The creature that was Voldemort was in a terrible mood and his dilemma was the polar opposite of Peter's, the more he cursed the useless servant the longer he would have to wait on Wormtail being able to take care of him again. Thus he had limited his administration of the cruciatus to the bare minimum his temper would allow though Peter still ended up unconscious. His screams had even attracted the attention of the old muggle caretaker and he had to be dealt with, fortunately Nagini was available to dispose of the foolish old man.
Peter had muttered something last night about having a plan but he was too enraged even to listen, oh how he wished for a better servant than Wormtail.
Magic can do amazing things, sometimes it almost seems sentient because at the exact same instant an agony riddled Bella apparated but without a destination in mind. All that her pain-muddled brain would process was 'must find master' so magic took a hand, granting both of them their wish and the death eater appeared before her lord once more. She managed to mutter 'master' before collapsing at the creature's feet.
...
Amber had joined Ginny and Joan as they waited for news, Pomona was trying to be angry at Remus for not telling her he was going but was much more worried about her wizard not coming back that she wasn't able to sustain it.
When they heard the ringing sound Amber was up like a shot and sped to the nearby room containing the telephone, she answered it and sank to her knees before realising that they were all looking at her with grim expressions. "It's Harry, everyone's ok with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises."
Joan buried her face into Ginny and cried her little heart out in relief until Amber tapped the girl on her shoulder, "it's Hermione, and she wants to speak to you."
She took the device with trembling hands and heard the instantly recognisable voice coming from it, " hey Joan we're fine, I told you nothing bad will ever happen to me while Harry's there. He could hear you crying all the way to London and didn't want you to worry; we have to talk to some people here and might be a while. You enjoy yourself and we'll be home to see you soon."
Everyone could see the instant change in the little girl's demeanour, she still had tears running down her cheeks but her face was now the proud owner of one of the widest smiles available, Joan whispered "love you" not realising that the device in her hands would send those words straight to Hermione and require Harry to catch his wife as her knees buckled beneath her.
Joan handed the device back to Amber and almost skipped out the room with no concept that a thousand miles away a bushy haired, brown eyed witch was clinging to her husband crying tears of joy. The post battle adrenalin rush may have amplified the effects those words had on her but she wasn't sure, what she was sure of was that both she and Harry were growing very attached to a young witch named Joan.
...
They were in the kitchen of Grimmauld when Harry summoned Winky, she immediately made them all tea and informed Harry that Dobby had a fractured shoulder which Poppy had healed, he was to take it easy for the rest of the day but should be fine by tomorrow.
Sirius had spoke to his mother's portrait and she had suggested that Bella and Cissi be cast from the family then this couldn't happen again, a couple of spells on the tapestry and this was accomplished. He took the family pensive into the kitchen so they could review this morning's event and save Amelia asking lots of questions. There was already elves repairing the damage they had caused and even the doors had been put back together.
They had all been told the grim news that Bellatrix had wiped out some random muggle family for a bite to eat and a few hours sleep which just made them angrier that they hadn't finished her earlier when they had the chance.
Shack, Amelia and her protection detail watched along with the eight as they made their superior numbers count and the minister couldn't help but compare this with their poor performance outside. They watched as a piece of debris cut Neville's cheek and another slammed into Emma's chest, Dan's bullet almost separating the death eater's arm while a reductor from Neville almost separated her head from her shoulders but instead took her ear off. She had caught them out when she had run towards the large window and blasted it with a spell just before reaching it, Bellatrix had jumped through the hole and raced away from the house.
When it was over Shack and Amelia were very impressed with their tactics but it was left to Connie to pour cold water on them.
"Those tactics wouldn't work for the auror division for the simple fact that I can't think of anyone I trust enough for me to stand against a killing curse and hope they blocked it. They stood there and never doubted that the other members of the team would do their jobs and protect them, I've never seen anything like it and am so glad they're on our side."
Hermione just smiled at the auror, "the difference is we're all family and couldn't let each other down if we tried, we trust the other members of the team with our lives because we have to. We're the ones who are going to end this war because we're the only ones who can, and that information ladies and gentlemen is classified. This is not our idea of some recreational fun and we left some very worried people behind including an eight-year-old who was breaking her heart, once Voldemort is dead these suits will be hung up for good."
Shack looked to Amelia who nodded confirmation that Hermione spoke the truth while his brain started putting the facts together, "this would explain our orders not to engage Voldemort in a fight, and can I assume that the snake is similar to that tiara?" A knowing smile from Harry and Shack connected the final few dots to form a picture he wasn't sure was to his liking, "does this mean the Prophet actually got something right for a change, you are the chosen one?"
It was actually Luna who answered the head of the DMLE with such venom in her voice that her friends got worried, "he might be the chosen one but that doesn't mean he's going to face that bastard alone, we'll be with him every step of the way and right by his side when he ends this once and for all."
Neville pulled her into a hug; the pensive had been hard to watch for Luna because this was no longer training. If she missed a block then it wasn't house points lost or a detention, a member of her family was going to be injured or worse. During the fight she had been just carrying out what she had learned but now sitting down and watching her actions left the young blond witch terrified.
....
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