quot;Hawk One standing by."

Chapter 16

Opening the door to her flat, Rita Skeeter threw her bag onto the table next to the door and headed immediately into her kitchen. Going to one of her cabinet's, Rita grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey and, forgoing a glass, popped the top and took a pull straight from the bottle. It was definitely time for a celebration! Her boss had been on her arse lately about producing something worthwhile, and she had one hell of a story to tell especially after watching the results of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

The four Champions had arrived back at the exit of the maze after being missing for nearly an hour. Harry Potter was unconscious and the other three were clearly suffering from the after effects of exposure to the Cruciatus curse. So, sensing a story, she'd hitched a ride on Fudge's hat. And what a story the kids had to tell. Voldemort had been resurrected! And Fudge was denying it happened! It was the perfect story! And not only that, it had the added bonus of possibly getting that bitch Nox off of her back. 'I can't even take a shite without her approval.' Rita thought angrily, marching out of her kitchen with the bottle in hand and making her way over to her typewriter. 'But now…this should get her off of my back. As long as I can get it done in the next couple of hours so that I can have it in the office in time for the morning edition.'

Setting the bottle aside, she pulled out her wand and tapped it against the typewriter, which instantly came to life and started typing on its own. "Disaster at the Tri-Wizard Finale, by Rita Skeeter." Rita began talking aloud as the typewriter began typing out her every word.

"Yes, it was indeed a disaster."

Spinning around, Rita back peddled away from the dark figure that'd somehow managed to get into her flat without her knowledge. Ripping her wand out of her pocket, Rita pointed it towards the black mass. "Who the bloody hell are you?!"

The figure's hand reached out slowly and turned on the lamb beside them, revealing none other than Lord Lucius Malfoy. "Lord Malfoy," Rita gulped, licking her lips and casting a quick glance towards her door. Lucius Malfoy had always been one of the few people whose very presence unnerved her. And after what she'd learned tonight, that feeling had increased tenfold.

"Madam Skeeter." Malfoy greeted her casually, rising from his chair with a noticeable wince. "Forgive me for calling on you at this hour. But I wanted to make sure that you had the right…facts, before you started working on tomorrow's paper."

"Th– there's nothing to forgive Lord Malfoy," Rita replied trying, and failing, to keep her voice steady while lowering her wand. She'd never been the best duelist. And against Lucius Malfoy she was sure she'd have as much of chance as a snowball against a dragon. "And I was just starting tomorrow's edition. I fear it will be relatively boring an-"

"There's no need for that. I've already finished your editorial for tomorrow." Malfoy said over her, reaching into his robes and pulling out a scroll. "I believe that you, and your readers, will find it most…enlightening."

Biting her lip, Rita slowly reached out and took the offered scroll. Unrolling it, Rita read over what was written, her eyes widening with each word. "This...Lord Malfoy I don't-" Her words died in her throat as a large stack of Pound notes were placed over the words she was reading.

"This is what you are planning on writing Madam Skeeter." Malfoy stated, letting go of the sack and making her scramble to juggle the sack and the scorl. "I don't see the need to play with you Skeeter. You know who I serve. You will not get a second chance with us. Oh, and if you're worried about the fact that you're an unregistered animagus, don't. One word with my contact in the DMLE and not only will you be on the registry, but you will have been on the registry since before you left Hogwarts. And it will remain confidential."

Rita bit her lip, looking back and forth between the stack of Pounds, to the scroll and then to Malfoy. Slowly, she let herself smile. 'I get paid handsomely. I get my revenge on that bitch Nox. And…well if recent history has taught me anything it's that it isn't really healthy to go against the Dark Lord.'

"Thank you, Lord Malfoy for presenting me with the truth of what transpired tonight." Rita smirked, bowing slightly to Malfoy. "I'll be sure that this story is on the front page tomorrow morning."

Sitting in his bed in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Harry glared down at the front page of the Daily Prophet through his glasses, which had been found and repaired between the time the skirmish had ended and his mother had sent him, still unconscious, and the other champions back through the portkey. On the front page of the paper was a photo of him and the other champions all lying in their respective hospital beds. Above the photo was the caption, 'Tri-Wizard Champions Recuperating After Guardian Attack!'

"We thought you should see this as soon as you woke up Harry," Ginny said softly from her spot next to his bedside while all around him the rest of his friends and fellow Guardians at Hogwarts shifted their feet nervously surrounded by a silencing charm that Hermione had cast with the help of Susan. All save for Susan and Daphne that was. Susan looked like she was really too straight up murder someone, while Daphne had an almost eerie calm about her. "It's been the same story every day for the past four days ever since you and the others returned from the graveyard."

For not the first time, Harry cursed the fact that he had been unconscious for the past four days. He knew the moment he'd woken up what had happened. Force exhaustion. Or rather magical exhaustion according to Madam Pomfrey. He'd done before when he was younger, but he'd hadn't succumbed to Force exhaustion for years and even then never to the point where he'd been out for more than a day at a time. More likely because he not only countered the killing curse, but sent it back against a wizard who had decades of experience on him.

But the worst part was, because he'd been unconscious he hadn't been able to defend the Guardians' actions. And now after four days of constant slander, he doubted that there would be anything he could say that would change the opinions of the masses. The only upside, if there was one, was that his mother had not been explicitly named. Neither had Ahsoka nor any of the others. But they were now in the same trap that he was. And if his mother hadn't countered this immediately, there had to be a reason why she was still withholding that information. 'Or maybe she'd tried to and was unable to do so. In which case…I think I'd prefer it if she was simply holding back information.

"Why?" He asked, looking around. There was no need for him to clarify his question.

"Honestly, we're not sure how or why, but Fudge has gone off the deep end. Not that it was a long fall." Susan growled, plopping down on his other side and picking up one of the many pieces of 'get well candies' that were littering the end table next to him. "When the four of you came back, the other three immediately spoke up about what happened."

"And just as a side note," Susan continued, "Master Fay is an excellent actress. Bloody hell, even I was convinced that she was about to singe Dumbledore's beard off. But anyway Cedric, Viktor and Fleur all told about how the four of you had been kidnaped by the Death Eaters. How they conducted a ritual to give Voldemort a body again. And then how the Guardians saved them. The Aurors that showed up with my Aunt after the battle was over told them what they saw. A shite load of dead purebloods…and that was all Fudge needed to hear. That and Voldemort somehow managed to come back after being supposedly dead for over a decade…so yeah. He didn't take it well."

"The next morning the front page was plastered with an article proclaiming how all of the Champions had been confounded by this new terrorist group, 'The Guardians', and how you were unconscious." Daphne picked up the explanation. "Fleur just about hit the roof when she read that. She immediately went up to the head table during breakfast and proceeded to give Dumbledore and Maxime quite an impressive earful."

Hermione took over story from there. "Viktor told me that within the next hour an official mind healer from the Ministry come to Hogwarts and examine the three of them with Fudge, Umbridge and Skeeter in tow. He didn't even do anything other than wave his wand over the three of them and confirm that they had been in fact confounded."

The paper in Harry's hands combusted in a flash of light, not even leaving a pile of ashes. "Skeeter?" 'How? Mother had the bitch on a short leash. Fudge, or rather Lucius, must have her on an even shorter one. Either that or they cut the leash and are paying her a hefty sum. Either way…she's going to rue the day she turned against us.'

"Yeah…sorry mate. Don't ask us to explain that one." Ron murmured from his spot next to Tracey.

"Not your fault." Harry growled. "Might as well get this all over with now. What happened next? I assume that Viktor, Fleur and Cedric didn't take it lying down?"

"Correct." Daphne nodded. "Cedric has been writing his father daily, but seeing as how his father is a high ranking member of Fudge's cabinet I'm sure you realize just how far that is going. Both Viktor and Fleur have tried to get into contact with their home countries' Ministry, but they're either being stonewalled or told flat out to let the matter drop. They see this as a 'British problem' and they don't want anything to do with it."

"It will be everyone's problem soon enough." Harry muttered, letting his head fall back heavily against the headboard. "Has anyone been in contact with my mother?"

"Yes," Susan nodded. "She's trying to get anyone she can to listen, but unfortunately she's dealing with even more fires as of late."

"Apparently over half of the neutral voting block that your mother and Lord Black took years carving out have jumped ship." Tracey clarified. "Most of them have jumped back to the 'dark' families without giving any reason as to why. Odds are they've either been paid off, or someone has put the fear of…well…Him into them again. And a small minority are jumping ship to align themselves with Dumbledore."

Unable to help it, Harry sighed and rubbed his head with his hand. Years of political building and preparation almost completely undone in a matter of days. "And I take it that old baldy has been keeping his head down this entire time hasn't he?"

"Yes." Daphne nodded. "No matter what people might say of him, there is one thing that cannot be denied: he's smart and patient. Usually patient anyway. He's using Lucius right now, not that anyone can pin that fact on him. But according to my father, Lucius has been spending galleons like his vault sprung a leak. If he keeps this up, I'd be surprised if they have even a single knut to their name by the end of the school year."

"That's a small comfort." Harry mused. "Has anyone been keeping an eye on our two resident Death Eaters since the incident?"

"Yes." Hermione answer quickly, before continuing on at a much more sedate pace. "Well…one of them at least."

"One?"

"Karkaroff has fled." Hermione nodded. "He's was here the night you four returned, but Viktor said that the next morning he was simply gone. And there's been no explanation for his disappearance. The official story is that he's gone back to Durmstrang, but Viktor said it's a load of hogwash. He's fled and they have no clue where he is."

"And as for our lovely greaseball," Daphne continued. "He's still here. Although…it's complicated."

"How so?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well he's still being his lovely adorable self-loathing self," Susan shrugged. "But, according to Cedric after the three of them told the Minister about what happened that night and he went off the rails, Snape apparently displayed his dark mark to the Minister and stated that the only way it could've come back is if the Dark Lord had returned. Of course Fudge didn't buy it. Bloody idiot."

"That reminds me," Daphne muttered, reaching into the folds of her robes and giving Harry an orb like object that was roughly half a hand across in diameter. "This is a one-off runic enhanced portkey. Supposedly it can cut through wards. There's about twenty feet of string inside as well. If we're in trouble Master Nox says that we're supposed to use it to escape. And just in case even that doesn't work," pulling out another object, this time a small stick that was roughly six inches long. "This is an emergency transponder. Break it and a magical signal is sent to General Rex and he'll have a LAAT here within twenty minutes to extract us."

Nodding, Harry handed the stick and the orb back to Daphne. He'd make sure to take them back once he was dressed and had pockets to keep it in. "But one thing is bugging me. How are they covering up the thirty or more Death Eaters that died?"

Susan bit her lip and looked at Daphne. "They were said to have been trying to launch a rescue mission, although no one has been able to explain so far as to just how they knew you four were going to end up there nor as to how they got there so fast." Daphne growled. "And because of that…Fudge has issued a formal decree claiming that the Guardians are nothing more than muggleborn and dark creature terrorist's hell bent on destroying the traditions of the wizarding world."

"Fuck." Harry growled, surprising his urge to go and throttle Fudge. "And what is your Aunt doing about this Susan?"

"She's pretty much been yelling at the top of her lungs hoping that someone will listen to her." Susan sighed back. "Unfortunately, one of the Aurors that she brought with her, a man she's trusted, sold her out to Fudge and is now claiming that when they arrived the Guardians took one look at them and fled the scene after doing something to you four. It's an outright lie, but it was put in the paper before Auntie knew about his change of heart.

"She's been doing her best to get her department in order and provide evidence, but that got infinitely harder to do so when Fudge demanded that all of the bodies that'd been collected at the scene be released to their families along with any possessions they had on them. And any records Auntie had on just what they were wearing, specifically the bone masks of the Death Eaters, have disappeared; along with the masks themselves."

"Fucking damn it." Harry groaned. Things hadn't just gone pear shaped. They'd gone completely ass over tea kettle and in a remarkably short amount of time. "How the hell could he have pulled this off so quickly and while still reeling from getting his ass handed to him?"

None of his friends answered his question. And truth be told…Harry wasn't quite sure how to answer it either. And that, more than losing their political stance, more than losing their element of surprise, more so than having the Guardians labeled as a terrorist organization scared Harry.

Sitting in his private meditation chamber, Master Yoda, Grand Master of the fallen Jedi Order, sighed as he opened his eyes. When he'd first come to this world it had been as if the cloak of shadows had been removed from his eyes. For the first time in years he could see into the Force once again. The inherent darkness on this world made seeing through the Force slightly more difficult, but he could still see into the future. But now, ever since the attack and return of this…"Dark Lord" the dark side had once again shrouded his vision.

Master Nox and he talked long and frequently about the coming war. The shroud of the dark side didn't seem to surprise her, apparently it was quite a common tactic utilized by the Sith to cripple their Jedi counterparts. But what did surprise her was the sheer scope of the shroud. Apparently not even Darth Vitiate, the infamous Sith Emperor from her time, had been able to cast such a thing. Although she suspected that it was more from a lack of wanting to do it rather than not being able to.

And now, the dark side was once again clouding his sight. Rising to his feet, Yoda summoned his glimmer stick from across the room and began hobbling towards the exit. He was sure that Nox knew of these developments. But…her insight could prove useful. Perhaps she knew of a way to pierce through the shroud of the dark side.

Leaning against the door frame leading out to her balcony, Nox watched as the sun slowly lowered towards the ocean on the horizon. The past week had been…trying. The morning after the attack she nearly destroyed her office when she saw the front page of the Daily Prophet, specifically how it called out the Guardians as the abductors and the Death Eaters as the heroes who were trying to rescue the champions.

As soon as she read that she went on the offensive trying to regain any lost ground within the Wizenagmot. Unfortunately, that was another uphill battle as any political allies she'd had had simply up and left her side and rejoined with their old factions by lunch. Then the bad news just kept up piling up as that evening an evening edition of the Prophet was released. This time it held a detailed account of a mind healer that'd gone to Hogwarts and proclaimed that all of the champions had had their minds altered slightly and were confused as to what happened and then one of Amelia's Aurors that was part of the cleanup crew jumped ship and wove a story that painted them in an ill light.

By the next morning just about every pureblood family was calling for blood. And worse yet, there was nothing that Nox could do. 'Once the masses get an idea in their head, true or false, it's easier to stop a tsunami with one's bare hands than to alter what they believe they know.'

Hearing the door open behind her, she didn't bother turning around. "The corruption of this world is simply staggering. In some ways they're worse than even those puffed up so-called 'nobles' of Alderaan. And it's not just in the magical world but in the non-magical as well. And I knew that in order for this world to even stand a chance against what was out in the greater galaxy they would have to do so united. So all those years ago when I arranged for Sirius to re-introduce Harry and I to the magical community, which would be our stepping stone to truly correcting the corruption of this world, I was faced with two options."

Pushing off of the wall but still keeping her back to her audience, she raised her right hand. "On one hand I could do things the Sith way. I could've marched into the British Ministry of Magic with my lightsaber drawn and cut out the cancer where I saw it and taken control. But that would've opened the door to a possible rebellion in the future. So option two, thinking I had more than enough time before the Sith of this era would find me; I decided to take the indirect and less…violent approach."

Pausing in her speech, she turned around and found Yoda standing behind her. "For years I've spent cultivating not just Britain, but all of Earth to be united under one banner. And not just the differing countries of the world. But the magical and non-magical communities as well. And now in the span of less than a week, almost everything I've spent years building is hanging on by a thread. At least in the magical world."

"For what it's worth, the decision of less violence, correct choice it is." Yoda said, walking across the room, his glimmer stick landing softly against the floor as he did. "But give in to despair, you cannot."

Nox dropped her hand and scoffed, "Oh I haven't," Nox chuckled. "No…no. I have contingency plans inside of contingency plans my little friend. This is nothing more than a minor setback. An annoying setback to be sure, but this is not the end. Not by a long shot. I'm just marveling I guess."

"Marveling, you say?"

"Yes." Nox smirked. "You see, for as corrupt and tyrannical as you Jedi claimed that we Sith were, but the Republic you Jedi enslaved yourselves to was by far more corrupt. Filled with bootlickers, ass-kissers and cocksuckers that would do anything to get ahead while stepping over those they were supposed to 'serving'. With the Sith at least it was far more predictable. You wanted to go over someone, you simply killed them. Ah…sometimes I miss the good old days."

"Uncivilized, Master Kenobi would call them." Yoda responded, his eyes locked on the skyline.

Nox merely shrugged. "Perhaps. But no more so than any other political system. And at least with the Sith we were more straightforward about our intentions." Sighing, Nox turned around and headed back into her desk. "But that isn't why you came here today is it? You came here because you've sensed it. The darkness that'd been growing on this world has now reached the point where it's clouding your vision slightly isn't it?"

"Correct, you are. As usual, Master Nox."

"And you're wondering, given my background, if I know of a way to pierce through the shroud of the dark side." Nox mused. "Unfortunately there isn't. It's a double edged sword. Even for one well versed in the dark side the shroud will block their visions of the future. Which was why the Sith were always better tacticians than the Jedi. We couldn't rely on visions of the future to guide us. We had to guide ourselves. As such we had to plan every detail and have contingencies."

"Hmm, disturbing, this is." Yoda hummed.

"Not really." Nox shrugged. "Standard practice really."

"The shroud, disturbing it is yes." Yoda nodded. "But more so, how Sith techniques arrived on this world. Disturbing the implications are."

Nox paused. "I was not the first Sith to arrive on this world. And you lot were not the first Jedi either. Several thousand years ago Aedan, the Hero of Tython, came to this world hunting down the remnants of old Emperor Vitiate. It's not surprising that Vitiate left behind a few little tidbits and introduced them to the magical world. They probably ate it all up with a silver spoon."

"And this Emperor, vanquished him you did?"

"Yes." Nox replied, staring off at the sun. "The bastard is dead and gone. For good this time."

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts Luna Lovegood, apprentice to Knight Greengrass of the Guardian Order, stopped at one of the many overlooks and stared out over the castle grounds. For several weeks she'd been having a feeling that something big was about to happen, although what it was had been denied to her. For a time she'd been certain that what she'd been feeling had revolved around the impending confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. But it'd been nearly a week since that fateful night and the feelings had not subsided.

Sighing at the frustration swelling inside her, she resolved to go and find her master for an impromptu training session. Turning away from the window, Luna froze as a completely different image greeted her.

The halls of Hogwarts, which had once been pristine, were in ruins. The walls were collapsed and bodies littered the floor as the sounds of fighting reached her. Wheeling around, the halls of Hogwarts disappeared as she was standing in a muggle city at night. Muggles young and old were running through the streets screaming as shades flew overhead, swooping down everyone now and then to grab a screaming muggle before disappearing once more.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Luna spun ready to defend herself, and found herself staring at a large hole in the ground. Surrounding her on all sides were black wisps watching the hole. Taking a step forward, Luna knelt at the edge. The coppery smell of blood assaulted her nose as she tried to look through the thick black vapor being extruded from the pit. Leaning closer, a pale hand shot out of the vapor and made to grab her.

Stumbling backwards she found herself in a field of grass. Before she had time to ponder; the world in front of her erupted into a wall of flames that consumed everything in its path.

Screaming as the flames washed over her, Luna found herself once again in the halls of Hogwarts. Darting her head around she pressed her back to the wall while she examined every inch of the hall before her trying to ascertain whether or not this was a vision. Once certain that the vision was over, she slid down the wall until her backside hit the floor.

Fisting her eyes, Luna tried in vain to stem the flow of tears falling from her eyes. She'd…she'd never had a vision like that before; a true vision of the future. She knew that she had the ability to see, her father had long ago confirmed that. But her ability at the moment was…limited. At best she could only see images around others that hinted at their future. Like the first time she saw Harry. She saw six wings with differing faces, one of them her own, circling around him. Then the faces hid themselves before one of the face's wings landed on his lap. Those were the types of visions that she'd had and that she'd been used too. But this…this was something far different.

'Hogwarts in ruins. Muggles being attacked by shadows. A pool of blood and black vapor. And a wall of flame. What…what does it all mean?'

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Luna cried softly into her knees as she tried to understand just what she'd seen. None of it made sense. 'Damn that pathetic Trelawney and damn Dumbledore for letting that fraud teach!' She been looking forward to Divination since she'd been a child, hoping that the class would help her to control her visions. But any hopes she'd had were dashed within ten minutes of the first class.

While Luna knew that the woman had visions on occasion…but most of the time she was really pathetic. Just as her father had warned her. 'I need to talk with Daphne and the others. Something…something really bad is going to happen and soon. And what's worse…I don't have a damn clue just what "it" is!'

Before she could get up she heard a mocking voice that intruded on her thoughts. "Aww, what's the matter? Did poor little Loony Lovegood lose her dolly again? Maybe the wackaspirts took them again huh?"

Looking up from her knees, Luna stared blankly at the array of girls that'd managed to walk up on her while she'd been distracted. Cho Chang and a slew of her fellow Ravenclaws were standing in front of her, all of them smirking down at her. As her eyes fell upon each of them, Luna flinched as she saw different things. 'A skull. Blood. Pain. Madness. What…what does it all mean?'

"Hey, I asked you a question Loony Lovegood?" Cho sneered leaning forward slightly. "Or are you to simple minded to understand questions? How one such as you ever managed to con your way into the noble house of Ravenclaw is beyond me. You don't have a brain in that airy little head of yours now do you Loony?"

Luna stared up at Cho unflinchingly, which made Cho blink. "Leave me alone Cho." Luna said lowly.

One of Cho's delicate eyebrows rose. Luna had never really fought back against her classmates as it would've been a waste of energy and breath. They were all sheep anyway. Sure they might be smart, but they all lacked imagination. None of them would ever amount to anything. A fact that ruffled more than a few feathers when she'd loudly proclaimed that in the common room after a particularly nasty bout of teasing at the beginning of the year.

"Oh, I don't think so Loony." Cho shot back before looking over her shoulder at her friends. "What do you think girls?"

Cho's friends all grinned and started to form up around her. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Luna wasn't afraid. She could take them all down easily. Luckily though, she didn't have to as a voice came from behind them. "And what are you all doing?"

The girls all froze and turned around. Standing just behind them was Luna's Master Daphne. The fabled "Ice Queen of Slytherin" glared at each of the girls with her piercing blue eyes.

"This is none of your affair Greengrass." Cho tried to say evenly, but her voice wavered slightly as Daphne stared at her. "This is Ravenclaw business. Go slither back to your hole."

Daphne merely cocked an eyebrow at the girl before moving past them and holding out her hand to Luna. "Come Luna."

Luna took her hand and allowed Daphne to help her up. Once she was on her feet, Daphne turned on her heel and marched past the girls, leaving Luna struggling to catch up. Once they were well away from her tormentors, Daphne stopped and turned to Luna. "What happened Luna?"

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but the words died on her lips. Daphne's eyes were no longer blue. They were dark yellow and full of malice. But when she blinked again her eyes were back to their normal blue color. "Don't forget who you are Daphne." Luna blurted out.

That took Daphne back slightly as she took a step back. "What do you mean Luna?"

Luna stared at Daphne trying to get another read on Daphne, but nothing emerged. "I– I don't know." Luna said softly. "Something…something is going to happen Master. Don't lose yourself…and trust us. That is all I know."

Daphne's usually calm façade faltered slightly. "What did you see?"

"Pain." Luna answered, turning and looking back down the hall. "Pain and death."

Standing atop a lone hill just after the sun set below the horizon, Vlad Sanguine stared down at his intended target with five of his faithful followers with him. There was more to Voldemort's list than just this one spot, but for Vlad this was personal, but they would be handle by the rest of his faithful. This was a chance to do something he had been wanting to do for over a century. And now thanks to this new upstart of a "Dark Lord", he would finally be getting his chance.

Emerging from the darkness, the last of the faithful that he'd brought with him came towards him and knelt on the ground. "Master, it is exactly as Voldemort has said. We will face no opposition getting where we wish."

Smiling, Vlad stared down at his target. 'Well…it appears that this new Dark Lord is more than just words. First he managed to get my servants and I safe passage onto the mainland…and now this.' "Very well then. Let the feast begin."

Sitting upright in his bed, Dan turned the page in his book while in the background the small television he and Emma had in their room provided a light background noise. Beside him, his wife and love of his life slept soundly. It was more than a little early for the two of them to be in bed, but Emma had been complaining of not feeling well so she'd gone to bed really early and Dan decided to join her.

Turning another page in his book, his eyes flickered over towards their window as he heard rustling of the trees outside fairly violently as the wind knocked them around. 'Hmm, the weather said that we're supposed to get a storm tonight. Perhaps they were right for once.' Reaching out to turn the page again, his hand froze mid move as the squeaky floorboard at the top of the stairs outside of their room groaned. Emma had been on him for months to actually fix the blasted thing, but now he was glad that he hadn't.

Eyes trained on the door leading out into the hall, Dan set his book down slowly and opened the top drawer his nightstand and pulled out a large black box and set it on his lap. Opening the lid slowly, Dan stared down at the pistol like weapon within. He'd been more than slightly surprised when Madam Nox had appeared on his doorstep a few weeks back with nothing more than a box and warning of potential danger. And ever since then he'd been more than a little edgy.

"Dan?" Emma groaned, "What are you-"

Emma was cut off as a deafening crash echoed throughout the house as the door to their room disappeared in a shower of splinters. Falling back onto his years of training, Dan raised the weapon to bear and put three red bolts right into the center of the black mass that'd been filling the void that'd once been their door. "Shite," Dan cursed, keeping his weapon trained on the door and sliding out of bed.

"Dan?" Emma called out weakly.

"Stay back," Dan said, keeping his eyes trained on the downed body just beyond the door.

As he reached the door frame, Dan checked up and down the hallway before stepping out to check on the body. The man on the ground looked ordinary enough, if just slightly paler than normal. His eyes were staring up at the ceiling blankly while the three holes in his chest gave off little wisps of smoke. Keeping the weapon pointed towards the stairs, he knelt down next to the man and felt at his wrist. His skin was surprisingly cold to the touch, but Dan couldn't pick up on any heartbeat.

"Holy shite." Dan cursed, rising to his feet staring down at the pistol in his hand. As soon as he'd realized what Nox had given him he'd discreetly contacted some of his fellow squad mates that were still attached to the service. Apparently, this particular weapon wasn't even available to the British armed services yet let alone the public. 'And now I can see why.' Dan thought taking his eyes off of the corpse. "Grab the kit Emma. I'm going to check if ther-"

Dan felt himself flying arse over tea-kettle as he rolled down the stairs. He had just enough presence of mind to duck his head to avoid any damage to his head, but as he reached the ground floor his right arm cracked painfully as he landed, the blaster sliding away from him as he finally came to a stop.

Rolling over, he just barely managed to get his eyes to look up the stairs before a black cloak descended on him. An impossibly strong hand gripped his throat, and as if he were a child lifted him off the ground and slammed him against the wall. "Hmm, not bad mortal. It's been sometime since one you have managed to actually wound me."

Clawing at the hand against his throat with his left hand, his right arm hanging limply by his side, Dan's eyes widened as he recognized the man who was holding him. 'Impossible! He– he was dead I'm sure of it!' That was when Dan noticed the red glint around the man's irises and the slightly elongated fangs peeking out from under his lips. 'A fucking vampire! You've got to be fucking kidding me!'

His back came away from the wall, only to slam against it again as the vampire shook him. "Hey! Pay attention mortal." The vampire growled. "How did you know that I was around? You were obviously awake and waiting for me even before I stepped on that blasted loose floorboard just outside your door. So tell me how-"

The vampire's eyes went cross-eyed and his grip loosened as Dan brought his knee up as hard as he could right between the man's legs. As soon as Dan's feet touched the floor, he threw a haymaker with his left hand aiming for the vampire's throat. His fist connected with the soft flesh of the creature's neck…but he might as well have been shooting a BB gun at a freight train for all the good it did him. The vampire merely stood there, bent over with one hand covering his bits, with Dan's fist pressed against his neck.

"That wasn't smart mortal."

Dan didn't even see the vampire move. All he felt was the back of the creature's hand hit him upside the head and next he knew he was flying across the room and crashing into the curio cabinet that had their fine dishes and silverware stored within. Before he could hit the ground he felt a fist grab hold of his night shirt and once again he was sailing through the house. This time landing on the cold kitchen tile and not stopping until he slid all the way across the kitchen and crashed into the stove on the far side.

Coughing up blood, Dan tried to push himself up on his good arm, only to receive a knee to the face throwing him back against the cabinets. What was left of his nightshirt was the grabbed by a fist, which moved him so that he was forced to sit upright against the cabinets. The vampire knelt down in front of him, his hand never leaving Dan's shirt.

"Now now mortal. I was going to make this quick and easy. Even after you ruined my favorite jacket with that damn weapon of yours. But now…now I'm not going to be merciful." Letting go of his shirt, the vampire grabbed a fist full of Dan's hair and forced his head back hard against the cabinets. "I'm not going to kill you. Not yet. First I'm going to break every bone in your legs and your arms. Then I'm going to make you watch as I break your pretty little wife and turn her into my own personal little thrall. How does that sound you pathetic little mortal?"

Dan reached up with his left hand and tried to pry the fist out of his hair. But the creature's grip was like iron. And all his struggling got him was a slight smirk from the vampire.

Both men blinked as the vampire lurched forward slightly. Looking down, both stared in confusion at the foot or so of solid wood that was sticking out the vampire's chest. Right where the heart was. "Get the fuck away from him monster!" Emma growled from behind the vampire, holding onto the half what Dan now recognize as he billiards cue, and using it to leverage the vampire away from him.

"Dan!" Emma cried, as the vampire fell back against the far wall. "Dan! Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"A fucking billiards cue?" The vampire gasped, drawing both of their attention back to him as he slid down the wall and to the floor. "Un-fucking real. A fucking…billiards…cue…"

"Emma." Dan gasped, shaking his wife with his still good arm. "Emma!"

Giving herself a visible shake, Emma stared at him with wide eyes. "Dan…I…oh shite! Dan! Are you alright?"

Dan merely grunted. "I've been better." He groaned trying to lift his right arm. "Stairs broke my arm. And I'm pretty sure that that bastard broke a few other bones while he was throwing me around like a rag doll."

Emma nearly had tears in her eyes as she stared down in horror at his arm, which was bending off at an unnatural angle halfway down his forearm. "Oh god Dan. We need to get you to the hospital."

"No." Dan said, shaking his head. "We can't…go get the case hun."

Emma blinked in confusion for a moment before nodding. Ever since Hermione had returned home from her little "summer vacation", which she'd told them about although Dan was still pretty sure she'd withheld some information, they'd decided that just in case of emergency they should have a suitcase packed and ready to go at the drop of a hat. Within the case they had some clothes, critical paperwork and enough cash to last them for several months if they were cautious.

"Wait." Dan coughed as Emma reached the edge of the kitchen. "Grab the…gun. I dropped it near the stairs. And give me one of those knives on the floor there."

Emma's brow furrowed, but she still knelt down and picked up one of the knives that'd fallen out of the cabinet. After handing it to him, his wife gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before running for the stairs. 'Well,' Dan thought, staring down at the knife in his hand and then the vampire leaning against the wall with a cue sticking through his heart. 'Let's hope that silver really does work on these things. And if not…well at least we know now that a wooden stake through the heart will.'

After a tense minute or so, Dan heard his wife running down the stairs. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen his lips twitched as he saw how she was holding the pistol. 'I'm really going to have to teach her how to use that thing properly. Apparently sooner rather than later.'

Giving the gun to him, Emma set the case down and began rummaging inside. "Ah ha." She exclaimed, pulling out a foot long narrow rod that Nox had given them in conjunction with the pistol. Apparently it was some form of magical transportation. "Here's the little bugger."

Tucking the pistol into the waistband of his pants, Dan grabbed one end of the rod while his wife closed up their suitcase and grabbed the other end. "On three luv." He said, looking his wife in the eye. "One. Two. Three."

As one they twisted the rod in opposite directions. The next thing he felt was a strong pull on his navel and then the world was spinning.

Sitting on the couch in the living room of the Burrow, Bill Weasley was enjoying his moment of relaxation he'd been allowed in what seemed like months. A light fire from the fireplace provided the light in the room while he sat quietly flipping through a book on governmental procedure. Many would find his choice of book to be odd, especially when he was supposed to be relaxing. But compared to working with the goblins; reading about procedures that should've been shelved several centuries ago was entertainment in of itself. He always knew that the Ministry was, to put it frankly, arse backwards. But this book only proved it. Unfortunately with his father's reinstatement into the Wizengamot, a seat he would one day inherit as his right as eldest child, he had to read up on the policies.

Flipping the page in the book, Bill thought back on everything that'd happened in the past year. Gringotts had recalled him early in the fall without truly explaining the reason for it and had assigned him to be little more than a glorified bureaucrat. Sure he was still sent out on assignment every now and then, but nothing like he had been doing. To say the least, he'd been more than a little pissed off about the move, not that he would tell his superiors that of course. He was upset, not stupid.

His mother had of course been ecstatic. But she always felt that he was in a far too dangerous line of work. But when she requested that he live at home with his father and herself, it was all he could do not to laugh in her face. He was a grown man and had been out on his own for years. He was not about to live with his parents again. His coworkers would never let him live it down.

It wasn't until he'd been back in Britain for a month or so that he finally realized just why he'd been moved in the first place. In October his father had been formally recognized back into the Wizengamot. And as oldest son he was responsible for taking up the seat after his father left office. And the goblins, seeing as how they had a future member of the Wizengamot under their thumb for several years, had pulled him out of the field and stuck him in an office so that they could, without actually saying it, groom him into a Wizengamot member that they could work with.

It was actually an incredibly ingenious move on their part. They knew that Bill owed them, and he did. The Goblin Nation had spent a lot of time and effort on him. And if he didn't respond in kind when he ascended to office…then they would make his life a living hell.

Which was why he'd been spending so much time with his parents, even to the point where he was sleeping at the Burrow more frequently that at his own flat. His father was going over the interworking of the Wizengamot with him almost every day. Although truth be told, it was more like Bill was helping his father manage the cesspool of snakes that was the Wizengamot. He loved his father, he truly did, but sometimes Bill felt that his father was far too soft to deal with politics. Speak of the devil and he hears his voice Bill thought with a smile.

"Bill? I wasn't expecting you to still be here."

Turning his head ever so slightly, Bill found his father standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Didn't feel like heading back to my flat quite yet." Bill shrugged.

His father nodded before going over to the small cabinet in the room. Opening one of the lower doors, he pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses. "Did you get a chance to read over that new proposal I have for Lord Black yet?" His father asked before pouring out two fingers into either glass and corking the bottle.

"Yeah," Bill nodded, more than a little surprised when his father handed him one of the glass. His mother had nearly raised all holy hell a few weeks prior when Bill had taken the two of them out for dinner in muggle London and ordered a pint with his meal. The only reason she hadn't was because they were in public. But still, in an effort to keep the peace he'd decided to drink as little as possible in front of his parents.

"Good," his father nodded, taking the seat across from him. "What do you think?"

Taking a small sip, Bill told his father the truth. "It's too one sided Dad." Bill answered, surprising his father. "I know that Lord Black and Madam Nox would say the same. The only reason your muggle-protection bill got passed was because it didn't really affect the purebloods all that much. But this bill, allowing muggleborns the chance to enter the Wizengamot? While an idea I support fully it will never be able to get passed. Simply based on the fact that you're threatening to limit the amount of power those in power already have."

And Madam Nox would know that as soon as she read it over as well. While many might believe that the Weasleys were beholden to Dumbledore, they were wrong. The Weasleys owed their allegiance to Nox and Black. It was because of them that they were once again able to sit on the Wizengamot. So for the next generation or two, anything they put forth would have to be in line with whatever Madam Nox and Lord Black interests lay.

Sighing, his father drained most of his glass. "I was afraid that you were going to say that son. I'm not really cut out for all of this political stuff son."

"You're the one that not only wanted us to get our seat back, but you're the one who actually managed to do so Dad." Bill reminded him.

"I know." His father nodded. "I just didn't think that it would be like this. All of this cloak and dagger shite. I'm no good at it." Draining the last of the whiskey in his glass, his father gave him a friendly grin. "So…how's this French bird of yours doing? She went through quite a lot this past week."

Bill couldn't help but smile and grimace at the thought of his half-Veela girlfriend. To say that his mother had ecstatic when she learned he was attending the Yule Ball would be understating things. To say that she was pleased with the fact that he was attending, and eventually dating, the half-Veela from France would be an overstatement. While not a purist by any stretch of the imagination, Molly Weasley was not necessarily the most open minded of individuals.

"She's…she's as well as can be expected after what she and the others went through and are going through. Needless to say, she's more than a little pissed off at the British government right now." Pausing, Bill swirled the contents of his glass around. "And I believe what she and the others are saying Dad. He's back."

Grimacing, his father looked down and into the fire. "I know…I do as well. No one would make such a claim unless it was true."

"And what about the other rumors?" Bill pressed. "The one's about Madam Nox being the secret leader of these 'Guardians'. Do you think that there's any truth to them?"

"I hope so," Arthur answered, surprising Bill. "Because if so…then we might just stand a better chance this time around."

Whatever answer Bill was expecting that was one he did not imagine his father would say, "Come again?"

"I said that I hope that she is leading the Guardians son." His father reiterated. "Dumbledore…he will always have my respect and admiration. He's the reason why…You-Know-Who held back so much last time. Even if some debate that he never did anything during the war, and I will admit that it is tough to actually see what he did, he was the one who truly held him back. But Nox…she's done more in the past few years to curb the darker pureblood families than anyone else has since…well ever.

"She's ruthless and incredibly clever. Fifteen years ago if you asked me who could hold back You-Know-Who my answer would've been Dumbledore. And that answer still hasn't changed. But now? If you ask me who could defeat him. Then my answer would be Nox without hesitation. And if she's leading these Guardians, then that means that she has the means to do so as well."

"And what of Ron and Ginny?" Bill asked. "If Nos is the leader of these Guardians, then it stands to reason that she's taught Harry everything as well. And if that's true, then as a pair of his friends I would suspect that he's in turn teaching Ron and Ginny whatever he knows as well."

"I hope so." His father stated, surprising Bill even further. "You don't remember the last war Bill, but I do. And there if there is one thing that I regretted more than anything, it is the fact that I wasn't able to do more last time around. If Nox, or rather Harry, is training Ron and Ginny, then they will be able to do something. Not to mention that having those two so close to Harry will be good for our family in the end. Especially if, or rather when, she wins control of the Ministry."

Bill had to look at his father with a newfound respect. "Merlin Dad. And here I thought you didn't care for all of the politics."

His father merely laughed. "There's a difference between not liking a game and not knowing how to play one. I may not care for politics and I might not be the best at it, but I do understand some things."

Shaking his head, Bill raised his glass to his lips, and froze. Standing the doorway, with one hand on her hip, was his mother. "Arthur." She said lowly. "What are you two drinking?"

"Molly," Arthur tried to say soothingly, which only garnered him a glare from his wife.

"Don't you 'Molly' me Arthur! And you young man, don't think that I don't recognize what it is that you're drinking! You might be of age, but in this house you will still-"

The glass fell from Bill's limp hand, shattering against the floor as he stared blankly towards the window. 'That…oh shite! That was the extra ward that I'd set up a few weeks ago!'

Pulling his wand out, Bill rushed past his ashen faced father and his confused mother towards the window. "Bill? Arthur?" Molly asked nervously looking back and forth between the two of them. "What's going on?"

Bill motioned for his mother to be silent while keeping his eyes focused on the night sky beyond the window. 'Nothing. Strange. I felt the ward fall and now there's no-' The window burst inwards as a dark shape crashed through and into him, it's momentum carrying the both them across the room before they toppled over the couch he'd been sitting on.

An impossibly strong hand clasped around his neck, cutting off his air as a pair of blood red eyes stared down at him. "Heh…time to die human."

"Bombarda!"

The creature spun off of Bill, his hand leaving his throat as Bill desperately sucked in air. Rolling over, he stared at the creature which had shaken off the spell his father had used. "Heh. That tickled."

"Novaculata funiculus! Radius solis!"

Ropes shot forth from out of his wand, wrapping around the creature like they had mind of their own as the creature screamed and writhed in pain. A concentrated bright beam shot out from the end of his wand, arching through the air and impacting the creature in the head. The creature's screams of pain increased as the bright light ate away quickly at the flesh of the monster. For a second the trio were treated to the vision of a red covered skull before the creature exploded, leaving only his clothes and a pile of ash.

Coughing, Bill sat up enough to run the edge of his wand across the palm of his hand while muttering a cutting curse. Once his hand was full of blood, he pressed his hand against the floor and drew a small circle of blood before placing his hand in the center of the circle, palm down, his blood seeping into the floor boards. "Sol sanguinem carcerem!"

His blood glowed brightly, pulsing a few times before the last pulse exploded outwards. "There." Bill gasped breathlessly. "That…that should by us some time."

Both his parents were staring at him with wide eyes. "Bill!" His mother shouted, her eyes flickering back and forth from the pile of ash in the corner of the room and him. "Bill…what…that…that was blood magic!"

"And necessary." Bill murmured, conjuring up a bandage from air and wrapping it around his still bleeding hand. "A sun blood ward. It's the only thing that keep vampires out of an area. At least for a while."

Whatever color remained in his mother's face disappeared at the word. "V-vampires?" She muttered, turning her head to look at the pile. "What…why? I–"

"Dad." Bill said, cutting across his mother's confusion. "We need to get out of here. The ward pushed out the vampires that were in the house and is keeping them and a few others out. But I can feel them throwing themselves and their magic against it. It won't last for long."

His father, despite the shock etched across his face, nodded and headed over towards the fireplace. Bill wasn't necessarily surprised when nothing happened as his father grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fire. "They've locked us out." His father said flatly before moving over to end table where he'd hid the liquor and pushed it aside. Tapping on the wall, his father dug his fingernails into the wood and removed a false panel from the wall.

"Arthur?" His mother blinked, staring at the black box his father removed from behind the panel.

"We can't take everything." His father said, turning and staring at him. "How much longer can you hold out son? Are there any more vampires in the house?"

Bill shuddered as he felt another vampire impact the barrier and turn to dust. That one had almost managed to get through…although if his suicide run was voluntary or not he wasn't sure. "No. And not long." Bill gasped. "A few minutes at most."

Nodding, Arthur opened the box and removed three items that confused Bill. One looked like some sort of muggle pistol only more…advanced than anything he'd ever seen before. The second was a portkey that looked like a sphere roughly the size of a bludger. And the third was a bottomless bag. "Molly," he said throwing the bag towards her. "Only grab what you can and fast. I'll start collecting things down here."

His mother held the bag. "Arthur-"

"Now Molly!" Arthur barked, startling his mother enough that she ran out of the room and up the stairs.

Watching his father move about the room and pulling off as many of the pictures as he could off the wall before shrinking them down and pocketing them. Coughing, Bill whipped at the corner of his lips. "Dad, if they've cut us off from the Floo odds are that they've also put up anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards."

"I know, it's the same tactics that they used in the last war." His father nodded with a seriousness that Bill wasn't used too. "But, remember that discussion that we just had about Madam Nox? Well, she sent me these just in case something went wrong."

Picking up the sphere, he held it out towards Bill. "This is one-time use portkey that's been enhanced with several runic arrays inside the sphere. According to her, it can pierce through an anti-portkey ward, but it will become useless afterwards."

"Arthur…what are those?"

Turning his head, Bill found his mother back in the doorway leading up the stairs, the bottomless bag his father had given her held securely in her hands. "Our way out." His father said flatly. "Come here Molly, we all need to be touching it after I activate the portkey."

His mother's eyes went wide as what his father had planned finally sunk in. "But– Arthur! We can't just leave! This is our home! The Aurors…Dumbledore will come!"

"It's too late mother." Bill coughed, wincing at the coppery taste filling the back of his mouth as he started approaching his limit. "The sun ward is about to fail. And once it does…the vampires that are outside will be all over us within seconds and then we'll either be dead or wish we were. And if help was going to come, it would've been here by now."

His mother still looked around with wide eyes. "But…I need to grab a few things…pictures and presents and…and we can't leave Arthur! This is our home."

"And it can be rebuilt Molly." Arthur responded, taking Bill's hand and placing it on the orb before motioning for Molly to do the same. "But our lives can't. Grab hold Molly, there's no sense in us dying here today."

Tears were forming at the corners of his mum's eyes. With one last sad look around the house, she reached out and placed her hand on the orb as well. Once all three of them were touching the orb, his father began touching the orb along several spots marked by the runic carvings etched on its surface. "Dad…" Bill coughed weakly. "Whatever you'r doing…it better be soon. The ward's about to fall."

"I just have to get the sequence right and there!" His father cried triumphantly as the runic lines began to pulse. "It should be going off any seco-" His father's words were cut off as Bill felt the tell-tale signs of a portkey activation. The moment he felt the tug he disconnected his magic from the ward, which he felt fall as he was pulled into the spiraling ether of the portkey.

Staring down at the dead corpse at his feet, Xenophilius Lovegood kicked at the leg of the vampire lying in the dirt just outside of his home. "Huh…I was expecting more of a challenge." He muttered before turning around and looking at what used to be his house.

The vampires had been smart about their attack, but unfortunately very predictable; which made them easy pickings, despite the fact that there had been six of them, for the former Head of the Unspeakables. He'd known ever since his daughter had signed on with Nox that one day he would be a target. Which was why he'd warded his house with every ward he knew, which was more than a few, and created some more…comical offensive measures meant to throw any attackers off.

Walking back to his house, Xenophilius cocked his head sideways as he noticed one vampire that was halfway imbedded into the wall of his house…sans his pants and underclothes. He didn't remember setting up that particular protection around the house. Luna must've gotten into the ward scheme and changed a few of the runic schemes. Again.

"Huh…well I guess the tales of vampires being well endowed are nothing more than that. Tales. It could make a good story though. Vampires gain small peckers in exchange for their powers. Maybe that's why they always kill those they seduce; can't live with the fact that they can't please their partners. 'Hmm…interesting angle. I'll have to run it Luna and see what she says.'

Walking into his house, he found two more vampires that had bitten each other's throats out after he'd hit them with a modified confundus charm that made the two think that each other were him. In the next room he found the only still alive vampire. The female may have been attractive to just about every red blooded male on the planet with her long blond hair, expansive…assets, that she wasn't afraid to flaunt and her striking red eyes. And Xeno could feel her exuding the vampire version of allure meant to ensnare their targets, but to him she was nothing more than an ugly monster.

"You may as well stop that." Xeno sighed, walking up to the woman who'd been pinned to the bookshelf behind her with a metal stake through each of her wrists, both of her ankles and one more through her abdomen. The stakes wouldn't kill her…but they definitely were hurting her based on the pained expression on her face. "I long ago developed a resistance to your kind."

The pressure disappeared as the woman began hyperventilating from the pain. But despite that, she still managed to throw him a saucy look and thrust her exposed cleavage out at him. "Be reasonable human…I'm sure that we can come to a…understanding. I promise you I've never disappointed any of my lovers. I can give you a night you will never forget…and I can tell you why we are here."

Cocking an eyebrow, Xeno shook his head. "I already know why you're here. Voldemort sent you. And I know why as well. He sent you here to kill me to try and weaken my daughter. And as for your second offer…well I'm going to have to pass. You see…the memory of my dear wife is so strong that I don't ever want to experience the pleasures of the flesh with anyone but her ever again." The vampire's eyes widened in dread as Xeno lifted his wand and pressed it between her massive…assets. "Now if you'll excuse me…but I need something that's behind this bookshelf."

The vampire managed to get off one blood curdling scream as his spell, a creation of his own designed specifically to kill vampires, reduced the once physically attractive woman to dust. "Such a pity." Xeno sighed, reaching out and pull down on a book, which made the bookshelf slide off to the side revealing a safe. "She was rather attractive…for a blood sucker that is."

Unlocking the safe, Xeno swung the door open to reveal its contents. A single photograph and a metal spherical portkey. Taking out the photograph, Xeno smiled as he looked down at it. His wife was sitting on the front porch smiling radiantly down at the newly born Luna in her arms. Tucking the photo into an inner pocket of his robes, he then pulled out there metal sphere that'd been given to him by Madam Nox.

Pressing down on the spots that were shown to him, the sphere separated into two halves. Twisting the top half until the patterns on the sphere were aligned correctly, he pressed the two halves back together. Pulling out his wand, he cast one final look around his house before sending a massive ball of fire into the floorboards. "Well," he murmured as he felt the portkey vibrate in warning. "At least now I get to figure out just how many planets my daughter visited last summer."

Cyrus Greengrass felt all of the air rush out of his lungs as his back slammed hard against the cold stone wall within his family's ancestral home before he fell to a pile on the floor. "Hmm…and you are the Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass? Pathetic. Your grandfather was ten times the wizard you are Cyrus."

Pushing himself up to his hands and knees, he turned his head to the side and spit out a wad of blood from his mouth before looking up and glaring at the ones who'd invaded his home. There were over a dozen of them standing before him while a dozen or so more ran around ransacking his home. But his eyes were focused solely on the withered face of the man leading the invaders and his wife Evelyn who was struggling to get out of the man's grip he had on her throat.

There'd been no warning. One moment he and Evelyn were enjoying a quiet meal together, and the next the wards were shattered. Not just brought down. But shattered and replaced with anti-apparation and anti-portkey wards. He and Evelyn didn't even have time to get out of the dining room before the windows had exploded inwards as dozens of the cloaked figures poured into their home.

The two of them had managed to take out a couple of the invaders and the house elves had even shown up to help. But then he showed up. The one man that Cyrus had only heard about in legends passed down from his grandfather. He sliced through the house elves without using a lick of magic as if they were nothing before starting in on Cyrus and Evelyn.

"Dread Lord Valad Sanguine." Cyrus coughed, barely managing to get to his feet, his wand held tightly in his hand.

The Dread Lord smiled toothily, his fangs on full display. "Ah, I see that you do know me then. Good. It's no fun killing for vengeance if your victim doesn't know why they're being killed."

Cyrus gritted his teeth. Sanguine and House Greengrass had a history. Sanguine was a Dread Vampire Lord, or a vampire that'd managed to live for over a thousand years. And he was one of the two that were known to exist. A hundred and fifty years ago when his grandfather had been a young man, he'd made it his mission to hunt Sanguine down. He'd failed to kill the Dread Lord. But he had managed to kill one of the Dread Lord's wives. Sanguine retaliated by trying to annihilate the Greengrass family, but attacking an Ancient and Noble family so brazenly had caused the wizarding world to get up off their fat arses and actually do something. And Sanguine and been banished and exiled to a small unplottable island far off the coast.

"So…playing a lackey to Voldemort now huh? Oh…how truly pathetic you've become." Cyrus spat.

Sanguine merely smiled. "I am no one's lackey Greengrass. Unlike the other Dread Lord, I don't give two shits about the wizarding world. All I care about is revenge."

"Cyrus…" Evelyn coughed. "Finish th-"

"Ah ah, my dear. None of that now." Sanguine tsk'd, shaking his wife and making Cyrus shake with rage. He wanted to curse the fool…but from this distance and with hi reflexes he knew that Sanguine would use his wife as a human shield should he try.

"Let her go Sanguine!" Cyrus yelled. "She has nothing to do with this! This is between you and me! And you already admitted that you don't care about Voldemort…so let her go. And let the two of us finish this."

Sanguine tilted his head to the side and looked at his wife. "You know Greengrass…you're right. She means nothing."

Cyrus's heart leapt up into his throat as he saw the muscles in Sanguine's arm twitch almost in slow motion. Evelyn's body jerked once before going limp as a resounding crack echoed throughout the house. "There," Sanguine smirked, tossing his wife's body towards him. "Now she's free to go."

Cyrus fell to his knees before the body of his love as tears of anguish fell freely from his eyes. "Evelyn…" He moaned, leaning over her body as the vampire horde around him laughed as if it were a great joke. "I'm so sorry my love…we won't be apart for long."

"What's wrong Cyrus?" Sanguine laughed triumphantly. "Hurts doesn't it? You humans are all so weak. Letting yourselves be controlled by such a pitiful emotion like love."

"Isn't that why you're doing this?" Cyrus growled, closing his wife's once vibrant eyes with a shaking hand. "Revenge for my grandfather killing your queen?"

Sanguine forehead twitched before he started laughing even harder. "You must be joking Greengrass. You think that this revenge is built out of grief of a lost love? Don't get me wrong, my queen was an interesting woman, but with a snap of my fingers I can have a dozen like her kneeling at my feet. No. This vengeance is purely based on the fact that your grandfather made my reign look weak;' something that I cannot allow.

"But don't worry…I don't plan on killing your daughters. No, I have far greater plans in store for those two. I'm going to turn them into my thralls…and one day I'll set the two of them on each other. And the one who survives will have the honor of being my new queen. Until I grow bored of her after a century or two of course and decide to take a new bride."

Hearing the fate Sanguine had in store for his daughters broke something in Cyrus even more so than watching his wife being murdered in front of him. He felt nothing. No anger. No anguish. No fear. Nothing. Raising his right hand to his lips, he began whispering into the ancient ring. "I hereby pass the title of Matriarch of House Greengrass to my daughter and first born Daphne Greengrass. All of House Greengrass's possessions are hers. With this one last message to be given to her…Vlad Sanguine. On my magic…so mote it be."

The ring vanished from his hand. Throughout the manor the various vampires that were ransacking centuries of heirlooms gave off cries of surprise as the items they were handling disappeared from their hands. "Hmm, impressive Greengrass." Sanguine laughed, but despite his light tone Cyrus could see the beginnings of confusion in his eyes. "But what do you hope to gain from this?"

Taking his wife's wand into his left hand, Cyrus pressed the tip of his wand against his wife's chest. "Incendio maxima."

His wife's body incinerated in less than a second, leaving only a pile of ash on the ground. He would not allow these beasts to desecrate the love of his life any more than they'd already had. "Sanguine…do me this one favor." Cyrus said while slowly rising to his feet, his wand in his right hand while his wife's was in his left. "When my daughter comes and kills you…and make no mistake about it she will be coming for you. Think of this moment. And despair. For had you chosen to remain neutral…you might've actually lived through the reckoning that is about to fall upon the wizarding world."

Sanguine smirked. "When your daughter comes…if she comes. I look forward to ramming those words down her throat Greengrass. Kill him!"

Holding both wands up, Cyrus closed his eyes before using weak cutting curse to open the veins across both of his wrists. 'Daphne…Astoria…stay safe my girls.' "Sanguine flammas gehennae!"

Fire erupted up from underneath his feet as it engulfed the entirety of his family's ancestral home and everything else on his family's land. The protection around him held on long enough for him to watch dozens of the bloodsuckers were consumed by the blood flames. He caught of brief glimpse of Vlad screaming in agony before turning into dust and disappearing, fleeing like the coward that he was. His protective sphere cracked under the intense flames as he watched the vampires who weren't able to flee be consumed. 'Evelyn…I'm coming.'

Sitting in her office in her family's manor, Amelia Bones stared down at the small vial in her hand. She wasn't quite sure what to feel to be honest. She'd honestly never thought that she'd be in this position that she now found herself in. 'And at the worst possible time as well.' She cursed throwing the vial into the fireplace across the room.

The war had started once again. And those fools in the Wizengamot were perfectly content with putting their heads in the sand on the matter. And a good number were more than likely on Voldemort's side. Even Dumbledore, during the emergency session that'd been called, had been tentative about confirming the rumors.

Sure he advised caution, but nothing beyond that. And then there was the fact Fudge had not only turned a few of her own department against her, men and women she thought that she could've trusted with her life, but he'd also started a smear campaign against her on how she was just trying to rile up the public. It was idiotic!

'And now…now this. On top of everything…I now have to deal with "this".'

The fire in the fireplace turned green and expanded outwards as her long-term lover, Sirius Black, stepped out from the flames. "Hey luv," Sirius said casually dusting the soot off of his jacket. "Bit late for both of us isn't it?"

"Yes, but I needed someone to talk to." Amelia admitted, turning her head away as she didn't think she had the strength to look at him.

"You know you don't need to feel embarrassed about asking me over luv. This has been a trying week for all of us." Sirius muttered, walking over to her stash of firewhiskey and pouring himself a drink. "Fudge is making our lives a living hell. I swear, if I didn't know for a fact that the man was too much of a coward I would think he's a member of the dark wanker's clan of personal arse lickers."

It was a thought that had crossed Amelia's mind more than once this past week. But Sirius was right. Fudge would more than likely piss himself silly if he ever came across a Death Eater. Which was ironic considering his biggest financial supporter was Lucius, a known Death Eater.

"It's all Lucius and we both know that Sirius." Amelia sighed while pulling out a parchment that had the Gringotts official logo sprawled across the top. "I checked with Gringotts. It's amazing what a little good will with the goblins will get you. Not to mention what a search warrant that I signed will get you as well. While I don't have the actual numbers, it appears that the Malfoy vault have decreased rapidly this past week. Almost by two-thirds of all assets."

"Sweet Merlin's balls." Sirius groaned, dropping into the seat across from her and offering her a glass, which she declined. "The Malfoy vault was one of the largest ones the British Isles. If Lucius has dropped nearly two-thirds of it in a week it's no wonder I couldn't bribe anyone this week. And it's no wonder that the goblins were willing to give that information to you. He more than likely pissed them off something fierce pulling out that much money."

"More than likely." Amelia nodded, looking off into the distance past Sirius.

"But politics isn't what you called me over for is it luv?" Sirius asked, drawing her up short as he set his glass down. "You've been out of sorts for the past couple of week's luv. Do you want to talk about it? James always said I was more than a bit of dunderhead. So if I did something wrong, let me know so I can fix whatever I've done. Or if someone else has pissed you off, let me know so I can go and cave their heads in. Or at the very least give them a permanent case indigestion."

Amelia nearly groaned. 'Damn it all…how can this scoundrel read me so well when no one else can?' "You're right Sirius…I have been out of sorts as of late. And there's a good reason for it." Pausing, she took a deep breath. 'Come on Amelia…just like a bandage. Rip it off at once and it'll be easier.' "Sirius…I-"

Amelia felt her heart stop as the wards around her family's home shattered. "The wards are down!" She shouted, pulling out her wand and touching a crystal on her desk, which sent a signal out of her house elf Bonesy. The signal served several purposes. The first and foremost was to tell Bonesy to flee from the house with whatever she could carry, primarily the Bones family grimoire. The second aspect of the signal served to activate the wards she'd placed around her office which turned the small section of the house into a fortress.

Drawing his own wand, Sirius ran over to the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo powder. Neither of them were really surprised when nothing happened. "Shite." Sirius cursed as his body twitched while Amelia went about her office in an organized hurry to gather whatever important documents she could get her hands on. The rest she would destroy. "Just like in the last war…set up anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards and cut off the Floo system. Shite…I had really hoped that we were past all of this when we cleaned out the Floo department after the war."

"Apparently we didn't do a good enough of a job." Amelia cursed as she opened the small safe behind one of the picture frame in her office and begun to empty its contents. "We can worry about that latter though. I have the portkey from Nox. Let's get out of here."

"Hang on," Sirius muttered, going over to the window overlooking her family's estate just as a figure in black rammed into the window and bounced off. "Son of a tied down…these aren't Voldemort's flunkies we're dealing with. They're vampires!"

"Damn it." Amelia cursed as she watched at least two dozen vampires start to pour into the main entrance of her family home, only for them to be cut down as the defensive wards within the house activated. "He really has gone off the deep end this time. It took ages to get the bloodsuckers off the isles last time. What the fuck is he hoping to gain with this?"

"Just what he's getting, chaos." Sirius replied seriously as something heavy slammed against the door leading to her office. "But we can dwell on that later. Let's get out of here."

"Do you need to contact Kreacher?" Amelia asked as she pulled out the orb and began activating the runes in the sequence she'd been shown. 'The Unspeakables would probably give up an arm to have this device. A runic enhanced one-off portkey that can cut through wards…it's simply incredible.'

"No need." Sirius said shaking his head. "I can already tell that the little bugger has collapsed the wards around Grimmauld Place. We had a plan in place that should the house be breached that he was to take whatever he could including the portkey and get out of there. Of course I'm sure that he stayed long enough to deal some damage and…and- Is possible to actually feel sympathy for a bloodsucker?"

"Probably just indigestion," Amelia shrugged as the pounding on her door intensified and the orb began to glow. "It's set. Let's get out of here."

The moment Sirius laid his hand on the orb, Amelia felt it activate with a lurch and then the world was spinning. When it stopped, Amelia and Sirius were standing side by side in the entrance hall of the Guardian Temple. And they weren't alone. All around them were the family members of the children that'd become Guardians or were Guardians in training.

The Grangers were off to one side, Dan lying on his back and looking like he'd been hit with several dozen bludgers at once as the newly arrived Master Fay knelt over him examining his wounds. Three of the Weasleys: Arthur, Molly and their eldest son William, were all huddled close to one another staring in opened mouth shock. Master Kenobi was crouched down next to Richard Davis who had a nasty looking cut along the side of his head and his arm was bending at an unnatural angle.

Maximillian and Anna Abbott were both running back and forth, alternating between helping Master Fay and Master Kenobi. Xenophilius Lovegood was following Master Secura around like a lost puppy as he tried to pepper her with questions. Andromeda and Ted Tonks were both here as well doing what they could to help. But as she looked around, she noticed that one family was missing.

Walking up to where Master Secura was attempting to ignore Xenophilius, she cleared her throat. "Where are Cyrus and Evelyn Greengrass?"

"They didn't make it."

Turning on her heel, Amelia found herself face to face with Nox. Whatever retort or question she had died in her throat as she saw the Grand Master though. She'd seen Nox angry before…well at least she thought she'd seen her angry before. But now...the very air around her was freezing. As if she were a dementor incarnate. And her vibrant green eyes were tinted yellow ever so slightly. Beside her stood Nymphadora and Yoda, both of whom were giving the woman a fairly wide breath.

"Rex just reported in." Nox continued, stepping around her and facing the others. "The Greengrass family manor is gone. There's just a smoking hole in the ground nearly a quarter mile in diameter."

No one spoke at the news. There was nothing to say. "What are we going to do now?" Amelia finally asked as everyone else stayed silent.

If Amelia ever thought that Nox was frightening before…when she turned around to look at her Amelia could've sworn that she was looking into the eyes of death herself.

"Voldemort made a fatal mistake today. He declared war on us. So we're going to educate him about what it means to go to war against the Guardians."

Harry sat uneasily in his seat in the Great Hall while all around him students laughed and joked with one another. Dumbledore had decided, seeing as how it was the last day that the foreign students would be with them, to belay the curfew for the night and invited all the students into the Hall for a late night celebration and feast to celebrate.

It'd been two days since he'd been discharged from the hospital wing and there were only two weeks left until the end of school and his return to the Temple. The judges had declared him the winner of the Tri-Wizard Tournament despite the absence of Karkaroff. Everyone had applauded him, the Gryffindors most of all. His fellow champions all gave him a knowing nod of acceptance as well.

Harry didn't care for any of accolades he'd gained nor the trophy nor the gold. His only concern was the fact that he'd failed to stop Voldemort and his flunkies from escaping the graveyard that night. He'd put the trophy in the room of requirement after discovering no less than a dozen or so tracking charms on the blasted thing.

Most of which he couldn't remove nor did he care to do so. The money they'd given him he'd promptly turned around and handed off to the twins after getting them to promise that they would work with Nox Industries for a term of no less than five years, at full pay, before heading off to make their own shop.

Taking a slow bite of his food, Harry scanned the hall and all of the students packed within. The other schools were still in attendance as well and would be until the end of the year. Which, while entertaining to a point, made meal times mildly awkward as the hall was constantly shifting in size to accommodate the increase in students within.

Looking towards Fleur, he found the French beauty cutting almost savagely into her food. Despite being the most outspoken of the champions about what had happened; she'd also been the most openly rejected. The British Ministry kept denying her claims to the point of threatening her. And her own Ministry kept denying her claims as well; saying that it was a British problem and that she should just ignore it.

"Harry…are you feeling this as well?"

Turning his head slightly to look at Ginny he nodded. It wasn't like the full on assault that he'd suffered through when the Jedi Purge had begun. This time…this time it was like a soft insistent knocking coming from the Force in the back of his mind. It wasn't painful it was more just…annoying than anything else. But still, Harry couldn't shake the thought that something bad was going to happen. Or already had happened.

"Yes." Harry nodded, staring down the length of the table. Hermione was sitting across from him, her head lowered slightly as a frown adorning her face. Ron was sitting next to her and while he seemed normal, well normal for Ron, shoveling everything in sight into his mouth, Harry could see something just beyond his friend's eyes that told him that Ron was sensing it as well.

The tapping on the back of his mind ramped up slightly into full out knocking as he winced. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out the emergency transponder stick and handed it off to Ginny. "Something's going to happen…soon." Harry said quietly. "And when it happens activate the transponder."

Taking the stick from him, Ginny nodded and clutched it tightly in her hand. Her face set in determination.

It wasn't a full minute later that Harry's prediction of trouble came true as a loud scream cut through the low chatter of the great hall. "No!"

Every eye in the hall turned immediately towards the commotion. Harry shot to his feet as he saw that Daphne had not just yelled, but she'd jumped back away from the Slytherin table almost to the point where her back was pressed up against the wall. Her face was completely ashen as she stared down in horror at her right hand. Even from nearly halfway across the hall, Harry could see the large ornate ring that now adorned the ring finger of her right hand. 'A Family ring? But that…oh shit.'

The entire hall was shocked into silence. That was at least until a haughty voice spoke up from the Slytherin table. "Ha. The fate of all blood traitors. Surely you saw this coming…traitor."

The air in the hall shifted as everyone gasped at Draco Malfoy, who was staring at Daphne with a knowing smirk. Harry didn't need the Force to tell him what was going to happen next. Daphne's horror and grief stricken face morphed into one of pure fury. Her eyes shifted from their cold blue to a burning yellow in the blink of an eye as she snapped both arms down to her sides. Drawing out both her saberstaff and her wand.

With a scream, Daphne shattered the Slytherin table, sending its occupants scrambling to get away as she ignited one of the emitters on her saberstaff and advanced on a suddenly scared shitless Draco. Harry's feet were moving even before he registered as he lunged out of his seat and up onto the Hufflepuff table as he ran towards Daphne.

"Fuck you! You little shite!" Daphne screamed as she brought her saberstaff down on a path to cleave the Malfoy heir clean in half.

When the blade was but a hairsbreadth from Draco, Daphne pulled her strike and brought her saberstaff back up to deflect a red spell away from her. The professors all scattered as Snape dove off to the side as his own spell nearly hit him dead center in the head.

The distraction was costly, however as Draco managed to crawl his way away from the enraged Daphne while no less than eight of the upper years of the Slytherin house had their wands out and were surrounding Daphne. Leaping off of the table, Harry lashed out with the Force knocking four of the Slytherins away and into the far wall before landing between Daphne and the rest.

Snapping his hands out, Harry smirked as he felt the cool metal of his lightsaber slide into his right hand with his wand slid into his left. Activating his lightsaber, Harry faced off against four Slytherin members. One of the oldest, Harry couldn't remember his name, snarled as he raised his wand. "Die Potter! Avada Ked-"

There was no thought to Harry's action, he simply reacted. With a slight twitch of his wand the elder boy was sent stumbling towards Harry…and before he could right himself the boy gasped as he found himself impaled on Harry's lightsaber.

Pulling his blade out of his former classmate, Harry faced off against the others, two of whom had dropped their wands after the sudden death of their apparent leader. "Move Harry!" A low almost double toned voice came from behind him. "I'm going to kill of these fuckers!"

Pivoting, Harry faced off against Daphne. Her face was contorted into a mixture of agony and anger. Her eyes completely yellow as her anger took over her actions. "I'm sorry Daphne," Harry whispered, deactivating his lightsaber stepping up to her faster than the eye could follow before touching her with a single finger to the middle of her forehead. "But I know that you'd hate yourself forever if I let you go down this path. Rest now."

Daphne's eyes rolled up into the back of her head as her saberstaff deactivated and her body went limp. Catching her with his left arm, Harry activated his lightsaber again and turned just in time to deflect another disarming charm, courtesy of Snape, into a nearby Slytherin that still had his wand drawn.

Tightening his hold on her, Harry scooped her up bridal style and leapt up off the floor and landed in the dead center of the great hall. Tracey, who'd gathered up Daphne's saberstaff and her wand, landed right next to him only a heartbeat behind him with Astoria right after them. The moment the four of them were in the center of the hall, Susan and the apprentices all flew from their seats and formed a protective ring around them with Susan and Ginny drawing their lightsabers and their the rest drawing their wands.

"Enough!"

Harry, his arm still wrapped around Daphne, turned his head towards the front of the great hall. Most of the professors were still getting to their feet, but two were already up. Snape and Dumbledore. Snape looked positively furious as his eyes glanced back and forth between Harry and the dead Slytherin on the floor. And Dumbledore…the old Headmaster just looked sad. "Harry my boy," his voice was light, but it carried easily throughout the hall as he stepped around the table and took a step down from the dais. "What have you done?"

Susan and Ginny both activated their lightsabers, green and red shone brightly as the two redheads stood shoulder to shoulder between the old Headmaster and everyone else. "I have done what needed to be done Headmaster." Harry spoke, his voice carrying easily across the hall. "That fool was about to cast the killing curse at point blank range at either myself or Daphne."

"And that gave you the right to attack him Harry? To kill him?" Dumbledore took a step off the dais, but then stopped as both Ginny and Susan shifted their stances ever so slightly. Behind him, the other teachers had drawn their wands, but only Snape looked sure about his actions. The other's just held wands loosely and pointed towards the floor.

"Yes." Harry answered simply. "He choose the path of death and violence the moment he tried to kill me. I simply responded in kind. After all, if you are willing to kill you must be prepared to die."

The old man's eyes actually started glistening with tears. "Oh my poor boy. What has that woman done to you? To all of you? Would you all so easily throw away the path of light?"

"Tell that to the blonde ferret that pissed his pants over there! Or the lard arse that was ready to kill us!" Tracey yelled from beside Harry. "The Greengrass Family ring just appeared on Daphne's hand. Everyone here should know what that means! And that little shit knew about it! If you should be concerned about anyone it should be these junior Death Eaters in Slytherin house, or your pet Death Eater that's masquerading around like a teacher!"

Many in the hall started whispering while throwing fearful looks at both Snape and the Slytherins. "But as for what my mother has done Headmaster, she has simply done nothing that I didn't ask her to do. She has given me what I needed to destroy evil." Pausing, Harry reached up and took off his glasses and let them fall to the floor. The entire hall gasped as his black and green eyes stared around the hall. "There is no good without evil. But evil must not be allowed to flourish Headmaster. We are the Guardians. The defenders of the balance. We will walk in the shadows so others might know the warmth of the light."

Many in the hall were whispering to each other now, but Dumbledore merely stood stock still, his face completely devoid of color as he stared at Harry's eyes. "Merlin my boy…what did that woman do to you? And do you think that you're parents would've approved of this route? Killing indiscriminately?"

"We don't kill indiscriminately Headmaster. But we're not afraid to kill our enemies either." Pausing again, he turned his head to Ginny who gave him a curt nod. "The war has started Headmaster. You know it be true. The four of us have been trying to tell everyone for a whole week that Voldemort is back. But none have listened to our warnings. And now…now it is too late. And Voldemort has drawn first blood. Blood that will be repaid in full."

Behind him, he heard Astoria sniff loudly as Hermione put a hand around her shoulder. "The war has started again." Harry continued on loudly, addressing everyone in the hall. "And this time, the Guardians will be at the forefront to stand against the Death Eaters. Those of you who wish to fight with us are more than welcome to do so. Those who do not wish to fight; I advise that you get out of our way. But know this, bare the Dark Mark or side with them will one day find yourself at the end of our blades. And we will show you no mercy."

Motioning with his hand, the group began a slow retreat back towards the exit, no more than a few steps at time. "Harry." Dumbledore called out, his voice no longer filled with sorrow. "You must know that I cannot allow you to continue down this path. Violence begets violence Harry. I've lived through and brought down two dark lords. I will not allow you to become a thi-"

"Any who wish to join us now, may do so." Harry called out, cutting Dumbledore off. "You have until we reach the courtyard to decide whether or not you will fight by our side or not."

No one moved. Then one figure stood up from her seat and swung her legs over the bench. "Fleur?" Madam Maxime called out hesitantly as Fleur marched down the aisle with her head held high.

She spared Harry a single nod of approval before stepping past Susan and Ginny and fell in line with the others. Wand drawn and at the ready. Viktor was the next to stand. One of his fellow school mates tried to grab his arm, but Krum simply planted his fist into the side of his schoolmates head and walked over to join Harry and the others. Next, the Weasley twins both rose to their feet and fell in line.

"We can't let our little brother and sister hog all the Death Wankers for themselves." George said pulling his wand.

"Too right George," Fred nodded, for once not playing their name game. "Besides, we have a debt to pay to both Harry and Madam Nox. May as well start on it now. Besides…I feel we've outgrown our education here."

"I concur Fred." George nodded.

The next person to rise to their feet drew more than a few whispers as he walked towards the group. "Don't suppose you have room for me to tag along with you Harry? Susan?" Cedric asked looking back and forth between the two.

If not for the seriousness of the situation, Harry would've laughed at the way the back of Susan's neck and the tip of her ears turned red. "We'll be happy to have you Cedric."

Cedric nodded and after sparing a quick glance at Susan fell into line with the rest of them. Those were the only five who stood up. Harry was mildly disappointed, but he pushed that down. 'Most of them are kids…and besides. I don't think we'd be able to get them all out if too many joined up right now.'

"For those of you who are muggleborn or have muggle parents, I highly suggest you get out of the country." Harry announced as they continued to edge back into the door frame of the doors leading out of the Great Hall. "Voldemort and his flunkies are cowards and will go after your families. So get out while you still can."

Dumbledore kept following them as they back tracked out of the Great Hall and into the courtyard. All of the professors were followed behind Dumbledore was he kept a good distance between them. Once they were fully out and into the courtyard, the Great Hall was pretty much empty as every student and professor followed after them. "An impassioned speech Harry, but I'm afraid that it is over." Dumbledore sighed. "You cannot apparate nor portkey out of Hogwarts my boy. Now please, lower your weapons I implore you all. It's not too late to turn your backs on this path."

Harry didn't say anything, he merely looked each professor in the eye. Snape looked furious. McGonagall was a mixture of sadness and pride. Pomfrey looked worried. Moody was staring at them…appraisingly. And Harry couldn't help but notice that the hardened Auror hadn't drawn his wand like the others. Flitwick was also staring at them with a mixture of pride and sadness.

"Of course we can't." Harry smirked, winking at the old man. "We know that. We planned for it. You see Headmaster…you're powerful and wise. And as much as you've pissed both my mother and myself off, we don't want you as our enemy. But there is one thing that you lack Headmaster…imagination. And an extensive lack of knowledge concerning the muggle world and technology."

A loud humming came from overhead as two sets of search lights cut through the darkness, momentarily blinding the students and professors. All of the students and teachers gasped, either in fear or amazement, as two LAATs descended before stopping just short of landing on the ground. The side doors opened as a squad of troopers led by General Rex and Commander Gregor poured out of the transports and took up defensive positions around Harry and the others causing all of the students to take a step back and the professors to raise their wands. Even Moody had drawn his wand, although he kept it pointed towards the ground as he watched the soldiers form up.

Despite the threat from the professors however, the soldiers however had been well trained and none of them aimed their weapons. Instead they just stood there, creating a protective human wall between the young Guardians and everyone else. "Master Potter." General Rex greeted him, his blaster pistol in his hand. "We received your signal sir."

Nodding, Harry kept his eyes forward and shifted Daphne towards the veteran clone commander. "You certainly made good time General. Please take Knight Greengrass and lay her down inside."

"Yes sir." Rex saluted before taking Daphne from him and carrying her over to the nearest LAAT.

One at a time the younger Guardians, the Champions, the twins and the soldiers began piling into the two LAATs until only Harry was left standing just outside of the LAAT. "I would highly recommend that you adjust the wards to match with the times Headmaster." Harry shouted over the whining of the engines as he stepped up into the LAAT.

"Harry!" Dumbledore called. "It's not too late to find redemption! Turn away from this path."

Pausing, Harry kept one foot up on the LAAT's interior while he held onto one of the handles. "You're a man of peace Dumbledore, and I can respect that at times." Harry shouted back. "But I choose not to let evil flourish while I sit safely behind an ancient castle's wards plotting how to use the next generation like pieces on a chessboard."

Hoisting himself up fully into the LAAT, Harry watched as the crowd back away as the LAATs began lifting off as the doors shut. "Winky." Harry called out once they were airborne.

A small pop later and the Guardians' house elf was staring up at him with her big eyes. "Master Harry! Mistress Nox says you bess coming homes soon!"

"Sooner than I'd planned." Harry murmured. "I need a favor Winky."

Winky nodded so hard her ears started flopping back and forth. "Anything for Master Harry!"

"We had to leave in a bit of a hurry and we didn't have time to grab our things." Harry said, reaching up and grabbing hold of the overhead netting as the LAAT rocked back and forth slightly. "There a few sensitive items in our possessions. I need you to go and collect them before Dumbledore or anyone else gets to them. Can you do that for me?"

Winky nodded. "Of course Master Harry! Winky knows the house elves of Hogwarts, they be nice to Winky! Winky go collect Master Harry's things and his friends things!"

"And Cedric Diggory's, Viktor Krum's, Fleur Delacour's and the Weasley twins things as well Winky." Harry added. "If it's not too much trouble to get them of course."

"No trouble Master Harry!" Winky smiled toothily before snapping her fingers and disappearing.

Once she was gone, Harry stared forward out of the forward window. 'So it begins.'

Chapter 17

Standing behind her desk, Nox stared down at the dozens of reports and several newspapers that were scattered across its surface. She'd made a critical error. She'd misjudged her enemy and it'd cost them. Severely.

Ever since she stepped foot on this planet, she'd been carefully analyzing any and all threats to her long term plans. Threats like Voldemort. She'd read over every report she could get her hands on and had made it a point to try and anticipate how he would achieve his goals. The man had been meticulous during his first reign of terror. He stayed in the shadows and spent decades carefully building his power and reputation. And even after he got to the point where he was known, and feared, throughout the land he hardly ever stepped out from the shadows. Any time he did come out there were no survives. Such tactics had made him feared as the people began to akin him to a boogeyman almost.

So when she'd been preparing for his reemergence she'd thought that he'd take the same route. Biding his time and rebuilding his power. But instead, he completely blindsided her by striking immediately. 'No doubt this was his intended first strike all along.' Nox frowned as she read over the reports. 'But the timing it's…unlike him. It's too hurried. But there is one common theme to all of these attacks. No Death Eaters were reported. More than likely he had to unleash the vampires before he was ready and in turn held back the rest of his forces in reserves.'

It'd been a smart plan. Unleash a powerful adversary onto the world and pull your forces back while this new element destroyed your enemies and then come in afterwards and clean up the mess. But if it'd only been a simple attack Nox could've responded easily enough. But Voldemort's assault was two-folded: The next morning, before most of the bodies were even cold or the wounds were healed, the papers were flying off the shelves. The blame for the attack on the pureblood families had been laid at the Guardians feet. How they came to that conclusion Nox had no idea. But the Ministry was blaming everything on her and the Guardians and reporting that any report otherwise were simply false.

Casting a glance towards the Daily Prophet, Nox's lips curled in disgust. On the front page of the paper was a picture of her, underneath a headline proclaiming her to the leader of the Guardians and labeled as "Undesirable Number One". Skeeter had torn her apart. Showing how she'd built up a powerbase built entirely of muggleborns and disgruntled half-bloods and magical creatures before creating a terrorist organization known as the "Guardians", whose sole purpose was to destroy the magical community's way of life. And kill as many purebloods as possible.

The true irony was that Skeeter actually wasn't that far off of the mark either. Well, except for the whole terrorist thing. But unfortunately, while she wholeheartedly agreed with her son's actions when they'd left Hogwarts, him killing a fellow student on his way out the door only served to reaffirm Skeeter's portrayal as a leader of a terrorist organization on par with Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the minds of the people.

She was also left in the in the position of handing out Kira Carsen's saberstaff to Luna and Lana Beniko's lightsaber to Hermione. And until they could find more kyber crystals or create enough synthetic crystals, an idea which more than slightly irked the former-Jedi in the Temple, they would be unable to make more lightsabers. Which meant that for the time being Ron, Tracey, Hannah, Astoria and Nat would have to stay behind.

The door to her office opened with as a clearly irritated Amelia Bones swept through the opening. Amelia had been hit as well recently. With the same stroke of the pen that named Nox Undesirable Number One; it'd also removed Amelia from her position as Head of the DMLE and had issued a statement claiming that she was wanted for questioning concerning her connection to Nox. Without saying a word, Amelia dropped a non-magical newspaper onto her desk. The front page was dominated by a horrific scene. A dozen houses reduced to nothing more than a charred shell.

"The attack happened last night in conjunction with the one's that hit all of us." Amelia explained, walking over to Nox's stash of alcohol and taking a pull straight from the bottle. "A dozen families…dead. The muggle authorities are claiming that it was a natural gas leak that started a chain reaction that set fire to all dozen houses."

"And what's your take?" Nox asked, reading over the latest bit of bad news.

"Complete dragon shite." Amelia cursed. "I know that neighborhood. Those twelve houses specifically were home to muggleborns who, after graduating Hogwarts, returned to the muggle world to live away from the rest of the magical community. Fuck…three of those families had children no older than my niece! But more than that, there were no bodies recovered from the fires. Which means, given who attacked us, that they're…"

"Either being harvested, turned into thralls or turned completely." Nox finished for the woman, tossing the paper aside. "How is the Prime Minister responding?"

"About as well as you might imagine." Amelia sighed. "He just about hit the roof according to the agent I have in his office, the one that Fudge doesn't know about. He's demanding that Fudge show up and explain what happened, but Fudge is stonewalling him for some reason."

Looking down at the paper, Nox pursed her lips. "No matter his reason, we will take advantage of his lack of action. I want you to go to the Prime Minister's office and explain what's going on. How Voldemort is back and how the Ministry of Magic, has been infiltrated, possibly even at the highest level. And that he should set a watch on all the muggleborn and squib families that I know he has a file on. Oh, and while you're there take a good look at the Ministry's operative inside the British government. If he's been compromised, take him out and install the agent that's loyal to you in his place."

Amelia's eyebrows rose before narrowing in anger. "I'm not an assassin Nox."

"No. You're not." Nox agreed, placing her hands on her desk and leaning forward. "But we're at war Amelia. Fighting a war means casualties. Voldemort's already struck the first blow and as such has practically forced us out of magical Britain. We need to focus our efforts on containment now. We can't allow him to gain a foothold in the muggle world. If he does, then without a doubt he'll attack. And when he does any and all hope we might have of a peaceful transition of the magical and mundane communities will go down the drain. So if this agent of the Ministry is a threat. Take. Them. Out."

Amelia looked like she wanted to press the issue, but Nox simply held her gaze almost daring her to try and refute her. "Fine." Amelia submitted as she looked away. "I'll go to the Prime Minister today. He always said that I had an open door policy with him. Let's hope that has remained the case."

"I hope so as well." Nox mused. "Without realizing it, Voldemort has put us in a corner. We can't openly act against him until this threat is dealt with. The last thing that we need is for the mundane world to announce the Rite of Annulment."

Amelia's head jerked. "What's that?"

Sighing, Nox opened one of the many sealed drawers on her desk and pulled out a two inch thick binder that was stuffed full of papers and tossed it over to Amelia. "These plans took me quite a while to obtain. And even then I was only able to get a hold of them after a pathetic Senator tried to blackmail me. In return, I confounded him into bringing me these plans."

Looking down at the folder wearily, Amelia reached out and picked up the folder as Nox continued speaking. "After World War II and Gellert Grindelwald's backing of Hitler came to light, the UN came the unanimous decision that it had to have a contingency plan in place for the magical world. If the a country is faced with a revolt from the magical community, the leader of said country along with the backing of four of his of cabinet can send a request to the UN for the Rite of Annulment. If the request received three-quarter support amongst the UN delegates, it authorizes the usage of chemical, biological and nuclear armaments against know magical strongholds in the desalinated country. For the US, the targets are Salem, the Magical Congress and Ivermorny. For Britain, they would target the Ministry under London, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts."

Amelia's eyes were nearly as wide as saucers as she began frantically flipping through the binder that Nox had provided her. "This…no. They can't…there are families and children! They would…Merlin why?"

"Better to kill one innocent than risk a magical killing thousands in their eyes." Nox shrugged. "You have no idea just how long it took me to get a hold of those plans. And those aren't even all of them. Just the strike points and within America and Britain and how they would hit them. And since I learned of them, I've been working on a countermeasure to the Rite which will work."

"How?" Amelia pressed, her face etched with worry.

"By preventing them from even giving the orders or being able to use their weapons." Nox answered. "My countermeasures are fully in place in a dozen of the world's most powerful countries. But now you understand the gravity of our situation. While I can counter the Rite, we cannot allow Voldemort to escape into the mundane world. We cannot give them an excuse to activate that Rite."

Flipping through the folder, Amelia shuddered as she closed the binder. "I'll make sure to stress the fact that we are handling this matter internally then." Pausing, Amelia licked her lips. "How are…how are Daphne and Astoria?"

Frowning, Nox sunk heavily down into her seat. "Not well. Harry and the others are with them trying to offer what support they can. But I fear the loss of their parents has created a wound in both that will take some time to heal. They did manage to give us a name though. Vlad Sanguine."

Wincing, Amelia took the seat directly across from Nox. "That's…not good. That bastard is a Dread Lord Vampire that was exiled and magically sealed off of the British Isles over a century ago. For him to return…it would've taken the approval of no less than five department heads from the Ministry." Sighing, Amelia leaned her head back. "And what of our other arrivals?"

Picking up a random report, Nox flipped through its contents while she kept talking. "Adjusting. If I had known the twins were so industrious I would've pulled them out of school years ago and set them to work. I just needed to show them the lab that we have here in the Temple and they just about wet themselves. I gave them a project, and to my knowledge neither has left the lab in the past twenty-four hours. And Xenophilius has joined the two as well. The man is actually quite the genius.

"Bill has started up a correspondence with Gringotts. Unfortunately, as it was only the vampires that attacked one of their employee's we can't use that to leverage the goblins against the Death Eaters. But they've already started supplying him with everything they know about this vampire clan that attacked us.

"Dan is still recovering and his wife is with him as is Hermione. Richard Davis is with him as well, although his injuries are not nearly as severe. Master Fay expects that both will be fully recovered within a week or two at the most. Dan has already expressed an interest in joining up with our troopers, so I intend to send him off to General Rex with a field promotion as soon as he's up and ready. And Maximilian and Anna Abbott are both currently helping Master Mallie in the library."

"And what of Molly and Arthur Weasley?" Amelia asked.

Frowning, Nox dropped the folder down heavily. "They're both…adjusting. Arthur is poking around at every piece of technology he can get his hands onto and Molly…she's been quiet for now. But I fear that this is just the calm before the storm. I know her type. Soon enough I'm going to have to have some more than slightly unpleasant words with her."

"That really wouldn't surprise me." Amelia chuckled without humor. "And what of our Champions?"

Picking up another folder from her desk, Nox started flipping through its contents. "Fleur has already requested that her family be granted asylum, which I've agreed too. They should be here by the end of the week. Hopefully this will provide us with a way into talks with the Veela nation, as they could prove to be quite beneficial to our cause. Viktor has no family, but he has requested that he be taught how to fly one of the Blackwings. I've assigned Master Secura to begin training him tomorrow morning. Cedric has written his father, but as the man is deep into Fudge's administrative staff, the odds of receiving a positive reply back are slim."

Both women paused as a tentative knock came from the door. "Come in Bill." Nox called out, waving her hand and making the door open.

Moving slowly, Bill kept his eyes on the section of the door frame that the door retracted into as he walked into her office. "That…is going to take some getting used to." The young curse breaker said quietly as the door shut behind him.

"I take it that you've heard back from the goblins Bill?" Nox asked, nodding towards the scroll that the eldest Weasley was holding in his hand.

"Huh? Oh, yes ma'am." Bill stuttered, suddenly remembering the reason why he'd come up here as he handed off the large scroll to Nox. "The goblins cannot take direct action against the Sanguine clan as they no longer have holdings in Gringotts. However…seeing as how they attempted to kill a valued customer of theirs and a current employee who still has a few years left on his contract, the goblins…accidently sent me these."

Unrolling the scroll, which was actually an assortment of scrolls all rolled together, Nox had to actually work at keeping her face steady. Amelia however wasn't as skilled "Merlin's balls…are those…"

"Yes they are." Nox smiled as her eyes ran over the multitude of drawings before her. "The blueprints to Sanguine's Coven."

"Naturally, the goblins have no idea just how they managed to misplace such important papers." Bill went on, only this time with a slight smile. "And they are looking into how they managed to disappear from the vaults. But…times are pressing and they don't believe they'll be able to assign someone to search for them for a few months."

Leafing through the blueprints, Nox sent Bill a saucy grin which had the young man gulping. "Bill…If I wasn't sure that Tonks would feel the urge to immolate you, or that a certain veela would become put out with me, I would shag your brains out right here on my office floor."

Smiling cockily, Bill leaned up against the corner of her desk and crossed his arms. "Well…far be it for me to be somewhere Tonks has been."

"Then you might want to not lean up against the side of my desk right there as she spent quite a bit of time bent over it recently." Nox commented calmly, causing Amelia to cough and Bill to freeze before turning slightly red.

"Right…" Bill said slowly as he leaned away from her desk. "Morgana's tits…that's…that's an image that's going to take a while to get out of my head. And what an image it is."

"Just go shag your pretty little veela." Nox waved absentmindedly. "I'm sure that can take image of Tonks and me rolling naked across the floor right where you're standing out of your mind."

Bill's blush escalated until his entire face was the same color of his hair. "Merlin's saggy…I concede. Just…I need to go and take a really cold shower now."

"Don't take too long," Nox called out as Bill headed for the door. "I want you to with General Rex and I when we start devising our plans."

Bill's back stiffened and his mouth started doing an impressive fish out of water impression. "Um, of course Madam Nox." He mumbled before backing out of her office.

"Bright kid." Amelia commented after he was gone. "I tried to get him into the Auror program, but the goblins swept in and grabbed him before I had a chance to."

"And that's why I want him with us when we plan our counterattack." Nox commented, pointing to a note that the goblins had slipped in with the blueprints. "While he can't come outright and say it because of his oaths to Gringotts, apparently he was part of a team that responsible for excavating an abandoned vampire lair. And according to the goblins, the vampires are slower to accept changes than wizards and witches are."

Shaking her head, Amelia rose from her seat. "Ah the goblins…they simply can't resist throwing in an insult. Even when they're trying to help even though they're not officially 'helping'."

"I'd say that you're a cut above the average Amelia." Nox smiled looking at the woman. "But then again maybe not."

Amelia blinked. "Come again Nox?"

"Sirius." Nox stated flatly. "When are you planning on telling him?"

Amelia froze as her hand twitched involuntarily towards her midsection. "How do you know?"

Nox smirked. "Call it a woman's intuition. So, how far along?"

Amelia looked away, unable or unwilling to hold her gaze. "A few weeks."

Nox smiled, though she couldn't help the slight twinge of envy that swelled within her at a woman she would be willing to call a friend for being able to do something that'd been taken from Nox when she was still but a child; a feeling that she crushed without mercy or hesitation.

"Tell him before you go a meet the Prime Minister." Nox stated. "He'll be overjoyed I assure you. Tonks will be as well. She never really wanted the title of Head of House Black. And now she'll have a legit excuse for giving it back. Oh, and I don't think that I need to tell you that your condition pretty much demotes you down to regulatory work for the duration of your pregnancy. You can come with us until you start showing, but you are not allowed to be in the line of fire."

Amelia's eyes hardened. "I'm pregnant. Not an invalid."

"I never said you were." Nox shot back with just as much fire. "But all the same…take it from a woman who would trade everything to be in your shoes right now. Treasure your child. And do whatever you can to keep them safe."

Amelia's eyes softened as Nox's past, which she'd only revealed parts of to her and Sirius, came to the forefront of her mind. "Oh, right. I'm sorry I for-"

"There's no harm done Amelia." Nox waved her off. "Now go tell Sirius. I need to look over these plans."

Recognizing her dismissal, Amelia nodded and left her office without a backwards glance. Once she was alone, Nox allowed herself to sink deeply into her chair as envy once again coursed through her. 'Enough!' She chided herself. 'You have Harry. And while you didn't push him out, he's your son as much as he is James and Lily Potter.' With that thought firmly in her mind, Nox turned her mind away from Amelia, Sirius and their soon to come child and instead focused on the blueprints laid out before her. She had a counterattack to plan. Those foolish vampires had absolutely no idea just what it meant to piss off a Darth. A reformed Darth she might be, but she was still willing to take the Sith approach to war.

Bringing his lightsaber around, Harry caught the blue edge of the glowing blade against his black-purple blade. Angling his lightsaber, he diverted the strike and spun around slashing upwards aiming from his opponent's back. Expecting his opponent had anticipated this and had rolled away from him before regaining their feet and spinning back around to face him. "Nicely done Daphne." Harry commented as Daphne held her saberstaff in a guard ready for his next assault.

It'd been four days since the attack on…well everyone. Daphne and Astoria, having lost their parents, had been hit the hardest. But the two showed their grief in completely opposite ways. Astoria bawled her eyes out and was almost inconsolable for two days. The only thing that got her out of her room was when Master Nox tore down her door and pulled her out by the ear, stating categorically that Astoria was still her apprentice and that she won't accept her to skip out on any more lessons. After that brief little scene the two disappeared for nearly a full day and when everyone saw them again, Astoria was following his mother around diligently and had a more than slightly frightening gleam to her eye. Whatever his mother had said, or did; it had worked. And Astoria was more focused than ever.

Daphne on the other hand, outside of her outburst at Hogwarts, didn't shed a single tear. Even as she held onto her sister while she was bawling her eyes out Daphne never shed a single tear. The next morning when Harry went down to the training room before the sunrise he found Daphne already there and by the look of the mostly destroyed room and by the fact that she was drenched in sweat, she'd been there for some time.

Instead of walking out though, Harry drew his own lightsaber and walked towards Daphne. There were no words spoken as she sensed his presence, as he did nothing to hide it, and turned to attack him. From then on, the two spent hours upon hours every day hacking away at each other. Harry, by far, landed more hits than he received, but with each hour that passed Daphne was improving by leaps and bounds. Every day they would be joined by Luna, Ginny, Susan, Hermione, Ahsoka and Nat. But always it was Harry and Daphne who dueled one another.

Spinning her saberstaff around, Daphne jumped while she spun, adding momentum to her strike as she brought one end of her saberstaff down hard. "Why?" Daphne asked as they locked blades, making Harry blink. That was the first word she'd uttered in days, outside of Vlad Sanguine. "Why didn't you let me kill that little shite? You killed one of the Slytherins, arseholes that he was…so why didn't you let me kill Draco?"

"Because that wasn't you Daphne." Harry answered. "Also we needed to leave. Voldemort got what he wanted. He exposed us." Daphne's eyebrow arched at that. "That was his goal all along. He attacked anyone close to me and my mother in hopes of drawing all of us out. And when you attacked Draco, it forced all of us into action."

Daphne didn't say anything as they stood there. Slowly, the pressure against his blade lessened until it was nonexistent. "I-"

"You don't have to say anything Daphne," Harry cut her off, deactivating his own lightsaber and stepping close to her. "I don't blame you. None of us do. Hell I was ready to slash that little shite clean in half and if Snape and the other professors hadn't interfered I would've."

Daphne lowered her eyes. "He knew Harry. I don't know how he knew but the little shite knew what had happened." Looking back up at him, the steel that'd faded from her eyes just moments ago returned with a vengeance making her eyes shine like ice. "When I see him again…I will kill him. Him and everyone else who had a hand in this."

"And I'll be right beside you Daphne." Harry said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Me, Ginny, Susan, Hermione, Luna and even Ahsoka. We'll be there with you and help you hunt those bastard blood suckers and Death Eaters down to the last man."

Daphne's lips turned upwards, making Harry smile in return. It was the first positive sign of emotion that she'd shown in days. "Thank you Harry."

"He's right you know. We're all with you."

Looking behind him, Harry found Ahsoka leaning against the entrance to the training room with a slight grin on her face. "Thank you Ahsoka." Daphne nodded before walking away from Harry and towards the exit. "Now if you two will excuse me, I need to find Luna. I've been neglecting my duties as her Master for some time now."

After Daphne left the room, Harry stared at Ahsoka. This was the first time the two of them had been alone since they'd left Hogwarts. "Where's Nat?" Harry asked taking a step towards her.

"In the library." Ahsoka answered, pushing herself off of the door frame and letting the door shut behind her. "Ginny?"

"Three hours of meditation in the Waterfall Tranquility Room for being an hour late to morning practice." Harry answered as the two came closer to one another while drawing his wand and casting a quick and silent locking charm on the only way in and out.

Ahsoka tilted her head to the side and stopped moving with less than a pace separating the two of them. "So…I guess we have some time to ourselves don't we? Whatever shall we do?"

Harry didn't answer; preferring instead to cross the last pace between the two of them and gathered her up in his arms. Their lips crashed together almost painfully, drawing a slight gasp out of Ahsoka which she quickly recovered from as she jumped slightly and wrapped both of her legs around his waist as his hands traveled down her slender frame and held onto her underneath her legs.

Their lips broke apart as Ahsoka gasped when her back hit the wall, but Harry gave her no time to recover as the primal side of his brain slowly started taking over and he started attacking the crook of her neck. Her legs tightened their grip, as her hands fisted into his hair and small gasps of pleasure left her as he pressed her against the wall of the training room.

Harry wasn't quite sure just how she managed to do it, but somehow while still being pressed up against the wall, Ahsoka managed to take out the back of his knees and sending the both of them to the floor with her on top. Not that Harry was complaining of course. Especially when she began to assault his neck and her hands literally ripped his shirt off of his chest.

Through the haze that Ahsoka was inflicting upon him, Harry felt the lightest touches of what felt like…wings against the top of his head. Craning his neck, Harry looked up…and saw a magically conjured black butterfly flapping merely beside his head. "Ahsoka?" Harry groaned, bringing a stop to the more than slightly pleasurable sensations she was sending through his body. "Not that I want to stop by any means but…but I think we have a voyeur here."

Ceasing her attack on his skin, Ahsoka looked up and saw that black butterfly that was slowly circling the two of them. "Well….that's different."

Nodding, Harry reached out towards the butterfly. When his hand was almost close enough to touch, the butterfly swooped in and landed on his outstretched fingers. As soon as it touched his skin, he could hear his mother's voice in his head. "Harry. The Delacours are due to arrive soon. Report down to the entrance hall if you can manage extract your tongue from Ahsoka's mouth long enough to do so."

"What's going on Harry?" Ahsoka asked, still atop of him, as the butterfly disappeared.

"Apparently my mother has found a new way to communicate throughout the Temple." Harry commented, just barely managing to keep the blush from showing on his face as his mother had somehow knew exactly what the two of them were up to.

Getting off of him, Ahsoka stared at the spot where the butterfly had disappeared from. "What?"

Pushing himself up with a groan, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a quick repairing charm on his shirt. 'No need to give my mother more ammunition than she already has.' "You know how the Patronus can be used to send messages?" Ahsoka nodded at his question. "Basically the same concept sans Patronus. She conjured up that butterfly, recorded a message inside of it and sent it off to find me. Funny thing is though I heard at the Ministry that they write their memos on paper then send them out by paper airplanes. This must be a new a combination of the two."

Ahsoka blinked. "That's…that's brilliant."

"Yeah," Harry chuckled. "I'm sure Hermione's going to have field day trying to figure out how she did it."

Ahsoka nodded. "So…what was the message?"

"Huh? Oh, she said that the Delacours are due to arrive soon and that she wanted us to meet her in the entrance hall in order to greet them." Harry answered, hoping that she wouldn't ask if there was anything else to the message.

"Oh, alright." Ahsoka said awkwardly rising to her feet and looking over herself. "Um…is everything in order?"

Harry smirked at her. "Yeah, looks like it."

Ahsoka stared down at herself and then shot him a sly look. "Do try to do better next time then Potter. Lest I think that you're not…up to the challenge of being with me."

Her comment caught him completely off guard, and by the time his brain finally managed to get back into gear Ahsoka was already out the door and turning down the hall. "Hey!" Harry shouted, running after her. "That was completely unfair!"

By the time he actually managed to catch up with her, the two of them found themselves in the entrance hall with the dozen fireplaces lining either wall. Standing in front of one such fireplace were his mother and Tonks. His mother merely gave the two of them a passing glance, while Tonks on the other hand threw a saucy wink at the two of them. "So, I see that the two of you actually managed to disentangle yourselves from one another long enough to greet our guests." Tonks smirked. "Impressive."

Harry coughed slightly and Ahsoka's cheeks took on a slight coloring as the two of them joined his mother and Tonks in front of the fireplace. "Easy Tonks. After all, didn't you miss your fair share of Auror meetings because the two of us were…indisposed? In bed. Or the shower. Or there was that one time when we were in the locker room in the Ministry as well."

Tonks' face turned completely red, as did her hair. "Nox! Merlin's saggy…you're not supposed to tell your bloody son about what we do when we're…"

"What?" His mother asked casually, tilting her head to the side as she grinned at the three of them. "Doing the horizontal tango? Come off it Tonks. Harry's old enough to know about sex and if he hasn't at least thought about what two women do together in bed…then I'd be fairly disappointed in him and tell Ahsoka that she needs to start fast tracking his education in that subject."

Now mortified, all three of them stared at Harry's mother with dropped jaws. "Mother…" Harry said slowly, praying for some sort of miracle to occur to save him, all of them, from this humiliation.

Mercifully, his prayers were answered as the Floo flared to life allowing Fleur and Bill to step out followed quickly by two who could only be Fleur's parents and a young girl. "Harry!" The young girl cried as soon as she was clear of the fireplace.

Harry just barely managed to steady himself as the young girl barreled into him and wrapped her small arms around his midsection. Casting a pleading look at Ahsoka, his girlfriend merely gave him an amused shrug as if to tell him that he was on his own for this one. "Hey Gabrielle." Harry said, awkwardly returning the younger girls hug briefly. "It's good to see you again."

"Gabrielle. Leave the poor boy alone."

Disentangling himself slightly from the small girl, Harry looked up and got his first good look at Fleur's parents. Her father was…well…ordinary. He had an easygoing face and was maybe just an inch shorter than Harry. Her mother however…if someone didn't point out the fact that they were mother and daughter Harry would've guessed that they were in fact sisters. "Pardonne ma mere." Gabrielle said quietly as she moved back from Harry. "It's good to see you again Harry."

"Yes, our little girl has been quite looking forward to this meeting. It took us an hour to get her out of her bedroom this morning as she had to be 'perfect' when she met the Harry Potter this time around." Fleur's father laughed, earning a glare from his youngest daughter as he stepped up and nodded towards Harry and his mother. "I am Jean-Claude Delacour. Unfortunately not Jean-Claude Van Damme to my beautiful wife's everlasting disappointment."

"Jean." Fleur's mother sighed, slapping her husband on the shoulder. "Je t'aime. I am Antoinette Delacour, but you may call me Ann. Everyone does. It is a pleasure to meet you both Mademoiselle Nox, Monsieur Potter. Our daughter has spoken very highly of the both of you."

"And of the company you both keep." Jean-Claude added, eyeing both Ahsoka and Tonks respectfully.

"I'm glad to meet you both as well." Nox nodded back politely. "You already know my son Harry Potter. And this is his girlfriend Ahsoka Tano. And this is my little Nymphadora Tonks."

Harry could've sworn he heard Tonks mutter "I'll show you little" under breath, but he decided not to comment on it.

"It is good to meet you all." Jean-Claude nodded. "On behalf of both myself and the French Ministry."

"Speaking of," his mother said. "I doubt that the French Ministry often lets one of their top diplomats go wherever he desires on a whim. So offense, why are you here?"

Jean-Claude smiled. "Officially, I'm not here."

His mother cocked an eyebrow at that. "And unofficially?"

"Unofficially, I'm here to assess the threat level posed by the possible return of the so-called 'Dark Lord' Voldemort and to assess strength of you and your Guardians to see if you could be potential allies to the French Ministry. As well as learn as much as I can about your…unusual associates." Jean-Claude explained casually. "I'm also, unofficially, here to offer you whatever services I can. And my wife is here as an 'unofficial' ambassador to the Veela nation as a whole. Not just the colony in France."

Harry was surprised at that. He knew that his mother was looking for a way to open a dialogue with the veela, considering they were probably the third most populous near-human magical species next to werewolves and vampires. But unlike those two, veela were readily accepted almost across the globe and could be a major asset to their long term plans.

Nox smiled at having what she'd been waiting for practically thrusted into her lap. "And I look forward to such discussions. And as for the abilities of the Guardians…well you'll be able to see that for yourself first hand soon enough."

Ann's grin was almost malicious. "I take it then that you're not about to let what those bastard blood suckers did to your people go then? Good. It is far past time someone took them down a peg."

Nox's return grin was just as malicious. "Oh, you have no idea." Pausing, she tilted her head off to the side. "And as for my unusual associates, you're about to meet one now."

As soon as the words left her lips, there was a slight crack as Master Fay appeared right next to the small group. The ageless Master looked around as if searching for something before her eyes landed on the small group. Harry felt something almost…reaching emanating from Master Fay. "Monsieur and Mademoiselle Delacour, may I present Master Fay of the Guardians." Nox said, introducing Master Fay. "One of our eldest and most experienced Masters."

Master Fay barely gave the elder two Delacours a brief nod before her eyes zeroed in on the young Gabrielle. Gabrielle, for her part, was staring up at the elder woman with awe and wonder written across her face. Taking a step towards her, Master Fay knelt down in front of the young girl. "What is your name young one?"

"Gabrielle."

Focusing in on the two of them through the Force, Harry could sense that both of them were reaching out to one another as they, seemingly unconsciously, tried to form a Master-Apprentice bond with one another. "Master Nox," Master Fay announced suddenly. "I fear I'm going to have to borrow Battlemaster Marek for some time. It has been several centuries since I last held my lightsaber…and I do not want my new Padawan, or rather Apprentice, to be lacking in any aspect of her training."

The elder Delacours looked completely lost, Fleur was volleying back and forth between looking at her sister with pride and envy, Bill merely looked surprised, Nox just shrugged and Ahsoka… Ahsoka looked completely floored. "Master?" Ahsoka said slowly. "You…you haven't taken a Padawan in…well…"

"A long time my dear." Master Fay commented, rising to her feet but keeping her eyes firmly on her Apprentice. "And I would say that it is far past time that I did so. That is of course…if her parents are willing?"

Both Jean-Claude and Ann looked uncertain about the prospect. But it was Fleur who spoke up first. "Trust me mama, papa…this is something we want. If what I've seen so far from Harry and the others is any indication, and even from the few tricks that the Masters here have shown me over the past couple of days, Gabrielle will receive far better training and educating here than she could ever hope for at Beauxbatons."

Fleur's parents looked at one another and then down at their daughter. Gabrielle didn't meet their gaze, instead she just continued to stare up at Master Fay with a look of almost devotion in her eyes. "Alright." Jean-Claude nodded before staring hard at Master Fay. "But I wish to be privy to all aspects of her education. Or at the very least receive regular updates on her progress."

Master Fay didn't seem to appreciate Jean-Claude sticking his nose into her training, but then again she was no longer in the Jedi Order so different rules applied. "Very well," Master Fay conceded. "I will keep you apprised as best as I am able to do so. But first, Gabrielle Delacour, do you consent to being my Apprentice? Are you willing to follow my every instruction as law? Are willing to work harder than you have ever done in the past? Are you willing to devote your mind, body and spirit to the Guardian Order?"

The young veela swallowed hard as Master Fay laid out exactly what was expected of her. Sinking down onto her knees, Gabrielle bowed her head. "I am…Master."

"Good." Master Fay nodded with a smile. "Then I hereby name you my Apprentice. Now get up. We have a lot to catch you up on. And not much time to do it in."

Turning on her heel, Master Fay hesitated just long enough to give a nod to Nox before walking out of the entrance hall, leaving Gabrielle scrambling to get back up onto her feet and chase after her new Master. "Well, now that that is all taken care of," Nox said bringing the conversation back around. "I believe that we need to get you two settled. Winky!"

"Yes Mistress?" Winky asked, appearing beside Nox. Harry nearly laughed as the little house elf was wearing an oversize robe styled after the Jedi, or rather the Guardian, robes with a giant Guardian emblem across her chest.

Nox didn't even bat an eye. "If you would be so kind, would you please show the Delacours to their rooms? Oh, and Gabrielle will be needing a room of her own set up as well. One near to Master Fay's quarters. Oh, and Mr. Delacour, you'll be able to get a firsthand assessment of the Guardian Order tomorrow as we have a strategy council at 0800 tomorrow morning. You're more than welcome to attend."

After Jean-Claude nodded his consent, Winky started frantically waving for the Delacours to follow her. "Winky will takes good cares of thems Mistress! Please, follow Winky Master and Mistress Delacour! Winky takes good care of all of Mistress guests!"

Giving their farewells; Fleur and her parents allowed the energetic little house elf to lead them out of the entrance hall and towards their quarters. "So," Harry said, turning towards Bill. "How was meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time?"

Bill paused. "You know Harry…I've faced down vampires, ghouls, thousand year old death traps in pyramids, angry goblins, mummies and a whole plethora of things that scare even witches and wizards never see. But not one of those things prepared me to meet a mother veela.

"Especially after Fleur let it slip that we've been…well…intimate. Bloody hell…I'm lucky I didn't piss myself after the look she gave me." Shuddering at the image, Bill turned to Harry. "Moral of the story: never piss of a veela. Even a half-veela. I was certain she was going to serve my roasted arse to dinner!"

The next morning, Harry found himself in what had become known as the main briefing room within the Temple, which had also been dubbed the "War Room". The room was shaped like a half sphere with rows of benches rising up along the outside leaving the center area empty save for a single podium and a large holographic projector. Ahsoka was sitting on his left side with Nat sitting on her other side while Ginny was seated on his right. Daphne and Luna were sitting next to one another as where Susan and Hermione.

All around them the rest of the Masters were sitting with their respective Apprentices talking quietly amongst one another. Even Remus and Aela, who had come back late the previous night with their first load of minerals from their survey and mining operation, were in attendance.

Directly across the room from them sat all of the adult witches and wizards plus the two of the Tri-Wizard Champions, Cedric and Viktor. And seated next to them were all of the soldiers that'd been present during the raid on Voldemort's resurrection ritual. 'Actually,' Harry thought, looking over the assembled troopers. 'There looks to be at least two more squads with us this time around. Maybe General Rex and Master Ti decided that they were ready for whatever is about to happen.'

As Harry looked around, he was sure that every soul in the Temple save for Winky, Kreacher and Bonesy was in the room. There were only three people missing. Nox, Bill and Fleur. Well BB-8 as well if you counted the usually quiet little astromech. The air within the room was so thick that he was sure it could be cut with a knife. 'No doubt everyone in here knows just what is about to go down.'

A low toned beeping sounded, ending all conversation as Nox, Bill, Fleur and BB-8 made their way into the meeting hall. Bill and Fleur immediately took seats on the bottom most row while Nox and BB-8 made their way to the center.

Stopping next to the projector, Nox made a slow pass around the room with her eyes before beginning. "In case there was any doubt in your minds…we are at war. Tom Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort has returned from his wraith like form and has picked up where he left off over a decade ago. We dealt a decisive blow to him during his ritual, thinning out his followers significantly and wounding the Dark Lord severely. His reaction however has left us in a quandary. Instead of pulling back and gathering his forces as he's done in the past, he struck back, striking a deal with Dread Lord Sanguine and his Vampire clan."

The lights in the room dimmed as BB rolled up to the edge of the projector and plugged himself in. Immediately Harry felt his fist clench and he involuntarily reached out and grab Ahsoka's hand as the first image appeared. It was of a small muggle neighborhood. Only a dozen of the houses had been reduced to smoldering ash. "As you can see, the magical world isn't the only area that was-"

"The children shouldn't be here for this! They need to leave!"

Every eye in the room turned towards the speaker, some in confusion but most in disbelief as they found Molly Weasley turning slightly red as her husband tried to pull her back down. Nox merely glared at the woman. "Mrs. Weasley. Your sons and daughter have more of a right to be here than you do. They are a part of the Guardian Order. A vital part I might add. You, however, are not. Interrupt me again and I will throw you out of this room and onto your ass. Do not test me on this."

Molly Weasley, thoroughly red at this point, started looking around desperately for any support. But all she got in return were blank stares. Even from her own children. Realizing that she was alone Molly sunk back down into her seat.

Giving Molly one last glare, Nox returned to the hologram as another image, this time of another muggle neighborhood that had suffered the same type of damage. "While Voldemort and his Death Eaters are recovering, the Sanguine clan has been making runs on the non-magical world. At current count, there have been over fifty homesteads destroyed. Amelia Bones had a meeting with the British Prime Minister and assured him that we are working to put a stop to this; so for the moment he has only released a warning and a statement that there have been some faulty gas lines which as a result are creating chain reaction. But that excuse will only last for so long. Plus, there is another factor about these attacks. Despite the fact that over fifty homesteads belonging to both muggleborn and squib families have been attacked, not one body has been found so far."

Circling around the projection, Nox continued her briefing. "At the moment there has been no sighting of Death Eaters at any attack nor has there been any evidence of their magic present. Therefore it is our conclusion that Voldemort, while nesting his forces, is using the vampires to do his dirty work. We're going to take advantage of this temporary division in their ranks. And assault clan Sanguine where they live with the purpose of annihilating every bloodsucker that calls that clan home."

The werewolves that made up the ranks of the troopers literally started howling their approval at this. Anyone who knew their history knew that there was no love lost between the vampires and werewolves considering the fact that the vampires kept the werewolves as their daylight guardians, or rather their daylight slaves, for centuries.

Once the noise had quieted down, Nox moved back around as BB-8 brought up another image. This one a satellite image of what looked like a large mansion surrounded by a fence with two other small buildings next to it on a secluded island. "Over a hundred years ago the Sanguine clan was exiled from the British Isles and forced to remain on this small little rock. We've since confirmed their presence on the island and thanks to some…misplaced information, we've formulated a plan of attack."

The image shifted again, this time showing what looked like a three dimensional blueprint. "As you can see, the manor on the surface is quite literally the tip of the iceberg. Underneath the manor are catacombs where all of the vampires live. According to the blueprints that were…mistakenly given to us, there is only one point of entry into the catacombs. And that is here. Right in the center of the manor house."

"What about an escape tunnel ma'am?" Commander Gregor questioned looking over the schematic with a critical eye. "Surely they've installed something in case of incursion? And if not, they why not just simply bomb the island and take them all out?"

"They haven't installed any escape routes because they do not fear attack Commander." Bill spoke up, and then after receiving a nod from Nox stood up and pointed towards the hologram. "The entirety of the catacombs are layered with runes upon runes. After World War II the Sanguine clan contracted the goblins to enhance those runes. At the moment you could drop a nuclear warhead onto the manor and all you would do is destroy the manor. The lower catacombs would seal off and the vampires would go into hibernation, wait a century or two, and then reemerge just as strong as they were."

"Thank you Bill," Nox nodded as Bill retook his seat. "Mr. Weasley is correct. Upon attack and during the daylight hours the vampires will seal themselves off in the catacombs. But assaulting them at night while they are at their strongest is out of the question as we have no accurate counting of their numbers. Therefore, we will be launching our assault at sunrise."

The schematic moved as several points on the blueprint became highlighted. "Master Secura." The twi'lek Master straightened at hearing her name. "As the most experienced fighter pilot that we have, I'm placing you in charge of our fighter squadron, the 'Nighthawk Squadron', for the duration of this mission. The Nighthawk Squadron will make as many passes over the complex as needed targeting key points indicated in your mission brief.

"Your primary targets are what we believe to be a guard barracks located here," his mother said pointing to one of the smaller buildings. "You're secondary targets are the spires on the eastern and western end of the mansion and the guard shack located along the main gate entrance here."

Master Secura looked over the schematic and nodded. Continuing on, Nox waved her hand was at the holographic image showing two representations of LAATs settled over the main courtyard of the complex. "Once our fighters have softened their defenses, two LAATs will descend. The first LAAT will be carrying; myself, Master Kenobi, both Master Mareks, their apprentices along with General Rex and Alpha Squad. The second LAAT will be led by Master Vos. Ti, Fay and Ventress along with Apprentice Brood and Beta Squad. We'll touch down on the roof and make our way down into the mansion from there. Mr. Granger, I trust that our resident witches and wizards have you back up to fighting form?"

Hermione's father, who had up until that point had been following along quietly, gaze a slight start. "Yes ma'am."

"Good," Nox smirked. "Because I'm attaching you to delta squad for the duration of this mission. I trust that this will not be an issue?"

Hermione's father didn't even bat an eye. "Not at all ma'am."

"Good." Nox nodded turning back around to her briefing. "Master Yoda. While I know that you would be an asset to us on the field. I must ask that you stay behind with Astoria, Gabrielle, Nat, Luke and Galen. As well as all of you Apprentice's that currently lack a lightsaber. They are all far too young and inexperienced for this mission. And don't bother giving me that look girls. I and your Masters will decide when you are ready for this type of mission. And you will not step foot outside of the Temple until we feel that you are ready to do so."

Frowning, Harry rose from his seat. "Mo– Master Nox." 'Force…that feels odd to say. But protocol needs to be followed in these situations.' "What about myself and Knights Tano, Greengrass, Bones and our Apprentices?"

His mother turned around towards him. "I was just getting to you seven. You'll have a vital part in this operation." The hologram spun again, this time highlighting a single back entrance into the manor. "Harry you and your Valkyries-"

"Valkyries?" Susan blurted out, before reddening and ducking her head as she realized she'd said that aloud.

"Yes," Nox smiled. "You lot are all bird animagus of some sort. So Valkyries seemed appropriate. Continuing on though, you seven will be brought to a small staging island a few miles away. Once there you will transform and fly to the island and stay hidden. After the fighters have their passes, you're to assault the manor from the back door, preventing anyone from leaving and then meeting up with us at the entrance to the catacombs. Once we've all regrouped at the entrance to the catacombs, Mr. Weasley here along with Ms. Delacour will break the wards on the entrance and we'll descend into their lair."

"Rules of engagement once we enter the catacombs ma'am?" Commander Wolffe asked.

"Exercise extreme prejudice." Nox answered immediately. "Assume that everything down in there wants to kill you. Vampires age extremely slowly. One could look and act like a child but in fact be seventy years old and have the strength of ten men."

"That brings up another point ma'am." Dan Granger spoke up again. "I put three shots into one of these creatures chest at almost point blank range and it was able to shrug them off as if they meant nothing. How do we plan on fighting them?"

Nox grinned at that. "Thank you for the segue Commander Granger." Reaching into her robes, his mother pulled out a single bullet that almost looked to be…glowing. "For this mission we'll be using ballistic weaponry almost exclusively. This little thing is something that I came up with just in case the vampires ever decided to fight against us. Upon impact of the body the outer casing will rapidly deteriorate, releasing the irradiated fluid inside. Basically, think of these as liquid sunlight in a bullet. And yes they've been tested and…well they work. Two rounds in the chest and the vampire will die within seconds. And thanks to the work of Mr. Lovegood and our resident twins, we've enough rounds to coat every inch of the catacombs twice over."

"We've also created another little surprise for them as well. Thanks to some clever ingenuity on behalf of the Weasley twins." Xeno Lovegood spoke up, rising from his seat and holding up a small glass sphere. "We call these 'Sun Grenades'. And they pretty much do exactly what they sound like. They're activated by depressing the runes here and five seconds later you'll get a concentrated burst of sunlight enough to either kill or permanently disable a vampire. Just make sure you're not too close when they go off. They're not lethal to normal humans, but they will burn. And I've also taken the liberty of changing out all of your combat knives for silver combat knives."

All of the soldiers looked more than slightly pleased at that, and those who were werewolves looked positively vindictive. "What about military interference?" Dan Granger asked looking around. "They're bound to notice something with this big of an operation so close to their shores."

"The Prime Minister has been informed this mission." Amelia Bones spoke up. "He's vacated the area of all military personnel under the guise that there will be a top secret training exercise over the course of the next few days. We should face no interference from muggles."

"What about resistance on the surface ma'am?" Commander Wolffe questioned. "You said that the vampires will have retreated below the surface by the time of our attack. So what opposition will we be facing up top?"

"More than likely those that have been enthralled as well as what the vampires call day guards." Nox answered. "The thralls are those that've had their minds enslaved by the vampire's enthrallment abilities. And the day guards, well as far as I can understand it half of them worship the vampires and the other half are trying to become vampires. So needless to say that both are fiercely loyal and will fight to the death."

"If these…thralls as you call them, are being controlled by the vampires. Then they are victims in this. Shouldn't we make the effort to secure them with nonlethal force and try to help them?" Master Ti asked as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"You can try if you like Master Ti, unfortunately it's not going to do you much good." Sirius answered heavily. "The vampire's enthrallment pretty much lobotomizes their victims. They know nothing other than the words of their masters and will fight to the death. Even after the vampires that enthralled them are dead, they will still try and carry out their last orders, which are usually to defend them to the death. I believe that St. Mungo's has about a five percent success rate at actually correcting a mind that has been enthralled. And even then, the person is never the same."

"But we should still try." Obi-Wan pressed. "If their minds can be saved, then we have an obligation to do so."

Harry could tell that his mother didn't like the idea, but she was stuck in a hard place as he knew that she was still trying to gain the complete trust of the Jedi that'd joined with them. Even after saving them from extinction and bringing them to Earth, the weight of her once being Sith weighed too heavily on some of their minds. "Capture them if you wish," his mother sighed after a pregnant pause. "But you cannot bring them here. We can place them in a separate holding facility or even transfer them to St. Mungo's. But I will not risk the safety of this Temple."

Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti both frowned slightly, but in the end both nodded as they came to the conclusion that they weren't going to get any more than that.

"Good," his mother nodded. "Just remember, this mission is not one of mercy. We are going to eliminate a threat to both ourselves and the world in general. Our top priority is the extinction of any all vampires within the mansion and the catacombs. And our secondary goal is to try and locate any victims of the recent attacks that might be held prisoner within."

"I highly suggest that you all study the battle plans and layout of both the catacombs and the mansion carefully tonight." His mother wrapped up as BB-8 brought down the hologram and the lights began to brighten. "Harry, you and the Valkyries are to report to the north landing platform at 0400 tomorrow morning to begin your stage of the mission. The rest of us will prepping on the south platform at 0500. Dismissed."

The next morning well before the sun rose, Ahsoka found herself standing on the northern landing platform along with Harry, the rest of their little group and Master Nox as they finished going over their last minute preparations before the mission. She'd received quite the shock the previous night when she'd returned to her quarters and found a set of Force Armor, genuine Force Armor, the same type that had been banned by the Ruusan Reforms, laid out on her bed.

The armor was a deep red color and sectioned off to allow for movement while still providing protection for her body's vital points. Along with the armor was a dark brown almost black like cloak. And Force only knew how…but the armor fit her like a glove as if it'd been tailored made specifically for her and her alone.

Her first inclination had been to immediately go to Harry and show him her armor, but she'd hesitated. And in the end had stayed in her room for the entirety of the night meditating. They were about to go into battle. And the last thing she needed was thoughts of what had, or might've happened, between her and Harry running through her, or his, head as they were fighting for their lives.

Now standing beside him on the landing platform with the others while Master Nox finished filling them on the finer points of their mission. "I fully expect that Voldemort has at least one plant within the coven." Master Nox was telling them, walking back and forth in front of them as they stood at attention, each of them wearing the same type of armor only with differing colors to tell each set apart. "When you enter the manor keep your eyes open for. If possible we want to capture them for interrogation. Understand?"

"Yes Master." Ahsoka's voice was echoed by the rest of their group as they all acknowledged her.

Gracing them all with a slight upturn of her lips, Master Nox surprised all of them when she brazenly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry. "Be safe my son." Ahsoka could just barely hear her whisper into Harry's ear before she pulled back and stared at all of them. "All of you, be safe. I've grown rather attached to you lot and hate to go through the trouble of trying to find replacements for my son's little harem that I've painstakingly put together."

Ahsoka knew what Master Nox was doing. She was making light of the situation to set all of their minds at ease. It was the same type of tactic that Skywalker used before battle all the time. And just like with Sky-guy, all of the girls, including Ahsoka, smirked and chuckled as Harry shook his head. "Mother…"

Master Nox merely smiled at her son's discomfort. "May the Force be with you all." She said before turning on her heel and disappearing with a crack.

Now alone, Harry took a step forward and faced them. He didn't say anything even though she could tell that he wanted too. As he struggled to find the words, he instead let his eyes do his talking as he took his time meeting each of their eyes one at a time before moving onto the next. His eyes stayed on her eyes the longest, and for not the first time that morning she cursed herself for not seeking him out the night before.

"Let's get this done. And come home. Together." He said with a note of finality as he stepped by them and made his way up into the LAAT.

Following him in, Ahsoka reached up and grabbed hold of the upper netting as the door to the LAAT shut with a note of finality. As they left the ground, her stomach began flipping just as it did before every battle she'd been a part of during the Clone Wars. And just like she did before each of those battles, she closed her eyes and began chanting the Code. Only this time, her chant was quite different than before. 'Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order.'

Watching the ocean fly by below them, Nox held onto the overhang netting as she reached out her senses trying to find her son. His presence was always...muted while he was in his animagus form. But she could always find him no matter what. 'They're on the island.' She thought, turning looking around at the cramped cabin before looking back down at the ocean below. The first rays of dawn were starting to stretch across the surface of the ocean giving the water a soft glow.

Activing her comlink, Nox brought her wrist up to her lips. "Master Secura. The Valkyries are in place. Commence your assault."

Guiding her fighter until she was just barely over the ocean's surface, Aayla Secura kept her eyes trained at the rapidly approaching island in front of her. While she didn't necessarily agree to the wholesale destruction of the island, she could understand the necessity of their actions. They didn't have the numbers to fight this war on two fronts at the moment. The number of Force sensitives made up for their lack of ground troops, but they were all untrained. Unprepared. And these…vampires, had already shown themselves to be monsters on par perhaps with even the Sith Emperor.

"Master Secura," Master Nox's voice called out over her comm link. "The Valkyries are in place. Commence your assault."

Nodding to herself, she opened the channel to her squad. "Nighthawk Squadron this is Hawk Leader, check in."