The best aurors including Harry, Ron, Draco and Neville couldn't trace the many parts of the group back to their location that night. There were only two fatalities that evening. On the detention level when aurors burst into that level, it was only to find a hit wizard trying to blast his way out of a cell. The door was blasted off and in the battle that took place between aurors and hit wizard, one auror was wounded and another killed before Neville could take the hit wizard down.
Two days later Harry received a letter from Vanessa Khan identifying the place to meet and the time. That night Hermoine, Ron and Draco were there with him in his livingroom ready to go.
"Hermoine I cant see why you have to go as well! This is Auror business!" Ron said angrily. "And besides you should be home with the baby." He said sternly and Draco and Harry rolled their eyes. Both knew that once her mind was made up there was no changing it and Ron should have known too. After all, Harry surmised, Ron was married to her.
"Oh I see so women should stay home and cook and clean and take care of the children and let the men go out and take care of this correct?" She said as if gathering all the facts with a sweet smile and Ron suddenly gulped as looked at his wife. "Is that about it Ron Weasley? You tell me if I have the facts right!" She said as her face turned suddenly angry.
"Hush you two! For the love of all that's holy!" Harry said. "I'll leave both of you here if you don't quit the arguing!" He said loudly. "Ron I already said she could go and you know Hermoine is as stubborn as you are. Hermoine, Ron loves you and just wants to make sure your ok!" He said and turned to Draco who was smirking. "Are you sure you don't want to fight with Trinity before we leave? Invite the whole group along or maybe bring along Hagrid and Fang?" He asked sighing.
"Nope I think I'm good." He said chuckling.
Harry stalked off toward the front door as the other three put their invisibility cloaks on and followed him. "You'd think three years after you were married you'd stop fighting about the little things. Tomorrow I'm calling Molly to let her know you two need marriage counseling or something." He said.
"Harry! You wouldn't!" Hermoine said in a scandalized voice.
"Harry we don't argue all the time, you know. We stopped that long ago." Ron said.
"Right!" Draco said sarcastically.
"Sod off Draco." The couple said together.
"Right!" Harry said. "Now, not a sound after you exit the door. They can't see the house from the road but I'm sure they'll have the place watched. Once we enter the cemetery I want Hermoine to hang back about twenty feet from the rest of us and Ron I want you to my left ten feet and Draco to my right ten feet." Harry said. "That way if something happens, you three aren't caught in the crossfire."
Harry opened the door and made a show of fumbling for a non-existent key and then shut the door when all three of his friends were through it. "Lock up." Harry said to the Griffon on the door and heard the tumblers click.
He moved out down the lane toward the entrance to the Potter estate and as he moved off down the road the gate closed on its own.
After walking for a few minutes he heard Ron and Hermoine run into each other under their invisibility cloaks. "Sorry." Hermoine whispered.
"It's ok Hermoine." Ron whispered back as Harry rolled his eyes.
He remembered back when they were in Hogwarts all under his father's old cloak and how quiet they used to be and smiled. No, he thought, there was the time that he stopped quickly and they almost fell over in front of Filch.
Harry spotted the entrance to the cemetery up ahead. It felt weird that they were meeting at his parents resting place. He'd have to put the place under the Fidelis charm if this didn't go well so no one could desecrate the mausoleum.
He walked through the open gates and made his way back into the dark cemetery and noticed a shadow ahead to his left. Harry never broke stride as he walked confidently toward his parents resting place.
As the white stoned mausoleum came into view he stopped and took out his wand igniting the torches on both sides of the door. He walked a couple of steps forward and stopped and waited.
It wasn't long before Cho stepped from the shadows and eyed him. "You have two others with you Harry. I would suggest Ron and Hermoine show themselves." She said smirking.
Harry heard Ron curse as he tore off his cloak but Hermoine quietly removed her cloak and folded it over her arm as if she had expected this.
"Is this all you brought with you?" Cho asked suspiciously.
"Hasn't it always been enough before?" Harry answered her with a question.
He heard someone chuckle from behind Cho and watched as Cho bowed and another woman stepped forward. She looked to be his age or younger. Long black hair fell down her back and across her shoulders. Her face was half hidden in front as well by her hair.
"Vanessa Khan." Harry said simply.
"Harry Potter." She said back. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you." She said and looked at Ron and then to Hermoine. "You must be Ron Weasley and your Hermoine Granger I take it?" She said nodding to each in turn.
"Hermoine Weasley, thank you." Hermoine said automatically.
"Ah I see." Vanessa said and turned from them and faced Harry squarely. "I have some information I would like to trade." She said. "You want to know who murdered those poor people in St. Ivey Leads correct?" She asked.
"I think we have some idea after your show the other night." Ron spat.
"Then you know nothing Mr. Weasley." She said turning her eyes on him for a moment and then back to Harry. "We want to be left alone in our search Harry and that is all. We have enemies that are following us that are, shall we say, rather messy?" She said.
"Messy? That's what you call over two hundred murders." Harry asked frowning. "Give me a few names so I can check it out." He said.
"They work in secret Harry, we don't even know their leaders name." She said.
"Ok well let's start off with the facts. You send a man to tell me to layoff and he gets himself in a jam. He is in the ministry holding cell and you attack Hogsmeade to divert the ministry aurors there while you sneak in and go help your guy escape. Am I getting all the facts here?" He asked sardonically as she smiled and nodded.
"He didn't do anything wrong asking you to back off from us." Vanessa said.
"He became a suspect the moment he did ask me to back off as are you." Harry said.
"Harry I think she is being honest." Hermoine said.
"Thank you." Vanessa said smiling at her.
"But she knows more than she is telling as well." Hermoine added and Vanessa shot her a pointed look before eyeing Harry again.
"Maybe but the fact remains we don't know the names of the leader of the assassins. I cannot tell you what I seek here as yet but it is nothing that would interest you." Vanessa said putting on her most charming smile. It was not lost on Harry who had up to that time not been able to look away.
"You'd be surprised what would interest me Miss Khan." Harry said suddenly smiling back at her. 'You're flirting' he thought. 'Ginny gets wind of that she'll hex you' he thought and broke eye contact with her looking up at Cho for the first time where he saw a frown on her face. "I'm afraid that after the affair with the ministry you two will have to come with me to the ministry. If your story checks out you will be allowed to go." He said and took a step forward only to hear a loud pop and come face to face with Cho's wand pointing at him two feet away from his face.
Ron and Hermoine immediately raised their wands but Harry only stood there smiling at Cho. "You've gotten faster since the D.A." Harry said eyes flickering back and forth between the two ladies.
"You've slowed down a bit Harry." She said smirking.
"Soft living I expect." He said winking back at her.
"We have to go now my Khan." She said backing up.
Harry brought up his left hand as silently he put a shield between them. Cho fired off the first curse hitting his shield and immediately did a shield of her own. Then backing Vanessa up toward the tree's she did the same move as before and conjured a blue energy shield between the trees as Harry, Hermoine and Ron worked to knock down the first shield.
Harry suddenly stopped and held up his hand signaling the two to hold their fire as he walked up to them. Vanessa stepped forward as Cho had done a few days ago nose-to-nose they stared at one another.
"Harry I don't want to there to be any animosity between us. In fact I'd love to get to know more about you." She said smiling at him and then frowned. "You must trust me my quest is too important to take the time your ministry would need to conduct your investigation." She said and then suddenly smiled a half smile. "But once I have fulfilled my destiny I would like to take the time to get to know you Harry. Maybe be friends." She added.
Suddenly from their left a bolt of red hit the shield with a thunderous crack. Harry whirled seeing two dark robed figures marching toward them with quick strides.
"Get out of the way you fool!" Growled one to Harry.
He shot a spell toward Harry that he dodged and then sent three more back at the man who brought up a shield to deflect them.
Both wizards turned toward him now squarely and began firing spell after spell. He was so busy trying to maintain the shield he had no time to shoot a spell back at them. Suddenly both of them were relieved of their wands but they turned and wandlessly shot two stunners at Hermoine who was holding the wands. Ron leaped in front of her taking both stunners to the chest and crumbling to the ground.
Harry shot a stunner at both so quick and just as quickly both were deflected. Then one collapsed and Harry heard Vanessa behind him shouting at Cho. "You've got to help them!"
"I have your safety to think of first my Khan as you know." Cho said as she stepped in front of Vanessa again and raised her wand. A small light flew from it toward the stars and suddenly three more gray robed figures were standing beside her.
Harry turned seeing the man in the black robe had a wand back in his hand and that Hermoine and now Draco were dueling with him furiously as they stood over Ron.
The other figure was just coming off the ground when Harry stunned him. Then he shot two more stunners at the other and saw three more come from the gravestones behind him. All five hit the black robed figure and he crumpled to the ground.
"Damn it Harry! I asked you to come alone!" Cho shouted suddenly and Harry knew she was spitting mad.
"It's a little hard for me to go anywhere alone it seems!" he said irritably looking toward the others.
"I'm glad you have such friends Harry." Vanessa said stepping between her guards. "They are fiercely loyal to you aren't they?" She said eyeing Draco and the three that stepped forward from behind the gravestones.
Harry saw Ginny smile smugly and the twins as usual wore their usual smiles of innocence before he turned back to Vanessa.
"Make this easy on yourself Miss Khan and come with us. You can even bring your guards." Harry said frowning at her. "I mean we've seen your telling the truth about this part but you still have to face the music about breaking into the Ministry of Magic and the attack on Hogsmeade." He said indicating the two hit wizards.
"I'm sorry Harry but I cannot, I simply don't have the time to waste. Another time maybe?" She asked smiling and turned away and walked off through the line of her guardians. Cho gave him one last glare before taking off after her.
Harry sighed and turned as five more people took their invisibility cloaks off. Tonks and Colin stood beside Remus while Drusilla stood to the right of Draco with Sirius. Harry glared around at those assembled before he saw Ron still down and Hermoine bent over him with a worried look on her face. He rushed over to his friend and felt for a heartbeat.
"Here let me." Ginny said as she gently moved in beside Harry. She passed her wand over his chest a few times and then sighed with relief. "It could be worse." She said and then did an intricate wand move Harry had never seen before. Suddenly she flicked her wand at him and he came awake with a start.
"Hermoine!" Ron shouted.
"Hush its ok Ron." His wife said softly looking down at him and running her hand along his jaw. "Ronald Weasley you were so brave out there and don't you ever do that again!" She said and buried her face in his chest as Ron folded her in his arms as he stood.
Ginny patted him on the shoulder and then turned to Harry. "You were about to say something earlier so go ahead and say it now." Ginny said simply.
Harry just sighed and walked back toward the entrance to the cemetery but before he made it more than a few steps Ginny ran around him and blocked his path. "It was my fault they all showed up Harry." She said looking at him. "Fred and George would have come anyways but I asked Tonks and the rest to surround the cemetery and keep watch. We're not kids anymore Harry and you needed the help." She said indicating the two black robed figures on the ground.
"She's right Harry. Those hit wizards were quick and accurate." Draco said coming up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "They would have killed you if you hadn't had back-up." Draco said frowning. "Think she set us up?" He asked suddenly.
Harry sighed again and reached out and took Ginny in his arms. "Thanks." He said quietly and then turned to Draco. "I don't think so. Both her and Cho seemed generally put out by their appearance." He said.
"Cho!" Ginny said roughly. "What kind of shield is that she is using? I've never seen one like it before." She asked the two.
"It's a shield of Octi." Drusilla said. "And it's an old spell."
"Are you ok Harry?" Sirius said looking him over.
An explosion rocked them all and knocked them to the ground and Harry found himself sprayed with a gooey substance. Near where the black clad men had been Colin and Tonks where picking themselves off the ground covered in blood and pieces of what was left of the two assassins.
"Bloody hell!" Ron said standing up with Hermoine's help. "The bodies were booby-trapped!" He said.
"What would make this so important that they would rather die that way than be taken?" Hermoine asked to no one in particular as she used her wand to clean some of the blood off she and then Ron.
"Whatever it is, it has to do with that Khan woman and her group." Drusilla said darkly. "She did make that clear." She added.
"We need to get cleaned up." Harry said looking at the others and changing the subject. "Come on, we cant do anything more here." He said and led the others out of the graveyard and down the lane toward his home.
Before they could get to through the gates there was a flash of spells that hit the group. Harry was hit several times before the welcome of darkness took him. He was out before his body hit the ground.
Draco stirred and then tried to sit up but found he was bound and next to Draco was Hermoine already awake. Standing over them was a black robed man and behind him were twenty more.
"Listen to me for I have no time to say this twice. Tell the ministry to stay out of our way. If I lose another hit wizard I will take the lives of ten of your aurors and their families, do you understand?" The man growled out. "We aren't here to make trouble for your ministry. Our only mission is to stop the rise of the Khan." He said.
"Yes I understand." Draco said. "But you killed innocent men, women and children." Draco spat fighting back the fear and suddenly angry.
"Men, women and children who would have joined her cause fool!" The man said and stood up to his full height. "She is the second coming of the house of Khan! Destined to rule the world of magic for two hundred years with that one by her side." He said indicating Harry.
"But he is engaged to someone already." Hermoine said looking at Harry with a worried expression. "And what do you mean the people would have joined her? Some of them were muggles." She said fiercely. "It's not like they could have done you any harm."
"Remember what I said. I could kill Harry Potter now and the rest of you with him. In fact that was my intention at first. If you simply stand aside I will let you live." The man said. "We are trying to protect the wizarding world." He said.
"Fine way to go about it killing innocent children." Draco said.
"Merely unfortunate." The man said as he turned and with the rest following him walked back up the lane. "Remember what I said." He suddenly stopped and pointed at the one of the group. One of the dark clad men came over and picked up Ginny and throwing her over his shoulder. "Tell Harry Potter if he sticks his nose in our business again we'll kill his fiancée." The man said and with that they disappeared with pops.
Draco heard Hermoine half sob as she worked at her bonds as well. "It'll be ok Hermoine." He said to her. "We'll get her back." He added trying to feel confident.
"I'm just worried about what Harry will do." She said miserably. "Since he came into his power he hasn't used the full force of it. Not even against Voldemort and Arturius." She said.
"We'll just have to be there for him, all of us. Just like he's been there for us." Draco said finally working his hand free and pulling his wand out. He quickly untied Hermoine and the rest and then they enervated them.
Harry was furious and not thinking he closed his eyes and thought strictly of Ginny and turned on the spot and disappeared with a loud crack. He reappeared on the coast. He was again in St. Ivy Leads. Ginny was laid out on the ground unmoving as a black-cloaked man stood near her looking at Harry.
"You are far faster than I would have given you credit for." The man said. "Did your friends give you my message then?" he asked.
"I got it." Harry said stepping forward and at the same time he sent a stunner at the man. It passed through him and Harry noticed he was only an image and cursed.
"This time I just wanted to make a point. If we wanted to we could have killed the lot of you." The man said. "Take your fiancée and go but from now on Harry Potter stay away from Vanessa Khan. She and her misguided followers will be dealt with in time and we will be gone." He said and the image faded.
"All these warnings and we still don't know what's going on." Ginny said groggily trying to sit up suddenly and Harry knelt to help her sit up. "I'm ok just a mild stunner." She said noting the worry on his face.
"Lets get you back to the house so you can rest." Harry said helping her stand and then he took her in his arms and with a pop both were standing in front of his house and walked in to see the rest of the group talking about organizing a search.
As Ginny cleared her throat, Hermoine saw them and rushed over almost tackling both as they stood there in the doorway.