I made a Harry x Katie discord and Triage helped me set it up. The link for anyone who wants to join is:
https
:/
discord.
gg
/
MaGMa89dcx
I'm now posting chapters their first so anyone willing to help me by beta reading can. So big shout to the one who did the beta for this chapter. The Google account showed what I'm guessing is your true name instead of your Discord name, and I'm not sure whether you're comfortable with me releasing that. So I've left it out just in case. But thanks for the help. I didn't realize there were so many mistakes.
Harry and Katie were resting on one another as the Hogwarts Express took them to London. Katie had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder while he rested his head on hers, and read the Daily Prophet. Front and center was a photo of Rita Skeeter in handcuffs. Skeeter had made many enemies during her career, including another journalist who had been waiting for this day for a long time if the ridiculous amount of quotes from those her narcissism has harmed is any clue.
Harry continued to leisurely read through the sports section when there was a knock at the door. Looking up he saw it was Daphne Greengrass. Not wanting to wake Katie (she gets cranky when she's tired) Harry simply waved his hand at the door to undo the locking charm and open it. "Mind if I hide here for the rest of the ride?" She asked.
"Go ahead." Harry replied. He would've shrugged but he didn't want to disturb Katie. Daphne gave him a thankful smile before shutting the door, relocking it, and pulling down the blinds for good measure. Once that was done, Daphne sat down on the opposite side of the compartment to Katie and Harry. Daphne simply started to stare out of the window and Harry continued to read the paper. Time passed without a word being spoken between them. Soon Harry was finished with the paper and gave it to Daphne upon her asking for it, before closing his eyes. Intent on catching up on some sleep.
Daphne watched the couple with a longing expression. She only had three more years before she was forced to marry Theodore Nott, and she knew it would not be a very happy marriage for her as she would become nothing more than a broodmare and a trophy wife. Nott had proven to care about her beyond her looks. Daphne had no doubt she would be killed as soon as her looks faded, like what had happened to many Nott family wives before. Especially if they manage to kill off the rest of her family, leaving them to inherit the family business. She knew that the traditionalist faction was becoming bolder recently. Pushing for the DMLE's budget to be slashed in half, more restrictions against non-purebloods, and for more restriction and monitoring on the warding of properties. 'It's almost like they're preparing for... No. No that can't be right. It's not possible.' "Harry." Daphne called nervously, but he didn't respond. "Harry!" She called again more desperately.
Harry and Katie both woke up with Katie looking confused to what she was doing there. "Yeah?" Harry responded.
"He's dead isn't he? You-know-who is dead right?" Daphne asked desperately, but Harry's silence said it all. "No. No that's not possible! If he's back, then.. then..."
Seeing Daphne begin to breakdown, Harry rushed over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Daphne. Daphne look at me!" Harry's voice caused Daphne to come back to reality. Once Harry saw Daphne was focused on him, he spoke again. "He's not back. At least not yet, if he was he would've already attacked my family. He's trying to set things right now, but things are being done about it. It was always known he wasn't dead. It's not over yet. Alright?" Daphne nodded, but there was still a present fear in her eyes.
Daphne and Harry returned to their seats. With Harry and Katie watching Daphne from the corner of their eyes. "How am I ever going to get out of this contract now?" She thought aloud.
"Don't worry. The Notts are soon gonna slip up, and then be dealt with." Harry replied, causing Daphne to realise she had thought out loud.
"And what will stop another Death Eater from knocking on our door, and taking me instead? Or Killing my family? Or both!?" Daphne panicked.
"You move house." Harry simply answered. "Riddle will be keeping them busy with rebuilding his power base. They'll have little time to properly look for you and your family."
Harry's answer helped put Daphne at ease. She knew Voldemort's real name due to it being released years ago in the Daily Prophet. But Daphne still curled into herself, and none of them spoke for the rest of the ride.
Soon.
The Potter, Black, Bones and Bell families, along with the Carrow sisters were gathered at Potter Keep for a late Yule celebration.
They were all gathered in the sitting room passing gifts to the ones that had been separated due to being at Hogwarts, before sitting down for a late dinner.
"Now that the dessert is over, we have some business to attend to." Bellatrix announced and all the joy left the table as they knew this wasn't going to be a light hearted topic. "With the Death Eaters attempting to weaken Magical Britain through the Wizengamot it is clear that Riddle has revealed himself in whatever weakened state he is in."
"Any idea where he's hiding?" Mathew asked.
"Sadly no. I tried to pry some information out of Narcissa during the Ministry Ball but all I got was this." Bellatrix responded as she began to pull a copy of the memory from her mind while James called a house-elf to get the family's pensive and place it on the table. Bellatrix placed the memory in the pensive, and they all entered it.
The memory began with Bellatrix following her youngest sister to the women's toilets. Both of the sisters were wearing silk dresses with Narcissa's being a rich green while Bellatrix's was a dark purple, and both were carrying purses matching their dresses. The room was tiled with black and white marble, the cubicles were made of oak and a large mirror was across the wall on the right, above the four white marble sinks.
"Wish all the toilets were this nice." Tonks muttered.
"You should see the men's." James snorted.
While they were talking Bellatrix had checked for any possible eavesdroppers, and put an alert charm upon the door upon finding none. "We need to talk, Narcissa." Bellatrix announced firmly.
"What do you want, sister?" Narcissa spat the last word. Everyone was aware of the bad blood between Narcissa and her older sisters, but she seemed to hate Bellatrix more than Andromeda. Despite her being closer to the ideal pureblood wife.
"I want to know where Riddle is hiding." Bellatrix answered without reacting to Narcissa's tone.
"Who?" Narcissa asked, playing dumb as she touched up on her makeup.
"Voldemort you dumb bitch. You know, that half-blood that your husband stupidly swore loyalty to because he promised to 'put purebloods back on top'." Bellatrix snarked. She had no patience for word games.
Narcissa whipped around to face her oldest sister with a murderous gaze. "Those mudbloods are ruining our world!" She snarled.
Bellatrix simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Which Mudbloods?" She simply asked.
Narcissa stammered for a moment before replying. "All of them of course!"
"Oh? So the ones who have moved to another country or abandoned the magical world altogether because of the prejudice are ruining your way of life, are they?" Bellatrix asked sarcastically. "And of course the few that stay are causing trouble by trying to get a decent job and make enough to live off. How dare they."
Tonks snorted. "Have you always been this sarcastic Auntie?" She teased.
"No, I picked that up from marrying James." Bellatrix answered.
"It's a family tradition." James replied.
"You and your little family are stupid to think you can stand up to the dark lord!" Narcissa spat.
"Purebloods are a dying race Narcissa, between wars and inbreeding we'll be lucky to live past fifty." Bellatrix snarled. Sister or not, Bellatrix didn't kindly insults or threats to her family. "And Voldemort certainly didn't help by killing families or getting the families killed." She argued. "Now tell me. Where. is. Riddle!?"
Narcissa was quick to break eye contact, and Bellatrix could force the answer out of her, her alert charm warned her someone was about to enter. Bellatrix quickly hid her fury behind a neutral expression and dispelled the charm. When the opened and Lady Martha Boot entered, Bellatrix was quick to leave. and the memory ended.
"After that Narcissa and the other Death Eater wives, didn't come near us or leave the hall." Bellatrix elaborated once they had all returned to their seats.
"Sorry kids looks like you're going to spend the holiday training." James grinned at the 7 Hogwarts students. Who all groaned, but none of them put up any real resistance.
"Oh, and before I forget..." Bellatrix pulled an empty glass vial out of her jeans and offered it to Harry. "I want a memory of the ball so I can take photos."
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes but placed the tip of his wand to the side of his head regardless.
A few days later.
Harry was walking to the Great Hall for the returning feast along with Blaise, Terry, and Mitchel when he was stopped by Karkaroff, who stepped in front of him. "Yes?" Harry asked plainly as he glared at the Durmstrang headmaster.
"You will be dueling Viktor tomorrow at ten in the morning in the Great Hall. I expect you to be on time." Karkaroff ordered before walking away.
Harry was livid. He didn't have the ego like the ones that other pureblood heirs sported, but he would happily admit he looked down on Death Eaters so hearing one trying to order him around was infuriating. "I have no interest in fighting your poster boy, Death Eater." Harry spat.
Everyone who was watched sucked in a breath and Karkaroff stopped in his tracks and turned around after a moment. "You will do as I command if you know what is good for you boy." Karkaroff growled as he loomed over Harry.
"You would do well to stop threatening my son Karkaroff." James warned as he glared at the headmaster as he moved to his son's side, with his wand in hand.
"Your son is a brat who would've lost to Andrik had he been allowed to compete." Karkaroff shot back.
Harry snorted. "You mean if he hadn't been caught dosing beforehand?" He questioned sarcastically. "I could've taken him down regardless, just as easily as I could take you down."
"Is that a challenge?" Karkaroff questioned with a savage grin.
"Name the time and place." Harry replied as he continued to glare at the Death Eater.
"Fine. You face me instead of Viktor." Kakaroff replied before stalking off.
Whispers quickly broke out among the crowd. Everyone would know by the end of dinner.
Before Harry could also walk off as well James stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and face him. "Why did you do that Harry?" He asked. He sounded exasperated and looked disappointed.
"Huh?" Harry was confused. He knew his dad was disappointed with him but didn't understand why.
"You started a fight, Harry." James explained. Harry opened his mouth to argue, but James but him off. "He ordered you to fight Krum, and you refused. Going up against Karkaroff was your idea and yours alone." James saw the realization upon his son's face. James and Bellatrix were aware of the mistakes they made during their time at Hogwarts. Mainly that they were quick to anger and never hesitated to start a fight. As such, they had tried to teach their children to never start a fight only end them. A rule they usually abided by.
Harry sighed. "He just really got on my nerves, Trying to order me around like that." He meekly defended himself.
"I understand Harry. It takes every ounce of will power I've got to not punch Malfoy senior in the face when he tries the same thing with me." James replied with a smile. "Now go and get something to eat. You'll need a full stomach when kicking Karkaroff's ass."
Harry grinned as he entered the great hall but it was quickly wiped off his face when he saw Katie glaring at him. She. Was. Pissed. 'Shit. Shit fucking fuck shit!' Harry thought to himself as he approached and took the seat next to her. "Katie I-"
"Not now." Katie interrupted Harry. "We'll talk after dinner."
Dinner was a tense affair for Harry who hardly ate anything, while Katie silently seethed as she ate. The gossip about the upcoming duel did nothing to soothe her anger. As soon as Katie finished her meal she gripped Harry's hand tightly and dragged him away to the black lake. Once she was satisfied they were far enough away from the castle she quickly threw up some privacy wards, and began laying into Harry. "What were you thinking!?" She yelled at Harry who involuntarily winced. Katie had been angry at Harry before but never like this. "In fact were you even thinking!? Well!? Say something!"
"I wasn't thinking." Harry muttered as he looked at the stones beneath his feet. "I shouldn't have let my anger get the better of me."
Katie let out an exasperated sigh. "You get hurt enough as it is Harry. I can't deal with you running off to start more fights." she quietly confessed.
Harry looked up and saw that Katie was now facing the edge of the lake with her arms crossed over her chest. Harry tentatively took her hand and turned her to face him. "It won't happen again. I promise." Harry reassured Katie while he looked her in the eye.
"It had better not." She warned him before she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful Harry. I want you to come back to me in one piece."
"I will. Promise." Harry replied as he hugged her back.
The next day.
Harry stood on one end of the dueling platform that had been set up in the great hall, in his dueling uniform. Bellatrix had mirror called him earlier to chastise him as well, while also telling him to expect Karkaroff to try and cheat. Some Death Eaters were known to wear magic resistant robes and even use potions during raids, and Karkaroff was one of them.
Karkaroff and his students soon arrived with the headmaster in front with a smug air to him, irking Harry. Karkaroff took off his fur coat and handed it over to one of his students. "Let's get this over with. I have got better things to do than deal with you, child." He taunted.
"You mean like selling others out to save your sorry arse?" Harry shot back, causing Karkaroff to snarl and fire a bludgeoning hex at Harry's head.
Harry dodged the hex as well as the rest of the bombardment with ease. He kept his movements to a minimum moving only just enough to avoid the spells, as to not get boxed in. Soon enough Karkaroff began to slow down and Harry retaliated in the first opening he got.
Karkaroff hid behind a shield to protect himself from Harry's onslaught. A move which is seen as a sign of foolishness or weakness in the dueling community as it left you pinned with little escape. A trick commonly used by the inexperienced and the desperate. Soon the shield began to break, before shattering completely. Karkaroff went flying from the magical backlash and was struck by several of Harry's spells in the process. Karkaroff was slammed into the wards and collapsed on the floor.
Harry allowed his posture to slacken, as he sighed. His mother was right. He had gained nothing from this. Not even a shred of enjoyment. Harry turned around and began to walk off the platform when he sensed an incoming spell. Harry dived out of the way, executing a perfect combat roll, and managed to turn in time to deflect the next spells while still crouched. Karkaroff was on his feet and firing relentlessly at Harry with spells that could possibly put him in the hospital wing for quite some time if a few were to hit. It was abundantly clear that he was up to his old tricks, but they would not save him.
Harry could see the wards come down as the aurors made to intervene but Harry hit him with a banishing hex which sent him hurtling into one of the walls before the other spells could hit him. The impact caused him to lose his grip on his wand before Harry summoned him back to him and punched him in the face. Once Karkaroff was on the floor, Harry put his foot onto his chest and pointed his wand at the Death Eater's head. "Yield!" He growled.
"I yield! I yield!" Karkaroff yelped under Harry's foot. Once Harry took his foot off of him. James was quick to personally arrest Karkaroff for unwarranted use of dangerous curses.
Most of the crowd cheered at Harry's victory, with some Slytherins and the Durmstrang students being the exception. Rather than wait for Harry to get off the platform, Katie rushed up and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?" Harry asked cheekily as he wrapped his arms around her.
Katie shook her head on his shoulder in response. "Not completely, but I'm glad you're okay." She replied.
Harry gave her a squeeze in response. "I can live with that."