There was a review posted that made a good point about something, and other readers may have a similar concern, so I want to address it here for everyone.
The concern was that I had claimed this would be a story with a dark tone, yet it really doesn't seem like that yet. Rest assured, the mood will get darker, but keep in mind that I'm starting with a Harry that is canon as possible. Harry isn't going to go dark overnight; it's a gradual progression that will become more and more apparent with each chapter. Within the next couple of chapters, you'll see a much closer look at Daphne and Astoria's home life, which will help contribute to what I'm working towards.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Again, like last chapter, if you spot any mistakes, please don't hesitate to let me know about them.
Anyways, please enjoy! (This chapter is more of a set-up/filler episode, but it helps to set the stage for many future events)
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Chapter 2: Missing?
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"That was worse than portkey!" Harry groaned as he collected himself off of the hard dark wood floor he now found himself on. "What was that?"
"Apparation," Daphne replied quickly, "Now let's get going, people are looking at us."
A quick glance around showed Harry that Daphne was correct. He found himself surrounded by several rather important looking witches and wizards in formal looking black robes. Most of them bustled about, obviously too busy to note the young witch and wizard that had appeared suddenly in their midst. A few however, took the time to openly stare at the two, a few even pointing directly at Harry while whispering to those nearby.
"Right," Harry said, pulling his attention to Daphne, "lead the way"
As Daphne began weaving through the crowd, pulling him along with her, Harry took the time to take in his surroundings. They were inside a massive, rectangular chamber constructed of obsidian and granite. 3 of the four walls of the chamber were lined with ornate fireplaces that occasionally flashed green as people appeared and disappeared inside of them. Overhead, a multitude of folded paper airplanes buzzed about, swerving to avoid the few owls that fluttered about.
Harry gasped in awe as the passed under the shadow of an enormous gold statue of a witch and a wizard, surrounded by slightly smaller statues of a goblin, a centaur, and a house elf, all with a happy smile on their face. Water streamed out of the five statues, collecting in a very shallow pool of water beneath.
"The Fountain of Magical Brethren," Daphne explained, "It was built to placate the centaur and goblin populations in Great Britain, but it shows its true message quite clearly."
It was then that Harry took note of the fact that the witch and wizard in the fountain seemed to tower over the other three statues. The expressions on the faces of the goblin, centaur, and house elf seemed to be those of admiration, wonder, and awe as the gazed up to the two humans.
Harry shook his head at the sight. When had he ever seen a goblin looked at a wizard with an expression other than disdain? And now that he thought about it, most of the centaurs he had met in his first year seemed to want nothing to do with humans. The only one that seemed accurate was the house elf.
A tug on his sleeve from Daphne got him to continue moving once more.
"What is this place?" he asked, his gaze sweeping around the chamber.
"Tesco," She replied with a smirk.
Harry growled at her.
"Alright, no jokes," she replied defensively, throwing her hands in the air in mock surrender, "This is the Ministry of Magic; the governing body of magical UK."
Not giving him a chance to ask any more questions, Daphne pulled him towards a large receptionist desk near the back wall.
"Hello, I wish to inquire as to whether or not Lacerta Leach is still in her office," she said to the man at the desk with a calm, yet firm tone.
Not looking up from the paperwork, the man replied, "I am not at liberty to disclose the whereabouts of our employees. If you wish to speak to Miss Leach, you must set up an appointment through the proper channels."
Daphne narrowed her eyes at the man. "I was under the impression I did not require an appointment."
"Look, lady you-" the receptionist cut himself off as he looked up at who he was speaking to. "-Miss Greengrass!"
"Heiress Greengrass to you," She replied forcefully.
"Of course, Miss… Heiress Greengrass! Miss Leach is still in her office, she's scheduled to work until 10."
"Thank you," said Daphne; not a hint of gratitude in her voice. She swiftly stalked off toward a set of highly polished lift doors, dragging Harry along with her.
"Sometimes you have to be forceful with these buffoons," she said, leading him on to a surprisingly empty lift.
"Heiress?" He asked timidly.
Daphne nodded rigidly, "I am one of my father's only two children. As he loathes Astoria, and we have no other living relatives on the island, I am the sole beneficiary of his will."
Harry merely whistled in response.
"Our fortune has dwindled over the years, thanks to my late grandfather's gambling, and now my father's investment in the Dark Lord's campaign, but we're still one of the top 20 wealthiest families in Magical Britain," she said offhandedly, "Of course if he knew what I was doing with the power he gave me, he'd likely cut me off, maybe even pull me out of Hogwarts."
"Would he start treating you like your sister?" He asked.
"Probably not to the same extreme," She responded, rubbing the back of her neck in discomfort. "My mother was pureblood, and therefore, so am I. He'd never allow a pureblood and a 'mudblood' to be treated as equals."
"You never mentioned your mother before. Wouldn't she disprove of the way he treats Astoria?"
"We'll talk about it later," she replied brusquely, in a tone that suggested 'later' meant 'never'.
"Sorry," Harry said hastily, noting he had touched a nerve, "I didn't mean to pry."
"Its fine," Daphne responded distractedly, "We're here"
Sure enough, the lift slowed to a halt, and a disembodied female voice called out, "Level 13: Department of Magical Inheritance and the Ministry of Magic Hall of Records"
Harry gaped in awe as the lift doors slid open to reveal what looked like the largest library he had ever seen. Towering shelves, each teaming with nearly identical black, leather-bound tomes, filled the enormous room, leaving just enough room in between each for a single person to pass through. Every so often, one of the books would fly off the shelf, only for its empty spot to be replaced by another. Overhead, a flock of books, flapping their pages like birds, circled.
Walking single-file, the duo ambled forwards, occasionally ducking to avoid being hit by one of the books. As they moved forward, the volumes on the shelves seemed to grow more weathered and beaten, suggesting that they were older.
Peering over Daphne's shoulder, Harry noticed a vast, cluttered desk right at the very back wall. There, a tiny, hunched over old woman sat, furiously scribbling something on the top sheet of a ream of parchment.
As they reached the desk, the old lady picked an almost comically long wand up from the surface of the desk and waved it over the parchment. Harry watched in fascination as the sheet she had been writing on folded itself into a paper airplane and flew off over their heads.
The elderly woman quickly set down the wand, switching it out for her quill and began writing on the next sheet in the stack.
Daphne stepped towards the desk and cleared her throat.
"Name of document?" the tiny woman asked in heavy, eastern European accent, without taking her eyes off her work.
"Joint will of Lily and James Potter," calmly replied Daphne.
The woman at the desk paused her writing to peer up at the young witch and wizard through large, thick glasses that would make Professor Trelawney jealous. Her eyes briefly passed over the fringe of hair that covered Harry's scar before turning her gaze to Daphne.
"Miss Greengrass," She said stiffly, before picking up her ridiculously disproportionate to her body size wand, and gave it a slight flick in a seemingly random direction. That done, she set all of her focus back on her previous task of writing.
Harry was about to ask what had happened when one of the many flying books suddenly flapped towards Daphne and dropped into her outstretched hands.
With a small smirk, Daphne handed the book over to Harry, who gazed longingly at the words engraved on the cover. Last will and testament of Lily Marie and James Charlus Potter.
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"Albus!"
The call echoed through the old, derelict house, causing Sirius Black to sit bolt upright in his chair.
"Albus! Where are you?"
Setting down the paper he was reading, Sirius pushed himself up out of the chair to go find the source of the commotion. As he opened the door to the main library, he was forced to sidestep out of the way of a pink blur as it streaked into the room.
"Alb- oh, Sirius!" said the pink blur.
"Nymphadora, what's going on?" asked the now confused man, staring at his clearly upset second cousin.
"I need to find Dumbledore," She replied anxiously, not noticing the use of her hated first name.
Deciding to push his luck, Sirius replied, "Well, Nymphadora, He had to attend a staff meeting with the heads of houses. Is there anything I can help you with, Nymphadora?"
Sirius struggled to contain his laughter as the pink-haired auror still seemed to not notice her first name. "Staff meeting?" she asked, "This early in the summer?"
"Well, Nymphadora, I believe it had to do with the marks from last year; something about assigning prefects," he answered.
A distressed groan escaped Tonks' lips. "I need to use your floo then," she said, "Harry's gone missing!"
The laughter that threatened to burst from Sirius instantly died at his lips. Not wasting any time, Sirius scrambled over to the fireplace in the library. He hastily grabbed what was probably more than ten times the required amount of floo powder and tossed it in.
With a shout of "Hogwarts, headmaster's office," and a flash of green he disappeared, not sparing a glance over his shoulder for his cousin.
"Sirius, what is the meaning of this?" was the first thing he heard as he stumbled out of the fireplace and into Dumbledore's office.
"Harry's missing!" replied a panicked voice from behind Sirius.
As was expected, there was an uproar at Tonks' statement. McGonagall let out a sharp gasp and immediately shot to her feet, Flitwick squeaked and fell out of his chair, and Sprout began nervously pacing while muttering under her breath. Only Snape and Dumbledore were able to keep themselves collected.
"Everyone, please calm yourselves," Dumbledore called out with a forceful tone, "panicking does not help young mister Potter."
Immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face the aged wizard. Professor Sprout managed an embarrassed blush.
"Good," the headmaster said, noting that everyone had to some degree relaxed, "Now, why don't you explain what happen, and start from the top, Miss Tonks?"
So, Tonks explained how she had arrived to take over for Mundungus, and had not been able to find either the diminutive Order member, or Harry. She continued on up until the point where she came to Grimmauld Place to locate the headmaster. "…And that's when we both came here," She finished.
"I swear I'll strangle that Fletcher!" Seethed Sirius
"Calm yourself," replied Dumbledore sagely, "I will have Mr. Fletcher removed from watch duty, however, he is still an asset to the Order."
"Asset my pale ass," Sirius murmured under his breath.
Minerva McGonagall immediately spoke up, staving off any further profanities from the other animagus, "How should we go about this, Albus?"
Dumbledore briefly steepled his fingers in contemplation before replying, "The alarm tied to the wards around his home has not been set off, which means the wards are still intact. He has either left willingly with an individual who does not have a dark mark, or he has left by himself."
Both Sirius and McGonagall sagged ever so slightly in relief. Tonks, however, remained rigid. "How do we find him?" she asked, "Surely with someone as important as him, you have tracking charms of some sort in place."
Albus gave his world-famous eye twinkle as he replied, "There is a fine line between protecting a person and holding them prisoner. While I would like more than anything to see him safely back within the wards at Privet Drive, I will not force him back there if he truly does not wish to go."
"Albus, what of the possibility of You-Know-Who having sent a death eater who hasn't taken the mark yet?" asked Professor Sprout nervously.
"Hmm… I suppose that is a possibility, and a rather disturbing one at that," The headmaster replied, "What do you think, Severus?"
The dark haired potions master spoke for the first time, "I'm confident that hasn't happened. If the Dark Lord had in fact captured Potter, he would have called his death eaters so he could gloat."
Dumbledore nodded, "Good, in that case, we will operate under the assumption that Mr. Potter is safe. We'll set up patrols in key locations; Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and perhaps near the public entrance to the Ministry to search for him."
The four teachers and two order members all agreed, before Tonks and Sirius left to Grimmauld Place in order to share the news with the rest of the Order.
"You reckon he found himself a girl, and that's why he left so suddenly?" asked Sirius jokingly.
Tonks rolled her eyes and swatted his shoulder.
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In the possible event that both parents decease simultaneously, custody of their son, Harry James Potter, is to be granted to one Sirius Orion Black. Should Sirius Orion Black prove incapable of providing care of Harry James Potter, the chain of custody is as follows;
Remus John Lupin
Boudicca Mór-ríoghain McDougal
Peter Patrick Pettigrew
Frank Algie and Alice Hestia Longbottom
Minerva Isobel McGonagall
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Andromeda Druella and Theodore Logan Tonks
Harry read and re-read this particular passage nearly twenty times, willing himself to remember it word for word. While he knew most of the names on the list, he had no clue who Andromeda, Theodore, or Boudicca were. It saddened him to think that there were people his parents had considered to be enough of a friend to trust their only child with them, who he had never met. Had they died during the war? Were they unwilling to try and find him? Were they incapable of looking after him?
As these questions resounded in his head, he noticed the note that was folded and attached to the bottom of the page. Carefully unfolding the note, he began to read the unfamiliar handwriting.
By the recent Decree of the Restriction of Lycanthrope Guardianship, the section of the last testament of Lily and James Potter regarding the custody of Harry Potter has been declared void by the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain, due to the illegal inclusion of one Remus Lupin, a registered Lycanthrope. As such, custody of Harry Potter shall be granted to his closest living magical relative; Narcissa Malfoy.
Signed,
Delores Umbridge, Senior Advisor to the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
Harry's knuckles turned white as he angrily gripped the note. It took all of his willpower not to tear the parchment into shreds right then and there. Who was this Umbridge woman, and who the hell did she think she was? Then, something from the end of the note suddenly struck him.
"I'm bloody related to the Malfoys?!"
Daphne, who had remained quite thus far, allowing him to read the will at his own pace replied, "Your paternal grandmother was named Dorea Black at birth. Her older brother, Pollux, had a son named Cygnus, who had three daughters. One of those daughters was named Narcissa Malfoy."
Harry gave her a questioning glance.
"What? I was forced to memorize the family tree of every important pureblood in Great Britain," she said, "I can tell you now that you're also distantly related to the Weasleys, and as far as I've been able to find, we aren't related. My family has a habit of marrying purebloods from other countries."
Shaking his head sharply, Harry asked, "but why am I not living with the Malfoys right now?"
Daphne shrugged nonchalantly, "Dunno. The records I've found seem to show you suddenly living with your aunt and uncle, and the Malfoy thing just dropped. It's as if someone covered it up."
Harry nodded sadly. As poorly as he was treated by his relatives, he shuddered to think about what life with the Malfoys would be like.
"Thank you," he said, "For taking me here. It means a lot."
"Yeah, it's fine, no need to get mushy on me," Daphne said, waving off his thanks, "Now, if that's everything, we should get going. The longer I stay here at the ministry, the more chance I have of my father finding out. Thankfully, he's gone to Estonia for the week, so I don't have to worry about a curfew."
With a doleful sigh, Harry set his parents' will on the desk beside the strange old lady and followed Daphne towards the lift, with thoughts of revenge against Delores Umbridge echoing in his head.
So wrapped up in his thoughts was he, that he nearly missed when the lift reached the atrium level, and almost forgot to follow Daphne out. He nearly bumped into the girl when she abruptly stopped in front of him.
Confused, he followed her gaze to the receptionist desk. There, the same man from before was surrounded by a crowd of people, each with a pad of parchment and a quill, furiously jotting notes down as the man spoke.
"I swear, there he was, Harry potter, and he had that girl, Greengrass' daughter with him. They both threatened to attack me, they did. They're both unstable, I tell you, the rumors are true!"
Daphne groaned as the receptionist cast a glance in their direction, and did a double take. "Look! There they are! Plotting against the ministry, no doubt!"
"If it weren't true I'd call him paranoid," Daphne muttered under her breath, quiet enough that not even Harry could hear. Cursing as the crowd of reporters started swarming towards them, she frantically looked around for a way out. Spotting the perfect opportunity, she whispered to Harry, "Follow my lead, and no matter what, act as nice as possible."
Harry didn't have time to reply, but he knew to follow her instructions. She was smart enough to find him, when no one other than his friends had, therefor; he was hoping she was smart enough to get them out of this mess.
"Miss Greengrass, does this mean you support the outrageous claims that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned?"
"Mr. Potter, is it true that you and Miss Greengrass are dating?"
"Mr. Potter, are the rumors that you and Miss Granger have broken up true?"
"Is it true that Miss Greengrass and yourself are attempting to overthrow the Ministry?"
Thankfully, Daphne was able to cut off the questions with a single name. "Minister Fudge!"
The reporters went quiet as Daphne began waving to a group of people making their way towards the lift. Weaving her way through the crowd, and pulling Harry along with her, Daphne approached the group.
It was then that Harry noticed that said group comprised of a very flabbergasted looking Cornelius fudge, accompanied by three other important looking wizards, and a witch that struck Harry as oddly toad-like.
"Mr. Fudge, it's so good to see you again!" crooned Daphne
"Well, yes, I-I-," Fudged stammered in confusion.
"You remember Harry, don't you?" she asked, pulling Harry forward.
"So good to see you again, Minister. Thank you again for your help with that nasty situation before my third year, that was really considerate of you," said Harry, remembering Daphne's instructions. He then offered his hand which Fudge instinctively shook.
Halfway through the handshake, Fudge seemed to remember what he was doing, and pulled his hand back as if it had been burned.
"Anyways, we really must be going. Take care, Minister!" Daphne sang as she sauntered away, closely followed by Harry.
"Not a word," they heard fudge hiss at the reporters, "of this incident will be made public. Do I make myself clear?"
"You're a bloody genius," Harry whispered in admiration as he and Daphne made their way towards one of the floo connections.
"Oh, I know," Daphne replied with a trademark smirk, "but you're welcome to keep saying it."
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"So what do we do now?" asked Harry, dusting himself off from the fall he had taken as he exited the floo.
Instead of Answering, she gestured for him to follow. The duo exited from the Store they had wound up in, and merged into the crowd just outside. A cursory glance around told Harry that they were now in Diagon alley, making their way slowly towards the end where he knew the entrance to Knockturn Alley was.
"Well, we can't even hope to take down Voldemort, much less revolutionize the ministry by ourselves," She said in a low voice.
"So we ask for help?" questioned Harry.
"Exactly," She replied, "When we get to Hogwarts, we need to build up a group of people sympathetic to our cause."
"Why not ask Dumbledore for-"
"No!" She cut him off, "No Dumbledore. Don't get me wrong, he's one of the greatest, most powerful wizards this world has ever seen, but he isn't willing to do what it takes. In fact, I'm willing to bet he'd try to stop us from what we're doing."
Harry gave her a questioning look, "Dumbledore has always wanted equality amongst magicals. He's been an advocate of muggleborn and non-human rights for years."
Daphne rolled her eyes at him. "He's basically been begged to take position as Minister of Magic. If he was willing to do what it takes, he would have taken the job, and forced the changes himself. But instead, he's reserved himself to the sidelines, unwilling to upset the established order of things.
"You can approach him for help against the Dark Lord, but get it through your head; he will not help us fix the bigger problem!"
"Fine!" Harry grunted tersely, "I'm guessing Hermione and Ron aren't good enough either"
"No," she replied flatly, "In fact, they're probably the most likely to be willing to help us. They've already proven themselves willing to risk their own safety for you.
"Tell you what; you can be in charge of finding people from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff who will help us, and remain quiet about it. I'll handle the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins. "
The two continued walking in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Daphne spoke up once more.
"You know, those reporters made me realize that us spending any amount time together will raise questions, especially in school," she said. "If I told them the truth; that I looked up your address and randomly stopped by, I look like a stalker, and people will want to know why you're agreeing to be around me"
"Simple," Harry said, surprising himself as an idea popped into his head, "Last year, I needed help with the second task. Knowing you were smart, I approached you for help. You agreed, and we became friends. Because you're a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor, we decided to keep our friendship secret."
Daphne gave him an appraising look before turning into one of the many side alleys that branched off at the beginning of Knockturn Alley. "I'm impressed. That story even explains why none of our friends would have known about it. Although, that doesn't explain why we suddenly decided to make our friendship public. Unless…"
Harry tilted his head in question, "Unless?"
Daphne gave a wicked grin, "Unless we decided to progress beyond friendship."
Harry abruptly stopped walking and swallowed a dry lump forming in his throat. "Wh-what?"
"Oh, you know; we decided to start dating," She answered brazenly.
"I don't- I've never… I don't know how…" Harry stammered.
Daphne shrugged, "Meh, neither have I. It's a learning experience."
"But… what about-," Harry cut himself off, knowing exactly what he was about to say.
"What about Miss Chang?" asked Daphne with her usual smirk.
Harry blushed red enough to make the red shirt he was wearing look white.
"It's pretty obvious with the way you look at her. You really should be more discreet whenever you check her out, you know," Daphne said, trying not to laugh at his discomfort.
"Sh-Shut up," Harry stammered, trying to will the blood out of his face.
"Tell you what, you and I pretend to date; we snog a few times to keep up appearances, and then we pretend to break up, but remain friends. You even get some practice in that way, while Cho recovers from her loss of Cedric," She said.
The mention of Cedric's name instantly changed Harry's demeanor. "How were you doing magic earlier?" he asked, hoping to change the topic.
"Well," Daphne began, pulling her wand out of her pocket, "You see, I have this nifty little thing here. I forget what it's called, but it's rather useful."
Harry groaned. "You know what I mean."
"Simple. A couple years ago, I walked into the Department for the Misuse of Magic at the Ministry, and found a rather nervous looking intern. All I had to do was drop my father's name, threaten him a little, maybe even point my wand at him, and he was rather happy to have my trace removed," she replied happily, twirling her wand between her fingers.
Harry gaped at her. "You're being sarcastic again, right?"
"Nope," she replied matter-of-factly, "That's actually what happened, I swear."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Threatening someone with the name of your father; that sounds like a very Malfoy thing to do."
Harry was forced to back into a wall as he found Daphne's wand jabbing him in the gut.
"Never compare me to a Malfoy," she hissed.
Harry was about to apologize and beg forgiveness when a smile cracked through Daphne's hard expression. "The look on your face; you were ready to piss yourself, weren't you?"
Harry was about to reply in the affirmative, when a strange tingling ran down his spine, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.
"Get down!" he roared, tackling Daphne to the ground as a Jet of red light passed through the air where she had been standing a mere second before.
"Bombarda!" Daphne yelled from underneath Harry, pointing her wand in the direction the spell came from.
A gasp was heard from somewhere down the alley, just before an explosion rocked the pavement, sending small chunks of rock and dust into the air.
The two quickly rolled apart as a volley of red bolts scorched the patch of ground they had occupied.
"No good," hissed Daphne, "They're invisible, I can't see them! Homenum Revelio!"
As soon as the incantation left her lips, four human shaped silhouettes appeared down the alley, glowing blue.
With a mad flourish of her wand, Daphne sent a wave of stunners at their attackers. One of the silhouettes dodged the spells, while two of them brought up a shield in time. The fourth wasn't as lucky, and fell as the stunner struck them in the chest, causing them to collapse.
As the remaining attackers and Daphne all raised their wands, ready to strike again, Harry took note how oddly familiar two of the silhouettes appeared. Before a single spell could be fired, he threw himself between the wands and yelled, "STOP!"
Much to Daphne's surprise, two of the attackers immediately lowered their wands. Not taking any chances, Daphne kept her wand at the ready, training it on the lone figure who remained a threat.
"What do you solemnly swear?" Harry asked, facing their attackers, thoroughly confusing Daphne.
One slowly stepped forward, dispelling the disillusionment charm on themselves. "That I am up to no good," replied a tired, but relieved looking Remus Lupin.
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Another thing in a review; one person asked if I would switch between 2010 and 1995. I wasn't planning on it originally, but I may do that if the demand is high enough, and I can work it into the story. So, please let me know how you feel about that.
Also, as this story will span over nearly 15 years, there will be plenty of room for different characters to date different people (as it is in real life). I also realize that there are certain pairing that some people loath (I for example hate Blaise/Tracey and Draco/Hermione). So, in order to make the least amount of people angry, I will be putting up different polls on my page asking about people's favourite pairings that involve certain characters (Daphne and Harry, for obvious reasons, will not be included).
By the time this chapter is posted, there should be a poll up in regards to Hermione. If you have any strong feelings on who she dates, please vote in the poll.