'd have driven her to it. They had been sadists and sadists made excellent

shock troops yet poor figureheads. The Death Eaters were losing personnel and he'd

already had to take steps in order to ensure that the more…extreme members were not

involved with inducting the new followers. Properly cultivating the needed mindset to

torture and rape and murder took some time in most people after all. Perhaps it was even

for the best that the brothers were dead. It certainly wasn't like Bella was going to miss her

'husband' at all.

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Chapter 359

No, the far more frustrating item of note was that Bella had destroyed the cave entrance

before ensuring that Potter's forces were dead or that his Horcrux was still safe. He

seethed and clenched the arm of the throne hard enough to crack it. The reassuring weight

of the Gaunt Ring held his wand hand in check while Bella continued her report. The

half-breed and the werewolf had been sighted and added to the list of hunters. Voldemort

briefly considered sending Fenrir Greyback and his pack after Remus Lupin. The irony of

sending a werewolf after a werewolf nearly saw him ordering it. He had even opened his

mouth to shout for the barbarian before scowling and shutting it again. Greyback was busy

prepping for an attack on Hogsmeade in several weeks and it would not do to tip anyone

off that Lupin was more important than he should be.

The Veela though…perhaps he should arrange to acquire some of the creatures as

playthings or slaves for his followers. It would be almost certain to boost their ranks – few

men ever turned down a night with a Veela. If he kidnapped some of the females from the

French Enclave then it would serve as a reminder to the half-breed to stay out of his

business. The only issue was his forces would have to postpone several plans in Britain to

ensure enough of a force for a successful raid. Voldemort scowled again. Too many things

to do with too little personnel to do it.

His mind circled back around to his Horcruxes. There was no disputing that they knew any

longer. Voldemort's lips curled into a snarl and his wand sparked. Potter and his army

knew how he had made himself immortal and they hunted his soul.

The Diadem was safe. None would ever find that Room in the castle and even if by chance

some unfortunate did, it was hidden within the mass of detritus. A single tree in the forest

was no tree at all.

The Cup was ensconced within Gringotts and should be secure as well. The goblins never

assisted anyone – let alone humans. They would prevent any effort to obtain entry to

Bella's vault without the woman present.

Nagini and the Ring would not be leaving his side so if they were lost then he'd likely

already be at his end. Well, the Ring at least…Nagini did have her own mind after all so

eventually she would falter like all the rest. He doubted that any enemies would still be

remaining by that point though so it didn't truly concern him in the moment.

The Diary was already gone though whether or not the hunters knew what it truly

was…that was another matter.

The Locket…Voldemort turned his baleful gaze onto the witch groveling before him. He

noted that she'd long since finished her report though he had stopped paying attention

quite some time before. The Locket should probably be counted as a loss. Whether or not

the hunters had found it, the location was no longer hidden and the identity of the vessel

would have been discovered. At least he wouldn't have to deal with a horde of Inferi

swarming the northern coast. Bella had been good enough to seal the exit prior to her

departure. Shock and awe and a horde of magical corpses were all well and good, but it

wouldn't due to let the Muggles know he was going to destroy them prior to being ready

to follow through. One on one, a Muggle was nothing to a wizard. An entire army facing his

Death Eaters though was quite a different concern until he'd properly prepared the fools.

The piece of soul inside Potter was an…odd matter. At times he could almost feel the boy's

mind behind a curtain, but at others he felt a stabbing pain behind his own eyes from that

same curtain. The connection was more troublesome than useful. There was no need to

lure the boy into a trap. Potter had enough advisors in his army to ensure that he didn't

run in blindly and it would easy enough to simply tell Potter where he was needed and let

the fool waltz right in. Potter was predictably noble so a single important hostage would

be more than enough should the necessity arise to maneuver the boy.

Perhaps he should try to make another Horcrux…Voldemort chaffed that his soul was in six

pieces now instead of seven. He could take Ollivander for a sacrifice…or perhaps he should

try for the metamorph's mother? Bella would take great delight in seeing her sister

sacrificed to him to serve his immortality. Though…the books had been vague on the limits

that a soul could be split and he would hate to waste the effort on something pointless.

Even going after Andromeda would be fruitless at this stage. As dearly as he wished to

send a message he needed to conserve his forces until he regained his prior numbers.

Bella had reported that at least one of the hunters had died due to the Inferi horde after all

so…perhaps that would be enough for the moment. In the meantime he'd do more

research into seeing if he'd could make a new Horcrux.

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Chapter 360

Snape left Voldemort's quarters heading towards his potions lab. He hated this life more

and more each day. Lily no longer looked at him like he was scum beneath her boot, but

she had exchanged hatred for complete indifference. He wasn't certain which was worse.

His information had managed to prevent several slaughters when Bones had placed

off-duty personnel in the crowds at the attack sites to assist the civilians and apprehend

several recruits. Unfortunately, he'd also been forced to tell the Dark Lord about several

upcoming raids allowing many Death Eaters to escape capture. The tightrope was draining

and Voldemort's mood while informing him of the newest batch of required potions

was…'terrifying' didn't seem like a strong enough modifier.

Snape sneered. All he needed to do was survive this civil war. If he could do that perhaps

in time he'd be able to make some sort of peace with Lily. Or Harry Potter. Or

perhaps…perhaps even himself.

As Snape passed in front of Bellatrix's quarters he could hear her muttering inside. "I failed

Voldybear. I failed yet he didn't punish me…I failed yet…No matter! I will simply ensure

that they die by my own knife next time! Yes! Yes, then my Master will reward me like no

other! No destruction is too high, no depravity too low, no torture too extreme! I will show

him just why I am the first of his people. I will prove I am worthy!"

Voldybear? Snape's stride was frozen in midair as he struggled to turn that thought into

something that made any sort of sense. A shuffle from the open door kicked him back into

gear. Snape walked away at a speed just under a run.

Some things one would be happier never hearing or remembering.

Lily sighed as she sat down on the couch next to Shiva and leaned her head on the other

woman. "Heard back from Tonks. The hiding place was real, but someone beat them to it.

We're stuck with a fake."

Shiva swore and punched the cushion beside her. "Well, that's just bloody perfect. So

much for a test run. I really don't want him taking that Chinese home brew, Lils."

"Me neither, but we're running out of options and time."

"Agreed." Shiva sighed and squeezed Lily's leg. "Look, Harry will be fine no matter whether

we use the rune stone or the potion. He always is."

Lily picked her head up and raised an eyebrow. "Just who are you trying to convince, Shiva?

Me or yourself?"

"Both?" Shiva said grinning slightly and shrugging.

Lily rolled her eyes and lightly punched Shiva's shoulder. "Well, we wouldn't be his

mothers if we didn't worry. As urgent as the Horcrux matter is I'm starting to wonder just

what we should do once it's taken care of."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we seem to be hitting wall after wall on the Voldemort front. We find the Ring, he's

already reclaimed it. We find the Locket, someone else has stolen it. We have no idea

where to look for the others or even what they truly are. We're assuming at least one is

the Cup, but Merlin knows what Ravenclaw's artifact was," Lily said holding up one finger

for each point. "I died once for my family. I'm not particularly eager to see Harry or anyone

else doing the same anytime soon and if we can't find these Horcruxes that's what's going

to end up happening."

Shiva nodded. "Well we could always fall back on my suggestion from last year when the

shite about the Tournament came up." She noticed Lily's questioning gaze and hurriedly

continued. "I asked Harry if he'd be willing to run away to a new country and live without

magic. We'd have let the girls and family friends know where we were going, but he

decided to stay instead. He figured Riddle would still hunt him down and he wanted to

have magic to fight. That option's honestly a lot more appealing now…we'd all still have

magic after all and prophecy only says he has to be there at the very end…"

Lily blinked in astonishment for a few seconds before laughing. "And I thought witches had

no common sense! If things get anywhere near as bad as last time, we should definitely

move! I could kiss you for that suggestion, Shiva."

"Well nothing's stopping you, Lils," Shiva replied with a wry, teasing grin.

Lily's laughter tapered off and she stared thoughtfully at her friend. "That is true…" She

saw Shiva's eyes widen; obviously the woman had meant the comment as a joke. She

could shrug it off and return with an answering jibe or…or she could…but James…James

was dead though. And Shiva was very much alive. "Ah hell." Lily quieted the part of her

still lightly protesting and leaned in. She paused, her lips just a hair's breadth above Shiva's.

Before she could finish moving down, Shiva raised her head and closed the remaining

distance.