Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling and associates own these characters and this world. I do not have any profit from writing this story.

Note from the author 1: Ok, so it has been a hell of a lot of time since I last updated. Sorry… But now that I have finished with all of my lessons for my master's degree and I have a little time between my research and my thesis I am back! Told ya I would keep it up now didn't I? And so we go on! For the first chapter in a long while! Enjoy! :D

Chapter 11 – First separation

The password will be 'Fawkes', tune in for news that the prophet often decides to ignore.

When the radio was finally silent, the room fell to an oppressive standstill. It felt like all of them were rooted in place, afraid of moving in case the fragile moment where they were still safe, still hidden, was somehow disturbed and they found themselves staring in the face of some danger. The spell was broken by Hestia. She was, always the bravest of them all, Dudley thought. She gave a sigh and swept out of the room, her room, to attend to whatever task she had been doing before being interrupted by the news program. All of the others slowly filed out in turn. The two girls were whispering to themselves and a nervous Dedalus retired to his room. Dudley, having nothing to do and too much to think of, moved towards the living room intending to head outside despite the too hot sun of the September afternoon.

Entering the room, he saw his father sitting on the couch, watching the television program they were previously watching together. Had it really been such a short while ago? His father's back was ramrod straight though, warried as he always was lately when he knew his son was fraternizing with the magical people of the house. For the first time he had no patience for this behavior and even though he understood, he could not think of it as a sign of love from the parental figure. He would have passed without a word but he was stopped by the characteristic sound that announced an emergency news broadcast.

He listened in silence as the news reporter lamented the murder of the third family during the last few weeks. Work of the same man, he said, with the air of a man feigning sadness rather than actually feeling it, the murderer that killed without trace. Vernon Dursley was muttering loudly to himself and almost caused Dudley to miss the next sentence.

The coldblooded murderer is one of the most terrifying of the century being responsible for more than 10 deaths in the span of a few months and is known to leave no trace for the police to…

It's Him. Sara's voice came from close beside him making his father look perplexed and angry at the same time at the thought of her addressing him directly.

What are you on about girl?

It's You-know-Who Sara explained.

No I do not know who or I wouldn't have asked! His father exploded in anger, getting up from the couch and stepping towards them but Dudley did understand.

She means it's the one that's after Harry, Dad. His father turned to look at him and at that very moment two things transpired almost at the same time. Hestia's voice came from somewhere behind them saying, His name is Voldemort. and a very loud crash came from outside.

Loud voices accompanied the crushing that sounded from the yard and the loudest one shouted something like: Bombarda.

Then, the world came crushing down on them. Splinters and rumble filled the air, showering the three people that were standing in the living room. Dudley felt himself falling to his knees as something caught him above the brow and immediately his vision was blurred by crimson. A screech from somewhere behind him indicated that Sara had been hurt and Dudley lifted his, somewhat inhibited, gaze in time to see his father retreating to the hallway while flashes of light were flying above his and Sara's head, where she was cowering behind the couch with a hand pressed to her shoulder. Head throbbing and slightly disoriented he tried to reach her both to see if she was ok and for the protection the furniture would provide.

All the while he could hear Hesta's voice murmuring words he could not understand, loud clashing and grunting as well as other voices shouting, the flashes of light that were passing over his head never ceasing. He finally reached Sara and saw she had nothing worse than a bloody cheek and a cut on her shoulder. He breathed out in relief as she sucked in a breath, seeing his bloody brow, much worse looking than it actually was. After an infinite number of seconds everything went quiet.

Sara helped him to his feet, having, god knows how, felt that he needed the support as the world was spinning a bit still and they both stood to survey their surroundings.

Hestia was standing in the middle of the room (when had she moved there he could not say for the life of him) her hand outstretched, her wand poised and her forearm bleeding from a rugged cut. Four men clad in black were scattered around the room. None of them was moving. Two where laying bound by invisible bonds, only the eyes contrasting the total stillness, rapidly moving about the room. One more was pale and bleeding by a series of rugged cuts scattered all over him, obviously having lost consciousness because of the blood-loss. The last one was sprawled half in and half out of the huge hole the living room wall was now sporting.

At that moment Dedalus and Emily burst in the living room and stood there, looking at the debris that covered everything, including them, Dudley knew. Hestia took a deep breath, passed her wand over the bleeding cut on her forearm, which immediately stopped bleeding and turned to look at those assembled.

To his great astonishment and panic, Dudley could see fear in her eyes and to his greatest astonishment and awe he saw it dim almost to nothing being replaced by determination and strength. Her voice was calm and authoritative when she spoke.

Dedalus I do not know how they found us but we must move to plan B regardless.

Dedalus swallowed hard and clenched his wand before nodding, with only a slight tremor on his voice when he spoke. That surprised Dudley. The man was not a total coward after all.

We've got to find Mr. and Ms. Dursley before they do something dangerous.

Hestia sighed visibly and turned toward the hallway, giving instructions while she moved away.

Dedalus go and make sure they don't do anything foolish. Kids, I want you to go and pack a bag pack each with a few necessities. Move together, I don't want us separating now, and be quick about it.

She was gone and it took a few frozen minutes before it registered with any of them that it was time to move. The first to get out of the trance was Emily. She jittered for a moment and then elbowed her sister. Sara shook her head in a motion befitting a great shaggy dog Dudley remembered seeing, cleared her throat and caught his hand and Emily's in each of her own, dragging them with her to climb the stairs. They chose to go to Dudley's room first, it being the further one, and he packed a few randomly chosen (and dirty) clothes in his school bag, stuffed his savings (a pack of cigarettes full of banknotes) and his wallet in the front pocket along with a phone card, his key chain and a pocketknife. He wore his boxing gloves around his neck, strapped the bag on his back, took his smelting's cane on one hand (because one never knows what one will need) and turned to face the girls that were waiting for him by the door. Instantly he felt embarrassed by the state of his room but he knew this was not the time for bashfulness. He motioned them to turn around and they headed for Hestia's room where the girls slept. Hestia had already been there, evidently packing everything in a couple of minutes, as the room resembled a faceless hotel room rather than the bright place it had been that very morning. The few possessions the girls had accumulated during their stay were placed neatly in a sports bag, the two wands they had been using placed on top, were waiting for them. Sara picked the bag and each of the girls took one wand before the three of them rushed downstairs.

In the destroyed living room, they found that an almost brawl was taking place between a disheveled Dedalus and Dudley's parents. The man was desperately trying to get a good enough hold on them to disapparate safely. Not unexpectedly, Hestia huffed and Dudley felt her move gracefully towards the three squabbling adults. He knew instinctively what was going to happen then, in a déjà vu moment. Sure enough, she disentangled Dedalus seemingly with no effort at all and with a See you at Brighton she desapparated taking the Dursley's with her, mid runt.

Dudley was left staring at the place were Hestia had disappeared for what felt the hundredth time. Dedalus taking a few deep breaths to collect himself turned to look at his three young charges.

Well kids, if you will all grab a hold of me we will also be going.

Dudley had just moved his attention to the older man's face or he would have missed the flicker of fear. As it was, he had about two moment's notice from when Dedalus froze to when chaos ensued. Dedalus moved fast, faster than Dudley thought possible for this old-ish and fraying man. At the same time as he dragged the two girls down with him, Dedalus had erected a golden shield between them and the black clad wizard that had presumably regained consciousness or had been feigning unconsciousness. Dudley moved instinctively, laying his things down slowly and moving inch by inch closer to the wizard that was focused on Dedalus, trading flashes of light back and forth. Too late did the man notice his big bulk. Before he had time to move, Dudley was upon him, crushing him between his massive body and the wall, one hand on the man's throat jamming his air-pipe.

The man's eyes bulged and he tried to fight him off but Dudley was a boxing champion. He had truly pinned him in place in such a way that it was impossible for him to move a single muscle and he would soon lose consciousness from the lack of air. With a strangled breath, the man whispered two words before his eyes rolled backwards. A green light shot from beneath Dudley's arm…

To be continued…

Note from the author 2: If you find that a review of yours has been erased then i am terribly sorry. I do appreciate and remember each and every one of them (not very difficult to do with so few of them). I have revised the previous chapters so that i was in tune with this story of mine before attempting to continue it and boy i found mistakes... I will upload the revised chapters when i find time, so every review that is in any of them, will be, sadly, erased. Kindly forgive me for all the mistakes i have corrected and for all of those that i have not and will not from now on. English is not my native language and i do not have a beta. If there is anyone out there that has been waiting, thank you and sorry it took so long.