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"So why don't you start by telling me about the prophecy?"
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Draco was in his room when someone opened the door. He looked up and saw his mother walk in. Despite her expressionless face he knew how she was feeling. How could he not? Her fear had turned out to be real.
Ever since the dark lord had returned he had been living at Malfoy Manor along with at least fifty of his death eaters who all had made themselves at home. The living freedom of the Malfoys had been taken away in their own house.
Voldemort had been gathering intel on the ministry, Gringotts and Hogwarts while spreading word of his return to get as many of his followers to show up in as less of the time. And he had entrusted this task to his inner circle which had kept Lucius busy and away from home. The man had to leave his wife and son in the house full of death eaters while he stayed away doing Voldemort's work of spreading the news of his return to other death eaters.
It went without saying that it had caused some riffs between Lucius and Narcissa whom Draco had heard fighting one night in their room. He knew his mother was not taking this new change in their lives well and how could she? Draco knew that nothing else mattered to his mother other than her family's safety and even though she was supportive of the dark lord's plans…of what her husband was doing, if it put her family in danger then she wasn't having it.
Unfortunately Lucius was still the family head and he had shunned Narcissa's concerns even though Draco knew that somewhere deep down his father felt the same…hopefully.
"Mother?" he said as he slowly stood up. Narcissa walked up to him before pulling him in a tight hug. Draco stood there surprised before hugging her back. He wanted to ask if she was alright even though he knew the answer to that question.
Just then Lucius entered the room. "What is taking so long…" he paused as he saw his wife and son like that. Draco swore he saw a flash of guilt in his father's eyes before it was replaced by the stoic look which Lucius always carried.
Being born in an old pureblood family, reading people was one of the many skills that Draco had been taught by his parents. It was important as it allowed one to know a lot more about other people just by paying attention to the way they talked, moved or observed things. It definitely had its upside in knowing whether one could trust a person in the long run, especially in the world of pureblood politics which often got complicated with families often changing tactics to stay in power over one another.
And Draco had gotten quite good at reading people.
Seeing that look in his father's eyes – even though it was just for a second – told Draco that there was still hope that his father could see how all of this was affecting his family, even if it put Draco in a tough spot – choosing between his mother's love for their family and impressing his father.
Narcissa looked at her husband with teary eyes as she slowly let go of her son. "Please, Lucius. He's just a kid," she said in a helpless tone. Draco knew this wasn't her mother's usual self. She was a strong woman. Even in front of his father she wouldn't dwindle if she had to tell Lucius something which she knew he wouldn't like but right now she was more emotional and vulnerable and Draco knew it was because of how deviously bad this whole situation was for her family. He could see his mother had started to lose hope and that scared him.
Lucius, however, didn't have time for family drama as he looked at his son instead, knowing full well that Draco would listen to him without talking back. "The dark lord wants to see you," he said.
Draco pressed his lips and curtly nodded once, following his father out of the room but not before pausing to look at his mother who just stood there with tears falling from her eyes. He had never seen her that defeated before and his heart ached watching her like that.
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"So can you find out how the magic works?" Daphne asked her mother who was still shocked from hearing Harry tell her about his mother's protection magic. Sirius and Matt were also in the room.
"There is no magic that I know of that can stop the killing curse," Ann said. "I'm sorry, Harry but if this is true – that your mother's magic protected you from you-know-who's killing curse – then I don't know what magic it is and that will make it difficult for me to find out about it."
"But you can do it, right?" Daphne asked.
She looked at her daughter and sighed. "I'll do my best," Ann said before she looked at Harry. "You mentioned that it is blood related. If that's true then I will need some of your blood. Also, do you know what kind of ward Dumbledore raised around your relatives' place?" Harry shook his head. "Okay, it's alright," she said before conjuring a small glass bowl. She then asked Harry for his hand. "This will sting a bit," she said as she put the tip of her wand on his palm.
He nodded, letting her know that he was ready so Ann made a small cut in his palm using her wand and collected some of Harry's blood in the glass bowl before quickly healing his hand. She then cast a spell on the blood to make sure it wouldn't clot as she still had to test it for whatever protection spell Lily had probably cast on Harry.
"I will do a series of tests on your blood so it will take a few days," Ann said. Harry nodded before Ann left with the bowl.
"I had no idea that Lily had done something like that," Sirius said. "I know she did it to protect you but using a magic that is triggered by her own sacrifice? How could she come up with something like that?"
"One goes to many lengths to protect their family," Matt said causing Daphne to look at him. He glanced at her before looking at Harry. "She was your mother, Harry. You should be proud of what she did for you."
"I am," Harry said smiling sadly.
"Also," Matt said, "there is something I wanted to talk to you about…in private, if you will."
Harry looked at him for a moment before nodding. Ten minutes later the two were in the room where Harry was staying for the summer while he was at the Greengrass manor.
"What is it?" Harry said before he saw Matt cast a privacy ward around them.
The man looked like he was struggling to speak before he took in a long breath and then sighed. "Before I tell you what it is I want to talk to you about I want you to know that I will do anything for my family. Daphne, Astoria and Ann are my world and my priority over anything and everything. I hope you understand that."
"I do," Harry said without hesitation. Even though he never had the love of a real family he knew that it was the most important thing to a lot of people.
Matt nodded. "That being said, I want you to know that despite Daphne promising you that you will receive help from my family for Sirius' trial, as head of the Greengrass family I want you to know that I won't do it unless I have your word that you will protect my family."
Harry looked at him for a moment before he spoke in a confused tone. "I don't know what you mean when you say that but if you must know you don't have to ask me to help you. I will do that whenever you need. If you are worried about Daphne and Astoria being in danger at Hogwarts, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to…"
"That is not what I mean," Matt cut him off. "What I meant is for you to be an ally of the house Greengrass. You are the only living Potter so you are your family's head and thus, a residing member of the Wizengamot."
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He hated it when he didn't know of things in time. First it was Harry who never went back to his relatives' after the term's end and is probably living with the Greengrasses and now there was the newly formed alliance between house Longbottom and house Greengrass.
Dumbledore knew that both the incidents were connected somehow. However, he couldn't figure out the reason behind this alliance. The Greengrass family, which had remained neutral since the beginning, had suddenly decided to take a side and Augusta had agreed to ally her house with theirs for some reason.
Dumbledore knew Augusta won't tell him anything and he wasn't really welcomed or rather liked by the Greengrasses either. So he was in a bind. He had tried asking other Wizengamot members about this alliance but apart from their own surprised reaction on this matter none of them knew the reason behind it, not even the other allies of house Longbottom.
A lot of things were happening and Dumbledore was finding it hard to keep track of them all. Voldemort's return, Harry's possibly moving in with the Greengrasses and the said family allying itself with the Longbottoms, all of this had kept Dumbledore awake for the last few nights. Then there was the Fudge problem. The man had started to come after him more vigorously for 'spreading the rumor' about Voldemort's return.
The minister of magic had contacted the education board asking for Dumbledore's removal from the position of Hogwarts' headmaster because of the kind of 'lies' he was spreading. To make matters worse some members of the boards were actually considering that suggestion which spelt trouble for the old wizard. In this dire time when the whole world was ignoring such a devious danger that was about to knock on their doorsteps Dumbledore knew he needed to be at Hogwarts otherwise things could turn for the worst.
He had tried contacting Sirius but apparently the man hadn't received his message, or he probably had but wasn't replying to him. There could be various reasons for it as Sirius was a man on the run, after all. However, for some reason Dumbledore couldn't bring himself to accept that excuse for Sirius this time and so his next best bet was Remus Lupin.
The lycanthrope owed him from his Hogwarts years when Dumbledore had kept his 'furry little secret', as James and Sirius liked to call it, under wraps otherwise the poor lad would've been thrown out of Hogwarts by the education board. Things were terrible back then for werewolves so Remus was highly indebted to the old wizard for keeping his secret and not telling others about it.
However, when even Remus didn't respond to his letters or patronus messages Dumbledore knew something huge was going on of which he had no idea about. It seemed he would have to confront Augusta as others were non-approachable at the moment. Hopefully the Longbottom matriarch could keep her temper in control and tell him everything that Dumbledore needed to know.
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Harry looked up from the book that he was reading and saw Daphne enter the room.
"Hey," she said sitting beside him on the bed. "I just came to know what my father asked of you. I am sorry if you felt hurt in any way."
"I didn't," Harry responded. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I didn't know what my family was like. I still don't. I didn't know that they were a member of the Wizengamot. It's all just too much for me to take in at the same time. As for your father though, he has every right to ask me to help protect you and your family. I would've anyway even if he hadn't asked. It's just that I don't know anything about magical politics or the Wizengamot."
"So what are you going to do?" Daphne asked.
"I asked Sirius about it and he told me that he will teach me everything there is to know about my family," Harry said, "well, everything that he knows, that is. Even he said that the Potters are a really powerful family."
"That they are," Daphne said.
"You…know?" he asked.
She nodded. "I thought you knew. Even though you grew up in a muggle home I thought that you at least knew your family's history. It was ignorant of me though because I didn't know back then that…" she paused but her look told Harry what she wanted to tell. "Sorry," she mumbled slowly.
"Don't be," Harry said smiling sadly. "It's just all too much for me right now. I mean, I will do anything to help your family get through…all of this. I know the risk that they've taken…the risks you've taken and I want to repay all of it back in any way I can."
"So why don't you start by telling me about the prophecy?" Her words caught him off guard as Harry looked at her in shock. She smiled sadly but not for long as her look was replaced by that of disappointment and hurt. "Your silence means there is one."
"How…?" Harry couldn't complete his question as he was too shocked. He had made sure to not tell her about it and considering how only a handful of people knew about it there was no way Daphne could've known about the prophecy.
"Barty spoke of it on the night of the third challenge," she said. "He said that Voldemort wants to prove a prophecy wrong. I tried asking Dumbledore about it after Barty was apprehended by the aurors but he wouldn't say anything to me. I realized it had something to do with you and seeing your reaction I'd say that I was right. Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry looked at his hands, his fingers fiddling together as he tried to come up with an answer. He knew why he hadn't told her about the prophecy but would she accept his reason for it? He realized she was still looking at him, waiting for his answer so he looked at her and sighed. "Because I don't want to lose you," he said in a broken voice.
Daphne looked at him for a moment as her eyes softened. "What does it say…the prophecy?" she asked slowly. Harry could tell that she was nervous. It told him that she was worried for him. However, it also meant that she probably won't like it when he tells her about the prophecy but he could no longer hide it from her. Daphne knew about the prophecy's existence and she wouldn't leave it unless Harry had told her about what it said so he might as well do it. After thinking about it for a while he decided to go with it.
"Soon after I was born," he began slowly, "a prophecy was foretold by Professor Trelawney. It spoke of a boy who will be a challenge for Voldemort, someone who Voldemort will mark as his equal and according to the prophecy either that child or Voldemort will die at the end. It is not specified who that will be."
She sat there stunned. Her eyes looked into Harry's soul as the boy felt a little uncomfortable because of it before Daphne took in a shaky breath. "And…you are…the child of that…of that prophecy," she said.
Harry nodded slowly. "This is why Voldemort has been particularly interested in me since the start," he said. "However, he doesn't know of the full prophecy."
"What do you mean?" Daphne asked.
"He only knows the first half," Harry said, "up until where it says that I will be a challenge for him. Because of that he thinks that the prophecy speaks of me defeating him."
"And by killing you he thinks he will prove the prophecy wrong," Daphne said, understanding the whole thing. There was a short pause before she continued. "How long have you known?" she asked.
"A few months," Harry said. "Dumbledore told me about it when I went to talk to him about Sirius' trial. I think you can guess that it was a shocking revelation for me as well. To know that I was the reason why my parents were killed…"
"Stop!" Daphne interrupted him. "You're doing it again. Don't you dare, blame yourself for any of it."
"But it is my fault," Harry said adamantly. "Voldemort will do anything to kill me. He killed my parents. He will…" the words stopped in Harry's throat as his eyes became wet. Daphne knew immediately what he was going to say and hugged him. "You know it will happen," he said shakily. She could feel him tremble so she hugged him tighter. It seemed to make him feel a little better as Harry calmed down a bit.
"This is why you didn't want to tell me," she said looking at him. Harry nodded once reluctantly. Daphne smiled slightly. "Voldemort's return puts everyone in danger, whether or not they know you personally. He will target all those who oppose him. When the war happens, which it will, I will be in danger whether or not you like it because me and my family will be standing against him. So don't you dare, think that you are putting me in danger. You do remember what I said that day, don't you?"
"That whatever happens to us, it happens because of our own choices," Harry said. "Nothing else is responsible for it." Daphne nodded slowly. "But your parents should know. They should know that right now there is a Voldemort magnet living in their house."
Daphne couldn't help but nod in agreement as she knew that it was true. She was also worried about how her parents would react to this new information.
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Thanks for reading…