Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that's out of the way, let's begin…

Last time,

Benni locks eyes with her brother for a moment, then she ducks behind the poem, Harry racing over to her as spells begin to fill the air.

"Shouldn't you be out there stopping him?" She asks him.

Harry shakes his head, "I'm not here to do stop him. I'm here to keep you safe." She smiles at him, hugging him without restricting his wand arm.

The podium explodes behind them.

Now,

31st December 2001

Tom groans as he wakes up. He instinctively clenches his fingers a little causing him to notice the hand in his. He blearily opens his eyes, the world nothing but dark around him and he feels incredibly disoriented. He hears shouting but can't quite make out the words. He blinks a few times but it does nothing to disrupt the black.

"Tom, can you hear me?"

He turns his head towards the voice, a smile on his face. "Del?" He feels a hand on his face and hears her sniffle.

"Welcome back."

"I-I can't see you," He whispers, frightened, "I can't see anything."

There's movement around him before suddenly a hand is touching his eye, then his other eye. "You didn't see any of that light?" An unfamiliar voice asks.

Tom shakes his head, "No."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Del asks who Tom presumes is a healer.

"He'll live. As for his sight…we'll run some tests, try some potions. But some of the debris got in your eyes and there was significant damage, Mr Riddle. We thought it had healed while you were in a coma, thought the potions worked. There's some more we can try but… you both need to prepare yourselves for the possibility that this may be irreversible."

Tom holds a hand out and seconds later, Del's is in his. He squeezes her hand nervously and she wraps her other hand around his as well.

"Whatever happens, Tom, I'm here. We'll make it work."

Tom nods, but tears still fall down his face and he squeezes slightly tighter.

Soon, he'll think to ask about what happened, about the sanctuary, if everyone else is okay. The mentioned coma will finally register and he'll ask how long it's been, ask about his son. But for now, he holds his wife's hand and mourns a loss he still has hope won't be permanent.


Harry throws himself over Benni as the podium explodes, getting a chunk of wood stuck in his shoulder for his troubles. He pulls her away to the side of the room to get out of the line of fire as aurors do battle with dark wizards. Other aurors follow the plan for protecting the civilians while funnelling them towards the floos to get them out of there.

Benni breathes heavily, trying to keep from hyperventilating. She focuses on her bond with her brother to try and figure out what he'll do next. That's when she realises.

"That's not Sevrin," She whispers. She grabs Harry by the lapels, shaking him a little as she tells him desperately, "That's not Sevrin! It's another trick!"

Harry searches her eyes for a moment, then nods. "Benni, I need you to tell me something."

"What? What is it?"

"Where did you live with your mother?"

Benni frowns in confusion but reaches into her pocket and pulls out the picture of her mother and hands it over. Harry looks at it, also confused for a moment before Benni turns it over and he sees the address written on the back.

"Thank you."

Harry stands, herding Benni over to the aurors evacuating people before rushing away while dodging spells as he runs to Ron's side.

"Ron, trust me?"

Ron looks concerned but nods. Harry shows him the address.

"Then trust me."

Ron indicates to Draco to take over and that he's in charge through two quick hand gestures that mean absolutely nothing to Harry, but Draco nods in what looks to be understanding so he doesn't question it.

The two apparate away to the address. They find a decrepit building, Harry's pretty sure no one's lived here since Heidi, Benni, and Sevrin.

"You sure about this, Harry?"

"As sure as I've ever been before doing something," Harry replies, which grants Ron absolutely zero comfort but, hey, he followed him all those other times. So Ron nods and follows as his best friend heads into the house.

They creep through quietly, eyes wide open but the place is dimly lit. They see light glowing under the door ahead of them and slowly inch their way towards it. As they go, Harry walks past another doorway, and from within that room a spell is cast.

"Everte statum!"

Harry's flung into the other side of the hallway, hitting the wall hard and crumpling to the ground with a groan. Ron casts expelliarmus as he heads to Harry, protecting his friend. His spell misses, another thrown that Ron doesn't even hear but throws a shield charm up out of instinct. And then Harry and Ron are screaming. He can't hold the shield up, can't even try, as his mind is flooded with unimaginable, indescribable pain. It feels like an eternity, but it's over in an instant. He sees the unconscious form of a child on the ground before him and turns to see Hermione by the door, wand out.

"H-How did you…?" Ron tries to ask, but his mouth and his brain aren't cooperating so well.

Hermione shakes her head even as she sends a patronus for help. "I'll explain later." She secures Sevrin and then guards the very concussed Harry as Ron searches the rest of the house.

He gets back down just as Draco, Tonks, a few other aurors, and some Healers enter the house. He watches Harry get taken to St Mungos and says nothing until he's gone except that there's no one else in the house. Only once the healers are all gone does he elaborate.

"They're dead."

Tonks frowns, "Who?"

"Avery. Some others, Blood Moon members going by the tats. In a bedroom upstairs, they're all dead."

Draco looks down at his bound cousin. When he looks back up, he looks troubled and oddly vulnerable. "Do you think he did it?"

"I don't know. But if he did, I get the feeling he'll tell us all about it." Ron then looks to Hermione, "How'd you know to come?"

She bites her lip, looking unsurely towards her brother before she nods. "Through him," She explains, nodding to Draco who raises an eyebrow in question. "You felt scared, so, so, worried. I was feeling it to, and then suddenly I was seeing what you were seeing. Ron and Harry were going somewhere and I saw the picture in Harry's hand. They went off alone, without back-up. I had to make sure they were okay."

"I didn't realise that connection went both ways," Tonks states, looking between the two Malfoys.

Draco shakes his head, "It never has before."

"Well, regardless. We're bloody lucky you came. Never seen anyone catch Harry off guard like that." Ron takes Hermione's hand, "Thank you, Mio."

She bumps shoulders with him. "Any time."


Remus Lupin feels immense trepidation upon finding the correct door. He knows it's overly paranoid to believe that his son can somehow cause trouble from within the interrogation room, but he can't help it. What if he gets out again? What if he hurts Benni? What if? He is so caught up in his thoughts that he doesn't hear the door open. He does, however, hear someone clear their throat and looks over to see a boy with blonde hair appearing just as nervous as Remus feels.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Uncle?" Draco asks him. Remus nods and follows Draco back into the viewing room. He looks at his son sitting on the other side of the glass.

"I couldn't help but wonder over the years what he would've been like. Sometimes, I'd wonder what he'd've looked like. Once I couldn't just see the answer in Benni, anyway." Remus shakes his head. His son looks like a madman, and he can't find it in himself to be surprised.

"You don't have to do this," Tonks tells him.

Remus nods slowly, a sad smile on his face. "I have to know." So he clears his throat and nods to Draco who casts a spell on the window allowing noise to travel through.

"Rin," Remus calls, voice trembling.

Sevrin looks towards the glass, unable to see through it, and stares in shock. "Père? Don't let them take me back there, please, Père." Tears fill the child's eyes.

"I did not come here to help you," Remus replies honestly, strength in his voice when all his heart feels is weak. "I just have to know."

Sevrin keeps up the look for a few moments longer before it drops and he looks darkly towards them. "Oh?"

"Why did you do it? I know we never taught you of werewolves, but we never taught you to hate either. Why did you immediately hate me?" He asks, pain clear.

"Because he feared you."

Remus' brows furrow in confusion. "Who did?"

"Papa." Sevrin shakes his head, "I never understood, not until Bellatrix told me." Remus startles at this but he's come too far to get off course now. "Writing, it leaves an imprint with magic. The fear he wrote about you with, it left a greater impression on paper than the ink. Who could love a man who causes so much terror?"

Remus sniffs a little, then nods to Draco to end the spell.

"Thank you," he tells the aurors, "But it's time I go home. My children are waiting for me."

"Remus!" A voice calls as he exits the room, he looks over to see Hermione hurrying towards him. "Jamie's in labour. The twins, they're on their way!"

He smiles as he follows her towards the hospital and doesn't look back once.


1st January 2002

It's the wee hours of the morning, he and the other teams had pulled a late one finishing paperwork to just make this whole mess over with. It's just Draco now as he organises his desk, getting ready to leave. He thinks it's just him, and is thus surprised when someone comes up beside him and sits at Ron's desk across from him.

"What a week," Crown says. Draco snickers hollowly and nods. "I know this was tough, on you lot more than most, but I wanted to say thanks. And I hope we work together again." She holds her hand out, Draco takes it and shakes.

"Likewise, Crown. You've got a good team working for you."

"That I do."

The elevator dings, someone hurrying out and over to them.

"Oh thank Merlin, I caught someone before you all left."

Draco frowns in confusion, "What's going on?"

"We just got a tip and I…it's my third day, I don't know what to do with this," The young wizard says frantically.

Crown huffs, "Calm down and give it here," She tells him, taking the slip of paper he hands over. Her eyes widen instantly.

"What is it?" Draco asks her.

"A tip."

"Yeah, that much I knew. What's it tipping us off to?"

Crown looks at Draco, "It's telling us where Greyback is."


"As a long term investor and believer in the work Benoîte Lupin and the Werewolf Sanctuary does, I was very glad to hear we could arrange this press conference again quickly," Harry begins his speech, looking out at the crowd before him. "I know that times have been frightening lately, there's been danger abound and none of us have felt safe. But you all need to know the truth. Aurors discovered that those behind these so-called 'werewolf attacks' were the very same group that attacked our last press conference. They are also the ones who destroyed the sanctuary."


Draco locks eyes with Ron who nods to go ahead, the two breach the building, others entering from two other entrances simultaneously. They have the place surrounded.


"They wish to sow fear and have us turn against each other. We cannot let the manipulations of a madman ruin the unity of this world we are still building, not after all we've been through."


The aurors raid the house, watching each other's back, ensuring there is no route to escape.


"We have faced blind hatred before and we have won. We have lived years of peace that the wizarding world had not known for generations and we are better for it."


The house is searched, and the aurors meet back in the living room.

Ron turns to Crown who nods towards the door. Lillie Polka steps in, a glow emanating from her hands.


"For the sake of our children and our own futures, we cannot let it fail now. We must stand together, as we did before, and protect our world, and everyone in it."


Lillie looks to the aurors, "He was definitely here, and very recently."

"And now?" Draco asks.


"I know that if we can do this, if we can bring our community together we can rebuild the sanctuary, not just make it stronger, but make our connections to each other grow in strength as well. With this in mind, I hope you will all join me in doing what we can to help. Thank you."


Ron crosses his arms, "Lillie?"

Lillie sighs, "He's gone."


Harry smiles at the crowd, walking away as applause sounds after him. He hugs Benni as she walks over, she thanks him and he wishes her luck. He's heading towards a floo when a young intern grabs his shoulder.

"Excuse me, Mr Potter?"

"Riddle-Potter-Black," Harry corrects with a smile.

"Of course, my apologies. Someone asked me to give this to you."

Harry accepts the piece of paper held out to him and reads it.

One does not simply fuck with a man like me and get away with it. You broke your oath, Riddle. And now I will come for you and your family.

Be seeing you

Harry clears his throat, looking around a little before putting the note in his pocket and attempting to look unaffected.

"Thank you," He tells the intern and then waves good bye to Benni before continuing on his way.