Harry Potter and the Serpent Conquest

Book Three of The Heritage Series

Chapter Seven

Exhaustive Anger

Harry felt the hard concrete hit his feet as he landed heavily on the balcony and relished the open air and felt the heat of the early morning sun hitting his face as it rose over London. The feeling of freedom didn't last as he opened his eyes and saw Ron levitating in front of him, pale and covered in blood and completely immobilised.

Next to him Hermione let go of him and shakily levitated Ron through the cracked windowed door and directed him towards the dirty sofa.

"Not there." Harry told her as he followed, "The table."

She looked at him momentarily but didn't question him and placed Ron onto the table carefully as if scared to disturb his body.

While she was hovering over Ron, Harry hurried to the sideboard and picked up Hermione's beaded bag and looked inside at the jumble of belongings inside and realised he wouldn't be able to find anything by sight or touch.

"Accio Trunk!"

His leather-bound trunk shot out of the bag and he clumsily caught it and placed int on the floor and magically expanded it back to its regular size.

Wounds caused by magics were among the hardest to heal, which was only further complicated if it was inflicted by dark magic. Harry was not sure if he had the necessary skill to heal Ron, this was the worst injuries he had ever contemplated healing himself, so he wanted to be prepared for any eventuality that he could think of.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione cried, holding on to Rons hand tightly as she looked at him. "I don't know how to heal this much damage, he needs a healer, do you think we can risk St Mungo's? We could disguise him!"

"He will be fine." Harry said trying to reassure her while pulling out his potions kit and extracted three vials of potion and then pulled out two books from the other compartment of the trunk and he frowned thinking of other potions he might need. "Where is our Potion bag?"

"In the bag." Hermione said hurrying over and summoned a large old leather bag from within and opened it and he heard the clinking of numerous glass bottles and vials, many of which they had stolen from the Burrow while others they had made themselves.

Flicking through his books, Harry turned to the pages that detailed the areas of the shoulder and how it all worked, including a diagram of magical focal points for channelling healing magic and the other contained guides to combating severe trauma.

Taking it all over to the table he set it all down within easy reach and then turned his attention to his friends blood-stained shoulder, he turned his wand on his friend and his robes cut open with a loud rip in the otherwise silent flat and exposed the injury which garnered a gasp from Hermione.

The shoulder was a mess, the bone had shattered as the spell had gone through, muscle had been shredded but as Harry studied it closely he thought it could have been much worse than it was. It was also fortunate that it was a mere curse that had done the damage and not a dark magic spell as combating that would have made his job now even more complicated and would have testing his knowledge of magic beyond what he was comfortable with.

But even now Harry felt hesitant to begin the work, healing magic was a complex branch of magic and this amount of trauma complicated the process and his teachers and books had all lectured on the effect badly applied healing magic or untrained healers could do, a healer could do more harm than good.

Harry knew that he had no choice but to heal Ron, but he wished he had a chance to rest as he was exhausted, both magically from the fight but also physically due to the lack of sleep, he also knew that they could not leave Ron suspended indefinitely as even now he was losing blood.

"What's wrong?" Hermione said looking worried as she looked between Ron and Harry, "Why haven't you started. Can't you do it? I said we needed a healer!"

"Please be quiet!" Harry snapped harshly before sighing, "Sorry. Having you hover over us is not helping me concentrate."

Closing her mouth and bitting her lip Hermione stepped away from Rons unconscious form and gave Harry some space which he was appreciative for and he regretted snapping at her but of the two of them he had more training in healing and was the calmer of them both.

Circling his wand above the wound, he magically probed it and took a detailed analysis of the injury and he became acutely aware how fortunate Ron was, luck had favoured him when Yaxleys aim had been off by only a few inches, if it hadn't been Ron would not be laying there now.

He still had to live through the healing process, Harry found himself reminding himself sternly.

Remembering his lessons from Durmstrang he thought of what spells were needed and recalled their incantations and wand movements and mentally prepared himself to begin to apply the magic that would gradually restore Ron's body.

The spells needed were not simple and he had to mutter them constantly, and the incantations fell from his tongue like a low murmured song all the while he twirled his wand and directed the magic into his friend's shoulder.

Mending a broken bone was simple enough normally if it was just a straightforward break, however Rons shoulder had shattered into numerous pieces which required intricate magical intervention to make the bone reform correctly and to pull splinters from where they had scattered and prevent them from causing more harm.

Once the bone was reformed Harry directed his magic to vessels that had been compromised and worked methodically to restore blood flow and once he was sure he had sealed all of them he removed the body-bind from Ron and instead stunned him and monitored his shoulder for several minutes and was looking for any sign of bleeding or leakage and found only two which he fixed.

Lastly, he had to repair the tissue damage, reattaching muscles to the bones and reweaving the muscle tissues together into a whole and preventing the formation of scar tissue, it was a delicate process as if done wrong could prevent Ron having full use of his shoulder.

Harry had been forced to rely on his books for the spells needed for this part, but eventually it was done and then healed the damage to the skin and all that remained was a patch of raw red skin on either side of his torso.

Suddenly a hand reached into his view and startled him.

"Dittany will help." Hermione said as she dropped a few drops onto the wound sites, "Do we bandage it?"

"Yes." Harry said stepping away and suddenly became acutely aware of how tired he was. "It would be best if he wore a sling too, he needs to rest the shoulder while his body recovers, healing magic only does so much, the rest is down to Ron. Give him the blood replenishing potion, and a nutrient booster too, the Skele-grow can go back in my kit."

"Sure." Hermione said, and she applied a number of drops of the potion to Ron's shoulder which smoked as it landed and looked up at Harry and looked worried, "Harry are you okay? You've gone really pale."

"I'm fine." Harry said smiling weakly and he fell backwards onto the sofa, "It just took a lot out of me."

Hermione nodded but didn't stop watching him closely as he sat trying to collect himself and he made sure to hide his shaking hands from her. She finished caring for Ron and bound his arm and shoulder in a bandage sling very carefully and Harry had to smirk at how gingerly she had touched Ron's bare chest and noticed the slight blush.

With a whisper Hermione removed the stunning spell from Ron but he did not wake immediately, and she looked alarmed.

"He will wake up when he is ready." Harry assured her, "The healing process is a shock to the body, he should wake up in a few minutes.

Closing his eyes, he tried to massage the pain in his head away through his temples, his head was throbbing, and his mind became foggy. The connection between him and Voldemort flared and pulsed dangerously, and Harry felt a flicker of emotions that were not his own before he closed the connection off, only to cause himself more pain as his headache grew worse from the effort.

Harry was not sure how long he sat there half unconscious on the sofa, but he jerked awake when Ron came to and moved only to groan painfully.

"Ouch," Ron managed to say, "Well that didn't go according to plan."

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed happily moving over to him looking relieved. "How do you feel?"

"Great." Ron snorted and winced as he pulled his shoulder and Hermione helped him up into a sitting position and he gently prodded the area where the curse had exploded through his body but could only feel the bandages and a little discomfort. "Who healed me?"

Harry did not trust himself to answer as his vision blurred again and he momentarily was gone from the flat and was instead walking down a busy street seemingly invisible to the muggles around him. He returned to the flat and caught the end of Hermione's answer.

"… I couldn't have done it, I wanted to take you to a healer, but Harry managed it."

"Thanks. I know it took a lot of work" Ron said appreciatively, and with his good arm he reached out and managed to extract a large lump of quartz and then an eagle feather quill along with an ancient crude-glass inkwell. "Now question is, what do we do with these? And where are the files you got Harry?"

"I didn't take them." Harry said his voice cracking, "there were too many and they were impervious to damage, I needed to be quick, so I did the only thing I could. I hid them under a Fidelius Charm."

Both Hermione and Ron nodded in approval, trusting that it was the only thing he could do.

"I passed the secret to your father Ron. It will be down to the Order to get those files, but we stopped the Ministry from using them at least." Harry added, but decided to keep quiet about the full conversation with Mr Weasley, Ron didn't need to know his father was endangering himself.

"Well we at least achieved our goals, even if our plan fell apart from the offset." Hermione said, and she looked disappointed, "I failed you two today, I did nothing to help our mission in the Ministry, I was the liability."

"No." Ron said firmly, "Each of us went in with a part to play, any one of us could have been pulled away and trapped like you were. In the end I only managed to get the Quill and Trace because you made me memorise every part of our plans, so I just did what you were going to do."

"Not only that, but because you got pulled away we were able to save all of those muggleborns on trial today." Harry said agreeing with Ron's view, "However you protected my back in the Atrium while I focused on the aurors. Do not think I do not know that it was because of you that our exit was not sealed during our fight, the Death Eaters or Aurors should have completed the lockdown but for some reason that one fireplace remained open?"

"Harry that was nothing!" She said humbly, "You fought off an entire squad of Aurors and a Death Eater all but singlehandedly. The power you expelled was unbelievable it could be felt throughout the Atrium."

Harry laughed humourlessly, "Those aurors were trying to apprehend me, not aiming to kill or seriously injure. I knew that if I showed no sign of weakness or tiring they would hesitate in their attacks and be unsure as to the extent of my abilities. But remember I had you protecting my back and Ron created a distraction to allow me to push my advantage. I bet they were also already hesitant to properly challenge me because by now the entire auror office knows what I am capable off after the attack at the wedding."

It might sound like he was boasting, but Harry was just being honest to them. He knew he was a skilled and powerful duellist now, he had been improving his skills for years due to the threats against him, to be humble about that would be to understate the situation within the Ministry.

Both of his friends frowned, and Hermione opened her mouth to argue but Ron spoke over her and gave her a "Drop it" sort of look.

"Well we did what we set out to do." Ron said indicating to their prizes, "What do we do now? Pass them to the Order or hide them?"

Harry hadn't really thought about what they would do once they had what they came for but was saved by Hermione.

"We should pass them to the Order, they will be better positioned to help people with them." She said firmly, "that is their role in this war, protecting who they can with the resources that they have. We have a bigger role, we have to be free to find those Horcruxes now that this threat has been neutralised."

Neither Harry or Ron disagreed with her, it was after all why they had set off to begin with before Harry had side-tracked them with this mission.

"Works for me." Ron shrugged only to grimace as his shoulder pained him, "What do we do then? Leave it where the Order will find them? Or do we send them a message?"

"No." Hermione said, "That's too risky, what happens if they are intercepted."

"We need to meet someone from the Order then." Ron said, "But we can't just apparate to the Burrow and leaving it with my mum and dad."

Harry agreed, especially given the file he had found in Umbridge's office. "No, we need to arrange an exchange on our own terms, in a way that will not allow anyone to intercept or listen in."

"A tall order." Ron whistled, "Any ideas? As I'm stumped."

"Let me think on it." Hermione said, and she looked at them both critically, you two need to sleep I will keep watch."

Neither Harry or Ron complained, and they were all but sent to their respective rooms while Hermione began to study what they had stolen from the ministry.

o-HP-o

Many of the members of the Order were still working within the Ministry of Magic, hiding within the new regime to keep watch from the inside and to be ready to strike back when the moment came but they all knew the risks of their being within walls of what was perhaps the most dangerous in Britain.

The Order knew that they were targets and their identities had been compromised by Snape but many of them needed to work. While others only remained in their employment to try and help where they could and get intelligence which the Order could use.

But they were unable to do much of anything, the Death Eaters who controlled the ministry kept the suspected Order members away from anything sensitive or any key locations.

Some like Kingsley and Moody were being closely watched and sent on pointless assignments that kept them away from the ministry and prevented them from interfering but allow the Ministry to monitor them closely.

While other members of the Order had been forced to leave their employment due to the risks of their blood status.

Tonks had not returned to work following the Wedding, not only because she was pregnant but because she was a target of her deranged aunt Bellatrix. While she hadn't been seen for weeks, Andromeda had convinced Tonks to stay at home for the safety of the baby she was carrying.

She often called on the Burrow when Remus was out of the house, which was often these days. Tonks had noticed how distant her husband had become of late, he was avoiding her, and she did not know why.

"So how are things with Remus dear?" Molly said stetting a cup of tea down in front of her, "Have things changed?"

"No Molly." She admitted sadly and held her belly seeking comfort from the child carried, "he is pulling away from me, he is angry all of the time. I don't know what is wrong with him, we were so happy and now we are not."

"He is probably just scared dear." Molly said consolingly, "he is to become a father late in life, and during a war, it does strange things to men."

"I think there is something else." Tonks admitted, "I still haven't told mum, if she knew how bad things are getting between us I think she might curse him. She cannot wait to meet her grandchild."

"Have you thought anymore about names?" Molly asked, "Have the two of you even discussed them?"

"No." Tonks sighed, "If it is a boy I thought to name him Sirius…but I don't think Remus could stand it, he still grieves."

"We all do." Molly said taking a sip of tea and wiping a tear from her eye, "Remus is not alone in that regard, I may not have agreed with Sirius in the beginning, but he was good for Harry, and for our community."

"I miss him." Tonks told her hugging her arms, "I missed him when he was in Azkaban even when we thought he was a Death Eater, I could never forget my only cousin who taught me how to get in trouble. Now I miss him as the rock of the family, one we could always turn to if we needed help. I could use his help now, if anyone could help me with Remus it would be Sirius."

The clock on the sideboard chimed and it was five in the afternoon and Arthurs hand was moving to travelling and then it settled on home.

Molly looked relieved as she looked out of the window as saw her husband crossing the yard.

"I should go." Tonks said sadly, "I will leave you to it, thank you for the sympathy Molly."

"No stay for dinner dear." Molly stated, "Ginny will be back from visiting Hemlock Hall with Luna soon, she will be happy to see you."

Before Tonks could argue any more the backdoor opened to reveal a haggard looking Arthur Weasley, but he was smiling broadly.

"What is it Arthur?" Molly asked he was late home and she had been getting worried and had only known him to be fine due to the clock, "What has happened?"

"There was an incursion on the ministry today, around thirty muggleborns were rescued from the Commission," Arthur told them and saw their shocked faces, "the infiltrations bypassed all of the new security and passed the guards."

"It wasn't us was it?" Tonks asked, "I know we have discussed sabotaging the Commission, but I thought we didn't agree on a way of doing it that didn't risk lives."

"Its not only the Commission that was targeted." Arthur said laughing now, "according to some, the Trace has also been sabotaged and the Hogwarts Registry Quill has also been taken. I was given this file to review too, by none other than Albert Runcorn…"

Arthur handed the folder to Tonks who opened it and her mouth opened in surprise and she flicked through the sheets of parchment that detailed every member of the Order that Ministry and by extension the Death Eaters were aware of.

"Runcorn gave you this?!" Tonks asked shocked, "But I thought he was the lead investigator for the Commission?"

"Runcorn is." Mr Weasley nodded, "Look at the front page, he said he left me a lead to follow too."

Tonks flicked to the first page and saw on the side of the folder written in black ink was a message.

'The Ministry records of all muggleborns past and present who reside in the British Isles may be found in File Room within the office of the Senior Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic.'

"That's…." Tonks said looking up in surprise, she knew that handwriting.

"A fight broke out between the aurors and the intruders as they fled the Ministry, and before they escaped they managed to destroy the new statue but also left a message burning on the wall that they have still not been able to remove." Arthur finished smiling knowingly at Tonks, "Like a phoenix, liberty will reborn from the ashes of this new regime. That was the message and it came with an image of a phoenix devouring the dark mark."

"Oh." Molly cried out looking terrified, "It was them wasn't it? Oh, how could it not be."

"Yes." Arthur said proudly, "They have been gone for only a few weeks and they have struck a hard blow to the Death Eaters today. They have undermined their control of our community, something we, the Order have not been able to do, we couldn't even find a way in!"

The three of them exchanged resigned looks and then Mrs Weasley ushered her husband into a chair and made him a cup of tea so that they could get the rest of the story out of him.

o-HP-o

Harry woke with a start and was breathing heavily and was dripping with sweat and his head pounded painfully, and he cursed Voldemort and the infernal connection between them both for never allowing him peace.

While he did not feel well rested, he was at least no longer tired, and his body no longer ached, and some strength had returned to his limbs and stopped them shaking.

He removed the silencing ward he had placed round himself before he had slept to prevent the others hearing him in case he shouted out in his sleep or worse spoke as Voldemort while he was within his mind.

The door to his room was closed an it was dark outside so assumed it was early evening and his stomach rumbled making his hunger known. He conjured a towel and wiped the sweat from his brow but realised he needed a bath but first he needed to eat.

Stepping into the living area he saw Hermione and Ron sitting eating at the table where only hours before Ron had lay bleeding.

"Is there any more of that?" Harry asked them quietly and his voice rasped slightly as his throat was sore.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out looking truly relieved, "We have been trying to wake you for hours."

"Sorry, I haven't been sleeping well and that fight really knocked the stuffing out of me." He said in a poor attempt at humour which only caused him to yawn wildly. He sat in the chair Hermione ushered him into while she went to get him some of the food leaving him to conjure himself a glass of water.

"Harry do you know what time it is?" Hermione asked as she came back with a bowl of thick vegetable soup, it was basic, but it was hot, and the slightly stale bread was fine once dunked into it. "It is almost midnight, you have been out all this time. You weren't sleeping peacefully either."

There was a pregnant silence after she spoke, she was trying to get him to talk but he wasn't going to bite and instead focused on filling his belly with the soup and had to fight the impulse to bring it back up again as his thoughts turned to his dreams.

Hermione did not give up that easily though.

"Your silencing ward stopped us from hearing you Harry, but I saw you screaming in pain when I came to check on you." Hermione told him, "Was it your scar?"

Harry sighed as he pushed he pushed the bowl away only managing to eat half of it, but she had managed to put him of the rest, his stomach was rebelling against even the small amount he had downed. Instead he sat and aimlessly pulled apart the bread in his hands.

"It wasn't just my scar." He told her, he saw that Hermione was watching him closely looking worried while Ron tried to give him space and not look he was prying but was also listening. "I was trapped within his mind for a time and saw what he was doing…. But then I escaped him and the horrors of his mind, but I found myself in a nightmare, which I think might be worse."

Hermione didn't push him now, Hermione looked at him patiently while Ron kept his attention on his plate but was listening but was trying not look like he wasn't.

"I have been having recurring dreams, two of them, one of is of the things that I have done to stay alive and the harm I have done to others. The other is…" Harry managed to get out before his throat locked and he couldn't put a voice to his shame.

"Is about Sirius?" Hermione finished for him, and Harry looked up at her surprised. "I told you I checked on you and had tried to wake you up. I might not have been able to hear you, but I could read your lips enough to know you were screaming Sirius's name. What was the dream about?"

Harry looked at her for a long moment, he didn't want to answer her but felt compelled to do so, "I feel like I am trapped in darkness, I feel aguish, fear and helplessness the entire time and its overwhelming. I know that feeling and know what it means, its like a smell that rises up at the back of your mouth, like a metallic tang that make you feel sick. Then Sirius appears in front of me but cannot reach me, he calls to me, but I cannot hear him, he screams at me but still the words do not reach my ear. I stand in front of him unable to help him and unable to understand what it is that he wants from me."

As he spoke Hermione's eyes went wide and filled with tears, but she remained silent and allowed him to vent his frustration and underlining fear.

"I think he is haunting me, he blames me for his death." He admitted quietly, it was the first time he had voiced his thought out loud.

"Don't be stupid." Ron said sounding unusually serious, "Sirius would never blame you for his death, especially since he knew you had been kidnapped, you wouldn't have been able to help him. But more than that, Sirius would have taken the killing curse if it meant saving your life Harry. He loved you, never forget that."

"Then why is he screaming at me?" Harry asked them, "I know its just a dream and it doesn't mean anything, but I just feel like there is more to it than that. More than my own fear and guilt."

"Ron is right Harry." Hermione said tightly, "Sirius would never blame you, and your blaming yourself for things you couldn't control. You used to have nightmares about the graveyard after the tournament too, they passed in time."

"You not got any dreamless sleeping potion in that beaded bag?" Ron asked, "it will allow Harry to get some proper rest, I mean I am the injured one here who lost a load of blood, but he looks like an inferi."

Harry snorted despite himself and managed a wane smile which made his friends smile in return.

"I wouldn't take it even if we did." Harry told Ron, "It is addictive and self-medicating is not the answer here. If I could stand the taste of coffee that would help me, but the taste is foul, think we could get hold of Madraxa Nectar?" It was a plant he had used while in the Black Hunting lodge to counter the effects of sleep deprivation thanks to its stimulant properties.

"That's the stuff the upper years always peddle during the last few months of the NEWTS isn't it?" Ron asked, "Fred and George often used it when they worked into the night of some product or another, think you can only get it from an apothecary. Hogwarts had a black-market of the nectar as it was in short supply and in high demand."

"It's not a drug though is it?" Hermione asked, "I always thought it was a controlled substance."

"Not at all." Ron laughed, "It's just an uncommon plant as it's hard to grow, the nectar is used to make stimulant drinks to help you stay away longer. It is stronger than coffee but isn't bitter and it was kind of fruity. Dad used to occasionally have Madraxa tea if he was on a double shift or working nights, think he got a box of the tea from Perkins, but he used it all and never bought it again."

Hermione considered that for a minute, "Well its not a common potion ingredient and I don't have any and I assume you don't either Harry, do we risk a trip to an apothecary?"

"No." Harry said resigned to the fact he wouldn't get any caffeinated help to keep him alert, "While I slept did you come up with any way to contact the Order, we know they are being watched so we have to be careful plus we need to move on to the Horcruxes."

The two of them exchanged a look and then Hermione nodded to Ron.

"Well we thought about passing a message on through Ginny or the twins through our DA communicators but if we did that we would tell all of the DA where we were or will be." Ron explained, "We thought about an owl, but they could be intercepted, muggle means are also out as was direct contact."

"A Patronus could work." Hermione added, "I can make them talk now but what if it was seen, who is to say that any member of the order was alone when the message reached them, it could draw unwanted attention to them and to us."

"So, you didn't find one?" Harry asked having only heard no so far.

"Well there is one way that could work but it all depends on clarification from you which was why we needed you to wake up." Ron told him smirking.

"What is it?" Harry asked wondering what they could have come up with.

"You and Sirius used to communicate through two-way mirrors." Ron said quickly trying to skirt around the subject of Sirius, "they cannot be intercepted, but we know that they had specific security measures applied to them. If the Order used Sirius's mirror we could speak to them, but could they make it work?"

"Of course!" Harry shouted, wondering how get could have forgotten the mirrors that the marauders had created to speak to each other, or more accurately how his father had worked some type of magic to create them but frowned as he considered what Ron said further. "The mirrors would be ideal, but the Order wouldn't have access to Sirius's mirror, I don't actually know where it is either, but it will be sealed within Black House somewhere with his other things."

"Oh." Ron said glumly, "that was our only idea."

Harry saw how dejected the two of them looked and smirked.

"Your forgetting something though." Harry said, "There were four marauders and four mirrors. Now there are two of the first and three of the latter. So, your idea could still work even without Sirius's mirror…."

Walking over to his trunk he opened the first compartment and looked through it until he pulled out a small rectangular mirror with a stag engraving on the back.

"Let's just hope that Remus still keeps his mirror close." Harry told them, and he peered into the mirror and saw his reflection and grimaced, he didn't look great at all and knew his appearance would worry Remus, but they didn't have much choice, so he spoke into the glass.

"Remus Lupin."

o-HP-o

To say Remus had been relieved to hear from them was an understatement, he had answered within moments of his own mirror glowing white as its magic activated and had scolded Harry profusely for having not having thought to keep his mirror close enough to answer a call but also for not checking in sooner.

However, he readily agreed to meet them and was glad to see that the three of them were cautious even now.

While the mirrors were protected through magic and were keyed to the bloodline of the marauder who they were in-tuned to that did not mean that the Death Eaters couldn't bypass the protection that had been placed on them by school students.

In the end they told Remus to meet them somewhere in muggle London, it was public, and they would meet him to take him to their hiding spot by side-long apparition blind folded.

It was Hermione who retrieved Remus from Hyde Park, she was cautious and had him disarmed and blindfolded quick enough, but she took her time to check him for any sign of magical tracers or monitoring spells. She then brought him to the flat herself.

"You know as your ex-defence against the dark arts teacher I have to take pride in your precautions but is the blind-fold really necessary Hermione." Remus complained with a laugh as she led him into the living room and he hit his elbow on the door frame. "The full moon is in two days, my senses have expanded with my looming transition, I can smell Ron and Harry standing there."

"Did he pass your checks?" Harry asked Hermione and she nodded. "If you pass mine then I will release you."

"Fire away then Harry." Remus said calmly.

"When was the last time that two of us fought, where was it and how was it fought and who was the victor?"

Hermione and Ron looked confused at his vague question, but Remus shook his head and snorted.

"You had to bring up that didn't you!" He said, if he hadn't been blindfolded Harry was sure Remus had rolled his eyes, "A good question all the same. It was fought the night of the full moon at Hogwarts, the night I escaped my classroom while under the influence of contaminated wolfsbane. It was fought with tooth and claw. A rabid werewolf versus a young direwolf. The victor was you and I still have the scars to prove it."

Smiling Harry removed the blindfold and the magical restraints with a lazy flick of his wand and returned it to its holster.

"It is good to see you Remus." Harry admitted, his surrogate uncle looked tired and worse for wear which could be down to the impending full moon, but he looked more ragged than normal like something was weighing him down more than his time of the month.

"You too, all of you! I am happy to see your safe." He said, and he looked them all over and his eyes focused on Ron's arm in a sling, "what happened? Do you need me to take a look?"

"We are fine." Ron said eagerly shrugging of his concern, "How is everyone else?"

"Good. Your family are worried about you of course but they are fine." Remus assured him.

"What happened after the wedding?" Hermione asked, "did everyone get away?"

"They did." Remus said, "the Death Eaters apprehended the Weasleys and those that remained, they were interrogated but were not guilty of any known crimes. Your criminal status only went into effect minutes before the aurors arrived to arrest you so therefore no one was guilty. Arthur was justified to defend his home and his guests from hostile threats in accordance with the Ancient Testimonies, so he was not arrested for attacking the aurors either."

Ron had looked anxious as Remus began to recount what had happened but by the end he looked relieved and content to know that his family was safe for now.

They settled themselves on the sofa while Remus sat in the armchair that was ready to fall apart at any moment, he pulled out bottles of butterbeer from the inner pockets of his robes and gave them out all the while taking in every part of the flat and them one at a time.

"What?" Ron said uncomfortably after the silence became too much for him which was to say it lasted two minutes.

Remus rolled his eyes, "So I'm going to have to prompt an explanation out of you, am I? Well care to explain this wild rumour that has swept the country that Harrison Black-Potter led a raid on the Ministry of Magic this morning and made off with some valuable ministry property and vandalised the heart of the British magical government?"

The three of them exchanged a look between them and burst out laughing.

"Well that's about the crux of it." Hermione laughed, "What more do you want to know."

"How in the name of Merlin did you get into the ministry and passed all of that security for a start!" Remus demanded, "We have been trying to work out a way to do it since the wedding but got no where but the three of you managed to get in and out on your first go."

They spent an hour explaining to Remus how they managed to get inside the ministry and how they had prepared for whatever they might find and their surveillance of the employees prior to getting inside.

For the most part Remus sat silent as he took in what they said, only occasionally asking a question or asking for clarification but let them do the talking. They had tried to avoid the topic of their abduction of a ministry employee and the extraction of his thoughts and the memory removal, but Remus noticed the hole and got it out of them in the end.

"I might not like it, but your methods here got you results, this is a war after all and we cannot fight it with one hand tied behind our backs when our enemies fight with every tool in their arsenal." He said carefully, "But we must be careful we do not turn into the very people we are fighting against."

It was an uncomfortable comment to make as all three of them hated what they had done, none more so that Harry as it had been him who had broken into the man's mind although it had been Hermione who had taken his memories, he wasn't sure which was worse in hindsight.

After a further two hours they finished recounting their entire foray into the ministry and what they had done and seen and how they had managed it.

Remus whistled as they finished and regarded them with unconcealed respect.

"If the Order had known about your mission we would have probably stopped you believing it to be a folly and you would end up captured." Remus told them, "However you have shown just how resourceful you are, many will be very surprised. Albus always said that you three were amongst the most resourceful, determined and inquisitive students he had seen, and that together you could overcome almost any hurdle in your way. After all these years of exploits at Hogwarts you could argue you have been training for this war!"

"You could say that again." Ron agreed, and he walked over to the beaded bag and extracted the Trace and Registry. "We need the Order to make good use of these, the Death Eaters would use them to catch muggleborns and in-prison them or worse. The Order needs to protect them."

"Of course." Remus said taking them and he looked keenly at the trace, no doubt he would find the magic as fascinating as Hermione had but quickly stowed it away in his pockets, "The Order has already begun to reach out to some of the muggleborns we know of and have placed them in hiding. However, with the records hidden from the Death Eaters we have more time to move them. It won't be easy to access them ourselves but that is still preferable to them having open access to them."

"Has the Order been able to do anything?" Ron asked.

Remus shook his head, "We know we are being watched, some of us are better at loosing our tails that others. Moody and Kingsley are still working in the Auror office however both are known members of the Order and are being monitored very closely."

"Moody is still there?" Harry asked surprised.

"He is not happy about it." Remus snorted, "But Alastor knows that for now he needs to keep up the charade, but the Death Eaters just need an excuse to target them both or they will just kill him. To say Alastors paranoia has reached new levels would be an understatement."

"But you are trying to fight aren't you?" Hermione asked desperately, "You have to be doing something!"

"We do what we can, which isn't much really." Remus told her sadly, "Are numbers are small, we have just enough of us to help rescue a few muggleborns or take down small groups of death eaters or even dementor hordes. We cannot get the truth out either, we don't control the paper."

"Did our message reach the Prophet?" Hermione interjected, "Ron hoped that the message we left would get out and give people hope."

"It was a good thought." Remus smiled weakly, "But the Prophet is under the complete control of the Ministry of Magic. Ownership of the paper matters not anymore; the Editor is printing what the Ministry orders out of fear for his and his family's safety. However, your message is getting out there, being passed by word of mouth."

Ron shrugged despondently, it had been his idea but at least it was still out there.

"Any other news we should be aware of?" Hermione asked, "What has the Death Eater response been?"

"Well the ministry was placed in lockdown all day until they were sure you hadn't stolen anything else, it took them a long while to realise that the records were gone given the justice you gave to the hag." Remus said, and the last part was added with pure venom and his eyed seemed to glow amber for a moment, "However eventually a statement was released to the public."

THE MINISTRY COMBAT TERRORIST PLOT IN THE HEART OF THE MINISTRY

Yesterday morning, the fugitive Harry Potter led an all-out attack at the heart of British Magical Community. The security forces were able to combat this attempt to destroy our Ministry and the livelihood of our hard-working ministry employees and drove him out of the Ministry.

We do not know what Potters aim was, however our aurors were more than a match for the fabled Boy-Who-Lived and was forced to run away with his tail firmly between his legs. As he was unable to penetrate further into the Ministry, Potter turned to the wanton destruction of Ministry Property.

It is believed that Potter was aided by accomplices, one of whom was positively identified as the false-witch Hermione Granger, who studied at Hogwarts with Potter. The other accomplice was not identified however the ministry using every tool at its command to bring these fugitives to justice.

This unprecedented attack on our Ministry only further highlights that Lord Black-Potter is an unstable rogue element of our community and is a danger to all witches and wizards and must be brought to heel.

Potter is currently wanted in connection to the death of the late Amelia Bones and the death of Sirius Black. An inside source within the special investigations department has leaked that there is overwhelming evidence that Black was killed by his adoptive son so that he might usurp his lordship.

Minister Thicknesse who had previously signed the warrant for Harry Potters arrest has also added the charges for Treason and sedition and calls on any of have knowledge of his whereabouts to come forward.

However, the Minister has also issued a warning that should anyone be found harbouring the fugitives or aiding them in anyway will also face a sentence for treason.

Harrys blood boiled as he read it, and his hands shook, how dare they accuse him of being complicit in those murders.

"It doesn't paint a pretty picture does it." Remus said seeing Harrys reaction, "And people do believe this. What you must realise is that most members of our community have never met you, their opinions of you come from the articles about you and they are also scared, and scared misinformed people can do terrible things."

Harrys head shot up at this outraged.

"However, those that know you will not believe this." Hermione said looking revolted, "How dare they bring Sirius into this."

"The fact they did might actually be a good thing." Remus said sounding surprisingly optimistic, "it will actually create doubt in the validity of this story, especially as Patricide is a dangerous crime for one of the Ancient Houses. There are old stories of what happened to sons who killed their fathers and what their family magic did to them in retaliation for the perversion."

"Do we know anything else that is going on in the Ministry?" Hermione asked, "Have the retaliated?"

"Dementors now roam freely across the country, preying on anyone they choose. Giants have also been seen in their long-abandoned territories in our mountains." Remus told them, "We believe the Death Eaters will be looking to consolidate their control further now, Hogwarts will be next. They have the student rosters for the previous years they can find current students easily even without the records and the quill."

Ron suddenly laughed, and they looked at him curiously.

"Well the Death Eaters will struggle to control Hogwarts." Ron said, and he saw that they didn't understand what he found funny so explained more, "Think about it, our friends know us, and they know the truth behind all the crap in the paper. They will not stand for it and will most probably rebel like we did while Umbridge was at Hogwarts. Snape was hated as Potions Master, as Headmaster he will be despised even more, are there any other changes to the teachers?"

"We don't know." Remus admitted, and he looked worried as he thought about his answer, "The faculty has not been seen since Snape was named as Headmaster, they haven't reached out to us and we worry if we try and make contact we will do them more harm. However, given the new laws the school will see an influx of students, so they might install more Death Eaters. For now, we can only watch and wait and hope that teachers like McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn will protect the students."

Harry suddenly felt the need for them to move on, he didn't like the idea of the Death Eaters having so much control and knew that worse was yet to come and he needed to stop them.

"Remus, you have the Trace and Registry, take them back to the Order." Harry said firmly, "The Order must ensure that those targeted by the Death Eaters are protected, but you must also ensure that the truth is told."

He picked up the paper and glared at it.

"This is filled with lies and propaganda, the people must know the truth otherwise they will buy into this madness." He said, "We cannot allow the Death Eaters free reign, we have to cut off their heads one at a time."

Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement, but Remus was hesitant, and he regarded him.

"I'll understand if you can't confirm this, Harry, But we, the Order. We are under the impression that you are out here on some type of mission?" He said delicately while studding him closely for any signs of emotion on his face, "We believe that Dumbledore left you this mission, and that Sirius was also aware of it and that is why you were both out of the castle that night when the Death Eaters go in."

"What of it?" Harry asked frowning, "the Order knows that I intend to fight in this war."

"Yes of course." Remus said hastily, "But can you confide in me what it is your doing out here, and without help?"

"No." Harry said, and he wished he could tell Remus the truth, he really did but he knew that their mission had to remain secret. He would trust Remus with his life, but this was something that Harry felt he had to do, he and his friends alone.

"Sorry Remus, but it really is for the best you don't know." Hermione added coming to help Harry.

To his credit Remus didn't look surprised by this, although perhaps disappointed, he was after all a curious person by nature. "I expected as much. However, I still might be of use to you, even if I don't know what it is that you are doing. You could have need of my skills and my knowledge, you don't have to tell me anything and I won't ask questions."

Harry looked at him surprised, it was a tempting offer to take Remus with them, he would be a good companion and could probably help them. But keeping the mission a secret from him would be impossible and his keen mind would eventually deduce it even if they tried.

However, there was something else that bugged Harry, he heard it in his tone as he spoke. It almost seemed like Remus was pleading to come along with them.

Hermione had also heard something in his words and she looked at him puzzled and asked.

"What about Tonks?" she asked.

"What about her." Remus asked simply, like he was just enquiring about her health with a hint of disinterest."

Now Hermione was frowning, "She is your wife. How does she feel about you offering your services to us?"

"Dora will be fine." Remus said waving her off, "She will stay at her parent's house where she will be safe."

Hermione exchanged a look with Ron and Harry, something else was going on here for if there was anyone who would not be content to sit on the side-lines it would be Tonks, if she had wanted safe she would never have become an auror or joined the Order.

"Remus?" Hermione asked, very unsure of herself now, "is everything ok? Erm…with you and Tonks?"

"Everything is fine!" Remus snapped dangerously his eyes glinting with molten amber, snapping like a vicious dog.

Hermione withdrew like he had bitten her and flushed pink, but they were left with an awkward and embarrassed pause with Ron looking between them all bewildered while Harry just stared shrewdly at Remus.

Eventually Remus squirmed under his gaze and let out a deep sigh and all but chewed on the words he spoke before he uttered them, as if they were something very unpleasant and pained him greatly.

"Dora is pregnant." He said in a low voice.

"Oh!" Hermione cried brilliantly, "That is wonderful! You must be so pleased!"

"Good for you Remus." Ron said enthusiastically.

"I am happy for you both." Harry said, genuinely happy for them, but that nagging feeling hadn't gone away, something was very wrong.

Remus gave them an artificial smile, as if it was an automatic response and one he had practiced but it actually looked pained. "So, will you three agree to let me come along and help bring an end to this war?" he asked them quickly, "I am sure Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted you fighting out here on your own, and Sirius…. Who knows what you will face, you could have a need of me."

Ron and Hermione both looked to Harry, it was his decision, but he could tell that they were not keen on the idea and they were both worried.

Harry fixed Remus with a firm look and cleared his throat all the while feeling a flow of anger rise within him the more he thought about what Remus was asking and he tried to reign it back in.

"Just so I am clear." Harry said tightly, forcing himself to remain calm and assumed he was merely misunderstanding. "You want to leave Dora with Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted? You wish to join our mission, even when we cannot tell you what it is and knowing you will face untold dangers and possibly death, all the while your unborn baby is growing inside the wife you left with her parents."

"She will be safe." Remus said dismissively, "Andromeda will look after her better than I can, and Ted is a healer, so they will be fine. Harry I am sure James would have wanted me to ensure that you survive this mission, and Sirius would never forgive me if I did not come with you!"

The temperature in the room within the room dropped suddenly as Harry stood rooted to the spot staring at Remus unable to believe the words that had come out of his mouth.

"Sorry?" Harry said in a cold slow measured.

Behind him Both Hermione and Ron flinched and took an involuntary step backwards as they heard his tone to be a clear warning that his temper was fraying.

"I cannot have heard you correctly." Harry said with a false tone of humour that stuck like a hot poker, "You think that Sirius would approve of you shirking your responsibilities and dumping your wife to her parents. You think my father would encourage you to abandon your unborn child? I must have misheard you because that is absurd! Now what is this really about Remus? Answer me truthfully."

Remus looked away and took a great interest in the cracked plaster and paint on the wall.

"You don't understand." Remus said after a long pause.

"Explain." Harry demanded, not giving him an inch of ground or a way out of this conversation.

Remus visibly gulped, and he looked to steel himself to prepare his explanation and he tried to look at Harry but failed to meet his bright green eyes that were judging him.

"I-I admit that I made a grievous error when I allowed myself to become involved with Dora, I did so against my better judgement and now I can never forgive myself for my lack of restraint. I should have never listened to Sirius in this matter, he didn't know better than I."

"So rather than face the problem you are going to abandon her and hoping to run off with us where you could be killed. A suicide mission is more attractive to you than facing your fear of being a father and husband." Harry asked with a bitting tone.

Remus sprang to his feet and jumped away from Harry like he had cursed him, and he glared at him fiercely and being this close to the full moon Harry saw the ghost of the wolf in his features and the clear warning sign of the bright amber in his eyes.

"Do not think you have the right to Judge me!" Remus spat, "You do not know what I have done to Dora! What I have done to an unborn child! They were innocent! I have made them outcasts! People to be sneered at!"

He suddenly kicked the small rickety coffee table and sent it crashing into the wall where it fell apart.

"You have only ever seen me while I was among the Order, or under the protection of Dumbledore and Sirius at Hogwarts! You do not know what it is like to be a creature such as I, one forced to live on the fringes of our society, set apart by a condition that I do not control! When most know of this affliction in my blood they can barely talk to me!" Remus shouted at the room, "Even her own family is disgusted by the marriage, what kind of family wants a werewolf in their family tree? Who wants their daughter to marry someone twice their age and cursed! And the Child! Well... The Child!"

Remus stopped and actually began to seize handfuls of his own hair and pull at it and looked deranged, he reminded Harry of the night he had taken contaminated wolfsbane, the way he was now was animalistic.

"Have you ever heard of a child of a werewolf? Well? Have you? Of course not! My kind do not procreate! I have researched it, I even reached out to Matti Salvatore of the Highmoon Institute! Even he couldn't tell me the answer to my question! It will be like me, I'm sure of it! How can I ever forgive myself if I have passed on my curse to an innocent unborn child! I have condemned my child to be a monster! I am no better than Greyback and he specialises in children! And if by some miracle of Merlin that the child is not like me then it will have to live with the shame of being the child of the Lycanthrope!"

"Oh Remus." Hermione whispered crying as she watched their former professor have a breakdown in front of them. "Don't say that, no child could be ashamed of you."

"Oh, I don't know." Harry said darkly, "I am ashamed of him right now."

The rage within Harry at reached a new height and his right hand twitched to flick out his wand from its holster, he clenched his hands into tight fists and his nails dug painfully into hand palms. Despite himself he felt the urge to curse Remus badly, but he forced himself to ignore that urge.

Remus recoiled from his words as if each of them had been a blow.

"You're pathetic." Harry snapped dangerously, "You think James Potter will encourage you to abandon your unborn child, when he died protecting my mother and I! You believe Sirius would support you decision to shirk your responsibilities to your family, when you know how much he regretted running from his responsibilities that Halloween! You dare disgrace their memories!"

"You think her family is disgusted by your marriage? Odd, I seem to remember that family attending your wedding, I remember that family pushing the two of you together and encouraging the relationship! And less you forget I am a part of that family! Don't you dare use me as part of your justification for abandoning you family! I expect this cowardice from Wormtail but not from the man who taught me how to face dementors!"

"How...How dare you!" Remus gasped horrified by his words.

"How dare I?" Harry sneered as he felt the magic deep within him well up despite the mental control his was exerting. The magic radiated out of him, and caused the Potter Ring and his eyes to glow momentarily as a clear warning, "I dare because I am an orphan! My parents died so that I might live! Yet here you stand trying to get yourself killed so that you don't have to face your child. You are a coward and a liar. You have spat in the face of a family that has welcomed you with open arms. You have dishonour the memories of your best friends! I bet Dora doesn't even know what you are trying to do! You disgust me!"

"Harry!" Hermione begged trying to stop the argument.

But Harry continued to glare at Remus daring him to speak, he felt the desire to leap the distance between them and throttle him, but Remus just glared back livid, but he did nothing.

"Nothing more to say Lupin?" Harry laughed mirthlessly, and he sneered, "You really are a filthy half-breed coward."

Remus's eyes glowered brilliantly amber and he moved far faster than Harry thought possible, he drew his wand and there was a loud bang and Harry only managed to defend himself with a wandless shield charm as he couldn't get to his wand in time, it was weak and it shattered on impact but the spell still had enough kick to push him backwards into the wall and felt like he had been punched in the stomach.

Through the commotion he glimpsed the tail end of Remus's cloak and he darted out of the living room and kicked open the doors and disapparated on the balcony all but ignoring Hermione who was trying to get him to stop.

"Harry how could you do that to him!" Hermione said turning on him, she looked distraught.

Harry shook his head at her, "I did what I had to." He said simply, his rage subsiding and he sounded defeated now, "I will not be his justification for abandoning his wife and child."

"You overstepped the line." Ron told him pointedly, "I understand this hit close to home with you but that was cruel."

"No." Harry said quietly as he moved towards the balcony door and looked up at the clouded night sky and shivered at the cold, "A parent should never leave their child, not unless they have no choice."

He suddenly remembered Voldemort's mother and how she had abandoned him in the orphanage having given up on life and wondered how Tom Riddle would have grown up if he had a mother and father.

Would he have grown up in the Riddle House? Could he have been a normal wizard or was is course set on becoming the dark wizard who had kills his family in that old house.

Turning he saw his friends were looking at each other and were having a silent conversation and he felt a spike of anger but pushed that away.

"You don't agree with what I did." Harry said, he resented them for making him have to explain himself, "I get that, but I am now the Lord of the House of Black, I am the head of the family and Remus is a part of my family. I had every right to do it…. but I could have handled it better I admit that."

"We should leave here now." Ron said firmly changing the subject, but he gave Harry a look that he couldn't place, "We have lingered too long."

Harry didn't argue with them, he walked towards the external wall and began to dismantle the web of protective magic that they had woven around the flat while the others removed all traced of their inhabitation.

As he worked he wondered what James or Sirius would have said had they been there to witness him dressing down their best friend. Would they have agreed with him? Or would they have been ashamed for the way he acted.

It was the first time he had stepped into his position as the Head of the Black family, the position he didn't want but had been forced to use. He saw the ring on his finger, it was still the Heirs ring and hadn't transformed despite him using his new position.

He felt guilty for what he had done to Remus, he had been cruel he knew and he wondered if he was leaning more towards his Black ancestors than the Potters. The urge to curse or strike at Remus had come so easily that it made him think about what Remus said about them not becoming the monsters they were fighting, and a small part of him wondered if perhaps he had already begun to walk down that path, and he thought that his friends were also thinking the same given the looks they had been giving him.

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Authors Note: Edited April 2019