Harry sighed as he bid the last of the students good night. He didn't think that he had been gone all that long, but apparently time flies when you're fighting Death Eaters. When he and his miraculously revived mother had arrived it was well into dinner, and he had to sit through the next two hours starving. According to Daphne, his replacement had been a right git to her, and had left as soon as dinner started, stating that their job was finished as he was done with his mission. Apparently the Circle wasn't as accommodating as the Flamels made them out to be, and Harry was more than a little irked at the fact that whoever had covered for him had been so rude to Daphne. His stress was only increased as he felt Lily's eyes following him every moment from beneath his Invisibility Cloak. He sighed and closed the door before turning around to see Daphne curled up on the couch with Rosie, watching him with a concerned expression.

Don't worry, Zephyr said from his perch on Harry's shoulder, nuzzling his head against Harry's cheek.

No matter what happens, we're with you, Kyddris added.

Harry smiled and closed his eyes. "You can come out now."

His mother pulled off the cloak, but her attention was fixed on the picture he kept of her and his father on his mantelpiece. There was a small bluebell flame flickering in front of it that Harry had cast that morning, and the light from it danced off her verdant eyes.

"I remember when we took this," Lily murmured. "Your father was going stir crazy, and was so happy to get out of the house that he danced like a loon all morning."

"So, what were you doing helping to defend a coven of witches in Italy?" Harry asked bluntly. He still didn't feel prepared to address the fact that his mother had returned from the dead, and had decided that he was going to get straight to the more pertinent subjects first.

"I used to study with them," Lily said, turning to face him. She examined the scarred face of the man before her and took a deep shuddering breath. "When I was studying for my Charms Mastery, your father and I lived in Italy for a year while I studied with them. Of course, he wasn't allowed inside – normally, when they aren't being accosted by squads of Death Eaters, men aren't allowed inside of a Coven – but that didn't stop him from making everyone blush with his antics every morning when he dropped me off. I've been working to re-establish some of those old connections, and was visiting when the attack started."

"Wait," Daphne interrupted. "How long have you been back?"

"A little under a year," Lily admitted, flushing with shame as she knew where this was going.

Harry stiffened and Daphne narrowed her eyes. "And in all that time, you didn't think to maybe tell the boy you left an orphan that you were back?"

"And just how was I supposed to do that?" Lily retorted defensively. "Just send him a letter that said Hi Harry, it's me, your mum! Guess what? I'm back from the dead and want to see you!"

"One would think that the brightest witch of her generation would be able to figure that out," Daphne replied coolly, nonplussed in the face of Lily's fiery temper.

"I had!" Lily exclaimed. "I was planning on introducing myself during your next Hogsmeade weekend."

"I don't go to Hogsmeade," Harry said quietly. "I'd rather use the time to work on my research and get my marking done."

"Research? Marking?" Lily parroted confusedly.

"I'm a professor," Harry replied. "The job involves occasionally marking homework."

"I saw the sign on the door," Lily said softly. "How does a fifteen year old boy get a position teaching at Hogwarts?"

Harry shrugged. "Hard work and dedication, I suppose."

Lily whistled lowly and placed her hands on her hips. "I guess I was wrong to worry about choosing Sirius to be your godfather."

Daphne flinched and Harry's eyes seemed to freeze. "I wasn't raised by Sirius," he muttered.

Lily opened her mouth to ask for some sort of clarification when a soft knock on the door forced her back under the Cloak while Harry picked up his staff and went to answer the door.

He pulled the door open and scowled as he was met with the ghastly pink mess that was Dolores Umbridge. "Can I help you?" Harry asked pointedly.

"My, my, Mister Potter, how very rude of you," Umbridge said, her voice dripping with toxic sweetness. "When one opens the door, they are supposed to properly greet their visitor before inviting them inside."

"I assure you, if I were to be visited by someone who was welcome or merited my respect, they'd be treated with the height of civility," Harry grunted. "Now tell me what you want or get out."

"I came to speak with you about your poor conduct," Umbridge said. "And to inform you that the Minister would be hearing a very detailed report about it if you didn't improve."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And what conduct would that be?"

"For starters, making a show of carrying that… weapon of yours around wherever you go," Dolores said, eyeing his staff almost hungrily. She flinched back when the twin serpents unwound themselves and spread their wings as they reared back to try and snap at her.

"My staff is no more a weapon than a wand is," Harry said. "There are no laws against having one, or carrying it with me. However, they are registered as personal artifacts with the Ministry, and attempts to steal or confiscate them rarely end well."

"That sounded dangerously close to a threat," Umbridge said gleefully.

"Nonsense," Harry replied. "Simply reminding you of how your Ministry operates."

"Be that as it may, your lackadaisical behaviour with missing an important feast is worthy of note, and a blatant disregard of your duties as a member of staff."

"I think you'll find it hard to prosecute me for taking time to myself to mourn the two people who are responsible for today being such an important date, Dolores. On top of that, as I have stated before, it is Hogwarts herself who dictates my tenure as a professor within these walls, and neither you nor the Minister can do anything about it."

Without another word, he slammed the door in her face and turned around with a sigh only to be met with a furious Lily.

"What do you mean Sirius didn't raise you?" She demanded.

"He was framed for betraying you and Dad, as well as for murdering Pettigrew and twelve Muggles," Harry said. "Spent twelve years in Azkaban before breaking out."

"So who did you live with?"

"Your sister," Harry said through gritted teeth.

Lily reared back as she remembered her sister's distaste for everything magical. "Oh. Well… it's good to hear she had a change of heart, I guess. I'll have to thank her for taking you in over all these years."

Harry snorted. "Oh yeah, I'm real grateful." He then placed a hand on Daphne's shoulder and marched himself up to his room.

"Was it something I said?" Lily asked.

"I think it's safe to say that your sister wasn't as loving to Harry as you think," Daphne replied.

"What do you mean?"

"That's not for me to say."

"The hell it isn't!" Lily replied angrily. "I'm his mother! I have a right to know what happened with my son."

Daphne hesitated. She did have a point, but Daphne could also feel the turmoil Harry was feeling, and knew that this was something he had to talk about himself. She had only just started earning enough of his trust to hear quiet admissions in the dark pertaining to his past, and there was no way she was going to break that.

"You're his mother, but you aren't his Mum," Daphne replied icily as she stood up. "You still have to earn that title." With that she marched up to Harry's room, where she found him curled up in the dark. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and slid in behind him, facing away so that he could roll around and wrap his arms around her. She held him close and listened to his ragged breathing, ignoring the sensation of tears leaking through the back of her shirt. It was always easier for him to open up if he was holding her. That way he could pretend, at least, that he was the one providing comfort.

"She's back," he murmured brokenly before his breathing settled and he fell asleep, no doubt going to speak with Bella, whom she knew he found to be a source of comfort.

The next morning, his room was kind enough to provide him the mind-bending door to the Black Lake without having to go out into his office. He threw himself into his laps and thanked the Giant Squid for its many-armed hug that nearly crushed him to a pulp as he made his way back. Daphne was still in bed when he arrived and he smiled as she raised her head and stared blearily at him before grunting and dragging him back to bed, barely giving himself time to dry and transfigure his wetsuit. She pulled him back into place wrapped around her, and he growled as she wiggled her hips against him, reminding him that he was, indeed, a red-blooded male in bed with the most beautiful girl he had ever met. She giggled as she achieved the desired reaction, grinning broadly when, instead of slamming up his defenses in order to control himself, and mumbling an apology as he usually did, Harry buried his face in her hair, pulling her close to him as he grumbled about cold feet and playing with fire.

His fingers skimmed along the bottom of her shirt and she had to fight down a groan as he brushed against the smooth skin of her stomach. He did no more than that, but she was sure that she was slowly breaking down his defences, and knew that there was most likely a long, difficult conversation in their near future as their relationship continued to change. Before any further escalations took place, Daphne had resolved to tell him about the prophecy he had made in their third year, as well as the one that Trelawney had made to her the year before. She, Professor Snape, and Zephyr had deliberated at length about whether to reveal it to him, but they had eventually agreed that, despite their good intentions at first, Harry deserved to know. Snape in particular was adamant about this, and Daphne couldn't help but think that there was something else that he was keeping to himself. On top of that, she could still sense Harry's tumultuous emotions concerning their feelings for each other.

He seemed to have started to identify that his feelings for her were more than platonic in nature, but now he was confused about how much his bestial half was affecting his desires. Daphne was well aware that it was Nightfire whom she was appealing to as she slipped his hand just underneath her shirt, holding her own over it as he spread his calloused fingers across the smooth plain of her stomach. She often spoke with Zephyr about that while Harry trained.

You act as if they are actually two separate beings, Zephyr had said before flying off to throw a bolt of lightning at Harry that he had easily dodged. Daphne admitted that he had a point. They had given Harry's other half a name out of respect for the Marauders, but it had come with the cost of separating the chimera from the man, when they were, in fact, one and the same. Nightfire may have been the name they attributed to Harry in his animagus form, but, despite its more feral nature, the creature was one hundred percent Harry. The feelings they produced were his own. Getting him to see that, though, would be an entirely different matter. Without meaning to, she thought back to the prophecy Harry had made. For if his Heart he does question… What once was balance will be despair.

She and Snape had already worked together with Blaise, Tracey, and Neville to decipher a good portion of the prophecy. They knew that the White King was most likely Dumbledore, and, while it had taken some time due to the prophecy saying he was young, the only possibility for the Black King was Riddle, who was nearly fifty years Dumbledore's junior. Tracey had been the one to figure out what it had meant by Avalon. Apparently, it was some form of magical paradise that Merlin had lived in. Only it had disappeared after he died, and not long after that, non-magicals began ostracizing and hating wizards and witches, resulting in the Statute of Secrecy eventually being created. Daphne was flattered that she was the most likely candidate for both the title of treasure and Heart, but it filled her with guilt and dread whenever she thought about the line concerning her having control of Harry. It was for that reason why she wasn't normally a fan of Tracey's teasing her for having him wrapped around her finger, because she knew she really did. Harry would gladly do anything for her, and she shuddered at the amount of power that gave her. He had admitted that he knew she was the only one who could really make him change his mind once it had been made up, and while that kept him out of doing certain acts of stupidity, for the most part she was just worried about the amount of responsibility that had been thrusted upon her. Harry was destined for great things, and it was her job to guide him towards that destination.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a great deal of shouting coming from Harry's office, and without a thought, Harry grabbed his staff and charged out, Daphne not far behind. They arrived to find Lily with her wand out, facing off against Remus and Sirius.

"I don't know who you are, but you're not getting anywhere near Harry!" Sirius barked.

"That's enough!" Harry shouted, somehow still managing to strike an imposing figure while wearing only black sweat pants and a black hoodie that was unzipped, revealing his toned, scarred, dark haired chest. Everyone froze to look at him and he glared at him like he would school children. "I know it's hard to believe, but I've checked, and it's really her."

"You're sure, Harry?" Remus asked as he stowed his wand in his robe and walked over to put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry nodded tiredly and both Sirius and Remus immediately changed from skeptical and battle-ready to ecstatic as they whooped and tightly embraced Lily, tears running freely down their cheeks. Lily grinned and laughed with her old friends, sharing memories from over two decades ago when her gaze fell upon Harry and the – in her opinion – rather rude girl he was sitting next to. Her eyes widened when she saw the scars across his chest, and she marched over and pushed him back to examine them, as well as the ones on his face. She recognised the small lightning bolt as most likely being a result of Voldemort's curse, but the other one that tore across his face, as well as the three on his torso, looked like claw marks.

"What happened to you?" She demanded, only to startle back as Harry recoiled from her touch and shot to his feet. He marched into his room, with a glaring Daphne not far behind and emerged minutes later dressed in his finely tailored suit and robes while she was dressed in her school uniform. Lily's eyes widened when she saw the familiar snake emblem and green tie but she didn't have a chance to say anything as Harry merely declared that they would speak after he was done with classes and marched out of his office. Tears flooded Lily's eyes as her own son gave her the brush off, and she nearly collapsed into heartbroken sobs when Remus gently wrapped his arms around her.

"His life's not been easy since you and James passed, Lily," Sirius murmured as he rubbed her back.

"I just… I just thought he would at least be happy to see me," Lily choked out as tears streamed down her face.

"He wants to be," Remus replied softly. "But I think he's still waiting for the other shoe to drop. He doesn't want to get his hopes up."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Lily asked desperately. "James and I barely knew what we were doing with a baby, how am I supposed to be his mother now?"

"I… I don't think you can be, Lily," Sirius said sadly. "There was already a woman that tried to mother him, and Harry more than chafed under her overbearing attitude. The most you can do is just be there for him."

"What was he even doing there that night? All those Death Eaters and he just…"

"We saw," Sirius interrupted. "I don't like it any more than you do, but there's no stopping him."

"But he's just a child!"

"Lily, he duelled him." Remus said. "He duelled him and managed to escape with his life. There has never been anyone who has survived a duel with him."

"Harry is one of the most powerful and accomplished wizards I've ever met, Lily," Sirius added. "I doubt even you and James together would be able to consistently beat him in a duel. Merlin knows Moony and I can't."

*(OoO)*

Daphne sighed in irritation as she waited for Professor Snape. Harry had vanished to go to his meeting with Dumbledore after they left his office and she hadn't seen him since. She relaxed as the gentle tapping of his staff on the stone floors heralded his arrival to the Potions classroom.

"How'd it go?" She asked as he took a seat at his desk – which just so happened to be right near where she usually sat.

"He asked to examine it," Harry replied, propping a leg up against his chest and resting his staff between it and the one stretched out lazily towards the fall. "I told him he could, if he was willing to let me examine his wand. Something about it doesn't feel quite right. That shut him up real fast until he tried to play it off as a dangerous artifact. Once again I directed him back to his wand."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Daphne said.

"It wasn't our conversation that I'm confused about," Harry replied. "I saw some hairs on his robes."

"So? The man's beard is nearly as long as he is, I'm pretty sure he a couple of lost hairs won't bother him."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, except for the fact that they were brown and yet I could smell that they were definitely his. I think our oldest friend was right about being lied to."

Daphne's eyes widened, but she didn't have a chance to say anything as Professor Snape barged into the classroom and set them to work on their Draughts of Peace. Harry remained seated for most of the class, focussed on a project of his own.

Floating in front of him was a small ball of light that he had conjured and was examining closely. Daphne watched out of the corner of his eye as he would occasionally mumble something, or move his staff in different ways. Occasionally he would reach out and seem to pluck at invisible threads in the air. Each time he did something, the light would react in a variety of ways, growing or shrinking in size and brightness, causing it to move or spin about, changing its colours. Once in a while, Professor Snape would walk over to observe him before offering his thoughts on whatever it was Harry was doing. She was just about to add the powdered porcupine quills to her potion when there was a burning sensation on her finger and she gasped as more information was beamed into her mind.

Harry picked up on it, and approached her to ask what was wrong.

"Another mission," she muttered. "They're attacking the coven again." Harry nodded and told Professor Snape that she needed to go to the Hospital Wing before pulling Daphne out without another word.

"Tell me what I'm going to be up against," Harry said as they jogged up the stairs.

"My mother, Abra, and some Italian aurors are holed up at a church with the people displaced from yesterday's attack, but our sources say that they're going to be easily overwhelmed. I also received a message saying to make sure Harry Potter is the one helping this time, not a pair of monsters."

Harry growled and picked up his pace. "I guess the Circle thinks I should be capitalizing on my fame."

They burst through the door to Harry's office and Daphne found herself in the awkward position of having to explain to Remus, Lily, and Sirius how the Harry they were currently sitting with was actually an imposter as Harry sprinted up to his room.

"Harry?" Lily asked. "What's going on?"

"That's someone using Polyjuice to cover for Harry," Daphne explained as all three adults pointed their wands at the impersonator. "He has to go, so the imposter comes to make sure no one misses him."

"Are you daft, girl?" The fake Harry shouted. "Your job is to not reveal our secrets!"

"And I haven't," Daphne replied. "They don't know about where he's going or what he's going to do."

"No, but we're about to," Sirius growled.

"Sorry," Daphne said with a shrug. "This particular secret is protected by mental Fidelius charms. I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I'm just Harry's confidante. By the way, you walked out of the Potions class saying I needed to get to the Hospital Wing. I suggest you get back before Professor Snape gets suspicious."

The fake Harry growled and ran out of the room, while Daphne just smirked and shut the door behind him. He could perfectly imitate Harry's personality and mannerisms when he wanted, but she had the unique pleasure of dealing with the git who was beneath the disguise.

"A mental Fidelius," Lily said, awestruck. "I had thought that they were only a theory."

"Guess not," Daphne said as she sat down and pulled out her homework for the day, ignoring the various attempts of the other three to try and con information pertaining to Harry's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Harry's Portkey deposited him outside the church and he strolled up the steps to knock on the door, grinning when Blaise's mother, Abra, opened it to greet him.

"I heard you all needed some help?"

"I don't know how you keep showing up, but I'm not about to complain," Abra said as she pulled Harry inside where he saw about fifty women and girls of varying ages all huddled amongst the upturned pews while at the altar at the back of the room, Penelope spoke with an older, dark-skinned man who looked very much like Blaise and about eight people whom Harry assumed to be the Italian aurors. "Harry Potter, this is my father, Alfonzo Zabini."

"It's an honour to meet you, sir," Harry said in Italian. "What are we looking at?"

"It would seem that the Death Eaters are returning to finish what they started," Penelope explained. "They've been bolstering their ranks by hiring entire bands of mercenaries, as well as including all sorts of Dark creatures. Our scout reported at least another fifty humans and just as many dementors. They aren't more than an hour away."

"Then we better get to work," Harry said as he turned to address the scared women. "Ladies, I know you're all scared!" He shouted, garnering the attention of everyone inside the church. "It can be terrifying to have everything you know suddenly ripped away from you. But if you let that fear stop you from acting, then you might as well throw open those doors and invite those men in to kill you and your families. However, if you seize that fear; if you grab it and hold it close, let it fuel you, let it push you to fight harder and think smarter, then you'll find that you can overcome anything, and before you know it, you won't be afraid anymore. Now, I need everyone who is of age with me outside!"

A majority of the women stood up and hesitantly followed him outside where he put them to work transfiguring and conjuring all sorts of defences. As they worked, he moved between them, exchanging a word here and there, and slowly their fear bled away. He led them in gouging a massive trench around the church, which he filled with water and filled with all sorts of transfigured beasts. Kyddris and Zephyr joined him, and Zephyr grew to his full size, about thirty feet from the tip of his beak to his tail feathers (granted those counted for about ten feet on their own), with eight dark wings, the largest of which had a wingspan of over fifty feet. Storm clouds filled the air as he flapped his mighty wings, and the defenders watched in awe as he and Kyddris took to the skies. Harry started to conjure small stone soldiers, who arranged themselves into a phalanx formation in front of the church, and Penelope and Abra added their own touches by conjuring a pair of serpents made out of stone. While Harry, Alfonzo, and his aurors started throwing up every ward they knew around the church to ensure the safety of those within.

All too soon, the air started to cool rapidly and Harry noticed Alfonzo gulp nervously.

I guess this'll be good practice for Azkaban, Harry thought to himself as he thought about a night spent at Potter Manor over the summer where he and Daphne were simply sitting with their animal companions in the library, curled up on a couch in front of the fireplace. He remembered the feeling of her hair flowing through his fingertips and added to it the feeling of her soft skin as she had guided his hand beneath her shirt that morning. He felt his magic straining to erupt as he remembered the way her smile made a room light up, while her soft, tinkling laugh made his heart skip a beat – especially when she would occasionally lose her composure, and a very unladylike snort would erupt from her, causing her to freeze and blush in mortification. He imagined her grumbling when he complained about her feet being cold, and the sly smirk he knew she wore when she would scoot back in his arms and wiggle her hips in that teasing way of hers. Raising his staff into the air, just as the first of the dementors appeared over a hill about half a mile away, Harry's emotions were so overpowering that he didn't even have it in him to shout. He lost himself in his memories, and murmured the incantation so softly, that only Penelope, Abra, and Alfonzo – who were all standing right near him – could hear.

"Expecto Patronum."

An explosion of silver light erupted from his staff, and threw everyone nearby off their feet, while a fifty foot wyvern exploded out of his staff, breathing a stream of silvery fire before taking to the sky to join Zephyr and Kyddris in combating the dementors as they were repelled by the initial burst of light. Even the humans running behind the spectral creatures were buffeted by the force of the spell and hesitated as they saw a lone figure standing before them with a staff raised high in the air while the dementors shrieked in agony as they were obliterated by the corporeal Patronus.

The humans seemed to regain their wits, and resumed their charge, sprinting through the shallow mote with laughs of deranged glee before the first alligator managed to kill someone. Harry waited until there was a sufficient amount of the enemy inside the mote and dipped his staff into the murky water where electricity suddenly arced across its surface. Screams and the smell of burning flesh filled the air as twenty Death Eaters were fried where they stood. Harry finished his assault as the enemy started to conjure bridges and joined the others in duelling against the remaining twenty-seven with the help of the conjured soldiers, who were charmed to throw themselves in the way of any particularly dangerous curse from the enemy.

Harry snarled as a cutting curse managed to graze his thigh, while only just managing to transfigure his skin enough to block a sickly purple curse. He sprinted across the battle field, firing curse after curse, trying to garner the attention of as many Death Eaters as he could, and take them off their allies. Finally, when he was pinned with his back against the wall of the church, pouring as much as he could into his shielding charms while nine Death Eaters threw a barrage of spells his way, he gave the all clear, and with a bellowing roar and a thunderous caw, lightning and fire rained out of the sky, incinerating the Death Eaters, and freeing Harry to hurl an overpowered cutting curse at the closest Death Eaters who had taken their eyes off him to try to and hit Zephyr or Kyddris, slicing clean through the both of them and removing their torsos from their waists.

He roared in pain as something pierced through the back of his shoulder and looked down to see an arrowhead poking out just above his collarbone. Diving away from the wall behind him just as a swarm of arrows flew in his direction while an explosion where he had been standing threw him even further away. Spinning to his feet, he raised his staff and blocked the blasting hex from one Death Eater, before slashing it through the air and wrestling control of the arrows from another who was standing next to her. He transfigured the arrows into a stream of tiny shards of glass and directed them at the man and woman, using it to block their spells before catching them in a tornado of glass that tore them to shreds.

Suddenly he heard a voice around the other side of the church and his heart stopped.

"Fiendfyre!" Sprinting around the church, Harry found Alfonzo and Abra standing over Penelope – who had a broken leg – and three other dead aurors, trying desperately to stop the flaming serpents that towered over them all and tore through their shields and the wards around the church with ease.

Harry! Kyddris shouted in his mind. Focus on my magic! On what it feels like! Find your own version of it. That will stop those flames!

Harry wasn't quite sure what Kyddris meant, but just at that moment, he released a jet of flames, and Harry focused on the overwhelming, inhuman power he felt surging through his familiar. Running into the cursed fire, he looked within himself, and found a memory from the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He remembered the unstoppable power that had surged from him when he was faced with both a dementor and a massive acromantula before a wave of flames had erupted from him and reduced them both to ash. Grabbing hold of that feeling, Harry roared and threw both his hands forward, stopping the Fiendfyre in its path. The flaming serpents exploded and the resulting inferno wrapped around Harry, but he didn't relent as he poured everything he had into stopping the flames. Hellfire spun around him in a deadly twister, and Harry bellowed ferociously as he threw his hands up and the flames coalesced into a miniature sun floating above his head before he thrusted his staff forwards and the superheated ball of flames rocketed towards its original caster. The man tried to run, but that only resulted in him bringing the fireball closer to his few remaining allies before it exploded and reduced them all to ash and burnt pieces of gore. Harry stumbled, and Alfonzo ran forward to catch him while Kyddris flew down and returned to his tattoo, and Zephyr shrunk down and landed on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Harry said. A quick time check told him the entire battle took no more than an hour and a half at most, and that meant that he had to get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible, given that his imposter would likely have left as soon as the last Death Eater was dispatched and he needed to get back to teach his class. Harry couldn't help but wonder if he was just being used as some sort of weapon against Riddle, appearing to fight a battle, but always having to leave as soon as it was done. He would have to consult Flamel about this. "But I need to go. Please give my regards to the ladies inside the church, and tell them I wish them the best of luck."

He saw that they were all about to protest, but they never got a chance as Zephyr raised his wings and transported them away in a flash of lightning.