Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, nor do I own Harry Potter or any of the characters associated with the two. Teen Titans is © of DC Comics, Harry Potter is © of J.K. Rowling, and Warner Brothers holds © over both of them.

Author's Warning: This is a crossover fic. :Watches people close the window.: Ahem. Those of you who do not like crossovers may leave now. The rest of you, I invite to continue on…

Summary: Trigon has returned, and Voldemort has joined him as a minion. Drawn by strange dreams, Raven must involve herself in the problems of others, including one Harry Potter, who is once again being plagued by strange nightmares. This year at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends are going to be pitted against their most difficult task yet. Destroying a force that even the Dark Lord himself fears won't be easy…

Harry Potter and the Demon's Wrath, or; Year Seven and Negative One-Fourth

Chapter 25 – Diagon Alley

Harry didn't think he'd ever had to take sure careful steps before in his life, as he had to take over the next few days. Professor Seraphlin seemed to be hanging around Headquarters more than she had previously – much more – and after his conversation with Raven, he was absolutely desperate to be able to tell someone what she had told him.

The problem was, he couldn't do that as long as she was around. He didn't know who he would tell if it wasn't Remus, and Remus was busy enough with doing things for the Order that he found he saw Seraphlin a lot more often than he ever saw his old Professor anymore. It had made him take to lurking in his room upstairs at Grimmauld Place, ignoring Phineas Nigellus' mutterings, sitting tight like the good boy he didn't want to be. If Dracona Seraphlin was a Death Eater – even an unmarked one – then she shouldn't be sitting in on Order meetings.

It had already been long proven to Harry, though, that if the adults in the Order didn't want to listen to him, then they weren't going to. It was hard not to go straight to Mr Weasley, though. Ron had been urging him to, and Hermione had made a few noises of agreement when she heard the topic come up, but Harry hadn't acted on it. He needed to talk to Remus, because Remus had already warned him about Seraphlin. He knew there was something crooked about the woman, and if Harry could add proof to that, then all the better.

A rap came at the door and Harry looked over, imagining for a moment – and only a moment - that he could see through to the person on the other side without having to call out. The knock had only been for etiquette's sake though, because a moment later the doorknob turned and Mrs Weasley let herself into the room.

"There you are, Harry, dear. Remus is here. He and Arthur are planning on taking Ron, Ginny and Hermione into Diagon Alley to pick up any refills on supplies before term starts, and while it's still early enough in the day that it's safe to go out. They suggested you might want to stay here, dear, but I really think you should go along with them and get out of this stuffy old house."

Harry was grabbing his scarf and cloak before Mrs Weasley could finish speaking, ignoring the snickering of Phineas Nigellus as he threw an extra sweater on. This was exactly the opportunity he'd been looking for. Sure, bringing up the topic of Death Eaters in public probably wasn't the best way to avoid bringing attention upon himself, but seeing as he'd be going out with identifiable members of the community anyway…

"And do put this on dear, just in case?"

Mrs Weasley handed him a hand knitted hat, red and gold striped, the gold yarn in it so bright it seemed to shimmer as though it were actually made from the precious metal.

"Mrs Weasley?" he prompted when she didn't explain.

"I was supposed to give it to you at Christmas, but hadn't had it finished in time. Consider it part of your gift. It should keep you from unwanted attention anyway." She was wringing her hands, clearly not wanting to allow anyone to leave the house to go shopping, of all things, and yet unable to stop them because she knew that some semblance of normal life had to be maintained if everyone didn't want to go crazy.

Harry smiled. "Thanks, Mrs Weasley," he said, tugging the hat onto his head, pulling the front part of it down so that the yarn's elasticity held his fringe to his head, covering his scar. Never mind that every Death Eater in the inner circle knew what he looked like; he'd wear the hat if it would make Mrs Weasley feel better, and beyond that, it was warm.

Mrs Weasley pulled him into a tight hug, letting him go after a long moment and turning away slightly.

"Go along, dear, they're all waiting for you," she said. Harry turned and crossed the room, moving around her, trying to ignore the motion she was making, as though wiping her eyes on her sleeve, while he went by. Even after knowing her for so long, it shook Harry as much as it pleased him to have someone so concerned for his welfare.

Harry made his way slowly down the stairs to the kitchen, where the three Weasleys, Hermione and Lupin were gathered by the fireplace. Mr Weasley and Lupin were talking in low voices, Hermione watching them carefully.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed upon seeing him. "We weren't sure you'd want to come."

"Didn't tell me you were going," he pointed out, wrapping his scarf twice around his neck as he made his way over to them. Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Remus cut across her with a hand, gesturing toward Harry.

"Well, you're here now, and that's what matters."

"We should get moving before it gets too late. Don't want to hang around for any longer than necessary." Mr Weasley's voice was its normal jovial tone as he said it, but Harry noticed the nervous glance in his direction.

"I don't think I'm the one you need to worry about right now," he said quietly just before Mr Weasley Disapparated – Remus would leave last. Mr Weasley shot him a bit of a befuddled look just before he vanished. He glanced at Remus to find the other man had taken up the look.

"I need to talk to you," Harry said.

Remus held up a hand to forestall him. "I can see that, but it needs to wait for the moment. Hermione, you're next," he added to her. Hermione grabbed Ginny's hand.

"Hold on tight," Hermione cautioned Ginny. Ginny rolled her eyes but nodded, grasping Hermione's wrist. The two disappeared with a 'crack!' a moment later. Ron stepped forward onto the carpet in front of the hearth, counting to ten under his breath to give enough time for an alert to be raised if something was wrong on the other side – and also enough time for Hermione and Ginny to get out of the way.

"What is it, Harry?" Lupin finally asked, attention divided, as he was watching Ron just as intently as he was trying to watch Harry. Ron glanced at them, nodded once, then Disapparated.

"It's Professor Seraphlin," he said. Remus' eyes narrowed, and he nodded.

"When we're away from here," he stated. He sounded so sure that Harry fell quiet, fidgeting in place but able to hold onto the topic for another few minutes, since he'd kept quiet about it for days already.

"Go on, Harry," Remus said, indicating the empty rug. Harry hesitated a moment, tempted to blurt out the information about Seraphlin now, heedless of the chance of her showing up in the house at any moment.

As though reading the thought in his eyes, Remus gestured at the rug again.

"We can't keep the others waiting. I will hear you out, Harry, I promise."

Harry nodded, stepping forward to stand on the rug, and focusing on the place in the Leaky Cauldron where the safe area for incoming Apparition was marked out. He caught Remus' eyes a moment before he closed his eyes, spying a look in them he wasn't entirely able to interpret.

Then he let himself vanish, feeling the familiar compression Apparition caused, hearing the pop of his appearance – as well as the air in his ears – when he reappeared in the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny grabbed his hand and dragged him off of the rug, he'd appeared on, and Lupin was standing where Harry had been a moment later.

"Is everything okay, Harry?" Mr Weasley asked, beginning to shepherd his children and Hermione toward the door. Lupin grabbed his arm and started to lead him that way as well, glancing around at the other patrons in the pub. There weren't too many people, it was easy to see who was who – or would have been, if most didn't have their cowls pulled high enough to hide their faces - but all the same Lupin was moving with determination and a quick step, clearly wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"I've something to tell you," Harry replied.

Lupin nodded as they exited out into the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, Ron moving forward to tap the bricks and open the archway into Diagon proper.

"D'you remember the warning you gave us about Professor Seraphlin?" Harry asked, keeping his voice low as they moved as a group through the archway and into the street beyond. Listening to the movement of the bricks as they shifted back into place, Harry caught Mr Weasley's eye again. He looked as though any warning was news to him. Lupin, however, was nodding.

"I still haven't quite worked out what it is about her, but…" he began. Harry shook his head.

"She's a Death Eater. And some sort of weird demon thing."

Lupin sent him a look, and Mr Weasley sighed. "Really, Harry. You can't go around levelling accusations like that at everyone who rubs you the wrong way," Lupin warned.

Harry glared at him, suddenly realising he should have done this at Grimmauld Place, regardless of the chance of Seraphlin finding out faster. He couldn't raise his voice here – couldn't cause a scene and draw attention to them.

"I'm not making things up!" he said, forcing his voice to keep low even despite his harsh tone. "She might not be in the Inner Circle, but she's working for Voldemort!"

Lupin rubbed his forehead, looking exasperated and as though he didn't want to hear anything more that Harry was telling him, but also as though he knew he needed to Harry out. Harry was grateful for the latter; it meant he still had a chance to make his case, and hopefully since his information had come from Raven, Remus would give it more weight.

"Raven told me. She warned me about it on Christmas Eve, told me to look out for her because she'd just been taken and held by Voldemort and Seraphlin was there," Harry said, speaking quickly in his urgency to get this across.

The look Lupin gave him was more sceptical than the one he'd been receiving thus far.

"We didn't hear anything about Him kidnapping anyone," Mr Weasley said before Remus could respond. Lupin nodded in response though.

"We can't talk about this here," he warned when Mr Weasley looked as though he wanted to say something in addition. "We'll return to the topic when we're safely back in Grimmauld Place. And—"

Suddenly Harry was being shoved behind Lupin, and jostled around by the rest of them as Ron and Hermione moved to stand on either side of him. He felt a hand on his head, forcing him downward so that all he could see was the bulky winter robes and cloaks of the people surrounding him.

Wand clenched in his hand, wondering what Lupin could have noticed that he didn't, Harry grit his teeth and listened.

"I wish I could say they were being bold," Mr Weasley muttered. Ginny, standing next to him, made a soft noise that sounded part agreement and part terror.

"Oh don't, Bella. It's just rabble," said a familiar voice. Harry scowled, trying to place it. It took longer than it should have, given the tenser position Ron took on, and the jerky motion Ginny had made at the comment. Narcissa Malfoy, and if he was right, then she was talking to her sister.

Bellatrix Lestrange was in Diagon Alley, right in front of him, and there was nothing Harry could do about it unless a fight actually broke out and he could get away from his guard. His grip tightened on his wand with the effort not to break the rank, as memories of the fight in the Ministry, and of Sirius being knocked through the Veil burst into his mind.

"But useful rabble," came Bellatrix's voice. "This shopping trip could be more use than I'd previously thought."

The further tensing of the people around him suggested the woman had drawn her wand. Harry wanted to see. He needed to see.

"Stop moving, Harry," Hermione hissed. Harry, who hadn't even noticed that he'd moved at all, froze.

"Odd way of standing, don't you think, Cissy?"

If Mrs Malfoy gave a response, Harry couldn't hear it. He didn't suppose it really mattered what she'd said, anyway, since Bellatrix's words had been said more to mock them than anything else. They were working, too, judging by how tense everyone around him still was, and by how much the Weasleys looked as though they wanted to strike.

"Harry," Remus said lowly. "When I give the signal, you grab Ginny and Apparate back to Grimmauld Place. We'll follow as soon as we can."

"I can't just leave you here!" Harry responded, feeling his temper flare.

"You can, and you will. There are more of us than there are of them, but I'd rather not have you and Ginny to look out for," Lupin said, tone brooking no argument.

"I'm staying," Ginny muttered. Mr Weasley said something in her ear that made her whip her head around to glare at him.

"Do as I've said, Harry," Lupin said quietly. "…Now!" he roared.

Spells burst forth around them, sending snow flying as Bellatrix let out a shrieking cackle. Almost blindly, he grabbed for Ginny's arm, holding his wand up and casting a protection charm to deflect a jinx, then pulling Ginny down to avoid a red stunner that went flying past their heads.

Tugging her arm, he cleared the others who were still throwing spells back at Bellatrix and Narcissa, and gripping Ginny's wrist in his hand, he pivoted in place, tunnelling them down as he Disapparated.

With a resounding 'crack!' they appeared back in Grimmauld Place's kitchen, the sound of their arrival still bouncing around and echoing through the small room when Mrs Weasley pushed open the door and came in, looking at them with her hands clenched together in front of her apron.

"You're back much too soon, what's happened?" she asked.

Harry looked at Ginny, who had freed herself from him and was giving him a sour look.

"You didn't have to listen, you know," she said, sounding put out.

"Listen to whom? Ginny? Harry? What's happened?"

"We ran into Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix in Diagon," Harry said, shaking his head. "Remus told me to take Ginny and get out, and that's all I did."

He needed to go back though. He should be there, helping them take Bellatrix down, because now that he was back in this house – this place where Sirius had resided, even if he'd hated it – he was feeling more and more that he owed a debt to his godfather. And with that came the feeling, stronger and stronger, that he should be out there now, trying to settle that debt.

Hermione and Lupin appeared in the kitchen a moment later, Hermione bracing him. She helped him to a chair as Mrs Weasley swept over.

"What's happened, Remus?" she demanded, looking him over. "Where are Arthur and Ron?"

"They're coming, Mrs Weasley. Mrs Malfoy took a curse and Bellatrix was busy dealing with her, but she got Ron with an anti-Apparition jinx first, so Mr Weasley has to undo that first," Hermione explained quickly. "And Professor Lupin took a curse here," she added, helping the man to push open the coat he was wearing beneath his cloak to reveal a gash on the right side of his chest.

Harry cringed. "You should've let me stay!" he exclaimed.

"Not now, Harry!" Hermione scolded.

Angry, mostly at himself for actually listening to Lupin and running when he should have stayed and helped them fight, Harry turned away, not wanting to stand and watch Mrs Weasley try and patch Lupin up when he shouldn't have been hurt in the first place.

The sounds of two people Apparating, practically on top of one another, came from the parlour and a moment later Ron and Mr Weasley had pushed their way into the kitchen.

"Bloody hell she's fast," Ron cursed. Mrs Weasley shot him a look for his language, but didn't scold him, too intent in her attempts to heal the curse on Remus' chest.

"Dittany, mum," Ginny said, suddenly appearing back at Harry's side, though he hadn't seen her go. She held a small vial outstretched in her hand, which Mrs Weasley snatched up as soon as it was close enough.

"This might sting a bit, Remus," Mrs Weasley warned. "But there's a bit of fabric in the wound that I have to et rid of before I can put the dittany on."

With that preamble, she raised her wand, putting the tip of it nearly up against the open wound and muttering a spell. An orange burst of light shot from her wand and Lupin flinched, looking downward and clearly trying to see the wound around his cloak as Mrs Weasley removed the stopper from the dittany.

"Oh I wish we had a real, trained healer around!" she muttered, mostly to herself it seemed as she dribbled the dittany across the wound in generous amounts.

Lupin let out a hard, pained sounding sigh. "You best will do, Molly, I'm sure," he said. It sounded like it was difficult to speak, and Harry cringed, taking a few steps backward. Ginny touched his hand, giving him a worried look he could only shake his head in response to.

"I think I need to be alone," he said, pulling away and backing out of the kitchen into the corridor beyond. Too convenient of a distraction. It had all been too convenient, and Harry wasn't at all sure what to make of that. Trying to suggest that Seraphlin had known and sent the two women out as a diversion wouldn't get him anywhere. Harry didn't really believe the thought, though it had crossed his mind.

It was just a lousy coincidence that had gotten in the way of everything else.

He needed to persuade Lupin that Raven was right, that Seraphlin was a Death Eater. It was hard, though, when he didn't have any of his own proof, just that of Raven's word… and when the Order hadn't known of her kidnapping – which in itself seemed strange to him, as he was sure it was something the Order should have been well aware of, whether Raven had left the country at some point or not.

"Harry," Hermione prompted, following him from the kitchen. "Harry. Wait."

He paused, willing to hear her out but not wanting to turn around and see the look she was sure to be giving him.

"Harry, you just didn't deliver it well…"

"Term starts in four days, Hermione, and there's things going on that the Order isn't aware of. Things going on that they don't want to be aware of. How is this helping anyone?"

"This is so much bigger than everything else, Harry. You know that."

He did. He knew it so well that to hear it again, here, was just repetitive. The problem was, he didn't know what to do about it. He had so much information, now, and at the same time, knew absolutely nothing. The Order was keeping him in the dark. Maybe they knew Seraphlin was a Death Eater. Maybe she was a plant for them, since Snape had turned traitor. Maybe he was misinterpreting everything.

Maybe it was even just that Raven couldn't be trusted, and that was where he was mistaken. After all, her father was Trigon. This whole thing could be tied back to her blood line…

"Harry?"

"They have to listen," he muttered.

"They will, Harry. You just need to sit down and make sure your case is presented without fault. Why don't we go over what Raven told you again?"

Harry actually looked back at her then, a small smile touching his lips at his relief.

"If you think it'll help. Thanks, Hermione."

Raven paced back and forth across her room, nursing the beginnings of a headache. It was nearly time for her to return to Britain, to throw herself back into the problems at Hogwarts, and she dreaded the need to resume that role. There was still too much going on here that she wasn't aware of, still too many holes in the story. The only thing she could be almost sure of, now, is that she was better prepared to deal with Dracona.

That was, if Dracona dared return to Hogwarts at all.

Too much had happened since the last few days of the term, and since the holiday break had begun. Raven needed to get her thoughts in order, needed to figure out just what parts of the case she was going to present to McGonagall when she returned, and what it was she was going to keep to herself.

Everything, though, was dependant on Dracona. It all relied on whether or not she returned, and if she did, how she acted when she was back. Students had begun seeing her more and more frequently when she was taking her flights on the grounds. Raven knew that, but she wasn't sure how much of a threat Dracona took that to be.

She wished she had more solid ground to stand on. It felt as though every time she managed to learn something and was able to take a few steps forward, she ended up sliding back even further. It was getting to the point where she didn't really know what to do about it anymore, except to keep ploughing forward, taking the setbacks as they came.

She was keeping up with everything, but only just barely. Once she returned to Hogwarts, she knew she was going to end up swamped by everything all over again, and that foreknowledge was not a good feeling.

"Raven?"

She turned and looked to see Beast Boy standing in the doorway, a guilty look on his face.

"Sorry. I knocked but you didn't answer, so I just came in."

She rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

"I just—I know it's been a couple of days now, but I wanted to tell you that, whatever Robin says, we all know you did what you had to do with Slade. Did'ja learn anything?"

Raven hesitated, thought back to the conversation with Slade, and shook her head. "Nothing direct," she replied. "Just more shadows, things I have to assume and then that I have to further assume are absolutely true."

"So you're not getting anywhere?" Beast Boy asked.

She looked at him and sighed. Was she getting anywhere? She certainly didn't think that she was, but then maybe she'd been wrong.

"I don't know, Beast Boy," she muttered. "But Slade was just as helpful as I expected him to be."

Slade had said something about his powers being a distraction, just before the team themselves had jumped in and interrupted. Maybe there was something else there that she hadn't considered.

"Can you stay home?" Beast Boy blurted suddenly.

Raven stared at him. "Of course not. I have a commitment. I told them I'd go back."

"None of us think you should," Beast Boy protested. "And everyone's being all supportive because they know this is your mission, but everyone thinks you should stay here. We can help you deal with Trigon from here, Raven, but no one can help you if you're so far away."

"I don't have time to deal with this right now, Beast Boy. I have to make sure I have everything to return to Britain."

"We want to come with you then, just a couple of us. Give you extra backup."

Raven paled. The only reason she'd been doing so well on the overseas mission so far was because she knew she had them to come back to. She couldn't protect them against wizarding magic. She'd learnt that much on Halloween when the Killing curse had ripped through her shields.

"Absolutely not."

"But, Raven!"

"No!" she shouted, feeling her anger and worry get the better of her, knowing that her demon half had flared up in that moment. She turned away, hiding her face. This was getting out of hand; she had to get him far away from here. Send him back away, so that his influence over her was gone.

She heard the door to her room close again, sensing she was alone. Beast Boy had run out. However she had meant to deal with him, this hadn't been it.

She really, really needed to end this.

Author's Note

Filler-y chapter is mostly filler-y. Oh well. Next chapter in two weeks or so!

Completed: December 13, 2010