Chapter 10

Harry and Emily arrived at their home in silence. Emily pleasant mood had all but vanished and was replaced by a dejected sense of failure.

"Those ignorant mongrels. Had they any sense, they'd have seen I was in full control of the fire. Its their penchant for divination, Harry, that gives them a sense of superiority. They consider themselves observers and not participants in the timeline. Such arrogance, as though time doesn't extort it toll on them just as the rest of us."

Harry listened to Emily's venting rant. This was par for the course when Emily was upset. Emily would always go on a spiel when someone screwed something up. Usually it was one of her followings flubbing some specific instruction they had been given. Long ago, she'd have resorted to the Cruciatus curse to mete out a punishment, but Harry had always lurked nearby these past couple of years, and she didn't want him to see her doing that often. So she would scream at her followers and throw things, looking all the image of a child throwing a temper tantrum. She was mortified by it, but her followers were possibly even more terrified by the explosive display of her emotion than her composed and cold torture spells.

Harry had still occasionally attempted to calm her temper. Though he rarely spent any significant time with her and her Death Eaters, there had been a stretch of about four weeks where they stayed near her support base. The Order had ramped up their attempts to recapture Harry, and Emily had tried to bait them away using her followers in disguise. Those missions all somehow ended in failure and the Order kept its focus on Britain. So she found herself yelling often. At least twice, she'd begin hexing someone and Harry would place a hand on her shoulder. Her anger would abate and she'd send whoever her victim was out the door.

Harry's affectionate nature was not something she was averse to enjoying, generally. But the vast majority of her Death Eaters were under the impression that Harry Potter was just another one of them. Albeit, one that she had personally and painstakingly, recruited. She was happy with this misconception. But rumors did pop up at his casual touches, and Emily did not like them. Fortunately, she didn't need to take action to squash them as Bellatrix had done so alone. Bellatrix, not willing to entertain a single notion that Emily would form a relationship with anyone other than herself, silenced any and all speculation on the relationship between the Dark Lord and the Boy-who-lived. Violently.

"Perhaps we got lucky and she fell into the fiendfyre."

Emily scoff at Harry's words. "You know better. Stop trying to be so positive."

"I just don't like seeing you upset, though I know you need to just... get it all out sometimes." Harry's hand began rubbing circles on her back, not light enough to tempt her, but not heavy enough to ease the tension in her body. It was nothing more than a gesture to let her know she wasn't alone. Which was stupid, she thought, she knew he was with her.

Making her way into their bedroom, she threw her body onto the bed, face down, and waited for him to join her. He didn't do so immediately, but Emily could be patient when it came to Harry. Soon enough she heard him enter and felt the bed dip as he joined her. She moved her head to look at him and was not surprised to find his face inches from her own. He moved his head to kiss her cheek, before dragging his lips to her mouth. Harry loved to do this to her, because he loved it when she did it to him.

Emily twisted her body, and Harry adjusted himself to be directly above her supporting himself with his knees and an arm. He did not ravish her, disappointingly, instead moving his head to the side putting his lips to her ear. "So what's our plan now?" He then gently pinched her earlobe between his teeth and Emily felt a thrill. She loved it when he was in a biting mood.

"Hmm, depends, tomorrow we'll have to come up with a different approach. Half of the pieces on the board today were incompetent, with only you, myself, Hagrid, and Voldemort doing anything resembling their proper job. Long term, our plans won't change. Kill Voldemort and have me become a hero to the populace of magical Britain."

Now nibbling at her neck, Harry asked, "Sounds fine, but I was more interested in our plans for tonight."

Emily suppressed a groan when he bit down hard on a point at the crook of her neck. Clearly he had plans of his own. "I was thinking we'd grab a bite to eat, but you seem to have gotten ahead of me on that one."

Harry rose slightly with a complex look on his face. "That's... actually a good idea, I'm starved." He made a motion to raise himself off the bed, but Emily had no intention of letting that happen. Using both of her legs, she kicked Harry's knees out from under him. Simultaneously, she gripped his shoulders and shoved his body down to where she could grind her crotch into his face.

"Finish what you started, you arse. Then food."

Food did not come quickly. Their evening had already taken place at a late hour, and Harry spent almost five hours on a bed in Hagrid's hut. It was well past midnight when they returned home, and Harry dosed after his activities with Emily. When he finally decided he could no longer ignore his stomach, he opened his eyes. Emily was not in the room, but this did not surprise him. While she often said she could spend hours looking at his face, he was certain that something else would be able to grab her attention after a while. Only so much enjoyment could be gleaned staring at a pretty face.

Making his way down the hallway, he paused near the loo. He heard voices. Slowly and quietly making his way to the dining area, where they were getting louder, he recognized them.

"I still don't see why Harry couldn't be here for this meeting." This was Sirius, he was certain.

"I told you already, he's resting. You'll have to just put up with me this morning, Sirius." Obviously Emily.

"You said his wound wasn't that bad, and you patched it up on site. Why is he still recuperating? What else happened to him last night?"

Harry heard his wife made a strangled noise of annoyance. "For the love of Merlin, Sirius. Just piss off on the subject of Harry for a moment and focus on what I'm trying to tell you three."

Harry stopped outside the room, content to listen to the interaction for a moment. Snape and Moody were probably also present.

"I will not. I demand to know what happened to Harry last night. I'm not blind, Emily. I see when things aren't normal with my godson. I see everything. I know about that scar on his neck, even though he won't say a word about how he got it. Why is he not-"

"FINE!" Emily's tone snapped into a higher octave and Harry could feel the exasperation. If there was one thing she hated thinking about, it was the thin scar on his neck that stretched from ear to ear. He could imagine her throwing her hands up in a surrender motion. Emily would forcibly move the conversation away from that, but Harry didn't know what she would say. "I fucked your godson into a coma last night, Sirius. I rocked his entire world and turned him into a quivering mess. And after I fucked him silly, I did it once again, just for good measure. Anything else you'd like to know about our sex life?" Apparently, this was how she planned on doing it.

Silence permeated the entire house, only broken after almost a minute later by the silky tones of Severus Snape. "That," he began with a pause, "was far more information than necessary."

"Don't see how he can get it up with a harpy like you, but..." The voice that trailed off was certainly Moody.

With a face redder than his best friend's hair, Harry entered the room. "I happen to find my wife extremely attractive, Moody. I find it amazing that anyone can disagree with that." Harry chewed through his mortification, stooping to kiss his wife's forehead at the table.

"Breakfast is in that muggle contraption over there. The one you use to heat things up." Emily made a sweeping gesture with her hand and Harry went to see what meal the Malfoy's house elf had prepared.

"It's a microwave, Emily. You should try it out, they are really useful."

"Why would I bother when there are things like warming charms, Harry."

He shrugged his shoulders, eyeing the the sausages hungrily on the plate. As he poured himself a cup of coffee and began to eat his food, he nodded a greeting to each of the men in the room. "Morning. You guys are here early."

"Its ten, Potter. Surely not an early hour for anyone other than an unemployed, under acheiving, inco-"

"Shut it, Snivellus."

"Both of you stop your bickering. Potter, either of you, give us an update already."

Emily took the initiative, Harry was still eating. "Last night we got a tip on Voldemort. She went to retrieve something in the Forbidden Forest to help Bellatrix Lestrange recuperate from her injuries. We cornered her in a field and were about to end her when an unexpected betrayal from our side allowed her to escape with what she needed."

"And why did you not contact us earlier with this information? We could have helped." Harry's godfather voiced the first reasonable complaint.

"Not a good time frame. We were told she was already there and didn't wish to waste time. Getting into contact with you Sirius is simple enough, but Alastor and Severus are more complicated."

"Surely you know where Snivellus lives, he was one of your followers."

Emily laughed wickedly. "I razed his home to the ground after his departure. It was a petty action, but it offered me the tiniest sliver of satisfaction."

Sirius cocked his head to the side. "Nonsense, we were just there not too long ago."

"I rebuilt the home and replaced the wards. I own the property and didn't see the point of relocating." Severus shrugged as though it was the most logical action.

"Well, while that's all well and good, lets get back to the Dark Lord. So she now has Bellatrix back at her side. That's definitely a problem."

"She's still in for a long recovery. Its a heart transplant. She won't be doing cardio anytime soon. Voldemort will lay low for a while, biding her time."

Moody nodded in understanding and relaxed in his chair to think. Snape leaned forward though. "Such, operations require very specific potions. Perhaps you can locate her by tracing the purchase of those potions or their ingredients."

"That time, unfortunately has already expired. She's had weeks to gather what she needs and could have procured them from anywhere in the country. I don't see her waiting until the eleventh hour to make those preparations."

"I agree, but on the off chance that it possibly happened, I will reach out to my contacts in the apothecary industry. Even if the chance is small, I intend to be thorough."

Emily shrugged, whatever the man did in his free time didn't concern her in the slightest. "Yes, well, I am afraid that's everything. I called this meeting to update you on the information we obtained as per our agreement. I expect you all to do the same."

Moody grumbled as he rose. Giving a nod to Sirius and Snape, he bid goodbye to Harry. "Heard what you did last night, Potter. Good work, even if foolish, though a part of me wishes you had missed. Hope you're feeling better."

Harry nodded politely, not sure why Moody would congratulate him for taking an arrow in the back. Snape left moments later without bothering to excuse himself, leaving Sirius alone with the couple.

"Sorry for pushing you earlier, Emily. When it comes to Harry, I can be a bit bull headed."

Emily smirked. "I have absolutely no problem broadcasting what Harry and I do in the bedroom. He's the one who gets embarrassed by it." Giving a playful nudge to Harry with her elbow made him snort. All three of them knew that Sirius was really apologizing for mentioning Harry's scar. It was a taboo topic and had never been spoken of with anyone other than the couple themselves. Emily simply wished to push that day as far away from her memory as possible.

"Well at least you're letting me eat now. Good to know I did my job well enough last night."

Despite Emily's previous words the two men did see her face redden at Harry's comment. "Of course Harry does it properly. With James for a father and myself as his godfather, there are some things he can't fail. I'm still quite the lady killer, you know."

"Yes, well, I'm certain Grimauld Place is filled with their corpses. That's the only way a woman would find herself in your home in any capacity."

"Harry, your wife is being mean to me." Sirius whined as though he were a tattling child.

"Emily stop being mean to my godfather. Sirius, stop telling tall tales." Harry who was polishing off his breakfast kept his comment simple before cleaning his plate and placing it back in the cabinet.

"Hmph, if he doesn't want to hear me, he doesn't have to be in my house. I don't go to his home and gripe."

"Yeah, well, you're not ever invited into my home. You just show up when you're least wanted."

"At least I'm actually wanted every now and then." Emily countered quickly. "You're just a hanger on, explains your animagus form. Just a stray mongr- what the fuck did you just do to me?" While Emily had been speaking, Sirius had quietly and stealthily changed her face orange, with her hair slowly turning green from the roots outward. Though she didn't see the magic, she could certainly feel it, even more so when the spell was on herself.

Harry who saw the results of the spell couldn't help but laugh. Walking over to her and running his hands through her now green locks, he said, "Don't worry, pumpkin, its nothing permanent."

Sirius literally fell out of his chair at Harry's term of endearment, rolling about and roaring with laughter as he croaked out the word 'pumpkin' at random intervals. Emily, who was now annoyed, conjured a mirror and took a look at her appearance. Standing up, she quickly reversed the spell. Taking a look at the two men, she snidely said, "The both of you are insufferably childish." She left the room without even a glance back.

Once he found himself under control Sirius retook his seat. "She'd have reacted the same way I did, had I been in her place."

"One hundred percent, definitely." The two men shared another chuckle before Sirius' face lost its smile.

"Are you okay, Harry? Emily told us you'd been hit with an arrow, last night."

"Er, yeah, good as new. Though it certainly hurt like hell."

Sirius grinned at him. "You should pursue a career in quidditch. There is no seeker on the entire earth who can pinpoint a centaur's arrow with his eyes and intercept it with a shoddily charmed tree root. You'd take the entire international league by storm."

Harry only shrugged. Sirius had been right and wrong in his description of the events. Harry certainly did see the arrow with his eye, but such a sight had not applied itself to anything that did not apply to Emily yet. The inner eye that Grindlewald had given Harry seemed to be latched onto only his wife's future. Of course, Harry was in no way disappointed by this, he was actually perfectly satisfied with it. The only reason he wanted the sight was so he could protect his wife better and Grindlewald's gift had already shown its worth.

"Perhaps. Emily wants me to pursue quidditch as a career. I'm not too sure what I want to do, though."

Sirius crooked his head in confusion. "Harry, we're talking about professional Quidditch here. Most people would give a limb for the chance. I know you're not a big fan of the fame, but I also know you love the sport. I bought you a firebolt because I saw how much you loved the game, not to mention how incredible you are at flying."

Harry nodded. "But I feel like, I can't just go off and play Quidditch for England, Sirius. I have to keep an eye on Emily and make certain she's not doing something she shouldn't."

"You're not her keeper, Harry. You don't need to be around her all the time."

"But aren't I? I fell in love with Emily entirely on the premise that I'd be exactly that, her keeper. Her minder, in some sense, even her jailer. Its my job to restrict her when she goes too far. I'm the only one capable of doing that."

"Yes, and when you married her, you ensured that you'd always have that ability Harry. That doesn't mean you need to stay in her purse whenever she leaves the house."

"You're right, but what if I'm not around when she does lose control, Sirius. You remember Egypt, don't you?"

Sirius sighed, thinking for a moment. He wasn't content to let the conversation end at Harry's conclusion. "Things are different, Harry. Two years ago, when you started your relationship with your wife, I could understand your plan to stay near her. She was a loose cannon with a penchant for torture and murder."

"Exactly, Sirius, she nee-"

"But that was two years ago. Its clear as day to anyone who sees the two of you that she's not that person anymore. Do you think that Voldemort would have stormed out of the room in a huff had I turned her face orange and her hair green? You loving her, Harry, has given her insanity a balance. And I am still certain she is completely insane, mind you. But with you she acts normal, and what is more important is that she enjoys being normal with you."

"Doesn't change the fact that its only with me, that she's going to be like that."

"But you never see her without you, Harry. She and I don't exactly spend a lot of time together, but I have interacted with her when you are not present Harry. She doesn't just suddenly revert to a psychopath when you're not watching over her shoulder. She's certainly less pleasant when you're not around, but she's still restrained."

Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder and Harry listened closely to his words. "What I am saying Harry, is that you need to give your wife a measure of trust. Moody and Snape would have my head if they knew I was telling you this, but trust that the Emily you know is the Emily she will be when you aren't around. I want you to be happy, Harry. I know you are happy with Emily, apparently very happy if what she said about your nighttime activities is and remains true, but your life doesn't need to begin and end with her."

Harry mulled over his godfather's words. He knew the man was right, to an extent. Emily was far more stable than she had ever been in the past. But Quidditch required athletes to spend weeks away from home. Though it was possible that Harry could get a special dispensation, to dodge some requirements. He'd have to think on it more. There was no rush to make a decision on the course of his life now, he had time.

"I'll keep that in mind, Sirius. Thanks."

"I just want you to know you have options. You wanna be a househusband then go for it. But you don't have to be." With that last sentence, Sirius bid Harry farewell. Harry remained where he was seated until Emily returned to the room, clearly perturbed that he had not gone to find her after his godfather had left.

"Now that you're awake Harry, we need to chat."

Harry's eyes widened slightly and he felt his blood chill. This was potentially dangerous ground. "Sure, love. What's on your mind?"

"You of course, you're always on my mind. So much that its incredible I don't get tired of it. But to be more specific, I am a bit curious about your actions last night. How is it that you knew that the entire field had been spelled? Not even I was aware... and you know how sensitive I am to magic."

Harry was completely stumped. How was he going to pull this particular rabbit out of the metaphorical hat? He couldn't just tell his wife that he had been hit with the vision of her body being bound in tree roots moments before it happened without him giving away his deal with Grindlewald. Not that he knew what the deal entailed. Harry knew that Grindlewald used his elder wand for something other than giving Harry the inner eye. A man as cunning as Grindlewald who had unsupervised access to a magical artifact with immense power like the elder wand had surely done something with it to benefit himself. But Harry didn't wish to bring that up with Emily, she was still upset with him about Grindlewald's escape from his prison.

"What are the odds of me being able to convince you it was nothing more than a brilliant moment of insight?"

Emily pursed her lips, staring at him. "Considering our agreement to not withhold secrets from one another, I'd like to say zero. But you and I both know I still clutch certain secrets to my chest, despite what I say. Is this secret that important for you to keep hidden, even from me?"

Harry paused. Other than him potentially getting yelled at for allowing Grindlewald access to the elder wand, he had no real reason not to tell Emily. Harry steepled his fingers and looked at Emily. How would she take the revelation that Harry had made such a trade? With a sigh, Harry decided that he would abide by their agreement.

"I had a premonition. A clairvoyant one."

Emily paused at this, not at what he was telling her, but at the word clairvoyant. She honestly didn't realize Harry had paid enough attention in Divination class to even know that word. Shrugging it off, she asked, "And for how long have you had this proficiency in Divination? Because I swear to God, Harry, if you've been holding out on me, you'll sleep on the couch for the next decade."

"Don't you think if I had any talent for Divination, you'd have known about it long ago?"

"The inner eye, Harry, is something you are born with. It all depends on when it is opened. You've always had it, I just want to know when you realized it."

Harry knew that this was his out. He could roll with the fib permanently here, and Emily didn't have to be any the wiser. He didn't. "I don't have the inner eye, Emily. Grindlewald gave it to me."

Emily shook her head. "Clairvoyance isn't something people can hand out. Harry. It's not a piece of candy or a biscuit. Its also not something that someone else can awaken for you, especially at your age. You should've know the truth before you're seventeenth birthday. It should have appeared to you before the age of your majority."

Harry just raised his hands up, "Look, Emily, the first time I ever saw was when I looked at you the first time I left Grindlewald's tower. That was the very first time my inner eye made an appearance."

Emily grumbled to herself. Clearly she believed Harry, but this information clashed with everything she knew about Seers. Which was more than most, considering her research into prophecies. "I don't understand. Explain the process to me."

Harry winced. It was time to come fully clean, he knew. "I'm not sure, I passed out when he started. He used the elder wand."

Hearing Emily let out a loud bark of laughter, Harry hung his head. "Of course you let him use the elder wand. Harry, do you listen to any of the words that leave my mouth, or is my face too pretty for you to focus?" Harry braced himself for a lecture, but it never came.

"The elder wand can't make the impossible, possible. As powerful as it is, it can't break the laws of magic, just push their boundaries." Emily sat down and pressed her hands to her temple as she brainstormed. After a few minutes she gave a huff.

"The only logical conclusion I can draw is that you never had the inner eye. Instead, Grindlewald transferred his eye to you. Which it possible. At his point in life, he doesn't require it, and to trade it for the use of the elder wand, I suppose its an acceptable bargain. Its a shame that we have no idea what else he used the wand for. He could potentially be an enemy of ours in the future."

Harry doubted that. "Its like you said, at his age, what's the point of that. I agree he used the wand for something, but I don't see us ever having to deal with him as an enemy."

Emily laughed at him with a small amount of scorn. "Harry, you don't have some special ability to turn all dark wizards into fluffy little bunny rabbits. Don't mark him off as a potential enemy until he dies. He is too great of a power to just ignore."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't think he has the energy to fight anymore, Emily. He's tired, tired of war and fighting. I really believe he just wants to spend the rest of his life quietly."

"Well, in either case, there is nothing we can do about it. Though I didn't tell you, I've already spoken with the man. I've also got someone keeping tabs on him everyday. Nothing has come back to me yet in regards to him acting suspiciously. For now, we can continue to ignore him."

"I'm surprised you didn't kill him, to be honest. Its not like you to leave a potential threat to you alive."

Giving Harry a pointed look, "I made the mistake once seventeen years ago and decided I liked it." She made no attempt to give him a real explanation and Harry, not willing to provoke his wife on the topic of murder, didn't press her for more. He was rather proud that her first instinct was to now shy away from the act.

As though summoned by the topic, a sharp crack announced the arrival of a house elf. "Madam Potter, Mister Grindlewald is being strange."

Harry, who had only just learned of the tabs being kept on the man snorted out a laugh. Emily, failed to see the humor and just groaned in annoyance. "I really, really wanted to never think about that man ever again! Well, elf? Report!"

At her sharp words, the tiny house elf gave a sharp jerk standing ramrod straight. "Mr. Grindlewald has left his home and relocated to a new city, ma'am. He just packed up all of his things and left. He invited Purella to come along, but P-"

"Who on earth is Purella and why were they graced with such a stupid name?" Emily cut off the elf loudly and the creature squeaked.

"I.. I is Purella, ma'am."

"Oh, well... carry on then." Emily waved the elf on, as though she hadn't just insulted the elf.

With a trembling lip, the elf continued, "I can't be too far away from the Malfoy family, ma'am. Mr. Grindlewald sir, knows this, but left anyway."

"Then just check up on him once a day. You don't need to live with the man."

The elf's whole body trembled now. "But, your orders, ma'am, were to stay with Mr. Grindlewald and see to his care. And Purella was told by mistress Malfoy to obey your commands as though they were her own."

Emily sighed. "This, Harry, is the source of my disdain for house elves. They can't do a single thing on their own. They can't make a single decision without checking in with someone else first. Now my the rest of my day will probably be spoiled." Emily got up and went to grab her coat, only to turn around and see that Harry remained sitting down.

"Are you not coming with me? I have to see what that old tosser is planning."

Harry was running his left hand along the edge of the table, while his right hand was fisted and supporting his head on his jawline. His thumb was gently running back and forth on the thin scar that Sirius had brought up and Emily knew his was thinking heavily on a subject she couldn't make a guess at. He never touched that place unless he was terribly distracted by something. She wondered if he'd overheard his godfather speaking about it.

"No, I'm certain you can handle things." Harry looked at her, and Emily felt as though his eyes were piercing into her very soul. "Its not as though he is a threat to you... and I trust you. I know you won't do anything too bad."

Emily looked at him shrewdly, knowing that something was being left unsaid, but she, once again, didn't have the slightest idea on what it was. Nodding slowly, she said, "Right then. I'll be back shortly." She was certain he could feel the apprehension in her words, but he offered her nothing more than a parting smile and a wish for luck.

With a motion of her hand, the house elf followed her towards her study. "Where is he now?"

"He is in Strausbourg, miss."

Emily stopped so suddenly the elf ran into her. This made the elf squeak in fear, but Emily didn't care at all about that. There were many cities named Strausbourg in the world, but for magical folk, only one held any real importance. She moved to her destination more quickly, not even noticing that the elf did not follow further.

Arriving into her office, she picked up a random knickknack and charmed it as a portkey. This act was technically unlawful, but her destination would make it hard for anyone to track the culprit. With a tug on her navel, her surroundings vanished and she reappeared in a crowded muggle street.

Emily began moving, the tracking spell she'd placed surreptitiously on Grindlewald during their final meeting proving its use far sooner than she had actually planned. As she waded through the muggles, she couldn't help but wonder why the man had come here. It was crowded, and it was filled with the one type of people most would assume he loathed. Even on the days where her patience seemed limitless, she detested the city, which spoke volumes considering the significant length of time she had spent here in her youth.

Jinxing the occasional muggle that trod on her feet, she finally veered off of the crowded street to a more residential area. Now that she wasn't in the midst of a crowd, she felt as though she was no longer suffocating. Apparition was easier, you could choose where you wished to land. Portkeys, however, relied on a network, with set landing points. Had Emily wanted to waste the time, she could have forced a different drop off, but she didn't bother with the nuisance.

Eventually she came to a simple home, in an even more simple neighborhood. There were houses to the left and right of where she was and she could see young children chasing each other about.

"Not exactly the place I thought I'd find a magical supremacist. Not that I can say much, Harry and I live in a muggle neighborhood as well."

Though Emily hadn't even spoken a single word to any of their neighbors, she knew that Harry got on fairly well with a few of them. He never invited one over, or at least he never did when she was home, and she was happier for it. Harry didn't even know that she was aware of his newfound muggle friends, but she did have him trailed a few days a month, so she received reports on his going ons and such. She wasn't paranoid, mind you, she just wanted to make certain he was safe.

Standing at the doorstep Emily pondered on whether or not she should be polite and knock. Recalling that Harry did expect her to be on, not her best, but decent behavior, she rapped sharply on the door three times. To understate the truth of the event that followed, Emily found herself unprepared.

"GOD DAMNIT!" In a flurry of movement, Emily leaped away from the open door, pulling her wand from her robes. Her entire body trembled and she could barely aim the length of yew between the electric blue eyes that stared at her.

"Now, now, Mrs. Potter, do mind your volume. Come inside."

Standing at the doorway was none other than Albus Dumbledore.