Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman.

AN: Again, thanks to my beta, Grey Raven 09. Apologies for this chapter taking so long to get out, but I've been going back and forth over the final direction for a while now. This chapter was the final decision point where I either had to decide to use my original plan, or scrap it and go with what the characters wanted. While I did end up choosing the latter it took a while to get a decent plan/general outline going for that version. Now that I have a game plan I should be able to be at least slightly more consistent with chapters. Anyway, to my fellow American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

Please enjoy and let me know what you think in a review if you feel like it!

Chapter 10: Breaking Delusions

"Potters, Delacour, I have good news and I have bad news," Daphne said, smoothing her robe and settling into her seat across from Harry and his family. He waved for her to continue and she nodded, pulling a copy of the Daily Prophet from her robes. "The good news is that I successfully redirected the entirety of House Slytherin. Everyone now firmly believes that Ron was attempting to sully your reputation enough to reliably implicate you in the murder of Draco and claim the reward from Lucius."

Harry blinked repeatedly opening and closing his mouth several times before finding his voice. "…Ron Weasley came up with that plan? And your housemates believe this? Daphne we should be paying you…"

Daphne smirked. "I told you I was good. Unfortunately, I seem to have overlooked that the story would have gotten out to the larger public before I was able to defuse the situation locally."

"Meaning what exactly?" Gabrielle asked. She leant forward and reached for the Prophet. "How bad is it?"

"Well, honestly, considering what the papers have printed about you in the past, it's really about the same," Daphne sighed. She deflated and shrugged trying to hide her downcast eyes. They'd trusted her to help them hide and while hiding in Hogwarts was doable she hadn't been very successful overall. This was supposed to be what she was good at. Everything had gone so perfectly the night before too! "I'm sorry. I don't know who Skeeter got to or how she got the account."

Harry turned to Rose and automatically reached out to squeeze her arm. Rose's eyes were locked on the paper held in Gabrielle's hand. Her pupils were dilated and her lips were raised in a silent snarl. "That fucking bitch!" Rose hissed.

"To be fair, she is mostly accurate for once," Harry stated sighing. He reached up to rub his forehead with his free hand. The words Boy-Who-Lived Defiles Own Sister While Cheating on French Veela Girlfriend? Tournament Scandal Erupts blazed on the inside of his eyelids and he had to push down his own rising blood pressure. This wasn't anything new. Skeeter was an awful person; it was a fact of life.

Rose turned her glare on Harry. "Keep. Reading."

Harry frowned and moved forward skimming the rest of the article. As he reaching the last few paragraphs he sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh hell no, she's going after Sirius and Tonks? Fuck that shite!"

Gabrielle read out, "Such a controversy is not unusual and, in their extended family, is regarded as normal. The Blacks – of which the Potter twins are an offshoot, as was James Potter, their father – has fairly regularly engaged in such unnatural and disturbing practices. The madness and betrayal of the infamous Sirius Black has long been blamed on the instability in his family line. His rebellion against tradition and heritage belied the same sort of pattern present with the Boy-Who-Lived and his twin sister. With this new worrying information coming to light can we expect them to follow in his footsteps? Harry Potter has been needlessly extreme and violent in the past several years. His use of a priceless Founder artifact to badly injure a fully grown dragon in this Tournament has only been his most recent outburst. Perhaps you, dear reader, feel that I am being harsh and jumping to conclusions. To that I submit further proof: Nymphadora Tonks. Supposedly a respected Auror, this woman is also the daughter of the Black line and has a history of disciplinary problems not to mention repeatedly questioning highly respected members of our society on baseless grounds. She has never been able to maintain a long-term relationship nor has she shown any inclination to treat her many partners as anything more than simple playthings. Moreover Harry and Rose Potter have both stayed with her for the past two summers. Is this someone that we want influencing two children? Is this someone who should be putting ideas into the heads of the Potter Twins? This reporter for one will be keeping a close watch on the situation as it progresses."

As Gabrielle finished she turned to Harry, a coating of down visible poking out from under her sleeves and red flickering through her eyes. "Can we neuter her?"

"Yes," Harry and Rose breathed out together, both glaring at the paper hard enough it was a wonder that their magic didn't combust it on the spot. Harry continued quietly. "She's going after our family. Disparaging us is one thing; we're used to it."

"But she's aiming for Tonks. Tonks has never been anything but good to us. She might as well be our sister." Rose turned back to Daphne and considered her next words for a moment. Finally she nodded to herself and said, "I know we had an agreement prior, and you've done a fantastic PR job here at Hogwarts, but we're about to escalate things. Get out now if you want; otherwise you should probably consider yourself with us until the end."

Daphne didn't even pause to think. "I'm with you."

"If the public starts to act on Rita's suggestions it's probably going to be…bloody," Harry stated as he methodically tore the paper into tiny strips and moved them into a pile for Gabrielle to incinerate.

"I am fully aware of your history. I would never have approached you all originally if I was uncomfortable with your tendency towards violence."

"We're getting better," Rose muttered. Daphne cocked an eyebrow and Rose groaned. "Well, we were getting better."

Daphne shrugged. "It doesn't make a difference to me. I would prefer less violence than more, but as long as it isn't directed at someone who is entirely innocent, I really don't care. My family is historically grey and we've never shied away from appropriate retribution."

Harry stared at the smoldering paper ashes for several long, quiet seconds. Eventually he turned his head up and met Daphne's gaze. The look in his eyes was cold enough to send a shiver down her spine. "Daphne, I recommend you have your parents start investing in contacts outside of Britain. It never hurts to be safe rather than sorry."

Daphne frowned though nodded slowly. "I don't suppose you'll tell me why."

Gabrielle shook her head, the feathers still present. "No, we won't. Also, question Parkinson. She knows how Skeeter and ze ferret communicated with each other previously. Find it out. I want to know what it is and how we stop it. I want to know where she is and how she gets onto ze grounds and gets her 'exclusives' without anyone knowing. I want to know how to find her while she zinks she's safe and anonymous."

Daphne frowned. She gripped the desk tighter for a moment before breathing out and nodding. "I would prefer not to be actively involved in what comes after I provide the information."

"You won't be," Rose stated. She grinned showing off her teeth in a predatorial display. "Skeeter is attacking our family. We protect our own."

The three of them ended up skipping their classes that morning and retreating to the Room of Requirement. Harry watched his sister drop onto the large couch with a grunt of frustration and the fire still burning in her eyes. "I knew we should've put her on the list to begin with!" Rose exclaimed. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared into the fire. "She just can't leave well enough alone can she? She's as bad as Fudge."

"I'd say she's probably worse. At least Fudge is mostly just a greedy, idiotic, fool; Skeeter is a legitimate poisonous leech that glories in bringing down everyone around her, just like Umbitch," Harry sighed sitting down next to her and pulling her against his side. "Calm down, Rosy, we'll get her."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Harry!" Rose hissed glaring at him.

Gabrielle paced in front of the couch glaring at the floor as her feathers finally started to recede. "I bet she's probably an animagus. Something innocuous that most people would ignore."

Rose turned from Harry and scowled. "She's probably a rat. Animagus forms generally at least somewhat match personalities."

Gabrielle shook her head and continued pacing. "Not a rat. It may fit her personality, but too many people would notice a rat on campus. Especially after you tipped off the House Elves about Pettigrew's form."

"So something else small then," Harry chimed in. "I bet she's a spider, one of the really ugly ones. An insect would suit her."

Gabrielle nodded barely even seeming to hear Harry as she kept up her trudge. "Insect would be a good fit. And spiders vanish easily. Except the monster spiders that the groundskeeper has hidden away." She paused and a grin crossed her features for a fleeting moment before she shook her head again. "No, the acromantula won't care about Skeeter, even if she is impersonating one, they couldn't be conned into doing the job for us."

"Ella, sit down," Harry murmured reaching out to grab her hand as she walked past and gently pulling her down as well. Gabrielle took a deep breath and nodded, cuddling up against Rose's other side. Harry kneaded the fingers of his right hand along her scalp, slowly leaching out the girl's tension.

He let the silence reign for a few minutes as all three of them re-centered. Finally, when he knew he'd be able to remain calm he nudged his sister's head up until he was looking into her eyes. "Rose, I need to know how bad things got in Britain. I need to see."

"How bad for everyone else in the country or how bad for me and Ella?" Rose asked frowning.

"More of the latter though if you know the former I'll take that too."

Gabrielle picked her head up from Rose's shoulder and cocked it to the side at Harry's reply. "Why do you ask? Context for how the public is reacting now?"

Harry grimaced and shook his head. "I'm considering an exit strategy, but I want to be sure before I put it forth. Knowing how everyone reacted to things after my trial would help inform my decision. Though to be perfectly honest, Ella, I'm far more concerned about protecting us and our family over whatever the bloody hell ends up happening around Britain."

Rose nodded though her eyes narrowed and she pulled back from him to point at his chest. "Of course I'll let you in my head, Harry, but you are not a skilled Legilimens who has had over a decade of intensive practice to improve like Ella and I. Being on the other end I can only help you so much. This isn't going to be pleasant – for either of us."

"I know," he said grimacing. "I still think it needs to be done. I need a baseline. Words only do so much."

Rose sighed and shifted into a fully upright position. She twisted and sat herself cross legged on the couch facing him. "Your funeral, brother. Ella, we'll probably need a hangover cure after this."

"On it, sweetie," Gabrielle replied far too cheerfully. She hopped off the couch and moved over to her bag as Harry turned and mirrored Rose.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Harry murmured. "Legilimens."

Molly Weasley's shout echoed out of Grimmauld Place's kitchen and into the little sitting room Rose had secluded herself into, "It is not my fault that Sirius got himself killed! All I said was Harry in all likelihood had fought back and did get himself killed! The child had a history of acting out and for all we know he actually did kill that poor boy! I was simply trying to remind Sirius that it was Harry's own fault for antagonizing the Ministry and that the man had a duty to protect this home. Does anyone even know what happens to the Fidelius now that he's dead?"

"You utter bitch!" Tonks answering screech cut through Rose's stupor and the redhead slammed her hands over her ears rocking back and forth humming to herself in the corner trying to drown out the noise. It had never worked before; only Harry's chest and Harry's hands had ever been able to make the shouting quiet to a manageable level. "How many times do I have to tell you that that kid did nothing wrong?! Neither did Sirius! If I thought I could get to her I'd be killing Dolores Umbridge myself!"

"And you wonder why the boy was so violent," Molly scoffed.

"Everyone, please, calm down," Dumbledore's murmur only managed to be heard thanks to magic. "The Fidelius will hold. Now we must discuss other matters…"

Rose finally managed to tune out the conversation. I can't stay here. Everyone is an enemy; except Tonks. Everyone thinks Harry is guilty or dead. It's not safe. The Dursleys. I'll go there. Then at least I can feel right hating everything. And if I lose control…No one will miss them…

"I swear to god if you don't shut up right now I'll – "

The scene wrenched to the side and instead of the inside of the ratty old walls of Grimmauld Place, Rose was now in one of the corridors of Hogwarts. A petite Gabrielle standing in front of her with wand held in the face of an older Gryffindor student.

"I swear to god if you don't shut up right now I will 'ex you enough zat even ze school nurse will not be able to fix you!"

"Merlin, kid, why do you defend Potter?" the Gryffindor – McLaggen? – asked as he backed away. "You do know her brother killed a student in their house out of jealousy and pettiness right? And that he tried to kill a Professor and actually did kill a different one and – ARRG!"

Gabrielle was snarling as she launched four different hexes in quick succession into McLaggen's face. Rose in turn sobbed into the Veela's back and clutched her robes. "NEVER SPEAK OF 'ARRY POTTER ZAT WAY YOU ENFOIRÉ!"

The Gryffindor screamed again as he ran from the hexs raining down on him, barely making it around the corner before the spells gouged out large chunks of the wall he disappeared behind it. Gabrielle let out a frustrated huff and twisted as best she could with Rose still clinging to her robes. "Rose? Are you alright?"

Her hair flipped around her as she shook her head. "No, no I'm not! He's not here and he's not coming back! I need him, I need him! How am I supposed to function without Harry, Gabrielle?! I don't…I can't…he's not here! Where is Harry?"

A tear ran down the side of Gabrielle's face and she finally managed to pull Rose's hands out of her robes for long enough to turn fully and wrap her small arms around the older girl. Rose collapsed against Gabrielle and cried harder. "I'll protect you until we find him, Rose. I'm not leaving and you're not giving up. We will find him," Gabrielle squeezed hard though it had minimal effect.

"I have to get stronger," Rose sobbed into Gabrielle's shoulder. "I was able to do it against Vernon, I have to learn to do it all the time. Harry's not here and you're too small to make you take it all on yourself. I have to get stronger and I have to learn to fight."

Gabrielle stiffened towards the end of Rose's words though the moment passed quickly. She pushed up on her tiptoes and murmured in Rose's ear, "I'll help you."

The surroundings wrenched again and this time the scene resolved into a small kitchen in a tiny, one-room flat barely large enough to be considered livable.

"I'll help you with that," Gabrielle said sitting down next to Rose.

Rose grimaced before replying, "You don't have to do that, Ella. I'm…sorry." Her face heated up as the blush spread across her cheeks and she clutched the bathrobe tighter around her naked skin underneath. "You should um…finish up. There's no reason you should be denied just because I can't get into it."

Gabrielle sighed and reached over to squeeze Rose's hand. "Sweetie, I'm never going to enjoy it if you don't. It's part of being a Veela; we aren't satisfied unless our partners are."

"Well I'm obviously never going to enjoy it." She hung her head and let her hair fall forward to curtain her face. "Without Harry involved all I can think about is Vernon or Draco's hands touching me and I just…I'm sorry, Ella. I really did try…I just…"

"Rosy, it's okay!" Gabrielle replied jumping her chair close enough to hug the redhead and pull her head down against her chest. "Really, mon amour, I understand. That's why we're going to work instead, it'll make you feel better to be productive and it'll help me to suppress my urges. Focusing and inventing always work that way with me. It's part of why I love it so much!"

Rose nodded slowly against Gabrielle's chest. She took a deep breath and picked her head back up, smiling softly and leaning forward to gently kiss the Veela's cheek. "That's good to hear, Ella. I'm still sorry, but you're right, let's get to work. Any news from Tonks?"

Gabrielle picked up a paper and a letter that had been left on the table by an owl earlier that morning. "To a degree. Dumbledore apparently decided to confide in her about the Horcruxes last night."

"Seriously? Just now? She's known about it for years and destroyed three herself and the bearded wonder just now decided that she should be read in?" Rose asked rearing back and staring at the letter with wide eyes.

"I believe he wanted someone to know before he died. Apparently he was planning to fight Voldemort shortly after. He lost by the way."

"That's what you get for waiting three years old man," Rose muttered with a scowl.

Gabrielle snorted and nodded in agreement. "Voldemort is now the legitimate government. The country doesn't even seem to have noticed a difference from what I gather. I am surprised he's not crusading against Muggleborn already, though I suppose it has only been a day. They have decided that you are an 'Enemy of Britain' and should be detained on sight for 'crimes against decency'. That does sound somewhat familiar though…"

Rose laughed. "It should! Ella, I've had that sentence on me for more than a year. Remember? It was when they decided that they would stand a better chance by appeasement and Voldy was like 'I want Potter or Potterette' and Fudge was all 'Okay, have Potterette! I just need to capture her first and…Oh, um, you don't happen to have any spare gold do you? No? Okay, well I'll just put this bounty on her anyway then.' I can't say I'm surprised that Tonks missed that one though; wasn't that when she was hunting Greyback?"

"Oh yes, you're right! I forgot about that. Anyway it looks like she has a lead on the locket and Bellatrix seems to have let something slip while fighting Dumbledore…"

Harry pulled back from Rose's mind with a shudder and groan and fell onto his back on the couch. "Ow," he moaned rubbing his forehead. "Next time I get the bright idea to try my hand at Legilimency someone stun me. Rose, you okay?"

His sister was splayed out in a near mirror posture with one arm over her eyes and the other blindly groping in empty space. A chuckling Gabrielle handed a potion bottle to the questing appendage; the mixture was swiftly guzzled by Rose. "Ugh, no wonder our test subjects wound up as vegetables. You were being careful and that still feels like a bloody lorry backed over me a few times. Let's never do that again yeah? Get what you needed, brother?"

"I think so," Harry grunted. He made no effort to move from his prone position though he did let his arm drop off the side to the couch. "So basically the Order turned on you and Britain's people stayed mindless arseholes?"

"More or less." Rose sighed. "I mean, yeah, it was more complicated than that, and mostly the Order was against you more than me, but as far as I was concerned – "

"We, Rose, as far as we were concerned," Gabrielle cut in moving to Harry and gently wiping a wet cloth across his forehead eliciting a sigh of relief from the boy.

"Right, as far as we were concerned, the Order turned on us so we struck out on our own. When has wider Britain ever done anything right by us, Harry? Are you really surprised that they tried to appease Voldemort when they thought it might give them a chance?"

He grimaced and as Gabrielle's hand slipped into his own, he gripped her tight. "No, I suppose I'm not surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised. Girls…I don't know how much I want to bother with fixing this place…"

Rose levered herself up onto her elbows and stared at Harry. She spoke slowed and deliberately, "Harry, we never intended to come back and save the Wizarding World or stop the war. We aren't here to fix the world or help fools who don't help themselves. We don't have any interest in saving people who despise us, ridicule us and keep throwing us to the werewolves at every opportunity. Gabrielle and I came back to save you and only you. Now that we're here, we're going to save Dora, Sirius, Hermione, and Daphne, because they are family, or proven allies. We can try to save the others from the study group too, but we already know that Sally-Anne and Justin are getting the hell out of town once things start to go to hell and Neville moves to Beauxbatons too so I'm not worried about him either. Wizarding Britain can go suck on a Dementor's tit for all I care."

Gabrielle shifted Harry's head so that he was staring up into her eyes once Rose was finished talking. "As for myself, Harry, I feel the same. I care for my Mate and I care for Rose. Fleur and the rest of my family will be safe in France once this year is over. Unfortunately we cannot just run away. We must be smart about this."

Harry nodded. He pulled the washcloth off his head and carefully pulled himself up to a sitting position wincing slightly at the stab in his head. "Agreed. We still need to ensure that Voldemort doesn't come after us and we need to ensure that Dumbledore doesn't either. Tough bill that without killing Tom. So we might still have to fix the war problem."

"Not necessarily…" Rose murmured. She sat up as well though refused to meet Harry eyes. "We know that Tom can't make more Horcruxes and we know that he's more focused on Britain than he is on us. If we make him realize that we're not a threat…he might just leave us alone."

"Except I'm a symbol of his failure," Harry said frowning. "Unless I'm not, I've basically only directly pissed him off twice. Once as a baby and once in first year. He doesn't technically know about the Diary and last year he wasn't here. So far, I'm less the Boy-Who-Lived and more The-Boy-Who's-Dangerously-Violent-And-Probably-The-Next-Dark-Lord. Tom was always practical when he was given the opportunity."

Gabrielle nodded. "Agreed. We have two major options. We can proceed as originally planned: sabotage the ritual at the end of the Third Task as much as possible and capture the homunculus Dark Lord before 'e can resurrect fully. Or we allow the ritual to proceed as it did the first time, let Voldemort resurrect himself and sic him and Dumbledore against each other while we gracefully step to ze side letting Britain reap what it 'as sown. I personally vote for this option."

Harry snorted. "And they call me violent. Rose, why can't you and Ella back me up during the ritual again? Hell, why can't Tonks and Sirius for that matter?"

"Fidelius," she said shaking her head. "We know it happens in a graveyard, but that's it. The portkey takes you through the ward and while we can try to grab onto it under the Invisibility Cloak at the same time as you do during the Task, I honestly don't think that that is a good idea at all. I feel it's far more likely to get someone killed trying to mess with fate like that. Though, if we are seriously considering not capturing Babymort – Harry I don't want you anywhere near that graveyard."

"I still have to complete in the Task, Rose."

Gabrielle grinned, a soft laugh bubbling forth. "Yet you do not have to win! We have enough money to survive as the Ministry has not yet drained your account. We can still make the same deal we did previously with selling our story to the Muggles – though probably with a different author this time since she changed so much towards the end. As long as my sister is not the one to touch the Cup we are golden!"

Harry nodded slowly. "It would have to be Cedric. I kind of like Viktor. He may not be a friend, but he was never an enemy and he always at least semi-supported us. I may still wind up there though girls. We never did find out just who was helping me in this thrice damned tournament. Or did you?"

"No," Rose grunted. "Moody kept looking into it even after your trial, bless him, but as far as we know, he never found out who got through the security. The best guess was always Karkaroff though we never had enough proof to be sure. Ella and I always had other things that were more important. Sorry, Harry."

"It's not your fault, Rosy," Harry said pulling her into a hug. Both winced and groaned as their heads shifted too quickly. They froze and stared at each other before laughing. "Okay, let's table this for now. Ella, you good?"

"I'm good, Harry. I still vote for letting Cedric face Voldemort, but we'll see how things go!"

Harry laughed again and wrapped his other arm around the Veela. "Yeah, I'm definitely the next Dark Lord in this trio."

The trio finally emerged from their seclusion around dinner making their way down to the Great Hall. They hadn't even made it through the doors before Harry and Rose were waylaid by Sprout handing them a note and directing them back towards the Headmaster's office. The portly teacher walked back towards the dinner hall with a barely concealed scowl at the twins, an expression echoed on their own faces.

"I really dislike that woman," Harry muttered. "Ever wonder what it would be like to have a Head of House who actually liked us?"

"You mean like Flitwick?" Rose replied. "He's pretty much the only decent Head there is."

Gabrielle frowned at the note as she pulled it out of Harry's hand. "Do you want me to come with you both?"

"No, we got this, Gabrielle. You should go have dinner with your sister. This is probably about skipping classes all day anyway. Even if it isn't we can deal with it," Harry said. He hugged her and lightly pushed her towards to the Great Hall. "Go, eat. Save us something in case we take too long."

"Okay…Call me if you need me." The twins nodded and moved off towards the corridor with gargoyle leading up to Dumbledore. A quick password later and they were on their way up to their first face to face meeting with the Headmaster since returning in time.

"Ah Mr. and Miss. Potter, finished with dinner already?" Dumbledore asked as he set aside several papers and peered up at them over his glasses.

Harry sighed and sat down in one of the seats across from the old man while Rose took the other. "Professor Sprout must have forgotten to mention that it wasn't urgent and could wait for us to eat first, Sir."

"Well, I would hesitate to say that it isn't urgent however, there is no reason to skip dinner. Floppy?" A House Elf popped into the room to the side of the table and bowed. Dumbledore smiled down at the creature and continued, "Floppy, three plates of sandwiches and fruit please with a side of pudding and pie."

"Floppy be right on it Headmaster Sir."

The plates appeared a few seconds later, Rose nabbed an apple and between bites asked, "So, why is the Headmaster himself telling us off for skiving off classes? You do realize that Harry has a ton of training to do now that everyone and their mother at this school is allergic to helping? Gabrielle and I seem be some of the only people willing to take any time to help him learn. She doesn't have classes here officially and as long as I can pass my End of Year tests the teachers here can't expel me for ignoring my lessons. I really don't care about my grades as long as Harry survives this last task."

"And I'm officially exempt from having to attend classes as long as I'm doing training related things. Which I was," Harry put in.

Dumbledore chuckled though Harry could see the exhaustion in the old man's eyes and the slump of his shoulders. Damn. "I fully understand, and I assure you, Mr. and Miss. Potter, I did not ask you here to berate you over a few missed classes. Education is of course important, however we have other things of greater weight to discuss at the moment."

"You've determined who entered my brother into the Tournament?" Rose asked leaning forward with wide eyes. Harry suppressed a groan. She was playing it up a bit too much there. Granted they were supposed to be fourteen, but still…

"Miss Potter, Rose, I believe we all know why I have asked you here. You saw the Daily Prophet this morning did you not?"

Harry couldn't blame Dumbledore for flinching back. The sheer hatred and revulsion that flashed across his sister's face at the mention of the article from that rag would've frightened him too if it'd been directed his way. Her eyes widened, her teeth bared, and a snarl escaped from her lips as static filled the air from Rose's magic rising in response to her anger. Harry reached over and gripped her arm squeezing hard. "Rose," he murmured. "Not here. Not now. Calm down. We're getting better, remember?"

Rose shut her eyes and breathed deep. A few breaths later she nodded and opened her eyes again. Attempting to smile at the Headmaster she said in a voice devoid of inflection, "Yes, Sir, we saw the article this morning."

Dumbledore swallowed whatever he had been prepared to say and simply sat there. Finally after a seeming eternity he very slowly nodded and reached for an instrument to the side. "I admit to some concern over the contents of said article. While Rita Skeeter is a sensationalist who tends to wildly exaggerate her content she does always have a core kernel of truth to base her lies on. I worry that…I worry there may be truth to this story."

"What exactly are you asking, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked again squeezing Rose's arm and silently requesting the lead.

The man grimaced. "Harry, I can understand the teenage desire to explore one's…sexuality. I can even understand the desire for the forbidden. When I was a boy I was infatuated with an individual that my family disapproved of as well. I defied them thinking I knew better. It did not end well and there were – to my eternal shame – deaths involved."

Harry frowned and felt a minor headache coming on. "Could you please try to be less obscure and more direct, Sir? Are you attempting to imply something or you simply relating an old story?"

"Harry, Rose," Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, are the two of you romantically involved with each other?"

"We respectfully decline answering that question, Professor Dumbledore," Harry immediately replied.

"Harry, I need to know. I must be able to protect you and as your guardian it falls to me to ensure that you are properly taken cared for and – "

"Stop. Just. Bloody. Fucking. Stop!" Harry ground out through clenched teeth. He sucked in a sharp breath and collected himself loosening his fists before continuing in a calmer voice. "For starters, don't pretend you care all of a sudden. You dumped us on the doorstep of people who despised our parents without even stopping to say hello. You never once checked on how we were being raised. You haven't cared that we were bullied since practically day one of being in this school let alone in this world. You still have not forced a hearing for Sirius, our legitimate guardian. You are not our guardian. Nymphadora Tonks is our guardian and has been since June. You don't need to know squat Professor. You want to know about Hogwarts, great, let's talk. You want to know about our personal lives? Fuck off wanker."

Dumbledore leaned back and shut his eyes, running a hand down his long beard and pulling off his glasses with the other. He was silent for several long seconds before softly replying. "Certainly it wasn't that bad? I thought that anyone coming from the same family as Lily Evans couldn't possibly be as bad as she had been painted. I thought that Petunia would be…better."

"You thought wrong, old man. Are we done, Harry?" Rose snarled standing. She moved behind Harry's chair and laid a hand on his shoulder. He nodded and stood to follow. The two had just turned as Dumbledore murmured behind them.

"We are not finished, children."

"I believe we've made it clear that we have no intentions of answering your questions, Professor," Harry replied.

"Then you will listen." Dumbledore steepled his fingers on the desk and kept his eyes cast at the floor refusing to meet their gazes. "I agree that Harry's survival in this Tournament is of the current utmost importance. However, afterwards the status quo will have to change. While this situation is not illegal it is not right. And it cannot be allowed to continue. You are both a danger to those around you. Harry, you stabbed your own aunt at the dinner table at 13."

"Marge is lucky we didn't do worse to her considering what she was threatening," Rose muttered under her breath.

Thankfully, Dumbledore didn't seem to hear her and plowed right on. "Remus has told me of the two of you threatening him last year. Snape had as well – before he disappeared. Rose, you and I were the last two to speak with him before he vanished. Harry, you nearly killed that poor dragon and injured several spectators when you used Helga Hufflepuff's War Staff in the First Task. Your devotion to each other is admirable however it is dangerous and volatile and I see it leading you both down a dark path."

"What exactly are you saying, Dumbledore," Harry asked almost too quietly to be heard.

Dumbledore grimaced and his voice softened to near inaudible levels too. "This summer, you will be separated. Rose will stay with the Dursleys and Harry will stay with Sirius at his family home. I will ensure the proper warding is in place to ensure that the dwelling is safe to inhabit."

Cold flooded through Harry. Suddenly everything was all the more real. Their idle conversation from earlier about contingencies and potential options surged to front of his mind. Separate them? Rose stepped up next to him and asked, "Let me get this straight, I'm to stay with the Dursleys?" Her voice was completely devoid of all emotion. "Vernon and Petunia. The ones we just said hate us. The man who has repeatedly tried to rape me and has usually only been stopped because of my brother and only recently because I figured out I have my own spine to fight back with. Those people? Not Tonks? Not Andromeda and Ted? Not even the Weasleys, or the Bones, or the Finch-Fletchleys, or the Perks, or the Grangers, or the Delacours?"

"There are protections on the Dursley household that must be maintained; protections that cannot be allowed to fall. I am sorry, but this is the way things must be."

Harry nodded, the weight in his stomach lifted and determination replacing it. He'd reach out to Daphne and let her know to make all the preparations she'd need. There wasn't any point in PR anymore, if she was staying with them, she and her family would need a new base. They'd also have to have Tonks and Sirius start convincing the elder Grangers to move to America or something.

"Thank you for the warning, Dumbledore," Harry replied. "Here's one in turn. Do not rely on us for the coming war. You will only be disappointed. This country, this world and these people have continually disappointed us. We have no interest in protecting you or this place. We only care about those we love; our friends and our family. You are not one of them. Good day Albus Dumbledore, I would wish you luck, but it would be insincere."

Fanfic Rec: 'The Disorder of the Phoenix' by JacobApples. It's a Harry/Tonks story with a largely canon Harry who, instead of staying with Ginny after the war, ended up helping a near catatonic Andromeda raise Teddy. About 7 years later Fawkes is very dissatisfied with things and decides he wants a redo so blazes Harry/Andi/Teddy back into the past during Fifth Year. Besides the odd method of time travel, there is the also unusual addition of Harry becoming his older age, Andromeda retaining her pre-time travel memories and Teddy staying along for the ride. Harry is very not happy with this turn of events but makes the best of it and takes over Umbridge's job then eventually starts dating Tonks (Nymphadora not Andromeda, Andi is still very much with Ted). It's a very sweet fic with a bit of an unusual premise. Father!Harry being a time traveler is definitely something that you don't see every day! This is another completed fic as well which is always nice.