I do not own…
Chapter Fifty-Seven: Calmed before the trail
Hunter and Dawn showed Vanessa where she was gonna be sleeping. She was sharing a room with Dawn. It was a well spaced room with two full beds and was two doors down from Hunter's room. After placing her things down they went to the room where Harry was. When they entered, Harry was already calmed down and was with Ron, Hermione, the twins and Ginny. But that didn't stop her from scowling at him for not informing her about what happened. She stopped when Mrs. Weasley called everyone down for dinner. But that didn't stop her from slapping him upside Harry's head.
"Harry and Vanessa Potter."
The two Potters saw Sirius with Remus and Dawns' mother Angelina next to him. They quickly hugged him as it has been a while since they saw him.
"Come lets' eat." Sirius said
They had all gathered in the dining room where they saw Bill, Mr. Weasley and Tonks. Once the table was cleared everyone started sitting down. Tonks had tried to help out Mrs. Weasley and Angelina with setting the table up but she was a bit clumsy. She ended up dropping something that awoke the portrait of Hunters' Grandmother. She was a displeasing woman that shouted insults about half-breeds, Muggle-borns and blood-traitors. Normally it would take two or three people to shut the curtains to cover her but Hunter got pissed off when she insulted Vanessa. He held up his wand at her portrait and threatened her.
"Call her that word again and I'll set Fein-fire on your portrait to finally get rid of you." He growled "I don't care if it'll burn this place to the ground. I will not let you disrespect her or anyone else, you hear me. Unfortunately for you this is my house now, so do us all a favor and shut it."
His words shut her up with a disbelief expression on her face. With a sharp swift of his arm he used his wand to cover her portrait.
"Thank you, Hunter." Sirius said "Maybe for now she'll stay out of sight for a few weeks."
Sirius always hated his mother and his childhood home. That's why he didn't mind the house being passed over to his nephew. His threats always shut her up as he almost set her portrait on fire a few times when she insulted Angelina for being a muggleborn.
The two headed back to the dining room where another chaotic mess was happening, thanks to Fred and George. They bewitched the food, drinks and silverware around. They were doing fine until someone lost balance of the large Cauldron and everything fell. This angered Mrs. Weasley again and yelled at them before cleaning up the mess. It took a while for the silence in the room to disappear as everyone started eating and chatting. Tonks got a few laughs as she used her metamorphmagus abilities to entertain Ginny, Hermione, and Dawn. She turned her face to look like a pig, a duck and a few other things. Mr. Weasley, Bill and Lupin were having an intense discussion about the goblins' race and if they would join Dumbledore's side. Bill said that they're a bit anit-wizard now, all thanks to Ludo Bagman. Fred, George and Ron were having a laugh at the story Mundungus was telling them. Mrs. Weasley put a stop to his story as she didn't like him talking about his thieving business with her kids. With Sirius, he was telling Harry, Vanessa and Hunter about what he's been doing since he was free. He and Angelina had started dating again but not as much when they started helping the order.
When everyone's stomach was full and stuff Mrs. Weasley was about to send the teens off to bed. But Harry finally asked Sirius about Voldemort and what he's been planning. This made everyone silent once again and Mrs. Weasley tried to stop Sirius from saying anything but it didn't work. The man smiled as he waited for Harry to say something. So against Mrs. Weasleys' wishes he answered all the boys' questions. About Voldemort and why there hasn't been any death.
Turns out Voldemort hasn't killed anyone because he didn't want to draw attention as the Ministry is in denial about him being alive. Which is what he wanted and is trying to build up his army again with more witches, wizards and dark creatures such as Giants, werewolves and vampires.
But thanks to Harry surviving the graveyard he informed Dumbledore. Which had him call in the Order of the Phoenix about Voldemort returning and try to put a stop to him. They have been trying to convince other people that Voldemorts' has returned and to put their guards up but that was hard to do thanks to the Ministry.
Cornelius Fudge has gone mad and believes Dumbledore is saying all this because he wants Fudges' job. Fudge believes Dumbledore is saying all this to cause trouble for him and boot him out of the office. The man is obsessed with the power he has with his office and doesn't want to let it go. So with Fudges' word and influence with the Daily Prophet nobody is willingly to believe what Dumbledore or any of the Order members have to say. He's even going as far as to discredit Dumbledore as much as he could.
"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters, it's bound to get out that he's come back isn't it?" Harry asked
"Voldemort doesn't march to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry." Sirius said "He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in, he's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on them at the moment."
"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry asked
Sirius and Lupin looked at each other for a moment before Sirius talked.
""Stuff he can only get by stealth." He said "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."
"When he was powerful before." Lupin said
"What kind of weapon is this?" Vanessa asked
"Something worse than the Avada Kedavra –?" Harry asked
"That's enough." Mrs. Weasley said and looked at all the teenagers. "I want you in bed, now. All of you."
This made Hunter scoff at her.
She has been doing this for a while but he never listens to her. He wasn't one of her kids so she couldn't boss him around and force him to do anything. Hell, he hardly listened to his own mother.
"He's just a boy. You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway." Mrs. Weasley snarled
"Good. I want to join." Harry said quickly. "If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight."
This made Sirius smile and gave him a proud look but still didn't deflate Mrs. Weasley and still ushered the teenagers to bed. All but Hunter and Vanessa moved and listened to her.
"Don't forget, Mrs. Weasely. You're the guest in my house. Don't tell me what to do in my own home." Hunter said coldly.
He stood up and held out his hand towards Vanessa.
"Why don't I show you around the house, love?" He smiled
Vanessa nodded to this and took his hand.
"You need to talk to that boy, Sirius." Mrs. Weasley whispered in anger.
"Why? He's not wrong." Sirius shrugged
"He has no respect…" She hissed
"He does when you earn his respect and start showing him some back." He said before standing up himself. "He's a grown man that doesn't like being treated like a child, especially to someone that isn't his parent. He's not your son and neither is Harry. So maybe you should stop treating him like that."
Mrs. Weasley bit back her trembling lips before walking away to make sure the other teens were in bed.
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The next day everyone was getting tired of being cooped up in the house all day. So Vanessa and Hunter decided to take the others out in the Muggle world. Mrs. Weasley was the only one that had a problem with this Harry still needed protection. Vanessa informed Mrs. Weasley that her father had sent his own bodyguards to keep an eye on her and Harry. Four of his best guards and warriors have been standing guard around the house. It was the only way Vlad would let her return. After a little push from Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Nightshade, she agreed to let them go. After thinking it over they had gone to the mall as the theater there was doing a Raider of the Lost Ark marathon.
"Okay, Harry, yours, Ron, Hermione and Ginny seats are over there. We'll be two rows above." Hunter said
"Why are you guys getting different seats?" Ron asked
"After your non-stop questions from the Die Hard marathon last time, I'm not going through that again." Hunter said
"Yeah, we don't need the condense of 'hey who was that again' or 'how can a muggle do that'." Fred said
"Or is that even possible for that to happen?" George said "We would like to enjoy the movie for once." Then he looked at Harry, Hermione and Ginny. "Good luck to you three."
With that said everybody sat down in their assigned seats. When the movie started Ron started on his questioning during the movie again. Hunter and the others were glad to be away from it and were able to enjoy the show.
Seeing that this was able to distract Harry from the upcoming trail, Vanessa decided to do more stuff with him. She believed that he needed this and try to get him to have fun like a normal teenager instead of focusing on Voldemort. So for the last few days they have been out of the house with either one of the Orders and the vampire guards following them. They have gone to the beach, some theme parks, both muggle and wizard zoos' and one of Mr. Weasely's favorites, a muggle history museum.
Sadly the 12th of August came quicker than Harry had expected. Mr. Weasley had taken him a bit early to make a good presentation. Vanessa had wished him luck before he left but wished she could go with him. Seeing her worried Hunter took her out to the markets and stores to distract her.
"Thank you for doing this. If I just stayed in that place I would be a nervous wreck." She said
They were waiting in line at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour shop.
"There's nothing to worry about. I overheard Dawn's mother saying that there was a witness that saw the Dementors." Hunter said "Harrys' in good hands. As long as he keeps that temper in check and sticks to his story he should be fine."
"You notice his temper too." She muttered
"It's almost as bad as the time in the Shrieking Shack." He mumbled.
After a few minutes they were a bit closer to the front. Hunter hugged her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"His temper is almost as bad as yours." He teased
"Shut up." She smiled "Did Mrs. Nightshade says who the witness is?"
"No but I heard it was an old professor that used to work in Ilvermorny." He said, placing his chin on her shoulder. "And she's part of the Order. At least that's what Creature tells me."
"I have to admit I'm a bit surprised of how you're handling him. I thought you would treat him like how Hades deals with Pain and Panic." She said
"At one point I was until Dumbledore had asked Sirius and I to treat him right as he could be a threat to us. Sirius hasn't taken it seriously." He sighed
"But you did because…?" She asked
"Because I know that our close cousin is Narcissa Malfoy. Whos' to say Creature won't find a loophole and go to them and inform them with everything the Order has." He said "Ever since showing him kindness he has been…tolerable. Well towards me mostly."
"Has Hermione tried to make you free him yet?" She asked
Hunter scoffed.
"Since day one of her arrival." He said "It's very annoying. All of us had hoped she had given up on that S.P.E.W."
Vanessa just shook her head.
They were up next in line and ordered their favorite sweets. Vanessa bought a raspberry and lemon ice cream cone and Hunter got strawberry and chocolate. After their trip to the ice cream shop they had gone back to the muggle side. Hunter had been wanting to get a new tattoo for a while and found a reasonable shop. He already had an idea what he wanted but wondered if Vanessa wanted to get one too.
"You want to get one?" He asked
"I don't know. I never thought about it." Vanessa said "What was your first tattoo?"
He held out his right arm and on his wrist is the triskelion symbol.
"Life, death and rebirth." She whispered
"After what I went through I knew it suited me." He said
"What do you think suits me?" She asked
He thought about it for a moment before saying, "A Lotus flower."
"Really?" She asked with a raised brow.
"They are symbols of strength and resilience. I think that suits you, along with a dragon. They are symbols of protection and good luck which suits you as well." He smiled
With that thought in mine she decided to get a tattoo. She got a dragon tattoo with lotus flowers around it on her neck. For Hunter he got a tattoo of Vanessa's name over his heart. Vanessa was surprised by this but was also flattered that he would do that.
"Are you sure about that? It is permanent." She said
"I know. But it's a reminder of my first love." He said
"You're such a charmer." She smiled and kissed him.
"Forever and always to you." He said
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During al this Harry was being seen by the court. He wasn't doing well till Dumbledore came in to his defense. Harry could tell that Fudge was hoping he wouldn't show up but continued on with the hearing.
"We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of dementors in that alleyway." Dumbledore said
"We haven't got time to listen to more taradiddles, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly…" Fudge glared
"I may be wrong." Dumbledore said "But I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?"
A witch with a monocle nodded and agreed. So Fudge had no choice and had Percy Weasley bring the witness in. Harry turned and saw that it was the same witch from before. Dumbledore stood up and gave Mariana Frey his chair.
"Full name?" Fudge asked loudly.
"Mariana Trinity Frey." Mariana said with no fear in her voice.
"And who exactly are you?" Fudge asked
"My family and I were visiting an old friend in Auradon for our summer vacation. We were near the area where I sensed them. I was a bit surprised as I remember that Dementors aren't allowed anywhere besides Azkaban. So…I went to check what was going on." Mariana said "That's when I saw them. Two Dementors in Auradon."
Hearing her say this made Madam Bones and everyone in the courtroom murmur. Fudge looked pale and his body tensed.
"How are you sure they were Dementors?" Fudge asked
"Besides feeling the cold and depressing despair around the area on a very hot summer day I saw them." She said "They were big figures wearing cloaks."
"What did the dementors do?" Madam Bones asked
"They went after the boy and Muggle that was with him. When I saw one grab the boy I knew I had stepped in but…before I could do anything the boy sent the patronus charm at it." Mariana said "Then I saw the other Dementor nearly draining the Muggle so I sent my own Patronus after it. With two of our Charms the Dementors left. The weather turned back to normal."
Madam Bones just looked at Mariana while Fudge was fidgeting with his papers.
"That's what you saw, is it?" He asked
"That is what happened." Mariana said with a cold tone.
Fudge fidget a little at her stare.
"Very well." Fudge said "You may go."
Mariana nodded before getting up and walked out the door. Even though she was convincing to the others, Fudge was still being stubborn.
"Now, look here. Dementors don't just wander into Muggle lands and happen across a wizard. The odds are astronomical." Fudge chuckled
"I don't think anyone would believe that the Dementors were there by coincidence, Minister." Dumbledore said
This made a squat looking witch to chime in.
"I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore. Dementors are, after all, under control of the Ministry of Magic." She said "So silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this boy!"
"That would be disturbing indeed, Madam Undersecretary, which is why I'm sure the Ministry will be mounting a full scale inquiry into why the two Dementors were so very far from Azkaban and why they mounted an attack without authorization." Dumbledore said and looked at Minister Fudge. "Of course, there is someone who might be behind the attack. Cornelius, I implore you to see reason. The evidence that the Dark Lord has returned is incontrovertible."
"He is not back." Fudge hissed
Dumbledore saw that he was not getting through Fudge at all.
"In the matter of Harry Potter the law clearly states that magic may be used before Muggles in life-threatening situations." Dumbledore said
"Laws can be changed if necessary, Dumbledore," Fudge glared
"Clearly. Has it become practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic?" Dumbledore stated
This made everyone shift in their seats, some looking guilty.
"Those in favor of conviction?" Madam Bones said loudly.
Fudge, the squat witch and a few others raised their hands.
"Those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges?" Madam Bones said
She and a few more had raised their hands. This was a lot more than last and Fudge saw this.
"Cleared of all charges." He said and pounded his gavel.
Harry was able to breathe at last. He wanted to talk to Dumbledore but the man left before he could say anything. When Mr. Weasley brought Harry back and told them the good news everyone cheered. Vanessa quickly wrote a letter to both her father and her parents about the good news.
At the last week of the month their school letters had finally arrived. Vanessa and Hunter got surprises in their letters as the two got the Head Girl and Head Boy badges. No one was surprised for Vanessa as she was the best in her year. But with Hunter he believed it was thanks to the Triwizard for getting him the Head Boy as wasn't a Prefect. When they checked on the Golden Trio they found out that Hermione was chosen as a Perfect, no surprise there. But what really surprised them was that Ron got a Prefect badge too. Harry was upset for a moment but believed his best friend deserved it more than him.
"How are you really feeling now?" Vanessa asked Harry.
After hearing about the badges Mrs. Weasley decided to host a party for the new Prefects and Head Boy and Girl. She had even gotten Ron a new broom while she was getting all their school supplies. During the party Vanesse sensed that Harry was feeling a bit off. So Vanessa took him to the top of the roof. Watching them from afar were the vampire guards.
"What do you mean? I'm fine, really." Harry said
"I can tell that something is bothering you, Harry." Vanessa said "Does this have to do with Ron being a Prefect?"
Harry shook his head.
"It's about Dumbledore. Is it me or does it seem like he's trying to cut me off or something. He tells Ron and Hermione not to say anything to me about the Order or how he only comes over when we're asleep. Then at the trail…he wouldn't talk or even look my way." He said
"I thought it was strange too. Even father is having some doubts about him." She said
"What? Why?" Harry asked
"He believes Dumbledore knows more about Voldemort than he lets on with the Order." She said "He's only staying in the Order cause he needs to keep the vampires in line."
"You don't think they'll join Voldemort do you?" Harry asked
"No. Some are on fathers side. Some are staying out of the wizard war as they don't believe it's their war to fight. The only one he's worried about is Lord Einar."
"That one lord that wanted you to marry his son." Harry scoffed "He didn't sound like a Voldemort follower. I thought he hated wizards."
"Yes, but he hates my father more. You know the saying, Enemy of my enemy is my friend." She said "Look, Dumbledore always has his reasons for things. Sometimes they are questionable but he always believes its' for the right reason. Hopefully dad will figure it out."
Unknown to them Creature had heard their conformation and hurried off to find his master. Hunter was in the room looking over maps and books on his desk.
"Master Hunter. It would seem that you are not the only one who doesn't trust Dumbledore." Creature said "Miss Vanessa and her father don't seem to trust him too."
"I thought I told you not to spy on her Creature." He said
"Please, beg my pardon, master. But Miss Vanessa was talking to the boy you wanted me to keep an eye on." Creature said
Ever since Dumbledore's first arrival at Grimmauld Place Hunter had started to question the old man's reason. It was no secret that Dumbledore favored Harry so why now is he keeping the boy in the dark. The old man didn't give a reason to any of the Order members, which was irritating both Sirius and Hunter. Call it over thinking things but his gut was telling him that the old man was hiding something and he wants to know why. And there were only three people that he knew that would tell him.
The three fate sisters.
From what Hades tells him they were in their different level of the underworld and he's gonna have to travel there himself. But that's not all. He was gonna have to give them a sacrifice for a question.