The air was thick with ice, his breath came in short white huffs. Years of Quidditch and running had left him unprepared for carrying Dudley so far, but it had been his only choice once his cousin, for once doing as he was told had fallen and broken his ankle. The Dementors, however, weren`t done yet. Hauling Dudley in, who had lost consciousness Harry found himself being hauled out the door by an enraged Vernon who felt the cold but couldn`t see the approaching pair of Dementors. That was why the whale of man blocked the creature's path to Harry`s mouth, running after the ungrateful teen, trying to add some bruises as last goodbye gift and it cost Vernon his life. The Dementors had been well on track so far, following them like patient stalkers who knew they`d be fed soon but when Aunt Petunia shrieked the second one lost his patience, leaving his colleague or brood mate to deal with the teens. The trouble was that Harry had no defence. And before Vernon had intercepted the path the Dementor had already begun sucking his soul. An attempt prevented for the third time in his short life. So, when it began to swallow the bluish hue of Vernon the young raven-haired teen did the only thing he could do. "Dobby"

Seconds before the Dementor that had feasted on his Aunt came to end his life a tiny little hand, rough from decades of working slipped into his and his world slipped into a whirlwind of colour pain and finally darkness. Frantic, the devoted house elf popped them into the only room he could think of that would allow Master Potter to sleep and gently deposited the unconscious Saviour of the wizarding world in a beautiful violet king size bed in the come and go room.

The whole air shifted as Hogwarts and the room slowed down time to a crawl, allowing for the healing to happen at a natural pace while very little time passed. Wringing his hands, the little elf began to put cold, wet cloth on his Hero`s forehead when unconsciousness became a fight for life, the thin body jerking as if possessed. Whimpers escaped the dry lips and Dobby relaxed into his task. He knew how to take care of wizards and this one needed him, had always needed him, and not forgotten Dobby. Merlin blesses the little guy but he had never known anyone to remember him as a person enough to call for him in dire need, hoping against hope that the call would be answered. "Dobby takes care of yous, Master Harry", whispering he snapped his fingers to renew the water in the bowl and make some more towels appear. While Harry Potter jerked and fought the piece of soul no longer lodged behind his scar the most devoted House Elf began to strip, clean, and embalm him to help healing the broken body of the Saviour. And as both did their best Hogwarts supplied some of its magic to slow the time down enough for both of their tasks to be successful at the end.

Days passed before the jerking stopped and Harry`s breathing evened out, and more days passed before he slowly, gingerly opened his eyes. What he saw made him smile weakly. The little house elf, still wearing the towel, the one sock from Harry, the two others he had been gifted as mittens and looked healthier than the last time he had seen the little guy.

"Thank you for coming, Dobby."

"Master called; Dobby wishes to keep master safe."

Still smiling he reached for the tiny hand hidden in a blue sock.

"I thought you wanted to be free, Dobby."

Large eyes met his, the little green man`s lower lip was trembling, and the teenager saw the herculean effort it took for Dobby to keep meeting his eyes.

"Dobby wants to be your elf."

"I`ll gladly have Dobby as my elf, he is the most awesome little friend one could ask for."

The little friend in question had abandoned his post to throw himself at Harry with a squeal of delight and a soft butter yellow glow surrounded them as Magic accepted the bond.

"You saved my life again. Without bludgers this time"

Tightening his hug Harry took some time to notice how Dobby`s skin became a healthier shade of green, or at least a darker forest green. His ears were a little bit smaller and most of the obvious scars had healed.

"Dobby will always save your life, Master Harry."

Smiling they parted and sat next to each other on the bed in silence for a while. Then Harry propped himself up a bit further. "Can you go to Gringotts for me, Dobby? I need an appointment. And we both need new clothes. Don`t go collect my things- someone will give them to me."

"Dobby cans, Master Harry. But you need to eat this."

And with another snap a tray filled with berries, pancakes, toast, marmalade, and tea stood above the teenagers' feet. Smiling wryly, he filled the cup with tea. "Then we both have a lot to do."

Dobby grinned, watched that he did indeed start eating and popped away to get his Master an appointment. Neither of them cared for the chaos that had taken hold in Little Whining when Alastor Moody arrived for his protection detail and found all three Dursleys kissed with all of Potters belongings still in the house. Neither of them would have particularly cared in any case.

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While the Order of the Phoenix was holding a frantic meeting, Harry James Potter stepped out of the fireplace in Gringotts bank and was led to one of the offices. "Very well, Mister Potter. Previous statements about your account and vaults have been sent to your magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore. He has informed us that you have not yet the wish to become an Emancipated Minor as is your legal right as the Heir of a Noble and Ancient House."

"I do not share that opinion with my Magical Guardian. I would like to claim my Lordship ring and get an overview of what I have, don`t have and what was once there." The goblin grinned sharply and rapped his knuckles on the table, causing two huge ledgers and a wooden box with a raven embossed in it to appear. The Raven was the Potter family animal and the only reminder that the family was an offshoot of the Ravenclaw line. He knew that because Tom riddle had known that and whatever Voldemort had known on Halloween 1989 Harry knew as well. Opening the box revealed one elaborate white gold ring with splitters of a sapphire and lapis lazuli making it sparkle, only a quarter of the original stone remained as the centre. The power of several hundred years of magic swept over him, refined by the myriad of men who had worn it before him.

The rings were designed to accept only those with the proper blood and DNA markers, which was why Tom Riddle never made the cut- some of those markers were indicators of insanity. And you could not be insane and a Head of House- you might be Head of House and slowly turn insane but never the other way around. It should have clued Tom in about the unintended side effects of Horuxes. But the fear of death, the sheer terror of spending weeks in London being bombed by the Nazis had made it impossible to use his brilliant mind on anything related to that fear. It was a bit like winning against the soul piece, well fed through siphoning it`s host magic and slowly drifting off to sleep, a picture forming in his mind as dots connected that he had known about but never seen a connection between. Much like when he figured out that Myrtle was the first victim- a blast of insight as his mind caught up with all the information in it.

When he came round he found his account manager had spent the time piling various document on the table and opened the Ledgers to await his decisions on his inheritance, ready to explain and elaborate while hoping that the masses of money would finally put in motion again.

"This is the Potter Donation fund. It holds the deeds for the cottage at Godric`s Hollow and the contract from the Ministry, the contracts concerning the Harry Potter book series and all the gifts and monetary donations plus letters given to The Saviour."

Squinting at the page, he needed new glasses since his prescription had changed, he asked for the contracts to be cancelled and made anew. The cottage would belong to the Ministry going forward after it had been looked though by Harry for possible keepsakes, preserved state or not. The book deals were off, they could no longer publish new works unless directly contacted and contracted to from Harry, and he already knew a photographer and an aspiring writer who might get the deal. Then he asked for a box filled with the letters before he sold the jewellery and invested into Auror grade wand holsters, dragon hide vests and new Auror grade emergency potions kits for the entire department. That way his donation could not be allocated differently. With that done he looked at the minor family things old and dying people, last of their line had left him and designated one of the buildings to become a future magical orphanage and a magical library using the selling of all other stuff with the exception of the books and toys in that particular vault, who were boxed up to then become the first shipment for each of the buildings.

Once he had pocketed the boxes he let go of the vault, intending to send thank you notes and inform those who had sent the gifts of the change in direction if they still wished to gift him something. And then Steel Crusher opened the family ledger and Harry learned how the Potters came to be a Noble House. His grandfather and father had stopped most of their endeavours, instead battling first Grindelwald and then Voldemort to their best of their financial ability. The result was a drop in family wealth. But there had been mistakes in investments, investments that soured, loss of crops, loss of farms and other things that had accumulated during the begin of the second world war. And unlike the Malfoys and their ilk the Potters had no ill-gotten gains to sell in order to restock their fluidity. Which left him with enough money to live comfortably without worry and even manage to include a nuclear family, wife and one child. Not having any idea what he`d like to do but sure that he wasn`t going to just live off of his savings made the next hour an exercise in mathematics. Paying the remaining fees for Hogwarts in bulk emptied his vault to 4000 Galleons. It would be refilled with 6000 come September and that would be all the money he would access for a while.

Knowing that his ancestral home had been sold in order to Donate the proceeds to St Mungo's as per his grandmothers Last Will only added to the long list of Donations and funding his family had done in Magical Britain, leaving him a Legacy even if the name had lost most of its fame for businessmen and moved into the realm of Fighters and Duellists. With that in mind he invested into the Firebolt company which was new and aspiring despite its huge reveal and some other companies that asked for additional funding and hadn`t gotten it or newer ones, mainly werewolves and muggle borns who had been fruitlessly sending proposals for years. That and the return once the Twins had their shop would keep his finances in motion and he merely offered a meeting for everyone about a bit more funding and any other topic in three years, when his investment was producing returns and the companies had time to establish themselves. It was a move that got him a shark like grin from Steel Crusher. Once done he withdrew 3500 Galleons, turning 1500 into pounds, and went for his optician appointment where he got himself three sets of glasses, one specifically made to wear while playing Quidditch. Then he replaced his whole gear by buying better quality and two broom care kits which was followed by a stop at Twift and Tatlings for winter robes, day robes, summer robes, a new Quidditch uniform and a new set of school uniforms. All of them with all the enchantments to make them last for four years, be self-repairing, non-staining, and non-knitting. Adding two sets of formal robes and several sets of dragonhide boots, shirts and trousers lost him 800 Galleons, but he was now completely set in terms of wizarding attire. His new satchel and trunk with a no magic compartment- which meant it was infused with runes on the outside to prevent magical rays from disturbing what was inside cost him 250 Galleons, but he now could buy a wagonload of muggle clothes, boots, flashlights, and other supplies without the magic of Hogwarts adding to their wear.

It allowed him to get some pots, pans, a camping set, coloured contact lenses, hair dye in various colours, fake beards, fake tattoos, an assortment of underwear and socks, an assemblage of cheap watches, glow sticks, torpedoes, swiss army knives and canned food without needing to fear them spoiling well before their due date. Magic had that kind of effect on non-magical items. Adding several children's suits, two of them army style and two of them with superman on them he also added some toy cars that he could set loose if he were ever in need of a loud and moving distraction. For the same reason he added some boxes of toy soldiers. He might not know how to make illusions or conjure stuff, but he knew how to do an enlarging charm.

Ready to pick up his ordered supplies Harry was preparing to call Dobby when a large shaggy dog assaulted him as he left the robe shop. Sirius had been over enthusiastic and they both landed in a heap on the cobbled stone street. Used to needing to fall properly he reflexively did so, unaware that both the dog and the werewolf noted once again how he reacted to such things. Normal, healthy teenagers wouldn`t know to protect their head unless taught material arts. Sinking his hands into the thick fur, a sign that the man was at least eating properly, he allowed the big dog to lick his face, neck and jip at him in what could have been a scolding as much as a joyful song about happiness. "Hello, Harry. I am glad we found you, we were really worried!", Remus Lupin said with the gentle smile he always seemed to be trodden out when speaking to a child.

It was even directed at Sirius more often than not. Scratching Sirius as he noted the man`s slowly receding thinness he met amber coloured eyes. "You were? The lack of owls gave me a different impression, Professor." The dog in his arms stiffened which allowed him to pick himself off the floor, not even pretending to look away from Remus. It was behaviour they both had not been expecting. Because as far as they knew he had never changed just taking things in stride as he kept up the happy go lucky persona, the overly friendly persona who would have been shamed by the comment and flushed. Neither of them could know that the rules of the game had changed. "Why don`t we bring you to Headquarters, your friends will be happy to see you."

Raising one eyebrow he merely rightened his clothes and removed the dirt with a flick of his wand before he knelt down to meet grey eyes. "Do you trust me?" Any other adult might have reacted differently, as evidenced by the rising eyebrow of Remus Lupin, but he needed Sirius to allow him his chance to explain. He needed Sirius to be a trusting adult that was firmly in his corner. And if he could not have that then he needed to know now.

Even a decade in hell could not remove the training the Heir Black had received, so Sirius understood the various levels the question implied. The titling of the head, the soft growl and tapping of the front paw indicated that the dog had smelled a rat and was now trying to work his way through the maze. Finally, as Remus drew closer, reaching for Harry to lead him on, Sirius nodded, and the teen hugged the dog before he rose and stepped out of reach. "Lead the way, then, Professor."

"I am not your professor anymore, Remus will do."

"Very well, Mr Lupin"

He kept grabbing for Sirius, his dog father sensing the need stuck close as they made their way through Diagon Alley, out of the pub and into the busy streets of London proper.

"How did you hide your scar?"

"Let`s just wait so I don`t have to answer the same questions a million times, Mr Lupin."

The dog whined and he gently crawled him behind the ears, looking around the unfamiliar area that he had only just recently wandered through to make his muggle purchases.

"I don`t see why you can`t answer my questions, Harry, I was a friend of your fathers and Sirius surely is anxious to hear them", the werewolf tried again after they were nearing Kings Cross.

"You were? It keeps slipping my mind what with your insistence that you never knew him but just went to school with my father for an entire year."

Sirius stiffened slightly but the wolf was sputtering, and Harry merely continued his ministrations. At least he knew that the Animagus was paying attention to all the unsaid and implied things.

He watched the bustle of the crowds entering and leaving the station in various states of harassment as Remus tried to regain his footing and led them past the busy area. Days ago, Harry would have felt pressured to apologize by sheer virtue of the awkwardness of the silence between them as they walked. But several days ago, the wards, those glorious wards, had not managed to prevent Dementors from moving into the house. They had failed to prevent Harry being partially kissed for the third time and thus been unable to prevent the soul shard from breaking loose and attempt possession.

And thanks to 90 years of obsessive learning and research by the madman who came after an infant on the words of a greasy haired bastard he knew all the pieces of the game. The ritual had left the blood wards useless. The protection, weakened by several attempts on his soul had thinned and what little barrier had been left to prevent the shard from entering the main body had been sucked out that night. Thankfully the transmission had not included the madness of Voldemort, but some emotions had merged and transferred enough that the result was a lack of compassion where he once wished to belong and please. Meeting Remus also caused him to realize that this merging finally had achieved what probably little else would have, the fact that finally he`d had enough of bullshit to last him a lifetime.

And it was this lack of compassion that made him focus on what he could expect from the upcoming event while assessing what he could do, say and act on. The analysing was sharper than usual, had more depth to it and he knew it to be an agglomeration of Tom Riddles cold logic and his own skills of observations. While young and naïve he knew Ron, Hermione, Molly and Dumbledore by sheer virtue of having sucked up all of their interactions like a sponge. His desire to fit, to be of interest and cared for by people had made it necessary to see the good as plainly as the bad. A man, sage and saddened by a life that failed his expectations who evaded direct questions because like so many old people they overestimated the value of youth while equalling it with the inability to act without guidance and help. The whole thing was a balancing act. He had disappeared and left his things behind, never bothering to notify anyone of his health and whereabouts. He also was classed as a child, powerful but clueless with more luck than brain which meant they would expect him to grow defensive, angry like a cornered animal. And he would have been all of these things if he hadn`t spent days fighting the madman who killed his parents inside his own head. Every insecurity, every taunt, every bad memory had been a weapon to use, to make him loose footing, to make him hide and lick his wounds and thus surrendering ground until he would have woken with no control over his body and finally not woken at all. There were things he needed to do, practice he needed to gain and a life to life and those well-meaning adults, his former magical guardian among them, could make the journey much worse than it was.

It was a good thing, then, that his life with the Dursleys had prepared him for such encounters and life at Hogwarts had taught him that forcing those lessons into the recesses of your mind did nothing but cause trouble- Gryffindorish as they may have made him. Since they were still walking, he felt no remorse in opening his shoulder bag, which was made of tebo hair and sea serpent scales, filled with runes, and holding his new satchel, trunk, and his little reservoir of snacks. Dobby had found the bag in the come and go room as he was searching for replacement wands and had worked elven magic to repair and improve upon it.

Removing a bottle of blackberry juice, he offered a bottle of water to Sirius, closed the bag and slung it back over his shoulder while the dog was happily jumping up and down to catch all the water flowing from the bottle. "I`d like to have some of that water as well, Harry.", the wolf asked and Harry stopped, meeting the man's Amber eyes. It seemed like he needed to deal with that man now.

"You seem to be under the impression that I should like you, Mr Lupin. But, you see, I begged you to teach me the Patronus and was so glad when you said yes. It was a little bit weird to be offered tea and biscuits all the time, but I took it in stride since you were giving up your time so all I could do was be nice. And when my father came up you told me how you`d gone to school at the same time. That you knew of him and had laughed over his pranks on occasion. In all this time since the end of the year and meeting with Sirius in the Shrieking Shack I never managed to figure out how you could look me in the eyes and lie like that. You met my eyes, those that look like Lilly`s, and told me one lie after the other. You weren`t teaching me the Charm because I begged you and was a good enough pupil- you were teaching me the charm because I look like James Potter and you felt like you could pay him back. Or worse you did so, thinking that teaching me a necessary Charm I needed to defend myself would magic away the decade in which you never once checked up on me. Padfoot has an iron clad excuse. You have not even offered an apology. I see no reason why you couldn`t have come by on my fourth, sixth and ninth birthday as a family friends to take me for a walk and a chat without scaring the Dursleys with your magic wand or being so close to the full moon you`d have eaten me. Just a nice adult who cared about little, freakish me. The charity case. The burden."

Sirius whined again and he gently patted the dog`s head, never once looking away from a completely shell-shocked Remus Lupin. "I understand you lost your best friends that night, your pack. Padfoot fell into grief and rage and did the dumbest thing on earth- paying thirteen years for one mistake. And you left and never looked back until Albus Dumbledore asked you to. You didn`t return for my sake, for my father's sake or for my sworn godfathers' sake but because of duty to the man who allowed you to attend Hogwarts. I get why Padfoot clings to you- you are the only friend he has left. But I am nothing to you and you are nothing to me, except the teacher that was nice enough to teach me the Patronus. I hate to break it to you, but I was attacked by Dementors in the one place everyone assured me was safe. Your need to be my honorary uncle because you need me to forgive you for being a no show all my life really isn`t on my to do list. Teaching me one impressive spell does not make a decade of nothing go up in the fog of forgiveness. And before you delude yourself: this has nothing to do with your furry little problem and the end of that year and everything to do with the explicit reasons I just stated out loud in a public park.", with that he set off sipping on his blackberry juice and a softly growling Padfoot on his heels. The wet nose and tongue constantly touching his free hand assured him that his godfather might really be in his corner and he smiled down into grey eyes before he returned to crawling the mangy mutts head, unaware of the tears entering those grey eyes as Sirius Black realized that his godsons smile had been heartbreakingly beautiful and insecure- a smile he knew inside out as the one to direct it at Dorothea Black and Charles Potter. Remus caught up eventually, his being a werewolf adding a level of speed no mere human could achieve and they kept moving, occasionally deviating from the path and circling back until they stood on an ordinary street with several three storey houses, one built directly next to the other. Stately family homes of old that had, in most cases, been turned into a several apartment houses.

Trying not to draw his wand and turn around Harry instead took the note Remus handed to him, by reaching over his shoulder. Someday he would seriously injure someone doing something like that or hesitate because he was used to random idiots entering his personal space. Unfolding the scarp, he slowly read the words, reread them and then looked up to watch as the house seemed to appear right in front of him. "Needs a new varnish." Sirius sneezed violently next to him as he made his way towards the stairs, noting the overgrown front strip of garden, the wrought iron surrounding the property and the ugly door with its uglier doorknob. The inside of the house wasn`t much better but he had little time to notice it as an overgrown man child threw himself at him from behind and they once again tumbled to the floor as Sirius bear hugged him. "We have to stop meeting like that", murmuring he nonetheless answered the hug. It helped that the man gave a gruff laugh. Their thumping arrival, however, awoke the screeching of a nearby portrait and ensured the stampede of arriving Weasleys to survey the cause of havoc. Unconsciously Harry had drawn his new wand, still pinned to the floor by an overprotective godfather and shot off a silencing charm just as the Twins, Molly and a random assortment of other people seemed to appear out of thin air all around them. Every single area leading off the entrance hall was full of people. "huh. That never works, usually", was Sirius comment as he casually rose and helped Harry off the floor.

"Have you shot at her or the area around her? Because…" and that`s as far as he got as something bushy haired launched itself at him. Thankfully catching Hermione and staying upright was a lot easier even if he had to adjust his grip when his arms landed on her ass instead of above it. "where were you? we were so worried?, are you well? What were you thinking going off without informing anyone?" Having successfully managed to catch her, answer the hug briefly and evade getting all of those rapid-fire questions shouted directly into his ear Harry calmly deposited the girl in Remus arms. "I was thinking it`s sucking my soul, let`s get the hell away from here."

The chuckles of those looking on, the guwuaffs of the Twins and the added shouts and cat calls stopped like someone had dropped ice water on everyone, which suited Harry just fine. Hermione's eyes filled with tears and so did the eyes of two woman he had never met, Ginny`s and Molly`s while the men exchanged glances. "Why don`t we sit down and discuss this?", Albus Dumbledore asked gliding into the room as if he hadn`t been here and calling in all those strangers in order to have the "talks sense into the teenager" moment. Remus must have sent a Patronus before the duo even approached him. Harry watched as everyone obeyed the implied order without even flinching and watched them all as he followed Sirius into the kitchen. It was a tight fit but somehow everyone got a spot to sit or stand, with Snape lingering in one shadowy corner and Remus in the other while a man who looked like the suspicious sort tried and failed to do the same.

Molly, bustling about soon had tea and sandwiches in front of everyone, an act which allowed the crowd to settle down, most of them staring in utter amazement at him and his forehead. "I am glad you are well, Harry", Dumbledore began, and the noise level dropped again. "Thank you, professor."

"Aren`t you interested in hearing about your Aunt and uncle?", asked Hermione from across the table. Slowly Harry allowed himself to meet everyone's eyes before he met the brown ones of his only female friend. "Two Dementors came, entered the house and stuck around. I heard Aunt Petunia scream. There is no reason to ask about their fate since Vernon trying to punch me is the reason why my soul was still attached to my body when I left."

Some murmurs, some glares at Dumbledore but largely no reaction outside of Hermione's eyes widening in shock and betrayal. "The Dementors entered the house?", asked someone and Harry looked directly into twinkling blue eyes when he answered. "They entered the house with those awfully important and irreplicable wards that only my blood made work" Another bour of murmurs, the twinkle was slowly vanishing from hose eyes. "Blood that Voldemort took in order to regain a body. A protection that fell as soon as the creature stepped out of the cauldron on the Graveyard."

Complete silence as Dumbledore turned ashen. "I trusted you, professor. So, I grabbed Dudley and dragged him to the house. I trusted that those awesome wards would do their duty. Imagine my surprise when all my endurance of beatings, of listening to them call me freak and make them cook their meals was for naught as both dementors entered the house through locked doors. Not that it was much of a protection to begin with if it never even included the garden, in which I spent a fair amount of time weeding until my fingers bled."

"That`s why we were guarding you, my boy", Dumbledore began after some silence in which the murmurs were allowed to die down. "Oh. So where was that capable wizard or witch as the Dementors attacked Dudley and I near the park? Where was that guard while I dragged my half-conscious fat cousin back to the house of my aunt hoping that the Dementors wouldn`t just speed up and swoop down on us?" Several eyes turned to the man in rags and Harry raised one eyebrow, looking at the others and meeting eyes.

"Your aunts house?", a gentle baritone asked, and he met chocolate brown eyes in a handsome, if slightly exhausted face. "Of course. It never was my home, they never wanted me there."

"Cease telling lies, Potter. Where have you been these past days?", snapped Snape who clearly had had enough since he even went so far as move out of the shadowy corner, he had loomed in.

Instead of flinching back he met the black eyes and felt the mental ram trying to gleam his thoughts and memories. So, he gave the man one, three times he had been partially kissed and he knew in detail how it felt. Then he added the memory of his mother pleading with Voldemort to take her life instead and the flash of green before he finished off with the memory of the Crucio he had been held under twice at the graveyard.

A bead of sweat appeared on the dour mans face, his little bit of colour growing lost as Harry turned the circle on repeat. "Like what you see, Professor?", he asked aware of the audience, aware of Sirius next to him preparing to pounce and of Albus Dumbledore watching him with an air of shock and curiosity. The battering ram increased, and he merely closed his eyes with a grin. Snape roared, threw his wand and was promptly thrown across the room by Sirius Black. "Where is your scar, Harry?", Dumbledore asked not even bothering to check on his spy. Harry met baby blue eyes. "I was partially kissed, and it began to bleed. When I woke next it was gone."

Dumbledore blinked at him. "That can`t be true."

"We can check the prophecy, if you like, professor."

Dumbledore paled as everyone else froze completely. "the prophecy?"

"Yes, the one Voldemort knew about, the one Snape told to Voldemort. The one Trelawny made to you months before I was born."

"How….", but the old man stopped himself and met his eyes, gently prodding and Harry moved away the vicious circle of defences, ensuring that Dumbledore got to see some of the more loving moments from the Dursleys before he thrust the man into the memories of fighting Lord Voldemort, the one part of his soul that had not been weakened by a decade as spirit in his own body.

The old man closed his eyes, milling over what had just been revealed and Harry let him, grabbing the next best plate of sandwiches, and slowly eating them as he observed the room. Hermione was giving him the look that meant to convey that he was far from off the hook, Ron was glowering at him for keeping secrets and everyone else looked at him either interested, annoyed, shocked, awed, or surprised. Those looking surprised would be the ones to maybe become friends of sorts, they would be the only ones who would be open to chats. "We cannot be seen", Dumbledore finally declared, and Harry smiled. "Not problem. I bought some things that can help with disguise and won`t be dispelled by dispelling charms."

It was only Dumbledore rising his hand that silenced the triade Hermione and Molly were about to start and the man rose. "Why don`t you show me?" Aware of the fact that this was as much as a test as a show of trust he rose as well, following the Headmaster out of the kitchen and up a flight of stairs until they entered an old-fashioned sitting room. His hairs stood on end as impressive wards were raised by soundless waving of Dumbledore's bone white wand. He met blue eyes, let the scans hit him and waited until the Defeater of Grindelwald deflated back into the worried old man Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Light. Removing his shoulder bag Harry opened the smallest compartment and removed his trunk. Unshrinking it he opened the muggle compartment and removed flasks of dye, phials of coloured lenses and an array of fake beards. Putting everything else back he then turned to the aged Headmaster and offered his set of colours. Picking a shocking green for himself saw the gleam return to those wise eyes and soon they both had taken their turn in the bathroom. Magic sped the process up and half an hour later a green haired young man with goatee and a brown-haired older man with a trimmed beard and very little hair left the building via silent apparition. For the sake of disguise their robes had been exchanged for a pair of dull dark grey ones and a set of matching suits that would mark them as businessmen with some paperwork to deliver or some such. They sauntered through the Ministry of Magic at a leisure pace that helped this impression along, Dumbledore pointing out some interesting feature or important person as they went.

It was only when they reached level nine and had passed by some other departments, entering a narrow corridor and had passed through two dark doors and one round room did Dumbledore slow down their pace. "Your wand?"

"Works no longer for me and is only a decorative element at this point".

Duffing his hat at one of the workers Dumbledore lead the way though a myriad of strange rooms before they entered one with rows upon rows of shelves. He hummed as they strolled down the rows until about a third of the room where they abruptly veered into row number 97. There, in the middle of the shelf was the prophecy, no longer twinkling blue but dark. Harry reached for it and gently tapped it with his finger three times. The fog cleared, turning it back to blue but with a slight silver sheen. "That still does not prevent the Prophecy to show up as fulfilled in the records, young man", a gruff voice added from behind and only Dumbledore remaining calm had Harry turn with a smile. "Here is hoping that the other participant has no access to the records then, sir."

"You never told me that his tongue was this sharp, old friend".

"Old age might have made me miss the signs, my friend".

"I can see that.", the other man moved forward, looking him over with a twinkle in his eyes that grew as he seemed to see what they had hidden so expertly.

"Can I assume that there will be no more fledglings patrolling my corridor?"

Dumbledore looked at him, then, and their eyes met, the twinkle slowly returning into those blue eyes. "They will no longer attempt their flights in your corridor".

"I am glad. It got exasperating, cleaning up after them".

They were moving now, a trio of men chatting, walking through the rows of prophecies as if they had decided to spend lunch break amongst silent glass orbs.

He knew very little of previous decades and rules of decency, but he knew to be silent and listen as the two old friends began to chat about topics that were either remembrances or in-jokes, adding some random coded speeches and trying to remember that they had an audience.

The attempt at subterfuge demanded that they stopped in each row at random spots and pontificated about either one of the prophecies on the shelf or something else unrelated for the sole purpose of leading astray any person who may have seen two people enter and come to investigate. That was why Harry, having stayed silent and enjoying the company of two men who didn`t view his presence as disturbing spoke for the first time shortly before leaving the chamber. He was answered honestly and included, pleased at the surprise in both men's eyes and happy with falling silent again to let them catch up. They made their way through the department and finally moved to the exit as Harry, feeling emboldened commented: "Let`s meet at our office next time, though. Unless you fancy a tour of the brain room?" The men exchanged glances, the Head of the Unspeakable giving a wonderful warm laugh before gently brushing his shoulder. "I`ll gladly indulge you, but I am afraid they are less fascinating, my dearest fellow".

"One can but try", he answered with the voice of someone used to this kind of treatment the men parted at the entrance to the round room with promises for another meeting soon, at the Cafeteria. They didn`t take the route through to the elevators and instead ducked into some office before they took the stairs and made their way though some more random offices. Pretending to file the paperwork they came here to file and also taking a look at various proposals, documents and watching people. By the time they made it back to Grimmauld it was nearing midnight and only a handful of people were still left, all of which startling at the two strangers until they both drew their wands and, with an exchange of glances, reversed the effect of the dye with a very specific Finite and removed the lenses with a well targeted banisher at each other's eyes.

Molly nearly fell off the stool as Alastor Moody let loose a bellow and everyone else was torn between chuckling and shock. "It seems, my friends, that we no longer need to guard the Department of Mysteries. There will be a lot of things that can now change." As he spoke the man's wand was waving in an intricate pattern, ensuring that only Sirius, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Alastor, Minerva and Kinglsey could hear what was said. "You were guarding a prophecy orb that was telling a prophecy of the one to Defeat the Dark Lord, born as the seventh month dies to those who thrice defied him. A prophecy he knew little else of and acted on, that fateful Halloween unknowingly setting it in motion." The white heard man with a much shorter beard raised one eyebrow at him. "I trust Sirius and since Snape is absent, I don`t mind revealing all the juicy bits.", answering the unspoken question with a shrug would probably have done the deed but the loud version caused everyone to pay even more attention even as Molly swooned and held her hand out to him while she hid her mouth behind the other. "Don`t worry, Mrs Weasley, I am fine" With that he sat down next to Sirius who pushed a hot plate with food towards him while grabbing hold of his left arm.

"We will now allow the bait to remain, unattended. Voldemort still desires it and the Unspeakables have agreed to upgrade their security just enough to make him think that we just switched tactics in protecting the orb. I understand that you donated some protective gear and new wand holsters and duty shoes to the Auror department and have begun two projects? May we put the projects on hold to create safe houses?" Swallowing his latest bite Harry titled his head and nodded slowly, shocking everyone at the table. "The repairs and changes should be done by next week and I can easily just not start and hire staff. But I`d like to add the Fidelus- Sirius and I can be secret keepers."

"What projects?", asked Alastor completely interested.

"Several people gifted The Boy Who lived their erstwhile properties and Aside from selling some to finance it and the donation to the Auror department I kept two. One will become an Orphanage for magical children, and this includes orphaned muggelborn and the other a public library. I was thinking of the Lily Evans Public Library and the James Potter Home of Wayward children. The goblins are already doing the repair and building work alongside some bored Hogwarts house elves and all it would have taken would have been asking around the muggle borns and werewolf communities for volunteers for as long as it took to earn enough donations and interest to actually give them a salary. But I can just put the boxes with books, toys and other stuff into storage and let those in need use them as safe houses."

"If we use the Fidelus over the property, could we add some tents?"

"That`s hardly feasible but the tent idea has merit. We could put some into Hogwarts and some of our other locations."

"Why not put some tents into the Chamber?"

Everyone fell silent and Dumbledore raised his eyebrow. "As I recall, we no longer have access to the chamber."

"We wouldn`t if we cared for the mechanism remaining intact. But I had planned, theoretically, to blast my way inside to get at the caracaras anyway. We might even be able to check the entries from the forest side and switch around the various markers he might have left lying around. No one uses the bathroom anyways and Myrtle will maybe be able to move on if she sees the beast that took her life defanged."

His Headmaster was stroking the shorter silver beard, looking at him and through him as he contemplated the prospects. "Would you mind if you and Sirius took care of that?", he finally asked and Harry swallowed again, glancing at his godfather whose eyes had lit up. "We can start tomorrow." Nodding with a slight smile the man then turned to contemplate all others on the table. "Is there any other way we might help the Auror department, Kingsley, Alastor?"

"Some more dragonhide would not be amiss. Also a few more emergency portkeys and emergency potions kits."

"Can`t we repurpose some of our prank potions? Snivellus made two or three that turned your environment wonky and we had some that could be thrown and set to go off at certain times. Adding something new would make it acceptable to add new training schedules?", added Sirius who was now highly motivated and glad to have stayed up. "I could do some quick and dirty ward sets as added bonus.", commented Bill and everyone fell into deep thoughts about what could be done and what couldn`t now that everyone had a bit free time at their hands.

"Let`s end this here. We all now have a bit of time to come up with things that could be done. What we need to do is increase recruiting, activate all our safe houses, make new ones and try to minimize all of our security issues. I`d also like to aid the Auror department and start preparing for another war- quick and dirty field healing, reserve food and everything else we know from experience to be necessary.", declared the sage old wise man as he slowly rose, stroking his beard.

Finishing his meal Harry said his goodbyes and dragged Sirius out of the room. His godfather allowed it and didn't comment as he was dragged upstairs and into the master bedroom. He did, however startle at the dark green house elf in a military suit holding Kreacher bound. "Sirius, this is my friend and elf Dobby. Dobby, this is my dog father Sirius."

"Nice to meet you, Dobby. Dare I ask why you have Kreacher gagged and bound?"

"Dobby is glad to meet dogfather. He is also sad to report that bad elf Kreacher has been leaving to report the plans discussed in the kitchen" Sirius raised one eyebrow and then turned to Harry who was expecting that reaction from a true bred pure blood. "This is a Black family home and this elf has been mumbling insults to itself about everyone in this house. My memories from the soul shard of Voldemort tell me that the elf was used for a specific, gruesome and deadly task and his insanity might be a direct result of that. He is not trustworthy, and he can overcome the fidelus enough to report to those members of the family he likes better than he likes you."

The Heir of the Black family mouthed "soul shard" before his eyes sharpened further and his attention turned to the now wriggling elf. "I can`t release him into death without taking on the Lordship".

"So?"

Grey eyes glared at him and Harry calmly crossed his arms, meeting the hate filled glare with an unimpressed one. The reasons flashed over the older mans face as if he was looking at a picture book, but the man had to work it out himself. "Are you suggesting I drag the Black family into the new century?"

"That might be better than slowly going insane in this house."

"I was inadvertently becoming what I hated most- insane Black?"

"that`s not what I said".

They stared at each other some more before his godfather seemed to deflate completely.

"Can I do this for you?"

"You can. Or you can do it for yourself. What better way to show them the ultimate finger? Haven`t you fought against the stigma enough? You have the power to change it."

"How can you be logical? You are fifteen you should be shagging your girlfriend."

"I am not really going to shag girls, dog father mine."

The black eyes bulged a little before Sirius fell down to the floor gwuaffing.

"And he is supposed to be the adult, can you belief it?"

Dobby merely grinned as Sirius laughter grew louder, completely amused by his godson turning to the house elf in faked outrage.

"Maybe if you poke him, he`ll deflate?", was Dobby's tentative suggestion after several long minutes and Harry, grinning did just that which had the effect of making the man roll a tiny bit over the clean floor- Dobby detested dirt in any room he had to spend time in and had thus been idly cleaning it up as he waited for the humans to arrive. The entire episode only made Sirius laugh harder which prompted Harry to sit down next to Dobby, smiling and watching the man-child roll over the floor laughing manically. The elven wards that had drawn Harry to the room, were done well enough to hide all this mania from the rest of the house so when Sirius had calmed down they were still undisturbed.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and pure soul claim the Lordship of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black as its Heir and oldest son, so mote it be."

A flash of violet light and the box with the ring appeared. Meeting the grey eyes of his godfather Harry smiled encouragingly and watched as the family magic assaulted Sirius. The glow grew stronger with every second until the ring and Heir had become one, leaving an exhausted escaped convict.

"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, release Elf Kreacher into Darkness and Death. You have served well and faithfully and have deserved retirement, my brother and mother thank you, as I say so mote it be."

Kreacher stopped struggling and Dobby released the gag and ropes. The other, sickly-looking elf glowed white and a soft smile was on his withered face.

"Master Regulus died to stop the Mad one. Kreacher could not destroy the locket. He tried." And with those last words the glow grew until the magic had swallowed Kreacher whole, a soft rumble going through the house as the energy of the elf was added to the wards. It was the proper way to release house elves, and Harry smiled, even as his mind connected the dots.

"I`d like an explanation. But we better go and catch some sleep first"

Nodding he rose, hugging Sirius briefly, before he followed the trail Dobby had left to his elf who was pointing at one of the display cases in the drawing room that held the locket of Salazar Slytherin. Gently undressing he opened the glass door and removed the necklace, wrapping it into his shirt and then his robe before he dared to touch it. Since he was wrapping it the necklace should not feel alarmed but he still put the wrapped and tightly bundled thing into a steel box that he had acquired for this purpose. It would make informing Dumbledore about the Horuxes easier, already having dealt with one now that he knew what they were and looked like and where they had been hidden- theoretically at least but was no longer feeling their presence. He was glad about the adult issue, now only the teenager issue was left to deal with. Carefully he carried the box into the room Dobby had prepared for him. Setting the box down on the desk once the door had closed behind him, he looked around. It had been Regulus room but Dobby had done wonders, like always. The bed was oversized, and Dobby had removed the canopy and curtains. All of the furniture had been refurbished and gotten a new varnish. The bed was near the window, allowing the wardrobe to take up the remaining space of the wall on the left and leaving the right side for the desk and a set of bookshelves.

The window had been expanded by house elf magic, cleaned and had a panel at its side to darken the outside, making the need for curtains unnecessary. Gently he put the metal box into the lowest drawer of his desk and Changed into this pyjamas, which had already been removed from his new trunk. Dobby had unpacked everything and even collected his old stuff, putting the old uniforms in a box for donation that he had cleverly placed on one of the bookshelves alongside all of his schoolbooks and the box with letters the needed to answer. All things were elf warded as to allow no one but them to touch it. With a bit of luck he could convince Sirius to donate some stuff to the second hand shop.

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Waking up made him relaize that the Weasley family were a loud racious family that could not be deterred by such inconveniences as and old, sprawling manor house. He could hear Ginny whining to Molly that his door still would not budge, the Twins apparently apparate while laughing uproarsly after realizing that even their unique new abilities could not admit them entrance and Molly directing her brood to clean the drawing room. Mentally thanking his connection with Dobby that allowed his elf to see parts of his memory and that allowed him to follow his elfs magical trail he glanced at the bottom drawer where he knew the box to be. A matron of Mollys calibre, a bunch of unwilling teenagers and a thiev one could imagine where that locket might have ended up at, even if Kreacher had managed to intervene. Slowly getting up he drew his wand to clean his mouth and his appearance, just so he felt human enough to even walk out the door, across the floor and into the bathroom. He had not known these spells before the memories of Voldemort flooded him but he would be damned if he wasn`t going to use them liberally now. The good thing about an appearance obsessed orphan thrust into Slytherin was that Tom had obsessively hunted for and practised all those spells and charms that Harry, having grown used to his hand me downs and nest of hair had never considered as useful.

The relief if he could just spell himself halfway decent without Hermione getting on his case was really liberating. His new wand and new clothes also allowed him to feel a level of confidence and joy that had been absent from his daily routine so far. Gently putting his newly acquired wand back in its holster he removed the donation box from his new trunk. Digging deeper he began to put his old trunk, his old uniforms, the one pair of shoes he had allowed himself to buy, his old hat, his old winter cloak and mittens, shawls and hats a lot of supplies he no longer needed into the space expansion box. When he had cleared his new trunk of all excess supplies, he began to remove most of the stuff inside the room, keeping only the things he could feel had been important to Regulus. If all went well Sirius would happily begin to donate and sell the stuff his family had been collecting while slowly filling the house with new colour and decorations.

Dobby appeared beside him to put all those Memorabilia in Regulus old trunk and carefully put it into storage once they were done. The only thing that remained were Regulus old schoolbooks that he planned on reading even as he had Dobby soaking his own old textbooks to empty them and make them empty useful notebooks. With that thought in mind he dove back in his trunk to sort through his school stuff and remove all his previous assignments in order to do the same with the rolls or parchment. Checking that everything else was in order he removed one of his current new notebooks and placed it on the desk alongside ink and quill as well as regulus entire set of Ancient Runes books, putting all others into his school compartment. The summer was far from over and he would be going over his past years of learning mentally, helped by the myriad of knowledge he had gained by winning against the soul piece, but he still needed to build up muscle memory and his own understanding of the topics. This was something he had every intention of doing now that he had a life ahead of him and gotten the respect and trust of his Headmaster.

While he had been contemplating his best friend had popped in, winked and vanished the donation box to put into storage with everything else meant for the Orphanage. "Thanks, Dobby"

The little smiled and merely placed a set of clothes on the bed before vanishing again. It seemed his friend had taken over the duties of Kreacher until Sirius managed to get a new elf. Still feeling less than ready to face an enraged set of former best friends and a pair of pranksters plus their overbearing mother he collected the clothes and set off towards the bathroom. The bathroom sparkled and he smiled at his own reflection before he went into the shower and was completely unsurprised that the Twins chose that moment, as he was nearly done, to apperate into the room. Fred, who had ripped at the curtain was falling into George who had opened his mouth to comment on how grown Harry was now or some such nonsense. But Harry had an invisible friend and the curtain was ugly enough that them destroying the entire thing could be counted as services to the family.

Both redheads were now sprawled on the floor, one of them partly draped into a shower curtain. "Why, Fred. If I had known that you liked gothic chic I`d have found something else for your birthday." The Twins, who had been fighting to get up and failing stopped and looked at him, both grinning like madman. He knew the grin just like they knew him- there was very little that remained a secret when one played on the same sports team and shared the same cabin, after all.

Which was why he braced himself for the tackle that followed, by one Twin since George had abandoned a flopping Fred but made up for the lack of second by sheer force of enthusiasm. Which, naturally saw them hit the shower floor in a tangle of limbs. This being a magical and old household neither of them felt even the slightest pain as they landed. "You`re being awfully sassy", George managed as Fred followed into the two people pile, having rid himself of the curtain. "I love you too, idiot and showercurtain."

The Twins grinned, managed to untangle them without much help from Harry and hugged him before Fred tousled his hair and George began poking his sides. "Well, you gained weight, at least."

"And the ugly scar is gone"

"You`re not even half as bad looking…"

".. naturally compared to before…"

".. it`s hardly saying something…"

".. impish litte brother mine"

From experience he knew that he could not wrestle either of them, but he used to be able to slip away by merit of small, thing and frailness of an underweight scrawny teen. None of this was true now but he still could surprise them by answering the hug.

He might have had a first friend in Ron and a second in Hermione, but the Team was his family and the team had never abandoned him. The Twins and the trio of girls were his siblings and Oliver was the weird Cousin that bossed everyone around at family unions and whom everyone could tolerate only for so long. Before now he had been loyal to Ron and Hermoine, sticking to them instead of gravitating to the team. And they`d understood, largely why he only sat with them on game days, but he really would have preferred good natured ribing to the lectures of Hermoine and the half arsed partial insults from Ron.

"The girls will insist on a shopping spree."

"Now you`re all grown up, after all."

He smiled and hugged them tighter, hiding his face at Fred`s shoulder before he apruptly rose and activated the shower, jumoping out and preparing himself for the waterfight that was about to start. The Twins reliated and soon they all had bubbles floating though the bathroom, ducks and penguins that had once been soap and other utensils were happily moving in between their feet and hot steam had made it impossible to see. All clothes were drenched which had naturally resulted in the Twins joining the nude club and the fight turning into paint instead of jets of water.

And having been a prankster, Quiddicht player and young teen with a found family Sirius had joined the chaos halfway in, releasing part of the ducklings and penguins into the larger house before he shut the door. Which naturally escalated the noise level and required Dobby to keep renewing the wards around the bathroom to ensure that they wouldn1t be disturbed by Molly Weasley and everyone who felt like following her upwards to rip open the door and reveal four completely naked people of varying ages.

That was why the foursome entered the kitchen squeaky clean, all of them wearing new and fitting clothes (Sirius had dug out his old clothes and thrown it at the Twins in an attempt to bury them in clothes. Dobbt then had appeared to clean, repair and fit them to the two redheads with a bit of borrowed magic and several rapidfire fingersnaps before he had cleaned them all of paint and popped away). Awed the Twins had carried the clothes they didn`t pick to wear into their shared room with the trunks the Team had bought them last year on account of the others falling apart at the seams.

Having hidden the previous state of the trunks from their parents helped in hiding the newness of these trunks and with seven children neither Weasley adult had yet realized that those trunks should not make it much farther, similar to never wondering how a common brown rat could grow to the age of seven and still being healthy. There was no magical rat breed whose special power was slow aging, after all. Molly stared at the foursome, Ron turned red, Hermione pinched her face and everyone else observed with interest as they sat down around the table, joking and chatting.

"and where have you been, young man?", began Molly Weasley after they had settled down and Harry had managed three bites and a sip of coffee. "Excuse me?"

The matron turned red as Ginny and Hermione prepared to pounce while Harry just met the red headed womans brown eyes. "This is my godfathers house that I left with Professor Dumbeldore for several hours last night and have not left since. Do you require me to fill out the amount of hours spent in bed, in the bathroom, the garden and everywhere else I might have been as a written statement?"

"I was just worried."

"Because I wasn`t in the kitchen, have joined the valiant efforts to clear out all of the heirlooms in the drawing room and get attacked by doxies?"

"You`re a growing boy, you need food."

"And I also need sleep, Mrs Weasley."

"Well, we didn`t know you slept."

"Moody knew. Sirius knew. Lupin could have told you by the mere sense of smell that I am. Just because neither you nor Ron nor Ginny nor Hermione could enter, without permission does not mean that no one knew I slept."

Silence as Molly tried to find words. Everyone else, not named and not the Twins looked interested while the Twins piled stuff on his plate and refilled their coffee cups. The tea tradition was one of the first things they rebelled against as soon as they learned of another hot beverage that wasn`t coca. Ignoring their habit, which at least followed his preferences unlike both Hermione and Molly who just piled random stuff on his plate.

"I don`t see why you need your own room, anyway, you could be sharing with Ron!", Molly huffed after several seconds.

"This house is big enough to hand out spare rooms and I`d still have space left over. Why would my godson not get his own room?", asked Sirius who had so far been contemplative and silent. Judging from the glint now in the grey eyes it might have its origin in how Molly had invaded the entire space and taken over like a war general. "I just assumed that the boys would share, they are best friends after all!", huffed out the matron and startled at the snort from one of the boys in question. "If you define best friend as not sharing basic information like "No one believes Voldemort is back. The Prophet calls you a liar. We feel for you. I stand by you. It`s chores around here to- just a bunch of old stuff needing to be cleaned- the muggle way can you imagine?" All I heard all summer was "can`t talk. Super-secret chicken club" "it`s too dangerous to tell you if I shat rainbows recently" as if any information would immediately see death eaters storm this house."

"You were not safe and sending post would have led them to you".

"Sure. Like the Dementors who followed your owl. Oh wait."

"The basic issue is the same that I raised time and again- we had people watching him- how hard could it have been to just hand over some letters?", asked Sirius completely casually and Harry merely raised one eyebrow before he returned to his food, deciding that he had done all he could and more than his duty and that his food was more imperative than the people he had called his friends. "Because Professor Dumbledore said we shouldn`t talk to him!", commented a bubble gum pink haired woman from the far end of the table sitting next to the man who had spent a year imprisoned and tortured in his own trunk.

Feeling their eyes on him Harry leaned back, shoving the plate away as he met the strangers' eyes. "And you never got around to just calling down Hedwig and giving her the letter as she was out hunting in the garden? Or place it in my room while I was out? You could have sent it to the grangers and asked them to stamp them through the muggle postal system. It is really impressive how a Headmaster can say one thing, and everyone includes, on autopilot any and all alternatives under the restrictions given. How would handing over a letter require you to talk? How would it have required you to reveal yourself? How would giving me a hand in the garden or sending food and water my way, or healing balms as long as the Dursleys took no notice- assuming that was the implied prerogative? You could even have come into the house for a spot of tea."

With that he rose, not even bothering to pretend to care about the startled and angry looks. "You say that as if you have any right to question our action."

"You say that as if you have any right to question mine."

"What actions?", the man scoffed but this time it was the Twins that acted, Fred shoving himself between the two as George drew his wand and Sirius gently put one hand on his shoulder.

"Stopping Voldemort from getting the Philosophers stone at eleven. Saving our sister from possession and certain death at twelve. Rescuing that mongrel here from a Dementors kiss at thirteen after fighting off, single handedly, 100 Dementors. Oh. Witnessing and fighting to a standstill Voldemort as he was reborn after mastering a maze meant to fell people three years older than himself.", begun Fred sounding like he had done the same litany many times.

"Escaping Voldemort, recently reborn from a graveyard with the body of his friend and fellow competitor who was caught in the crossfire,", added George as Sirius gently guided them out, and the raven-haired teen moved his wand, whispering the incantation to reveal Prongs ready to charge.

"Not to mention fighting off a possession by Voldemort after nearly losing his soul to a dementor and offering his properties as safehouse shortly after we visited the weapon in the Department of mysteries to leave it a mere trap.", added Albus Dumbledore softly who had stepped out of the flames largely unnoticed by the people in the room. The blue eyes scanned the various expressions of astonishment and utter disbelief and sighed before they met grey. "You wanted to speak to me, Sirius?"

Prongs, feeling ignored whinnied and cuddled against the grey eyed man before dissolving which caused those grey eyes to soften, making him look 28 for once.

"Yes, but I`d prefer it if we could do so in private."

With that Harry left, the Twins in tow and followed by the two older men, leaving a group of shell-shocked people behind. "Harry?", Sirius called as the teens moved upwards causing the emerald eyes to seek the man, softer now and calmer that the Twins had gotten a hold of him. "It`s fine. Just include those two, if you will." Grey and emerald met, holding their gazes before Sirius nodded and lead the way into the library as George bounded upward into the drawing room.

"Include us?", Fred asked, poking him but they didn`t much speak as Harry smirked, pointed his still drawn wand and cast the first spell.

Exchanging glances, the Twins took position and they were soon firing off cleaning spells, colour changing spells and various other things to make the room sparkle and look less depressing. It took them less than twenty minutes before the redheads began teaching Harry conjurations of chairs and bean bags.