Lily arrived at Number Four Privet Drive to find it completely engulfed in flames. A lone silhouette of a Death Eater stood laughing and watching it burn. Her face was hidden behind a mask, but Lily already knew who it was. Alecto Callow was admiring her Fiendfyre that had taken the shape of a Cobra and was now wrapped around the Muggle house. In a few moments it, and any that dwelled within, would be beyond saving. Her work for the night would be complete.

All in all, it was a very productive night, and the information that she uncovered about Narcissa and Potter; the Dark Lord would reward her handsomely for. Her place within the Inner Circle would be formidable. Lucius would be humbled by his wife's betrayal, and would become more dependent on her. Although his size was smaller than those of her previous lovers, he was more than willing to accommodate her more bizarre sexual tastes. Yes, things were moving along nicely.

A cold rage filled Lily up as she saw the scene before her. Somewhere in that unnatural inferno was her estranged sister; Tuney. No less than a week ago she had stood at the now burning door desperate to reconnect with her sister, even if she had to suffer that obtuse lump of a husband of hers. That door was as far as she had gotten. Her sister had treated her as if she was a stranger. There wasn't even the slightest glint of recognition in her eyes. Had her rash actions that day really severed all her ties with her sister? She was the last connection she had to her dead parents. Was she nothing more than a stranger to her now?

That alone was like a knife into her heart, but to bear witness to her sister's home burning with her in it was unbearable. Whether Tuney acknowledged her as a sister or not was irrelevant to Lily. She was her sister, and she had to save her. It was more that a desire. It was a necessity - like breathing.

"Vonda," Lily called out with a low and much calmer voice that she would have guessed.

"Yes Mistress?" Vonda popped next to her. The tiny House Elf eyes widened as she looked at the house burning as a snake made of fire attacked it.

"I'll draw away the snake. Once I do, pop in that house and take my sister to my son." Lily ordered with a steely resolve.

"Yes Mistress"

"Good, now get into the shadows before she see's you." Vonda did as her Mistress commanded just before the Death Eater turned around to look at Lily with a cruel smile on her face that was under her mask. Lily snarled at her under her own mask. It didn't really matter to Lily that she couldn't see Carrow's face. She had locked in her horrid scent at St. Mungo's. If this bitch manages to escape again and their paths ever crossed, she would finish what she started. Not that she planned on letting her get away. The woman knew about Cissy, and there was no way in hell she was going to let her return to that snake-faced bastard with that information.

Lily casted her Elemental Patronus, that took the form of Crystal. The angelic looking doe charged at Carrow. As she expected the woman commanded the flaming Cobra to attack the crystallized Doe. It only made it halfway to the Death Eater before the Cobra swallowed it whole. Alecto prepared to gloat at the weakness of her Patronus, but with a smirk Lily made her true intentions known. Starting in the stomach, the fiery Cobra slowly started to turn to crystal until the entire snake was solid. Lily followed through with a Blasting Curse. Thousands upon thousands of shards went flying at Carrow. As the woman put up a Protego, Lily called out to her house Elf.

"VONDA NOW!" Lily screamed and in the shadows a pop was heard.

"Clever Marauder, but I believe she's beyond saving now." Carrow taunted from behind her Death Eater's mask. The sound of the loathsome woman's voice made Lily's skin crawl, then again, it always did

"As are you, Bitch!" Lily's own voice and words were subterranean and venomous, and made no delusions that this confrontation could only end one way.

"It's been a while since I've had a proper duel. You better not disappoint me Mudblood. Your performance at St. Mungo's was just embarrassing."

"Don't worry In-breeder, it'll be like old times. Of course, you don't have the Sisterhood-of-my-Family-Tree-doesn't-fork-Club to back you up now."

"Hypocrite! It wasn't like you were without protection. Wiggling you arse around all over the place. Snape and Potter panting behind you like love sick puppies. Snape would threaten anyone that looked at you sideways; he had made it quite clear that you were off limits. You didn't even have the courtesy of giving him a proper thank you shag for all the work he put in. Who's the cold, using bitch now?" Alecto taunted as she slowly started to circle Lily.

"I never asked him to do any of that. Not that I expect someone of your twisted intellect to fathom it, but he was at the time, my best friend. And that's what you do for your friends." Lily shot back as she matched Carrow, step for step. "I'm curious as to why no one has come out to investigate yet?"

"Muggles really are sheep. Tell them to beg and they beg. Tell them to die and they die. Tell them to sleep and they sleep like the dead. I don't even need this anymore." With a wave of her wand the Death Eater mask was gone revealing Alecto's smiling face. "Now where was I? Oh yes, Snape got tired of trying to get into your smutty knickers, and dropped you like the street trash that you truly are. Then you latch onto Potter and his Marauders for protection. At least he got a proper ride for his efforts, or did you let them all have a go?"

"I know your lot have no problem spreading your legs for just about anything, but I happen to have standards. It's not my fault that Sevy wasn't into skanks." Lily shot back. Everybody knew that she lusted after Snape, but he never gave her the time of day. Even after she had ended her friendship with him Alecto couldn't make him notice her. This led to many altercations between them.

"DIE PIG!" Carrow shrieked as she sent a Cruciatus Curse at her.

"Truth hurts I take it?" Lily mocked as she spun out of the way and sent Cutting Curse back at her in one fluid motion. Alecto was not expecting such a quick return and just barely got her Protego up in time. Lily pushed the advantage and sent a barrage of low level spells at her. They were no match for Carrow's shield, but they weren't meant to. They forced the Death Eater into maintain her shield would drain her magic. Alecto was expecting powerful curses and poured more power into her shield. Lily used her ignorance to close the gap between them. She remembered Alecto's initial reaction to her Animagi and let her lioness roar. With their past history Lily knew this battle was as much mental as it was magical.

Initially Lily's roar had the effect that she had hoped for. Fear got the best of Carrow, and her shield faltered. When a Stinging Hex got through she snapped out of it. She realized what Potter was doing. While Alecto was best at distance fighting, Lily Potter was famous for getting up close and personal in a fight. The woman utilized her speed and natural agility. Like a Mongoose on a Cobra she was. Always just out of reach and ready to strike the moment one lets their guard down. Most Death Eaters killed at a distance and were unaccustomed to that kind of fighting, and many seasoned veterans fell to her in the last war. She would not be one of them. She sent an Expulso Curse at the road directly in front of Lily. If she can't hit her directly, perhaps an area curse would work better.

"Gin…Gin…Gin, you fell asleep." Harry gently nudged the sleeping beauty that was currently using his chest as a pillow. Not that he minded all that much; he absolutely loved the feel of her soft body against his. If she shifted herself a little to the left, she would discover just how much he was enjoying it.

After they had spent a good hour building up her mental defenses, Harry suggested that they wind down with a Muggle movie. He introduced her to a Muggle contraption called a DVD player. Her dad would just love something like this for his birthday...the fact it would drive her mum bonkers was just the icing on the cake. He asked what kind of movie she wanted to watch, and she was taken aback by the number and variety of movies he had. She suggested a comedy, and Harry recommended she start with the classic Blues Brothers.

She was a bit confused as to why they were called the Blues Brothers when they only wore black. She also didn't see why Harry found that so bloody funny. She was about to Hex him when he stopped and told her she was amazing and kissed her properly. Well, the snogging may have helped improve her mood a little...okay; it improved her mood a lot. They lay there intertwined on his couch, watching the movie. It felt so natural for their bodies to mold around each other as they did. Ginny felt warm, and safe in his arms. Though she wasn't ready to admit it to herself, but she felt like she was home, and this was where she belonged. That thought scared her a little, but quickly drifted to the back of her mind as she succumbed to the comfort Harry provided her with. Before she was even aware of it, sleep took her.

"Mmmm…no, too comfy…can't make me." She mumbled as she nuzzled deeper into Harry's chest. "Mmmm…nice and warm." She finished with a very content smile. Harry smiled down at her, and found it hard to argue with her logic. Not that he really wanted too.

"Not that I'm not totally into you spending the night, trust me I am, but if you don't wake up in your own bed tomorrow word is going to spread fast."

"Oh bugger," Ginny whined as she lifted her head to look at him. "Can't we just tell them all to sod off?"

"Tempting as that is, I refuse to let anyone slander your good name," He told her softly as he brushed some stray hairs out of her face. Ginny reveled in the simple, but loving display of affection. "Even if that someone is me."

"Do you have any idea just how much I want you right now?" She told him with a look he had never seen in her eyes before; they looked like they were practically pulsating. "How much I want to rip off your clothes and claim you?" Ginny declared as she grabbed the back of Harry's neck and pulled his head in closer. Her breathe tickling the skin on his neck as her fangs came out. "How much I want you to claim me?" Fury was screaming out in her mind.

"Yeah, I think I'm in touch with that desire." Harry professed in a husky voice.

"The thing is, I know I'm new at this, but even I know my Animagus has a lot to do with this. You can feel that right?"

"Yeah, Shadow reacted really strongly to you right from the start. Even before I figure out who you were." Harry told her honestly. It took all his self-control to not take her virtue in the kitchen the other day. "I'm guessing it was your Animagus he was reacting to instead of you."

Ginny chose her next words very carefully. She was tiptoeing around a very sensitive and highly embarrassing subject. She would tell him after she was no longer in heat, maybe after they first had sex on her own terms. She knew that she wanted that. She had dreamt about it the first night they met, before her inner beast first roared.

"I need this to be about us, not Fury and Shadow." She gestured a finger between the two of them to illustrate her point. "Please tell me you understand."

Harry looked at her questionable. There was more to it than what she was saying. The fact that she was keeping something back irritated him a little if he was going to be completely honest with himself. She didn't trust him and it hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit. He was about to let his anger get the best of him, when his mum's words replayed in his mind. Perhaps you should try compassion and understanding, with a little bit of respect, son.

He let out a heavy sigh. His mum was right of course, she was always right. After everything Ginny had been through in her life, it was understandable that it would be hard for her to trust. She would test him, he was sure of that. It would be her way of learning to trust him so, for her, he would accept it.

"Yes I understand, but I'm not so stupid as to not think that there is more to it than that. I'll wait until you're ready to tell me the whole story, but I will tell you this: Our Animagi are physical representations of our true selves. Yes, they are very primal, but not manipulative in nature. They're meant as a guide us, not to control us."

"But I feel like Fury is controlling me. Do you think things would have moved so fast between us if Shadow didn't want to mate with Fury so much?" Ginny covered her mouth the moment the question left her mouth. She was so intent on making her point that she revealed too much. Harry had a look of confusion on his face for all of five seconds, before he got what was really bothering her.

"Oh," Was Harry's response and Ginny quickly looked away as she blushed brightly. She made to get up and put some distance between them, but Harry was having none of that. He held her tight. "I'm not even going to suggest that I understand what's going through your mind and body right now. This is a lot of shit to take in just a few days into a relationship. I want, no I need to understand, but I know you're not ready to talk about it. I haven't earned you complete trust yet."

"I do trust you Harry. I fell asleep in your arms for Merlin sake. I left myself completely vulnerable to you. If that's not trust I don't know what is. "

"There is a difference between trusting someone to watch over you, and trusting someone with your heart."

"Harry I-" Ginny started, but He cut her off.

"That's not a judgment Gin. We'll get there. I can wait because you're worth it, and that's not Shadow wanting to get with Fury. This is all me."

"Thank you that means more than you will ever truly know, but don't start treating me like I'm a nun or something." Ginny liked the physical side of their relationship, and didn't want it to be affected by this. Once she was no longer in heat and if he felt the same way, she was utterly ready to give herself to him.

"How about a naughty nun, I could defiantly get into that." Harry wiggled his eye brows up and down. She rolled her eyes and lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"Git." Ginny laughed out. She loved that he could find the humor in the most serious of situations.

"Tease." At Harry's taunt Ginny twisted their bodies so that she was on top. That look was back in her eyes.

"I'll show you tease, Potter!" Ginny growled at him, but before she could make good on her threat, Vonda popped in the middle of the room with a smoking body.

Narcissa and Dobby arrived at the Ninth Street Orphanage and saw that a large section of the east wall gone. Intermixed with the wreckage of the wall were a few bodies, mostly children. They ran into the building to see that it was a dormitory. She and Dobby quickly checked the fallen to see that Adam was not among them.

"How many were with him Dobby?" Narcissa asked her House Elf as they quickly followed the path of destruction. Thankfully, only a few children were killed in the initial blast. The rest of them must have made a run for it.

"It was just Ex-master, Mistress." Dobby told her as he ran to keep up with her fast pace. Occasionally they came across a random child that was killed trying to run away. Narcissa tried her best to push her anger and worry down. She wasn't any good to Adam, or the others, if she couldn't keep her head straight.

"He's usually more polished and subtle than this. Azkaban must have had a stronger effect on him than she'd thought. There was no Dark Mark in the sky above the Orphanage. Whatever the reason that he was here it wasn't sanctioned by the Dark Lord. "We need to get Adam out of here. I don't think anyone else is going to show up, but I'm not going to risk our lives with it." She said as she stepped over another innocent child that left the world too soon.

"Dobby can sense Adam Mistress, but is being blocked from going to him." The elf told her with his head down, as he felt shame for failing his Mistress. Narcissa rubbed the top of Dobby head to let him know she wasn't cross with him. Dobby looked up at her with hopeful eyes. Rose had said Adam was more than he seemed.

"He's most likely scared Dobby, so he would presumably go someplace he felt safe. You've been watching him. Where does he feel safe?" She told him and saw the realization hit him, Dobby started to jump up and down with glee.

"Plump Witch came today. Adam hid in garden when she yelled at ladies in office, Mistress."

"That's my clever little elf. Go to the garden and take Adam home, and watch over him until I come." Narcissa told him with a smile. His face darkened when he heard his Mistresses orders.

"Dobby doesn't want to leave Mistress alone with Ex-master. Dobby doesn't want him hurting Mistress again. Please don't make Dobby." Her loyal elf pleaded with her. Narcissa never realized just how precious he was to her until that moment. For so many years he was her only confidante. He was the one that healed her up when Lucius abused her. In a very cold and lonely house he would always be there when she needed him. Narcissa kneeled down so she was eye level with him.

"Thank you for everything you have ever done for me. You are the most marvelous House Elf I could have ever asked for, but this is something I must do alone. If I ever want to be truly free of him, I have to face him unaided. He has to be stopped before more innocent children are butchered." She told him as she playfully tweaked his ear. It was an affectionate gesture she often gave him when she felt that he was feeling low. Dobby's eyes swelled up with tears. She then gave him a soft peck on his forehead. Dobby was completely gob-smacked. Never had he heard of a Witch ever showing his kind such compassion. He reached over and touched her cheek with a very shaky hand, and a pink light escaped from it. The light covered her head and soon her entire body.

"We will see each other again." Narcissa told Dobby when the light finally subsided. He gave her a firm nod secure in the fact that he had just given his Mistress the highest protection that a bonded House Elf could provide. Narcissa gave him a quick wink as the two parted, both with a specific task to complete.

Amelia Bones arrived at St. Mungo's with Alastor Moody at her side. Usually she wasn't summoned in the middle of the night to answer calls of distress. That duty was often left to her Senior Aurors to handle. An attack on St. Mungo's was anything but ordinary. Thank Merlin, there was no traced of the Dark Mark in the sky, but the presence of Moody meant that Albus Dumbledore would soon be here.

Moody was a well known member of the Order of the Phoenix, and his loyalty to the leader of that Order was on the level of blind devotion. She was well aware that he did Dumbledore's killing. Unfortunately, knowing and proving were too very different things. Regardless of the man's misguided loyalties, he was a magnificent Auror. She would have been a fool not to utilize the man's considerable talents. She had been using him as an instructor, but recent events had forced her to put him back in the field.

The main lobby was swarming with beds and long-term patient's wandering around aimlessly. Just the presence of Moody seemed to be enough to make the residents clear a path. She was able to make her way to the elevators without being accosted with stupid question.

"Report.." Amelia ordered as soon as the doors of the elevator closed.

"We received a Patronus from the night Healer in charge that there were sounds of a battle on the fourth floor. Then beds and people started appearing in the main lobby." Moody told her in his usual coarse voice. He arrived at the same time as her. Did the woman think he knew something she didn't?

"I thought that was a magical eye, and that you were an accomplished Auror?" Amelia asked him scornfully, as if she had heard his thoughts. He huffed, rolling his good eye, and looked through the floor above with his magical one.

"Looks like the fight is done, but you're not going to like what you see." He told her as the elevator came to a stop. The doors opened and she had to agree with him. She didn't like it one little bit. The ward was in shambles; there was an extensive fire damage, as well as destroyed medical equipment, broken beds, and mangled bodies…or at least parts of them.

Repressing her revulsion, Amelia made her way to the only two living people on the floor before she arrived. Sitting on a bed was a Marauder with a hawk mask. Moody tried to push past the mask with his magical eye, he growled out in frustration when he found that he could not. He didn't like the freedom that these Marauders were given by the Minister of Magic. As far as he was concerned, they were nothing but vigilantes. He would detain this one until Dumbledore arrived, and then the real interrogation would begin.

Next to the female Marauder was a young man with red hair. His facial features suggested that he was related to the Weasley family. He was bandaging up the woman's arm in a set of robes that had several scorch marks on them.

"Someone care to tell me just what happened here tonight?" Amelia asked with authority, and to let everyone in the room know she was in charge, especially the gruff Auror behind her. That didn't stop the man from putting in his two sickles.

"You lot were warned to not abuse the trust that the Ministry has put in you." Moody snapped at them. The woman threw her wand at his magical eye so quickly that he barely had time to catch it.

"Go ahead and test it you pompous arse. If you can find a spell or curse that could have caused this destruction, by all means arrest me." Andromeda scolded him. The red haired man chuckled out nice one as he continued with his work.

"Don't think that I won't." He threatened as he walked off and tested her wand.

"I need to know what happened here." Amelia repeated, taking advantage of the fact that Alastor was busy to get to the bottom of what happened.

"Alecto Carrow in her Death Eater robes came here to kill that poor woman over there. As you can see she was successful. My team came here to retrieve her. When that Death Eater became aware that we were there, she started to cast every curse she could think of; destroying the ward and killing those poor people to keep us at bay. Talon engaged her, while Pride tried to save as many as she could. I attempted to get to Rose Lancaster, and got this for my efforts." She told Amelia as she gestured to her arm.

"I see how many Death Eaters were there?"

"Just Carrow."

"Where's the rest of the team now?"

"Carrow dropped this list." Andromeda said as she handed Amelia a scrap of parchment. All the names on it had a scratch through it. All except the last name Petunia Dursley. Amelia snapped her head up and looked shocked. "Pride went to save her sister, and we received word that Lucius Malfoy was attacking a Muggle Orphanage, and Talon when to stop him."

"She's clear." Moody barked as he tossed her back her wand, "So let me get this straight, three Marauders couldn't get the better of one Death Eater?"

"I'm asking the questions here Alastor." Amelia snapped at him. She then turned her attention back to the Marauder. "Rude as he is, Auror Moody does have a valid point."

"I admit it wasn't our best work, but we were trying to save lives here. It kind of limits what we could have done with an enclosed space and all. We did manage to keep the fight on this floor."

"Well those poor sods over there would say you did a piss poor job of it honey."

"Hey Cyclops! I hear the lobby downstairs is full of sods that would disagree with you!"

"Thank you for defending me Charles, but he's right. If we had gone straight for the kill, maybe more would have survived this night."

"You know who I am?"

"I've seen you play a Quidditch game or two. I was quite surprised that you didn't go pro."

"Dragons are my first love." He told her with a grin.

"Charlie, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Romania?" Arthur asked as he made his way across the room.

"The same could be asked of you Arthur." Amelia asked him, as she was quite surprised to see him there.

"Wrong place at the wrong time when the call for aid came in I suppose."

"To answer your question, I had brought a fellow Dragon Handler here for treatment in the Burn Ward. I heard the Battle and came to see if anyone needed help. When I got here it was already over. She was the only one left, so I helped her onto this bed and went to work on her arm."

"Madame Bones, I will answer all your questions, but a Muggle Orphanage is under attack by Death Eaters. My…one of my team members went to aid them alone. Could you please send some backup to aid her?"

"I wish that I could. But we're stretched too thin as it is. This mess will take all night to sort out. I'm afraid that Muggle concerns will have to take a back seat for the moment." Then she looked hard at Charlie Weasley. "However, if a private citizen was to leave a memory of what he saw tonight. I could not stop him from following his conscience, now could I?" Amelia added with a grin. Charlie handed her what she needed two seconds later.

"Good, now if you would excuse me, a certain nosey Headmaster thinks he has the right to enter my crime scene." She said with an evil smile. One that said Albus Dumbledore was not going to like their conversation. "Moody you're with me!" Amelia snapped before Alastor could say anything to them.

Harry and Ginny leapt off the couch at the arrival of Vonda with her package. Ginny instantly doused the parts of Vonda's cloths that were on fire. Her left leg had second degree burns on it. Ginny went straight to work on her wounds with a charm that her brother Charlie had taught her.

Harry took stock of the smoldering woman lying on his floor in front of him. He was thankful that her hair was blond, instead of red. That instantly eliminated his mum as the woman. She had massive burns on most of her body and her bedclothes were fused to parts of her body. He quickly levitated her body, and moved her to the kitchen table. He threw open a pantry full of potions and salves, and removed the ones that he thought would best serve the poor woman.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Harry cursed at the results of the Diagnostic Charm he performed on her. He then added a dark blue paste over some cloth's and applied then to the burnt flesh. Ginny and a limping elf enter the kitchen and saw Harry was a blur of movement. Ginny guessed that he was drawing on shadows speed to aide him.

"How bad is it?" Ginny asked as she repeated his actions on the other side of the table. In no time at all they had all the burnt flesh treated.

"Only 50% of her left lung is functional, and the right one is beyond the repair that I can provide. I'm keeping her magically unconscious, and have managed to stop her body from going into shock. How are you doing Vonda?" Harry asked as he ran his hands roughly through his hair. His mum was the healer in the family, and he knew that he was in over his head.

"Lady Ginny has taken care of my leg M'lord. You have to save her; Mistress can't loose her sister now."

"This is beyond me Vonda. I don't even kno- did you just call her mum's sister?" Harry asked as he changed topics mid sentence, and snapped his head to look at her. Vonda nodded. "This is my Aunt Tuney?" Again he was answered with a head nod. Harry visible paled as he staggered back as if he was hit by some unseen force.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, but he barely heard her. The way his eyes kept moving back and forth told her he was in deep thought.

"WHERE'S MY MUM!" Harry yelled at Vonda. For the first time since she had met him, Ginny heard fear in Harry's voice. Vonda bowed her head and shook it side to side; when she looked back up she had tears in her eyes.

"Mistress is fighting the one that did that to her sister."

"Who's with her?"

"Mistress Lily fights the Death Eater alone."

"The hell she is! Take me to her now!" Harry ordered as he advanced on Vonda. The small creature stepped back in fear. She had never seen Lord Potter so enraged before. Ginny quickly came around the table and stood between the two.

"No Harry you can't."

"Watch me." He told her as he looked right through her. She cupped his face in her hands so he was forced to look her in the eyes, reluctantly he did so.

"Your Aunt needs you more. Your mum's is a brilliant and formidable Witch. She told Vonda to send your Aunt to you. This is the task that she needed you to perform; she's counting on you to save her sister. You're a Noble Lord and that is a member of your house lying on that table, be the man that your mum and I know you to be."

"I can't lose her, I'm not strong enough…" He confessed and Ginny felt him trembling in her hands. She knew that he was barely holding it together, she never realized how fiercely protective of his mum he was. She pulled him into a mighty hug and he grabbed two fists full of the back of her shirt in an attempt to get some control.

"Your mum is your anchor, I get that, show her that you have as much faith in her as she has in you." She whispered in his ear. She felt his body steady as her words sunk in. Harry let out a shaky breath as his resolve broke.

"Damn you."

"You know I'm right."

"I don't know if I can save her."

"Then we take her to someone that can."

"St. Mungo's?"

"No, we take her to the best. You're not the only one with connections Harry. We're taking her to the Room of Requirement."

"Which one of you is Adam?" Lucius asked with a sneer with his wand pointed down at three cowering children. "He is the one I'm after, surrender him to me and I will let the rest of you go. Refuse me and you will all die." Lucius lied; he intended to kill them all. When he got no response he shook his head.

"So be it. Avada Kaaaaa!" Lucius screamed as he dropped to his knees and grabbed his groin as it felt like it was in a vice grip that was slowly tightening. Somewhere in the process he lost his wand. His bulging eyes followed the orange colored Hex to its source. Entering the room was a Witch in a crimson robe, and an owl mask. She had to be one of those damn Marauders he was warned about. She told the children to run, and they fled the Courtyard in haste.

"My my my Lucius, on your knees I see, how fitting."

"Release me woman." He begged, his eyes looked as if they would pop out at any moment.

"Now where's the justice in that? You've had this coming for years. I can tell by the raised octave of your voice that you like the Hex my best friend invented for bottom feeders just like you. Not quite the Cruciatus, but very effective all the same, wouldn't you agree? Sorry didn't quite here you with all that whimpering." Narcissa taunted him as she casually sat on an empty nearby bench, and crossed her legs. In the distance she heard a pop and knew that Adam was safe. She released the hex and hit his fallen wand with a Blasting Curse.

"That wand has been in my family for ten generations." Lucius squeaked out.

"Then it's good that it ends with you, the House of Malfoy will finally fall."

"My legacy will continue on with my son."

"Not if I have anything to say about it. If you try to go for that wand in your boot, I'll hit you with the Bit-Buster Hex again."

"How did you…NARCISSA!"

"Oh look you figured it out. Now if you were half as competent in bed, oh well, that's Carrow's problem now isn't it."

"You traitorous bitch!"

"I'm actually taking that one as a complement, now care to tell me how you got mixed up in all this and why you came after Adam?" Lucius decided to come clean with her, he needed time to recover from the Hex she'd had him under. He no longer carried his spare wand in his boot, but she didn't need to know that. He told her everything that he knew about the operation, including what Alecto had revealed to him. He waited for an opportunity to present itself, then and only then would he strike. It came when he revealed all that Umbridge had done.

"That bitch!' Narcissa yelled as she stood up. Seizing his chance Lucius pulled his hidden wand, and sent a Bone Breaking Curse it her leg. Narcissa dove out of the way and hit him with a Flagrante Curse in his left shoulder. His robe caught fire, but the flames were quickly doused.

"Clever, you changed your hiding spot." Narcissa told him as she took a dueling stance.

"I don't remembering you being so quick," Lucius said as he stood up, and brought his wand up and gave her a formal dueling salute.

"Years of faking it has served me well." Narcissa send back as she returned his gesture. She removed her mask so he could see the resolve in her eyes. He in turn did the same. This was the end and they both knew it.

"One last Tango?" Lucius asked as Muggle sirens drew closer.

"I thought you would never ask." This was a moment that she had been waiting for, for far too long. She expected to feel fear or anticipation for what was about to happen but she was oddly surprised that it felt like a chore, a final duty for her, Draco, Adam, and all his other victims.

She saw Lucius adjust his feet and knew instantly he was going for the Killing Curse. She knew all his tells, strengths, and weaknesses. She had to time this perfectly. She hitched her breath to lure him into a false sense of superiority. Why? Because she was a better Slytherin than him. Once the curse is cast the light would make her invisible to him for a second. That was all the time she needed.

"Avada Kedavra!" Lucius cast and Narcissa apparated right behind him. She grabbed hold of his head and pulled back as she brought her knee up and into his kidney. She followed by hopping up on the top of his calves. Her weight drove the dazed man to his knees hard. He cried out in pain from the impact. She stepped back, and performed the backspin kick to the base of Lucius's head that Lily had taught her. His head was launched forward and his face rammed into the pavement with a loud thud.

Lucius was superb with a wand, but was lacking when it came up close and personal. He foolishly thought it was beneath a Noble Lord to resort to such things. Oh well, his short sightedness, her advantage. Narcissa let out a small laugh at the position he was now in. Face planted in the walkway, and his arse looking to the heavens. It presented such a nice target she couldn't resist. Narcissa delivered a quick and very gratifying kick. How he still managed to be holding on to his wand she didn't know, but she had no intention of letting him use it. She used her foot to roll him over and secured his wand and hand under her other foot. Lucius was still conscious, but not really in the game anymore. She twisted her foot that was on his hand so the pain would focus his mind.

"I bet you didn't see this coming did you? The great Lucius Malfoy just got his arse handed to him by a girl. Oh, the inhumanity of it all." Narcissa mocked him as she reached into her robe and pulled out a Muggle gun. "Did you really think I was going to let you have the honor of dying like a Wizard? No, the whole Wizarding World…your Master will know you died the Muggle way. In fact they will think a Muggle did it to you. Isn't it funny how Karma and irony go hand in hand."

"Drop the weapon!" Several Muggle Police Officers commanded with his gun drawn. Narcissa looked around to see she was surrounded, and all guns pointed at her.

"Looks like I'm going to live." Lucius laughed at her. His mocking stopped abruptly when he saw the grin on her face, and the gleam in her eyes, It was followed closely by the bullet between his eyes.

When the dust cleared Alecto was hoping to see Lily Potter dead in the street. What she got was an empty street and a Cutting Curse that hit her in the hip. She spun around to see Potter standing by a street lamp. By the time she had her wand aimed Lily she had stepped back into the shadows. That didn't stop Carrow from sending a Bombarda her way just the same.

Alecto put the tip of her wand to the street and transfigured a wall around her. It would serve as protection as she healed her hip. She swiftly went to the task and had just finished when she heard the foot falls coming closer to her.

"You really didn't think this through did you Carrow. You do remember that my husband was a Transfiguration Master. Talk about leading the lamb to slaughter." Lily said as she walked around the wall tapping it with her wand ever so often. Carrow had heard many tales of the things James Potter could do in enclosed places. It was said he could turn the very walls into weapons. It dawned on her that she was now standing in what could be her own coffin. She apparated away just as hundreds of spikes formed from the walls, just missed impaling her. Her escape was only half successful; she was repelled off a barrier and deposited on the street only twenty feet away.

"Oops, did I do that? You think that you could try to kill my sister and get to walk away? I should have killed you when I had the chance." Lily taunted as she slowly stalked her prey. Her Animagus was running the show now. Pride had told her to kill the woman at St. Mungo's, but her own morality stopped her from listening. That had cost Rose Lancaster and many more their lives. Her sister's life now in question had caused her logical mind to surrender to her primal one. When a lioness hunts her prey she isn't savage until the point of kill. She is stealthy, methodical, and often makes their prey impotent with fear. Lily would be all those and more.

"I see you're finally using your head." Alecto mocked as she scrambled to her feet with her wand pointed at Lily.

"Sister's gone, Muggles safe in their beds, nowhere for you to run, so it's just you, me, and some long overdue justice." Lily mocked as she stepped into the light. The light from her sister's burning house reflected on her predatory eyes and fangs. Pride roared and Alecto shuddered. "I let the mum in me dictate my actions at St. Mungo's, no more and there will be no quarter muderer."

"So be it." Alecto agreed as she steeled herself. This woman that now stood in front of her was not the woman she hated most her life. Lily advanced and sent an Entrails-Expelling Curse at the Death Eater, while an Expulso was sent at her. Lily rolled under it and continued on. Alecto jumped to the right, although not as gracefully as Lily had done earlier.

Alecto transfigured the debris of the wall into two huge wolves, and made them attack Lily. A Reducto took care of one, but the other pounced on her. Lily thinking quickly rolled back and used the conjured beast's momentum to her advantage. She brought her feet up and pushed the stone wolf off before its full weight came down on her. It flipped off and slid down the street. Ignoring the pain in her left shoulder she destroyed it with a Bombarda. Before she could repair the damage one of the wolf's claws did to her shoulder, she had to roll out of the path of a Cruciatus.

Lily shot a Lumos Solem directly in front of Carrow. The blinding light caused her to cover her eyes for fear of going blind. Lily pushed her advantage and closed the gap between them. Alecto seeing what she was going for conjured a ring of fire around herself. It didn't slow Lily down a bit as she casted a Partis Temporus and jumped through the gap in the flames it created.

She rolled under a curse that would had severed her head, and once again used her momentum to deliver an uppercut to Alecto's diaphragm. All the air in the woman's lungs was forced out of her body in a huff. Eyes budging she buckled over and tried to get air back in her body. Lily grabbed her wand arm in a wristlock. A kick to the woman's armpit and her wand fell from her dislocated arm.

"Mummafacashus!" Lily yelled and Carrow's robes wrapped tightly around her. Lily rolled her over and looked down on her with disgust. The once prideful Death Eater lay whimpering as she knew that her end had come. "So Carrow, how does it feel to be helpless? To know that your worthless life now rests in the hands of a Muggle-born? I hear hell is lovely this time of year." Lily pointed her wand at Alecto's heart with the killing intent of a lioness in her eyes.

"NO! Wait, she's worth more to you alive than dead Lils." Sirius yelled at her. She looked over at her son's godfather with disbelief. "This bitch knows who is responsible for robbing your sister of her daughter. They were going to sell her into slavery."

"Emma's safe now." Lily answers without taking her eyes off Carrow. She guessed Andy called for backup.

"But others aren't Luv. Does she deserve to die? Hell yeah, nothing would give me greater pleasure. But we could bring them all down. Buyers, sellers, the whole bloody sick society, plus she's a member of his Inner Circle. Let me work my magic on her mind. We can end this war sooner, we can save lives." Sirius told her as he guided her wand away. He kissed her on her temple and pulled her into a hug. "Your niece needs you now. Go to her. I'll deal with this one."