Authors Note: Okay, so, another chapter within a few days. I've got quite a bit of time to myself for a while, as I mentioned last chapter, and apparently, it's conductive to writing. Some concerns have popped up regarding the future paring of this fanfic, and I would like to clarify that Harry will date SEVERAL DIFFERENT MALES before he finally settles down. He's 16, he needs to date around to find what it is he wants and needs in a life partner. Other than his date to the Yule Ball and a disastrous date with Cho Chang in Cannon, Harry doesn't really have any dating experience before Ginny yet he marries her. It just seems a little strange to me and more like he felt he HAD to settle down with someone and she was the easiest because he knew her and was on good terms with her. Since he does't have those kinds of feelings towards girls in my fanfic and as he was raised in the Dursley's house (who I imagine would be homophobic), he'd have to date several different guys to explore the waters. Most of the Weasley boys are out of the running for relationships due to the sort of family bond between Harry and the family, of course exceptions can be made. Feel free to make suggestions, though if you do I ask that you add in your reasoning and not just something like "HarryxDraco cuz it's my fav pairing!" Why is it your favorite paring, for example? Why do you think it would work considering the changes I've made to cannon so far? If it's a character that hasn't appeared yet, get creative! I always like to hear ideas. Feel free to PM or leave a Review. Now, onto the newest chapter!
Authors Note 2: Updated as of November 25th, 2016
The inside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was colourful, loud and filled with flashes of tester products being set off.
A group of girls that seemed to be about fourteen or fifteen were giggling over a display of love potions, while some small children cooed over little puffballs that had long tongues and came in varying shades of pink and purple.
Some boys snickered over a box of what looked to be innocent candies, but knowing the twins (and their Skiving Snackboxes from when they were doing owl order sales at Hogwarts) the candies were probably anything but innocent.
"Harry!" One of the twins, likely under the effect of one of their own joke products, floated down from an upper balcony and began swimming through the air around the young Lord's head. "Glad you could make it!"
"George, where's Fred?" Harry asked as he reached up to grabbed George's ankle to keep the redhead in place.
"My illustrious twin is stuck under the same prank effects I am, dearest Harrykins. He's currently up on the fifth floor trying to stop himself from going over the railing."
"I take it you're the one that's been testing this particular product so he's got no experience with it?" Harry laughed.
"Right in one, ickle Harrykins! This stuff should wear off in around ten minutes or thereabouts, so until we're both planted firmly on the ground, feel free to take a look around. You know what most of our products are anyway so you can explain what you can to your Slytherin friends. Most things have a little plaque with a blurb on what it does anyway, just in case you don't know"
"Alright. Go have fun."
Harry let go of George's ankle, and the redhead tried to doggy paddle towards where his brother was likely getting used to floating under his own power instead of being firmly planted on the ground or on a broomstick.
"Where do you want to start?" Harry asked the Slytherins, who looked completely overwhelmed.
"Let's…just start on this floor" Draco said, eyes wide.
"O-kay!" Harry grabbed Draco's sleeve, knowing the blond was the most likely to try to make a quick dash for the door, and headed deeper into the store.
"Why do I get the feeling we unleashed a monster by agreeing to come here with Potter?" Blaise asked Theo bluntly.
"He's been friends with the Weasley's since first year and I'm pretty sure he once mentioned his dad was a prankster. It's practically in his blood" Theo sighed. "The best we can do is hope he doesn't traumatize Draco too much"
They quickly followed after Harry and Draco.
"The best place to start is the Skiving Snackboxes" Harry said. "Candy?"
He offered up a little yellow and orange candy.
Draco warily took it. "What'll it do to me?"
"Eat the yellow half and find out~!" Harry grinned.
Draco did as told and the moment he'd swallowed the candy, he fainted dead away. Harry pushed the orange half into his unresponsive mouth, thus waking him up.
"Holy merlin" Draco groaned as he stood up. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"A Fainting Fancy" Harry replied happily. "Knocks you out until a friend can give you the other half of the candy. There's also Puking Pastilles, Fever Fudge, and Nosebleed Nougat. An effective way to skip class and not get in trouble for it. Go to class, eat the half that makes you sick, get a free pass from the professor and whatever the homework assignment is, then leave and eat the half that cures you on the way back to your dorm. Saved a ton of students from Umbridge last year, though it couldn't be used all the time without people getting suspicious"
The Slytherins were surprised by the ingenious idea.
As they moved along, Harry let out an undignified squeak of happiness as he rushed over to a shelf.
"I can't believe they finished them!" he exclaimed.
"Finished what?" Blaise asked.
"The Comb-a-Chameleon." Harry said as he picked up a comb off the shelf. "It's an enchanted comb that the twins said they'd make for me to help combat my unruly hair. It's a bit of a Potter family curse to have messy hair that doesn't agree with styling. The twins have been running tests on me since before the Yule Ball in fourth year to see if they can come up with a way to combat it. They said they'd release what we'd jokingly called the 'Comb-a-Chameleon' once they were sure it was done and would work. Guaranteed to work on every type of hair from straight as a plank or thick curls to the stubborn Potter mess"
The raven haired Lord read the instructions before tapping a series of runes on it with his wand. He then brushed it through his hair, which smoothed out from its perpetual messy half-waves that stuck up every which way to perfectly waved hair that sat smooth against his head.
Fred and George appeared, then, no longer floating. Each threw an arm around Harry.
"We see you found the Comb-a-Chameleon's!" They chorused.
Harry looked in awe at the mirror that was next to the shelf. "How long will this last?"
"Until you set it to neutral and brush it through your hair again, mate" Fred replied. "But we've got a special one for you, Harry. We've managed to mix in an optional hair growth potion so you can grow and cut your hair whenever you want. Of course, you'll have to replace the hair growth potion whenever it runs out, but we've included instructions on how to do that. Basically, just uncork a vial and shove it into the hollowed out handle. The spells on the brush will keep it fresh and safe until you decide you want to use it. If it works well for you, we'll add that version to our stock in the future"
"You two are geniuses!" Harry crowed.
"Of course we are" George sniffed. "We're us"
Since the twins had their feet firmly planted on the floor once more, they gave the teens a proper tour of the shop and descriptions of their most popular or funny products.
By the time Harry and the Slytherins stumbled out of WWW, Theo had spent time as a canary, Blaise had learned first hand that Pygmy puffs (the small pink and purple fluff balls) were especially fond of boogers, and Draco had learned that when a Weasley twin said a jar contained a miniature rainstorm it really did contain a miniature rainstorm and it shouldn't be opened indoors unless you wanted everything within five feet of you to be soaked through.
Harry, being a favorite of the Weasley twins and the one to give them their start-up money, managed to escape unscathed. He'd split his sides laughing, but he was otherwise in one piece.
He did, however, have a bag filled with shrunken products the twins piled him with and orders to use them on anyone that annoyed him.
"I think I've had enough for today" Draco said as he nearly collapsed against the side of a building, using it to support himself. His face was paler than usual and his hands were shaking slightly.
"I can agree with that" Blaise rubbed at his nose, which still tingled from the pygmy puff sticking its tongue up there to look for boogers.
"Speak for yourselves…I was a ruddy man-sized bird and I now know what it feels like to moult!" Theo complained.
"Your reactions to their products were hilarious!" Harry laughed. "But, well, if you're done for the day, I suppose we should all head home."
They said their goodbyes and headed to their respective homes with promises to write and possibly meet up again in the future.
The Slytherins really weren't as bad as people made them out to be, they just had to cater to their parents so they didn't get in trouble with the Lords of their families.
When Harry got home he wrote a letter to the Weasley's, specifically to Ron (and Hermione by extension), and sent it to his friend with Hedwig. He wrote that he'd be dropping in the next day for a visit and that he was sorry for telling them last-minute but it was rather important.
The young Lord then spent some time before bed experimenting with the specialty comb the twins gave him, first growing his hair out then trying various hair styles.
According to the pamphlet Fred gave him, his hair would stay neat even through sleep, so once he settled on a mostly straight longer haired style slightly past ear length with bangs that framed his face and fell into his eyes.
The next morning, Harry flooed over to the Burrow at the appointed time.
"Harry, dear!" Molly Weasley smiled brightly as she hugged him tightly and dusted the ash off his shoulders and from his hair. "How are you? Are you eating enough?"
"I'm great, Mrs. Weasley. Could you gather everyone that's home for me, though? I want to talk to the family about what's been going on recently"
"Has something happened?" Molly asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad" Harry smiled. "It's good, actually, but I don't want to have to repeat myself"
"Of course, dear. I'll get everyone. You just go sit in the kitchen. I have some lunch on the stove and it'll be ready soon." Molly ushered him in the direction of the kitchen before going off to find her children.
Once everyone was gathered, Harry began his tale.
He told them about becoming a Lord and how, thanks to that, he found out that Voldemort had split his soul into several pieces which caused him to go insane and begin the war during the Seventies.
He also told them about being Voldemort's guardian thanks to the dark ritual that gave him his new body in Harry's fourth year and how he and the Goblins forced Voldemort to go through a ritual that would merge all the remaining pieces of his soul back together, thus returning his sanity.
When asked about what will happen to the Death Eaters and what the Order of the Phoenix had thought was an approaching war, Harry just replied that Tom was under strict no killing or ordering others to kill instructions and that if he wanted to change the wizarding world, he had to go about it legally by running for Minister for Magic.
"So you're just going to forgive him like that?!" Ginny Weasley, the youngest and only girl of her siblings, asked indignantly.
"I haven't forgotten or forgiven him quite yet. We've agreed, for the sake of the wizarding world, to put the past behind us and do our best to get along and prevent a war. We had a long talk at Gringotts and have come to the agreement that while the wizarding world needs more protection from muggles, we don't need to cut out muggleborns or kill them off because they bring in new magic that prevents us from inbreeding too much. Since Tom Riddle, as he's going by now, will always be considered under my guardianship I'll be keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid or bad. I've forbidden him from practicing dark magic, unless it's healing magic since that's considered dark arts, and I've also ordered him to clean up his ranks. The worst of them, the LeStrange's and such, will likely be ending up being captured in a fake raid to free other Death Eaters from Azkaban. The ones that Tom thinks can be useful, or were only loyal due to debts to the Slytherin family, will be betraying them and leaving them there for the guards to find. The plan hasn't been fully hashed out yet…which reminds me…I need to write to Tom…"
"How do you know we can trust him?" Molly asked.
Her husband was at work and would need to be filled in later.
"A Lord of a family like the Slytherin family has absolute control of those under them" Harry replied. "It's why kids like Draco Malfoy spout whatever their parents say until they take over as the Lord. A Lord of a family can strip a family member of their magic and kick them out of the family, if not outright kill them, if they do anything that displeases the Lord. It's a mandatory piece of all pureblood family charters and can't be overruled by any governing body, though the Lord can later have his lordship revoked and possibly be thrown in prison afterwards if he can't at least fake evidence well enough to make the Ministry believe that whoever had their magic stripped or life taken deserved it. For example, if Malfoy didn't spout everything his father did, Lord Malfoy could strip Malfoy of his magic and kick him out of the family. Blood adoption is quite easy and makes it a quick and easy way to get a new heir. Since heirs and heiresses are so easily replaceable, the children of Lords keep very close to how their parents tell them to act until they're of age and take over the Lordship themselves. In Tom's case, he'll never get the chance to become Lord and will always be under my control. Even when I marry and have kids, my partner or kids will gain control over him in place of me when I die. This pretty much ensures that Tom will do whatever I say. I don't want to become like he was when he was crazy, though, so I want to do my best to work with him rather than against him. I might have lots of control over him, but there are ways to get around it and I don't want to provoke him into attacking me"
Charlie Weasley, a dragon tamer home for a visit, nodded in agreement. "It's a sound plan. We can't guarantee all the muggles will be accepting of magic. Just take Harry and Hermione's families for example. Hermione's parents took the knowledge of magic well enough and support her and are genuinely curious. Harry's, however, are terrified of magic and hate to be around it. They'd be more likely to attack a wizard if they could get away with it"
"They have gotten away with it!" Ron hissed angrily. "The twins and I have said before that we had to pull bars off his window when we picked him up in second year! They'd locked him in his room and fed him through a cat flap in the door! Harry's also left the Dursley's so thin I could see his ribs when he took off his shirt! Starved him, verbally attacked him, his uncle's sister has set her dog on him before and he slept in the cupboard under the stairs until he got his letter and they thought they were being watched!"
"Ron, that's enough" Harry said sternly. "I don't have to live with them anymore and I know you hate them. It's time to forget about it, though, because Dumbledore can't force me back there anymore"
"Albus was forcing you back there?" Molly asked in horror as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"He's the one who placed me there in the first place" Harry replied. "But, yes. I've asked to stay at Hogwarts in the past, and if there was a wizarding version of the muggle child services which Dumbledore told me there wasn't but the Goblins have confirmed that he lied and that there is a wizarding childrens services. I found out after the Ministry debacle last year that there's a prophecy with my name and Tom's names on it. I don't know if it's a real prophecy or not, but either way, Dumbledore believes it and when he was crazy, so did Tom. It's what caused him to attack my family. Dumbledore thought I should grow up with what he called a 'normal' childhood, so he gave me to my aunt and went against my parents Wills. Being with my aunt supposedly put up some kind of blood ward. At least, that's what he told me last year. But I asked Grandfather Charlus's portrait about blood wards last night and there has to be love between both parties for them to work. With my aunt not loving me and me not loving her, the only thing keeping me safe from Death Eaters was the fact that they either believed Tom to be completely dead or were in jail. I'm not saying Dumbledore shouldn't be trusted. I really don't know what to think. But I do know that he's gotten too big of a head. He's stopped thinking of individuals, so I'm going to be cautious for now."
This started a two-hour long discussion over lunch about what Harry's new status as Tom's guardian meant for the future, and what Tom's campaign promises would be when he ran for Minister.
Only Ginny didn't take part, and that's because she was too busy batting her eyelashes at Harry and folding her arms below her small breasts to try and entice him into looking at her cleavage.
Once the conversation had changed to lighter topics, Harry let out a frustrated sigh and sent an irritated look at the redheaded girl, "Could you stop that?"
"Stop what?" Ginny asked, batting her eyelashes for what seems to be the fifth time in as many minutes.
Harry groaned. "Do you seriously not get it? No offence, Ginny, but I'm not interested in you like that! I'm going to be blunt because all my past attempts to make you see reason have gone completely over your head. I don't want to date you, I'll never want to date you, and I only see you as my best friend's little sister. Your obsession with me is creepy and when you date all those boys at Hogwarts and agree to a little fondling in the hopes that it will make me jealous, all you're doing is giving yourself and your family a bad reputation. Even the Slytherins have heard of how easy it is to get a date with you and some of them have been wondering how much it would cost to get you to sleep with them. A Slytherin in your year stopped me in Diagon yesterday and asked me how much you charged per session, Ginny! It's time to get your act together, otherwise I'm going to have to cut ties with your family"
"Cut ties with our family?!" Ginny screeched. "Why?!"
"Harry's a Lord now, Ginny!" Hermione scolded the younger girl. "The actions of his friends and allies reflect on him as well! If the Weasley's get an even worse reputation amongst the purebloods thanks to your promiscuity, then Harry will have no choice but to stop associating with any and all Weasley's. Harry wants to make allies amongst the purebloods to change their views on muggleborns which means he needs to have a good reputation amongst the purebloods and upper-class halfbloods. Anyone he associates with needs to know at least the basics of pureblood etiquette so they don't unintentionally insult anyone he wants to ally with. It's one of the reasons why purebloods tend to stick with purebloods and not make friends with halfbloods or muggleborns."
"Hermione's right" Harry said. "I love you all like family. You're my honorary parents and siblings. Unfortunately, I'm a new Lord and need to begin gaining a good reputation amongst the other lords in the Wizengamot if I want to get anywhere and make some changes that will help people like Remus be able to get permanent jobs and such."
Ron sighed. "Alright, where do I start?"
Hermione and Harry beamed brightly at him.
"I have some books back at the manor. I'll send them over. I didn't think to bring them with me today and I've only just convinced the family house elves to take a day off each week. Apparently, I need to work slowly with them…they're not like Dobby." Harry said.
Hermione frowned, but left it alone for the time being. "I've also got some books. I bought them when I as in Diagon the other day. They're probably not as good as Harry's, but they'll do for now. Harry, do you think your new friends would be willing to lend us some books?"
"Hm, they might. I'll write and ask. Theo will no doubt be willing if he can find any…I don't know about the other two" Harry mused.
"New friends?" Ron repeated.
"Ah, did you know Bill's dating Sophia Nott, Theodore Nott's older sister? Anyway, Theo and I have sort of made friends and I needed new dress robes so he invited me to go robe shopping with himself, Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy. They're actually rather nice, they just need to be careful lest their positions as heirs be threatened. Malfoy doesn't even have anything against muggleborns other than them trying to force their holidays on wizards and expecting things to be exactly like the muggle world but with the edition of magic. The Malfoy's owe the Slytherin family a life debt, so Malfoy can't actively go against me, not that he knows it yet. Meanwhile, the Zabini's own one of Italy's largest magical vineyards and is Italy's equivalent of the Malfoy's. Zabini is set to inherit the Vineyard when he comes of age as well as take over his late fathers position of Lord, which his mother has been filling for him for the time being. Both of them will be good allies due to their political clout in the future. With their help and Tom if he becomes minister, we could change a lot of the incredibly stupid laws like Werewolves not being able to work or own land unless it's willed to them."
"You know I hate it when you make good points like this" Ron sulked.
"I don't expect you to like Malfoy, Ron. I just need you to pretend you do. We can come up with a signal or something that will tell you when you need to begin using pureblood etiquette until you get the hang of it yourself."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I get it, I get it. Play nice in public."
"Good. Though I demand that you and 'Mione come over to meet the Slytherins at my place where they don't have to put up any masks. Then you can really get to know them and see them how I've gotten to now that I'm a lord." Harry said.
"I think we can agree to that" Hermione said. "When's best for you?"
"I'm not sure…Malfoy's parents are hosting some kind of party pretty soon so the Slytherin's will be rather busy. I really don't have any pressing commitments, but with the party…I'm not positive on Zabini or Theo. I'll write to Theo and ask him when they're all free before the train leaves on September first."
Ron soon got sick of sitting inside and dragged Hermione and Harry out to the orchard, where they sat under a tree.
Hermione extracted herself long enough to get some of her etiquette books.
She and Harry then began teaching Ron the proper etiquette lessons, with Harry correcting what few mistakes Hermione's book had.
Harry made a mental note to write Tom about etiquette books as well, seeing as the other wizard was an orphan with no one to mentor him and needed to learn pureblood etiquette from somewhere and might know the titles of or have access to some good resources.
He also noted that Ron seemed quite willing to learn etiquette now that he actually had a reason to.
He'd have to do something to thank his friend for this.
Well, Harry would think of something eventually.
Authors note (Part 2): Welp, there it is. Again, suggestions are always welcome, as are questions, concerns, and especially reviews. Reviews always get me in a writing mood, and keep Harry happy while flames keep him warm at night and well fed between chapters. Private message any questions or concerns you don't want to leave in a review and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Also, If anyone wants to know what Harry's new chosen hairstyle looks like, google "Naruto: The Last Sai" and you'll have the style. I just love how it looks.
Also, thanks to everyone that has followed and favorited since the beginning. This story has been in progress since August 19, 2013 and it's because of all of you that I've been able to keep going as long as I have. It'll soon be this fanfic's two year anniversary and if people seem to like the idea, I'll try to do something special for it. an extra long chapter or something. Or maybe an Omake explaining Fred and George's molestation of Theo and how they came to be dating Graham Montague and Adrian Pucey respectfully.
This story now has over 1300 followers and over 900 favorites, so I think it deserves a reward for it's special day. It's certainly more popular than I ever thought it could be.
You're all amazing!
Zaraki Hariko