Chapter 14: Daring

A/N: More excitement as usual. Never a dull moment with Harry Potter. There's also the small little issue of one of his new friends being signed away like a piece of land. Theodore Nott, too! Christ! Also, the consensus seems to mostly be on wolf for Harry's animagus. Big black wolf with green eyes is what I'm hoping to leave it at. Thanks for your inputs.

Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass, and Dobby the house elf appeared in the entrance hall of an elegant house. Harry sent Dobby away, and, letter in one hand and Daphne's hand in the other, he began to walk forward. Opening a door rather violently, they came to a sitting room. Harry looked around, green fire in his eyes. There was a young man and an older man standing in front of a couple that was sitting on a luxurious leather couch. Harry didn't waste any time.

"Ah, Daphne. Er, who is your little friend? And why are you holding his-"

"Are you Lord Greengrass?" Harry spoke impatiently to the rather portly man on the couch.

"Yes, I am, and who the blasted hell are you? Daphne-"

"Shut up!" Harry said in such a manner that made all present flinch. A beautiful Louis XIV vase exploded in the background. Harry walked forward a step and threw the rumpled letter into the man's lap. He inspected it, and looked up.

"Who are you, young man? And what business is this of yours?"

"I am Lord Harry Potter-Black, and I am here for one reason, and one reason ONLY." Harry stared directly into his eyes as his magic crackled again. "This marriage will not happen."

Lord Greengrass jumped to his feet, drawing his wand, as his wife simply stared open-mouthed at the goings-on. "Listen here, boy, you will NOT DICTATE WHAT I DO WITH MY DAUGHTER!" Harry slammed his open palm into the man's chest, and a burst of magic blew him back onto the couch and singed the edges of his robes.

"SIT DOWN!" Harry nearly screamed in rage, and Daphne gave a small squeak of fear from behind him. She backed away toward the door. The young Nott leered at her as his father watched the confrontation, enraged. "You misunderstand if you think that I am asking you nicely. I am informing you in an aggressive manner that your eldest daughter will NOT marry Death Eater scum simply because you want to curry favour with Volde-bloody-mort!"

"You have no IDEA of the situation, you stupid ignorant boy! This is not up to you any more than it really is up to me! What am I doing, explaining myself to you? Get out of my house before I curse you, you dog!" Greengrass stood up once more, levelling his wand at Harry. It was not even halfway up before Harry's wand snapped into his hand and a Disarming Charm blew into him so roughly that he was thrown clear over the couch. As he struggled to stand up, Harry walked up to him and lifted him to his feet.

"I will repeat what I said. Daphne will NOT marry Death Eater scum. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Energy once again crackled between Harry's fingers, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the older man. "Would you like to know what the options are, Lord Greengrass?" He nodded, not wanting to risk being electrocuted again. The man had a hunch that he would not survive it again. "You can withdraw your offer, rescind the contract, OR, I can find Theodore Nott, and kill him." Daphne and her mother both sucked in a breath as the Lord Greengrass looked at the boy.

"And what if I refuse and you do not kill the boy? I very much doubt you are powerful enough to accomplish such a thing."

"That is a dangerous thing to say. If Daphne marries Theodore Nott, I will come back here." Harry leaned forward, mere inches away from the man's face. "I will come back here, and I will bring this house down around you. I will burn you. Your skin will drip through the cracks in your floor like candle wax. Do you understand me? You are a disgusting creature. Willing to sell your daughter away like cattle." Harry's eyes narrowed. "CATTLE, LORD GREENGRASS! You would condemn your own flesh and blood to a life of rape," Harry spat, and the Lady Greengrass flinched and began to cry. "Of torture, a life of living with the constant fear of the Cruciatus, of the Imperius, of the Killing Curse, Greengrass. Don't cringe, you stupid bastard. Nott is a Death Eater. Do you think he taught his son how to rape? Do you think he taught him how to LOAN his wife to his BUDDIES for their enjoyment?" Lady Greengrass choked back a sob. Her husband had paled considerably. "DO you think he taught his son how to cast the Choking curse? How about the Flesh Burner? Why wouldn't he, Greengrass? Everyone should know how to burn off all of a person's skin at once, shouldn't they? What if your daughter shows up in your DINING ROOM missing her skin? What if she couldn't cry anymore because her tear ducts had been burned shut? What are you, Greengrass?" Daphne's mother was sobbing openly, and even her father had a tear in his eye. Harry did not know how Daphne was holding up, but he didn't want to know yet.

"What would you have me do, boy? We are all dead right now if I disobey He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Harry saw the man's eyes dart to look over his shoulder. He turned around, his wand in his hand. Finally, he had noticed the two other occupants of the room. Immediately, he recognized the younger one. It was the very same Slytherin who had expressed his disapproval of Harry's presence at the Slytherin table. Harry's stomach tightened as he fought the urge to end him where he stood.

"So this… is what you meant by your woman." Harry nodded to himself as the younger Nott sneered and Lord Nott stepped forward, drawing his wand. "You are despicable. You couldn't get a girlfriend because every sane girl finds you, no doubt, repulsive. So, just like Malfoy, you looked to your father to buy a girl for you, so you can MOUNT her at your pleasure." Harry looked over at a crying and shaking Daphne. "Malfoy will get exactly what he deserves. You, you foul insect, will get yours right now." Lord Nott stepped forward with a smirk on his face.

"Come, Potter, let us settle this like men," he laughed lightly. After all, what could a 16-year-old bigheaded boy do to a wizard like him, with years of experience in dark magic?

Magic arced out of Harry, scorching the floor. The opulent floor-length window across the room cracked. "My name. Is Potter-Black. And you. Are NOT. A MAN! ARDENS CARNIS!" Nott's face contorted in rage as he put up a shield. The red curse hit the shield and exploded, but the force was simply too great. The man was thrown back, crashing straight through the wood paneling, reaching the stone underneath. The young Nott yelped as splinters embedded into his arm and he was knocked to the floor by the shockwave. Harry did not even blink as chunks of wood flew his way. His magic arced out and a thin rivulet of lightning hit each of the thousands of the hundreds of miniscule pieces. He advanced through the cloud of dust. "Conferrumino," Harry growled. Lord Nott opened his eyes as he felt a strange sensation. He began to scream as the texture of the stone seemed to melt onto his arms and legs. He could not move any more. He continued to scream in agony as he watched his limbs turn to stone.

"Accio portkey," Harry cast, and nodded to himself, as his hunch was confirmed and a quill flew out of the man's robes and into his hand. "Imperio!" Harry cast shamelessly. The Imperius curse was one of the least harmful spells he intended to cast. The Greengrass family were struck dumb by the casual way in which Harry wreaked havoc upon the Death Eater. "You will tell me where this portkey leads."

The man's eyes opened wide, but he began to speak. "Headquarters." That was all Harry needed.

"Thank you kindly," he said dismissively as he turned to the cowering Theodore Nott, who was still clutching his arm in pain. Harry approached him and grabbed him by the collar, twisting his body to face Daphne. "Take a good look, Nott. Enjoy it. It comes at a heavy price." He threw him against the wall, beside his father, and cast the Fusion Charm at the terrified boy. He too began to scream incoherently as his limbs became one with the wall.

Harry faced a sobbing and cursing older Nott. "This contract was your doing. You helped bully a family into selling one of the two most precious things they have in this world. Tell your half-blood snake of a master what happened to you. Tell Voldemort everything. If you're lucky, he'll kill you on the spot. If you're not lucky, he'll add to your pain. I have no sympathy for you. I remember the Department of Mysteries. Adhaesi." He used the Sticking Charm to place the portkey quill beside a wailing Nott on the wall.

"One day I will see you in hell, and I will sell my soul for front-row seats. Ardens carnis." Nott began to scream again as his skin burst into flame, but the curse was not lethal. Harry backed away slightly, and tapped the quill with his wand, activating the portkey. As Harry had anticipated, it took both Notts with it, as well as the section of wall they were attached to.

Harry looked around the room, and was relieved that Daphne had left. He was glad. He didn't want her to see what he did. He was not ashamed, but it was sickening nonetheless. Lady Greengrass had fainted, Harry guessed, a long time before he finished with the Notts. Her husband simply stared at the hole in his wall. Harry Ennervated the woman, who looked around terrified. "You're safe, madam. I will not hurt you." As a show of good faith, Harry stowed his wand back in his holster. He crouched in front of her and made eye contact. "Daphne is my friend. I did not do this so I could claim her for myself. I did this because I respect her, and I want her to live a long and happy life free of horrible ordeals. I would be lucky to have her as a wife, but that is neither here nor there. Lord Greengrass, I apologize for what I have done to your home, and the way I have attacked you. I came here to save your daughter's life. I can offer you protection from the Death Eaters and Voldemort." Both Greengrasses jumped slightly at the name. Harry ignored them in favour of continuing. "Four hours from now, your home can be warded with the strongest protections that the goblins of Gringotts have to offer. The last time I checked, the total would be around five hundred thousand galleons." Daphne's father blinked.

"I cannot afford such a thing, Potter."

"Potter-Black, sir. And the money is irrelevant. I will pay it."

"Why, so you can collect interest on it? You would bankrupt us," the man exclaimed angrily.

"You misunderstand. I don't care in the least about the money. I recently purchased a restaurant valued at nine hundred thousand galleons without breaking a sweat. You don't understand the amount of gold I have at my disposal."

"You would squander half a million galleons to ward a home that is not your own?" Lady Greengrass spoke up incredulously.

"Not squander, madam. I don't want to see Daphne become an orphan like me. I… I never knew my parents. I have gotten used to not having any. Daphne would never be the same if you were killed. I didn't do all this," Harry waved his hand at the destroyed wall, "just so I can watch her retreat into herself after the death of her parents." The two people in front of him stared dumbly. "Do you accept my offer?"

"I'm not sure," Greengrass began to say, but his wife cut across him.

"Yes, yes we do. The sooner you can have the wards put up, the better. Thank you for… what you did. And what you will do. I owe you a debt of gratitude for what you've done here today. My daughter owes you as well." The woman began to cry again, and Harry made a gesture his head at her husband. The man enveloped his crying wife in an embrace as Harry walked out of the room. He spotted a puffy-eyed Daphne sitting against the wall in the entrance hallway. She jumped as he came out, and hugged him for all she was worth. But there was no time to waste. As he stroked the distraught girl's hair, he called Dobby.

"Dobby, go to Gringotts. Find Griphook. Tell him to apply the full defensive ward package on the Greengrass home. Tell him to charge it to my vault, and make Lord Greengrass the master of the wards. Go now." Dobby nodded and vanished immediately.

A/N: Wow! Harry really does have a dark side. But damn did those idiots deserve it. Probably not as bad as what they're getting from ol' Tommy, though. Next, Chapter 15: I haven't decided on a title yet!

R&R!