Danger Comes On Little Cat Feet

Hermione apparated home and began to once again pack her suitcase that magically miniaturized everything, so that she could pack clothes and supplies enough for six months without washing them. Then she apparated to Hogsmeade. Unfortunately, it was raining, so she magicked a bubble around herself and made her way up the grounds to the familiar Hogwarts castle. When she had thrown open the doors and rid herself of the bubble, Hermione was met by Rain McAlastor, the Astronomy teacher who, like the rest of the teachers, was aiding the Aurors. Hogwarts was still operating as a school, as most parents thought it to be the safest place for their children, but it was also the unofficial headquarters for the Aurors. There were fourteen of them stationed there, and others came and went.

"We've got your room all ready for you, Hermione," Rain said pleasantly, smiling to Hermione. She led the way up the marble staircase and up to the fourth floor, where there had been many rooms added on for the Aurors. use. She put her things in her own room, and when Rain said she had to get to her next class, went in search of Harry. When she found him, he was in the library reading, with Nick at his side, looking at Poisonous Fungi upside down.

"Hermione!" he said when he saw her.

"Minee, Minee!" Nick cried, dropping his book, and running toward her. It appeared that he still had not yet learned to say Mione correctly yet, but that did not matter. She picked him up, and swung him around.

"How are you, Nicky my man?"

"Good," he said. "I'm reading a book."

"I see that. Good for you! Poisonous fungi are very interesting, aren't they?" She smiled at Harry, who smiled back and shrugged his shoulders. Nick was apparently baffled by her remark.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked as she put Nick down.

"I'll explain later. Where's Alex?"

"I stuck her in a History of Magic class hoping she'll learn something. She's here all the time, so a couple of the teachers said she could enter their first year classes early. Gives her something to do. This one on the other hand," he said, picking Nick up and looking at him fondly. "He stays with me, don't you?"

"Yeah, I getta stay with Daddy and read books and talk to the teachers and play with the kids and go see Professor Dumbleydort!" he cried triumphantly.

"He just learned to say professor the other day, and we're working on Dumbledore," Harry explained. Nick just smiled.

The familiar booming bell rang throughout the castle, and students came pouring out of every door, talking and laughing. As Hermione and Harry walked among them, several youths gave Nick high-fives, giving the appearance that he was well liked in the castle.

"Just let me find my babysitter, and then we can talk," Harry said. "Parvati watches him on some afternoons when she doesn't have class. She teaches Herbology now you know."

They climbed down the stairs, through the front doors, and across the grounds. Nick climbed down from Harry's shoulders and ran across the grass, scaring all the birds away. Harry put his hands in his pockets and looked wistfully at his son.

"Birds fascinate him," he said. "He told me one day, that he wanted to fly like a bird, but he couldn't figure out why their feathers didn't fall off when they were in the air, which, of course, makes no sense. Then he said that when he grew up, he was going to become a scientist and find out what makes a bird's feathers stay on. He's very ambitious," he added with mock seriousness.

When they reached the greenhouse, Parvati was stacking pots and sweeping soil hurriedly off the counter tops. "You up for a bit of Nick-sitting?" Harry called out to her.

She looked up and smiled. "Sure, you bet. Hi, Hermione! What are you doing here?"

"Auror work," she replied, smiling back. It was good to see an old friend, when there were so few of them left.

"Well good to see you. How are you kiddo?" She looked at Nick, who had just entered the greenhouse, carrying a kitten with soft gray fur and big green eyes.

"Look what I've got!" he said, showing them his little foundling.

"Nicky, where'd you get that?" Harry asked, kneeling down beside him.

"I found him. He's mine now," Nick said protectively.

"Nick, let me see him, then you can have him back."

Nick reluctantly handed over the little cat, which mewed softly. It couldn't be more than three months old. Harry looked at it closely, as if trying to curse-check it. Hermione doubted that he would be at all thrilled if his son was hexed. Apparently satisfied, Harry gave the kitten back to Nick, who cuddled it affectionately

"It's a she. You can keep her for a little while, but if somebody comes looking for her, you have to give her back, okay?" Nick nodded.

"Well then, we'll leave you three and be off. When do you want me to come and collect him?"

"Oh, I'll just bring him up to dinner with me. I've only got one more class, and he can help," Parvati offered smiling.

"You sure?"

"Yep, no problem."

Harry and Hermione walked back across the grounds, slower this time. They watched the Giant Squid poking holes in the fresh ice covering the lake.

"So why are you here, Mione?" Harry asked.

"New assignment," she explained. "But I'm here for the next four days until we leave. Seamus, Luke, Jaimey, and I that is." She overviewed their assignment, and Harry nodded. "Seems like a plan," he said. "Now that we have some time on our hands, I think we'd do well to talk to Dumbledore."

When they had reached the Headmaster's office, Harry gave the stone gargoyle the password (raspberry creams) and they stood on the revolving staircase to the top. They were met at the door by the Headmaster.

"I saw you coming across the grounds, and figured you were on your way here," he said, his eyes twinkling, which was a calming sight to them both. "You have something to discuss with me, I dare say?"

"Yes, I have just received assignment from Sirius, no doubt you already know that." Dumbledore nodded. Hermione continued. "As you know, we've been stationed in America alongside two Americans. Sirius hinted that we might be acting as Muggles. Is this true?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself? He and the others will be arriving here shortly for a conference with me. The presence of you two is also requested. They should be here in about half of an hour. You're welcome to stay until then if you wish."

Dumbledore served them tea, and Harry raised a question that had been growing in Hermione's mind.

"What happens if they don't find Ron? I mean, that is the main point, isn't it?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, it is. And if they don't find Ron, we've lost one of the best planners the LAD's ever had. Then we have a serious problem. He is the only one who knew certain things. Things he cannot describe to anyone else, but were imprinted upon his mind. He could think up any scheme for any problem you could possibly think of."

Hermione nodded. They were silent for a few minutes. Then Rain knocked on the door, and Dumbledore beckoned her inside.

"Headmaster," she said, out of breath. "We've just received another message, from Ron."

Dumbledore swept over to her, and eagerly took the piece of parchment she held out to him. He read it quickly, and then handed it to Hermione. "I believe this is his handwriting." Hermione recognized the untidy scrawl at once, and nodded, unable to speak. She read the hurriedly scribbled note:

South Minneapolis. Tuesday. Don't know how long it's been. Don't know when we're leaving. Nuclear bomb. Harry, watch Nick. Malfoy has a plan and it involves the school, but that's all I know. Hermione, don't come looking for me. Watch Jaimey. She knows. Zambini is not here. She left for England yesterday. No more time. -Ron

She looked up at Dumbledore, and passed the note to Harry, who also read it. "What does it mean, watch Jaimey?" she asked.

Dumbledore merely frowned. He appeared to know, but did not seem ready to tell them. Just then there was a knock on the door, and Sirius came in, followed by none other than Jaimey, Luke, and Seamus. Dumbledore looked at them gravely.

"We've got another letter from Ron," he said, and Harry handed it to Sirius. His reaction was much the same as Dumbledore's but Sirius seemed to be more unnerved by it. He looked at Jaimey, and handed it to her. Her face turned paler than usual. Dumbledore spoke again.

"This," he said. "Brings a new twist to things. Jaimey, you stay here when we are done. I need to speak privately with you and Sirius. Anyway, I believe you five are here to discuss the Mississippi project."

"Mississippi project?" Seamus asked.

"That is what your mission is called, since mission impossible was already taken," Sirius said. Dumbledore scowled at him.

"Do not lose hope so early in the game, Sirius," he said wisely. "Has the plan has been clearly explained to them?"

"Well, all except one thing. You will be going incognito of course, but more so than you think, I believe. You will be giving the impression that you are Muggles."

"What?" Luke and Seamus said together. Jaimey and Hermione seemed perfectly unsurprised at this news.

"You know the old saying, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'. You need to blend in so you aren't seen by anyone, not even the wizards. Remember: you do not exist. You are known to only a select few people by your profiles, and you will stick to those profiles." Sirius stressed the last part.

"First Americans, now Muggles," Seamus muttered, and Hermione threw him a look. Jaimey shook her head.

"If the American Ministry knows we're there, aren't they going to keeps tabs on us? I mean we are on their territory. I wouldn't expect them to let us go scot-free. And we're going to be questioned by Muggle government people and border people and all sorts of law keepers," pointed out Luke.

"A very good point," Dumbledore said. "And to that, I say no, the Americans are not going to keeps tabs on you, but they will keep tabs on their two agents. Therefore, they will know where you are. We have authoritative permission to be working in their country as long as we do not interfere with their programs. It's all been worked out."

"You've all gone as Muggles before," Sirius said. "This shouldn't be much different, except that we're at war this time. You will have to work harder to lie low. Do not attract attention. You will investigate the usual places at night, and go to some different ones by day. We do have a few leads and clues. As I said before, you will be notified daily instead of before hand, for security reasons." None of them took offense to this, for they knew that it was not because Sirius didn't trust them, but because if one of them was to be put under the influence of Veritaserum, they could blow the whole operation with the information they knew.

"Right, well, I've got to get back to London, so I'll see you all on Thursday. Everything else will be arranged then." Sirius nodded respectfully to them all, and left. Dumbledore turned to the remaining five.

"You are all welcome to go upstairs and unpack if you wish. Dinner is as usual."

They all climbed the marble staircase to the separate floor for Auror use, and entered into their respective rooms. Hermione had already unpacked, so she stepped out onto the little balcony and gazed out across the lake. Hogwarts hadn't changed much since her days there, and the Giant Squid was still lazing across the iced-over lake. So many memories...

She left the balcony and went downstairs. She had almost an hour before dinner, so she decided to visit the library. Ah, at home in the books. She had sat among those stacks and shelves so many times, that they were like old friends. She was not the only person there, however. M. was sitting at a table nearby, buried in a book. M. was a strange figure and nobody really knew much about her. She was an American Auror, a technology specialist, and had been stationed at Hogwarts since the war began. Before that, she had been an assignment technologist, meaning that she went on undercover assignments to assign everything from computers and cell phones to refrigerators and toasters. She knew everything there was to know about Muggle and wizard technology alike. She was young - probably thirty, with long white-blonde hair and shocking blue eyes. It was her eyes that caught people's attention. They were of the bluest color, with flecks of white around the edges, making it appear that they glowed. As for her name, it really was M. Just M. If she ever had a real name, no one knew, but if anybody knew, it would have been Sirius. He seemed to know more about her than any one else, though he kept silent. She looked up when Hermione entered.

"Hey," she said. "You here on assignment?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied, surprised. "Well, just staying until I leave on Saturday."

"Oh yeah, I'm outfitting you four. You're going to need a lot of stuff." M. looked calm.

Hermione looked at her. "Why?"

M. looked surprised. "Hasn't Sirius told you what you're doing yet?"

Hermione shook her head. "Day by day assignment."

"Oh, well be prepared is all I can say." M. smiled a little. "We're going to dig up some stuff we've never tried before."

As Hermione searched for a book to entertain her, she thought about what M. had said. "We're going to dig up some stuff we've never tried before." What was that supposed to mean? If there was anything the LAD had never tried before, Hermione would be surprised.

Her eyes suddenly fell upon a book that they often had during her school years: Hogwarts, a History. She removed it from the shelf and looked through its aging pages. Half her childhood ways of tormenting Ron had come from this book. She read a bit of it before looking at her watch. Ten minutes until dinner. She decided to go early, to say hi to some people before they were converged by students. When she left the library, M. was still there.

When she entered the Great Hall, she was greeted warmly by Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin, Professor Vector, and even Snape gave her a regarding nod. Parvati and Nick came in soon after Hermione. Nick ran up to her.

"Mine!" he cried in delight. "Look at! She's got a leash and everything!"

Sure enough, the tiny gray kitten had been fixed with a pale blue leash and collar to match. Her white tipped paws stepped daintily on the marble floor as if they had done so all her life. Nick picked her up proudly. "I'm going to name her Bodacia. Professor Rain read me a book about a kitten named Bodacia once, and Professor Parvati said it was a good name for her." Hermione was amused by the way he called them Professor and then their first name. That would not go over well when he was old enough to go to school, not with Harry anyway. Despite his mischievous spirit as a child, he was not going to let his children get into all the sorts of trouble he had. Hermione knew - for a fact - that he was intending to pass on the Marauder's Map, however, as it was now a family tradition.

Harry himself now walked in, accompanied by Alex. She was a pretty little girl, with long, blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was carrying a book, Castles of Britain and Ireland, and according to Harry, she was very bright.

"Hi, Alex. Long time no see, huh?" Hermione greeted her with a smile.

The little girl nodded and gave Hermione a welcoming hug. Hermione glanced at her book. "Do you like castles?"

"Oh yes." Alex's face lit up. "I love them. I love living in one too. When I grow up, I'm going to live in this one." She showed her a picture of Warwick Castle.

"That one's haunted, you know," Hermione said smiling.

"I know, and that makes it even better!" Alex said enthusiastically.

The familiar booming bell sounded again, and soon students poured through the doors. Hermione took her place next to Harry, and began to load her plate with steak and kidney pie. It had been a while since she last dished up the wonderful Hogwarts food.