Silver Blood
Prologue:
The walls had been covered in thick green vines that produced buds of unknown flowers. Above, leaves trickled down to the eloquent foods that filled the tables. It had been the last night before another school year ended. The students had been quiet, each in their own thoughts. Three students in particular were more than just keeping to their silence. It was the vision that all students were left with once they boarded the train, ending another year at Hogwarts.
That year was Harry, Hermione and Ron's second to last year and it had been the most difficult, sad and stressful year. Harry had trained during his fifth year and half of his sixth year to learn how to duel and block curses. The good thing was that Dumbledore mainly taught him so he learned quickly and efficiently. The year had started out normally, but it quickly became the most dangerous year of all. Death Eaters showed up at one time during a Quidditch match. Harry wasn't sure which Death Eaters since they wore masks. They were shooting curses at everyone who wasn't a Slytherin. The students had gotten away safely, but that was only the beginning.
Near the start of winter, students began to disappear within the castle. A curse had been placed on it and Harry, Ron and Hermione had to find out how and why. Hermione figured out that the only way the curse could work was from the inside. Harry immediately knew Malfoy had helped. They watched the halls and students daily and at night they'd take out the invisibility cloak and make sure students got to bed safely. One night they saw Draco, Crabbe and Goyle and followed them to the dungeons. There they were boiling a potion, which was no doubt the curse.
From figuring out the ingredients of the potion, after they left, Hermione made a reversal potion and the students whom disappeared were soon discovered. Malfoy got in huge trouble but hadn't been expelled because of his father. However, he was watched closely, even by Snape.
Harry thought that was the worst that could happen until Dementors appeared and tried to give students a kiss. Dumbledore had finally had it. Harry, Ron and Hermione had gotten a chance to see why Voldemort feared him. He blasted every Dementor until there was none left, only piles of ash and bone where they stood. But using so much power left him weak so it was up to Harry, Ron and Hermione to protect the school from anymore dangers.
Harry thought it was over…then, his fears came true all over again. A powerful sleeping curse was placed over Hogwarts. All the Death Eaters had worked together, surrounding the school to temporarily get through the barriers that protected it. Harry figured Voldemort must've helped with them. Together, a hole was punched through the magical shields, not big enough for them to get through, but big enough to have Voldemort's plan carried out.
Harry was the only one not put to sleep, but on accident. He had been in the secret passage to Hogsmeade visiting Fred and George in the Joke Shop (out of request from Ron to get some…supplies for the Slytherins). He came back to find the whole castle in silence. When he first saw some students lying in the halls he thought there had been another Basilisk attack, until he was relieved to see Neville snoring.
He heard a ripping noise coming from the wall of the castle, just by the front door. He ran there to see a large black hole coming through the wall. He walked closer to see if he could figure out what it was and how it was coming through, in case that was the reason the students and teachers were asleep. Suddenly he was sucked in and pulled through a tunnel warp. The black airless rings swirled ahead of him, keeping him from moving until he was spit out into a huge yard. It was dark outside and before him stood the Riddle house. Voldemort had been waiting…
They dueled for hours while the Death Eaters kept trying to push Harry into curses. He thought it'd be the end of him, but as Voldemort pointed his wand and said the killing curse, Harry's wand did something strange. A bright light erupted and a beautiful figure came out. At first, Harry thought it was his father in his stag form, but soon noticed the layers of bright pearly wings and a golden horn protruding at the forehead. The unicorn protected him from the curse, which gave Harry the advantage as Voldemort stood there shocked.
Harry disarmed him and froze him in ice with a binding spell, usually used on Dragons or other dangerous creatures, but worked all the same. Voldemort was surrounded by a cold mist and as he shouted out to his Death Eaters for help, ice covered his all ready cold skin and froze him in a thick layer. The Death Eaters were quickly dispersing and Harry managed to jump back through the tunnel in time.
On the other side, Dumbledore had been waiting. The students were all being woken up. Aurors had gone in and caught many Death Eaters, but not Wormtail or Malfoy, until Harry told them about Wormtail's rat form. They eventually found and captured him. He was sent to Azkaban and put on trial with Sirius, whom was released of all charges a week later. Harry's last few days at Hogwarts for his sixth year had been better than the last though. Gryffindor won the House Cup again and if they won it next year they'd win the Trophy Cup and it would be put in the glass cabinet with the rest of the awards.
Voldemort was captured, in his frozen form, and brought to a securely bolted and charmed room deep in the Ministry, underground. He was constantly watched day and night. They saw no signs that he was even still alive. Fudge was thinking about having him put on display for children to see, but luckily many voted against it. Sirius knew Fudge was incompetent and craved attention.
The year ended and Harry went with Sirius, not even letting his relatives know he wouldn't be coming back. Dumbledore, however, still wrote them a long letter telling them he was in the custody of his Godfather, living in the Wizard World and they wouldn't have to deal with responsibility for a great and powerful wizard anymore. He even wrote that Harry had defeated Voldemort, the powerful Dark Lord whom had killed his parents. Harry was delighted when he read the letter. Dumbledore had known just how horribly Harry had been treated and it was his gift (besides getting away from them) to make up for that.
Everything was looking up, including finals, for Harry. One day, though, Fudge disappeared and was no where to be found. Arthur Weasley and Dumbledore (along with Mad-eye Moody) took charge in the Minister's place. In the Daily Prophet there were articles about that, resting the same question on everyone's shoulder: "Should Arthur Weasley take the position of Cornelius Fudge?" The answer was unanimous.
Days later a horrible incident took place in the Ministry. Cornelius Fudge was found, looking mad and sick all at once, in the bolted room were the captured Lord Voldemort was sleeping. How he had gotten in there was still a mystery. Aurors and Ministry members found the ice shattered to pieces and Voldemort's robe all torn up. It was the only thing remaining of him as far as they could tell. Many weren't sure if Fudge had killed him or set him loose, even though it was said with a binding spell only the one whom does the binding can break the spell.
Still, Fudge was then put in the dungeon of the Ministry, for the safety of the people. And just in case the Dark Lord had somehow, by some miracle, been set free, the Minsitry put charms all around the building and told people to be careful. Luckily, the Ministry still had Voldemort's wand locked away. They even had Harry come in and bind the wand just so that he was the only one who could release it.
The incident with Fudge had happened a month ago. No attacks had been reported even by former Death Eaters. Harry was living a semi-normal life (granted he was a very powerful wizard, living in the Wizard world), with his Godfather. He made sure to get together with friends as much as he could. He recently got together with Ron and Hermione, who brought Ginny, Fred and George, Dean, Seamus and a few other old friends. They had a Quidditch match against each other at Sirius' house, since it was the biggest and had the biggest yard. Sirius had been the referee.
Harry now sat in his room, which was five times the size as the room he had at the Dursleys. Hedwig was perched on his desk, nibbling at the food Harry set down in front of her, as he watched.
Harry smiled as she puffed out her snowy white chest and hooted resiliently.
"You like this place better than the Dursley's, don't you?"
She hooted again, flapping her wings before digging back into her very own "all-you-can-eat" bowl.
Harry laughed, quite amused at how she resembled Ron when it came to food. "Me too," he said reaching his hand up to stroke her feathers.
He leaned against his other hand, propping his elbow on the desk as he continued to pet his owl.
"You know, Hedwig, as much as I'll probably regret saying this, I actually am going to miss my adventurous years."
She looked up from her bowl and blinked, before burrowing her face back in it.
He sighed, "Well, I probably shouldn't say that, Sirius would kill me. He thought for sure I would die last time…" he trailed off. "But that doesn't mean I still can't have fun pulling pranks on the Slytherins with Ron."
Thanks to Fred and George, Harry and Ron were the best known pranksters in the school, at least to all the students. Most of the teachers probably knew it was them, but they never got caught, which was what Snape and Filch's goal was each year: to catch them in an act. Luckily, Harry was trained in magic far superior than the average sixteen year old. That made it easy for them to cover their tracks.
Still, now that legally Sirius was Harry's father, he wouldn't let him get away with everything. That was the only downside about Harry being so close to him, was that Sirius knew when Harry was guilty of doing something he shouldn't, even when he didn't show any signs or emotions on his face. Ron told him it was a fatherly instinct.
Sighing, Harry stood up to stretch.
I wonder where Sirius went.
Harry stopped to think. It was only a few hours before that Sirius had awakened him and told him he had something to do. Harry walked to his window and opened it, letting the warm, soothing wind mess up his untidy hair. The loose white shirt he was wearing lifted slightly revealing a scar on his side, only a little ways from his stomach to part of his back. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Just then Harry heard a noise from downstairs. A big grin crossed his features as he raced out of his room and down the long stairway, which led into a the very large and comfortable-looking living room. Connected to that was the kitchen. It was a new feeling for Harry to be able to take food any time he wanted and as much as he wanted. Quidditch kept him in good shape so he could pig out once in a while…or twice.
A clock, the same as the one at Ron's house, was casually sitting on the wall. The arrow, with a picture of a smiling Sirius, turned and pointed to home. It was just in case any Death Eaters tried kidnapping Harry for revenge for their "master". The clock was bigger than the Weasley's because there were more places on it: Hogwarts, the Ministry, Hogsmeade (which Sirius added after he heard about Harry sneaking there in his third and sixth year), Ron's house, Hermione's, and there was even one that said room. It was Remus' idea, more of a joke, but in case Harry was sent to his room Sirius could make sure he didn't leave the house and try to sneak out. He knew Ron was just as good of a trouble-maker as he was. It also was supposedly said that his father had also been very disobedient.
Harry raced into the kitchen to see Sirius standing there holding a few boxes. His back was turned and he was wearing a long, silky blue robe, the one that Harry bought for him last Christmas.
Without warning, Harry ran straight at him jumping into his arms as Sirius turned around.
"Sirius!" Harry hugged him tightly.
Sirius fumbled a bit, but squeezed him tightly, his shocked expression turning into a soft smile.
"You weren't waiting for me, were you Harry?"
Harry looked up at him, "Me?," he asked innocently, "Not the whole time." He paused as he noticed the boxes. "Sirius, what are those for?"
Sirius grinned, "Just a few gifts I happened to pick up. Oh and," he paused taking out a large bag, "this is Hedwig's food. I figure it'll last a couple weeks."
Harry raised an eyebrow, "With the way she was eating this morning, I'm betting it'll last a couple of days."
Sirius looked puzzled at first, but smirked, "She must take after you."
"Very funny," Harry glared.
Sirius ruffled his hair, "I also bought you a new robe, one that was guaranteed to grow as you grow and it was very expensive, so you better like it," he winked.
Harry smiled gratefully, and then looked questioningly at him, "What's it for?"
Sirius sighed, "Unfortunately, nothing too thrilling. The aurors who keep an eye on the Ministry when Mr. Weasley is away," he said, referring to the fact that Ron's family were currently in Europe, "is coming to visit. He wants to have a chat with us and he's bringing several other aurors. Remus will be joining us as well. I guess you could say it'll be your first formal dinner meeting in this world."
Harry seemed to brighten up at the last part.
"Go try it on."
Sirius handed him one of the boxes and Harry ran straight up to his room. He closed the door, putting the box on the bed. Hedwig was sitting on the window sill stretching her wings. She turned and hooted cheerfully when she saw it was Harry.
"Hey Hedwig, tell me how you like my new robe."
He took out a long, dazzling robe that had a strange shimmer to it, much like his invisibility cloak. Harry guessed that was because of the charm placed on it so it would grow longer if he grew more. It was a dark green, a shade darker than his eyes. Harry slipped it on and Hedwig flapped her wings, telling him she liked it.
"Good," Harry smiled, "It's for a meeting tonight with members from the Ministry."
He took it off and folded it back up. There was still plenty of time before dinner. Harry hurried down the stairs. Sirius was now sitting at the table drinking tea. He smiled and looked up.
"I knew you'd be back. How did it fit?"
Harry grinned, "Perfectly."
Sirius patted the chair next him and Harry sat down. Seconds later Sirius pulled another long package out and set it in Harry's lap.
"Just an extra gift," he winked.
Harry's eyes sparkled brightly as he smiled up at him. Sirius always made him feel better. After his sixth year Harry had definitely felt depression for the first time. He didn't think he deserved to live because of how he put people's lives in danger, but Sirius had made him see clearly. The vision was still clear in his mind…
The students were anxiously looking out windows as Harry approached the castle, exhausted and injured. He was escorted by aurors. The battle between him and Voldemort was finally over. A week later, after he recovered in the Hospital Wing, he was taken to the Great Hall, where the students were seated waiting for Dumbledore's last speech before the end of the year. He spoke to the students about how rough a year it had been, finally mentioning Harry and how he defeated Voldemort.
However, he then went to speak about those who died and how their deaths should be honored since they didn't get to survive Voldemort's wrath. Harry had ran from his seat, out of the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione ran after him. He had ran to the Gryffindor common room and collapsed on the floor.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed running into the room, followed by Ron. She started to move closer, but Ron stopped her.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked, not sure if they should yet approach him.
Harry breathed in deeply, trying his best not to cry. He wanted it to end, everything. His pain, his suffering, the people whom he couldn't protect. He didn't want to live that life.
"I don't…" he stammered.
"You don't what?" Ron asked. Hermione remained silent looking at him with worried eyes.
"I don't…deserve to live. I should…have died with Voldemort…with Cedric, with everyone else who died because I couldn't protect them."
"Harry! That's not your fault," Hermione pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. "Don't blame yourself just because you couldn't save everyone."
At that moment Sirius rushed in just ahead of Remus and Professor McGonagall. The other teachers stayed behind to make sure the students didn't get up to see what was wrong with him. Dumbledore, however, had known and told Sirius to follow him.
"Harry!" Sirius shouted, seeing his Godson sitting on the floor, looking anything but himself.
"I don't…deserve life…I was meant to die. I only surv…survived the curse because I had t…to destroy Voldemort. And I did."
Remus looked shocked, along with Professor McGonagall. They both shared glances with Ron and Hermione, who didn't know what to say. Sirius showed no emotion on his face. Instead, he walked over to Harry and looked down at him. Harry wasn't crying, but he was trembling.
"Harry…"
Harry finally looked up at him. His eyes glazed over from sorrow. To the shock of everyone, especially Harry, Sirius struck his hand across Harry's face. It wasn't hard enough to leave anything more than a red mark, but enough to get a response from Harry. From everything that happened and the bond between Harry and those that he loved weakened, he burst into tears, covering his face with his hands. Hermione looked like she was about to do the same. Professor McGonagall took out a handkerchief herself.
Sirius bent down and pulled Harry into a strong embrace. "You don't deserve that, Harry. That's what Voldemort wants you to think, he wants to break you and make you believe you should die along with your parents. You don't deserve the same fate…you survived that curse for a reason. Yes, maybe to destroy Voldemort, but if you were meant to die you would've all ready. You may deserve some things in life, but not death. I can't lose you, Harry…I won't," he kissed the top of Harry's head.
Harry sobbed even harder, wrapping his arms around Sirius. After that Harry no longer felt guilty, although he still missed those who died, very much. He managed to visit Cedric's grave, which made him feel better. Since then, Harry's bond with Sirius, and his friends, were stronger than ever.
Harry shook his head clear of the memories and unwrapped the gift. His eyes widened as he looked down at a newly polished Snitch2005 broom, the one he had been desperately waiting to come out. He and Ron talked about it whenever Quidditch was mentioned, which was quite frequent, and they talked about how fast it would be and how shocked the Slytherins would be if they had one for the final game in their seventh year. They'd be able to win the House Cup in record time. The only problem had been that not many were produced because they were so expensive to make and sell. The only ones that had been out that they knew about was the few in Hogsmeade, but the price on them was astonishing.
Harry gapped at the broom, speechless. Sirius grinned, "So, do you like it?"
"Like it?" Harry whispered. "I love it. Thank you so much!" Harry exclaimed, jumping into his arms.
Sirius laughed and squeezed him tightly, "I'm glad I could change your mood. I can't wait to see you test it out next year. After all, James and I believed the seventh year was always supposed to be your greatest year."
Harry pulled back and kissed Sirius on the cheek, getting a slightly surprised look from his Godfather.
"I love you," Harry smiled, his eyes shining.
Sirius smiled back, his eyes glistening happily. He had discussed with Harry once that he shouldn't have to take the place of his father, even though they were living together. Harry had immediately disagreed, saying that he never knew his parents and that they would want it that way. Sirius pulled Harry close to him again, rubbing the side of his head gently.
"I love you too."
XXXXXX
Several hours later…
Harry stood looking in the mirror, observing the new robe on him. It would be only minutes before the Ministry Representatives got here. He was a bit nervous, besides the fact that they were very important wizards, they also never had real formal meetings unless there was a problem. And being since Mr. Weasley was taking a vacation (his family testing what it was like to be above average in the money department), it was obvious that they would come to Harry Potter, the only boy known to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort and to survive the killing curse…twice.
Harry opened his robe up and lifted his shirt to reveal the second lightning bolt scar on his side. He for sure hadn't thought he'd survive the curse again without his mother, but something had stopped it. What had stopped it, was the question that no one was able to answer, not even Dumbledore.
Just then, Harry heard a knock from downstairs. He heard footsteps and knew that Sirius was going to answer the door. He took a deep breath and headed down to greet their guests.