A/N: Unable to finish the work on the intended chapter in time, reasons for which I don't want to go into, I've settled on posting its first half for now. The full version will be uploaded upon completion. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. Merry Christmas and happy New Year, everyone.

A/N2: Any volunteering beta-readers for this story will be welcomed.

Chapter 8: Return of the Female Marauder Part 1

"Well, well, look whom we got."

Harry promptly got a grip on his wand before turning. Standing behind was blonde woman in khaki suit, who gave him a superior smirk. He only started shifting his wand to her general direction before she shot him a warning growl, baring her teeth.

"Forrget it. I could kill you before you manage a single spell."

For a moment he could swear that the pupils in her amber eyes narrowed. Just as he was considering his options, he noticed a big black bird silently landing about twenty feet behind her back.

Nevermore? He wondered, thinking about Luna's raven she used to send messages. What is he doing here?

Before he could ponder it further, the bird transformed into a black-haired woman in grey cloak which he recognized as yet another Stealth Cloak. However, before she made a movement and he could judge who was foe and who was not, the blonde woman snorted.

"Not bad. But I could smell you even beforre you landed!"

Instantly she ducked and rolled away from the line of fire, getting back at her feet and extracting two Muggle handguns in process. Pointing one at each opponent, she snarled: "Now be reasonable, both of you, beforre I get really mad!"

The sarcastic part of Harry's mind wondered if it was too late for that. Then he went back to serious, taking notice of the knife holster on her ankle in addition to her other weapons. Whoever this person was, she was dangerous. Meanwhile, noticing the other woman's choice of attire, the blonde did a double take.

"Wherre did you get it?" she asked suspiciously, still keeping both of them at a gunpoint.

The black-haired woman in cloak looked totally undaunted.

"Drop your toys," she advised calmly. "Before I make you."

The gun-wielding woman just snorted. Momentarily forgotten, Harry managed to point his wand at her, perceiving as a greater threat, and whispered: "Expelliarmus."

To his surprise, the spell had no effect at all. The blonde just chuckled. "See what I mean? Now, you two –"

She never got to finish before a male voice called out from somewhere nearby: "Xavia? Are you there? Is everything alright?"

The woman with guns looked irritated and called back: "Just wait a minute, Keesh!"

The black haired woman however nearly lost her composure: "Xavia?"

She then quickly made a strange gesture, placing her hand to heart and then opening it palm forward. At this point Xavia's attention completely left Harry.

"Who're you? Who's yourr patron?"

"Viktor," the other woman replied, never taking her eyes from opponent. Harry raised his eyebrows, recalling the only Viktor he knew, but this was not the good time to indulge his curiosity. He had to get away from these two and find Luna before Xavia's friend came to her aid…

Just as Harry turned to the nearest escape route, his heart skipped a beat when he saw Luna in the nearby clearing and an unfamiliar red-headed man right behind her. Instantly figuring that it was too late to warn her, he did the first thing which came to his mind.

"Accio Luna!"

This impulsive action caused several things to happen in a rapid succession.

Luna tumbled in his direction with genuinely surprised expression, hitting the ground. Xavia turned on a spot and pounced at him, somehow switching her guns with army knife and kicking away his wand in process. His instinctive attempt to block her was met with a quick slash, which drew blood from his palm. But their scuffle gave black-haired woman the opportunity she needed. As she pointed her wand at them and opened her mouth –

"Stop now, all of you!" a powerful voice rang through the clearing, effectively halting the conflict before it escalated even further.

Tall red-haired man now stood in front of them imposingly. Luna got back on her feet, clutching her hand. Xavia froze, her knife inches away from Harry's jugular. The other woman paused, watching the unfolding events with narrowed eyes.

"Xavia, what were you thinking?" he continued, before turning to the other witch. After a few moments her suspicious expression subsided and she repeated her previous gesture. The man appeared faintly surprised.

"Harry!" Luna came to his rescue. "It's okay, Miss LeRean, he's with me."

Xavia got away from the boy, still glaring at him. As Luna helped him up, he noticed a bloody scratch on her hand, left by the fall. He immediately felt guilty.

"And Aunt Florence! Nice to see you again," Luna addressed the dark-haired woman as if nothing happened.

Harry blinked several times. Apparently Luna knew all these people. And other than this Xavia, they appeared quite non-hostile.

"Harry, these are Mr. Keesh Red Feather and Miss Xavia LeRean. And this is Ms. Florence Fortescue," Luna did the introductions, "Mr. Red Feather, Miss LeRean, Aunt Florence, this is my friend Harry Potter."

Xavia's glare finally lost its intensity. Keesh appeared outright friendly and slightly concerned. Florence Fortescue (is she related to Florean from Diagon Alley? he wondered) remained fairly calm, her expression unreadable.

"Good to see you again," she suddenly spoke dryly, breaking the tension among the adults. "Though what were you doing out here is beyond my understanding. Now look where it got you!"

At this point Harry recalled the reason why they came there in the first place and felt his heart dropping in his stomach.

"How long I was out?" he asked no one in particular, inwardly dreading the answer.

"How would I know? I just got here," Florence shrugged.

"Not too long, I think," Keesh supplied reassuringly. "We were coming to help you anyway, as Luna has asked."

Xavia looked like she wanted to let out some scathing remark, but he interrupted her.

"Now, what did you think you were doing, attacking him like this?" he glanced at Harry, his expression serious.

The woman shrugged.

"Wazn't my intention. When I saw him first, wazn't sure if he was a th'reat. Th'en she came along," she nodded at Florence. "Had to put th'em at a gunpoint, just in case. Didn't intend to attack of course: if I rreally wanted to, I could kill 'em both with one arrm tied behind my back…" Florence gave her a dark look, clearly disbelieving.

"And th'en he," Xavia glared accusingly at Harry, "Harms her with a spell –"

"I was only trying to protect Luna!" he argued half-heartedly. "I didn't know you were all friends, and…"

"Thank you, Harry," the girl said affectionately. "But there was no need to do this. Even if there was a threat, I wasn't that far away from you."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, looking up at her. "I didn't mean… you know…"

"This reminds me," Florence interfered, "A couple of minor healing spells seems in order."

Receiving a nod from Keesh, she instantly healed their cuts with a nonverbal spell.

"So, all is well that ends well. Miss LeRean wouldn't have really hurt you anyway," Luna spoke to Harry serenely.

"Of course not! I aimed to incapacitate, not kill," Xavia huffed indignantly.

"Now what were you two th'inkin'?" she turned to the teenagers, letting out her displeasure at the situation. "Asleep out zere –"

"We weren't asleep, we were just out there," Luna objected. Harry tried to understand what she meant as his memory was still slightly unclear. Xavia rolled her eyes.

"Alone. In unprotected place. Grreat packleaders!"

"Don't be hard on them, Xavia," Keesh said placatingly. "They are here and they are safe now."

His companion hmmphed.

"Am I correct in presuming that we're here for the same purpose?" Florence spoke somewhat imperiously, apparently having figured something out. The other two adults stared at her.

"Possibly," Keesh cautiously replied. "You are –?"

"Viktorr's," Xavia supplied.

The man nodded understandingly. "I didn't expect him to question the decision… Well, all the better…"

While they were conversing, Harry turned to Luna.

"Where did you go?" he asked quietly. "I was worried about you."

"Sorry," she replied bashfully. "You didn't wake up immediately. I thought giving you CPR would help, but…"

Harry raised his eyebrows as she blushed slightly. He almost jumped however when he noticed Xavia sniffing the air near him with her teeth bared. Noticing his expression, she shrank back and tried to twist her lips into smile.

"Don't worrry, I don't bite. Unless you tick me off."

"She's just joking, never mind her," Keesh quickly added.

Suddenly Xavia stepped away from Luna, snarling at something unseen.

"Pleaze, do me a favorr and keep zis th'ing away from me," she let out, glaring at the silver ring on Luna's finger. Harry narrowed his eyes. Now that he thought of it, there was something strangely familiar about this woman, her amber eyes, almost animal-like ferocity…

"Are you –?" he began uncertainly, before she interrupted him.

"A werewolf? Yes, and I'm not ashamed of it. It's my birrthright after all. Now that I th'ink of it, I smell anotherr one on you… both of you…" she gave Luna a somewhat worried look.

"Oh, that would be Professor Lupin," Luna explained. "He's nice." Then she frowned, remembering something.

"Actually, I think we were gone just long enough and should be getting back. We don't want to worry him and the others, right Harry?"

"Sure." He grimly thought that Mrs. Weasley and Remus Lupin were probably rallying the whole Order to search for them already.

Xavia and Keesh exchanged glances.

"Well, we've got what we needed," the man smiled at Luna thankfully. "I hope we will be able to meet again, under a better circumstances."

"But I'm not done here yet," Florence objected, looking at Luna pointedly. "We've got other things to discuss."

"You're welcome to visit us at the Burrow," the girl replied airily. "This is where we're going now." She extracted the set of rusty car keys from her pocket. Black-haired woman started a movement to touch them too before catching herself and reluctantly pulling back. Harry briefly noticed a ring with emerald on her finger, of the same design as Luna's.

"Well, goodbye Mr. Red Feather, goodbye Miss LeRean. See you soon, Aunt Florence," Luna seemed to keep the farewells short. "Come on, Harry," she pressed the Portkey in his hand.

"Goodbye," he said awkwardly just as Luna cast a Protego Charm. The two disappeared with a pop.

The remaining adults looked at each other.

"So… you're gonna stay here, then?" Keesh asked Florence uncertainly.

"Of course," she scoffed, sounding almost offended. "I still got work to do, unrelated to the Conclave. And I'm going to make sure the girl is safe, with this Lord Voldything on the loose. It's the least I can do to honor Annabelle's memory… While at it, I think I'll look after Lily's boy as well."

Xavia's mildly fierce look softened. "I remember you now from Jack and Annabelle's wedding," she said quietly. "You kept mostly to yourself back th'en…"

Florence looked up at her in surprise, her own expression softening slightly as well. "I might've seen you there as well, but we never got introduced properly… Were you close with her?"

"She waz my little sister in all but blood," the blonde spoke passionately. "Even th'ough Leia didn't formally adopt me, to me she was ze mother I never had before… And I neverr fully repaid her for all she and Luc had done for me…"

"Same here, I was never there when it mattered," the other woman spat in a fit of sincerity. "With Lily, with Alice, with poor Annie… No surprise Com–" she stopped abruptly, catching herself. The other two looked at her questioningly.

"I need to go after them now," she curtly cut off the conversation. "Farewell."

Without waiting for reply, she transformed back into the avian form and took off, gaining altitude to look for the right direction.

Xavia and Keesh gave each other the 'What-was-this-all-about?' look before shrugging.

"Back to home, then?" Keesh asked unnecessarily, confident of the answer. His companion surprised him however.

"Forr now, maybe," she acquiesced. "But with zis Dark Lord mentioned, I happen to remember a cerrtain... Greyback in his service…"

The mention of this name instantly brought Keesh on edge, though he didn't show it outwardly.

"Don't worry, it isn't about what you th'ink," Xavia's acute senses detected his discomfort and she tried to get him off this track. It didn't quite work.

"Are you really sure?" he then decided to come clean with his friend. "Look, I know about your childhood. I mean, I heard the rumors. They said you were used as a lab-rat – well, lab-wolf – to develop the cure for lycantropy, and were subjected to some dreadful experiments before Leia got you out… I also heard that Greyback might've been the one –"

"Enough!" Somehow Xavia managed to restrain herself to words only. Probably due to Keesh being her long-time colleague and the partner. Still, his words brought up an unwanted flashback. She shuddered slightly. "I care not forr zis… beast!"

"Thought you didn't use this word lightly," he muttered worriedly, mostly to himself. Once again disregarding her superior hearing. The already riled up shewerewolf finally snapped.

"All men arre beasts! Only some disguise it better than ze oth'ers."

Her companion shut his mouth. Even though he was the one who brought up the dangerous topic, he couldn't help being stung by these words. Fortunately it didn't take Xavia long to cool down enough to realize that she said a bit more than was necessary.

"Men, I said. You're an eagle," she grumpily admitted in an implied apology. Keesh Red Feather just blinked at the mention of his totem animal. Leave it to Xavia to find an excuse like this…

Back at the Burrow

Luna's emergency Portkey delivered the two to the Headquarters cellar, fortunately unoccupied at the moment. Probably Mad-Eye Moody either didn't return yet, or already left again to look for them. Regardless, Harry decided not to dally downstairs. Thinking about their friends and their prospective reactions, he suggested going up separately. As Luna lightly bounded up the stairs, he took a minute to try and come up with some – any – explanation for their absence. Having figured none – in his defense, he still didn't quite process what exactly has happened to them outside – he dejectedly trudged after his friend. As his luck would have it, he ran straight into Hermione.

"Harry?" the bushy-haired girl looked at him suspiciously. "What is going on? Luna said you two tried practicing hide-and-seek…"

We WHAT?! Harry somehow managed to keep his face straight. Damn, this girl surely is creative and quick, to make up something like this on such short notice… And technically it isn't that far from truth, all this concealment and search... Wait, what search? What am I thinking about?..

Hermione continued to stare at him. Fortunately he was saved from further interrogation by the sound of argument coming from the front door. Giving him a look which said it wasn't over, the girl headed there. Wondering what was happening, he followed her.

Remus Lupin, Mrs. Weasley and Luna were already there, the girl explaining something.

"…yes, I know Aunt Florence, she's a good friend of my mother and I've met her before."

"As have I," Lupin said thoughtfully. "I remember her from my Hogwarts years. But why would she come here now of all times?"

"Well, we shall never know for sure until we let her in," Luna reasonably noticed. Harry was slightly surprised. This Fortescue lady was quick as well.

Mrs. Weasley didn't look overly happy at the prospect of letting inside someone unknown but the decision clearly wasn't just hers to make, and Remus looked willing to give the visitor a chance. Finally the door was unlocked, and the raven-haired woman Harry just saw outside entered the house, with more than one wand covertly pointed at her.

"Greetings," she spoke in a less imperious tone than she used earlier. "And my apologies for coming without invitation."

Harry noticed that she was no longer wearing her grey cloak.

"Glad to see you again, Florence," Remus replied courteously. "It's been awhile since we met last."

"Indeed, Remus," she agreed, before turning to Mrs. Weasley. "I'm not sure if we've met before. My name is Florence Fortescue."

"Molly Weasley," the older woman appeared still cautious, but more accepting of the stranger. "If I may, what brings you to our home today?"

Florence lowered her head slightly, glancing at Luna. "I needed to check on my friend's daughter and, seeing as she wasn't at home…"

Interested, Hermione came closer. Florence briefly glanced at her and Harry, but gave no indication of their meeting shortly before.

"I see," Lupin said thoughtfully. "Under the circumstances, I suppose we could let you stay for now, but we'll have to check you out first, you realize."

"Like Hestia's done?" she sighed. "Well, I guess I cannot blame you."

"You've met Jones?" he quickly asked.

"Earlier today. Neither of us expected it, but you know how these things happen." She then turned to Hermione and Harry, waiting for introduction.

"Harry, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley clearly just noticed their presence and made a motion to send them away. "Perhaps you should –"

"No need," Florence interrupted her. "I'm looking forward to meet Luna's friends. Besides, Lily was a good friend of mine as well…"

Harry's eyes widened. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, that their trip outside went unnoticed or that –

At this moment, several parts of his memory finally clicked together and realization struck. Florence Fortescue. The Florence Fortescue. One of his mother's best friends he discussed with Remus only a couple of days ago!.. The surprises of this day just don't seem to end… Wait, what other surprises?

He felt he really needed to get alone and fully recall all events of today. While he was surfing through the haziness of his memory, Florence suddenly stepped forward and gently hugged Luna, surprising the others. The blonde girl just smiled. Remus coughed however.

"Would you mind answering a question or two before getting close to our young charges? Nothing personal, just making sure," he noticed with slight edge.

"This is really Aunt Florence, I know it!" Luna protested.

"Then asking her wouldn't hurt," he countered. Thinking for a few moments, Lupin smiled.

"What event caused you to hex Sirius in our sixth year in Hogwarts, which cost our Houses the House Cup?" Florence reddened, releasing Luna and fighting the urge to raise her wand.

"Watch it, Lupin, or I might test this hex again. Unless you don't mind lacking certain bits."

The man nodded in satisfaction, corners of his mouth betraying his mirth. "It's her all right." Fortescue just snorted. Harry took it as a sign that it was safe to approach, while Hermione was more uncertain about the visitor and hesitated. He was taken by surprise however, when Florence hugged him as well.

"I'm glad to finally meet you properly, Harry," she quietly spoke. He thought there was a trace of tenderness in her voice. As she released him, he stepped back, looking around. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were obviously surprised at the display. Remus, not so much. He however stared at him for a moment, taking a slight sniff at the air. Harry remembered Xavia and her similar reaction. Here we go again…

"Harry," he asked slowly, his eyes narrowing. "Is it just me, or do I smell something I really shouldn't?"

"What is it?" Harry tried playing dumb, inwardly despairing. At this rate there will be no way to hide their encounter outside and the fact that they sneaked out in the first place…

Lupin stepped closer to take in the scent better. There could be no mistake.

"A werewolf. Another werewolf. A female werewolf, to be precise," he muttered in disbelief. Behind him, Hermione gasped. Florence however was quick to respond.

"Oh, that would be me. That is to say, I've met one acquaintance of mine shortly before coming here," she plainly explained, neglecting to mention that they became acquainted with Xavia equally recently. "The scent must've transferred to Harry just now."

The werewolf raised his eyebrows before sniffing the air near Luna and her as well. Apparently it alleviated his suspicions. "Oh, I see. An interesting circle of friends you've got, nowadays…"

"Who should be speaking?" she snorted, covertly shooting Harry a look which almost seemed to be saying: you owe me.

While adults continued settling the matter of Fortescue's temporary placement, Harry quietly retreated upstairs, making sure to avoid Hermione, at least until he found some plausible answers for her. He easily recalled the earlier events, like discussing his Voldemort vision in the morning, their interesting visit to Grimmauld Place, and his confidential talks with Luna. However the ending point was the moment when Luna touched his forehead out in the forest clearing. Next thing he could remember clearly, was him waking up and his confrontation with Xavia. Attempts to remember what happened in between quickly gave him a severe headache. So much for 'metaphysical world', he thought in chagrin. What's the point if I can't remember anything?

Just then the door opened and Luna peeked inside, probably looking for someone.

"Oh, sorry, Harry. I was looking for Neville. Aunt Florence would love to meet him too, I'm sure."

She made a motion to leave, but Harry stopped her.

"Luna, wait," he hesitated for a moment, trying to phrase his question. "About what happened outside…"

"Don't worry. No one has noticed anything," she reassured him. "Well, Aunt Florence did, but she's not going to tell. Though she might want an explanation from you later."

"It's not that," he mumbled. "It's… you see…"

"Ah, that. It's okay," she replied airily. "I know you were only trying to protect me."

"No!" he rubbed his forehead in frustration. "What I mean is…" he made a really vague gesture, trying to get his point across, even though he didn't completely understand it himself.

"Oh," her expression became more serious and sympathetic. "Well, they say the first time always hurts a little…"

Harry blinked several times, perplexed. What does it have to do with anything? he wondered, valiantly fighting a creeping blush as his mind went in overdrive trying to decrypt the meaning behind the statement. We didn't even –

"…but travels to Eden's antechamber become easier with each further visit… Now I need to go find Neville, Harry. We'll be downstairs with Aunt Florence. Oh," she suddenly remembered something. "And you should probably talk to Ginny. She seems to be upset with you."

As she left the room, he felt like banging his head on something hard. A train of thoughts such as this was completely out of character for him. And about Luna no less. Now, about Ginny –

Luna's last phrase flashed through his mind once more. He groaned.

Yet one more problem to resolve. He thought about Ginny's possible reaction should she ever learn about his latest venture with Luna, and shuddered. Sure, he liked her a lot, but her attitude concerning being left out of their risky endeavors was starting to worry him. Now that he thought of it, he suddenly realized that demanding to be taken into action just for the sake of involvement was more than a little immature. One thought leading to another, he realized ashamedly that this must be how he looked to Remus and Moody earlier today.

Deciding to seriously consider it later, he headed to find his friends and to find out more about his mother's old friend. By the time he got there Luna had already located Neville, and the both were in a conversation with the black-haired woman.

"But why did you come back so suddenly, uh, Aunt Florence?" Neville was asking shyly, uncertain how to behave around the woman.

"The time has come," Fortescue answered simply. "Staying away any longer was not an option. This Lord Voldemoron –"

Neville hiccupped in mild shock and even Harry's eyes widened at her boldness.

"–and his followers have gone too far. The evil must be punished!"

"To me it seems more important to restore and protect the good," Luna spoke softly. Florence seemed flustered for a moment.

"Well, this too. I admit, with my knowledge of the general situation in this country largely out of date..."

Harry approached them, Luna naturally noticing him first. He tried to get a grip on himself.

"Eh, hello, Ms. Fortescue –?"

"To you, Harry, Aunt Florence," she corrected. "If you want to, that is."

"Thank you… Aunt Florence," the wording sounded slightly alien to him, making him think of Aunt Petunia and Aunt Marge. And cringe at the memory of their likely fates. Florence raised an eyebrow, taking notice of his reaction.

"Hey, Harry," Neville turned to him, letting out his excitement. "Did you know, our mothers were good friends with Aunt Florence. And with Luna's mom too. I honestly didn't get to hear much about them before, though then again, Gran probably had her reasons…"

"I suppose this was partially my fault," Fortescue interrupted. "I actually met you when you were maybe two or three years old, but Augusta wasn't thrilled about my visit. I don't think it was anything personal, she just always seemed to be a little cautious of us Alice's friends. And considering what happened to Alice and Frank…" she didn't finish her sentence.

"At least you could visit us freely," Luna noticed. Florence grimaced, remembering how she happened to be in a faraway country when Annabelle performed her last experiment. Harry then turned to her with some of his own rather pressing questions.

"And how come I never even heard of you before very recently? No offense," he hurriedly added. "Just, since you were Mum's friend too…"

She sighed. "You were rather tricky to reach most of time, Harry. Well, there were some special ways to locate you anyhow," her eyes shifted to Luna momentarily, "but I never got them right until now. And I was never close with your father's friends so I doubt many would readily remember me. I half expected Remus to ask me outright just who am I anyway."

Harry nodded, understanding. Then Neville piped up impatiently: "Please, can you tell us more about your friendship with our mothers?"

The woman relaxed slightly, reminiscing about good old times.

"We started off right in our first year at Hogwarts. Annabelle was one of my first friends, you see, and I didn't have a lot in my House. It might've been different if I was sorted in Hufflepuff, but we'll never know now. Anyway, Annabelle's open-mindedness put off the rest of our roommates, and Florean, Light bless his soul, was a bit paranoid about my circle of friends when it came to boys, so we turned to people in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. The Slytherins would've never accepted us, since I'm a half-blood and Annabelle… well, it's not my story to tell," she looked at Luna apologetically before continuing, "and so, we came upon Lily and Alice, who instantly accepted us. Once we got to know them, things went uphill from there. Alice never hesitated to interfere when Avery or Rosier tried to pick on us or when Sirius and James got carried away. And Lily was very smart and open-minded for a Scout of Magic –"

"For a what?" Harry was raptly listening right until hearing this unfamiliar term which has caught his attention. Florence blinked, startled. Remembering whom she was talking to, she quickly corrected herself.

"Muggleborn. I've been using this term for Muggleborns for a long time. Our… uh, my mentor used to tell us about some faraway, obscure culture where wizards and Muggles freely interacted, and Muggleborn wizards and witches were hailed as Scouts of Magic, since they were exploring magic and its possibilities on behalf of non-magical people…"

She trailed off, sensing that continuing might lead to some unlikely questions, and turned back to the previous topic.

"So, the four of us became rather close, having found friends to rely on and a common set of interests. As time went by, members of our little coven busied themselves with strengthening bonds between us and deepening our knowledge of magic and its principles. Annabelle was the main generator of ideas, while Lily was the voice of reason, denouncing those of them that were too farfetched. Alice was the one of action, perhaps the most rash in the group..."

"And you?" Neville couldn't help himself, fascinated by the story.

The woman shrugged. "A bit of this, a bit of that... Not much to talk about," she replied modestly.

Explanation:
Term 'Scout of Magic' and corresponding society come from my HP-themed dream. I wasn't borrowing anyone's ideas on this.

A/N: That's it for now. But there'll be more to come, both for this chapter and a story. That's a promise.