Reign O'er Me

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Chapter 22 - Eminence Front

Come on join the party
Dress to kill
Won't you come and join the party
Dress to kill.

- Eminence Front, The Who

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Hermione's Portkey transported them back to the center room of the suite from which they had started a few hours before. As Hermione tended to the unconscious victim, Harry and Ginny quickly checked the rest of the suite - it appeared that none of the others had returned, but at least there were no surprises waiting.

Returning to the center room, Harry asked, "How is he, Hermione?"

"Not good, Harry. I've done what I could, but it's not much. We really need a healer, or at least Professor Snape."

"I suppose it makes the most sense to call Madame Flamel," Harry said thoughtfully. "We have no idea what's going on with the others."

"I think we should," Hermione said, a little reluctantly. "If I had the necessary potions, maybe - but this bloke looks like he's a Muggle - I've never seen a wizard in a clerical collar. That might call for something a little different."

Harry nodded and took his communicator from his pocket and then paused, recalling how this had started. "Madame Flamel left her communicator here."

"Call Ron," Ginny suggested with a grin. "Even if Professor Flamel and Professor Lupin are occupied, I reckon he's not in the thick of it. Odds are he's cooling his heels."

Harry nodded and said into the communicator, "Ron Weasley!"

"Harry!" Ron's voice replied seconds later. "Where are... umph!"

Then Sirius' voice came from the communicator, "Harry, where in effing hell are you, and just what the hell do you think you're doing running off like that?"

"We need a healer, Sirius, or maybe Professor Snape. Look, all of us are okay; we can sort out the rest of it later. Is Madame Flamel with you?"

There were few seconds of muffled words, and the communicator changed hands again. "Harry, this is Perenelle. Severus is with me; where are you now? We've tracked you as far as the Mission. Will you tell me who's hurt?"

"We're back at the hotel; we're all okay. We ran into Bellatrix Lestrange and some Death Eaters who were torturing someone that we think knows something about Jamie. They were using Cruciatus on him; Hermione thinks he's a Muggle. He's hurt."

"We will join you shortly."

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"Severus, you and I shall Apparate back to the hotel at once," Perenelle said. "Sirius, both you and Remus are needed to operate our vehicles. Will you bring them to the hotel?"

Lupin nodded. Sirius didn't look pleased, but after a moment he gave a quick nod as well.

"I've had some experience patching up er, Muggles," Chris volunteered.

"Your assistance would be welcome."

"Can I go back with you?" Ron asked, worry written on his face. Chris had turned and was issuing instructions to her team.

"This isn't the time to attempt your first intermediate distance, child." Seeing his face fall, Perenelle relented. "But I shall make a Portkey instead. As Hermione had done earlier, she took a pen from the desk. "Portus!"

Perenelle held the pen out, and Snape, Chris and Ron all placed a finger on it. The familiar tug carried the four of them back to the suite.

While Snape went across the hallway to retrieve his potions kit, Chris joined Hermione beside the figure lying on the floor; Chris looked approvingly at what Hermione had done, including raising the man's feet with two pillows, and said, "You did good, Granger, but give me a little room to work." Hermione stood as Chris pulled a wand from some sort of thigh holster and began an incantation.

Hermione took a step back and felt a hand on her shoulder. Ron stood behind her, a mixture of worry and relief on his face. Whatever barriers had risen between them in the past few days dropped away; Hermione turned and pressed against him, putting her head on his shoulder. Now, with someone else tending to the man they had rescued, she could finally let go and give in to the reaction she'd been staving off since their return. Ron suddenly found himself supporting most of her weight as she sagged against him.

Ron whispered against her ear, "I was so frightened when we came back and you weren't here. I'm sorry, Hermione. I can't... I can't imagine you not being part... part of my life. I... I lo..."

"If the two of you would continue your pathetic emoting elsewhere, my services are required here," Snape growled as he returned, carrying a leather case. Ron guided Hermione back from the center of the room but continued to hold her, still supporting most of their combined weight.

Perenelle, observing that Chris and Snape seemed to have matters under control with the injured Muggle, and that Ron was taking care of a rather shaky-looking Hermione, turned to Harry and Ginny and said, "It seems the three of you have done quite well."

"Not really," Harry said, a little bitterly. "I missed with my first stunner and only winged Bellatrix Lestrange. She got away."

"But you, Ginny, and Hermione took on six Death Eaters, captured five of them, and rescued their victim. And neither you nor any of your companions were injured. Will you share with me what happened?"

Harry and Ginny joined hands with Perenelle who then closed her eyes. Several moments later, as her eyes opened again, she said, "Harry, your performance was flawless. You and your companions handled yourselves superbly. Your aim was not at fault; your target shifted. But most importantly, you kept your head; you stuck to your battle plan and protected your companions - as you should have - instead of giving in to your anger and striking again at Lestrange. I am very, very proud of all of you. You showed mature judgment - at least from the point when the three of you departed - however, we do need improve our overall coordination."

"Sirius has spent enough time in jails..."

Perenelle laughed and pulled both Harry and Ginny into a hug, "And you, mon petit lapin, had spent enough time waiting, non? But for now, at least, all is well that ends well."

Snape had knelt beside Chris, and the two conferred as he pulled several vials from his case. They worked for several minutes; then both stood, and Chris levitated the unconscious Joe to a sofa. Perenelle, observing their progress, joined Chris and Snape as they observed their patient. "How is he?" she asked.

"He'll be okay, but he's going to feel like he's got the granddaddy of all cheap whisky hangovers for the next day or so," Chris said. "I was about to bring him around."

Perenelle nodded, and Chris said, "Ennervate!" as she swished her wand. Joe's eyes fluttered open and moved quickly around the room as he tried to get his bearings. Then, looking at the three wizards standing nearby, his eyes locked on Perenelle, and he said, "You!!! It was you... in Reims..." before slumping back down on the sofa.

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Draco found himself wondering if Bellatrix had managed to carry out part of her plot, as he waited impatiently for the ring to grow warm, signaling that he should activate the Portkey. After eavesdropping on Wilkes and Travers, he had waited for several minutes before venturing out of the entryway. When he did finally emerge from his hiding place, the two Death Eaters were no longer in sight, as he'd hoped. He began mulling over what he had heard, wandering more or less at random, though he had initially started off in the opposite direction from the one that Wilkes and Travers had taken.

Odds were this would be difficult for him to deal with entirely on his own. Bellatrix Lestrange, he knew, was erratic, unbalanced, and difficult to anticipate - she could go from playing the doting aunt to screaming lunatic to cold, precise, and terrifyingly menacing within minutes - and she obviously had already been scheming. And no matter how crazy she was, she was an effective planner, and usually managed to cover contingencies. Lucius, however, was difficult to approach in the best of circumstances - his mother had once commented that Lucius had the disposition of a hippogriff with hemorrhoids - and recent events, and the climate here, were not improving his mood. Not to mention the risk that he either wouldn't be believed - unlikely - or that Lucius would attempt to confront all of them then and there, not taking the threat seriously - far too likely. Lucius had not spent the time he had with Bellatrix.

But it would not help his case at all if he failed to follow the directions that he had been given. The area he was in now seemed to be mostly offices. He decided to try another taxi, though it ended up taking him almost half an hour to find and successfully flag one. This time at least the driver seemed more cooperative, and he activated the cooling system without being asked. When asked for a destination, Draco asked for a shop that would carry suitable clothing for young men - something posh and fashionable. The driver seemed to think about that a moment before observing Draco must be from England - though he pronounced it "Ang-land" - and then said he knew just the place where Draco could obtain some "cool threads that were hip." The driver said that some rock star - apparently a singer who played the piano that Draco had never heard of - patronized this shop; Draco gathered he was also from England, though it was still unclear how all of this was related, particularly to rocks.

Draco nodded, and then tried to tune out the driver's incessant chatter as they drove. Fortunately, the driver seemed to be able to carry on both sides of the conversation with only an occasional grunt or nod from Draco; after twenty long minutes, they arrived at their destination, a store called "The Boy Next Door." The driver offered to wait, and Draco agreed - they seemed to be out of the city proper and in a more residential area - and exited the cab and entered the shop.

Draco took a few steps forward before being greeted by two clerks, one who looked to be not that much older than he was, and a second who was perhaps in his late thirties or early forties. They greeted Draco warmly, and after hearing his requirements led him back and presented a bewildering array of choices.

Something seemed to be slightly off here; the staff was just a little too friendly, helpful and familiar; some of the colors presented were just - wrong - and the trousers he was initially given to try on were skin-tight. Though the clerks seemed disappointed that he wanted clothing with a comfortable fit and boring colors, they helped him select a pair of dark jeans and a pair of khaki chinos and two collared shirts. They also persuaded him to add a belt and a package of socks. They had made an effort to sell him underwear, but one look at the colors and the cut - which was scandalously lacking in material - found Draco assuring them that he had an ample supply of pants but could perhaps use another pair of trainers or anything else that would change the subject. After sorting out the language issues, Draco selected a pair of Foot Joy running shoes, paid for his purchases, and then used the dressing room again to change into the black jeans and one of his new shirts.

Draco emerged from the shop as the older clerk said farewell and suggested that he "be a darling and return with all his little friends." At least he had made a serious dent in his bankroll, he thought, as he entered the taxi. Draco gave the name of their hotel; he would not attempt to go to their rooms, but he did want to stay in that general area; in fact, he really had no idea where he was in relation to where he had started earlier.

Again, it was perhaps a twenty-minute ride, though it seemed much longer with the talkative driver. Draco paid the fare and stood thinking for a moment before deciding to enter the hotel. He picked a spot that was mostly concealed by several large planters but still allowed him to observe most of the lobby, and settled down in an overstuffed chair to wait.

He ended up waiting for some time before the ring finally grew warm. Darkness had fallen and Draco had been speculating on the chances of spending the night in that chair - or looking for someplace safer - when the signal finally came. Draco stood, stretched minutely, and then picked up his bags. He moved to a corner where he could not be seen, and triggered the Portkey, his wand in his hand and ready.

He was transported to a large room. It was furnished as a sitting room; both his father and Bellatrix were there. There was no sign of any of the other Death Eaters, at least. The tension in that room was so obvious that you could cut it with a knife; Lucius and Bellatrix both looked quite angry - Lucius murderously so.

"Draco," Lucius said as he handed him a scrap of parchment. "The papers and picture that you examined on the flight here - the girl pictured was at this location a few hours ago. It appears that she left alone and on foot. It is possible that she will still be in the area; you are to attempt to find her." He turned to Bellatrix and said, "Had you bothered to inform me earlier, we would not be nearly as far behind."

"Our Lord gave me responsibility for this task; I am the one that He sent to find the wench and that He said he would hold personally responsible..."

"If He thought you responsible," Lucius snarled, "Why would he send me here?"

"Most likely so you wouldn't end up the involuntary guest of the new Minister - who would be much more intent on, and capable of, finding the means of persuading you to talk than her predecessor. Your carelessness in getting captured put us all - and our Lord - at risk. And you were bested by a mere boy."

"The same boy who performed Crucio on you. And tonight, it seems this boy has not only managed to send you fleeing, half-paralyzed, but apparently has managed to kill or capture almost half of our number? You call that responsible? I call it reckless and foolish."

"We were heavily outnumbered," Bellatrix spat. "Potter was there, but so were at least a dozen or more Aurors and hit wizards as well as several from his pathetic band of followers. I held them off for a few moments, but there were simply too many of them. Had you listened to me and accompanied us and not sent the rest of my force off chasing cobwebs, it might have been a very different outcome."

"In other words, you were taken by surprise and unaware. One witch accompanied by five wizards should be able to capture a lone Muggle and return with him. I suspect there is far more to this story that you have admitted... I'll wager you couldn't resist playing with the Muggle first."

"I do not answer to you, Malfoy, only to the Dark Lord."

Lucius realized that Draco was carefully observing this exchange. He barked, "Draco, why are you still here? The trail grows colder. If you should find this wench, seize her and trigger the Portkey at once. Now, go!"

As Draco exited and started to close the door, he heard the sound of flesh striking flesh and Lucius growl, "You will never address me in such a fashion in front of anyone again, even - no, especially - Draco."

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"Snuggles?" Harry asked Hermione. They were sitting in Harry and Ginny's bedroom, Harry and Ginny in chairs and the other two sitting on the bed. Perenelle had wanted as few distractions as possible in the center room before another attempt was made to bring their patient around again. The way Hermione was holding onto Ron reminded Ginny of how she had clutched Harry just after he had fallen at Mrs. Figg's; she still looked a little unsteady. She shared this with an amused Harry as she brushed her fingers against his.

Ron began to turn red as Hermione attempted to explain. "I... I needed a trigger word... something no one would say accidentally - and I uh, er, just picked the first thing that came into my head."

"What, if I might I ask, is a 'Snuggles?'" Harry pressed, though he and Ginny already had a pretty good idea from Ron's reaction.

Hermione had started to say something when Snape entered and called her name. "Granger?"

"Yes, Professor? Hermione swiveled to face him but did not release Ron.

Snape held out two small bottles. "The instructions are attached. Do not fail to follow them this time; I do not have the facilities or ingredients - or the inclination - to prepare more."

"Thank you, Professor." She paused and then asked, "Will he be all right?"

Snape had already turned to leave. He paused and turned slightly before replying. "It appears he will recover. It is fortunate for him that you recalled a smattering of what you had been taught and called quickly for help." Snape turned again and stalked out of the room.

Ginny giggled. "Hermione, I think that was a compliment."

"From Snape, that's high praise," Harry agreed. "But who or what is Snuggles?"

Hermione's blush now matched Ron's. "It's... it's what I call Ron... sometimes... when I'm teasing him," she mumbled.

"We do already have a Snuffles. I guess Snuggles goes well enough with that. 'Snuggles is our King' has a nice ring to it," Harry said, grinning. "I think everyone in Gryffindor will go along."

"Mate, you wouldn't...." Ron looked at him worriedly; Hermione had apparently taken a sudden interest in her trainers. "Would you?"

"You know how busy Harry is," Ginny replied with a smirk. "I'm sure there's a chance it might slip his mind if someone else happened to forget and leave their copies of the Prophet at home when we leave for Hogwarts."

"I don't know, Gin, that's a tough one." Harry's fingers had linked with hers. "Just thinking about the Slytherin stands belting out a rousing round of 'Snuggles'... that's an awful lot to give up."

"Harry... Please?" Hermione looked up and met his eyes.

"What do you think, Gin?" Harry asked.

"I suppose... maybe this once. Would be nice to see him play like he did in the last game last year."

"True," Harry replied. "Okay, I guess it can stay our little secret for now. You know, Jane, you could have called him Tarzan."

"You knew..." Hermione sighed.

"Yes," Harry replied, "And no, I didn't know anything about it beforehand or have anything to do with setting it up; that was all Sirius. But that's enough of that. We know where Jamie was a few hours ago. She's a few months younger that Ginny; that'd make her fourteen. That's too young to drive here, isn't it?"

"I think so," Hermione replied. "From what we know, I suppose she could have left with someone, but walking seems most likely. All of the reports with any of those sorts of details say she was on foot when she was picked up."

Harry noted that Hermione seemed to be settling down and communicated this to Ginny through their link; she agreed, but warned him that Hermione would see through what they had done sooner or later. "Then I suppose we wait a little longer to see if this chap knows anything useful, but not too much; a few hours on foot isn't that far behind."

"Harry... not Snuggles, but Snuffles," Hermione said. "Sirius' Animagus form is a dog. And dogs can track."

"That's brilliant, Hermione!" Harry said. "I don't know if Sirius has ever done anything like that, but it's certainly worth trying."

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Draco had hired another taxi; however, he did not set out directly for the address written on the parchment that his father had given him. In the limo from the airport to the hotel Lucius had mentioned where the local wizarding market place was located, and he was going to try there first. If the hours were similar to what they were in Diagon Alley, he might have just enough time.

It was a short ride from the hotel to a place that was called "Underground" though it did not bear any resemblance to the underground in London at all. Instead, it seemed to be primarily pubs, bars and curio shops; the area was teeming with half-intoxicated Muggles. In any event, he was able to make his way to the concealed magical community without a great deal of difficulty, and found that he had arrived barely in time; most of the shops were closing.

Draco located the shop he wanted, entered, and then emerged several minutes later with a scowl on his face, carrying a cardboard box with a handle. These bloody Americans had no respect whatsoever for tradition, he thought, as he emerged back into the Muggle shops and made his way back to the street, where he flagged another cab. Not to mention that this mode of travel, in these filthy taxis, was hardly fit for even a Mudblood, let alone a pure-blooded wizard. Draco thought longingly of his broom back in his bag as he climbed into the sticky back seat of the taxi. He read the address from the parchment and then sat back in the seat, replaying what had occurred in the hotel room over and over in his head.

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Cat swung down from the boxcar as the train stopped. So much for her grand plans of getting quickly out of the area. The slow-moving train she'd climbed aboard had never moved faster than the five miles or so per hour it was moving when she caught it, and now it wasn't moving at all. Looking up the track, she could see someone carrying a flashlight or lantern was approaching. It must be at least two men; she could hear their voices though she couldn't make out any words. Cat climbed between two boxcars and started walking quickly away from those approaching.

She had been walking for about a quarter of a mile before coming to a paved street, and she turned in the direction that looked most likely to lead back into a more inhabited part of the city. She needed to find her way to one of the Interstate highways - at this point, she was not inclined to be picky; she just wanted to get out of Atlanta - and find a gas station or something similar near a ramp where she could attempt to find a ride. At least she had managed to move a few miles from where she had started.

She had only been walking a little over half an hour or so, but already her ankle was sending signals that it was not yet completely healed. She would have to conserve her strength and rest frequently, but for now the most important thing was to get into a more civilized area. It was dark; the streetlights were infrequent and half of them seemed to be out; she was feeling just a little spooked. As strange as it seemed, she'd feel more comfortable once she reached an area with more people about.

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In the suite, Perenelle and Chris had dimmed the lights and had moved two of the chairs from around the table to a position near the sofa holding the unconscious Muggle. The students had moved into one of the bedrooms at her request and Severus had withdrawn to the other suite. Perenelle settled into the chair and nodded at Chris who motioned again with her wand and said

"Ennervate."

As the man's eyes fluttered, Perenelle said, "Fear not, you are among friends." As his eyes opened and locked on her, she continued, "And yes, we were both at Reims. You were a young priest, were you not, and assigned to the cathedral there?"

"Yes, I was there for several years," Joe replied. "I'm Father Joseph Morel; my friends call me Joe. I'm not much on the title thing."

"And I am Perenelle Flamel, and the young woman beside me - who provided you with some much needed medical attention - is Chris."

"Perenelle Flamel." Joe attempted to smile. "You have the same name as the wife and partner of a famous alchemist."

"You are a Dominican, are you not?" Perenelle asked. Joe nodded and she continued, "I see their reputation for scholarship is not undeserved; however, I do not have the same name; I am that Perenelle Flamel. I was born in the year 1332; Nicholas, my husband, was born in 1336. He also lives."

"But... but that's impossible..."

"We are exceptionally old, even among our kind, but quite possible... otherwise, I'm afraid your encounter with the vampire might have ended rather differently."

"But... how... what is your kind?"

"I am a witch. We call ourselves wizards, or occasionally magical. As opposed to the non-magical, who we call Muggles in Europe and England, and who I understand are called Techs by the Americans, meaning those who use technology as opposed to magic."

"How did I come here? The last thing I remember was being in my office... Oh, no, Lena!" Joe started to sit up and got halfway before falling back down. He groaned and looked as if he was feeling quite ill.

"You might want to take it easy and move slowly for a bit," Chris advised. "You've had something of an ordeal and it's going to take a day or two before you're anywhere close to a hundred percent."

"We are seeking the girl you call Lena Rosier," Perenelle said. "What can you tell us?"

"Lena... is... is a witch?"

Perenelle nodded. "Indeed. It is a long and complex story that I will share, should you wish, in due course. However, there are others looking for her as well - with malicious intent - and time is of the essence."

"Two policemen have already been killed... one was a friend... how do I know you're on the level, that you're not out to harm her?" Joe asked. "The kid's been on the street for years; nobody deserves to live like that; she was barely skin and bones when I found her, and she was running a hundred and three degree fever from an infected cut on her leg."

"Those who accosted you in your office were also seeking her; you have already experienced their methods. The girl's brother and two of his friends intervened and brought you back here. Until a few days ago, none of us knew the child existed. I believe that she is at great risk. While she is indeed a witch, she is untrained and does not know how to use her powers. The others who seek her are powerful - and dark. Her real name is Jamie Potter."

Joe thought for a few moments and then asked, "Can I meet the brother?"

"Certainly," Perenelle replied. "Give me a moment." She stood and walked into one of the bedrooms and emerged a few minutes later with Harry and Ginny following her. She led them to the sofa and said, "Father Joseph Morel, allow me to introduce Harry and Ginny Potter. And Harry and Ginny, please meet Father Joseph Morel."

Joe couldn't take his eyes off Ginny. "But... he's... they are... they are just kids. Teenagers. And you didn't mention a sister."

Perenelle smiled as she replied, "Joseph, these two are far, far more than mere children. Do not let appearances deceive you. Actually, only Harry is a sibling of the one you know as Lena. I'm afraid the complete story is rather complex. I take it there is a resemblance between Jamie and Ginny?"

"Yes. This... young lady looks a lot like Lena... Jamie... should. Healthy and cared for."

"Do you know something about my sister?" Harry asked eagerly.

Joe looked between Harry, Ginny and Perenelle and nodded as he said, "I found her a few days ago. She was lying in the doorway of the mission, burning up with a fever. She had an infected cut on her leg near the ankle - she was a pretty sick little girl. I... I didn't send her to Fulton County like I should have - I knew she was different; that she was one of you, even if I didn't know what that was then. She was a tough little waif, all skin and bones, wearing rags. She must have had a really tough time; she didn't trust anybody or anything. I did get her some clothes and glasses; the poor kid could barely see. Then my friend from the police called, said there were some guys looking for her that looked dangerous - military types, he said. I... I guess I blew it and told Lena... Jamie... that someone was looking for her... I was going to take her over to the Monastery in Conyers for a few days until we found out what was going on, but she ran right after that. Put all her stuff in a backpack, and went out through a window."

Harry seemed a little shaken, but Ginny asked, "Did she leave anything - clothing, anything that she'd handled?" Perenelle looked at her curiously and Ginny explained, "Something that would have her scent. Sirius..."

Perenelle nodded, "Yes - that might be a good option. Ginny is thinking that perhaps a hound would be able to track..."

"I... I didn't check carefully... I know the book she was reading is still there. There may be other things," Joe replied. "I left... I left in a rush; I needed phone numbers that were in my office, and I went there as soon as I was certain she had gone."

The door to the suite opened, and Sirius, Lupin, and the two Weasley brothers entered. Perenelle motioned them toward the table and held up her hands indicating they should wait there quietly. This seemed to annoy Sirius, whose eyes had locked on Harry as he entered; Harry could tell from the glare Sirius gave him that he wasn't pleased about having to wait to read Harry the riot act.

"Will you help us, Joseph?" Perenelle asked. "Time is short, and Jamie is at risk."

Joe nodded, "I... I guess so... I just wish I could be sure..."

"I can share some of our story with you," Perenelle said. "The means are... actually, there is some debate if the means are magical, but they are likely beyond your experience. However, I am willing to do so if you wish."

"What... what do I need to do?" Joe asked, not quite concealing his fear.

"Take my hand, and try to clear your mind, and I will share some of the more important points; but, as I said, time is short."

"I... Okay." Joe held out his hand.

Perenelle, who had been standing since returning with Harry and Ginny, settled in the chair again and took Joe's hand. She closed her eyes for several long moments, then finally opened then and released Joe's hand. He looked from Perenelle to Chris and finally to Harry and said, "Yes, I will help in any way that I can. Is there anything you can do to get me on my feet?"

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Draco arrived at the dark brick home on Morningside drive, paid the cabbie and walked slowly to the house, watching carefully from the corner of his eye to make sure the taxi departed. When the vehicle was out of site, he looked warily around the area. No one seemed to be about, and fortunately there did not seem to be much traffic in this residential area.

Draco knelt and carefully opened the box he had obtained earlier. Reaching inside, he fumbled around for a moment and then lifted a pigeon from the box and sat it on the ground. "Lena Rosier!" he commanded, but the bird just sat there, looking stupidly at him. After a moment it raised a leg, obviously expecting a message to carry. Draco cursed a society so backward that would use pigeons - of all things - for carrying the post, his aunt, pigeons in general, his father, and whatever malicious fate had brought him to this hellishly hot place. Even now, well after sunset, it was still unbelievably hot and humid.

He finally located the scrap of parchment his father had given him in a pocket but was forced to search through a dustbin to find something that could be used to tie it to the bird's leg. He eventually located a bit of ribbon that would work; he tore the parchment in half and attached one of the pieces to the bird's leg and again commanded "Lena Rosier!"

This time the bird took off. Draco carefully watched which direction it flew, and then before he lost sight of it in the dark, he summoned the bird back to himself. He stuffed the pigeon back into the box, and then set off down the street, going as close as he could to the direction the pigeon had started to take. If only he had taken his broom while he was at the hotel, this would have been far, far easier. Of course, he had expected to buy an owl, and any of the larger, more intelligent owls would have been able to follow basic directions like following the roads and staying in sight. Instead, he was stuck with a pair of effing pigeons, of all things - creatures slower on the uptake than a Hufflepuff and with less charm - if possible - than a Gryffindor. He walked quickly, thinking that he was overdue for fate to work in his favor. Draco hoped his quarry had not gone far, or at least would have stopped for the night by now.

As he walked, his thoughts gradually returned to the scene that had played out at the hotel between Father and his aunt. Somewhere there was a way to come out on top of all this; but so far there were too many unknowns, including what Bellatrix might have planned and what they were actually doing here anyway. This whole affair didn't make a lot of sense. While it was true that the Rosier family had a long and proud tradition as dark wizards, putting this sort of effort into finding an orphan girl just did not add up. The Dark Lord didn't engage in any sort of altruism; and while the Rosier family had produced some powerful wizards, he had never heard any tales of any unique power or ability they had. Perhaps someone with that bloodline was needed to unlock some tome or vault; other than something along those lines, none of this made any sense.

If Bellatrix did manage to take out Father, his prospects were bleak. He was not yet quite old enough to take over by right, and even if he were, it would be difficult at best to take over the Malfoy empire without the backing of the Dark Lord. And while he was good - even superb - he lacked experience; and in this sort of thing, that was a distinct disadvantage. Lucius, for all intents and purposes, was the financial power behind the throne. Odds were he'd never be trusted unless he pulled off some impossible feat like delivering Potter and Dumbledore to Voldemort, particularly after Mother had...

Draco choked off that thought. If Bellatrix did succeed and managed to kill Lucius, his best bet would be to take his chances and disappear... even if it meant hiding in this backward and barbarian society. Father was cagey and careful; she would not attempt anything other than the sort of thing the two traitors had discussed - in the middle of combat, and odds were she'd never risk it personally. Somewhere there had to be some way of flipping this - he would have to find it, and quickly. At least if he found this girl, he'd have a bargaining chip and could then perhaps get Lucius to listen to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry listened somewhat impatiently as Sirius lectured. Sirius had intercepted Harry as soon as he and Ginny had stepped away from Madam Flamel and the injured Muggle. After several moments, with Sirius showing no signs of winding down, Harry finally interrupted, "Okay, okay, maybe it wasn't the best thing to do, or the smartest thing to do, but at the time it seemed like the best option we had, so that's what we did. If we'd waited, it might have been too late for that chap we brought back to be able to tell us anything. And all of us are okay. But right now the important thing is that we know where Jamie was a few hours ago; we need to concentrate on finding her. You can yell some more at me later."

Sirius looked intently at Harry for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. "You're right," Sirius sighed and added, "I guess I'm not ready for how fast you're growing up, Harry. And I don't think I'll ever get used to you putting yourself..."

Ginny interrupted, "Sirius, can you track?"

"Track?" Sirius asked, not immediately understanding her question.

"By scent... as Snuffles," Ginny replied. "Hermione's idea. We know where Jamie was; she left the house where she was on foot. If you could get the scent..."

"Maybe... " Sirius said. "Snuffles has a very sensitive nose, but I've never really tried to do anything like that other than back at Hogwarts when we went into the Forbidden Forest. And Remus is pretty good with scents," Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance as they both colored slightly, "even in human form."

Remus Lupin moved a few steps closer; he had obviously been listening. "Sirius was actually pretty good. If she keeps walking and doesn't do anything like wade down a stream or get into an auto, we might have a pretty good chance.

"Will you try, Sirius?" Harry asked. "Or do either of you have any other ideas?"

Lupin shook his head and Sirius said, "Of course I'll try. Offhand, I can't think of anything better. And if Jamie is on foot, she's only a few hours ahead of us; that's a pretty fresh trail."

"True; however, she has proven quite resourceful; we cannot count on her moving slowly or remaining on foot," Perenelle said as she moved toward them. Joe stood rather shakily beside her, steadied by Perenelle's hand gripping his arm. "I take it, Sirius, that you are willing to make the attempt, using your Animagus abilities?" She motioned them toward the table.

Perenelle guided Joe to a seat, then called Ron and Hermione and motioned for Snape to join them. A short time later, only Chris was not seated; she had moved into a corner and was talking rapidly into her mobile. Harry could not make out any details of her conversation, but something about her tone concerned him. She finally snapped the phone shut - rather angrily, Harry thought - and strode toward the table. "I'm afraid we've got another problem," she said.

All eyes were on Chris as Perenelle nodded for her to continue. "Our friends have obtained reinforcements. It appears that Malfoy has obtained the services of a neo-nazi paramilitary group from Florida; apparently some of them - maybe all of them - are already in the city. We're now heavily outnumbered, and to be frank, heavily outgunned."

"Outgunned?" Bill asked. "These are Muggles?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah; these guys are what's pictured in the dictionary under 'Armed and Dangerous.' Your friends have gotten serious. Damned serious. I've asked for backup, but for all their noise about cooperation, the various agencies are still trying to figure out who gets stuck holding the bag; it'll take Cooter and his gang a few hours to sort this out unless the shooting starts. It's another case of too many different agencies claiming authority but none willing to take the responsibility. And it's going to take time to bring in backup from our home office, though the boss is trying like mad to line up something local."

"Then we need to move now," Harry said firmly. "Jamie's alone and on foot..."

"Kid, this isn't something you want to get in the middle of. Yeah, these apes may be Muggles, but they are armed with automatic weapons - military weapons. Your shield may be strong enough to hold off a bullet, but can you hold it long enough to fend off several bursts from multiple automatics? Even if you're strong enough, can you protect all your friends? What if they use something like a LAW rocket? We're not armed or strong enough magically to protect you..."

Harry turned to Sirius, "You hired them?"

Sirius nodded.

"Then let them opt out if Chris thinks this is too..."

"No!" Chris interrupted firmly. "I'm not... we're not backing away from anything. But, Harry, you need to stay out of the line of fire..."

"Then we're wasting time. I'm not going to be a wallflower again," Harry said, looking pointedly at Sirius. "Ever."

Lupin, Snape, and the Weasley brothers started to object, but Perenelle held up a hand and said, "We can ill afford Jamie Potter to fall into Voldemort's hands, and I do not believe we can dissuade Harry from taking an active role. But we must work together this time; what was it you said about 'Divide and Conquer,' Sirius? That Voldemort wrote that book?"

Sirius reluctantly nodded.

Perenelle continued, "I believe the best option at this point is that we reduce the vehicles and Portkey with them to the house where the girl was. If Sirius can pick up a scent, we shall follow. And the vehicles will allow Padfoot to move as swiftly as he is able." Looking toward Joe, she asked, "Do you think it likely that she would stick to the streets?"

Joe, who appeared a bit overwhelmed by the conversation that had taken place, slowly nodded. "She would almost have to. I lived in a pretty residential area; it would be hard to go through the yards with fences, dogs, alarms, and who knows what else."

"Can you make three or four homing Portkeys?" Chris asked.

Perenelle nodded, "With Hermione's help. Bill, Charlie, and Remus - will you reduce and collect our vehicles? Severus, you might wish to gather any healing potions we might need. Four, did you say?"

Chris nodded.

Perenelle stood and motioned to Hermione to follow her; she led the way to the room they shared, closing the door behind them. Bill, Charlie, and Remus had already left to collect the vehicles, and Snape had disappeared into the other suite. Those remaining at the table exchanged looks until Harry asked, "Sir, can you tell me more about my sister? What she was like?"

Joe looked thoughtful a moment before replying, "Lena... Jamie was very reserved, very independent. She didn't think she could rely on anyone - and it was pretty clear she hadn't relied on anyone but herself for a long time - and she seemed to think that there would be a price when anyone did anything for her. What most kids take for granted was new and wonderful to her - an ice cream sundae, going to a movie. Even reading a book, once she had the glasses. Almost like she'd never had a childhood. She had all the rough and tumble of the street; but somehow, there was a lot more to her than that. A few times, she would drop her guard for a few seconds - I could see then just how wonderful..." Joe suddenly stared intently at Harry's forehead. "That scar; the scar on your forehead... Jamie has an identical scar, but on her stomach."

Ginny took Harry's hand and said softly, "If there was ever any doubt..."

Harry nodded. He leaned over and whispered to Ginny, who rose and disappeared into their room. Bill and Charlie looked closely at Harry as they heard a door open and close, but Harry nodded all was okay. A minute later Ginny walked back into the suite from the outside hallway and sat again by Harry. They then sat in silence until Perenelle and Hermione emerged from their room, Perenelle had several key rings in her hand. Chris stood and walked toward her; Perenelle asked, "And the homing target?"

"Harry," Chris replied as Perenelle nodded. "Let me have two; I'll be back in a moment." Chris Apparated from the room.

Perenelle moved beside Harry. Holding out one of the key rings, she asked, "Will you take this key ring and keep it on you? It would be best if you placed it around your wrist then adjusted it so it would not slip off. This is a homing target; the other Portkeys, when triggered, will be drawn to it."

Harry nodded, and placed it around his left wrist and adjusted the size as Perenelle had suggested.

Snape returned, carrying a leather case. A short time later, Lupin and the Weasley brothers returned.

A loud crack announced Chris' return. She was carrying something bulky; she walked to the table and dropped the bulky bundle, then separated out one part. "Flak jackets," she announced. "Also known as body armor. It will give you guys a little protection from any stray bullets." She held it out to Harry, then passed out the others to Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Then she showed them how to put them on and adjust them for a proper fit. "Just remember, these things don't make you bullet-proof; a head shot or one in an arm or leg can still kill you or bleed you out. But some protection is better than none, and I'm afraid it's the best I could do on short notice."

"Are we ready?" Perenelle asked. She held out a key ring, expanded so that there was ample room for all of them to touch it. "Joseph, if you will place a finger on the key ring, you will be transported with us to your home."

Joe shakily stood and joined them as they gathered around the key ring Perenelle held out. After verifying that everyone was touching it, Perenelle triggered it with a word, "Snuggles!" Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel as they were transported back to Morningside Drive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco continued walking until he reached what was obviously a major cross street. To his right he could see downtown; leftwards appeared to be more residential. If his sense of direction were correct, he should be turning toward the downtown area, but the residential streets tended to twist and curve, and he needed to be sure. He stepped several paces back from the busy street, and repeated the exercise with the pigeon. As he'd expected, the bird headed more or less in the same direction as the cross street, toward the city proper. Stuffing the pigeon back in the box, Draco started walking toward the lights of Atlanta.

Draco kept an eye out for a taxi. Perhaps if he were able to ride for a few miles and then get another fix on his quarry, he would be able to narrow the distance between them and overcome the girl's head start.

It took him only a few minutes to flag a cab. Draco told the driver he wanted to get within walking distance of the shops and pubs downtown; the driver looked at him for a moment, muttered something about him being a bit young for The Cheetah, whatever that was, and suggested Peachtree and International. Draco nodded, knowing that he had seen Peachtree a number of times during his walkabout and hoping it would be about the right distance.

Fifteen minutes later he was on the street again. He was in the middle of the city, surrounded by tall buildings. Here, there were far more people about; small groups and individuals almost clogged the sidewalks. In order to use the pigeon again, he had to walk a block off the main street and enter an alley.

It looked as if he had come about the right distance. He had been heading more or less south, and now it seemed the girl was somewhere to the west of him. Draco began walking again.

Draco maintained a fast, steady pace for the next half-hour, then stopped to check his direction again. His quarry was still more or less to the west, so odds were he wasn't too close yet. If possible he would have taken another cab, but very little seemed to be moving in the area he was now in - vehicles or people on foot. This seemed to be a more industrial type of area; the streets were not lighted nearly as well, either.

Draco shrugged; there would be no returning empty-handed; only a summons via the ring would end his quest early. Draco continued west.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat wasn't making very good time. Her ankle was hurting and had begun to swell; she had to stop frequently to rest, and when she did move, her pace was far slower than normal. After the trip to the mall, she'd thought she was more or less recovered; but now, thinking back, she had never really walked that far that day - most of it she had spent seated - at the eye doctor's, then at the food court, then at the movie; and she'd kept a pretty rapid pace when she had first left Joe's. This did not bode well at all.

As she had walked, she had picked up from the side of the road what looked like a handle that had broken off a shovel. She used it like a walking stick, though her intent had been more along the lines of having something with which to defend herself; running away did not appear to be much of an option at this point.

At this point she was walking - or honestly, limping - for about half a mile, then resting for perhaps ten minutes, then walking again. From the buildings in the distance, she was approaching the downtown area, which was good - lots of people about, and not too far from the interstate highways, where with any luck she could find a ride to some point south - ideally Florida - and get as far away from Atlanta as possible.

As she rested, she thought about Joe. She wished she had been able to stay longer; that she would have had a chance to find out if he were on the level. Those clean sheets and the comfortable chair - and the books - seemed awfully attractive right now. What was it like, she wondered, to have a place where you belonged? That you could call home?

But it was pointless to worry about such things; she had made her decision, and even if she were inclined to turn back, she would never make that distance on foot; and at this point, odds were she couldn't find it. Sighing, she used the broken handle to pull herself to her feet and started walking again.

She seemed to be slowly making her way into a better area - the buildings seemed to be in better repair, and more of the streetlights were working - but she still had at least two or three miles to go before reaching the downtown area. Perhaps a little over two hours, she thought, perhaps she could make it a bit further this time.

Cat's reflexes, finely honed by living on the streets, suddenly took over; she had seen a flicker of movement ahead; she immediately stepped back into the shadows of the building she was passing and watched and listened carefully.

Some sort of confrontation was taking place ahead; she could make out voices; at least two angry and challenging; another defiant, but with a bit of desperation as well. It was at least a block away.

Staying in the shadows, she crept forward, all senses alert. As she moved closer, she could make out four figures; three of them surrounded a fourth. As she moved forward, she could tell the three were local homeboys; the fourth must be another kid like her who had gotten caught in the wrong neighborhood. The locals and their victim all appeared to be within a year or two of her age.

At least one of them had a knife; she caught the reflection as he twirled it back and forth. Creeping forward, Cat was able to make out some of what they said. They were ragging their captive about... pigeons? He was carrying pigeons? Even at the worst, she'd never been that hungry. And now they seemed angry because he had only coins? Well, duh, what did they expect from someone off the street? Most of the time she'd lacked even that.

As she watched, creeping closer, she saw the boy in the center make a quick move toward a pocket. The one with the knife slashed out; she saw something drop out of the victim's hand; one of the others moved a pace or two away and stomped on whatever the boy had dropped. The boy didn't seem to take any notice; he was holding his hand and arm against himself, but even from here she could see the blood covering his hand. Then the three surrounding him began to pummel the lone boy who tried to protect his head and torso as much as possible with his remaining good arm.

Cat had seen enough; part of her mind screamed this wasn't her fight, and that she should run as quickly as she could in the other direction. But another part simply wouldn't turn away. Cat knew all too well what it was to be in this sort of situation, and here was someone who looked like a fellow traveler... her ankle forgotten, Cat slithered forward through the shadows, then moved swiftly forward, screaming as she swung the handle in a wide arc that hit the knife-welder in the wrist.

The knife flew somewhere into the darkness and the boy in the middle crumpled, no longer being bounced between the three. The one who had had the knife backed off, holding his wrist, and the three of them were shouting obscenities at her. Cat raised the handle again and surged forward; hitting one of the others on an arm he had raised to block the blow. The three of them started to back off, and Cat followed, handle at the ready. She then rushed toward them, and the three broke and ran; Cat did not chase them any further, but moved warily back to the fallen boy who was rolling on the ground holding his bleeding arm and hand to his chest.

Carefully watching for anyone approaching, she said, "Can you stand up? We need to get out of here right now. They may come back, and there could be more of them."

The figure nodded, and Cat held out a hand that the boy grasped with his good hand; she helped him pull himself up. "We need to go. Now!"

The boy nodded, but seemed to be looking for something on the ground. He bent over and picked up something - to Cat it looked like a small stick - and groaned. She repeated, "We have to get out of here. I was able to get the jump on them this time, but they may come back with their friends." The boy nodded again. Still holding his hand close to his chest, he allowed her to push him in the direction she had been heading - back toward the lights of Atlanta.

As they walked along as quickly as they could manage, Cat realized how soft the boy's hand had been. If this kid were on the street, he was a very recent arrival; no one had hands that soft. And her initial suspicion that he was like her - a runaway - didn't seem nearly as likely now. His clothing was too good, too new - perhaps she had been deceived by the amount of damage his attackers had done before she arrived.

"Who... who the hell... are you..." he said, apparently a bit out of breath, "and where... did you come... from?"

Whoever he was, he wasn't local; his accent was all wrong, and... different. This boy was not from the street; he was more out of place here than she had been with Joe. "They call me Cat on the street. But my name is Lena. Lena Rosier."

"Rosier!" Suddenly the boy was looking at her intently; as they passed neared a streetlight, he moved in front of her and turned, intently studying her features. "Rosier... but your face... and your eyes. Potter!" He looked carefully at her forehead, then again at her face and eyes. "Somehow, you're related to Potter. Now it all starts to make sense."

"We can't stay here," Cat insisted; whoever or whatever Potter was could wait until later. "We need to get out of here now; back into the city where there are people; where we've got a lot better chance of not getting jumped. You almost got killed back there; if they've got friends, they may try to kill us both if they catch us. Let's go." She stepped around him and started moving forward. "And who are you?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Draco? I've never heard of a Draco before. But you're not from here."

"No, I'm from England."

"Any idea why those guys jumped you?"

"Something about their turf, about "dissing" them, whatever that means... they didn't like how I was dressed or what I was carrying..."

"Pigeons?" Cat asked.

"It's not important now," Draco said. "You're limping."

"Messed up my ankle a few days back. I'm okay. Are you still bleeding?"

"A little."

"When we get a little further, I can make a bandage... but I suppose you have some place you can go, where you can get a doctor..."

"I'm... I'm not sure," Draco said, hesitantly. After a moment he continued talking softly as if to himself. "I can't risk it... not while Bellatrix... and you probably saved my life back there - and that is ancient and powerful magic..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Portkey transported them to the front yard of Joe's house on Morningside Drive without incident. The neighborhood was quiet, and no one appeared to take note of the sudden arrival of a dozen people in front of one of the houses. Perenelle and Chris helped Joe up the stairs to the front door; Joe unlocked it and motioned for the others to follow. After turning on the lights, he led the way to his den and indicated the book Jamie had been reading and the spare pair of glasses Jamie had left behind.

Sirius transformed into his canine form and intensely sniffed both the book and the glasses for several seconds and then moved next to Joe, carefully taking his measure with his sensitive nose. Sirius then resumed human form and asked, "Both those items have been heavily handled; did she leave any clothing?"

"If she did, it would be upstairs in her room," Joe replied. "And there are the sheets she slept on..."

"Where?" Sirius demanded.

"Up the stairs, first door on the right."

Sirius started toward the stairs, transforming in mid-stride, and Padfoot bounded up the stairs. It was quiet for several moments, and then the large black dog descended as quickly as he had climbed. Sirius returned to his human form long enough to announce "I've got it; it was obvious where she went out the window." Transforming back into Padfoot, he ran from the room; a few seconds later they could all hear vigorous barking from outside.

"He's found a trail," Lupin said.

A short time later they were all outside. Bill and Charlie restored the two SUVs to their normal size while Padfoot ran down the drive, slowing to sniff occasionally. Reaching the street, he turned and continued for perhaps fifty feet before turning back and joining the others, again shifting briefly into human form to announce, "She at least started down the street. Come on."

Padfoot ran down the driveway again, and barked twice, waiting.

There was a moment's discussion as they sorted themselves into the two vehicles. Both Perenelle and Chris urged Joe to remain here; but he argued that when they found Jamie, he could help reassure her as to what was happening; with his promise to stay in the background should any confrontation develop, he was added to the party.

With Sirius in his Animagus form, Chris and Lupin were the available drivers. Chris was to drive the lead SUV; Harry rather forcefully insisted on taking the front passenger seat. Ginny, Perenelle, Bill, and Charlie joined them; the rest went with Lupin in the second vehicle. As they turned out of the driveway, Padfoot loped away down the sidewalk, pausing occasionally to mark the scent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco was growing weary. They had walked as swiftly as Lena could manage, until she stumbled; somehow her arm had ended up on his shoulders and his arm around her back as he pushed them along as swiftly as he could. After walking steadily for over an hour, they were back in a better-lit and more traveled area. This area looked familiar to Draco; then he realized they were near the point he had left the last taxi.

They rested a few minutes, then Draco insisted on pushing on. There were too many youths - and worse, groups of them- who looked and dressed similar to the three that had accosted him earlier. Draco led them back the way he had originally come; then, as they reached Peachtree Street, Lena pointed excitedly to a sign. "The interstate is that way. If we can reach that, it shouldn't be too hard to get a ride away from here."

And there's the problem, Draco thought. What to do next?

Getting away from here - from the heat and humidity, from Bellatrix, from Father and the rest of it - on the surface, it was tempting. But Draco, knowing more or less who and what his companion was, knew that she would be followed and searched for relentlessly no matter where she went - and if he were found with her when he'd had the means to deliver her - he'd fare better in the hands of the Dark Lord himself than with Father. And then there was Bellatrix...

But if he delivered her now - that might trigger whatever Bellatrix had set up - and if this slip of a girl were indeed what she appeared to be - anything and everything else would be overlooked if Bellatrix presented her to the Dark Lord... even Lucius having an "accident". No wonder she had planned to make a move here. And now, he was essentially defenseless - his wand was broken - not that he counted on besting Bellatrix one-on-one; but the odds were a lot worse than that. No matter what, he could ill afford for Lena to come within the reach of his aunt, at least before finding some way to defend himself and make his father listen.

And then there were the events of the last few hours to consider. Lena had at least saved him from serious harm... no, she was right when she had said he'd almost been killed. Perhaps if he'd opened his money belt and given them what they had demanded at first rather than act as if the three Muggles were not a threat... but hindsight was useless now. He owed Lena a life debt, and that was powerful and ancient magic - magic that even he, a Malfoy, was loath to cross. Even Professor Snape, as much as he hated Potter, still respected some nebulous debt he owed Potter's father - even when doing so incurred the wrath of the Dark Lord. Clearly, a life debt was not to be trifled with, and handing her over to Father, Bellatrix, or any of the Dark Lord's followers was to consign her to death, or more likely, a fate much worse than death. And there were many cautionary tales, even in Malfoy Manor's dark library, showing a worse fate eventually would catch up with one who betrayed a life debt. The only way to be free of such an obligation was to repay it in kind.

How had he ended up in this position - owing a life debt to anyone, especially someone tied to Harry Potter as she so clearly was? Any way he turned, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Perhaps the best thing to do was continue on as she suggested for now and look for any opportunity to extract himself from all this. Then he had an idea of how to perhaps at least spin things if they were caught. He slipped the ring from his finger and dropped it in the next street drain they passed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't think there's any doubt," Sirius said. "She jumped a train. The scent ends there," he said, pointing, "And before that, her footsteps are further apart that usual; she was running to catch it."

Lupin was looking at a map. "Roads cross these tracks at fairly regular intervals, but there's not really any road that parallels them. At best, it would be hit or miss."

"My best guess is she was here a few hours ago," Sirius said.

Chris had been talking into her mobile. Snapping it shut, she said, "I've got them working on finding out what trains run through here and where they go, but it may take a little while before we have answers."

"And she could get off anywhere as easily as she got on," Bill observed.

"I don't think so," Joe commented. "I think she was trying to get as far away from here as possible. Most likely she's huddled in the corner of some boxcar."

"Then it's settled," Harry said. "We push on."

"On foot, Harry?" Lupin asked, gently. "We can follow the tracks as best we can from the road, but there's not much chance of catching up with a train on foot."

"Not on foot," Harry replied, "by broom. Ginny?"

Ginny removed something from her pocket, then swirled her wand. Three Firebolt II cases appeared, and two older brooms. Harry knelt, opened one of the cases, and took out his broom. He started to mount, but stopped as Perenelle touched his arm and said, "Harry, please wait."

Perenelle looked thoughtful for a moment. "I believe the Firebolts will carry two and still easily outpace the other brooms."

"One of them is my hand-me-down Cleansweep," Ginny said. "It's not very fast."

"But that means that eight of us can proceed along these tracks," Perenelle said. "Which six of you will accompany us?"

"Gin," Harry whispered, "Stay here."

Ginny did not respond verbally. "No! I will not leave your side, my love. To the gallows-foot - and after."

"Then - ride with me."

"I'm with Harry," Ginny announced.

Sirius would not be left behind, and Perenelle observed that his Animagus ability might be required again. It was decided the two of them would share another of the Firebolts. Perenelle reminded them there was a possibility they could encounter combat; on that basis, Chris claimed a space on the remaining Firebolt, and Bill and Charlie took the two older brooms. Ron's argument that one of the brooms was his went nowhere; he was somewhat mollified when Perenelle gave him one of the homing portkeys.

Lupin and Snape exchanged a look. Remus said, "I'll go."

"No," Snape said softly. "It is my place...my responsibility... my duty... and my right."

"What do you know of responsibility or duty... or of what's right?" Sirius challenged.

Snape looked down for a moment, and then his eyes met Sirius' eyes. They bored into each other until Snape finally said, "Potter said some days ago that it is not our differences, but what we hold in common... He was right - profoundly right - about that. But he was mistaken on another point when he observed that Albus Dumbledore was the only wizard who gave me a second chance. Lily Evans... Lily Potter did... as well. I was to be... No, I AM Jamie's godfather."

Snape seemed to struggle for a moment, then said, "Sirius, Albus Dumbledore asked us to set aside our differences against a common foe. I... until now, I have at best paid only lip service to that. Can we at put them aside until Jamie is safe? For Jamie's... and for Lily's sake?"

Sirius continued to look at Snape for a moment, and then took a step forward and held out his hand. "Severus."

Snape shook his proffered hand firmly. "Sirius."

"Clock's ticking, dudes," Chris said. Looking at Snape, "You going to drive, or shall I?"

After another look at the map, Lupin agreed to attempt to meet up with them perhaps 20 miles away where a major road appeared to cross the tracks.

Harry kicked off first; once in the air, Sirius and Perenelle flew beside him, followed by Bill and Charlie on the two older brooms, with Snape and Chris on a Firebolt bringing up the rear. The pace set by the old Cleansweep was frustrating to Harry as he felt the power of the Firebolt II surging beneath his hands. Though he had no way of knowing, they were making much faster time than the train had.

They had flown for twenty minutes when the railroad track split into two directions; one went more or less south; the other, west. Chris urged Snape to take the broom down close to the switch. Studying it for a moment, she announced, "South."

They continued on for two more minutes when Sirius held up his hand, then pointed, "There, ahead. That looks like a train, and it's stopped."

"There are lights at the front," Harry said, slowing.

"It's not that long..." Sirius remarked. "Why don't the rest of you wait here while Padfoot tries to pick up a scent?"

Sirius and Perenelle landed; Perenelle kicked off and returned to the air while Sirius transformed and ran toward the train. Before quite reaching it, he stopped, sniffed carefully, barked several times then started running back the other way until he reached a paved street. Looking carefully, he transformed and called up, "I've picked up a trail. She was on that train, and she must have gotten off when it stopped. This trail's less than a couple hours old." He changed back to Padfoot and started swiftly up the street.

Perenelle cautioned them to fly above the level of the streetlights, and to be as careful as possible not to be seen; however, the area seemed mostly deserted. Padfoot had maintained a swift, loping pace; he had transformed into Sirius long enough to tell them that Jamie was apparently tiring; she was stopping often to rest. He did not mention the infection that was obvious to his sense of smell. Padfoot finally reached the point where Jamie had rescued Draco Malfoy; he sniffed around the area for some time, growling and his hackles rising.

Sirius finally resumed human form and announced grimly, "Something happened here. There are many mingled scents, including Jamie's - and Draco Malfoy's. One of them was bleeding; pretty heavily from what's on the ground. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Jamie; I think the blood is from Malfoy. Whoever else was here, they took off in that direction," Sirius pointed. "Jamie and Malfoy's trail continues along the street here. They seem to be traveling together."

"Sirius, how far behind are we?" Harry asked.

"Maybe an hour."

"Then hurry, Sirius. There's no telling..."

Sirius nodded, and transformed. Padfoot no longer loped, but ran, slowing only to keep track of the scent.

It was not long before they reached the more active and better-lit downtown area; Perenelle motioned for the party to land. "We cannot continue on broom; there are too many people and it is too well-lit in this area."

"On foot?" Charlie asked.

"No, back to a vehicle," Perenelle replied. With her communicator, she called Lupin, asked him to shrink the SUV, and then use the Portkey she had left with Ron. A minute later, Ron, Hermione, Joe, and Remus joined them. Remus ducked into a nearby alley to restore the SUV, and then drove out. It would be a tight fit; they had left the second vehicle near the point where Jamie had jumped the train. And it was not the best idea to magically expand it if there was a chance they would be confronting Death Eaters; having it un-spelled at the wrong point might well put them at a disadvantage.

Harry and Ginny had not dismounted from their broom; Ginny now held a shimmering cloth. As the others packed into the vehicle, Harry announced, "There's not room for all of us in there; we'll fly above and provide cover and lookout." Ginny covered them with the cloak as Harry kicked off, ignoring the objections. Padfoot sat and barked loudly at the air, but Harry said, "Sirius, they've been going pretty much in a straight line. If you're just going to sit there, I'm going to keep going, with or without you."

Padfoot growled, stood, and started tracking again, with Lupin pacing him in the SUV. Harry increased his altitude to around fifty feet, flying directly above the vehicle. As Jamie and Malfoy had earlier, they started up the hill toward Peachtree. Harry's greater height gave him the first view of street past the hilltop; perhaps two blocks past Peachtree, he saw two people walking together, one limping. One of them had hair that appeared almost white in the streetlights.

Harry swooped down beside the vehicle and said, "I think I've spotted them. They are two, maybe three blocks ahead. Looks like it's just her and Malfoy." Harry then pulled up on the handle of the Firebolt II, and released its full power.

Even with two riders, the speed was impressive. Harry barely had time to whisper to Ginny to stay under the cloak with the broom before landing quietly perhaps 20 paces behind the couple. From this distance, there was no doubt of Draco Malfoy's identity, and the girl beside him had flaming red hair.

Harry approached them as silently as he could manage, his wand ready. When he had halved the distance between them, he planted himself, readied his wand, and said loudly, "Malfoy!"

Draco spun on his heels, almost knocking Jamie down. He stared unbelieving at his nemesis, stunned at his sudden appearance as he spat, "Potter."

They exchanged hard glares for several seconds, and then a smirk appeared on Draco's face. He slipped his arm around Jamie's back and drawled, "I should have expected you would be here, Potter. I must have failed to recognize your stench in this vile, sweltering, barbarian-filled slime-pit..." Draco made a show of looking around and behind Harry. "Where's the Weaselette, Potter? Did she wise up? No Weasel or Mudblood in tow?"

"I'm right here, Malfoy," Ginny said. She swept off the cloak, her wand at the ready. Both Draco and Jamie turned to look back at where Ginny was standing behind them. Jamie continued to stare at her as Draco faced Harry again; he saw a large black shape approaching. A moment later a huge black dog stood beside and slightly in front of Harry, growling viciously with fangs barred. Jamie turned to face Harry again, and then drew back against Draco as she caught sight of Padfoot.

"I see your taste in traveling companions has not changed," Draco said, though not quite as confidently as he had before.

"Actually, I think my companion wants a taste of you. And your usual companions seem to be... missing," Harry pointed out, emphasizing the point as he flexed his wand. Harry didn't understand why Draco had not gone for his wand.

"Draco, who are these people?" Jamie asked softly. "What's going on?"

Draco ignored her question. "But I found a new one, Potter." The arrogance returned as a plan began to take shape in Draco's mind. "We've gotten along quite famously together. Though that doesn't explain why she has the name of an honorable pure-blood family, but looks almost exactly like you. Or what you're doing here. Skeletons in the closet, Potter? Mummy and daddy couldn't handle a Squib? Or maybe Mummy played around?"

Jamie took a step back from Draco; her face showed both confusion and fear. Harry ignored Draco and instead looked intently at Jamie until she returned his stare. Slowly, Harry raised his hand to his forehead and pushed aside his bangs as Jamie gasped and placed a hand against her abdomen. "Ja... Lena," Harry said, "I'm Harry; I'm your brother. I know this is confusing, but we've been looking for you. Don't be afraid."

Harry had heard footsteps approaching as he spoke; glancing to his side, he saw Joe standing beside him. Jamie had taken another step away from Draco, and was looking around rapidly, as if trying to find an opening through which she could run. Joe took a step toward her and said, "Lena, these are friends and your family. They are here to help and to take care of you. Please, Lena, trust me. Please come with us."

Jamie looked at him, obviously torn. There was no place for her to run; finally, she nodded and let Joe support her and start to lead her away. As she started to move away, Draco said, "Wait!" He took two steps toward her, said something softly that Harry did not hear, then louder, "And we're even, Lena - A life for a life. All debts are paid."

She looked at him strangely, and then nodded to Draco as she started to limp toward Joe. Harry started to smile encouragingly, but hearing a series of soft cracks and pops behind him he spun around to see that more than twenty people had suddenly appeared in the street, perhaps a block away. Harry saw several of them make motions that could only be wand movements; others were holding... no, pointing... guns?

Harry leapt toward Jamie and Joe as he shouted "PROTEGO!" The shield had barely formed before it was hit with several spells... and bullets? The spells deflected mostly back the way they had come. Harry quickly looked behind him; there was no sign of Ginny - or Padfoot - then he saw a black paw become visible for an instant and knew that Ginny had covered herself and Sirius with the cloak and that they were okay, at least for the moment.

Turning back toward their attackers, Harry saw the flash of spells being cast from several places toward the attackers. He - or perhaps Jamie, who was now quivering in terror as she clutched Joe - seemed to be the focus of the wizards attacking. Harry again cast his shield charm and watched as another volley of spells deflected away; there was still quite a bit of gunfire, but it no longer seemed directed at them. Harry urged Jamie and Joe back toward a building - no, it was a car park - where there would at least be some cover. Before reaching it, he was forced to cast another shield charm.

Cautiously looking around the thick cement wall, Harry could see that both the attackers and defenders had spread out. There seemed to be more gunfire; as he watched, he recognized members of Chris's team, some who were also wielding guns. Chris held a wand; as Harry watched she sent a stream of spells - spells with a green light - apparently targeting the opposing gunmen. When the light touched any of the gunmen, they dropped at once; Chris was using Unforgivables.

Cautioning Joe to stay behind the wall - and keep Jamie there - Harry managed to fire off a few stunners though none found their targets. There was not much he could do here; the attackers were too far, or his friends or Chris's people were in the line of fire. At least Jamie was no longer drawing most of the fire. Harry hated hiding here and leaving the offensive to his friends, but Jamie and Joe had no protection without him. If only he had mastered the Portkey spell, he could have sent them to safety. As he watched, he saw Padfoot seemingly materialize out of thin air and leap at the throat of one of the Death Eaters - it looked like Bellatrix Lestrange. Whoever it was went down under the weight of the large black dog that viciously savaged its victim.

Hearing movement behind him, Harry spun and saw Ron and Hermione approaching, moving from column to column. As they ran up, Hermione gasped, "Harry, are you all right?"

Harry nodded. "Hermione, can you make a Portkey? And get Jamie tp someplace safe?"

"I can't; my wand's broken," she replied. "Hit by a bullet."

"You're bleeding," Harry said, seeing blood trickling down her arm and cheek.

"I'm okay... HARRY!" she screamed, pointing. Ginny was slowly backing in their direction - dueling Lucius Malfoy. Something was wrong with her left arm, it hung uselessly beside her. Even so, she still matched the elder Malfoy spell for spell, but it looked as if she was tiring.

Harry shouted, "Take care of Jamie!" at Ron as he ran from behind the column. At the same time, he heard a volley of gunfire and saw Ginny crumple, her wand falling from her hand. Harry screamed, "GINNY!" as Lucius Malfoy flashed him a vicious grin and pointed his wand toward Ginny and said, "Avada Ke..."

There was nothing Harry could do; there was no spell or anything else he could do that would reach Malfoy in time. As he watched in horror, helpless, he saw Ginny raise her right hand and mouthe, "Reducto!" Malfoy went flying backwards.

"Accio Ginny!" Harry cried as he ran toward her. He caught her as gently as he could, then seeing a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye, cast a shield charm in the nick of time as Malfoy cast a spell as he sat up. From the purplish light, Harry recognized this the spell Dolohov had used on Hermione at the Ministry. Harry waved his wand as best he could as he cradled Ginny against his chest. "Diffindo!" He watched with satisfaction as a rip opened across Malfoy's chest and watched as he fell back against the pavement. Harry did not press his advantage; he retreated toward the parking deck as quickly as he could, watching carefully for any danger and hoping that Ron and Hermione were watching his back.

Reaching the safety of the thick wall, he was able to take a good look at Ginny's injuries. He was horrified to see a line of silver marks across her chest and shoulder where bullets had hit the flak jacket; she had also been hit at least once in the right arm, and it was bleeding rather badly. Even so, she managed to grin up at him and whisper, "I think I'm okay. I don't think anything got through the jacket."

"Ron?" Harry said, motioning that he wanted his friend to take his sister. As he eased Ginny into Ron's arms, he asked, "Hermione, is there anything we can do about the bleeding?"

"I think I can help," Joe said. Wrapping his hand with a handkerchief, he pressed against Ginny's arm; the bleeding seemed to lessen considerably.

Harry turned to leave, a look of determination on his face. "Harry, don't..." Hermione began. "No... Harry, please be careful."

Harry nodded as he carefully stepped out from behind the wall. There was no sign of Malfoy; he could see a few flashes of magic from one of the side streets. Walking to where Ginny had fallen, he picked up her wand and pocketed it, then started toward where the fight was still in progress. He had only taken a few steps when Sirius and Perenelle rounded the corner. Sirius' face and chest were covered with blood, but on seeing Harry he broke into a wide grin.

"Sirius, are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned.

"None of it's mine, Harry. Don't worry. Are you all right?"

Harry nodded, and Perenelle queried, "Jamie and Joseph?"

"Fine; we took cover in that car park; Ginny, Ron, and Hermione are there, too. Ginny's hurt but conscious, she said that flak thing took the worst of it; Hermione lost her wand and was cut up a bit. Is anyone else...?"

"Then we're all accounted for," Perenelle said with a sign of relief. Two members of Chris' team were hurt pretty badly; they've already been sent to the healers. Bill and Remus were hit by rather nasty spells; a bullet grazed Severus, but he is otherwise in good health if not in a good disposition; the three of them and Charlie have returned to the hotel."

"Is that safe?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Chris replied as she rounded the corner. "Your hotel is practically covered now with wall-to-wall Aurors. There's another contingent on the way here - as usual, they always show up after the party is over. A memory squad and a reversal squad are on their way, too. Sam will stay here to coordinate."

"Did Lucius Malfoy...?"

"Yes, he Apparated away just after you and Ginny kicked his ass. One Death Eater is dead, and so are several of their hired thugs. And we captured two Death Eaters." Chris replied.

"One of them was Bella," Sirius said, grinning widely. "I'm afraid some healers have their work cut out for them."

"It's not very smart standing out in the middle of the street like this. We can finish comparing notes when everyone's back where it's safer," Chris said. "Let's get the others."

Harry led the way back to the parking deck; Perenelle and Chris quickly examined Ginny; Chris then did things with her wand as Perenelle checked Hermione. Perenelle asked Ron for the key ring he had carried; she made a Portkey and held it out. It took some persuasion from Joe to get Jamie to join her finger to the key ring with the others, but when she finally did, Perenelle triggered the Portkey, returning them to the hotel.