Sorry for the long wait for Part Two! Just wanted to get a bunch written before I posted anything. Love writing this part & the HP characters are finally here! This next part is the transition with them but in Chapter Two (already written) they are all officially in the story. Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything you recognize from the HP series

Chapter One

Everything was different now. July came quickly. We  have been out of school for weeks and everything was getting worse. Idella and I have managed to steal a few newspapers before her parents had the chance to burn them. Dumbledore dying made the war a thousand times worse. The UK ministry was falling apart. Yet apparently so was the USA ministry. For some unknown reason our minister "retired"...and who became the new Minister of Magic? Cal Beckingham. When Idella and I saw that we sat in silent horror for about ten minutes. It was more than obvious he was working amongst the Death Eaters now.

Apart from the Wizarding World, Idella felt horribly when I showed up at her house. I didn't even have to explain why I was there. She knew. "I was hoping this wouldn't happen," was the first thing she said. As much as she loved having me visit, she wanted my father and life to be normal again. The second my feet hit the Baynes fireplace floor I broke down into tears. How could my father join the Death Eaters? And to make it even worse...it was all because of me.

Idella let me cry. I explained it all to her through my sobs. "This doesn't make your father a bad guy. He isn't truly one of them. You know that. He's a good guy," Idella said trying to comfort me. "It's because he loves you."

"It's my fault though!" I cried. "If he gets hurt or...dies, it's on me." More tears.

"Not it isn't Bradley," she replied shaking her head. "You didn't ask to have that potion poured all over you. Bad things happen and most of the time they're inevitable." It took me a while to pull myself together, but eventually I did.

I was always thinking of my father and worrying about him, but there was nothing I could do except pray that he was safe. Idella was right. He was smart. Her parents acted as if the war wasn't happening. Their minds were as isolated as their house, completely distant from the rest of the Wizarding World. Her siblings didn't seem concerned either. Annabelle was more focused on how her muggleborn boyfriend was doing. Emmie was a kiss-up to her parents and spent most of her time away from us. Wiley was still young but even he knew what was going on. Mr. and Mrs. Baynes always pushed his questions aside. For that reason alone I only told Idella about my dad. She simply told her parents my dad was traveling for the summer when they asked. They wouldn't understand the truth.

The two of us spent almost every minute thinking of the war and ones we loved. My dad was always on my mind and so was Kent. I was really worried about how Kent was doing. The muggle phone worked terribly...he was wrong, owls were much quicker. I think it had something to do with being far out in the woods. Annabelle had a muggle phone and said the 'service' was terrible or something along those lines. The number of words we could write was very limited. Most of my messages were a mix of "Are you safe?" or "I love and miss you". His messages were similar. Any response from him was relieving because it let me know he was safe.

Idella wasn't as worried about Colin, considering he lived amongst muggles all summer which kept him hidden. Of course she still missed him dearly. Colin's parents were clueless about what was going on in our hidden world. Often he would use the nearest Floo network to visit. Unfortunately he couldn't apparate due to his splinching accident last year and he had little access to the Floo networks. I would give them alone time and hang out with Annabelle when he visited. Seeing them together always made me jealous. I wished Kent could visit me. But it was too dangerous.

What was making this summer even worse was that I was running out of my potion to keep the burning side effects down. With the Death Eaters taking over the ministry, it was too dangerous to contact the Department of Mysteries on my location. I suppose I would have to figure it out on my own. Since there was still a little bit left, I tried not to think too much about it.

We were eating breakfast out on the deck and admiring the tall green trees that went on for miles. What a view. The weather was hot, yet the breeze was cool on this lovely July morning. As usual, everyone was quiet. I was adding more fruit to my plate when a very old and uncoordinated owl caught my eye. Lately this owl has been coming by a lot. "The Weasley's," Idella muttered under her breath while looking at me. One time we caught this exact owl delivering a letter from the Weasley's. We were sure it was their owl. Mr. Baynes burned that letter immediately after delivery. Idella and I shared a look as we watched the owl in the sky. No one else saw it. But the owl was back. Perfect. We died of curiosity every time a letter from them came, but never actually got to read what the Weasley's had to say. Suddenly the owl started swerving in different directions and slammed into a thick tree branch. We watched as it fell from the sky causing a ruffle of leaves and then there was a light bang in the distance.

"What was that?" Emmie snapped looking up from her plate. The rest of the family turned around to look but thankfully didn't see it. Now was our chance. Idella grabbed a piece of toast and leapt up for her seat.

"A baby squirrel just fell from the tree!" Idella screamed. "Bradley's good at healing, we have to save it." She grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. Wiley jumped up wanting to come but thankfully his parents told him not to move.

We ran down the wooden stairs and through the dirt path. The tall tree was not far from us and we spotted the owl twitching on the ground. "It's wings broken," I explained seeing the funny shape the brown wing was bent in. When the owl gained full consciousness it would start making noise so I needed to heal it quickly. Thankfully I was seventeen. I pulled my wand out and healed the wing. The old owl was coming back around. Idella took the letter from it's foot and replaced it with the bread. It nipped at her as she took the letter, but very happily took the bread. It sat there and ate the bread slowly while Idella tore open the letter.

"Finally!" she exclaimed. The owl began moving and flapping it's wings, but Idella quickly whipped out her wand and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" The bird froze up and fell onto it's right side.

"What was that for?" I asked with a surprised laugh.

"We can't let it get away if we want to reply to the Weasleys," she explained. True. Her parent's family owl was locked up and only delivered the prophets. "Let's read it." She flattened out the parchment and I looked over her red curly hair to see.

Dear Cousin Anastasia,

I completely understand why you are avoiding my owls. I understand the danger, but these dark times call for desperate measures. It's been years since we have seen one another but I will always remember your advanced level if skill, considering you were top of class of course. We need you. I know you believe isolating yourself is the safest option for you and your family, but if things continue getting worse no one is safe no matter how hidden you are. They will find everyone, especially the purebloods, unless we stop this. We need you. Please, we need all the help we can get.

Sincerely,

Arthur Weasley

"My mother was top of her class?" Idella said. "I had no idea." No wonder she wanted to stay hidden from the Death Eaters, it all made sense. She felt just as unsafe as I did. Yet Arthur Weasley made sense in his letter too. There's no hiding anymore. They got into Hogwarts. They can get anywhere...

"We have to help," I said. Idella looked at me. I pointed to the part where he said 'all the help we can get'. "We're seventeen, we can help. We have too!" She looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. There was a brief silence.

"I like the way you think," she said with joy. "I'm going to write back to them, let them know that the two of us are willing to help." Idella picked up the frozen owl and the two of us went the back way to her room.

I had to help. If there was anything I could do, I would do it. I had to think of my father, Kent, and all those in danger. It was unsafe for me to get involved, but Arthur Weasley was right, at this point no one was safe. My father said they were onto me and if they truly wanted to find me, the would. The only thing left to do was to help stop this war in any way I could. Idella stopped writing and had me read over her letter.

Dear Weasley family,

I apologize on my family's behalf for not responding to your owls. You're right, my parents are living in fear. My names Idella Baynes. My friend Bradley Willis and I are both of age and very willing to help. I promise we are both well prepared. Please owl back directly to Idella Baynes.

Sincerely,

Idella

It sounded perfect to me. Now the Weasley's knew we were of age and were willing to help. After that we sent the old owl out, praying he would make it. When we didn't get an owl back that night we feared the owl got lost. The next day we spotted an unfamiliar owl coming our way and hoped it was the Weasley's, but it wasn't. It was only Colin. He wrote to Idella about how he wanted to visit her this week.

"What am I going to tell him?" Idella said as tears formed in her eyes. She was realizing now what she would be leaving behind. "He will freak out...who knows when I'll get back?" At least me and Kent expected being apart for a while. Colin wouldn't understand.

"I don't know what to say," I answered honestly. Colin lived amongst the muggles in the summer. Idella stressed about what she was going to say for hours. I gave her time to think. Finally she came to the back porch to meet me, this time tears were pouring out of her eyes. "I broke up with him..."

"What?" I asked in utter surprise sitting up straight in my chair. That I was not expecting. I was expecting her to think of a clever lie. "Idella why?"

"I don't want him looking for me. I don't want him worrying," she admitted as tears fell from her eyes. "It's easier this way. He'll be mad at me and won't go looking for me. He'll be safe. I had to." I let her cry for an hour or so until she dried her tears. It was for the best. Eventually we moved up to her room.

Another owl came our way, but once again it wasn't the Weasley's. On the plus side it was Charlie.

Hey Idella and Bradley,

Hope your summer is going well. I want to visit you both. I know it's safer for me here but I'm worried about everyone. I also feel like I'm putting my parents at risk. Tomorrow they're leaving on a two week cruise to Hawaii and I was wondering if I could visit?

Charlie

We couldn't say exactly what we were up too. Charlie we could trust with anything but we didn't want to put him in any danger. We wrote back quickly. In our letter we wrote we may not be here much longer which clearly freaked him out because the second he received the letter he apparated to Idella's room, giving us both a heart attack in the process. Charlie was tanner than I had ever seen him and his hair got longer. Apparently he told his parents he was visiting us for the week so he wouldn't be home alone. When Charlie arrived he demanded to know what we were up to. We explained everything. "I'm coming too," Charlie said.

"What about your parents?" I asked him. "When they get back from their cruise they'll notice you're gone."

"I have to come! I can't let you two go off on your own now can I? I'd be too worried...so I'm coming. I'll have an owl leave a letter for them saying that I got accepted into some Quidditch camp for a month. They're clueless they won't know." There was no arguing with Charlie.

We set up an air mattress for Charlie and didn't bother telling the Baynes, they never came up here anyway. If the Weasley's did need us, we would likely be coming soon. We talked about what could possibly happen until two in the morning. "What about school?" Idella brought up as we were all laying in our beds.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If we go and help, who knows when this will end? I mean it would be a dream if it ended before school started but with the way things are going it could take months. I already took care of...Colin" There was still sadness in her voice. "I personally wouldn't mind taking a year off to help, but what about you guys? Bradley you have your Mediwizard training and Charlie you have Quidditch." Another good point, I couldn't let me grades slip if I wanted to become a Mediwizard.

"There won't be any Quidditch if this doesn't end," Charlie said interrupting my thoughts. "If the Death Eaters take over there won't be anything to look forward too." I thought about what he was saying.

"He's right," I agreed. "I can bring books with me to keep up with the information but if we can help, even in the slightest of ways, that's more important. What's another year anyway?" I joked. It was already going to take me seven years, why not make it eight?

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