Reading Time: 105 Minutes

Title: Never A Spare
Author: Strailo
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Angst, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slash, Time Travel, Tragedy
Relationship(s): Cassius Warrington/Harry Potter
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Major Character Death, Violence-Graphic, Canon-Level Violence, Torture, Obsession, Violence – Against Children, Kidnapping, Murder
Author Note: Thank you for coming to read my story! This was a trip to write and I’m glad it’s finally done and out there. Enjoy.
Word Count: 121,649
Summary: When Magic Herself decides that things are oh so wrong, She makes her move with Fate, Destiny, and Death standing beside her. They knew the Ripples would come when they chose their Person. Those Ripples touch everyone in the Wizarding World. They touch Harry Potter the most, being the Chosen One to bring balance to an unbalanced world.
Artist: Veevess

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13 Dates and Stalkers

108

That Saturday after the Second Task, Harry, Cassius, Fleur, Lukas, Roger, and Amanda all gathered into one carriage to Hogsmead, talking about the exhibition match of Quidditch that was set for the next day. Harry had already played a few games but usually allowed those from other houses to show off their skills, the teams mixing and matching depending on who wanted to show off for what team.

This time it was a mix of Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherin’s who were showing off for the Holyhead Harpies, Ballycastle Bats and Wigtown Wanderers. Wood had been one of the main players in every game so far, not wanting to put all his eggs in one basket as he had told everyone, but he looked good while playing and was being heavily headhunted by a few of the teams.

“So, we’re going to the parchment shop to pick up some items, then to this Honeyduke’s place?” Amanda asked as she flipped a page of her notebook back and forth. She had admitted that if she was allowed to that she would write all of her reports on muggle style notebook paper for her first couple of drafts before she put them to parchment. She also had shown Harry how she wrote her notes on the notebook paper, making copies on parchment if the class called for it.

She had also introduced him to using a glass dip pen in the shape of a quill to practice his writing with.

Harry had agreed with her that it was easier to write with glass dip pens and ink, or even just with the refillable pens. The ones that they had did the same thing that the feather pens did since whenever it was used by a witch or wizard, it was the ink that carried their signature. And once the pen itself was used often enough, the signature would flow easier into the ink.

“That sounds about right,” Cassius replied, smiling at her. “The cafe we’re heading to for lunch is a kind of hole in the wall place. It’s really niche, does have slightly higher prices than most, but it also has quite a few more options on the menu in various styles of food. You can get all sorts of things that you would find world wide in other cafes. Personally? I enjoy the Chinese selection. Mum took me to Hong Kong when I was younger, both sides of it, and I fell in love with their food,” he admitted. “It’s where I got the food for our picnic with our friends,” he told Harry.

“Oh, the various kinds of buns right?” Harry asked, Cassius nodding his head. “I wondered where you had gotten the pineapple buns from. Those are really good.”

“They’re considered a snack food,” Cassius warned him with a smile. Harry nodded as he chuckled. The carriage arrived at Hogsmead, Lukas, Cassius, and Roger all stepped out and helped their dates out before they headed for the parchment store.

“I’m actually going to see if I can’t find some of those glass pens that you guys use. Or even just a proper dip pen,” Roger said. “I talked to my dad and he sent me a list of what to look for. Grandpa swears by dip pens, but he also survived World War 2 and has a lot of thoughts on the disposable ones.”

Fleur chuckled softly, patting his arm. “He and my great-aunt should speak then,” she said, her accent light, soft. She had become much better with her English seeing as her growing friend group mostly spoke English.

“That woman has helped in the magical side of things,” Lukas drawled, holding open the door for them. “While the world was fighting, she was out there trying to make Grinderwald’s life hell.” Harry shook his head as they gathered their baskets, making a mental note to do some research into her as the three couples split up.

He found what he wanted, including some new journals. He had started to write out his life, or as much as he could remember, as a way to process what had gone down in his life. Krum had suggested that he write things down after talking about what had been going on during his last four years at Hogwarts.

Harry had started the next day between classes and when he wasn’t with others, starting with his early memories with Petunia and Vernon.

Cassius smiled down at him, taking the journals and tucking them into the basket he had been carrying for them as they headed for the ink and pens. “Are you going to do a journal a year?” he asked.

Harry made a considering sound before he nodded. “I started one for my early years since I don’t have many memories that aren’t repetitive and one for elementary school years. I also have one that is for this year, writing down things as they happen,” he said. “I ‘m using the one that you gave me as a part of our courting. It’s nearly half full from everything that has been going on so far.”

Cassius laughed lightly, the two joining their friends. “Same. I should probably pick up a new journal myself,” he admitted as he eyed the thicker ones that he tended to prefer when they walked past. He reached out and grabbed one, paying for their things as the others paid for their own things, heading to Honeydukes next.

He completely missed the red headed girl who was following them from a distance, scowling at just how cozy Harry was acting with Cassius.

She followed them to Honeydukes as they walked through the streets.

109

Frowning as she watched how Harry showed Cassius a candy he liked, the older male wrinkling his nose as the sourness of it, Ginny scowled. She knew that Harry didn’t know she was following them, but she had hoped that he would notice her during the year.

She hadn’t really been happy when his name had come out of the goblet, granted, but she had planned on eventually showing her support to him. But then he had left the Gryffindor Tower with the French champion and hadn’t come back beyond seeing Neville, Seamus, and Dean.

Speaking of Neville, it seemed as if with his new friends, he had grown a spine and stood up to her brother and her. It wasn’t right in her mind. He was supposed to stay spineless, friendless, and keeping away from Harry so she could sweep in as the supportive friend.

But no, he had turned that upside down and gained a spine somehow. He had come back after the holidays wearing his heir ring, telling them off for being jerks to Harry.

She had had a plan. She would support Ron for a while before she going to Harry after the first task to apologize to him for not believing him and that she hadn’t wanted to rock the boat with her brother.

That had all been scrapped the moment that Cassius Warrington, Heir to a well known Neutral family, had been chosen as Champion for Hogwarts and extended an offer of a helping hand to him. Harry had taken that offer, stating the vow the next day before he had started to sit with the French students, talking with Luna. Then Neville, Seamus, and Dean had joined that group.

And now here he was, in Hogsmead on a triple date with Fleur and her date, and that French male and his supposed fiancée, if the ring on her finger was any indication. Harry was cozying up to Warrington with small sweet smiles, making her sneer at just how much they were touching.

She watched as the older teen wrapped his arm around Harry’s waist, tugging him close as they chose their candies, saying something that made Harry blush.

It should be her that he was blushing at! Her that had her cheek kissed as he went off to pay for their candy! Her that he spent money on! Not Cassius paying for their candy and teasingly telling Harry that since their Valentine date had been ruined, he was going to make up for it.

She shifted closer to hear their conversation. “Fine,” Harry huffed, shaking his head but allowing Cassius to pay for things. “And I keep telling you, those little caramel bites? They’re an American thing called Sugar Babies. The lollipop versions are called Sugar Daddies. I wouldn’t doubt that the shop knows about them to.”

“We do,” the cashier said as Ginny looked at the caramel candies in question. “It’s a different recipe, granted but my dad loved them when he went to the America’s. He tries all sorts of candies from around the world, learns how to make what he can and tests them out here. He’s one of the few people in the isles that know how to make actual Turkish Delights and have them come out tasting right,” she told them, nodding to the wrapped candies.

“Told you,” Harry sang. Ginny scowled when he smiled at Cassius, the male agreeing with him.

“Alright, alright, you were right. They are delicious either way,” he said. Ginny mused at getting some of them, the little bites already separated out into little quarter pound bags and thought about getting some for herself.

She did like caramels and maybe she could use them to get Harry to see her more then Cassius? She missed the way Fleur was looking at her with a contemplative look as she walked past with Roger, their own candy in hand to be paid for.

Fleur would have to tell Harry and Cassius about the girl following them.

110

Cassius lead the group through the streets to the cafe and smiled when they all agreed that it looked rather nice. It wasn’t a big cafe, just enough to hold a few couples coming in on dates during the weekend and the regulars during the week. He told them that his mother often came to it because she could get whatever she wanted for what she considered a fair price.

She had also taken him to the cafe often during his youth, and still did it during their summers from Hogwarts. He was now happily sharing it with some of the people who were fast becoming close friends to him and his courting partner.

Harry beamed as they were lead to a half-circle booth, sliding in to sit in half of the booth with Fleur and Amanda. Roger, Cassius and Lukas all slid into the other half of it.

Fleur tapped the ‘For Privacy, Tap Twice’ sign, activating a privacy ward around the booth before talking. “Harry, Cassius? Did you notice the red headed girl that has been following us around?” she asked. Harry looked up from the menu that had appeared before him and frowned.

“Auburn kind of red hair and freckles?” he asked, Fleur nodding her head.

“I haz also noteeced her,” Lukas said, shrugging one shoulder. “I had thought that she waz some kind of fan perhaps?”

Cassius snorted as he flipped open his menu. “More like a stalker, and the reason why Harry is probably going to have to stay on watch for people trying to get him to do shit that he doesn’t want to do,” he said. He shook his head with a frown of distaste. “And the reason I made sure that his courting bracelet has warnings set up for things like potions, compulsions and the such. I believe that his rings have them, they just need to be activated,” he said.

“I sent a letter to Axegrind to check for any unsigned contracts along with an appointment to discuss such things next week. I wouldn’t put it past others to try and manipulate me into that,” Harry said. He winced, wrinkling his nose. “At least if something does happen to you, or we don’t marry in the long run.”

“I can see you two getting married and having a long happy life if things do work out for you,” Amanda said, smiling softly. “And no, I’m not a Seer, not like your friend. It’s just an observation of your relationship.”

Harry smiled even as he felt something cold curl in his very magic, worry and fear all wrapped up in a tight ball. “I just hope that this year doesn’t end up like all the other years. To return to the topic, that girl you probably saw is Ginny Weasley, Ron’s and the Twin’s younger sister. I have a very bad feeling that she’s turning into a full on stalker when it comes to me,” he said. He winced at that thought. “I’ll keep an eye out for her and anything odd.”

“She had been looking at thoze candies that you got,” Fleur said, nodding to his bag.

“The caramel ones called Sticky Caramel Balls,” Roger filled in. “She had some kind of look on her face. If some of the rumors that surround her mother are true, it doesn’t make me think that she was thinking of anything good.”

Harry groaned and rubbed at his face with a shake of his head. “Like he said, Cassius made sure that my courting bracelet would tell me if someone tries to use potions or compulsions on me,” he said. He sat back as he looked over the menu.

Cassius scowled and reached out to take Harry’s hand, sliding more towards the U-shape of the booth as they looked over the menu’s. Cassius showed them how to order what they wanted, all of them carefully ignoring the fact that they could see the way Ginny was walking past the cafe several times. And sometimes stopping to see if she could see them through the windows.

111

Harry watched the school through the Beauxbaton’s carriage window, standing next to Lukas after they had gotten back from their triple dates. They were sipping at the hot tea that Winky had given them once everything had been put up.

“Yep, there’s a bag from Honeydukes,” Harry mused, watching Ginny walk up the steps to the school. “I’m kind of hoping that she didn’t get any of those caramel bites to do things to.”

Lukas hummed. “You know that if she tries something…”

“My courting bracelet will catch it. And once I have my appointment, so will my Lord ring since I do need to set it under Gringott’s watch,” Harry said. He looked to the other male. “That, and Dobby and Winky have been warned about weirdness coming from her. They’re highly protective anyways. So if they find anything that shouldn’t be near me for whatever reason, they’ll remove it. Or in this case, collect it so that it can be tested and turned over to the right people.” He shifted. “The contract between myself and Cassius leaves no room for anyone interfering in our relationship. Anyone that tires will end up with heavy fines at the least. Or there will end up being some kind of legal mark that will follow them for the rest of their lives, which would close a lot of doors.”

“Do you think you should spread that around?” Lukas asked, tilting his head in an offer to walk him up to the castle for dinner. “Perhaps speak of it around Hogwart’s school gossips? They will not change such information after all. But perhaps it will make her stop and think.”

Harry made a considering sound as he handed his cup to Winky, nodding his head in agreement. They headed up to the castle, still thinking, and joined the others at the Slytherin table, sitting next to Cassius, Markus on his other side with Draco. Pansy looked over at him before she smirked, knowing that something big was going to be let out just by the look on his face.

“So, what’s got you thinking so hard?” she asked as the food appeared, spreading down the table.

Harry hummed, placing some chicken onto his plate along with a mixed rice dish and some vegetables. “Well, I was just talking with Lukas about how my contract with Cassius is all set up. Mostly about the consequences for those outside of our relationship trying to interfere in our relationship without permission,” he said.

“It iz very interezting,” Lukas said, smiling. “We do not haz such contracts. Our laws are very strict about such theengs,” he explained.

“It all comes from the traditions and magics of our families. Since British magic is very steeped in old Durdic, Celtic, and Roman magic, with some hints of Greek and Indigenous magic, a lot of our family magics here have very specific triggers naturally built into it,” Cassius explained. “French family magic is much looser in how it works from what I’ve seen. Easier to flow from one member to another, and thus the laws around it would be different compared to us,” he said.

Hermione came to sit down next to Pansy on her other side, Daphne and Tracy waving at her as they had food in their mouths. Slytherin house ignored her, well used to the sight of random Gryffindors coming to sit with them.

“I have found it rather interesting when learning about how the family magics work,” Hermione said in greeting. “There’s quite a few books that I think are from when the muggleborns were brought into our world at a slightly earlier age so that they could learn more. It explains so much really. And other books from when there was the Introduction to the Wizarding World at Large classes that Hogwarts used to have. I think it stopped back in the 40’s though.”

“It was after World War 2 and Grindelwalds war had been stopped,” Daphne said. She leaned slightly around Pansy to look at Hermione. “Daddy has always wondered why that particular class was cut and the muggle world class was dumbed down so much. But you were saying something about your contract?” she asked Harry, turning back to him.

“Oh, well, because I’m Heir Black, along with Lord Potter and Ravenclaw, and Cassius is the named Heir Warrington, so we had to make sure that things were strong in our contract. What we can and can not do when we’re together. How we’re allowed to spend time with one another in the early stages of our courting. But we also had to make sure that the clauses about others trying to interfere with our relationship was covered and was solid in the consequences depending on what it was.”

“What kind of consequences?” Draco asked, very curious. Blaise tilted his head, asking silently about that.

“We covered all sorts of things. Things like potions, compulsions, lying. Those sorts of things,” Cassius said. “If someone tries to dose us with any kind of potion that would make us do something against our contract, we personally are not punished by the contract, but the person who potioned us will be. Depending on the potion will dictate the punishment. It can be anything from having a permanent legal mark that appears every time they look for jobs and would close a lot of doors, to very big fines, to even jail time.”

“I have all of my mail now personally filtered by Gringotts,” Harry said. “It’s not a part of the main bank, but if you have a manager, they’ll set you up with various businesses under the Goblins control. This is one of them. They filter out things from my approved list while my elves go through the rest of the items,” he told them. He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’m just hoping no one is stupid enough to try to force something. I would hate to see them ruin their own lives just because they don’t like me with Cassius.”

“It would be the highest of idiotic moves,” Hermione agreed, catching sight of Hannah at Hufflepuff lean over next to Susan and start to whisper. They two kept glancing their way. “Nicely done,” she said softly behind her goblet.

Harry just smiled innocently at her before picking up his own juice, Cassius chuckling next to his partner.

They all knew that by the next morning, it would be all over the school about what kind of things they had in their contract to protect them. And that quite a few people would start to look up just what kind of contracts heirs and heads of houses signed whenever they were courting.

112

It took two days after the information on the courting contract got around before Fred and George figured out what Ginny was doing. Two days of all of the rumors that were running around the school as Ginny used a bit of the room that they had set up for their potion making to work on brewing something.

It had been her stealing certain ingredients from their carefully cataloged stash, thinking that they wouldn’t notice it and that they didn’t keep a tight stock list, to put it together fully.

George sighed as they looked at the items list, looking to Fred, whose lips were thinned out. The two shared a knowing look. “We’re going to have to tell mum.”

“Mum probably won’t see a thing with it, never mind that Harry is under a specific contract and it would end up being Ginny getting hurt for doing it.” Fred sighed as he stood straight. “Dad,” he finally said.

“And we can tell Bill to,” George agreed. “We can see if Harry will let us use one of his elves to get the letter to them without mum interfering with it. Bill is home for a bit of a visit after all.” Fred nodded and found some parchment to write on.

They were Twins. They would always share parts of their souls with each other along with their DNA, but they did have their own personal strengths and weaknesses. Fred’s handwriting tended to be neater, the one to make their notes. He was the one who wrote out their ideas while George could flow from one idea to another before coming back to figure out how the first idea would work out.

They had some potions that they did call ‘love potions’ planned, but they were just Euphoria Potions that gave a semblance of falling in love. George had suggested once that they change the title of the potion with what they had been learning about real Love Potions and how often they were used. How they always left any child conceived under them with emotional problems.

They knew that Amortentia was the worst of them, easily figured out by the steam that it gave off if it hadn’t been soaked into something or added to a drink. But still, all Love Potions in all forms were known to create false love and infatuation. Something that they were coming to realize that they didn’t want to be connected to.

Thus, Fred was writing out the letter, each part of it being discussed before he wrote it down on the parchment. They signed the letters, made copies for Bill and themselves, before they left the room to hunt Harry down.

Finding out the time, they figured that he would most likely be found in the library doing some self-studying for an hour before he had to head to his Potions tutoring session.

They ended up finding him at the library, the twins sitting down across from him, waiting for him to finish writing out whatever he was working on. Putting down his pen, Harry smiled at them in greeting.

“I was wondering if I would be hearing from you two outside of the random note,” he teased them softly. The twins grinned in return.

“You’re still like…” Fred started.

“A brother to us,” George continued, the two falling into twin speak easily.

“But we need something, Harrikin’s…”

“And we’re really hoping that you’d be willing…”

“To help us send out…”

“A couple of letters to family.”

“Who are you sending them to?” Harry asked.

“Our father and older brother, Bill,” the twins chorused together.

“Bill’s visiting so he should be at Gringott’s doing some work right about now,” George mused.

“And dad would be at work right now, seeing it’s after lunch,” Fred continued. “It’s for Gin-gin.”

“I take it that you discovered she’s doing something stupid?” Harry asked as he frowned. Fred and George nodded their heads. “You know that if she does try to go through with whatever she’s doing even after her father and brother speak with her that I will be forced to name the two of you in the case as trying to stop her.”

“We know,” the twins replied.

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, snapping his fingers. Winky appeared with a bob. “Winky, do you mind taking these letters to Mr. Arthur Weasley and Heir Bill Weasley?” he asked. Winky nodded, taking the letters from the twins. “Tell them that they are very important and they must read it right then. If they need to return a letter to the twins wait for it please.”

“Of course, Master Harry,” Winky chirped before she disappeared with a pop.

“For now, I’m going to suggest that you do something about whatever it is that Ginny is brewing if it made the two of you come to me,” Harry suggested. Fred and George nodded in agreement, getting up after they thanked Harry for the delivery help.

Harry sighed as he dug around in his bag as they left, pulling out a muggle style, top spiral notebook, opening it up to a new page. He wrote down the details of the date, time and what had happened during the talk.

He had started to carry the notebook around after Saturday with Ginny stalking them around Hogsmead. It was just in case something happened. As Sirius had told him during their talks, it really isn’t paranoia if they were out to get him.

Now if he could just pry more information from his Godfather about his thing with Lord Lestrange he would be happier.

113

Arthur looked up from the letter that his twin sons had sent him, Winky dipping into a curtsy seeing as Bill was there and she wasn’t needed, therefore she could leave now. Bill stepped fully into the office and closed the door behind him, frowning heavily as he held his own letter in one hand.

“Got a copy of the letter from the twins?” he asked. Bill nodded his head.

“You think that she’s really that desperate for Lord Potter’s attention that she would turn to potions?” Bill asked softly. Arthur blew out a breath as he sat back.

“I do think that she is. She has been seeing the offered mind healer after her first year, but I still think that there’s something more from her first year that we haven’t been told,” he admitted as he stood up. “I was going to go see her to speak with her about this. Maybe talk with the twins while I was at it,” he said as he sighed.

“I have a feeling that you’re going to need the backup since she’s going to have issues with just listening to you,” Bill told him. He looked at his father and decided to be blunt about his thoughts. “Mom has really run roughshod over you for as long as I can remember, dad. She went and spoiled Ginny rotten, and as much as I hate to say it, you did to. It wasn’t until me and Charlie left the house that we really realized just how spoiled she is. We all had to make due with used or second hand things. But Ginny? She got all new things, including her wand.”

Arthur blew out a breath, nodding his head. “Yes, I’ve started to see what you mean in the last year,” he admitted as he put his desk together to put things away for the day. They walked out of the office once he was done, locking the door behind him but leaving the drop box open by his door. “Miss. Daisy? I’m heading out to Hogwarts to speak with my children. I will send a note if I’m not able to come back any time soon. Send me an elf if there’s an emergency though,” he requested. The pretty young secretary looked up from her work with a smile.

“Of course, Mr. Weasley,” she chirped. She watched as the two men left via the floo. She blew out a breath and huffed, pouting. “To bad that family is bad news even to a second gen like me,” she huffed. “The oldest son is hot.”

She shook her head and continued on with her day as the two Weasley males arrived in the floo room of Hogwarts, something that had been opened back up by the board over the holidays. They had all gotten tired of having to walk up to Hogwarts so often or to wait for a carriage to take them up. Because of that, they had opened the floo room and had it fixed up during the Christmas holidays while the Gringotts crew had been going over the castle itself.

An elf appeared to greet them, bowing slightly. “Miss Kitty be coming to greet you. Please wait,” he said before he left once more. The two took seats as they waited for McGonagall to arrive.

“Mr. and Heir Weasley, what can I do for the two of you today?’ McGonagall asked the moment that she walked into the floo room.

“I’m very sorry about just arriving without warning, but we have need to speak with my daughter,” Arthur said as he frowned slightly. “My twins have brought to my attention some family issues that need to be discussed. Speaking of, if you could pull them from their classes to, that would be appreciated.”

“Of course. I do believe that Miss. Weasley is finishing up in her Potions class while Mr. and Mr. Weasley are finishing up their Charms,” she said. She turned to the door with a wave of her hand. “If you will follow me, I will gather them after I show you to a conference room.” She showed them down to said conference room and left them as she went to go gather the children. A tea set appeared just as Ginny, Fred, and George were shown to the room where they waited.

As the three sat, Bill held up a finger at his father, and carefully walked around the perimeter of the room, laying down privacy wards around the area, making sure no one could hear what they talked about. There were no paintings in the room but he knew that there were other ways that others could eavesdrop on their discussions.

This was Weasly family business and no one was going to be hearing what they had to say. Once Bill was done, he nodded to his father.

“Ginny, what is this about you creating a bloody love potion?” Arthur asked point blank. Ginny went pale.

114

“What do you mean?” Ginny finally got out. Fred reached into a protected pocket of his school bag and pulled out a vial of the half-finished potion that they had collected.

“You should have known that we keep track of our supplies,” he stated, handing the vial over to Bill. The man scowled as he used his wand to cast a few testing spells.

“We need to know just how much of everything we have in stock since we do buy things and would have seen that you took certain things,” George told her.

“And we know our potions well enough to know what they are used for along with other applications,” Fred sighed.

“But with the combinations that they were taken, when they were taken, and how much, they all come to the Love Potion that was most likely meant to force a certain someone to break a contract,” George summarized. Arthur, Bill, and Ginny all knew that the twins were serious when they weren’t going back in partial sentences, and it made Ginny go even paler, almost sickly looking.

“Ginerva!” Arthur snapped as he shook his head. Ginny shrunk into herself. “What makes you think for even a single second that you had any kind of right to make such a potion?”

“Mom always tells us about how she brewed one that made you fall in love with her,” Ginny whined.

Arthur groaned as Bill shook his head. “And let me guess, you never listened when we said that it was a ‘find love’ potion, not one to drink. It was one that you smelled and matched the scent to a person to see if you were in love with said person. Everyone that year did that potion with their current partners or with someone that they had a crush on to see if they could grow close together,” he said. “The scent that came from it helped me gain the courage to ask your mother. But it did not induce me to love her,” he snarled. “You are more then old enough to know the difference between doing something so monumentally stupid as to try to force love on someone verses trying to gain the attention of someone who isn’t in a contract.”

“She’s been obsessed with Harry,” Fred stated.

“She still considers him The-Boy-Who-Lived instead of Harry or Lord Harry Potter,” George continued. He shifted in his seat as they frowned. “Her head is still filled with those books.”

“She never talked to him before either. To Harry, she’s nothing but our baby sister. That’s it,” Fred told him. “He’s in a solid contract right now with Heir Warrington. She doesn’t like that fact”

Arthur groaned and rubbed at his face “I take it that Heir Warrington and Harry do have clauses in their contract that would cover what would happen should someone try to interfere with their relationship and contract?” he asked

“Yes,” the two teens said together

“Harry said something about fines…”

“…up to jail time depending on what is done.”

Arthur groaned again as Bill shoved the vial into a pocket. “Do you think that he would be willing to send a copy of that part of his contract to us if we asked him?” he asked.

Winky appeared in the room, bobbed a curtsy and handed Bill a letter. He opened it and found that it had a copy of that section of his contract, Wink disappearing with another bob. Bill snorted as he read the letter.

“It seems as if Lord Potter has been watching Ginny since Saturday because of her weird behavior. Heir Delacour caught her during their triple date and, being who she is, worried about who she was and what her plans were. He had his manager create a copy of that part of the contract that outlines the consequences for any outside interference with it. It’s extensive,” he warned his father. “He marked the parts that he thinks would best apply here.”

Arthur took the papers and started to read the parts that were marked. “Should potions to create false love, infatuation, or to change the feelings to each other in some way to negatively impact the relationship and contract between Lord Potter and Heir Warrington be used, the following consequences are to be chosen from depending on severity. Fines, up to three thousand galleons per infraction. Jail time of no less then six months in the minimum security section of Azkaban but no more then three years unless sexual activities are conducted per infraction. Should sexual activities happen between the person and the hurt party, then it will be no more then three years in the middle security and no more then ten years of jail time for each infraction.

“Suspension from school, a month for each infraction. Monitoring for less then two years and up to ten years with a legal mark against the person for each infraction. The mark will appear to anyone who looks into the person’s history and why the infraction happened no matter the reason for why the person is being looked up, including but not limited to marriage, hospitalization, or jobs.” Arthur groaned as he put the pages down. “Damn it all, Ginny.”

“According to this, if you had gotten him potioned, you would be looked at your life being ruined at the best,” Bill told her as he scowled. “You’re lucky that the twins figured this out and told us. You two dealt with the potion right?” he asked. Fred and George both nodded.

“Neutralized it.”

“Dumped it.”

“Destroyed her notes.”

“Cleaned everything up.”

“Good,” Arthur said as he scowled at Ginny. “I am taking you to the Ministry for a full deep scan if you think that this was okay. You’re coming home with me for a week. Your mother will not be getting you out of this this time,” he growled. Ginny winced as she shrank, Arthur standing up. “Boys, please do not tell your brother what is going on. Just that I’m taking her home for a proper check up.”

“Yes, father,” Fred and George replied, nodding their heads together. They stood and left. Bill shook his head as he pulled down the privacy wards, finding that McGonagall and Dumbledore were both waiting for them.

It didn’t take them long to gather Ginny’s things from the dorms, a list of things that she would need to work on while at home, and a few books to take with her from McGonagall’s personal books on certain subjects for her essays. Arthur took her home, sending her to her bedroom to start working on her schoolwork while he sat down and talked with Molly. Bill joined them with a sigh.

115

Arthur stared down his wife as she frowned at him in return. After Ginny had been sent to her room to do her school work, he had sat down with Molly, Bill joining them, knowing that they had to have the talk that was coming.

“Mom, tell me, what have you told Ginny about Lord Potter?” Bill finally asked after several long moments of staring each other down.

“What do you mean by that, Bill?” Molly asked, her frown deepening, eyebrows furrowing together. “What’s all this about Harry?”

“What I mean is that she was found creating a love potion to dose him with it while he’s under a contract that would have punished her for her interference with the contract instead of him,” Bill stated. He pulled out the vial and put it on the table before him. Her eyes went wide as she choked on air.

“No, she wouldn’t do that. I don’t be in the whole contract thing before marriage, granted, but even she would not be so stupid as to try to interfere with such things. Especially magically binding ones,” she breathed. Arthur shook his head with a sigh.

“She tried to use that love potion story to support the fact that yes, she was going to use it on him. Never mind the fact that we were always told that the potion was a ‘find love’ and not an actual drinking based potion,” Bill snorted. He crossed his arms as she groaned. “I don’t think she ever listened past the first part of the story nor to the details of it.”

“So I can see,” Molly sighed as she fell back onto her education now that she was getting past her initial surprise. Arthur could tell that she was working her way through the shock.

“Molly, what kind of stories did you read to Ginny about Harry?” he asked her softly.

“She was obsessed with those story books when she was a little one, but she stopped wanting to read them when she turned ten,” Molly sighed. “Or so I had thought since she didn’t have them out. I don’t know what to think about all of this. What is going to happen now?”

“At this moment?” Bill asked as he lent back in his chair. “A full mental work up through either Gringotts on my dime, or through the Ministry through dad. A full physical to,” he said. “She’s probably going to end up in more therapy from now on to differentiate reality and fantasy. I’ll pay for that since I can afford it, but I don’t want this to end up haunting her every step if she keeps trying to interfere with his relationship. This would financially and socially ruin her, and make it so that she’s watched closely at best. At the worse? It would send her to Azkaban and that would leave her a shell of who she is. She needs to get help now instead of later.

Molly blew out a breath as she nodded her head. “I can understand and support that. I…I’m still asking myself why?” she sighed.

“I personally don’t know why, Molly,” Arthur sighed. He rubbed at his face. “She just did it. It is something that I’m kind of hoping that we will figure out in the long run. Harry was nice enough to send a copy of what would happen depending on what she did if she did do something,” he said. He pulled out the folded pieces of parchment and handed it to her. “Harry and Heir Warrington were careful, thorough. We need to get this figured out before she does something stupid. I don’t doubt that Harry and Heir Warrington wouldn’t carry out the punishments.”

“It’s a good thing that they did lay things out so well though,” Bill said. “Lord Potter is not just Lord Potter, remember? He’s also Heir Black, Lord Ravenclaw, the Boy-Who-Lived, and the Last Potter. All of them are heavy titles. Heir Warrington himself is also the heir to one of the heavy hitter Neutral families for all that they keep their actual political power hidden from the world at large.”

“What do you mean by them hiding their political power?” Molly asked as she looked up from the papers.

“They’re known to run one of the biggest ingredient import businesses besides the ones that the Malfoy’s run. They’re also some of the biggest investors in finding things from Britian’s history that we had thought lost. They’re the reason why we’ve been able to find two of Merlin’s and la Fay’s book and scroll depositories. That was Lord Warrington’s grandfather’s doing and support,” Bill explained. “That alone gave them three votes on the Wizengamont because of the honors that they received in return,” he said.

“I see,” Molly sighed as she rubbed at her face. “Are you two going to stay for dinner?” she asked, turning to something that would allow her time to process everything.

“Yes. But there will be no dessert for Ginny, Molly. Not for the entire time that she is here. She is on strict watch. If she’s not doing her homework, she is to be doing chores or helping you with the fruit stall. Nothing more, nothing less. When she has to brew her potions for class, you are to lay out all of the ingredients for her and make sure that she only brews what she is to brew, nothing more,” Arthur told her. Molly nodded with her lips pressed in a thin line. “When she returns to school, I will be speaking with Professor Snape to make sure that all of her supplies are locked up outside of class times or when she’s with her study group. I will also be placing a mail redirect wards on her just to make sure.”

“I’m also going to have to make sure that she has trackers on her and that the twins are able to watch her outside of classes. They’ll be able to make sure that she doesn’t do anything stupid,” Bill said, as he frowned at the vial. “It’s going to suck to be her for a while but as long as she puts in the work, she’ll end up coming out of all of this for the better.

Arthur sighed as he stood. “If you will excuse me, I still need to write to Harry about what our plans for her are and to request that if she tries anything from now on, to tell us,” he said as he headed to his shed. Molly got up to make tea with a shake of her head.

Very strong tea. With an extra special ingredient.

116

To Lord Harry Black-Potter,

I write to you today regarding the actions of my daughter and youngest child, Ginerva Molly Weasley, and her latest actions in regards to yourself and Heir Warrington.

My sons, Fred and George Prewitt-Weasley, found that she had been brewing a love potion. While the potion itself is legal to brew and use on another, the brewing and using of said potions within the halls of Hogwarts is forbidden. Not only that, but its use, as outlined in your contract, would go against your contract with Heir Warrington.

The potion itself has been neutralized, a small amount of the half finished potion kept as proof by my sons. I have taken the step to pull Ginerva from the school for the next week to have a full mental and physical scan done on her by healers. I am hoping to find out some kind of answer as to why she thought that dosing someone with a love potion would be allowed and that she would not face consequences for it.

With the help of the information you provided, I did lay out the consequences that her actions would cause should she have gone through with her plans. But I fear as of right now, she is to far gone to do anything but ignore those consequences.

I am humbling asking of you that should you see anything odd happening with her in regards to yourself or others, that you write to me. Or you tell the twins to check on her depending. I do not ask that you follow her and be her watcher, but instead that if you, in your day to day life, find her actions odd, to tell us.

I am terribly sorry about her actions and how it has come to be.

Mr. Arthur Weasley of House Weasley

Department Head of Muggle Artifacts and Illegal Useage

14 Preparing for the End

117

Flopping over on the couch with a dramatic groan before he fell sideways and sprawled out over the lounging Cassius, getting an exaggerated groan from his partner, Harry sighed as he felt his partner’s arms wrap around him. “Mr. Weasley sent me a letter,” he said. He paused. “A new letter.”

Hermione looked up from where she was tucked into a chair, reading with a blanket over her lap. “What happened this time?” she asked. “It’s only been about four days since she got pulled out.”

“It was an update. It seems as if whatever that diary was has left mental scars that are deep. They didn’t find them the last time because they hadn’t known about the possession much less that she had been writing in the diary. I wrote a letter to Mr. Weasley about the night I saved her, and what I had seen. His letter this morning said that he would talk with Bill about this information with Gringotts about what the diary could possibly be. But that he has a feeling that he knows what it was. If it is what they think it is, then we have a very big issue with Voldemort,” Harry said.

He was rather pleased with his friends when the only reaction he got was a small wince from Draco, a sneer of disgust from Blaise, and a squeeze from Cassius. The others had gotten desensitized when it came to the Dark Lord’s self styled name. They all knew now why the adults had issues with the name, having learned about the tracking taboo he had once put on his name, but there was no such thing now. And giving a name any kind of power meant that when he appeared, it meant that they couldn’t fight against the power behind said name.

“If it’s what I think it is, it’s good news they found this out now, but bad news in general,” Blaise said. Harry tilted his head. “What kind of scars are they?”

“The kind that only a broken soul trying to steal her life and magic could leave behind apparently,” Harry said as he handed the letter over to Blaise. He, Seamus, Dean, and Neville all read it over. “She’s going to be dealing with some heavy therapy for the next year. Bill is paying for it but she’s also going to be on a strict potions regime cause apparently her using that diary also left physical scars on her brain. They can fix them, but during this time, she needs to take the potions and undergo healing procedures every weekend.”

“If it’s the one I’m thinking of, yes, it’s a very complicated healing,” Blaise said as he folded the letter back up. “My aunt on my father’s side had to go through something like this, but it was more ritual based for him. If they are sticking to just spells and potions, it means that they think the damage isn’t as bad as it could be. If she does not do the potions properly though…” He trailed off frowning. “Then they will have to put her through the Ritual and that will leave her fairly weak magically and physically for several months after.”

“Which would end up impacting her schooling and social life,” Hermione mused. Blaise nodded his head. “I’m very glad that she is getting help though. Did they end up finding out what was going on with her obsession with you, Harry?” she asked.

Blaise shook his head as Harry wrinkled his nose. “Not from what Mr. Weasley said.”

“The twins found me and told me. She had a huge crush that was on the Boy-Who-Lived from the books that her mother used to read her. When she met me and then started to write in the journal, it made it worse. From there, the crush that had been waning in the face of who I actually am, came back as a full blown obsession,” Harry said. He shrugged one shoulder with a frown. “It means that is something that she’s going to have to work on after they get through the original trauma of her near possession by him.”

“Well, at least she’s starting to get help for this,” Hermione said before she shook her head. She picked up her book and stood from the seat, draping the lap blanket over the back. “I’m going to move to the fire. It’s bloody cold for it being March,” she huffed.

Harry chuckled, shifting so that he could nearly lay on his partner, Cassius sighing at him but still smiling as he tucked him closer. The man pulled a blanket over them to warm them with a kiss to Harry’s head.

Blaise, Neville, and Seamus all just gave them amused looks as Dean pulled out a sketch book, starting a new sketch of the two of them.

“I’ve already asked Mr. Weasley to send me updates on anything major when it comes to her therapy. I feel kind of bad that they’re dealing with all of this, and I’m hoping that I can help them in some small way. Even if it is just giving them information on what happened that night,” he mused, looking up at Cassius.

Cassius hummed, nodding his head with a hum. “It’s still good of you to tell them what you know and to keep a tab on what is going on with her, and make sure sure that she’s getting all the needed help that she quite obviously.”

“Exactly. Do you want to do a buffet here today?” Harry asked. “I don’t really want to deal with the Great Hall tonight.”

“That sounds fine to me,” Blaise said as he handed the letter over. “We can give you two some privacy while still being good little watchers after all. You two can have a little private date.”

“That would be a nice treat.”

118

Harry sighed, turning to bury his face into Cassius’ chest, hiding his face slightly with the blanket. “I’m afraid,” he admitted softly. “I’m afraid of what is going to happen during the last task. Hermione learned that they always do some kind of hunt and seek with various trials.”

Cassius squeezed him around his waist, thumb stroking over his side. “I know. Me to,” he said. “I’m really not sure any of us truly knew what it was we were signing up for when we dropped our names in. Not really. The fact that Hermione has been able to find information on the Tournament and why it was stopped in the Slytherin library only tells me that Dumbledore tried to keep a lot of information about it from us.” He blew out a breath, wincing. “I wouldn’t have added my name if I had known personally.”

“If you hadn’t, it would probably been someone like Diggory in your place instead of you, and things might have gone very differently,” Harry mused. He lifted his head to look up at his partner. Cassius hummed, pressing a kiss to his forehead with a small smile aimed at him. “I know that my life would have gone differently. I would have forgiven Ron without getting a proper apology. Hermione would still be a wonderful friend, but she would still be closed off to everything that she had learned. I would still be in Gryffindor tower and not have gotten close with everyone. It’s…”

“It’s like something in the very magic that flows around us and through us has changed. Shifted around so that we finally land where we need to be for some reason,” Cassius said. Harry nodded. “I kind of wonder.”

“Wonder what?” Harry asked as he pushed himself up, sitting instead of laying on his partner. Cassius adjusted himself to look at Harry properly.

“There are stories out there about people who traveled back in some way. Not with a time turner, but instead with the blessings of a deity to fix something that had been broken in the time line. To fix something that really shouldn’t have happened. The stories go that things change just by the fact that the person has been sent back, magic and soul usually, and that their magic and soul starts to spread out in the web of magic that wraps around the world, changing things passively. It plucks at the strings of fate to shift things back to what they should be. Where they should have been. It takes years for it to happen but they are always sent back to a time that allows the changes to echo through the time line.”

“So it is possible to have someone sent back?” Harry asked. Cassius shrugged.

“Not a damn clue,” Cassius admitted. “As far as we know, it’s only tales that people tell. It’s hints, legends put on scrolls that might be real or not. They say that Merlin was one person who went back to his youth to fix things that he had fucked up and that’s how he ended up so famous. But no one has been able to find anything that proves it.” Cassius shifted. “Then again, we also don’t have a lot of the books and journals that Ravenclaw are supposed to have. Or any of the journals from the founders. Same with books that are held in lines that are just waiting for a descendant to take their blood tests to wake up the line agai. Hermione’s had to push her tests back to the summer right?” he asked.

Harry nodded, pursing his lips. “Yeah, apparently Gringotts has had to do quite a few overhauls in the last few months so they had change the time that she could take her tests,” he said. “Or at least that’s what the letters to her said. She has the appointment before she heads out on holidays with her parents to France. They’re going for a dentistry thing but also doing things around France. She’s going to be there for two weeks. A week for the conference, a week to just be. She’s been talking with Fleur about getting a tour of France from a French citizen.”

“That sounds like a good vacation and something good for her after the year that we’ve all had,” Cassius said. He was kind of glad for the change of subject as they settled back in. He didn’t like the thought of time travel, something about it making his skin crawl. “We’ll have to keep up with her during the summer. See if our elves can travel that kind of distance.”

“I already asked,” Harry chuckled. “They can once a week as long as they have a day after to rest for a few hours at the very least,” he told him. Cassius smiled and tugged him back ito his arms as they turned to watch their friends play Exploding Snap near them.

119

Hermione sighed as she closed her book, Draco moving to sit down next to her with a thoughtful look. “You’re thinking hard today,” he said as he gave her a look. She sighed, shaking her head.

“Something about all of this is feeling off. Like…there’s something more then what meets the eye.” She scowled at her book before she put it on the table by her. “I don’t know what and it’s driving me up a wall. Something just doesn’t ring right.”

“I can tell that,” Draco hummed, frowning softly. “Father has been worried that He will be coming back soon. That all of this is just to help Him come back faster.” He looked at Hermione, fear lurking in his silver eyes. “I don’t want him to come back, Hermione. He is far from what my grandfather had supported when he was alive, and I don’t think that my family will walk away from another war. Be it reputation or living.”

Hermione reached out, resting her hand on his arm with a soft look. “We’ll figure it out, Draco. I know that Harry is fearful of what is going on now, but he has also been talking about consolidating power in the Wizengamont as a way to help fight the war in one form,” she told him quietly. “He wants to meet your parents with the others. Blaises’, Markus’, Theos’ if he thinks that his father or brother will listen. Which I highly doubt really but we’ll see this summer.” She frowned in thought. “From what little that we know of the man, Voldemort will not care one wit if you are Pureblooded or not. He will still subjugate you, use you for his own end. Harry has a name that he is going to dig into eventually but this war will not be easy.”

“No, it won’t be,” Draco sighed. He sat back as he crossed one leg over the other with a frown. “I will speak with mother and father in the next few days. I am to see them the day before the third task to speak with them about setting up emergency services should something go wrong during the task.” He shifted. “He has also been speaking with the Minister, reminding him that not only is Harry the Boy-Who-Lived, but is now Lord Potter, Lord Ravenclaw, and Heir Black. That even if he is learning about everything, he still has a lot of power politically and it is best if he thinks for himself without being attacked.”

“Can you tell me why Fudge is still in office? From what I’ve seen, he’s a spineless coward who needs to be told what to do,” Hermione said, frowning. “Outside of the fact that he’s useful as a spineless Minister.”

“Father has told me before that at the time that he took over as Minister, he wasn’t spineless,” Draco said. He shrugged a shoulder. “He did do quite a bit for good changes, but something happened to him about a year into his first term. He’s been the minister for around the last twelve years going on now. It took just over a year after the fall of the Dark Lord before we had found a new Minister,” he told her.

Hermione frowned, tapping her nails on her leg where her hand rested, thinking. “So, something happened during that year that made him a spineless fool. I will have to speak with Harry about figuring that out because we do need to get things fixed. The extreme measures that have been happening on either side will get us all killed. Muggles are starting to get better at capturing things on film while those who live completely in the Wizarding world can’t tell me what a modern car looks like, much less what to wear to blend into the rest of the world. You can still be modest, but still blend in,” she said. Her hair shifted as she shook her head.

“So I’m starting to learn,” Draco said as he eyed her outfit. She had decided to wear a pair of simple calf high boots with a small heel that he could actually see his mother wear. Her skirt was called what she had called a broom skirt, the hem of it sweeping the floor, little flowers embroidered all along the hem and a wide belt at her waist. Her shirt was equally loose and flowy, covering her shoulders and neck. She looked every inch like what a Pureblood should look like but modern.

Modest, covered, but still fashionable.

Hermione shot him an amused look. “Your mother has sent me an invitation and asked me if I would show her some of the stores that a woman of wealth would spend money at for proper clothes for herself and her family. We’re going after I return from France,” she told him. Dracro groaned at that as she laughed at his muttered anguish at the thought of going shopping with his mother.

While they had become fairly good friends and allies, she still enjoyed poking at him, treating him much like a younger brother. They both knew that eventually his mother would get her hands on Hermione and they would end up friends, so to them it was best to find their own friendship first.

120

Stepping into his private rooms once more, he waved his wand around, casting his privacy wards before he let loose with a snarl. “That little brat,” he growled. He had been trying to get close to Harry for the last several weeks, but he had found that the teens friends were always around. It was as if they all knew that someone wanted him to die.

And really, he did want the brat’s life to end, but first he needed him alive for his master. It was his Master’s right to kill him after all.

It didn’t help him that the rat had become even twitcher as hell while he was taking care of their master in his time of need. Pettigrew would always disappear somewhere in the house whenever he was able to go to their master and update him on things. But he would always reappear with post Cruciatus potions for him and a warning to actually take them on time.

He didn’t know how, but the rat had become better at making potions and would make sure that the house had a stock pile. Pain potions that their lord took was one that was kept. The body that he was in hurting constantly as they waited for the perfect moment to return him to a proper body. He also made the potions that was to feed their Lord and even potions for the rat’s own nutritional needs.

He snarled as he snapped his wand out, smashing a chest before he took a deep breath.

He had to calm down before he did something bad. He couldn’t afford to mess his mission up. His master needed Potter to come to him for the ritual after all. They had to get rid of the protections that had been placed in Potter’s blood line, which would make it easier to take him out.

After all, who would listen to a child? He was known to be Dumbledore’s Golden Boy, no matter the fact that during the last few months he had been seen around a mix of Slytherin’s and Gryffindors. He had also added the oddesst little Ravenclaw that he could swear saw more then she should see.

“I’ll have to deal with her in the long run,” he grumbled as he flicked his wand to fix the furniture that he had destroyed before going to make sure his prisoner had eaten that day. Once he had done the needed fixing, he took fresh hair for the week’s potion, he growled and headed for his bedroom, glad that Moody had set it up so that he didn’t have anyone watching him in his rooms.

Sometimes the paranoid’s bastard’s need to control things had come in handy.

121

Voldemort scowled at the paper in his hands, calling out for Pettigrew before he threw the newspaper into the fire. The article that he had been reading had been about the cooperation between all of the Champions, including the brat Potter. It seemed as if the twit had found friends in the school outside of his mudblood bitch and the Pureblood traitor’s sixth son.

Pettigrew walked into the room with the warmed mug of his potion, helping him to drink it down. The potion was made specifically to help him regain some of his strength, magically and physically, preparing him for the coming ritual.

Finishing off the potion, he watched as Wormtail took the cup to the kitchen before returning.

“What can you tell me about the Potter brat?” he hissed.

“M-m-master?” Wormtail asked, tripping over his words, wincing at the red eyed glared that he got in response. “I do not know much beyond what I saw during my time there. He was close with the youngest Weasley boy, the one who had kept me as a pet. He is supposedly very much on the Light side as far as I could tell, but he was never one to start things with others. Was fairly biting if he was pushed by the wrong person though. His relationship with the young Malfoy heir during that time was antagonistic from what I remember. I believe that the half-giant was the one who gathered him from his guardians,” he said, frowning as he tried to remember things.

Voldemort grunted, sitting back in the chair and arranging the blankets that kept him warm and propped up so that they weren’t pressed quite so harshly into his back as he thought. “I wonder…” he mused. “Do you think that you could get into the Ministry and find any information on the brat?” he asked.

Wormtail wrinkled his nose and shrugged. “Depending on what kind of warding they have on his information now that he has taken up his Wizengamont seats and his Lordships? Some if I’m lucky. Maybe just a touch of information but I highly doubt that they would have much beyond what his parents had filed when he was born, and then what little Dumbledore would have had to file.” He shifted on his feet. “I would need Barty to be here while I was gone so he could give you your potion on time, and he is not due to be here until tomorrow. As long as he is free to be here for the few hours it would take, I should be able to grab what I could if anything,” he finally said after a moment of thinking.

He felt rather proud of himself for not stumbling over his words or stuttering in front of Voldemort. He had been working on keeping up his meek face without the stutters to his words.

Voldemort growled. “Do so. Prepare to go tomorrow. Crouch will be here to give me the needed potions for the hours that you are gone. Do not bother me until it is time for my next potion. And get me a new newspaper to!” he yelled.

Wormtail bowed quickly before running out of the room, sighing as he dropped the meek act. He quietly groaned as he grabbed a new paper from the stack of papers that he had gotten, taking it to Voldemort before he returned to the kitchen where he continued to read through the book with the resurrection ritual.

He had a feeling that he was not going to enjoy the next couple of months, much less the ritual to happen. Thus he was preparing. He had to be ready for the ritual.

So much rode on him being ready and willing to do things.

122

Walking out to the Quidditch field with Cassius, Harry pressed up against him with wide eyes, staring at Oliver who was crying over growing hedges. “I take it that this is going to be the third task?” he asked. Fleur scowled as Krum stared at the growing hedge, blank faced but tense.

Bagman beamed as he walked up to them, nodding. “Indeed it is! It will end up being a maze that the four of you will have to run through, entering in your current positions. There will be challenges around every corner and a need to really show your smarts,” he said. Harry thought that he sounded positively giddy with the plans. “Oh, do not worry so much, Heir Wood. The field will be returned to normal after the task tomorrow, right on time for the last exhibition match,” he promised Oliver, who had joined them to see what was happening to the pitch.

“The only good thing that came out all of this,” Oliver grumped. His friend, Cedric, patted his shoulder with an amused sort of look on his face.

“Come on, Ollie, you’ll do just fine,” he teased, Oliver groaning as Fleur chuckled softly. “It’s quite a big maze.”

“Indeed. It was decided that the cup will be placed in the middle of the maze and will bring the person back to the stage at the front of it. There will be wards all around it to stop the creatures that are being used from getting free or getting to the cup. Hagrid was kind enough to help us with some of them, which turned out to be a Merlin’s blessing. There will also be monitoring spells that will be following each of you around. They will have about a thirty second lag between what we see and what you do though,” he warned them.

Harry hummed as Cassius grunted.

“That is probably a good thing seeing as how this whole thing shouldn’t have been set up at all,” Cassius said softly, Harry nodding. He looked at Bagman again. “Will the cup be protected from anyone messing around with it?” he asked.

Bagman nodded with a beaming smile. “Oh yes. The cup is under very heavy guard due to the nature of everything that is going on with young Lord Potter. We are taking all of this quite seriously after all. Not only that, but the cup will not be placed into it’s spot until it’s time to start the maze by the guards that are watching over it.”

“Good,” Cassius said before he turned slightly to look at Snape and McGonagall. “Harry and I have business with Gringotts today. My parents are waiting for us. May we use the floo seeing as we do not wish to be late for our appointments?” he asked. The two teachers shared a look as Dumbledore went to answer, his mouth opening.

“Of course. You can use mine,” McGonagall stated, staring Dumbledore down before she lead the two teens away from the growing maze. Snape snorted, amused by the interactions.

“You really should remember that any heir or Lord that attends Hogwarts has the right to leave for any official business that needs to be done,” he drawled. Dumbledore sighed as Snape gave him a bored look. “Those two fall into both categories. They will be chaperoned by Heir Warrington’s parents so there is nothing to worry about in regards to their contract. Do stop trying to deny them their rights as heir and Lords,” he stated before he to walked off.

Dumbledore kept his face blank, his true thoughts tucked behind the mask, cursing mentally at being reminded just how far his power had slipped. Before everything had happened with Harry’s name coming out of the goblet, before he had grown a backbone and not just rolled over, doing the right thing by allowing himself to be bait, Dumbledore’s word had been law.

But now, to his view, it was barely worth more then the dirt that they were standing on. He ignored Bagman as he continued to tell the other two champions about the maze and how they would enter the maze in what order. He barely caught the fact that Harry and Fleur would be going in last because of the fact that they were tied when he focused on the conversation.

123

“Manager Axegrind, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Harry greeted, smiling at the manager who had taken over as the main account head for his various accounts. Axegrind had become his main source of information since the managers over Black and Ravenclaw were working so hard to set everything to rights. Including the shifting of Bellatrix’ NoName’s reclaimed vault to see if there was anything in there that should be.

“Lord Potter, a pleasure,” Axegrind greeted after their proper greetings, Harry taking a seat when the goblin waved a hand to the chair. “What is it that you need to do today? You said that you wish to create a Will Orb?” he asked.

“Yes. Cassius and the others have all agreed that with this tournament, it is best that we create orbs just in case something happens during this last one. I know that Heir Delacour and Heir Krum both have ones set, having been warned about how dangerous this tournament actually has been known to be,” Harry said as he settled back, crossing his legs and frowning slightly to himself. “We’re doing this today since tomorrow is the third task, and we want to make sure both of our estates are covered.” He frowned. “To be safe.”

“Of course,” Axegrind agreed, nodding as he started to shuffle through the papers on his desk. “As you have asked of me, I found that there is a line of Potters who are not named Potters. They came from your times six great grandfather’s line from his second wife. Their children took on her maiden name and moved to America soon after as far as I can tell,” he said. “Your cousin’s family line could also take over the Ravenclaw line should one of his children turn out magical. The Black line would most likely end up reverting to Draco Malfoy or one of his children, depending on the Magic of the family.”

“That would be fine,” Harry said. “I would like to place several letters along with the orb. They are only to be opened by the people that match the names on it. They are to be placed under preservation spells so that they are still there should something happen before I am able to update them,” he continued. “I’ll also be placing journals in the vault with the orb as I finish writing them.”

“I can set all this up for you,” Axegrind said. He took the letters, placing them into a box that he had gathered from the Potter Heirloom vault. “I will have our Runic Masters make sure the preservation runes are solid around the letters.”

“Thank you. Now for the orb…” he started before he pulled out a full letter and an officially written scroll that he had written out with the help of his solicitor. It had been witnessed by his godfather and the Warringtons when he had signed it with the solicitor. “This is the official, signed and sealed, physical will that is to accompany the orb.”

Axegrind nodded, taking the roll of parchment with one hand. He set up the orb, tapping at it with one long finger until it glowed purple, nodding at Harry once more.

“I, Lord Harry James Ravenclaw-Black-Potter, being of sound mind, soul, and emotions, do hereby state that should my will be executed due to my death during this tournament, these are my wishes. To those who had been called, I fear that the world needs to learn how to stand without me. Do not bend. Do not break. Stand strong and face the coming Evil that would see you battered, broken, and unwilling to fight,” he started.

It took him just over twenty minutes to go over everything. He laid out what would go to his friends and from what title they were to get things from.

Once he had finished, he was handed a cup of hot lemon and honey tea to sooth his throat, and moved out into a waiting room to wait for Cassius. He looked up when the other male walked in with his parents, smiling up at him.

“You all done then?” he asked. Cassius nodded, stealing a kiss before plucking the cup from his hands and sipping at it.

“Yes, I am,” Cassius hummed, enjoying the soft blush on Harry’s cheeks. “Come on. Let’s go ahead and get some dinner before we head back to Hogwarts. I know that everyone is waiting for us. We got permission to have a sleep over as long as a teacher joins us to. Sprout and Snape agreed to do it,” he said.

Harry smiled brightly at that bit of news. “That, I think is the best idea in the world right now. Let’s go.”

124

Stepping out of the floo into Severus’ office space, Harry smiled as Cassius flicked his wand to get rid of the soot that had settled onto their clothes. “Professor,” he greeted with a polite smile, Severus bowing his head in greeting.

“Let us go. Lady Malfoy has delivered a letter for me to give to you,” he said, handing said letter over to Harry. Harry took it and promised to read it when they got to the room.

They walked down the halls to the classroom, finding that their friends were already waiting, wearing their nightgowns and the bed ready to be used. Their normal room was across the hall, smaller in size, but the room they were in, which according to what they had learned had been a guest room for visiting families, was still set up to be used as a bedroom. A good sized wood stove that had a flat top for kettles sat in the middle of the room, the fire going perfectly and tended to by the magic carved into the stones around it. Heavy curtains were ready to be let down for privacy, outside of two beds that sat with sheer curtains and a minor chastity charm was set over it.

While Seamus and Dean was going to sleep with each other anyways, Harry and Cassius had asked for the other bed to be set up for them. They wanted the chance to sleep in the same bed, just wanting to be together before the next day.

A small sitting area had been set up and had more then enough space for everyone to lounge in while the two teachers had their own desks set up to work at. Harry grabbed his sleep-over bag that Winky had packed up for him, disappearing into one of the four private bathrooms while Cassius disappeared into another. He took a quick shower to wash off the day before he pulled on his night clothes, joining his friends.

He put the bag down at the foot of the bed that he was going to share with Cassius and pulled out the letter from Narcissa. He walked over to the sitting area and flopped down next to Fleur, who chuckled and smiled at him in greeting.

“What iz that?” she asked, nodding to the letter.

“Lady Malfoy wrote a letter to me,” Harry said as he waved it. “I think that she has been wanting to speak with me about her husband’s mark. Sirius told me that she would write eventually. But with everything that has been going on…”

“She told me that she was going to write to you to set up a day during the summer holidays to speak with you about figuring things out with his mark,” Draco said softly. “Father has already locked the wards down so that the Dark Lord, should he fully return, will not be able to enter. He’s going to just say that Narcissa is the one who locked them down and threatened to divorce him, taking the Black Power with her. Which would also end up taking quite a chunk of the Malfoy fortune with it should she walk according to one of the clauses in their contract. It might mean some time under the Crutatious cruse, but he’s still kept out of the manor.”

Harry gave him a pained smile in understanding. Cassius joined them, his hair already dried and smelling fresh. He sat down on Harry’s other side, the younger male smiling before he opened the letter.

He read over it with a frown. “I’ll have to write to your mother before we go to bed and have Winky take it to her in the morning. The task isn’t until early before dinner after all,” he said as he put the letter down. “It’s just asking if I would have time to speak with them after Hogwarts lets us go for the summer.” He sat back as he folded the letter, having Cassius place on a table to his other side. “She wants to talk about the mark though. She’s discovered that the Dark Lord had notes on things stashed about the manor about the mark. She’s hoping that it’s enough for me to figure out how to remove it.”

Severus looked up from the papers he was working on. “I have been asked to act as an escort with your godfather during the meeting if you are open to it,” he said. Harry smiled at him, agreeing. “If you are able to remove the mark, that would end up freeing me from both people who hold my so-called leash,” he drawled.

“I will try my best to figure out the puzzle,” Harry promised before the conversation turned to happier things. They all talked about their plans for the coming summer years and the things that they wanted to see get done in the Wizengamont. Harry admitted that he had started to go through all of the laws that had been passed using the Potter vote and figure out how to get the ones that hurt their world at large revoked.

Especially since their laws really should mirror the muggle world laws according to their treaty.

125

Standing before the maze next to his friends, he frowned at just how dark it seemed to feel. Harry shivered as Cassius glared, nearly snarling.

The four Champions were glad that they had gotten their outfits approved for the coming maze. They wore dragon hide boots that covered up to their knees. Touch pants that Harry had learned dragon handlers wore, the material resistant to fire and tearing from teeth or claw. Matching shirts in the same fabric sat under hip length jackets that they had buttoned up to cover their shoulder and back.

Fleur had her hair pulled into a carefully constructed braid that was then wrapped into a bun, all four of them having covered their hair in protective spray potion. It would stop their hair from catching fire, and for a short time, stop things like acids and other liquids from getting to the skin under their hair. Just in case.

They had all agreed to treat the maze as if they were going into a war zone and not just a task for the tournament. For Harry, it felt very much like that.

Cassius laced their fingers together, Harry looking to him, sharing strained smiles that still seemed to calm the both of them down to prepare for what was to come.

Bagman beamed as he stepped onto the stage. “Welcome, everyone, to the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament?” he called, smiling as he looked to the watchers. “Today, we finally declare a winner of our four schools! The champions will be entering the maze according to their points from the first two tasks. This means that Heir Krum of Drumstang will enter first, followed by Heir Warrington of Hogwarts. Heir Delacour of Beaxubatons and Lord Potter of the Lily School will enter in two different points at the same time. When they enter, a special bubble will once more follow them and show you their progression! So, let us wish our contestants all of the luck!”

Harry snorted, Cassius sending a dark glare towards the man. “Call us contestants as if we’re not risking out lives with their idea of a damn task,” Cassius drawled, Harry patting his shoulder.

“We can do this,” Harry told him, staring at him with a smile on his face. “Wear your colors with pride. You’re a Slytherin, and one of the smarter ones at that. You’re someone that your house has looked up to from the start. I’ve seen it in the time that we’ve spent together. They look to you and a few others as an example for what a true Slytherin is. Smart, ambitious, and willing to work hard for your dreams.”

Cassius chuckled, leaning down slightly to press a kiss to the back of the hand he raised with a smirk. “Considering that I landed you as my partner?” he asked, teasingly. “I say that I did pretty good on the ambitious and getting my dreams part.” Harry rolled his eyes and shoved at him slightly, a smile dancing on his lips.

“Berk,” he huffed back, getting a low chuckle from Cassius. “But really.” Harry looked at Cassius with a serious look. “Stay safe in there. Who knows what kind of dangers were put into the maze. Not to mention whoever put my name in the cup might end up trying to go after us for some reason.” Harry looked to Fleur and Krum. “That does go for the both of you. If you think for even a second that you’ve been compromised, do what you need to do to get away from whoever it is and try to save yourself,” he instructed them.

Krum nodded once, face stony. “We vill,” he promised, Fleur nodding her head.

“If the four of you are ready, your places have been marked. Heir Krum, your mark is a black ribbon. Heiress Delacour, yours is a gold ribbon. Heir Warrington, the green ribbon. Lord Potter, blue ribbon,” Banman said, smiling at each of them. He frowned as he looked around. “You four haven’t seen Mr. Crouch have you?” he asked. They all shook their heads. “How off for him to disappear so soon to the end of this.” He caught sight of their confused and a bit worried looks. “Nothing to worry about, I’m sure. Come on, to your spots.”

The four champions shared looks but took up their places, waiting for their names to be called out and to enter the maze. Krum went first, then Cassius five minutes later, followed by Fleur and Harry five minutes after he had entered.

Luna, who was sitting in the stands, smiled softly at as Hermione asked her what was wrong. “Four are entering but only three will return,” she said softly. “Death will not be denied, but who It will take, I do not See.” Hermione pressed her hand to her mouth, holding Luna’s hand as they watched the bubbles that acted like screens show the progression of the four champions.

126

Harry dodged around the Blast-ended Skewert that sent a blast of fire at him, patting out the arm of his jacket absently. While his clothes were nearly fireproof, some how the creature that Hagrid had bred into being had a much stronger fire then anything that he had come across. Thus the fire left the leather smoldering.

“Bloody things need to be dropped into an Acromantula nest and left there to see who would come out of that fight in one piece,” he grumbled to himself as he walked around a corner.

A soft chuckle, deep and rich, drew his eyes to the next creature that was standing before him. A Sphinx, if his Creatures tutor had him right. He knew that some of the species had a more human look to them, with the head and chest of whatever gender they felt like above the lions body and arms.

It seemed as if the tournament’s runners had decided to go for a safer version of the Sphinx’s body, going for one with the head of a beautiful woman and a full body of a lion.

“My lady Sphinx,” Harry greeted, bowing to her but still keeping his eyes on her.

“Welcome, traveler. You have a choice here. Try to solve my riddle or turn back from here, staying safe for if you fail at solving my riddle, you will find yourself under great peril beneath my paws,” she warned. Harry took a deep breath, suddenly really glad for the random riddle fights that he got dragged into by Tracy and Luna.

“I will try to solve your riddle, great lady,” he said. She smiled, a slow, curling, almost inhuman thing full of teeth as she sat.

“Very well, traveler. Let me tell you my riddle. First, think of the person who lives in disguise. Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies,” she purred. Her tail flicked, drawing his eyes. “Next, tell me what is always the last thing to mend. The middle of middle and end of end? And finally, give me the sound of often heard, during the search for a hard-to-find word.” Her tail flicked again as she leaned forward slightly. “Now string them together and answer me this: Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”

Harry narrowed his eyes as her as he remembered the advice that Tracy had once given him in their early rounds. Break the riddle down into the various parts that made it whole.

The first line, he found, was easy enough to solve. A spy was the one who would deal in secrets and told nothing but lies as they wore disguises to get to the secrets that they wanted. So the first part of the word was Spy.

The last thing, the middle and the end, though…

Harry frowned before he smiled as it clicked as he spelled each word in his mind. The answer was D.

As for the sound that one made when they were looking for a word, despite usually being trained out of a Pureblood, as with most people, the sound would be Er.

Harry frowned as he sounded out the word. “Spy, D, Er,” he mused softly not yet answering her. He said it again, allowing the vowels to slur together into an actual word. “Oh!” he gasped as his eyes widened, staring at the Sphinx. “The creature that I wouldn’t want to kiss would be a Spider!” he cried out.

She laughed in delight as she stood straight again, nodding. “You are right, traveler! You may go on your way,” she said as she stepped to the side. Harry smiled, bowed slightly to her, keeping his eyes on her body before he came to a corner.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding his head once before he disappeared around the corner, letting out a slow release of his breath. He heard Fleur curse in French before a scream of raw pain made him sprint down the path before he came to a wall, snarling. He could hear Fleur just beyond the hedge. “Sod it all,” he snarled.

Harry jabbed his wand at the hedge, calling up a careful circle of fire, burning his way through to the other side. Making sure that the hedge hadn’t caught fire, he dived through the hole just as the plant regrew the part he had destroyed. He sucked in a breath at the sight of Krum, standing over Fleur with a blank look on his face, holding his wand out at her.

He knew that look oh to well. It had been the same look that his classmates had taken during their first lesson about the Unforgiveables. The Imperious Curse, when it was in full effect and without any instructions for the person to act as normal, was blank.

Blank face.

Blank eyes.

Blank body tells.

No emotions as he held Fleur under the Crutatious for seconds at a time.

127

With his eyes wide in shock that was coursing through him, Harry moved by instinct, having trained to trust himself to do it. He tossed a wordless Expelliarimus at Krum, watching him fly off several feet as Harry caught his flying wand. Sliding up to Fleur and kneeling partly down next to her, keeping an eye on the fallen Krum, he remembered the first aid training his Defense tutor had put him through. He found her pulse and found that she was still alive luckily and starting to come around.

“Vi-tur,” she got out, the name heavily slurred from her pain. “Co-t-olled.” Harry nodded his head in understanding.

“I know. I saw. You need to stay down though. I’m going to use your wand to send up sparks to get you out. That okay with you?” he asked.

She nodded her head with a wince, a soft curse in French escaping her. Harry picked up her wand from where it had fallen when she had suffered the ambush attack by Krum. Sending up the red sparks, he made sure she had her wand back in her shaky hand.

He found out that she was recovered enough to send a hard Stupify at the slowly moving Krum, making him drop like a marionette without it’s strings.

“Go,” she gritted out as she flopped back. Harry nodded, already knowing that he had to finish this. He had to face whatever it was that Fate had in store for him and get it done.

Licking his lips. Harry nodded his head, squeezed her free hand and got up, ready to keep moving. He left her there, the sounds of people coming for her and the startled sounds at finding them following after him. He worked his way past more creatures with fairly creative uses of the spells that he did know.

His Defense teacher had shown him that even the most basic of spells could be used to disarm or distract an enemy if you were smart about it. It usually was just a way to create time to get away from the person, or if need be, to take them down so you could find a way to get away. Neville had even learned a spell that created liquid soap and often used it to his great advantage against the twins during one of their practice duels that had been nothing but basic charms and jinxes.

Gripping his wand, he used a bubble containment spell, which was just a really big version of the bubble headed charm, to get past another skewert. Harry slipped around the bubble and finally found the middle of the maze just in time to see Cassius walk in.

He ran over to his partner, looping an arm around his waist as Cassius rested an arm around his shoulders, having noticed the slight limp that Cassius was doing.

“I’m fine,” Cassius promised, wincing as he lent into his shorter partner. “I just twisted my knee dodging out of the way of those damn skewerts. Look, there’s the Goblet.”

“Yeah, there it is,” Harry breathed, helping Cassius to walk over to the Goblet, both of them staring at it. “I don’t want you going with me,” he admitted quietly.

“I know you don’t.” They stood in silence as they stared at the Goblet. “Who was it that the red streaks was called for?” he asked quietly.

“Fleur. She was being held under the Crutatious spell by Krum,” Harry told him. Cassius winced at that. “Someone hit him with the Impervious.”

“Knock out your competition before it could get to the cup and ruin things?” Cassius asked, Harry nodding his head. “Smart. Diabolical, but smart,” he mused, frowning at the goblet once more. “What are we going to do now?” he asked.

“You’re not going to let me leave you behind, are you?” Harry asked, Cassius giving him a look that was the only answer he needed. “I didn’t think so.”

“Even if I wasn’t your romantic partner, I am still your most experienced dueling partner. I’m supposed to be there to back you up,” he teased. Harry huffed, smiling up at him with a soft, sad look. “You and I both know that I’m coming with you one way or the other.”

Harry sighed and nodded. “I do. We should probably get your knee straightened out enough that you can get through this without it stopping you,” he said. He was forcibly ignoring the rising dread that was curling deep in his gut.

They both knew without a doubt or saying a word between them just what was on the line. They both knew that there was a high chance one or both of them weren’t walking away from what was to come.

But they were going to face it together. So Harry helped Cassius wrap his knee with some of his undershirt to provide some kind of brace for it. Harry lent forward while they were sitting and kissed Cassius gently before he pulled back.

“Stay safe.”

“I promise.”

With that said, they both stood up, grabbed the cup together and felt the immediate hook in their navel, the portkey transporting them off of Hogwart’s grounds and away from the monitoring bubbles. It took exactly ten seconds for the spectators to fully comprehend that the portkey that should have brought them back to the start hadn’t, but had instead kidnapped them right before their eyes.

After that it was a mass of shouts of horror, worry, and instructions.

128

Their landing was far from soft, the two males grunting as the cup dropped from their fingers, rolling away. Harry and Cassius quickly shook off the landing and dived down behind two very large grave markers. Harry looked up and caught sight that he had come to stand behind a pair of lovers while Cassius was near him and behind the markers for what looked to the children of the lover’s.

“Harry? You good?” Cassius asked. Harry swallowed heavily and smiled tensely at him.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said, nodding his head. Cassius hummed, looking around the edge of the marker and finding that the Goblet had rolled fairly far down the hill. Much to far to risk trying to Accio it to them, but also a risk for them to move from their hiding spots.

“We need to get to the cup. It’s likely set up so that it’ll take us back to Hogwarts. I bet whoever set it up expects dead bodies and not living ones.” Cassius paused and scowled. “It’ll be for the shock factor. To shake the world’s faith in fighting against him.”

“Bugger,” Harry grumbled. He looked around the edge of his marker, seeing that not much further past the goblet sat a cauldron next to an already open grave, a mixture of something bubbling away within it. “We need to get to it. Before…whoever is here notices us.”

Cassius nodded as he slowly slinked out from behind his gravestone, Harry following, both crouched low. They didn’t dare to try using magic, well aware that there could be wards to tip off whoever had set everything up off that they had arrived and was trying to get away. Instead, they worked to keep to the darkness as much as possible.

They came to a stop behind another larger grave marker, this time the marker of an entire family, their names carefully etched along with their dates of birth and death. Harry shifted as they knelt behind it, patting the ground as he silently apologized if they were stepping on their graves while trying to get out of their very dangerous situation.

He paused at the feeling of something brushing up against his hand. A quiet, calm assurance flowed up his arm and through his body, telling him that he was fine. That the dead that lingered knew that he wasn’t the one to blame for their disturbance.

Harry blinked at Cassius when the other male looked at him with questions in his eyes. “I felt something,” he whispered. “As if…I don’t think that only muggles were buried here. There’s most likely Squibs to. And maybe magicals who lived in the muggle world most days.”

Cassius sucked in a breath at Harry’s words, knowing just what that would mean. That meant that there was going to be a lot of loose magic that was returned to the Earth from the human that had held it until their death.

That would put a whole new spin on the entire ritual that they could see having been set up in a whole new light. Harry wondered if Pettigrew knew about who could be buried in the cemetery and what it could do the ritual itself.

He shook his head, trying to get his focus back and turned to his partner, pointing at the Goblet. “Think that we can grab it before we attract attention?” he asked.

“Maybe,” Cassius said as he shifted on his feet. “As long as we’re quick and fast about this, and we don’t end up triggering anything.” He frowned, shifting his stance. “Think you can do this?”

“Yep. I can. Can you with your knee?” Harry asked as he eyed the wrap around Cassius’ knee. Cassius smirked, winked at him and moved to start moving. The green eyed teen shook his head, following Cassius’ example. The two kept low to the ground, but moved quickly as they headed for the goblet.

Harry cried out in anger when the Goblet was jerked away, tossed to the side by Pettigrew’s hand just as they were lunging for it. They landed in a heap, Cassius cursing as he moved to get up and go for the goblet.

“Kill the Spare.”

129

Harry reached out towards Cassius, feeling as if he was fighting against the very air around him as he fought to get to the other male. He could see the streak of green coming from Pettigrew’s wand coming for him even as Cassius tried to move out of the way of the fast moving spell.

His cry of denial and pain was a dull echo to the roar in his ears as he watched the way Cassius was hit by the spell with such force that his body twisted around before landing face down on the ground. What part of Cassius’ face he could see was frozen in a look of shock and worry as his hair fell over his face.

Harry couldn’t stop but think that his partner had started to loose the last bit of stubborn baby fat and would have been quite handsome in his coming years.

Harry missed the next spell that was aimed at him, getting knocked out by a stupify.

He came to when Pettigrew woke him up, the rat animagus walking past him while holding a wrapped bundle in his arms.

He shook his head hard as the spell started to fall away, finding that he had been tied to a tombstone. One that was near the open grave. Looking over to the left, he found that the tombstone that he was tied to looked to be the main marker to the smaller stone that stood over the grave. It simply said Tom Riddle.

Harry looked up when he noticed that Pettigrew was placing the bundle into a basket that was filled with blankets, a snake hissing threats to the man as she worked her way past. As she disappeared amongst the stones, Pettigrew blew out a breath before simply looking at him and adding something from a vial to the cauldron, giving it a stir.

“We’re ready, master,” he said. A pleased hissing sound came from the bundle.

“Good,” came Voldemort’s voice, high and reedy, but recognizable. “Sssstart the ritual. It issss time.”

Pettigrew took a deep breath, eyes closed, and nodded. First, he went to the open grave and levitated a bone out of it. “Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son,” he intoned. The bone was dropped carefully into the cauldron. Harry frowned, noting that it took much to long for the potion to change colors, remembering that his tutor had said potions turned colors as soon as the ingredients were added to show that it wasn’t going to go wrong.

“What are you doing, Pettigrew?” he asked. He was unable to stop himself from asking.

“Raising my master,” Pettigrew stated, just staring at him blankly before he held up one hand and a silver knife. He used the knife to cleanly cut through his wrist, letting the severed hand drop into the potion. “Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master,” he gritted out.

Pettigrew put the knife down onto a small table, and pulled out his wand, carefully applying a charm to stop the bleeding as he turned to Harry. He picked up the knife from where he had left it after flicking his wand over to it to remove his blood, leaving it clean once more.

He walked over to Harry, the ropes around him moving and shifting to hold out his arm to the rat like man. “Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe,” he got out as he placed the knife to Harry’s arm, cutting a small wound into the skin. He dropped the knife and grabbed a bowl that had been tucked out of the way nearby, catching the blood that he needed.

He added the blood to the cauldron and picked up the wrapped bundle. It unraveled as he held it over the cauldron, Voldemort’s body falling into the potion. Harry noted that the potion was taking longer each time something was added to change colors. Pettigrew trembled as he stepped back, kicking the goblet with one foot just enough to not activate it but to send it closer to where Cassius’ still body laid.

Harry swallowed, already knowing that if he looked at his courting bracelet that there would be a crack in the top of it. A crack that showed a bond and contract that was broken by outside forces.

He forced those thoughts out of his head as Voldemort rose from the potion, naked as the day was long. Harry winced and looked now lower then the non-existent nose on the creatures face, not wanting to see past that.

“Robe me, Wormtail,” came the hissed words from formless lips. Harry winced as his scar reacted to seeing the creature that had once been a man standing before him once more.

130

Pettigrew quickly moved over to Voldemort and placed a robe over his master, watching as the man carefully closed it around his body. Voldemort seemed to be admiring the fact that he once more had a body. He looked over to Harry, who was glaring with a hatred that was only ever born from a hurt so deep in his own soul that he would stop at nothing to put Voldemort into the ground permanently.

He kind of hoped that Harry would be able to destroy Voldemort for good this time even as he offered his arm with the mark on it to the creature that stood before them.

“It does feel oh so good to hold my wand once more,” Voldemort purred as he pressed the tip of his wand to Pettigrew’s mark, making him wince and shrink further into himself as the burn of the call rocked through his body. “Now, we will see who comes to my call and to my aid. And we will see who will try to worm their way out of my ire.”

“Yes, my lord,” Pettigrew whimpered, holding onto the stump of his arm. He winced as cracks of apparation started to fill the air around them. Several figures appeared, all seemingly staring in awe at the sight of their resurrected Lord before they all swept into deep bows. “Ah, my loyal Death Eaters. It seems, Goyle, Crabbe, that you are here, but yet Malfoy has not come.”

Goyle stepped forward, once more bowing. He waited until he was given a nod to speak. “He has told me that his work at this Ministry this night is with others in various departments,” he told him. “It is quite possible that he is unable to get away without sparking suspicion and watchful eyes.” He swallowed when Voldemort hummed.

“We shall see about that at a later time. Avery, Macnair, a pleasure to see you both. Nott to! I hear that you now have two children? An heir and a spare?” he drawled as he slowly walked amongst his Death Eaters, watching them.

Nott Senior bowed low with a pleased smirk. “Yes, my lord. My heir and my spare both know what their place is in this world and who they will serve,” he said. “I made sure of it.”

“Very good, Nott. We will wait to give them their marks though. Take our time with things. I need time to carefully plan things, collect my followers once more,” Voldemort drawled as he turned to Harry. He waved his wand, Pettigrew watching the very stone of the angel move until it was standing tall, holding Harry up. “When I was but a wraith that was using Quirell’s body, I found that the mudblood bitch who had sired you, who had died at my hand, had left behind a potent protection. Something that made it so that I could not touch our dear little Lord here,” he cooed. He walked over to Harry with a smirk.

He carefully pressed a finger to Harry’s scar, relishing in the cry of pain from the teen as Pettigrew’s entire body winced. He didn’t dare move to stop Voldemort. He had very strong orders and compulsions that forbade him from doing anything more then what was needed.

Voldemort lifted his finger from Harry’s head and turned to his followers with a gleeful smirk. “Wormtail, for your endless loyalty to me,” he purred, strutting over to Pettigrew. He held out one hand, Pettigrew offering him the stump of his arm, knowing what his lord wanted. With a casual, almost lazy swirl of his wand, metal, hot and heavy with magic, formed from the tip of Voldemort’s wand, attaching itself to the stump.

Pettigrew hissed, wincing at the fresh wave of pain that shot through his nerves but waited it out, staring as he wiggled the metallic fingers.

“Tonight, I will duel this supposed Lord! And in finishing the job that I started twelve years ago, I will be able to claim the Potter, Black, and Ravenclaw names under Slytherins name!” he called out. He smirked at the cries of delight at that decree. “Release the boy and give him his wand! We will do this properly,” he said, moving to a more open section of the graveyard.

Pettigrew bowed, scurrying over to Harry and releasing him before he shuffled off to start cleaning up the ritual.

As Harry and Voldemort fought, their wands connecting and shades of Voldemort’s victims came out of his wand, no one noticed when Pettigrew slipped a small journal into Cassius’ pockets. They didn’t notice when he hid another book into a nook of the main Riddle grave marker as Harry dived for Cassius’ body and the cup, tears streaking his face, disappearing in a swirl of lights with the portkey. No one noticed that Pettigrew had everything from the ritual cleaned up and gone before he left with his mater and the Death Eaters there, returning to the Nott manor.

No one ever noticed poor, pathetic Wormtail after all.

131

Landing on Hogwarts Grounds after a whirlwind of colors and air, gasping and crying, he looked up to Raphael and Jessica as they ran over, horrified looks on their faces as he clung to Cassius’ body. “They killed him,” he sobbed out. “I couldn’t stop them! They used the killing curse on him,” he got out before falling into more sobs.

Jessica gasped and fell to the ground, pulling him close, holding him as she hid her tears in his hair, allowing him to cry, uncaring of the blood getting on her robes. She could feel him shaking hard from what could have only have been cruciatus exposure.

Raphael came to kneel down next to them, reaching out to carefully smooth his son’s open eyes closed, holding himself back from going to hunt down the person who had hurt both of his children. He knew that it would help no one and right now, Harry needed protection. His hand laid on Cassius chest and felt something small, hard in his pocket. He quickly removed it and tucked it away with a frown.

He would deal with it later, feeling as if his magic was screaming to not let it fall into the wrong hands.

“Lord Potter,” Fudge started to bluster before his mouth snapped shut when Raphael glared up at him.

“I would think that you are not about to ask Harry if he has somehow killed or had his Contract Bonded Courter killed. Because if you are, I would suggest you rethink that,” Raphael said, voice ice cold. “Not when it is quite evident that the young Lord is now mourning Cassius and is still hurting from whatever happened when they were both kidnapped from this Merlin Forsaken Tournament.”

Fudge swallowed as he tried to find the right words. “Well…that is…” he stuttered. McGonagall walked up to them swiftly with Moody and Dumbledore behind her.

“When one courts the way that Lord Potter and Heir Warrington have been courting, there are terms, clauses, and conditions that are built into a magically binding contract to protect both sides. As you well know. Lord Potter couldn’t hurt Heir Cassius even if he had wanted to. The bonding bracelets and contracts would have stopped him if not just fully stripping him of his magic,” McGonagall stated, falling back into her teachers training in the face of such horror. Her voice softened as she turned to Jessica and Harry. “Lady Warrington, if you could be so kind as to escort Lord Potter to the medical wing to be looked over and have evidence gathered, I believe Director Bones will be returning with her Auror team. Do not let any others bother either of you or stop you from getting there.”

“Of course,” Jessica said, her voice thick with her tears and grief. McGonagall moved closer to her as she and Harry stood, Jessica holding him up partially. She placed a hand on the woman’s arm.

“We will take good care of your son,” she promised, just loud enough for the mourning group to hear. “Director Bones will make sure his body is not desecrated. He will be returned to you, whole, hale and with all dark magic stripped from him.”

Jessica smiled as she bowed her head in thanks. “I know that you, Director Bones, and my husband will make sure of it,” she replied. “If you will excuse us,” she said, noting the glassy appearance of Harry’s eyes. He was starting to go into a state of shock. She glared at Moody and Dumbledore when they tried to get closer to Harry. “No.” Her tone was hard and clipped, leaving absolutely no room for arguments. “Your questions will wait until he is ready to answer them. Do you understand me?” she asked.

Dumbledore sighed quietly but nodded, knowing that if he pushed, she would put him through a verbal meat grinder. Moody on the other hand scowled angrily at her. Jessica carefully lead Harry away, his friends rushing form a protective circle around him. The boys were stone faced, while the girls were allowed to show their sorrow and worry. Even in grieving, they all had their own parts to play in the public.

Hermione was crying softly into Neville’s shoulder, holding tight to one arm as his other hand rubbed over her hands. Luna was sniffling, tucked between the Weasley twins, the two making sure that she was able to walk with them and hide her own grief if she wanted. Daphne and Tracy were both crying softly into handkerchiefs that Blaise and Draco had pulled out while Pansy hid her face behind her hair, using Theo’s offered handkercheif to wipe her own tears.

“It was the Dark Lord,” Harry said softly once they were somewhere safe, allowing Jessica to cast a privacy spell around them. “And Pettigrew. I…heard names. I need to write this down before I am able to mourn…” He pressed a hand to his mouth and sobbed a little before he took a breath, still clinging to Jessica. It was as if she was the only thing holding him together.

Jessica smiled sadly at him, smoothing her fingers through his hair as she lead the way to the medical wing where Pomphrey bustled over with a worried expression on her face.

“Your husband, Lady Warrington, sent word that you were heading this way. I have a private room set up for him this time,” she greeted them softly. She looked the group over. “There is a small sitting area for all of you to rest and hide from everyone that is near his room. I’ll have a house elf bring up hot chocolate and something to eat, okay?” she said. Neville nodded and lead the group that way.

While they were waiting, Jessica and Harry stepped into the private room where Pomphrey gathered his clothes, placing them into special evidence bags. He sat in his undergarments, blushing as Jessica looked elsewhere, Pomphrey running scans over Harry. Jessica held his hand the entire time as Pomphrey did her work, a long piece of parchment appearing next to her with what was going on with him.

As soon as she was done with the parchment, she stamped the scroll, created four copies, one being sent to her hidden files, two handed to Harry and Jessica, and one kept for Amelia. Once she had that done, she carefully washed and healed the wound, wrapping the arm up since it wasn’t a full heal and then allowing him to wash up and change into pajamas.

By the time he was back in bed, she had a dreamless sleep potion ready for him, letting him fall into a deep sleep. He missed his friends stopping Moody from trying to get into the room, Jessica sending the man to the floor with a well timed spell to wrap him up in rope and calling for the Aurors.

132

“Tell me this, Dumbledore, how did it escape your attention that your teacher was not the right teacher?” Jessica snarled. She glared down at the bound Barty Crouch Jr, who sneered up at her from his place on the floor. The peg leg and eye that he had been wearing had fallen off the moment that the polyjuice potion had started to wear off while they waited for the Aurors.

Fudge was wringing his hat in his hands, already having been forbidden from getting the Dementors to kiss the fugitive who should have been long dead. He wanted this entire thing to be swept under the carpet, but it was looking as if between Lady Warrington, who was in mourning, Lord Warrington, who had come once he had been notified about what was going on, and Lucius, who had arrived at the request of his son, he wouldn’t be able to do so. The man had flat out told him that no, they did not want him to call the Dementors, and that they needed the information as to what had been going on from Jr.

There was every chance that the man knew what had happened to his father and they couldn’t afford to kill the only informant.

But at that moment, Jessica Warrington was looking as if she was just one wrong answer from ripping every single hair from Dumbledore’s body and dousing him in lemon juice. And it looked as if Dumbledore was taking the hint, eyeing her and the way that she held her wand with a subtle threat.

“I fear that I have been rather…distracted with everything that has been going on,” he admitted. He tried to subtly shift away from her. She narrowed her eyes and he stopped moving. “And Moody has always been odd. I just thought that he was being more paranoid after the attack before the school year.”

“I had told you that potion ingredients had been going missing from my stores,” Severus stated. “More then just what is needed for polyjuice, yes, but apparently those ingredients had just to throw me off the trail.” He glared down at Barty Jr. “He would have been the one who added Lord Potter’s name to the goblet I think. He has the knowledge and power to do so.”

Lucius looked over to his friend and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?” he asked. He had known Jr from their time as Death Eaters, but he hadn’t been close to him.

Severus sighed as he waved one hand. “He was always good at magic when he was in school, but he had gotten better with his apprenticeship to become a ward master before he was kicked out of the program. Gringott’s has never liked those who allow themselves to be marked, and I highly doubt that they like them any more now.” He frowned. “But he did learn enough to use when doing certain things. Confounding the cup? To him or even Rookwood? It would be child’s play.” He pursed his lips in thought.

“So, he would have been able to steal my letter from Harry and use the signature at the bottom to enter him?” Luna asked softly, leaning into Fred. Her voice was rough from her crying. Jessica glared at the adults before moving to fuss over the teens, making sure that they all had their hot chocolates and sandwiches that they had been nibbling on before they had been interrupted.

“Yes, I do believe that he would have had the ability to do so,” Severus said, nodding his head. “Are you all alright?” he asked as he looked over the group.

“As well as we can be considering everything,” Hermione answered after gazing at her friends. “I think that we are all still in a bit of a state of shock.”

Dumbledore hummed, nodding his head. “If Madam Pomphrey does not mind, I am sure that we could set it up so that those who want can stay here in the infirmary. I do suspect that you do not wish to be alone tonight.”

“No, not really, headmaster,” Neville agreed softly. “If a house elf is able to gather some things for the night, and as long as we’re allowed…” He trailed off as he looked to the healer.

“It’s easy enough to set up a space for all of you with beds so that you can all be close to each other. We will need teachers to be on watch for nightmares I would think. I don’t want to have to resort to Dreamless Sleep Potions but a mild calming drought might be the best help if we have some in stock. Severus?” she asked, turning to the Potions master.

He nodded. “I have a set that was going to be sent up here tomorrow,” he told her. “For now, we should perhaps go looking for the actual Moody and make sure that this prisoner is secure.” He turned to the doors as Director Bones appeared with Tonks and Shacklebolt following after her through the doors. “Ah, Director. Wonderful timing. If you could perhaps take Heir Crouch Jr into custody, we were about to go find the real Moody.”

Bones stared down at the still sneering Jr. She could tell that he had been silenced by the length of rope that he was trying to chew through by the looks of it, but nothing else. Her monocle dropped from her eye in her surprise. She finally moaned and put her face into her hands.

“Shacklebolt, Tonks, take him to the Ministry and process him. Stick him into a deep hole and make sure no one gets to him. Bugger it all. I’m already feeling a migraine come on from all of this and what’s going to be a metric ton of paperwork,” she sighed. “A child who was a son and heir, dead, a Lord kidnapped, and used in what I can only assume was a ritual, and now a man who is supposed to be dead?” She stopped herself from screeching but just barely. “What kind of mess is this?”

Severus simply reached into one of the many hidden pockets that he had in his robes, hiding various potions, and pulled out a vial and a small tub. The vial held a migraine potion, while the tub held cream to help relieve muscle cramps from to much writing. He handed both to the woman with a small nod. Amelia downed the migraine potion, shuddering at the taste, before handing the vial back and taking the tub, tucking it away.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with and talk to people. The children will be interviewed tomorrow after they can rest and process properly. For now, if they can just write down what they can remember seeing, it would be best I think. Heir Lovegood, as normal, your statement will be placed under strict privacy spells,” she promised gently. Luna nodded. She moved to speak with the adults that were there while Pomphrey set up the sleeping area and elves gathered things for the teens.

Pomphrey also placed chastity wards over the beds, which would allow anyone to sleep next to someone else without worries about their virtue. She had a feeling that a good amount of the children would end up in just a few of the beds instead of in all of them.

133

Staring out over the lake, holding her cloak close to her body, Ginny glanced up at Luna when she walked over and sat down on the beach next to her. She buried her face back into the fur around the edge of her cloak and winced when Luna nudged their shoulders together.

“Are you holding up okay?” Luna asked.

“I…don’t know to be truthful,” Ginny said softly. “I already talked with my mind healer. She told me that it’s normal to be in some kind of shock after someone I know was kidnapped. And knowing that someone with them was killed? It’s…hard. There’s already gossip going around that the Dark Lord was raised from the dead with the help of Pettigrew.” She winced at the few memories that she had from her first year tried to come up.

“It was,” Luna said softly. “He’s not going to make an official statement about it being the Dark Lord, but amongst us? He confirmed it was. He’s not able to lie to us.” She looked at Ginny. “We all knew that there was a chance that it was him who had Harry’s name put into the cup.”

“Really?” Ginny asked, her eyes wide. Luna nodded. “Does he…does he remember the name from the diary during his second year?” Her voice trembled with a mix of emotions.

“He does now. He said that he is going to use the summer to rest, mourn, learn. To plan and prepare for what is to come. He will be returning to Hogwarts as a student, but with a modified schedule with those who want to learn with him. He won’t be in the normal Defense or Potion classes. He told us that he learned more in the few months that he was being tutored then he has in all of our years here,” she warned her friend. “He, Blaise, and others are going to pitch in for proper tutors to run the class for any who want to join and can’t pay for the normal rounds of classes.”

“Is he allowed to do that?” Ginny asked, frowning as she looked back out over the lake again.

Luna nodded, her radish earrings jingling softly with the new bells that the Twins had gotten her for Yule. “Yes. He’s the Lord of Ravenclaw after all. He could use the school as his personal home and school if he wanted to, but he doesn’t want to. He will most likely keep in touch with other tutors for various other classes to. Study more things during our self-study times and the such. But he also wants to work on bringing the curriculum bakc up to the world wide standards again.” Her smile was bright. “He wants a proper teacher for Divination. To actually teach those who can connect to magic like that instead of just having everyone lie their way through the class. Update Potions so that Professor Snape only teaches those who have the right scores on their OWLs. He thinks that Snape would be better teaching older years then younger. He also wants to find out why it’s so hard to keep a proper defense teacher.”

Ginny hummed, relaxing. “I think that Bill said something about having been on the team who came here to figure out what needed to be set up for Hogwarts to be safe again.”

“He was here from what Harry told us. He won’t give us the details. Said that the first summer Wizengamont is set to fully out what to do during the summer months with the wardings and that he can’t talk about it until then unless we’ve already taken our Wizengamont seats.” Luna adjusted her own cloak before against her friend’s shoulder, staring out at the lake. “I think daddy is going to take up his own seat again. Awaken the Lovegood vote that went into hibernations after mummy died and after grandmother put it to sleep with grandfather’s death soon after. We were all mourning to much to be able to do our job.”

“I think it would help if he did, to have someone else in the corner of the right people,” Ginny said, looking over to Luna. “I think…that I’m really going to buckle down and focus on things, Luna. You’re right. I need to heal from what happened during our first year. I need to focus on my healing instead of what I want. I’m not always going to be so young and the first step in finding happiness is finding myself before I look for love.”

Luna smiled at her friend and clasped her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’ll find that happiness eventually, Ginny. Just…stop focusing on finding that perfect love that romance books and fairytales tell you. You’re not a fairytale princess, you’re Ginny. And you deserve the kind of love that will love you just as you are,” she said.

Ginny squeezed Luna’s hand back with her own small smile. “Yeah, you’re right. I will focus on myself for now,” she promised, nodding her head. “Let’s head inside and get some hot chocolate. And maybe a snack. I’m feeling nibbly.”

Luna beamed at her friend and nodded, the two heading into the castle, towards the kitchen. She knew that her friend was starting to come around and that made her so happy.

134

The Truth Behind That Night!

An interview with Lord Harry Potter about the night that his courting partner, Heir Cassius Warrington, had been cut down before his very eyes.

By Amanda Hangman

This reporter was called to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy by Lord and Lady Warrington on the behest of Lord Potter to speak with him personally. When I walked into the medical wing, I was greeted by the mourning Lord and Lady Warrington. They were there to support the young Lord, calling him family.

Considering their connection to him through their now lost son, I can see why they called him such.

They gave me a list of questions that I could not ask, but hoped that I would not pry to harshly during the interview seeing as the young Lord was visibly mourning Heir Warrington himself. The interview is as follows.

AH: Thank you, Lord Potter, for allowing me to use a Dicto-Quill during this interview. I know that you have some issues with the one that Skeeter uses?

LHP: Yes, I have had quite a few issues with her quill. I know that it writes exaggerations or full out lies. I do not want to have to deal with such things but a normal Dicto-Quill I do not mind. It will write nothing but what is said.

He took a moment to gather himself, holding a tissue to his eyes as Lady Warrington clasped his hand to give him strength and support.

LHP: No matter how much it will hurt or sound off.

AH: Of course, Lord Potter. How about we start with your relationship with Heir Warrington?

His smile was so soft as he talked about Heir Warrington.

LHP: Originally, I didn’t know him that well but that started to change when Heir Flint found me in the bathroom at the station. I had been taking a moment to step away from Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley and their fight. This was the first real interaction that I had had with the two of them. They suggested that I look into what it means to be an heir in our world and offered to send me a list of books to find.

I took them up on the offer of a list. I gathered the books as soon as I could when we returned to Hogwarts. Between the day that I got them and October 31st, I read all about what was expected of an heir and Lord in our world. Because of those books, I started to understand what I had to do as part of our world and started to set things up. Just in case.

And then my name came out of the Goblet and I’m suddenly being forced to be a part of a tournament that I didn’t want to be a part of.

AH: And we all know what happened after that publicly. You were able to create your Vow with the help of Master Black, you gave it and sent out press releases. You denied any desire to enter or be entered.

LHP: Yes. What most don’t know outside of Heir Longbottom, is that Cassius helped me get in contact with Master Black. Heir Longbottom was kind enough to come with during that time as my witness. They both helped quite a bit that day. From there…it was as if it was meant to happen. It flowed naturally between us. He told me one day during a walk together that he had been watching me since last year and had wanted to speak with me before.

The decision to create a courting contract was two-fold in both of our eyes in the end. A possible love match but also a protection for myself during this seeing as I was about to become the Youngest Lord in Britain. It just grew between us from there.

I found that I was falling for him quite deeply over the months and I still love him deeply, even as we mourn him.

His smile was so very sad as a tear escaped from his eye, that I couldn’t but mourn for what could have been for the teen Lord. He had nothing but tragedy follow him through his oh so short life.

First to lose his mother and father, and for a time, his godfather, on that fateful Halloween night, and now to lose his love?

My heart still aches for him and I wish him all the best for the future.

AH: I am very sorry for your loss, Lord Potter. Lady Warrington. I hope the one who took him is brought to justice.

LJW: Thank you. I find that this time is difficult. We plan to hold a memorial the day before school ends for those who want to pay their respects. We have decided that his funeral will be kept small. Family. Harry of course, seeing as we consider him family. The family magics, we discovered, considers him family and the widow of our son as we learned last night.

AH: I had wondered about that. Oh, yes, I was given an advance copy of this morning’s paper and saw that with his death notice said that he was survived by his widow, Lord Harry Potter.

LHP: Raphael found out that because of our bond having grown so strong, if not consummated, the Warrington family magics considered me a spouse. I will carry the line for the Warrington’s on through that bond. One day, one of my children will be chosen by the magics and will take the heir-ship for the family. From what I understand, the family Magics will add him as a third father to his bloodline.

AH: I know how much this matters to the Olde Families, so I am honored that you have informed me of this.

And I am quite honored, do not get me wrong. Any reading this should also feel the honor that this information was shared publicly. Such information is rarely shared outside of close friend and family.

AH: Now, as much as I know that you probably do not wish to speak about what happened…

LHP: There are some things that I can not tell you. Mostly because of the ongoing investigation. I’m sure you can understand this.

AH: Of course. Are you willing to tell me what you can say?

LHP: Yes, I have been given clearance for certain things by Director Bones. The Third Task should have ended when Cassius and I grabbed the cup, but we, along with others, had a feeling that something would happen. We were kidnapped by the escaped convict, Prisoner Barty Crouch Jr. It seems as if his terminal mother had swapped places and died in his place a year later from what Director Bones told me. She will be releasing a full statement on that and the upcoming trial for the new charges against him.

AH: Yes, I was told about that press conference. It’s going to happen in about four hours and I’m due to be there myself.

LHP: To continue, we arrived in a graveyard, a mix of muggle, squib, and wizarding. There was a ritual, one of with the bone of the father, flesh of the servant, and blood of the enemy. I do not know what the ritual was called, but a body did come out of the cauldron. It called itself Voldemort, but I do not know either way if it was him called back from the dead or a kind of golem that was created with his memories.

If it was him, how is he still alive? How did he survive the night that my mother’s protective magic forcing his own spell to rebound to him? Or was it a spirit called and named Voldemort taking over a golem? I truly have no idea what it was. I gave copies of my memories to the Director to have them studied. I hope to have answers soon about all of that.

AH: Oh my. That sounds like a very dangerous and necromantic resurrection ritual.

I had to pause here and tell him about how my mother and father are researchers into Ancient magics for Gringotts. Their main study is Resurrection Magics. They are dangerous parts of magic for the one who is doing it, and for the one who is being resurrected. If the ritual isn’t done just right, there can be many consequences for the one that is doing the ritual and for the one who has been brought back.

There is a reason why such magic is either heavily restricted or forbidden world wide.

LHP: I wouldn’t know. We do not study such magics, even in theory. My Defense tutor told me that they go over in the seventh year as a part of Forbidden magics. Usually the consequences and the such.

But I do know who it was doing the magics. Pettigrew was working with whoever had been given a body, and with Crouch Jr. I didn’t ask questions, wanting to get out of there and to bring Cassius back with me. I had watched him being killed before me, and I was still processing. A lot of what I could consciously remember as a normal memory was blurred and rushed.

LJW: Madam Pomphrey said that is likely because he had just had a very nasty shock, and his head had hit something when they knocked him out.

AH: How horrible. I am glad that you were able ot return with Heir Warrington so that he may be put to proper rest.

He smiled his sad little smile once more, looking at his hands.

LHP: His shade asked me to.

He explained what happened when his wand connected to the other wand, the brother wand to his own. The shades of the wands last victims had come out of there, all of the way back to his parents. It seems as if Pettigrew somehow had the Dark Lord’s personal wand, even if it is possible that it is not being wielded by the monster himself.

AH: Well, I do believe that is all for today, Lord Potter. Is there anything else that you wish to add to this?

LHP: Yes.

The last words that Cassius ever heard before he was killed by Pettigrew was ‘Kill the Spare’.

15 Preparing for Summer

135

“How do you think that you did on your finals?” Hermione asked as she dropped into a chair near Harry’s bed.

Harry was still technically under observation, even several days after the end of the tournament, and had to take his exams in the medical wing. Pomphrey had told him that she was making sure that there were no lingering effects of the ritual. He was good enough to leave the wing for a few hours each day as long as he had someone with him as he walked around or did other things.

His friends had refused to leave his side whenever he was out of the medical hall, much less when he was there. Everyone had read the article that had come out two days after Cassius’ death, and it was spreading around the school about what had been said that night.

“Kill the Spare” had pissed off quite a few of the Slytherin’s, especially those who had inklings about what wasn’t being said. Their parents had already sent them letters, warning them of coming change.

To them, if the Dark Lord, knowing and seeing that Cassius had been a Slytherin, of a good, solid blood line and neutral family, had still called him a ‘spare’, still had him killed, what would he do to those who were of Pureblood families if they dared to not bow to him?

That was only a small fraction of Slytherin house though. Markus, Draco, Theo, Pansy, Daphne, Tracy, and Blaise had to step carefully while things were still so fresh. They had told him that they had to be careful to keep the balance since it would only drive people to make desperate decisions that they could come to regret at a later time.

And they didn’t want to drive their fellow classmates to Voldemort’s open arms after all. Not while Harry was working on things himself.

Harry drew himself from his thoughts. “I think I did just fine,” he said, smiling at his friends who had come to visit. He had a feeling that Daphne and Tracy were most likely back at their rooms, packing to return home. Blaise still had one more exam that he was taking, a replacement exam for Potions since the he had gotten violently sick because the examiner hadn’t allowed him to use gloves with an ingredient that he couldn’t touch.

Theo had warned them that he had to act as if he didn’t often speak or hang out with them because of his brother and father. He was going to use his knowledge on how to collect information to funnel back to them. He was setting himself up as the spy for their group. He would still be able to speak with the Slytherin part of their friends, but he was going to have to ignore everyone else for a while.

Pansy was going to act like the Neutral heir that she was and interact with them because Harry was still Lord Potter, Lord Ravenclaw, and future Lord Black, a powerhouse of an ally.

Draco, along with Hermione, Luna, and Neville had all come to talk with him. Draco just told Slytherin that if he dropped his friendship with the group, his Lord Black would start to look at them closely and reconsider allowing him to stay a Malfoy. Which couldn’t happen.

“What about you?” Harry asked as he smiled at his friends.

Hermione hummed, shrugging a shoulder. “As well as one can do when we’re still all trying to recover from what happened,” she admitted as she sat back with a sigh. “I know that Blaise is redoing his potions exam. What exactly happened with the examiner?” she asked, looking between Draco and Harry.

Draco huffed. “From what I saw, the examiner is going to end up going through retraining on how to be one and won’t be doing it alone for his idiocy,” he drawled. “Madam Marchbanks was furious, and rightly so. Blaise has a documented physical allergy to uncooked newts eyes, and has to use gloves when using them or any ingredient that may have been in contact with them.”

“She didn’t read the files of those students with exceptions,” Luna said, rocking back and forth in the chair that she had turned into a rocking chair. She smiled softly. “Quite the bad idea not to read those files.”

“Yes, it was,” Harry snorted. He shook his head as he moved to sit in his desk chair. “What are you and your parents planning for over the summer months?”

“Coming from Theo, he found an elf who is willing to be strictly his elf, ignoring his brother’s and father’s calls, answering to only to him and only when they are alone. If they aren’t alone, but Theo thinks that he is, there will be a sign used. He’s set all of that up. This way he has the ability to get letters to and from us without his father or brother finding out. He also has a box that will hold letters and hide them should someone go snooping about it. It looks like one of those boxes that a high born heir or a spare child would use for their various rings and jewelry from what he showed me,” Draco said. “Mother got it ofr him when I asked her the day after everything.”

“And Daphne and Tracy?” Hermione asked.

“One of them is from a well known Neutral family in politics and business. Gray in Magic. The other is from a smaller family who lives primarily in the muggle world and cares little for blood status. Tracey would be targeted, but she does have plans on speaking with her family about putting up heavier wards around their home, making it invisible to any Wizard who is not logged on a special list,” Luna chirped. “I talked to daddy about maybe getting them in touch with Warders from the Americas to do it for them. They can do things that we could only beg for.”

“Which she told me to send on thanks for. Daphne is hoping that they would be willing to speak with her family to. Just in case. Or at least set up the wards to hide her family home,” Draco said. “Father locked the family wards down quite a while ago as it is. Your elves and Theo’s elves can come and go in certain rooms to drop off letters and the such, which will be scanned before being opened, but he’s getting my own connecting mail box through Gringotts for special letters. Just in case.”

“That’s a good plan. I have an appointment with Gringotts the day before I leave for vacation to finally get my testing done and to check on my normal accounts. After Cassius’ funeral. I was thinking of putting it off until after my vacation but the loss of a friend…” Hermione sighed softly before smoothing down her skirt. “I’ve already contacted Gringotts about setting up wards around a home that houses a witch in a muggle city.”

“They can do that seeing as it is your primary residence. I do suggest that you pick out a good wizarding home in your name though, Hermione,” Neville suggested as he took the cup of tea offered to him by Winky. “More wards can be laid over one after all,” he continued.

Hermione nodded with a small smile. “I’ve already written to mother and father about doing that. We’ll look when we get back from vacation. Even if I don’t live in the new home, I can have it warded to the nines and turn it into a kind of protected space for those who are in danger during this war,” she mused.

Her and Harry shared a look, starting to talk about the possibility of setting up protected properties and homes for those who needed a safe place. To have safe spaces for allies. They could prepare.

They had to prepare but they had time.

136

Stepping off of the train, surrounded by his friends, Harry had to smile, his mind flitting back to what had happened during the memorial. He had sat with the Warringtons, wearing the proper mourning robes of a widow, his friends sitting close by. They had made sure that no one that wasn’t approved could get near him while he mourned his lost love in peace.

The rest of the day, the group had hidden away in the classroom turned hangout room. Winky, Dobby, and Daisy, Theo’s new elf, had all agreed to gather the last of the things for the group and pack it up for them, allowing them to rest in the same room for the night. Gathering comfort for the coming storm.

Even Theo had stayed with them, something that he had rarely done during the rest of the year. He had told them that because of his father and brother, he had to hide just how close he was to the group, knowing just like the others, he had to play his own part.

Blaise had flat out made it known that the Zabini family worked for the good of magic, no matter what it turned out to be. He would side with those who would do the best for magic, and no one else.

To him at that moment, that was Harry and the friends he had gathered. Harry had proved to him that he had the kind of hope and need to help their magical community so that no one could get hurt as he had. As Sirius had been.

But now, they were all heading back to their homes. He could see Sirius waiting with a tall man that he knew was the Lestrange Lord. The man was glaring at anyone who thought to get near Sirius, keeping them away, the Warringtons standing next to them. He said he goodbyes to his friends, hugging those who liked hugs and shaking the rests hands with promises of keeping up his letters to them and doing meet ups over the summer break.

The twins both promised to quietly that they would keep Harry up to date on what was going on with their family and everything that they could about things that went on. Harry thanked them, and promised to keep in touch about their Joke shop, having given the money from the tournament as an initial investment for things.

Blaise promised to send him an invitation to Italy for a new wand once he had an appointment for a full body scan. Harry had put it off with everything else that had gone on but had one set up while Hermione was in France herself.

Harry smiled as he watched his friends go to their parents before he walked over to Jessica, Raphael, and Sirius. “Jessica,” he greeted first, Raphael and Sirius chuckling at the way that the two hugged each other so tightly. During his time in the medical wing, they had bonded in their grief, becoming even deeper friends.

“Harry, darling,” Jessica cooed as she stepped back, holding his face in her hands and staring at him. “You have gotten enough sleep?” she asked.

“I have. Daphne and Pansy both found a tea blend for all of us to drink on the bad nights. It’s helped quite a bit. I know how to make it since it’s a mix of things I can grow in a normal garden, even in the main Black homes,” Harry promised. Jessica nodded with a gentle smile.

“Good,” she said, nodding her head. Harry then turned to Raphael and shook his hand with a smile, man smoothing his hair down as he chuckled. Harry then turned to Sirius and melted into the warm hug from the man.

“Harry, before you go home, we wanted to give you something before the official will reading from Cassius,” Raphael said once the greetings were over and they could move to somewhere a bit more private. He pulled out a leather pouch that he cupped in one hand. “Our elves found them with instructions in his things. They’re journals from Cassius, full of letters to you from somewhere when he started to speak with you to the night before the task.” He held it out with a sad smile. “We didn’t read them. There are other letters that he wrote for us and others that he loved. They will be delivered after the will reading in a few weeks. The funeral is set up for two days from now. We already have transportation set up for those who will need it along with their parents.

Harry took the bag, holding it close as he took a deep breath, nodding his head. “Thank you, for giving it to me now.”

Jessica’s smile was small and sad. “Of course, dear. Remember, you are family even if you hadn’t married Cassius. Magic saw what should have been and what could have been. We listen to Magic in matters like this. Now, you head home and we will see you at the funeral. We’ll keep in touch with you,” she promised as she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Harry smiled in return, nodding, before getting one last hug from her before he took Sirius’ arm and let the man apparate them out of the station to Grimmauld Place. As they walked up to the back door, the wards accepting them, Harry noted that they felt like cool water flowing over them, greeting them in a way.

“Welcome home, Harry,” Sirius said, smiling down at his godson as he returned the smile brightly. The door shut behind them with a soft click.

“I’m home,” Harry said aloud, the feeling of truth filling every corner of the house.

 

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