Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter, his friends, his enemies, his family, his pets, his house, his thoughts, his feelings, his history...you get it... and the only way I am making money off this is because I'm not spending it online.

AUTHOR'S NOTE Hi again everyone, I know I shouldn't be starting a new fic when I haven't even got the second chapter of my first up. I found that the first was suddenly too cliched and boring and overused for me too continue it - but I might someday or between breaks in this one - but it won't be for a while.

This is a 'reading the books' fic as well, but I hope it will be slightly different to most out there. The characters will be reading all seven books. However, it will not be epillogue compliant. It is AU from the day after Snakface was killed on. I will probably mention it sometime in the fic - but I can't really see a war that has lasted nearly thirty years ending just because the lead bad guy was killed. There would still be plenty of death eaters out there as well as many political supporters, so while it may have been said that Kingsley became Minister and all those under Imperius would have been freed, I have serious doubts as to that working realistically. The Imperios would have all been cast by different people so not all of them would have worn off. That said - in my world Kingsley was assassinated after barely a week and Umbridge being the good little toady puppet that she is was made minister and as such made Harry and those that opposed the regime 'Undesirables' again with 'kill upon capture' orders. One by one any who opposed were cut down until all that remained (of those that fought actively and publicly) are those mentioned below. I'm not going to say anymore about the events that lead to this, but to say that the magical society deteriorated to the point where most lived for their own selves and their own families - it's all about surviving.

Thanks for reading. Constructive critisism is always welcome, and any suggestions towards characterisation and or background for the war/deaths/injuries is also welcome, I will always take new ideas into account before I use or dismiss them.

Also thanks to any reviewers and/or readers of my other story - I apologise sincerely for not updating it - but with everything going on, I had little time and new ideas and plots forming in my head all the time that would not have worked with that plot. Hopefully I will get further with this story all I will have to take a break from everything in a month and a bit because it's becoming very difficult to sit at a desk or even on the couch. As you guys will know I'm due at the start of May - we still don't know the gender but we know that both are the same sex and already have names picked out

Thanks again and thanks to my beta and husband Arty x

Guin

New Order HQ - April 11, 2007 0800hours

In a small house on the outskirts of London nine people were gathered around a table lit by a single candle. Each wore a single grey cloak that obscured their faces to anyone but themselves and their eleven children. At the head of the table sat a man with messy black hair, glasses and green eyes that looked somewhat dull and a jagged scar down one cheek. To his left sat a woman with bright red hair and brown who was whispering to another brown haired woman while they both kept glancing at the corner where the children were playing. On the man's right sat two red-haired menone with his hair tied at the nape of his neck, the other, slightly older and missing an ear. Along from him sat a blonde-haired woman with rather protuberant blue eyes who was also very pregnant. Opposite her and next to the brown haired woman sat a man with long white blonde hair and a pale pointed face. He was chatting (or rather arguing) with a tall, heavily built man with long brown hair and two scars running in cross sections across his face, who had his arm around another pregnant woman with short blonde hair and a small smile on her face as she watched the children as well.

"Right," the black-eyed man began. Everyone halted there conversations (or arguments) and turned to face him "We have the potion and the spell prepared. Correct?"

The white haired man nodded.

"Yes both are ready, we just need that final ingredient for the specific date and we'll be ready. We have enough for all twenty-three of us."

"Twenty three?" the one-eared red head questioned.

The female red head snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Twenty three because those two have to take enough for the twins and the girl." She said pointing to both blonde women. "Otherwise the babies would end up left behind." All the woman winced at that."

"So, really, all we need is a specific date, I know we've planned on the very beginning of everything but do we want the very start or after Dumbledore hears the prophecy or after he knows Snakeface is after the Potters?" the brown-haired woman said.

"I think it would be best to go after the Potters are targeted, then we can include Snape with Dumbledore's approval, that will make it less suspicious to everyone else, but before they go into hiding, so that the Rat never becomes secret keeper." The blue eyed pregnant woman said.

"So," the brown haired woman started. "We know Snape went to Dumbledore on third of October, and that they went into hiding on the twenty-fourth, and it will take us about a week - at the very least - to do what needs to be done, so we want to be there by the sixteenth at latest, we should probably aim for the seventh or eighth. Agreed?"

"I think the more time we have the better," the brown-haired man said. "So maybe the fifth or sixth, that gives Snape a couple of days rest, and us enough time to organise everything if something goes wrong."

"Agreed," the black-haired man said, he wrote the date on a slip of dragon-scale and passed it to the blonde man who stood and turned towards a frothing cauldron at the back of the room, with a small amount of hesitation he dropped it in the middle. Immediately the froth began boiling as green sparks surrounded it. The man took his seat back as everyone, the children included, watched as as grey mist formed around it swirling as it became gold then red then green, silver, yellow, then black, blue and finally back to grey; as the mist dissipated, the liquid was still and now white. As one the room breathed a sigh of relief, it had worked so far.

"Guys," the brown haired man began. "I know we wanted to wait until the start of May, just to wait out the next anniversary a final time, but you know I was stationed at Hogwarts last night, but there was quite a lot of activity...and I heard more of those rumours...I think the movements are going to begin again soon. I really don't think we have that much time to waste; I vote we leave tonight."

"But we have so much left to do...we have more books to collect, and food and..."the brown haired woman protested.

"You are kidding right...everything we could possibly want, need, everything we own, we already carry with us," he said as he untied a small moleskin sack from around his body. "We don't need to wait. We leave tonight."

"Tonight." Both red heads agreed.

"Okay then. Tonight it is. We need the three of you - " the black haired man pointed to the three blondes, " - to gather the children in the cloaks. We need you two - " he pointed to the red headed and the brunette men " - to stabilise the cloaking wards and start removing the magic suppression wards, we'll need all our magic to do this and we'll only have one chance once the wards are down. The rest of us need to start the rune circle."

The three groups separated. With the children, the eldest two helped the stuggling youngest into the cloaks before donning them as well. One of the adults went around securing the cloaks, and stepped back, where once stood eleven children, the youngest at three years old, the eldest nine, now stood eleven identical grey cloaked figures each standing at six foot tall. Making sure the children understood the severity of the situation the the three adults left, the man to help with the wards and the two woman for the rune circle.

All in all it took over seven hours for everything to be set up. Twenty-three goblets stood side by side along the table as the blonde man leveled a precise amount in each. As one the twenty people reached for their goblet and stifled their choking as they swallowed the potion; the parents making sure that their children drank every last drop - especially difficult when dealing with three year two blonde women finished their extra goblets with a grimace and turned to take their place in the circle. With tears in their eyes the adults joined hands with the children forming a solid wall as the red haired woman began the chant that would remove them from their time - the place were they grew, became friends, loved, learned and fought to the death together, with one last silent goodbye to the loved ones they had watched fall; a gold mist surrounded them, they gripped each others hands tighter as the mist absorbed them.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if it is worth continuing.

I hope by my descriptions you could figure out who each charcter was - although the children will be slightly different to canon, it's all mostly compatible. They won't be properly introduced until after the sorting chapter of Philosophers Stone - so if too many people are confused I'll put a charcter list in the next chapter or two.

Cheers,

Guin