Chapter 6
A/N- You could almost consider this the second part of Chapter 5, because we continue with Harry's birthday here. I also realized Voldemort hadn't come up. Now I know the books never really talked about what happened to Voldemort when a horcrux was destroyed, but I think it was assumed he didn't notice. In some fics I've read his soul pieces rejoin with him after being destroyed, in others it is utterly destroyed and so he just lost it.
As for me, I've decided Voldemort would probably be aware something was wrong but not WHAT was wrong. A niggling doubt in the back of the head is how I'm phrasing it. Now are his soul pieces destroyed or do they rejoin him? I'm not sure. I can make arguments for both.
Anyway, this chap is mostly about Harry and Hermione's relationship. I think I've teased you a bit but forgive me. I really couldn't resist phrasing things as I have in the previous 5 chapters.
Harry couldn't remember having a better birthday. He didn't know how Hermione managed to organize a small party at the DTC, but she had and it was surprisingly fun. He found his thoughts turning to Hermione as he sat down, watching her laugh with Mandy across the room about something. He really wondered about her present for tonight. Aside from seeing one another nude they really hadn't done much. Part of that was the simple fact Harry was worried about hurting her, in any way. Another, bigger part, was the fact that everyone he loved always seemed to die or betray him. And finally there was the last part. The part that worried he'd never overcome his uncomfortable feelings when it came to being touched. He remembered the first hug Hermione had ever given him. He'd flinched at the unaccustomed warm, loving gesture. He didn't flinch from the kissing, but that was because he focused on not flinching before just giving himself over to the passion they shared.
Every time their relationship moved forward, Hermione was the reason. Oddly, the snuggling he hadn't minded. He really enjoyed sharing a bed with Hermione. It was so comfortable and she fit so perfectly in his arms. She never even made him feel awkward about his morning wood. The first time he'd seen her nude had been a requirement; that potion didn't work through clothing. The showers were nice too, but their shower was large and had two nozzles on opposing walls so they didn't even have to touch each other. Although on occasion he did forget to wash off and just watched Hermione bathe; that usually led to some very smug smiles on her part.
But the two talked all the time, and about everything. Harry knew about the bullying she'd undergone before Hogwarts, and the insults from her dormmates and former classmates about her looks. It was no wonder she reveled in the fact that seeing her nude body could make Harry's brain cease to function. She'd had it verbally beaten into her that she wasn't attractive and no one would ever want her. In turn he'd told her about his own torment in childhood and how the thing he wanted most in the world was a family. While he knew she understood the flinching, each time he did it in her presence made him hate himself.
"You okay Harry?"
He looked up to see Terry and Dean standing by with root beer in their hands. He realized they had three bottles between them, "Yeah I'm fine guys. Just thinking about Hermione."
"What about her?" Terry handed him the extra bottle and the two boys sat down with him.
"It's just…you know my childhood. You know how I was treated. Hermione was my first hug and that happened at the end of our first year."
Dean and Terry looked at one another, not understanding where Harry was going with this. When he stayed silent Dean asked, "So?"
Harry swallowed, "I just…I know at some point our relationship will go beyond kissing and cuddling. And I'm…well…I'm worried I'll hurt her accidentally, or worse that I'll disappoint her by recoiling. Only with her has a touch ever been good. I mean you others too but Hermione lingers the most."
Both boys nodded in understanding, "Harry you could never disappoint Hermione, and the only way you'll hurt her is by breaking up with her," Dean tried to assure his new friend.
Terry nodded in agreement, "She thinks the world of you. So long as you love her she'll be happy."
"Since when did you two get so wise?"
"Mandy insists on talking about girl stuff every now and then. Which means we're the ones she talks to. Not that we mind," Dean added hurriedly, "we've both learned a ton about girls now, so have the other guys." Harry just nodded, that self-doubt still making an appearance. He was confident in many things, but relationships were not one of them. Especially not when the girl was the woman he loved more than anything.
Suddenly Harry had an epiphany. Hermione knew everything about his past. So while she might be the one pushing their relationship forward, it was because she knew he needed her to. She wanted him to be happy and not embarrassed, which was why she never corrected anyone's assumptions they'd done more than ogle one another's nude bodies. He excused himself and walked over to Hermione, tapping her on the shoulder, "Harry? What is it?"
His answer was a searing kiss that made her weak in the knees. His arms slid around her to hold her upright as his tongue gently pressed against her lips. Her mouth opened and she moaned softly as his tongue met hers.
Several minutes later they parted and Hermione gasped, "Not that I mind, but what was that for?"
"I wanted to show you how much I love you. Thank you for everything, Hermione. Without you…without you I'd be miserable right now."
She smiled and hugged him, "I'd be miserable without you too, Harry. Probably even devastated."
"Probably?" Harry teased.
"Well I would have to experience being apart from you for a long time with no contact now that we're a couple and I don't fancy on an experiment just to determine how horrible I'd feel without you by my side," she responded, giving him a cheeky grin.
Voldemort was thrilled. Potter had vanished, Dumbledore was at the end of his rope, and control of the wizarding world could soon be in his grasp. Still, there was a nagging feeling in his mind and it was enough to stay his hand. Voldemort took only calculated chances. Being bested by Potter and then Dumbledore was not good for morale and so he had to bide his time for now. Plus whatever this nagging feeling was, he needed to figure it out. He'd closed the connection with Potter. It served no purpose anymore now that Potter knew what it was. So Potter wasn't the nag…perhaps he'd forgotten something as he began planning to spring the recently caught Death Eaters from Azkaban. He'd have to go over the plans to make sure they were airtight.
Ragnok looked at the intel he'd received and sighed, rubbing his head. A bloody snake and of course the other one had to be in Hogwarts. Suddenly his head snapped up and he smiled. Perhaps a house elf could get it? Kreacher hadn't been harmed by the locket. He'd make a note to talk to Harry about it soon. Kreacher had been a little loopy, at first, but that was being alone in the house for over a decade. Now he was much better.
If the last horcrux was the snake then they could bide their time. Ragnok would rather have all the troublesome, hard to find horcruxes out of the way before Voldemort did something stupid like go against the non-magical world. Imagine a blood supremacist being slaughtered by those he thinks are most beneath him, with help from creatures he thinks should be subservient to wizards. The laughter in Ragnok's office carried out into the hall, making the guards outside his door shiver. Their leader seemed benevolent but he had a vicious streak. One didn't get to be chief of the goblin nation by being nice.
Harry was impressed with his presents. Dean, Wayne, and Justin got him a Nintendo Game Boy and Terry, Colin, and Dennis got him some games. Mandy got him a case to carry the system and the games in, and Dan and Emma got him some footy boots for his games with the others. Hermione, to keep up appearances, got him a portable CD player and a few CDs. "This is great thanks everyone," he kissed Hermione on the cheek, "I like that you got me such a random assortment."
"Well I wasn't sure what music you would end up liking. Ragnok had me get a gift certificate to a music store for you so you can increase your music collection. You know, beyond Metallica, Judas Priest, and those greatest hits of the 80s albums I got you."
Harry chuckled and pulled her into his arms, "Well I appreciate it very much. Tomorrow our training starts to get more intense you know."
"We'll handle it," Justin said, "we're all alot stronger than we were before." The others nodded in agreement and Harry smiled. Here he wasn't a general guiding his troops into battle. No, here they were all soldiers. It was nice to all be on the same level for a change.
Harry and Hermione returned to their room at the DTC compound. They shared a room even here. They put his things on a table and he pulled her into his arms, "I told Terry and Dean we haven't done more than kiss."
"They already know that Harry," she kissed the corner of his mouth, "They tease us because they like seeing you blush."
"In the other world I'd have to defend your honor for even doing as little as we've done. You'd be called bad names."
"That's because the wizards are stuck in the 1700s," she kissed him, "now, do you want your real present? I won't do anything you're not ready for."
"That's supposed to be my line."
Hermione cleared her throat before speaking in her lecture voice, "My boyfriend is exceedingly nervous about hurting me even though we both know he never actually would and that he respects me more than most boys would respect a girl they were dating. While endearing, it can sometimes be annoying. I'm amazed we even snogged that first time." The wink had him smiling as they moved toward their bed together, "Do you want to know what your present is now?"
He nodded as he removed his shirt and tossed it into the hamper, "Tell me please? I've been a good boy all day."
"Harry you're always a good boy," she rolled her eyes and slid out of her shorts before moving to get her pajamas, "get your pajamas on and get into bed. I'll be back in a minute."
Her return saw Harry in bed, the sheets around his waist as he sat up waiting for her. She slid into bed and kissed him, "I know you're not ready to go all the way yet, and neither am I. But I do want us to move forward somewhat so I was thinking about giving you a handjob." Harry wholeheartedly approved of that idea.
Ragnok requested a meeting with Harry August 3rd. Entering the office with Hermione they noticed Kreacher there. Harry felt his anger grow before Kreacher suddenly launched himself at Harry, hugging the young man's legs and sobbing, "Master Harry finished Master Regulus' work! You saves Master Regulus' soul! Kreacher is sorry he works for bad ladies. Bad ladies who hurt Master Sirius. Kreacher told to leaves so Kreacher does Kreacher sorry Master Harry."
"Slow down Kreacher," Hermione said, kneeling down to talk to him, "What do you mean Harry saved Master Regulus' soul?"
"I can answer that," Ragnok said. "Regulus took the locket from Riddle's hiding place with the intention of destroying it. Rather than force Kreacher to drink the potion in the bowl like Riddle did, he drank it himself and made Kreacher promise to destroy the necklace but tell no one."
"So since I sent you into the house to look for dark artifacts you found the necklace?"
"Correct. Once we destroyed the horcrux we kept the necklace. It was in your home, that makes it yours."
Harry shook his head, "Kreacher deserves it. He kept it safe all these years and it's what his master died for."
Ragnok nodded and tossed the necklace to Harry, who handed it to Kreacher, "Kreacher do you have to serve all members of your family?"
"Yes and noes," Kreacher answered. Harry and Hermione both noticed how different Kreacher looked now. "If youse marries Mistress Hermione then I's no answer to her parentses unless youse asks me."
"That makes sense," Hermione nodded. "But you still took orders from Bellatrix and Narcissa. Would you also take orders from Andromeda?"
"Noes," Kreacher shook his head, "I's only answers to peoples in family."
"And she was cast out of the family for marrying Ted Tonks," Hermione nodded in understanding. "I understand Kreacher."
Harry frowned, "Do you still take orders from the other Blacks or do you now serve the Potters?"
"I's serves the Potterses, nots the Blacks now. I's only takes orderses from Master Harry and who he says."
"Well I want you to listen to Hermione too, okay?" The elf nodded his understanding and bowed to Hermione, the locket around his neck touching the floor from his deep bow. Harry looked at Ragnok, "Are we here just to see Kreacher? I thought you wanted to talk to me about something."
"I do. We think we know where the last two are located. The first is the snake Nagini."
"Well that's complicated," Harry sighed.
"The other is Ravenclaw's diadem and it is in Hogwarts, somewhere."
"It'd be easier to get Nagini," Hermione said. Harry chuckled and nodded.
"Actually I had a plan," Ragnok said, "I need to borrow Kreacher, though."
"Because house elves aren't harmed by the horcrux," Hermione nodded, "it sounds dangerous though. Dumbledore knows Kreacher works for House Black and he knows Harry is the heir." Hermione continued,"What if two other elves helped Kreacher find it? Two that worked at Hogwarts and could know where it is?" Ragnok never ceased to be impressed by Hermione Granger.
"Dobby and Winky," Harry grinned at his girlfriend's brilliance. "If there is one at Hogwarts I bet they can find it. They might even know where it is already."
In the end Harry ended up bonding to Dobby and Hermione bonded to Winky before the two elves, plus Kreacher since he knew what a horcrux was, left to go to Hogwarts. Harry looked at Hermione, "You know, if the wizards didn't put so much stock in a single version of an obscure prophecy that is probably false anyway Dumbledore could have done all this shortly after I defeated Voldemort the first time."
"He'd never ask for help, Harry. That's one of his greatest flaws. Only the great and powerful Dumbledore knows best; others exist only to do his bidding. He's just as drunk on power and ego as Voldemort is. Think about it. We asked for help and we're much further along thanks to creatures that Dumbledore thinks are below him. Even if he did ask for help, he'd never ask a goblin. Which is his loss. It'd take us over a year to find all these on our own and we wouldn't have a clue as to how to destroy them."
"I actually read about a couple in those books wizards wrote but they require the destruction of the object. The goblin method leaves the object intact."
That evening the three elves made dinner for everyone at DTC. "So just one left now, right?"
"Yes," Hermione nodded to Mandy. "Now we can focus on training and hoping we'll never need it."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Dean said. "I mean, what you've accomplished in a month Dumbledore couldn't do in 15 years."
"Yeah Hermione and I talked about that in Gringotts," Harry nodded.
Terry smirked, "You mean you do more than snog one another's faces off?"
"On occasion," Hermione winked. The others laughed while Harry leaned in to kiss his girlfriend.
Bill entered Fleur's office, "Love, I need help."
"What eez it?" She stood up and moved to him, hugging him, "Iz somezing wrong, Bill?"
"My family and the entire Order of the Phoenix are liars and thieves. Dumbledore is the lead perpetrator."
"What do you need help wiz?"
"I'm debating leaving the country again. Getting out of England altogether. It's not safe anymore, and we can't trust anyone."
"Maybe you should find 'Arry and explain you did not know. I've no doubt zat he haz a plan. 'E alvays has a plan," she kissed Bill, "Maybe we can help him in whatever he eez doing."
Bill looked at her, "We should go see Griphook."
Ragnok looked at the memory from Griphook. The pureblood and half-Veela vowing to help Harry in any way that they could was an interesting development. He'd have to discuss this with Harry and Hermione after going over their personnel files. They could certainly help with training but these two would have no knowledge of non-magical weapons and that posed a problem. But on the other hand both of them could use magic and they could verify that bullets could get past shield spells. He wanted to advise Harry to the best of his ability but this was something he was unsure about. He decided to contact Katherine about it. She could assist him with this.
Chapter 7
A/N- At 3800 words, this is the longest chapter so far. If I'd made it to page 8 I'd have split the chapter but I just got onto page seven so I figured I'd just upload a big chapter. I had to have a brief mental debate about Ginny. I went for greedy bigot Ginny instead of mentally unstable Ginny. I didn't want anyone to pity her. If anyone has derogatory nicknames for Dumbledore and the Order of the P_ please send them. I'll be randomly sticking them into the story when those two things are referenced.
I expect the next chapter to start with a time jump. I think six months to a year.
They learned to shoot with paintball guns first. Once Harry got used to holding the gun he realized he was a pretty decent shot. Surprisingly, Hermione was even better. He still covered his privates at the memory of her excellent shot at the dummy's privates. Mandy too had taken to it easily and like Hermione her aim was south of the equator. "We're modifying some rifles and handguns to be filled with paintballs instead of bullets. That should help you all train before we start using bullets," Mark said. They had two firearms instructors and were training with sniper scopes as well. "Once we know where each of you shines we'll make notes in your files to be used for any missions you ever need to go on."
While Mandy and Hermione were the best shots in the group, Dean was a tactical genius. That rapidly became apparent. Dennis and Colin were good scouts because of their slim builds and speed, and Harry's natural leadership skills would help them on missions.
Ginny Weasley was not a patient witch. But she knew that Harry would come back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had assured her. She looked at the vials of love potion. It wouldn't take long to get him under her thumb. No more secondhand clothes for her! No, Harry would lavish her with jewels and clothes and vacations. Then she'd slip in a lust potion keyed to another witch and then divorce Harry, taking everything and leaving him a pauper while she married a respectable pureblooded wizard. Yes starting on the Hogwarts Express, her plan would begin.
One week before September 1rst all the teens wrote letters of withdrawal from Hogwarts. The goblins had taken care of hiding this fact as long as they could and Ragnok himself arrived to collect the withdrawal letters. He sent them to Hogwarts' muggle mail intake. He knew the teens were all impossible to find thanks to their wards and the British government. At Harry's request they'd put up wards that blocked all magical creatures except for those Harry and Hermione put on a short list. The house elves, Griphook, Bonescar, Ragnok of course, and a few other goblins were all on the list. To test them they'd had a goblin not on the list try to breach the wards. The resulting pain had been immediately healed by Bonescar and brought peace of mind to all parties. Not even Dumbledore's phoenix could break through them.
Katherine Vance organized a team for the first mock mission she was going to send them on to distract them from what would be their first day of school. That would be interesting. She didn't expect them to win, but then that was the point of training exercises.
Dean looked over the map, contemplating strategy. Last night Colin, Dennis, and Hermione had scouted where the mission would take place, Hermione watching over them through her scope as the two boys sketched the area quickly. They'd then returned to Hermione and taken a quick trip back to their base to make the map. Having found out how his father and friends made the Marauders map from books that the goblins had found in his former vaults Harry, with the help of Justin and Mandy, created a map from the drawings. Then they'd come up with code names for each team member. Harry was Ares, Colin was Hermes, Dennis was Pan, Mandy was Artemis, Wayne was Zeus, Hermione was Hera, Justin was Hades, Terry was Poseidon and Dean was Apollo.
Hermione and Mandy meditated to calm themselves as the boys let Dean do his magic with strategy. "Okay I have it!" He looked at Wayne, "Go get the girls and we'll go over the plan."
Wayne and Terry had proven to be very creative and had created ear pieces that would enable everyone to be able to communicate with one another. To everyone else it looked like an earplug; only the teens knew better. This way they'd all be connected in the mission, no matter where they were.
When Wayne returned with Hermione and Mandy a grinning Dean spoke, "First, we'll make two copies of the map. One for our snipers, one for the ground team. Now it won't track the movements of our enemies because we can't figure out how to manage that feat yet."
"I think we should ask the goblins for help with that. I think the ambient magic of Hogwarts helped that map track everyone," Justin said. "If we were fighting in a magical area, I think the map could then keep track of everyone, not just us."
"We won't always have access to our locations beforehand though, so let's not depend on it," Hermione interjected, "the fact that we can keep track of one another is enough for me. If Harry calls for assistance I can find him on the map and direct my scope in his direction. So long as Colin and Dennis can give us updates on where enemies are and you guys can cover them us girls can watch your backs."
"Lucky for us," Harry grinned.
"You don't know the half of it Potter," Mandy retorted, winking at Hermione. Both girls giggled.
Dean rolled his eyes, "Focus, team. Here's what I want. Hermione and Mandy, there's an obvious place for snipers and I don't want you anywhere near it. If you two want to be in different places I recommend this tower and this hill," They were on opposite sides but with full views of the mission area."
"The space isn't large, Dean. I think we could both be in the same area. Either spot will give us a full view of the area and we'll be able to hide from spotters. Will they have snipers?" Mandy looked at him after she asked the question.
"No snipers, they're using magic. Just like the Death Eaters and Dumbnuts' Order of the Phonies would."
"Dumbnuts? Be a little more imaginative Dean," Terry chided. "So since we're going against wizards we should consider that they'll be disillusioned. What if we charmed some sunglasses to see through disillusionment? We could charm the scopes of Hermione and Mandy's rifles too."
"Sunglasses would be easier to do than the scopes," Hermione tapped her chin thoughtfully, "since sunglasses are at a fixed distance. Scopes can magnify and increase or decrease their field of vision. It would have to be a different version of the spell."
"I'll help you research it," Justin offered. Terry also volunteered to help and Hermione nodded. "But for now all of us on the ground team will wear glasses that expose disillusionment and invisibility cloaks. We'll direct your fire if you need it. I don't think they'll do disillusionment charms yet. This is our first practice mission."
"To be safe we should wear the sunglasses anyway. That way they won't think there's anything suspicious if you wear them each time we have a mission before we charm them," Dennis said. "We should add a telescoping ability to the ones for Colin and me. We could scout during the battle."
"That should be doable," Wayne nodded. "What will they be hitting us with Dean?"
"Stinging hexes according to Mark. Nothing more than that or a body bind. If we're down, we stay down. That's the rule since in reality none of our enemies would cast to stun." They all nodded in agreement about that fact. "They will have armor so the paint pellets won't hurt too bad. I'd say aim for the weak spots anyway. It'd be better if Hermione and Mandy can drop them in a single shot."
"We will," Mandy promised. "We've been really excelling at target practice." Hermione nodded and Harry smiled. No one had expected Hermione to be a good shot. She'd certainly proved otherwise. The pride Harry felt for her ability was probably comparable to how she felt when he did well on a test or essay, and that realization kept him smiling even as she surpassed him in firearms training.
Dean then directed them into position, "I think we should split into two teams. Harry, Terry, Dennis go one way while Wayne, Colin, Justin, and myself go the other. Harry's the best shot out of all of us and I'm not sure how much time I'll spend not looking over the map and directing all of you."
"If we could get the map to work to cover our enemies in red you could stay back and just guide everyone through," Wayne pointed out, "but I'm with Hermione. We won't always be able to scout in advance. I think we have more practical things to work on."
"Let's put it to a vote," Colin said, "All in favor of not pursuing the maps and working instead on magically improving our equipment raise your hands." Every hand was raised, including Dean, and they began planning where the two teams would enter the area and their route.
Hermione talked to Dean privately while the others got ready for the mission, "Dean, I think we could use a third sniper. You'd be a good choice, because height would improve your ability to plan and guide people. And if you were with Mandy or I, or both, we could cover your pauses to determine plans."
"That makes perfect sense actually," Dean smiled, "I wonder if our scopes could highlight enemies in red…"
"If we keyed the spell to the 9 of us it would be simple enough to turn everyone else red but then we run the risk of hurting bystanders. We could talk about it with the older agents, see if they could help us with it. They might even have better ideas," Hermione said.
"I'm not so sure about that last part," Dean chuckled, "but I'm willing to see about it. I might need help with the rifle though. It's so far not been my strong suit."
Hermione playfully pushed him, "Well so long as you don't mind being taught by a girl I think we can help you."
Harry took a deep breath and cast the muffliato charm before using the earpiece, "Hera, Ares' location, 10 o'clock."
His girlfriend's voice came over through, "Copy that."
Harry turned his head around the corner to see the agent drop, bright red paint signifying the hit. Hermione had got him in the chest. "Beautiful shot love."
"Charmer." Harry chuckled to himself as he snuck over and provided cover fire as Dennis and Terry disarmed the agent before they moved on their way.
Colin slid between two walls and narrowly escaped being seen by an agent, who continued on their way before he slid out and fired, dropping him from behind. He was then hit with a body bind and fell to the ground. He soon heard a thud which he assumed meant that someone had returned the favor to his attacker.
Now that Colin was gone the group that was now three crept carefully. "What do you see Artemis?"
"Forward fifty meters, to your right, 2 o'clock," came her response. The three boys moved slowly and suddenly heard a thud behind them. They saw an agent collapse. They were then surrounded.
Mandy cursed softly. Four boys were down, leaving just Harry's group and herself and Hermione. "Ares? Apollo and company are down. It's all you babe."
"The vote of confidence is appreciated," Harry said to his girlfriend, "Guide us and provide cover fire."
"Oh no you have to do this on your own. In a full-on battle we'd be too busy taking out others to guide you. We're to support you, not be your compass."
"Lecture me later love."
"Just because you're named after a god doesn't mean you have to get a head the size of one." Mandy giggled next to her while the two boys with Harry were barely suppressing their own chuckles. Their banter was proving to be quite humorous for all involved parties.
Harry, Terry, and Dennis moved cautiously and Hermione and Mandy warned them if they were in danger. Twice the girls saved them from being caught. "Ares there are three coming up behind you with two ahead."
"Artemis, Hera, cover our front, we'll take out the trio."
"Copy that," Mandy responded. "On our count. Three."
"Two."
"One." The action was quick and immediate. Harry and the other boys turned and fired, while they heard the sounds of paint hitting the duo that was now behind them.
"Time!" Everyone got up and the girls exited their hiding spot, heading down to the others.
"You all did well for your first real practice mission," Katherine said, walking to them, "Now let's go sit down and go over your failures and your successes. Then you'll all be dismissed to shower and eat."
Once they were back in a room at the base they all sat down and Katherine asked, "First, your snipers were brilliant. My team couldn't find them and their one shot takedowns were impressive. Now, how do you all think you did?"
"I got too far ahead of my team and didn't pay attention to my surroundings. I took one down, yes, but then I was out," Colin said.
"We needed someone covering the tactical side better," Harry said, "once Dean was down we felt lost. And Hermione was right, we can't depend on her and Mandy to guide us. They can alert us to dangers we can't see but they can't do the whole thing."
"Hermione told me before the mission that I should be a sniper so that I would have a better view of everything. I agree with her, plus then the girls could be in different positions while I stayed with one to prioritize tactical movements," Dean said, "We relied too much on the map too, when we already knew it wouldn't be all that useful since it couldn't locate our enemies."
Katherine nodded, "All good points. Miss Granger you might one day have my job at the rate you're going."
Hermione smiled at her, "Thank you Chief. I noticed that the boys didn't pay attention to what was behind them very much, and they relied heavily on Mandy and me to keep them safe."
"Habits we will have to break. I think we'll break up your training. I have some expert snipers, trained in the military, who can work with Hermione, Mandy, and Dean. I also think Colin and Dennis need more training in scouting. The five of you will get specialized training. The rest of you will also get some from SWAT teams and some military personnel. I understand you have requests for items? My research and development team is always interested."
Justin quickly summarized the items they wanted and Katherine was impressed, "The scopes that can see through disillusionment charms and invisibility cloaks would be dead useful. I'll have the team work on it immediately. Harry I would like to see your father's book about those maps please. I think we could tweak them to be of more use to Dean. Maybe with a holographic spell? It would be in 3D and different colors indicate different categories of people."
None of them had even thought about that, and now realized that was a much better option. "Sure it's in my bedroom. I'll have Mark or Grant deliver it later," Harry nodded.
"I think we could make contacts for most of you to use to see through the cloaks and charms. It wouldn't work for the snipers, but it would benefit the rest of you greatly. And the telescoping sunglasses, Dennis and Colin, I think we can make easily."
Terry asked, "Do you think we messed anything else up?"
"For your first task, you all did very well. But the fact you couldn't be killed made you reckless at times. I like that Mr. Potter's group disarmed the people they and the snipers brought down. Mr. Thomas' group did not do that and that could have caused problems. Even if your opponent is dead, someone else could summon their wand to use to attack you."
"I didn't even think of that," Dean frowned. "Sorry guys."
"We all made mistakes," Harry reminded him, "I let my team get surrounded and had to have my girlfriend get us out of it."
"You're welcome by the way," Hermione said, smirking at him. Everyone laughed and they were then dismissed.
Katherine Vance smiled as they left. She liked these young folk. They were strong, creative, and dangerous. A wonderful combination, in her mind. The humility they had was also impressive. They'd actually done better than many trainees almost a decade their senior did. She wondered if she could convince all nine of them to stay after everything. She walked to the floo to return to her office. Those teens would be an asset to her agency.
Albus Dumbledore was not having a good day. First were the letters from 9 students withdrawing from Hogwarts. The Muggleborn ones he didn't care aboutbut he did care about Harry Potter. The boy was not allowed to leave Hogwarts. Unfortunately Fawkes couldn't locate him and when Albus demanded the bird find Harry the phoenix had simply flown away. At first he thought the bird was doing his bidding but the phoenix never returned.
Then things had taken a turn for the worse. He'd managed to keep Harry's disappearance secret from most people. He'd assured others that Harry would be on the train. He sighed. Molly Weasley would be sending him a howler over this, no doubt. He knew of Ginevra's designs on the boy, but he'd never tell her they couldn't come to pass because he'd be dead before his seventeenth birthday.
Now the talk of the school was that Harry Potter had vanished along with Granger. He knew the rumor mill would soon begin and he was not prepared for the thoughts that Harry Potter might be dead. With his tracking things on the boy all no longer working Albus was beginning to wonder if maybe Harry really was dead. The letter oddly offered hope. At least the lad was alive. Albus would just have to explain to him that the Greater Good would always come before any one person's life. If he could find the boy. That was proving difficult.
Albus Dumbledore's mood was not improved the next day when the Daily Prophet arrived. If anything it sunk even worse. The headline was practically taunting him:
Harry Potter Quits Wizarding World!
In a letter written to the Daily Prophet Harry Potter has disavowed his heritage, mocked those in power, and states that he has left the magical world for good:
Dear Wizards and Witches of Britain-
I'm done. Finished. You all can save your own arses. I have so many grievances with your stupid, incompetent, ignorant society I don't know where to start. Fortunately I have my one true best friend, Hermione Granger, by my side and she has a way with words. She's helped me put my thoughts onto paper.
First, the prejudice and outright blood bigotry. Why are no department heads in the Ministry of Magic muggleborn or half-bloods? Why do you think so lowly of a species you demand guard your gold and treasures? In the non-magical world, we're taught as children to be respectful to people. In the magical world, you're taught as children that purebloods are the only ones worthy of respect and others should respect YOU while you treat everyone like dog shite on your shoe.
Second, sheeple syndrome. Do any of you think for yourselves or are you too inbred to even have that cognitive ability anymore? Although, you can't carry out your basic premises of being a pureblood, like "bowing down to no one" so I guess it's unfair of us to expect much. What do you call kissing Tom Marvolo Riddle's robes? I call it bowing down like the slaves to authority you all are. I'm sure there will be some sputtering and some rage over purebloods kissing a half-blood's robes and worshiping him like he's a god and you're his desperate followers who want said god to be happy. The pureblood motto should be, "Follow the voice that bleats the loudest."
Third, you're thieves. Imagine my surprise when the Boy-Who-Lived's vaults were being emptied by one Albus Dumbledore and used to fund his war against Captain No-Nose, aka Tom Riddle aka 'Lord' Voldemort through his Order of the Pretenders. I'm sure you're all well aware of a prophecy of me defeating said Dark Lord. Well, you're all on your own! I'm not helping you.
Now, let's get to Albus Dumbledore. He's the source of many of my problems. Aside from stealing from me, Dumbledore shoved me into an abusive, magic-hating home to be beaten and tortured for 11 years. He paid people to be my friends when I arrived at Hogwarts, and even set a girl on me to keep me from Hermione. He's also promised me to Ginny Weasley. An interesting fact since he clearly plans for me to be dead the sooner the better. After all, 'neither can live while the other survives'. Although, Ginny, you would have a hard time keeping me from Hermione just like Dumbledore has so I would assume you have love potions carefully stored in your trunk to use on me. It's the only way I'd ever be with a greedy little trollop like you.
As for the rest of you, kindly sod off. I'm gone. I won't be saving a society that treats my wonderful girlfriend like she's not worthy of living. You're all always waiting to be saved. Get off your arses and save yourselves. I'm not going to. Dumbledore's out for his own ends too. He could have killed Tom Riddle before. He didn't because he thought he could be 'redeemed'. Still think he's redeemable, Albus?
You've all betrayed me for the last time. You can't decide if I'm the next Dark Lord or your savior. You can't decide if I'm a little boy that tells lies or an honest young man who's lived through horrors that would turn your stomach. You still aren't sure if I'm mentally unstable or your only hope. Through everything, one person has stood by my side and your society treats her like dirt. So we say farewell as we escape to live our own happily ever after together in the non-magical world. I'd say enjoy killing each other but Albus Steals-From-Children doesn't approve of killing so that means the side that is against Voldemort will capture people only for them to be freed by their master like the little slaves they are. Make sure to be an extra good little slave, Draco Malfoy. If you bend a little lower and kiss a little higher maybe you'll get more praise from your master. A good slave can only hope, right?
Albus put his head in his hands. No this was without a doubt not going to be a good day. Not in the least.
Author's request- Does anyone know the name of a story that has a scene in which Ginny and Ron are sitting on the train alone and Malfoy comes in taunting that Potter isn't on the train and won't be at Hogwarts and Ginny is convinced that Harry will be at the castle as she prepares to sink her hooks into him? I am looking through all of my favorites trying to find it but I want to read that scene again. It just is a really good one. Harry and Hermione are elsewhere and Ron mentions something about Malfoy's daddy being in jail after their trip to the Ministry which places it at the end of fifth year/entering sixth year only for Malfoy to say his father was under the Imperius curse. This is bugging the hell out of me. Goes without saying it's a Harry/Hermione fic.
Chapter 8
A/N- Hey thanks to those that figured out the story I was referring to. The person who answered was anonymous, so if they're reading this, Thank you! The story is actually one that inspired this one- "Harry Potter and the RAF". How did I miss that? I don't know.
This chapter has alot of time jumping, I tried to make it as clear as possible. I wanted to cover fallout in the days and weeks after the letter is published all the way past the 9 finishing their training, taking us a year from where the story started.
Oh the [*] symbol indicates a name suggested by bookaddict19. Thank you for your ideas, they made me laugh.
The immediate fallout from Harry's letter was clear. Muggleborns soon began to withdraw from Hogwarts and leave as the students realized that Harry, Hermione, and the others that had left had the right idea. Purebloods were enraged and took out their rage on students of 'lesser' blood status, speeding up this exodus.
The number of howlers Dumbledore received was so great that the house elves who normally received them refused to take anymore. For the next two weeks he was screamed at every morning and evening. This too added to the exodus. Half-bloods also began to leave. They weren't stupid. If the muggleborns were gone then the half-bloods would be next on the hitlist for the blood purists. With Dumbledore just focused on Potter, and his Order focused only on themselves and their sudden poverty, those not involved on either side were getting nervous.
"I don't know," Harry frowned, "while I appreciate the offer from Bill, I don't trust any Weasleys. And I don't think I ever will again."
"That is understandable," Ragnok nodded, "like I said, it is your decision. If you say no we'll send them to France."
Harry looked at Hermione, "Harry it's okay to not trust him. I don't either. But I don't think they're our enemies. The rest of the Weasleys, minus Charlie, they're definitely enemies. The whole bloody Order of the Lame Ducks* and Twinklebore* are really no different than Moldywart; it's only their methods. At least the latter doesn't take the moral high ground."
"They can't come here and I can't trust them. But I appreciate him wanting to make right the sins of his parents," Harry said.
Katherine and Ragnok both nodded in understanding. They couldn't fault Harry's lack of trust for anything from the magical world. Ragnok often thought that Harry trusted the goblins only because they'd destroyed so many horcruxes, including the one trapped within his head. He understood that. Actually, it made him respect the young man even more. Trust had to be earned and too many people had violated Harry's. Only Hermione had Harry's complete trust and she'd certainly earned it.
For the next six months the 9 teens studied and trained hard, improving their skills while also having fun. The goblins gave them updates every week about the situation in the magical world so that they were aware. The response after Harry's letter was carefully watched by everyone to see how things went. Those fellow muggleborns were offered help out of the country if they asked for it and the goblins even arranged for them to be schooled in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain if they wanted a transfer. They did this at cost, with Harry paying a portion of the bill himself.
Bill and Fleur were in charge of the French relocations, which seemed to greatly ease the guilt from Bill's shoulders according to Griphook. One thing, though, had confused Harry. So he'd asked Griphook, "You found a ton of the money taken from my vault in a secret vault the Weasleys had. Why keep it and not spend it?"
Griphook had smiled and explained, "Molly Weasley probably wanted to spend it, but for a poor family such as hers to suddenly splurge on new clothes for the children or new schoolbooks would be highly suspicious. People would wonder where she got the money and Arthur's job would not be the answer." That had made sense to Harry, and he let the matter go.
As time wore on they all expected the strike to be soon. And it was. In April Azkaban had a massive breakout. Griphook had come to give Hermione the balance on 'her' vaults and go over some things with the couple and informed them of the news, "There are reports that the dark lord is seeking to take on the Ministry."
"What about Dumb-ass-bore?" Harry asked. The goblin and Hermione both snickered at the name.
Griphook answered, "There are rumors that he is becoming senile. Others say he's still searching for Harry Potter. According to our resources around the world he is looking in all the other wizarding communities for you."
"Well that's where Dumbledore would hide so why not?" Hermione asked. "He's supposed to be a great wizard but like so many others the old fart is completely dependent on his magic. He can't envision life without it so he thinks Harry is the same."
"Aside from the contraception charm," Harry grinned at Hermione, "we don't use magic very often." Hermione smacked him on the back of the head for that remark.
"Regardless," Griphook shook his head. He liked these two very much. "Regardless the old coot doesn't seem to be actually doing much in the war."
"Of course not he's probably too busy trying to 'redeem' all the 'lost souls' and guide them back to the 'light'."
Harry nodded in agreement with his girlfriend's words. "The ministry?"
"Not doing much better. They're proactive but they have lost many people. It's only getting worse for those caught in the middle or those that despise Voldemort."
Hermione frowned, "We made it clear. We're not hunting him. When he tries to attack a non-magical target, we'll talk about it." That had been a shock. They'd all expected Voldemort to go after the non-magical world sooner. The fact that he hadn't so far was a big surprise to them all.
Harry woke up and looked at the clock. Still early, fortunately. And to boot today was the day that Hermione had come to his rescue last year. He smiled as he realized it was their anniversary, "Happy anniversary," he leaned down and kissed her on the lips gently.
"Happy anniversary love," she pulled him on top of her, "We should celebrate."
His hands moved over her nude form before he nodded and dipped his head, his mouth moving to her neck, "I'm not going to argue against that," Harry muttered, his lover giggling before moaning as his tongue moved over her skin.
Eventually the couple showered and headed down for breakfast. Knowing smiles were all around and they rolled their eyes, "We're not ashamed you know."
"Yeah and you don't blush as easily as you used to either," Wayne pouted.
Harry smirked and stuck his tongue out at his friend, "That's your fault. You built up our tolerance."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Don't give them something to strive for Harry."
"The chief came by earlier," Mandy said, "We have a final test mission before she puts us into active duty."
"Is it today?"
"It's a nighttime mission so it'll be tonight," Dennis said. "She gave us the parameters but we don't get to scout it beforehand."
"How many enemies?"
"Thirty," Dean said, "wands only, since that's what we'd be up against. She said that it was a simulation of Oxford Street so there will be innocents involved."
They all put their heads down and looked over the maps of Oxford Street. With so many shoppers out and about that would be a prime target for Death Eaters and it made sense that they'd try to attack there. Dean quickly pointed out the three structures perfect for himself and the girls to be located to take out targets.
Hermione, Dean, and Mandy got on location early and, garbed in all black with their magical earpieces and duffle bags containing their broken down rifles, made their way up to their locations. Hermione put her rifle together easily. While she didn't mind using the paintball rifle again, she preferred her rifle. It was sexier, in her eyes. She tapped her ear once before speaking, "Hera is go."
"Artemis is go," Mandy's voice came through.
"Apollo is go," Dean said. "Ares' team should arrive in under five. Hades' team will be right after."
"Copy that," Hermione set her scope up, "thus far it's pretty quiet."
"But plenty of innocents," Mandy said. Knowing her so well, Hermione could hear the frown in her voice.
"Hera do you copy? Ares has arrived."
"Copy that love," Hermione said, smiling when she heard his voice.
Harry smiled before looking around, "No signs of trouble yet?"
"Expected to happen shortly," Dean answered. Dean was cut off as they heard an explosion. Hermione's scope zoomed in at her will and she quickly saw the black robed, mask-wearing enemies. She heard Dean guide the team while she and Mandy swiftly took out four of them.
"I love it when you pull off a one-shot takedown," Harry said through the earpiece.
"Show me later," Hermione smiled.
Harry just nodded and guided the innocents into one of the buildings while Colin cast a few wards to keep them relatively safe. Terry provided cover fire, taking down another two enemies as Harry and Colin got the innocents out of the way.
Justin's group, much like Harry's, was taking the innocents out of the way while covering them. Hermione, Dean, and Mandy took out plenty of Death Eaters as the six on the ground began to move in formation, effectively dodging spells and hexes while they returned fire, disabling or 'killing' their targets.
It took less time than anyone would have expected before all of their targets were down. Katherine appeared and smiled at them, "Congratulations. You've all passed." Hermione and the others soon appeared and Katherine nodded her head, "That was well done. There was minimal damage to civilians and you all worked smoothly as a unit."
"Thanks," Harry smiled and slid an arm around his girlfriend. "So are we clear for fieldwork now?"
"Yes you are."
Two weeks later Ragnok sat all nine down to give them an update. Dumbledore was still trying to switch Malfoy's allegiance despite the boy trying three times, unsuccessfully, to kill the headmaster the previous year. There was, according to the goblins' source (Terry suspected Flitwick was the source but they all knew the goblins would never confirm it), a rumor that Dumbledore wanted to make Malfoy head boy. With Harry's financial assistance new Muggleborn students were being sent abroad when they entered Gringotts, the goblins finding them with help from their secret source inside Hogwarts.
Dumbledore was putting more and more efforts into saving all the 'lost souls' of death eater students who had already taken the mark and killed innocents. This, according to Ragnok, was leading to even more disharmony in the Order. Harry and the others just shook their heads. Dumbledore would never change. He wanted to save everyone. They all knew this was impractical. If Harry had to choose between any Death Eater and Hermione he knew which decision he would make and he would not lose sleep over it.
"If they don't want to kill what do they intend to do with Snakezilla? Scold him? Place him in a time out? Spank him?" There were chuckles from the others but Hermione didn't stop, "It's just so stupid. They're in a war and only one side is willing to kill. That means the other side has already lost. People that rape, torture, and murder for fun are not people who can be 'saved'. How much do you want to bet that they're all just waiting for Harry to come back and save them all by some miracle that doesn't involve killing their dark lord?"
"Not taking you up on that bet," Colin said, "I bet Fumbledope expects you to sacrifice yourself for the 'greater good' Harry."
"Again not taking on that bet," Dean frowned, "I'm with Hermione and Colin. Love and grace are useful in many ways and times. War is not one of them."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Ragnok nodded his head with their observation. "I once thought I could convince you to help them. I fail to see a reason anymore. They must save themselves."
"No resistance groups beyond the Order of the Foes?"
Ragnok smiled, "There is one. It is very underground, and secret, but apparently it is led by Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones. Ms. Bones' aunt was killed a few months ago, making her an orphan. Ms. Lovegood's father was also killed. They've gathered only a small number of people but they're essentially hiding one another."
Harry looked at Hermione. Luna and Susan had never been on the list. She looked at the others, then back at Harry, "We should talk about it first. None of us lives at the DTC anymore, we all have apartments."
"Apartments in a building the agency owns," Harry smirked. "They could stay at the DTC."
"But not getting the same training we've received," Dean pointed out. "You guys are my brothers and sisters, I'd lay down my life for you. I don't think these others would do the same."
"True Dean but we all know Harry has a saving people thing," Dennis interjected. "So long as they don't know what we're up to, and don't ask us to help them save their world, I think we could consider it."
Mandy looked at Ragnok, "If you give them Denny's stipulations I would agree to getting them out of their world and hiding them."
"Me too," Wayne nodded.
"I always liked Susan," Justin said. "She's very shy and quiet."
"Make sure none of the ones they want to help are on the list," Terry said. "If they are they're on their own. We won't help them."
Ragnok nodded and said goodbye, exiting the boardroom Katherine had set aside for these visits. Harry looked at Hermione, who reached over and grabbed his hand, "We really need to curb this saving people thing."
"Maybe you should see about getting a 'pleasing Hermione' thing instead," Colin grinned. Harry looked at Hermione and wiggled his eyebrows.
Hermione stood up and pulled Harry up with her, "I approve of that idea. Let's go begin working on that." Needless to say Harry had a goofy grin and glazed over eyes the rest of the day.
A/N2- Alot of requests for Luna and Neville. So I'm throwing you a bone and getting Luna out of danger. And Susan. And a few others. But don't expect them to be heavily involved; like Bill and Fleur they're out of harm's way but they're not going to get too involved.
Chapter 9
A/N- So, uh, there's alot of Dumbledore involved here. Alot of Dumbledore's motives. And some of his reasoning might not make sense, but the Dumbledore in this story has at least a touch of senility. Plus while JKR never questioned Dumbledore's sanity the old man made alot of really poor and confusing decisions in canon. I've always thought Dumbledore was at least a little senile. I've listed for your benefit who Harry took out of the wizarding world through the goblins. Those of you hoping for Neville, relax. He's safe.
I say this in most stories but haven't here- Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. There aren't a great many 'Harry gets fed up with the wizarding world and leaves' stories, and I feel like this story takes a little something from the ones I've read and admired and moved it in a different direction. Hopefully I can inspire others as I have been inspired :-)
Disclaimer- I woke up this morning and my name still wasn't J.K. Rowling, I'm still a dude, and I still am not wealthy. So I don't own Harry Potter. I'm just playing with her toys for my own amusement.
Luna Lovegood gazed around this strange new place. She didn't disagree with Harry's reasons for leaving. And she understood he would not come back. She honestly didn't blame him. But Susan, Luna, Neville, Hannah, Tracey and Daphne had been at what the goblins called the DTC for a week now and she still hadn't seen or heard from Harry. She wanted to thank him.
The whoosh of a floo caught everyone's attention. They sat up and then heard the floo again. Luna and the others moved to the room the floo was in to see Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and a whole bunch of their former classmates exiting the floo. "Hi everyone," Harry said before turning to Hermione, "how long do we have again?"
"An hour," she answered.
"Right so let's make this short and sweet," he said, rubbing his hands together, "the 9 of us work for government. We aren't living here we have our own places. We aren't going anywhere near the wizarding world don't even ask us. You're here to be safe and learn about the non-magical world. Any questions?"
Albus Dumbledore sat in his chair and looked at his plans. Why didn't everyone understand that if Tom died then all the Death Eaters would stop being so evil? Harry would fight Tom, die in the process, then a weeping Dumbledore would kill Tom himself. He would bemoan the lost innocence of Harry Potter, weep that he couldn't save Tom, and the Death Eaters would be lifted from the spell of the man they were fighting for. It was just that simple and it made perfect sense.
He got up and left, not thinking about the diary left on his desk. Fortunately an elf did. Kreacher made a copy and, still invisible, vanished from the office. Master Harry would be proud.
Everyone around the table stared at the diary, dumbfounded. It detailed the prophecy, which they all already knew, Dumbledore's plans from locking his parents' will and appointing himself guardian when his name wasn't on the list to raising Harry to walk up and let Voldemort kill him. He admitted to knowing all about the horcrux in Harry's head but never did anything to get rid of it or try to. He just assumed, like all vessels of horcruxes, that Harry would have to be destroyed. He never even tried researching for alternatives.
Then came his plans for the wizarding world. Dumbledore wouldn't kill those that were inferior to purebloods. In Harry's mind, Dumbledore's deeds were far worse. He made sure muggleborns had no representation in the government and that half-bloods made less than their pureblood counterparts. He arranged for laws to be drawn up without anyone knowing who was writing them. Things like a Muggleborn Registration Act. Hermione muttered, "Nazi Germany," when she read about it. He made sure muggleborns entered the wizarding world with no knowledge of it and that when they graduated they were stuck in the wizarding world since they couldn't prove their schooling for the past 6-7 years in the non-magical one. To boot, he prevented classes being taught that would educate Muggle-raised children about the wizarding world.
The more that they read the sicker they felt. Dumbledore intentionally kept Muggle Studies run by an inept professor so as to discourage anyone leaving the wizarding world. He made sure that no muggleborns made it onto the staff of Hogwarts. Hell, the only half-blood was Severus Snape.
Then came the revelations about Grindelwald. Dumbledore seemed to have a thing for bad boys. And like many that fall for bad boys, Dumbledore wanted to 'fix' them. He tried it with Grindelwald, he tried it with Tom, he tried it with Snape, and now with Malfoy. Harry realized that Dumbledore wasn't after sex or romance or attraction at all; he just wanted to transform them and stand back to be lauded with praise once they were fixed. Dumbledore wrote that punishing these 'bad boys' would only serve to push them further to the dark. No, you must speak softly to them and coax them back to the light. "I'd rather follow the adage speak softly and carry a big stick," Dean muttered.
The only thing that wasn't listed in the diary was why he detested muggleborns so much. Their only guess could be that Dumbledore was a blood purist, but like neo-Nazis that dressed so as to blend into society so too Dumbledore pretended to care about nonmagicals. He wrote in the book that he didn't have it in his heart to kill the basilisk their second year. It was such an old and majestic creature. He'd also known Moody wasn't really Moody in their fourth year but wanted Harry to get entered in the tournament and bring back Voldemort.
They put the book aside, asking Kreacher to store it in a safe for them, and all sat down. Beers were passed around and accepted gratefully. "I thought the conversation with Luna about how things are now was bad. This was worse."
"I am not far off from wanting revenge on the jackass. At least the Dursleys have been put away for 20 years each and Dudley is going to be forced into the military. I can't think of a worse fate for him," Hermione growled.
Harry rubbed her back, "Cleaning out dragon pens would work but I'd be afraid the dragon would eat him and get indigestion." Some chuckling was heard but everyone's faces were still grave.
"We could publish it."
"No the Dumbledore fans won't hear a negative word said about their hero," Harry shook his head, "Molly Weasley and Hagrid both revere the old coot and they're not the only ones that do. To them he can do no wrong. He's the 'leader of the light'."
"Do you think he's losing his mind?" Hermione asked. "Some of his entries…well some of those entries seem like the writings of a crazed person. Especially when he writes about saving the 'bad boys' from Voldemort's spell."
"I think the spell bit is delusional and a bit crazed, but the rest sounds like Dumbledore. One redeemed soul is worth a hundred dead innocents." Everyone nodded, grateful they'd got out when they did. Dumbledore cared more for the bad guys than the good, and that was something that everyone could see. Especially considering Snape.
Hermione snuggled into her lover, "Are you okay?"
He sighed, "I think so. I have you, our friends, a surprisingly interesting career opportunity. Before I thought my only option was death."
"Not with me around it isn't," she closed her eyes, "I just wish we could see Riddle's face if he ever attacks the non-magical world and ends up losing all of his Death Eaters."
"Why doesn't Dumbledore ever use Snape's intel? I mean, he's a spy."
"Because the Order would catch the Death Eaters and lock them up where dear old Albus can't 'save' them."
Well that was true. Depressing, and true. Harry turned onto his side and pulled her against him, "I love you."
"I love you too," she whispered, closing her eyes.
They all knew it was only a matter of time before Voldemort tried to attack the non-magical world. So MI5 was ready. They had access to information within Voldemort's camp and so it was to no one's surprise when Katherine gathered them just three days before Harry's seventeenth birthday. "Voldemort is looking to attack Regent Street at noon on Saturday."
"So much for my birthday party," Harry muttered.
"We'll make do love," Hermione promised, running a hand through his hair.
"It won't be just you 9, but we'll let you run point since you've gone against them before. Aside from your three snipers we'll have four others. There will also be a large ground crew. The local police will get everyone out of the area."
Harry fingered the ring box in his pocket. He was certain he knew the answer, but was also terrified he could be wrong. They'd lived together for over a year, she loved him, she'd never strayed from his side like almost everyone else, but for all the reasons why she'd say yes he had this sinking feeling that the answer could be no. Harry finally took a deep breath before entering their bedroom, "Hermione?"
"What is it Harry?"
"I have to ask you a really big question and I was going to do it on my birthday because your answer could be the greatest present ever but we have a mission then so I can't do it then because I want to do it now in case it all goes to hell and I really love you and I want you to know just how much you mean to me because you're the best and…"
He was cut off from his rambling by her kissing him, "Now take a deep breath, love, and ask me."
It was at that moment that Harry realized Hermione knew. Not that he was surprised; he couldn't keep much from her. They knew everything about each other. Harry pulled out the box and knelt down on the floor, looking into her eyes as he spoke, "Hermione, I love you. You mean the world to me and I desperately want to be with you for not just the rest of our lives but for all time. You would make me the happiest man in the world if you accepted me as your husband." Harry opened the box to reveal the ring and drew on his courage as he asked, "Will you marry me?"
"Yes," she breathed, pulling him to her in a fierce kiss. Harry pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger with some struggle since he didn't want to end the kiss but succeeded before she hauled him onto his feet with surprising strength and dragged him to the bed.
As Mandy and Hermione sat in the van headed to Regent Street they chatted about Harry. "I think Harry actually is coming down with 'pleasing Hermione syndrome'. He seems quite pleased to have the affliction."
"He's not the only one," Hermione giggled. "But we need to focus. Today is too important to get distracted."
"Just don't be afraid to do the banter. It eases everyone's nerves."
"Noted," Hermione looked at her friend, "I will say one thing about this operation. We're all ready."
"The silver tipped bullets for the werewolves are also a nice touch," Mandy said. They'll be down for the count even if the shot isn't life threatening." Hermione nodded. They'd thought of alot of things to combat the methods of the Death Eaters. Just yesterday they'd received word that the Ministry had fallen and Voldemort now had control. They were quite certain that the dark lord wouldn't be at the attack, though they wished he was. Like Dumbledore, he never did his dirty work directly. He always let someone else do it.
Harry Potter, covered in protective gear, looked around. They knew it would be an apparition or portkey arrival. He smiled as he heard his fiancée in his ear, "It would appear our terrorists are late."
Dean's voice caused some chuckles from the whole team, be they the 9 or older agents, "Well you know what drama queens the DE are."
"Lucius Malfoy does like to make an entrance," Harry chuckled. "I wonder if he and Snape conspired to work on that billowing robes/cape thing they do."
"Probably takes alot of work, which I wouldn't expect from someone who looks like a greasy git," Terry muttered.
The sudden appearance of the large group of Death Eaters had guns raised and aimed. "Take the first shot love."
"Such a wonderful engagement present," Hermione responded to Harry before lining up a Death Eater and dropping him.
"I love your banter," Mandy said before firing her own shot after Hermione. The two takedowns spurred the Death Eaters into action but unbeknownst to them anti-Apparition wards were in place, and with some help from Ragnok portkeys could be used to get in, but not out. The Death Eaters were now sitting ducks and didn't even know it. The ground team advanced.
"Werewolves 3 o'clock," came Mandy's voice before five agents, including Terry and Justin, opened fire. All the bullets had silver tips since they didn't know where they'd be. Dobby and Winky found so many things lost in the room of requirements when they were getting the diadem with Kreacher that they'd decided to take them to the goblins too. In exchange for the jewels, weapons, books, and other items that were found Ragnok had supplied the silver needed happily and as a trade.
All told the attack lasted less than 10 minutes. With the snipers picking off Death Eaters from above and the ground team moving in the battle was entirely onesided. While the DE were used to one sided battles, they were used to being the ones winning. This was a new experience for the ones that were living. They began ripping off masks and he smiled, "Hermione? You took down Lucius Malfoy at the start of the battle."
"Good. I hope Draco chokes on the realization that a muggle weapon killed dear old daddy."
Harry looked over the bodies. They'd also taken down Snape, the 2 male Lestranges, and Greyback. The others were unrecognized by the team. "Let's send Moldyshorts a message. I want him scared. He likes to invoke fear. I'd like to cause some of it myself."
Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Fenrir Greyback, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange were all hung like scarecrows in Diagon Alley that night. They'd used so many wards they would be impossible to remove anytime soon. Tacked to Malfoy was a note that read simply: Keep your problems in your own world. We won't be so gracious the next time. –Harry Potter
"You're baiting them Harry."
"I am but I want to not have to worry about doing tons of these missions," Harry stretched out on the bed next to Hermione, "I meant what I said in the Prophet. I'm not bailing the wizarding world out. But that bastard killed my parents. If he steps into our world, there will be no mercy."
"I would never ask you to give him any," she settled against him and they kissed, "I love you."
"I love you too," he brushed a hair out of her eyes, "we've both killed now. Do you feel different?"
"I was sad for a little bit, until I thought about all their victims. The rapes they've committed, the fact that they think they're superior and their victims should just be grateful such wonderful purebloods are touching them…not to mention the torture and murder they've done. I felt relief then. We saved plenty of lives just by killing one."
"I agree," he nodded, kissing the top of her head, "I just think about all the people Greyback has marred and attacked…there are no regrets for killing him. He's stolen lives and would continue to do so."
They lay there in silence before Harry suddenly laughed. Hermione looked up at him, "What is it love?"
"I wonder who Draco will threaten others with now. I can just hear him, 'Wait until my master hears about this!'"
"Ah but love that would mean admitting he is a servant to the dark lord," Hermione corrected. "His pride will never permit that."