Return of the Lion

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

Chapter 3: A Girl with no Legs

Europe was a hellhole those days. A land where evil did not sleep and darkness was ever present. People lived in fear as dark creatures wandered around terrorizing their victims that could not hide away. The great cities of Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Moscow, Florence, St. Petersburg, and Athens had been converted into Dark Fortresses where Death Eaters lived in great luxury while beggars littered the streets, forever preyed on by the dark creatures whom roamed Europe. But, the most horrible, yet magnificent of these fortress cities was London where Voldemort himself resided: in a great fortress known as Parselrock. This fortress was the symbol of the Dark Lord's reign of terror and its dungeons were a spawning ground for the legions of dark creatures that served Voldemort.

There were labor camps all over the continent. Muggles and muggle-borns were used in slave labor to construct the mighty fortresses that were once metropolitan cities. Yet resistance movements constantly sprung up, mostly in the labor camps themselves. Muggles and muggle-borns as well as many pure bloods fought the dark terror overrunning Europe, and most never gave up hope that they would survive and peace would return.

There was a labor camp near Paris that had British slaves working there. One day, a five-year old muggle boy was pushing a rock around as part of the slave program. He was weak and hungry, and most people would not be able to imagine the harsh brutality of forcing a boy so young to work such backbreaking labor.

As the boy worked hard to get his job done, the roof of the shelter he was in suddenly started to collapse due to disrepair! Too exhausted, the boy couldn't understand the cries of warning as the roof fell on his head. At the last minute, a girl about the age of eighteen dove forward and pushed the boy out of the way. In the process however, her legs were crushed under the debris and she blacked out.

* * * * * * * * * *

When the young girl finally came to, she found herself lying in a bed in a dark room. She also noticed that someone was moving around in the room. "Where am I? Who's there?" she asked weakly in a clear London accent.

"Shh, everything's OK now," said the person. It turned out to be an American woman in her early thirties with shoulder length blonde hair and warm blue eyes. "I'm Dr. Susan Thomas, a surgeon. You're in what was Versailles Palace. It's the headquarters of the French resistance now." She gently stroked the girl's hair with a kind smile on her face. The girl in the bed had long frizzy golden brown hair that went down to the small of her back and cinnamon brown eyes.

"The boy? Is he..."

"He's OK. He's here with us in the resistance. You saved his life. Now child, tell me, what is your name?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger." Hermione's face suddenly turned into a look of alarm and fear. "Doctor, why can't I feel my legs?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Susan Thomas suddenly looked very sorrowful. "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I don't know how to say this, but by the time we were able to clear the debris off of you...Hermione, I'm so sorry."

Hermione apprehensively glanced at her covers at where her legs should've been. As soon as she saw the lack of the bumps in her covers she started weeping, for it could only mean one thing. Both of her legs had been amputated above her knees. Susan gently comforted the crying girl as Hermione wept for the loss of her legs, yet felt thankful that she was still alive.

* * * * * * * * * *

The resistance found an old wheelchair for Hermione. They were all muggles whom had developed a deep hatred for the magical community due to Voldemort's reign. For that reason, Hermione kept the fact that she was a muggle-born witch a secret for the time being.

Hermione got used to the wheelchair in no time. She was still sad about the loss of her legs but she decided that at least she was alive and that she would enjoy the rest of her life even without the ability to walk. If she was even slightly resentful of the fact that if it were a witch or wizard whom had found her, she would still have her legs, she hid it well.

Hermione got to know the members of the muggle resistance very well. They were all once people who had their own lives, jobs, families, and were blissfully unaware of the existence of the magical world: until Voldemort came. Now, they had lost everything to the Dark Forces and the only thing that had left was to fight back. Indeed, Hermione found that the former palace was lain out with all sorts of muggle weapons: machine guns, hand grenades, cannons, missile launchers, rifles and other weapons she had no clue were.

Hermione grew to become friends with Susan Thomas. Despite their age difference, they became quite close and were on a first name basis. On the other hand, John Seymour, the leader of the resistance remained skeptical of the legless girl in a wheel chair. He seemed to be convinced that Hermione was a magical spy and was always interrogating her.

"So where are you from?" asked Seymour.

Hermione sighed exasperated. "I've told you so many times John. I'm from London, but I went to boarding school in Scotland."

The Texan resistance fighter looked unconvinced. He was a large man at six foot four and was loaded with muscles, around 28 years of age with a full head of blonde hair along with beard and moustache. He often boasted that he was once a Texas Ranger. Hermione couldn't help but feel small around him, which she definitely was without her legs.

"So did you have any friends at this boarding school?" asked Seymour, not even bothering to hide his skepticism.

"Yes, two inseparable best friends," said Hermione a little sadly. It hurt her to talk about Harry and Ron. Both of them had disappeared from her, Harry two years ago, and Ron just a few months before. She missed them dearly, especially Harry.

During their school days, Hermione had feelings for Harry Potter. Yet she always dismissed those feelings believing them to be simply nothing more than a childhood crush. It was only after Harry had disappeared that she realized that her feelings were not just a childhood crush: that she was in love with her missing best friend. Hermione had spent many nights after her epiphany crying herself to sleep since she had no clue of what had happened to Harry.

After Harry's disappearance, Voldemort had grown more and more powerful until he had become the ruler of Europe. Hogwarts was one of the last safest places in the world but even the school couldn't keep out the Death Eaters forever. She and Ron stuck together after Harry had left, but even that had ended on their graduation day. On that day, the Death Eaters finally breached the defensive wards of the school and either killed or captured all the students and teachers there. Many had fled but Hermione had been amongst those that had been captured. Since then, she was carted off to different labor camps throughout Europe until she was finally taken to the Paris labor camp. There, she had run into the accident that had cost her legs. And now, here she was in Versailles, with a muggle resistance group.

"So how do we know that you're not some spy for those witches and wizards?" hissed Seymour.

Susan threw her arms up exasperated. "John. She lost her legs saving a child's life. How much more convincing do you need?"

"But if she were a witch, the loss of limbs would be nothing. They can grow 'em back."

Hermione would've laughed if the situation weren't serious. Wizard medicine could not grow back amputated limbs. But the muggle ignorance was starting to get on her nerves a little.

"I'm going outside," said Hermione. She wheeled her chair out to the balcony. From there, she could see Paris in the distance. All the landmarks, the Eiffel tower, the Arc du Troiumphe, and Notre Dame Cathedral were still standing. But they were now magical strongholds of a dark fortress city. The gloomy atmosphere surrounding Paris looked so different from when he had last visited there with her parents back when she was twelve years old, during the summer before her third year.

Her parents. Hermione let a few tears slide down her cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were murdered by Death Eaters during the spring of her fifth year. Hermione could still remember her world come collapsing down when she received the owl that bore the news. And she could still feel the warmth of Harry comforting her while she cried the entire night in his arms. It was a few months after that when Harry disappeared. Hermione had never given up hope that he would come home some day. She truly believed in her heart that Harry would be the one who would finally defeat Voldemort when he returned from wherever he was. That was the hope Hermione had held onto, even when she had seen the world fall apart in front of her eyes.

Hermione glanced down at the children in the courtyard of the palace, playing in the snow. The boy whose life she had saved saw her and waved. Hermione smiled and waved back. The adults of the resistance had tried their best to hide their children from the horrors of reality of life. Many of the children lived oblivious of the terrors that went on outside the palace.

"Here Hermione, this is for you," said a voice from behind her. Hermione craned her head around to see Susan handing her a small package.

"What's this?"

"A special Christmas treat I've been able to dig up."

"Oh, is it Christmas?"

"Actually, its what you British call Boxing Day," said Susan. Hermione sighed.

"I lost track of the dates a long time ago," she said. 'Its only been six months since I've last seen Ron or anyone I know. It seems like years ago,' she thought.

Susan glanced over the balcony toward the city. "I know what you're thinking. You wish that you were spending Christmas with your friends and family." Hermione nodded and thought of Harry. She dearly wished that it were with Harry and the Weasleys that she was spending Christmas.

Susan sighed and glanced at the city. "I moved from Pittsburgh to Paris so that I could set up new horizons with my medical fields. Unfortunately, when I had only been there for a month, the 'darkness' took over. I immediately joined the resistance John set up here and helped them out with my medical knowledge. My family back home probably thinks I'm dead." Susan chuckled bitterly before she turned to Hermione. "Do you have family?"

Hermione shook her head. "My parents died when I was fifteen. I have no other relatives."

"That must have been very hard to deal with."

"It was. But Harry helped me recover. He knew what it felt like to have no parents."

Susan nodded in understanding. Hermione had told her about the best friend she was in love with. "Could you tell me about him?" she asked.

"He was the bravest person I ever knew," said Hermione. "He was selfless, kind, always put others before him, and was very mischievous. He somehow always made me laugh, and he always comforted me when I was sad. He was famous around where we were from, but he never asked anything in return. And he never used his fame for his own advantages. I don't think I can remember how many times I've been dragged into his adventures, breaking so many rules in the process. He'd always laugh whenever I scolded him about breaking rules or whenever I had to urge him to do his homework. He always knew how to brighten the day and I love him so much." Hermione closed her eyes and let a few tears slide down her cheeks. Not being with Harry had been a constant ache she had been carrying for the past two years. Not being with Harry seemed more like losing a limb than the loss of her legs had seemed to her.

Susan was amazed by the young girl who was talking about her best friend in such a way. She may only be eighteen, but it was clear to the doctor that she had already discovered her true love. Hermione sniffed and brushed the tears away.

"Every night, I pray that he would come back. I always believe that just his return would change everything and that it would signal an end to these horrible days." She offered Susan a watery smile. "Harry's return is my anchor to hope. So long as I believe that he will come back one day I don't fall into despair."

Susan squeezed Hermione's shoulder and smiled. "Come back inside. You'll catch a cold out here." She walked back inside the palace.

---

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

1 Peter 4:10

Chapter 4: Return to Hogwarts

Once the sight of the greatest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, Hogwarts castle was now the headquarters of the largest resistance organization against Voldemort. The leaders of the resistance were the former professors of the school as well as a number of powerful witches and wizards, and the castle was still the citadel of hope and citadel against the war against the Dark Forces.

On Christmas Day, the leaders of the resistance were discussing their next course of action against the Dark Lord. Present in the Great Hall were some of the most powerful wizards and witches on the light side.

"Is everyone here and accounted for?" asked Minerva McGonagall. She was one of the leaders of the Hogwarts resistance.

"We are all here but I don't think we're all accounted for," said Severus Snape sounding as oily as usual. He gestured toward Sirius Black who was dozing on the table across from him. Remus Lupin, who was sitting next to Sirius, nudged him with his elbow. Sirius sprang up.

"Did we win the war yet?" he asked still half asleep. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Its like I always say," mumbled Alastor"Mad-eye" Moody. "People don't have enough CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Let us begin right away," said McGonagall with her usual no nonsense tone. "Hagrid, have you been able to contact the giants?"

Rubeus Hagrid straightened up in his much too small seat. "Most of 'em haven' chosen sides professor," he said. "But some a 'em went ta You-know-who's side. I know that at least me cousin, Fanir went ta the dark side."

McGonagall sighed. "I wonder what Albus would say about that if he were here," she muttered. She turned to Arthur and Molly Weasley. "Arthur, have you been able to contact some of the muggle resistance groups?"

Arthur sighed as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yes, but they haven't been to forth coming. Most of them have a deep-rooted fear of wizards and frankly, I don't blame them. It's going to be very hard convincing them to fight along magical resistance groups."

McGonagall was about to say something when the doors suddenly swung open. The members of the resistance all held their breath thinking it was a Death Eater attack, but they all let out a gasp when Ron Weasley entered leading an 18-year old girl dressed in muggle clothes with long auburn hair. Without a word, Molly Weasley ran forward and pulled her son into a strong bear hug.

"Owe Mum. You're cutting my circulation," complained Ron.

"Ron where have you been all this time?" scolded Arthur as he pulled Ron into a hug.

"Er, Dad. You're not going to believe this but I was attending a muggle university in New York." Ron turned to the bashful looking girl right next to him. "Mum, Dad, this is Margaret Chapel. Maggie, these are my parents."

Margaret made a polite curtsey. "Hello Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley," she said a little shyly. Margaret was completely startled when Molly suddenly pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Any friend of Ron is a friend of the entire Weasley family," she said. She pulled away from the flustered looking Margaret and turned to her son. "Ronald Weasley, you have a lot of explaining to do. What were you thinking, just running off to America."

"Uh, Mum. Before you say anything, there's someone else with us." He and Margaret stepped out of the way to allow another man to enter the Great Hall. All of the Hogwarts resistance gasped when Harry Potter walked in.

For about a full minute, there was pure silence in the hall. Then, Sirius suddenly bounded up, grabbed Harry by the collar, and started to shake him senseless. "Where the hell have been?! Do you know how much we needed you here while you were away at God knows where?" he demanded.

"S...Sirius. Can I have my circulation back?" said Harry. Sirius released him. "I'll explain everything later. For now, please just accept the fact that I'm back."

Sirius stared at Harry for a while before he smiled and pulled Harry into a hug. As if the hug was a cue, all of the other members of the ganged up on Harry, either wishing him a welcome back, or scolding him for leaving them without a word.

* * * * * * * * * *

After all manners of explanations on part of Harry and Ron were given, it was decided that Margaret would be given a crash course education in magic while the others prepared for battle. The first move was to get Margaret a wand. Mr. Ollivander was amongst the resistance and with him, his entire stock of wands.

"Ah yes, Mr. Weasley," said Mr. Ollivander. "Fourteen inches, willow, unicorn tail-hair, was it not?"

"Yes it was," said Ron. "We were able to get it with prize money my Dad won in a Daily Prophet Draw. It was actually my second wand, but the first one was a hand me down so it doesn't really count."

Mr. Ollivander nodded before he turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter. Holly, eleven inches, and phoenix feather: excellent for dueling. One of the most powerful wands I ever sold, along with its brother."

Harry nodded and pulled out his wand. "Still the same one," he said.

Mr. Ollivander turned to Margaret and smiled. "Now lets see which wand will chose you, Miss Chapel. Which arm is your wand arm?"

Margaret timidly lifted her right arm up: Mr. Ollivander scared her out a bit with his eerie nature. Mr. Ollivander set the tape measure on her arm and Margaret jumped a little when she noticed that it was taking measurements on its own. Mr. Ollivander finally emerged with a wand.

"Try this, eight inches, maple, and a single feather of a phoenix. Wave it around." Margaret took the wand and waved it but before she was able to bring it down, Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand. "No? Well, how about this? Twelve inches, cherry, and dragon heartstring." Margaret waved it but it was snatched away again. This continued on for another couple of wands, all with no success. Margaret started to get worried that no wand would be suitable for her. Mr. Ollivander on the other hand seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. "Tricky customer eh?" said Mr. Ollivander with glee. "Well, maybe this one. Twelve inches, pine, and a single tail hair from a unicorn."

Margaret took the wand timidly. Immediately, she felt wand get a little wand and buzz with an electric tingling. She waved the wand around and blue sparks shot out.

"Bravo," said Mr. Ollivander while clapping his hands.

"All right!" shouted Ron as he made a victory pose. Harry was also beaming. Margaret smiled at them.

"Well, let's go set up your magical education why not?" said Harry as they made their way back to the Great Hall. They met McGonagall there.

"Well Miss Chapel, I ask that you brace yourself because we are going to cram in what students usually learn throughout seven years into a couple of weeks. It is going to be a lot of hard work."

Margaret smiled and said, "I'll be ready for anything Professor."

McGonagall nodded and said, "Of course it would be a lot easier to work out a curriculum if we could get you sorted."

"That would be no problem," said Harry. "Margaret, could you sit on that stool?" Harry pointed to a stool in one of the corners of the room. Margaret shrugged and sat on the stool. Harry whipped his hat off of his head and placed it on Margaret's head. He pulled it down below her eyes and ears. After about a minute of silence, Ron made a double take when the hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"

Ron timidly pointed at the tattered hat as Harry put it back on his head. "Um, Harry, is that hat..."

"Yep, it's the school Sorting Hat," said Harry. "Brilliant companion but can be a bit annoying at times."

"It said that I have the strong qualities of a Gryffindor but that my intelligence points more toward Ravenclaw," said Margaret with a faint smile.

"Well, that settles it," said McGonagall. "Miss Chapel, we will begin your training tomorrow. You will learn Transfiguration with me, Potions with Professor Snape, Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin, Herbology with Professor Sprout, and Charms with Professor Flitwick."

"I'll make you proud professor," said Margaret. After McGonagall had left, Margaret turned to Harry and Ron. "You got any advice?" she asked.

"Just keep an eye out on Snape," said Harry.

"Yeah, Snape, our most brilliant potions master. Just loved us," said Ron sarcastically.

"You're also lucky you're only taking the core curriculum," said Harry. "Otherwise you might've ended up with Trelawney in divination." Ron snorted with laughter.

"Oh yeah, never failed to predict Harry's death," he said. Both he and Harry burst out laughing.

"I'm still a little scared. What if I'm no good at magic?" asked Margaret, looking a little worried.

"Don't worry about it Maggie," said Ron. "Trust me, before you know it, you'll be out-dueling me."

* * * * * * * * * *

A few days later, the leaders of the resistance were discussing their next plan of action. It was decided that some wizards were to free the prisoners in a labor camp near Manchester. It was also hoped that the move could convince some muggles to combine their resistance movements.

"So do we have any volunteers who want to go on this mission?" asked McGonagall.

"I volunteer," said Harry before anyone else could speak up. All of the leaders stared at the young wizard.

"Harry, I would've thought you'd want to stay in some position of leadership," said Sirius.

"Wouldn't your skills work better in a place of authority?" asked Remus.

"I appreciate the confidence everyone has in my leadership abilities," said Harry with a small smile. "However, the place where I can use my abilities the most is out on the battlefield. It was what I was trained to do these past two years."

Murmurs filled the hall as the leaders discussed, Harry's decision to go straight into the line of fire. Finally, Snape spoke up, "What's with all the discussion? Surely, if Potter wants to go get himself killed, let him go get himself killed. It would do us all a favor."

"Love the confidence you have in Harry, Snape," said Ron. He turned to Harry and said, "You know I'm not going to let you go alone, right?"

"Ron I'm not letting you come with me. Its too dangerous," said Harry.

"Oh, like we all don't live during dangerous times," said Ron. "What right do you have to order me around, Harry?"

"Look Ron. I can't bear putting you in danger. There's too much responsibility on this mission."

"Oh, and I suppose you can handle all the responsibility," snapped Ron. "Look who's talking! You disappeared for two years without a word! I admit that I can fully accept your excuse but it still doesn't take away the bloody fact that you were gone!"

"Ron, I..."

"Don't 'Ron' me, Harry! I'm coming with you and that's final!"

Harry finally gave up. "OK Ron, you can come with me." Harry sighed while Ron grinned and slapped Harry on the back.

"Oh, but Ron, Harry's right it's too dangerous for you," said Molly.

Arthur however, said, "Molly, Ron's a grown up man now, he can make his own decisions." Molly sighed and gave in.

"OK then," said Remus. "You two should leave first thing in the morning. Oh, and you should probably take this with you." Harry gasped when he saw Remus pull out his father's invisibility cloak.

"OK Remus," said Harry while grinning. "And thanks for looking after the cloak while I was away."

The next morning, Harry and Ron took off on broomsticks, flying south to the realm of Voldemort's empire.