Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of it belong to J.K Rowling, I am just playing in her sandbox for a while.

Authors Note: AU: Its not my first fanfic but its my first Harry Potter, so I hope you enjoy it. The story starts at the end of the 5th Book.

From a quiet corner of the stairs, Andromeda Tonks watched as her Head of House gracefully spun around the dueling room; casting spell after spell and shattering small ceramic plates. After the terribly long night, Andromeda hoped Alya would still be asleep however, with her bedroom empty, she knew where to find her.

What Andi didn't expect was to find tears streaming down the young woman's face as she continued to dance about the room. With the last of the ceramic plates destroyed, Andromeda stepped out of the shadows.

"Good morning, Alya. Are you alright?"

Wiping the tears from her face, the Head of House Black collapsed on a bench. "Not really, kept dreaming of being in the Department of Mysteries. Good morning to you, though."

Finding a seat on the same bench, Andi asked. "Did you get any sleep?"

Alya shrugged. "A little, although with you still working in the Spell Damage Ward when I came home, I imagine you didn't have much either,"

"True, now here, drink this. You may have a rather large magical core, but you still need to be careful. Why you thought practicing all morning after casting those powerful spells last night is beyond me."

Reluctantly, Alya took the lid off and grimaced as the potion went down her throat. Sitting there quietly for a moment, she whispered. "You're not angry with me, are you?"

Both knew the question wasn't because of what she did this morning. She had promised to everyone that she would not be part of the assault on Malfoy manor.

"Not really, you wouldn't be you if you just did nothing but still; after hearing from Capella." Andi enveloped the young girl in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't sit there. I couldn't lose – "Leaning into the embrace, Alya body shuddered as tears once again began to fall. "I miss him so much, Auntie."

Throwing herself into the fight had been foolish; even it was the right thing to do. Afterwards, Alya had been angry with herself, knowing she needed to find some sort of balance. The death of her father was a harsh reminder how quickly things could go out of control. However, the fight also churned up memories and a never-ending nightmare of watching him fall into the Veil when she tried to go to sleep.

"I know, I do too, luv." Andromeda held her young niece close, not in the least bit surprised at the child's emotional state. With everything going on in her life, the poor girl hadn't really had the time to come to terms with the loss of her father.

Finally, after a while, Alya couldn't help but sigh. "Dora's not happy with me. "

"Oh?"

"After we made sure Aunt Capella was taken care of, she dragged me into an empty hospital room and well let's say Dora's hair turns the same color as a howler when she gets really angry."

Alya managed to leave out that Tonks found her wandering around the manor covered in blood, although most of it was from helping out the wounded. Nor did it help that she overheard others talking about what happened on the second floor.

Alya spent most of the time assuring her frightened cousin, that the connection to Voldemort, like her scar, had indeed vanished. The strange spell knowledge came to her as if it had been forgotten, remembering it, when she needed it. No, it wasn't normal, but then again, no more than someone spontaneously changing genders.

Tonks wasn't amused.

Brushing away the tears with her thumb, Andromeda gave her niece a warm smile. "Well, both Capella and I are proud of you. Although, I expect she might have a similar conversation with you for not following directions, even if you are our Head of House.

However, from what I hear, you do have some appreciative Hit-Wizards on your side, so perhaps they will protect you. Anyway, you'll get to see both of them this afternoon at the Ministry."

"So Aunt Cissy was right once again." A ghost of a smile formed on Alya's lips. "The old goat has called for the Wizengamot to meet today."

"According to Amy, he was most 'put out' at her refusal to share information on a certain person's capture." They also knew that the Chief Warlock wasn't happy that he wasn't consulted before the assault on the Malfoy manor.

With Nymphadora's recent refusal to speak with the Headmaster and Kingsley Shacklebolt assignment to the Muggle Prime Minister as a bodyguard, Dumbledore no longer had anyone sending him information about Auror Operations.

"Can't say I'm surprised that he doesn't like it when people keep secrets from him." Alya frowned then looked away before saying. "Serves the old bast- well, serves him right."

As one who never trusted Headmaster, Andromeda had to smile. "Well, as for my dear sister, you know the Wizengamot has been keeping her entertained for many years, being married to Lucius, it's not as if she had anything else to do."

As the two left the basement to go upstairs to change, Alya thanked the goddess that Narcissa was on their side.

Standing in front of a mirror, while straightening her skirt, Alya frowned. "Should be a busy afternoon, if Aunt Cissy is right, the Headmaster will use this as a venue to place Amos Diggory as the new Minister of Magic."

"Doesn't matter, if your plans work out, the Wizarding world should be in a much better place to face Riddle."

Alya couldn't help but laugh. "Hardly my plans, Auntie; anyway, all I did really was attend a bunch of boring meetings with the people from Aunt Lyra's list."

"Don't sell yourself short, dear. From what Ted told me, very few if any of these meetings would have taken place without you being present."

As she finished helping Alya dress, Andromeda spotted several familiar looking books stacked on a desk on the other side of the bed. Walking over, she picked one up.

"What do we have here? ''Wizengamot Election Laws and Regulations', and you also have 'Wizengamot Law, Administration and Procedure' and 'Wizengamot Law and Statuator Interpretation: Cases and Materials', a little light reading?"

"Your husband's influence actually. After speaking with him, it didn't take me very long to realize I know absolutely nothing about Wizarding laws and politics. My grandfather's journals are all well and good but without a better understanding of what he's writing about, they really are worthless."

Looking thoughtful, Alya said. "I noticed in the last few days Uncle Ted's really good at all of this; in fact, for a Hufflepuff he's actually downright Slytherin."

Andromeda smirked. "Well, he is a lawyer after all."

After changing and sharing a light meal, the two women stood in the foyer going over the plans for the afternoon, when a green fire lit up the fireplace and out walked a tired looking Scotsman dressed in the dark green and silver cape of a Custos.

"Sweet Morgana, I'm such a girl" Alya thought to herself as she crossed the room to embrace her cousin. "Angus, you didn't have to join us today."

"I'm still your Custos, Milady." The young man replied then lost it when he noticed that his Head of House had an eyebrow raised. "Err, Alya."

Nodding with approval, she motioned him forward. "Angus, let me introduce you to Andromeda Tonks nee Black."

"Mrs. Tonks, do you happen to be related to an Edward Tonks?"

The older woman smiled. "Yes, he is my husband and please call me Andi or Aunt Andi if you prefer."

"Oh, this is going to be so exciting." A new voice exclaimed on the other side of the room. "I've read almost everything on the Wizengamot last year and was disappointed I wasn't able to go with you-"

Alya quickly ran over to her friend, placing a finger on her lips. "Morning, Hermione."

"Sorry." She whispered then leaned closer. "Who's that?"

Grabbing her by the arm, Alya led her best friend across the room. "Hermione Granger, let me introduce you to my cousin Angus Munroe."

"Good morning, Hermione, do you have everything for the next week?" Andi asked amused as the two children stared at one another without speaking.

Trying not the blush, Hermione replied. "Daddy wasn't particularly happy with me traveling to Bulgaria. Actually, how did you get my mother to agree? I know, Alya, it's not because you're allowing them to spend a few weeks in your home in Paris."

Alya tried not to wince. She had been dreading this conversation. "Your mother wasn't comfortable about you spending the summer at the Burrow, especially around Ron. Apparently, he didn't leave a good impression on her last time they met. She thought that Harry or Viktor would be a better match for you."

Alya wasn't sure when inviting Hermione's parents to France turned into a rather embarrassing conversation about her best friend's love life. Her best friend's mother, Emma Granger, once it was all explained to her, well as much as Alya could explain, was more than happy to make sure her husband got with the program.

"What! Why didn't you tell me you talked my mum about my so called boyfriends?"

"Actually I hoped that conversation would never come up." Alya murmured then raised her hand to stop her friend's tirade. "I'm sorry; it just happened. Anyway, I knew you weren't spending time with your parents this summer because you were concerned for their safety."

"Really, you knew?"

"Of course Hermione, I do have an emotional range larger than a teaspoon."

"Prat." The bushy-haired girl gave her best friend a warm smile.

"Oh that's right." Angus suddenly said. "You're Harry Potter's girlfriend."

"What?" Hermione whipped her head around. "No, he's just a friend."

"Oh, sorry, I read what Rita Skeeter wrote in the Prophet-" Angus scratched his chin.

"That slag!"

"Hermione Jean Granger." Alya cackled with glee. "Such language."

"You-" Hermione started to say while pointing a menacing finger at Alya.

"Oh, so Viktor Krum is your boyfriend then?"

"No, he isn't my boyfriend either?" Hermione grumbled. "I'm just joining Harry on a visit to the Durmstrang Institute."

Everyone knew, Harry Potter disappearing from the Wizarding world would cause too many problems. Thankfully, Tonks was up to the task of impersonating the Boy-Who-Lived for the next few weekends appearing at various schools in Europe.

"So you don't have a boy-friend?" Angus asked.

"No." Hermione rolled her eyes.

Alya couldn't help but giggle when Angus replied with a "Good" and then obviously surprised he said that aloud, motioned them to the fireplace "We should be going if we don't want to be late."

As her Custos disappeared in the green fire, Alya started to dance around singing. "Hermione and Angus kissing in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"Stop it, you're so evil." Hermione looked at the floor blushing. She realized at that moment that although Harry Potter was her best friend, Alya Black was becoming a sister of her own heart.

"I know, but you love me anyway."

"If you girls are finished." Andi said with a not too serious tone. "We don't want to keep the Chief Warlock waiting."

In the Burrow that evening, silence reigned, not because of anything malevolent but because most of the Order of the Phoenix sat quietly reading over a special edition of the Daily Prophet. Even another person coming to the table didn't interrupt their reading.

For Albus Dumbledore however, it had already been a long and frustrating day.

"How about a nice cup of tea, Albus." Molly Weasley greeted the Wizard as he entered the kitchen.

"Thank you, Molly, and a good evening all. Thank you once again, for coming tonight. Since it seems everyone is here, I hereby open another meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Now as you might have – "

"So is all of this true?" Hestia Jones looked up but then noticed her friend was missing. "Wait, isn't Tonks supposed to be here tonight?"

"I'm afraid she had some other responsibilities, so will not be joining us." Dumbledore gave a disappointed sigh, however it wasn't hard to miss the frustration in his voice. He also tried not to grimace as Elphias Doge snorted.

"Perhaps we will start with why I called for this meeting originally. As most of you are aware, the DMLE conducted a raid on Malfoy manor last night."

"From what I hear a bloody successful one."

"Perhaps Alastor, although details are a bit sparse."

"Operational Security is a good enough reason for me and so should it be for you. And what do you expect after what happened to her, attacked by some of our own." The old Auror pointed out, proud of his old protégé and her accomplishment. "Let the lads finish their job, Albus. You can deal with the politics later."

"I'm surprised you weren't there, Alastor." Remus Lupin, who had been fingering a white envelope, said.

"Neither me nor Shack. Albus, you know why we were not part of the raid. As much as I value our friendship, you need to speak with Madam Bones about our affiliations. I owe the girl too much, so I don't want to press but you won't like my choice if it comes to you or her."

Dumbledore looked shocked for a moment, then nodded.

"As for Nymphadora, she might have been there considering her House affiliation."

"Alya Black."

"Not surprising since it was Milady Black who called in the debt owned by House Malfoy.;" Elphias Doge explained. "According to the Department of Records, Narcissa Malfoy nee Black's marriage contract was terminated by her Head of House. Of course, that's not what surprised me the most."

"Did Alya break some laws-?" Fred Weasley started to ask.

"Oh nothing of the sort, dear boy, everything was aboveboard. No, it was another document that places young Draco as a ward to the House of Black."

"So she took control of Lucius's heir, and then proceeded to financially ruin him." Emmeline Vance laughed.

Hestia Jones however looked surprised. "Why would that financially ruin the Malfoys? I always heard they were extremely wealthy."

"I bet most of that wealth has gone directly into the pocket of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Bill Weasley said.

"Albus, it appears that young Bill here is most likely correct. Although the actual details of the marriage contract remained private between the two families, it was rumored that the Dowry for union between Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black was one of the largest on record." Elphias explained.

"So Lucius cannot pay his debts." Arthur Weasley had to smile.

"I believe you also mentioned to me that Bellatrix Lestrage's marriage contract had been terminated as well, Elphias."

"Indeed." The whole room became quiet when the older wizard replied.

"Does that mean Bellatrix is with Alya Black?" Molly asked, now worried for a green-eyed young man.

"Doubtful." Remus made a face. "Remember who cast the spell that threw Sirius through the Vale.

"The Dark Lord is not too sure."

"Go on Severus." Dumbledore nodded to the potion's master.

"Last night, whoever planned the raid knew that the Dark Lord and most of the inner circle would be meeting with the current head of the Damont Vampire Clan."

"That hardly means that Bellatrix was working for Alya Black, Severus." Remus said.

"Let him finish."

"Thank you. What is not known, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Draco disappeared from Malfoy manor last week."

"How can they just simply disappear?" Emmeline asked. "I thought that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named sent Narcissa to speak with Alya Black about joining them."

"He did and she returned. However, the Dark Lord allowed Bellatrix to conduct further negotiations. It's believed that the Black sisters went to their Head of House to ask for sanctuary. Rodolphus Lestrange believes it as well, only because his brother Rabastan was killed in front of one of those who escaped from the manor last night."

The death of one of the inner circle caused some commotion in the room. "Settle down please. Now did they actually see Bellatrix?" Dumbledore asked.

"No but those who were running claimed she was up front, slaughtering everyone in her way."

"Sorry Albus, I've known Amy for many years and there is no way she would work with that Witch." Alastor Moody grumbled while giving Severus Snape the eye.

Dumbledore raised his hand. "I happen to agree with you, Alastor." The Headmaster wished otherwise. Although a great servant of the light, Madam Bones continued to obstruct him at every turn. Today was no different.

"So what happened when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named found out about the attack?" Molly asked.

"As expected, he gathered those about him, which included a number of Vampires but discovered that he, along with everyone else could no longer find Malfoy manor."

"Someone placed a Fidelius Charm on the manor." Remus laughed. "I would have loved to have seen Voldemort's face."

"On the Lestrage's manor as well, which in turn caused the Vampire clan to decide not to ally themselves with the Dark Lord. They were not impressed with a Wizard who couldn't protect his own home."

"That's good news." Hestia said excitedly. "Including all of the Death Eaters captured or killed last night."

"We should not glorify the loss of life, Hestia." Dumbledore admonished the woman.

"Less for us to face." Fred murmured while trying to keep the smile off his face.

"Well, the Dark Lord is not pleased with what cost a number of his followers their lives."

Snape just frowned when Mad-eye snorted. "Even more loss of fighters and he is now homeless. It's bloody great news if you ask me."

"So what happened to Bellatrix?" Bill asked while looking at his father. Did they truly want to be friendly with a house that would give sanctuary to someone like Bellatrix Lestrange?

"We do not know, perhaps we can table that for now. We do have a number of other things to discuss." Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, like Umbitch." Fred grinned at his brother.

"Language, Fred" Arthur Weasley then turned towards the Headmaster. "I believe that Madam Umbridge was arrested right before the meeting."

"Actually, on her way." Elphias grimaced. "Good riddance, I've always disliked that woman."

"And we have Harry to thank for that." George sighed happily.

"What do you mean by Harry?" Molly asked in an accusatory tone. "You haven't spoken to him have you?"

"No but an Auror by the name of Gwaine Robards came by the store to discuss what happened during detentions with Umbridge. From what I could tell, he had been speaking with a lot of other students. Both Fred and I are pretty sure that Harry set it all up."

"Why?"

"Because the crazy fuck used a Blood Quill on her students during detentions; Lee came back with a bloody hand worse than Harry. If you ever get a good look at his hand, find the scar that says 'I must not tell lies.'"

No one admonished Fred for his language for at that moment everyone jumped when a feral sounding growl came out of Remus Lupin's mouth. "Did you know of this, Albus?"

"Remus, you must understand-"The Headmaster began but was interrupted by another growl.

"No wonder he ran away." The werewolf replied in disgust, "Fine, what about Pettigrew."

A number of people turned pages to find the article. Albus Dumbledore had initially called for a Wizengamot meeting to force Madam Bones to be more open in the information received during Pettigrew's interrogation.

Albus Wulfric Dumbledore didn't actually expect it to come to the Wizengamot and after that everything went out of his control.

~o~O~o~

Authors Notes: A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. If you like the story please leave a Kudos, if you have the time I would love to hear from you. My Muse mugged me with this one, pretty much forced me to write it at pen-point :) Thanks to all for reading! - Elsbeth

PS Dont worry my other stories haven't been dropped, just taking a break