A Second Chance
Summary: Harry Potter never went to his relatives. Why not? Because there was someone who took him away first. Someone who knew the future before it happened and decided to change it.
Pairing/s: None.
Warnings: Dumbledore bashing, Gryffindor bashing, siding with Voldemort-fic, fake Prophecy, Smart!Harry and Dark! but not Evil!Harry. Oh, and there will be three Weasleys siding with Harry; the twins and Bill.
Disclaimers: I will never, ever in my whole life be able to own Harry Potter /cries/ He belongs to JK Rowling and no one else.
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UPDATED 2011-04-07
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Chapter Twelve
"Harry, why are you insisting on coming into my room too damn early?"
Said boy snuggled down into the covers and peered up. Diablos muttered something and fell back. The boy grinned; he knew that his uncle would be too tired to nag and would let him stay. He was not a Slytherin for nothing after all.
-o-
Diablos inched away very slowly. He gently pried Harry's hands away from his hair and finally got up without waking his nephew. The boy burrowed himself deeper into the covers and the red-eyed man tucked him in before going to the bathroom, yawning.
A few minutes later he came out, fully dressed and fully awake. He walked silently to the door and was careful when he closed it after him. He walked down the hall and down the stairs. He took down a black cloak and put it on.
"Where shall you go, master?"
He turned to look at Dora, who was eyeing him worriedly.
"To the school," he replied. "Just to bring something back."
"Master will be back soon?"
"Yes."
"Dora will make sure breakfast is waiting for master when master returns."
"Thank you."
And with that he walked out the door.
-o-
Dora served breakfast to a tired Lucius, Draco and Harry with a fuming expression.
"What's wrong, Dora?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Master is not here," she said sourly.
"Dia? That's right; he wasn't in his room," the boy said thoughtfully as the two Malfoys watched him.
"Master promised just to be away for a little while!"
"Wait; he left the house?" Lucius asked.
"Two hours ago!" she shrieked. "Master said just for a little while! Two hours is not a little while!"
Now the three got worried. The house-elf stomped back to the kitchen, muttering to herself as she did. Harry put down the toast and decided to check if his uncle had gone over to Salerna's place so he got up and went into the living room. He took some Floo powder, threw it in and said:
"Salerna!"
He then stuck his head into the fire. He looked around the living room and soon the white-haired man appeared, still in his sleep-robes and tousled hair.
"Harry?" he asked as he kneeled down, rubbing his eyes and pushing away his hair from his face.
"Is Dia there?" he asked.
"No," Salerna replied, yawning. It took him a few seconds to fully understand what the boy had said, but once he did the man's eyes grew larger. He turned to the raven-haired boy's face and asked; "What; he's not at home?"
"No, he's not," Harry said as the two Malfoys came to the living room. "Dora said he left two hours ago."
"Where was he going?"
"To the school, according to her."
Salerna thought for a while and Harry fidgeted. The man tilted his head to the side and his eyes cleared as he seemed to figure something out. He looked at Harry and said:
"I think I know where he is. I'm going and get him."
"Where do you think he is?"
"If he wants to tell you, he will. It's not my place to tell."
Harry leaned back and the fire returned to the normal colour.
"Salerna said he maybe knew where Dia was, and he was going to get him."
"He didn't tell where?" Lucius asked.
"No," Harry said, frowning. Where could his uncle have gone?
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Salerna walked down the path slowly, snow falling gently around him. He brought the cloak closer to himself and stopped behind the slightly smaller figure.
"Did you wish to freeze to death?" he asked, shuddering. "England is too cold for my taste."
Diablos did not move.
"Why didn't you just say the truth?" he continued softly, moving closer.
"Didn't feel like it," the red-eyed man replied.
Salerna rested his chin on Diablos' shoulder and looked down at the graves.
"Maybe you should bring Harry here," he said thoughtfully. "He's never visited James' and Lily's graves, right?"
The raven-haired man remained silent.
"Come on, why bring depression on when it's Christmas?" the white-haired man said, rubbing his friend's arms. Then he noticed something.
Two roses lay on the graves, their red colour cutting against the white snow.
"Hey, isn't that roses from your garden?" Salerna asked quietly.
"I come here every year," Diablos said, "to lay two roses on their graves and then two on my parents' graves. I didn't mean to make anyone worry."
"Well, you made us worried," Salerna said. "Or at least, your nephew. I'm glad you told me about their graves; that's the only reason I'm here for. I couldn't think of any other place."
Diablos tore his eyes from his brother's grave and turned around. Salerna smiled a bit at him and said:
"You cold?"
The man nodded, and stiffened when the older man brought him close and wrapped his arms around him. His head rested on Salerna's shoulder, and one hand came to cradle the back of his skull while fingering on the raven hair.
"Let's go home," Salerna whispered.
In the next moment they were gone.
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The door opened and Harry snapped his head up. Salerna sneezed and complained with a whiny tone:
"I hate English weather!"
Diablos came in after him, shaking off the snow from his cloak. He pushed it off, hung it up and walked to the living room with his body shaking slightly. His lips had turned pale and he had not removed his gloves.
"Dia, where were you?" Harry asked. The man appeared not to have heard him as he dragged an armchair to the hearth and sat down. "Salerna, where did you find him?"
The white-haired man looked at the sullen man in front of the fire, and sighed.
"In a graveyard," he replied. The two Malfoys stared along with the raven-haired boy.
"In a graveyard?" Harry finally repeated.
"Yes, I believe it's a tradition for him," Salerna said.
"Standing in a graveyard?" the boy asked, one eyebrow arching up.
"No. Harry, he visited your parents' and grandparents' graves."
"Does master Diablos wish to have breakfast?" Dora asked the two, and they snapped their heads down.
"Not now," Salerna said. "Prepare some hot tea for him though."
With that he walked into the living room.
Diablos cradled the teacup in his hands and looked into the fire. Salerna sat in a sofa nearby and rubbed his hands as he and Lucius discussed a book about Occlumency they both had read. Draco had found a book and was deep in reading it. Harry sat down in front of him and leaned his back against his uncle's legs. One hand released the cup and stroke his nephew's hair absently. Harry tilted his head up for a moment, and then leaned it against Diablos' knees.
"Dia?" he asked after a few moments.
Diablos hummed, indicating he was listening.
"Salerna told me where you went," the boy said.
"And?" Diablos asked.
"Next time… can I follow?"
The raven-haired man looked down and met emerald eyes.
"If you want to," Diablos whispered. "It's not very fun, I admit."
"I want to," Harry said. "Even if it's not fun."
Diablos hinted the first smile for that day.
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Padma looked around the garden in awe and said:
"It's beautiful."
Harry looked around and said:
"It's nothing special here. Just a plain garden."
"The weather in England is horrible," the girl said with a wince. "Snowing and cold."
"Ugh," the raven-haired boy supplied. "I'll ask Dia to teach me warming-spells before I return there. But let's forget that for now, alright? The weather here is nice and comfy and let's make the most of it."
Padma, Hermione and Draco grinned, showing they liked the suggestion.
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Diablos rubbed his eyes tiredly as he looked over the papers. This was so boring. He gave out a groan and leaned back. He glanced at the clock and saw it was four in the morning. He yawned and stood up. As the room began to spin, he sat down again. He blinked a few times and then was too tired to open them again. He sank back against the chair and fell asleep.
Lucius walked into the library, scratching his head. It was ten in the morning, and Harry said Diablos had not been in his room. The bed was made, so the boy suspected the man had never gone to bed.
He walked up the stairs and spotted a light. He walked over there and blinked. Diablos looked to be uncomfortable and his hand was smeared in ink. The blonde man walked forward, chuckling slightly. The table was full of papers and books, and Lucius picked one up. As he read the lines, he began to frown. What was this?
"It's rude to look at someone's work without asking," a tired voice mumbled at him, and Lucius looked up, startled.
Red eyes looked at him, Diablos' head lolled slightly to the side. The blonde man put the parchment down and said:
"I apologize. Curiosity got the better off me."
"You are forgiven if you help me up from this chair," Diablos said, wincing as he moved his head.
Lucius very gently helped him up and let the slightly smaller man rest against him as he tried to ease the cramping in his neck. The Malfoy helped by doing a slight massage, making Diablos groan. The red-eyed man's head dropped onto his shoulder and Lucius chuckled.
"Harry was worried," he scolded softly. "It is ten in the morning."
Diablos groaned once more and said:
"So there is no chance I can go to bed?"
"Not much I'm afraid," Lucius confessed. "Let's start with getting down from here and then have some potions ready for you."
"Sounds fantastic."
Diablos was relieved when he was allowed to lie down even if it just was a couch. He settled in comfortably as the children were outside in the garden. The Grangers played normal chess, Narcissa was helping Joanne and Lucius coaxed some pain-reliefs into the man.
"Why did you fall asleep up there?" Lucius asked as he sat down on a chair nearby. Diablos looked tiredly at him and said:
"Forgot time, that's all."
"And you fell asleep in an uncomfortable chair just like that?"
"I believe I did so."
"What did you work on?" the blonde man asked.
Diablos stiffened. Then the body gradually relaxed and the man said:
"Nothing."
"Diablos…"
"Nothing of anyone's concern but my own," the red-eyed man said, and that was the end of it.
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The children were huddled together as they watched the Muggles shoot off fireworks. It was New Year and they were going to enjoy the show the Muggles gave them. Although Hermione was used to it, she loved to watch it.
The Malfoys and Grangers sat a bit away while Diablos and Salerna was more in the shadows. Cissi was pouring drinks to everyone, talking with Narcissa and Joanne in the meantime.
Suddenly Diablos felt Salerna put something in his hand. He looked down and widened his eyes a fraction at what he saw.
"As promised," Salerna said, clinking their wine-glasses together. "One glass at New Year."
Diablos looked at the deep red liquid and took a small sip. The taste rolled on his tongue and he closed his eyes. The wine was very good. He had almost forgotten how good wine could actually taste. He shivered and Salerna noticed. He put an arm around the younger man and said:
"What's wrong?"
"I was obsessed with drinking," Diablos said quietly, swirling the wine around in the glass. "Now I haven't drunk for such a long time… I had even forgotten how to enjoy it."
"Never too late to learn it again."
"I guess so…"
Tbc…
Lame ending but it has to do.
Chapter thirteen: The rest of the year. Be aware that it will take a long time to write, so be patient. I will try not to write too boring things, and have a good climax in the end. Sounds like a great plan, but let's see if I can achieve it.
Until later,
Ja,
Tiro