The war between the dark and light forces of the wizarding world was hell on everyone involved. When fighting broke out during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, he quickly found himself changed from The Boy Who Lived to The Boy Who Will Save Us All. His existence was a beacon of hope to those who lost loved ones and struggled with the pain of living during troubled and dangerous times. His enthusiasm towards living as normal a life as possible and fighting the good fight pleased the masses; hundreds of people showed up for his wedding to Ginny Weasley, and their home was barraged with owls bearing gifts at the birth of their first daughter. Still, despite outward appearances, Harry was never a huge fan of all the attention he received, and after Ginny died in the final battle against Voldemort he was more than happy to pack up his belongings and move with his daughter to quieter pastures.

Somehow, Harry ended up in Germany. News of a small settlement of English wizard refugees floated around Britain in the aftermath of the war, and Harry felt it prudent to leave the place where so many of his friends died- Ginny, Ron, Fred, Dean... the list went on, so many of his Hogwarts classmates gave their lives to the cause. After bidding Hermione and the remaining Weasleys farewell, he withdrew the majority of his savings from Gringotts and relocated to the village of Schoen. He spent the next eleven years living a quiet life as the local magistrate and raising his daughter.

When she turned eleven, Harry offered his daughter the option of attending any wizarding school in Europe, emphasizing how much fun he thought she'd have at Hogwarts. Much to his shock, she decided that the school for her was Durmstrang, and although he had reservations Harry allowed her to attend there. Despite his worries, he found that Durmstrang didn't have a negative effect on her relationship with him, although she suddenly had a much broader perspective of the World's Opinion Of Harry Potter, and found that she had some predetermined friends and enemies simply because of her last name. Harry was concerned about that, but she assured him that she was perfectly capable of making it clear that the only friends she would accept were those she actually liked, and the only enemies she would acknowledge were those that pissed her off.

All was calm in Harry Potter's world. The calm crashed into fragments when a Hogwarts owl, incredibly exhausted, flew in through his window on a blustery January morning in his daughter's fifth year of school.

******

Draia Potter thoroughly enjoyed her fifth year at Durmstrang. As she dragged the cart carrying her trunk and cat carrier up the path towards her house, she idly thought about all she accomplished during the year: good marks, her award for skill in Transfiguration, being voted Hottest fifth-year, hooking up with Livia Trauberg- plenty of things to be proud of. She was excited to talk about her year with her father, who would surely appreciate all her stories, even the Livia one. She'd accidentally come out to him when she was fourteen- he stumbled upon Draia and the neighbor's daughter making out in an abandoned barn, and they had a heartfelt conversation the next evening. Harry informed her that he had no problems with her sexuality; he was partial to men himself. Draia was more than slightly shocked.

"But what about mum?" she had asked. ...

"Well, your mother and I had an odd arrangement. She just wanted to live with me, to love me, and I loved her too, just not the way she loved me. She understood about..." Harry had stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence, and refused to continue on the subject. Immersed in relief about his acceptance of her own tendencies, Draia decided not to push the issue. Yet.

Mind returning to the present day, Draia noticed she'd already reached the house. She stopped to let Sarra, her cat, out of the carrier, and went inside. Harry was waiting for her, and rushed over for a hug. She embraced him happily, glad to be home with her beloved father again. "I've missed you, daddy," she whispered into his shoulder. Harry nodded slightly, murmuring "I've missed you too." He ushered Draia over to the kitchen table. She sat, and he remained standing, looking slightly pained.

"Draia, I really want to hear about your year, but first... there's something important we have to discuss."

"If this is about the fire incident in the library, it wasn't my fault and they promised me they wouldn't inform you..."

"Fire incident?" asked Harry, confused.

"Umm... nevermind," Draia responded.

"Right. Well, anyway, I've been offered a position at Hogwarts, as the Defense Against Dark Arts professor, and also the Head of Gryffindor. I never thought I'd want to go back there, but... it's been long enough, and I'm just getting bored here..." he trailed off.

"Alright, fine, go to Hogwarts then. Why do you need my permission?"

"Well... it's just that it's pretty far away, I don't want to be that far from you. I'd need you to drop out of Durmstrang and attend Hogwarts."

Draia, to her credit, retained her composure, although she flushed a bright shade of red inherited from the Weasley side of the family. "Do you realize..." she started, then stopped, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts. "Do you realize what that would do to me? Going away from all my friends and classes and everything at Durmstrang and going to a new school, where I'm completely unestablished and would only have two years?"

Harry nodded. "I understand. But..." his voice cracked as he continued, "it would just mean so much to me, being back there and seeing my old professors and friends and my friends' children, and proving to them that I hadn't run away forever, and..."

Nervous, Draia watched as her father covered his face with a hand. She'd never seen him so distraught: the Harry Potter she knew was calm, in control of his emotions. She couldn't stand it. "Okay, well, if it means that much to you, fine, but I expect to be sufficiently bribed for this."

Harry couldn't help smiling. "I didn't expect you to say yes so quickly. But... bribery? Alright, then, I suppose if I need to resort to requested bribes, I can figure some out."

"No need to. I already have my terms." Draia had been waiting for an opportunity to get her father in a position where he owed her favors- as much as she loved him, she was willing to do what she needed to get what she wanted. "I want to dye my hair, and get a few piercings." Harry raised an eyebrow. "I thought we decided Muggle culture was uncouth and shabby?" Draia snorted, "Not a style that has so much potential for scaring away skitterish people."

"Oh, fine," sighed Harry, "You can do what you want, so long as you stay mostly presentable."

"Fantastic! Feel free to start packing, in that case." Draia found herself smiling as well. Although at first the concept of Hogwarts was upsetting, but she realized it would be a challenge. And who was she to ignore a challenge?