The Witch at the window
A thirteen-year old Harry was looking out the window in Gryffindor tower, curled up on the semi-step that's a stony window-seat.
It was getting dark and Harry was looking out to see Hedwig fly from the olwery off to hunt.
Other people might have trouble seeing one owl among many, but Hedwig's the only snowy at school, and Harry knows, just knows Hedwig's going to fly out soon.
Like the way he can understand her prek's, or the way she glares at him.
Hagrid says she's a familiar, not a pet, and they'll cover it in care of magical creatures. After the flobberworms.
Harry was gazing out into the sky, orange-ish red at the horizon purpling at the edge, when a witch floated past his window on a broom. Wearing a cloak.
Harry blinked in surprise. Someone's out, fairly late on a broom.
The witch is circling the tower, it seems as she reappears. Harry waves.
It's cold outside and the witch is wearing a woolly hat that hides her hair. She must have seen Harry's wave as she stopped.
It's dark outside so Harry can only tell she's smiling. She waves, her broom rocking a little, and flies off.
Harry didn't see Hedwig that night, but he went to bed with cold toes from sitting, waiting to see if the witch flew past again.
Harry was sitting in his room at the Dursleys, staring out the window into the night, through the bars, hoping Hedwig will come back tomorrow with a letter, when a witch wearing a cloak flew past slowly on a broom.
Harry blinked, dumbfounded. A witch, in Privet drive.
Harry does the obvious thing and waves. The witch stops, and turns, and flies closer.
They're wearing a proper pointy hat and brim, and have their hair pinned up, Harry supposes, and in the glimmer of the streetlights, they smiled at Harry, waved and hover there.
Harry opens the window as quietly as he can.
"Hello" he said quietly, hoping his relatives don't hear. "You shouldn't fly here, too many muggles" Harry says.
"But it's too far to walk and I can't apparate" said the girl politely. She's not a grown up, couldn't even be much older than Harry, he realises. It's just too dark to make out her face properly, but she's definitely smiling. "See you around Harry, you really are a fantastic quidditch player" she says, "I've got a muggle-masking amulet" she adds "They can't see me unless I flew right in their faces" and (a bit clumsily really, thinks Harry) she does a reversing pivot turn, and flies off.
Harry doesn't see the witch on a broom again the next night. Not like he's staying awake waiting to see her or anything, but with getting hardly any mail, it's hard not to want something… real... something magical.
And the weird, confusing dreams that feature having to wash his pyjamas now feature the witch on the broom. They are a nice change from seeing Cedric murdered, he thinks as he loads the washing machine.
The witch hovers outside his Hogwarts window, She has a mane of red hair on her cloak. Harry can tell that from the lights. She smiles, waves and flies off.
Harry lies in bed thinking. What girls with red hair does he know at Hogwarts that… might fancy him a bit.
Months pass, and Harry's little nighttime Hedwig watching has morphed into watching the witch out the window. Not having a broom anymore since that awful woman locked up his Firebolt, he can't fly.
The witch doesn't do acrobatics, but she oddly, hovers and blows kisses at Harry. Feeling like a complete idiot, he catches them, and can't help smiling.
It's his birthday, and the witch out the window smiles nervously in the dimming light, and folds up her cloak… and pulls her top down and flashes Harry with a genuine pair of witches breasts in a bra. They're the only breasts Harry's ever seen and after a few seconds, the witch covers up, folds down her cloak, waves… incredibly seductively, thinks Harry and flies off.
Harry… has to go think about that in the bathroom for a bit, Red hair, fancies Harry. And flashed her tits at him.
Obviously it's Ginny Weasley, he reasons, who's been going to Hogsmeade with Dean.
One question from Harry "Ginny, doing anything this Hogsmeade weekend?" and suddenly Deans' got the cold shoulder and Ginny is hanging around Harry.
He kisses the witch he's seen so many times and Ginny wrestles him in a tongue match. It's not exactly what Harry was expecting from the shy witch out the window.
A few days later Harry idly asks Ginny if he can see her fly.
When he asks her to do a reversing turn, she rolls her eyes and performs one so slickly… she must have practised in the last few years, he reassures himself.
She's great to snog.
Ginny's birthday comes and goes and Harry, an abandoned classroom and Ginny's shirt all feature.
Ginny trembles and pouts as his hands fumble up her shirt. She's letting him touch her tits. The ones he's seen once before.
It's nearly exams when Ginny, in one of their late night make-out sessions, takes her shirt off.
Harry stares, transfixed. Those… aren't the tits on the witch out the window. Who, Harry thinks, he hasn't looked for in ages.
Being a teenager, he tries to just make the most of it, (even though Ginny's smaller than he remembers) and er… Ginny notices. "What is it?"
"I was… expecting something bigger" said Harry, winning some sort of Darwin award.
It turns out she' a tiny bit sensitive about her bra size. Bat-bogey hex follwed with stinging hex to bits sensitive. Madam Pomfrey is unsympathetic when she finds out what he said from Ginny.
Days later, she's ostentatiously clinging to Dean again.
It's not till Herbology he realises Susan Bones is a red-head and seems to have er… some things rather larger than Ginny's under the front of her robes.
He awkwardly asked Susan to Hogsmeade at the end of Herbology.
"Hogsmeade with you?" asked Susan. "Really, I suppose so" she said.
Susan wore robes and when they got to The Three Broomsticks she asked "So, are you going to try and use me as a mail owl to send a message to my Aunt? She was murdered over summer, you know." Harry sat unable to speak for a bit. "Um no" he said. "It's just… I met a witch flying past outside the window, and she had red hair."
"Wasn't me" said Susan "I hate brooms."
"Wasn't you?" asked Harry "But Ginny and you are the only red-haired witches I know of."
"You dated Ginny, didn't you?" asked Susan.
"I thought – " said Harry, blushing.
"You dated her, thinking she was your mystery witch?" asked Susan, with a smile. She snorted "So you bothered asking me first, before dating me."
"Would you?" asked Harry.
"Not really" said Susan "It's going to be dangerous to associate with you soon."
"You going to be safe?" asked Harry.
"Not really, no" said Susan. "DA will have my back, right?"
"DA will have your back" said Harry optimistically nodding.
"Are you even coming back for seventh year?" asked Susan.
Harry shook his head "Things I've got to do. Best not to know."
"Well, I would suggest" said Susan "That you consider that hair colour charms are easy. Have to talked to her?"
"A little bit" said Harry "She's very shy."
"Charmed her hair red. Her hair's not red." said Susan surely.
"She flew past my house in summer" said Harry "Had a muggle-masking amulet."
"Potter, those are expensive" said Susan, biting a fingernail, "This mystery witch has serious money."
"And knew where I live, which is why I thought it was Ginny" said Harry.
Susan shook her head "Nobody knows where you live except my aunt did, and the Minister."
"Dumbledore and the Weasleys as well" said Harry.
-==0==-
With how the year went, Dumbledore dying, Snape being a Death Eater, Harry went off at the end of term to the Burrow with Hermione and Ron, preparing to go off Horcrux hunting.
The wedding was awkward. Watching Hermione and Ron had Harry irate. If they'd just get on with it and kiss, they could stop being such arses to each other. Hermione danced with Viktor, and Ron just about exploded.
The party ended in disaster, with Death Eaters, and they fled to London.
Harry had plenty of time as they hunted Horcruxes to look at the Marauders map. He tried to look in the evening, and try to see whose name dots where flying around the towers of the castle in the evenings. The witch in the window would appear, wouldn't she?
It soon became clear that students were being kept in dorms out of class hours.
Harry tried, in the evenings to work out if the DA were still doing anything.
Fleeting footprints for Neville, Ginny, most of the DA, they were moving about at night, and disappearing on the seventh floor; into what Harry worked out must be The Room of Requirement.
Harry spotted pairs of Slytherins moving about like prefect's patrols. Probably The Inquisitorial Squad again, he mused.
Ron poked him "What you doing? " he asked.
"Trying to work out what's going on at Hogwarts" Harry replied "The DA are moving about at night, and the Inquisitorial squad are patrolling."
"You watching Ginny then?" asked Ron.
"Not while you look" said Harry, not bothering to explain to Ron.
"Fine, perve my sister on the map" said Ron.
Harry flicked the pages of the map, looking at the castle.
Down in the dungeons, a small group of students was in a disused dungeon room. Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis and Lily Moon. Harry watched. The patrol, who were Crabbe and Goyle went past, and a lot later the three witches went to the Slytherin dorms, and thence to bed.
Harry shook his head. They were up to something. Odd for the utter nonentities of Slytherin to be up to something. As ridiculous as Susan and the Hufflepuffs being up to anything.
Ron, meanwhile was messing about with the radio, trying to get Potterwatch. He got the station finally, to hear, a crackly voice "Well, that's our show for tonight, our next show is in three days, and the password for this whole week is quince."
"Bugger" said Ron "Missed it."
"Same time in three days" said Hermione "Starts at nine pm then."
-==0==-
Harry looked at the map as Ron set up the radio, and there, down in the dungeon, was a small group of Slytherins… and up on the seventh floor, a stream of DA members was disappearing down into nothingness... into the room of requirement.
Harry wondered who else did he know at Hogwarts? Poor Dobby was dead. A moments' guilt reminded Harry that he'd sent Kreacher to Hogwarts. Harry checked the kitchens, and there were many house-elves there. Finally, in the crowd Harry found Kreacher. By one fireplace next to Winky. "Kreacher" said Harry softly.
There was a loud pop and Kreacher appeared.
"Master?" croaked Kreacher, and Harry jumped in surprise.
Hermione shrieked, and Ron nearly dropped the radio.
"Kreacher?" asked Harry.
"Master" said Kreacher.
"Harry!" said Hermione, "Kreacher will expose us to the death eaters."
"Kreacher" said Harry "You may not tell anyone where we are. In fact, you may not obey any other Black family members than me."
"Than I" said Hermione.
"Mudblood is not family" croaked Kreacher, then Kreacher swallowed "Master has not married the mudblood?" Kreacher asked.
"No" said Harry "Certainly not."
Kreacher exhaled.
"How is the house?" asked Harry.
"A stranger came to the front door" said Kreacher.
"And?" asked Harry.
"The front door killed him, Master." said Kreacher.
"The front door killed him?" asked Harry, trying to understand the sentence.
"The house is defended against intruders, master. Only Bad old Master's friends can enter." croaked Kreacher.
"Kreacher, can you change that to only us?" asked Harry.
"Master must do that, Kreacher is only the house elf" croaked Kreacher.
"So, Grimmauld place isn't overrun with Death eaters?" asked Ron.
"The Snape brought some friends later" croaked Kreacher.
"And?" asked Harry.
"They searched the house, and the friends stole many things" croaked Kreacher.
"Is the house safe right now?" asked Harry.
"Kreacher does not know" croaked Kreacher.
"Go find out" said Harry, and Kreacher vanished, and re-appeared a few minutes later.
"The House is empty Master" croaked Kreacher.
"Kreacher, can you take me straight home to Grimmauld place?" asked Harry.
"Yes Master" croaked Kreacher.
"Okay, I'm off" said Harry bluntly.
"It's nearly time for Potterwatch" said Ron, fiddling with the radio.
"Okay, Kreacher, wait here" said Harry, and he looked at the map, while the Radio began to speak.
It sounded like Lee Jordan.
Harry frowned at the map; the DA were clearly congregating for Potterwatch, and down in the dungeon, several students were gathered in that same abandoned dungeon room.
"Hermione" said Harry "There's Slytherin's in a dungeon room for Potterwatch."
"What?" asked Ron, sounding annoyed.
"Davis, Moon and Greengrass were there last Potterwatch" said Harry "Today they're there with a few others. Sally-Anne Perks, Eustace Stone, and Geoffrey Meedle."
"They're Slytherin's" said Ron "They shouldn't listen to Potterwatch."
"I don't know" said Hermione "Maybe they like the Twins, Kingsley and Lee?"
"Everyone likes Lee" admitted Ron.
That night's Potterwatch had Kingsley using an alias 'Royal' telling people how to stay safe.
Afterwards Harry was blushing; they'd wished Harry best of luck.
Kreacher apparated Harry into the hallway at Grimmauld Place.
"Kreacher, I want to keep out everyone except myself. How do I do that?" asked Harry.
"Master must put a drop of blood on the floor in the kitchen and cancel hospitality." said Kreacher, vanishing with a pop.
Harry apparated down to the kitchen where Kreacher was looking at looted shelves, and picking up broken plates from the floor. The old elf looked a bit forlorn, thought Harry.
Harry bent and picked up a broken plate and cut the back of his hand, putting a splot of blood on the floor.
"What's the words?" asked Harry.
"Hospitalisu Nullus Master" croaked Kreacher.
"Hosptalis nullis" said Harry, holding his wand. Black smoke curled from the bloody flagstone, curling around Harry and wrapping around his wand, fading slowly. Harry's skin suddenly itched, like he was suddenly having an allergic reaction, then just as suddenly, the stinging sensation stopped.
"Kreacher, tidy up, and find some food." said Harry "I need to go get Ron and Hermione and the tent."
"Master will be seen" croaked Kreacher "Watching snoopers."
"Snoopers?" asked Harry.
"In the park over the road" croaked Kreacher.
Harry apparated upstairs to the parlour and looked out the windows overlooking the street. There was nobody visible. Harry tried a casting a hominum revelio… and got a faint twitch from his wand. Someone concealed in the bushes.
"Kreacher!" Harry called, and Kreacher appeared with a pop.
"Yes, Master" said Kreacher bitterly. "Kreacher is busy"
"Have we got somewhere to put a prisoner?" Harry asked.
"Not in the house, Master." croaked Kreacher. "The cellars of the Manor have always served the family well."
"Manor?" asked Harry.
"The manor in the country" croaked Kreacher. "It is very big and very rotten."
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The fucking elf was keeping secrets maliciously.
"Kreacher, I think we're going to abduct our snooper and keep them in the cellars" said Harry.
"Kreacher cannot" croaked Kreacher.
"Oh I'll get Ron and Hermione to help with that" said Harry "Just pop me there, so I can apparate back"
"It isn't Kreachers fault the manor is rotten" croaked Kreacher "It wasn't Kreachers job, no it was Grovells job. Grovell failed the house of Black."
"Grovell is a house elf?" asked Harry.
"Grovell died. Ungrateful whelp" croaked Kreacher.
If you have a perfect invisibility cloak, stunning a disillusioned snooper is quite easy really, thought Harry half an hour later.
Harry stunned them again, Ron body-bound them and Hermione cast a muggle-repelling charm.
"Right, side-along on three" said Harry "Off to a convenient cellar."
The cellar of the Manor of the Blacks was dark, damp, dingy, and had what was clearly a prison cell.
The snooper, once stripped of their cloak was a shaven-headed man with a portkey, according to Hermione. She took the portkey away, and Ron chained their new prisoner to the wall, and Harry tried their wand. It was… bad. But it worked almost as well as the Hawthorn wand.
"Who is it?" asked Ron, searching the prisoner. He had a moneybag, and a red tattoo on one arm.
A snake and a skull.
"I think this one's a death eater" said Ron "Can he call for help?"
Harry waved the death eater's wand "They need a wand, or to be able to reach their arm with their other hand. He's chained up."
"Easier if he died" said Ron bluntly.
"We're better than them" said Harry "We'll keep him chained up, and if we forget to feed him… he can go hungry for a few days."
"We've gone hungry for lots longer than that" said Ron. Harry nodded.
"Hermione" Harry called and Hermione and came back into the small cell.
"What?" asked Hermione.
"Can you memory charm him" asked Harry.
"I'm not very good" said Hermione. "To forget us would be difficult."
I was thinking" said Harry "More like having him forget the last ten years."
"Lockheart" said Ron thoughtfully.
"Not that bad" said Harry "I mean, if he forgot everything he'd be …."
"Harmless" said Hermione sharply "But I understand. Ten years. Coming right up."
"She's terrifying" said Ron quietly.
They un-stunned their captive and tried to ask some questions; He was Travers and they'd die for what they'd done. Travers then described something very nasty he'd like to do to Hermione.
Ron lifted his wand "Obliviate!" he cast, crudely, leaving the spell running for ages before he lifted his wand.
Hermione spoke up "What are you doing?"
"Lockheart" said Ron angrily "I'm doing him like Lockheart. He's sick."
Travers dangled groggily from the manacles.
"What's your name?" asked Harry.
"Dunno?" said Travers. "What's yours?"
"Stun him and obliviate him again" said Hermione "Or he'll remember us."
They dumped Travers outside Hogsmeade, and apparated back to the tent.
"Come on" said Harry impatiently "Let's get this packed and get back to Grimmauld; Kreacher will have found some food."
"Mmm" said Hermione. "A bed."
Kreacher had found some slightly stale bread and kippers, and it was like a feast. Harry gave him Travers money bag "For food" Harry said.
Ron took Harry's old room, Harry took Sirius's old room on the fourth floor, and he fell asleep. Harry wasn't sleeping in snoring distance of Ron again for a while if he could help it.
Harry woke to the slightly nostalgic smell of Sirius, got up, found the bathroom and had a hot shower. It felt like absolute luxury. He looked like a starved wolf in the mirror.
Harry's clothes were dirty, and spells only did so much. Sirius's clothes didn't fit, too big, and Harry, wrapped in a towel looked in Regulus's room. Regulus's shirts fitted, and his trousers were okay, if a bit loose in the waistband. Clean socks, shoes he hadn't worn for nearly a year.
Harry walked down to the kitchen and found Kreacher had tidied, and there were a few chipped plates, and a couple of cracked mugs.
Harry tried repairing the china on the floor, and made a few wonky plates and distorted cups.
He had tea, toast and marmalade. It was fantastic.
Ron arrived later, looking messy and poked the wonky cup "It's a bit rubbish" he said.
"It was fragments" said Harry "And this isn't my wand."
"May Kreacher get new china?" asked Kreacher.
"Something simple" said Harry "We only have a little money."
"Kreacher might use the household account" said Kreacher.
"Use that for food" said Harry. "These will do."
Hermione arrived a lot later, wet-haired. "A shower was just what I needed" said Hermione.
"Tea, toast and marmalade?" asked Harry.
"Oh please" said Hermione, swiping toast off Ron's plate, and stuffing it in her mouth.
"Manners" said Ron "You pinched my toast."
"Mmmmm" muttered Hermione, chewing.
"Oh and you two need to sort your thing out" said Harry "Go snog or something."
Hermione swallowed the toast, "What are you going to do?" she asked, blushing.
"Go somewhere outdoorsy, put on my invisibility cloak and say a certain word" said Harry "I want information, and these snatchers will have some."
"You need backup" said Ron "I'm coming with you"
"You need a better plan" said Hermione.
"Wish I had a basilisk" said Harry "That'd be ideal."
"You need a bloody plan" said Ron "You don't really have one, do you?"
"No" admitted Harry angrily, "I have no plan, Dumbledore didn't tell me anything useful."
"You know" said Ron "That portkey must take Travers somewhere safe."
"Safe for him, not us" said Hermione.
"Exploding cauldron" said Harry "Only bigger. A bomb."
"A bomb?" asked Hermione "That's… that would work."
"Where would we get a bong?" asked Ron.
"We could make one" said Hermione, ignoring Ron's pronunciation "It's just simple chemistry."
A trip to a library had Hermione stumped "I don't know how to use this" she admitted, holding the two photocopied pages. "I don't know enough chemistry."
"Someone must have bombs" said Ron. "Muggles make them, right. A bomb shop."
"Only the army have bombs" said Hermione, eyes closed. They'd all got a bit tired of each other, Harry realised.
"Cars explode" said Harry thoughtfully "That's just petrol and fire"
"A big drum of petrol and a fuse?" asked Hermione.
"You could put it out" said Ron. "You need something that goes off when it falls over from the portkey."
"A huge glass jar of petrol, and a lit lamp sticking charmed on top" said Harry.
"It's terribly crude" said Hermione. "And a jar of petrol isn't going to be much of a threat to a wizard."
"Petrol comes in petrol tankers" said Harry "They're a kind of Lorry"
"Harry!" said Hermione "Portkeying a petrol tanker into someone's house..."
"It wouldn't break." said Harry glumly "We'd need it to break."
"You need a glass petrol tanker" said Ron.
"Transfiguring a petrol tanker into glass is beyond us" said Hermione.
"An army bomb" said Harry, "They can't be that hard to use"
"The Air force have bigger bombs" said Hermione, snapping her fingers "They drop them from planes."
"Why?" asked Ron.
"To blow up a building" said Hermione. "We don't know how to work them, so we just can't."
"Conjure a big jar and switch in petrol from a tanker" said Harry.
"My large conjurations fail quickly" said Hermione.
"Doesn't have to last long" said Ron.
"What is a bomb" asked Kreacher.
"Um, a metal thing like a huge sausage full of explosive" said Hermione "They are dropped from the air, and when they hit the ground they explode." she said.
"Kreacher thinks there are some in the back garden" said Kreacher. "The protections of the house stopped the muggle metal sausages."
The back garden, accessed by a door Kreacher had concealed behind a dresser was a mess of weeds, broken bottles and … several corroded grey painted sausages the size a postbox with fins on one end.
Hermione paled "Those are old bombs" she said in a squeak "From the war."
"Perfect" said Harry, and he put Travers portkey on one, and tapped it with is wand "Activate!" and the bomb and portkey vanished in a sideways blur.
"Think that bong will explode" asked Ron.
"They look like the only thing stopping them from exploding is the protections on the house" said Hermione.
"We need to put one in the country, just after someone says you-know-who's name" said Harry cheerfully "Blow up some snatchers."
"Snakes" said Ron "Summon some snakes. You can get them to bite the snatchers."
"And put their portkeys on bombs" said Hermione.
Ron looked at Hermione sideways. "You like those bong things."
"Bombs" said Harry "And I love the idea that their safe house gets blown up."
Harry had summoned a dozen big black mambas in a paddock with tall Grass, put on his invisibility cloak, and Ron and Hermione were disillusioned.
"$BITE THE MEN THAT APPEAR$" hissed Harry. The snakes hissed back.
"Voldemort" said an invisible Harry, and with a crack, four scruffy men appeared, holding wands.
Then the big snakes bit the men, who screamed and thrashed about.
"We're not actually questioning them, are we?" asked a disillusioned Hermione.
"I guess not" said Ron, looking at the four snatchers, all lying twisted on the grass.
Hermione found portkeys, and Harry took them back to the back garden and use two to dispose of the last two bombs.
"We need more bombs" said Harry.
"We'll just burn the leftover portkeys" said Hermione practically.
-==0==-
Stuff happened. Many of the plans were a bit … terrible. Then…
Harry stood in the great hall, shaking with adrenaline. He hadn't slept since … before the Gringotts raid, and dying didn't count. Tom Riddle had died, and Harry was alive. Harry thought about that. He had no clue whatsoever how he was still alive.
"You did it" said Ron. "You won."
Harry thought about it again, and honestly there was no reason he wasn't worm food. His gorge rose.
"I think I want to be sick" said Harry, getting pale. He dashed for the ground floor loos, only just making it to a sink in time to vomit.
Harry looked up at the decaying mirror over the sink. He looked… like he hadn't slept in days, and had just vomited. Harry turned the taps on and rinsed his face, and looked up again. He still looked terrible. His stomach still felt like it was a boiling cauldron.
Kreacher appeared at his call, and took Harry home to Grimmauld, where he staggered into Sirius's old bedroom and collapsed on the bed.
He woke with a start from a nightmare for Voldemort killing him again, of the green curse flying towards him so slowly. Harry shuddered, and half-slid out of bed, to stagger to the bathroom.
He used the loo, and washed his shaking hands, and caught his own reflection again. He looked terrible.
Conveniently, Harry had a dreamless, restful sleep and awoke totally healed of all his nightmares, ready to pursue his lifelong ambition of being a target for dark spells as an Auror.
Well, actually, he woke again less than an hour later, sweating and shaking.
Kreacher changed the sheets when Harry called, and changed Harry into pyjamas, and he went back to sleep; simultaneously tired, and dreading what dreams would bring.
Fortunately, he just dreamed of Cedric dying, so he merely woke with a start, legs tangled in the sheets.
Some time later, Kreacher put a tray on Harry's lap and Harry ate something. It was a bit tasteless, but Harry was so tired he didn't care.
He fell asleep, to wake from a nightmare of the white Kings-Cross station where instead of Dumbledore, a young Tom Riddle had mocked a naked cringing Harry.
This sort of muddle of nightmares and short sleeping and trays of food continued for a long time.
Harry got out of bed and dressed. It had been some time since he'd done that. He'd needed the loo several times, and the light outside around the curtain was brighter, so it was probably daylight. Again.
He'd had nightmares, at least as bad as they'd been at the end of fourth year for... a while. Days, certainly.
Harry walked all the way downstairs to the kitchen and sat at the table. It felt like progress.
Kreacher pushed a Daily Prophet onto Harry.
'Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, left Hogwarts.' read the headline.
'Where is our hero?' read the title under the fold. Harry read that article.
He was apparently either; at the Thibetan school for wizardry he'd grown up at, visiting Atlantis, or holed up with his one true love. Who was apparently either; Ginny Weasley; but she'd been sighted at Hogwarts, Susan Bones; also seen at Hogwarts helping clear debris, or some mystery witch.
Harry mused that he'd quite happily spend a week or four with the witch at the window, but as he had no bloody idea who she was, there was little risk of that.
Harry finally got around to thinking about his friends.
"Kreacher?" asked Harry "Where are Hermione and Ron?"
"Kreacher has kept master safe" croaked Kreacher.
Harry stood up "Kreacher, Hermione and the Weasleys may visit."
"Master must do the ritual" croaked Kreacher.
Harry dripped blood on the floor and said "Hospitalus!" holding his wand. Black smoke rose from his blood on the floor and wrapped around him, and he felt like his skin was burning for a moment… then the cut on his hand itched unbearably, and he started to feel a burning in his blood that changed quickly to a headache. Harry swayed on the stop, and the smoke slowly dissipated, and his headache faded.
"I'm not changing that again" muttered Harry "I'll just move instead."
"Is master having the manor rebuilt?" asked Kreacher "Kreacher could be its elf."
"I want some mugs that don't wobble, and a nice hot pie" said Harry rather more economically and pragmatically.
"Master must do complicated shopping" said Kreacher "Kreacher does not know what mug master wants. Kreacher brought home the wrong flowers once and Mistress beat Kreacher for a week."
"Kreacher, clean my room" said Harry, and he braved the fireplace with floo powder.
"The Burrow!" He called and stepped into the green flames. The grates spun past, and he only just managed to step out in the right one, falling on the floor of the Burrow.
"Harry!" exploded Mrs Weasley, from the kitchen, where she was cooking something "Harry's Here!"
From the sitting room, Hermione emerged at a run, her hair looking dreadful, and she hugged Harry. Harry winced. "Leggo" he croaked, and started breathing again. She had a hug like the giant squid.
"Where were you?" asked Hermione.
"I went home to Grimmauld" admitted Harry "I was… tired."
"Oh" said Hermione "We couldn't get a floo connection."
"You could have knocked?" asked Harry.
"The door kills people, Harry!" said Hermione.
"Only ones it doesn't like" said Harry defensively. Grimmauld place was dark and smelly and evil, but… it was also oddly like a huge family dog. Loyal, and prone to savagely eating people.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asked, after not thinking about that for a bit.
Stomping footsteps came down the stairs and Ron appeared, with some dirt on his nose and all his clothes on like he'd got dressed in the dark "Harry!" He said, his face breaking into a grin "I knew you were all right.!"
"You did?" Harry asked, as Ron hugged him and slapped him on the back. Ron smelled a bit.
"I checked with the deluminator" said Ron "I could hear you snuffling and groaning. Who's the witch?"
"I was having nightmares" said Harry firmly.
"Oh" said Ron, "The quidditch league' restarting in a few weeks. The Cannons are going to play Ballycastle."
"Don't humour him" said Hermione quickly.
"Where's George?" asked Harry. Mrs Weasley burst into tears and Hermione awkwardly hugged her. Without crushing, Harry noticed.
"George … hasn't left his bed" said Ron "Fred bought it."
"Bought it?" asked Harry.
"Duelling one of the LeStrange brothers. Mum had to kill Bellatrix. She was having a go at Ginny." added Ron.
Harry nodded. Of course Ron's mum, who mostly did cooking, fought and killed Bellatrix-nutjob-LeStrange, famous dark witch, whose hobbies included torturing people, and killing them.
"Mrs Weasley was very good" said Hermione "She admitted afterwards that she had liked duelling at school."
"Won the school duelling ladder in her year" said Ron "And dad implied she used to do a bit of circuit duelling before they got married. Dad made her stop, before she got killed."
Harry thought about that. Mrs Weasley had been … a very enthusiastic dueller, and Mr Weasley had talked her out of it. Harry's idea of what marriage might entail grew sideways awkwardly. Stopping doing dangerous things. Harry found the idea… worthwhile.
"So, George?" asked Harry.
"He hasn't really left his bed" said Ron.
"When I beat Voldemort, as a baby" said Harry, climbing the stairs "People let off a lot of fireworks. I've done it again… and I think we're going to sell fireworks till there are none left, then we're going to make some really monster ones, and go to Hogwarts and let them off."
Harry pushed open the door to Fred and George's room, and it stank of unwashed man. There was pair of white feet sticking out from under a tangled ball of sheets and blankets. The back of the room had a potions bench with a battered cauldron, and the wall had soot all over it, as did the ceiling.
"Get up" said Harry. George said nothing.
Harry drew the hawthorn wand and flicked the covers off, a nearly naked George lying there, hunched over. Harry cast a cleaning charm, and George winced and rolled over "Pillock" George said.
"Get up" said Harry "War's over, time to sell fireworks, then when it's gone, make a monstrous firework and go to Hogwarts. A … gigantic red and gold griffon."
"Subtle" said George, drawing the sheet over himself.
"I'm going to do something really stupid" said Harry "You'll miss it."
"Really stupid?" said George , a hint of interest in his voice.
Harry got out the wand he'd taken from Voldemort, and his broken holly wand. "Reparo!" he cast, and the wand un-snapped with a click. Harry picked it up, and it was like a well worn-in pair of slippers. He put the elder wand away.
"I'm sorry he died" said Harry "It's no fun."
"No fun?" said George angry. "What would you know."
"Died on the same day" said Harry "Not much fun, would not do again. I died a flipping virgin."
George sat up and stared at Harry "You're serious?" he asked.
"No" said Harry "That was my godfather. He's dead too. Saw him just before I died. Ressurction stones' real, it turns out."
George's mouth opened, then shut "Gimme" he said "Give me the stone. I need it" he said loudly.
Harry froze "Oops" said Harry.
"Oops" said George, standing in his y-fronts and picking up his wand. "Oops?"
"Dropped it." admitted Harry.
"YOU DROPPED THE FUCKING RESURRECTION STONE YOU USELESS SPECKY GIT!" shouted George "I need that!"
"I dropped it when I died, you great pillock" said Harry.
George looked at Harry sideways, "That" said George slowly, pointing at Harry with one finger, "Is an excuse."
"Well, get dressed, we can go find it, Then go sell fireworks. Fred can bloody help." said Harry.
"My brother is dead!" sobbed George.
"Well" said Harry blandly "Only because you're messing around. Get dressed."
George dressed and Harry and George left the Burrow, stopping only for George to seize his mother, kiss her cheek and pinch a half salami to gnaw on as he walked to the lane.
"Where we going?" asked George.
"I'll side along you" said Harry.
"I hate – " said George as Harry side-alonged them to a rather fateful glade in the forbidden forest.
Harry looked around. There was large campfire, logs cut from trees as seats, and a large pile of ropes fallen by a large tree's trunk. "This is the right place" said Harry "It's a black stone, looks like a river pebble apart from the triangle on it."
"Well, summon it, you muppet" said George. "What were you doing all this time? Shagging?"
"I haven't got a witch right now" said Harry.
"You put my sister off. What did you do?" asked George casually, as Harry tried summoning the stone and failed.
Harry walked to the end of the clearing he'd been killed at, and tried again "I um… said something wrong. It was all a mistake."
"A mistake" said George "Called out some other girls name then?"
"I thought Ginny was someone else." said Harry "And when I um... saw her boobs I realised she wasn't. She hexed me. I just said I'd expected someone bigger."
"Fuck" said Goerge and stopped looking near Harry "You actually said that? Pillock. She's very sens-" George snorted "No, I can't honestly say that. She seems to like that other bloke well enough."
Harry thought for a bit and summoned 'accio - " fuck " Harry swore "What's… cadmus. Cadmus!"
'Accio Cadmus's Stone!' Harry cast, and a small stone tugged itself free from the mud and flew into Harry's hand.
"Cadmus?" asked George.
Harry rolled the stone three times and the ghostly form of Fred Weasley appeared, and looked at George "Well, I really am the better looking one" said Fred.
"You're dead!" said George, waving his hand through Fred.
"You already know that" said Fred matter-of-factly. "I'm supposed to move on, you know."
"Where's his body?" asked Harry "A few charms… he'll be good as new."
"Harry!" said George "That's illegal, immoral and goes against the natural order of things."
Harry nodded "So, where is it?" he asked.
"Dad's got him out in the barn, I think, under a preservation spell" said George. "Waiting for a funeral, you know. Relatives need to arrive."
"Well, I know how to get a new body if we have to, but I'd rather not" said Harry "Hey Fred, I'm sending you back, just for long enough to go back to the burrow."
They apparated Fredlessly back to the Burrow, and broke into the shed. On a trestle table, a sheet covered form lay.
Harry pulled off the sheet. Fred looked quite alive, apart from being dead. He had the gormless surprised look of someone killed by the killing curse.
Harry rolled the stone and the ghost of Fred fizzed into visibility. "There… I really am so much better looking" said Fred "Roll me over I want to compare bums."
Harry pointed at the corpse "Get in!" he said.
The ghost did, and the corpse gave a shuddering gasp, and sat up, holding his head "That" said Fred "Is very unpleasant."
George embraced his brother and sobbed.
"When you two have finished sobbing" said Harry "You need to tell your mum."
Both twins looked at Harry, white as sheets. "Fuck" said George. Fred fainted.
"Is he dead?" asked George frantically waving Freds arms around.
"Fainted. You two are afraid of your mum, just because she can kill Bellatrix LeStrange in a duel" said Harry.
George stared Harry in the eyes.
Harry shrugged "I can kill Voldemort in a duel." he said "And I held him off at fourteen. You mum's not so tough."
Fred sat up "He's grown up. He's a big scary pillock now."
"Dread necromancer big scary pillock to you," said Harry casually, "Come on, time to sell fireworks."
"Silent partner he said" said Fred to George "Let us decide how to do the day to day running he said."
"Shut it" said Harry. "We're going to make a gigantic Gryphon firework to go over Hogwarts once we've sold all there is at the shop."
Fred got off the table, staggered for a bit and stood up "right" he said, patting the suit he'd been laid out in, and finding his wand "Ready."
Mrs Weasley didn't faint. She did go very pale "George, this is a very bad joke, And You, Harry, I really expected better from you."
"He got better" said Harry. "An exotic… thibetan curse that looks like being dead. Obviously, I've seen it before at the monastery,"
George and Fred were doubled over laughing. Ron, over on the couch looked confused and Hermione, also on the couch was too busy tucking her shirt back in to comment.
Fred, George and Harry flooed to the back room of Weasey's wheezes, and Fred used a chameleon comb to make Harry's hair red. "Just to keep the Potterfans out. We're in the fireworks business."
They sold a lot of fireworks. All of them.
The day was over, and all the salami was gone, and even the dried up pasta from the flat upstairs had been boiled and eaten between selling fireworks.
"Best to go home for a meal" said George.
The rest of the Weasley's looked at Harry oddly when Fred was sitting at the table. "What did you do?" asked Percy.
"Don't ask" said Fred. "You don't want to know. Oh, and HE died a virgin."
"Arse" said Harry, squeezing into the bench seat, in the noisy mess that was Weasley's.
Ginny was conspicuously absent; apparently visiting Michael Corner, said Ron. Mrs Weasley gave Harry a dirty look at that. It was ages ago, honestly.
After Dinner, Harry flooed home to Grimmauld place and apparated to his room and collapsed.
The night featured an exciting variety of nightmares, including Fred, dying, white train stations, Voldemort, Tom Riddle sneering at Harry in the white train station… Harry woke amazed at his imagination, and covered in sweat.
He apparated down to the kitchen of Grimmauld for breakfast, to find Hermione drinking tea.
"What?" asked Harry "Are you doing here?"
"Staying at a friends' house" said Hermione.
"As long as I don't see you and Ron snogging, I don't care" said Harry.
"His Mummy" said Hermione "Insisted Ronny baby stay home. Ginny's at Michael Corner's house."
"Ginny's a grown woman, and takes no shit from anyone" said Harry "Ron's not going to argue with his mum. Not yesterday."
"And WHY ?" asked Hermione.
"Well, Fred was dead, and I knew… guessed a way to fix it" said Harry.
"And everyone else?" asked Hermione.
"Fred was preserved, and hadn't started the next big adventure" said Harry.
"What next big adventure?" asked Hermione.
"You'll find out. Hopefully a lot later" said Harry, smiling through the tears in his eyes.
"You – you actually died?" asked Hermione haltingly.
"Not… maybe?" said Harry "I had a funny turn when I realised there was no reason I wasn't dead." Sicked up, had to go home and lie down for a few days."
"Three days." said Hermione. "On purpose?"
Harry shrugged "How long it took to get over, I guess."
"And now?" asked Hermione, with an eye-roll.
"We're gonna make a monstrous firework of a Gryphon and let it off over Hogwarts." said Harry. "Like the opposite of the Dark mark." said Hermione.
"Like the opposite of the Dark mark." agreed Harry. 'And a finger in the eye of all of those Slytherin bastards.' he thought to himself.
Harry ate, washed, and flooed off to the Burrow, to discover the twins had left after dinner, and not been seen since.
Harry flooed to the shop, and in the back room a dishevelled Fred and George were making a firework the size of a dragon.
"Have you slept?" asked Harry.
"Define slept?" asked Fred "Does Ange count?"
Harry blinked. Fred and Angelina had a thing, he knew that.
"Alicia was so keen to meet a real war hero" said George. "And our flat's not mums' house. Who'd you take home?"
"Erm" said Harry awkwardly.
"He's a neuter, I think" said Fred "I blame our sister. Probably hexed them off."
George stirred a large cauldron of black powder "Nah, he's only eighteen. I mean, at eighteen, were WE shagging witches?"
Fred nodded "You've got a point" he agreed, measuring glittering powder "We were shagging witches in fifth year. He's… confused."
George stirred the cauldron and withdrew the huge spoon "You're right." he agreed "Probably gay."
"I'm NOT GAY!" shouted Harry. "I just… there's this witch."
"Oh boy" said George "Tragic loser story in three seconds – "
"Who's been flying past my window for years" said Harry "She flashed me her tits for my fifteenth birthday."
Fred stared at Harry, incredulously.
"Flies past, flashes her tits?" asked George. "That's what we call a wet dream Harry. As your body matures, you start – "
"She'd charmed her hair red. I thought it was Ginny" interrupted Harry "And then well, Ginny had smaller tits, and I might have mentioned I was expecting a bit more."
Fred scoffed "He's really lucky to be alive."
"It's being raised by those muggles" said George. "They suppressed him."
"Which stopped him shagging our sister, aged fourteen" said Fred.
"I'll send them a thank-you card." said George.
"Fuckers" Harry swore. George and Fred laughed at Harry.
"And not Susan, I'll-buy-a-bigger-bra Bones?" asked George.
"No" said Harry "I asked before going to Hogsmeade. Politely. Susan pointed out that the muggle-repelling necklace the witch at the window had was really expensive."
"Cor" said Fred "Rich totty fancies our adoptive brother."
"Well" said George "Rich girls expect certain things. You have to wash before dates, remember not to say you were expecting bigger tits, look deeply into their eyes, hold their hands… and take them somewhere nicer than the Three Broomsticks."
"And the Hogs Head and Leakey Cauldron are right out too" said Fred. "One of the restaurants in Diagon Alley."
"And by that, not Florean Fortescues" said George "Though, it's shut anyway since old Florean got murdered by a death squad."
"And probably you should check if she's, you know… a death eater." said Fred. "Just in case she murders you in bed."
"She's not a bloody death eater" said Harry bitterly. "I dunno who she is, but she's shy."
"Apart from the boob flashage" said Fred. "Were they really big?" he added.
"It was my fifteenth birthday." said Harry "We've been seeing each other since third year."
"Third year?" asked George. "Right, what's her name?"
"She never said." said Harry, blushing "Just flies past late at night."
Fred shook his head "Tragic sad virgin git" he said.
"And she's the perfect girl for him. Also tragic sad git." said George.
"And nice tits, we assume" said Fred. "Sue Bones sized?"
"Normal sized" said Harry loudly.
"Virgin expert on breasts" said Fred. "That's another miracle right there."
"Sirius Black, porn magazine in the bedside drawer" said Harry.
George dropped the huge spoon in surprise. "Bastard. He had porn. Curse his name" said George.
Half an hour later, they were filling the huge firework with black powder.
Harry headed for the door "We're nearly done, right?" he asked.
"Now we can put in the Gryphon charge" said George.
Harry walked back to the potions cauldron "Where is it?" Harry asked, looking around.
"We need to make it next" said Fred "Probably take a day."
"Will anyone even see the damn thing" said Harry despondently.
"We'll get Lee to put it on the wireless." said George "We need a thousand fireballs. We'll need a cauldron of black powder, and another of red burning metal salts.
Harry got tired, and the thing was a day away.
Finally, the gigantic firework was aimed over Hogwarts from the transfiguration courtyard, and down on the ground, a crowd had formed.
George pointed at the touchpaper on the base of the comically immense red firework "Light blue touchpaper and stand well clear" he said and snorted.
Harry lit it, and ran for the clock-tower courtyard. The firework erupted off the ground in a ball of flames like… unpleasantly very much like fiendfyre nearly killing you, Harry realised, his pulse pounding.
Then, as it rose up over Hogwarts, it exploded with a ground-shaking boom into a gigantic red Gryphon that flapped its wings and hovered over Hogwarts.
Harry looked up at it. It was bigger than he'd expected, and magnificent.
"Bloody brilliant" said Harry.
"Just one thing" said Fred "Best to scarper before McGonagall gets here."
Hermione and Ron were at his side when Professor McGonagall arrived "Well, you three" she said sternly "Why is it always you three?"
"Just lucky I suppose" said Ron with a grin.
"Well done Potter" said Professor McGonagall. "Doubtless you all have terribly teen-aged things to go do. Goodnight."
Harry looked up at the flapping red Gryphon, hovering over Gryffindor tower. A speck circled the tower slowly. A person-sized speck.
"Accio Nimbus two thousand" cast Harry, and a window of the central tower broke, and a broom sailed down to Harry's hand.
Harry was astride his broom and in the air before Ron could say "Cool summoning – "
And flying as fast as he could upwards towards the Gryffindor tower.
Harry circled the tower, stopping outside what had been his room, and waited.
A witch flew over, wearing black, barely discernible in the bright light of the firework flying hundreds of feet over the tower.
"Hello" said Harry. "Come here often?"
"Not in years" said the witch. She sounded the same. Mostly. A little croaky.
"Well" said Harry "I never did work out who you were. I'm a bit thick like that."
"But a marvellous quidditch player, and apparently great at defeating dark wizards" said the mysterious witch.
"I'd rather not" admitted Harry, hovering "Afterwards I realised how nearly dead I'd got, and had to have a lie down for a few days. I think, I'd like a safer job."
"Like Dragon tamer?" asked the witch with an audible smile. Her teeth and hair flashed red in the light from the fireballs above.
"I was thinking, wizard at home" said Harry "Trips to quidditch matches, and long nights in bed."
"Good luck with the long part" said the witch, and she giggled.
"I've grown" said Harry "And it was really cold, and I was only fourteen"
The witch burst into more giggles. "Well, Harry Potter, see you again sometime."
"I don't think I'll meet you here again" said Harry "Bit awkward, I don't go to school anymore."
"You missed seventh year" she said "And everyone's coming back next year to do NEWTS. This year had a war in it."
Harry snorted "Every year had a war in it. Just last year it was everyone else too." he said.
"Well, are you going to come back?" asked the witch. "We could study together, perhaps."
"Number twelve, Grimmauld place" said Harry "Drop by, before I have to make my mind up about anything. But let me sleep in… I don't sleep too well."
"Moste Potente Potions has a potion for that" said the witch "Granger's good at potions."
"I got an E" said Harry quickly.
"You got an E. Wow." said the girl "Suddenly in sixth year. You can tutor me in potions."
Harry turned his head away, embarrassed.
"Seriously, Moste Potente Potions has all the high-end medical potions" said the witch "Check it out."
"Number twelve, after ten" said Harry.
"I'm not going to a boy's house" said the witch.
"You already have, this is just going in via the floo instead of flying past." said Harry "I promise to be respectful."
"Promises from boys aren't worth much" said the girl.
"I'm not like other boys" said Harry "I own my own home, have a house elf, and don't need to work. And I can do a Wronski feint."
"Please don't" said the girl "It's dangerous."
Something in the way she said it struck Harry in the heart.
"Okay" said Harry "No Wronksi feints." and he did a back flip and flew down to Hermione and Ron, saw they were snogging and flew back up… the witch had vanished.
Harry went home by flooing from the fireplace in the great hall, and put down what he suspected was his old Nimbus two thousand, and apparated to bed. Broken by the whomping willow, my arse.
He was just about to lie down when he realised he had a visitor coming… and the house was a mess.
Everything about Grimmauld place was awful. And a girl was coming around, A girl… Harry had failed to find for years. The urge to… tidy everything swelled in Harry's mind. Aunt Petunia, if she could have got over it all being magic, would have had a fit at the mess, the dirt. The out-of control back garden.
Harry frantically vanished mess from the back garden and used plant growth charms to try to establish some grass. It looked… like a back garden in a house nobody lived in. Needed plants. He'd have to get Neville to help, Nev was brilliant at Herbology.
Harry went to his room, found parchment and a quill in the drawer and wrote a letter.
'Neville. Emergency. Please come to Grimmauld place as soon as possible with plants.
Back garden needs to look well-maintained, currently looks like Hagrid's backyard.
Harry.'
Harry called Kreacher, handed over the letter "Neville Longbottom, Longbottom Hall. Now." he said. Kreacher's ears trembled, and he disappeared with a pop.
Harry looked at his room. Cracked ceiling, mildewed curtains, pictures of girls on motorbikes in bikinis on the walls. Things needed to change. Harry got out the Elder wand and a feeling of power flowed up his arm, the wand calling him, willing him to use it.
Harry used the Elder wand to get the pictures of girls on motorbikes off the walls. Which worked. And they'd been permanent-sticking charmed… like a certain annoying painting. Harry apparated and stabbed out a spell cancelling charm. The painting fell off the wall with a bang, Walburga Black woke up and starting to yell. Harry jabbed the elder wand at the painting and it froze… Walburga in mid-rant, a dab of white paint on her lips, her hair all over the place. Harry shrank the painting, and conjured some paper and a card. 'For Kreacher, From Harry' he labelled it, and banished it to the kitchen with a flick of the Elder wand.
And that had worked… and so did cleaning charms…. And Harry went berserk with it, cleaning and repairing everything.
It was nearly morning and the house gleamed sullenly. He stopped cleaning random rooms and instead concentrated on cleaning the underside of the kitchen chairs. For some reason the kitchen table shrank to just fifteen feet long when he dispelled magic nearby. There was a lot more room to move about now. Harry looked at the jumble of chairs, and banished the most mis-matching to bedrooms. Soon, the chairs all looked vaguely the same.
Harry went to Diagon Alley, feeling exhausted but the urgent need to tidy filled him, so he bought a vial of wide-eye potion and drank that, then bought a plain china set, white with gold trim and carried it, and new sheets and mattresses home.
Kreacher took the china set, and Harry changed out some mattresses. His, and Regulus's and one on the floor below. The room full of hippogriff shit, Harry inflicted that amazing house-tidying charm on, using the Elder Wand.
The house groaned and shook, and the shit and feathers vanished, and all the splinters reformed into furniture, liked a ghost rising from the grave.
It was old and fusty, and … there was a little set of chairs and couch, a table, dressers and a bed. Harry poked the mattress. A blob of immobile, heavy awfulness. Harry vanished all the bedding and went back to Diagon Alley for replacements.
Sirius's mother's room was… big, furnished and had a decent bed. It looked, Harry thought like a woman's bedroom. It didn't look insane, which was odd as Walburga had been bonkers.
Kreacher appeared with a pop "Longbottom is coming" he said.
Neville looked at Harry's back garden, armed with a shovel and sack of fertiliser.
He looked nervous.
"So… this needs to look like a proper garden." said Harry Neville nodded and ten minutes later, fertiliser was everywhere, seeds thrown and Neville had soaked it all in water.
"In a few days, nobody will know you've… buried anything here. Or anyone" said Neville "Not that you did." he said awkwardly.
Harry smiled nervously "Thank Neville, I owe you."
"Well, what are friends for" said Neville. "We um… played exploding snap and I told you all about how I'm going to marry Hannah Abbot."
Harry nodded woodenly. Neville was being weird. He left, taking the shovel with him.
Suddenly, Harry felt tired all of a sudden. Maybe the potion was wearing off, he thought. Harry went to bed for a quick nap, and the new bed was so comfy he –
Harry woke on his bed to the prodding of Kreacher
"Master has a visitor." said Kreacher.
"In the parlour" said Harry "Serve tea, I'll wash."
Kreacher said "Master must stand up, Kreacher can do quickly"
Kreacher had not lied. But it hurt. It was, Harry realised, worse than house-elf apparation. But he was clean, and in minutes he was dressed, and walked downstairs, as apparating indoors was a bit rude, he recalled.
A witch was sitting on the far couch, pointy hat on, saucer in one hand, sipping tea. Kreacher had used the new set.
Harry walked in "Hello?" he said, and the witch looked up, and Harry saw grey-blue eyes and a long nose, and blonde hair.
"Hello" said the witch. "Daphne Greengrass, Slytherin house, I was in potions with you for six years." She smiled nervously, and she had, Harry noticed, quite white teeth.
Harry sat down at the opposite couch and took a cup of tea, and poured tea in from the pot, and added a dab of milk, and two sugars. His hand hardly shook with nerves at all.
"Milk, two sugars?" asked Daphne Greengrass, as if it was important.
Harry looked at his cup, and found a spoon and stirred nervously "Um, yeah" said Harry.
"It's just" said Daphne Greengrass "I take my tea with a little milk and two sugars." She smiled nervously again.
Harry sipped some tea. It was the good tea. Kreacher must have been holding out. He must have smiled or something.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Daphne.
"This is the good tea" said Harry "Kreacher's been holding out on me."
"Your elf?" asked Daphne.
"He's an old Black family elf, he's a bit mad" said Harry.
"Why does he call you Master?" asked Daphne.
"I inherited the house and elf from Sirius Black when he died" said Harry "And he died trying to save me from… being reckless."
"You inherited an elf and a house from Sirius Black?" asked Daphne.
"Everything he had" admitted Harry.
Daphne Greengrass's hand shook and she put the cup down with a clatter "May I ask if you inherited everything from Sirius Black, why you aren't Harry Black?"
"Sirius was um… going to" said Harry "I was going to move from my aunt's place to here. Only he died before that happened."
"And left you everything in his will" said Daphne. "So you're in charge of the Black family."
"Who are all in Azkaban, or will soon be" said Harry.
"Please" said Daphne. "Consider other people's needs before your own" she said cryptically.
Harry thought about that "Well," said Harry "Draco and his mother helped me, and I suspect they'll want a good word put in for them"
"Please don't" said Daphne, looking disappointed. "That's how justice is slighted at the end of the wars."
After a cup of tea, Harry asked "Daphne, would you go to dinner with me at a restaurant in Diagon Alley?"
Daphne Greengrass nodded politely. "Nasca's is a nice restaurant" she said. "Wednesday?"
"Wednesday" said Harry. "Seven pm?"
"It's a date" said Daphne Greengrass.
Harry had a scone. He was eating when Daphne Greengrass asked "Which room's yours?"
Harry choked on his scone, and managed to croak out "Top floor, south end."
Daphne nodded.
"The house is unplottable" said Harry "But the floo's open to friends. The front door can be a bit irritable."
"Can you apparate from the house?" asked Daphne, sipping tea politely.
Harry ate some more of the scone, sipped tea, and said "Well, the back garden's new to me, but I think you can apparate from it. Maybe to, as well."
"New to you?" she asked carefully.
"There was all this leftover mess from the second world war… in the nineteen forties." said Harry "Kreacher's been concealing it. I only cleaned it up a few days ago."
"Well, that's good" said Daphne politely.
Harry stood up when she stood. She was fairly tall for a girl, Harry realised, as tall as he was.
"Well the tea was good" said Daphne. "Show me the house?"
Harry took her along the hall to the Library "Black family library" said Harry "About what you'd expect really."
Daphne looked at the desk and shelves "Nice furniture, even if the books are a bit… evil."
"Thank you" said Harry, and pointed out the two bedrooms for visitors in the floor, and the third door… that hadn't been there yesterday.
"And that's the door to the, – my house elf hides rooms" said Harry blandly. Daphne coughed. "Really" she exclaimed.
Harry opened the door, dreading the mess, and there was an office, a desk with visitors chairs, couches, a drinks cabinet in the shape of a globe… a fireplace. And it was fairly clean, A few spiderwebs.
"The office" said Harry "Sorry, just found that."
"Hmm" said Daphne.
Harry tramped up to the second floor "The dining room takes up most of the ground floor" said Harry "A table you could play bowls on."
"These," indicated Harry "are all bedrooms, When we hid out here before the war, and during, we used these rooms." He opened one, not the one he used to use. There was a big room, a double bed and a single.
"Third floor" said Harry , walking "Family rooms I guess. Mrs Black's old room is over here."
"Really?" asked Daphne, walking over and opening the door.
"What a quaint room" she said politely "And not a mess. I heard she died in the house, I was expecting piles of old Witch Weekly's everywhere."
"Oh we cleaned the worst mess years ago" said Harry. It was mostly true.
Daphne clomped across the room in her boots, they looked like the ones all the rich girls wore with a small forward-curved heel, and looked out the window "Nice view. Is that a garden?" she asked.
"That's the back garden. A work in progress" apologised Harry.
Finally, Harry walked up to the fourth floor landing "Fourth floor" said Harry "Originally a room for Sirius and one for his brother, Regulus. Regulus died in seventy-nine. Regulus's room is almost exactly as it was. I'm using Sirius's room."
Daphne walked over and opened Regulus's door "You didn't vanish the Slytherin banners?" she asked.
"I um… it's wouldn't be right." said Harry. "He um… made some bad choices, supported you-know-who, then changed his mind, and ….and… struck a blow for freedom." He added, and wondered where he'd got that line from. Surely he didn't remember anything from history of magic?
Daphne turned and shook her head "Struck a blow for freedom. You sound like a Binns lecture." she said, and strode over to the bathroom door.
She inspected the bathroom "There's a view. From the bathroom." she said "Must be marvellous at night to sit in the bath."
Harry, who'd never done that, tried to imagine it. "I uh. Haven't had the time" He said, and Daphne laughed.
"Oh you are so droll" she said, smiling and walking out of his bathroom into his bedroom without stopping.
"The Views!" she exclaimed. Harry walked in, and she was leaning on the window sill looking out the back window. She had… a bum, Harry realised.
Harry stood by the bedroom door "Um, yeah" he offered weakly. The windows, now clean did offer a better view.
Daphne turned her head and looked over her shoulder "Don't be so shy. I'm not going to throw you on the bed and ravish you" she said. Harry swallowed and walked in.
She got up and went to look out the right-hand side window, which meant she got on Harry's bed and crawled over it. There was a girl on his bed. One, who flashed her tits at him once. Harry felt very uncomfortable in the pants department, and closed the door.
"Closing the door" said Daphne playfully "Why, you rake. What would people think?"
"It's just" said Harry awkwardly "My friends might visit at any time, and um… you're on my bed."
Daphne sat back on her haunches and nodded "I am indeed. Don't get any funny ideas." she said, and licked her upper lip "It's not like I'm going to submit to your every carnal desire."
Harry wished his throat would stop closing up, that his pants weren't so tight… that he knew what to say.
"Well" he managed "I hardly know you" he managed.
Daphne lay back on Harry's bed "You could" she said "Talk to me. I like quidditch. I especially like tall, dark quidditch seekers who are amazingly good."
"What were your favourite subjects?" asked Harry, sitting on his chair.
Daphne sat back casually on his pillows "Well, I really like charms, but I found potions useful. Slughorn was really nice last year. I tried divination and dropped it, and did Runes and Arithmancy instead."
"Wish I'd dropped divination" said Harry, shaking his head "Such a waste of time."
Hours later, Daphne got up off Harry's bed, having talked about hobbies, horse riding, and what a dreadful time the school had been last year.
Then she'd left, leaning over and kissing his cheek as she left his room. Harry blushed, and followed her downstairs to the kitchen, and she trailed her fingers on the banister. Harry wondered if it was normal to think a girls fingers looked beautiful. But they did. Her wrist for some reason had Harry wanting to grab her hand and kiss his way up her arm. It was rather confusing.
She apparated away from the back garden. So that evidently worked.
Harry had a brainwave and looked in the library, and found Natures nobility. The Greengrasses...were in the sacred twenty-eight, pure-blooded, and lived in Norfolk. At Greengrass Easting.
Harry closed the book, left it on the library desk and looked for Moste Potente Potions. If summoning counted as 'looking for'.
He found a potion for 'night terrors.' it was complicated, needed lots of ingredients… and apparently treated night terrors.
Harry went shopping, and unloaded his ingredients into the laundry room where people had made potions during The Order years.
It must have been late, Harry thought as he stirred the potion, as Kreacher had insisted on master having something to eat.
After another three hours the potion was done. It sat in the cauldron, a rosy pink. Harry scooped out a cupful and drank it. There was formula for the right dose, but Harry figured. A bit more wouldn't do too much harm –
Harry woke up lying face-down on the hard kitchen floor.
Hermione was poking him "Wake up Harry. Are you drunk?" she asked.
"Wish I was" said Harry, his head feeling like it had been opened like a bean-tin.
"It's just it's Wednesday, have you been here all day?" asked Hermione.
"Where were you?" asked Harry.
"At Hogwarts" said Hermione "Helping rebuild."
'And snogging Ron' added Harry mentally.
"Harry, what did you do?" she asked
Harry pointed to the book, on the kitchen table, and Hermione skimmed it "Did it work?" she asked.
"Dunno" said Harry "I'll need a nights sleep to compare."
"You made a cauldron full" said Hermione.
"It makes a cauldron full" said Harry "Work your dose out if you want some."
Hermione had pulled out parchment and started doing sums.
Harry sat quietly while Hermione did sums, and wrote numbers, and then said "one hundred and eighteen scruples."
She measured the potion very carefully using Harry's potions scales, and drank it.
Hermione made a face "Tastes dreadful" she said, and slowly slid down her chair onto the floor, unconcious.
Harry lugged a surprisingly heavy unconscious Hermione upstairs to the bedroom she'd used before, and covered her up. She was short, she should be lighter. And measuring it hadn't saved her form passing out. It felt suspiciously to Harry like poisions antidote. As Snape had written, just shove a bezoar down their throat. Just take a cup-full of the Night Terrors potion. After all, the author hadn't listed any dangerous side-effects.
Something nagged at his mind. Wednesday, it was Wednesday.
Harry, with a start realised he was due at the restaurant that evening for dinner. Nasca's at seven pm.
Harry apparated to his bathroom and showered, and in a towel, went to get dressed for the day.
And realised he had no idea of the time, and his watch was broken.
Hermione's watch, on her unconscious, floppy arm, said it was six-forty and Harry apparated back to his room, dragged on the best clothes of Regulus's he had, and got to Diagon Alley via the Leaky Cauldron, to be held up be well-wishers for ages.
Harry pushed his way into Diagon Alley and finally found Nasca's, went in and saw Daphne Greengrass sitting at a table in a green dress robe.
Harry walked over and sat down.
"You're late" she said.
"My watch is broken" said Harry. "And the night-terrors potion knocked me out till about six this evening."
Daphne frowned at him, and Harry felt despondently that he'd blown it.
Somehow, over dinner, he ended up talking about Sirius, and Peter Pettigrew- the whole dreadful mess.
And over dessert, which was a delicious chocolate wafer and mousse thing, he might have accidentally called Daphne beautiful, and she smiled slightly and looked away.
And even more oddly, as they left the restaurant, she hung onto his arm, and just outside the restaurant were several reporters and photographers. Including Rita and Bozo.
"Mister Potter, where were you before you came back to Hogwarts?" someone asked. A camera flash went off ,dazzling him.
"Who's your mysterious witch?" asked Rita.
"I've just had dinner with my friend Daphne Greengrass "said Harry "We've been friends for years."
Daphne smiled at the cameras, and more flashes went off. Harry felt the presence of Daphne sort of beside him.
"Miss Greengrass, are you Harry Potters' girlfriend?" someone asked.
"I don't think that's a very good question" said Daphne, pointing to a reporter "How about, are you Harry Potter's girlfriend? He's been very busy all year being undesirable number one, and I certainly hadn't seen him since his sixth year."
Harry went home and felt too jittery to sleep.
Harry got some sixth year textbooks out of the library and started reading through the charms textbook, casting spell after spell as he went.
He got a long way through before Kreacher served a plate of mostly edible food.
Harry stuck at the text and went to bed tired.
He woke up feeling oddly refreshed, and after washing, got dressed and went to look for breakfast.
Tea and Toast was what they had, and Harry ate it, to be interrupted by Hermione coming down into the kitchen.
"Harry?" she asked "What happened?"
"You drank the potion and passed out" explained Harry, and Hermione helped herself to tea and toast, and was eating when the back door opened and Daphne walked in wearing robes and a pointy hat, and stopped "You had Granger to stay?" she asked, looking at Harry fixedly.
Hermione dropped her teacup, which shattered with a crash "Greengrass?" she asked "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question!" said Daphne, drawing her wand.
Hermione explained about taking a Night Terrors potion.
"You took a potion Harry made, that knocked him out for days?" asked Daphne.
"It worked" said Harry "I got a great nights sleep."
"I didn't have any nightmares either" said Hermione "Though I wasn't expecting to pass out from taking the stuff. I worked out the dose carefully."
Harry lifted up a parchment covered in numbers "Carefully" said Harry, pointing at the calculations.
"So you weren't carrying on with Harry?" asked Daphne.
"Ew" said Hermione "Harry's a friend, but I wouldn't sleep with him. He's like the brother I always wanted."
"Like a brother?" said Daphne.
"Why are you here, Greengrass?" asked Hermione.
"I'm visiting my friend Harry" said Daphne. Harry nodded. "My friend Daphne" said Harry.
"Harry, you don't know Daphne Greengrass. You never spoke to her once at school." said Hermione "And I had Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with her for years. She's a friend of Pansy's for Merlins' sake."
"I admit Pansy is a friend" said Daphne "I didn't have much choice in Slytherin. We shared a dorm room for seven years, and I've known her since she was four or five."
"Has she always been a bitch?" asked Hermione.
"More anti-muggle than anything else" said Daphne. "Hates you like poison, of course." she said addressing Hermione.
"Daphne?" asked Hermione awkwardly "Are you really a friend of Harry's he's never mentioned you, and I spent most of the last seven years with him."
"Known her for years." said Harry "Since third year."
"How? When?" asked Hermione.
"Is that really important?" asked Daphne "I'm just glad you took that potion. I'm impressed you made it, Harry."
"He surprises me" said Hermione "I thought he'd bollix up a potion that hard."
"Your faith in me is reassuring" said Harry very sarcastically.
"What have you been up to?" asked Daphne.
"Revising the sixth year charms textbook" said Harry "I've been thinking about what you said, about going back and doing seventh year."
"Will you?" asked Daphne.
"You should" said Hermione "I want to get some NEWTs, then a job in the ministry."
"Granger" said Daphne awkwardly "As a muggleborn, you're going to face some difficulties getting a good position in the Ministry, and some discrimination."
"Well, being on good terms with Kingsley will probably help there" said Hermione.
"He's one of your lot, isn't he?" asked Daphne, eyeing Hermione carefully.
"Part of The Order of the Phoenix" said Hermione. "They used to meet here."
"And you two, with Ron Weasley, were in that, right?" asked Daphne.
Harry nodded "I think seventh year without having Voldemort trying to kill me will be quite nice." he said "Maybe a little boring, but I could get used to that."
"So, are you going to do it?" asked Daphne. Harry nodded "I think it will be nice."
"Well, I have to get back to Hogwarts" said Hermione "It doesn't rebuild itself. Harry, can you come and help?"
"Um… probably tomorrow" said Harry.
Hermione got up and apparated off to Hogwarts.
"Sorry" said Daphne "I assumed… things."
"I don't like Hermione like that" said Harry quickly "Now, I'd like to apologise. I didn't get up when you came in or anything."
Daphne shook her head "Don't bother with all that stuff" she said "I'm a simple girl from Appleby, with simple tastes."
Harry nodded, and drank some cooling tea.
"For example, I'd quite like to go to dinner tonight at say, Giancarolos in Diagon Alley." said Daphne.
"I don't have many other clothes left" admitted Harry, "and no more good clothes."
"Well, conveniently, I know everything there is to know about shopping in Diagon Alley, and am prepared to take you there for a bit of shopping then back here for a light lunch."
"Um, about my fifteenth birthday?" asked Harry. Daphne blushed "That was stupid" she said, looking at the floor.
"It was actually brilliant" said Harry "And kept me going during the war." he said.
Daphne scoffed "That won't get me to flash my breasts at you today." she said.
"Well just as well" said Harry "I'd probably go mad with lust."
Daphne turned around and looked at the china hutch on the side of the kitchen.
Harry admired the cut of her robes. She had, he considered, quite pretty hair really. The way she always wore a pointy hat with a brim was cute. She looked, like a stereotypical cute girl witch, Harry thought. "That's a cute hat" Harry said, and immediately felt stupid.
Daphne turned suddenly "You really think so ?" she asked "I just feel that without my hat, I'm not dressed."
"So much better than the stupid school hats" said Harry.
"They are intentionally dreadful" said Daphne "A brim is so much more practical."
"And you do that thing where you look up from under your brim and that's really cute" said Harry.
Daphne did exactly that, tipped her head forward then looking up from under her brim "You think so?" she asked, and blinked.
"How did I not notice you at school?" asked Harry. "I know I had a lot on my mind, but still. Cute blonde with brilliant eyes. If you hadn't charmed your hair red, I would have had a chance at working out who you were."
"I had to maintain some mystique" said Daphne.
"Well, would you take your mystique and me shopping?" asked Harry. "I'll have to go to Gringotts first"
"My mystique and I" corrected Daphne "We can floo to the Leaky, then walk the rest. Apparation into crowded spaces is a bit dicey, and with the war, everyone's on edge."
THE END
