I got so much done on the book today - much more than expected and I'm still on a role - that I decided to post this a bit early. I ended up writing two chapters and am about to start on a third, which puts me at the first four chapters finished, as well as part of a later chapter and the last chapter. Still a long ways to go before I can start posting, but it's definitely a good start.

In this one, we learn more about Dominique and her relationships with the rest of her family. We have some new characters, but mostly it's those that were already introduced through previous stories. We see more of Iris' past before Dumbledore found her. And we get to see more Fleur and Bill - obviously - more Hermione and more Molly.

The basic premise is that Teddy has formed a secret task force to investigate what Iris, Daisy and Jamie are and can do, in the hopes that if they understand it better, they will be able to figure out what might be coming. At the same time, Hermione is busy planning the international forum in the hopes that she can get all the wizarding governments around the world to band together, so that they will be better prepared to fight - and win - should some sort of magical disaster happen. In the middle of all this is Dominique, who is determined to save her family from another war; Daisy and Jamie, who are struggling to control their new gifts while fearing what could happen if they don't; and Iris, who must not only face her past but now share things with her family that she had kept hidden and tried to forget for years. All while fearing for her children. And all the family is on edge, wondering how many more they must lose before peace finally sticks.

The greatest fear is knowing that something is coming, but not knowing what or when...

Without further ado... a glimpse of Through the Veil of Secrets...

"Really, Teddy? Merlin, of all the teams to be working with, it had to be yours," she said with a groan.

"Come on, you're not excited to be working with family?" he asked, grinning.

"I should have known it was you when Grifford said I had been specifically requested," she said with a sigh. "What is it you need me to do?"

The door to his office opened and Dominique looked over as Chris Abbott walked in, causing her to roll her eyes again. The tall blonde had been best friends with her annoying cousins at Hogwarts - often joining in on their pranks and trouble when he wasn't fawning over her other cousin Daisy Wood. He now was reinstated as Jamie's best friend and had been assigned to Teddy's team last summer.

And even though years had passed since they graduated, he still annoyed the hell out of her.

"That's a lovely way to say hi, Weasley," he said, smirking. Dominique swore the man lived to antagonize her.

"Teddy, get on with it. What is it I'm supposed to be doing now that I'm here?" she said, turning her view back to Teddy.

"Well, officially we're looking into a string of burglary cases involving muggle establishments," Teddy started. Dominique groaned again.

"You brought me over here to investigate whatever it is that's going on with Jamie and Daisy, didn't you," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, Dom, this is serious," Teddy said.

"No, it's not. They started getting more of Aunt Iris' gifts and now you think some sort of disaster is on the way. There's no correlation," she said, shaking her head. She glanced over at Chris, who seemed to have a serious look on his face. "And I take it since we're speaking so openly, Abbott here has been filled in on the latest family drama?"

Teddy and Chris shared a look, with Teddy nodding. Chris waved his wand, muttering something under his breath. Dominique suspected it was concealment charms and other various spells to hide whatever was about to be said from prying ears and eyes.

"Dom, I'm going to show you something that not everyone in the family has been privy to. Maybe it will change your mind and make you see how serious this is," Teddy said, walking over to a cabinet and opening it. Dom sat up in her chair, noticing the pensieve in it.

"Blimey, what's this?" she said.

"Would you stop whining and just come look?" Teddy said, starting to lose his patience. She pushed out of the chair with a sigh and walked over as he selected a bottle and began extracting the memory and putting it into the bowl. "Aunt Iris gave this to me. Since she can't be here all the time to project the memory."

"Fine, but it won't change my mind," she said. Teddy just stared at her, seeming as though he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes or smack her in the back of the head.

"Just look at it," he said.

Dominique leaned over the pensieve and took a deep breath before submerging her face in the liquid. She felt like she was falling, tumbling through the air. A sense of panic filled her chest but as soon as it started, she was on her feet in a dark chamber. She looked around, barely able to make out where she was, it was so dark. It seemed large - very large. And there were seemingly hundreds of tall shelves with glass balls of varying sizes that stretched for what looked like miles in every direction. Dominique gasped quietly.

She was in the Hall of Prophecy.

Very few ever got to see this place outside of those who worked in the Department of Mysteries. Dominique drank it all in, knowing this was probably the closest she'd ever get to seeing it.

A quiet shuffling from her right drew her attention. Dominique turned and saw a young girl, she looked like she was no more than maybe 13 or 14, with short, curly red hair. Her face was smudged with what could have been dirt or bruises - Dom couldn't tell in the low light - while her hair looked as though it hadn't been washed in months. Her green eyes seemed full of fear as she crept down the aisle where Dom stood, looking around as though she expected someone to jump out at any moment. Her movements were jerky and tight. One hand held a sort of glowing orb, while the other was out to her side, as though she were at the ready should someone or something attack.

Dom's eyes widened as she realized who she was staring at. It was Aunt Iris.

Dom watched as the young teen crept passed her and then fell behind in step behind her, watching as Iris' head quickly moved from one side to the other, trying to keep all directions in her sight. There was a soft whisper from somewhere and Iris stopped, straightening up from the slight crouch she had been in, tilting her head to one side as though she were listening.

Dom noted her worn, dirty clothing. An ugly red stripe seemed to creep up from under the collar of her shirt, making its way up her neck. It looked painful. There was the soft whisper again, but this time Dominique could hear what it was saying.

"Irissss…"

Teen Iris turned her head to the right and started down an aisle, looking around at the shelves. Dominique followed closely behind her.

"Irissss…"

It was louder this time, as though they were getting closer. Iris began walking faster as the whispering kept coming more and more often, louder and louder.

Suddenly the young girl stopped and looked to her left. She turned and faced the shelf, searching. Seeing her up close, the light from the orb bouncing off her face, Dominique could see that the smudges were a mixture of healing bruises and dirt. She stared in shock, not sure how she felt seeing her aunt in this way.

What horrors had she gone through before she was found?

Young Iris left the orb suspended in the air as she fixated on one shelf and reached through the glass, deep onto the shelf. A small look of triumph came over her face as she seemed to have found whatever it was she was looking for. She pulled her arms out and looked down at a small glass ball in her hands. It was so encrusted with dirt and dust that there was no soft glow visible from within like the others around them.

Iris frowned as she started to wipe away at the grime with her sleeve. Dominique stepped closer, wanting to see what was in the object just as much as young Iris. Finally she had cleared a large enough spot that a swirling blue and green light emitted from it. An old, weathered face appeared. Dominique couldn't make out if it was a man or a woman, but guessed from the lack of facial hair that it must have been a woman. Her eyes were clouded, as though she were blind.

"They are coming. They are here. They were here before," the woman said. "The descendants of Athena will rise again. They will bear her mark. They possess the power to protect… but also to destroy… They will come when they are needed… Beware of those who will seek to use you for evil… for they will seek you…"

Young Iris' face went rigid in fear as her hands started to shake.

"The power to destroy?" she whispered. "Can you tell me more?" she asked, a bit more loudly, not understanding that the orb contained a prophecy and couldn't answer questions. "Please… I need to know more."

The old woman repeated the prophecy.

"I heard that," Iris said, getting frantic. "I need you to tell me more!" Tears started streaking down her cheeks. She looked around the room quickly and then back down at the orb. Suddenly, she went stiff as she seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. Her mouth dropped open as she looked up, blinking slowly. "Oh, god," she murmured. She looked back down at the orb and then quickly threw it to the ground - the orb smashing into dust as it made contact with the stone floor. Iris took a step back and looked at the shards as she wiped her cheeks.

A few shouts came from behind Dominique. Both turned to look towards them. When Dominique turned to look back at her aunt, she had already taken off at a run down the aisle in the other direction. She then suddenly vanished. Smoke filled the room as Dominique felt herself being pulled back out of the memory.

Just a little morsel to hopefully tide you over until it's ready to be posted...

sunrisekisses: I'm glad you're excited! I've gotten quite excited about it. I seriously want to start posting right away, but trying to hold off until I get more written and get far enough that I don't want to randomly change/edit things from the beginning chapters. Haha, I think now everyone is rooting for Wills. Oddly enough, I didn't even consider him a possible match when I first introduced him way back in Surviving Hogwarts, nor did I expect so many folks to be Team Wills.

infinitelyneverlasts: Haha, well, I intentionally left that vague to keep folks guessing... Though I will say that I now know what's going on... just you guys are going to have to wait a bit longer to find out. ^_^

twilightlover427: I was wondering if anyone was going to catch that Nilsson was there too... As for who, as I said, just going to have to wait and see...

Thanks for reading, following and reviewing! I promise to try and not make you all wait too long for the next installment!