a/n: I would like to thank everyone for following this series through to this, its conclusion and point out that this will not make any sense if you haven't read Blood of the Phoenix and Tears of the Phoenix, not to mention a knowledge of Dinner with the Dursley's. This one takes place approximately ten years after the end of Tears of the Phoenix (not the epilogue) and will cover the time Molly (going by Alex) and Lily (who insists on going by James) attend Hogwarts. You'll get to see all of the characters you've come to love and i hope you enjoy this one as much as you've enjoyed the previous ones.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters created by JK Rowling, i do own the few OCs dotted throughout this series.

Prologue

When he'd received the request he'd had to read the parchment twice before he believed what was written on it. The form itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary, since he'd taken on the desk job the only time he got out of the dark underground cave he called an office was when the goblins needed his skills. He'd become something of an expert over the years in Ancient Egyptian wards and curses and the more time he'd spent working closely on the finds that other Curse Breakers bought back, the more he'd been able to refine his skills and knowledge by researching the curses and wards he encountered.

This had resulted in requests for him to offer assistance at certain sites over the years. All of the travel stopped him from getting bored with the deskwork and it gave Fleur a chance to show off her skills because he always took her and Victoire with him. It certainly brought the money in and the goblins were very good about giving him bonuses for any of the jobs on which he managed a break through.

Over the years he had become the foremost expert Gringott's had on Ancient Egypt. So why were they sending him to China? Confused, he locked away the ceramic jar he'd been working on, scooped up his wand and the memo and left in search of his boss in hopes they could clear up the confusion before he found himself in a strange country where he'd be no help to anyone at all.

Twenty minutes later he was on his way home to break some very strange news to his family. His meeting with Hagnok hadn't gone as he'd expected. There hadn't been a mistake; the paperwork said exactly what it was supposed to. Gringott's needed and expert on Ancient Egypt at one of their sites in Hunan, China. Why they needed an expert on Egypt was a bit of a mystery, all Hagnok had been able to say was that they'd found something interesting and were sending a number of different experts into the area.

Coming out of the office, he'd walked by Eloise Drummand who was looking just as confounded as he was and holding a similar request for assistance. Eloise was their resident expert on Ancient Babylon and Mesopotamia.

'They've called in Old Reg from retirement, too,' she'd told him in a whisper. 'Something big is going on and they're not talking about it.'

Bill offered his thoughts that the goblins weren't sharing because they didn't know anything. Eloise had looked a bit doubtful but she couldn't argue the point because like Bill, she was well aware that the goblins were normally a lot more forthcoming with information. Oh, they never shared everything they knew but they believed firmly in giving their Curse Breakers every bit of information they could in the hopes that if they knew all of the facts they'd better be able to get all the gold.

If they weren't sharing information on something that required so many experts it was because they honestly didn't have any more.

The little seaside cottage he called home was cosy, the perfect size for a family of three. The sea air was always fresh and it had gotten to the point that he found it hard to sleep if he couldn't hear the waves at night. Fred was always joking that he'd lost his sense of smell if he didn't think the smell of seaweed was more prevalent than the fresh sea air.

Fleur greeted him by the kitchen door with a warm kiss that had Victoire crying out her disgust from where she was helping her mother get dinner ready by setting the table.

'How was work, dad?' his daughter, though she spoke fluid French, always spoke English with a perfect accent. Something that annoyed her grandmother to no end but served as an endless source of amusement for everyone else. Fleur took it as a point of pride that her daughter could sound English and like a native of France whenever the mood struck her.

'Was a bit odd,' he admitted right from the start. 'I got another request for help.'

'Ooooh, another holiday!' Victoire exclaimed with delight. 'Where are we going this time dad? Valley of the Kings? Giza? Somewhere new and undiscovered by muggles?'

Fleur set plates down on the table and motioned them both into chairs. Just as intrigued as her daughter to know where they would be going next.

'Hunan,' Bill dropped the name, making sure his voice was filled with as much disbelief as certainty.

His little family were taken aback. 'But that's in China!' Victoire's disbelief, if possible, exceeded her father's initial reaction. Bill for his part was just impressed she even knew where Hunan was. Perhaps Hermione's idea about early wizarding education hadn't been such a strange idea after all.

'It is,' Bill agreed, allowing his daughter to see his own confusion over the idea. 'There has been a discovery and they're calling in all sorts or experts. They're bringing Old Reg back from retirement and he deals with the Mesoamerican curses.'

This news was greeted with delight by his daughter who felt any excuse to travel somewhere new was worth the inconvenience of her dad being taken completely out of his field and suspicion by Fleur who had never quite gotten over her unease surrounding anything out of the ordinary since the last war.

'It's not anything to worry about,' he assured her later when Victoire had gone off to bed and the two of them were sitting by the fire listening to the WWN. 'Its probably just something relatively new that some young wizard thought he'd try to protect by getting creative.'

Fleur still didn't look reassured but she let the issue go, no point worrying over something so silly. The war was a long time behind them and Voldemort was gone. Strange curses and artefacts were now just part of the job, they weren't something dangerous the Dark Lord was trying to use against them.

And so, a week later, this particular Weasley family could be found standing around the dusty old travel office in some distant part of the Gringott's building, yawning widely and surrounding by their baggage waiting for Eloise to show so they could take a portkey to the site in Hunan. Old Reg was leaning on a knobbly cane; head nodding forward as he fell into sleep. The moment his balance started to go, the old curse breaker would jerk awake and the whole thing would start again.

Bill had no idea why the portkeys always had to leave at such horribly early or late hours but he supposed he shouldn't really complain. It was all an adventure for Victoire and he needed the occasional stretch away from the desk. Eloise was no different. An injury from a bad curse kept her from working on site like she once had and she enjoyed the occasional outing, she didn't turn it into a family affair though. Her kids had all grown up and moved away with families of their own.

Bill was dreading the day when Victoire left for Hogwarts; he wasn't prepared to think about a time when she would start creating a family of her own.

Eloise arrived then, with just thirty seconds to spare, and they all hustled together quickly into the centre of the room, hands stretching out to tightly grip the plastic ring from a child's ring toss game. Bill gripped Victoire tightly with his other hand; that same old worry that she'd somehow slip and lose her grip taking hold of him despite what logic told him. Being the father of an ordinary witch was terrifying enough; he had no idea how Harry managed not to have a heart attack every time one of his girls did something crazy.

The sudden, sharp tug behind his navel surged through Bill and the world around him blurred. International travel always took a bit longer and the sensation of being pulled through a long and exceptionally narrow tunnel was not one he'd ever come to enjoy. Finally though, he felt his feet thump onto solid ground and he automatically braced himself so he didn't fall. It was only his grip on his daughter that prevented her from falling to the ground.

Bill looked around, taking a good look at their surroundings while Fleur helped Old Reg to his feet and Eloise brushed herself down. They were standing in the middle of a dusty road; the only light afforded them came from the stars shining above and the dim light of an oil lamp being held aloft by a short, elderly wizard stooped over a cane. His long white beard could have rivalled the late Albus Dumbledore's and his robes were travel worn and dusty. His gaze looked over them with a sharp intelligence although they carried a warmth that softened the intensity.

'Come,' he said, turning to lead them down a narrow path that he had been blocking from Bill's view.

Bill exchanged looks with the others but followed the little old man with a shrug. That's not to say he didn't pull out his wand, lighting the tip to cast a little more light on the path. He led the way, Victoire gripping the back of his jumper with Eloise helping Old Reg and Fleur bringing up the rear. Old habits died hard and he knew Fleur would be keeping a steady pace with them, wand out and eyes peeled for any sign of trouble. It was little things like this that showed the war would never truly leave them. He knew for a fact that Ron still slept with his wand under his pillow and Stephanie had a tendency to curse anyone who startled her.

Bill just hoped their children would never have to know that feeling of terror.

They'd been walking for twenty minutes when the sound of voices travelled toward them down the path. There were at least fifteen different voices as far as Bill could tell and they sounded calm and friendly, the jovial tones of people getting an early start on the day. Bill was ready for bed. It was going to be a long day, he could tell. Still, when they emerged from the trees the sight of a rather spacious camp greeted them. Tents ringed a clearing, a few smaller ones obviously set up for sleeping, and the larger ones for work – not that size on the outside was any indication of the tent insides proportions.

A few people sitting around the fire called out greetings to their guide before turning back to their breakfast. As they were led through the camp Bill got a good look at those sitting around the fire. They were all locals, young as well which suggested this had started out as some sort of research for the local Ministry and then spiralled when their discoveries got a lot more interesting.

Or dangerous. There was a good chance Gringott's had been called in when things got dangerous because they had a reputation for being able to handle things most wizarding establishments couldn't. It was the bonus of working for ruthless goblins like those who headed up the bank. A little work, a heap of danger and a LOT of gold.

Fleur took Victoire and their belongings to the tent they were assigned while Bill, Eloise and Old Reg got started on the work. The more they were told and got to see for themselves the more they understood why they were all there. A tomb had been found, one that contained many layers of curses from cultures all over the world. The outer most layer had been easy enough for them to break through, it was worded and bound using runes and phrasing typical of ancient Chinese wards.

The next layer, however, was formed from magic from Japan. Those they'd been able to break through because they had a curse breaker on loan from the Japanese Ministry and the third layer was bound up using some complicated Indian spells that Bill had never even heard of. Layer after layer had been revealed until finally they'd only been able to identify the culture responsible for the wards. That's when they'd called in Gringott's to borrow some of their curse breakers.

It was fascinating and Bill lost himself in the work, just as curious as the history researchers to find what such intricate wards were protecting. As the days passed and the layers of wards were stripped away, the atmosphere in the camp swelled with excitement until finally, on their sixth day in the camp they managed to break through the final, most complicated ward.

As the final ward crumbled there was no sign, no indication that anything was wrong. These was no big flashing sign, no sharp wards or angry warnings to prepare them for what was about to happen.

Nothing happened to alert them that they hadn't broken through wards designed to protect some great treasure. There was nothing to tell them their children would soon know the horror of war.

Bill Weasley wouldn't know until it was too late what they had unknowingly unleashed on the world.