Chapter 4: a new day.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me.
AN: Big special thank you for everyone who read, follows, favorite and took time to review this story.
Harry woke up and immediately closed his eyes as his vision blurred. Bloody hell that was one weird bloody dream. He was never going to let Hermione in the house if she is experimenting with anything again, just to be safe. Stretching to the side table, his hands closed around his glasses. He slipped them on and opened his eyes.
"This is not my room" Harry said softly as he surveyed the room. It was a big room with an adjoining bathroom. There were twin single beds against the wall, one of them he was occupying, while the other was filled by his godson who was clutching his pillow, muttering softly.
Getting out of bed, he leaned closer to hear what the boy was muttering about.
"No, NO, I can't eat anymore, aunt Hermione!" Harry had to force a hand over his mouth to stop him from laughing. No matter how much time had passed, Hermione's cooking had not improved, much to Ron's mortification and to Hermione's extreme annoyance. He sometimes thought that she thought his ability to cook was a personal insult, much like the time he outperformed her in defense.
Walking to the bathroom to freshen up, he then headed towards the kitchen. He found his young father at the kitchen table drinking tea and reading the Daily prophet.
"Morning" Harry said making the man lower the paper and smile at him. He was again surprised by the similarity's between them, though He being a good ten years older had a more adult demeanor, while James was clearly only settling in his role as young adult and father.
"Morning, are you an early riser?" James asked curiously. He had always been an early riser, much to the Horror of the Quiddich team when he wanted them to start training at 5 am. It would have been the case, if Sirius had not threatened to shove his beater's bat down his throat.
"Most of the time" Harry said and took the seat in front of James.
"Would you like some tea?" James asked putting the paper down and looked at Harry.
"Sure" Harry said and further studied the man, James presence were different from what he had expected. He had a calmer nature and seemed considerate, the complete opposite of the teen he had seen in Snape's memories. He wondered as he had done a lot through the years, what had made him a bully, was it his pure blood status? Was he just spoiled or cruel? Or had there been more to the story than anyone had told him. He just didn't know, so the only thing he was able to do was to make assumptions.
"What job did you go into?" James asked as he sat down again and pushed a fresh cup of tea towards Harry, bringing Harry out of his thoughts.
"Um, let's see, I am an Auror expert consultant, head of the Hogwarts governors board, Author of a few books, Guest lecturer at Hogwarts, Member of the Wizengamot, member of the ICW and head of the Dragon alliance, in short, someone who does a lot of paperwork" Harry said thoughtfully, trying to keep what he did as simple as possible. Truth be told he had a major company on the side and several foundation that he had started to help those who were wronged. If it had not been for Hermoine and Andy, he would have never managed to do all his duty's and be a competent father. He knew the importance of his work, but he had always made sure to give Teddy the attention that the kid deserved.
"Busy, aren't you" James said, looking at Harry with awe. He knew that it was not common that someone as young as Harry to have accomplish so much. He knew that being considered an Auror expert consultant was usually a term used for a retired Auror who was an expert in a certain field. His father was one who specialized in warding, but his father had only retired at the age of fifty-four and only after an injury on his leg. He was curious what Harry had specialized in.
"Yes, but it is worth it" Harry said and took a sip from his tea.
"What is the Dragon Alliance?" James asked puzzled. He had never heard of such a group so assumed that it had to have been formed after his death.
"It's basically a group of extraordinary witches, wizards, and a large variety of magical beings that fights against corruption and oppression, and strive for unity in the magical world" Harry said thoughtfully.
"It's hard to see the ministry approve that" James said thoughtful, he loved being an Auror, but he was not blind to the corruption that goes on in the ministry, especially after his training session with Moody.
"The DA formed four years ago and works closely with the ministry, having a representative in each department and has a mutual understanding with all of the heads to make sure that there was no friction. It helps that the DA was completely based on being non-discriminating. Each sentient species were represented by a member of their own, or someone of their choosing, but not before being screened and interviewed by me and the others on the board. It was a real pain to get the goblins to cooperate. Bloody vindictive buggers" Harry said thinking of the goblins almost fondly. Almost.
Since both his parents where deceased, James was also head of the Potter line and had a seat on the Wizgamot as a Lord, so he knew when Harry had come to age, Harry should have had enough knowledge to accept his duty as Lord Potter or at least have gotten more involved with his proxy. James knew it must have been different for Harry, since he could not have learned from James, like he had from his father. Though his godfather Jacob Chamberlain still stands as proxy for him at least until he finished his Auror training. Now that it was done, he had been brought up to date on all the matter as well as getting a more in depth education for such matters. Truth be told it was taxing and Jacob was taking most of the grunt work.
"Not only do they approve, they signed a degree which gives the DA power over any corruption and injustices directly in the ministry. Such cases are brought directly to the ICW, where it is handled swiftly" Harry explained, he knew it is going to be a hell of a lot harder this time, especially that he is unknown and not good friends with the Minister of Magic, but as Hermoine had said, he always had a people saving thing, so why stop now.
Location: Thetford Forest
Time: 8:12 am
Auror Frank Longbottom walked briskly through the woods, ducking under low branches and climbing over the uneven rocks. He walked into a clearing to see his partner Johnny Stevens waiting for him.
"Stevens, what happened" He said as he reached the tall blond man.
"Female victim, aged 48, known squib. Damn Frank, it's another ritual killing" Johnny said bitterly and indicated for frank to follow him.
"Guy called Andrew Conney came across her this morning while gathering potion ingredients. I'm just grateful it was not a muggle like the last time, this is bad enough without the police on our backs" Stevens continued as the moved through the thick forest. Frank cursed under his breath when they reached the area. He recognized the bastards work anywhere.
Nickolai Tropotkin or better known as the Demented merchant, he was a wizard that killed people by trapping their souls in items. He usually sold his merchandise to special clientage, but was known to also sell anything from unicorn blood to Cursed teacups to the more shader shops. This monster has been killing for 30 years now, and kept slipping away from being captured by going from country to country, usually countries with bad blood between each other. This was his third victim in Britain and that only been in two mouths. The ministry would have warranted a man hunt against him, but with Voldemort prancing around, the Aurors were stretched very thin, therefore chances of catching him was not looking good.
Location: Hogwarts
Time: 8:45 am
Harry smiled as he watched Teddy bounce off with Professor Flickwick already talking animatedly with the tiny professor. They had arrived a little early to ask if Professor Flickwick could look after Teddy while they were busy. The professor was delighted, especially after learning Teddy's interest in his subject.
"He's really into charms, isn't he?" Lily asked looking at the two figures disappearing around the corner.
"Yeah, my little Ravenclaw. He wants a mastery in charms, transfiguration and defense" Harry said proudly.
"Three mastery subjects, isn't that a bit much" James said frowning at Harry, Taking a mastery in a subject is hard, but doing three mastery's tend to be very rare for any wizard. He was impressed that Teddy was already so focused in his life, when he was twelve all he wanted to do was play quiddich. Harry might have something to do with it, since he seemed to have accomplish so much in his life.
"He was always keen to learn as much as possible from a young age" Harry said smiling at the couple fondly. Baby Harry was being looked after by Neville's grandmother, Lily had taken him earlier after they had breakfast. Lily was gushing almost the entire time how cute Neville and Harry looked.
"Well look what we have here, brother dear"
"I see, I see, looks like little Jamie is showing his devotion ones again"
"Thought getting a twin"
"Even if it had abundance of prank potential"
"It is a bit much"
Harry jaw dropped as he stared at the twin red headed men who walked in.
"Fred ... George?" Harry said with a strangled voice, making the twins look at him in odd astonishment.
"Are you alright?" Lily said lying a gentle hand on his shoulder. Harry took a shaky breath and tried to calm himself, It was like seeing a ghost. George have never been the same after Fred's death. He had grown more serious and therefore was less likely to pull pranks and such. He seemed like a person who lost a limb, a part that never can be replaced. He usually spend days in his workshop, developing new toys and consuming bottles of firewiskey. Harry had often joined him in the first few years after Voldemort and still do on occasions. He thought George was just grateful that there was someone who did not judge him, who didn't try to force him to let go. After his son Fred was born, new life had sparked in the man and he seemed to heal at last.
"Sorry, just reminded me of someone" Harry said and smiled at the men.
"No problem, twin Jamie"
"Odd though, don't you think"
"We have two year old nephews named Fred and George" the twins said, reminding Harry so strongly of the twins.
"Funny coincidence" Harry said smiling shakily.
"Anyway, I'm Fabian" the twin on the right said smiling brightly.
"No such luck, I am Fabian, he is Gideon" said the other very seriously.
"What! Mum should have told me!" The twin on the right said mournfully and grabbing his heart in mock sock.
"Oh, give it a rest you two" a stern voice said from behind them, the twins parted revealing a short woman with long black hair and pearcing brown eyes.
"Dorcas!" Both the twins cried with two giant smiles on their faces.
"It is best to just to ignore these two troublemakers, and anyway that is Fabian and that one is Gideon" Dorcas said as she smiled at Harry.
"Ah, Dorcas, you wound us" the twins said pouting.
"Don't make me really hurt you, but I can always tell Molly you are giving me a hard time" Dorcas said with a sweet smile, but Harry was not fooled, they went pale at the mention of their sister. Looked like Mrs. Weasley was more like Ginny then he ever knew.
"Ouch, setting Molly on their case, that's just cruel" James said as he looked at the twins in sympathy. He was really fond of Fabian and Gideon, those two were in their sixth year when he had entered his first. He and Sirius had learned so much from them, and they didn't seem to mind two starry eyed first years dogging them. Not that they succeeded a lot, the twins took it as a game to lose them.
"Why do we have to be here so early again?" Sirius said yawning loudly as he, Remus walked into the doors, followed by two others that Harry immediately recognized as Alaster Moody and Aberforth Dumbledore. Moody was immediately focused on him, his mismatched eyes glaring suspiciously.
"Hi you guys, where are the kids?" Sirius said looking around for the metamorpmagi and his godson.
"Harry is at Frank's mother with Neville, while Teddy is with Prof. Flicwick" Lily said as she hugged Sirius and Remus in greeting.
"So who are you?" Dorcas asked looking up towards Harry.
"Harry Peverell, pleasure to meet you, Miss" Harry said smiling at her, he had decided to change his and Teddy's surname to Peverell. Since the family name had long since perished and it still had a connection to the Potters.
"Harry? Didn't you name your kid Harry?" Fabian said frowning.
"Weird, isn't it? Harry here is James's long lost cousin, they ran into each other yesterday" Sirius said shuffling another yawn.
"Why are you so tired?" James asked his friend, but his friend's attention was more focused on the pretty blond woman who walked into the room with a tall, broad shouldered man. Harry laughed softly as he watched James giving Sirius a smack on the back of the head. Turning away he noted that a great deal of order members have arrived, he knew most of them by reputation, but could not see who fitted the names he knew by heart, but it was a problem that could be easily solved.
"Your name is Dorcas?" Harry asked the short witch next to him.
"Yeah, Dorcas Meadowes, pleasure to meet you, Harry" She said and smiled warmly.
"I am obviously new here, do you mind telling me who is who?"
"Sure, well, let's see, well you now know Fabian and Gideon Prewett, and it seems you know Remus and Sirius. Alright, the blond girl over there is Marlene Mckinnon, she is the youngest of the order and in the Hit Wizard training program, apparently it is not pleasant. The bloke she's talking to Edgar Bones, he works in the Department of mysteries. Sadly they both are cannon fan's, which is Unfortunate, since they are really nice. The old guy over there is Elphias Doge and he is talking to the other old guy Abeforth, Albus Dumbledore's brother. I don't really know a lot about them, except that they are old. The cute guy with the brown hair and black shirt is Benji Fenwick. He's working on the Invisibility task force, apparently they had quite a ruckus with a Dragon last week. He is talking to Medungus Fletcher, the one who looked like he was sleeping in a garbage can, he is well somewhat an unsavory character. and Caradoc Dearborn, the one with the baby blue eyes, he is a lucky devil that works at the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters. The stern Scottish woman over there is Minerva Mcgonagall, she is a teacher here, and she is talking to Alaster moody and Hagrid. Moody's the one who keeps sending glares at everyone and is also on of the best Auror there is, though is getting a touch paranoid. Hagrid over there is the nice big guy, works as a game keeper here for well quite sometime. Oh and the two that just entered is Emmeline Vance and Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline works at madam Malkins and Dedalus is something of a herbologist, though he's a bit careless, got on the bad side of Minerva the other day. Tried to balance an entire cake on his head walking on the stars, but it fell off and went splat on Minerva, he had to walk very carefully around her since. Well that's everyone here so far, of course we are shorting a few members, but I'll point them out when they arrive.
"Thanks, Dorcas, you have been a great help" Harry said smiling at the woman, the was about to ask more about her when he sensed someone standing behind him. Spinning around, Harry had his wand in his hand and was pointing it at a plump little man, with watery eyes and blond hair. For a moment he though it was Dudley, but then recognition send a chill down his back.
"Woeps, sorry for startling you" Peter Petergrew said raising his hands in a peaceful gesture. Harry swallowed heavily before he regrettably lowered his wand. Harry could feel everyone's gaze on him. Cursing the rat into oblivion is not going to help his cause. So putting a neutral mask on his face, he smiled and laughed nervously.
"Sorry about that, with everything going on these days, I guess I am a bit jumpy".
"No problem, I thought you were James for a minute, so I was kinda sneaking"
Wormtail said as he smiled nervously.
"Peter, where have you been the last few days, we were worried" Remus said as he looked at the smaller man in concern.
"My mum has gotten ill, sorry, I should have owled you" the blond man said avoiding looking anyone in the eye. Harry felt sick as he looked at his Father and their friends, concerned over Peter. He had often wondered why Peter had betrayed them and had come to the conclusion that they was not as close as he had initially imagined. But seeing them standing there, he saw the trust in them, the obvious trust the order had in each other. Turning around Harry walked out of the entrance hall. He ignored the yells, all he knew was he couldn't breathe. He needed fresh air.
"Oi, where you going?" Sirius yelled and made to follow Harry.
"I'll go" Lily said as she stopped the man, and started outside. By the time she had found Harry, he was sitting under the large oak three by the black lake. He was staring over the icy waters with a haunted look. Lily felt her heart sink, what had caused him to react like that. What had he lived through to have such a sad look.
Harry felt her next to him, he smiled bitterly. This warmth that her mare presence seem to bring. He never realized how much was lost by one man's betrayal. He had traced the history of the Order through the first war. Wormtail had turned traitor only a few weeks ago. He should have given enough info to make Dumbledore suspicious. There had been a few attacks, but none fatal to the order. That would be until four months have passed and the blasted picture is taken. He knew that they had started falling like flies then. The first would be the twins, who was sent on a secret mission to the Vampires, they were ambushed and killed. Then the attack on the Bones family at their safe house, the order would know then for sure that there was a traitor and Remus would be suspected. The fact that Wormtail had told Dumbledore that he had seen him with some death eaters started it, and Remus increasing frustration and Depression about the life of a werewolf did not help in the slightest. James and Sirius refuse to believe, that was until Voldemort set up an ambush for Remus. Sirius had seen how Remus talked to Bellatrix. It further incriminates Remus when Malene Mckinnon and her family was murdered, Bellatrix was known to be involved. All the death and sorrow that would be inflicted on so many lives, all because of one man's betrayal.
"Are you alright?" Lily said as she softly laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I just didn't think how difficult this would be, being here, seeing you, wondering what it would have been like growing up away from all this, living a normal life"
Harry said still staring over the water. Lily stayed silent, her heart braking. What had happened to her baby, what had made him so sad and strangely lonely.
"Thank you" he said startling her as his eyes met her, a gentleness unlike anything in it.
"For what?" She asked softly, a hint of sadness in her voice. Lily had never been so confused in her life, she didn't understand why she constantly felt like Harry needed to be held, to be told that she loved him, it was almost if he severely lacked it, but it didn't make sense, even when she and James had died, he must have been raised by caring people, especially Sirius, she knew Sirius would never let anything happen to Harry. Though all the argument she could think of made sense, she just could not shake the feeling of dread settling in her stomach.
"For being here" he said and slowly got up, all insecurity's and sadness gone and was replaced with the look of pleasant indifference she had become accustomed to. Idly she wondered if he was wearing a mask, to hide what he was truly feeling. As he helped her up, they walked back to the castle, Harry hoped with every fiber in his body that he would have the strength to do what needed to be done.
