41

Potter Manor...

00000

"How are we with the preparations?" Lucius asked as he walked into the hall where a handful of death eaters were present.

They all looked at him before one of them stepped forward. "Everything is ready," he said.

Lucius nodded. "You will be led by Nott," he said. "I will be with the rear unit to making sure that we have a way out." Everyone nodded. Just then Nott walked into the hall.

"Is the party prepared?" he asked as he looked at the death eaters in front of him.

Lucius looked at him. "Do you remember what you have to do exactly?" he asked.

"Of course, Lucy," Nott said. "You don't have to worry about me."

Lucius' jaw tightened as he glared at Nott. "Then say what it is that you have to do today," he said slowly.

Nott's smile vanished and his face became serious. "Be cautious and not attract any unwanted attention," he said.

Lucius kept looking at him for a moment before slowly nodding. He then took a step back and looked at the death eaters. "You all know what happens if you fail this mission," he said to them. "The dark lord won't be happy. So don't fail."

00000

"Ugh..." Harry grunted as he and Sirius apparated in front of the huge manor.

"We really need to get you started on apparition," Sirius said as he slowly let go of Harry who did his best to not throw up. Once he was feeling a little better he looked at the manor in front of them. He had been shown the picture of this place when he was undergoing his emancipation and lordship of his family. However, seeing it in person was a completely different experience.

Looking at the windows he could only guess how many rooms this place had. The estate where he and Sirius were standing was huge, spreading over a hundred acres. Of course all of this was hidden under layers and layers of magic which he could feel from the wards.

Harry couldn't believe that he owned all of it.

"Now, before we go inside," Sirius said, "I have to tell you that this place has not been maintained because...well, no one has lived here in decades. After your parents married James and Lily moved into Potter Cottage. Your grandparents were the last ones to live here and after their death James couldn't bring himself to come to this place. The last house elf that served your family died a few months before you were born and ever since then this place has been left untouched."

"This is too big for just one person to live," Harry said.

Sirius smiled. "James thought the same," he said. "That is why your parents moved to Godric's Hollow."

"Have you been here before, you know...when you and my parents were in Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded. "I have spent all of my Christmas and summer holidays here," he said. "This was my real home, you know?" Harry remembered Sirius telling him how his family had thrown him out just because he was sorted into Gryffindor. Following that, Sirius had been taken in by the Potters. "I can show you around. I suppose there are a few rooms which are in liveable condition although whatever be the case this place is a million times better than Grimmauld Place."

"Why exactly didn't your family owned any other place?" Harry asked as they began to head for the entrance.

"They did," Sirius said. "Just like your family mine is very old...and wealthy. We had a lot in terms of land and houses. But you know where my family's priority has always lied. It started with Grindelwald. When he came to power, my family, like many other pureblood families, joined his cause. They sold most of the lands and houses to fund Grindelwald's operations just like they would later do for Voldemort. In the end all but the Grimmauld Place was left. It wasn't like we didn't have money. We...well, I still do but in terms of property Grimmauld Place is all that my family was left with where they could live. The rest was all empty stretches of land. The funny thing is they didn't even know that they owned it until they had sold every other liveable place which included mansions and manors like this one. When they realized that they actually needed a place to live they looked through the list of every piece of property that my family had ever owned and found that small apartment at Grimmauld place. My whole family moved there as my mother sold every other remaining property to raise funds for Voldemort's cause. "The dark lord's cause is more important than us living in our mansions!" is what she would say. I still remember that to this day. It's not like my family is completely broke. After selling all the properties and giving away a lot of the earnings from that there's still quite a lot that is left in my family vault. It wouldn't have been like that though. I know my mother would've spent every galleon, sickle and knutt if she was alive today. Even after Voldemort was gone she kept giving away our family's money to various small uprisings that promised to deliver his goal. Of course those were all scams but who could make my mother see it? She was blinded by the ideology that purebloods were the elites and that the magical world belonged to them and no one else. Only after she died did the spending stopped."

By the time Sirius was done talking they arrived at the door. Harry felt his godfather's hand on his shoulder which he appreciated as he was feeling somewhat nervous to enter the place. He then saw that there was only a handle on the door and no keyhole for a lock.

"This door doesn't have a lock," he said.

"It does," Sirius said. "Only a Potter can open it. Just grab the handle." Harry did and he felt something wash over him before the door gave out a soft clicking sound. He then saw it crack open a little so he pushed it all the way.

"It felt like walking through a ward," Harry said.

"That was the magic recognising you as a Potter," Sirius said. "A lot of the old magical manors like this have that security feature to keep uninvited guests outside. So, shall we?"

Harry gulped before nodding slowly and the two stepped into the manor.

The place looked dark from the outside. However, the moment Harry put his foot inside the manor the place got filled with natural lighting coming in from the many windows. He looked around in awe as he absorbed the beauty and antiqueness of the place. The architecture looked ancient so he couldn't figure out how old this place was.

"When was this built?" Harry asked.

"Sometime around the early 1500s," Sirius said. "At least that is what Fleamont, your grandfather, told me. Of course it wasn't that your family didn't have a place to live before this one. Edmund Richard Nicholas Potter – your ancestor – built this place after the Potters lost their previous home when England went to war with France and Scotland. It wasn't just the muggles who went to war with each other. The magicals did too. Back then the magical world was more unstable than the muggle world and everyone sought nothing but power for themselves. I don't know much about it in detail but after Edmund built this place it was the first Potter residence that was registered as such in the ministry's records. With there being no records of any of the previous homes owned by your family, the Potters that came after Edmund designated this manor as their ancestral home. There must be records of all of that in the manor's library."

"This place has a library?" Harry asked.

"And a lot many things," Sirius said grinning. "The ground floor itself has twenty-eight rooms including personal and guest rooms along with two large halls, each one of which is bigger than the great hall of Hogwarts. Then there is the kitchen, dining area, a ball room and a potion's lab. The remaining three floors above this one each have thirty-two rooms and a hall. Places this old were built to have almost every type of room you can imagine. To be honest, even after living here for seven years I still never discovered all the rooms and neither did your father. Then there are the two basements which extend to the entire area of the manor and are like large halls. That is where James and I spent most of our time whenever we were here during our Christmas and summer holidays. We would work on our many prank ideas and products."

Harry couldn't help but smile hearing such stories about his father and Sirius when they were young. "Would you live here with me?" he asked a minute later. The man looked at him. "You said you don't like Grimmauld Place and we did have plans to live together after you were proved innocent. So? We can also ask Remus. We can either do that or we'll have to live someplace else because this place is just too big for me to live here all by myself."

"I can do that," Sirius said, "but what about you?"

"What about me?" asked Harry.

"You are clearly enjoying living with the Greengrasses. Or should I say Daphne?" Sirius said grinning wide. Harry's face reddened causing his godfather to laugh. The man patted his back. "Look at you," he said. "James would be so proud. Just like you he got all red when he first fell for your mother. From what I have seen Daphne is so much like Lily and you are your father's son. It's like watching history repeat itself."

"Yeah...well, I can't live with them now that I have my own place," Harry said awkwardly.

Sirius looked at him for a moment before speaking. He knew what Harry actually meant by saying that. "Truth be told, this place is actually a lot safer for you to live at. It has old magic protecting it so breaking through the wards is almost impossible and with a little bit of fidilius this place will become impenetrable for anyone who wants to do you harm." He then paused for a moment before continuing. "Look, I know you don't want to stay away from her but right now you are a target and I know that you know that very well. If you stay with the Greengrasses then they will be in danger. Hogwarts is a different thing. Voldemort won't attack you there because of Dumbledore but any other place is a different story. If you live here then you put less risk on the Greengrasses. I know you won't like this but until Voldemort is dealt with you will have to make some sacrifices."

"I know," Harry said solemnly. "But then you and Remus are staying here with me and I won't take no for an answer."

Sirius smiled slightly as he nodded. "Now, shall I show you around?" he said.

00000

Harry and Sirius returned to the Greengrass manor in the evening and found Remus and Amelia there.

"What is going on?" Sirius asked. Amelia simply handed him the evening edition of the Prophet which made his eyes open wide in shock. Harry's was the same reaction as he read the headline.

'Breakout in Azkaban!' Was all that the headline said but reading the article below it told them how serious the situation was. Neither of the two missed the names of some of the very dangerous death eaters. Harry immediately saw his godfather tense up like the rest of the adults in the room. However, he was more worried about someone else.

He turned around and started heading for the fireplace when Ann called him. "Harry? Where are you going?"

"Bellatrix is out," he said in an emotionless tone. "I can only imagine what Neville must be going through right now which is why I am going to see him."

"You can't, Harry. Especially at a time like this," Sirius said.

"I am going," he said adamantly. "If you are too worried then you can come with me. He's my friend Sirius. I can't leave him at a time like this."

"I'll go." Everyone turned around to see Daphne in the living hall as she came over to them.

"Daphne, now is not the time..."

"It's alright, Ann," Matt said interrupting his wife as he looked at his daughter. "I will take Harry. You stay here," he said to Daphne.

"He's right," Harry said seeing Daphne was about to argue her father's decision before he looked at Matt. "But that doesn't mean you have to take me. Sirius or Remus can come with me. I have known them longer than I've known anyone else in this room so I feel comfortable asking them to take me to Neville. Neither you nor Ann has to take me."

"I'll go with you," Remus said stepping forward.

"Moony," Sirius called his friend who looked at him.

"You can go with Amelia to her place. Susan is alone there right now," Remus said.

Sirius looked at Amelia before pressing his lips and nodding slowly. "Alright," he said before he turned to Matt. "Do you have any communication mirrors?"

"Polly." The house elf popped in front of the group and looked at Matt. "Bring two pairs of communication mirrors from the storage."

"Harry and I already have one," Daphne said before she looked at Harry who took his out from the pocket.

Ann raised a brow in surprise but said nothing. "Well, it's safe if everyone has one," Matt said before looking at Polly and nodding. The house elf disappeared and came back a few seconds later with four pairs of communication mirrors. Matt kept one before distributing the remaining amongst Sirius, Amelia and Remus.

"Alright, let's go then," Remus said looking at Harry when Daphne came and hugged him. Harry hugged her back.

"Tell Augusta that she's welcome to come here if she wants," Ann said to Remus. "At a time like this it is better if we all stay together."

"I will pass along the message," Remus said before headed for the fireplace.

"Be careful," Daphne said.

"I will," Harry said before he followed Remus into the fireplace as the two disappeared in the green flames.

Daphne felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and looked at her. "It will be fine," Ann said reassuringly. Daphne smiled sadly.

00000

Thanks for reading...