BANG!
Harry started awake and was reaching for his wand before he saw Severus before him. He flopped back into the armchair he'd fallen asleep in.
"What?" Harry slurred, not quite awake yet.
"Look," Severus hissed and shoved his left arm towards Harry.
Harry's hand froze halfway through running over his short hair to look at the Dark Mark on the man's arm. It stood out dark on the man's pale skin, like it had just freshly been tattooed. He ran the hand down his face before carefully taking Severus's arm in his hand and turning it slightly, the head of the snake watching him.
"I'm going to need coffee," Harry stated after a couple of minutes of silence. "And from the looks of it, so do you."
Harry waved the taller man back as he stood and stretched his back. He limped over to the kitchen to turn the kettle on. Severus stood there looking pale as his dark eyes watched him carefully.
"Have a seat, Severus." Harry remarked as the kettle boiled. "How long has it been getting darker?"
"The last week," Severus replied shortly.
"Is it as dark as it was when the Dark Lord was alive?"
"No, and the snake's eyes used to be red."
"So, he isn't back?" Harry muttered.
"Do you think that's what it means?" Severus uttered, looking pale and shaky.
Harry turned back to the other man and limped over to the lounge. He sat next to Severus and placed a mug in the other man's hands.
"Yes." Harry said bluntly. "He's been trying to come back to power since Ry's first year. When he tried to steal the philosopher's stone."
Severus paled even more.
"How do you know that?" Severus snapped.
"My son is Harry Potter." Harry said with a smirk. "He told me what happened."
He found it odd how Severus could forgot that Harry Potter and Blake Sun were connected. He would even forget the way that Blake was a Potter, even if they didn't have the same last name. Harry looked very much like a Potter. He chalked it up to the man's hatred of James Potter which made him turn a blind eye to the fact.
"Yes," Severus sneered. "How could I have forgotten that."
"Finish your coffee, then I'll have a look at this Dark Mark." Harry said, ignoring Severus sarcasm. "Just curious, how do Death Eaters hide the mark?"
"There's a spell, Blake." Severus drawled with a smirk. "It's tied into the mark."
Harry looked at him blankly for a second, then he laughed.
"We are wizards." Harry said in mirth.
Severus sneered. "Did you forget that fact?"
"Sometimes," Harry remarked with a nod. "I was brought up as a muggle, I didn't know I had magic until I was eleven. I made up for it later in my life."
Severus looked at him curiously, the other man didn't talk about his upbringing or much of his history really. Only that he had spent a lot of time abroad and had a faint accent that Severus couldn't place. He chalked it up to the fact that the man spoke many languages.
"That's another life time ago," Harry continued. "And a very boring story to tell. Okay let's go to my classroom and have a closer look at this branding of yours."
xXx
Harry faced Severus across the bronze circle in the floor of his lab. He could tell the other man was nervous but at least the coffee had helped settle his nerves. Harry pulled out both his wands and looked down at them before he moved closer to Severus.
"Hold out your arm," Harry requested.
Severus removed his outer robe and just stood in his slacks and a black shirt. He hesitated slightly before his eyes locked with Harry and he held his arm out. Harry brought the protection charm up around them with a thought as they stood within the bronze circle.
"Do you own any other coloured clothing?" Harry asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Only a very dark grey shirt," Severus replied with a quirk to his lips.
Harry laughed and placed his dark wand back in its holster as he held his cherry wand. He carefully placed the tip of the wand against the mark on the man's skin. He could feel the darkness of the spell but could also feel Severus's own magic pulsing under it. He would have to sift through both of them to pick up the right strand.
Black mist slowly started to tumble out of the mark and crawl along the floor and the edges of the bronze circle. Harry worked his way through the layers of the spell. His head started to ache where he knew his curse scar used to be as he pushed further into the Dark Mark and deeper into the spell work.
CRACK!
Harry found himself lifted and thrown across the circle, his back painfully collided with the invisible barrier of the containment spell. He crumpled to the ground, boneless, as he heard his name cried out. He dizzily reached for his dark wood wand and pushed it into Severus's hands as he felt the dark mist around him. The pressure in his head increasing.
"Finte," Harry gasped, trying to grab a hold of the dark curse.
"Finte!"
The dark mist instantly disappeared as Severus cried out the spell. The wand bucked in his hand and he had to use two hands to hold it. How the other man could work with this wand he had no idea.
The pain in Harry's head eased as the mist disappeared. He slowly built up the walls around his mind again, containing what was left of the dark curse.
"Wand Severus?" Harry croaked and held out his hand.
Severus happily gave the wand back. Harry channelled the rest of the curse floating around the circle into the dark wood then into the stones at his feet to seep back into the earth harmlessly. Harry rolled onto his back as he broke the containment spell with a groan.
"What happened?" Severus asked, kneeling on the floor beside him.
Harry squinted up at Severus.
"It's an incomplete spell, I was trying to look through the layers to see if I could find the source when it tried to latch onto me." Harry explained, not even trying to move. "Without a link to the source the curse is unstable."
"So the Dark Lord hasn't returned?" Severus questioned.
"No," Harry replied shortly. "I could feel a power in the link but was thrown out too early to tell how far along he is."
"So, he's coming back?"
"Yes," Harry replied, without blunting his words. "The rebounding curse from when Ry was a child wasn't enough to kill a man like the Dark Lord. Nothing was prepared or in place to catch his soul when it fled."
"There was a prophecy." Severus said slowly.
Harry uncovered his eyes. "What?"
"A prophecy was made," Severus said softly. "I overheard it, then reported it to the Dark Lord. I didn't know what it meant then, I do now."
Harry slowly sat up so he was at eye level with Severus.
"A trip to the Department of Mysteries might be in order then," Harry muttered.
Severus helped him to his feet. Harry stumbled into Severus's side as he got his feet under him. Severus held him until he could stand without landing on his ass again before he stepped back.
"They will just let you in?" Severus asked surprised.
"Of course." Harry replied, like it was an every day thing that he would be let into a tightly restricted area. "I work down there, I have a contract with the Ministry."
"Are there places you haven't had a contract?" Severus muttered, darkly.
Harry barked a laugh. "A couple, but I'm working on it"
xXx
Harry looked on nervously the day of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The only thing that calmed him down was the knowledge that the charms and wards he'd placed on the Quidditch pitch would stop his son from getting killed. But that only went so far and he couldn't stop his worry. Severus placed a hand on his knee to stop it bouncing and Harry grinned up at him sheepishly.
"Sorry," Harry muttered.
"It will be okay," Severus whispered to him, before a roar of a dragon rang out.
"I shouldn't have come to watch," Harry muttered as he rubbed his face. "I should have locked myself away somewhere in the castle with a silencing charm. Or better yet, just knocked myself out with a potion until it was over."
Severus laughed softly, ignoring it when the other man's leg started to bounce again.
The crowd roared as the next dragon was brought into the converted pitch. Severus reached out and placed his hand on the other man's knee to stop it from bouncing and left it there. Harry smiled over at him before turning back to the pitch as his son walked out and just stood there.
"He has a plan, right?" Severus hissed at him.
"Oh, yes." Harry replied with a grin.
Suddenly Ry's broom came flying out of the castle and towards the boy.
Severus groaned, "You have got to be kidding."
"Nope," Harry snickered as Ry took to the air.
Harry was left in awe as Ry ducked and dived around the huge beast. He hadn't realised how much talent his son had with a broom under him until now. The dragon turned to throw fire at Ry, but the boy ducked at the last moment and Harry was sure he saw ash from the end of Ry's broom in the air. Ry twisted around as the dragon's head turned to keep up with him.
Suddenly Ry dived and the crowd held its breath as the boy dropped. At the very last minute, he pulled up on the broom inches from the ground as the dragon roared and stomped down.
"Oh, god." Harry gasped with wide eyes.
Then Ry barrel rolled away from the dragon with something gold clutched in his arm.
"AND HE HAS THE EGG!"
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and rested his hand over Severus's one on his knee.
"Thank god," Harry muttered as tilted his head back against the seat as the crowd roared.
Severus looked down at their joined hands and felt something clench in his stomach. He wasn't sure if the hand was intentional or if the man was just over come to see his son make it through the first task but he would take whatever he got. Suddenly the man looked at him and grinned, his green eyes shining.
"Just two more tasks left." The dark haired man grinned. "I'm not sure my heart can take it."
Severus laughed, neither man moved their hands away.
xXx
"Come in," Harry called at the knock at the door, marking his page.
"Hey Dad," Ry greeted, coming through the door.
"Hey Ry," Harry grinned. "How are you?"
"Yeah, going well." Ry said and looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. "I got a note from Sirius."
Ry passed it over to his father.
'Be at the stile at the end of the road out of Hogsmeade at 2pm on Saturday. Bring food.'
Harry frowned down at the note, he knew his evidence was still being looked over. That the Aurors that had been hunting down Black had been called off and all media pulled. As far as Harry was aware the case had been dropped but hadn't been made official yet.
"I want to meet him," Ry stated softly.
"Do you want me to come?" Harry asked as he passed the note back to the teen.
"Um, yeah." Ry replied, slightly embarrassed.
"No problems, Ry." Harry said with a smile as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Did you want to have lunch before meeting him?"
"Yeah," Ry agreed, grinning. "Thanks dad!"
"No, problems. Now, about your grade in potions and transfigurations."
Ry groaned.
xXx
Father and son made their way out of Hogsmeade. It was a beautiful day with the sun shinning and only a couple of clouds on the horizon to hint at rain to come. Harry was enjoying the walk after being cooped up in the castle for the last few weeks and was happy to be out and about. They made there way passed a couple of cottages as they walked towards the meeting place.
"I wonder what the price of one of these is?" Harry thought out loud.
"Don't you have enough houses?" Ry whined.
Harry grinned down at his son.
"You can never have too many places to hide, Ry." Harry said seriously but it was ruined by the grin. "Or rent out."
"Dad, why would you need to hide?"
Harry just winked at the boy.
"Because, I seem to find myself in trouble. Much like another Potter I know," Harry replied lightly.
"Dad!" Ry complained. "It's not my fault that people are out to get me!"
Harry laughed and ruffled the boy's hair again. He was finding that he didn't really have to reach as far to do that now, since the boy was almost as tall as him.
"Now where is this stile?" Harry asked Ry as he looked around.
"How about over there?" Ry remarked with a smirk as he pointed Sirius out in his dog form. "Maybe where that dog is?"
"Ah, yes." Harry stated. "That gives it away."
The large black dog looked at them then growled at Harry before lopping off up the hill.
"Should we follow Lassie?" Harry asked.
Ry whacked him on the shoulder for his trouble which just made Harry grin in amusement.
"Lead on Timmy," Harry joked, pushing Ry forward.
Ry smacked him again and led the way after Sirius. The dog led them further up the hill and into a small cave. Harry had to duck slightly to get into the cave. Suddenly he was slammed against the cave wall, dropping his cane in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Black hissed in his face with his teeth barred.
"Because I asked him," Ry said softly.
"Yeah, what the boy said." Harry agreed, smiling at the fuming man.
Black looked at him in disgust as he pushed him further back into the wall.
"I can leave if you want," Harry suggested.
"I suppose you're better than Snape," Black remarked, stepping back. "Better looking too."
Ry gagged next to his father which made Harry grin.
"Why thanks," Harry said dryly. "And I was starting to think you didn't care."
Black snarled and turned away from the two, striding away for a couple of minutes before moving back. He eyed off the backpack Ry had until the boy held it out. Sirius took it in his hands and pulled out a sandwich, digging in.
"There's a status charm on the bag," Harry rambled. "And bottomless charm, not that it's bottomless, just what it's called. It's hard for anything to be bottomless really-"
"Dad rambles when he's nervous," Ry cut in.
"Um, yeah." Harry agreed then held out a key and a piece of paper to Black.
"What's this?" Black asked, taking the key and the note.
"It's a key to one of the Potter houses," Ry said excitedly. "Dad said you could stay there, while your case is being reviewed."
"What? Reviewed?" Black coughed and was so shocked that he stopped eating.
"Yeah," Ry continued. "Dad went to the Ministry with the memories of the night with Pettigrew and got your case reopened."
"You what?" Black exclaimed as he turned to Harry.
"You're welcome," Harry commented, with a smirk. "Merry Christmas and all that. Hasn't been made official yet, but you should be getting a full pardon. They are just taking a long time to wrap their mind around the fact. Did Dumbledore not tell you?"
"No, no he didn't."
Harry frowned and said, "I thought he would have said something, but you have been 'on the run' so maybe the message didn't get through."
"Dad said you can stay at the Potter house until your pardon comes through and since he did the warding you should be safe from the Ministry." Ry said, beaming.
"Thank you," Black said. "Doesn't mean I like you but thank you."
"I'll take it," Harry replied. "I'll wait outside while you have your chat with Ry."
Harry moved towards the cave entrance. He had to admit that it was harder than he would have thought to see the Sirius Black of this time. He had only known Sirius for such a short time and yet they had clicked so well from the moment they had met. This man was so much different than the man he had known. He could understand that since this Sirius wasn't his godfather. In fact, Harry was the man that took Harry Potter away from him but it still hurt.
This man still seemed to be struggling with the time he'd spent in Azkaban. Harry could tell it was going to take the man a long time to recover from what he'd been through. He knew from experience that Ry would be able to help him as long as Black could separate James Potter from Harry Potter.
Harry took a seat on a large rock out the front of the cave and took out his notebook to work on one of his projects while he waited. Suddenly Harry's phone rang shrilly, startling him.
"Blake Sun," Harry answered, looking at the math of one of his spells in his notebook.
"Hello, Mr Sun." A cheery voice purred. "It's Martha from files in the Department of Mysteries."
"Martha!" Harry said cheerfully. "How are you, my dear?"
"Very well Blake, I have located that prophecy you were asking about."
"You are fantastic," Harry said with a grin. "I owe you one."
"I think a fancy dinner out would make up for it."
"I think I can manage that." Harry purred. "Did you want me to pick up the orb from the Department?"
"Yes, you can pick it up from my office."
"Tomorrow good?"
"For dinner?" Martha asked
"Okay, hon." Harry answered with a laugh. "How about I come around on Friday then take you out to dinner?"
"Sounds great, Blake. See you at 6?"
"See you then, love."
Harry hung up the phone then glanced over his shoulder to see Ry with a big grin on his face and Sirius frowning at him.
"Ah, yeah." Harry stumbled over his words. "Forget you heard that."
Ry laughed.
"All done?" Harry asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah, we can go." Ry replied.
Harry pulled himself to his feet and limped back up to Ry and Black. He held his hand out to Sirius.
"Until next time, Black." Harry offered as Sirius took his hand. "Maybe next time we can skip the shoving me up against the wall?"
"Dad!" Ry yelped.
"We'll see," Black replied but there was a quirk to his lips and a glint in his eyes. "Bye, Ry."
"Bye, Sirius." Ry said with a grin before taking the man in a hug, startling him.
xXx
Harry looked up from the glass sphere in his hands when Severus knocked and entered his living room. He placed the glass on the table when he saw Severus's hard look.
"Ry said something, didn't he?" Harry stated.
"He took great delight in telling me at his detention tonight." Severus said coldly. "About your 'date'."
Harry grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm not surprised. What did he do to get the detention?" Harry asked.
"Two words: Potter. Malfoy." Severus drawled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"They'll learn to work together, maybe a couple of lessons together with me might help."
"It's your funeral."
Severus looked down at the glass sphere on the table in front of Harry and froze.
"Is that?" Severus asked as he stared.
"It is." Harry agreed as he picked up the sphere and held it out.
Severus took the sphere gently in his hand and glazed down at the prophecy swirled around inside it. He took a seat at the table as Harry looked him over.
"I met with a Martha Billings, who works in the file section of the Department," Harry explained. "For the exchange of dinner, she was able to locate that for me."
"So not a date?" Severus questioned carefully.
"Not a date." Harry agreed, taking back the prophecy from Severus's hand.
Their eyes locked and Harry quirked a smile before giving him a wink.
"Are you going to watch it?" Severus questioned.
Harry looked down at the sphere and the gentle mists swirling in its depths. There was nothing to show what the sphere would reveal.
"No," Harry whispered. "This isn't about me, this is for Ry."
"When will you give it to him?"
Harry sighed and ran a hand down his face.
"Maybe after the Cup," Harry replied. "He's a little stressed at the moment and has mentioned a certain Professor giving him trouble."
Severus just smirked at those words.
"Which reminds me," Harry said suddenly as he slipped the glass sphere away in his jacket. "I wanted to ask you about us working with Mr Malfoy with a Blood purifying potion?"
xXx
Severus found himself at the edge of the maze the night of the third task, on watch for sparks in his section. The edge of the hedge was dark and Severus couldn't work out why the Headmaster had chosen two tasks that most of the spectators wouldn't even be able to see what was going on within them. He looked along the hedge, hearing yells and growls from the other side but no sparks. He would rather be in the stands with Blake then out in the dark.
He walked along the edge trying not to let his mind come up with what could be happening within the maze. Blake had told him he'd placed wards on the grounds, so at least the maze wouldn't be claiming a life tonight but that didn't ease his mind as much as he'd hopped.
Severus nodded as Mad-eye Moody moved towards him, fake eye focused on him and a hard look on his face. The man passed him and Severus sighed quietly, the man gave him the creeps. Not that he would mention that to anyone but he had noticed the look that Blake gave the retired Auror when he thought no one was watching.
"Is he gone?"
Severus jumped at Blake's voice near him. Suddenly Blake's head appeared in mid-air, since he was wearing Potter's cloak.
"Who?" Severus asked softly.
"Mad Eye," Blake replied as he glacned around.
"Yes, he just passed by."
"Great," Blake said with a grin. "I have to look at the cup. It has been turned into a portkey but something isn't right with the destination programmed into it."
"Moody placed it in the middle of the maze before the task started."
"Yes," Harry agreed. "It looked fine when it was in the Headmaster's office but not when Moody took it into the maze. I need to look at it."
Severus looked down at the shorter man and frowned. Blake was on edge and he felt a chill.
"And how are you going to do that? It's in the maze." Severus pointed out with a smirk.
Blake grinned at him widely before he flipped the hood of the cloak back up and disappeared.
"When the task is over I want you to tell Dumbledore that something is wrong with Mad Eye," Blake's voice came from mid air. "Something isn't right tonight."
Severus shivered, sometimes Blake could creep him out, not that he would tell the man that. Blake grabbed his arm suddenly, his grip like steel.
"Whatever happens tonight, Severus," The man whispered close to his ear. "Do not answer his call and look out for Ry, okay?"
Severus nodded unable to speak as his heartbeat picked up at the man's words. Blake squeezed his arm then let go. The hedge beside him parted to let someone through then closed again, leaving Severus alone once again with just the darkness around him for company.
xXx
Harry moved through the hedges of the maze as he made his way towards the magical signal of the portkey. That damn Moody had given him the slip with the cup and hadn't changed the portkey until just before he entered the maze. He'd hopped to fix the portkey destination on the cup before the task but Dumbledore had kept it under lock and key and he hadn't been able to get close enough to it. Damn them both!
The numbing charm on his leg allowed Harry to move with more speed and with Ry's invisibility cloak he was able to bypass anything that would like to rip out his throat. He marvelled once again, how a school could even conceive that this was okay for children. The walls of the hedge parted before him as he cut his way through, the plants protesting every time. He had to make it towards the cup before his son and the Diggory boy got there.
He fell out of the last hedge to see Ry and Diggory looking down at the cup before they reached for the cup together.
"Ry!"
Harry lunged for his son, just as the two boys grabbed the cup. The world swirled around Harry as he tightened his hold on the cloak, he'd grabbed a hold of. The portkey spun them out in a familiar looking graveyard and he felt coldness shoot through him. The breath caught in his throat as ice curled around his heart. He knew that this night would come as he ran his plans through his head. Adapting them as he took in his surroundings.
"Dad?" Ry asked as he got to his feet
"Mr Sun?" Cedric asked looking around at the graveyard. "Where are we?"
Harry got to his feet as quickly as he could. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a marble and held it out to Cedric, who took it in puzzlement.
"Tell Dumbledore 'Tom Riddle'," Harry told the boy. "Understand?"
"Um, yes sir." Cedric stuttered, looking puzzled.
"Home," Harry whispered and the boy disappeared.
"What's going on Dad?" Ry asked as he moved close to him.
Harry looked around with wide eyes he could feel the anti-apparation wards and how far out they stretched. The marble portkey he'd made could only take one person and Harry was kicking himself for not making more but it had been hard to make a gap in the wards around Hogwarts without the Headmaster's permission.
"Dad?"
"I have to get you out of here," Harry said as he gripped his son's hand tightly and gabbed up the Cup in the other.
He could feel that the portkey in the Cup wasn't ready yet and he quickly poured magic into it trying to speed it up. He could feel the fear in his stomach as he looked around the graveyard and tried to keep control of his panic as memories filtered into his head from a similar night so long ago. His son's hand in his grounded him to the here and now. Ry's hand in his reminding him of the price he could pay if he couldn't get his son to safety. He'd not be prepared for the memories pushing at his mind. He pushed them to the side roughly and focused on what was before him.
"Someone is coming," Ry pointed out.
A short man was walking between the graves with something in his arms. Suddenly Ry clutched at his head and fell to his knees. Harry gritted his teeth and held onto his son. He cursed as he tried to pull the boy up but he was just too heavy.
"Kill the spare."
Harry ducked the green spell and tried to pull his son along. He only got as far as the closest grave. He pushed Ry against the grave and placed the cup in his hands. Memories and reality mixing together around him in his mind as he looked down at his son to ground himself in this time. He couldn't afford to slip now.
"Praesidio vi repellere mela," Harry muttered the spell, pointing his cherry wand at his son, cutting the link between the Dark Lord and Ry.
"Better?" Harry asked Ry as the boy looked up at him and nodded, his eyes still clouded in pain.
"That won't last," Harry muttered, distractedly. "I want you to stay here with the Cup."
"But-"
"No!" Harry cut him off with a glare. "You will stay here. Do not let go of the Cup. Promise me on your magic, Harry!"
"Yes, Dad." Ry muttered and the magic settled between them.
Harry looked over to the grave to see Pettigrew lowering the bundle in his arms to the ground before a large cauldron. Harry quickly untied the Invisibility cloak from around his neck and pushed it towards his son, his hands shaking slightly.
"Okay, Ry." Harry explained quickly. "That is the reborn body of the Dark Lord and Pettigrew. The Cup still needs time to recharge before it can send you home. Severus is going to look after you when you get there. Do not go with anyone else, understand?"
"No," Ry gasped, holding the cup close to him.
Harry grabbed his shoulder.
"Please, just trust me. Okay?" Harry pleaded.
Ry nodded, his eyes large as they looked up at his father. Harry felt his heart clench in his chest.
"Come out, little Potter." A high-pitched voice called out across the graveyard. "You can't hide forever. What would your parents say?"
Chilling laughter floated on the air and Harry shivered. He could see that Wormtail had already started the ritual and it was only a matter of time before Voldemort would rise again. He had to act soon.
"Dad?" Ry whispered in a small voice.
"It's going to be okay, Ry." Harry said softly. "Severus will look after you."
His son looked up at him with large green eyes, pleading with Harry to stay with him. Harry grabbed the boy's shoulder one more time before stepping out from behind the grave and moving towards the ritual before him. He could feel the darkness on the air and he had to force himself forward. The bitter taste of the magic in the back of his throat.
"James Potter!" The high-pitched voice of Voldemort hissed. "I killed you!"
Harry stood up straighter and looked down at the grotesque version of the child that was the new born body of Voldemort. Wormtail looked up at him and shrunk back slightly.
"That's not James, my Lord." The small man whispered. "His name is Blake Sun, he's Harry Potter's adoptive father."
The cold laugh that burst forth from the Dark Lord chilled Harry to the bone.
"I get to kill the boy's parents twice!" The child laughed.
"No!" Ry screamed from behind the gravestone but his promise with Harry held him back, keeping him out of harm's way.
Harry smiled darkly.
"You don't have the power," Harry mocked coldly.
"But I do!"
Harry ducked the spell fired at him from a figure dressed in black with a white mask. The blue spell passed over his head and with a cry Harry sent another curse back at the other man. He stepped to the side easily as Harry ducked behind another gravestone.
"Finish the ritual, Pettigrew." The death eater said coldly. "I'll keep him busy."
Harry held his wand to the ground below him and channelled his power down. Plants sprung up around the man's feet making him shout out as the vines tangled around his legs. The vines bit into his skin with sharp thorns as Harry poured his magic down. The Death Eater flicked his wand as he started to cut into the vines. Harry could hear Wormtail's voice on the air as he started the ritual. His chance of corrupting the magic was slipping away and he cursed.
The Death Eater finally cut through the last vine and flicked his wand towards Harry. The Gravestone next to Harry exploded into dust. He swore and started moving. He couldn't do anything until he got rid of the Death Eater.
"Stupefy!" Harry yelled out as a distraction.
The red spell headed straight for the man who ducked down to avoid it. Harry pulled on the magic in the earth and it split open trying to take the Death Eater down as Harry poured power into the earth. The man yelped and skipped to the side as he cast a spell in Harry's direction.
Harry swore as the spell sliced into his side cutting through his shirt and into his skin. He quickly ducked behind another grave as dark magic poured out around them. He wasn't dealing with a simple follower, he was dealing with someone with duelling experience.
"You think you can beat me!" The man cried out, blonde hair falling loose around the mask.
"Yes," Harry called back as he circled around him.
The man laughed as he watched Harry carefully. Harry could feel the dark magic swirling around and slowly grabbed a hold of it. He felt it come into his hands as he held the elder wand lightly. The dark wand drinking in the magic hungrily and Harry let it as he collected the magic. The move made the Death Eater pause as dark mists started to swirl around Harry. He was sure that the other man had never seen anything like it as Harry gave him a dark smile.
"Do you think you can beat me?" Harry spat back the other man's words, the dark magic nipping at his heels.
"Yes!" The man gasped and pushed his wand forward at the same time Harry released the dark magic he'd gathered.
The black mist went screaming towards the other man absorbing the man's spell and smashed into the other man's chest. The Death Eater was thrown from his feet as Harry crashed onto one knee as the magic left him. He heaved a sigh of relief when he felt the Portkey activated as it sent his son back to safety to the school. At least one thing was going his way this night.
Slow clapping made Harry look up to see a tall man with brown hair and red eyes looking down at him. Harry pulled himself to his feet and tried to stand evenly. His right leg throbbed and his side bled but he was not going to show weakness. He looked Voldemort over as the other man eyed him.
"Nice show," Voldemort hissed.
The other man looked very different to the way Harry remembered. More human and yet his eyes showed no humanity as they stared at Harry coldly. It looked like the change in the Dark Ritual, since they couldn't use Ry's blood, had made all the difference. Harry gathered up the last of the dark magic around him, ready to use it if he needed to. He could feel it settle on his skin as he tapped into the magic held in his dark wand.
"Dark Lord Voldemort," Harry greeted calmly.
"You are Blake Sun?" The man questioned.
"Yes," Harry replied shortly.
"You wield that dark magic as well as any Dark Lord," Voldemort laughed coldly. "You could be a asset to my cause."
Harry laughed back.
"You think I would join you in your campaign against muggles and muggleborns?" Harry hissed.
"Yes," Voldemort hissed. "Dark power, pulls dark power."
Harry laughed in the man's face and raised his wand. Dark magic rushed out of him toward the Dark Lord. Voldemort flicked his wand at the spell but Harry hadn't aiming for the man but the tree behind him.
CRACK!
The Dark Lord twisted around just as the tree behind him exploded, sending shards of wood flying. Harry used the distraction to duck and run. He had to make it to the edge of the wards before he could disapparate. A cry sounded from behind him and Harry dived behind a gravestone and covered his head as stone went flying around him. The stone dust coating him and making him swear as he pulled more dark power to his hands. He quickly let the magic run over him in a shield.
"You can't run from me!" Voldemort screamed.
Harry pushed his magic into the ground and with a wench he pulled. The earth cracked and split as it raced back towards the Dark Lord. The man yelled out but it was too late. He fell and Harry ran as fast as his leg would allow him. He was mere meters away from the edge of the wards when he felt the magic build behind him. He knew what was coming.
With a shout, Harry brought up the strongest shield charm he could master on the fly and the Dark Lord's magic slammed in to it. The clashing of magic pushing Harry back across the ground but he managed to hold his feet as the other man poured magic into his spell. Harry gritted his teeth and held on to his dark wand with two hands as he slowly and painfully kept stepping back. His bad leg threatening to collapse under him with every step. He was too old to be tangling with Dark Lords head on.
'Just a couple of steps to go,' Harry thought as he held his wand.
"You can't hold that spell forever," Voldemort hissed, his magic bitting into his barrier charm.
"You're right," Harry gasped. "But I don't have to."
Harry grinned and took another step back.
"I only have to get to the edge of your wards."
"NO!"
Voldemort's scream followed Harry as he disaparated. His magic swirling around him as he disappeared.
xXx
Harry stumbled to his knees as he landed with the world spinning around him making him feel sick. The last of the dark magic he'd gathered rolling off him harmlessly and into the earth under his hands as he panted. The world still spun and he just couldn't hold his stomach. He threw up everything he'd eaten and kept throwing up until it was only bile.
"Blake!"
The yell made his head ache as he moved away from the sick on the ground. He sat back on his heels as he rested his hand on his thighs with his head bowed. He opened his eyes to find Headmaster Dumbledore and Severus Snape looking down at him.
"Hey," Harry said weakly. "Mind giving me a hand up?"
Severus jumped forward on his bad side and got under his arm. Harry hissed at the pain in his side but didn't say anything.
"What happened, my boy?" Albus asked. "Ry came back saying that Voldemort had risen?"
"Yes," Harry replied shortly, leaning heavily into Severus.
His head pounded and he wasn't sure if he was going to be sick again. He turned his head away from Severus just in case. He could feel how tense Severus was under his arm but he was having enough trouble trying to stay on his feet.
"Is Ry okay?" Harry asked.
"Yes, he's fine." Albus reassured him. "Both Cedric Diggory and Mr Potter made it back safely. We had a little trouble with Alastor Moody but it was all worked out."
Harry nodded and stumbled into Severus, who grunted until Harry felt another person get under his other arm. He let the men take his weight and just focused on moving one foot in front of the other as the two men softly spoke between each other.
"What could have-"
"-dark magic-"
"-yes, it's all over him-"
"How could-"
"-Dark Lord-"
Harry jolted at those words, more awake.
"Dark Lord?" Harry questioned.
"Voldemort," Albus cleared up. "You still have dark magic clinging to you."
"Oh, yeah." Harry said softly. "He used a Dark Ritual, there was a Death Eater there. Lucius Malfoy, I think, he was there to back up Pettigrew. I tapped into the Dark Ritual and pulled some of the dark magic off to use against Malfoy."
He felt Albus nod. "That's very advanced, not to mention very dangerous."
"The things you do when your life is in danger," Harry laughed humourlessly. "Don't think Malfoy will be walking too great for a while."
Harry looked up when they reached the castle stairs. Everything was so quiet around them and he frowned.
"Why is it so quiet?" Harry asked.
"After Ry came back, I sent all the students to their common rooms and the other schools back to their rooms." Albus explained.
"Oh," Harry said dumbly. "Where are we going?"
"Hospital wing," Severus said shortly.
"Why?"
"Because you are leaving a trail of blood in the hallway, Mr Sun."
Harry looked down at his side. "Oh, yeah."
Now that he thought about it, his side started to throb and he noticed the blood running down his leg. Harry fell silent again as they moved towards the hospital wing.
"Dad!"
Harry's head shot up and the world spun around him. Suddenly Ry was before him and peering up at him in concern.
"Dad, are you okay?" Ry questioned quickly.
"Out of the way, Potter." Severus snapped.
Ry danced to the side to let the two men move Harry to one of the beds.
"Are you okay, Ry?" Harry asked as the two men eased him down onto the side of the bed.
"Yeah, Dad." Ry said softly, his eyes wide. "The Cup took me back, you were amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!"
Harry smiled for his son. "Thank you, Ry."
"Maybe you should get back to your bed, Mr Potter." Albus suggested gently.
"Okay, Professor Dumbledore." Ry agreed, subdued. "I'll see you in the morning Dad."
Harry nodded as Ry moved off and Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a frown on her face.
"Mr Sun, don't tell me that I'll have to make you up a bed next to your son's." Madam Pomfrey stated.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Harry replied.
He pulled his jacket off and passed it to Severus, before working on his shirt. Madam Pomfrey stepped forward to give him a hand. Once his shirt was off, they could see the long cut from the bottom his ribs on the right side to the left hand side of his hip. Madam Pomfrey placed the tip of her wand at the top of the cut and slowly ran it down the cut, muttering the healing charms under her breath as she worked.
Harry caught Albus eyeing off the scars on his back and arms out of the corner of his eye but he ignored it. He couldn't deal with that conversation at the moment.
"Are you in pain?" Pomfrey asked as she worked.
"I'm fine," Harry replied automatically and Severus snorted. "Could do with a glass of water though."
"Albus?" Pomfrey asked, as she ran her wand over Harry checking for more injuries as her magic soaked into the cut.
"Of course, my dear." Albus replied leaving the room to get the glass of water.
It was then that Harry noticed the black dog peering around the door of Ry's room. Harry nodded at the dog while Severus glared at it. Albus must have called the Animagus.
"Everything else seems to be in order," Pomfrey said, lowering her wand. "Take it easy on the magic for a little while and just take it easy for the next few weeks and you should be fine."
"Can you tell that to Ry?" Harry asked her with a smile.
Pomfrey glared at him and placed a bandage over the cut across his stomach before moving off into her office. Albus returned with the water as Black moved into the room.
"Poppy is going to give Mr Potter a potion to help him sleep," Albus told him as he passed the water over.
"Thank you," Harry replied.
"You will want this, Mr Sun." Poppy commented as she held out a cane that she'd picked up from her office. She looked down her nose at the dog but said nothing. "If that is all, I will head to bed, Headmaster?"
"Yes, thank you my dear." Albus said with a smile.
Pomfrey nodded and made her way out of the hospital wing.
"I thought she would never leave," Black cried, once he was human.
"Impatient as always, Black." Severus snarled
"Shove it, Snape!"
"You only wish, Black."
Harry turned to Albus as the two bickered.
"Have they always been like this?" Harry asked.
Albus smiled down at him. "Much like Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy."
Harry snorted loudly and the two men stopped bickering to look at him.
"Okay," Harry said as he slid to the edge of the bed and got his cane on the floor.
"Where do you think you're going?" Severus asked silkily.
"A shower," Harry replied, looking down at the blood on his hands and the stone dust on his arms and in his hair. "Either give me a hand or disappear somewhere else. So that when I land on my ass, I don't have witnesses."
Albus laughed and clapped Harry on the shoulder and made his way out.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Blake." Albus called over his shoulder.
Severus moved to his side and both men looked at Black. Sirius looked at his feet for a second before he looked at Harry.
"Thank you," Black whispered then transformed and tottered off to Ry's room.
Harry looked up at Severus and the man grinned down at him.
"I guess you're going to be my crutch," Harry grinned.
Severus just sighed and helped him to the bathroom.
"What have I got myself into," Severus muttered.
Harry just snorted.
End of Part One.
Author's note: Okay, this is when everything changes. This part of the story was more about setting up events. Voldemort has returned, which had to happen because you can't fight against a disembodied spirit of a Dark Lord. Some events were always going to happen and will continue to happen but the impact of Blake Sun being alive in this time will start to change events completely.