When you get caught in the rain, with nowhere to run
When you're distraught and in pain, without anyone
When you keep crying out to be saved
But nobody comes and you feel so far away
That you just can't find your way home
You can get there alone
It's okay, what you say is
I can make it through the rain
I can stand up once again on my own
And I know that I'm strong enough to mend
And every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith
And I live one more day and I make it through the rain
Through the Rain-Mariah Carey
Tracy Davis was galloping down a fourth floor corridor trying to reach the library before it closed in half an hour; she was researching for her potions assignment over the summer and really didn't want to have to do it during the time she was supposed to be tanning on a beach in Cyprus. She was too busy running that she almost didn't notice herself bumping Neville Longbottom to the ground.
"Sorry Longbottom."
"S'okay, Davis." Neville said as he continued on his way.
A thought that had been plaguing her for days now crept into her head as Neville was leaving; this could be her opportunity to set things in motion for Daphne and Harry. So she called after him.
"Wait Longbottom, we need to talk." Tracey said suddenly.
"About?" Neville replied stopping in mid-step.
"Your cousin." Tracey said.
"Which one?" Neville said, who actually did have a pretty good idea about who she was speaking about but wanted to see where this was going.
"Daphne."
"About what?"
"Harry Potter." She elaborated.
"I see, I should have assumed." Neville said, trying to hide a smile at her single word replies.
"What do you mean?" Tracey asked her brow furrowing.
"Because I had the same idea." Neville smirked.
"So will you help me set them up?" Tracey asked surprised.
"Of course I'd be willing to help; I don't know where to begin though." Neville admitted slowly.
"You let me handle that, just be ready to act soon." Tracey replied a plan already cooking in her head.
00000000000.000000000000.000000000000
Hogwarts was bustling with activity on the 31st of June; the students who were going home were leaving that day after breakfast and many were in a panic wondering whether or not they would ever return to the ancient castle.
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and took seats across from Neville near the end of the Gryffindor table. All three were in a sombre mood, all of them were going home, and Harry was going to the Dursleys' until he could find a more permanent residence. He and Dumbledore had mutually agreed that he needed time to think and be alone, so he was going to the Dursleys' for both, protection and closure. He was going to be given free reign though and as the underage magic ban had been lifted he had the upper hand.
The trio had also discussed at length Bagnold's offer. She had been known to rule with an iron fist and would smite those who oppose her. She didn't cut corners with anything and always got the job done no matter what and was quite effective in some of her more questionable methods; Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.
However Bones seemed to be doing quite well and it had been advertised that Sirius Black had gotten a trial date for the fourth of August; just after he was able to take up his seat.
The Prophecy concerned him to no end; he had to be the one who finished Voldemort! He was a god damn fourth year who was below average in just about everything besides DADA. He had slacked off way too much and thanked the heavens that he was no longer being held back by Ron. He had realized that he had been slacking off just because he didn't want to seem better than Ron, who was dismal at just about everything academic, out of fear that he would no longer have a friend. He would have to train over the summer, long and hard. Duelling and Strategy would be on the top of the list and Dumbledore had told him that he could arrange for quite a few lessons that schools didn't teach.
Daphne Greengrass also seemed to keep re-entering his thoughts. He had come to realize that he liked her, a lot. The only problem was she avoided him like a plague and even if he got close to her he wouldn't know what to say.
He felt like just breaking down and isolating himself from the world for the rest of his life; he had so many problems with no solution in sight.
Meanwhile...
Daphne finished putting her clothes in her trunk and slammed the lid shut. Tears rolled down her cheek wondering why fate had been so cruel to her. She was going home to enter the service of the Dark Lord and marry Theodore Nott and had blown any chance to get out of the contract.
She had avoided Harry Potter at all costs, too afraid to show her face to the one that she had shown her vulnerability too. She had never realized how much of a likeable person he was and how much she actually liked him as well; He had been a really good kisser and thoughts about him caressing her body had begun to start... In a different world perhaps… No, it was best not to dwell on such thoughts.
Her parents were taking the Mark and would be forever branded as Voldemort's cattles. She would become a Death Eater whore and host high society gossip parties with the Bulstrode's and Malfoy's and her sister would be passed around like Money.
She collapsed on her bed; her life was a mess and her dreams were burning. There was no escape from her almost certain fate.
She glanced to her bedside table in the room she shared with Tracy (Each dorm held room for two or three students.). Her knife sat there still as ever, a reminder of her past. All it took was a simple slice, much simpler than taking a killing curse.
She grasped the knife in her right hand holding it to the magical light illuminating the room while she examined it with her smooth fingers, it would be so easy to just stop and rest.
But she couldn't.
People would normally say she had so much to live for, but that wasn't the case. She had to live for another reason, she needed to protect her sister; it wasn't too late for her. Daphne would agree to take Astoria's place with Draco and during the time the marriage contracts were being reworked Astoria and Tracy would flee the country never to be seen again. One needed the betrothed's blood to enact the contract and while Daphne was distracting her father and mother, Astoria would destroy the vials containing her and Daphne's blood and run, and maybe just maybe Daphne would be able to escape with her.
It would work seamlessly.
No, she wouldn't just end her life and let it be controlled by others, that would be quitting and Daphne Greengrass didn't quit.
She put the knife back in its sheath and packed it safely in her chest. She could make it through the rain and live the life she was meant too.
-O-O-
Hermione walked down the path to the Hogwarts express side by side with Neville and Harry; their luggage in the pockets being able to use their magic outside of school. Sorrow was etched over their faces at the realization that they were leaving Hogwarts and might be walking to their deaths.
As before the walk was quite silent and the number of people even going to board the famous train was the smallest it had been in decades.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks thinking about what had happened just a few short moments ago.
*Flashback*
"Ms. Granger, I need to speak to you."
"Yes Professor McGonagall?"
"Preferably alone."
"Okay."
She followed her teacher into a chamber off of the entry hall and looked up to McGonagall.
"Your Parents were involved in an accident at their place of work… There were no survivors. I'm so sorry."
*End of Flashback*
Sobs racked through her body still at the new facts. Her parents were dead, she had nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, thankfully Neville had offered to take Hermione in, and he felt that it was dangerous for her to be alone.
Obviously her parents had been the target of a Death Eater attack, Voldemort had seen into Harry's mind and knew just how to get to Harry, and that was through his Friends. She didn't hold their death's against Harry though, she held herself accountable for not being able to protect them.
Before she had her future all mapped out, she would pass Hogwarts with flying colours, then head off to university and get a variety of degrees before heading back to the Magical World and starting a revolution. Those were just naïve dreams now, never to be accomplished.
Her parents were dead, she was a Muggleborn in a Pureblood run world and a full scale war was going on. All she could do was Hope.
But who was she kidding, there was no hope for her, Her parents were gone; gone with her dreams.
~oOo~
Daphne trudged along the thin corridor of the Hogwarts Express trailing Tracy and Astoria. The train was in motion and though 50% of the compartments were empty, Tracy said that they were going to meet some friends to cheer Daphne up.
Like that was ever going to happen.
They continued walking for at least 5 more minutes before Tracy pulled open a compartment near the back of the train.
"Tracy, why are we..." She saw the cabins inhabitants and turned to Tracy.
"Tracy…"
It was too late however and she was pulled by the arm inside and plopped down on the bench opposite, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.
She recognized her best friend and her cousin trading knowing expressions.
"Oh no, Tracy please."
"Yeah Neville what the hell is going on here?" asked Harry.
"Thank you for coming Tracy."
"It was my pleasure Neville."
"This was planned?" Daphne asked.
"Who knew about this?" Harry asked, both at the same time.
Hermione sheepishly raised her hand and Daphne swerved her head around to gaze at a confident Astoria raising her own.
"What the Hell guys?" Daphne stormed out of the compartment and after a few seconds Harry exited in the opposite direction.
"Well that could've gone better." Tracy said.
~oOo~
Harry turned into another empty compartment and sat down. How could his friends have done something like that to him? They knew perfectly well that he liked Daphne Greengrass and knew the reasons why they couldn't be together. It was just rubbing salt into the wound.
She seemed just as mad as he was, perhaps for the same reasons; but that wasn't any of his business. There was no way they were getting together no matter how much either their friends played matchmakers.
But he couldn't go on like this, thinking about Daphne. He needed to see if his feelings would be returned or at least get closure from her on the subject.
His mind made up he walked out of the compartment and scoured the train for Daphne. He found her on the floor of another empty compartment five minutes later. He slid open the door and sat down opposite her.
She glanced at him and they didn't look at each other for a while. She looked beautiful as the tears rolled down her cheeks and the sun glinted off her pale skin.
"You know we have to stop meeting like this." She started wiping the tears off her cheeks
"I know." He said softly.
"I really like you, you know, I'm sorry for running off before, it's not your fault." She said not looking at him.
"It's okay, I'm sorry for kissing you." Harry said, not knowing what should have been said.
"Don't be, it was a great kiss." Daphne smiled through her tears, remembering the kiss all those days before.
"It was my first." Harry said happy that she was smiling.
"Really?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah..." Harry said his cheeks turning red.
"Look, I know we haven't really had a normal conversation before, but you seem like one of the nicest girls in the school and our friends seem convinced that we are perfect match, maybe we could at least try." Harry said slowly.
Daphne burst out into another round of tears, Harry did the only thing that seemed sensible and then held her in his arm. Daphne wriggled into Harry's warm embrace.
"My whole world is gone Harry, my parents are Death Eaters, you may be able to weasel me out of that contract but who's going to save Astoria? and Tracy will be killed for not joining the Dark Lord."
"Take it one step at a time Daphne, we'll get you and your sister out of the contract and Tracy will be just fine. I'll protect you guys." Harry said.
"How?" Daphne asked in his chest.
"Call it my saving people thing." Harry smiled and Daphne punched him on his arm.
They sat there for another hour at least in each other's arms; gazing at the rapidly changing landscape in silence just feeling the presence of each other.
"Harry?" Daphne asked softly.
"Yeah?" Harry replied.
"Thank you."
"Anytime."
"You know this might actually work, much more of an improvement over Nott." Daphne said, still in his chest.
"That's nice." Harry said smirking.
"You know that if we do this we'll be engaged." Daphne told him.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, my priority is to help you first and if that means getting engaged to a pretty girl like you, than I'm alright with that. Besides I think I can see myself with you 20 years from now."
"Me too." She said softly
"Maybe we should get back to the others they might start to worry, we've been gone for over an hour."
"Good idea, what better way to announce our engagement?" He said with a smirk.
~oOo~
Amelia pounded her fists on her desk in fury; Millicent Bagnold was making her life miserable. Every roadblock had something to do with her. None of the bills on her agenda were being passed and Bagnold having taken her seat was leading a huge opposition. Just yesterday the former minister had said to the Daily Prophet that she was interested in the job again and though she respected Amelia, she thought that Amelia was a Military leader and didn't represent a minister for the people; more of a minister of the soldiers discarding lives like crazy, not considering the lasting effects.
Slowly the world would turn against her and she would find herself without a job.
She needed to find something that would boost her popularity, a scapegoat.
She hated to have to resort to such methods, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Who would be the scapegoat though? Bagnold was far too powerful and she needed the Potter boy. The former minister was of no use and Dumbledore was almost untouchable. Or was he?
Dumbledore was getting on in his age and she could gain a good deal of staunch blood purist supporters for taking his old arse down. No, Dumbledore still held enough support at an international level to be of help.
But what about Sirius Black, She could say that new evidence had surfaced and that Sirius was responsible for the Dark Lords return and once he was brought in for questioning would be thrown through the veil, But by doing that she would be pushing Potter right into Bagnold's hands.
However Potter was the subject of much controversy of late with his involvement in the Dark Lords return. There was no real evidence of what had happened on that night that shook the world; many thought Potter was more directly involved than he led on.
It would lose her the votes she had been holding out for from Harry and him but it would gain her tons of public approval.
But what it came down too in the end was an inner battle of ethics, Black was likely not guilty and she would not be giving him a fair trial. But it was also necessary to end the war. Being the Minister that finally saw him killed and rid of the world could garner her alot of support. It was a cheap ploy considering it had already been done before, but it could work.
Black could save her career much like the war had saved Bagnold's. But was it worth destroying an innocent man to reach her goals, would she be able to sleep at night knowing that she was throwing away somebody's life like trash?
~ooOoo~
Ron sat in a dark alcove off of the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts. Ever since he had been kicked out of the family, he had become miserable. His remaining friends had left him at the news of his exile from the clan of Weasley.
This was all Granger's fault, had she just accepted her fate he could still be on good terms with Potter and of use to his family. His former family wouldn't even give a second look at him; to them he was just another child of their bunch, expendable. No matter what he did he would always be a pawn in their eyes.
He had no skills in real life; he was just coasting by from Hermione's extreme help. He was in no place to ask for a scholarship and at this rate he would no longer be able to afford to pay the tuition at Hogwarts and would most likely be dropping out. He had no place to go.
He was thankful that Hogwarts was open for the summer and was offering safe haven (that was free) to all people. If that wasn't the case he would be living on the Knight Bus making a meager wager being a barman in a small magical town somewhere on the west coast.
He had a few galleons stashed away for the summer and that was all, not even enough to open a small account at Gringotts.
His life as he knew it was at an end, and there was nothing left for him to live for.
He stretched his legs and hopped out of the alcove he was perched in and decided to walk over to the edge of the tower for a nice view of the grounds.
It was one of the nice things about being at Hogwarts. Owls circled the lake every now and then and the grounds bathed in sunlight.
It was the perfect last sight for Ronald Billius.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Harry and Daphne slid open the door to the compartment together. The stunned expressions on the inhabitants were quite clear and before anyone could comment Harry held his hand up to silence them.
"Before you hound us with questions, we would like to say that we have reached a mutual agreement."
"Agreement on what exactly?" Questioned Tracy
"Betrothal contracts."
"You mean…"
"Yes we are going to be engaged as it presents mutual benefits for the both of us."
"Salazar…. I call being the Maid of Honor!" Tracey said happily.
"No fair Tracy, as I am still stuck as part of Malfoy's harem then I get to be the Maid of Honor!" Astoria said.
"Whoa, slow down, this doesn't mean we are getting married, all it means is that we have voided the contract to Nott and are engaged. We will take our dear sweet time getting ready for the wedding; which is to be done by the age of 20."
"Fine." Tracy and Astoria humphed in unison.
"How did this happen?" Neville asked.
"That is for us to know and you too wonder about, let's just say that we found mutual ground as to start a business relationship on."
"So what are you going to tell your parents?" Inquired Hermione
"I will present Lord Harry James Potter-Davenport to my father and will inform him that Lord Davenport is interested in and the contract will thus be changed to include him as the suitor all he has to do is sign a paper, As the Noble House of Potter is the last subsidiary of the most Ancient and Noble House of Davenport Harry is therefore of a Higher standing than Theodore Nott and my Father will be forced to comply."
"So you're really going through with this?"
"Yeah."
"Good for you mate!"
Harry's cheeks flushed a deep red at Neville's comment and Daphne gave him a comforting smile.
"So, you two were gone almost two hours, what by chance were you doing?" Asked a suspicious Astoria.
The next two hours of the train ride went smoothly talking about what they were all planning on doing in the future, Daphne and Harry agreed to go on a series of dates to strengthen their relationship over the summer.
The last half hour had the girls gossiping with Daphne about their summer plans and Neville began primping himself for his Grandmother leaving Harry alone to his thoughts.
He pondered what he had gotten himself into after kissing Daphne. He was saving her from a fate worse than death, but why had he felt so compelled to. He really did like her but they hardly knew anything about each other and had spent a whole total of a few hours together since they met three weeks ago. They had shared some of their deepest fears together and had felt so open with each other, maybe it was fate?
He had been so certain of his life a few weeks ago; he would be friends with Ron and Hermione and live a good life, face a few more hardships and settle down in a nice quiet life making a living as an amazing auror that would step out of the shadow of the Boy Who Lived.
But now everything had changed, the Ministry seemed so corrupt and Ron was no longer his friend. Huge responsibilities had been dropped in his lap suddenly and he was currently engaged to a girl he didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago.
Was he making the right decision in getting engaged to a woman he knew almost nothing about, a woman who happened to be in their most vulnerable state and wanted nothing but to get away from Death Eaters and their ilk, was she truly interested in him or did she just see him as an escape route that she would just step over and then disappear forever.
These thoughts clouded his mind as the Hogwarts Express pulled into Kings Cross Station. Leagues of aurors surrounded the stations and panicked parents bum rushed the train immediately to grab their kids and get out.
The six students, five Fourth years and a second year rose from their seats and departed their compartment and into the station. Waiting for what would come next.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
"Can't you just shut up for once you old Hag!"
Sirius shouted at his dead mother. He was becoming sick and tired of being restricted to roam the dark hallways of Grimmauld Place all day, at least as Padfoot he had been able to roam open fields and have fresh air fill his lungs.
He had made so many mistakes in his short life, namely concerning James's son, Lily's boy.
He had chosen Pettigrew over Harry and had paid the price, 12 years in Azkaban. His weakness had been taken over by blind hatred and a lust for vengeance that he had discarded Harry and left him to be raised with the Lily's god-awful relatives that had probably destroyed Harry's childhood innocence.
His 12 years in Azkaban were deserved for what he had done. Harry deserved much better and If Harry chose to walk out on him, he would be fine with it.
He thought about killing himself, it would make everything so much easier, no more grief, and no more pain. It should have been him that died that Halloween night so long ago.
But Death was too good for him, he would be escaping his punishment and he needed to face it and accept his fate. He needed to be there for Harry all the time and make up for lost time. Every second he didn't see his pup his heart faltered for fear that he had been rejected, or worse; had been killed.
Sirius had failed in his duty to be a godfather to James and Lily's boy, he had made an oath to protect and love and give Harry a home should his parents be unable when he had been born and he had failed.
Never again would he fail though, he would protect his godson with everything he had, even if it meant sacrificing his own life in the process.
He picked up a scrap of paper nearby and a worn quill and began to write, it was time to make some amends.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Dumbledore rubbed his temples once again, why did life have to be so hard? Between Bagnold, the ICW and Voldemort his life was becoming a living hell.
He had just returned from an ICW meeting, they were still debating as to whether they should put an end to Voldemort's reign of terror. He had said that Voldemort had broken their charter multiple times, However many argued that the Dark Lord was still just an internal affair of Britain and had so far not been proven as a threat to the rest of the world. Basically the ICW was saying that as long as Voldemort confined his business to Magical Britain then they wouldn't interfere, as it was just an internal affair.
However many people had begun to argue against their core methodology, namely the governments of France and Bulgaria. The rest of the council who might've sided with them was afraid of what would become of the Magical World after.
The last time the ICW had interfered had been during the Dark Days of Grindlewald and that war had cost 20% of the Wizarding population of Magical Europe and had even spread into the muggle world through Grindlewald's deals with Adolf Hitler.
Both Worlds still felt the after effects, however the Wizarding World had never had a baby boom like the muggles and therefore their population didn't thrive as it had before, over 100 families of nobility were killed resulting in a surge of Muggleborns. The ICW expected a fallout like the Grindlewald war if they stepped in. If they didn't perhaps Voldemort would not cause as much damage.
Things were not looking good for England at the time being, the Minister was even considering ripping up the unification treaty of 1001 A.D connecting the Magical Sates of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England under one government under the monarch of the British Empire. Her reasoning was that if she separated the countries then the war would become an international war and would require ICW assistance.
Unlike the muggle world no revolts or revolutions had happened between the countries of the isles after and the Empire of Magical Britannia became a subsidiary of the British Empire. However unlike the muggles the magical government regained control over its colonies. Thus the reasons for Indians like the Patil's and Chinese like the Li family for coming to Hogwarts, supposedly the best magical school in the world.
The Magical political map was very different than the Muggle one as colonies were rarely given independence. Only when they became too big to be controlled by a sovereign government were they given independence; prime examples being the United States and Canada. That made the ICW was much smaller than the United Nations of the Muggle World, only existing of 83 member states.
As Supreme Mugwump he was the one that kept the whole 83 member assembly in order, it could be a very tiring job sometimes. One held the position until he/she resigned, died, or was forced to step down in a vote of no confidence, which might be coming soon for him.
Russia was after him telling the assembly that due to the ongoing civil war in Britain he was biased and was susceptible to a conflict of interest and should be voted out of the assembly. They needed a two thirds majority to do so and currently they had nowhere near two thirds backing them.
But the threat was still there and that brought him back to the beginning of his train of thought, Bagnold and her nuisances.
He had been forced to work with her as she was the British Representative for the assembly still. She had been criticizing him for working to blatantly and wanted him to be less obvious in his attempts to rally support. Bagnold told him to let her do the work or else he should resign.
She was an enigma to him twenty years later. He had been sure that after she resigned as Minister that she would just watch the ICW from her chair and relax on a beach with her millions of galleons for the rest of her life. However since Voldemort had returned it seemed that she was taking a more active stance in the government.
From what he could tell she was after the Minister's job once more and was going to get it, whether that worried him or not was the thing concerned him.
He did not doubt that she would take Voldemort down swiftly and in a blaze of glory once again and that she wouldn't accept bribes from death eaters like Fudge and Crouch had. Millicent had been furious at Crouch for handing out pardons during the first war and was one of the reasons he had been transferred.
What did concern him was her motive. She was no doubt effective and self-sufficient but why did she need to come back and go after Voldemort again? She had been set for life and lived the next 100 years of her life on a private island without a care.
Most of the time she didn't do things for the good of her heart but instead for personal gain or so that she would be remembered for the rest of her life and have a legacy that lasted until the demise of civilization.
But she already had that; she was already hailed as one of the best Minister's since the creation of the Ministry. Numerous best-selling biography's had been written already and her popularity rivaled his own, even though she had tried very hard to stay out of the country and away from politics.
So what was her motive then?
She had a meeting with Harry Potter when she had first resurfaced. It had undoubtedly been about politics and using his titles and power to get her in, Harry had most likely told her he would think about it.
He knew that Harry was going to be manipulated by the powerhouse politicians in the Wizengamot for the next few years and he truly felt bad for the poor boy, but he would not interfere. He might guide him sometimes, but otherwise Harry would do things by himself. As much as he wanted to help, he knew that he couldn't, Harry needed to come into his own if he was ever going to win this war.
Part of growing up and stepping into his responsibilities was thinking for him and relying on his own intellect rather than Ms. Granger. He would have to find his own place in the world and see the manipulations himself.
Harry really did have a hard time ahead of him.
1. The song at the beginning is a beautiful one named Through the Rain by Mariah Carey off of her album Charmbracelet circa 2002. It was released during some of her dark days where she had been labeled a crazy bitch and her father had just died, on top of that it was released in the wake of Glitter. It really is an inspiring piece of music and definitely in my top 5 Mariah songs. I had considered putting a few other songs as the title, such as Umbrella by Rihanna and Shine on you Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd, but Through the Rain won out in the end
2. Concerning the Order of the Phoenix; yes Albus will be putting it back together but currently the situation he is in is forcing him to feel his 150 years.
3. Sirius Black; He can mail anybody he wants since he controls the wards, he just agrees with Remus for the reasons why the wards should be active.
4. I did put up a Bagnold vs. Bones poll on my profile and am hoping that my loyal readers will vote in it to give me an idea of the direction I should take with them.
5. This Chapter was more of an interlude than anything else, a lot of filler. Next Chapter we will see some more action and it might be a bit longer.
6. Concerning the Haphne relationship, I tried my best not to make it seem rushed and hope I was at least to a degree successful.
7. I would like to say my condolences for the Right Honorable Margaret Thatcher who died last week, I see J.K Rowling writing Bagnold very much alike Thatcher, as their are numerous similarities between the two, such as their term length and the wars they faced, I myself have used Thatcher as a basis on which to start my Bagnold character.
9. As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, please REVIEW; I really want to hear what you have to say and any questions or input you might have.
10. A big thank you to my Beta Anka7995 who has once again edited and revised my story.