Summary: They had sacrificed so much. All in the idealistic hope for a different world, a better world. Now all Harry wanted was revenge, on the world that had cost him so much, cost them so much. He would take his true place, his rightful place. Their society was damned anyway. They wanted a war. He would give them one. Dark!Harry
Warnings: Possible slash. Blood. Murder. Torture. Slight Hermione bashing.
Key:
"Speech"
"~Parseltounge~"
Disclaimer: Story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Blood.
That was the essence of the matter. Ever since he had stepped foot into the Wizarding World it had been all that he had heard.
Pureblood. Halfblood. Mudblood.
As a tiny, naive eleven year old he hadn't understood. He had been so consumed with the idea of magic being real. A chance to be free of the Dursley's, to not be a freak. Finding out that his parents had been heroes, had died fighting for something they believed in, died protecting him, had just made him more of a martyr. He had felt like he owed it to his parents sacrifice to continue on and fight the war they had fought. He had overlooked the faults of the Wizarding World, had ignored them. After all how could he fight to protect something if he didn't believe in it. So he hadn't understood, hadn't bothered to understand. He overlooked the reality of his new perfect world.
It took years - blood stained, horror filled years - for him to finally see the truth, to understand just how drenched in blood their society was. To see his perfect world come crashing down at his feet in a pile of ashes. It had taken war and loss, but the blinders had finally come off. He knew.
He wasn't that same naive eleven year old boy any more.
He knew that blood was the only thing that mattered to the Wizarding World, the only thing they understood.
After all even he had fought for blood.
He had tried to delude himself into believing that he had fought for honourable reasons, he had fought for freedom. He had killed the Dark Lord to end his reign of terror, to end the persecution of mudbloods. When that hadn't work he had told himself he did it for vengeance, for the sake of his parents, for Cedric, for Sirius and many other innocent lives that were lost. But the truth of the matter was, he had fought for blood. He had fought to bring an end to the purebloods power. He had fought for blood equality. It had always been about blood.
At first, after the war had ended he had told himself that it had been worth it. Peace reigned. Muggleborns were slowly yet steadily gaining positions of power. When Hermione had finally gained the position of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, Harry had shut away his fears, this was what it had all been about, this was what the had fought for. Equality. They were all so happy. He, as Head of the DMLE, Ron as Head Auror, Ginny as a professional Quidditch player. But the uneasy feeling hadn't disappeared no matter how hard Harry had tried. Ginny had noticed, she always knew. But she too had said nothing. It had taken Harry a while to realise but he had figured out that Ginny hated to talk about the war and she avoided conflict. His brave, strong Ginny had disappeared leaving behind only a shell of a woman. But Harry still loved her how could he not when every time he looked at her he saw the woman who had proudly stood by his side, time and time again. The woman who had stood up to Lord Voldemort himself. However Harry couldn't help but wonder at times if they were attacked whether Ginny would choose to walk away rather than help him and he hoped that day would never come because deep down he knew this Ginny wouldn't stand stand by his side and he would have to finally admit to himself that he wasn't in love with this Ginny.
But then Ron had been murdered while out on a raid. A raid that should have been simple. After sitting behind a desk for two years Ron had gotten bored and decided to actively participate. It should have been a simple raid on Nott Manor. Suspicious activity had been reported in by a muggleborn and Ron had jumped at the chance. After an hour had passed and Ron hadn't returned, the Aurors had worriedly reported to Harry. Harry had wasted no time in informing Hermione and they were off to Nott Manor where they had found Ron's bloody and mutilated body hung up, tied to the Nott Manor gates. And no matter how hard Harry had tried to explain to Hermione that Theodore Nott wouldn't be stupid enough to kill Ron and then leave the body in front of his own manor, she hadn't listened. She had order two dozen Aurors to go capture Nott and had him thrown though the veil before he could even ask why he was being persecuted. Harry had even tried to reason with the Aurors but they were bloodthirsty after losing one of their own. Ron had managed to to what he had wanted his whole life, he had managed to inspire loyalty in all the Aurors. They were fiercely loyal to him. Loyal enough that they had chosen to enact vengeance for their former boss than listen to The Harry Potter.
It had just escalated from there. Hermione had decided being Undersecretary wasn't enough for her and had within months been voted in as Minister. The current Minister, Llewellyn Fawley had been a pureblood and a close friend of the Nott's. So with Theodore Nott accused of killing Ron Weasley he hadn't stood a chance. Hermione had been on a vendetta. She had even wanted to accuse Draco Malfoy for being involved, even when all evidence showed that Malfoy had been in France as an ambassador.
Ginny, his beautiful broken Ginny, had just shut it off. She hadn't even cried during Ron's funeral. If she hadn't quit the Holyhead Harpies, Harry would have been afraid that she wasn't feeling anything at all. But just like how Ginny always understood him, he understood her too. It wasn't that Ginny didn't care, it was that she cared too much. Losing Ron merely twelve years after the death of Fred had broken her. Even the death of Muriel, the great Aunt who both Ginny and Ron had never been too fond of, had hurt her deeply. The problem was Ginny cared too much. And Harry knew that, all that was going through her head was who was going to die next.
As it turned out, a lot of people were going to be next. Hermione Weasley as Minister could do a lot of damage. First, she had passed a law stating that anyone found with possession of dark artefacts or books would be thrown through the veil. Harry hadn't been surprised by that, he knew his best friend after all. What had surprised him was how the people hadn't revolted. Hermione just became more and more popular as soon enough she wasn't just the Minister any more. She was a Dictator. Yet the people still rallied behind her.
However one fraction wasn't happy. The purebloods. For it was them who were being persecuted. Hermione had started out with a vendetta against dark magic but soon that vendetta turned towards the purebloods - light, dark, neutral – it didn't matter to her. Essentially Hermione became what she had always hated, what she had always fought against, a bloodthirsty hypocrite. But where Voldemort's hatred had been targeted at the muggles, hers was targeted at the purebloods.
Once the other countries heard what was happening they immediately shut down all means of communication. Britain was kicked off the ICW. The ambassadors were sent back to Britain, some in worse states than others as they had fought back, except Draco. The man showed why he was sorted into Slytherin and managed to gain asylum for himself in France. He had been allowed one floo call, the French must have assumed he would contact his wife but instead he had contacted Harry.
He had begged Harry to protect his family and when Harry had sneered at him and called him a coward the man had replied that he might be a coward but he wasn't going to be selfish and destroy his family. Astoria and his son Scorpius would be safer without a former death eater painting a target on their backs. And in that moment Harry had realised that Malfoy wasn't the same person he had been during their Hogwarts years. Clearly the war had affected him deeply.
So Harry had promised to protect them to the best of his ability. Harry had quit his job as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and had joined the Unspeakables in the hopes that he would be able to figure out how to end the mess. It was during those two years as an Unspeakable that Harry had realised the truth. It would take war and blood and loss. And this time he wouldn't allow anyone to be in a position of power. He and Dumbledore had made the same mistake after all. They had both been so afraid of the power corrupting them that they hadn't considered the fact that it would corrupt others. This time Harry wouldn't make that same mistake. He would take down anyone that stood in his path and he would make his way to the top. He still was going to try and find some way to save his best friend though.
At least he thought that until Neville and Luna were butchered in their homes like animals. Hannah Abbott, Neville's wife managed to escape with a torn off leg and extreme exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. When Harry had visited her she had screamed and raged at him that it had been his best friend, his filthy mudblood best friend, that had taken her Neville from her. Harry had been frozen in horror, he wasn't quite sure what had gotten to him, maybe it was that mild mannered Hannah had shouted at him or maybe it was her mangled leg or that fact that two of his closest friends were murdered. Or perhaps it was that Hannah had called Hermione a mudblood. Or maybe it was because he hadn't stopped her from using the word.
When Harry had returned home that night, he was as a changed man. Hermione couldn't be saved, she was too far gone. He couldn't excuse her actions as a grieving widow any longer. Neville had been their friend. They had spent 7 years together, Neville had fought with them. He, like Hermione and Ron had killed a horcrux. He had bravely stood up to Voldemort and he was a freaking Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. He had been an innocent. But Hermione didn't see it that way any more. It was either with her or against her and Harry knew that he in good conscience could not stand by her. So soon enough she would come after him. He had to fight back. This wasn't about right or wrong any more. This was simply about bringing down a monster.
A mere week later, Astoria Malfoy along with her 7 year old son were killed. Harry had been too late. Surprisingly when Draco had found out he hadn't blamed Harry at all. He had rightly so, blamed Hermione.
And now Harry stood in front of a large group of people wearing black cloaks with blood red masks. He himself wore a red cloak with a black mask. Standing behind him were four people, two on either side. They too wore red masks however their cloaks were a deep grey, they were his elite and quite possibly the only true friends he had left. Susan Bones-Finnigan, Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass and Fleur Delacour-Weasley had only one thing on their mind. They would take away everything from those who had taken it from them.
Faint pops were heard as the group disapparated away.
And soon enough towns were painted in blood.
He wasn't quite sure when 'nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes' had turned into 'nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent'. But it had, and Hermione would get what she wanted.
Hermione wanted a war.
Well, Harry would give her one.
He would take them all down starting with his former best friend.
The Argent Code in Teen Wolf
We protect those who cannot protect themselves [nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes]
We hunt those who hunt us [nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent]
I thought it was an apt description of how Harry changed over the years.
Hope you like it :)
Reviews are motivation ;)