Harry Potter and the Return of the Seraphim
I own nobody! I only own this plotline! The characters and places of this story belong to J.K. Rowling and nobody else. Please enjoy…
Ch. 1 The Afterlife
There was something about the starry sky that night, suggested to one Harry Potter that a strange and familiar evil magic would soon become present. He stares out the main window of number twelve, Grimwauld Place, snapping out of his cleaning frenzy. It's been almost a year since he defeated Lord Voldemort, and he's been using that time to make his new home livable. Kreacher died a peaceful death that winter, and for respect, he made a room for his ancestor's heads. In fact, he placed everything Black in there, including the now ruined Mistress Black portrait; he found that an Unforgivable curse defeats the sticking charm. He then locked the door, permanently turning the once Family Tree room into a tomb. Ever since, he's been cleaning like a madman, already ready for his marriage proposal to Ginny. Which is why he's cleaning; school's almost over for her, and he had gained permission from the Weasleys (Percy included) to marry her.
After Fred's death, Percy changed and took up the business with George, even going to extreme lengths. Harry vaguely wondered if Perce was going loonier than Luna. Percy even found a replacement ear for George, and somehow made himself look more like Fred. Poor guy; he took Fred's death harder than George. But because of Perce's strategic business plan, business for them was booming, better than ever.
Harry blinks at the full moon peeking into the window. He shakes his head as he stares at the moon. Lycanthropy isn't genetic, so Teddy's safe. Remus and Greyback are dead, and Bill isn't a real werewolf. So why does he have this sense of foreboding? "Voldy the Moldy," as Peeves once said, is dead; his prophecy is complete. So why is he suppressing a shudder? He'll ask Ron to look into it later.
Ron and Hermione married each other roughly five months ago, and Harry wonders how it is that they're not bickering. Ron became an Aurora r the New Ministry (the old one was overthrown for too many shady businesses) and Hermione became the youngest member of the Wizegemot. He smiles at the pile of letters on his coffee table. Lee Jordon became Minister of Magic; Seamus Finnegan became a muggle fireworks major; Dean Thomas went to play soccer; Neville Longbottom is successfully being a Herbology apprentice under Professor Sprout's watchful eye; Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint became Keeper and Chaser for the first ever United Nations Quidditch Team, and Hagrid and Madame Maxime made a bigger hut at Hogwarts and are expecting twins! … His eyes narrow at Hagrid's letter, remembering the postscript: Lucius Malfoy became the Potions Master (and revealed that he only became a Death Eater to protect his family) and Draco Malfoy became the Seeker for the Irish Quidditch Team. Harry had to seethe. Lucius took the best Potions Master's memory and spat on it, while Malfoy's living out Harry's dream. If it hadn't been for that damn prophecy and Voldemort, he and Malfoy'd probably be chasing each other for a Snitch right now…
He snaps out of his trance with a shudder. He can't be distracted, now, of all times! Mentally slapping himself, he gets back to work.
It's finished. Finally, after nine months, three weeks, four days and some hours, number twelve, Grimwauld Place is clean and presentable. And very Hogwarts-y. The kitchen's a nice Ravenclaw blue; the wood's all mahogany; the hallways are a calming Slytherin green trimmed with silver; the bedrooms are a happy Griffindor red trimmed with gold; and the bathrooms are a shining Hufflepuff yellow, lined with purple. Harry smiles to himself. Yes, the house has a very Hogwarts feel to it. An owl unceremoniously plops onto the owl post, dropping the letters and newspaper from its beak. Harry smiles at Errol, wondering how the old bastard was still alive. He gives Errol some fresh water, then picks up the Daily Prophet. He skips to the sports section; Malfoy was supposed to go up against Krum last night.
Ireland wins!
Big surprise last night, with a rematch of Bulgaria against Ireland, with the only difference to the Irish team being eighteen-year old seeker, Draco Malfoy. At about thirty minutes into the game, with Bulgaria in the lead 150 to 130, Krum dives into a wronski feint, with Malfoy at his heels. Krum then pulls up at the last minute, giving Malfoy plenty of time to recover, like a dosage of real Quidditch. But miraculously, Malfoy pulled up three centimeters before crashing, snitch in hand. Spectators argue that Malfoy cheated and "accioed" the snitch into his hand with wandless magic.
Harry involuntarily thinks, 'Yep, sounds like something Malfoy would do…'
But the judges (after studying the game through ominoculars) claim that Malfoy had found the snitch .03 seconds into the game and waited for the wronski feint as he studied the snitch's movements. Malfoy denies both the "accio" debate and him finding the snitch early on, and claims he "just got lucky."
Harry snorts. Malfoy not bragging of his skills? This reporter was seriously demented in writing this article. 'Or an ex-Slytherin' he muses as he sees the photo of a wind-blown Malfoy with the Snitch. He has to laugh at it. He hasn't seen Malfoy in a year, so the photo is definitely surprising. His clothes are all wrinkled and slightly dusty; his hair (which is usually perfect and in place) is ruffles and lacking grease. And he's smiling shyly. Smiling shyly? The guy totally femmed out now that Harry's getting a good look at him. Biting back an envious snarl trying to escape his throat, Harry actually studies Malfoy. Femmed out? More like trans-gender. The guy looks more like a girl than Ginny! Harry vaguely wonders why Malfoy looks so girly. So, he decides to read his letters later and go ask the one person who can tell him: Hermione.
He looks around, deciding that his house'll be fine for a couple of hours. He grabs a bit of Floo powder, shouts, "Number 513, Diagon Avenue," and steps into the fireplace.