“Stay with me Harry!” Bright lights were overhead, blinding him. Blurred figures were surrounding him, pouring burning liquids down his throat and putting pressure on the large gash on his chest. He would have screamed in pain, but he didn’t have the energy �“ he had screamed too much tonight. The room was starting to fade.







“We’re losing him! Harry, keep looking at me �“ don’t close your eyes!” He could hear people shouting. There was too much noise and too much light…he was so tired. He could hear a very familiar voice somewhere.







“No! What’s wrong with him? Why has he got all this Muggle stuff around him? What do you mean you’re losing him!? No! He can’t die!” It was Ginny’s voice. He couldn’t die on her…she’d already seen too much…he couldn’t allow her to…see Thestrals…to see death. But he was so… very tired. Darkness crept up and took him.







A thirty-three-year-old man opened his sparkling green eyes with a start. He was breathing heavily and sweat ran down his forehead. He felt ashamed at being so scared by a simple thing like a nightmare; a memory. He jumped as a hand touched his shoulder.







“Harry?” His wife, Ginny, looked at him with concerned eyes. She held him close until he fell asleep. Like a child, she thought sadly.



This had happened several times before and, although she hated to admit it, she was growing used to Harry’s night time terrors. But, although she was used to it, it didn’t make it any easier.



After a few minutes her eyelids fluttered and she sank into a reluctant slumber.











“Sleeping on the job, eh Potter?” Harry groaned, lifted his head from the desk and turned to look at Arthur Weasley, who was grinning broadly.







“I couldn’t sleep last night,” yawned Harry, grabbing a folder on Severus Snape and opening it wearily.







“Another nightmare?” Arthur asked softly. “I thought you said they’d gone.”







“I thought they had. Stupid of me really, to get my hopes up. Three weeks without one and I thought I’d never have one again.”







“Improvement though, eh? After the battle you had one nearly every night �“ we had to keep giving you dreamless sleep potions remember?” Harry nodded, rubbing his eyes.







“Anyway, the minister wants to see you in his office at three so don’t be late!”







“I won’t!” Harry yelled after him as Arthur sped off.



Harry looked at the wall opposite him, which was filled with pictures of Death Eaters. In a flash memories came flooding back to him.







Screams, blood, fire, Death eater’s laughter, PAIN.







Harry shuddered and then glanced down at the folder in front of him. Snapes’ hook nosed face scowled back from a black and white photograph. Harry had a great desire to burn it. However, he took the folder over to a large world map on the other side of the office and stuck a blue pin on Rio de Janeiro �“ a possible sighting of Dumbledore’s killer to be checked out later. Probably a waste of time Harry thought bitterly.







Harry walked back and saw a large pile of paperwork on his desk. He slumped down in his chair and swivelled round in it a few times. He hadn’t been this bored since…well…ever. Usually he would be out doing a raid right now �“ or something similar. But Healer Sims had put him back on the most revolting potion Harry had ever tasted and told him that he had to take it easy for a week or two. Harry wasn’t happy.







“That was years ago! I’m completely fine now and need to work or I’ll sink into maniacal depression!” He had said. He was exaggerating quite a bit but it was true, he did need to work.







He looked at a photo of his family on his desk and smiled. There was Ginny, sitting on the lawn smiling happily, holding twins that were sitting on her lap. Trying to hide behind her was another, slightly younger child.







Jamie Remus Potter was the spitting image of his grandfather �“ with jet black hair, glasses and hazel eyes. He was very sneaky and was often the mastermind behind the pranks that he and his siblings had done.







His twin sister Lillian Luna Potter (Everybody called her Lily for short) looked very similar. She too had jet black hair although, like her mother it always seemed to be perfect. She had inherited her fathers green eyes and her mothers slim build and she was the only child who didn’t wear glasses. She had inherited her father’s sarcasm and his ability to talk her way out of trouble, although she found herself in trouble quite a lot.







Sirius Neville Potter, the youngest by two years, looked a lot like Ron except for the fact his nose was less…big. He was pretty quiet, although on occasions he had both the Weasley and the Potter’s anger.







Harry started on his paperwork thoroughly wishing he was out there doing something, not sitting here and writing it all down.











At three o’clock Harry took the lift to the Ministers office. He hoped it wasn’t about all the overdue paperwork.



Amanda Rider had come back shaking when she handed in a form two weeks late. Although Harry doubted he would get yelled at that badly. The Minister always tried to stay on his good side, due to the fact that whenever a celebrity bad mouthed Harry in public, the whole country would send them hate mail.







Before he entered he tried to make himself look presentable and hoped he didn’t have bags under his eyes. He knocked on the door and waited for Scrimgeours’ voice.











“Enter,” growled a voice through the door. Harry entered and stood in front of Scrimgeours’ desk. “Ah, Mr Potter, sit down.” Harry obeyed the order and sat suddenly aware of his hands in his pockets �“ he took them out quickly.







“As you know Hogwarts will start a new year in a week,” the Minister started at once, he had never been one to beat about the bush.



“Well Headmistress McGonagall has been sent a message from those few Death Eaters we have not caught yet. The Death eaters are threatening to attack the school unless we hand all power over to them, which is, of course, out of the question so we are planning to send four Aurors to protect each house. You for Gryffindor, Mrs Lupin for Ravenclaw-” Harry and several others still called her Tonks so Harry wondered for a moment who he was talking about “-and Mr Shackelbolt for Huffelpuff. Er… we have not yet found an Auror who used to be in Slytherin and is willing to go back to Hogwarts so we might bring in a foreigner but we’re working on it.”







“Sir, why do they have to protect their previous houses?” Harry asked, trying to take all of this in.







“We don’t want any students disliking their Aurors because they were once in a rival house �“ we’ve picked the Aurors we believe will get along with the students best…so are you up for it?”







Harry shook his head, ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. Everything was so sudden and unexpected.



“I don’t know Sir…I mean…my kid’s for one thing �“ my two eldest are starting this year and all the attention might…unnerve them.”







“They would get a lot of attention anyway,” the minister interrupted.







“And my wife and youngest �“ it’s a long time to be away from them,” Harry said desperately.







“You will visit them during the holidays �“ we’re not letting students stay at Hogwarts during holidays this year.”







“And I need to see a healer every two months because of…well, you know.” The minister nodded.







“Madame Pomfrey will be able to see to all that.”







Harry considered. If he went he’d be able to keep an eye on his mischievous twins but would not be able to watch over Sirius. But then, Ginny could do that. He’d be away from Ginny and Sirius a long time but he could write and visit them during half term and Christmas. It would mean no paper work but a lot of staring and adoring eyes from students. It would mean being back in Hogwarts…



His head buzzing with a million thoughts and questions, he looked up at the Minister.







“I’ll need to talk to my wife about it Minister, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”







The Minister nodded and simply went; “Yes you must tell me tomorrow �“ I’m afraid I left asking you a little late, what with Slytherin and all.” Then he turned back to the papers on his desk which Harry took as his cue to leave.







As he prepared to Disapparate at the end of the day, Harry glanced at a newspaper on one of his colleagues’ desk. He felt a slight pang of worry. The headline blared:







ARE DEATH EATERS BECOMING MORE ACTIVE?

Ginny was sitting in Grimmauld place reading a book on healing. She had already passed the tests �“ she was now qualified and as soon as Sirius started Hogwarts she planned to work as a healer. She could hear the children outside playing Quidditch with Ron and Hermione’s thirteen year old daughter, Melissa. Ginny was taking care of her until tomorrow afternoon, while her parents visited Hermione’s muggle relatives. Melissa had not been happy at the thought of her parents having fun without her, but had brightened up when told she was staying with her aunt, uncle and cousins.

Ginny heard a crack from outside and squeals of, “Dad!”, “Uncle Harry!”, and “Will you play Quidditch with us?” Ginny smiled and wandered over to the open door.

She leaned against the frame and saw Harry laughing on the ground, having been just knocked over by four children all trying to jump into his arms.

“Maybe later, but now I have to talk to your mother.” The children ran off (Melissa’s red, bushy hair bouncing after her) and Ginny frowned slightly; Harry had looked very serious when he said this.

She remembered sitting in the hospital, watching him after the final battle, not knowing whether he would live.

His breathing sounded muffled and unrealistic from behind the oxygen mask. The life support machine beeped endlessly in the background; always beeping. Apart from those occasional moments of terror, when everything was blocked out by one solitary beep and Healers would rush in as soon as the beeping stopped. Ginny felt tears stream down her face as they attempted to revive her fiancé, her heart almost as cold and still as his.
She could feel someone’s hand on her shoulder. They were asking her something…pleading with her.

“Turn off the machine Ginny, You’re his fiancé…you’re the only one that can…he’s suffering Ginny…turn it off.” She shook her head, never taking her eyes of him. She didn’t care who it was asking her. She wouldn’t give in. She wouldn’t turn off the life support.

She forced the memory out of her mind.

“What’s up?” she asked as Harry led her inside into the living room. They both sat down on the sofa.

“I’ve been offered a new job,” he said abruptly. He told her about the new job, which took a while, because she kept interrupting with questions.

“So…should I take it or not?” he asked finally. Ginny bit her lip and flopped backwards so she was staring up at the ceiling. She sighed a couple of times, still chewing on her lip.

“Yes,” she said firmly. “Yes �“ you should take it. It would be brilliant for you to go back to Hogwarts again and if Death Eaters are sending threatening messages to the school, you should be there for our children and all the others,” she continued, now looking directly at Harry, whose face was as unsure as hers had been only a few moments before.

“What about you and Sirius? I’d only see you during holidays and I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay there. It could be years until we catch the remaining Death Eaters �“ we may never catch them!”

“You’ll see Sirius there in two years and I can cope being away from you for a while. Rumour has it that Madame Pomfrey will retire in a couple of years, maybe I can get a job as school matron.”

Harry nodded and kissed her. “Are you sure?” he whispered in her ear.

“Of course I am,” she whispered back and they began to kiss again until;

“Ewwww!”

“Gross!”

“Get a room!”

“You are no longer my parents.” Ginny turned to see four, very disgusted looking children all holding brooms. She smiled.

“Hey kids, guess where I just got a job?” said Harry with a grin on his face.


***


Hermione gasped.

“You’re joking! Melissa, hurry up!” Ron and Hermione had come to pick up their daughter and Ginny had just told them about Harry’s new job.

“Nope,” she answered back. “Harry’s confirming it to the Minister right now.”

“Wow,” said Ron in an awe struck voice. Then his expression turned very grumpy. “That means the lazy git has left us all his paper work! I’ll flipping kill him!” Ginny and Hermione laughed but Ron’s face was still sour. Melissa came down the stairs with Lillian. Both girls looked very tired.

“Are you ready?” Ginny asked. Melissa nodded and a second later Jamie came down the stairs carrying a small brown suitcase.

“Here you are,” he said handing the suitcase to Melissa. “Mum, are we going to Diagon Alley now?”

“When your father gets back, yes.”
It was another twenty minutes before green flames erupted from the fireplace and Harry stepped out (he had improved his technique since second year).

“You could of Apparated!” coughed Ron, who had soot all over him.

“Nice to see you too, Ron. Well, it’s official! I am now guardian of Gryffindor!” All the adults cheered, apart from Ron, who complained about paperwork.

Ten minutes later the children all took pinches of floo powder and went of to Diagon Alley. Ginny span on the spot ant felt the familiar sensation of being suffocated until, with a loud crack; she was in Olivanders shop facing four very dirty children. She heard three cracks behind her as Ron, Harry and Hermione apparated. Ginny passed her wand over the children and all soot and dust disappeared.

“Do you all want to go ‘round yourselves or do you want us to come with you?” she asked already knowing the answer.

“Ourselves,” they said simultaneously.

How did I know they would say that?

“Right, but stick together okay?” The children all groaned and rolled their eyes.

“Why are you so overprotective Mum?” asked Lillian.

“Look I just want you to have what I never had as a child, safety and security.”

“I didn’t know you had a bad childhood,” Lillian said, frowning.

“I didn’t; I had a lovely childhood �“ until I started going out with your father.” Ginny heard Harry’s sarcastic voice behind her.

“Ha ha, you’re funny…”

Lily continued. “Then why do I have to have what you didn’t have?” Ginny gave her one frown which was enough to shut Lillian up and wipe the amused grins from Melissa, Jamie, and Sirius’s faces.

“Do you want a pet or not?” Harry had now appeared at Ginny’s side holding four small, black velvet bags, all of which had a considerable amount of gold inside. The children all suddenly stood a little straighter and eyed the bags greedily.

“One pet each �“ nothing too fancy and you can keep the leftovers, consider it pocket money for the next three months,” He handed the children the bags, “We’ll get your books but come back in an hour so we can get your wands.” Harry handed a bag to Sirius, who looked at it with a confused expression.

“Why am I getting a pet? I’m not going to Hogwarts.” Harry looked back at him with an even more confused expression.

“Why does that mean you’re not allowed a pet?”

As the children ran off Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry and whispered to him, “You spoil them.”

“I only want to give them what I never had,” he mimicked. Ginny playfully hit him and they headed of to Flourish and Blotts with Ron and Hermione to get the children’s books.


***


Lillian’s bright green eyes widened as she saw a jewel encrusted turtle. She moved towards it and surveyed it greedily.

“Dad said nothing fancy you twit.” Jamie was now dragging her away from the exotic animals section. Lily pulled a face at him and headed over to the owls. She didn’t want a snowy one. Jamie was buying one of those and she wouldn’t be able to stand having something the same as him. All the other owls were rather plain and boring.

The pet shop was dark, yet warm, probably because a good ten centimetres of straw covered the stone floor. Tanks and cages lined every square inch of the wooden walls and mouse-chewed bags of food sat in corners, trying and failing not be noticeable. The building was tall and only the faintest rays of sunshine managed to slip through the holes in the thatched roof. A witch sat at a dusty brown desk in the middle of the room, sending owls with what looked suspiciously like expensive bills and writing notes with a bright pink quill which seemed to stick out like a sore thumb in the otherwise drab shop.

She strolled over to the cats. She was watching a rather fine tabby lick its paws in a dignified way, when she heard a small meow to her left. She looked and there was the most adorable creature she had ever seen.

“Oh,” she sighed softly.

The kitten was smoke grey and so small it could fit into her hand. It had large blue eyes and big soft ears. Its paws seemed too big for it so occasionally tripped over them. Lillian put her fingers through the chicken wire. The kitten licked them.

She ran to the desk at top speed.

“I want that gorgeous little kitten over there. How much do you want for it?” she said quickly. The witch at the counter smiled.

“Twenty galleons.” Lillian blinked slightly at the cost but handed over the gold. The witch moved round the counter and over to the cage. After a few moments fumbling with a large ring of keys, the kitten was in Lillian’s hands.

She held the cat close to her and walked over to show him to Jamie, Sirius and Melissa.

“Ahhhh! Sweet!” Melissa scratched him behind the ears.

“Has he got a name?” asked Sirius. Lillian shook her head.

“Not yet.” Just then, Jamie wandered over with a large snowy owl.

“Say hello to Blizzard!” He stated proudly.

“Blizzard?”

“Yes Blizzard �“ as in snow.” Lillian rolled her eyes at the stupidity of her brother and had a look at what everyone else had brought. Melissa already had a sweet little Barn owl at home, named Willow, so she had simply got a new cage for him. Sirius (who was planning to get a rat until Jamie had reminded him of the story of Peter Pettigrew, including the death, only with a lot more blood and guts) had brought a rabbit, which, according to the witch at the desk, could change its size, within limit of course.

“You won’t be able to take that to Hogwarts,” warned Melissa. Sirius scowled.

“I don’t care! I’ll sneak him in when the time comes.”

“We’d best get back. Mum wants us for our wands.” said Jamie, his brown eyes lighting up with excitement. As they headed towards the door a young witch, of about twenty, put her hand on Jamie’s shoulder.

“Are you really one of them?” she had a high excited voice. Jamie looked scared and confused.

“One of who?”

“A Potter!” James nodded slowly and in a flash the trio was surrounded by witches and wizards. Lily couldn’t see Melissa.

“Such an honour!”

“You must be so proud of your father! I always thought-”

“Do you think you could get your father’s autograph for me- I mean - for my daughter?”

“Going to Hogwarts this year? Yes, my daughter is too, she’s called Elli-”

“Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet. I’m an old friend of your father’s. You don’t mind giving me a few words do you?”

Lillian heard a camera clicking somewhere nearby. She was dazzled and frozen with fear.

“Jamie?!” she shrieked, her voice somewhat hoarse.
Suddenly a firm hand grabbed hold of her arm, a hooded figure. A Death Eater, perhaps?

She twisted round and as she did the hood of the person fell down and she found herself staring into her father’s grim face. She let out a sigh of relief and ran with her father and siblings out of the shop and down the street, holding the shaking kitten to her chest.

They soon met up with their mother, aunt, uncle and cousin. All had worried expressions.

“If that ever happens again don’t say anything just run, ok?” Ginny told them, hugging each in term.

“Why did you have your hood up dad? I nearly jumped out of my skin!” Harry smiled weakly.

“I didn’t want my face splashed across The Daily Prophet tomorrow. Although it fell down so it probably will.” Lillian held on to her kitten, which was trembling.

After hiding in a small quill shop for a few minutes until they were sure that the reporter had gone, the group headed to Ollivander’s. While they were walking towards it Melissa told Lillian about how she had run up the street to the adults and told them what was happening. Apparently Harry had then said a word which Melissa didn’t want to repeat, and ran down to the pet shop. Lillian listened in awe, memorising the story, ready to tell it to students at Hogwarts.

They went into the shop and a pale faced man came out with his wand raised. After being kidnapped and placed under the imperious curse, it was no wonder that Ollivander was paranoid. His large eyes softened when they saw Harry and Ron though, as it was them that had rescued him.

“If the young lad would like to come forward…?” Ollivander said.

After a lot of swishing and making things explode Jamie had his wand, which was apparently the same as his fathers, only a different Phoenix had been used for the core.

Lillian stepped forward. It was her turn to do the swishing now she thought smugly. She tried out what seemed like every wand in the shop before she found one that suited her.

“A mahogany wand, eleven and a quarter inches with a unicorn hair core. Springy, good for transfiguration,” he said while she examined it carefully. Ollivander seemed keen for them to leave now that he’d served them; no doubt he was worried that they were Death Eaters in disguise.

“Where shall we have lunch? I’m starving,” said Ron.

“There’s a surprise.” Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny pointed out a small restaurant and they entered. Harry and Jamie kept their heads down so no one would realise that they were Potters.

“Sometimes I really hate looking like you Dad, everybody goes ‘Oh, Jamie you look just like your father’ and whenever I go out I can’t look anybody in the eye in case they realise who I am!” Jamie hissed. Harry smiled remembering complaining of the exact same things all the way through Hogwarts.

“I hate it too, Jamie.”

They sat down to eat and Lillian did what she does best. Eavesdrop.

“Do you think The Daily Prophet has got it right then? Are the Death Eaters becoming more active?”

“Maybe,” answered Harry, taking a sip from his butterbeer before continuing, “but if they are there isn’t much they can do, there’s hardly any left!”

“Unless they’ve been recruiting more?” countered Hermione.

“There have been reports of them abroad,” admitted Ginny, pointing her fork at Hermione to demonstrate her point, a piece of tomato flew off the end and hit Ron in the face.

“Sorry Ron. But the point is why are they becoming more active now? They’ve been dormant for years-”

Lillian could not hear anymore of the conversation though, as the words were drowned out by Melissa and Sirius’ laughter as Jamie told them about the prank he had played on Remus.

“-So then he got really worried because his temperature was going up and he hadn’t eaten anything given to him by Uncle Fred or George. And then Mum was like, ‘Remus what’s wrong? You’ve come out in spots!’ he got terrified then ‘cos he thought that he’d caught dragon pox!”

“That wasn’t funny Jamie you really scared him.” Ginny was frowning at her disobedient son, however all the children where still laughing.

Lillian fed the kitten on her lap a piece of chicken and stroked him absently, thinking about what the adults had said and wondering, like her Uncle Ron, whether The Daily Prophet had got it right.

Jamie woke up and yawned. He had been up late last night, since he had waited until the last minute to pack his trunk for school. He plodded down the stairs and into the kitchen where everyone else was already out of bed and dressed. He suddenly felt slightly embarrassed in his blue striped pajamas.



“And the male bear, finally, comes out of hibernation,” Lillian said.



“Shut up.”



“You could sleep for England, Jamie. We only have half an hour to get to the station. I hope that you’re packed.” Jamie nodded at his father’s words and took a bite out of his slice of toast.



“How are we getting to the station, Mum?” asked Sirius.



“We’re walking! We only live a couple of streets away!” (The Potter family lived in Grimmauld Place) said Ginny, amazed that her children could be so lazy.



“Have you thought up a name for your cat yet, Lily?” Jamie asked. Lillian nodded.



“I was looking through the books mum and dad got me for school, and I found out that the Greek name for star is Astro, hence Astronomy. So, he’s called Astro or Ash for short ‘cos he’s an ash colour.



“And my rabbit is called Domino because he’s black and white,” piped up Sirius.



“Honestly, you two! I come up with a Greek based name for my pet and you two have got Blizzard and Domino!”



“That’s ‘cos you’re a geek.”



“Git.”



“Nerd.”



"Enough you two - get your coats on or we'll miss the train."



"Can't we go by flying car like you did in your second year?"



"No."



"Oh."

***



Soon, the Potters were walking down a London street on the way to the station. They were getting funny looks from the people as they went by, because although Harry had shrunk their entire luggage, there was no hiding Astro or Blizzard.





They waited by the barrier for Ron, Hermione, and Melissa. They soon came, although, by the looks of things, they hadn’t been as organised.



“We’re going to be late!”



“Dad! I’ve forgotten my diary!”



“I’ll send it on �“ Hurry!”



“You have dirt on your nose, Melissa �“ don’t you wash?”



“Look! Harry and Ginny!”



“See! They managed to get here on time!”



“It’s not my fault �“ you burnt the toast!”



“So?! It would have taken you two minutes �“ oh, never mind…”



Everyone greeted each other enthusiastically before the Weasleys went through. Melissa, leaning against the barrier was chatting to her parents before she slipped through.



“You’re next.” Lillian felt her mother push her gently towards the barrier. “Best go at a run if you’re nervous. That’s what grandma always used to tell us.”



Lillian nodded, gulped, and ran fast towards the barrier with her eyes closed shut. She was going to end up with a broken nose. She knew it. She opened her eyes and slowed to a stop. Her mouth dropped open at the scene in front of her.



There, in front of her, was a massive scarlet train, with black wheels the size of dustbin lids and a thick cloud of grey smoke coming out of the front. Students and their families were swarming around it, and there were hundreds of different animal noises.



She could see one boy with a large spider crawling slowly up his arm. Another with a budgie sitting on his head, and one girl, who, at first sight, appeared to have no pet with her at all, until you saw the reptilian head of a grass snake poking out of her sleeve. So much for “An Owl OR a cat OR a toad.



She then felt a sharp pain at the back of her knees, and found herself sitting on top of a suitcase on a trolley. She looked up at her brother, who had also run through the barrier with his eyes shut.



“Sorry Lily,” Jamie said. Lillian rolled her eyes at him. That often happened between the pair, Jamie saying/doing something silly and then Lilly rolling her eyes.



The twins were soon joined by their parents and younger brother, who was begging his mother to let him go to Hogwarts.



“Everybody says I’m tall, I could pass for eleven easy! C’mon mum please! Please let me go.” Harry grinned at Ginny.



“I remember another young redhead doing the same thing about twenty one years ago, don’t you?” Ginny shuddered dramatically.



“That makes me feel so old Harry, stop it!”



“Are you coming on the train with us, dad?” asked Jamie quietly. His heart was now thumping loudly against his chest as he turned green with nerves.



“No, I’m Apparating to Hogsmead and then I’m getting a coach up, but don’t worry Jamie, you’ll be fine.” Jamie nodded gulped then hugged his parents and brother goodbye. For the first time in his life he held on to his sister’s arm for comfort, and stepped on board the Hogwarts Express.



***



The pair walked down the train until they found an empty compartment. Within a few minutes, the train began to move and they waved back until the train went around a corner and the station went out of sight.



“Can we sit in here? We’ve been chucked out of our compartment by some Slytherin fifth years and everywhere else is full.” A boy was speaking to them. He had light brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was rather tall for his age and broad chested.



He was followed by a scared looking girl with dark blonde, slightly wavy hair. She too had brown eyes but was small and graceful looking.



“Of course.” said James gesturing to the seats opposite.



“Are you brother and sister?” asked Lily. They shook their heads.



“She’s muggleborn and I’m a half blood…I’m sure I recognise you from somewhere…” The boy seemed confident while the girl just sat there staring curiously, her leg bouncing up and down nervously.



“You probably do recognise us…we’re Potters,” James admitted. The boy’s mouth hung open.



“Y-y-your Potters? Lillian and Jamie Potter?” They nodded.



“Yes,” said Lillian, “but please, call me Lily �“ I hate the name Lillian.”



“Wow,” he continued weakly. “Wow… my name’s Matt and this is Lottie.”



“What are Potters?” asked Lottie. Lillian and Jamie looked at each other.



“Well,” started Lillian. “It’s a long story, but then it’s a long train ride too…My father is called Harry Potter, right,”



Lily was now in her story mode, James watched her to make sure she didn’t exaggerate. “And when he was one-year-old a prophecy was made saying that only he had the power to defeat this evil guy called Lord Voldemort. His parents tried to hide him, but they made a terrible mistake. They told Peter Pettigrew, one of their friends, where they were hiding, and he told Voldemort. Then, on Halloween night, Voldemort came and he killed my grandfather. My grandmother stood between Voldemort and my dad and sacrificed herself to save her son. Because of this, when Voldemort tried to kill my dad…”



And Lillian was off telling the story of her father. Only Jamie wasn’t interested, as he had heard the story several times before. Lillian continued for half an hour, reciting the life of her father, very much enjoying the attention, until she got to the part where Harry killed Voldemort. Then she stopped with an uneasy look on her face.



“What? What happened next?” Lottie eagerly asked . Lillian paused.



“Nothing,” she said. Lottie raised an eyebrow.



“Oh come off it! Something happened �“ I can see it in your face!”



“Nothing happened, okay?! My dad fought a few Death Eaters, got injured, landed himself in hospital and that’s all there is to it!” Lottie looked over at Matt who shook his head at her, warning her not to continue.



“Are there Death Eaters still out there?” asked Lottie, ignoring Matt.



“Well, yes,” admitted James. “But they’ve been inactive for over a decade now.”



“But The Daily Prophet says that-” Matt started.



“The Daily Prophet has it wrong!” Jamie snapped. “If Death Eaters were starting to regroup my parents would have told me. I know that my dad is coming this year because the Headmistress was sent a threatening letter but nothing will happen �“ they haven’t got enough people.”



“Um…actually… I heard the adults talking last night.” And Lillian told them what the adults had said in the restaurant. A short silence followed this until Jamie, anxious to get them off this moody topic, practically yelled, “SO?! Lottie! Know about Quidditch?” They stayed on the subject of Quidditch until Melissa stuck her head in the compartment to inform them that they were approaching Hogwarts. They changed into their robes as the dark silhouette of Hogwarts approached.



***



Harry kissed his wife and Sirius goodbye.



“You will look after the twins won’t you?” Ginny murmured into his shoulder.



“No, I’ll let them starve! Of course I will. Will you look after Sirius?”



“I don’t need looking after �“ I can take care of myself!” interrupted Sirius. Harry smiled and kneeled down. He drew his son into a close hug that Molly Weasley would have been proud of and whispered, “Well you’ll have to take care of your mum then, won’t you.” Sirius laughed and pulled away, sniffing slightly.



“I’ll be back at Christmas and I’ll send loads of owls,” Harry said comfortingly. He gave Ginny one last hug and ruffled Sirius’ hair before turning and Apparating to Hogsmead.



It was a pleasant but windy day in Hogsmead, the trees were shaking off the last of the autumn leaves and flocks of birds could regularly be seen migrating. Harry checked his watch and swore quietly, he was late. He practically sprinted to the station and, following the orders given to him by the Minister, got into a nearby carriage, pulled by a pair of Thestrals.





Harry entered McGonagall’s office, forcibly telling himself that Dumbledore was not going to be in there. Inside were three figures; Tonks, who he had expected to be there, Kingsley Shackelbolt and-



“Krum?!”



“Harry! It is very good to see you! Haf you been vell?” Harry was stunned. He had not seen Krum since fourth year, even when Viktor had served as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. The two greeted each other happily before McGonagall interrupted with a cough. Harry grinned, remembering Umbridge.



“Nice of you to join us at last Mr Potter.”



“Ah…yes…um sorry about that…” The headmistress smiled weakly and responded with, “Try to make it on time next time.” McGonagall showed Harry the letters that had been sent to her.



McGonagall,

We are the remaining Death Eaters. We have found a way to get into the school. Students and teachers will be taken hostage, tortured and killed. We shall attack unless all power is handed over to us.



Death Eaters







McGonagall,

This is your last chance �“ make the minister hand the power of the country over or we shall attack.



Death Eaters



Harry finished reading the two letters. They’re not exactly subtle threats but then subtlety has never been the Death Eaters strong points. He assessed the letters, staring at them hard. They’re both very short �“ could it be a prank put down by students? I doubt it. They wouldn’t ask for prisoners to be released.



“I highly hope that these are empty threats but the Minister wants you to be here to protect those in the castle if they’re not,” said McGonagall, looking stressed.



“If the Death Eaters do attack three Aurors and an ex-spy won’t be enough,” said Harry. The others all nodded in agreement.



“The Minister has placed a portkey in the Auror office that leads to the Great Hall. If any of you, or a member of staff, sends a Patronus to the Ministry of magic then we shall have thirty Aurors here in less than three minutes,” countered McGonagall. “You shall sleep in these rooms, which are all close to the common room of your house.” She handed them all a slip of parchment each, Harry’s read;



Harry Potter = Auror

Protector of Gryffindor

Room = D26

Patrol Area = DADA floor, Charms floor, Hospital Wing.



“You shall eat at the staff table, and during the day you shall patrol the corridors and grounds. You will be expected to go into the common rooms every three hours and stick to your patrol area unless asked otherwise. You have the power to give out detentions, give points and take away points. Any questions?” They all shook their heads.



“Good. We must now proceed to the Great Hall �“ the students will be coming in now.”



The Hall was filled with noise as Harry entered. Students were taking their seats and trying to talk above the noise, which only made it even louder. When the first years came in, however, the room fell silent, with all eyes on the terrified looking first years. Harry spotted Jamie, who looked like he was about to throw up, and Lillian, who seemed confident and excited.

Flitwick placed a stool in front of the staff table and on top of that, the sorting hat. It opened its mouth and burst into song.



In times of old when I was new

And Hogwarts barely started

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted:

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning,

To make the world’s best magic school

And pass along their learning.

‘Together we will build and teach!’

The four good friends decided

And never did they dream that they

Might some day be divided

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendship fail?

Why, I was there and so can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, ‘We’ll teach just those

Whose ancestry is purest.’

Said Ravenclaw, ‘We’ll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest.’

Said Gryffindor, ‘We’ll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name,’

Said Hufflepuff, ‘I’ll teach the lot

And treat them just the same.’*





There was applause and Flitwick read the first name on the list.



“Aired, Harriet.” A dark haired girl approached the stool, shaking. The hat was still on her head for a minute, then the brim split and it shouted, “HUFFLEPUFF!” The Hufflepuff table burst into noisy clapping before the next first year was called forward. Five more were called forward, but none where Gryffindors yet. Harry wondered vaguely what would happen if, one year no one was put into a house…or everyone in the same house.



“Fletcher, Matthew.” A boy with light brown hair came forward. He sat on the stool, wringing his hands. After fifteen seconds or so he was made the first Gryffindor. Six more people went forward and there were two more Gryffindors.



“Lestrange, Sabriel.” Harry’s stomach plummeted as a smirking girl with waist length, black hair and cold eyes stepped up to the stool. Harry had never been aware that the Lestranges had children, and indeed, how this child came into Hogwarts when her mother was the most hunted and hated Death Eater in England.

The hat barely touched her head when it shouted, “SLYTHERIN.”



“Martins, Lottie.” A blond girl came forward and spent an extraordinary amount of time under the hat before it shouted out, “GRYFFINDOR.” Harry clapped with the rest of the hall, waiting for his children to come forward, sending mental messages to the sorting hat. Hurry up. Get to the P’s. A few more children came forward and Harry had lost interest.



“Potter, Jamie.” Harry was now paying attention again. The hall was whispering and many students where standing up. Harry smiled �“ this could be a perfect reconstruction of his sorting.

Like Sabriel’s, the hat had barely touched his head when it burst out, “GRYFFINDOR.” Harry clapped loudly, a large grin on his face.



“Potter, Lillian.” Harry distinctly saw Flitwick give him a small smile as the students voiced their amazement at the fact that there were two Potters, in a chorus of muttering. The hat, however, spent a long time on Lillian. Harry could see her lips moving slightly, but couldn’t tell what she was saying. Finally the hat placed her in Gryffindor and the table erupted into chaotic noise, pleased that they had both Potter’s in their house. But Lillian, although smiling, looked pale and shocked.



McGonagall stood and the room fell silent. She smiled at them all, one of the few times she did.



“To our first years �“ welcome and to everybody else welcome back! Our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher is Professor Chang-” CHANG!? No way… Harry looked down the staff table and, sure enough, there was Cho Chang, smiling and waving at the sea of clapping students. He looked back at the Gryffindor table to see Lillian and Jamie trying to hold back laughter at his mortified face. He bit back the urge to bang his head repeatedly on the table.



“The ghosts of old girlfriends coming back to haunt you, Harry?” whispered Tonks over McGonagall’s speech, an amused smile playing on her lips.



“Sod off.”



“I would like to introduce four people,” continued McGonagall, “who, although they won’t teach you anything, should still be counted as staff. They are assigned to one house each which they shall guard and watch over. They all have experience of the last war. First, for Hufflepuff, we have Mr Kingsly Shackelbolt, who served as an Auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix,” The Hufflepuffs clapped and cheered in excitement. “For Ravenclaw, Mrs Nymph- er…Mrs Lupin shall be the guardian,” Everybody knew who this was as the Lupins and the Weasleys had become as famous as Harry. The Ravenclaws also looked tremendously happy at the prospect of having a celebrity watching over them. “For Slytherin, Mr Viktor Krum-” But she was cut short at the Slytherins cheering. Harry saw a scrawny boy yell at the Ravenclaw table,



“See Mudblood! Purebloods get Quidditch stars and spies! You just get an Auror!” Harry made a mental note to look out for this boy.



“And for Gryffindor, Mr Harry Potter-” The Gryffindor table seemed to erupt with cheering and amazement and Harry saw McGonagall turn and give him a small smile. She continued with Quidditch trial times and more rules that had been laid down by Mr Filch (The list had now reached one-thousand-four-hundred and twenty six thanks to Fred and George’s Hogsmead branch of Weasley Wizard Wheezes). Then she said the magic words that everybody had been waiting for;



“You may start eating.”



***



Harry had forgotten just how wonderful the Hogwarts feasts were. He ate more than he had ever remembered; roasted lamb, jacket potatoes, roasted vegetables, chips, chicken drumsticks, soup, peas, beans, and the usual, rather odd, addition of mint Humbugs. And then came the puddings. Harry dove straight for the treacle tart. At the Gryffindor table he could see Lillian doing exactly the same, while shoving Jamie’s hand out the way. Jamie scowled and grabbed a different bowl of treacle tart. Harry smiled and continued to eat. Finally, the students went up to the common rooms to sleep and Harry and the other guardians followed, to introduce themselves properly to their houses.



When Harry entered the Gryffindor common room he was immediately surrounded by a bunch of teenagers that were all trying to introduce themselves at once. Some (the boys) were trying to act hard and tough and others (the girls) were blushing furiously and stuttering their names.



“Okay everyone! Silence please!” The teenagers obeyed his order quicker than they had McGonagall’s, if that were possible. “Thank you. As you know I’m Harry Potter �“ I don’t want to be called Sir or Mr Potter; those names really don’t suit me. Professor McGonagall has given me the power to hand out detentions and take points. However, I can also give them.

If you ever need help or advice, you can talk to me, but I don’t want crowds like this around me okay? I had enough of that during the war. I’ll patrol the Defence Against the Dark Arts floor, the Charms floor and the Hospital Wing and my room is not far from here, so I’m always in reach. In the evenings I’ll stay in the common room. Now, I believe you should all be in bed �“ off you go.” The students ran off, muttering excitedly.



Hey, Dad? Can I speak to you?” Harry looked down to see Lily, tugging on his arm. He nodded and took her over to an armchair next to the fire. On sitting down, she burst into tears.



“It wanted me to be Slytherin Dad; the hat wanted me to be Slytherin!”

Harry hugged Lillian, making hushing noises as he did so. He pulled away. Lillian was making sniffing noises and tears were still streaming down her cheeks. She felt uttermost shame rise from the pit of her stomach, colouring her face. She was a Potter! She wasn’t meant to be even considered for Slytherin! Harry was still watching her with sympathetic eyes. He'd had a suspicion that this would happen. Lillian had always been quite sly and cunning and very boastful, a trait she'd picked up from the Weasley side of the family.





“The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin too, Lily. But I told it not to and that is what makes me different from a Slytherin; I wanted to be a Gryffindor. I felt disgusted by the thought of being a Slytherin. But I’ve learned that being a Slytherin doesn’t mean you’re evil or malicious. It just means you’re good at using people to your advantage and avoiding getting killed, something that Gryffindors aren’t so good at. It just means that you’re cunning.”





“Y-you were gonna be a Slytherin?” Lily stuttered, disbelieving. Harry nodded.





“I was �“ and don’t say “gonna” it’s going to. I was going to be in Slytherin because of the powers Voldemort gave me and, I suppose, some of those powers passed to you. That means, Lily, that we get the best of both worlds,” he ended in a whisper. Lily grinned, then, as quickly as her face had lit up, fell.





“What’ll the other Gryffindors say?”





“Why do you have to tell them? I never told anyone except Dumbledore. Not even your mother knows. Well… she’s never asked really, and I saw no reason to tell her.” Lily smiled slightly and wiped her right eye with her hand.





“What do you mean by powers dad?”





“Well, for one thing I’m a Parselmouth, it just comes naturally to me; I never had to learn. That talent got me into a lot of trouble in my second year �“ everybody thought that I’d opened the Chamber of Secrets and that I was trying to kill muggleborns. But, in my seventh year, it helped me greatly to find Nagini. Scared the hell out of me to speak in Parseltongue when Voldemort was less than a hundred meters away, but I did it and he didn’t hear…until I killed her. I’m not saying you’re a Parselmouth, but you may have a power of his that skipped me.”





“Wow,” said Lillian softly. She had been told the rough outline of how her father had killed Voldemort, but not in detail. Harry looked at her sternly.





“You won’t brag about this to all your classmates will you? I know what you’re like.” Lillian frowned, annoyed that her father could suspect her of such a thing.





“Of course not. What made you think I’d do a thing like that? I’d never do that.”





***





“My father, right, he learned how to speak Parseltongue. Took him years to do it! One day he had to kill this snake, right, he had to kill it so that-” Why did he have to kill it? Oh yeah, it was a Horcrux. That’s boring. “-he could get the deadly venom to poison this Death Eater. He had to call in Parseltongue without Voldemort hearing, ‘cos if he heard, he’d kill my Dad. Voldemort was only a few meters away but my Dad wasn’t scared and-”





“Shut-up, Lily. You’re making Dad into a saint or something.” Jamie scowled at his sister, who was surrounded by a gang of first, second and third years, all eagerly listening to her exciting story in the courtyard.





“Get lost four eyes, just ‘cos I’ve made friends!”





“No you haven’t, these people will go away when you run out of stories to tell, dung breath.”





“I won’t run out of stories, you miserable excuse for a wizard. I’ll make my own.” Lillian threw back, starting to see red.





“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try. I’ll make friends by being like Uncle Fred and George �“ by doing more pranks in this year than you could ever do.”





“I’ll take you up on that you stupid prat. First one to get to ten large pranks without getting caught wins. The loser gets humiliated very publicly. Deal?”





“Deal.”





“Deal,” came a new, sneering, voice. Jamie spun around and there, standing right behind him, was Sabriel Lestrange. He glared at her. He could tell straight away that this was not somebody he would get along with.





“So it’s true then?” she asked, a sneer on her face. “Jamie and Lillian Potter have both come to Hogwarts, as, of course, has their father �“ for protection maybe? I’ll go against you both in your little bet. My mother has taught me some tricks.”





“Oh, yes. How is your mother? She escaped from Azkaban didn’t she? I suppose that she’s still hiding in Ecuador. Tell me, how did you get into Hogwarts without your mother getting caught? I thought she was the most wanted person on earth.” Jamie was almost shaking with fury.





Sabriel went slightly pink and muttered quietly, “I was sent to a muggle children’s home for safety. But my mother visited every three months under a disguise. And I don’t know where you got Ecuador from �“ it looks like your father and all the other Aurors don’t know what they’re doing.” Lillian was about to leap on top of Lestrange and throttle her when she heard a cackle above them.





“Aaaah! Ickle firsties having a bet! I tell you what �“ I’ll be the judge of all your tricksies! At the end of the year I’LL decide who the best is!” Peeves was floating just above them, an evil grin plastered across his smug face. Lillian blinked in surprise. From everything she had heard of Peeves, this was very odd indeed.





“I thought you hated first years? Why are you helping us?” Peeves cackled again.





“Peevsie loves to make double trouble!”





“Fine, we’ll take you up on that �“ make as many pranks as possible, report to Peeves when you’ve done one, and at the end of the year Peeves will tell us who the winner is. Me and Jamie on one side and you on the other, unless you want to pick someone else to make the sides fair?” Sabriel scoffed.





“No way. I can handle it on my own.”





“Is everything okay?” Tonks had appeared. Sabriel ran of, an evil glint in her black eyes.





“Yeah, everything’s okay thanks.” Jamie said glaring after Sabriel.





“It’s nice to see you’ve all made friends but you’re going to be late for your first lesson. What have you got?” Jamie took his timetable out of his bag and glanced at it.





“Potions with…Slughorn. Shouldn’t he be retired by now? From what dad says he wasn’t exactly young when he took the job from Snape,” said Jamie, frowning.





“Yes, but he likes the security of Hogwarts �“ he’s still convinced that Death Eaters are out to get him. Paranoid, you see. Poor bloke. I think Dumbledore’s death hit him hard and…well, he never recovered from it. Anyway you’re going to be late, hurry up.” Tonks walked off and Lillian, Jamie, Matt and Lottie made their way to the dungeons.





***





Far away, in the Ministry of Magic, a black veil fluttered slightly, though there was no wind in the darkness of the large, circular hall. The whispers were growing louder… time was running out…

“Settle down…I’m going to take the register.” Horace Slughorn was old. Anybody could see that. When asked how old they thought he was, however, many guessed around twenty years older than he actually was. This was due to the fact of how enormously fat he was.

His stomach had swelled immensely over the years; lack of exercise, and a love of crystallised pineapple and mead, had clearly taken its toll. Being fat had caused a series of health problems, which had given him even more wrinkles than a man his age should have.

His long moustache was now reduced to a few wisps of thin, grey hair, which was the only hair upon his head.

His voice, which had once boomed, was now hoarse, yet he was still loud enough for the entire class to hear.

He began with taking the register and when he reached Jamie’s name his face cracked into a wide smile. He looked over at Jamie and Lillian, who were sharing a table with Matt and Lottie. Slughorn then proceeded to spend a good ten minutes talking about what their father was like at Hogwarts, what their grandmother had been like, the war and more about their father.

The lesson was enjoyable and very different to their father’s tales of potions with Snape. It was filled with different smells and steam of various colours. Jamie seemed to grasp the subject quickly but Lillian…she did manage to make a potion, but nobody quite knew what it was.

Their next lesson was transfiguration with a young, blonde witch who smiled a lot and smelled faintly of lavender. She was called Professor Lansdowne and informed them that, although she was English, she had been taught magic at Beauxbatons to escape the war. On seeing her, Jamie went strangely deaf and starry eyed. All the boys in the class gave their apt attention, all the girls, however, looked back and forth between the teacher and the boys, glaring.

Although, Lillian had to admit that she was very kind.

During their morning break, Lillian and Jamie stood in a corner of the courtyard with Matt and Lottie, plotting tricks for the bet against Sabriel.

They soon admitted defeat. All of the tricks that they thought of just weren’t large enough. They stood there, pondering for a moment.

“We could sneak down to Hogsmead and ask Uncle George!” exclaimed Jamie brightly.

“How do you know Uncle George’ll be there?” asked Lillian. Jamie rolled his eyes and tut tutted as if a four-year-old would know that information.

“Uncle George always stays there at weekends and summer holidays to mind the shop �“ Uncle Fred stays at the one in Diagon Alley,” said Jamie, knowledgeably.

***

Harry headed up to the owlrey three days later. He made his way to Hedwig, his feet making crunching noises as he stepped on the hundreds of mice skeletons that littered the floor. Hedwig was slower than she once was but was still as reliable and trusting as always. Harry leaned on the stone wall to quickly finish his letter.

Dear Ginny,
Things are good here �“ all I have to do is patrol the corridors, dodge groups of giggling girls, check in lessons now and then, look out for Death Eaters and dodge girls. Just like being a student again really, apart from patrolling the corridors.

Lillian and Jamie have their first Defence lesson tomorrow and the defence teacher is Cho Chang. I know. I’m not too thrilled about it either. So far I’ve avoided her. She’s pretty popular with the boys anyhow.

Jamie seems very talented at Potions but Lillian…well, her Potion was purple. It was meant to be orange. No one dared try it, though it might have been entertaining if they had.

Write back soon!

Harry.

He attached the letter to Hedwig’s leg and watched her fly off into the distance. He continued to look out the window even when she’d gone…thinking.

“Leave him, please!” The boy was down on his knees in front of a scowling Bellatrix. She looked as if she was about to kill him before suddenly laughing.

“You’re joking! You want me to kill him quickly when we could have some fun?” The boy looked horrified.

“I do not want you to kill him at all! He won-”

“Harry?” Harry jumped and turned around to see Cho standing right behind him.

“Oh…Hi.” He looked at the floor with embarrassment, trying to think of something to say. “Er…are you well?” She smiled and nodded.

“Yes, You?”

“Fine.”

“Good…” There was a sort silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Embarrassing memories of Madame Puddifoots teashop and asking Cho to the ball swam to the front of Harry’s mind. He could feel his face going bright red. Cho looked as if she was experiencing the same problem.

“Harry, I’m so sorry for what happened after you killed Voldemort, you know, when the Death Eaters-”

“Well, I’d best go. I have to be in the Gryffindor common room and I promised this sixth year I’d help him with his Dementor essay.” Harry invented, wildly. Anything to keep him off that topic.

“Are you allowed to help them?” asked Cho, lifting an eyebrow wearily,

“Yes, as long as I don’t give them the answers directly.” This was actually true, even if his story wasn’t.

“Well, bye then.”

“Bye.” Harry headed to the Gryffindor tower as if Voldemort was right behind him.

***

Darren Clarkson left the Department of Mysteries at a fast sprint �“ he had to get to Hogwarts. The information he’d just found out…if Death Eaters got hold of the password…it would be catastrophic. Everything that everyone had worked for during the last fifteen years would be lost.

He had to get to Hogwarts.

He Apparated to the station and raced through the gates that wide open and inviting. During the war these gates were always closed and the only way to get through them was if McGonagall or Dumbledore let you in, but now, people were allowing their security to become lax.

Fools!He thought venomously, They’ll die unless they’re prepared! He had the reason, the Death Eaters were becoming active. How could the unspeakables have been so stupid? They’d been doing all the hard work for the Death Eaters. All the Death Eaters had had to do was to wait for them to complete the research. And he had.

The Ministry had stupidly tried to keep it quiet �“ there had already been six murders, but no one, except those high up in the Ministry, knew of them. Yes, there had been a leak and The Daily Prophet had published a story about it, but it didn’t matter. Nobody really took it seriously, it was just a bit off gossip.

They all felt too secure to fall for such “silly rumours” like that after Harry Potter had rid them of Voldemort. They wouldn’t feel secure for much longer unless he got to Hogwarts.

An awful stitch had formed in his side and, reluctantly, he slowed to a stop and bent double, clutching his body, panting. Unknown to him, a dark, hooded figure crept up behind him. The figure smirked and sent a jet of red light towards him. The figure laughed softly and dragged Darren into the Forbidden Forest.

Once in the darkness of the trees the figure pulled down its hood. The face showed a woman with dark eyes and pale skin. She shook her dark hair and looked up at Hogwarts, where her daughter was. She tore her gaze away; there was no time for such silly sentimental thoughts. Out of her pocket, she took a small glass phial filled with what seemed like water. She opened Darren’s mouth and tipped the phial slightly, so that just two drops of the expensive potion fell onto his tongue.

She swept her wand over him and his eyes flickered open.

“What is the password for the gateway?” she asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of parchment. It had several Latin words on it.

“Here,” he said his voice emotionless. “But you need a potion too.” She looked back at the parchment and, sure enough, there was a recipe on the back. She swore quietly; the potion needed to stew for several months. And one of the ingredients, which had to be added every three hours for three months, could only be found in this very forest.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said to herself. “I have what I need…” She looked back at Darren. He’d served his purpose, yet he wouldn’t remember anything when the potion wore off and with no evidence �“ who was going to believe him? Bellatrix Lestrange never thought twice.

“ Avada Kedvra!

***


Ginny sat talking to Hermione when Sirius ran in, waving a roll of parchment and jumping up and down.

“It’s a letter from Dad! Letter from Dad! Dad! Letter!” He handed the parchment to Ginny, who opened it up and recognised Harry’s untidy writing. She read it through and scowled. Too angry to speak she handed it to a questioning Hermione, who read it through, her left eyebrow raised slightly.

“What?”

“Look; Cho Chang is teaching!” Hermione looked at her, confused.

“So?”

“So?! So?!” Ginny yelped, “What if he starts to like her again?! What if he leaves me for her?! What if-? What are you laughing at?!” Hermione was indeed, shaking up and down; hand over her mouth, with laughter.

“Ginny, Harry’s over her. Although it should be Harry we feel sorry for �“ I bet it’s really awkward for him,” She ended happily.

“Besides, look at his letter �“ I know. I’m not too thrilled about it either. Would he really say that if he wanted to get back with her?”

“Yes! It might be to throw me off the scent.”

“Ginny you need to trust Harry more. He loves you. But, if you want to keep an eye on him you could always talk to Madame Pomfrey and be her assistant. I’ll look after Sirius.” Ginny nodded.

“I’ll think about it… in fact no I won’t; I’ve been a housewife too long! I’ll send her an owl now!”

***

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

“Yes! Uncle Ron told me about it.”

“Are you sure Uncle George will be there?”

“Yes!”

“Are you-?”

“YES!” Jamie snapped at his sister.

“Sorry.” The pair climbed out of the trapdoor.

“Wow…” It was even better than they imagined. The whole shop seemed to be made out of sweets. Sherbet and toffee, vanilla and peppermint, chewy and hard boiled, sweet and sour, chocolates and sweets lined the colourful walls.

“Uncle Georges shop is just down the road…” said Jamie faintly. They could hear someone coming and, with difficulty, tore their eyes away from the sweets.

They made their way down the cobbled street looking for what used to be Zonko’s, before it ran out of business and became yet another branch of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Autumn leaves carpeted the street in varying shades of golden-brown. It was strangely quiet, even for this time of night, except for the few witches and wizards shuffling along to The Three Broomsticks for a late meal.

“Jamie, look,” Lillian said, pointing at a newspaper on a bench. Jamie picked it up and frowned at the front covers picture and headline. There was a picture of his father in the pet shop pulling Lillian and Sirius, with Jamie close behind. Jamie walked over to the light of a nearby lamp and the two read it together.

Harry Potter spotted in Diagon Alley!

The Chosen One was recently spotted in Diagon Alley with his three young children, two of which are to attend Hogwarts this year. Secretive as ever, Mr Potter fled the scene when the children were recognised �“ but why? Mr Potter has always shown dislike to large crowds and journalists. Healer Warble claims he may know the answer.

“It’s probably has something to do with the awful things that happened after the final battle. When Bellatrix Lestrange decided to-”

Lillian threw the paper down in disgust. She didn’t want to read anymore.

“Can we go to the shop now?” She snapped at her brother, her breath making a column of steam in front of her. He nodded and they continued their walk through the cool darkness of night.

“Lily?” asked Jamie quietly.

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you tell Lottie what happened to Dad?” There was a short, stony silence.

“She’ll find out herself, it’d be hard for her not to wouldn’t it? Matt’s probably already told her, come to think of it.”

“But why didn’t you tell her on the train?” Jamie was still quiet.

“I…I don’t like talking about it.” Jamie felt an angry flame jump up from inside him and sear his throat.

“But you don’t mind telling everybody about Voldemorts resurrection?”

“That’s different!”

“How? Dad was scared just as much! But you seem to like to tell every one that he was never scared and that he had a choice in the matter �“ THAT HE WANTED TO FIGHT! HE DIDN’T! He never wanted any of that!
You seem to think it’s like those godforsaken fairy tales, where the brave prince slays dragons and ogres to get a princess, and then they all live happily ever after! But in those stories you know that good will triumph over evil because the villain is always stupid or vain or has some massive weakness! ”

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Lillian was crying again. She had always thought that she was tough �“ that she never cried. Admittedly, she did take pain well, but when it came to words…

“I… I just… I don’t know… I know he didn’t want any of that and that is why I never exaggerate Voldemorts resurrection or Sirius’ death or the prophecy or Dumbledore’s death…and I certainly don’t exaggerate the Final Battle or… what happened after. I don’t know why I make bits up to make it seem more exciting, I just do. I like to pretend that I’m off with them, off searching for a Horcrux or battling Dementors. But I always tell the truth about the times when people died.”

“But you exaggerate all the other stories that Uncle Ron tells you.” Lillian smiled slightly.

“Yeah, but Uncle Ron exaggerates too. I can never get Dad to tell them but Uncle seems to enjoy all the attention. I think that’s where I get it from.”

“Will you promise not to exaggerate anymore? Lily, please?” Jamie asked. Lillian nodded.

“I promise.”

***

A cloaked figure made its way down the marble stairs into the Entrance Hall. It had just put its hand on the door when Tonks came bursting in, her wand raised.

“Easy, Tonks. It’s me.” Harry lowered his hood.

“Wotcher,” she said warily, “sorry Harry, but really, rather stupid to be walking around here with your hood up, isn’t it?” Harry smiled and muttered something about old habits dying hard.

“Where are you going this time of night anyway?” Harry hesitated, but decided he’d better tell her.

“I’m going to the cemetery where D-…where he’s buried. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and I just need to collect my thoughts. I wanted to go at night because then I won’t be missed or followed by reporters.” Tonks nodded.

“Do what you have to do,” She said, “It might be easier if you use Floo though �“ save the walk to Hogsmead, eh?” Harry nodded and took a pinch of the glistening powder that Tonks was holding out to him.

If only Harry had walked down and Apparated, if only he’d denied the offer of Floo powder, if only Tonks hadn’t of found him, a life might have been saved.

Harry walked through the graveyard. Even though it was pitch black, he knew exactly where to go. He finally stopped and knelt down at a black marble slab, with some gold writing.

One day we’ll understand
what made you see
the goodness
inside you.
Thank you, Draco Malfoy.

Harry didn’t bother reading the dates. He knew them off by heart. He could never forget that day.

“Please do not kill him my Lord!” Voldemort stared at Draco with disbelieving eyes. Draco was standing in between Voldemort and Harry, who was also disbelieving.

“You foolish boy! You dare betray me when I’m about to become all powerful? You shall pay for it later…” And with that, Voldemort flicked his wand. Draco soared ten meters into the air and slammed into a tree, where ropes magically tied him to the tree, like snakes. He fought against them in vain, before giving up and watching Harry and Voldemort begin their duel.

“Hello, Draco,” Harry said, weakly. He traced the golden letters with his finger, reading and re-reading the inscription by the faint light his wand produced. An owl hooted somewhere. The wind rustled the tree leaves. A dog was howling in the village nearby. All these sounds didn’t matter to Harry. He could hear them, but only distantly, as if heard through a closed door. He could hear the screams from his past much louder.

Bellatrix laughed as she watched Snape torture Draco. She laughed even harder as Greyback levitated Harry several meters into the air and dropped him. Greyback gave a cackle as he heard Harry’s leg break.

“Stop, Greyback!” She said, grinning. “I want my fun! Crucio!” She lifted the curse several minutes after casting it. Harry looked at her, a defiant look in his eyes.

“What do you want?” He asked, his voice hoarse, blood trickling down from his head into his eyes. Bellatrix laughed again.

“I want revenge for killing my master…and I intend to get it…Sectumsempra!”

“Funny isn’t it?” Harry said to the grave. “How something that happened so long ago can affect you so much…I still get nightmares. When the children found out they got even worse… I wonder if it had been different… if you’d have managed to hang on a little while longer… what the world would have thought of you… would it have mattered that you were a Death Eater? Probably. Some Ministry prat would have tried to have you arrested. Someone like Umbridge. Or Percy.

But it seems that because you died that day, you were innocent �“ they’ve even put up a memorial for you, in Hogwarts. Well, in the grounds anyway.” Harry’s fingers were still tracing the words in the stone.

Harry could no longer fight them off. He had broken most of his ribs, a large gash across his chest meant that he had lost a lot of blood and every time he tried to breathe in, a searing pain erupted in the right side of his chest. He managed to catch Draco’s eye in one of those rare moments that neither of them were being tortured. ‘Pretend to be dead.’ He used his occlumency skills to send the message over and over again until he heard Draco’s voice in his head.

‘Will do, Harry.’ Harry watched Draco fall to the earth with a thunk. He saw Snape kick Draco over and stare at his unblinking grey eyes.

“Dead.” All the Death Eaters laughed and continued to hurt Harry for another few minutes before he too, faked dead.

“Do you remember when we faked dead? We kept sending messages to each other with occlumency to make sure that we were both alive,” Harry said with a small, sad smile. “And I was desperately trying not to breathe too loudly �“ because, whenever I did, I sort of… gasped. I needn’t have bothered. They were all too drunk and laughing too loud to notice.

They didn’t go away for ages… and all that kept me alive was thinking of the people that loved me and being with them, without Voldemort hanging over our heads like a naked sword.

“But you, you didn’t have anybody to picture. Your parents were dead and never really cared for you anyway. All of your friends had turned against you when they found out you were the reason Dumbledore died. You had no one.”

Finally, the Death Eaters left. Harry listened, to make sure they were all gone.
CRACK, one, CRACK, two, CRACK, three, CRACK, four, CRACK, five. They were gone. Harry dragged himself over to Draco, leaving a trail of what precious blood he had left.

“What…made you…change sides?” Harry gasped - the pain in his chest unbearable. Draco looked at him and shrugged.

“It was the decent thing to do. I’ve seen a lot of people die. I wouldn’t have joined the Death Eaters in the first place if it weren’t for my father. But he’s dead now. Where’s your wand? Mine’s useless �“ it snapped. Unless, of course, you have enough magical power to Apparate us both to St. Mungo’s? I bloody haven’t.” Draco seemed uninjured, there was no blood, he could talk easily…but Harry could see in his eyes that there were many internal injuries.

“I…I think I drop…dropped it…over there.” Harry dragged himself over to the wand and summoned up the last drops of his magic to produce a silvery stag, which galloped off into the distance. Draco crawled over and flopped down next to him, his energy too, all but lost.

“What was that?”

“It’s the Orders… way of… com…communicating �“ I…I sent it to Ron…”

“How quick is it?”

Harry shrugged. They lay there for a while, neither having the energy to speak. Soon, darkness consumed Harry.

The sky was now casting a warm orange glow over the graveyard and birds were beginning to sing their first song of the day.

“I thought that you would survive. Your injuries seemed…well… non-existent. I was told later that, because they took pleasure in seeing me bleed, in seeing several of bones my bones break, that they didn’t use the cruciatus curse on me as much as they did you. I had a punctured lung, five broken ribs and several other injures but you…

“You were just tortured. They told me that even if you had managed to survive, you would have been like the Longbottom’s. Maybe even worse. Apparently you would’ve fallen into insanity slowly, that’s why you could talk to me.”

“Harry, Harry…”a gentle voice said soothingly in his ear. Harry opened his eyes. He was lying in a forest, with tall, silver trees and the peaceful sounds of birds and rushing water. He was on a soft carpet of thick, green grass and fallen tree leaves of more shades of golden brown than he could name. Droplets of water hung in the srubs, bushes and grass like glistening diamonds. He sat up and, looking down, saw that he was wearing white robes.

“Harry.” He looked straight ahead and saw his mother and father smiling at him. Just behind them were Sirius, Dumbledore, Cedric, Neville, Luna and Charlie Weasley. His mother stretched out her hand to him. He gaped at his loved ones, but before he could react-
“HARRY!” His eyes snapped open and he found himself staring into Ron’s face.

“Stay awake, Harry �“ I’m taking you to St. Mungo’s.”

“No…wait.” He turned his head slowly; the pain was unbearable, but he didn’t know where it was coming from. He could see Draco’s pale form lying next to him, his eyes closed, his face showing no emotion.

Harry lifted an aching arm with difficulty and shook Draco’s shoulder. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Ron’s voice was very distant, and Harry could hear his own raspy breaths loud and clear.

Draco’s shoulder was very cold.

“Wake up,” he whispered hoarsely. It was the loudest that he could manage with his throat parched of water.

“Wake…up! Ron’s here! It’s… okay now… wake up…”

“Leave him, Harry! You’re dying! I need to get you to hospital!” Ron’s words seemed so trivial �“ so unimportant. If they were important they’d be louder, wouldn’t they? Wait. What was he thinking!? He couldn’t leave Ron! Or Ginny or Hermione or Lupin! He had to fight. But he was so tired…

He could hear the rushing water again… he felt a very strange sensation, as though he was being squeezed down a rubber tube. He didn’t like it…he could hear his mother’s voice…and lots of shouting…he was on a bed being pushed down a corridor…the lights overhead were very bright…they hurt his eyes…

“Stay with me, Harry!” That was an unfamiliar voice �“ what if it was a Death Eater? Panic swept through him and everything went black.

“Goodbye, Draco.”

Jamie and Lillian entered the colourful joke shop. Normally packed full with Hogwarts students, the silence inside made it very creepy. Lillian shuddered.

“Are you scared?” asked Jamie, smirking.

“No! Of course I’m not. I’m just…cold. What, are you?”

“Why should I be? I’m in a joke shop! Maybe you’re just scared that Greyback will come and eat you!” Jamie bared his teeth and made his hands like claws.

“I’m not scared!”

“And your bones will crunch and-” He stopped as both he and Lillian heard somebody in the dark room behind the counter. Jamie felt his pulse quicken �“ what if it was Greyback? Suddenly the story he was planning on telling his sister sounded terrifying.

“Who’s that? Come out!” A red haired man came out, his wand raised; fear carved into his face. He had what would be a handsome face, if it had not been for the sickning scar across his left cheek, a souvenir of a battle against Snape �“ he was trying to protect his older brother, Charlie, who was badly injured. He lost that battle. He was knocked unconscious before Charlie could get away.

“Uncle George! You frightened me! How did you know that we were here?” asked Lillian, her brow furrowed.

“The alarm went off when you opened the door. What are you two doing here? You should be up at the school; if your dad catches you I’m dead.”

“Not scared of my Dad are you?” said Jamie, an amused smile playing on his lips.

“It’s not your Dad that I’m worried about; I just don’t want to be on the receiving end of one of your Mothers hexes. But you didn’t answer my question �“ What are you doing here?” Lillian sighed at here brother and launched into an explanation of the competition.

“You’re both idiots,” said George, bluntly.

“Why?”

“She’s a Slytherin �“ she’ll cheat. She’s probably bribed Peeves.”

“She seemed as surprised as us when she saw Peeves.” George rolled his eyes.

“Ever heard of acting?”

“Please, Uncle. Just help us. We only need a few large prank items; just enough to impress Peeves.”

George frowned at them both for a minute, then finally muttered, “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” and led them into the back room.

He rummaged around in a few cardboard boxes before pulling out a small plastic packet filled with what looked like foam animals.

“These are our new invention �“ we haven’t got a name for them yet, so that’s why we’re not selling them at the moment, but they work.”

“What do they do?” George smirked.

“One drop of water and the foam animal will grow into a herd of that animal. For instance, this one is an elephant. So all you do is put a bit of water on the foam animal and ten elephants will grow for up to three days. If any teachers try to vanish them the entire group doubles and various other stuff happens if you try to stun them, transfigure them…”

“Wow… what other animals are there?” asked Lillian, her bright green eyes wide.

“Mostly African Savannah animals; Zebra, Giraffes, Antelope and loads of others.”

“They won’t hurt anyone will they?” asked Jamie suspiciously. George shook his head.

“I swear they won’t hurt anybody. Just give them a bit of a fright.” Lillian smiled maliciously.

“We’ll take them. What other pranks have you got?”

***

Jamie sat at the Gryffindor table the next morning, yawning widely through his breakfast. He stuck his fork at a sausage. The fork went straight through and hit the plate. He frowned and tried again. The same thing happened. No matter what food he tried to eat, his cutlery went straight through it. He looked up and down the table and saw that the exact same thing was happening to every other Gryffindor. He flicked his head round to the Slytherin and, sure enough, there was Sabriel, laughing loudly with all the other Slytherins.

“Oooh, you’ll need a good one to counter that!” Peeves was hovering right above him.

“So that was Sabriel was it?” asked Jamie, coolly. Peeves nodded, a large grin plastered across his face.

“Don’t worry, Peeves, my friend; that joke is tiny compared to what we’ve got coming up tonight. Be in the Defence block at sunset.” Peeves floated away merrily, tossing handfuls of chilli powder into people’s food as he went.

“I really don’t think you should go through with this, Jamie.”

Jamie swivelled round to see a frowning Lottie, her arms folded across her chest.

“You were okay with this bet yesterday.” She blushed a little and unfolded her arms. She placed both hands on her hips, in such a threatening manner that Jamie was forcibly reminded of his Grandmother.

“Yes, I’ll admit that I was. I don’t like that cow any more than you do. But this trick is going too far; people could get hurt.” Jamie shook his head.

“My Uncle promised us that that wouldn’t happen.”

“If you get caught you could be expelled!” Lottie exclaimed desperately, searching for any reason why Jamie shouldn’t do this.

“You’re just like my Aunt,” muttered Jamie.

***

Harry walked into an empty classroom. His feet aching from walking many miles around the school, he sat on a desk and swung his legs backwards and forwards, trying to get feeling back in them. He sighed heavily. The trip to the graveyard had shaken him and he was missing Ginny and Sirius badly.

A rhino ambled past the doorway and Harry could hear a nightingale singing- wait…rhino? He jumped off the desk and stuck his head out the door. He quickly withdrew it as several hundred safari animals raced down the corridor, creating a chorus of bleating, braying and snorting. A large buffalo trotted into the classroom, it looked like it was going to run into Harry, he raised his arms and cried in alarm, his feet seemed like they were stuck to the ground, and, at the very last moment, it swerved away from him and carried on running down the hall. Harry followed.

The ground was shaking under his feet as hundreds of hooves pounded the floor, students were shrieking in alarm and flattening themselves against walls, or ducking into classrooms.

The massive herd sprinted into the Great Hall and proceeded to swarm around the hall, knocking over suits of armour and ripping paintings with their various horns and tusks. Harry was soon joined by the rest of the staff and several students, most of which were bent over double from laughing.

McGonagall walked calmly over to Harry, a slight smirk on her face. He knew she was thinking of Umbridge.

“We can’t vanish them; I’ve tried it on an elephant. Its group doubled.”

“And when I tried to stun a gazelle it multiplied by ten,” said Kingsly, now joining them on Harry’s right side.

“I tried to transfigure a zebra into a rock and it just got bigger,” said Tonks, gloomily.

“It’s a Fred and George product. It’s got to be. Someone floo them so we can get rid of all these animals,” said Harry. Tonks ran off to the large fireplace in the Entrance Hall. He tangled his hands in his ebony black hair, watching a hippo yawning widely.

“Harry! Harry!” His head whipped round at the sound of Ginny’s voice.

“G-Ginny? What are you doing here?” He stuttered, disbelievingly. She was dressed in pale blue robes with a snow white apron tied round her waist. She ran up to him and flung her arms around his neck.

“I got a job helping Madame Pomfrey! I’m now assistant matron! Isn’t it great?” She exclaimed, a wide grin on her face.

“It is! But who’s looking after Sirius?”

“Oh, I left him at home; he’s old enough to look after himself and there’s plenty of food in the larder.”

“Ginny!”

“I’m joking!” She laughed at Harry’s shocked expression, “I wouldn’t leave him alone. He’s with Hermione and Ron and I- er… what’s going on?” She asked, suddenly noticing the few hundred animals roaming the Hall (With Harry in her sights she hadn’t paid attention to the surroundings).

“Oh…er… your brothers,” Harry stated. Ginny nodded as if that explained everything.

“Ah. I see. Well, I have to go down to the hospital wing, hope you manage to sort everything out,” she said, her eyes twinkling. She gave him a quick kiss and hurried off, suddenly aware of how many teenage girls were glaring at her enviously.

***

Jamie and Lillian shook with mirth at the sight of Filch racing down the corridor, screaming loudly as an elephant plodded after him. Peeves cackled above them, holding a little red notebook and a quill. Lestrange sauntered over.

“I suppose that was you?” Jamie grinned cockily.

“Why yes, that was one of our smaller pranks.” Lestrange scowled.

“And how do you make them disappear?”

“Ah, that’s the beauty of it! They don’t! They last for three days.” Lillian replied smiling pleasantly. At this Peeves practically exploded into peals of laughter.

***

“Go on! I dare you!”

“Get lost, Harvey!”

“You wimp, Jake!” Harvey teased. Harvey was fourteen and had bright blue eyes. His fair hair shone in the sunlight as he stood on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest with his dark haired friend.

“I am not a wimp,” scowled Jake, and he marched into the forest. After three meters or so, he stopped and turned promptly to give Harvey a smug grin. Harvey grinned cockily back and ran a meter further than Jake, and so the game began. They went further and further into the darkness until Harvey suddenly stopped. Staring at a nearby thorn bush.

“What’re you staring at?” asked Jake. He moved forward, looked, screamed and ran. Harvey could feel his breaths becoming quicker and quicker as his fear increased, he wanted to run but his feet seemed rooted to the ground, he wanted to tear his eyes away from those blank, blue eyes of a man dressed in Ministry robes.

“Why me?”

“You saw a body when you were fourteen! You know what it’s like!”

“But why me?!”

“Just do it, Harry!” Tonks hissed as she pushed him towards the boys. They were in the Headmistress’ office, a two shaking boys sat on chairs on the other side of the desk, one staring out the window with a blank expression, the other glancing nervously around the circular room, biting his nails. Harry approached them, fully aware of Tonks, Krum, Kingsley, Scrimgeour, McGonagall, Cho and a solemn looking Auror all closely watching them. He knelt down, so his face was level with theirs, even though it made no difference; they wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“Harvey? Jake? I need you tell me what happened.” The boys remained silent, Harvey breathing heavily, Jake whimpering slightly. Harry sighed quietly.

“Please, we need to know what happened.”

“Can’t we just tell you in the morning? Can’t you let us sleep first?” asked Harvey, still staring out the window. Harry shook his head.

“You’d best get it over with and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” They still kept quiet. Harvey gave the large group watching an uneasy glance.

“Can I talk to the boys alone for a while?” Harry asked the others. Everyone nodded and began to make their way out of the room, apart from Scrimgeour.

“Mr. Potter, this is a murder-”

Jake gave a small shuddering gasp.

“Minister, please!” Harry interrupted, struggling to keep his voice steady.

The minister looked indignant for a moment before turning sharply and marching out the room. The room was silent except for Harvey’s deep breaths.

“We’re alone now. Please tell me exactly what happened down there.”

“Where do we start?” asked Jake, his voice shaky.

“How about this. Why don’t you tell me what you were doing in the forest? I promise you won’t get in trouble.” Still, the boys refused to speak.

“Did you hear, or see something strange down there?”

“It was just a game,” answered Harvey, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“A game?” Harvey nodded, still looking out the window, towards the forest.

“To see who dared go the furthest in. We’d heard rumours that there were dragons in there.” Harry nodded.

“And then you found him? How did you know he was there?”

“I saw the colour of his robes through the thorns… and I looked closer and… his eyes… Merlin, his eyes…”

Cedric’s grey eyes, blank staring… Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes, dull and dead… Neville’s warm, brown eyes, cold… Luna’s closed… Charlie’s…

“You’ve both shown unbelievable bravery tonight. I don’t want you to go to your dorms; you will both sleep in the hospital wing. I don’t want you to talk to people about it until you’re ready, but when you are ready, you will find that talking about it helps immensely.” Harry squeezed their shoulders and helped them both to their feet. Harvey swayed a little. Harry led them out of the door where everyone he had sent out was waiting.

“Cho, could you take these two boys down the hospital wing, they need a warm meal and a good sleep.”

“Sure,” she replied, “C’mon you two.” Harry turned to his colleagues.

“Come in and I’ll explain.”

***

“What’s going on?”

“What do you think happened?”

“I bet it’s Death Eaters �“ they always ruin everything.”

The Gryffindor common room was buzzing with questions and theories. There were several rumours of a fierce battle, of dragons and giants, Dementors and vampires and, bizarrely, fanged cabbages.

Everyone fell silent as the portrait door swung open and Harry Potter stepped into the common room, looking unusually stressed out. He addressed them in such a formal tone of voice, that Jamie couldn’t help but grip the arm of his chair with panic.

“I regret to inform you that a body was found in the Dark Forest earlier this afternoon. Post- mortal examinations have taken place and the cause of death has been confirmed as Avada Kedavra. The estimated time of death was late last night.

"The villagers of Hogsmead have claimed to have seen two young Hogwarts students last night in the village. I urge them to come forward; especially if they have any information regarding the death of the man found in the forest.

“The Headmistress has put into effect these new rules for your own safety; there shall be no Quidditch practices without a defender or teacher supervising. There shall be no more trips to Hogsmead. No one is to go near the school gates, lake, forest or the perimeter of Hogwarts. If anyone is seen to be acting suspiciously contact a member of staff. If Death Eaters are seen a siren will sound. When the siren is heard please proceed immediately to the Great Hall. No exceptions. There may be practice runs. All students must be in their common rooms or dormitory’s by seven o’clock. This time may go down as it gets darker. Anyone found breaking these rules will be punished severely.” And he left, leaving the room in a stunned silence. As the buzz of conversation steadily grew so loud that there was no chance of being overheard, Lillian looked at Jamie, Lottie and Matt.

“Merlin… we’re those two students, Jamie!”

***

Ginny fetched two bottles of dreamless sleep potion from the store cupboard. She felt uttermost sympathy for those two boys. And for the ministry worker, of course.

But, really, those rules, while important, weren’t going to reassure the children! She remembered being told the same rules in her sixth year; she remembered how it had struck fear into everyone’s hearts. She brushed a tear away impatiently and sighed. She remembered McGonagall coming into her charms class as well.

“I’m sorry, Professor Flitwick, may I speak to Ginerva Weasley please?” Flitwick nodded and whispers followed Ginny out of the classroom and she walked out, confused. McGonagall looked… hesitant; as if she didn’t want to be here.

“Why don’t we go up to my office, Ginny? There are something’s you ought to know.” Ginny started, she couldn’t remember McGonagall ever calling her by her first name before.

“I’m fine here, Professor.” McGonagall nodded, and Ginny could have sworn that there were tears in her eyes.

“I’m afraid, Ginny, that this morning your brother woke to find a note on Harry’s pillow… it seems that he’s gone to-”

“He’s gone to kill Voldemort, hasn’t he?” Ginny’s eyes were blazing, and she could feel a lump rising in her throat. McGonagall nodded and this time there was no mistaking it, she was crying. Ginny gave one slow nod and walked away.

“Ginny!”

“I’m going to see Ron and Hermione!” She shouted over her shoulder, struggling to keep her voice steady.

Ginny sighed again �“ that was over now. Harry was fine and she should stop dwelling on the past. But all the while a horrible voice muttered in her head, sniggering as she shivered at her mind’s words.

It’s happening again! People are dying �“ and you’re powerless to stop it!

BODY FOUND IN HOGWARTS

ARE OUR CHILDREN SAFE?


Yesterday two innocent children made a discovery that will haunt them forever, writes Rita Skeeta, Daily Prophet reporter. The body of forty-three-year-old Darren Brown was found, partly hidden amongst the thorns. According to reports Darren worked in level nine as an unspeakable, and was seen racing through the Ministry just two days ago. Rumours suggest that he needed to speak to Harry Potter, who, despite currently living at Hogwarts, was unable to save this ministry worker, who appears to have been mauled by some unknown dark creature.

Scattered reports even suggest that Harry Potter was not there at the time. Can we trust him with our children if he will not even stay one night?

Security has been tightened at the school, in fact, it is almost as tight as it was during You-Know-Who’s reign. Is the war returning? Mrs Wilson believes that her fourteen-year-old son is in danger.

“Harry-ruddy-Potter didn’t help that poor Ministry chap, did he? Now my baby is in danger because Harry Potter and the rest of those so called ‘guardians’ wouldn’t bother to go and investigate the screams heard from the village-

Harry threw the paper in the flames of the fire with disgust. “Screams heard from the village”. Trust Rita Skeeter. He slipped his hands under his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily. He was sitting on the edge of his four poster, double bed, in his room; it was just like the Gryffindor boys dorms, except for the fact that he had is own kitchen, bathroom and living room.

He felt two hands on his shoulders, and Ginny’s voice saying,

“You look stressed.”

“I am.”

“Why? They’ll catch whoever did it.”

“‘They’? Who are ‘they’? I have to catch whoever did it; It’s my responsibility.” He sighed, opened his eyes and turned to face Ginny. He gazed up into her almond-shaped eyes and said softly, “This was meant to stop when I killed Voldemort.”

“I know. But some fires can’t be put out.”

***

“We have to tell Dad it was us in the village,” stated Jamie, stubbornly.

“No way! He’ll ground us for the rest of our lives, then, when we die, he’ll bring us back as ghosts and ground us some more,” said Lillian, her eyes blazing. “Plus,” she continued, “Uncle George will get into trouble and we’ll have to forfeit the bet-”

“THE BET?!?! WHO CARES ABOUT A BLOODY BET?!” Jamie suddenly realised that everybody in the common room was watching them curiously, he lowed his voice, slightly embarrassed. “A man has been killed!” He hissed, “We could be next! We can’t risk sneaking into Hogsmead. It’s too dangerous. I’m telling Dad.”

“No! You can’t! Please, we have enough tricks to last us a while �“ Dad doesn’t need to know. I won’t go into Hogsmead again, I promise.” She gave him puppy dog eyes and he gave her a calculating look before standing up.

“Sod it all, I won’t tell anyone but I’m not having anything more to do with this stupid bet, okay?” And with that, he turned and marched up to the dormitories, slamming the door behind him.

***

The next morning brought a crisp, chilly air as autumn slowly started to turn into what was looking to be a very cold winter. The frost crunched under Harry’s feet as he made his way to the Forbidden Forest, where around thirty Ministry workers were just visible through the towering trees.

“Hey, Harry! Over here �“ you should come and look at this.” A familiar redhead was waving over at Harry.

“Hello, Ron �“ What have you found?” Ron led Harry into the forest, where a small section had been taped off. They both ducked under the tape and made their way to were several Aurors were crouching.

“It’s some rope that exactly fits the cuts found on Darren’s wrists. This was found on it.” Ron held up a clear plastic bag were Harry could just see a thin, black hair. Harry took it and looked closely.

“Can you get DNA from it?” Ron gave him a blank stare.

“DN what? Oh, you mean that thing that muggles use. Probably, but it wouldn’t help; wizards don’t keep records of peoples blood types.” Harry handed back the bag and looked around at the Aurors examining the area; he was starting to think he’d been cast into some sort of Muggle murder mystery drama, the sort his Aunt used to watch.

He bent down and studied the rope; it wasn’t very enlightening �“ just average rope. He stood up and turned to Ron.

“Have Tonks and Kingsley been down here?” Ron nodded; his face unusually serious.

“Yeah, they have, but they’ve both gone and taken the body to that dungeon that was never used �“ remember the one? Anyway, that’s where they’re keeping the body until they know where to bury it �“ apparently he only has a very old, forgetful mother and a squib sister so it was pretty damn hard to find a next of kin.”

“What about Krum?”

“Nah, he hasn’t been down yet. Apparently, the Slytherins weren’t happy about the curfews and rules and stuff, he’s been up all night trying to stop rule breakers and is now getting some well earned sleep!” Harry chuckled before making his way back up to the castle with Ron. The conversation soon strayed off Darren.

“So how’s my youngest?” Ron rolled his eyes in a very Hermione-ish way.

“Oh, he’s fine; Hermione’s spoiling him rotten, she says that she likes having a kid around all day again. Poor kid must’ve eaten about six tubs of chocolate spread. Mind you he’s not complaining about it.” Harry laughed again, before realising something.

“What does Hermione do with him when she’s at work?” Ron grinned at Harry’s worried expression.

“Sometimes he goes to my mums and sometimes when I have a day off I look after him. I think he’s a bit lonely though �“ he misses his Mum, Dad, brother and sister, I think.” Harry sighed, he hated to leave Sirius alone like this; he’d make it up to him at Christmas.

“I need to speak to the Minister later,” said Harry after a few moments of silence, “If I’m honest, I’m dreading it �“ it’s going to mean keeping my temper, which you know I can’t do very easily.”

“Why are you going to lose your temper with him?”

“I found out last night that this is the seventh death in the past four months, and nearly all were unspeakables. The Minister’s hushed it all up. He should have told me before I came here �“ then I would’ve been more alert and not gone running off t-” Harry stopped abruptly, not looking at Ron.

“You were away that night! Where were you?” Harry hesitated but decided to tell him. Ron had been his friend for years and had always been on his side.

“Ah, and have the nightmares stopped?” Ron asked, after Harry explained.

“Well, I dunno,” said Harry, feeling a slight twinge of annoyance, “It’s only been one night, although I didn’t have one last night so I hope so. Still though, I’ve got to explain that to the Minister now haven’t I? I don’t think he’ll be as understanding,” he ended, grimly.

“Are you alright? You look pale, Harry,” asked Ginny. And, indeed, he did look pale. A look of worry was etched into his face and when he’d come into the room he’d slammed the door shut with such force that Ginny was surprised it didn’t fall off its hinges.





“I just had to talk to the Minister. I think I may lose my job,” Harry muttered, flopping down on the sofa in the living area. He stared into the crackling flames, watching a lump of wood that, in his eyes, looked remarkably like the Minister. He had great enjoyment at watching it burn for a few seconds, before feeling two hands on his shoulders.





“It didn’t go well then?” He sighed.





“Well, you know the Horntail I had to fight?”





“Yes.”





“Talking to the Minister was scarier.” Ginny laughed softly and moved around the sofa to look him in the face.





“You won’t be fired �“ you’re Harry Potter! He has to stay on your good side, remember?” He smiled weakly.





“Well, the tables have turned again �“ did you read that article Rita Skeeta wrote?”





“Oh, nobody will take that seriously!”





“Won’t they? I dunno �“ I don’t mind what the public thinks of me really but…” Harry sighed again and ran his hands through his hair. “I wouldn’t have agreed to do this if a war was breaking out.”





“You think there is going to be another war then?” asked Ginny, quietly.





“Well, the Minister’s been hiding something; Darren wasn’t the first Unspeakable to be murdered. And, I found out a moment ago that loads of people have seen Death Eaters �“ but have either been paid off or had their memories modified. It seems very strange for Scrimgeour to do that; he’s acting like Fudge.


Apparently the whispers are getting louder as well.”





“Whispers?”





“You know �“ those whispers that I could hear through the veil at the Department of Mysteries. The Minister said I could hear them then was because I’d seen Cedric die �“ but loads of people have seen death now so everyone’s noticed the whispers growing louder. Apparently you can hear them faintly from level seven.” Ginny gaped at him for a while.





“Wow… what are the whispers saying?” Harry shrugged.





“No one knows �“ it doesn’t seem to be in any language; they’ve tried English, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Manderin, Arabic �“ the list goes on forever! But no one knows.”





***





Jamie was feeling increasingly grumpy for the next couple of days; everywhere he went there were signs of the raging competition between his sister and Sabriel. Sabriel made the Gryffindor robes polka-dot green and silver, so Lillian made the Slytherins robes a bright, luminous pink. Sabriel made cockroaches and maggots appear all over the Gryffindors food, so Lillian filled the Slytherin common room with hundreds of blue bubbles the size of beach balls that refused to pop for two weeks.





Jamie kept up a strong silent treatment on his sister and refused to laugh along with the other Gryffindors when he heard about the tricks played on the Slytherins.





Christmas was fast approaching and Jamie felt a longing to go home and see his younger brother; to have the entire family together. He felt like his routine had been muddled up, or that he was in a foreign country, where no one spoke English. The Potters had always been a tight-knit family but now both parents were too busy to check on him and he was several hundred miles away from his brother.


He was sitting in the library, doing his transfiguration homework without much enthusiasm. Feeling incredibly lonely (Lillian, Matt and Lottie were off preparing another prank) he headed up to the common room, hoping to see Melissa or another one of his many cousins.





“Wotcher, Jamie!” Danny Lupin, a spunky fifteen-year-old with bright red, spiky hair and a back pack with so many Muggle safety pins attached, that it could be used as a lethal weapon. His father, Remus Lupin, did try to control his rebellious teenage son, but it rarely worked. Despite his rather intimidating appearance, Danny was a nice young man, very funny and, although he tried to hide it, caring.





“Hey, Danny �“ I was just heading to the Gryffindor common room.” Danny snorted.





“Gryffindors �“ have you seen the mortality rate? Just kidding �“ but seriously Ravenclaw is way better; you should all worship us.” Jamie rolled his eyes and grinned.





“Whatever, Danny. Where were you going?”





“To see your Dad �“ find out what the hell is going on. I mean, the newspapers are saying that Scrimgeour has assured the public that there is no war breaking out and that this murder was a one off, but then we’re given exactly the same rules for our safety as students were after Dumbledore’s death. Confusing, huh? That’s why I want to see your Dad; he’ll know.”





“I’ll come with you �“ I could do with an explanation too.”





***





Issy yawned. She hadn’t been sleeping well. She and Darren had been… close. Though no one knew it; if her husband found out…





“Eh tetag lli web denepo nehw eh tneves nio j rehtegot otth gif eh tliv e…”





The whispers grew loud as she approached the Department of Mysteries. If only she could figure out what they were saying! If only she could find out what that damn archway was! It had been there for as long as anyone could remember, built by the Anglo-Saxons and covered with a black veil by the invading French some years later. They had built the Ministry around it, and attempted research but everyone who attempted to go through were never seen again.





At first, that was where Issy believed Darren to be, on the other side, whispering messages of his own. But his body had appeared in Hogwarts grounds �“ she didn’t have a bloody clue what he was doing there.





But enough dwelling on theories; she had work to do. She entered through the black door and found herself in an all too familiar room, with spinning doors.





“Show me time,” she said. Immediately, the doors stopped and one burst open. She stepped through it and took out a large blue note book from her backpack. She sat in front of a large hour glass, with an egg in that became a bird, died and reversed back to the beginning. She took down notes and equations, several Latin words but nothing could keep her mind from straying to the veil… and those words…


She saw a dead bird reverse back into an egg and, suddenly, it clicked!





“Of course,” she breathed. Could the words possibly be-?





“I’d keep very still if I were you.” Issy felt a wand to the back of her head, she froze, terrified.





“imperio!"

“Merry Christmas!” The Potters living room was decorated lavishly with tinsel, glitter, fairies, coloured candles (Fred and George’s clever invention) and, best of all, a huge Christmas tree, nearly touching the ceiling that was decorated with gold and silver decorations and sending a sweet scent of pine into the air. But for Sirius the best sight of all was seeing the room packed full of his family. The entire Weasley household was there as was the Lupins and several members of the old order.



The house was chaotic; kids of all ages were racing around, presents were being given, the adults were getting a bit tipsy and Molly Weasley was having great difficulty keeping both adults and children out of the kitchen, where delicious wafts of her cooking could be smelled from every corner of the house.



Jamie had finally given up his silent treatment on Lillian. It was incredibly hard not to talk to his twin sister when they shared all of their classes and were often paired up. However, he point blank refused to join in with any trouble making and when pranks where suggested, started to sulk in a similar fashion to Ron. He spent Christmas Eve up in Sirius’ room with his siblings, Danny, Melissa and the rest of his cousins (Ellie, Lucy, Jack, Billie-Jo, Natasha, Will, Nicolas, Émilie and Alex), filling them in on what his father had said about the war.



“I asked him and he said he couldn’t tell us anymore than we’d already been told… But I kept bugging him and he finally said that he didn’t know, just that weird things were happening. He let slip something about a veil. That’s it really. Nothing else. He said he didn’t dare tell us anymore.”



“Why not?” asked Émilie, absently braiding a strand of her long blonde hair. At seventeen years old, Émilie was slim, tall and very much desired at school. Jamie opened his mouth to answer, but it was Lillian who replied.



“He says that Potters and Weasleys have a knack for attracting trouble, and with both genes we’re bound to be human magnets for it.” Several people nodded and shrugged in agreement.



“What veil d’you think he’s talking about?” Nicolas asked. He was seventeen and son of Charlie and his wife, Katherine, although Charlie had died before Nick was born. Lillian shrugged, picked a comic up off the floor, and began to flick through it idly.



“What a veil?” Billie-Jo was just four years old and was already showing the same inquisitive nature as her father, Fred, and good looks as her mother, Alicia. Although, she still had trouble stringing words together. Natasha, fifteen, explained slowly to Billie-Jo while everyone pondered.



“Hang on,” said Sirius, slowly, “Didn’t Sirius die by falling through a veil?” Seven-year-old Ellie looked at him blankly.



“You’re Sirius.” He rolled his eyes and began to explain.



“Well, I think that we should research this veil then,” said Will. Everyone started at hearing his voice. The son of Percy and Penelope, he was a very quiet fourteen-year-old that preferred reading books to socialising with friends.



“I agree,” said Lucy, his younger sister. Even though she was only nine, she was smart beyond her years.



“What? Reading and stuff?” Danny pulled a face. Will rolled his eyes.



“Yeah �“ the Ministry isn’t doing anything, I think that we should.”



***



“This sucks �“ I should be studying for my OWL’s not some stupid veil. Anyway, I hate reading,” grumbled Danny.



“Aren’t you meant to be a Ravenclaw?” asked Émilie, flicking through a large, dusty, red book with gold writing. Danny scowled.



“Just because I don’t like reading doesn’t mean I’m not clever.” Émilie ignored him and began to read. The group (minus Sirius, Lucy, Billie-Jo and Alex) were in the Hogwarts library, trying to research the veil. The problem was that they didn’t know what they were meant to be researching.



“This is hopeless! Can’t you get anything else out of your dad?” asked Will, slamming another useless book shut. Jamie shook his head.



“Already tried �“ he’s keeping tight lipped about it.” Émilie sighed, shut her book and began to browse the shelves again.



***



“Harry!” Harry whipped round at the sound of his name. Cho Chang was hurrying towards him, carrying several heavy books.



“Yes?” he asked, curiously.



“I was wondering… my fourth years are studying recent magical wars in their History of magic and I thought it would tie in very nicely if they studied the actual fighting part of it in Defence as well as the political side in History, and, well… I don’t know much about it, I didn’t actually fight at all during the war, so I was wondering whether you could please-”



“No way!” said Harry, quickly catching on.



“Oh, please! I wouldn’t usually ask but it’s vital that they know the… well, the nasty side of war.”



“Since when does war have a nasty and a nice side? No way, I not talking about dark things in front of fourteen-year-olds; they shouldn’t need to know about those sorts of things-”



“Don’t worry; you won’t be asked about Horcruxes or anything and it’s just this once, please?” He considered her for a moment.



“No Horcruxes, inferi or Azkaban, okay? I don’t want to go through those memories,” he said, firmly.



“Thank you! It’s period three tomorrow; come at about ten past twelve.” And with that, she ran off, leaving Harry wondering why on earth he was agreeing to this.



***



“Class, today we have a special guest coming. Harry Potter,” The class whispered excitedly, “He’ll be here in ten minutes or so and you may ask him any question as long as they have nothing to do with Horcruxes, inferi or Azkaban. Please do remember that it may be hard for him to relive some of these memories and he may not answer every question. I would like you to take notes on anything you feel relevant as you will be writing essays for me.” The class groaned, but, while they were meant to be reading a book (Dark times, Dark choices, by Hermione J. Granger), kept their eyes firmly on the clock, waiting for ten past twelve.



Harry braced himself and knocked the classroom door, rather dreading going inside. He opened at Cho’s voice and sheepishly shuffled in. She smiled.



“Don’t look so nervous, I’ll leave you with the kid’s; they’ve been told not what to say �“ if you don’t want to answer something then don’t,” she whispered to him. He nodded and she left. He sat down on the teacher’s desk at the front, gazing around at the eager faces of the students, awkwardly.



“Okay, I’ve been told you all want to ask some questions �“ shoot.” The hands stay down and students looked at their friends uncomfortably; no one wanted to be the first to raise their hand. He smiled.



“I won’t bite.” Slowly, the Gryffindors raised their hands, having got used to Harry being around. Soon every student had an arm raised, slightly overwhelmed by the sea of hands Harry said, “I don’t know your names so I’ll just blindly point… um… you, girl at the back.” He pointed to a girl with short brown hair.



“Roxanne, Is it true that you’re a Parselmouth? Only your daughter said-”



“Ah, she’s been spreading that about, has she? I’ll have a word with her. Yes, I am. Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me when I was a baby.”



“Why on earth did he do that?” asked a boy with curly black hair. Harry laughed.



“He didn’t do it intentionally.” Soon everybody’s hands were down and people were just shouting things out in one big class discussion. Unknown to Harry, Will was sitting in the corner and he seized the opportunity.



“Hey, did you know he witnessed his own godfather’s death?” he whispered to the girl next to him. She was called Gabriel and was the school gossip. She gasped.



“Really?” He shrugged.



“That’s what I heard.”



“Is it true that you witnessed your godfather’s death?” she asked loudly. Harry stopped smiling and a distant look appeared on his face.



“Yes, I was fifteen. It happened in the Department of Mysteries. That was when the Ministry finally realised Voldemort was back.”



Will smiled. The Department of Mysteries. That was where the veil was. The Death Eaters wanted to do something with the veil. And that was why Unspeakables were being murdered.





And now they had the name, they could figure out the mystery themselves. He grinned as he thought how proud his father would be when he found out that he, Will, had solved something that not even the top Aurors could. With some help from his cousins, of course.



Perhaps if he’d known how many lives would be lost, how many people would suffer or what the Death Eaters were planning, he wouldn’t have meddled. But he did and he opened floodgates that had been closed since Harry had uttered the killing curse for the first (and hopefully final) time. Over the years water had built up behind these floodgates; anger, hatred, malice, greed and above all a determination to get revenge. Unless he interpreted the words that were whispered from behind the veil quickly, the world would fall into the darkness and despair that Harry and the Order had fought so hard to eliminate.



But, of course, Will didn’t know this. To him, and all of his cousins, it was just a game.

The night was deathly silent and pitch black. Nothing stirred; even the owls could not see, because there was no moonlight to guide them. Not even the wind made a sound as it swept through Little Hangleton’s graveyard.



A small bead of light appeared, softly illuminating the face of a thin young man, cloaked in thick black material, waiting. He was nervous, yet excited at the prospect of finally becoming accepted into the group. He just had to do a small task first. They didn’t trust him, he knew that, but tonight he’d finally be able to get his mask.



He waited. The glowing tip of his wand the only source of comfort in the dark night. He allowed it to grow a little bigger and brighter so he could view his surroundings. Well, he was in a legendry place. The light fell upon a tree, which had once been tall and strong and green, but was now black, burnt, and dead.



That was where the Dark Lord fell. He’d be so pleased if he could hear of what we’re doing for him! The man thought, gloatingly. He smiled a sick, twisted smile. I wonder what’ll happen to Potter. It would be fun to watch him scream, I missed out last time. But I’d make sure that he was truly dead this time before leaving.



He heard footsteps behind him and he twisted around in fear �“ what if it was an Auror? The light soon lit up a pair of dark eyes behind a mask and the man lowered his wand.



“You’re the new recruit they sent?” The man blinked, he’d been told that their leader would meet him there, but he hadn’t expected it to be a woman.



“And why not? Do you believe I’d be weak because of my gender?” she snapped. The man shivered with fear as he realised that she was skilled in Occlumency.



“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” She raised a hand to silence him, her long fingernails painted black.



“Tonight we shall be attacking Hogwarts �“ we shall be looking for these children.” She handed him a slip of parchment with seven names written in dark blue ink. Two he didn’t know but he recognised a few names; Conlon, Lupin and-



“All three Potters?” He hissed in amazement, “They’ll be hard to get, even they don’t know how much protection their father has placed on them.” The woman nodded.



“The Potters are magnets for trouble. It’s just sad that three of the Seven come from one family,” she said with a small laugh. “Two of our members are dealing with the youngest; he’ll be taken in a few days but as for the older two… Just make sure that you don’t use an Unforgivable, jinx, hex or a stunning spell.”



“Then what should I use?”



“I recommend a freezing charm and then… just knock them out with a rock,” she shrugged. He nodded, his steely grey eyes calculating.



“How do we get into Hogwarts?” She smiled.



“The wards are being broken as we speak, however when they are broken a siren will go off, so we won’t have long. We, along with a few others will sneak into the castle while Snape leads a group of around fifty. They will draw the teachers and guardians out and keep them near the lake, so we can get to the children without any problems.” The man nodded. Bella grinned evilly and they both Disapparated.



***



“GET UP! GET UP NOW!” Jamie felt himself being shaken roughly awake and as he opened his dark brown eyes, he found himself looking into the grim face of his father, who looked unusually scared. No sooner than he registered who it was then Harry moved to the next bed and woke Matt up in the same way.



Jamie could hear a siren wailing loudly and he panicked as he realised what it meant; the wards had been broken. By now, Harry’s shouting combined with the siren had woken the dorm up.



“GO STRAIGHT DOWN TO THE GREAT HALL �“ NO DETOURS OR SHORT CUTS! STICK TOGETHER!” The boys all raced down the stairs into the Common room where the last few girls were making their way out through the portrait. There was a small scram to get out, with everyone trying to climb through at the same time but before long Jamie was out and franticly looking for his sister.



“Jamie!” Lillian grabbed her brothers arm, her eyes wide with fear.



“Lily! What’s going on? Is it a drill?” She shrugged helplessly, shaking her head.



“I don’t know! Dad looked really scared and-”



“MOVE! GO! THERE’S NO TIME, GO!” They realised that the rest of their year were already making thier way down the stairs and began to run after them. Jamie looked back in time to see his father going back into the Gryffindor tower to wake the remaining students. But in doing so he’d slowed down and they’d lost their classmates.



“C’mon,” whimpered Lillian in a scared voice, tugging his arm and gesturing towards a tapestry which she knew hid a passageway. He shook his head and tried to tug back.



“It’s a shortcut �“ we’ll get there quicker!”



“Dad said no shortcuts!” He could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest; he was shaking with adrenaline and fear.



“He also said stick together �“ we’ll meet up with the rest of the year if we go this way!” Jamie reluctantly followed her through the tapestry.



***



The last of the seventh years ran out of the common room. Harry was pleased at how quickly he’d got them out, he only hoped none were tempted to leave the castle or take short cuts. He ran down to the Entrance Hall, where Ginny was standing, her wand at the ready.



“I’m guarding in case any Death Eaters come �“ the battle’s going on down by the lake. There’s around thirty Aurors and all the teachers except Slughorn and Trelawney �“ they’re looking after the kids.”



“Tonks, Kingsley, Krum?” Ginny shook her head.



“None have come down yet, but Tonks should be down soon; I saw some sixth years go into the Great Hall about a minute ago.”



“I’ll go with out her then.”



“Don’t get killed.” Harry smiled.



“I’ll try not to; it would be very annoying.” He kissed her and ran into the night.



***



Danny looked out the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the Great Hall, his gaze focused towards the Lake, where flashes of light could be seen.



“Danny! Danny!” He turned, trying to find the person calling his name. He soon saw her, in the shadows beside a suit of armour. She had long black hair and the hand that was waving at him had long fingernails painted black.



“Over here! Quick!” He recognised her from somewhere… still his curiosity got the better of him and he moved towards her, unnoticed by any of the surrounding students.

Harry couldn’t believe his eyes when he got to the lake. Ginny had been right that day in the restaurant. The Death Eaters had been recruiting. There were at least fifty masked Death Eaters, with around twenty un-masked new recruits. With only thirty Aurors and a handful of teachers, they were badly outnumbered.



With pure hatred, Harry saw Snape barking orders to a group of Death Eaters. He wanted desperately to shoot a curse at him. But there were more important things that had to be done..



Harry shot a jinx at a Death Eater who was locked in a duel with Ron. However, this seemed to alert the Death Eaters to his presence and many of them began to focus on Harry; shooting jets of light towards him. But Harry was far too quick and far too experienced. He sent a blasting spell at a group of Death Eaters while backing away to a fallen tree, which the Aurors were using as a shield. He ducked behind it quickly, and began to fire spells over the top. Within a few seconds Ron was next to him.



“About time you got here, there’s so many of them, and most of our Aurors are out of practice.”



“Are there any dead yet?” asked Harry, fearfully. To his relief, Ron shook his head.



“No, but we’ve had a couple of close shaves; I saw one Auror-” But what happened to this Auror Harry never knew because at that moment, an unmasked Death Eater managed to set the shield alight. In a swirling mass of orange flame and thick black smoke Harry ran, blindly, away from the shield, but when he reached clear air, Ron was nowhere to be seen. He surveyed the battle scene as he fought. It was a mass of fire, water and blood, lit by the burning trees and flashes of light from curses, jinx’s and hexes alike.



The Aurors were losing, badly. For some strange reason, the Death Eaters did not advance toward the castle but stayed by the watery depths of the Black Lake, causing as much destruction and pain as possible.



All this to let a few Death Eaters out of Azkaban? No, they’re planning something else… why attack Hogwarts? Why not the Ministry? Why here, when security is at the maximum?



“Harry! Over here!” Ron emerged from the smoke, coughing and spluttering, holding his shirt over his mouth and nose.



“Ron! Are you ok?” Ron nodded grimly.



“A few burns, but otherwise fine. There are three Aurors dead. They ran into a group of Death Eaters in the confusion; they couldn’t see because of the smoke and I- AGH!” Ron stumbled backwards, a deep gash in his side, sent by an unmasked Death Eater. Harry caught him as the Death Eater ran off, and pulled Ron up so he was standing.



“I thought he was an Auror �“ I can’t tell with the new recruits.”



“Here,” said Harry, healing the cut, “that should hold until we can get you medical attention; were in a vulnerable area here though, we’ve got to move.” They ran, jumping over those that were unconscious or injured; although it killed him to do it, there was no time to help them.



They fought on by the edge of the lake, which Harry deemed to be the safest place because of the absence of the fire that seemed to be everywhere else.



How wrong he was.



Harry watched as, around one hundred meters away, Severus Snape, the murderer of Albus Dumbledore, searched the lake’s surface before seeing what he was searching for. A long, pink tentacle of the Giant Squid, just above the surface. He smiled nastily and raised his wand.



“Imperio!”



***



Jamie and Lillian ran along the dark passageway, their slipper clad feet making only the slightest of thuds against the wooden floorboards. They held their wands out in front of them, a small bead of light showing them the way. Jamie touched the wall, feeling the rough stone underneath his fingers.



“Lily, I don’t like this �“ we should turn back.”



“Shut up. You’re just scared, keep moving. Look, I can see the exit.” And, sure enough, they soon found themselves facing the back of a portrait. They pushed it open gently, to find themselves in,



“Where are we?” The strange corridor did have portraits, like all the others, but they had all fled.



“Where are the portraits?”



“Stop asking questions, Jamie. I’m sure the Great Hall is around here somewhere.”



“Then why can’t we hear everyone?”



“I told you to stop asking questions, Ja- Danny!?” They could see Danny coming towards them, at first they were overjoyed; this had to mean the Great Hall was nearby, but as they looked closer, they could see his scared face and his bound hands. And, behind him, was the grinning face that they had seen so many pictures of, Bellatrix Lestrange.



***



The Giant Squid’s tentacles leapt out of the dark water, grabbing anyone it could reach, aside from Death Eaters.



“STAY AWAY FROM THE WATER!” yelled Harry, but in the noise and confusion no one paid any attention. With horror, Harry watched as a thick tentacle rose out of the water and wrapped around Viktor Krum, who screamed and struggled in vain, his wand dropping from his grasp to the ground. Harry and Ron ran forward, sending stunners at the usually gentle creature. But the spells seemed to have little or no affect on the Squid and neither Harry nor Ron could prevent it from pulling Krum down into the lake, never to return.



“He’s gone,” said Harry blankly, beside him Ron nodded, his face, too, blank and unbelieving.



“Ron! Harry! Get away from the water!” Cho Chang grabbed their arms and pulled them away, the three ran up the bank of the lake, Cho in between them. They stopped at the top, away from the dangers of the lake.



“Why is the Giant Squid doing this?” asked Cho.



“Harry and Me saw Snape bewitching it, probably with the Imperius Curse,” replied Ron.



“We’re losing badly; there are so many and-” but before she could answer, she was pulled down to the ground, a tentacle gripping her ankle, she screamed and tried to grab hold of something as the Squid dragged her along the ground toward the icy depths of the lake. Ron and Harry ran after her, reaching for her hands so that they might pull her back. Harry managed to grab hold of her right hand but, no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t compete with the squid’s strength. That brought the death toll up to seventeen.



They carried on fighting, occasional flashes of green or a glimpse of a pale pink tentacle making the toll rise even more. They were literally being slaughtered. Just when Harry began to shout retreat, a loud, deep horn sounded throughout the night sky, coming from the castle.



“That’s the signal! Run!” shouted a nearby Death Eater. And strangely, they did so. They retreated into the Forbidden Forest, leaving the remaining battle weary Aurors, confused.



“That’s weird, huh?” said Ron, watching them run into the forest. The logical thing to do would be to chase after them, but no one had the energy. Harry nodded, thinking.



That battle was so pointless… they weren’t doing it for fun, if they had wanted to kill for some they would have killed muggles… it had no point… they gained nothing… And then, Harry felt his insides plummet with horror.



“Ron,” he said slowly, “that horn… one of them said it was a signal… it came from the castle…”



“Oh, Merlin, you don’t think…” Harry nodded.



“They must have got into the castle.”



“But there were a few teachers there, looking after the kids, they would have sent us a message wouldn’t they?”



“Not if they didn’t have time… we need to go back �“ EVERYONE! GO UP TO THE CASTLE NOW!” Exhausted, Harry ran, his heart pounding in his chest, his body screaming at him to stop, his breath catching painfully in his throat. He could almost hear his Healer telling him off for over-exerting himself but he ignored her and kept running until he reached the tall, oak doors to the castle. They were wide open and he groaned; it was practically inviting a Death Eater to come in. There was no Ginny. He ran in and cast his eyes over every square inch of floor looking for any trace of her. Then he saw it, from behind a large gargoyle, a tiny piece of soft blue material was visible in the shadowy gloom. He went behind and saw Ginny laying there, her eyes closed. She couldn’t be dead, not after everything they’d done…



”I do,” she said, her deep brown eyes shining from beneath the veil… “Harry!” she cried joyously, “I’m pregnant! We’re going to have a family!”… “I love you, Harry”… “Don’t get killed,”



“No, no, no,” he muttered, shaking his head. He bent down and checked for a pulse. It was there, and it was steady. He breathed a sigh of relief and revived her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she groaned.



“Merlin, Ginny! I thought I’d lost you! What happened?”



“There were six of them… Bellatrix… Macnair…” she said weakly, trying to sit up. Harry heard running behind him and he glanced round to see everybody that had been fighting coming in.



“Ginny! Sweet Merlin, are you okay?” Tonks ran over to Harry and Ginny. Harry helped Ginny stand up.



“Tonks, take Ginny… actually no, Ron, you take Ginny to the hospital wing, Kingsley, Dawlish and Tonks come with me; we need to count all the children. Everybody else search the castle; we’re looking for six Death Eaters including Bellatrix Lestrange and Macnair.” Everybody immediately followed his orders and split up. Harry, Tonks, Kingsley and the newly appointed guardian Dawlish ran into the Great Hall where crowds of students were sitting or standing, all talking anxiously. Tonks ran up to McGonagall and whispered something to her. She went pale and immediately started to yell orders to the already terrified children.



“EVERYBODY GET INTO YOUR HOUSES NOW!” Now that the students were silent, she could shout a little more quietly. “Gryffindors in that corner, Slytherins over there, Hufflepuffs where Professor Flitwick is and Ravenclaws over here!”



Harry ordered all the Gryffindors into lines of their year and began counting the heads of the seventh years. He could see Tonks doing the same.



Seventh years, all there. Sixth years, all there. Fifth-



“NOOOOOO!” Harry spun round to see Tonks sobbing on the ground. He began to walk towards her but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Madame Hooch.



“Her son’s missing. Flitwick’s counting the rest,” she said, sadly.



“I have to go and-”



“No Harry �“ carry on counting, Dawlish says one of his sixth years are missing too. There may be more missing. I’ll go and comfort her.” Harry desperately wanted to go over and reassure Tonks but Madame Hooch’s words had forced him into continuing. It didn’t take him long to realise that there was a fourth year missing.



“Who isn’t here?” He asked the group frantically.



“Nicolas! Where’s Nicolas?” shouted a blonde boy. Harry went over to him.



“Nicolas who?”



“Nicolas Taylor �“ he’s my best mate, but he’s not here.”



“Did he come into the hall?”



“Yes, I was talking to him, but then he said something about being back in a minute and he walked off. I think someone was calling his name.”



“Go and tell Professor McGonagall that he’s missing.” The boy ran off and Harry moved on to the third years. Kingsley reported a second year, Rosaline Cutts, to be missing a few minutes later. Harry moved to the first years. And counted eighteen. There were meant to be twenty. Please no, he thought, please let them be here…



“NO! THEY MUST BE HERE!” He shouted. But they weren’t. Lillian and Jamie were missing.



***



“Sirius!” Hermione shouted at his empty bed. She’d heard a scream from upstairs but when she’d got there… She’d opened the door just in time to hear the crack of someone Disapparating. She ran downstairs, sobbing frantically and flooed into Hogwarts. She arrived in the Heads office, where she was shocked to discover Tonks, Lupin, Ginny, Harry and six other people she didn’t know in there, all crying.



“Hermione! They’re gone!” wailed Ginny, “Lillian and Jamie have disappeared!” Hermione gasped, covered her mouth with her hands and cried into them.



“I’m so sorry, Ginny… I was too slow… maybe if I… Merlin I’m so sorry…. I hate myself.”



“Hermione, What are you talking about?” asked Ginny, dread filling her stomach.



“Sirius… he’s missing… I heard him scream and then… a crack… and then he was gone.” There was silence and then a howl of pain, grief and despair as Harry sank to his knee’s, weeping for his children.

Lillian blearily opened her eyes. She was lying on a large four poster bed in the most beautiful room she’d ever seen. The bed was pale gold and silk curtains were tied with a soft white rope to each mahogany post. The walls were snowy white, with a golden border at the bottom, the ceiling was gold. Two large windows that reached the floor could be opened onto a small balcony, which looked out at miles and miles of thick rainforest, thirty feet below. A soft white carpet covered the floor, and several elegant wooden tables, painted the same shade as the bed, were lined at the foot of her bed. Each one had a wooden bowl, decorated with tiny golden swirls, filled with the most delicious looking (and smelling) food. One had large ripe strawberries; another had very large juicy looking oranges; fresh blueberry muffins; grapes; an assortment of seafood; a selection of meat; cheese and crackers; and one bowl with melted chocolate and fruit kebabs to dip in.





Antique toys were arranged in one corner of the room. The many dolls and the rocking horse were dressed in pale gold and white, and a large, old, mahogany wardrobe was at the other side of the room, filled with beautiful robes that looked too expensive to touch.





Lillian was very hungry, and the inviting smell of the bowl with the chocolate was extremely tempting. But she knew she mustn’t eat; the last thing she remembered was being knocked out by Bellatrix Lestrange and the food could very well be spiked with some sort of potion. The mahogany door was sure to be locked but Lillian went over and tried the (she shuddered at the thought) ivory handle. To her great surprise, the door opened with click and swung open into a long corridor, with fine Persian rugs covering the cold wooden floor. There were seven mahogany doors and several expensive vases and marble statues. She opened the door opposite her with a shaking hand. This room was almost exactly like hers, except that instead of gold, the colour theme was a pale blue. On the bed, sleeping peacefully, was Danny.





“Danny! Danny! Wake up!” She shook his shoulder gently and he groaned.





“Go away, Mum… good dream… there was a giant turnip…” Lillian blinked and looked at him strangely before shaking him again, more impatiently this time.





“What the hell!?” Danny exclaimed wildly, sitting up and looking round his room in confusion. Lillian laughed softly.





“What were you saying about turnips?” Danny blushed muttered something under his breath. Lillian smirked.





“Where are we?” Danny asked. Lillian shrugged.





“Dunno, we’re in a really posh house, surrounded by rainforest. We could be anywhere, but I think we’re somewhere in South America.”





“Food! I’m starving!” Danny spotted the food and leapt towards it but Lillian held him back.





“Aw, come on, Lils, I can practically feel my spine through my stomach!”





“It might be poisoned or spiked with truth potion or-”





“Okay, okay, I get the picture,” he sighed. “Have you met anyone else yet?” Lillian shook her head.





“No, you were the first door I tried.”





“The doors are unlocked?” She rolled her eyes.





“How else do you think I got in?” He scowled at her.





“Come on,” she said, “let’s look for Jamie and the others you were with.” They quietly went out into the corridor and Lillian decided to try the door next to her room.





“You try this one,” she said, pointing to the door next to Danny’s room. He nodded and entered, she caught a glimpse of a green bed before the door swung shut. She crossed the corridor and pushed open the door.





“Lily! Thank Merlin!”





“Sirius?! Oh, they got you too!” He sat on his pure white bed, huddled against the headboard, shaking violently. She ran over and engulfed him in a warm hug.





“I’m scared, Lily. I was just reading and they Apparated right into my room! And now I’m here and I’m surrounded by rainforest and-” Lillian made hushing noises.





“Hey, I’m here with you now �“ we’re going to be alright. Mum and Dad will come and get us. They’ll let us go once they know who our Dad is! I bet they’ll beg for forgiveness ‘cos they’ll be so terrified.” Sirius gave a watery chuckle.





“You’re so silly, Lils.” She laughed too.





“Yeah, I s’pose I am. Now come on �“ we’ve got to see who else is here and what’s going on.” Taking him by the hand, she gently pulled him out into the corridor, where Danny was just exiting with a girl. She had mousy brown hair and was rather short. A scowl decorated her face.





“This is Camilla. She’s in Slytherin.”





“Lily, and this is my brother, Sirius. We’re pleased to meet you.” Lillian put her hand out to shake. Camilla eyed it suspiciously before taking it and letting go quickly.





“I think the quickest thing to do is for Camilla and I search the rooms on the right hand side and you two to search the rooms on the left hand side.” Danny looked down the corridor. “Actually, we only have one room left to search you have two. We’ll meet back here when we’ve checked them all and we’ll try and find our way out of here.” They nodded and split up. Lily walked to the next door, Sirius following close behind, holding the hem of her jumper. She pushed open the door to find-





“Jamie! Stop eating!”





“But I’m hungry!” Jamie said, biting into an apple and flopping onto his red bed.





“How much of that food have you eaten!?” He shrugged and started to take another bite but Lillian jumped on top of him and wrestled it out of his grip.





“Hasn’t Dad taught you anything!? That food could be spiked with truth potion or some other horrible potion!” She hissed, trying to keep her voice down; the longer the Death Eaters believed them to be asleep the better. Jamie rolled his eyes.





“It’s fine, Lily.”





“No it’s not fine! Why don’t you understand? The last thing I remember is being knocked out by Bellatrix Lestrange �“ we’ve been kidnapped by Death Eaters! And you’re here eating and lounging about as if… as if…ugh! She had no more to say. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room, fuming.





“Now, wait here for Danny to come out of that room �“ he’ll probably have someone with him. Sirius, you make sure he doesn’t wander off.” Jamie scowled.





“I don’t need Sirius to babysit me!” Lily gave him a death glare and went into the next room. At first, she thought it was gold, like hers, but as she came closer she could see that it was actually sunshine yellow. A girl with olive coloured skin and dark black hair was deep in sleep. Lily went over quietly.





“Hey, hey. Wake up.” The girl groaned softly and her eyes flickered open. She looked up at Lillian with dark chocolate coloured eyes which suddenly went wide as she remembered.





“The Death Eaters! Merlin I… wow,” she said, looking around the room. “Where are we?”





“I’m not sure exactly… come on, I’ll introduce you to the others.” The girls left the room, where everyone was waiting.





“Everyone, this is…” Lillian trailed off, realising with horror that she had not even asked the girls name. But, the girl smiled.





“Rosaline Cutts, Rosa for short.”





“Lily,” said Lillian, shaking hands.





“Sirius,” said Sirius following suit.





“Nicolas,” said a boy with dark curly hair. Lillian assumed that this was the boy Danny had met.





“Danny.”





“Camilla.” When Rosa reached Jamie, however, Jamie shook hands and turned slightly pink. She smiled, confused.





“Do you have a name?” He nodded. “Are you going to tell me what it is?” Jamie nodded again. “Well? What is it?” Jamie seemed to suddenly realise that he’d been silent and turned a slightly deeper shade of red.





“Oh! Um… Jamie… Potter,” he said, with something of a swagger. Rosa blinked in surprise, her smile becoming larger.





“Potter? Wow… oh, you two must be…” she pointed to Lillian and Sirius who were both desperately trying not to burst into peals of laughter at their brother’s obvious crush on Rosa.





“Yes,” said Lillian, finally, “we’re his siblings.” Lillian turned to the boy who had earlier introduced himself as Nicolas.





“I’m so sorry, I haven’t really introduced myself properly,” she said, politely, “Lily.”





“Nicolas,” he said, glancing around nervously, “Posh place, innit?” But before they could reply, a new, unfamiliar voice called down the hallway.





“Ahh, children. I’m glad you’re awake; we were getting quite worried about you. Come with me.”

A woman stood at the end of the corridor. She looked to be in her late forties and her long dark hair was braided with thin silver and gold ribbons that shimmered in the light. Her make-up was done perfectly, subtle and highlighting her best features.



“My name is Elisa,” she said cheerfully, walking towards them. The children eyed her suspiciously. She didn’t look like a Death Eater and she seemed happy and optimistic. However, there was something that just didn’t seem quite right about her...



“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” she smiled, “Here are your wands. I’m sorry we had to take you by force, but it was the only way. Why don’t you come with me to the sitting room and we’ll explain everything to you?” She handed them their wands. The moment he got his wand in his hands, Danny tried to stun her, but she blocked it without so much as a look at him.



“Please don’t try anything. I’m here to help you, and even if you did manage to stun every person in this building, you wouldn’t be able to go very far. As you probably know, there’s nothing around this building for several miles except for thick rainforest and the only way out of here is by Apparition, because no doorways to the outside have been built. Please, come with me, I promise that we have no intention of harming you.” Elisa smiled warmly and gestured for them to follow her. They followed her hesitantly. Elisa reached the end of the corridor and pulled back one of the rugs, revealing a trapdoor. She opened it and slipped agilely down. The children peered down nervously to see Elisa beckoning them on. One by one they jumped down the trapdoor into a cosy room, with four, brown leather sofa’s grouped around a glass coffee table, which had food on it that was eerily similar to the food they found in their rooms. A ladder was attached to the wall underneath the trapdoor, creating a way back up. A fire crackled merrily at one end of the room, and a wireless was sounding out music quietly from the other. Colourful plants around the room gave off a sweet scent, and beautiful paintings covered the dark red walls.



“Wait here, Bella will be with you shortly. Oh, do feel free to eat; you all must be starving,” smiled Elisa, and without another word she Disapparated from the room.



“Bella?” whispered Sirius. All the children had been brought up fearing that name. Bellatrix Lestrange, whose powers were nearly as strong as Harry Potter’s, was thought to be hiding, or dead. Nevertheless, she was still the most hunted witch in the world and it was the greatest desire of many to get her alone, wandless, and show her what they thought of her.



They all managed to squeeze onto one couch, huddling together. Although they had only met each other a few moments ago, the fear had brought them close. Jaime knew what they were all thinking; he was thinking it too, though he didn’t voice it. They were all going to die. But he needed to know why. For him and his siblings it was obvious. Lestrange wanted revenge on their father. It was the same with Danny, but the others? He’d never heard their surnames before.



“Rosa?” he asked, quietly.



“Yes?” Fear was obvious in her voice, even though she was whispering.



“Were you parents involved in the war?” Jamie was aware of everyone listening but he ignored them and studied Rosa’s face. He could feel himself blushing slightly.



“No. Well, my Uncle was killed but that was a random attack on his village. They didn’t know his name or anything. We were lucky.”



“Oh. What about you, Nicolas?” He shook his head.



“Not really. I’m half-blood so my Dad didn’t even know anything about the war and my Mum did lose a few family members, but they were all from big attacks; they weren’t singled out or anything.”



“Camilla?” She shook her head. Jamie sighed.



“I don’t understand. They seemed to know exactly which children to go for but I don’t know why they wanted you three. I can understand the rest of us but…”



“There’s no point in fussing about it. What’s done is done and there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Lillian, dully, her glistening eyes fixed on a vase of flowers. They sat in silence, waiting to die, waiting to live, waiting to be told what was going to happen.



A crack sounded through the room and Bellatrix Lestrange appeared in the middle of the room. None of the children moved. Bella stared at them. It was like this for a few moments until Lillian broke the silence.



“If you’re going to kill us, hurry up and do it.” Bella blinked and smiled slightly.



“I have no intention of killing you, dear child.” Jamie raised his eyebrows.



“What?”



“I don’t want to harm you.”



“Come again?” Danny looked at her as if she’d sprouted an extra head. She gave a light, ringing laugh and sat on the sofa opposite them.



“My dear children, I won’t hurt you. Listen, and I’ll tell you everything.”



***



Harry sat at his desk, his head in his hands. The school was silent, the children had been sent home until further notice. The only sound was the faint howl of the wind outside. All of his children… he didn’t understand. Why now? Why had they waited all these years, when he thought he was safe?



He hated Bellatrix Lestrange for doing this to him. He had never hated anyone so much in his life �“ not Snape, Wormtail or even Voldemort. He would kill Bellatrix Lestrange, but he had no idea where she was or what she was doing to his children.



“If you hurt them… if you put them through what I went through,” he whispered, warm tears escaping from his eyes, “I’ll kill you Bellatrix. I won’t rest until I get them back, or until you are dead.”



***



“You see, children. I have done terrible things in my life. Awful things that I have regretted everyday. But I did them for good reasons. I’m not a bad person, really.”



“You killed people,” said Sirius, coldly.



“So did your father.”



“He had no choice! He had to! He didn’t want it! He didn’t enjoy it!” Despite his surroundings and the circumstances, the Weasley and Potter tempers in him were coming through.



“I’m not saying he did!” she exclaimed quickly, “I’m just saying-”



“You tortured him. He nearly died. His friend did die.” Bellatrix looked very sad.



“I know. I would do anything to go back and change that but… I was just so angry! I know your father had no choice in the matter; I do not blame him for it. But, he killed many of my friends. And the one man I looked up to, more so even than my husband.”



“He was an awful man. I highly doubt he was even a man. He was a monster,” said Rosa, fire blazing in her dark brown eyes.



“Was he? He had an awful childhood-”



“So did Harry, he didn’t turn into a maniac!” yelled Danny.



“Let me finish,” Bella said, patiently, “He had an awful childhood and was led astray. He wasn’t an evil man; he just had very strong views and was willing to do whatever was necessary to get those views across. But, I know you will not agree with me, so I will not waste time arguing his innocence with you. I will be honest with you. I am dying. A Muggle disease, I think you may have heard of it? Cancer? It’s too late for treatment for me. And before I go I wish to look upon the face of an old boyfriend. Possibly the only man I ever loved. He was killed during the War against Grindewald by a Muggle bomb in 1943, which was where I developed my hate for Muggles, I suppose.”



“If he’s dead then you need to accept that. There’s no spell that can reawaken the dead, unless they had made a Horcrux, and then they’re not even worth bringing back,” said Lillian, remembering the words her father had told her a long time ago. Her hamster had just died, and she was begging her father to bring him back. She would have smiled at such a trivial problem now, if she had not been so terrified.



“Oh, it’s not a spell. It’s a potion. It was only recently developed in the Department of Mysteries, and it will only bring him back for a few minutes �“ one minute for every year he lived.”



“Why do you need our help? Does it require a sacrifice? That way you can get what you want and get back at all those who opposed you in the war; killing two birds with one stone,” spat Lillian. Bella did not flinch or smile, but spoke calmly, with patience.



“No. It is pure coincidence that three of you are Harry Potter’s children and that you,” she nodded towards Danny, “are the son of Remus and Nymphadora Lupin. You children have all been brought together because you are ‘The Seven’.”



“The Seven?” asked Camilla, her icy blue eyes growing round at the thought of being important. Bella nodded.



“Yes. It has been told for eons that seven children will come and open the gate.



One, will be a temptress,

Another, born into a house of vanity and pride,

Two, will not yet show their true power but are as strong as the sun is hot.

Three, will be born from the war weary.

They alone will open the gate,

And create a pathway between the worlds.



“You see? You are those children. I know that to you the prophecy will make no sense. That you will probably ask me how I know that it is you seven, and not other children. But the veil has been uttering your names for a long time now, to those that hear and understand it.”



“That’s not a real prophecy. Real prophecy’s rhyme,” said Rosa, stubbornly. Bella laughed softly.



“How ignorance can be so intelligent! It rhymes in Parseltongue, the language it was made in. I spent many years translating it. I do not speak it naturally but there is one book that I am lucky enough to own that can teach you.” Bella looked out of the window, where a glorious sunset was sweeping over the skies and birds were singing their last song of the day.



“I shall tell you more tomorrow. Now, you should eat and then sleep,” She said, gesturing towards the food laid out on the coffee table.



“It’s poisoned,” said Lillian. Bella shook her head.



“I have just told you that I need your help, have I not? If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done so in the castle. Eat, you must be hungry.” When she saw their hesitant and nervous faces she took a little food from each bowl and ate it, showing that it was not poisoned. Then before she left she laid out a few rules.



“Please do not attempt to climb out of the windows or balconies. There is a charm that prevents you from doing so which is unfortunately rather painful. You have been given your wands but they will be confiscated if used to attack anyone. Don’t try and send messages home �“ you shall see you parents soon enough if you co-operate and they will be informed of your safety. That is all I ask. I will see you all again at three O’clock tomorrow afternoon.” And then the children were alone. They ate the food greedily, their hunger coming through more than ever. They then climbed up the ladder under the trapdoor to the corridor and bade each other goodnight. But they all found it difficult to sleep that night. They tossed and turned trying to figure out the prophecy. Something about Bella’s story wasn’t quite right, but they would have to find out tomorrow as one by one, exhaustion caused each child to fall into a restless sleep.

“But will they believe you?” The Death Eater asked, walking down the cold stone passageway, lit by the flickering torches along the rough wall.

“Of course they will! That Potter girl may take some convincing but all the others… they’ve been brought up in a safe world, they’re too trusting. They’ll swallow any sob story up,” Bella snapped back at him, glaring down the seemingly endless corridor ahead.

“I’m just saying, what if Potter told them…”

“He wouldn’t have…”

“How would you know?” She spun round, her dark eyes piercing, glaring at him with such ferocity, that he could have knelt and begged for forgiveness there and then.

“How dare you question me, you snivelling wretch? Do you dare suggest that this wouldn’t work?”

“N-no!” he cowered; trembling… he’d heard what she’d done to the Longbottoms…

“We’ve been planning this for years, and you’re betraying your master!” He was now begging her, his hands clutched in front of his chest.

“No! Please, I only feel that Potter would have forewarned his children, or the girl may guess! Maybe we could kill her, use her as the sacrifice?” Bella had calmed, yet anger was still evident in her face.

“You know that is impossible. The sacrifice must be adult, or at least of age and all seven children must go through the veil alive, or they will be killed instantly… like my cousin, I believe,” she added with a cruel laugh.

“I’m sorry I doubted you. It won’t happen again.” She gave a small, warm smile.

“I know. We can’t afford people who question their peers in this group, you see.” He smile widened, her eyes, which had been fierce only moments before, were suddenly friendly.

“I know that you won’t do it again.” He sighed in relief, closing his eyes and smiling slightly. This unfortunately meant that he did not see Bella reach into her pocket.

“Avada Kedavra!”

***

The children anxiously waited in the living room that was shown to them the day before. They sat there watching the old grandfather clock slowly tick towards three O’clock. They had changed from their pyjamas into the fine white robes found in their rooms, a welcome change from the stale smelling bed clothes. Their feet were bare, there had been no shoes provided, but they didn’t mind; they were in the middle of a tropical rainforest after all. The table in the centre didn’t have the luxurious food on from yesterday, but rather, pots of tea and plates of scones, biscuits, sponge cakes and large jars of homemade jam.

The grandfather clock let out a loud, low dung and a loud CRACK resounded throughout the room. Bella smiled warmly at them and sat on the sofa opposite, pulling a delicate china cup and teapot towards her.

“I’m glad to see that you all came. I can continue with my story that way,” she said, in what Jamie thought was a very patronizing voice, the sort one used with a four-year-old. He didn’t know whether to trust her or not… after all that his Dad had told him, and yet, she was treating them so kindly…

“When can we contact home?” He asked. Bella continued to smile and gaze fondly at them through her heavily lidded eyes.

“In due time. But please let me continue with my explanation first. I assure you, letters have been sent informing them of your safety. May I finish my story?” Sirius nodded, feeling rather bold.

“I told you yesterday that I was dying. I also told you that only you could help me. Today, I will tell you what I wish for you to do, and how to do it. This is the potion,” she said, holding out a tiny vile of pure white potion, that seemed to be glowing slightly, or maybe it was just the flickering light of the log fire.

“It takes several months to make, but, once we’d explained our situation, an Unspeakable was happy to make a time turner for us, which sped up the process nicely.”

“We?” asked Nicolas, his dark brown eyes narrowing. Lillian was surprised to hear him speak; he seemed like the quiet, shy type.

“Elisa and I, along with a few other friends that wish to make my last few months special.” Bella was delicately spreading some strawberry jam in a light scone, the vile of potion now standing in the very middle of the table, its contents seeming to swirl slightly.

“Say we do help you… what’s in it for us?” Asked Camilla, leaning back and folding her arms, surveying Bella with both interest and suspicion.

“Well,” said Bella, “For you four, I do not know. You can have anything you want.” She gestured with a pale hand towards Danny, Camilla, Rosa and Nicolas. “But for Lily, Jamie and Sirius…” She flicked her wand and, just under the trapdoor, appeared Severus Snape, kneeling, bound around the wrists and arms and a gag in his mouth. Bella looked at him scornfully, and the Potter children stared at him in shock.

“Severus Snape,” Bella spat, looking down at the man who was glaring up at her fiercely with dark, piercing eyes. “He still believes in the Dark Lord’s views, and is constantly apparating to the nearest city for muggle baiting. I hate him with every fibre of my being but cannot bring myself to kill him. I don’t know how I could have been so heartless during the war… but now, this wretched piece of dirt deserves to die, but I just can’t do it! Surely, your parents would love to take revenge �“ would love to see him sent to Azkaban, after what he did to Dumbledore, to your father.” Lillian realised she was breathing heavily. To leave this man would be to kill him, but then, as Bella said, he deserved to die. Words her Dad had once said came floating back to her.

No one deserves to die, not even Voldemort truly deserved it. To spare a life is a far greater and nobler thing to do than to take it.

She could spare this man’s life… but could she trust Bella? Her story seemed true enough but, like her Uncle Ron always said; poisonous toadstools never change their spots.

“Before we agree,” Lillian said, her voice shaking slightly, “What do you want us to do?”

“In the Department of Mysteries, there is an ancient veil. A veil with amazing mystical powers, which can form a connection between two worlds; the land of the living and the land of the dead. Only the seven children described in the prophecy can make this connection and return alive. That’s you seven. Each one of you must go through the veil together, or you all will surely perish.

“This potion, as I’ve already explained, can bring a person back to life for one minute for every year they were alive. I need you to find my boyfriend, and give him the potion. You must not speak to any of the other spirits, they will try to persuade you to give them the potion, and it’s extremely hard to make. Plus, it was made with some of your hairs, and some of my boyfriend’s hairs, which I kept when he died. If another spirit drinks it, you will be trapped, forever. Not dead… not alive…

By going through the veil, you will create a bridge, but you and the spirit of my dearest love will only be able to cross it by drinking the potion, so it is vital that you find and talk to him, and only him. Time will stop for you, so you may take as long as needs be, but I really must stress how important it is that you do not talk to any of the other spirits, just ignore them, however hard that might be. Once the potion is drunk, time begins again, and you must cross the bridge, unless of course, you have taken pity on another spirit and sacrificed yourselves so that it can spend a few minutes on earth.”

None of the children understood. They just sat there in silence, the heads hurting from thinking too much. It was ridiculously complicated and dangerous. It all seemed to fit but… Jamie had spotted a contradiction.

“If you’re dying, and there’s a world of the dead, why can’t you just wait until you die and then find your boyfriend yourself?” Bella blinked, she’d been unprepared for this question. Nevertheless, year’s of being on the run and going from country to country, had become very good at thinking on her feet.

“Not every spirit can go there. Only the good, decent people. But I, I haven’t been good. I haven’t been kind. It’s unlikely that my soul will find its way to the next world. Please, children… this is my last chance…please, will you do it for me?” The children thought. They thought of the stories their parents had told them, about devious Death Eaters tricking their way into your friendship, before killing you when you let your guard down. They thought of the way Bella had kidnapped them, how she’d prevented them from seeing their families. But then, they thought of how kind she’d been to them, the remorse she’d shown, the desperate plea’s she’d made. The offers she’d given. They remembered how much their father would love to see Sirius, or Dumbledore or his parents, and how this woman simply wanted to say good bye to one man. What could they do? They looked at each other, and nodded, knowing that each of them was thinking the same thing.

“What was your lover’s name?” asked Danny, hardly daring to believe he was doing this. The answer she gave sounded familiar to the Potter children, sent a strange shiver down their spines. They could almost hear their Father saying the words, and yet could not place a memory to it.

“Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

A/N Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuun! If you've read all the way down here, it won't take you much longer to share your thoughts on the story and help me decide what to write next, will it?

“The children are willing; we go to the next stage of the plan.” Bella flicked her wand as she spoke, and the ropes which had been binding Severus Snape snapped and the gag fell from his mouth. He stood, smiling unpleasantly.





“Nice acting in there by the way,” she said, her dark eyes glinting maliciously, “You nearly had me fooled.” Snape grinned, and they walked into a large hall, filled with hundreds of witches and wizards, hooded and cloaked in black, evil masks covering their faces.





“I was about to say the same thing to you,” he said. She gave a small, tinkling laugh and stepped up onto a slightly raised section of floor with a single dark podium. She magically magnified her voice, though it was not needed as every set of eyes was focused entirely on her.





“My trusted friends! Tonight you will storm the Ministry of Magic! We will take it for ourselves and kill every wretched person who stands in our way. Be on your guard; it will not be easy, they are prepared for an attack, though not of this magnitude. Tonight, the blood of our enemies will stain the Fountain of Brethren and turn the water crimson!” The Death Eaters cheered loudly, punching their fists into the air. “We shall keep two people alive; Ginny and Harry Potter. We will use Ginny Potter as the sacrifice for the Horcrux that our true master will create in those precious seventy-one minutes and we shall use Harry Potter for the blood that will be used in the resurrection. After that, our master can reclaim his pride by ridding the world of all the Potters forever!” She gave an evil cackle as the Death Eaters roared their approval, cat calling and chanting a ferocious song, the details of which too gruesome to even mention.





“My friends, go now! Go! Kill everyone in your path!” Every person in the hall, save Elisa, Disapparated with an ear splitting crack and was gone.





***





“Warbucks, I need you to check out that village; possible sighting of Bellatrix Lestrange was reported there. Ablett, interview that kid; the one who was friends with Nicolas Taylor. Ackroyd, check the files on every recorded Death Eater for possible grudges against the Taylor’s, the Cutts or the Urquharts, and for Merlins sake everybody, hurry up and find my children.” The Auror department in the Ministry of Magic was in chaos. Everybody was working flat out to retrieve the children, following orders from Harry, who was the most desperate of them all. He barked his orders and snapped at his colleagues for the slightest thing, though no one blamed him or felt hurt by his actions. They all understood how distressed he must be.





“Harry,” a deep voice said. Kingsley walked alongside Harry, carrying a large pile of files. “We’ve just had news, an Unspeakable was found to be under the Imperius curse. A young girl, she was having an affair with that bloke who died, Darren or what ever his name was.”





“So?” Harry snapped, feeling very stressed out. “We’re focusing on the kidnappings, not the murder, that’s Ron’s department, you need to go and talk to M.I.W.”





“Well, the Murder Investigation Wizards already know, but I just thought it might interest you to know that the last thing the Unspeakable remembers is Bellatrix Lestrange.” Harry stopped dead in his tracks, causing the young witch behind him to drop a set of alphabetized records.





“Oh, sorry, Amanda. You’re joking, Kingsley?” Kingsley shook his head, grimly.





“No, I’m not. She was working in the Time room, when Bellatrix Lestrange came up behind her and put her wand to the girls head. The girl turned round, and Lestrange cursed her.”





“Come into my office,” Harry said, turning sharply into said office. “D’you know what she was told to do by Lestrange?”





“No, but she was found brewing a potion at the foot of the veil, a time turner in her hand. They called her name, but she didn’t answer and poured some of the potion into a tiny glass vial. She then vanished the vial to Merlin knows where, and started muttering, ‘The Dark Lord, will come back, seventy-one minutes, he’ll come back, he’ll come back,’ while walking towards the veil, we suspect that she was going to walk into it if the wizard who found her hadn’t pulled her back.”





“Merlin… how do we know she was under the influence of the Imperius curse?”





“Her eyes were glassy and large traces of it were found in her blood. But that’s not our concern; she said that Voldemort would come back for seventy-one minutes, which would give him time to-”





“Create another Horcrux… but there’s no spell that can reawaken the dead, is there?”





“I don’t know, I- what’s that noise?” Harry heard it too, it was muffled through his office walls, but he’d heard that noise enough times to recognise it anywhere.





“Screaming.” They bolted out the door, where a major battle was underway. Jets of green light were flashing in every direction, and Harry could hear a hideous chanting.





Let them scream, Let them fear…





There were hundreds of Death Eaters, many more than there were at the lake, viciously destroying everything standing in their way.





Let them know that their loved ones shall perish here…





Harry jumped to the side to avoid a jet of purple light and rolled over a table, shooting a cutting spell at a random figure in black. He ducked under the table, using it as a temporary shield.





“Harry!” Ginny, ran towards him, her eyes, wide with fear, ducking a nasty looking black jet.





“What are you doing here?! Please, Ginny, go back! Go home!”





“I came to do the tests on Issy, and then I came to find you,” she said, ducking under the desk with him. “I’m going to fight, Harry. You left me behind in the last war, but you can’t leave me out in this one.” He looked into her fiery brown eyes and nodded. They came out from under the table, which was lucky, as three seconds later it erupted into a ball of flame.





Let them hear the cries of their tortured children…





They fought side by side, sending volleys of hexes at a non-stop flow of Death Eaters. The entire building seemed to be on fire, the thick black smoke clogging up people’s throats, suffocating them. Harry could feel a burning on his side, and had to smother the flames caught on his robes. He heard Ginny cry out and saw her cradling a badly burnt hand. He took her by the arm and led her to a corridor that wasn’t engulfed in fire. The smell of death was in the air, and Harry could hear screams, chanting and the cackle of the searing flames.





“We need to get out of here! Where are we?” Harry asked frantically running down the corridor looking for any sign of where they were. But anything that could have told them was badly burnt. Bodies covered the floor, some people unrecognisable. Harry felt sick as he passed people he knew… Amanda… Ernie from the front desk… Peter Warbucks…





“Harry! Oh, Merlin, Kingsley!” Ginny cried, Harry spun around, dread swelling up in his stomach. Ginny was crouching over Kingsley’s body. He seemed to be badly burnt, and bleeding from the stomach. Harry ran to his side and looked into his face. He was mumbling quietly and his dark brown eyes were flickering around madly.





“Can you hear me, Kingsley?” Harry asked, clearly and loudly. There was no reaction and Ginny began to put pressure on his stomach wound.





“Harry, hold down on his stomach while I try and-” Before she could finish her sentence, Kingsley gave a great, shuddering breath, and stopped moving. Harry closed his eyes in sorrow, feeling sick. He opened them again slowly, closed Kingsley’s mouth and stroked two fingers over his eye lids, shutting them, knowing he’d never see those deep brown eyes again. Harry felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he remembered how he’d snapped at Kingsley just ten minutes ago.





“Harry, come on, we can’t stay here, we need to get out before the Death Eaters come back this way.” And, true enough, Harry could hear the faint chant and heavy footsteps of the Death Eaters.





“Goodbye, Kingsley,” Harry said, squeezing Kingsley’s lifeless shoulder. They ran, but even though they both knew the Ministry well, the building was so burnt and damaged that it was completely unrecognisable. They came across a group of four Death Eaters, duelling with a very ferocious looking Moody. Harry shot a stunner and dodged what looked like a Cruciatus curse. Ginny gave a flick of her wand and one of the Death Eaters was sent flying backwards, where he slammed into a wall and fell to the floor with a sickening, yet satisfying crunch. Moody fired a cutting charm at the remaining Death Eater and grinned when he fell to the floor.


Harry ran over to him. Moody gave Harry a grin, that showed he was joking and said,





“That wasn’t needed, Potter, I was managing perfectly fine by myself.” Harry scoffed.





“Sure, Mad-eye. It was obvious that you weren’t really trying,” he said sarcastically, but with a small smile on his face.





“Where’s Kingsley? He’s in charge of security, he’ll know a way out which isn’t locked- what? What’s happened?” Harry found himself unable to speak.





“He fell,” Ginny said, her voice quivering slightly. Moody had stopped smiling, and he blinked slowly, staring at the floor, disbelief apparent in his face. Harry felt great pity for him; he knew that they’d been good friends �“ if Ron or Hermione died…





There was silence, except for the quiet chanting in the distance.





“Alastor?” Ginny said, gently. “We need to get out of here; the whole building is overrun-”





“All the doors and windows are locked with a strong spell, there is one way out that I know about that the Death Eaters couldn’t possibly have locked, but it’s on the top floor, and all the Death Eaters are upstair-” There was a flash of blinding green light, which blocked out everything else. Harry heard the awful rushing noise and the dull thunk of a body hitting the floor. He heard Ginny scream, and when the light cleared he could see why. Moody had been murdered from behind, and a large gang of Death Eaters where all grinning evilly at them. They began to chant the bloodthirsty song, stamping their feet, making even more noise.


Harry and Ginny both had their wands out, determined not to go down with out a struggle, glaring at the Death Eaters, blocking the way to the stairs.


Suddenly, a very familiar Death Eater stepped forward, and the evil chants stopped.





“Ahh, Harry! Your children gave their love, well, they would have, but they were gagged at the time.”





“What have you done to them?!” Harry roared at her, the tip of his wand glowing an angry red.





“Harry, Harry, Harry… don’t you remember our last meeting?” He did remember… Why wouldn’t the pain stop? He just wanted to die, he wanted it over and done with, he was screaming so loudly, why wasn’t anyone coming? He needed Ginny, was he dead? He must be dead by now… you couldn’t possibly be in this much pain and still be alive…





“No!” Bella laughed at his outcry, Ginny sobbed, Harry felt rage and horror build up inside him.





“CRUCIO!” Harry yelled, he wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine; he wanted her to feel what he’d felt… but he couldn’t do it. Bella writhed and shrieked on the ground, but Harry lifted the curse almost as soon as he cast it. He felt disgusted with himself for sinking down their level; he’d vowed never to use an Unforgivable again. Taking advantage over Harry’s momentary lapse in concentration and Ginny’s tear filled eyes, the Death Eaters shot thick green ropes out of their wands, which bound Harry and Ginny’s wrists behind their backs. They grabbed them by their arms and no matter how much they struggled; they still managed to keep a vice like grip on their arms. Harry’s eyes widened as he recognised were they were being led to, and he heard Ginny gasp as she recognised the black door that led to the Department of Mysteries as well.




A/N Before you all yell at me, I know that they could have apparated, but for the purpose of this fic let's just say that it's like Hogwarts, eh? :P

Ginny was roughly dragged to her feet, she didn’t struggle, it was as if she was in a trance. But tears still streamed down her face, an endless flow of salty water droplets, which clung to her pale face. She was almost deaf to Harry’s cries and pleas, to the Death Eater’s taunts and to the strange spell that the old, vulture-like man was chanting. All she could hear were her children’s voices, from memories, echoing in her head. Everything else seemed distant and far away.



She barely acknowledged the man as he raised the silver dagger above his pasty face, repeating the chant over and over again. She hardly noticed the two Death Eaters to either side of her back off, releasing their tight grip on her arms, leaving marks that would later become bruises, if given a couple of hours. She looked through tear filled eyes at the man, who was coming steadily closer, the knife gleaming from some unknown light source to the right of her.



Harry watched with horror, pleading, begging Bellatrix to let her go, to stop it. He would have stood and run up to Ginny, pulled her back, stood in the way, if it weren’t for the two Death Eaters pressing down upon his shoulders, preventing him from rising.



He soon began to plead with Ginny, screaming at her to turn and run, and never look back. But she didn’t seem able to hear him; she just stood there, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed, the bitter tears rolling down her face.



“DON’T GIVE UP, GINNY!” Harry yelled desperately, still struggling to get up. This seemed to snap her out of it. He watched as she suddenly reached out, trying to push the shining dagger away from her chest, struggling violently with the old man. One of the Death Eaters, seeing Ginny’s resistance, ran forward and joined the elderly man in trying to overpower Ginny.



Harry’s words had unleashed a new source of strength, power and determination from Ginny. She knew that she would not go down without a fight. Yes, over the last couple of days she had sunk into a depression, pining desperately for her children. This was meant to have stopped when Harry killed Voldemort, by kidnapping her children out of the blue and planning to use them to resurrect Voldemort, the Death Eaters had taken away her usual spunk and fierce determination. But now, she’d got it back.



Her arm strained as she tried to push the dagger away to the side, a bead of sweat trickling down her forehead. The old man continued to chant, she vaguely remembered being told in her seventh year that many ancient dark rituals required a chant to be spoken continuously during a sacrifice, if the chant was broken once it had begun, the ancient spell would not work. The obvious thing to do would have been to try and punch the man in the jaw, but the dagger tip was less than three inches from her chest, and another Death Eater was trying to push her to the ground.



Summoning up the last bit of strength inside her, she pushed the dagger up, while kneeing the old man in the stomach. He fell down, still gasping out the chant, shakily trying to stand again. Ginny, still feeling the other Death Eater’s pressure on her shoulders, bent over. The Death Eater did an untidy roll over her back landing on the old man, who was still chanting.



Ginny heard a shuddering gasp from the Death Eater. With repulsion, she saw the bloody tip of the dagger come through his back. She looked away. The old man scrambled up, apparently still as flexible and strong as he was when he was young. He kicked the dead Death Eater over.



“Philip’s dead,” he spat, looking into the glassy eyes of the dead Death Eater with disgust, no sorrow evident. He scowled at Ginny, then up at Bella.



“What am I meant to do now? I haven’t got the energy or the time to do that damn spell again.”



“There was a sacrifice, not the sacrifice we wanted, but a sacrifice nonetheless. The gate will open. Bring the blood traitor over here, we’ll tie her up again and deal with her later.” Ginny didn’t allow herself to be tied up as easily this time. She kicked and bit the Death Eaters, slapping several in the face and kicking one unfortunate male Death Eater where it hurts most.



It took a total of eight Death Eaters until she could be tied again, and she was still struggling and shouting. She was forced to kneel next to Harry in front of Bella again. She began throwing a volley of insults at Bella, who simply rolled her eyes at Ginny and pointed her wand at her lazily.



“Langlock. Your children will be arriving in a matter of minutes. It’ll be no use shouting, they won’t be able to hear you. You, Ginny, know the spell you’ve been placed under, one of the, ah, Half-blood Princes? Yes, you know it. And, Harry? You shouldn’t bother either.” She swept her wand in front of her, and a shimmering blue dome appeared, encasing Harry and Ginny in an electric blue dome, that disappeared in a few seconds. But Harry could still sense its presence, it was… static. Like, he remembered when he was a small child; putting his hand close to the television screen as his aunt turned it on. That brief second while his fingers tingled pleasantly, soon to be cut of by his aunt snapping at him to “get out of the bloody way”.



“This is another useful invention of Snape’s, although he invented this a couple of years ago, so you won’t find it in that book. No one outside the bubble can hear you aside from me, the caster of the spell. Don’t try and get out of the bubble because it’s very painful, isn’t it, Darius?” A small, nervous looking Death Eater nodded. All of the fingers on his right hand were missing. With that, she turned and left. Making her way over to the veil, which, for the first time in years, was not whispering. She bent down by Phillip, and dipped her fingers in the pool of crimson blood on the floor. She wiped it on the top of the arch, muttering some names as she did so.



“Rosaline Cutts, Danny Lupin, Lillian Potter…” Harry fumbled with Ginny’s ropes, trying to untie them. Death Eaters noticed but, knowing that they would not be able to escape the bubble, didn’t bother stopping them.



“Sirius Potter, Nicolas Taylor, Camilla Urquhart.” She stepped back grinning, as the gate opened. It sounded like a thousand windows shattering, and a great roaring noise, like a tornado emitted from it. There was a great swirling mass of colour, a warm breeze, which reminded Ginny of palm trees and glistening sands, seemed to blow through with such force that the torches that lit the large hall were snuffed out, the Death Eater’s hoods fell and everyone’s hair was blown back.



Harry squinted against the strong wind, his glasses giving little protection. The roaring noise seemed to grow quiet, but the strong wind continued. He finally managed to untie Ginny’s wrists, as she, in turn untied his.



“Hide the body! The children will arrive in one minute!” Two Death Eaters raced over to Phillips body and vanished it, along with the pool of blood.



“Now, all Death Eaters get behind the mirror!” bellowed Bella. The Death Eaters scuttled away, until the only ones left were Bella, the old Man, and Snape. Harry frowned in confusion when Bella flicked her wand at Snape, so he was almost cocooned in ropes. Snape smirked nastily as Bella gently placed a gag in his mouth.



“Sorry, Sev, I know this must be humiliating, but I promise you that the Dark Lord will hear of this, when he returns, of course.” After that, all was silent, until seven children, one woman, and a small table appeared in the centre of the hall. Harry and Ginny shouted their names, but it was no use, the strong bubble around them blocked out every sound made from within.



They made their way to the veil, and Sirius, observant as ever, looked up and noticed the smear of read on the archway.



“Blood! Whose blood is that? Someone was hurt!” Bella placed her hand soothingly on Sirius’ shoulder. Harry cried out in anger.



“Don’t worry, dear, blood was needed to open the gate, but I used my own. Just a small cut on the arm which can be easily healed. Now, come here, we need to attach you all before you go through, so you don’t get lost.” Bella finished speaking and held up a white and gold rope, made of a very soft, silky, material. She tied it loosely round each child’s wrist, and stepped back smiling widely.



“Now, Mr Shirley is going to do a very powerful chant, which will protect you as you go through, when I give the signal, you run through. You’ll just see a mass of colour at first, but keep walking straight and you’ll come through the emptiness. Remember; don’t talk to anyone there, except to find my dear Tom. Just tell one spirit-and only one- that you’re looking for him, and they’ll probably find him for you. If not, walk around and shout his name, you have all eternity. You’ll never age, and we will only have to wait a matter of seconds before you come through again.”



“What does he look like? We need to know, or we’ll never find him.” Bella sighed.



“In all honesty, I don’t know. From what I’ve studied, I believe that once you die, you may take the form of yourself at any age, but you must remember that this is what I translated from ancient Aztec scripts, so I may have some details confused.” All the children nodded, and asked a few more questions, except for Lillian. Her mind was still buzzing. Something was wrong… She was jerked out of her thoughts though, as a vulture like man began to chant, his hands outstretched towards the high ceiling, his eyes closed.



“GO!” The children ran towards the veil, knowing that their lives depended on their trust in Bellatrix Lestrange. However, as Lillian ran through the dark drapery, she remembered, in a rush of both satisfaction and horror exactly who Tom Marvolo Riddle was.

There was no up or down, there was no left or right. No darkness and yet, no light. There was just a swirling mass of colour, no definite shapes, no lines, and no patterns. He couldn’t feel a floor, but he was still walking. He could feel his sister’s hand on his shoulder and his hand upon his younger brother’s. He couldn’t see them, he couldn’t hear them. He just kept walking.

The colour was driving him mad! There was no order, it was wrong, unnatural! It made him feel dizzy and confused; he couldn’t keep his eyes on a fixed point.

He didn’t know how long he had been walking for. It seemed to be days and days, but somehow he never got tired. The colour seemed to slowly fade away, and like a mist, a golden sandy shore came into view, with towering palms dotted around. He could hear laughing and the faint shushing sound of waves. A pleasant cool sea breeze brushed his cheek, warm sand grains were covering his still bare feet, and he was overwhelmed with a sudden sense of euphoria. He could taste salt on his lips, and could smell a tangy, fruity scent on the air.

Finally, the colourful mist cleared, and he could see his siblings and the other children, equally looking around in wonder. There were other people too, wearing plain white robes, though some where in different styles and cut to different lengths. They did not acknowledge the children but continued talking and laughing. Some where eating, others playing games, and a few seemed to be looking into stone basins, filled with clear, sparkling water.

“What a beautiful city!” remarked Lillian, gazing up in wonder, as if looking at tall skyscrapers. Everyone looked at her as if she was mad.

“Er… Lily, are you blind? We’re on a beach,” said Jamie, gesturing towards the calm turquoise ocean in front of them and the rolling sand dunes behind.

“You’re mad as well, we’re in a forest,’ said Sirius, bluntly, backing away from his siblings.

“Er… as far as I’m aware we’re in a meadow…” Rosa said, uncertainly.

“No… mountains…” began Danny, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“A lakeside for me,” stated Nicolas, happily.

“I can see a palace!” Camilla exclaimed, gazing around with wide eyes.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Hello, dears, have you just come through? Don’t worry, everyone sees different locations, you’re all in the same place, though. I see a village myself. This is just the entrance though, if you look out there, outside of it, you’ll all see the same landscape. I’m Dorothy, by the way, I died in 1943, I was brought to a… well, we don’t need to worry about that; it’s all in the past now, eh? What are your names, and how did you get here?” The woman finished her monologue and the children were able to take in her appearance. She was rather elderly, and had a friendly face.

No one replied, although they wanted to. They all looked at one another uncertainly, no one wanting to be the one to ask where Tom was. Eventually, Jamie spoke.

“We’re looking for someone called Tom Marvolo Riddle. D’you know where-” He stopped at the sight of Dorothy. She turned pale and was shaking. Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head as she backed away from the children.

“D-don’t hurt me! I don’t know who you are but, if you’re looking for… him, then-”

“Please, we won’t hurt you, we just need to find him, it’s very important.” Dorothy still looked terrified at the sight of them and raised a shaking hand, pointing towards a bleak looking landscape. It appeared to be miles of bare rock, forming mountains and canyons. It looked to be about twenty miles away.

“T-that way!”

“Please could you show us the way?”

“NO! I won’t help you! Just going there is too dangerous let alone…” She shuddered and turned her back on them. Jamie watched her run away into the sand dunes then turned to the group.

“C’mon, I think the road will be dangerous, and that’s why she was so scared but-”

“No, Jamie,” interrupted Lillian, “I remembered, when we came through the veil, who Tom Riddle was. I could vaguely remember Mum talking about him, when we were little. I think she said that he was a friend of hers… no, wait… she said… Merlin, what did she say?” She chewed her lip as she struggled to remember.

“I thought he was my friend, at the time, but-”

“That was it! She thought he was her friend, but somehow, he wasn’t, I forget why, but that doesn’t matter. He’s not a good person! I bet he was some sort of… perverted creep or something and that was why Dorothy refused to come.”

“I dunno, Lils…” began Danny, looking at Jamie uneasily. Jamie nodded at him.

“Yeah, Danny’s right. But so are you. I can remember Mum talking about him, or it might have been Dad, but really, I don’t think it was in a scared way. I think it was in more of a sad way. I think he’s probably alright.”

“He was friends with Bella, well, more than friends,” pointed out Sirius, who seemed to agree with Lillian.

“Yeah, but Bella wasn’t a bad person then, was she?”

“We don’t know that, that was in 1945… hang on…” said Danny, doing the maths in his head, “she can’t be that old…”

“She might just look young,” said Rosaline, though she too, looked doubtful.

“No, he’s right, if she did have a boyfriend in 1945, she must be like, one million and two!” exclaimed Lillian.

“No, not one million Lils, more like one hundred and twenty. But the point is, she really can’t be that old… plus, how would your mum know this guy if he died in the forties? She wasn’t born ‘till the eighties,” said Danny.

“Well, maybe Mum didn’t know him, and we’re just confused. And anyway, about Bella’s age, she doesn’t exactly look young, does she? Yeah, she’s got black hair but that could be dyed, she could get anti-wrinkle potion and Granddad told me that wizards live much longer than muggles,” argued Jamie. Stumped, Lillian desperately tried to come up with another excuse not to go to the threatening looking mountains.

“I don’t like her. And, I don’t like the look of those mountains, either. Why would a good, decent person live up there?”

“Maybe it’s very nice on the other side,” said Nicolas optimistically. Lillian looked at him as if he was insane.

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and I grew up with Jamie.”

“Shut-up, Lily. Let’s vote �“ who says that we go look for him?” asked Jamie, taking control of the situation. Everyone raised their hands except for Sirius, Danny and, obviously, Lillian.

“You’re out-voted four to three, we look for him in the mountains,” snapped Jamie, turning promptly on his heel and striding towards said mountains.

“Hey! We’re not finished, Jamie!” shouted Lillian.

“Yes we are. Are you coming or are you gonna stay there, alone?” Jamie called over his shoulder. Lillian looked for a second as if she was going to do just that; sit down on the ground and have a good sulk on her own. Nevertheless, she grudgingly followed the group towards the treacherous mountains �“ determined to make the trip as annoying as possible for Jamie.


Unfortunately, what the children didn’t know was the fate of one Death Eater, around four months previously, a certain Jeffery Shea.

“Are you sure you’re willing to do this?” Bella asked, her dark eyes surveying Jeffrey.

“I am. For the Dark Lord, I’d do anything.”

“Good. You know what to do?”

“Of course.” Bella nodded and raised her wand. She had killed many times, but none of her victims had been willing before. Most people would feel terrible at the thought of killing a friend, but Bella looked at it as an experience.

“Avada Kedavra! ” Jeff saw bright green; he felt a burning sensation, a rushing noise through his ears, the smell of smoke. He was lying on the ground. He could feel hard rocks digging into his back and as he opened his eyes, he could see stormy clouds swirling above him. He was wearing soft white robes. He gingerly rose and looked around at the many people running about the barren ground, laughing and talking. He had no time for them.

“My Lord?!” He yelled. No one paid him any attention.

“Who are you looking for?” asked a deep voice, kindly. He turned around and saw a tall man, who looked like he’d died in his forties.

“The Dark Lord.” The man’s tone change dramatically as he looked at Jeff in disgust.

“You’re one of his followers?” Jeff nodded; he didn’t care what other people thought of him. The Dark Lord had always been right, and justified.

“Then go! Go to those mountains! You’ll find him there; I hope you never leave! I hope the Crackacks get you!” The man turned sharply and left. Jeff shook his head in confusion, wondering what the hell Crackacks were. He set off towards the towering mountains, ready to inform the Dark Lord of the plan.

***

“My feet hurt…” moaned Lillian, deliberately trying to make the journey as difficult as possible for her brother. “Are we there yet? Jamie, give me some more of you’re water; I’ve drank all mine. We’ve been walking for days and we still haven’t reached the mountains yet! Let’s give up, let’s go home…”

“Shut-up, Lily.”

“Ja-a-a-am-mie-e-e!” She whined, hiding the small smirk that had crept onto her face.

“Lillian! Will you please, for once in your miserable little life, SHUT-UP?!” There was silence for a few moments after Jamie’s words, before-

“Ja-a-a-am-mie-e-e!”

“WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW?!” Jamie finally exploded, wheeling round to face his sister. The rest of the group sniggered, fully aware of what Lillian was doing.

“Can I have some of your water please?” She asked politely. Jamie thrust his water bottle at her with great annoyance, then spun round and began to march forward, stamping the ground with as much force as he could muster with each step.

“Ooooh! Stressy!” exclaimed Lillian, dragging out the word ‘stressy’ as much as she could �“ a definite grin now on her face. Jamie held a strong silence, though his clenched fists gave away his irritation.

They continued to walk through the dry and barren rocks that stretched for miles around the mountains, the penetrating silence was only disrupted by Lillian’s tormenting of Jamie. The tall mountains loomed ahead of them, becoming larger and larger every minute. There were no birds and no plants. However, a strange fog seemed to gather in the odd craters that were dotted around.

“It’s like no-mans land,” shivered Rosaline to Sirius, who nodded, gazing into a nearby crater.

“What d’you suppose created these craters?” he asked her. She shook her head and shrugged.

“What was that!?” Everyone turned to look at Camilla, who was at the back of the group. She was looking to her left, with wide open eyes and a look of pure terror on her face.

“What was what?” asked Nicolas, hesitantly.

“I… just saw… I don’t know… it looked like a little… goblin thing… it was,” she sighed and laughed, “it was just my imagination, can I have some water, please?”

***

“Prongs!” James Potter’s hazel eyes flew open, and he sat up, shaking his sleeping wife awake as he did so. He watched as his best friend, Sirius Black came sprinting towards him, jumping over the many people also lying sleeping on the beach, an urgent look on his face.

“Word’s just got around, apparently another person has come through looking for Voldemort �“ James; it’s worrying!”

“Calm down, Padfoot, what’s Tommy-boy going to do while he’s dead?” asked James lazily, gently lying down again.

“But-but…” spluttered Sirius, nonplussed, “don’t you think it’s strange, all these people coming through and looking specifically for him? None of these people seem confused when they get here �“ as if they know what’s happening! The last people to come through were children! Seven of them. They were heading for the mountains. I heard it from Jack, who heard it from someone called Dorothy.” Lily bit her lip.

“Maybe he’s right; maybe we should go and check it out…”

“And do what? Sure, we can beat him up, like we did Pettigrew-” Sirius sniggered, “-but there is actually nothing we can do! We don’t have wands and we can’t Apparate! If the Death Eaters have made a little cult with Mr Megalomaniac as their almighty murderer, then fine, leave them to it!”

“Still… you know what Riddle’s like! He never gives up, he’s up to something. And seven children, James, just little children! They’ve been brainwashed, probably… can we just go and check it out?” Lily pleaded, her bright green eyes looking up at James. She knew full well that James couldn’t resist them. He looked like he was struggling to argue.

“Fine - but it won’t amount to anything! You’d best round up Dumbledore, he’ll want a say in this.”

***

The Seven trudged along in silence, Lily, having finally grown tired of winding her brother up. There was no noise; no birds singing, no rustling of leaves, no human voices. Just the sound of their own heavy footsteps, their feet growing tired from walking hours on end. The mountains loomed ahead of them, casting a dark shadow across the land. The children would have thought it was night, if it were not for the fiery orange sun behind them.

“Everyone, stop,” commanded Jamie suddenly, holding up a hand.

“Why?” began Sirius, but he was quickly quietened by Rosaline.

“I hear it too,” she breathed. Behind them, was a gentle thudding, going at a regular, quick beat. And a heavy panting… and an odd, gurgling sound…

They whipped round fearfully to see around twenty small dark shapes heading straight towards them. They screamed.

The creatures were small, about the size of a domestic cat and were a mottled green. They had thin, spindly limbs and sharp, pointed features. Their devilish faces were hideous; their eyes were white, as if they were actually rolled back in their heads, their mouths seemed too big for their heads and were cracked around the edges. But it was what was in their mouth’s that was truly terrifying. Four long, pointed fangs that were too big for their mouths, so when their mouth was closed, the fangs came out and rested on their face, two pointing up, two pointing down, like a sabre-tooth tiger. The rest of their teeth, although smaller, were also long and razor sharp. They had a snake’s tongue, twice the length that it ought to be, and it seemed to be on fire, or maybe, it was actually made up of the dancing red flames.

They wore nothing but a filthy rag around their hips and some carried jagged spears. Not that they were needed. On the end of their unnaturally long fingers were sharp claws, about ten centimetres in length and filthy dirty.

Once these creatures knew that the children had seen them, they forgot about their silent attack and cried out a horrendous, cackling cry, along with the strange gurgling sound that they seemed to make whenever they breathed.

The creatures surrounded the group of huddled and frightened children, licking their cracked lips with their fiery tongues and still cackling. Jamie felt dread rise in his throat like vomit; they were going to attack.

A stag and a dog tore across the bleak no-mans land before the colossal mountains, side by side, with one thought in mind

Find out what’s going on.

Up ahead, they could see a group of Crackacks surrounding a group of children. They didn’t think, they just chased them away. It didn’t matter who the children were, they couldn’t let the Crackacks get them.

The dog grabbed one by the neck in his powerful jaws and shook it violently from side to side, a strident growl emitting from his mouth as the neck of the Crackack broke.

The stag, on the other hand, lowered his proud head, so that three or four Crackacks would climb onto the long, tough antlers, attempting to get to his head or throat. He then flung the ghastly creatures fifteen foot up into the air, were they landed with a sickening crunch.

The children watched in horror and fear, clutching hold of each other in one massive group hug, the three girls sobbing in terror. The last of the Crackacks sped away, yelping, into the distance. The stag and dog subtly morphed into two dark haired men.

“Merlin…” breathed Jamie, stepping forward, his mouth wide open.

“Whoa… this is creepy…” said his seemingly-mirror image.

“That’s not Harry…” said the other man. Jamie blinked.

“No, I’m his son.”

“Harry has a son!?” The two men yelled together, their faces lighting up with excitement.

“Um… yeah… are you… are you my grandfather?” James Potter beamed and nodded his head.

“Seems like it �“ who’s your mother?”

“Ginny Potter.” Sirius gave out a bark of laughter then outstretched a hand to James.

“I knew it! I knew it would be her! Prongs here said that it would be Hermione.”

“My aunt?” replied Jamie showing a look of pure disgust.

“She’s your aunt? But who… she married Ron, didn’t she?” Jamie nodded at Sirius’ words. He knew he recognised this man �“ it was his younger brother’s namesake.

“What’s your name, kid?” asked James.

“Jamie. And this is my twin sister Lillian and my younger brother, Sirius.” The two men grinned even wider, if that were possible, and pulled the three siblings into hugs.

“He named them after us!” James cried out happily.

“What about you lot? What are your names? Then we can get round as to why you’re here,” said adult Sirius. The children stepped forward in turn, introducing themselves. Danny was last.

“Danny Lupin. I think my Dad knew you two, didn’t he?” James and Sirius stood there, speechless.

“Moony… he… he said he’d never… too dangerous…”

“Who’s your mother?”

“Nymphadora Lupin, but everyone calls her by her maiden name, Tonks.”

“Tonks?! As in, my baby cousin?” Danny nodded. “Wow, bit of an age gap, but, wow…”

“So, Sirius-” began James.

“Yes?” Both Sirius’ replied. James groaned.

“This is going to get confusing. Call us by our nicknames, okay? Big Sirius here is Padfoot, got it? And I’m Prongs. Now, Sirius, could you kindly explain why you’re all here?” Sirius blinked; most people talked to Jamie first, as he was the natural born leader of the group. Sirius was just used to hanging around in the background.

“Well… do you know who Tom Riddle is?” A dark shadow passed over both men’s faces.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Oh, good. We have to find him �“ d’you know where he is?” asked Nicolas brightly.

“Why, in Merlin’s name, do you want to find him?” asked Padfoot, bewildered.

“Well, Bellatrix Lestrange kidnapped us from school-”

“What?!” yelped Padfoot, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets. Sirius had to admit, that did sound pretty bad, but they hadn’t heard the whole story yet. Jamie continued.

“Calm down! It’s okay; she’s changed. She’s really sorry for what she did to Dad-”

“What did she do to Harry?” asked Prongs, sharply. The children exchanged nervous glances. Lily sighed.

“I think you two should sit down, this is going to take a lot of explaining.”

***

“Do you kids know just how entirely stupid you’ve been?” asked Padfoot bluntly. The tale had just finished, and both Padfoot and Prongs were left speechless.

“We haven’t, she’s really changed!”

“Listen, kid. People who torture others to near death, never change. I can prove it to you. Do you want to know who Tom Riddle really is?”

“We know who he is,” pointed out Camilla, “he’s Bella’s old boyfriend.”

“No, he’s not. Maybe for some unknown, disgusting reason, she wished he was, but trust me, he’s not. Tom Marvolo Riddle is actually Lord Voldemort.” There was a stunned silence after Prongs’ words. Before the group, bar Lily, burst into peals of laughter.

“Stop laughing guys!” exclaimed Lily, angrily, “I knew there was something going on!”

“Really, Lils, you don’t actually believe these two, do you? Bella’s changed �“ you saw how kind she was!”

“It was all an act!” said Padfoot, gripping his hair in frustration.

“Do you really think we’d joke about this?” asked Prongs, frowning.

“My Dad always said that you were pranksters,” said Danny.

“Trust me, I’m not a prankster after finding out my son was tortured so much he spent three months in a coma,” said Prongs, frostily. The children were silent.

“We’ve been so stupid,” said Lily, struggling to keep control of the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. Prongs engulfed her in a comforting hug.

“No, you haven’t. She’s just tricked you. I think when I was your age; I would have fallen for it too.”

“But… h-he has to c-come back now,” she choked, now sobbing, “b-because, we can only get back h-home if h-he drinks the potion! H-he’s going to c-come back, and it’ll all be my f-fault!”

“It won’t be your fault, Lils. It’ll be mine. I should have listened to you,” said Jamie dully.

“Dumbledore and Lily are back at the hut, they’ll know what to do. Now, c’mon, we’d best get out of the shadow of the mountains �“ the Crackacks might come back,” said Prongs soothingly, gently pulling Lillian and the rest of the group away from the mountains.

***

“Well, what are we going to do?”

“There’s nothing we can do, we’ll just have to let him go through.”

“We can’t do that!” Hushed, frantic voices woke Jamie from his slumber. Prongs and Sirius had led them far away from the mountains, to a small, hexagonal hut. It was more of a summer house, made out of fresh smelling timber with intricate designs carved into it. The only roof was a blanket of a beautiful creeper, which climbed up the pillars onto the roof from the soft grass, its pure white flowers giving off a truly intoxicating scent. The hut itself was raised about two feet off the ground.

The children lay on a soft, snowy white blanket covering the floor of the hut, all of them asleep after their long journey, all except Jamie.

He opened his eyes, but didn’t move. He could see a very old man with a long white beard talking to a beautiful young woman, with bright green eyes, on the veranda. He guessed that must be his grandmother, and that the old man was Dumbledore.

“What other option is available to us, Lily? We cannot allow them to remain here, neither among the living or the deceased. We must remember that time stands still in the world of the living while they are here. As a result, they will not age.”

“But there must be another way! Can’t some one else go through instead of Riddle? I will-”

“Lily, I know how much you want to go back and see Harry, but you must understand �“ it would be like rubbing salt into an open wound. It would not give you peace of mind. Even if that were possible, I would not allow you to do it. The only way those children can get back is if Voldemort goes with them.”

“But, he’ll kill them! They’re only- Jamie! You’re awake, dear.” Lily smiled and walked over to him as he sat up, his limbs still heavy from sleep. Dumbledore smiled, and walked away, out of sight.

“I’m Lily, well, your grandmother, I suppose. How are you feeling?”

“Sleepy,” mumbled Jamie, honestly. He rubbed his eyes as Lily smiled and nodded.

“That’s the flowers �“ this is the sleeping hut, you see. Come on, I’ll take you to the living hut, and we can have a chat.” She helped Jamie up and led him outside. It seemed to be dusk; a pale moon was in the sky, crickets were chirping and the soft grass was wet with dew. Dotted around were brightly lit beach torches, their flickering flames illuminating the beautiful, mountainous surroundings.

“Do all of the spirits live in huts like these?” he asked, gazing around, entranced.

“Well, kind of. We have quite a choice of where we can live, really. You can’t run out of space here, there’s always some more land past the horizon. This is mine and James’ set of huts, but Sirius lives here a lot of the time too. He has got his own, but he gets lonely.”

“Where’s Dumbledore gone?”

Lily shrugged. “Who knows? He always seems to be going somewhere. Here we are.” Lily led him into another hut, which was exactly the same as the other one, except the flowers were bright red, giving off a warm, welcoming fragrance, and there was a crackling fire in the middle.

“Now,” said Lily, seeming to produce two mugs of hot coco from nowhere, “I know all about why you’re here, James and Sirius told me, but why don’t you tell me a bit more about what you’re life is normally like?”

“Do you mean when we’re not bringing back insane murders?” joked Jamie, taking his mug of hot chocolate. She smiled, and spoke as she raised the mug to her lips.

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“So… I’ve talked to you for hours now about my life… but what’s going on here? What were those things that attacked us?” Jamie asked. The sun was beginning to rise, casting a warm pink glow over the land; the crackling fire had now burnt into orange embers. Lily smiled sadly.

“They… we call them Crackacks. They will literally tear you apart until they get to your soul, that’s what they feed on. They hang around the mountains, in the shadow. The only reason Voldemort and other evil people go there is because their souls are incomplete, so the Crackacks have no desire for them.”

“But… they chased them away… Padfoot and Prongs chased them away.”

Lily pursed her lips. “I know, they can be chased away �“ Padfoot, Prongs and your uncle Charlie make a sport out of it, I believe. Working as a team, we can get rid of them, for the time being, but no one goes into the mountains if they can avoid it, and certainly not alone.”

“Oh, I see. Another thing �“ you don’t look old enough. You don’t look old enough to be my Dad’s mum, even if he was only one at the time, if you get what I mean.” She laughed.

“I know what you mean. When you die, you can take the form of any age you want. Most people tend to pick the age they were happiest, like me. I picked the very moment I found out that I was pregnant, when I was twenty. Although, I do look young �“ many people used to say that I looked seventeen. But, I was in fact twenty and expecting my first child…” She took another sip of her hot chocolate, which had become cold; her eyes distant and far away. Jamie bit his lip, wondering if he should ask the question that had been bugging him since he first found out about the veil.

“Does it hurt?” he blurted out, finally.

“What? Getting torn apart by Crackacks? Probably.”

“No… I meant, Avada Kedavra…”

Lily closed her eyes, but her face stayed blank. “It’s not enjoyable. It’s more of a blunt pain. You don’t really realise that it hurt until it’s all over. Still, though, if you want my advice, don’t get hit by it.”

“I don’t plan to,” Jamie said, smiling, and then his face fell. “What are we going to do? I heard you talking to that man �“ Dumbledore, wasn’t it? He has to come through the veil with us, or we can’t get back.”

She smiled warmly. “We’ll work something out, dear. I promise. Now, you’d better get some more sleep �“ I need to find your uncle.” Jamie made his way back to the sleeping hut, his eyelids growing steadily heavier as he got nearer to the intoxicating flowers. He went back to where he’d been sleeping before, curled up in between Lillian and Sirius. The moment he closed his eyes, he was asleep.

***

“We can’t let Voldemort come back. Lestrange has planned all this; she’ll have everything ready. He’ll make another Horcrux. Then he’ll kill the children,” said Charlie Weasley, bluntly. The adults sat together in the Dining hut, were there was a low table, just raised above the ground high enough for them to kneel at it. Although, they did not all appear to be adults. Charlie had decided to take his fourteen-year-old form, finding that was the time he was happiest. The bright yellow flowers in the hut gave off a fruity scent, and the polished table showed the reflections of all the adults present �“ Charlie, Dumbledore, Padfoot, Prongs and Lily.

“There’s nothing else we can do. We can’t let them stay here �“ no, we can’t, Lily!” said Sirius, frowning at Lily, who had opened her mouth hopefully. She scowled quickly.

“Well, we can’t let him go back! My son is out there, and you know that he’ll be the first person Voldemort will want to kill! Can’t one of us go through with them? I’ll do it-”

“No, Lily,” interrupted Dumbledore softly, “we’ve already been through this.” Lily hurriedly blinked back tears that were threatening to spill down onto her porcelain-like cheeks. The secret hurt that had played on her mind all these years - missing out on watching her child grow and flourish �“ ached in her heart, and seeing her grandchildren had made it both better, and worse.

“We can’t stand aside and do nothing,” she said, her voice quivering slightly. Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” he muttered quietly. James put his head in his hands.

“Can’t we tie him up or something? So, when he goes through, he won’t be able to kill anyone?” asked Charlie, desperately.

“No, he has to walk through the emptiness,” muttered James dully, referring to the mass of swirling colour between the two worlds. Sirius shook his head weakly, his eyes shiny with tears. Dumbledore sighed again.

“We must get him from the mountains. Then he must go through, for everybody’s sake.”

***

A handsome, dark haired youth strolled confidently through the thick crowds of glaring and fearful people, flanked by a growling dog, and a snorting stag. He was followed by seven crying children, shame and horror filling them up from the pits of their stomachs.

The youth grinned as he saw the gently fluttering veil. An evil grin, full of malice, and greed.

“I’m warning you, Riddle, touch my son, and you’ll have to deal with me when you return,” muttered James threateningly, now back into his human form. Riddle laughed softly.

“Really? I hate to disappoint you, but your son will suddenly appear in that pathetic little forest you call your home. Soon. Me? I will never die again. I will keep on living. I will keep on surviving.”

“Okay, we’ve heard your cheesy little speech. Now I’m not threatening, I’m promising. Kill my son and I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands, and feed what’s left of your black soul to the Crackacks, if they’ll take it.”

“How touching,” sneered Riddle. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe that your grandchildren and I must make a small journey, back to your son.” With an evil grin, he took the potion from Rosa’s shaking hand and downed it in one.

***

“NO!” Harry screamed as his children ran through the veil, but it was no use. They couldn’t hear their parents through the spell. He held Ginny and rocked her back and forth as Bella cackled, both parents sobbing. It was only a matter of seconds before the veil started to make a sulphurous roaring sound once again, and Harry was dragged by his hair up to his feet. The Death Eaters pushed him around the mirrors, and thrust his wand in his hand.

“So we can have a bit of fun with you beforehand!” one of them yelled.

“Yeah, let your kid’s watch you fight to the death!” screeched another. Harry’s mind was racing as he squinted at the thunderous veil. He didn’t have to kill Voldemort… he’d barely been able to do that last time… just fight until the seventy-two minutes were up… he just had to survive for seventy-two minutes…

One by one, each child came through the veil, which has ceased its roaring and was now as silent. Each child was sobbing.

“We’re sorry, Dad! We didn’t mean to!” wailed Lillian, fear written all over her face. Harry sent her a comforting look, but didn’t dare move. He held the wand at face level, fighting to stop his hand shaking, glaring at the veil. Camilla came out, her cheeks wet with tears, bawling like an infant. A dark haired, handsome young man with a superior smirk on his face followed.

“Harry… so nice to see you again…”

“Wish I could say the same.”

“My Lord!” Bella rushed forwards and fell at Voldemort’s feet. She kissed the hem of his robes and Voldemort grinned down at her.

“You have done well, Bellatrix. You will be rewarded greatly. Now, Shea said that you had something for me? To use as a Horcrux?” Bella nodded slowly.

“Yes, Master… it’s here, along with your wand…” Bella reached inside her robes and brought out a long wand and a pocket watch. Harry’s heart skipped a beat when he recognised the familiar face of moving stars and planets…

“Severus Snape took it from Dumbledore’s tomb, my Lord… it was the best we could find…” Voldemort nodded as he took the objects from her, and examined the watch approvingly.

Then, gripping the watch in his left hand and his wand in right, Voldemort slowly turned on the spot to face Harry. “I’m going to kill you now, Harry.”

Harry smirked, swallowing his fear and ignoring the children’s squeals of terror. “I’ve heard that one before. Only… last time I met you, I ended up killing you, and I was only seventeen.”

Voldemort’s face screwed up in anger. “Crucio! ”

Harry ducked down underneath the beam of red, and shot a stunner, which Voldemort blocked easily.

“Just a stunner, Harry? You’ve killed before, why not do it now?” sneered Voldemort, sending a nasty looking orange hex. Dodging said hex, Harry sent another stunner.

“Well, Tom-” Voldemort snarled in anger and sent another hex, “-I don’t feel it necessary to kill you myself. I can wait seventy-two minutes.”

“No, you can’t. I’ll have killed you by then, and created a Horcrux. I don’t intend to go back, Harry, but someone needs to take my place.” The Death Eaters had moved around from behind the mirrors and were now creating a small huddle, watching the fierce duel. Lillian tapped Jamie on the shoulder, who was staring, horrified, at said duel.

“What?” he whispered at her, not taking his eyes off his father.

“Look at those mirrors.”

“Now’s not the time to admire yourself, Lily!” he hissed at her.

“But, don’t you remember Uncle Ron’s stories? He never once told us about mirrors in the veil room. And all the Death Eaters came from behind them, which means that there must be something behind ‘em they don’t want us to see.”

“Yeah, well, from what I’ve seen tonight, I’m not sure I want to see. Besides �“ I’m not leaving Dad!”

“He can look after himself �“ he’s killed that piece of shit once before, he can do it again.”

“Yeah, but most pieces of shit stay dead when you kill them �“ I’m staying here, Dad might need me!”

“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do? Kill Voldemort yourself? C’mon.” Lily pulled on his arm and they slunk silently away from the battle, unseen by any of the Death Eaters, who were jeering and heckling. They crept around the mirrors.

“Mum!”

Ginny was kneeling on the painfully hard stone floor, her wrists and feet bound, clearly sobbing, but completely silent. Lillian ran forward, but found that she could not touch her mother �“ there seemed to be some sort of force field around her.

“Oh, Mum… we’re so sorry… we didn’t mean for this to happen…” Ginny was trying to say something to them �“ but they couldn’t hear her.

“How do we get you out of here, Mum?” asked Jamie, hoping that she might be able to give some clue, even if she couldn’t be heard. But Ginny just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders helplessly, tears splashing down her cheeks.

“Can’t you just… walk through it?” suggested Lillian, even though she knew Ginny couldn’t. Ginny shook her head and bit her lip. Suddenly, she paled and a look of terror came across her face. Lillian followed her gaze. Through the mirrors, she could see the duel. Her father was losing, badly.

***

Harry slammed painfully onto the ground once again, while the Death Eaters laughed and the children sobbed.

“Why, Harry…you appear to have gotten a little rusty at this,” Voldemort sneered, his eyes glinting. Harry, blood oozing from a cut on his lip, raised his head, groaning slightly as he did so. He immediately found himself bound with thick green ropes. He struggled against them, making the Death Eaters laugh even harder. They cut painfully into his wrists and cut off the blood circulation in his feet. He looked up at Voldemort, who stood towering above him, his thin lips pulled into a grotesque smile.

“I could kill you now, Harry, but where would be the fun in that?” Voldemort thrust out a long, skeletal hand to his left, his fingers held in a claw like position. To Harry’s horror, Sirius was summoned into Voldemort’s steely grasp. Sirius yelled, kicked, bit, and fought, but Voldemort paid no attention. He continued to stare into Harry’s fearful eyes as he slowly raised his wand to Sirius’s head, who was struggling too much to realise.

“Merlin… please, no…,” pleaded Harry weakly.

“Crucio!” Sirius writhed and screamed on the ground, drowning out Harry’s frantic plea’s and cries, and the Death Eater’s raucous laughter.

“Expelliarmus!” Sirius stopped jerking and twitching, and lay on the ground, breathing heavily and shaking as Voldemort’s wand flew out of his hand, to be caught by a fierce looking Jamie, who stood next to Lillian. Voldemort stared at him, and Harry saw his red eyes go wide with astonishment as he slowly approached the eleven-year-old boy, who looked defiantly up at Voldemort’s face, with out flinching. Lillian also looked defiant, and she only raised her wand higher when Voldemort approached.

Sirius pulled himself over to Harry, and quickly untied the ropes binding his hands and feet. Harry hugged him briefly and kissed him on the forehead, before standing up and picking up his wand, which was just a few meters away.

“Don’t be silly, children… drop your wands and let me kill you quickly, without hassle…” Voldemort was saying to Jamie.

“Get lost, you evil bas-” Jamie let out a string of insults and swear words at Voldemort, who looked rather amused at Jamie’s apparent lack of fear. Lillian was shaking her head, wondering what on earth Jamie was doing this for, and vaguely contemplating interrupting and asking him why he seemed to be inviting Voldemort to kill him. She soon realised however �“ it was a distraction.

BAM!

Harry had slammed into Voldemort, ramming him with his shoulder. He yelled out a cry of pain as his scar burned white hot at the contact, but it had done the trick. Voldemort stumbled, and Harry launched himself into another duel, only this time he had the advantage of surprise as Voldemort struggled to get up and fight at the same time. Voldemort clawed at the ground for his wand, Jamie having just dropped it. As he grabbed it, he straightened up, and he and Harry were locked in a duel once again.

Sirius came running, up, tugging his siblings desperately away from the violent duel. They obliged and dashed to the other side, dodging the Death Eaters that grabbed out, trying to restrain them.

“Where do we go?” screeched Lillian as they darted about in between the Death Eaters, skidding around on the floor and avoiding spells.

“Don’t go through any of the doors!” yelled Danny, “Remember the stories? Don’t get lost in here!”

But where could they go? It seemed like there was no escape except for through the doors. Nevertheless, there was no way they’d go through them. They knew that the Department of Mysteries was a labyrinth of unknown, dangerous rooms, and that it would be very easy to be lost forever.

“Gotcha!” A Death Eater grabbed Sirius with strong, almost gorilla-like arms from behind, wrapping them tightly around Sirius’ arms and chest.

“Let- ughr- go of me!” growled Sirius as he struggled. Lillian whipped around.

“Hey! Get off my brother-” However, before she could continue, Sirius had sunk his teeth into the Death Eater’s arm, and brought his right foot up behind him, hard. The Death Eater gave a muffled grunt and sank to the floor, doubled up in pain. Sirius finished with a good kick in the head. Lillian stared at her younger brother in shock.

“What? I can look after myself, you know,” he said hotly. She gave a shrug and a jerk of the head, before joining up with the other five children. They grouped together, watching more Death Eaters run towards them.

“What do we do? What do we do?” Camilla shrieked frantically.

“We can fight them!” shouted Nicolas, his eyes blazing and his wand held high. The Death Eaters laughed, but the children stood defiantly, facing their opponents with their wands held high.

***

Harry shot spell after spell at Voldemort, who, in turn, sent a volley back. Harry was spurred on by a new hate for Voldemort. Sirius was only a boy - only nine-years-old �“ and Voldemort had stood there and tortured him, with an evil smirk across his handsome, pale face.

Voldemort snarled in fury as he sent curse after curse at Harry, his hand gripping Dumbledore’s pocket watch, the long chain trailing over his unnaturally long and slender fingers.

It was difficult to say who was winning the duel �“ both seemed very cut-up, but if anyone had wanted to look into Voldemort’s eyes, they would have seen desperation beginning to form… forty precious minutes had already passed…

The children were duelling away at the Death Eaters, and, although they weren’t very good, were winning, as they were much smaller and were able to dodge. Lillian looked over at her father and Voldemort.

She could see that they were both beginning to tire, though neither showed any signs of giving up. The duel had moved to the veil, which, contrary to forty minutes ago, was now silent, and only fluttering slightly.

Both Harry and Voldemort were ducking about the veil, using it as a shield against one another, moving around it in a bizarre dance.

Then Lillian knew what she had to do.

Ignoring the horrific scenes of violence, and the flashes of coloured light all around her, she ran, as Voldemort stepped in front of the veil. Everything seemed to go silent; all she could hear was the heavy thumping of her own heart and the pounding of her feet as she ran. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as she sprinted over. Voldemort turned around at the last minute, probably hearing her coming up behind him, and held up his arms. It didn’t matter. She pushed into him anyway and, with a cry of fury, he fell backwards through the veil, taking her with him.

The last thing she remembered was the cry of her father, and a strange pressure on her right foot. Then she was in utter darkness.

Her eyes snapped open. She was faced with blaring white, so she quickly shut them again. She wanted to move, but she felt so exhausted…

She risked opening her eyes again, but slowly this time. She realised that she was looking up at a ceiling �“ a long, thin crack in the plaster was running along it. She turned her head very slightly to the side.

Her dad had her hand in his, gently stroking it with his thumb, gazing at it with watery eyes. Her mother had her elbows on the hard bed that Lillian was lying on, and her head in her hands. Jamie was staring blankly at the wall opposite, no emotion visible in his face, but pain evident in his deep brown eyes. Sirius had his head on Jamie’s shoulder and, although his eyes were shut, tears seeped out from underneath his eyelashes, trickling down his freckled face.

Lillian frowned slightly. Why were they all crying? Where was she? The last thing she remembered…

She gave out a high whimper of fear and began to shake violently. Her family’s heads spun to look at her. They didn’t move, though �“ they hardly dared believe it.

“Lily…” whispered her dad, deathly pale.

“Where am I? Where’s Voldemort? Mummy… Daddy… what-?” she broke down into a frantic fit of racking sobs, her eyes darting about in terror. Her family rushed forward and she was at once engulfed in warm embraces and kisses. Everyone was crying and shaking.

“You’re okay, you’re alright…” Harry was saying through kisses to the top of her head, more to himself than her. Her mother was stroking her wet cheek with one hand, and her dark locks with the other. Jamie had moved around to the other side of the bed and was sobbing into Lillian’s shoulder, and Sirius had actually clambered onto the bed to curl up next to her.

“We thought you were dead,” he wailed into her side, “that’s what the Healers said… they said you’d die… they told us to prepare for the worst…”

“What happened? Last thing I remember, I was… I was running at Voldemort and I pushed him and…” choked Lillian through sobs.

“He’s gone, Lils, it’s alright, we’re all here… it’s over… it’ll never happen ever again. You got rid of him,” Jamie wept. “Dad grabbed your foot �“ the only part of you which went through they veil was your arms �“ oh, Lily, they were all burnt and black…”

“It doesn’t matter,” said her mother, firmly, “you’re safe now, and that’s all that matters.”

“Did anyone… die? Is everyone safe?” The family was silent.

“Everyone’s okay, Lillian. Everyone’s fine,” said Harry softly. “You’d best get some sleep.” He reached over into the medicine cabinet on the wall next to the bed, despite the angry protest of a nearby Healer, and took out a bottle of Dreamless Sleep potion, which he poured into a goblet.

Lillian drained the goblet in one gulp, and sank back into the pillows, fatigue taking over. Harry gently took the goblet from her limp hands and placed it on the floor, never taking his eyes of her.

“Why didn’t you tell her about Granddad?” asked Sirius quietly.

“She doesn’t need to know yet. I think it just would’ve made her worse. We’ll wait until she’s calmer before we tell her he’s…” He stopped and placed his hand over his mouth and nose, taking a great shuddering breath. Ginny began to sob again. Now that she knew her daughter would be okay, she could grieve properly for her father.

***

Over the next few days, Lillian woke several more times, in much calmer moods. She was informed of her grandfather’s death �“ about how he had been hit by an Avada Kedavra in the back when the Death Eater’s had first raided the Ministry. She had howled a heart-breaking cry of despair, having been very close to him and his workshop.

She had spent many happy summer days in that little shed at the bottom of the garden �“watching with fascination as he took apart some Muggle device, added something new and put it together again, or sometimes just turning it on and off.

She blamed herself entirely for his and every other tragic death in the Ministry that fateful day �“ a day which the media had named “The flame-filled night”. Jamie, Sirius, Danny, Nicolas, Rosa and Camilla had all assured her that it was not her fault �“ it was theirs for not listening to her when she had tried to tell them Bella was evil, only to be told firmly by Harry that Bellatrix Lestrange held all responsibility for the massacre that night.

Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters had fled the scene, cowards that they were, when Voldemort was pushed through the veil. Although a few of the young, inexperienced ones had been tracked down and sent to Azkaban, many were still at large, and plagued the children’s dreams and waking moments. A great number of people roared their disapproval of this, insisting those captured should get a taste of their own medicine and be executed.

A register had been taken, and the death toll had reached one hundred and seventy-four, though fifty-six people were missing, their bodies having never been found. Among those, was someone called Colin Creevey. Lillian did not know who this was, but when his name was printed in the newspaper; both her parents had gone into a stunned silence before her mother had left the room shaking, and her father had slumped in his chair, breathing heavily.

Many people had escaped from the inferno of the Ministry, as the Death Eaters hadn’t been so organised and had left one of the doors unlocked �“ the door that led on top of the Ministry. Hundreds of them had escaped that way, much to the confusion of the Muggles that had been doing late night shopping that night.

Ron and Hermione had been among them and, although they both had minor burns and Hermione had broken her arm in a fight with a Death Eater, both were perfectly fine.

Sirius had been checked over for any brain damage caused by the Cruciatus curse, despite his protests and annoyed arguments about how he was only under for a couple of seconds. He was fine, although he was given a potion to help relax his muscles, which he often loudly complained were aching badly. He refused to drink it, retaining his stubbornness, and making Harry ruffle his hair proudly saying he was just like his father, before forcing him to drink it for his own good.

Harry, a few days after Lillian had woken up, had collapsed, causing a great deal of panic amongst the family. It was concluded by his Healer that he had been under too much stress. Harry had rolled his eyes and muttered “Really?” sarcastically, which made the children laugh and Ginny mock-scold him.

“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, except when I do it, and then it’s highest.” The Healer had ignored the entire family and prescribed Harry a new potion, lecturing him on how, even though it was years ago, the effect of the Cruciatus curse was still evident in him, and he shouldn’t “overexert” himself ever again �“ as if it was all his fault that he had been forced to duel Voldemort.

Harry had merely replied, in a pretend hurt voice, “I never overexert myself. I lead such a peaceful, calm life.” Everyone had laughed again, apart from the Healer, who had glared at him with such ferocity that Lillian was surprised not to see daggers come out of her cold grey eyes.

Harry swore that she had given him the most disgusting potion possible on purpose because of this.

Lillian was slightly disturbed by the way her parents and other family members who visited could laugh and joke so easily. She felt like crying, screaming, and throwing things across the room, but was always too sleepy to do such a thing. She didn’t know what to do with herself.
She wanted to comfort herself by eating all her favourite sweets; �“ she dreamed of mountains of chocolate and fudge, with ice cream for snow, and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans dotted about like little people skiing, with pink candy-floss clouds and marzipan for fir trees. However, whenever it came to eating, she couldn’t swallow properly. She wanted to throw up. She hated herself for sitting here and eating the bar of Honeydukes Best Chocolate her Uncle Fred had got her, while people outside of the white walls of St Mungo’s grieved over deaths that she had caused.

Guilt ate away at her constantly. She got desperately bored sitting in her bed in the plain, private ward, but couldn’t stand walking around the hospital, because she’d always see someone burnt, or bearing a new scar, or at the front desk in tears from the trauma.
She was always very tired, and wanted nothing more than to sleep, but whenever she did, she was woken by terrible nightmares, filled with burning bodies and screams. So, she began to dread going to sleep and, therefore, got very little of it, creating a vicious cycle.

She had confided all of this to her father, who had sighed and said it was all perfectly natural, and that, in time, she would get better, and learn that life goes on.

It didn’t feel natural to Lillian. No one else broke down in tears every five minutes. Harry had smiled and replied.

“They do, honey. Between you and me, I was bawling like a baby just a couple of minutes ago when I was “having a shower”. However, we adults just don’t cry in front of you kids �“ we have to remain strong for you. Would you prefer it if we were doing what we felt like and moping about all over the place?” Lillian had shaken her head, though, in all honesty, she didn’t know whether she would or would not prefer that. Harry continued, “We laugh and make jokes because, over the years, we’ve learnt that that is the best way for us to deal with our grief. It may not be the best way for you �“ everyone grieves in different ways. And believe me; losing a loved one does not get any easier no matter how many times you’ve seen death.

“We all miss Granddad a lot �“ your mum especially. But we know that we’ll always remember him, and that he hasn’t truly left us �“ he’s still in here.” He tapped Lillian’s chest where her heart was and walked away, leaving her to sort through her thoughts. She sighed, lay down on her bed, and cried herself to sleep.

“Enter.”


Harry closed his eyes and sighed before entering the Minister’s office. He had secretly hoped when he had knocked on the door that the Minister wouldn’t be there �“ that he’d be off trying to sort out the mess of the damaged, and therefore abandoned, Ministry, instead of his make-shift office in a couple of old warehouses, long since forgotten about by the Muggles. Harry knew that this was what he wanted, and that he had to do this, but it didn’t make it any easier.

“Ah, Potter. I’m glad you came by.”

“Sir-” began Harry, but was quickly cut off.

“We’ve just had a report in, and I think you’d be perfect for this case, now that you and your family have been released from hospital-”

“Sir-”

“Now, it’s not a long case �“ only a week or so �“ in Brazil. It’s to raid that house that the children were kept in by Lestrange �“ there may be more Death Eaters but-”

“Sir! I’m - I’m sorry for interrupting,” Harry stuttered under the Minister’s blazing glare, “but, I actually came to give you this.” Harry handed the Minister a sheet of parchment.

“A letter of resignation?” asked the Minister with his eyes wide open, dumbfounded. “But… I thought you would want to hunt down the woman who kidnapped your children.”

Harry looked at his feet. “I… I know, but… I don’t think… I’ve seen enough of war, Minister. The Third War, they’re calling it now. I mean… I heard Lestrange; right before she Apparated… you… you know what she said.”

The Minister stayed silent.

It was true, the Minister had been there �“ the alarm having been raised shortly after Lillian nearly fell through the veil, causing the surviving members of the Ministry to rush in there, wands drawn…

“I…I mean… I haven’t told the kids,” Harry continued, “or Ginny, for that matter, but you heard what she yelled at me. She wants to be the new Dark Lord. ‘You haven’t won, Potter �“ I’ll come back, and there’ll be the biggest massacre this country’s ever seen,’ she said. And I want no part in it.

“We… we found out recently that there was no prophecy about the seven children who were kidnapped. Lestrange only said that to get them to go through the veil �“ that spell could have been for anyone, but it was dangerous, they weren’t sure it would work. Therefore, it was safer to let your enemy’s kids do it. The Lupins and my family are targets �“ they only brought the other children to stop it from looking too bad for the kids. We’re targets. The Death Eaters are after my family, and Merlin knows what they’d do to them if they had the chance. We’re not getting involved in this war.”

“Okay…” said the Minister, slowly. “Take a holiday. Take your family somewhere nice and hot �“ somewhere relaxing. Then, when you come back-”

“I don’t want to be an Auror anymore!”

“-You can be transferred to a different department. What about MIW? I could even get you into Weasley’s department, if you wish.”

Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I… I don’t know, Sir… I’ve seen a lot of bodies and a lot of destruction in my life… I’m not sure whether I want to see anymore.”

“Well, what will you do for a living, then?” Harry gazed out of the window, his eyes rather distant �“ not really seeing the busy and polluted Muggle city on the horizon, or the rows and rows of warehouses and factories.

“Ginny and I… we thought it’d be a good idea if… we took the kid’s some place else.”

“What?”

“If we moved away. Out of England. Away from war. I-” he broke off and looked directly at the Minister. “We don’t want them to see what we saw as children.”

“They’ve already seen it.”

“Then they shouldn’t have to see anymore.”

The Minister nodded and stood. He adopted a friendly, joking grin. “So, you’re running away from the war �“ not the brave seventeen-year-old you once were, eh?” Harry smiled.

“No, I’ve grown up since then. I just want what’s best for my family.” The Minister nodded again, and held out his hand. Harry shook it.

“I’ll miss you being here, Potter. You were a good Auror. Brought in some fantastic results. Where d’you think you’ll go?”

“Ginny and I wanted to go to America, but the kids were fonder of Australia. I think they were attracted by the wildlife.”

“You always spoil them �“ Australia it will be then?”

Harry nodded. “Yes, probably. Ginny has some relatives over there, so we should get through immigration okay. We’re thinking Cairns. Or Townsville.” The Minister smiled some more and let go of Harry’s hand. He lay back in his chair, placing his elbows on the arms and surveying Harry over fingers that were just touching, in a curved arch.

“I guess this makes you and your family refugees.”

“I guess so.”

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

***

The Potters knew that it would be hard. It would be hard to leave the rest of the Weasleys and it would be hard to leave Hogwarts. But, they wouldn’t stay in a country at war. Not when they knew they’d be at the centre of it.

They had managed to fix a “leak” to the press, saying that they were going somewhere mountainous �“ the only people who knew where they were really going were the Weasleys, the Lupins and the Minister for Magic.

They planned to have a month’s holiday there first, before looking for a house. From Townsville, they planned to spend a fortnight in Cairns, then travel back and spend another fortnight on Fraser Island. Then, and only then, would they try and find a house.

Bellatrix Lestranges’ house in Brazil was raided, and they found several rolls of parchment, dating back to two day’s after Voldemort’s defeat, planning every detail of the Flame-filled night. One piece of parchment even contained early drafts of the fake prophecy, some of which rhymed, but sounded rather cheesy. Evidently poetry was not Bella’s strong point.

Arthur Weasley’s funeral was a quiet, private event, although it was greatly publicised by The Daily Prophet , much to the family’s distaste. It was after that funeral the Potter’s decided to leave the country �“ reports already coming in of Death Eaters murdering Muggles and razing villages and towns to the ground.

The children were sorry to leave their friends, but they knew that they were at an easy age, and they would make more quickly. Besides, they could always write, and Harry had promised that they would visit back regularly.

Now, the family could only wait in anticipation as the time came ever closer…

***

Astro, Lillian’s grey cat �“ now fully grown up from a kitten, purred contentedly on her lap as she sat in the back seat of the Ministry car, waiting for her dad to load the last suitcase into the boot. Her mother spun around from the front passenger seat to look at her three, nervously excited, children.

“So, you guys ready to go down under?” she asked, her eyes twinkling. They all nodded, big grins across their faces.

“It’s just a short drive to the Muggle airport, and then we have a twenty-two hour flight, followed by six hours driving before we get to Townsville.”

“I still don’t get it �“ why can’t we just Apparate?” asked Sirius. Jamie sighed loudly.

“Mum’s only told you about a million times, Siri �“ it’s illegal to Apparate inter-nationally. And to Floo.”

“But it’s going to be really boring! All those hours, sitting down?!”

“There’ll be movies on the aeroplane,” said Lillian, vaguely, scratching Astro behind the ears.

“What are movies?” asked Jamie.

“They’re a Muggle invention. They’re like pictures, only with sound. They tell stories. Gran… Granddad showed me one once.” There was silence at her words, and Ginny desperately cast around for another subject.

“What kind of house do you want when we get there?” That perked them up.

“It has to have a swimming pool!” said Jamie, gleefully.

“It has to be near a beach!” shouted Lillian, her eyes alight with excitement.

“And near Ayers rock!” piped in Sirius.

“Ayers rock is in the middle of a desert, idiot,” teased Jamie, “we can’t be near the beach and Ayers rock.”

“Fine �“ near one of the rainforests then �“ are they near the beach?” Ginny nodded.

“Yeah, there are a few near Townsville. We can maybe get a smaller house in a rainforest.” Lillian blinked.

“No. I don’t want to go to a rainforest. Can’t we just stay at a beach? Or… or the outback? Just… just not a rainforest.”

“Alright. We have to be near a beach then �“ so we can go swimming in the Great Barrier Reef everyday!”

“Oh, dream on, Siri �“ there are sharks and jellyfish and crocodiles and all sorts,” said Lillian.

“Cool! We have to go there, then!”

“Yeah, mum, I want to feed Lillian to a crocodile!”

“Get lost, Jamie!”

These playful arguments and suggestions carried them all the way to the airport, where they began their journey to a new start. A new life. Away from the horrors and hardships of war, away to a new school and a new town, away to a new environment �“ a peaceful, calm, unadventurous environment. Whatever. Since when have the Potters managed to stay out of adventures?

~The End. For now…



Oh. My. Salazar. That’s it. It’s done. It’s finished. My WIP is now completed.

It has been so much fun writing this, and I’d like to thank every person who has contributed to over 400 reviews, making me feel very loved. When I look back on the early chapters I feel like dying from embarrassment �“ you can really see how I was a first time writer, and how inexperienced I was �“ e.g. my lack of knowledge about clichés. CoughHarryandGinnyhavetwinsandcallthemLillianandJamiecough.

However, the past few chapters have really flourished, and I feel proud to say that it’s all because of my plot bunnies �“ Benji and Kevin. God bless those bunnies.

A sequel is in the planning stages, and will be about Sirius’s first year at an Australian school of magic. :D

Can’t wait to see y’all then!

~Evie