Sailor V's Summer Vacation

12 Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, August 4, 1995

Mina was awoken early the next morning by her mirror shouting at her, "Mina, Mina, are you there? Confound it, Sailor V, REPORT!"

She took a quick glance to check in the other mirror that she looked alright, then picked up the one talking, "Venus, Alan, what time is it?"

Alan's worried face looked up at her from the plain silver mirror, "Sorry, Mina, it's only six o'clock in the morning, but I wanted to talk. That ruddy owl of yours wouldn't leave me alone until I had read the entirety of the first book!" Here he showed off his pecked hand with a wounded expression, "You could have warned me that Owl Post was sentient."

Mina giggled, settling back against the headboard with the mirror in her hands, "Now, where would the fun in that be? Considering we're looking at each other right now, I'm guessing Octavian is on his way back to me. Did you feed him before he left? It's a long way to Shropshire from London, though Hermione says Hogwarts is even further. Located somewhere in the moors of Scotland."

Alan blinked at this, "Hogwarts? That's the place the higher-ups were having a kerfuffle about this time last year. Blimey, imagine that."

She nodded, "Yeah, Hogwarts. Turns out it's a boarding school for witches and wizards my age. I think I can get independent study credits if I can find a tutor, as there's no question of me actually attending in person."

Alan frowned at this, "Hang on, attend a school for witches? Wait, back up even further, how would you even be considered eligible for this thing?"

She sighed, "Now that we're on a secure line, I can tell you most of it." She held up her hand when he went to interrupt her, "No, please Alan, let me finish. I can't tell you all, because parts of the story aren't mine to share, but I'll say what I can." She takes a deep breath and continues, "It started with my mother. Do you remember her?"

Alan nodded, "Yes, I looked up to her like a big sister, she went to school with Mum."

Mina gave him a small smile at this, "Well, you know how she'd been adopted by the Riders? It was because she was a Squib, a non-magical person born into a Wizarding family. They were ashamed of her and sent her away with nothing but the clothes she was wearing and a pouch of jewels, which as you probably recall were immediately taken by the York Children's Home. Anyway, this came to light when I did a genealogy test at the bank. My escorts, Remus Lupin and Hermione Granger, were quite concerned when they saw her family's name. Even more so when it turned out I have enough magic to be considered a full witch. Out of fear that, once they heard the news of me, the Malfoys would attempt to control me, it was decided that I needed something called a Blood Adoption immediately."

She gave him a rueful smile, "Since your family, kind as you have been to me had only fostered me all these years, they were able to perform the ritual right away, with the leader of the branch presiding, a doctor called a Healer, on hand in case something went wrong, and the only person in the Wizarding World who had cared for my mother, who is one of the account managers. It's a good thing we did have a Healer in the room, too, because somehow the new Lupin blood interacted with my Venusian heritage and activated a dormant gene in the Malfoy blood for a creature inheritance. You're looking at Britain's first full-blooded Veela in three centuries. A Veela is something like the sirens of Greek myth, except we are part bird instead of part fish. We also have other powers, but I don't know what they are. I'm to get in touch with the wife of the French Assistant Minister for Magic, her older daughter works here in London and is delighted to help me out."

Alan whistled as she paused for breath, reaching for a glass of water that had appeared on the table next to her, "Wow, Mina, I never knew your family was so interesting! But what did you mean, your Venusian heritage? I know you're Sailor V, but is there more to it than that?"

Mina smiled wryly, "I'm going to have to swear you to secrecy for the rest of this conversation, Alan. Swear on your mother's rose garden."

Alan blinked, his brow furrowing, then nodded, "I, Alan Timothy Archer Finley Tisdale Farrell-Alda, do solemnly swear by the Tisdale Roses that all contents of this conversation will be held secret, unless and until Minako Lupin allows me to speak of them." There was a faint glimmer surrounding them both and he stared at her through the glass, "So that's what magic feels like! I had always wondered. In any case, I have duly sworn, so please, continue."

Mina nodded, taking a deep breath, "Well, yes, there's more to Sailor V than the miniskirt and cutesy sayings. I'm actually the reincarnation of the Princess of the Planet Venus, and my job is to be one of the bodyguards to the Princess of the Moon. As she hasn't been awakened yet, I've been searching the planet trying to find her, albeit unsuccessfully. I'm supposed part of a team, but none of them know who they used to be, so Artemis and I have been travelling all over the world looking for them. It's why I push myself so hard between MI6 missions, finding the Moon Princess is of utmost importance to the future of us all."

Alan looked shocked, "Oh, Mina, you should have said something, we could have helped you! No wonder you always look so tired. I'm very glad we insisted you take a month's holiday."

Mina giggled, "You know, I'm glad now, but I was furious when you told me last week. In any case, I had a bit of excitement on my first night off."

Alan deadpanned, "Ah, yes, your romantic rendezvous with young Harry."

She mock-scowled at him, "More like a terrifying nightmare. For a moment I was afraid we wouldn't make it out, and that would be the end of Sailor V and Harry Potter."

Alan exploded, "POTTER??! There have been whispers at Downing Street of a miraculous boy named Harry Potter. I'm guessing it's your friend."

She smiled wryly, "Bingo, first try. I just so happened to wander into the park where he was sitting, trying to avoid his cousin. We chatted, and he tried to warn me off because this cousin bloke is a bully, said cousin and his gang came along, and then some creatures called Dementors showed up. I've never been so frightened, Alan. All of the gang except his cousin ran off when the chill in the air crept up on us, so the only ones to see them were me and Harry. The cousin doesn't appear to have enough magic to register. Harry shouted at me to run away, but you know I just couldn't do that. He cast a spell with a magic wand, and some sort of glittering stag made of light appeared and chased down one of the Dementors. By this time the cousin had been grabbed by the other one, and it was preparing to injure him. Well, Sailor V just had to make an appearance! I pulled that thing off the cousin and squeezed it with my Venus Love Chain."

Here she giggled, "Harry said it was like getting hugged to death by love, and it was the first time one of them had actually been killed. I'm sure there will be ripples from this, but all I cared about was saving them, even if the cousin is a bully of the first degree." She sighed, then continued, "And before you ask, Dementors guard the Wizard's prison, Azkaban. It's apparently on some tiny inhospitable rock in the North Sea."

Alan looked perplexed, "But what do these things actually do to people, Mina?"

"Well, from what I've been told and experienced for myself, they feed on happiness, and foment despair in those around them. It's what makes them such effective guards, I think, the prisoners are too depressed and insane to think about escaping. Their deadliest attack, though, is called the Kiss, where they suck out your soul through your mouth." She smiled grimly, "Like that movie last year, about the witches who drink the essence of children to stay young."

Alan looked grim and furious, "I remember that movie, I wonder if the scriptwriter spoke from experience with these things. Are their victims still alive, once this Kiss thing happens?"

Mina shakes her head sadly, "Oh, they'll walk and breathe, but for all intents and purposes they're brain-dead, vegetables. I hear there's a ward at St. Mungo's, the Wizarding Hospital, that takes care of long-term cases like that."

They were both silent for a few minutes, then Alan changed the subject, "So, you said you were staying with Harry, but not with his relatives. I'm guessing that means you're at a Wizarding home?"

She nodded, "Yes, his godfather's house, and I can't say anything more about it. Hermione has a room here and some wonderful people named Weasley. Their eldest, Bill, is actually dating the girl Fleur I told you about earlier." She smiled, then her eye caught sight of Artemis, snoozing in a patch of early morning sun on the windowsill, "Ah, there are a couple of matters you may be able to help with. This godfather was sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. Supposedly he betrayed Harry's parents to this insane wizard who had been looking for them, but it was another friend, who then framed him for the mass murder of twelve non-magical people as well as himself."

Alan looked puzzled, "How am I supposed to help with that?"

"I'm not sure, honestly, but he's so sweet. And I'm not just saying that because he's letting me stay here with Da and the rest. One thing I can tell you with utter conviction: Sirius Black had no part in the deaths of James and Lily Potter, or the explosion that happened the next day. It was all Peter Pettigrew's doing." She sighed, "I think I can tell you this because you'll need to know, but you can't share it. Sirius, James, and Pettigrew were wizards who can shapeshift into animals, they're called Animagi. Da is something else, but I'm not sure I can tell you what he is. In any case, Pettigrew could turn into a rat, and for twelve years he managed to hide in plain sight, as a pet."

Alan interrupted her, "But Mina, be serious now. How am I supposed to find a single rat in the whole of Great Britain?"

She turned the mirror briefly so Artemis was framed, giggling, "Who better to catch a rat than a cat? Incidentally, when I got here that first night they thought he was an Animagus, a wizard who can shapeshift, but he's not. I think he may have had a humanoid form at one point, but that was long ago and far away." She looked pensive, then shook herself and resumed the conversation, "But about clearing Sirius's name... couldn't you do a cold case investigation or something? I'll even loan Bill this mirror so you two can discuss things!" She looked at him pleadingly through the glass.

Alan sighed, "Is this Bill a policeman?"

Mina shook her head, "No, he's a Cursebreaker, sort of like a Wizarding cross between Lara Croft and 007, except he works for the bank instead of the government. But we have a couple of Aurors about the place, they're the Wizarding equivalent of police, maybe they can lend a hand off the books."

Alan nodded hesitantly, "Alright, I'll speak with your new friends, though I don't know what help I can be. A cold case involving wizards? You do realize I'll get laughed out of Downing Street if word gets around I believe in magic."

Mine giggled, "Not if the Prime Minister himself vouches for you. From some of the books I skimmed last night before sleeping, it appears that every time a Minister for Magic changes, or has Important Wizarding Events occurring, they give him a courtesy visit. Last year it was about the Quidditch Cup, which is a worldwide sporting event, and the Triwizard Tournament, with contestants from the three major schools of Europe."

She frowned, then continued in a softer voice, "Harry was made to compete, even though he was only 14 and the others were considered adults, because some sort of ancient sentient magic Chose him. The First Task involved the dragons the Minister was asked to allow in. The Second Task involved swimming to the bottom of a Scottish loch in the middle of February." She scowled, "Eight people nearly drowned, for entertainment!"

She spat that sentence out with vicious ferocity, then sighed and continued, "And the Third Task involved a Maze full of dangerous creatures and spells. It was supposed to end there, but the Tournament Cup had been turned into a device that transports you to another location, and that's where one of Harry's friends was murdered," here her eyes filled with unshed tears, "and the evil wizard who had murdered Harry's parents was returned to full power. The Ministry for Magic is running a smear campaign, painting Harry as a disturbed teenager who simply saw a tragic accident, but his friends know the truth." A couple tears fell onto the counterpane below her face.

Alan had a growing look of concern on his face as she expounded upon the Triwizard Tournament, "You mean to say the Wizarding world has bloodsports as well? And they force children to participate in them? How barbaric!"

She nodded, then bit her lip, "Um, Alan, one more thing: Harry's closest blood relatives, that he's been living with since his parents were killed? Well, they're not very nice. In fact, Harry as good as said his aunt and uncle both approved of and participated in the abuse his cousin performed. The poor boy is so thin, you can tell the only time he gets a decent meal is either stolen or when he's away from the house, at school, or visiting his friend Ron. Would it be possible to do something about them? Any magical protections the house had were destroyed the night his friend died."

Alan nearly growled, "The higher-ups and the Crown don't take kindly to child abuse. I'll look into your friend's family at once. What's their names and address?"

Mina looked relieved, "They are Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. I'm guessing Dudley is about the same age as Harry, possibly slightly older. Petunia was the older sister of Harry's mother, which is why Harry has had to live with them all these years. But oh, Alan, the Look she gave him when I walked in the door! As if I had trodden mud on the carpeting. I'm not sure what Vernon does for work, but he seems moderately successful at his job. You'd have to be, for Little Whinging. Unsure how long they've been there, but photos on the wall place baby Dudley in that same sitting room. There wasn't one photo of Harry in either of the rooms I set foot in. If you were to visit, you'd think there was only one teenager living there, that oafish, slovenly whale of a brute Dudley. Harry's safe from them for the rest of this summer, and I hear he usually spends all his holidays at the school, but what about when school ends next June? I couldn't bear it if he had to return to that mockery of a home. If we can get Sirius exonerated, Harry could live with him. Da can't stay here all the time, he has something in America he can't stay away from too long." She bit her lip as Magic caused her to be silent on that subject. "Oh! I can't say what it is, only that it's important."

Alan had propped the mirror up on his desk and was writing down everything she told him about the Dursleys, but he looked up when she bit her lip, "Sworn to secrecy on it? Ok, I won't pry then. I'll have enough of a headache getting people to look into the Dursleys and this Sirius Black affair. I can't promise anything on the latter, but the former will be getting surveillance in..." He tapped a keyboard for a few moments, then looked back at her, "...in about thirty minutes. We'll also pull their financials, medical and school records, and see if anything shifty pops up. I'll call back tonight after dinner, can you get this Bill and an Auror in a room with you then?"

Mina nodded eagerly, "I'll do my best. Would you like to speak with Harry?"

Alan looked surprised, then sheepish, "I suppose I ought to speak with the boy we're doing all this for, yes. And I'll like a conversation with this new father of yours as well, make sure he's treating you right."

Mina blushed, "Alan, it's fine, really. He said he's always wanted a daughter, and when the bank manager renamed me during the ritual he gave me Da's mother's name. Hope is so beautiful, don't you think?"

Alan smiled, "That's good to hear, but I still wish to speak with him myself. Let me know tonight when a good time is for us to meet in person." He looked at a clock out of view of the mirror, "Blimey, it's nearly seven o'clock! We've been talking for close to an hour. See you after dinner."

Mina nodded, yawning, "Will do. Oh, dinner is at seven, so we'll be waiting for your call around nine-thirty."

Alan jotted something down, "I've made a note of it, see you then. And get some sleep, you look plum-tuckered out." The mirror went blank as he put it face down in a drawer. Mina chuckled as she snuggled back down in the bed.

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When next Mina opened her eyes, Artemis was gone from the room. "Hmmm, I wonder what time it is now." She looked around for a clock and found one over the fireplace, "Ah, eight-thirty. Good enough. I can actually eat breakfast with the rest today." She changed into a set of blue denim overalls and a white crop top underneath, with orange socks and blue tennis shoes, then went down the stairs quickly but quietly. Most of the Weasleys were in the kitchen with Sirius, Remus, and Harry. Mina looked around with a yawn, "Where's Hermione and her folks?"

Arthur smiled at her warmly, "I took Richard and Jean back to Luton last night. Remus wasn't up to it."

Mina looked sharply at Remus, "Da, are you ok?"

Remus nodded, waving off her concern with a mug of tea, "I'm fine, Mina, don't worry. Good night's sleep and I'm right as rain. Anyway, I was coming to see if you wanted to come help cook and I heard voices from your room. Your Alan used his mirror, then?"

Mina nodded as she took a seat next to him, "Yes, Da, he said Octavian was a right terror until he finished and signed the first book. I explained things a bit more fully now that we have a secure line to communicate on, and begged him for help with a couple things." Her eyes slid around to Harry, and then Sirius, as she accepted a platter of bacon from Molly and served herself, "He's agreed to help from the non-magical side with clearing Sirius's name and getting the Dursleys investigated, so Harry never has to go back there."

All conversation around the table screeched to a halt at her words, then Harry grinned down the table at her, "Mina, if I were into girls, I would kiss you."

Hermione entered the room during this second stunned silence, "What's happened?"

Ginny piped up, "Well, first Mina said she was going to try and get Sirius exonerated, and have Harry taken from the Dursleys, permanently, and then Harry," here she turned to him in wide-eyed amazement, as if still not quite believing what she had heard, "Harry said he wasn't interested in girls."

Hermione laughed at this, as did Ron, who was seated next to Arthur, as she took a chair next to Mina, "Of course he's not. I knew that second year. Pass the eggs?"

Harry blushed and queried, "How in Merlin's name did you know then?"

Hermione accepted the eggs from Fred, placed some on her plate, and then passed it on. "Why else would you be so eager to follow through on my plan to get into the Slytherin Common Room?"

Ron joined in, taking some beans and handing the bowl to Arthur, "Yeah, mate, if I have to hear one more ode to Malfoy's shellacked hair I think I'll puke."

"Oi! It's not that bad." Harry looked solemn, pleadingly at Hermione, "Am I?"

Hermione smirked at him down the tabletop, "You very nearly are, Harry."

Bill interjected pulling attention off of Harry, who was beet-red, "So, Mina, how do you plan to pull off these amazing deeds you've promised?"

Mina smiled at him, "I was hoping you and one or two of your Auror friends could help out. At least with the cold case."

"Cold case?" Remus questioned, shaking himself out of his shocked stupor, Sirius still agog at Mina's bombshells, "What do you mean, Mina?"

Mina took a sip of tea, "Cold case, because you've all told me that Peter Pettigrew is still alive. We find him, we bring him to your Ministry, we get Sirius a hearing to have his unlawful imprisonment removed from his record." She looked steadily at Sirius, "You'd have to promise to see a therapist, mind, so both your courts and the Crown's will accept you as Harry's guardian."

Sirius finally stirred, "What's a therapist?"

"A therapist is a Healer for the mind," Hermione said in a soft voice, "Mum and Dad found me one after the incident with the basilisk." She glanced at Ginny, "You might want to see her as well, I hear your nightmares."

Ginny crossed her arms defiantly and leaned away from the table, "'M fine. Don't need to see anyone."

"Ginny, I really think you should listen to her," Molly cut in, "St. Mungo's doesn't have any Healers like that, and it would do you good to release some of your anger."

"I'll do it. Anything to get back to normal and be seen as a stable parent," Sirius declared vehemently, "someone worthy of Harry."

Harry hugged him, "I should go too, I guess. Certainly there's enough trauma in my childhood to warrant a whole team of them." He held a hand to his forehead, over the lightning bolt scar, and winced, "And I think someone may want to take a look at the house in Little Hangleton again. Wormtail and Voldie have been spending an awful lot of time there."

Mina smiled at this, looking over her shoulder at Artemis, who was picking his way down the stairs daintily, " Artemis, how do you feel about a rat hunt?"

"Be careful, Artemis," Harry cautioned, going back to his breakfast, "They have a great big snake, very venomous."

The white cat paused, looking around at their eager faces, "I can try. What's this about a rat and a snake?"

Remus leaned over, "The rat is an old classmate of ours, the man who betrayed Harry's parents to the wicked wizard he serves. The snake is something of a pet."

Harry shook his head, "Not a pet, closer. Familiar, maybe?" He cupped his forehead, wincing, "No, more personal than that."

Bill raised an eyebrow at him, "Harry, can I take a look at that scar of yours after breakfast? No curse residue I've heard of acts in such a manner."

Harry shrugged, "Sure, if you like."

Molly glanced at Sirius, "We need to get back to cleaning the house. Your house elf is a disgrace, allowing all sorts of Dark creatures to move in and infest the place."

"This house was bad enough when I was growing up, and it's only gotten worse since Reggie and Mother passed on." Sirius grinned at her, "I think it would be a great joke on her if we turned it into a bastion for the Light." He sobered and turned his attention to Bill, "But I'd like to be in the room when you examine Harry, please."

Bill nodded, "Of course, you're still his godfather, no matter what the Wizengamot says. Remus, I think I'd like you to accompany us as well, your expertise would be nice to rely on."

"As you wish," Remus assented as he finished eating.

"May I come along also? I promise I won't be in the way, and I'd like to see more magic," Mina hesitantly asked.

"Hey, if you're watching this thing, I want in too!" Artemis yowled in mock-outrage from where he was sitting eating some fish with Crookshanks.

Mina laughed at looked pleadingly at Remus and Bill, the former of whom chuckled, "As long as he stays on your lap and out of the way."

"Yes, Da," Mina smiled gratefully at them and finished eating.

When everyone had emptied their plates, Molly waved her wand and the dishes floated to the sink and started washing themselves. "Alright, Arthur, have a good day at work, love. William, Remus, Sirius, Harry, Mina, Artemis, why don't you go up and do your thing in one of the bedrooms, they should be safe enough. The rest of you, follow me, time to de-pest this house room by room."

Mina intercepted Arthur before he headed out, "Um, Arthur, do you know someone, an Auror, you can recommend to work with Bill and Alan on this project?"

Arthur looked thoughtful, "Hmmm, normally I'd say Kingsley, but he's actually the official Auror in charge of the Sirius Black manhunt. Bit of a conflict of interest, that, wouldn't you say? Tonks is a bit flighty, but as fiercely loyal as the House she was sorted into. Pius Thicknesse, the head Auror, would laugh me out of his office, and then order my arrest in the next breath. Perhaps Moody would be best. When are you and Alan to get together with Bill for your initial meeting?"

"Alan asked that I have Bill, the Auror, Harry, and Da available to speak through the mirror tonight after dinner. I told him dinner's at seven, so the meeting would be around nine-thirty. Can you get Mr. Moody and Miss Tonks to come by then, please?" Mina looked at Arthur earnestly.

Arthur frowned, "That's cutting it rather fine, but I'll ask them if they can stay after the Order meeting for dinner and your little get-together."

"Thank you Arthur, I really appreciate it." Mina kissed his cheek in thanks and grabbed Artemis from the kitchen corner, then dashed up the stairs, looking for Harry and the rest. She could hear Molly directing Hermione and her brood in one of the sitting rooms as she passed, hurrying faster once she got past Walburga's portrait. "Da? Da, which room are you in?"

Remus leaned out of a bedroom on the second floor, "Here, Mina-mine, we were waiting for you. What was the holdup?"

Mina sat down awkwardly on the bed that was obviously Ron's as it was made with orange sheets and quite messy, "I was asking Arthur if he could recommend an Auror to help with all this. He mentioned someone named Mr. Moody? And also suggested Miss Tonks. Anyway, Alan would like to meet those involved tonight after dinner via mirror." She looked directly at Remus, "And he wants to know when he can meet you in person, Da."

Remus looked perplexed for a moment, then his face cleared and he nodded, "I'll be sure to discuss it with him tonight. Anyway, let's get on with what we're here for right now. Harry, lie down and get comfortable, I have no idea how long Bill's examination will take."

"Yes Uncle Remmy," Harry replied as he did as instructed.

Sirius flexed his hands nervously as Harry arranged himself on top of the covers, "Will it skew your findings if I hold his hand or something, Bill?"

Bill looked up from a briefcase of assorted doodads he had open on the desk, "What? Oh, yes, it will, I'm sorry. If you'll just sit next to Mina we can get started." Sirius nodded and sat next to Mina on Ron's bed, jittery. "Remus, if you'll stand at the foot of the bed and hold this dowsing rod, please?" Remus took the dowsing rod with a raised eyebrow and held it aloft. "Now, Harry, I'm about to speak in Egyptian. Don't be frightened, nothing can hurt you."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes as Bill raised his wand and began chanting. "Akshef an nevsk ya lana al-sahra." A thin stream of oily black smoke rose from Harry's scar, as Harry himself thrashed around. Bill frowned and spoke again, "Azhar asrarek, ya sahar crei." The smoke twisted to form the familiar skull surrounded by a twisting snake, and Bill widened his eyes, aghast, "Ad minn heith atit, afzaa al-sahar!" The dowsing rod in Remus's hands began to shake as the Dark Mark began screaming.

Harry was shouting also, nearly incoherent, in a toddler's wail, "No, Mummy, stop! Dada? W'ere Moony? W’ere Pa’food? Meany Snakyface, go 'way!" Mina gripped Artemis so tightly he yowled in protest, but she was too scared to hear him. Sirius was looking as black as his name, thunderous in anger.

Bill motioned to them both to stay still and quiet, then shouted, "Ya fetti tuthur minn kel sher!" The snake started to eat the skull, then itself, until with a last whimper it disappeared. Harry lay limp on the bed, having passed out.  "Arqad beslam." Bill lowered his hands and nodded to Remus, who set down the smoking dowsing rod as if it had burnt him. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that would happen."

He drew a shaky hand across his forehead, wiping away the sweat that had accumulated. "He was possessed, sort of." He glared at the scar, which had gone from oozing oily smoke to a thin pink line, finally fully healed, "I've never seen a Horcrux made from a living being before. Shabti, funerary urns, even someone's favorite bow, but not a breathing, sentient creature. It's dangerous."

Mina gasped as if cold water had been poured over her, "What is a Horcrux? I mean, I know it's bad magic, I caught that from the screaming smoke, but what exactly does it do?"

Remus looked bleak, "A Horcrux is a foul magic, born of death. The creator splits their soul and conceals a piece of it within an external object. This means that the person cannot die, unless either they heal their souls or the Horcrux is destroyed. In the case of a living Horcrux... well, we're lucky Bill's spells worked. Often the vessel can't be saved."

Sirius jumped from Ron's bed and onto Harry's, transforming mid-leap into his Grim Animagus, and curled up next to Harry, licking his face dolefully. "Be easy, Sirius, he should wake later this afternoon, or perhaps tomorrow." Bill sighed, "I'll need to report this to Lord Ragnok immediately, though I would rather stay and rest, myself. I haven't had a fight like that since my first tomb."

"I'm not going to tell you to inform Albus Dumbledore, you know my views on him, but you should probably let your mother, Hermione, and the rest know before you leave. I'll stay in here with Harry and Padfoot." Remus took off Harry's glasses and set them on the bedside table, then sat down at the desk and pulled out a book.

Artemis jumped from Mina's lap onto Harry's bed also, curling up next to Harry's face and licking his other cheek. "I'll stay here too, Mina. Wake me up when it's time for dinner."

Mina nodded, then ruffled Artemis's and Padfoot's ears, and bent to kiss Remus on the cheek, "I suppose I'll go make myself useful helping Hermione and the others clean the house, Da." She helped Bill pack up his suitcase and they left the room together, surprised to see that it was nearly lunchtime. "Oh, that took a lot longer than you expected, didn't it."

Bill smiled weakly down at her, "You're right, I was only expecting to take a look, maybe identify a curse. Defeating a Horcrux was not in my plans for the next six months." He chuckled, then ruffled her bangs, "Come on, Mum'll be down in the kitchen preparing sandwiches."

A very wan-looking tween let the teen into the basement kitchen, where Molly screeched at him, "What in Merlin's name have you been doing for the last four hours, William Arthur? And why do you look as if a hippogriff ran you over?"

Bill held up his hands in supplication, "Easy, Mum, I was destroying a very dangerous piece of magic attached to Harry's scar. We didn't realize it would take so long, honest."

Molly sighed, "Sit down, I'll make you something for your fatigue. I'm presuming Harry is asleep now, and the cause of the screaming we heard earlier?"

Bill sat down, but Mina went and started to assemble sandwiches by hand, as Bill spoke, "Partially. He, erm, regressed to That Night, and was begging for his parents. The magic, a horrid piece of magic I've encountered in several tombs, was the rest of it. It's a soul shard, called a Horcrux. Nasty business, only performed by the most evil of Wizardingfolk, like Herpo the Foul. In any case, it took a lot out of me and Remus to perform the exorcism, me more than him. Harry's asleep, Artemis and Padfoot are on the bed with him, and Remus is in the room standing watch. I have to go report to Lord Ragnok after I eat, he'll need to be informed that a Horcrux was here in England."

Molly frowned, "Shouldn't the Ministry be informed as well?"

Bill shook his head as he dug into the sandwiches Mina brought him, as well as the soup Molly had whipped up, "Under normal circumstances, yes, but the Ministry is still spouting that nonsense that Cedric Diggory died in an accident and Voldy is dead. I wouldn't trust them as far as Mina's whip could throw them right now."

Mina spoke up hesitantly, "Perhaps, after the trial, Harry and I can bring it up with someone. Do you suppose they'll listen to us, to me?"

Bill chuckled, "Princess, you could ask for the moon and those old farts on the Wizengamot would figure out a way to give it to you, just by virtue of who and what you are. Just watch, they'll acquit Harry simply on your say-so."

Mina blushed as Hermione and the younger four Weasleys entered the basement, "I should hope they would vote in his favor simply because he's telling the truth." She sighed and turned back to making more sandwiches, "But I have seen how politics work. I suppose the Wizarding World is the same as the Outside one."

"Mina, where's Harry and the rest?" Hermione questioned as the teenagers sat at the table, "Is he hurt? We heard screaming."

Mina sighed as Bill nodded at her before he dashed up the stairs, "Harry was... infected? Possessed? Something like that. His scar was no ordinary curse, if there is such a thing. According to Bill, Harry was the first living Horcrux he's ever seen. Some sort of truly foul, death-driven magic, where someone splits their soul and preserves part of it in an external receptacle. Do you recall the Russian fairytale of Koschei?"

Hermione nodded while the others shook their heads, confused, "Well, Koschei was a sorcerer of great repute. It was said he had a magic spell that protected him from all harm, rendering him immortal. The power source of this spell was his heart, or sometimes the story says soul, which he had hidden within various nested magical objects and then buried on a secret island. They say that enacting this spell took a toll on his body, turning him hideously ugly. Koschei was a shapeshifter, transforming into various animals or even their loved ones to trick people. Eventually, a hero discovers his secret, finds the secret island, and digs up the nested magical objects. As the tale goes, when the hero smashes the innermost object, Koschei dies, reversing all his enchantments upon the land and its inhabitants. Anyway, what Bill described sounded similar to Koschei's Needle."

One of the twins looked excited, "It's much like the Beedle Tale of the Warlock's Hairy Heart! Except in that case, the handsome warlock was getting married, and told his wife he couldn't love her because he'd taken out his heart years before and locked it in a casket. Various things happen between them. She tries to leave, he cuts her chest open and tries to put her heart in his own, but it's rejected. He opens the casket and finds his old heart hairy and crusty and really, really ugly. He puts it in his chest and dies."

Mina looked shocked, "I hope that Harry is entirely free from the influences of that wretched, horrid thing, then. His scar looked pink when Bill and Da were through, like it had healed over long ago, rather than the raw thing it was this morning." She picked up a glass of juice, then paused and looked at the twin curiously, "Who's Beedle?"

The other twin grinned at her, "Tales of Beedle the Bard, Mum read them to us when we were little 'uns! The Warlock's Hairy Heart, the Fountain of Fair Fortune, Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump, the Tale of the Three Brothers, the Wizard and the Hopping Pot."

Hermione shook her head, smiling ruefully, "I haven't heard of Beedle either, though I have read The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, which has a very similar premise to both of those. Hazards of being raised by Muggle dentists, with interests in old literature. Can we find a copy at Flourish & Blott's?"

Ginny interjected, "Yes, but you don't want the version from Beatrice Bloxham called Toadstool Tales, though, unless you're eager to be sick. Sickeningly sweet, trying to sanitize the stories for little kids, and it leaves out Hairy Heart altogether."

"But that's the one I'm most interested in!" chorused Hermione and Mina, who then looked at each other and laughed.

Ron grinned at the girls, "You two are most definitely Lupins and related. No one else I know could get so excited about a book of kiddie stories." He bellowed in pain as each of the twins smacked the back of his head, followed by Molly giving all three sons a look of reproach, "Go easy on me, you two!"

"Behave, the three of you, or you'll be grounded until Christmas. And yes, I do mean from Quidditch and Hogsmeade, boys." Molly scolded reprovingly, as the three girls disappeared to a nearby sitting room.

Her voice could be heard echoing as Ginny closed the door, "Blimey, she can get right stropped at them. Especially the twins. She's never approved of their ambition to make jokes all the time, wants them to go into the Ministry like Dad and..." Her voice trailed off and she winced, "Well, we don't speak much about my other brother Percy. They had a row the day after we got home from school. Mum and Dad accused him of being promoted to Junior Undersecretary to the Minister only so he could spy on the family. He said we had always been poor because Dad's lacked ambition, and he wasn't going to get caught up in their fearmongering. Said he was going to prove his loyalty to the Ministry and walked out. Only time I've ever seen Dad get as angry as Mum."

Hermione frowned at this, "You mean he's moved out? Left the family?"

Ginny nodded, as Mina sat there listening, "Yeah, he's got a flat here in London now. Dad went up to see him last week, try to talk some sense into him, but he shut the door in Dad's face. Now any time Percy is mentioned in front of them Mum bursts into tears and Dad breaks whatever he's holding."

Hermione sat down hard on the sofa next to Mina, her face distraught, "You really think he's left for good?"

Ginny sat down on the sofa next to Hermione, on the opposite side of Mina, and hugged her, "I hope not, but it doesn't look good. Why are you so worried, I thought Ronnie-kins was your favorite of my brothers?" She gave Hermione a sly look.

Hermione blushed, "Oh, Ron's my friend, just like Harry's my brother, but Percy..." Her voice faded out, then back in, "Percy and I always seemed to get along best. Especially during Third Year when I had my Time-Turner and was taking all the classes offered. Percy was always at my elbow with a cup of tea and some of your Mum's biscuits, chivvying me to eat so I could study better on a full stomach."

She glanced at the door, to make sure it was closed all the way, then gave the two girls on either side of her a secretive smile, "He was my first kiss. I know people assume it was Viktor, but no. He and Penny broke up after Harry won the Quidditch Cup that year. He looked so distraught when I found him in the study nook in the library that I put my arms around him. Went to kiss his cheek but he moved and I accidentally caught his mouth instead."

She laughed hollowly, "He said he was flattered, but I was only fourteen and he couldn't entertain a serious relationship with someone so much younger than he was. I tried to point out that with the constant use of the Time-Turner I was closer to sixteen, but he still refused to start anything with me. Said it wouldn't be fair, a rebound, and it would simply end up hurting me in the long run."

She sighed sadly, "I'll still wait for him. I know Viktor was fun, but he's all flash, and besides, a long-distance relationship just isn't in the cards. He wants to be more than friends, but I can't give him that. It would end up hurting all of us. He was disappointed, but understands. I hope he finds a girl who can give him her whole heart someday."

Mina smiled at her, “Cousin, I promise I won’t tell. I don’t know Percy anyway.”

Ginny grinned cheekily, “I promise not to tell now, but I reserve the right to tell Percy ‘I told you so’ when you two get together. I always knew something was up, even during my first year when I was possessed by that Merlin-damned diary.” Her smile faded as she continued, “I may have told Tom Riddle about seeing Percy kissing Penny, but I also wrote that I noticed you mooning after him. It’s a good thing Harry used a basilisk fang to destroy that book, or I’m not sure I’d be here with you two right now. I know I owe him big time, but I just don’t know how I can ever repay him. Any suggestions? Hermione, you’re his best friend, know something that would help me?”

Hermione looked pensive, “Other than helping to get him away from his horrid family, I don’t know anything.”

Mina broke in, “I’m to have a meeting about that very subject tonight with Alan and some of your lot, as well as looking into getting Sirius free from public suspicion. But wouldn’t that simply make him more in my debt?”

“Only if you do all the work, I think. Life-debts are tricky things. Maybe Sirius has a book on them upstairs in the library we can look at, Hermione, he certainly seems to have everything else under the sun.” Ginny smiled wryly at her friend. “I can’t understand your fascination with books, honestly, I’d rather be outside flying on a broom. I’m going to try out for the Quidditch team this year, you know. I finally convinced Mum to let me join. I know I can’t be first-string, Angie and Alicia and Katie are the best Chasers in school, and they work perfectly together, but maybe I can be a backup and move up from reserve next year once two of them graduate.”

“Ginny, that’s wonderful. I’m sure you’ll make it, I hear Harry complaining all the time that we have no spare players for Gryffindor. Just the thought that we might have one this year is a big relief.” At Mina’s blank look, Hermione and Ginny laughed, “Quidditch is a sport played on broomsticks. I don’t fly myself, last time I was off the ground was two years ago when Harry and I helped Sirius escape from Hogwarts, but I know the basics. Harry is the Seeker, which means he’s the smallest, lightest, fastest person on the team. Also the youngest player in over a century. His job is to catch a small golden ball with wings. Most of the time, the person who catches that ball, called the Snitch, wins the game for their team, but last year at the Quidditch World Cup Viktor Krum caught it for Bulgaria and Ireland still won the match. Their Chasers were simply too good.”

Ginny jumped in, “Chaser is a group of three players. They are the ones who score the most goals, aiming for one of three hoops. Each throw of the Quaffle through a hoop earns their team ten points. Gryffindor’s team of Alicia, Angie, and Katie is the strongest trio since I think Professor McGonagall played when she was young. Anyway, I’m hoping to be a reserve Chaser, swap in if one of them gets injured during a game, so they don’t have to forfeit. The Keeper is the one who tries to stop the Chasers from scoring. They’re the only ones who wear padding on their robes. The Beaters are the last position on the team. Fred and George are ours. They use bats to hit balls called Bludgers at the opposing Chasers. You never aim for the Seeker, it’s a foul and immediate penalty. Fred and George have been called Human Bludgers, and I’ve never heard a more apt description.”

Mina nodded slowly, “So the Chasers make the goals, the Beaters try to keep the Chasers busy by hitting flying balls at them, and the Keeper tries to block the Chasers. And the Seeker is off doing their own thing for the duration of the game. Wait, who’s your Keeper? You didn’t say.”

Ginny shrugged, “That’s because Gryffindor doesn’t have one right now. Oliver Wood was Keeper and Captain, but he’s just graduated. I’m excited to see who Professor McGonagall will choose to replace him.”

“I see, I see.” Mina looked thoughtful, then excited, “Do you think I could come see a match? Or at least a practice? I won’t be able to enroll, of course, because of my duties as Sailor V and Princess of Venus, but I can certainly make the time to visit the school.”

Ginny and Hermione looked at each other before Hermione replied, “We’d have to ask Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. She’s the Deputy Headmistress, as well as Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration instructor. Professor Dumbledore, you’ll probably meet him eventually when the Order holds a meeting, is the Headmaster.”

Ginny interrupted, “Oh! Hermione, what if she gets a Letter?”

Hermione laughed, “Oh, that would be funny.”

Mina looked between them, “What Letter?”

Hermione tried to sober up, “A Hogwarts Letter, inviting you to officially become a student. All of us got one on or before our eleventh birthdays.”

“Oh, I see.” Mina looked thoughtful, then grinned, “Well, Cousin, don’t you remember, the genealogy test at the bank said I have enough magic to attend, so one of these Letter things will probably be arriving soon. I wonder why it didn’t show up when I was eleven, though.”

“I wonder, too. Maybe your Alan can tell you. You grew up with him, right?” Hermione grinned slyly at Mina.

Mina blushed, “Yes, but he’s several years older than I am, and more like a brother than anything. I think he’s about 25 now? He said this morning that he looked up to my Mum as a big sister. Anyway, he would remember if any strange mail came for me then. When I turned twelve Artemis showed up and told me I was a superhero, so it rather eclipsed everything else.” She looked thoughtful, then her eyes lit up, “Oh! My eleventh birthday we spent at the Tisdale property on the Isle of Man, so if I received anything it would probably be there. Perhaps we could go exploring for a couple days before you lot start back at school? I’ll ask him if I can bring you.”

Ginny looked wistful, “That would be wicked, I’ve only ever been on two vacations before. Once to visit Charlie in Romania over Christmas, when I was ten. And then the summer before my Second Year Dad won the Daily Prophet raffle and took us all to Egypt to see Bill. I didn’t even get to go with Ron and the Twins when they rescued Harry from his Aunt and Uncle, either time.”

Mina looked curiously at the other two girls, “Rescue? You mean he was being held captive?”

Hermione sighed, “Of a sort. Dumbledore put him there as a baby, claiming that because of his mother’s sacrifice he had to live with a close blood relative. They haven’t been very nice to him over the years. Until his first Letter arrived, and they had to send many hundred, he lived in the cupboard under the stairs.”

Mina looked horrified at this, and Ginny growled like a lioness, as Hermione continued, “Yes, they treated him worse than Sirius treats Kreacher the house elf. Starvation, being used as a punching bag by Dudley, the list goes on. I haven’t heard the whole story, but it’s amazing Harry is so sweet and kind, given his role models.”

Hermione glanced at the door, then lowered her voice, “Ron tells me that he’s seen scars on Harry’s back and legs. I’m honestly amazed he survives Quidditch every year, let alone swimming in the Black Lake in February as they forced him to do for the stupid Tournament. And the swimming itself? I can’t imagine he knew how to very well before they gave him that golden egg. I tried to help him as much as I could without getting into trouble with the professors, but there’s a huge difference between swimming in a warm bathtub and swimming in a freezing loch.”

Mina fumed, “I’m certainly glad I asked Alan to look into them this morning, then. They should have had a tail from…” She looked at the clock, then smirked, “…from about seven-thirty onwards. He’s also pulling bank statements, C.V.’s, medical records, school and work performance reviews, everything the forensic accountants can think of. If it’s fishy, they’ll find it.”

Hermione grinned back at her as Ginny whistled appreciatively, “I’ll say one thing about your government connections, Cousin, they do manage to move swiftly. And if this Alan can get Harry out of that despicable place for good, I’ll… well, I’m not sure what I can do for him, but I’ll think of something! I think the entire extended family would send him gifts.”

Ginny chortled, “Oh, you’re in for it now, Mina. Mum’s going to give both of you a Weasley Special. Handknitted sweater, cakes, pies, fudge, every dessert you could possibly think of.” The girls had a good laugh at that.

They were still chuckling when Ron rapped on the door and then opened it without waiting, "Are you three ready yet? Mum says it's time to tackle the second floor drawing room."

Ginny and the girls stood up, stretching, while Ginny spoke, "Keep your hair on, Ron, we've been ready since Mum started yelling at you and the twins. Just slipped away for some girl talk. Second floor, you said? That's where the entrance to the ballroom is, I wonder if we can take a look in there."

Mina looked between Ginny, Hermione, and Ron as she followed them up the stairs, "Ballroom? As in, parties with formal gowns and glittering jewels everywhere?"

Ron nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think this house has had a ball since Sirius's younger brother Regulus was proclaimed heir at fifteen. You'd have to ask him and Remus, though, I don't know much about the family history."

Ginny snorted, "If it's been twenty years, and unless old Wally used a Stasis Charm on the room, it must be moldy and full of stuff by now. We found an old set of robes in one of the bedrooms this morning, and it tried to strangle Ron. Dunno if it was because he was cleaning or because the house perceives him as an enemy."

Mina peeked at Hermione out of the corner of her eye, "Do you know how Regulus died, Ginny?"

The fiery ginger shook her long red hair, "No, only that he'd been a Death Eater, and his death was announced the year before Harry was born."

As they turned into the drawing room where Molly was waiting for them, Hermione whispered to Mina, "I think something happened. Your Da wouldn't have had kids with a Death Eater unless there were extenuating circumstances, and I'm going to do some digging. You can help if you like."

Mina whispered back, "You should ask Da first, he might not like us poking about."

Molly raised her voice to get their attention, "Girls, we need you in here, please." Hermione and Mina sheepishly entered the sitting room as she continued, "As I was saying, those drapes are full of Doxies. They're a type of fairy, Mina, and their bite is toxic. I have the antidote ready, but I'm hoping we won't need it. You'll need to tie your hair up and cover your faces and hands, and spray everything you see flying through the air with this Doxycide."

Ginny, Hermione, and Mina quickly twisted their hair into rough buns and tied them in place while Molly briskly passed out masks, gloves, and spray bottles, "Everyone ready? Here we go then, make sure every last Doxy is accounted for." The next three hours was spent doing just that. Bill arrived back around forty-five minutes before they finished, nodding to Mina silently as he donned gloves and mask to help with the Doxy collection. At the end they had two large pails, one filled with stunned Doxies and the other with their eggs, at which both the twins and Crookshanks, who had slipped into the room when Bill entered, were shooting covetous looks. "Job well done, dears. Fred, George, none of that. We're going to dispose of these properly." Molly waved her wand over them all and the grubbiness vanished, "Now, a quick spot of tea and then we tackle the other sitting room. Bill, I think we could use your expertise again, there's a locked cabinet with several strange things in it."

Hermione spoke up, "Molly, are you sure we should be doing this without Sirius? After all, it is his house, even if he doesn't like it."

"Nonsense," Molly rejoindered as she ushered the teens down to the kitchen, "This place is a pit, not fit for human habitation. He'll thank us later, I'm sure of it." She waved her wand and the kettle started to boil, "Ginny, Fred, get out the teabags, sugar, and biscuits. George, Ron, teacups, saucers, plates, and silverware." Bill, Hermione, and Mina sat down at one end of the table, chatting amiably, as the others followed instructions.

Remus entered as the kettle hit the table, smiling at them all, "Harry's still out cold, I was wanting to get a tray for the rest of us. Sirius and Artemis haven't left his side all afternoon."

Mina smiled back at him, "Artemis may seem flighty, but he's stern and steadfast when he needs to be. He's always got my back." 

Remus gave her a half-hug as he passed her, heading to the cold box, "Well, I hope you know you don't have to rely on just him and Alan anymore, Mina-mine. Everyone in this house will jump in if you call for help."

"I'll try not to cry wolf, Da," Mina shared a secret grin with Remus and Hermione, while the Weasleys just looked puzzled.

Hermione chuckled at their perplexed looks as Remus finished making up a tray with his wand and explained, "Oh, it's from another old Russian fairytale. Young Peter is a shepherd in a small village, his family have had flocks of sheep for many generations. Anyway, as the tale goes, Peter was out with the flock alone one day, bored out of his mind. He cries 'Wolf!' and all the townsfolk come running. To their dismay and anger, there is no wolf, of course, only Peter and the merrily frolicking sheep. He is switched and told not to do it again. After a week or so, once his bum has healed from the switching, he does it again, having not learnt his lesson the first time. More anger from the townsfolk, resulting in a heavier punishment. One day, a wolf does show up, but because they assume he's trying to trick them again, none of them come, and the wolf eats the entire flock. The story has entered common non-magical usage as a cautionary tale, a warning to not tell lies."

Molly eyed the clock in the otherwise stunned silence as Remus turned to go upstairs, "Children, we'll have to do the sitting room in the morning, it's almost time for an Order meeting. Finish your tea and go upstairs. Remus, we'll need you and Sirius back down here. Albus and the others will be arriving soon." Remus nodded to show he had heard and continued up the stairs. Mina, Hermione, and the four younger Weasleys hurriedly downed the last of their tea and biscuits before Molly swept it all away with a wave of her wand. “Go on, now, before they get here.” She shooed them out of the kitchen and up the stairs, summoning more chairs with another wave of her wand.

To be continued...