Chapter Twelve: Awake

'How can I be of service, Lord Potter?'

Harry slowly lifted his eyes, a white figure stood before him with a hand out to help. He glanced behind the figure and saw that it didn't match the Hogwarts stone or the Medical Wing. It almost looked like he was outside.

"Wh…Who are you?" He coughed out roughly, glaring at the figure "Where did you take me."

The figure smiled, leaning down closer to him. The action showed that it was a woman, her stark black hair was held by a pin to keep out of her pale glass like silver eyes. She was attractive in a sort of odd way, something about her seemed cold or strange. "I took you to the safest place in the world." She whispered with a wide grin. "At least to you."

"Where did you take me?" He snapped again, slowly propping himself up.

"Your mind silly boy." She said like it was obvious.

Harry stopped dead, looking up at her with wide eyes "Wh-What?"

The woman ignored him, tucking a strained of hair behind her ear "What I don't understand is why you didn't connect with me. You had this…thing pounding at your doors." She said jerking her thumb to a black shrouded figure stuck to a tree with pins sticking out.

The Figure wasn't dead but was stuck, its eyes were a dark red and it seemed to mumble nonsense.

"Who the hell are you?" He snapped getting into a semi-standing position. "You're going to tell me right now."

The woman sighed pointing to his ring "I told you a long time ago." She said with a small smile "Call me Mother of Friend."

Harry reeled back with wide eyes "You? You're that thing in the Ring?" He said with a look of horror.

Mother frowned crossing her arms "I'm not a thing, Milord, I am a Lady." She snapped kicking him in the side "Now get up."

"Lady is a debatable word." He muttered, then silenced when she glared at him.

Mother walked slowly to the creature "This…thing…is very interesting." She said casually, prodding it with her index finger; when she pulled away it was a smoky black "Interesting indeed."

"What is it?" Harry asked looking at it closer, it looked familiar.

She turned to him with a grin "Voldemort's memories." She explained flicking her darkened finger at him, the smoke traveled to his forehead and then a flash happened.

It was like a memory from a distant life, he saw himself as a boy scared and beaten. He looked up into the eyes of his caretaker "Why do they attack me?" He asked simply. The woman didn't respond as she bandaged his arm "Because you are different Tom." She said simply, with a small sigh "That's only a bad thing if you let it." He felt the muscles of his cheeks tighten into a smile.

Then it was over, he was thrown back into his mindscape "What the fuck." He growled rubbing his temples.

Mother laughed lightly, it was almost cold even when kind "You see when they overwhelmed your mind, all you got was flashes and pain." She explained walking over with her finger still black "However if you relax, you should be able to explore his mind."

Harry rose a brow, just thinking about exploring Voldemort's memories made him want to vomit, but it could be necessary at least to learn about the other Horcruxes and the names of Death Eaters.

He stood slowly, making himself as tall as possible his face became a cold mask "Try me." He said in a clear powerful voice.

Mother smirked, it wasn't a kind one and then she pressed her index finger onto his forehead right where his scar had been fading.

Again it was a memory but it was so much harsher than before, he was in a dark room and a woman sat in front of him. He rose a brow as he looked at her, she looked familiar with raven hair and dark violet eyes.

"Bellatrix…." His voice whispered in a cool smoky voice "I have a gift for you and your husband.."

Bellatrix had placed her head on the floor, kneeling in front of his throne "I do not deserve a gift Milord." She said in a gentle voice, laced with pain and anger.

His arm moved without his will and the pale wand struck out, causing her wail in pain and roll around on the floor. After a few minutes of her screams, the wand was pulled back and he felt a liquid going down his throat. "Care to try again Bellatrix? When one presents the other with a gift they tend not to talk back." He said in a cold voice.

Bellatrix was shaking, the look on her face told him she was trying so hard not to cry or vomit. She bowed her head again "Thank you Milord for your most gracious gift." She said in a clear voice, void of all.

He brought his other hand out and inside was a small golden cup, it had a badger on it but then he felt something so much more from it. It was a dark sinister feeling that he got when he touched the compass, it was a Horcrux. The Cup floated in front of Bellatrix and he felt the muscles along his face turn into a grin "Take care of this Bellatrix."

With that the memory was destroyed as quickly as it came, he felt weak in the knees but he remained standing. He did feel something wet trail down his nostril and onto his lips, blood. Quickly he used the back of his hand and he wiped it off.

Mother looked at him with a frown "We'll continue this tomorrow." She said in a tone of finality "When you have eaten and slept, your mind is over worked." Without looking she threw a silver pin at the fore head of the Memory holder and it vanished.

"I'll keep all intruders out of your mind as best I can, you'll either push them out or let them in." She explained rolling another pin between her fingers "I'll also keep the memories at bay, be warned any 'Dark' deeds or extreme stress will make them stronger."

Harry nodded his head slowly, feeling weaker than a minute ago even though Dumbledore had attacked him; he didn't feel that bad. He just hoped time was funny in here and he wasn't strapped to a bed in the medical wing again.

Mother smiled at him "Go on then, I release you." She said flicking the pin at him without much effort, or strength.

He felt the sharp prick of the pin entering his skull and everything went inky black.

XX~XX~XX~XX

With a start his head was held up, he felt a sticky wet fluid on the side of his cheek but dismissed it as the vomit he made as he fell. He stood shakily, glancing back at Dumbledore's office was it wise to run that quickly?

He glanced down at his watch, it had only been around five minutes and surely the old man couldn't be up and about right now. He practically dragged himself back towards the Gargoyle "Mars Bars." He said in a sluggish voice.

The Gargoyle did a once over "Forgot to tell him something?" He asked, apparently oblivious to the damage the teen had really done to his Masters office.

"You could say that." He drawled, walking the steps slowly and entered the office. The old man was still knocked out cold on the side of the wall.

Harry sighed, he didn't have the strength to go around fixing every little thing. He recalled Dumbledore having trinkets in that cabinet, he came up with an easy answer.

"I need to Obliviate." He said simply to the open air.

A portrait spoke up "Point your wand at his forehead, focus on what you want him to remember and edit or remove it." The woman said in a calm voice "Editing is much harder and draining but it will appear natural. Not like a blank space in one's mind."

Harry nodded in thanks to the past Headmaster, when a thought struck him "Why are you helping me?" He asked with a pointed expression.

"We're Headmasters of this school, boy." A man spoke up, his thick beard made him look imposing "We teach and protect the student body, not try to invade their minds."

"Quiet right." A girlish voice said brightly "Albus has been tampering with lives for a long time, Severus is in his pocket I believe. Only reason someone like him would be a teacher."

Harry just let out a small laugh "Makes sense to me." He said before pulling out his Ebony wand, he kept both rather close to him anymore and this one was stashed in the folds of his robes. With a sluggish point he muttered the simple word "Obliviate."

He just altered Dumbledore's memory to that of his conversation with Harry went smoothly, he would remember that Gringotts had sent the letter to Harry and there would be nothing he could do. Just as he set down at his desk the device he had been working on exploded sending him into the wall and breaking the cabinet.

Harry let out a shaky breath at the strain, silently glad for his larger reserves of magic or he might have passed out again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, now scram."

He didn't need to be told twice, quickly taking his leave without falling or breaking something. The second he made it down the hall to the Headmasters office, a pair of frightened ice blue eyes met his.

"Merlin…." She whispered before pulling him into a tight hug "I'll kill him." She hissed out, slightly muffled by his shirt.

Harry groaned but wrapped his arms around her frame "I'm fine, he's not worth the energy right now." He whispered "You know that."

Daphne didn't say anything for a while "Come with me." She said in a low whisper "Pull on your cloak."

Harry frowned but reached into his jacket pocket anyway, grabbing his cloak and tugging it on. He followed Daphne at a slow pace, she must have noticed how terrible he looked or at least how he thought he looked.

She led him to a stretch of dark stone, with a single crest of Slytherin on the wall. They were in the confines of the dungeon and she muttered a single word to the crest. "Cunning."

With a start the wall creaked and slid open, reviling a small hallway. "Follow." She commanded simply.

He knew where they were now, the Slytherin Common room; being that he'd snuck in his second year and it hadn't really changed. He kept following her to a hallway, she muttered a few words and flicked her wand at the dark stone.

Most of the Slytherin students were out before curfew or relaxing in the room before him. He noted a few of them smoking, must be a way to relax dealing with the house of Lies and Tricks.

Daphne started to whisper "There is a detection charm placed on the Girls hall, it's designed to keep males out." She said lowly, though he could hear every word "It hadn't stopped the girls before though, we can let men into the hall but only in an emergency."

"This counts?"

"Shut up." She said in a hiss, walking carefully to a door with three names engraved

'Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis and Sophie Roper' Daphne opened the door and looked around, almost carefully "Come in." She said simply, kicking off her shoes.

Harry rose a brow, he knew she was close to Tracey but the shy girl with glasses he knew to be Sophie didn't seem the type to room with the two young women. "Roper?"

Daphne nodded, flicking her wand at the door a small lock clicked "Tracey will know what the lock means, I only lock it when I need a few minutes to myself." She explained "Roper would rather room with us than the other three girls. They are more or less part of the Death Eater recruitment."

Harry nodded in understanding "Any reason you wanted me to come in here?" He asked casually, crossing his arms after his cloak was thrown off.

Daphne nodded "Lay down, shoes off." She said pointing to a bed of green with Silver curtains.

Harry raised a single brow but complied, taking his shoes and cloak placing them by the bed. As an afterthought he removed the robe too. He then slowly slid across the sheets onto her bed, he noticed it was rather soft and must have a pad to be so.

He waited for a few seconds before he felt the bed shift, Daphne slid onto it with him and wrapped her arms around his middle "Now, I've secured the room." She whispered softly "Tell me."

Harry sighed wrapping one hand on around her back and the other onto his forehead.

He slowly told her what happened, even going into the fact his ring had protected him.

XX~XX~XX~XX

Daphne didn't move much, letting herself fall into the story he was telling. She didn't stop when she had a question or even make a sound but when she heard him say Dumbledore tried to enter his mind she tightened her hold on him.

The ring was powerful, she knew that much, the question was how powerful could it be? Records dated the Potter Family back to the Roman Invasion. They had been around much, much longer before that as well only part of the Italian Wizard community.

In fact it wouldn't surprise her if the Potter family had spread from Rome, to Greece and from England to America and Australia. Though the main line seemed to make its base in England as far as she knew, the Italy line could be the main one.

When he finished she let out a shaky breath, and repeated a single line "I'll kill him." She said very darkly.

Harry sighed again, running his hand through her hair; which instantly calmed her down some. Dipstick knew her better than she thought, or had hoped.

"He'll get what's coming to him." He whispered darkly almost matching her tone "I'll call Sirius tonight, I'm bound to believe that Amelia is either there or with him."

Daphne nodded but then the door knocked "Daph, can I come in?" Came a very small voice, one Harry didn't recognize.

The brunette sighed "Stay still and shut up." She said simply, sliding away from him and suddenly missing the warm he put off. He was fire after all.

Harry frowned "Bloody Menace." Was muttered before the curtains fell around blocking his form.

"Dipstick." She returned in kind, she was actually rather liking the pet name he was giving her and she was starting to think he rather like his as well.

Daphne walked across the floor, it was rather clean spare a few pairs of pants and undergarments from her bunk mates. She tapped the door with her wand and looked at the shy smaller girl, she always slouched and looked afraid of everything.

Though she really couldn't blame her, she was a Muggleborn in the House of Purebloods. Sophie was a few inches shorter than her, with a head of rather long messy black hair that she had covering most of her face a pair of square glasses covered her pale brown eyes. Daphne had told Sophie before that she was cute when she actually tried to look like a girl, her robes were always a size to large.

"Are you busy?" The shy girl asked avoiding her gaze.

"No, what do you need?"

"I-I was hoping you'd help me with my Potions homework…." She said slowly, her face slightly red and playing with her thumbs.

"What was the assignment again?" She asked her mind currently somewhere else.

"Oh…It was-was on the uses of Owl feathers." She pulled out her half finished essay "I just don't know what they're used for."

Daphne sighed "Come on in then, it's your room too." She said taking a step back.

"Well it was locked…I thought you might be reading a letter from your Father….you tend to do that." She explained, heading straight for the desk.

Daphne stifled a chuckle "Very observant." She said calmly, tracking the shy girls gaze to the red flare of a Gryffindor robe. "Dipstick, Roper isn't going to bite."

Harry grunted "Wish you'd stop calling me that." He said with a smile, a tick that meant he was lying. "Should I bail?"

Daphne looked at Sophie who shrugged "As long as you two don't start….snogging…I don't mind." She said in a small voice "Are you good at Potions?" She asked the Potter heir, wondering what his grades were like with Snape breathing down his neck.

"Relatively." He said remembering he had an affinity to the Potions side of Magic, though it did claim he wasn't a natural.

Daphne punched his shoulder lightly "He's not that great, I am however third in class." She said sitting down next to the shy girl.

"I knew that, we got our ranking last year." She said dully "I hadn't forgotten."

Daphne smirked, while Harry just snorted making him get another punch in the shoulder.

XX~XX~XX~XX

Harry spent the night in an abandoned classroom that was at point used for Conjuration only, it must have been a larger subject sometime ago. He was in a meditation pose, the runes along his skin glowed a sickly red and then went back to their black ink as he relaxed.

He opened his eyes and glanced down at the mirror in his lap "Padfoot." He whispered simply and it caused the image of Sirius to show up after a few seconds.

"Pup? Something wrong?" He asked in a calm voice with a raised brow.

Harry frowned, sighing simply as he tried to keep his cool.

"Dumbledore called me to his office, transferring me to Runes and then threatened my relationship with Daphne." He explained slowly "Then we argued and he tried to enter my mind."

Sirius' eyes went wide for a fraction of a second before they turned into slits with a snarl at his lips.

Harry cut him before he could open his mouth "I pushed him out, he was thrown into a wall and I modified the memory." He explained running a hand through his shoulder length hair. "I met something though…something that can help me with Voldemorts memories."

Sirius nodded slightly "I'll talk to Amy, see what she can do." He said lighting a cigarette "I want more weight on him though, this is good but we can do a little better."

"What do you have in mind?" Harry asked curiously "We have got him on charges of Fraud, Theft, Blocks and even Tampering with evidence."

"Right which at best, would be around five years in Azkaban and a hefty fine." Sirius said breathing out the smoke "We need more, him assaulting you is good adding another five years or so to his sentence."

"You want him gone for good?"

"I'd rather it happen like that, yes." He said running his free hand through his hair "Dumbledore won't openly attack you again, that much is clear. You're a lot like an unsharpened sword, though useable…you're not at your peak of strength."

Harry grunted, he didn't like being told something he already knew. "He knows Voldemort's coming back." He said with a sigh.

"I figured that….what do you have in mind?"

"Use Steam?"

"Steam?" Sirius repeated "Become a Vigilante? Hunt down the remaining Death Eaters?" He asked raising a brow rather casually.

"I have the perfect cover, students aren't supposed to be able to leave school grounds." The Potter heir said cracking a grin "I'll use the Willow route, you'll leave a Portkey there for me and I'll handle the targets."

"Not so sure I like this…you freaked out over killing someone the last time." He said dully, not showing a lot of enthusiasm.

Harry didn't show any emotion "I'll handle it, I don't want Voldemort to come back with an Army." He snarled, eyes glowing with power.

Sirius sighed flicking his dead cigarette away "I can't talk you out of this…you'll just do it without my help and get killed." He said lost in the memories much like how James had been.

"Then you'll help me?" He asked with a smirk.

Sirius nodded "I'll send you an amulet, it will warm when the Portkey is in place….I'll have a file there waiting for you." He explained "I'll be using a lot of tricks I learned as an Aurour and from the Order."

Harry just grinned "Is it sick I think this will be fun?"

"Only a little bit Pup, you just want to end the problem before it starts."

Harry nodded calmly "I'll keep working on my magic…though I think it might be better if I just used Guerrilla tactics and knife work." He said lamely, his magic was still rather out there and he had a sinking feeling that Dumbledore might remember what happened.

Sirius rubbed his neck "Fine….just…back off if it's too much. I'll start easy, find a supporter and not an actual D.E" He said flicking his lighter again on a new smoke "Sirius, Out."

The image faded for a few moments before it was just a mirror, Harry set it off to the side and breathed out a breath. He looked at a candle on the side wall and snapped his fingers forcing his element to work, breaking the flame off. When he was surrounded by the inky blackness the only thing that stood out was his glowing green eyes.

XX~XX~XX~XX

Daphne and Harry's relationship had gone completely public, everyone believed they'd been an item for awhile and it made several guys angry at the Boy-Who-Lived…though several girls were pissed at the Slytherin Ice Queen too.

They couldn't catch a break.

Harry sat with Daphne on one side and Hermione on the other and Moody had just entered the classroom; at least the thunking noise told him that.

The grizzled older man rest on a chair, propping his wooden leg on the rest next to him and rubbed the small nub at the end. He pulled out a scroll and started to list off names, he eyed the Gryffindor/Slytherin combo for a few moments before sighing.

"Mr. Lupin was kind enough to tell me how far you lot are, at least you bunch are competent with Dark Creatures." Moody snapped "I've got a single year to bring you up to speed on curses."

"Wait aren't you staying?" Ron's voice blurted out.

"Ronald right?" The redhead nodded "Your old man helped me out a few days ago, it was tight…anyway, no I promised Dumbledore a single year." He explained without much enthusiasm, giving a small laugh though.

"Anyway, were onto Curses." He said clasping his hands together "BROWN! Put that away!" he snarled at the Gryffindor bimbo, to which the girl jumped and put her Divination Horoscope away. "Now, I was only going to teach you lot simple counter curses but Dumbledore thinks you can handle more…" He eyed each student, looking at Harry the longest.

"Now what are the three most punishable Curses?"

Ron's hand was actually faster than Hermione's for once, it even surprised Harry. Moody pointed to him and the red head started "My dad told me one…the Imperious Curse?"

Moody nodded "Yeah…Your old man would know about that wouldn't he?" He said waving his wand at a desk drawer and summoned a glass jar. Inside the jar was a rather large spider, he took the spider out and placed it on his desk.

"Imperious."

The single word started to make the spider dance around, this made the class start to laugh…a few however weren't amused. Harry looked with wide eyes, this was the Imperious curse?

"You lot think this is funny?" He snapped at the ones who were laughing, making them fall silent "Greengrass! Why weren't you laughing?"

Daphne frowned, creating a wrinkle across her pale brow "The Imperious Curse is total control…its sick." She said with a look of distaste.

"Quiet right Greengrass." He said with a smirk "Back in the day, a lot of people were under this curse and it was hard to tell who was being controlled and who wasn't….the Ministry even came up with a squad to find out who was who….only later did we find out this squad was Imperioused as well." Moody explained with a sigh, placing the spider back on his desk "I'll be teaching you lot to resist the curse, it's not easy and only those with strong will can block it out completely."

Harry frowned, he didn't much like the thought of being controlled like that and thought it might be much better to learn to block it out.

"What's another one?" He asked the class, glancing at the hand of the normally quiet Neville. This seemed to be a surprise to everyone as Neville normally only spoke up in Herbology. "You?"

"The Cruciatus Curse…Sir…" Neville said in a very low voice, looking at his desk.

Moody raised a brow "You'd be Longbottom yeah?" The boy nodded and Moody didn't ask anymore. He simply pulled a new spider out and made it larger, then muttered a single word "Crucio."

It sent the large spider into a fit, rolling around side to side and pulling it's legs in on itself…though it made no noise, he almost felt it screaming. He felt a slender hand wrap around his own, it was cold and started to squeeze; hard. He spared to glance around and noted Neville looked uncomfortable.

"Stop!" Harry said suddenly, though his voice had an echo. He glanced noticing Hermione had said the same thing "You're making the class terrified!" He shouted "Look at Neville!"

Moody's magical eye moved to the slightly sweating and shaky boy "Pain….that is what this curse does…no need for screws or knives…it is simply pain…" He glanced at Harry again "It was popular once as well…anyone else? There is one more…."

Hermione whispered something, it caught Moody's attention "What was that?"

"The Killing Curse."

Harry instantly paled, the what curse?

Moody seemed to smile at that "Yes…the infamous Killing Curse…" He pulled the traumatized spider and pointed his wand at it "Avada Kedavra!" He roared simply, a jet of sickly green shot out and hit the spider, it fell simply unmarked and basically untouched.

Harry was a chalky white, it was the same color as his worst nightmares…as Voldemort's memories. That was what happened to his parents, that was the curse he used against them.

"It's not nice…it's not pleasant and there is no counter curse.." He said floating the dead spider to his waste basket. "Anyone who has ever come across this curse has died…" Harry felt Daphne's hand tighten once more "Except one…and he is sitting right in front of me."

Harry stared into both eyes of the Defense Professor, he didn't shy away or look blankly; he stared back with venom. He knew exactly how they'd died and even when they had passed, his father was first and then his mother died trying to protect him.

"I'd bet that most of this class couldn't even do most of these curses…they need a certain mind set and a lot of power." His eyes fell back on Harry "Though some of you might be in a league of their own. That is not the point, I am not here to teach you how to perform these curses." He sighed standing up once more "I'm here to teach you how to fight them."

They spent the rest of class writing notes on the Unforgivable curses, they really did make him rather sick to think about. When class was dismissed he was the first out, along with Neville.

"You alright?" They both asked at the same time.

The two practically orphaned boys smiled at each other "I'll be fine Nev…I saw the flashes when the Dementors came.." He said rubbing his neck.

"I figured that..you looked like a sheet." Neville said with a sigh.

"So did you, what was that back there?"

"I'll tell you later…okay?"

"I'm going to hold you to that." Harry said smirking, holding his hand out to the bolding Gryffindor.

Neville shook his hand, the look on face made Harry feel better than before. They noticed a clunking noise behind them and turned to see Moody "You alright there boys?" He asked in a gentler growl than before.

Neville nodded "I think I'll be alright." He said calmly, giving a small smile.

Moody nodded "Good…Good, you boys drop by my office sometime." He said simply, looking at the forms of the female friends of the boys. Susan had come back from Potions, Hannah right on her tail. Daphne, Tracey, Sophie waited for Harry with Ron, and Hermione. "We'll have tea, I've got something for you both."

With another grunt Moody clunked away.

Daphne didn't waste any time in wrapping her Dipstick into a large hug "That was cruel, it was too much." She said in a low whisper.

Harry wrapped his arms around her nodding to Ron and Hermione; silently telling them he'd be fine and see them in a few. Tracey did a soft cat call, though Sophie just grabbed her ear and started to head for the Dungeons. The Hufflepuffs left with Neville though a small hand went into his pocket, leaving without affecting the hug he was having.

Daphne grabbed his hand and they headed for the Great Hall, as they walked Harry pulled the note out 'We need to talk, it's important. Abandoned Classroom where one would summon things~ S.B.' He read, rather quickly not wanting to make Daphne worry.

Susan wanted to talk in the Abandoned Classroom he was normally practicing in, figured.

Before Daphne and himself made it to the ground floor, she pulled him down by the front of his robes and he felt something soft and moist land onto his lips. It took his mind a few seconds to tell it was her lips, just as quickly as they came they were gone.

Harry reached up and touched his lips, a lopsided grin playing at his features "What was that for?" He asked with a raised brow.

"For being a Dipstick." She huffed, though her face was a bright pink "And for…being you…It's nice you know? I trust you..." She explained looking into his pools of green. "I don't trust people Harry…I-I've had bad experiences….I trust you."

Harry placed his hand on her cheek, placing a kiss on her forehead "I trust you too, Thank you for giving this a chance." He whispered back.

"Dipstick." She muttered in a gentle voice.

"Bloody Menace." He returned in a similar whisper.

XX~XX~XX~XX

Hello, Hello! How are we all doing on this wonderful January Day!? I'd like to thank all my readers large or small, all my reviews Kind or Cruel and all my Followers! As you can now see people they are an 'Official' couple, at least in the Media's eyes though to themselves they still aren't exactly sure yet.

Harry and Daphne are obviously opening up with each other, and they seem to be comfortable with other people in a public setting. This was a lot of Cannon and fluff as a Filler chapter, soon we'll have the Contestants arriving.

The fun will begin soon. ~ Demon.