Hogwarts' Shinobi

Chapter 27

Sakura stared blankly at the row of houses in front of her. In all honesty, after seeing all these powerful spells from the magic-wielding folk around her, she'd have thought their base would be a bit more... interesting. Either way, this was rather unimpressive. Or at least, it was unimpressive until she watched Dumbledore split the row of houses in half to reveal no. 12 Grimmauld Place. 

Whatever the reason for the strange way of hiding the secret base -for she could only assume it was hidden like so for longer than the order- it was certainly convenient. Ever since the Triwizard Tournament, she was frequently harassed by the press. After all, she decided to reveal her name to the public. There was little point in hiding it, so many people saw anyway, it was only so long until somebody leaked the information. At least this way, she looked more confident, unwilling to just hide and that was the image she'd rather be portrayed as being.

When she stepped into the house, she was immediately met with a rather amiable woman with hair that challenged hers for 'most obnoxious'. In all honesty, she had nothing against Mrs Weasley, in fact, it was the opposite, the woman instantly becoming a motherly figure for the girl. The woman instantly ushering her into the dining room where she was met with more friendly faces and a warm meal. It was at that moment that she felt happiness unlike what she'd ever felt in this world. Something she'd never realised she was missing out on until she got it. Barely able to keep the smile off of her face, Sakura scurried over to the empty seat between the old Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and a black-haired man claiming to be Harry's Godfather.

The meal itself was rather enjoyable, it had been a very British meal, but Sakura had begun to develop a taste for the food after spending so long in this world. It was after the meal, however, that the once happy atmosphere dispersed to a much darker one. The light-hearted conversations leaving as the youths left the room. But Sakura knew the reason she was here and it was not for fun and games. No, she was here on a special mission that was yet to be explained to her.

"Sakura Haruno. It has come to my attention that you are an acquaintance of Mr Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy family." Albus began his explanation as all eyes fell on the pink-haired female. Sakura, on the other hand, had instantly gone emotionless, all the training she'd undertaken in her childhood causing her to retain a straight face most would struggle with. The response she gave him nothing more than a nod in acknowledgement to his statement before he continued, 

"That will prove useful for you. We would like to send you undercover onto the other side, it will be your job to assist the other undercover agent in collecting information. The reason we require this of you is due to the fact our other spy is losing favour in the eyes of the Dark Lord. It is your job to get into the Dark Lord's favour and report back to us any and all information, useful or not." The man stopped for the briefest of moments before talking once more.

"Of course, should you wish to accept this mission, you may be forced to do things you'd rather not in order to keep your cover, and you may lose friendships. But those friends may have a chance of surviving the upcoming war should you accept. The only people who know about this task being the people in this room, not even the other spy will be aware of your task. So, Sakura Haruno, do you accept this mission?"

Sakura looked up at the old man, blue eyes meeting green. "I accept," Dumbledore smiled at the young girl. He knew that this mission was challenging, but he was also aware of how much greatly the Dark Lord desired Sakura's power. Even if it meant sending her into enemy territory, it was the only way to protect her from harm.

After assigning Sakura her new task, the discussion took a much lighter twist, mostly just reports of nothing of importance. After they'd each spoken, the house-elf brought in wines and an assortment of cheeses and biscuits as the adults began to mingle. Sakura, while at first finding the situation awkward for she knew only a few of the adults there, later began to adjust. 

Professor Lupin approaching to discuss various events that had occurred at Hogwarts as he also congratulated her for her success in the medical department. Her achievements inspiring many budding young witches and warlocks to take the challenging path in an attempt to perform miracles as well. Whilst some did it purely out of greed and the desire to become famous, others had much more pure ideas about the subject, wishing only good health upon their patients.

She'd also been introduced to Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, the man talking mostly about Harry. Clearly he'd not had many chances to get to know the-boy-who-lived as he drilled her with dozens of questions until he'd gotten everything out of her.

Mr and Mrs Weasley, on the other hand, had bombarded her with questions about herself. So many, in fact, she found herself accidentally letting many a secret slip out and she soon found herself telling them far too much information about herself. Not that she really minded, of course, there were times it made her uncomfortable, but she appreciated somebody taking an interest in her as a person. See, there were not many chances for her to make bonds like such and it was nice to do so.

But all good things must come to an end and it was 11 o'clock that this happened. Albus Dumbledore was to return to Hogwarts for he had much to do. Before he left, he spoke of how he'd probably not see them for a while, and he also wished Sakura good luck on her mission.

That night, Sakura went to sleep with a smile on her face. If this was what it meant to be in a family in this world, count her in.