.

His Own Man

Chapter 10: Dreams and Red Heads

By Jamnaz79

Notice: I do not own Harry Potter. I write this not for money but just for fun and the hell of it. I do not claim ownership of anything to do with Harry Potter.

The boy-who-lived shrugged his shoulders once then sipped his butterbeer before speaking up, "You say that like it is a bad thing. I think all of the main features of the different Houses should be good traits to cultivate. There is nothing wrong with being cunning or wise or loyal or brave. We should each try to get better at all of the founders different beliefs."

"Well put Harry." Neville added with a smile.

"So since we spent most of the day in pairings how about we enjoy the rest of the day together, it will give a chance to get to know each other better." Harry added with a smile.

"That would be fine with me." Neville quickly added in happy for the chance to get closer to Harry and the girls.

The girls looked back and forth then nodded once as Tracey spoke up, "We are in."

Harry raised up his butterbeer with a smile, "To better House relations."

That caused a roll of the eyes from all around the table but they tapped their butterbeers and drank up. The rest of the date was spent as a foursome but it was a fun day overall.

~~~ HoM ~~~

The three young men followed the Senator down the fabled cobblestone streets of Rome. It was the city of Legend, the city of power, the city that ruled much of the known world. Grand Columns rose up into the air spiraling to marble and concrete structures that seemed mythical in proportions. Rome had a beauty to it that could not be found anywhere else even in their home of Constantinople.

They passed by architecture that could be considered some of the wonders of the modern world. Their fine leather sandals walked over the same cobblestones as the Triumvirate did not too many decades before. They could feel the power and magic in the air surrounding this city. It would be hard to deny that all three teenagers were wide eyed in surprise as they looked over the vast metropolis around them.

They came to a stop after slowly climbing up the stairs to the palace. Their grandfather, the Senator easily passed the saluting Centurions that stood guard over the residence. Aulus Plautius was well known to all of the nobility of Rome. He was considered one of the elite of society after putting down the slave revolt in Apulia a decade ago. In addition he was a respected nobleman and family that contained a special bloodline. For the rumor was that they were blessed by the powers of magic from the gods. An ancestry traced back to ancient times from their birthplace of Sparta.

Ignotus was proud of his Grandfather and his family history. He and his two older brothers had both inherited his grandfather's family magic. They were wizards, gifted staff users were a rarity found even among the elite families. His mother had the power but his father had never been gifted with the ability. It was a family secret, an open secret in the exclusive nobility that kept this knowledge from commoners when possible. Superstitions were dangerous things after all.

Despite his pride in his family and the accomplishments that they had made in Roman Society today was to hopefully become a great day in their family history. Today his grandfather had been summoned back to Rome by the new Caesar. If rumors were true then Aulus would be granted the privilege to lead the legions of Caesar Claudius in a new campaign. This was a moment for the history of his kin, a moment that should be treasured.

Ignotus daydreamed a bit of the honor and privilege for his family as the family walked from chamber to chamber in the palace. It was not until the doors were opened by another set of Centurions that he snapped out of it to find his family and himself before a small throne room of the Emperor. Claudius of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the son of Antonia Minor and born in the province of Gaul. The man had a sickness about him rumored to be from a curse as he was the first Emperor born outside of the central provinces of Rome. It was perhaps his deafness in one ear and broken body that allowed him to survive the purges from the previous Emperor Caligula. Ignotus knew that his Grandfather had helped give some assistance at the time to Claudius but not exactly what Aulus had done. Still the man had somehow managed to ascend the throne and wished to make new mark for the glory of the Empire. Rumors had it that he had already started large public works of roads, aqueducts and other future plans.

Aulus Plautius and his three grandsons stopped before the throne, lowering down to kneel before the Emperor. It was the voice of Aulus that spoke up first, "We who were summoned proudly present ourselves before you Caesar Claudius, may we find ourselves worthy of service to you."

Ignotus could not help but peak around the room. It was very bare for a throne room for the leader of a grand empire. The current Emperor did not believe in overabundance and used this smaller chamber for most of his day to day operations instead of the more opulent chambers in the palace. What Ignotus glance found surprising was the fact that there were only two guardsmen in the room. Both of these individuals were dressed different than Praetorian Guard members. Instead of the iron chest plate and armored leggings they wore a set of elegant robes. While these guards did have short swords buckled to their waists they leaned on staves. Wizards guarding the Emperor in private, it was a rare view of others from their powerful society.

Claudius stood up from his throne and walked forward with a limp to stop before Aulus. The emperor put his arms out wide with a bright smile. "We are in private my friend, there is no need to be so formal. I summoned you to bestow an honor on you and your kin not to cause your old bones to crack from kneeling."

"I will show you old bones, Emperor or not!" The grouchy voice of Aulus spat back as he embraced the man with a kiss on each cheek. A smile cracked the weathered lips of Aulus for the Emperor, "It is good to see you."

"It has been too long since you left the Senate to remain home with the family duties. I take it that these are the boys that you left us for?" The dark black eyes of Claudius turned onto the three kneeling teens. They had not been given leave to rise or be recognized till this point. The Caesar made a motion with his hand for them to rise towards Aulus.

Aulus smiled at each of his boys as he stepped over to them. First he walked by them one at a time placing his weathered hand down onto their heads while speaking their names, "Cadmus, Anitoch, and Ignotus. My three whelps from my daughter. They are good lads all things considered."

"They look like they were a handful." The smile of the Emperor warmed the young troublesome trio, "They are gifted like you?"

"Indeed they take after their mother and I." The words of Aulus paused for a moment as sadness crept into his gaze.

Claudius seemed to sense the turmoil of the statement and reached forward and gaze a squeeze to the shoulder of the old Senator, "I am sorry for her passing. I have placed a sacrifice to Mors in her name."

"Thank you my friend. The sadness continued to fill the gaze of Aulus for a moment longer. The old general bowed before Claudius with a smile once more, "I understand my Emperor has need of my service once more."

A smile reflected form the face of Claudius making the plain looking man handsome yet if someone looked closely they would see a keen intellect in his eyes, "Indeed. I name you Aulus Plautius Consul in the Legions. You shall be placed in charge of the IX of Hispania, XIV of Gemina, and XX of Valeria along with a contingent of troops. You shall ride to the Northern coastline of Gaul where you shall gather this coming spring. From there you shall lead this host in my name to Britannia and bring her under Roman Dominion."

The gaze of Aulus Plautius was firmly on his Emperor as pride filled the old wizard. He bowed his head respectfully and placed his right fist over his chest as he spoke up, "As my Caesar commands, so shall it be done!"

~~~ HoM ~~~

Harry sat up in bed in a cold sweat. His breathing was deep and painful as his skin felt like a layer of ice. The pendant on his chest of the Deathly Hallows glowed faintly yet was diminishing by the second. This wasn't the first of the dreams he had but it was the most detailed. He felt the wash of memories flowing into his body. It was almost as if he had lived the life of his ancestor. The young man groaned as his eyes squeezed tightly together as the headache started as the memories joined his own. It was going to be a long day for Harry.

~~~ HoM~~~

Harry walked down the halls after leaving his transfiguration class. The class today had been a study of inanimate to animate transfiguration and Harry found it rather easy. Still he had stayed afterwards for a few minutes to speak with Professor McGonagall. He was lost in thoughts reviewing mentally what they had studied when a hand reached out and grabbed his arm pulling him into a classroom. The door closed immediately after he was pulled through the opening.

The young man looked up in surprise at being pulled from the hallway. His reflexes kicked in as he flicked the wrist of his right hand and a wand appeared there. Turning towards his attacker he shifted his stance till his left leg stepped forward to between their own. Harry pressed his weight forward against them to try to place them off balance and thrust his wand forward till it was leveled against their chest. His emerald gaze narrowed as he glared at the person that assaulted him before widening in surprise.

The busty red head was surprised too when Harry reacted so quickly. She had herself been tutored on the side by her aunt for years in self-defense. But, she had not expected this reaction from Harry. Instead of the boy coming willingly it turned out that now she was herself about to fall onto her backside as his leg and weight put her off balance. She reached out and grabbed hold of his arms to try to steady her momentum. Unfortunately this grasping instead caused them both to fall onto the ground in a pile. A groan escaped the lips of the red head as she shook her head to clear it, "We keep ending up like this."

Harry's lips twisted into his best smile as he felt himself pinning down the very well formed body of the beautiful girl. His right hand was currently trapped between her very large chest, not a bad place to fall. He spoke up teasingly, "I don't know, it feels pleasant to me."

Susan rolled her eyes at the boy even as a slight crimson spilled over her freckled cheeks. Before she could comment a throat cleared from the back of the room pulling the attention of the pair towards the other occupants of the classroom. Now realizing they were not alone Harry felt the same crimson creep up his neck and cheeks from embarrassment. The pair quickly separated as Harry offered a hand to help up the young beauty.

The red head took over as she stepped between Harry and the young man and woman at the single table filling up the back of the classroom. She flashed a smile then motioned towards the free chair to the Gryffindor boy, "I heard you were starting to the Potters to their ways of old. So I thought you might like a meeting with your of families shields."

The young Lady motioned first towards the older seventh year Hufflepuff boy. The young man was very handsome with curvy blonde hair styled into the latest fashion. His dark brown eyes would draw the attention of many witches. His physique was muscular with a swimmers body from hours of quidditch. He was known to many of the young ladies of the castle as the play boy of Hogwarts with a smile that could charm a rampaging cockatrice. "Harry James Potter, Lord of the Ancient House of Potter. I have the pleasure to introduce you to Cedric Diggory, Heir of the House of Diggory. I believe you two have met on the Quidditch pitch but it is only proper to meet formally."

Harry reached forward and offered his hand with a smile for the older boy, "It is a pleasure to formally meet you Cedric. I hope that we can work to repair the relationship of our Houses. I formally apologize for not trying to seek you and your kin out in regards to our alliance."

Credit took the hand and gave a good hard shake while returning the smile, "It is fine Harry. I am sorry I did not speak with you before. I tried a few times but my actions were rebuffed by those around you and common etiquette. I should have tried harder to reach you. I did not realize you did not understand our customs. Perhaps we can start anew today and I will be happy to give you a few pointers."

"I would like that." Harry withdrew his hand and turned his gaze towards the young lady. She was tall and lean for her age. He had seen her before in classes plenty of times with her Hufflepuff roommates. Today she was dressed with her long midnight hair tied back into a braid that stretched down to her backside. Her robes were finely crafted silk and showed her figure very flatteringly. On the chest of her robes was a seal of a falcon under a gryphon both in flight and holding swords in their talons.

"Harry, it is my privilege to introduce my friend Megan Jones of House Jones. Megan is the niece of the current Head of House Jones. Megan, this is Lord Harry James Potter, Head of the Ancient House of Potter." Harry reached forward and took hold of the hand of the young lady. He raised it upwards to gently place a kiss on her hand. He watched her dark brown eyes light up to match a cute smile on her face.

"It is a pleasure to formally meet you Ms. Jones. I am very happy to finally speak with you. I believe despite our classes we never got a chance to sit and talk together. I apologize that in ignorance I have not sought you out." The smile of the young man was his most charming as his eyes seem to sparkle in the light.

"It is fine Harry. Now that you know you may feel free to see me out anytime." Megan blinked and turned bright red realizing what she said. She opened her mouth and closed it twice before letting out a squeak. She quickly then corrected, "I meant that I hope we can become friends our families can continue our alliance."

Before the teenage girl could continue Harry spoke up, "I understand. I am sorry that we never had a chance to speak before very much. I apologize to you and your family for my ignorance of our culture. I hope we can make amends and become very good friends."

Susan stepped forward at this moment and placed down a scroll before Harry. She glanced at the scroll with more than a bit of curiosity before looking up at the handsome boy, "You had wished me to contact my Aunt and pass on a scroll about a situation. This scroll contains her response for your eyes only. I should leave you be for now. I am sure you have much to catch up on and perhaps plan. Have fun till we fall into each other again Harry."

Harry watched the disappearing firm backside of the red head leave the room before he turned back to his new possible allies. He smiled towards the pair of them, "You have a very interesting housemate."

"You don't know the half of it. Try living with her in the same dorms. The stories I could tell…" Megan spoke p with a bit of a smile.

A single eyebrow rose at the girl and the possibility of blackmail material on the busty red head. He shook his head once with a smile to clear away those thoughts, "Perhaps sometime in the future I could hear some stories Megan. I have always been curious what the Hufflepuff House chambers are like. The Gryffindor ones are very …. Intense sometimes…"

"Another time though. I mainly wanted to meet you both and Susan was kind enough to arrange it today. I was hoping that I could get to know each of you and your families in the future. I honestly never was taught of my family history or duties till this summer briefly so I am hoping to correct my mistakes since entering our world. "Harry gently commented.

"You really were raised muggle Harry?" Cedric asked with a slight surprise showing in the raised eyebrow of the older boy.

"Yes, I never knew anything of magic before my Hogwarts letter. In fact I barely knew the names of faces of my parents before I was eleven." Harry frowned as he admitted that fact. But these two were supposed to be from allied houses so he might need to relax his tendency to shut himself away a bit more than normally. "The muggle relatives of my mother were less than kind people but I was forced to live there by the Headmaster. That changed this summer and hopefully I will have new living arrangements next summer."

"I am sure my folks and Megan's would help if you need a place to stay. That is assuming that the Potter properties are not up to order." Cedric offered with a warm smile showing that Hufflepuff kindness.

"Thank you, I wouldn't want to be a burden but I would like a chance to meet your families and the Heads of your Household. Perhaps it can be arranged at the first task. I am sure they will be able to hopefully tell me a bit more of my family in stories about my grandfather. I understand my father wasn't much for politics of family matters but my grandfather Charlus was heavy into it." Harry offered as he rested back into his chair with a smile. "Of course, I am assuming there will be time if I make it through this tournament alive."

"I had hoped to be the champion for Hogwarts." Cedric admitted with a slight frown edging the corner of his lips."

"I am sorry about that Cedric. I am sure you would have been an excellent champion. I had known someone would enter my name no matter what. It always seems to be wherever I am the worst possible event will take place. So I was damned either way, it would be better to have it be my choice than let someone else decide if I will compete or not. I am sure you would have made an excellent Hogwarts Champion." The raven haired youth offered up to the older teen.

"I understand the reasoning. I still had the victory over your in quidditch at least." Cedric teased with a grin towards the other boy.

Harry rolled his eyes and was about to speak up wen Megan joined in before he could comment. "Before we get into quidditch talk since I am certain that we can go on for hours. Harry what have you figured out for the first task?"

"Yes, I know that the first task will be a magical powerful creature. It has commonly been a task f bravery and daring. So I expect something dangerous. I doubt it will be a cockatrice after the last tournament. I merely am not certain what it will be yet." Harry finished with a sigh and shrug of his shoulders, "I am trying to study any type of creatures that could be used and their weaknesses till I can figure out more."

"It is dragons. Cedric spoke softly with a frown, "My father mentioned to me in my last letter from him that the first task will contain dragons. You need to get past them for something. I don't know anything further."

The trio of students paled as silence settled over the room for a moment. Harry broke the silence as he spoke up calmly and slowly, "That sounds bloody scary! At least I know what to look for and what to aim to defeat. Thank you Cedric, I really appreciate knowing that. It could mean the difference in life or death."

"You are welcome Harry. Just win for Hogwarts." The boy flashed his best smile then continued, "So who do you think is going to win the quidditch league this year?"

The trio started up a good debate about the different teams of the league. It would go on for a few hours of talking and debating but in the end a bif of a friendship would start up between the three young people.

~~~ HoM ~~~

"Have you figured out what you are going to do?" Hermione asked with concern in her gaze as she studied Harry.

The youth simply smiled back at her and winked infuriating the girl "I have a plan all set. I promise I am all set for this challenge."

"How can you be so calm? It is a dragon Harry!" Hermione almost shouted out the final few words as she became heated with more than a bit of worry.

"Because, getting upset isn't going to get my nowhere Hermione, I know what I have to do and I have a way to do it. Trust me." The final two words were spoken with a roguish grin offered at the girl. The result was her looking like she was crossed between throwing her hands up into the air and strangling the boy.

The girl gave up with a sigh and pouted for a time. She flipped through the pages of her book she had been studying for Arithmancy. A few minutes of silence Hermione looked back up from the book to the boy with concern again filling her gaze, "What about the dreams? Have they stopped?"

Harry glance up from his own book, one he had managed from the restricted section. It outlined elemental spells, some of which he had been seeing in his dreams. His ancestor seemed to be very capable with spells of water, air, and ice. Perhaps it was a trait he picked up from the Peverell line. But, since he knew this would lead to an argument he did not talk to Hermione about it. As soon as she found out about the strange dreams she had been determined to get him to share. Even more she wanted him to go to McGonagall or Dumbledore about them. That was the last thing he wanted was to get them involved in these dreams. It was obvious something to do with his family and this was the first time since coming to Hogwarts that Dumbledore seemed to not be paying attention to him at all.

It was strange that instead of the attention of the old man being on him, it seemed to be focused on Neville. He had seen the old man meeting with the boy on multiple occasions throughout the past few weeks. He wasn't certain why, but for some reason Dumbledore and McGonagall had gotten into their heads to bother his friend. He felt bad about that but so far the boy hadn't complained about it to Harry.

So Harry forced his best smile then shook his head once. His black hair tinged with crimson on the ends brushed against his neck as he looked up at his good friend, "No Hermione. I have been blessedly free of dreams. Lately I have felt the best I have ever been in my life."

"That couldn't have something to do with a certain Slytherin could it Harry?" The girl raised an eyebrow as she teased the boy. Harry's cheeks turned crimson to match the trips of his hair at her words. In truth he had been meeting up with Daphne quite a bit. The two had taken to studying for Runes together three times a week. In addition she could often join him in his research for the tournament, at first he had tried dissuade her but she was stubborn. Normally after they would finish the pair would take a walk together just to talk. It was scary as hell to Harry how easily he was fitting in with her but enjoyable too.

Harry gave a shrug of his shoulders with a false bravado. He spoke softly, "I don't mind her company. I learned this year thankfully not to judge someone by their House. After all if my grandmother was a Slytherin why couldn't others in that house be good people too?"

For a long moment Hermione was silent staring at Harry. She didn't speak but it was obvious she was having an internal war in her thoughts. If Harry had to guess it was over her own ingrown belief that Slytherin's were often evil. Or at least the House commonly held beliefs very different from her own. Finally she seemed to snap out of it with a huff and look down at her textbook, "Two days till the task."

"I know and I will be ready." Harry smiled to himself then glanced back down at the book careful to read over the theory behind a few more helpful spells.

~~~ HoM ~~~

The letter had come late in the night. It was delivered by the rat at the orders of his master. His master had been researching into the contract for him and supposedly the determinations of what needed to take place were in the letter. His fingers tinged as he felt the magical signature of the letter, the ward on it testing who he was when he picked it up off of his desk. Slowly Barty Crouch Junior opened up the letter with a frown.

Servant,

The contract with the cup should not affect you. The contract only outlines the individuals entered and no the spirit of the individuals intent. You are to keep on your duties and plan to make certain that Potter wins the Tournament.

If you should feel the touch of your magic weakening, then you must come to me at once. I have included a portkey to take you to my current location's opening. Use it at once if you feel the contract start to weaken you. You will still be of use to our plans in another way.

Your Master

Barty read over the letter twice as he felt his heart beating wildly. He too had been studying the contract repeatedly. While he may be more than a bit insane from his time in Azkaban and time spent under the torture curse he knew in his heart something was wrong in this letter. Could his master be uncertain too that was why he was warning him to come to his lord? Perhaps he had a backup plan that would be enacted to keep him from losing his magic! Yes, that would have to be it. His master rewarded loyalty and those that were successful. Despite the situation he was in Barty Crouch was successful in getting Harry Potter into the tournament.

The Death Eater watched let go of the letter and watched it as burnt into scraps. He pocketed the small stone that had been made into a portkey then went to bed to rest. He passed peacefully into sleep secure that his master had a plan and need for him still.

Author Note: I am sorry for the long delay in this chapter. I have been working on a few chapters for Shadow. I want to get that story going and hopefully worked on finishing soon as possible. I expect this story to end up being a long large story too so I would like to hopefully finish that up first. Not to mention being sidelined with a bit of sickness there for a while. But, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I like how Harry and Susan seem to always fall into each other. Next chapter will have a meeting with Amelia and more Susan and Daphne along with the first task. Let me know your thoughts, likes and dislikes.