HP Life after Hogwarts
Chapter 12
Change of Heart
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Wills was evading Rory's attempts to get him to go back upstairs. "It's astonishing just how much the Fred and George's newly enhanced Extendable Ears can overhear. I know exactly what this bloke allowed to happen and there is no way that he is going to get away with it!" He snarled down at his wife, just as the others entered the manor.
His eyes narrowed as he set his sights on Kane. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have the two asses outside on the front grounds shot or better yet gelded or have your head displayed on a pike for all to see?!"
He was not in the mood to let bygones-be-bygones or calling a truce. He wanted someone's head for what they had done to Rory. "Passing the Crookshanks test doesn't mean a shit to me! So don't even try to use that one, because it won't fly!"
:William, control yourself! That's the Prince of Assassins and Chen's many-Great-Grandson that you're snarling at. He is in all reality the Next Raden. Just as Harry is the Next Merlin!: Rory hissed.
"My husband, the heir to this countries throne, is always very overprotective of me. He came home on leave from Sandhurst. The Muggle Army Officers Academy, only to find me injured, and that didn't go over well with him. My error in judgment is no reason for either of you to cause an Inter-World incident." Rory used instinct to get between Wills and Kane.
"THE HELL IT ISN'T! YOU WERE HURT AND THEY COULD HAVE BLINDED YOU FOR LIFE, BECAUSE THIS ARROGANT ASS GOT HIS JOLLIES FROM WATCHING THE SHOW! THE ASSES DESERVE TO HAVE THE CASTRO SCELUS JINX ON THEM AND HE DESERVES…" Kane cut off Wills rant.
"I was not aware that any wizard or witch had come up with such a jinx…"
"It's something that my sister and I dreamed up. In order to make the evil doers in Africa pay the ultimate price for preying on innocents. It works like gelding a horse, only instead of severing the male lower anatomy; it shrinks it down so that it can do no more harm. There's no counter curse, so once it is performed on an evil doer it cannot be reversed. It only works on someone who has assaulted, harmed, or done ungodly acts to innocents." Rory was only too happy to explain the jinx to him. "It means to castrate, crime, sin, evil deeds, and wickedness."
"I myself have never condescended to such vile acts, but I can't speak for my former mentors. You and your sister did the Muggle World a service by dealing those monsters a fate just deserved. It seems that the Muggle governments and citizens turned a blind eye at the atrocities happening there. Now as for his royal highnesses accusation…" He locked eyes with Wills. "I remained in the shadows in order to prevent anything dire from happening to either the princess or the fool with her. Had I made myself known, Shin could very well have thrown a throwing star, or worse into that corner. I can assure you that the result would have been far more permanent and lethal."
"Trespassing upon the lair of the assassins usually means certain death if caught. Kane speaks the truth about what may have happened had they been discovered by Shin or Kahn." Chen was in agreement about that and impressed that his grandson had strong moral values.
"Yeah, well, I don't have to like the fact that the end result was my wife getting blinding dust shot into her eyes!" Wills snarled. "I only trust those questionable wizards or witches who pass the ultimate test that being getting unmarked when touched with Harry's blood!"
"I am willing to take that risk and undergo such a test. However, the two outside will refuse the very idea of risking being marked by the Prince. It is well known that those who are marked live extremely shortened lifespans." Kane agreed to Wills challenge.
"Well thems the breaks when one chooses the path of evil." Wills grumbled.
"You do understand that having your underlings do your dirty work is just as evil as doing the deeds yourself. So if that is the way you conducted yourself then marked you will surely be." Lotus arched a brow at him.
Kane narrowed his eyes at Lotus. "You know me better than that or at least you did."
"I knew a boy who cherished the world around him and showed a scared little girl that visiting her grandparents for the summer wasn't all that bad of a deal." Lotus glared back at him. "The boy I knew vanished when he was taken from the temple."
Kane felt as if she had stabbed him straight through his heart. It was something that had yet to happen in his life. Usually his very presence demanded that a person respect him. No one had ever dared insult him in any way. Now he found himself having to explain his actions to a girl that he hadn't seen in nearly twenty years.
"I had no choice! It was a matter of survival and I was told that the ones at the temple no longer wished me there anymore. I was six-years-old what was I supposed to think! Who was I supposed to believe?! I had accidentally lost control of my temper and singed some of the monks with my lightning storm two days before they took me away. I spent two days in solitude because they were wary of getting near me! I felt like some sort of freak and was relieved to know that maybe someone else out there liked me for who I was!"
Lotus instinctively knew that he was being truthful to her, but that did little to melt the distrust that she felt for him.
"The boy I knew nurtured the Earth and the creatures that lived on it. You turned your back on that, allowed your darker side to grow stronger, and hardened your heart to everything that you believed in. I know all about your darker tendencies towards the menagerie of beasts and creatures that you have collected." She let him know just how much she had discovered about him and his actions. "It sickens me that you allowed yourself to be tainted by the darkness to the point where you care not who or what you hurt. All in the name of getting a rise out of the hunt or the challenge of breaking the animal or beast of the moment."
"I am not proud of what I have become nor do I condone any of my actions. I was raised not by ones that loved me, but ones that saw me as the perfect weapon and molded me as such. I had no parents to dote on me or love me. I knew only harshness and strict discipline. That in itself is enough to taint anyone's soul." Kane snarled bitterly. "I have never found it in me to murder another innocent human being or creature. And that is something that no one, not even my mentors are aware of. Any creature that comes to harm, because of me or my dark tendencies is healed as soon as the audience leaves the arena. I then release the animals or creatures in the darkness of night without any of the others being any the wiser. The yeti pelt was given to me as a token after freeing it. I'd made it appear as though it had died, so as not to show the others that I was weak. The same goes for the dragons as well. Anyone that I am assigned to kill is persuaded to take a new identity. So that it appears that I have killed him or her. I cannot nor have never been able to train myself that assassinating innocents was just part of my life. I had no problem taking out the darker wizards or witches. After all, they were already murders so that was doing the world a service."
"That's something that not even the harshest of treatment could achieve, that being breaking your inner spirit or what you knew was right from wrong." Harry stood on the landing. "I've been there and know exactly how it feels to be raised around people who cared less if you lived or died. It takes someone of ultimate character to be able to withstand such treatment and come out of it with a soul intact. You might be like Draco. You were raised to be someone that you never really wished to be." Harry proceeded down the stairs and offered him his hand in truce. "If that is the case then you and I are going to get along very well."
Kane didn't hesitate and shook his hand. "I pride myself on keeping myself intact, no matter what the situation."
He stared down at his palm smeared with blood, but there was no mark. "I understand that you had to test me, but I would have done it willingly." He showed his palm to everyone around him. "I must be on the right path or this would be frying right now."
"That's a big step in bridging the gap in my book." Sirius had not expected Kane to pass without as much as a blemish on his palm.
"There isn't even the faintest of marks." James took a closer look at Kane's palm.
"Then he like Draco was just raised by bad wizards and like Draco he deserves our trust." Lily declared.
"Bloody hell, this blows my entire theory about him out of the water. The intel was that he was as dark as they come, but he passed the ultimate test in front of my very eyes." Max raked his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"I suppose what you say rings true, but I'm still a long way from trusting you." Wills muttered under his breath.
"You realize that you can't be an assassin anymore. The very fact that you passed this test blows that career out of the water." Harry arched a brow at him, as he healed his palm.
"I am aware of that your highness, but then you don't really tolerate my line of work either. So, it's a change of career either way. If my former mentors refuse the offer of retirement, then feel free and mark them. I believe that I will be spending a great deal of my time learning from my First-Grandfather the ways that were denied me by the others." Kane felt at ease around these people and he trusted no one.
"I guess Hermione's idea of paying you to be good isn't really necessary anymore is it." Rory frowned.
"You were going to pay us our fee on a monthly basis to be good?" Kane smirked.
"That was the idea." Harry nodded.
"Test the two of them first before making the offer." Kane was completely honest with them. "Contrary to what you may think, the three of us are the last remaining shadow warriors, so my kingdom of followers is not as vast as you assumed. I myself would rather shadow my First-Grandfather for a time; his wisdom is worth more than all the riches in the world."
"Truer words were never spoken…" Harry grinned then thought better of himself when the thought that Merlin may be listening and added. "My First-Grandfather Merlin is just as wise as Chen, I was fortunate enough to be taught by both great teachers."
"Nice save son." James chuckled.
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"I can only imagine what he would put his own flesh and blood through…" Harry once again found himself with his daughter in his arms.
"Although, it did prepare me for this latest challenge and the patience to endure each and every challenge that has arose." He stared down at his daughter's defiant face. "Yes, Miss Dani, is there something that you need?"
:Want Dada.: She pouted up at him her emerald green eyes pooling with tears.
She was so much like her mother sometimes that it scared the living daylights out of him. The look, however it tore at his heart, was not going to alter his decision on what she needed, that being bed. "It's past Princess Dani's bedtime. I just tucked you in your crib for the night. You know better than to leave the nursery like that. You are the oldest and need to set a good example for your sisters. I'm just going to be down here with everyone. There is no need for you to be scared. I'm not going anywhere."
:Want Dada to hold me... mouth hurts.: She started to fuss in his arms.
Harry couldn't say no to any of his girls when they started to cry, so he conjured up a baby sling, and took a teether out of his pocket. "Okay munchkin you can snuggle in here for a while and teeth on your teether. I would say that the danger has past and that it won't hurt matters any to hold you while I talk to Kane."
:Dani love Dada. Who they be?: She could see that there were two new faces around her and wanted to know more.
"She's quite the little wonder isn't she?" The babe staring intently at him from the safety of her father's arms entranced Kane.
"Oh, you have no idea. This little wonder keeps all of us on our toes." Harry chuckled.
"Well, no wonder look at who her parents are." Lotus smiled down at Dani. "She's going to be trouble times ten when she grows up."
:I's Dada's angel. Dada who they be?: Was Dani's answer.
"Sorry princess that was rude of me…" He chuckled. "Dan,i this is Lotus Chang and Kane Rai. Lotus is a friend of your Aunt Rory's and an Auror like Daddy. Kane is the Many-Great-Grandson of Master Chen. This believe it or not is my barely two-month-old daughterDanielle Stephanie Anastasia."
:You can help 'tant Rory she has bad owie.: Dani pursed her tiny heart-shaped mouth as she continued to stare at Kane. :You be good now, no more being bad.:
"She's wise this little wonder." Chen smirked. "Trouble times ten, but wise beyond her years this one. Kane has agreed to change his ways and let me show him the right path. He isn't going to be bad anymore."
"My First-Grandfather speaks the truth, little princess. I vow to be good from now on. I promise." Kane acted as if he were talking to an adult and not an infant. "I wish to befriend your father and mend a friendship thought lost years ago."
"I am going to be tending to Aurora until she is healed. Maxwell requested that Lotus watch over her, so I believe grandson that you may just get your wish." Chen conjured another version of a baby teether in the shape of an ancient green dragon for Dani. "The twins created a solution for their needs, but I can do one better by adding a little bit of ancient herbal medicine to the mix. This will tend to her mouth, as well as the fever that might arise again. And it will allow her to sleep."
:Dani loves Chen.: She happily traded the other teether for the bright green one. :Dada is great wizard. He good to be friends with. He no like Dark wizards they be bad and he hurt them.:
"I'm fond of you as well little one." Chen smiled.
"I'm well aware of that little one." Kane chuckled.
"We may want to think twice about the christening. Dani is bound to cause a stir with the Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday." Wills had silently observed Kane around the others and decided that maybe he might be like Draco after all.
"Not necessarily usually she's well behaved among the muggles. It's as though she senses that they wouldn't understand these things. She only tests her wings at home. She'll be fine at the christening at Windsor Castle." Harry reassured Wills.
"I'm more concerned about the wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral on Saturday. Junior here isn't gonna like all the publicity that goes along with putting on a public royal wedding. We all know that he's doing this to appease your grandmother and my father." James couldn't help but add that into the mix.
"He's going to be fine as long as the girls are far away and out of the spotlight." Lily hit James upside his head with the heel of her hand.
"Grandfather tried to pull a fast one on me by adding Westminster Abbey to the schedule, but Hermione wasn't all for adding a coronation to the mix and neither was I. We'll go along with the wedding, but that's where we draw the line. I could careless if the people haven't seen me officially crowned as heir." Harry was still sore that his grandfather had tried to put one over on him.
"Oh, they saw it alright, last August during the celebration. Dad just wasn't there next to you basking with pride." James sympathized with his son.
"Why wouldn't I wish to be proud of my grandson? He's handling the role of HBP with smashing results. Crowning them would show our world that they have a bright future to look forward to and give the muggles something to smile about. They need it after the trouble they went through this past summer." Stephen entered the conversation.
"Oh, alright gramps you win. How can I possibly say no, after you brought up what happened here right after the beginning of July. But you will have to crown us at the ceremony." Harry sighed in defeat.
"It's bad enough that First-Grandpa tricked me into pulling Excalibur from the stone in front of the palace on the Isle of Avalon at the weddings last weekend. It was just my luck that some Muggle tourist caught it on video and made a mint by selling the footage to CNN or ITV. Anyway now everyone wants Wills to have a go at it as well." Harry hated being a public figure, but was learning to live with it.
"Now the shouts from the press are making sense to me. I'm not the least bit threatened by you in any way and they kept shouting that at me. Merlin is going to have to move the stone in front of Windsor Castle or thereabouts so that we can fix this little snafu." Wills found it amusing that Harry had fallen for one of Merlin's tricks to get him to step into the spotlight.
"Move the stone off the Isle when nothing on this planet can cut or move it and then have it reappear in front of Aunt Elizabeth's residence? Are you barking mad or just out of it from your training?!" Harry didn't find his solution the least bit amusing.
"Well, it's a solution to the mess you got the two of us in!! Besides, it's a mystical sword, so who's to say that it can't appear other places!" Wills glowered at him.
"That's an excellent idea, William." Merlin appeared beside Stephen. "Consider your boon granted."
"Good going big brother! Now your Gran is gonna have a fit when she sees what's now in front of her castle's gates!" Harry was livid that Merlin had gone and done it again.
"Do not hide from life, my boy! You have to embrace it. Because of your valiant and selfless actions our world is at peace. Nothing the muggles can do can touch you. You are above them, so let them do what they may. Indulge their whims on occasion. They seem to have more hardships than joy these days, and ignore the rest." Merlin gave him some sound advice.
"You win First-Grandpa. I shall try it your way, but Wills needs to ring his Gran and give her the heads-up as to what's in front of her castle." Harry saw the wisdom as usual in Merlin's words. "It's enough to have our wedding on Saturday, and then the Music is Magic concert on Sunday at Hyde Park. Oh and the girls christenings on Friday can't forget that. Although, considering the current circumstances I think we should move it to the private residence instead of having it at the chapel."
"Good idea, little brother, besides she'll want an update on Rory." Wills hugged her close to him. "Are you staying here or coming with?"
"I'll come with you…she'll be wishing to talk to me as well." Rory sighed.
"Kane can take the last guest suite on the third floor. Lotus can take her pick of the ones on the fourth. Then after the call to Aunt Elizabeth the two of you can catch yourselves up about things. In the meantime she can join us in the Study." Harry knew that Rory thought herself rude to abandon her friend and offered up a solution.
"Brilliant as always little brother," Rory went over to kiss him on the cheek. "Now, I can take that call with Wills." She was then scooped up into Wills arms and carried off towards the East Wing of the manor.
--
"Fluffy is cornering two mules out front! Did someone forget to feed him?" Henry called down to them from the second floor landing. "I thought Uncle Paddy used ponies with the thoroughbreds, since when does he use mules?"
"My Mione reacted badly when Fluffy and the cats took a disliking to two of our guests. And it seems as though Fluffy knows who they are and harbors not so nice feelings towards the two of them." Harry went to the foot of the stairs and answered Henry's inquiries.
"His name was Titan then and they used brute force and magic to subdue him in order to steal me from the temple. They must have sold him to the highest bidder, where he eventually found his way to your family member, and then eventually to you." Kane surmised.
"Well, that's all well and good, but unless you wish them dead I would suggest that you call Fluffy into the house." Dromi gave them the latest report on the goings on outside.
"I'll take the munchkin while you go and deal with Fluffy." James walked over and took a nearly sleeping Dani out of her sling.
Dani was not at all pleased with being disturbed and started to howl in protest. :WANT DADA!:
"Nice going father! She was nearly asleep again!" Harry narrowed his eyes at James. :Just gum your teether, munchkin. Daddy has to round up Fluffy.:
Dani begrudgingly gummed her teether and settled down.
Harry wanted to hurt someone and what better way to do that than by marking the two outside with his mark. He once again conjured the dagger and cut his left palm. "Might as well test them while I'm outside," He vanished.
"Does he make a habit out of doing that to himself?" Kane winced.
"He only does this when he's peeved about something. Usually it's just a prick of the finger, unless he means to vanquish them." James shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal.
Henry came down the stairs to see what was up. "So I take it that you're gonna do a Draco and wisely change sides?" He arched a brow at Kane.
"Hello Lotus Blossom what brings you here tonight?" He knew Lotus, because she checked in with the two of them at Sandhurst from time to time.
"I'm here because Rory got hurt and to keep an eye on him." Lotus narrowed her eyes at Kane.
"The name is Kane Chen Lee Rai. The Ancient One, whom you call Master Chen, is my First-Grandfather. And yes I am going to do what Draco did and wisely change sides. It will allow me to mend a friendship that I thought lost nearly twenty years ago. I can also get to know my First-Grandfather and learn from him as well."
"Well, by the looks of it welcome to the team. Uh, Uncle James, Hermione wants Dani back in the nursery, so I'll take her back up." He took Dani out of his arms. "That way you can back up Harry. Seeing as Fluffy is reminding me of that scene in the movies when they first come across him…he is that peeved."
"Why didn't you say he was that riled up?" They headed out the doors.
--
Fluffy had the two-jinxed wizards against the far corner of the front fence. It was clear that he wanted payback for damages rendered to him nearly 20 years ago.
"This is gonna be more difficult than I thought. You really do wish to tear them apart…maybe I should've gotten Dad to give me a hand." He slowly approached the hellhound well aware of what he could do in a temper. "Easy big guy they aren't worth the bellyache."
Fluffy thought otherwise and continued to snap at his quarry with his razor sharp teeth.
"Marking them is gonna have to wait until I get you calmed down and I need both hands to do that." For the third time that evening Harry healed his left palm in order to hold the flute that was now in his left hand.
"The question is can I play this thing with a gimpy right hand and will you be able to hear it over your god awful barking." He began to play a familiar tune that he knew would cause Fluffy to fall asleep.
Fluffy's acute canine hearing tuned into the familiar tune and within five minutes, he was snoozing away.
"Sorry big guy, but they aren't up for slaughter just yet." Harry knelt beside one of his massive sleeping heads. "I'll conjure a harp to keep you napping while I get these two out of harms way."
It didn't take long before he was able to focus on the two very relieved mules. "Oh, I wouldn't relax too much if I were the two of you." He produced the dagger once again only this time all he did was cut his finger.
"This can go one of four ways. One there will be no mark and you're a good guy. Two there is a faint mark and hope of reforming you. Three this burns a brand into your flesh and you're slowly eaten away over the next month like a disease. Lastly is the worst fate of all. You continue to deteriorate until there isn't anything left not even dust. It really all depends on just how dark the two of you really are."
The two in question backed up even more against the fence, but it was no use, there wasn't anywhere to go and they knew it.
Harry took no chances with them and decided to stun them. "Stupefy!" He used the stunning spell without so much as producing his wand and ran the finger with his blood on it along the side of one of the mules and did the same to his counterpart.
The result was a sizzling brand of lightning bolts and the mules braying in agony.
"Oh, well now this is not good. No not good at all…You have the third stage, which means that your days on this plain of existence are numbered. You see the faint mark isn't fatal, but these are. You've crossed over the line far too many times to redeem yourself."
"That's Azkaban with no chance of parole is what that is." Sirius stood beside Harry. "That's odd the marks are still burning hot."
"I was expecting faint marks, seeing as they remained neutral, but my test never lies." Harry stunned the two until they were unconscious before sorting them back to normal.
"That looks extremely painful." Kane frowned down at Shin and Kahn.
"It's not pleasant that's for sure." Harry commented as he and Sirius went about securing the two of them. "It's never done that before, usually the mark brands a Dark wizard or witch or in drastic cases turns them to not even dust. These two must be borderline extreme or something."
"Or on Voldemort's payroll," James growled.
"One reason why our numbers have dwindled to the three of us is because our former members feared facing the two of them if they failed carrying out an assignment. Therefore, many chose to never return and go their separate ways. It seems as though my former mentors must have hunted them down or led double lives just as I did. Only in their case it wasn't being good, but as evil as they come." Kane used an ancient charm to make it so that the two of them could not escape the bindings.
"They very well may have been on Voldemort's payroll." Max was pleased that he would have at least two of them locked away until their final days.
"I was stolen by the two of them, so do with them what you will. They mean nothing to me. I plan on leading a new life that doesn't include following their code of rules. My former home is to be turned into a sanctuary for endangered creatures seeing as many now reside there." Kane was convinced that being on the white side of magic far outweighed anything that he had experienced being around the dark.
"It would be a shame to put your training to waste. I'm willing to bet that you could easily pass our Auror trials with no trouble at all. You would be a great asset in our Wizarding World forces." James knew that he would be a fool not to offer him a new line of work.
"I would like to spend time with my First-Grandfather for a while and then I may just take you up on that offer." Kane didn't think that being an Auror was that bad of a suggestion, but he wanted some downtime to get used to being good again.
"Feel free to stay as long as you like. Master Chen is tending to Rory while she's recovering, so this is a perfect place for you to get to know him. It will give you a chance to mend fences with Lotus too." Harry grinned knowingly.
"James and I can take these two to Azkaban, while you all go about your evening." Max suggested. "I doubt that Sirius wishes to visit that place again, so he can stay here as well."
"Thanks Max. I've no wish to visit the hell that I was in for eleven or so years." Sirius had no problem letting them handle that duty. "Seeing as Harry's going to have his hands full dealing with Dani, I'll catch Kane up on what's what in our part of the world."
Dani was once again in Harry's arms. :Bad Men hurt Fluffy.:
"It looks like she has no intention of going to bed anytime soon does it." Harry set her back in the sling. "Bad men are going away now so Fluffy is gonna be fine." He crooned down at her.
:Dada's owie hurts like my mouth.: Dani could sense that her father was overdoing it with his arm and called him on it.
"Daddy is a big boy and a little pain isn't gonna hurt him, besides he likes holding his munchkin." Harry kissed her on the top of her downy reddish brown cap of curls. "Come back inside I'll show you where you'll be staying for the time being." He grinned over a Kane.
"You two go on inside. I'll bring Fluff inside when the musical effect wears off on him." Sirius sat down beside Fluff.
"He's already waking up." Kane noticed that one set of eyes was open and watching his every move. "Let's see if I can remember how to conjure his favorite snack." It took two tries but Kane conjured what looked like fiery pieces of brimstone and kept it hovering in mid air.
Fluffy was still more interested in having his snack.
"I'll be back in an hour." James quickly left with Max and their prisoners.
"Justice will be done that I promise you big guy. Now try and enjoy your snack." Harry reassured Fluffy.
Fluffy sniffed at Kane and let him pet one of their massive heads, before settling down and enjoying his snack.
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Chapter 13
Ron and Luna's surprise
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I do not claim any of JKR's characters only that I love being able to create my own kind of mischief with her beloved characters. I do not claim any other things that are owned by other companies that I may mention once and a while in the stories...Although the original characters and ideas are mine and I loved creating them. So please review if you wish but try not to flame me too badly.
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Cindra 2004-2008